traitor angel' who 'first broke peace in Heaven,' and rebeled against Him."

Soon after he spoke in favor of the payment of prompt and liberal bounties by the Federal Government to encourage enlistments, and rapidly earned Congressional reputation.

This readiness at trenchant debating proved, in some respects, injurious to his rising fame. He spoke so readily that members were constantly asking his services in behalf of favorite measures, and in the impulsive eagerness of a young man and a young member, he often consented. He thus came to be too frequent a speaker, and the House wearied a little of his polished periods, and began to think him too fond of talking. His superior knowledge, too, used to offend some of his less learned colleagues at first. They thought him bookish and pedantic, until they found how solid and useful was his store of knowledge, and how pertinent to the business in hand were the drafts he made upon it. But this in time wore off. His genial personal ways soon made him many warm friends, and reaction set in. The men of brains in both houses, and in the departments, were not long in discovering that here was a fresh, strong, intellectual force that was destined to make its mark upon the politics of the country. They sought his acquaintance, and before he had been long in Washington, he had the advantage of the best society in the capital.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE LADDER OF HONOR.

T

O the steadily-growing good opinion of his district, Garfield lived out his first term. When the time came for holding the Con gressional Convention of 1864, in the Nineteenth District, it was whispered around in the Western Reserve that Garfield had written the Wade-Davis manifesto against President Lincoln, or, at least, was in sympathy with it. The convention was eager to nominate him, but it was objected, and the objection seemed to have some force with the delegates, that he had not condemned the manifesto. He was called upon to explain himself, and the way he did so will never be forgotten. Entering the convention hall, he walked up to the platform, planted himself firmly on it, and began a speech that he must have thought would dig his political grave. He spoke only for half an hour, and he told his hearers he had not written the Wade-Davis letter, but he had only one regret connected with it, and that was that there was a necessity for its appearance. He approved the letter, defended the motives of the authors, asserted his right to independence of thought and action, and told the delegates that if they did not want a

free agent for their representative, they had better find another man, for he did not desire to serve them longer.

As he warmed up to his subject he captivated the convention with his plain, hard reasoning and his glowing eloquence. When he had finished speaking, he left the platform and strode out of the hall. As he reached the front of the stairs, on his way out of the building, he heard a great noise, which he imagined was the signal of his unanimous rejection. On the contrary, it was the applause that followed his nomination by acclamation. His very boldness had stunned the convention, expecting, as it did, something entirely different from the party leader. It was some seconds before anything was said, but finally an Ashtabula delegate got on his feet, and said: "By By- the man who can face a convention like that, ought to be nominated by acclamation." It didn't take the convention long to find. out that it entertained a similar admiration for his independence and pluck, and the result was as related, before his opponents in the convention had time to open their mouths.

Governor Todd closed the meeting with the remark: "A district that will allow a young fellow like Garfield to tweak its nose and cuff its ears in that manner, deserves to have him saddled on it for life."

General Garfield, speaking of this incident, said he knew it was a bold action for a youngster, buţ

he believed both Mr. Wade and Mr. Davis to be right, and he determined to stand by them. "This showed me, completely, the truth of the old maxim, that 'Honesty is the best policy,' and I have ever since been entirely independent in my relations with the people of my district."

The news of his action spread far and wide. A day or two afterward he met Ben Wade, who seized him by the hand, and roared out:

"Look here, do you know you did a dthing at that convention the other day?"

brave

"It was my duty, Mr. Wade, to say what I did, as I believed you and Mr. Davis to be in the right," replied Garfield.

-d

"Bosh," cried old Ben, "I say it was d brave. Why, not one fellow in a dozen but would have given Davis and I the go-by. All you had to do was to go in and teter a little before the convention, and they would have promised in advance to re-nominate you. But you didn't do it; devil the bit did you do it. You took the bull by the horns like a man, and told the convention it was wrong, and I say it was d-d brave in you to do so. Now, mind you, Garfield, you have got that district, and they won't fool with you any more. The people of Ohio like a bold and honest man, and they have found one in you, and they ain't going to give you up soon. Just you go ahead, they know you are worth a dozen limber-jacks, and they will stick by you. It's a clear case you

won't turn for anybody-you had the best chance to turn the other day before that convention you will ever have, and you didn't do it—no dif you did. The people hate a trimmer, and I tell you your action at that convention has given the men and women of your district a new idea of you. As for me," added old Ben, the tears starting to his eyes, "I won't say how much I am obliged to you for the way you stood by me, but I shall never forget it, never, sir, while I live on this earth." Then the old war-horse went abruptly away, and the young statesman knew he had made a friend for life of the oldest and best statesman Ohio ever had.

When the election came off he was returned by a majority of twelve thousand.

On his return to Congress on the opening of his second term, having proved himself such an invaluable worker, and having risen to such influence in the handling of financial questions, that the Secretary of the Treasury requested he be appointed on the Committee of Ways and Means,* the leading committee of the House. This was much more in the line of his tastes and studies. His work during this term was earnest, thorough and incessant, and he steadily gained in the estimation of his colleagues. He delivered a noted speech on the "Constitutional Amendment to Abolish

*The committee which matures the financial legislation of Congress and provides the means of raising the revenue.