In addition to these unfavorable indications I noticed that I was not received by them with the same warmth and cordiality as on previous occasions.

With a few notable exceptions they were cold, indifferent, even forbidding in their attitude and manner.

This treatment was so radically different from that to which I had been accustomed that I could not help feeling it keenly.

I knew it was indicative of a change in the political situation which meant that I had before me the fight of my life.
My advocacy and support of the Federal Elections Bill, commonly called the "Force Bill," was occasionally given as the reason for this change; but I knew this was not the true reason.

In fact, that bill would hardly have been thought of but for the fact that Mr.Blaine, the Republican Speaker of the House, had attracted national attention to it through his action in vacating the chair and coming on the floor of the House to lead the opposition to its passage.