is very remarkable that a man so prominent as a partisan in political
affairs could have written a book so free from partisanship.

Mr. Blaine is now in his fifty-fifth year. Although above medium height,
he is so compactly and powerfully built that he scarcely seems tall. His
features are large and expressive; he is slightly bald and his neatly
trimmed beard is prematurely gray; his brows are lowering--his eyes
keen. On the floor of Congress he manifested marvelous power and nerve.
His voice is rich and melodious; his delivery is fluent and vigorous;
his gestures are full of grace and force; his self-possession is never
lost. He has appeared on the stump in almost every Northern State, and
is an exceedingly popular and effective campaign speaker. But it is not
when on the platform, speaking alone, that he has shown his greatest
strength. He is strongest when hard pressed by opponents in
parliamentary debate. He is a thorough believer in the organization of
men who think alike for advancing their views. He believes that in order
to carry out any great project it is necessary to have a party
organization, not for the purpose of advancing individual interests, but
to push ahead a great line of policy. He is a positive with the courage
of his convictions, and believes in aggressive politics. As a
consequence of this he has always had both very strong friends and very
bitter enemies. It is probable that no man in this country has had a
stronger personal following since the days of Harry Clay.

Blaine is a man of great physical capacities. He has great powers of
application. His mind works quickly. He is as restless as the ocean and
has the power of accomplishing an immense amount of work. Another
quality which he possesses--rare but invaluable to a public man--is that
of remembering names and faces, of remembering men and all about them.
This ability is partly natural, partly the result of his training. He