112 A GREAT PUBLIC CHARACTER 



him it was fulfilment, not deprivation; the days were 

 marked to the last for what they brought, not for what 

 they took away. 



The memory of what Mr. Quincy did will be lost in 

 the crowd of newer activities ; it is the memory of what 

 he was that is precious to us. Bonum virum facile 

 crederes, magnum libenter. If John Winthrop be the 

 highest type of the men who shaped New England, we 

 can find no better one of those whom New England has 

 shaped than Josiah Quincy. It is a figure that we can 

 contemplate with more than satisfaction, — a figure of 

 admirable example in a democracy as that of a model 

 citizen. His courage and high-mindedness were personal 

 to him ; let us believe that his integrity, his industry, 

 his love of letters, his devotion to duty, go in some sort 

 to the credit of the society which gave him birth and 

 formed his character. In one respect he is especially 

 interesting to us, as belonging to a class of men of whom 

 he was the last representative, and whose like we shall 

 never see again. Born and bred in an age of greater 

 social distinctions than ours, he was an aristocrat in 

 a sense that is good even in a republic. He had the 

 sense of a certain personal dignity inherent in him, and 

 which could not be alienated by any whim of the popu- 

 lar will. There is no stouter buckler than this for inde- 

 pendence of spirit, no surer guaranty of that courtesy 

 which, in its consideration of others, is but paying a 

 debt of self-respect. During his presidency, Mr. Quincy 

 was once riding to Cambridge in a crowded omnibus. A 

 colored woman got in, and could nowhere find a seat. 

 The President instantly gave her his own, and stood the 

 rest of the way, a silent rebuke of the general rudeness. 

 He was a man of quality in the true sense, — of quality 

 not hereditary, but personal. Position might be taken 

 from him, but he remained where he was. In what he 



