took his place in the front rank of his
fellow-students.

Here, as at each stage in his eventful life, young Garfield proved that
every person must decide for himself the amount of respect that is
really due to him from his companions.

No one could have entered college with a more homely appearance than
Garfield. His rustic manners and still more rustic dress invited
criticism among the smart young men of his college, yet because he was
by nature a gentleman, he was treated from the first as such, by both
teachers and students alike.

His vacations, as before, were spent in teaching, and his Sabbaths in
preaching. In this latter office he acquitted himself so well, that it
became quite an accepted opinion that he was to become a minister.
This was one mark of the high estimation in which he was held, but
there were others besides. The position of teacher in a high school,
at the handsome salary of two hundred and fifty pounds, was offered him
at this time. The offer, however, was declined, for the reason that it
would prevent him taking his degree, and thus interfere with his plans
in life.

His ambition was a very noble one. He wished, he said, to take a
degree, to win, if possible, a name for scholarship; and then to go
back to the modest salary and the limited sphere of the Hiram
Institute, and thus help the humble college which had done so much for
him.

Another illustration of the good name he had earned was shown in a
smaller, but still very practical way. His brother Thomas's resources
had unfortunately given out, and James was in urgent need of money to
buy a suit of clothes. Careless as he was about his personal
appearance, the state of his wardrobe had become a serious anxiety to
him. One day a tailor in Troy sent for him, took his measure, and
fitted him out, saying, "Go on with your education, and when you have
some money for which you have no other use, pay me." This was a little
matter in itself, but of great interest as showing the opinion which
his neighbours had formed of the young man.

It was during his residence at Williams' that the country was thrown
into excitement by Preston Brooks' attack upon Charles Sumner. Sumner
had taken a prominent part in the growing desire of the Northern States
of America for the abolition of slavery. He was a Senator of the
United States, and a politician and orator of great influence.

One day, as he sat writing at his desk in the Senate House, tw