His law
practice was not satisfactory, and he could not look forward to
immediate success in that direction--especially since the Faneuil Hall
meeting.
Much better however for him to have gone patiently forward in the path
already cleared by Webster and Everett, until, fully equipped in
experience and maturity, he could have carried his anti-slavery
principles into the arena of practical politics and become a leader in
the House of Representatives, or have stood by Sumner in the Senate. A
woman can hardly be expected to understand the long-drawn persistent
struggle by which a man rises to the top of his profession; but it seems
as if Mrs. Chapman might have been more considerate of the fortune and
prospects of this young Apollo, himself of more value than many negroes.
He did not properly belong with the abolitionists. They always felt so.
They were excellent people, stainless in thought and in action, but
limited in education and ability. Men of the highest mental endowments
naturally form a class by themselves, though not an exclusive one. If
Phillips had consulted John Quincy Adams on the subject, he would have
been answered with a "No" such as might have been heard across Court
Street.
His life was now as much changed as if spring had suddenly been
succeeded by winter. It was like a penitential pilgrimage. He had
inherited from his father a moderate property upon which he and his
wife, who was already much of an invalid, could live in a moderate way.
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