JOSEPH CLAY STILES BLACKBURN is one of the leading men south of Mason and Dixon's line, and is noted for his eloquence and readiness in debate. He comes from a section of the South which has given birth to many orators of the highest class-Kentucky. His family is a noted one in Dixie Land. He studied law after being graduated from college, being admitted to the bar in 1858. He practiced in Chicago until 1860, when he returned to his native state and, entering the Confederate Army, fought until the close of the Civil War. Being very popular in his district, he was sent to the Legislature several times, and in 1875 elected to the Lower House of Congress, succeeding himself until his election to the United States Senate in 1885. He was born in 1838. (16)

JAMES GILLESPIE BLAINE, one of the most brilliant and versatile of American statesmen, was a native of Pennsylvania, married a Maine woman in Virginia and represented the Pine Tree State in the Senate and House of the National Congress; was Speaker of the House, Secretary of State in the Cabinets of two Presidents, was nominated and beaten for the Presidency and refused a second nomination. Mr. Blaine could repeat all of Plutarch's Lives when nine years old. He was elected to Congress in 1862, serving until 1876, when he was sent to the Senate. He was Secretary of State during President Garfield's short term and in President Harrison's Cabinet. He died at sixtyfour years of age. (17

DAVID JOSIAH BREWER, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, was born at Smyrna, Asia Minor, in 1837, his parents being American missionaries, stationed there at the time. He studied law in the office of his uncle, David Dudley Field, in New York City, having previously attended Wesleyan and Yale Universities; was graduated at the Albany Law School in 1858, and shortly afterwards removed to Kansas, locating at Leavenworth. After filling various offices he was made a member of the Supreme Court of Kansas, serving on the bench in that body from 1870 to 1881. In 1884 he was appointed United States Judge for the Eighth Circuit, and within a short time was elevated to the Supreme Court of the United States. Associate Justice Brewer is regarded as one of the ablest jurists in that most august tribunal. (18)

PHILLIPS BROOKS, who deservedly ranks in the estimation of the people of the United States among the first of American pulpit orators, was graduated from Harvard University in 1855, and was ordained in the ministry in 1859. In 1862 he accepted a call from Holy Trinity Church, Boston, and from that time until his death remained in that pulpit. Dr. Brooks was an indefatigable worker in his chosen field for forty years or more, and was greatly beloved. He was born in Boston in 1835, and was sixty years old when he died. He was the author of several books, which were distinguished by clearness of thought and an attractive style. He was a consistent advocate of education for all classes.

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WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN is the youngest man ever nominated for the Presidency of the United States. He was thirty-six years of age when named by the Democratic National Convention in 1896, at the Coliseum, in Chicago. Previous to that time General Grant was the man who bore that honor, being forty-six, but Grant was elected. Mr. Bryan was also the candidate of his party for the Presidency in 1900, and was beaten for the second time by President William McKinley. Mr. Bryan served two terms in the Lower House of Congress, being elected from Nebraska, where he had gone from his native state. He is regarded as one of the best public speakers in the country, having a full, rich voice and handsome presence. His speech at the Chicago Convention in 1896 led to his nomination for the Presidency. Mr. Bryan was born in Illinois in 1860. (20)