But while Garfield was at the head of his victorious troops in Kentucky,
his friends in Ohio were arranging, without his consent or knowledge, to
call him away to a very different sphere of work. They nominated
Garfield as their candidate for the United States House of
Representatives at Washington. The General himself was unwilling to
accede to their request, when it reached him. He thought he could serve
the country better in the field than in Congress. Besides, he was still
a comparatively poor man. His salary as Major-General was double that of
a member of the House; and for his wife's and children's sake he
hesitated to accept the lesser position. Had he continued in the army to
the end of the war, he would doubtless have risen to the very highest
honours of that stirring epoch. But President Lincoln was very anxious
that Garfield should come into the Congress, where his presence would
greatly strengthen the President's hands; and with a generous self-
denial which well bespeaks his thorough loyalty, Garfield gave up his
military post and accepted a place in the House of Representatives. He
took his seat in December, 1863.

For seventeen years, General Garfield sat in the general legislature of
the United States as one of the members for Ohio. During all that time,
he distinguished himself most honourably as the fearless advocate of
honest government, and the pronounced enemy of those underhand dodges
and wire-pulling machinery which are too often the disgrace of American
politics. He was opposed to all corruption and chicanery, especially to
the bad system of rewarding political supporters with places under
Government, which has long been the chief blot upon American republican
institutions. As a person of stalwart honesty and singleness of purpose,
he made himself respected by both sides alike. Politically speaking,
different men will judge very differently of Garfield's acts in the
House of Representatives. Englishmen especially cannot fail to remark