Chapter Two
THE RISE OF A PREMIER AND SOMETHING ABOUT TWO HEARTS
On the fifteenth of April Congress met for one of
the most exciting sessions in the history of the country.
There was excitement both for the members
and for the public. Usually, when great economic
questions have to be disposed of, which rack the intelligence
of the strongest men in the House and
Senate, which make and unmake Presidents and
policies, at which men work like slaves toiling at
the oar, by night as well as by day, and of which
the harvest of death is grimly reckoned beforehand,
the people go on quietly, reading with calm indifference
the proceedings of Congress in the newspapers
or skipping them because of their dulness.
When questions affecting the honour and prestige
of the country arise, the American people, justly
described as "strong, resolute, and ofttimes violent,"
become deeply agitated, are swayed all one way by
