Amid all his former successes,--early as they came, and
great as they were,--I always perceived that something gnawed within him,
and kept him forever restless and miserable. Nothing he won was worth
the winning, except as a step gained toward the summit. I cannot tell
how early he began to look towards the Presidency; but I believe he would
have died an unhappy man without it. And yet what infinite chances there
seemed to be against his attaining it! When I look at it in one way, it
strikes me as absolutely miraculous; in another, it came like an event
that I had all along expected. It was due to his wonderful tact, which
is of so subtle a character that he himself is but partially sensible
of it.
I have found in him, here in Rome, the whole of my early friend, and even
better than I used to know him; a heart as true and affectionate, a mind
much widened and deepened by his experience of life. We hold just the
same relation to each other as of yore, and we have passed all the
turning-off places, and may hope to go on together still the same dear
friends as long as we live.
Pages:
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784