Philadelphia. And well might they rejoice. They had at last driven
a wedge into the sinister political machine that had brought the
city of brotherly love into disrepute as a boss-ridden municipality.

Their young leader had wealth, which has its advantages, and social
position, which to a Philadelphian is as dear as life itself.
Moreover he had ability and all that makes for success. His fame as
a reform leader spread throughout the land and across the seas.
James Bryce, in his first edition of his American Commonwealth
cited him as an example of the sterling type of young Americans who
were arousing themselves at that time to rescue the municipal and
state governments from the grip of the vicious boss system.

In the subsequent editions of the American Commonwealth you will
find no reference to Mr. Penrose. Something had happened to him and
to the reform movement. Whether he was struck by a bolt from the
heavens or a bolt from Matthew Stanley Quay is immaterial. The fact
is that after a few years' residence in Harrisburg, the seat of the
government of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, he counseled with
himself and solemnly decided that Providence had never selected him
to be the apostle of the political millenium.

Most men are born radicals and die conservatives. The development
is gradual and represents the result of years of experience. But
Penrose repented while there was time to make amends for his error.
He sought a very short cut. He went directly from the legislature
to the Republican organization of Philadelphia and stood as its
candidate for mayor. But his late friends, the reformers, happened
to be in the ascendency that year and he was defeated.

The story told of him at that time, whether true or not, that he
announced his willingness to take as his bride any estimable young
lady the organization might select, since the fact that he was a
bachelor was given by his henchmen as the reason of his defeat, is
typical of him. The "organization," the Republican Party,
constitutes his political creed and philosophy. He has devoted his
life to it. The "party" is his life, his religion, his family, his
hobby. Down in his soul he believes that the destiny of the
American people is so inextricably interwoven with its fortunes
that its destruction would be nothing less than national hari kari.

He does not believe that the Republican Party is perfect, but he
believes that it is as perfect as any political organiz