taken by me on the
occasion referred to. I hope you are satisfied with them."

I thanked Mr. Blaine cordially for giving me the desired explanation.
"I now feel better satisfied with reference to your action upon that
occasion," I assured him. "While I do not agree with you in your
conclusions, and while I believe your reasoning to be unsound and
fallacious, still I cannot help giving you credit for having been
actuated by no other motive than to do what you honestly believed was
for the best interest of the country and the Republican party."

CHAPTER XIII

STATE CAMPAIGN OF 1875. REPUBLICAN VICTORY

When I returned to my home after the adjournment of Congress in March,
1875, the political clouds were dark. The political outlook was
discouraging. The prospect of Republican success was not at all bright.
There had been a marked change in the situation from every point of
view. Democrats were bold, outspoken, defiant, and determined. In
addition to these unfavorable indications I noticed that I was not
received by them with the same warmth and cordiality as on previous
occasions. With a few notable exceptions they were cold, indifferent,
even forbidding in their attitude and manner. This treatment was so
radically different from that to which I had been accustomed that I
could not help feeling it keenly. I knew it was indicative of a change
in the political situation which meant that I had before me the fight of
my life.

My advocacy and support of the Federal Elections Bill, commonly called
the "Force Bill," was occasionally given as the reason for this change;
but I knew this was not the true reason. In fact, that bill would hardly
have been thought of but for the fact that Mr. Blaine, the Republican
Speaker of the House, had attracted national attention to it through his
action in vacating the chair and coming on the floor of the House to
lead the opposition to its passage. This act on the part of the
statesman from Maine made him, in the opinion of many Southern
Democrats, the greatest man that our country had ever produced,--George
Washington, the Father of the Republic, not excepted. They were loud in
their thanks for the valuable service he had thus rendered them and, as
evidence of their gratitude to him, they declared their determination to
show their appreciation of this valuable service in a substantial manner
whenever the opportunity presented itself for it to be done.

No man in the country wa