Page:Men of Mark in America vol 2.djvu/38

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EUGENE HALE

acrimonious. In general speech and debate he is easy and forcible; his thought is well ordered, his words carefully selected, and his extemporaneous speeches require little revision. His speech, too, has versatility; and is tempered with gravity, wit, and repartee as the occasion affords, or the mood suggests. He is fond of reading, and delights especially in poetry, while keeping alive his love for good books and literature in general.

Personally, a man of broad and genial social nature, he has little difficulty in binding to himself close and cordial friends. He is painstaking, industrious, honest and steadfast in his convictions, and does not permit himself to compromise with ignoble motives or ends. Though not a graduate of any college, he received the honorary degree of A.M. from Bowdoin college, in 1869, and has since received that of LL.D. from Bates college in 1882, and from Colby university in 1886. He has published a volume of "Memorial Addresses," delivered on various occasions in both houses of congress.

Senator Hale was married, December, 1871, at Washington, District of Columbia, to Miss Mary Douglas Chandler, the only daughter of Honorable Zachariah Chandler, for a long time United States senator from Michigan and afterward secretary of the interior. Their children are three sons, Chandler, Frederick and Eugene, Jr.