But Mr. Wilson went further than that; he heaped almost
unparalleled affront upon Mr. Lansing; he made the great office of
Secretary of State ridiculous, and he invested its incumbent with
no greater authority than that of a copyist.
Perhaps Mr. Wilson reads men better than his critics believed;
perhaps Mr. Wilson had fully taken the measure of Mr. Lansing and
knew how far he could go.
Nature never intended Mr. Lansing to be a leader of men,, to fight
for a great cause, or to engage in physical or intellectual combat.
His life has been too soft for that, and he is naturally indolent.
He is fond of, and has more than the amateur's appreciation for,
music, painting, poetry, and the classics of literature. He has
dabbled in verse, he sketches and he has written, but without
brilliancy. Accident made him a lawyer, but he was really intended
to be an artist; he would have produced no masterpiece, for genius
is not in him, but he would have been happy in his work and perhaps
have given inspiration to men of greater talent. Without being a
fanatic or dogmatic, he is strongly religious; religion to him has
a meaning and is not merely a convention; he has a code which he
has always observed and ideals which he has preserved; he is
charitable in his judgments and has never allowed his prejudices to
influence his actions; he is, to use a word so often misapplied, a
gentleman, and his motto is Noblesse oblige.
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