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Page 8
His knowledge of facts, dates, events, men in our history, is not only
remarkable, but almost unprecedented. It would be difficult to find a
man in the United States who can, on the instant, without reference to
book or note, give so many facts and statistics relating to the social
and political history of our country. This has been the study of his
life, and his memory is truly encyclop�dic.
Mr. Blaine was not a poor man when he entered Congress in 1863, and he
is not a millionaire now. For twenty years he has owned a valuable coal
tract of several hundred acres near Pittsburgh. This yielded him a
handsome income before he entered Congress, and the investment has been
a profitable one during his public life. He is said to have speculated
more or less, and to have made and lost millions. Yet in general his
business affairs have been managed with prudence and shrewdness, and he
now has a handsome fortune. His home in Augusta, near the State House,
is a plain two-story house. Several institutions in the State have
received benefactions from him, and his charity and generosity are
appreciated at home. He is a member of the Congregational Church in
Augusta, and constant attendance at divine service is a practice that he
has always inculcated upon his family. He has constantly refused to take
religious matters into politics, but his respect for his mother's belief
has made him tolerant and charitable toward all sects. In his own house
he is a man of culture and refinement, a genial host, a courteous
gentlemen. No man in public life is more fortunate in his domestic
relations. He is the companion and confidant of every one of his six
children, and they fear him no more than they fear one of their own
number. Mrs. Blaine is a model wife and mother. The eldest son, Walker
Blaine, is a graduate of Yale College and of the Law School of Columbia
College. He is a member of the bar of several States, and has been
creditably engaged in public life in Washington. The second son, Emmons
Blaine, is a graduate of Harvard College and the Cambridge Law School.
The third is James G. Blaine, Jr., who was graduated from Exeter Academy
last year. The three daughters are named Alice, Margaret, and Harriet.
The eldest was married more than a year ago to Brevet-Colonel J.J.
Coppinger, U.S.A.
But however Mr. Blaine may have distinguished himself as an author, a
diplomatist, or a man of varied experience and knowledge, in the present
political campaign, in which he is destined to play so important a part,
he will necessarily be largely judged in a political sense, and as a
politician. What does the record show in these directions? Has he been
true or false to his political convictions? Assuredly no man, be he
friend or foe, can point to a single instance in Mr. Blaine's long and
varied political career, in which he has betrayed his political trust or
failed to respond to the demands of his political professions. Through
the anti-slavery period; during the trying years of the war; through the
boisterous struggle for reconstruction, and constantly since, Mr.
Blaine's voice has always been heard pleading for the cause of equality,
arguing for freedom, and combating all propositions that aimed to
restrict human rights or fetter human progress. That he has sometimes
been swayed by partisan rather than statesmanlike considerations is
highly probable, but even that can but prove his zeal and devotion to
party principles.
No one claims for him political infallibility, and his warmest admirer
will admit that he, like other men, has faults. But those who look upon
Mr. Blaine as an impetuous and rash politician have but to read his
letter of acceptance to see how unjust that judgment is. Calm,
dignified, and scholarly, it discusses with consummate ability the
issues that to-day are engaging the attention of the American people,
and whether it be the tariff question or our foreign policy, he shows a
familiarity with the subject that at once stamps him as a man of
remarkable versatility and rare accomplishments. As the standard-bearer
of the great Republican party, he will unquestionably inspire in his
followers great enthusiasm and determination, and, if elected to the
high office to which he has been nominated, there is every reason to
believe that he will make a Chief Magistrate of whom the entire people
will justly be proud.
* * * * *
THE BOUNDARY LINES OF OLD GROTON.--III.
By the Hon. Samuel Abbott Green.
The running of the Provincial line in 1741 cut off a large part of
Dunstable, and left it on the New Hampshire side of the boundary. It
separated even the meeting-house from that portion of the town still
remaining in Massachusetts, and this fact added not a little to the deep
animosity felt by the inhabitants when the disputed question was
settled. It is no exaggeration to say that, throughout the old township,
the feelings and sympathies of the inhabitants on both sides of the line
were entirely with Massachusetts. A short time before this period the
town of Nottingham had been incorporated by the General Court, and its
territory taken from Dunstable. It comprised all the lands of that town,
lying on the easterly side of the Merrimack River; and the difficulty of
attending public worship led to the division. When the Provincial line
was established, it affected Nottingham, like many other towns, most
unfavorably. It divided its territory and left a tract of land in
Massachusetts, too small for a separate township, but by its
associations belonging to Dunstable. This tract is to-day that part of
Tyngsborough lying east of the river.
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