The character in his face, the flash
of his eye, the remarkable self-possession, the natural dignity of
deportment, and his great good sense, attracted, and won upon every
one. In all his transactions, he was the same plain, honest man--never,
under any circumstances, deviating from truth--plain, unvarnished
truth; rigidly stern in morals, but eminently charitable to the
shortcomings of others. He was, from childhood, reared in a new
country, amid rude, uncultivated people, and was a noble specimen of a
frontier man; without the amenities of cultivated life, or the polish
of education, yet with all the virtues of the Christian heart, and
these, perhaps, the more prominently, because of the absence of the
others. It was frequently remarked by him that he did not think
education would have been of any advantage to him. It enabled men, with
pretty words, to hide their thoughts, and deceive their fellow-men with
a grace and an ease he despised; and it might have acted so with him,
but it would have made him a worse and a more unhappy man. He now never
did or said anything that he was ashamed to think of.
Pages:
784
785
786
787
788
789
790
791
792
793
794
795
796
797
798
799
800
801
802
803
804
805
806
807
808