GARFIELD, JAMES A. 



317 



words to have been prophetic, and showed how 

 well the speaker knew the power behind him. 

 Another prosecution incurred by similar 

 language, in a later speech to the electors of 

 the twentieth arrondisseraent of Paris, seemed 

 but to goad him to the attack, which he only- 

 relinquished as victor. A brief but fierce con- 

 flict between the President and the Chamber; 

 the downfall of the Broglie-De Fourtou and 

 the accession of the Dufaure or Parliamentary 

 Ministry (December); Gambetta's visit to Italy 

 and his conferences with Italian statesmen, 

 keenly piquing public curiosity ; his angry 

 encounter with De Fourtou, and the resulting 

 duel (November 18, 1878), and Gambetta's re- 

 fusal of a proffered portfolio such were about 

 the only remaining events of importance re- 

 lating to our subject, until the resignation of 

 President MacMahon (January 5, 1879). On 

 January 30th, Gambetta accepted the presiden- 

 cy of the Legislative Assembly under the Grevy 

 administration, having been elected by an al- 

 most unanimous vote to that position, which he 

 quitted for that of Premier on November 14, 

 1881. The history of his public life since Jan- 

 uary, 1878, including his triumphant support 

 of the plenary amnesty bill, carried (June 21, 

 1880) by 333 against 140 votes, as the result 

 of the first oration he had delivered from the 

 tribune of the Palais-Bourbon since the som- 

 ber days of the revolution of September 4, 

 1870; the defeat of his cherished electoral 

 reform bill for the scrutin de liste, etc., is in 

 form and in fact the history of the Corps Legis- 

 latif itself, and reference therefor may be made 

 to the article FRANCE, in our volumes for 1878, 

 '79, '80, and the present one. 



GARFIELD, JAMES ABEAM, twentieth Pres- 

 ident of the United States, born at Orange, 

 Cuyahoga County, Ohio, November 19, 1831 ; 

 died at Long Branch, New Jersey, September 

 19, 1881. (For particulars of his life down to 

 his election to the office of President, see " An- 

 nual Cyclopaedia" for 1880.) In the interval 

 between his election and his inauguration on 

 the 4th of March, with the exception of a brief 

 visit to "Washington on private business in No- 

 vember, he continued to reside at Mentor, 

 Ohio, where he was visited by many public 

 men, some of whom came on his special invi- 

 tation. The composition of his Cabinet, and 

 his general purposes in regard to public ap- 

 pointments, were the subject of constant specu- 

 lation, and in consulting the political leaders 

 of his party he manifested a desire to unite 

 them all in support of his Administration. It 

 was early understood that Senator Blaine, of 

 Maine, who had been one of the chief com- 

 petitors for the nomination at Chicago, was to 

 be Secretary of State. Among those summoned 

 to Mentor for consultation was Senator Conk- 

 ling, who had led the delegates in the conven- 

 tion pledged to the nomination of General 

 Grant; and it was given out that Secretary 

 Sherman, who had been the other leading can- 

 didate for the nomination, could retain his 



place at the head of the Treasury, if he desired 

 to do so. The President-elect took leave of 

 his friends and neighbors on the last day of 

 February, and arrived at the capital on the 

 1st of March. The inauguration on the 4th 

 was attended with unusual civic, military, 

 and social display, and there was a general 

 feeling of hopefulness and confidence in the 

 new Administration. The Senate met in spe- 

 cial session, and on the 5th the Cabinet appoint- 

 ments were submitted and promptly confirmed. 

 Mr. Blaine appeared at the head of the list, as 

 was expected; Secretary Sherman had pre- 

 ferred a re-election to the Senate ; and the in- 

 fluence of Mr. Conkling was not noticeable in 

 the make-up of the Cabinet. The Senate was 

 in session until the 20th of May, but the time 

 was mostly taken up with a controversy over 

 its organization, and it was not until May 4th 

 that executive sittings were held to act on 

 other nominations. On the 22d of March 

 several names were sent in for offices in the 

 State of New York, including those of district 

 attorneys and marshals, and the Collector of the 

 Port of Buffalo. The appointees were sup- 

 posed to be entirely acceptable to the Senators, 

 from that State. On the day following Judge 

 William H. Robertson was named as Collector 

 of the Port of New York, the incumbent of 

 the office, E. A. Merritt, being appointed con- 

 sul-general at London. These appointments 

 were known to be displeasing to Senator Conk- 

 ling, and provoked considerable discussion. 

 When the Senate finally went into executive 

 session, Mr. Conkling declared his opposition 

 to the appointment of Mr. Robertson, claiming 

 that he had a right to be consulted in the mat- 

 ter, and that the selection of a conspicuous 

 political enemy of his for so important an 

 office in his own State was an insult, and in 

 violation of pledges given him by the Presi- 

 dent. Finding that the New York Senators 

 were determined, if possible, to defeat the 

 confirmation of Robertson and Merritt, the 

 President withdrew all the other appointments 

 for that State in order that their cases might 

 be acted on alone. Seeing that they could 

 not prevent the confirmation, Senators Conk- 

 ling and Platt both resigned on the 16th of 

 May, and returned to New York to seek a vin- 

 dication of their course by an immediate re- 

 election. Robertson and Merritt were then 

 confirmed, and the other New York appoint- 

 ments renewed, a change being made in that 

 for Collector of Buffalo. Out of this con- 

 troversy grew considerable factional excite- 

 ment between what were known as the " Stal- 

 wart" and the "Administration" wings of 

 the Republican party. 



On the morning of July 2d, the President 

 set out from the Executive Mansion with Sec- 

 retary Blaine for the Baltimore and Potomac 

 Railroad station, where he was to join several 

 members of the Cabinet for a trip to New 

 York and New England, including visits to 

 Williams College and the White Mountains. 



