most distinguished men of the nation.
In the Senate Hamlin, Sumner, Conkling, Fenton, Fessenden, Frelinghuysen, Booth, McDougall, Simon Cameron, Chandler, Howard, Kellogg, Morrill of Vermont, Morrill of Maine, Wilson, Boutwell, Bayard, Morton, Williams of Oregon, Yates, Trumbull, and others, made it one of the ablest bodies that ever convened in any country.
In the House there were Washburn, Logan, Cullom, Judd, Arnold, Singleton, Wentworth, Henderson, Farnsworth, Cook, Sherman, Schenck, Garfield, Grow, Shellabarger, Bingham, Archer, Thaddeus Stevens, Clymer, Williams, Colfax,Voorhees,Davis,Banks,Butler,WheelerWood, Slocum, Brooks, Frye, Blaine, Hale, Boutwell, Allison, Wilson of Iowa, and a score of others who were leaders of men and statesmen in every sense of the word.
Before the Christmas holidays the breach between the President and Congress had widened so seriously that it was evident that the last days of Mr. Johnson's administration were to be full of friction and unplea
e Senate, Reverend J. P. Newman, pastor of the Metropolitan Church, was made chaplain; Mr. George German, of California, was made sergeant-at-arms.
Mr. Blaine was re-elected speaker of the House, and immediately confronted a galaxy of as able men as were ever in that body.
His first duty was to solve a most difficult problem in assigning the chairmanships of the committees, with such men to choose from as Logan, Garfield, Banks, Schenck, Dawes, Allison, Windom, Holman, Brooks of New York, Williams, Orth, Myers, O'Neil, Shellabarger, Wilson of Indiana, Wilson of Iowa, Butler, Lochridge, Bingham, Stoughton, Paine, Wheeler of New York, Ingersoll, Cook, Cullom, Farnsworth, Frye, Hale, Judd, and a legion too numerous to mention.
Mr. Blaine was then young and vigorous, and probably the most promising statesman of the nation.
His administration of the speakership was, without doubt, the most brilliant in the history of Congress, spanning the most important epoch of the nation.
There were