abundance of sympathy on poodle pets and hardened criminals; and caring not if the dirty gamins in the gutters pelted your meager funeral procession with sticks and stones.

If you have experienced this not uncommon woe, your heart will bless those Ohio pioneers, whose children whispered about their doors and hushed their voices in the plays of school recess, saying,

Poor Jimmy's father is dead," you will have a sincere yearning for their friendship, as you hear how the hardy plowmen came from many miles away, and with tears coursing their rough cheeks, offered consolation and help. All mourned in sincerity, all remembered the widow and the fatherless in that hour of trial.

The funeral which soon followed was unostentatious and simple, but called out a large attendance of friends and neighbors. Little Jimmy was the recipient of many a sad caress on that occasion, and tears freely flowed at the sight of his helplessness and artlessness, from fountains which even the pres.. ence of the stricken widow had not unloosed.

In that same year Sir Henry Taylor wrote "The world knows nothing of its greatest men," and his true saying would have been a wiser one had it passed into literature that "The world knows nothing of its greatest women." The situation in which Eliza Garfield was left, was peculiarly disheartening because she was a woman. To a man, with physical strength, with opportunities for gain, with power to compel respect for himself and his children, the cir

cumstances which follow the death of a consort are not so appalling. But the utter despair which must have filled that widow's heart, when with her fatherless little ones she entered alone their log home after the burial, cannot be known to those who have not had a like sorrow. The phantoms which his presence had kept aloof from their cabin, the shadows which his face had ever dispelled, came boldly in at the door, and lurked in the corners at the approach of every evening. The farm was not fully fenced. The stock was not paid for, and the orchard of trees which Abram had planted had not reached its fruitage. There was but a meager stock of provisions or clothing on hand, and the crop which had been sowed, she seemed helpless to gather. The reader may say that there is nothing very uncommon in their situation, and may say that other women have been in even worse circumstances; but such facts do not make this experience any the less interesting, nor these evidences of womanly heroism any the less striking. If she sold all their personal property to pay the debts, she must still leave some unpaid. To the men of business, there seemed no way but to sell the farm and everything of personal property connected with it, put the children out into families where they could be adopted, or be made to pay their way doing errands and light work, while she could probably support herself by weaving, or by household labor in the families of those who knew her.

It does not appear that the brave woman ever entertained the thought of following their advice.

Her love was too strong, her capabilities for selfsacrifice too great to admit of a separation without a struggle to maintain her family. In her resolution she had the sympathy of every one, even of such as looked upon it as a foolhardy undertaking.

In order to pay the outstanding debts, she concluded to sell a part of the little farm and finally disposed of twenty acres, for a sum which left her thirty acres and two cows, free of debt. The dimensions were reduced but it was still their home.

Thomas was a robust and active boy, and appears to have taken hold of labor with a heroic devotedness worthy of his mother. It is said that he and his mother actually attempted to complete the unfinished rail fence along one side of their farm, but she was too light and small to be of much use at a man's work of driving stakes or splitting rails. Yet the attempt shows the determined and independent spirit with which she took upon herself the office of father in addition to that of mother. With the help of kind neighbors and her brother-in-law, Amos, who was still her nearest neighbor, the first crop was gathered, and odd jobs of employment found for Thomas. Living on the plainest food, wearing the coarsest clothing, and denying themselves every luxury, the little family struggled on from day to day managing so as to keep out of debt and retain their hold on their home. Mrs. Garfield sought employment for herself among the people of that vicinity, and appears to have earned considerable in spinning, weaving and knitting, at which she was an expert.

While she was engaged at work, little Jimmy was left in the care of the girls, or, in case the girls also found some work, he was left with the family of his Uncle Amos. She occasionally had an opportunity of letting a few acres of her land to be cultivated on shares, and secured some of her firewood in that way, while the remainder was brought in by herself and children by hand from the borders of the woodland.

Of Thomas, whose industry as a boy, and whose self-denying faithfulness to his mother in her needs was remarkable, the people still retain most praiseworthy traditions. Whenever he could work extra hours and earn a few pennies more, he never neglected the opportunity, and always with most touching indications of joy carried home to his mother with alacrity every cent of his earnings. He seemed never to have thought that he was entitled to any share of it for amusement or luxury. It is still related of him, how he walked to Cleveland and back on an errand, saving the small cost of a horse, with a determination to "get money enough extra to buy Jimmy a pair of shoes," so that the little fellow could go to "the Sunday meetings in the School-House." However, the clothing for the family was usually secured by Mrs. Garfield in exchange for her work. When shoes became a necessity she would weave or sew for the shoemaker, and he would come to her cabin and make the shoes on the spot and fit them as he put them together.

Yet it seems that amid all this excessive labor and

mental strain, Mrs. Garfield found time to read papers and books such as the neighborhood contained. Her Sabbaths, doubly sacred for the gathering of her family about her, were also improved by her in reading, and often she read aloud to the children. In this way, no doubt, young James gained that first love for books which afterwards led him into the higher walks of life.