Thus
it comes about that as truly as any man of our generation, when his
hour is ended, he, too, I believe, should be able to say with a clear
conscience, 'I have finished the work that Thou gavest me to do':
although his heart may add, 'I have not finished it as well as I could
wish.'
Now let me try to convey my personal impressions of this man. I see
him in various conversations with myself, when he has thought that he
could make use of me to serve his ever-present and impersonal ends,
trying to add me up, wondering how far I was sincere, and to what
extent I might be influenced by private objects; then, at last,
concluding that I was honest in my own fashion, opening his heart
little by little, and finally appealing to me to aid him in his
labours.
'I like that man; _he understands me!_' I once heard him say,
mentioning my name, and believing that he was thinking, not speaking.
I tell this story merely to illustrate his habit of reflecting aloud,
for as he spoke these words I was standing beside him. When I repeated
it to his Officers, one of them remarked horrified:--
'Good gracious! it might just as well have been something much less
complimentary.
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