CHAPTER XXVII.

1880-1881.

PRESIDENT GARFIELD-MARQUIS OF LORNE-THE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA CONCLUSION.

THE year 1881, the last of our history, finds America in the flood tide of prosperity.

James A. Garfield was installed in office as the twentieth President of

larger than had ever before witnessed such a scene.

A brilliant assembly gathered in the Senate Chamber. The senators were seated on one side. The galleries were filled with notable persons from all parts of the country.

The diplomatic corps, headed by the British Minister, Sir Edward Thornton, resplendent in court costumes; the justices of the Supreme Court in their silk robes; General Hancock, and a throng of the best-known men in the country, entered the chamber before twelve o'clock, and took seats assigned to them. President Hayes and Mr. Garfield, followed by Mr. Chester A. Arthur, the VicePresident elect, and, finally, the House of Representatives, headed by Speaker Randall, entered; and in presence of this assembly the oath of office was administered to the new Vice-President. After this had been done, the whole body of witnesses repaired to the eastern portico, where a platform had been erected for the President and those who were entitled by official or personal position to be present.

General Garfield then arose, and, after taking the oath of office, read in a loud, clear voice his inaugural address, and the inauguration ceremonies were ended.

General Garfield was born in the township of Orange, Ohio, fifteen miles from Cleveland, on November 19, 1831. His father and mother were of New England stock, and he was the youngest of four children.

Through his own exertions he obtained an academical and collegiate education, graduating with honor at Williams College, at Williamstown, Massachusetts, in 1856. He was immediately chosen professor in a college at Hiram, Portage County, Ohio, and two years afterwards became president of the college.

In 1861, when the war broke out, he was chosen colonel of the 42d Ohio Regiment. His army service was highly honorable. He was very soon in command of a brigade, served through the Western campaigns, and was made a major-general for his services at the battle of Chickamauga.

While absent in the field he was nominated and elected to Congress, and from 1863 to 1880 continued to represent

1881.

President Garfield's Cabinet.

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his district. He was chosen, by the Legislature of Ohio, a United States senator for the six years' term, beginning March 4, 1881, but was subsequently elected to the presidency of the nation.

A view of the political history of the Cabinet of President Garfield well illustrates the genius, results, and promises of American institutions.

The Secretary of State, and leader in the new Cabinet, is Senator James G. Blaine, of Maine. Mr. Blaine is a native of Pennsylvania, but has resided in Maine for more than twenty-five years. He represented the third district of Maine in Congress from 1863 until 1876, and the State of Maine, in the Senate, from 1876 until the present time. He was six years Speaker of the national House. In 1876, and also in 1880, he was one of the leading candidates before the Republican Convention for President.

On

Mr. William Windom, Secretary of the Treasury, is a native of Ohio. He removed to Minnesota in 1853. the admission of that State in 1858, he was chosen its representative in Congress. After a service of ten years. in that capacity, he was appointed a senator in 1870, chosen for a full term in 1871, and in 1877 re-elected for the term ending in 1883. He received the votes of Minnesota for the presidential nomination at the Chicago Convention last year.

Senator Samuel J. Kirkwood, of Iowa, is the new Secretary of the Interior. He was born in Maryland, lived twenty years in Ohio, has been three times elected governor of Iowa, and was for the second time a senator when he was appointed a member of the Cabinet.

Mr. Robert T. Lincoln, Secretary of War, is the only surviving son of President Lincoln. He is a lawyer of Chicago, and has never before held office.

Judge William H. Hunt, of Louisiana, represents the