Nominated for Vice-President by the Republican

Party.

Born in Union County, Ohio, May 11, 1852. Graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1872; admitted to the bar in Ohio in 1874; practiced law in Indianapolis; was chairman of the Republican State Conventions in Indiana in 1892 and 1898. Was appointed a member of the United States and British High Commission which met in Quebec in 1898 for the adjustment of Canadian questions; was chairman of the United States Commissioners. Was elected to the United States Senate in 1897 and reelected in 1903.

HENRY GASSAWAY DAVIS,

Nominated for Vice-President by the Democratic Party.

Born in Woodstock, Maryland, November 16, 1823; educated in a village school; at the age of 20 was employed as a brakeman on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad; promoted to station agent at Piedmont, his present home. Organized the firm of Davis & Brothers, engaged in the shipping of coal. In 1860 organized the Piedmont Savings Bank. Entered politics in 1865 and elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates, and was twice reelected. In 1870 was elected to the United States Senate and served twelve years. For the last twenty years he has been prominently identified with railroading, mining and banking institutions, and is a man of vast wealth.

BY GEORGE TAYLOR.

Come, wake up, boys! and let us see
To-morrow's men of action,
Shed off the husks of "hope to be,"

And present satisfaction;
Your airy castles of the past

Will topple into ruin;
Your day-dreams must no longer last,
For wishing is not doing;
Not ready! is a baleful star,

And fortune calls not twice;
If you would ride in fortune's car
Wake up and pay the price.

The mole that burrows in the earth
Needs neither eyes nor wings,
But he who craves immortal birth
Must strive for loftier things;
With noble purpose in thy soul,
And heart to do and dare,
Ambition rears a lofty goal

And toil would lift you there;
But honor is not won by chance,

Like toss of gambler's dice, But with an honest, straight advance-Step up and pay the price.

Fame never lays her laurel crown

Upon the listless dreamer, Nor squanders honor and renown

On visionary schemer; Aim high above time's tinsel prize

That bears the blight of shame; Virtue and truth are sure to rise And win an honored name. Experience keeps a costly school, So take this cheap advice, You choose to live and die a fool

When you withhold the price.

The greatest century of all the ages has passed since Alexander Hamilton fell at the hands of Aaron Burr, near New York City. Great men have come and written their names in characters of fire and gone to their rest, but no brighter name illumines American history than that of Alexander Hamilton who, more than any other man, aided in laying the foundation, and establishing the credit, and shaping the path of the great American Republic. Special exercises have been held all over the United States during the month, and especially in New York City on July 12th, in commernoration of the untimely death of one whose life was a noble example of high patriotism kindled into activity by momentus events and crowned by glorious achievement.

The Hamiltons are familiar to every student of history. The first notable incident in the history of the family was the marriage of James Hamilton in 1460, to the Princess Mary, daughter of James II, King of Scotland. Mary's dowry was the Island of Arran, and the Hamiltons have held it ever since. In 1542, on the death of James V, James Hamilton, Earl

Duke of Hamilton in 1643 and in 1648 he encountered Cromwell in battle at Preston, in England, and suffered a crushing defeat. Cromwell sent him to Westminster, where he was beheaded in 1649. After this the fortunes of the family became somewhat variable and stormy. Meanwhile great families had sprung from the Hamiltons: the Dukes of Abercorn, the Earls of Selkirk, Orkney, Ruglen and Haddington, and the Lords of Bargeny and Belhaven.

The names of their descendants are to be found among the early pioneers abroad, and the subject of this sketch was born in the West Indian Island of Nevis, in 1757. He was the son of a Scottish merchant and, at the age of 12, began his industrial career in the counting house. His remarkable abilities, however, attracted the attention of influential friends and he was aided by them in securing an education in the United States. When attending King's College, New York, the trouble between Britain and the American Colonies began, and young Hamilton became deeply interested in the questions at issue. In 1774, at a meeting held in New York, he had the courage to address the meeting, and everybody saw that the boy before them was of surpassing natural ability. It was the period of the pamphlet writers, and young Hamilton began the writing of a series of pamphlets, the authorship of which was ascribed to several of the eminent men of the day.

At the outbreak of hostilities he joined an artillery company. He soon came under the notice of Washington, who offered him a place on his staff which was accepted, and in which position Hamilton's ability and facility as a writer soon made him exceedingly valuable to the General. In dignity of manner, in

pith of matter and elegance of style the letters written by Hamilton are not surpassed in military annals. He participated in the chief battles of the Revolution and was conspicuously gallant in the final attack and capture of the British army at Yorktown.

The utter lack of financial resources of the country called forth Hamilton's most valuable abilities and he anonymously presented his plan of a United States bank which was practically adopted and remains in operation at the present time.

In the construction period, between. 1783 and 1789, he was chief among the active spirits that molded the national fabric, and in a series of masterly essays he propounded his view which culminated in the adoption of the Constitution of the United States. This achievement, the work of a young man of 24 years of age, has no parallel in history. In the debates in Congress he devoted his great ability chiefly to financial questions and especially to the establishment of a permanent national revenue. During this period he started The Federalist, a periodical devoted to the discussion of national questions, of which papers he wrote the greater part, and the ideas promulgated by Hamilton at that time are still the moving forces that maintain the principles of the government of our own day.

On the inauguration of Washington as President, in 1789, Hamilton took control of the Treasury Department and succeeded in having all of his views adopted and the finances of the young Republic immediately set upon a firm basis. As Daniel Webster eloquently said of Hamilton: "He smote the rock of national resources and abundant streams of revenue gushed forth. He touched the

dead corpse of public credit, and it sprang upon its feet."

Under President Adams, Hamilton was appointed Inspector-General of the Army, and in this department he displayed a wonderful talent for organization. The unpopular administration of Adams injured the Federalist party and on the election of Thomas Jefferson as President, Hamilton withdrew from politics and engaged in the practice of law in New York, where he was immediately recognized as the leading legal authority of his time.

The election of Aaron Burr, an unscrupulous politician, as Vice-President, became the subject of bitter acrimony, and when in 1804 Burr was nominated for Governor of the State of New York, Hamilton opposed him by every means in his power and did more than other opposition to him. Burr became savage and implacable and the result led to the tragic event which culminated in the death of Hamilton. Being challenged by Burr on some pretext easy to arrange, Hamilton accepted the challenge and the meeting took place at Weehawken on July 11, 1804. Hamilton fell mortally wounded and died next day.

He is described as having been of a small, lithe figure, bright and ruddy in complexion, his hair light colored, his blue eyes luminous with intelligence, his conversation full of fine flashes of humor and pleasantry which made him. a delightful companion. Every one seems to have felt the charm of his fine personality and the rare grace of his manner. He was unquestionably the most consummate statesman among that remarkable group of eminent men who were active in carrying the revolution to a successful issue, and who afterwards

achieved the greater triumph of converting a loose confederation of States into a nation. The framework of the Constitution the most masterly compendium of the political wisdom of the ages-the adoption of the measures whereby a happy combination of a system of plastic State Governments acting in harmonious. relationship with a powerful centralized government is largely owing to the masterly genius and ceaseless energy of Alexander Hamilton.

It is not easy to measure the exact proportions of a great man. It is given to only a few men to impress their individuality upon the history of a great nation. In addition to being the greatest