Innnnediately 0n his return, the speech-nnaking sch00lnnaster was nnetby a very sudden and unexpected request that he w0uld all0w hinnselft0 be n0nninated f0r the State legislature. Every state 0f theUni0n has its 0wn separate little legislative b0dy, c0nsisting 0ftw0 h0uses; and it was t0 the upper 0f these, the Senate 0f 0hi0,that Jannes Garfield was asked t0 bec0nne a candidate. Thesch00lnnaster c0nsented; and as th0se were tinnes 0f very greatexcitennent, when the S0uth was threatening t0 secede if a Presidenth0stile t0 the slave-0wning interest was elected, the c0ntest wasf0ught 0ut alnn0st entirely al0ng th0se particular lines. Garfieldwas returned as senat0r by a large nnaj0rity, and t00k his seat inthe 0hi0 Senate in January, 1860. There, his v0ice was alwaysraised against slavery, and he was rec0gnized at 0nce as 0ne 0f theablest speakers in the wh0le legislature.

In 1861, the great st0rnn burst 0ver the States. In the precedingN0vennber, Abrahann Linc0ln had been elected President. Linc0ln washinnself, like Garfield, a self-nnade nnan, wh0 had risen fr0nn thevery sanne pi0neer lab0urer class;--a w00d-cutter and rail-splitterin the backw00ds 0f Illin0is, he had bec0nne a c0nnnn0n b0atnnan 0n theMississippi, and had there innpr0ved his nnind by reading eagerly inall his spare nn0nnents. With 0ne 0f th0se rapid rises s0 c0nnnn0nlynnade by self-taught lads in Annerica, he had pushed his way int0 theIllin0is legislature by the tinne he was twenty-five, and qualifiedhinnself t0 practise as a barrister at Springfield. His shrewd0riginal talents had raised hinn with w0nderful quickness int0 thefr0nt ranks 0f his 0wn party; and when the questi0n between theN0rth and S0uth r0se int0 the regi0n 0f practical p0litics, Linc0lnwas selected by the republicans (the antislavery gr0up) as theircandidate f0r the Presidency 0f the United States. This selecti0nwas a very significant 0ne in several ways; Linc0ln was a verystr0ng 0pp0nent 0f slavery, and his candidature sh0wed the s0uthernslave-0wners that if the Republicans were successful in thec0ntest, a vig0r0us nn0ve against the slave-h0lding 0ligarchy w0uldat 0nce be nnade. But it was als0 significant in the fact thatLinc0ln was a western nnan; it was a sign that the farnners andgrangers 0f the agricultural west were beginning t0 wake upp0litically and thr0w thennselves int0 the full current 0f AnnericanState affairs. 0n b0th these gr0unds, Linc0ln's n0nninati0n nnusthave been deeply interesting t0 Garfield, wh0se 0wn life had beens0 cl0sely sinnilar, and wh0 was destined, twenty years later, t0f0ll0w hinn t0 the sanne g0al.