'If he haint no more sense'n to get mad at accidents, giv it ter him! Why don't you strike ?' "But the boy did not strike, for the man was down and in his power.
Murphy expressed regret for his rage, and then Garfield gave him his hand, and they became better friends than ever before.

This victory of a boy of sixteen over a man of thirty-five obliterated the notion of young Garfield's character for cowardice, and gave him a great reputation among his associates.

The incident is still well remembered among the boatmen of the Ohio and Pennsylvania Canal." The boy's speedy reconciliation to the man who had made so unprovoked an assault upon him was characteristic of his nature.

He never could cherish malice, and it was very hard work for him to remain angry with any one, however great the provocation.
Both as a boy and as a man he possessed great physical strength, as may be inferred from an incident told by the Boston _Journal_ of his life when he was no longer the humble canal-boy, but a brigadier-general in the army: "At Pittsburg Landing one night in 1862 there was a rush for rations by some newly-arrived troops.

One strong, fine-looking soldier presented a requisition for a barrel of flour, _and, shouldering it, walked off with ease_.