THE NEW ADMINISTRATION.
On the evening of March 3d, preceding the inauguration, the
President-elect met twenty of his college classmates at supper at
Wormley's Hotel, in Washington, and mutual congratulations were
exchanged. He was the first President of the United States selected from
among the graduates of Williams College, and all the alumni, but more
especially the class of 1856, were full of pride and rejoicing. From
none probably were congratulations more welcome to the new President
than from his old academic associates. If I transcribe the speech which
Gen. Garfield made upon that occasion it is because it throws a light
upon his character and interprets the feelings with which he entered
upon the high office to which his countrymen had called him:
"CLASSMATES: To me there is something exceedingly pathetic in this
reunion. In every eye before me I see the light of friendship and love,
and I am sure it is reflected back to each one of you from my inmost
heart. For twenty-two years, with the exception of the last few days, I
have been in the public service. To-night I am a private citizen.
To-morrow I shall be called to assume new responsibilities, and on the
day after, the broadside of the world's wrath will strike. It will
strike hard. I know it, and you will know it. Whatever may happen to me
in the future, I shall feel that I can always fall back upon the
shoulders and hearts of the class of '56 for their approval of that
which is right, and for their charitable judgment wherein I may come
short in the discharge of my public duties. You may write down in your
books now the largest percentage of blunders which you think I will be
likely to make, and you will be sure to find in the end that I have made
more than you have calculated--many more.
"This honor comes to me unsought. I have never had the Presidential
fever--not even for a day; nor have I it to-night. I have no feeling of
elation in view of the position I am called upon to fill. I would thank
God were I to-day a free lance in the House or the Senate. But it is
not to be, and I will go forward to meet the responsibilities and
discharge the duties that are before me with all the firmness and
ability I can command. I hope you will be able conscientiously to
approve my conduct; and when I return to private life, I wish you to
give me another class-meeting."
This brief address exhibits the modesty with which Gen. Garfield viewed
his own qualifications for the high office for which twenty years of
public life had been gradually preparing him. While all are liable to
mistakes, it is hardly to be supposed that a man so prepared, and
inspired by a conscientious devotion to what he deemed to be right,
would have made many serious blunders. During his brief administration
he made, as the country knows, an admirable beginning in reforming
abuses and exacting the most rigid economy in the public service. There
was every probability of his being his own successor had his life been
spared.
The inaugural ceremonies were very imposing. Washington was thronged as
it had never been before on any similar occasion. Private citizens,
civic bodies, and military companies were present from every part of
the country. Prominent among the eminent citizens present was the
stately and imposing figure of Gen. Hancock, who had been the nominee of
the opposing party, and who, with admirable good feeling and good taste,
had accepted an invitation to be present at the inauguration of his
successful rival.
And there were others present whom we have met before. The wife and
mother of the new President, with flushed cheeks and proud hearts,
witnessed the ceremonies that made the one they loved the head of the
State. To him they were more than all the rest. When he had taken the
oath of office in the presence of the assembled tens of thousands,
Garfield turned to his aged mother and imprinted a kiss upon her cheek,
and afterward upon that of his wife. It was a touch of nature that
appealed to the hearts of all present.
In the White House, one of the best rooms was reserved for his aged
mother, for whom he cherished the same fond love and reverence as in his
boyish days. It was a change, and a great one, from the humble log-cabin
in which our story opens; it was a change, too, from the backwoods boy,
in his suit of homespun, to the statesman of noble and commanding
figure, upon whom the eyes of the nation were turned. The boy who had
guided the canal-boat was now at the helm of the national vessel, and
there was no fear that he would run her aground. Even had storms come,
we might safely trust in him who had steered the little steamboat up the
Big Sandy River, in darkness and storm and floating obstructions, to the
camp where his famished soldiers were waiting for supplies. For, as is
the case with every great man, it was difficulty and danger that nerved
Garfield to heroic efforts, and no emergency found him lacking.
His life must now be changed, and the change was not altogether
agreeable. With his cordial off-hand manners, and Western freedom, he,
no doubt, felt cramped and hampered by the requirements of his new
position. When he expressed his preference for the position of a
freelance in the House or Senate, he was sincere. It was more in
accordance with his private tastes. But a public man can not always
choose the place or the manner in which he will serve his country.
Often she says to him, "Go up higher!" when he is content with an humble
place, and more frequently, perhaps, he has to be satisfied with an
humble place when he considers himself fitted for a higher.
So far as he could, Gen. Garfield tried to preserve in the Executive
Mansion the domestic life which he so highly prized. He had his children
around him. He made wise arrangements for their continued education, for
he felt that whatever other legacy he might be able to leave them, this
would be the most valuable. Still, as of old, he could count on the
assistance of his wife in fulfilling the duties, social and otherwise,
required by his exalted position.
Nor was he less fortunate in his political family. He had selected as
his Premier a friend and political associate of many years' standing,
whose brilliant talent and wide-spread reputation brought strength to
his administration. In accepting the tender of the post of Secretary of
State, Mr. Blaine said: "In our new relation I shall give all that I am,
and all that I can hope to be, freely and joyfully to your service. You
need no pledge of my loyalty in heart and in act. I should be false to
myself did I not prove true both to the great trust you confide to me,
and to your own personal and political fortunes in the present and in
the future. Your administration must be made brilliantly successful, and
strong in the confidence and pride of the people, not at all directing
its energies for re-election, and yet compelling that result by the
logic of events and by the imperious necessities of the situation.
"I accept it as one of the happiest circumstances connected with this
affair, that in allying my political fortunes with yours--or rather, for
the time merging mine in yours--my heart goes with my head, and that I
carry to you not only political support, but personal and devoted
friendship. I can but regard it as somewhat remarkable that two men of
the same age, entering Congress at the same time, influenced by the same
aims, and cherishing the same ambitions, should never, for a single
moment, in eighteen years of close intimacy, have had a misunderstanding
or a coolness, and that our friendship has steadily grown with our
growth, and strengthened with our strength.
"It is this fact which has led me to the conclusion embodied in this
letter; for, however much, my dear Garfield, I might admire you as a
statesman, I would not enter your Cabinet if I did not believe in you as
a man and love you as a friend."
When it is remembered that Mr. Blaine before the meeting of the
convention was looked upon as the probable recipient of the honor that
fell to Garfield, the generous warmth of this letter will be accounted
most creditable to both of the two friends, whose strong friendship
rivalry could not weaken or diminish.
So the new Administration entered upon what promised to be a successful
course. I can not help recording, as a singular circumstance, that the
three highest officers were ex-teachers. Of Garfield's extended services
as teacher, beginning with the charge of a district school in the
wilderness, and ending with the presidency of a college, we already
know. Reference has also been made to the early experience of the
Vice-President, Chester A. Arthur, in managing a country school. To this
it may be added that Mr. Blaine, too, early in life was a teacher in an
academy, and, as may readily be supposed, a successful one. It is seldom
in other countries that similar honors crown educational workers. It
may be mentioned, however, that Louis Philippe, afterward King of the
French, while an exile in this country, gave instruction in his native
language. It is not, however, every ruler of boys that is qualified to
become a ruler of men. Yet, in our own country, probably a majority of
our public men have served in this capacity.