CYRUS HALL McCORMICK 



springs from war he had very little respect. In 

 1847, when offering a place in his factory to his 

 brother Leander, he writes, "This will be as 

 honorable an enterprise as to go to Mexico to 

 be shot at." And in later life, in a conversation 

 with General Lilley, of Virginia, he said, "I 

 expect to die in the harness, because this is not 

 the world for rest. This is the world for work. 

 In the next world we will have the rest." 



In the vast mass of letters, papers, etc., left 

 by Mr. McCormick, there is one mention, and 

 only one, of recreation. After his first visit to 

 the West, in 1844, he wrote to one of his brothers 

 and described a hunting trip in which he shot 

 three prairie chickens near Beloit. But during 

 the rest of his life, he was too busy for sport. 

 His energy was the wonder of his friends and 

 the despair of his employees. His brain was 

 not quick. It was not marvellously keen nor 

 marvellously intuitive. But it was at work 

 every waking moment, like a great engine that 

 never tires. 



"He was the most laborious worker I ever 

 saw," said one of his secretaries. One of the 



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