GEAUGA SEMINARY.
I have stated in a previous chapter that James became acquainted with
Dr. Robinson while still employed on the canal. This statement was made
on the authority of Mr. Philo Chamberlain, of Cleveland, who was part
proprietor of the line of canal-boats on which the boy was employed.
Edmund Kirke, however, conveys the impression that James was a stranger
to the doctor at the time he called upon him after his sickness. Mr.
Kirke's information having been derived chiefly from General Garfield
himself, I shall adopt his version, as confirmed by Dr. Robinson.
When James walked up to the residence of President Hayden, and inquired
for Dr. Robinson, he was decidedly homespun in appearance. He probably
was dressed in his best, but his best was shabby enough. His trousers
were of coarse satinet, and might have fitted him a season or two
before, but now were far outgrown, reaching only half-way down from the
tops of his cowhide boots. His waistcoat also was much too short, and
his coat was threadbare, the sleeves being so short as to display a
considerable portion of his arms. Add to these a coarse slouched hat,
much the worse for wear, and a heavy mass of yellow hair much too long,
and we can easily understand what the good doctor said of him: "He was
wonderfully awkward, but had a sort of independent, go-as-you-please
manner that impressed me favorably."
"Who are you?" asked the doctor.
"My name is James Garfield, from Solon."
"Oh, I know your mother, and knew you when you were a babe, but you have
outgrown my knowledge. I am glad to see you."
"I should like to see you alone," said James.
The doctor led the way to a secluded spot in the neighborhood of the
house, and then, sitting down on a log, the youth, after a little
hesitation, opened his business.
"You are a physician," he said, "and know the fiber that is in men.
Examine me and tell me with the utmost frankness whether I had better
take a course of liberal study. I am contemplating doing so, as my
desire is in that direction. But if I am to make a failure of it, or
practically so, I do not desire to begin. If you advise me not to do so
I shall be content."
In speaking of this incident the doctor has remarked recently: "I felt
that I was on my sacred honor, and the young man looked as though he
felt himself on trial. I had had considerable experience as a physician,
but here was a case much different from any I had ever had. I felt that
it must be handled with great care. I examined his head and saw that
there was a magnificent brain there. I sounded his lungs, and found that
they were strong, and capable of making good blood. I felt his pulse,
and felt that there was an engine capable of sending the blood up to the
head to feed the brain. I had seen many strong physical systems with
warm feet and cold, sluggish brain; and those who possessed such systems
would simply sit round and doze. Therefore I was anxious to know about
the kind of an engine to run that delicate machine, the brain. At the
end of a fifteen minutes' careful examination of this kind, we rose, and
I said:
"Go on, follow the leadings of your ambition, and ever after I am your
friend. You have the brain of a Webster, and you have the physical
proportions that will back you in the most herculean efforts. All you
need to do is to work; work hard, do not be afraid of over-working and
you will make your mark."
It will be easily understood that these words from a man whom he held in
high respect were enough to fix the resolution of James. If he were
really so well fitted for the work and the career which his mother
desired him to follow, it was surely his duty to make use of the talents
which he had just discovered were his.
After that there was no more question about going to sea. He
deliberately decided to become a scholar, and then follow where
Providence led the way.
He would have liked a new suit of clothes, but this was out of the
question. All the money he had at command was the seventeen dollars
which his mother had offered him. He must get along with this sum, and
so with hopeful heart he set out for Geauga Seminary.
He did not go alone. On hearing of his determination, two boys, one a
cousin, made up their minds to accompany him.
Possibly my young readers may imagine the scene of leave-taking, as the
stage drove up to the door, and the boys with their trunks or valises
were taken on board, but if so, imagination would picture a scene far
different from the reality. Their outfit was of quite a different kind.
For the sake of economy the boys were to board themselves, and Mrs.
Garfield with provident heart supplied James with a frying-pan, and a
few necessary dishes, so that his body might not suffer while his mind
was being fed. Such was the luxury that awaited James in his new home. I
am afraid that the hearts of many of my young readers would sink within
them if they thought that they must buy an education at such a cost as
that. But let them not forget that this homespun boy, with his poor
array of frying-pan and dishes, was years after to strive in legislative
halls, and win the highest post in the gift of his fellow-citizens. And
none of these things would have been his, in all likelihood, but for his
early struggle with poverty.
So far as I know, neither of his companions was any better off than
James. All three were young adventurers traveling into the domains of
science with hopeful hearts and fresh courage, not altogether ignorant
of the hardships that awaited them, but prepared to work hard for the
prizes of knowledge.
Arrived at Geauga Seminary, they called upon the principal and announced
for what purpose they had come.
"Well, young men, I hope you mean to work?" he said.
"Yes, sir," answered James promptly. "I am poor, and I want to get an
education as quick as I can."
"I like your sentiments, and I will help you as far as I can."
The boys succeeded in hiring a room in an old unpainted building near
the academy for a small weekly sum. It was unfurnished, but they
succeeded in borrowing a few dilapidated chairs from a neighbor who did
not require them, and some straw ticks, which they spread upon the floor
for sleeping purposes. In one corner they stowe their frying-pans,
kettles, and dishes, and then they set up housekeeping in humble style.
The Geauga Seminary was a Freewill Baptist institution, and was attended
by a considerable number of students, to whom it did not, indeed,
furnish what is called "the higher education," but it was a considerable
advance upon any school that James had hitherto attended. English
grammar, natural philosophy, arithmetic, and algebra--these were the
principal studies to which James devoted himself, and they opened to him
new fields of thought. Probably it was at this humble seminary that he
first acquired the thirst for learning that ever afterward characterized
him.
Let us look in upon the three boys a night or two after they have
commenced housekeeping.
They take turns in cooking, and this time it is the turn of the one in
whom we feel the strongest interest.
"What have we got for supper, boys?" he asks, for the procuring of
supplies has fallen to them.
"Here are a dozen eggs," said Henry Bounton, his cousin.
"And here is a loaf of bread, which I got at the baker's," said his
friend.
"That's good! We'll have bread and fried eggs. There is nothing better
than that."
"Eggs have gone up a cent a dozen," remarks Henry, gravely.
This news is received seriously, for a cent means something to them.
Probably even then the price was not greater than six to eight cents a
dozen, for prices were low in the West at that time.
"Then we can't have them so often," said James, philosophically, "unless
we get something to do."
"There's a carpenter's-shop a little way down the street," said Henry.
"I guess you can find employment there."
"I'll go round there after supper."
Meanwhile he attended to his duty as cook, and in due time each of the
boys was supplied with four fried eggs and as much bread as he cared
for. Probably butter was dispensed with, as too costly a luxury, until
more prosperous times.
When supper was over the boys took a walk, and then, returning to their
humble room, spent the evening in preparing their next morning's
lessons.
In them James soon took leading rank, for his brain was larger, and his
powers of application and intuition great, as Dr. Robinson had implied.
From the time he entered Geauga Seminary probably he never seriously
doubted that he had entered upon the right path.