WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT, poet, editor, lawyer, essayist and ardent student of literature, was a descendant, on his mother's side, of John Alden; his family characteristics were those of the stern and savage Puritans, and it is recorded that his grandfather Snell was a magistrate, and furthermore that he was merciless when dealing with criminals. Bryant was born at Cummington, Massachusetts, in 1794, and died in New York City in 1878, where, for many years, he had been the editor of the Evening Post. He began to write verses at an early age, his father encouraging him in this, and was but eighteen years old when he composed the imperishable "Thanatopsis." It was not published, however, until five years later. Having been admitted to the bar he practiced law, depending mainly upon his profession for a livelihood.

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JAMES BUCHANAN was the fifteenth President of the United States, and went out of the White House at Washington under somewhat of a cloud, neither his Democratic partisans nor the Republicans, who had elected Abraham Lincoln as his successor, being pleased with the course he had pursued while in the chair of the Chief Executive. He was a Federalist, who supported the War of 1812, served five terms in the Lower House of Congress, was made Minister to Russia, secured a favorable commercial treaty with the Czar, served in the United States Senate, was Secretary of State in Polk's Cabinet, Minister to the Court of St. James under President Pierce, and was a strong advocate of the principles enunciated by the Monroe Doctrine. He was elected President in 1856. Mr. Buchanan was born in Pennsylvania in 1791, and died in 1868. (22)

JULIUS CAESAR BURROWS, elected to the United States Senate from Michigan in 1901, furnished a stunning surprise to that faction of the Republican party in the Wolverine State which was so determined in its opposition to him. After his election his hold upon the Republican politics of his commonwealth was stronger than before. Senator Burrows was a member of the House in the Forty-third, Forty-sixth and Forty-seventh Congresses, declined the appointment as Solicitor-General of the United States Treasury in 1884, and, from the Forty-ninth Congress, continued a member of the House until elected to the Senate. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1837. (23)

BENJAMIN F. BUTLER was one of the shrewdest of American lawyers and politicians, and, furthermore, made a rather good record as Major-General of Volunteers during the War of the Rebellion, although he committed some military errors which proved embarrassing to the Washington Government. He was a "War Democrat" and a strong enemy of slavery. After the Civil War he became a Republican, and was sent to Congress several terms. His highest ambition was to be elected Governor of Massachusetts, and this was finally realized. He changed politics several times, and was chosen Chief Executive of the Commonwealth on the Democratic ticket. General Butler was a native of New Hampshire, born in 1818, and died in 1893. His energy, aggressiveness and tendency toward radical measures made him unpopular personally with many.

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JOHN GRIFFIN CARLISLE, former Congressman and United States Senator from Kentucky, Speaker of the National House of Representatives and Secretary of the Treasury in the Cabinet of President Cleveland from 1893 to 1897, is one of the most eloquent men this country has ever produced. The latest matter of importance to engage his attention was the Porto Rican case in the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Carlisle argued that the island was a part of the United States, and came under the Constitution. Mr. Carlisle was born in Kentucky in 1834. He was chosen Lieutenant-Governor of his state in 1871, after having served in the Legislature several terms, elected to Congress in 1876 and to the United States Senate in 1890. (25)