Harper's Weekly

“ There is no more familiar and interesting figure in our political history than Henry Clay, and no party leader who was more idolized, or followed with more enthusiasm. His political life began with the century and continued until his death in 1852, and his biography therefore includes the political history of that half-century. ”

“ The simplicity of the style is admirable, and the tone of treatment, which is in no sense merely eulogistic, but perfectly appreciative and candid, gives a sincerity to the book which at once commands the entire confidence of the reader. ”

“ Schurz's memoir, just published in the “American Statesmen Series,” his life has never been adequately treated. it is mainly in biography that our political history has been written, and in that branch of our literature Mr. Schurz's two volumes take their place at once in the highest rank. His work is the result not only of careful research, but of thorough mastery and due consideration of the results of research, and in his biography of Clay we have both a singularly just and sympathetic estimate of the man, and a lucid and comprehensive summary of the political movement of the half-century. ”