CYRUS HALL McCORMICK 



of his life. Once, when confiding in an intimate 

 friend, he said, " It pains me very much to think 

 how little I am known by my neighbors, but I 

 seem to be always too busy to meet them." He 

 was not at all, as many have thought because 

 of his strenuous life, a man of harsh and rough 

 exterior. There was nothing rough about him 

 except his strength. He was irreproachable in 

 dress and personal appearance. He did not 

 drink, smoke, nor swear. And his manners 

 and language, on formal occasions, were those 

 of a dignified gentleman of the old school 

 a Calhoun, or a Van Buren. 



He was not a hard-natured man, except when 

 he was battling for his rights and his principles. 

 He would often turn from an overwhelming mass 

 of business to play with one of his children. He 

 was as ready to forgive as he was to fight. He 

 never cherished resentments or personal grudges. 

 He knew that life was a conflict of interests and 

 policies; and when he forgave, his forgiveness 

 was free and full, and not a formal ceremony. 

 It was as honest and as spontaneous as his wrath. 

 He was one of the few men who could freely 



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