At any rate, it was utterly impossible for him to serve Mr.Blaine in a political way.

Had he made the effort to do so he not only would have subjected himself to the accusation of party treachery, but it would have resulted in his own political downfall.

To expect any ambitious man to make such a sacrifice as this was contrary to human nature.
The truth was that Mr.Blaine had been chiefly instrumental in bringing about a condition of affairs at the South which made it impossible for any of his Democratic or Republican friends in that section to be of any material service to him at the time he most needed them.

And yet, he could not see this until it was too late.

In spite of this he would have been elected, but for the fact that he lost the pivotal State of New York by a small plurality, about eleven hundred and forty-seven, the reasons for which have been given in a previous chapter.