Lakeview Cemetery.--Talk with Garfield's Mother.--First
Church where he Preached.--His Religious
Experience.--Garfield as a Preacher.
The lot in Lakeview Cemetery that was selected for the burial-place is
on the brow of a high ridge commanding an extensive view of Lake Erie.
It was the President's desire that his last resting-place might be in
this beautiful spot, and his mother, speaking of it, said,--
"It is proper that he should be buried in Cleveland. It is the capital
of the county in which he was born, and of the section where he grew
into prominence. Mentor had been his home but a short time, although he
had intended to spend the balance of his life there. Most of his years
have been spent in Solon and Orange, and it seems best that his final
resting-place should be near the places that he loved the best."
The brave old lady trembled with emotion while talking of her son.
"It is wonderful," she said, "how I live upon the thoughts of him. I
ride a little every day to get the fresh air, and look at the fields
and woods he loved so well."
Mrs. Garfield was with her daughter, Mrs. Larrabee, in Solon, Ohio, when
the last sad tidings came. For days she had been greatly depressed--her
hopes of his recovery growing fainter with every telegram received.
"Oh! it is too dreadful! it cannot be true!" she exclaimed, when the sad
news was gently broken to her. It was some time before she could control
her feelings. At last she murmured through her tears: "God knew best,
but it is very hard to bear!"
A few days later, when a friend called to see her, she said,--
"He was the best son a mother ever had--so good, kind, generous and
brave. Did you ever see such an uprising? That ought to break the fall
for me, but it doesn't seem to. I want my boy."
This little home at Solon is not far from the spot where the old log
cabin stood, and the first frame house was built.
"I am glad you have been over to the old homestead," added the old lady
to her visitor. "My son loved every foot of it. He and his brother built
the frame house for me, near the well where the pole has been erected.
It was rude carpentry, but they both took their first lessons on it,
and I always loved the old home. It was burned down just after we left
it."
The humble Church of the Disciples, where Garfield first preached, is
close by. Once, when addressing some young people, he spoke as follows
of his first religious experience,--
"Make the most of the present moment! No occasion is unworthy of your
best efforts. God in his providence often uses humble occasions and
little things to shape the whole course of a man's life. I might say
that the wearing of a certain pair of stockings led to a complete change
in my own career. I had made one trip as a boy on a canal-boat, and was
expecting to leave home for another trip. But I accidentally injured my
foot in chopping wood. The blue dye in the yarn of my home-made socks
poisoned the wound, and I was kept at home. Then a revival of religion
broke out in the neighborhood. I was thus kept within its influence, and
was converted. New desires and purposes then took possession of me, and
I determined to seek an education that I might live more usefully for
Christ. You can never know when these providential turning-points in
your life are at hand; so seek to improve each passing day." With this
we may connect the account of his conversion given by his friend, Rev.
Isaac Errett, D. D., of Cincinnati. "The lad," he says, "attended these
meetings for several nights, and after listening night after night to
the sermon, he went one day to the minister, and said to him: 'Sir, I
have been listening to your preaching night after night, and I am fully
persuaded that if these things you say are true, it is the duty and the
highest interest of every man, and especially of every young man, to
accept that religion and seek to be a man; but really I do not know
whether this thing is true or not. If I were sure it were true, I would
most gladly give it my heart and my life.' So, after a long talk, the
minister preached that night on the text, '_What is truth?_' and
proceeded to show that, notwithstanding all the various and conflicting
theories and opinions of men, there was one assured and eternal alliance
for every human soul in Christ Jesus as the Way and the Truth and the
Life; that every soul would be safe with him; that he never would
mislead; and that any young man giving him his hand and heart would not
go astray. After due reflection, young Garfield seized upon this. He
came forward and gave his hand to the minister in pledge of the
acceptance of the guidance of Christ for his life, and turned his back
upon the sins of the world forever."
"He was never formally ordained," says one of his old pupils at Hiram
Institute, "hence some have inferred that his preaching was confined to
occasional and unofficial discourses. But while he was a student in
Williams College he supplied in vacations and at other times the pulpit
of the Disciples' church at Poestenkill, a few miles from Williamstown.
For this he received some compensation which assisted him in his course.
He had the ministry in view. Becoming Principal at Hiram, he also
accepted the position of regular pastor of the church of Disciples in
that town. This office he filled during a large part of his
Principalship, bearing its responsibilities and receiving what
compensation attached to it. It was a large village church, and the only
one in the place, except a small Methodist church. He was called from
year to year." The people loved him as their pastor, and the house was
crowded to hear him preach. He officiated at their funerals, and
administered the ordinances of baptism (which was always immersion) and
the Lord's Supper. The fact that he had not been ordained in due form
was not objectionable to the Disciples, and a matter of greater
indifference even among them at that time than it would be perhaps
to-day. Doubtless his appointment as Principal of their Institute was
regarded as equivalent to a sanction of his full ministry. He preached
Sunday morning and afternoon, and administered the communion every
Sunday. In the evening there was a prayer-meeting. The students were
required to be present at church at least twice in the day. He always
preached without notes, with great simplicity and practicalness,
interesting persons of mature years, and at the same time taking special
pains to reach the young. There was a bright little boy with whom he was
accustomed to talk after preaching, to make sure that he had been
understood. In prayer he impressed his congregation as a man who was
really speaking with God. On Saturday afternoons he visited socially
among the people.
In 1857 his preaching was accompanied by a revival of religion. Meetings
were held nearly every night, and fifty-two united at one time with the
church. These Mr. Garfield baptized in the open air. Many of the
converts were students, and when he gave them the hand of fellowship at
the communion table he presented each one of them with a copy of the
Word of God. This was not the only time he led candidates into baptismal
waters. There were frequent occasions of this kind. One is remembered
which took place in the evening in the fall of the year, when the
moonlight was bright enough for the singers to read the music and the
hymns. He entered into the spirit of such scenes with great devotion and
zeal.
Garfield always held to that side which emphasized man's need of the
Holy Spirit, and the necessity of believing in Christ from the heart.
This he always enforced in his preaching, and as urgently declared that
this faith must be followed by obedience. His public prayers were often
addressed to Christ. Our informant feels sure that he was far from being
a Unitarian. He was not pleased with the way in which Garfield, in
accordance with the usages of the Disciples, received candidates for
baptism, and one day said to him: "It seems to me that your practice,
Mr. Garfield, is hardly consistent with your doctrine in this matter.
You preach excellent sermons to the impenitent, and point out the way of
salvation in language which I can endorse; but when persons come forward
for baptism, you have no examination by the church to see if their
conversion is sound." The answer was: "I show them clearly that they
must believe from the heart. If they say they do, I leave the
responsibility with them."