fied, and the language, spirits, and habits of the saloon and other evil resorts are substituted. Nothing good, fair, and beautiful can withstand its destructive power. The picture is relieved only by the fact that good companionship has equal power to ennoble and bless forever. It can do more for a youth than wealth, home, or books. Even the blessings of schools and churches are the outcome, in a large measure, of the high and pure companionships that are found there.

Beware of companions whose moral character is below your own, unless you associate with them solely to reform them. Avoid those who depreciate true worth, and speak lightly of the best class of citizens, and sneer at reforms. They who sip wine, use profane and vulgar language, think that man cannot be successful in business and be honest, find their pleasure in the circus, theater, or ball room, instead of books, lectures, and literary society, are not suitable companions. They may not be bad young people, but their moral tone is below yours, and hence they are perilous associates for you. Rather choose those of higher, nobler aims, whose aspirations are to be true and useful, who would not, knowingly, risk a stain upon their life-work, with whom "a good name is better than great riches," and whose strong purpose is to make the best record possible.

Strength of character may successfully resist the worst companionship. The princess regent of Russia planned to destroy the claim of Peter the Great to the throne by subjecting him to the company of a hundred profligate young Russians. Peter was a youth of sagacity, sobriety, and moral principle, so that his character withstood the test without a blemish. Instead of being lured into excesses of any kind, he beguiled his wayward companions into "the love of manly sports and military exercises." The evil designed by the princess was rebuked by the failure of her fiendish plot.

Thomas Jefferson's life was shaped by the companionship of his early years. He was an excellent scholar, fond of books, and bent upon securing a thorough education. He commenced the study of Latin and Greek at nine years of age, and entered William and Mary College, at Williamsburg, Virginia, when he was seventeen. At this time he was a remarkable youth, whose personal appearance attracted many friends older than himself. Among them were Francis Farquier, governor of

the colony, Doctor William Sewell, professor of mathematics, and George Wythe, an eminent lawyer,-all citizens of Williamsburg. These men were much with young Jefferson, whom they treated as a younger brother, and their influence over him was very decided. Governor Farquier was a skeptic, and he converted the youth into another, while the other two gentlemen inspired him with the desire to become a public Their companionship really decided his career.

man,

UNITED STATES SENATE

AS AN ORATOR MENTAL CHARACTERISTICS TONE OF HIS PUBLIC LIFE RELATIONS WITH THE PEOPLE CAREER

CESTRY YOUTH AND EDUCATION- MILITARY
STUDY OF LAW

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THE LAWYER PERSONALITY. THE IMPORTANCE OF

PERSEVERANCE.

Success in life, whether confined to business pursuits or to professional or public careers, is reached in many different ways. Sometimes it is largely a matter of chance, or environment; more often, however, it is dependent upon the personal equation of the individual. Opportunity, natural equipment, application, purpose, self-reliance, all have their proper place in its attainment, but primarily, in my opinion, in order to succeed as we ordinarily construe it, a man has to do two things: first, find out what he wants to get or to do; second, stick, stick, stick.

Any man who has these qualifications has the qualities of knowing what to attempt, and of sustained effort. has all the chances of success in his favor.

He

HE position of pre-eminence in the political life of Virginia occupied by John Warwick Daniel may be said to date from about twenty years ago. Previous to that he was a force in politics. He had been a member of the Virginia House of Delegates and the state Senate. He had attained high rank as a lawyer. His reputation as an orator had extended beyond the borders of the state. But

when in 1881, at the Democratic State convention at Richmond, he was nominated for governor, and accepted in a speech that quickened the pulses and roused to enthusiasm the great party gathering, his political fortune was made. True, before the fact became apparent, he had to suffer the pang of defeat. The funding of the state debt was the issue. Thousands of voters who had for years supported Democratic candidates at every election, joined with the solid black and white Republican party to defeat the "Bourbon Funders," as they called the regular Democracy. The Coalition, under the name of Readjusters, triumphed at the polls, Daniel went down, and William E. Cameron was elevated to the governorship.

It was a titanic battle. liant, aggressive, and tireless. The ablest platform speakers in the commonwealth, and many from elsewhere, stumped the state from end to end, meeting, in every town and county, foemen worthy of their steel. For forensic fury and sustained, excited public interest, it was a campaign without a parallel in the annals of Virginia politics. As many as one hundred and eighty speeches were made at different points in a single day, and the fight went fiercely on until the polls closed on the day of election.

Both the candidates were bril

It was in that fiery struggle that Daniel came in touch with the whole state, revealing to the people everywhere his high motives and his qualifications for leadership, while over all he threw the spell of his magnetic eloquence. In the light of events that followed, it is seen that he then established himself firmly in the confidence of the rank and file. The forces allied against his party in that contest could not then be overcome. But from then till now his title to first place among political leaders in the popular regard has been seriously questioned but once. And the outcome of that one episode served but to further intrench him.

The rule of the Readjuster régime was brief. The debtscaling measure was passed by the legislature, and, after a long series of contentions in the courts, was made effective. A Democratic State convention, accepting the readjustment as the verdict of the people, and res adjudicata, formally acquiesced in the settlement. Men in great numbers, who had with reluctance separated from the party on the debt

issue, returned with eagerness to its ranks. The power of Gen. William Mahone, masterful but despotic, who had organized the victory of the Readjusters, had moreover been tremendously weakened by the refusal of certain conspicuous adherents of his party in the legislature to obey the commands from party headquarters. The breach thus made never healed, but widened, for Mahone brooked no insubordination - he asked for no quarter and gave none. From these and a variety of other causes, after a bitter and tragic campaign in 1883, the Democrats regained control of the legislature. Two years later, the Democratic candidate, Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, was elected governor, defeating John S. Wise. Another Democratic legislature was chosen, and the rejuvenated Democracy was again firm in the saddle.

John S. Barbour, president of the Virginia Midland Railroad, was the chairman of the Democratic State Executive Committee during these critical contests, and he and his lieutenants had perfected an organization of the party more thorough and far-reaching than had ever been known. Barbour, not a speaker, but a worker; Barbour, silent, sagacious, efficient, had done a giant's part toward wresting the state from the control of the opposition. The sentiment of the party toward him was that of gratitude mingled with admiration. Meanwhile, in 1884, Major Daniel had been elected to the lower house of Congress from his district. He had been taking part in every campaign with all his zeal and fire, with every appearance before an audience adding to his prestige and power among the people. It was universally understood that these two men were slated for the United States Senate to succeed Mahone and Riddleberger, the senators elected by the Readjusters. Mahone's term expired first, in 1887; Riddleberger's expired in 1889. The names of their successors were known of all men, before the legislature met in December, 1885,- but which should it be, Barbour and Daniel or Daniel and Barbour ?

That was the question the legislature had to decide. It would have pleased the majority to honor both candidates in the most conspicuous manner. But a choice had to be made, and upon Daniel fell the mantle. Barbour's turn came two years later, but the preference given to his younger competitor in the first instance set the seal of popular support