William Crary Brownell 



awaken reverie into active thought, 

 or something paradoxical electrify 

 lethargy itself. 



Paradox perhaps enjoyed the he- 

 gemony of his mental states. If he 

 can be said ever to have leaned on 

 anything among the multitude of 

 phenomena that he touched, paradox 

 may be called his reliance. He had 

 an undoubted predilection for its un- 

 doubted stimulus — and indeed it is 

 not an anodyne ; but his distinction 

 in this respect was that he never 

 pressed it. To have succeeded in per- 

 suading you to share it would have 

 sapped his interest in it. He never 

 expected discussion to lead to any- 

 thing. Sometimes indeed he would 

 not permit it to. It was its art that 

 attracted him. He enjoyed "travel, 

 not arriving." I fancy he thought 

 that things capable of settlement had 

 been settled long since. Conclusions 

 might have had an anterior evolution, 

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