One feels it a kind of possession to know that one has had such a
fellow-citizen and contemporary in these evil days.
"The fine and noble qualities of the man are very recognisable to me;
his subtle, piercing intellect turned all to the practical, giving
him just insight into men and into things; his inexhaustible adroit
contrivances; his fiery valour; sharp promptitude to seize the good
moment that will not return. A lynx-eyed, fiery man, with the spirit
of an old knight in him; more of a hero than any modern I have seen
for a long time.
"A singular veracity one finds in him; not in his words alone--which,
however, I like much for their fine rough _naivete_--but in his
actions, judgments, aims; in all that he thinks, and does, and
says--which, indeed, I have observed is the root of all greatness or
real worth in human creatures, and properly the first (and also the
rarest) attribute of what we call _genius_ among men.
"The path of such a man through the foul jungle of this world--the
struggle of Heaven's inspiration against the terrestrial fooleries,
cupidities, and cowardices--cannot be other than tragical: but the man
does tear out a bit of way for himself too; strives towards the good
goal, inflexibly persistent till his long rest come: the man does
leave his mark behind him, ineffaceable, beneficent to all good men,
maleficent to none: and we must not complain.
Pages:
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89