Rossiter W. Raymond 



suits. But he cannot be and do all 

 three. King, especially, could not do 

 this, because his brilliant talk exer- 

 cised and fatigued the same faculties 

 as if it had been pen-work. If he felt 

 the impulse of utterance he wore it 

 out in talking, and often threw away 

 upon the transitory entertainment of 

 a few what might have been the en- 

 during delight of a multitude. An 

 instance was furnished by a dinner- 

 party in Washington, just before the 

 outbreak of the late Spanish war, at 

 which King was present, and ex- 

 pressed with vivacity his views and 

 expectations. He had lived in Cuba, 

 was intimate with some of the patriot 

 leaders there, and was thoroughly ac- 

 quainted with their plans and cam- 

 paigns.* But he had also sailed the 

 Pacific, and had an intelligent notion 

 of the situation in the far East, of 



* See his Forum articles, " Shall Cuba be 

 Free ? " and " Fire and Sword in Cuba." 



355 



