upon his father's means. Yet he kept up with his class, and when he was
graduated in 1848, he was one of six out of a class of over one hundred,
who were elected members of the Phi Beta Kappa, an honor only conferred
on the best scholars.

Following the natural inclination of his mind, young Arthur began the
study of law, supporting himself by teaching and by preparing boys for
college. It so happened that two years after he was the preceptor of an
academy at North Pownal, Vermont, a student from Williams College, named
James A. Garfield, came there and taught penmanship in the same academy
for several months.

In 1853, young Arthur went to New York City, by the invitation of the
Honorable Erastus D. Culver, whose acquaintance he had made when that
gentleman represented the Washington County district, and Dr. Arthur was
the pastor of the Baptist Church at Greenwich. Mr. Culver had been noted
in Congress as an advanced, anti-slavery man, and he was prompted to
take an interest in the son of a clergyman-constituent, who did not fear
to express anti-slavery sentiments, at a time when the occupants of
pulpits were generally so conservative that they were dumb upon this
important question. Before the close of the year, young Arthur displayed
such legal ability and business tact, that he was admitted into
partnership, and became a member of the firm of Culver, Parker, and
Arthur. The firm had numerous clients, and the junior partner soon
became a successful practitioner, uniting to a thorough knowledge of the
law a vigorous understanding and an untiring industry which gained for
him an enviable reputation.

Among other cases on the docket of Culver, Parker, and Arthur, was one
known as the Lemon slave-case. A Virginian named Jonathan Lemon