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.