from ridicule. A well-directed critical outburst freezes them.
Such has been the Harvey method of approach. Having reduced his
subjects to a state of terror, he flatters them, cajoles them, and
finally makes terms with them; but he always remains a more or less
unstable and uncertain quantity, potentially explosive.

There is not much of the present Harvey to be gleaned from his
earlier experiences, except the pertinacity that has had much to do
with his irregular climb up the ladder. He was born in Peacham,
Vermont, where as a boy after school hours he mounted a stool in
his father's general store and kept books. At the end of the year
his accounts were short a penny. Because of this he received no
Christmas gift not, as he has said, because his father begrudged
the copper more than any other Vermont storekeeper, but because he
was meticulously careful himself and expected the younger
generation to be likewise.

This experience must have been etched upon Harvey's memory; no one
can be more meticulous when his interest is aroused. To money he is
indifferent, but a misplaced word makes him shudder. Writing with
him is an exhausting process, which probably accounts for the fact
that his literary output has been small. But the same power of
analysis and attention to detail have been most effective in his
political activities. In these his divination has been prophetic
and in his manipulation of contending elements he shows a dexterity
that has baffled even the professional politicians.

Harvey began his journalistic career upon the Peacham Patriot.
Thence, with a borrowed ten dollar bill, he went to Springfield,
serving his apprenticeship on the Republican, the best school of