STRIKING OUT A NEW LINE.
James decides to attend a College--He obtains Employment whereby to pay
his Fees--Looking Upward.
In the life of every strong youth there comes a time when the manhood
within him awakens to a consciousness of its proper powers. Such a
moment had come in the life of young Garfield. His best friends had
striven hard to awaken his slumbering ambition; even the companions of
the towpath and of the woodyard had spoken with regret of the apparent
waste of such abilities as he had shown; while his mother, who had been
the first to perceive his talents, never ceased to urge her boy to fit
himself for an honourable and useful calling.
All this advice, however, seemed to be thrown away on the strong-willed
youth, until that moment when the Spirit of God laid hold of him.
Then, as if a lamp had been lit in the empty house, his whole nature
was transfigured. He was still the same sturdy, happy, self-reliant
lad; but he was also a youth with a purpose in life. He no longer
allowed passing fancies to rule his conduct, but, fixing his eye upon
one goal, he began splendidly to push his way towards the prize upon
which he had set his heart.
With a natural shrewdness, he saw at once that a man without culture
and mental training could not climb high on the ladder of life. He saw
that knowledge was the one key which opened the door to power in
America, and with characteristic energy he set himself to seek that key.
The story of Garfield's attempts to gain an education forms one of the
most romantic portions of his history. At first the height of his
ambition was to attend a little Western college called Geauga Seminary,
a school where about a hundred youths and maidens were gathered, under
the auspices of the Free-will Baptist denomination, at the town of
Chester in the State of Ohio.
Garfield, accompanied by two cousins, arrived at Geauga Seminary on
March 5, 1849. It was perhaps the most important moment of his life,
when the big, awkward, ill-dressed boy crossed the threshold of that
humble college, and began to tread the path that was to lead straight
on to one of the highest places of dignity on earth.
He and his companions hired a room, and with but a little in money, a
sack or two of provisions, some pots and pans, and an old school-book,
began their simple college course.
Garfield's plans to make his money last as long as possible were
amazing. He began with about two pounds, his dear mother's savings,
but text-books and school fees had already reduced his tiny fortune.
At first the lads did their own cooking, with indifferent success.
Next they tried to live on bread and milk, but found it insufficient.
Then Garfield discovered a local carpenter who had planks to plane, and
in his spare time he found employment with him. Thus, working at his
books in the daytime, and toiling at the bench at night, he plodded
along. And yet, though his struggles were long and trying, there was
no need for pity in the condition of the young student.
Probably no conceivable circumstances would have better developed the
character of this backwoods scholar. His hardy limbs found real
pleasure in work, which kept his body braced and healthy, while the
active mind was exerting its great faculties in the keen pursuit of
knowledge.
Some of the most interesting and instructive periods in the lives of
the greatest men, both in this country and in America, have been found
in just such conditions as these. Thoughtful English lads will never
tire of hearing about those men, who, starting at the lowest point of
mental knowledge and social opportunities, have yet contrived to fill
in their day a large space in the world of letters. Take for example
the stories of the three cobbler lads--Drew the historian, Cooper the
reformer, and Carey the missionary, who, each in his own way, proved
superior to poverty and all its attendant disadvantages, and rose, the
one from his bench to a professorship in the London University, the
other from a position equally lowly to a high place among the thinkers
and writers of his day; and the third, leaving his lapstone to take up
the pen of a translator, from cobbling boots in a back kitchen, went
out to be the great master missionary of his age.
And just as in olden times God called His chief servants from the
farmstead and the sheep-run, so even still the men of might have been
those whose natures were made strong by youthful hardship and boyish
battles.
The slave lad who became the Old World's greatest statesman, the
shepherd boy who became its noblest King, and the young farmer who
stood among its mightiest prophets, are but the types and forerunners
of the Luthers and Lincolns and Garfields of more modern days.
Garfield, when once his eyes were opened, was quick enough to see that
no boy could possibly succeed in life while he remained in ignorance.
He said over and over again, "Mother, I must have an education"; and,
having made up his mind to this, he set himself to secure it in the
only possible way.
No false pride hindered him, no difficulties drove him back. He knew
that he would have to begin at the bottom, and he knew also that he
would have to work his way, every inch of the long journey.
One of his own wise sayings was this: "Poverty is uncomfortable, as I
can testify; but, nine times out of ten, the best thing that can happen
to a young man is to be tossed overboard, and compelled to sink or swim
for himself. In all my acquaintance, I never knew a man to be drowned
who was worth saving." No man illustrated his own words better than
James Garfield.
"Labour is glory!--the flying cloud lightens;
Only the waving wing changes and brightens;
Idle hearts only the dark future frightens;
Play the sweet keys, wouldst thou keep them in tune."