XIV GARFIELD AND ARTHUR HERE was genial good-feeling in the air when THER James A. Garfield took the oath of office. His nomination had been so much of a surprise-to no man more than to the nominee, who sat in a stupor of surprise while the convention stampeded around him-that not even we of the office force had had time to wear out our interest in talk. There was nothing of the tragedy of disappointed hopes that sometimes makes the departure of a President hard to contemplate. For General Hayes did not believe in second terms, had not coveted one for himself, and was only too glad to retire into private life. The welcome given General and Mrs. Garfield by the retiring White House family was more than the conventional, decent exercise of courtesy. It was marked by real warmth, for the Garfield and the Hayes families were friends. Garfield was a man of many friends. I think that was the first impression that the new President made upon me. And now I have come to believe that that determined at once much of his strength and his weakness. A hearty and virile force marked him. He was a fine-looking man and well set-up. His eyes were bright gray, his voice was mellow and vibrant. He could not pick up a book or lay down a paper without revealing physical force. He had had a career of many phases-always upward—as a toiling boy, a teacher, a college president, in the army, in Congress. He was a good fellow and companionable. And everywhere the men around him were his friends. His path was marked by them. They thronged around him now. But political ascendency is a touchstone to display-not the best but the worst. The men who had once been satisfied to spend pleasant evenings with the new President began now to think of place. The White House. offices were full of them. I was in charge of the reception-room where men waited, and I had my fill of them. Old friends demanded embassies, postoffices, clerkships. One of them assumed the position of an intimate of the White House and, not satisfied with a comfortable Government berth, pushed himself in past the doors that marked the private domain of the family and took his afternoon siesta upon the most comfortable sofa he could find. The disinterested ones were hurt because they could not chat with the President with the same ease that had marked their visiting with "Jim Garfield." Robert G. Ingersoll was one of these "Royal Bob" Garfield had christened him. Few were nearer to the President than he. Yet he had to wait long hours in the anteroom. There he was besieged by office-seekers who wished to make use of his supposed interest with the President. Impatience may have colored his caustic answer to one of the applicants. This was a seedy-looking fellow with long, lank locks. "Colonel Ingersoll," he said, "can't I have your indorsement? You know me. I want a position as chaplain in the army." Colonel Ingersoll turned a moment from the group of friends with whom he was talking, and eyed him: "Yes," he said; "I know you. You're a preacher I've met somewhere. You're just the man for my indorsement. You have as little religion as any man I know. You won't hurt any one." And he turned his broad person and chubby face back to the laughing crowd. But there came a day when the Colonel himself exploded in wrath. "I'm tired of hanging around here," he said, “kicking my heels in the anteroom. I've had too many games of billiards with Jim Garfield to stand this." And he marched out. I imagine the President and his wife got as little pleasure out of the restrictions of official life as did Colonel Ingersoll. A shade settled over Mr. Garfield's face, and Mrs. Garfield showed little pleasure in her position. They were people of simple tastes. We had small opportunity to know Mrs. Garfield in the few months before the blow came. She was not strong at any time, was ill during some weeks, and was occupied chiefly in an attempt to secure some privacy for herself and her family, and to organize their life, reserving as much time as possible for the domestic life she loved. The sons of the house-Henry A., |