It was a surprise to nobody, but a real pleasure to multitudes, when at Chicago, on June 8th, 1880, James A. Garfield received the nomination for the Presidency by three hundred and ninety-nine votes in a total of seven hundred and fifty-five This was upon the thirty-sixth ballot of the nominating Convention, but not until then had Garfield been prominently brought forward. His nomination was at once made unanimous in the Convention, and hailed with joy throughout the land. His chief opponent was the superb soldier, MajorGeneral Winfield S. Hancock, but Garfield and Arthur received two hundred and fourteen of three hundred and sixty-nine electoral votes and secured the highest offices in the gift of the na tion.

Garfield was inaugurated amid general satisfaction throughout the nation. His venerable mother saw her son's exaltation on that memorable Inauguration Day, and received from him, as the newly made President, his kiss of filial love. Every department of the public service felt the force of the new regime, and prosperity beamed on every side until the fatal Saturday, July 2d, 1881, when the assassin's bullet cut short the era of joy and hopefulness which had just fairly dawned. After weeks of patient suffering he died at Elberon, N. J., September 29, 1881.

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T

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

HE exodus from foreign lands to this country has at all times since the early years

of the present century been remarkable for its steadiness-though varying during the decades. A home in freedom and a chance for a fortune in climes where centuries have not bound with iron every man's position is always an incentive to brave spirits.

Among those who took the tide in its flow, at the beginning of the twenties, was a young Protestant Irishman from Ballymena, County Antrim, who bore the name of William Arthur. He was eighteen years of age, a graduate of Belfast College, and thoroughly imbued with the intention of becoming a Baptist clergyman. In this he persevered, was admitted to the ministry, took a degree of D.D., and followed a career of great usefulness, which did not terminate until he died, at Newtonville, near Albany, October 27th, 1875. He was in many respects a remarkable man. He acquired a wide fame in his chosen career, and entered successfully the great competition of authors. He published a work on Family Names that is today regarded as one of the curiosities of English erudite literature.

He married, not long after entering the ministry, an American, Malvina Stone, who bore him

a family of two sons and five daughters. Of these, Chester Allan, the subject of this sketch, was born at Fairfield, Franklin County, Vermont, October 5th, 1830. From his home studies he went to a wider field of instruction in the institutions of Schenectady, in the grammar school of which place he was prepared for entering Union College. This he did at the age of fifteen (1845), and took successfully the regular course, excelling in all his studies and graduating very high in the class of 1848.

On graduating he entered the law school at Ballston Springs. By rigid economy and hard work, he had managed to save five hundred dollars, and with this in his pocket he went to New York, and entered the law office of Erastus D. Culver, afterward minister to one of the South American States and a judge of the Civil Court of Brooklyn. Soon after entering Judge Culver's office, he was—in 1852―admitted to the bar, and formed the firm of Culver, Partsen & Arthur, which was dissolved in 1837. No sooner had he won his title to appear in the courts, than he formed a partnership with an old friend, Henry D. Gardner, with an intention of practicing in the West, and for three months these young gentlemen roamed through the Western States in search of a place to locate. In the end, not satisfied, they returned to New York and began practice.

The law career of Mr. Arthur includes some notable cases. One of his first cases was the cele

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brated Lemmon suit. In 1852, Jonathan and Juliet Lemmon, Virginia slaveholders, intending to emigrate to Texas, went to New York to await the sailing of a steamer, bringing eight slaves with them. A writ of habeas corpus was obtained from Judge Paine to test the question whether the provisions of the Fugitive Slave Law were in force in that State. Judge Paine rendered a decision holding that they were not, and ordering the Lemmon slaves to be liberated. Henry L. Clinton was one of the counsel for the slaveholders. A howl of rage went up from the South, and the Virginia Legislature authorized the AttorneyGeneral of that State to assist in taking an appeal. William M. Evarts and Chester A. Arthur were employed to represent the people, and they won their case, which then went to the Supreme Court of the United States. Charles O'Conor here espoused the cause of the slaveholders, but he, too, was beaten by Messrs. Evarts and Arthur, and a long step was thus taken toward the emancipation of the black race.

Mr. Arthur always took an interest in politics and the political surroundings of his day. His political life began at the age of fourteen, as a champion of the Whig party. He shared, too, in the turbulence of political life at that period, and it is related of him during the Polk-Clay canvass that, while he and some of his companions were raising an ash pole in honor of Henry Clay, some

Democratic boys attacked the party of Whigs, and young Arthur, who was the recognized leader of the party, ordered a charge, and, taking the front ranks himself, drove the young Democrats from the field with broken heads and subdued spirits. He was a delegate to the Saratoga Convention that founded the Republican party in New York State. He was active in local politics, and he gradually became one of the leaders. He nominated, and by his efforts elected, the Hon. Thomas Murphy a State Senator. When the latter resigned the Collectorship of the Port, in November, 1871, Arthur was appointed by President Grant to fill the vacancy.

He was nominated for the Vice-Presidency at Chicago on the evening of Tuesday, June 10th. He was heartily indorsed by the popular and electoral vote, and on the death of President Garfield, September 19th, 1881, he assumed the Presidential chair. His Administration was uneventful, but was attended with general peace and prosperity. He died November 18th, 1886.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

Grover Cleveland, the twenty-second President of the United States, was born at Caldwell, Essex county, N. J., March 18, 1837. His father,