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fute for it in hatred of England. But there are several things 

 which still make his career in Congress interesting to us, 

 because they illustrate the personal character of the man. 

 He prepared himself honestly for his duties, by a thorough 

 study of whatever could make him efficient in them. It was 

 not enough that he could make a good speech; he wished 

 also to have something to say. In Congress, as everywhere 

 else, quod voluit valde voluit ; and he threw a fervour into 

 the most temporary topic, as if his eternal salvation depended 

 upon it. He had not merely, as the French say, the courage 

 of his opinions, but his opinions became principles, and gave 

 him that gallantry of fanaticism which made him always 

 ready to head a forlorn hope the more ready, perhaps, that 

 it was a forlorn hope. This is not the humour of a states 

 man no, unless he holds a position like that of Pitt, and 

 can charge a whole people with his own enthusiasm, and 

 then we call it genius. Mr. Quincy had the moral firmness 

 which enabled him to decline a duel without any loss of per 

 sonal prestige. His opposition to the Louisiana purchase 

 illustrates that Roman quality in him to which we have 

 alluded. He would not conclude the purchase till each 

 of the old thirteen States had signified its assent. He 

 was reluctant to endow a Sabine city with the privilege of 

 Roman citizenship. It is worth noting that, while in Con 

 gress, and afterwards in the State Senate, many of his 

 phrases became the catchwords of party politics. He always 

 dared to say what others deemed it more prudent only to 

 think, and whatever he said he intensified with the whole ardour 

 of his temperament. It is this which makes Mr. Quincy s 

 speeches good reading still, even when the topics they dis 

 cussed were ephemeral. In one respect he is distinguished 

 from the politicians, and must rank with the far-seeing 

 statesmen of his time. He early foresaw and denounced the 

 political danger with which the Slave Power threatened the 

 Union. His fears, it is true, were aroused for the balance of 

 power between the old States, rather than by any moral sen 

 sitiveness, which would, indeed, have been an anachronism 

 at that time. But the Civil War justified his prescience. 



It was as mayor of his native city that his remarkable 

 qualities as an administrator were first called into requisition 

 and adequately displayed. He organized the city govern 

 ment, and put it in working order. To him we owe many 



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