He never lost his good nature, his courage, or his supreme
confidence in the final triumph of truth.
Mr. Morrill was not a great political leader. Great political
leaders are not often found in the Senate nowadays. He was
contented to be responsible for one man; to cast his share
of the vote of one State; to do his duty as he conceived
it, and let other men do theirs as they saw it. But at least
he was not a great political follower. He never committed
himself to the popular currents, nor studied the vanes to
see how the winds were blowing, nor sounded the depths and
the shallows before he decided on his own course. There was
no wire running to his seat from any centre of patronage or
power. To use a felicitous phrase, I think of Senator Morgan
of Alabama, he did not "come out of the door and cry 'Cuckoo!'
when any clock struck elsewhere."
Mr. Morrill was a brave man--an independent man. He never
flinched from uttering his thought. He was never afraid to
vote alone. He never troubled himself about majorities or
administrations, still less about crowds or mobs or spasms
of popular excitement.
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