The Abolition party was born in 1829.

Poll tax was known in England, A.D. 1380.

The London Reform Club was established in 1836.

A political lampoon was formerly termed a pasquinade.

A close corporation is that which fills its own vacancies.

The first French National Assembly was convened in 1789.

There are 670 members in the British House of Commons.

"Pairing oft" was first practiced in this country in 1839.

Alderman was a Saxon office and simply means elder-man.

The first journals of Congress date from September, 1774.

The English local option law is termed the Permissive Bill.

In Germany the Reichsrath is the council of the whole Empire.

It was Abe Lincoln who termed the freedmen "wards of the nation."

Stephen A. Douglas was the Little Giant of our political history.

The name "Old Hickory" was given to Andrew Jackson in 1813.

The Indian Territory was set apart in 1832; Oklahoma subtracted 1889.

The familiar letters "O. K." were a party cry in the campaign of 1828

The parliamentary motion of closure is "that the question be now put."

R. B. Hayes said: "He serves his party best who serves the country best."

Sheriff is derived from shire-reeve, the chief magistrate of a shire or county.

In 1796 Mr. C. C. Pinskey said "millions for defence but not one cent for tribute."

The straight-out-Democrats were a party that arose in 1872, led by Charles O'Connor.

In Norway persons who have not been vaccinated are not allowed to vote at any election.

In the days of Louis XV France was styled "an absolute monarchy tempered by songs."

It was Tennyson, who pictured for us "the parliament of man, the federation of the world."

Cortes is the name given in Spain and Portugal to the assembly of representatives of the nation.

"Me, too," was a nickname given to Senator T. C. Platt, N. Y., as being the mere echo of Conkling.

McClellan's army nickname was Little Mac. It became national in the presidential struggle of 1864.

French chauvinism and British jingoism have been mildly imitated here as "the brilliant foreign policy."

A phrase much used among peace-lovers after the civil war was: To shake hands across the bloody chasm.

Opportunists is a term in French politics for those who would delay action until a favorable chance arrives.

It was Mr. Cleveland who originated the terms "offensive partisanship" and "innocuous desuetude."

One of Lincoln's pleas for re-election, in 1864, was that "it was not best to swap horses in crossing a stream."

"I would rather be right than be president" was said by Henry Clay, in 1850, to Mr. Preston of Kentucky.

This very happy phrase, "the cohesive power of public plunder," is but a misquotation from one of Calhoun's speeches.

The phrase "all men are born free and equal" is not in the Declaration of Independence but in the Massachusetts constitution.

The phrase "blocks of five" was alleged to have been first used by W. W. Dudley in the Cleveland-Harrison campaign of 1888.

Particularists is a term applied in Germany to those who wish to preserve the distinct independence of the several German states.

Democracy is government of the people by themselves; more broadly the people who desire to exercise sovereignty either directly or indirectly.

Coalition is politically applied to the union of two parties, or, as generally happens, portions of parties, who agree to sink their differences and act in common.

The "Stalwarts" arose out of the Republican Convention of 1880, led by Roscoe Conkling and others who stood firmly (stalwartly) for a third term for Grant.

The oft-quoted Bulwer-Clayton Treaty, concluded between England and America, July 4, 1850, provided that neither should have exclusive control over the proposed Central American Ship Canal which passes through Nicaraguan territory.

Cumulative Vote is the system introduced into England in 1870 by which each person has as many votes as there are candidates, and the voter may give all the votes to one or distribute them as he thinks fit. It is only recognized at school board elections.

A demagogue is a politician who gains influence by flattering the prejudices or working on the ignorance of the people. Originally one who led the people in politics.

The French Tiers Etat or "Le Tiers" was the third order of the state, the other two being the noblesse and the clergy. The three orders combined form the Etats Generaux.

The old original "palladium" was a wooden image of Pallas, said to have fallen from heaven, and to have been religiously guarded in Troy, as a pledge of the safety of the city.

Secret service moneys, in the widest sense of the term, include all funds placed at the disposal of ministers of state, to be expended at their discretion, without giving an account.

Csesarism is the absolute rule of man over man, with the recognition of no law divine or human beyond that of the ruler's will. Caesar must be summus pontifex as well as imperator.

Annexation is the adding or joining to a State of territory which was previously independent or in possession of another power. It is generally, though not always, the result of war.

A committee is a portion generally consisting of not less than three members selected from a more numerous body, to whom some special act to be performed, or investigation to be made, is committed.

Ukase or Oukaz is a term applied in Russia to all the orders or edicts, legislative or administrative, emanating from the czar directly or from the senate. The term is not extended to the order of ministers.

International arbitration is an effort to substitute arbitration for war in international disputes. The International Arbitration and Peace Association was founded for this end (October, 1873), at Brussels.

The term ironclad oath was applied to an oath of office prescribed by Congress after the close of the civil war as a safeguard against future disloyalty on the part of citizens of the reconstructed Southern States.