John Hay 



and packers of the plains and the 

 hills ; the employes of railroads and 

 hotels ; men of science and men 

 of commerce ; the Senate and the 

 clergy — in all these ways of life 

 his friends were numerous and de- 

 voted, bound to him by a singular 

 sympathy and mutual comprehen- 

 sion. When in middle life — if we 

 may use this expression in reference 

 to one who was always young — he 

 went to Europe, he continued the 

 same facile conquest of hearts. In 

 this he was aided by a remarkable 

 ease in acquiring a colloquial com- 

 mand of languages. Having occa- 

 sion to go to Mexico, he put in his 

 pocket a small Spanish Dictionary 

 and without the aid of a grammar 

 got by heart some thousand nouns 

 and verbs in the infinitive, so that 

 on arriving at Guaymas he was 

 master of a highly effective and 

 picturesque jargon which delighted 

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