Then he gave his opinion as a judge gives it, or as a delegate
to some great international council might be supposed to give
it; responsible for it himself, but undertaking no responsibility
for other men's opinion or conduct; never assuming that it
was his duty or within his power to convert, or change, or
instruct them, still less to chastise them. Whether that
way be the best way for usefulness in a deliberative body,
especially in a legislative body of a great popular government,
I will not undertake now to say. Certainly it is not the
common way here or elsewhere. It is very rare indeed, that
any man possessing the great literary and oratorical power
of Mr. Davis, especially a man to whom nobody ever thought
of imputing timidity or undue desire to enjoy public favor,
or want of absolute confidence in his own opinions, will be
found to refrain from employing these qualities to persuade
or convince other men.
"He had a rare and exquisite gift which, if he had been a
man of letters and not a man engaged in a strenuous public
life, would have brought him great fame.
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