of silent grief, of unutterable
helplessness, has still a haunting power over me, the oldest lad not
eight years of age, the youngest a girl baby in arms, the young father
aghast before the sudden tragedy which had come upon him. There must
have been something in my sympathy which drew him toward me, for on his
return a few months later he sought me out and we fell into the easy
intercourse of established relations.

I was recovering from an illness, and every day he would come and
read by my bedside. I had not then lost the action of one of my hands,
putting an end to a course of musical study I had hoped to develop into
a career. He was infinitely fond of music and sufficiently familiar with
the old masters to understand and enjoy them. He was an artist through
and through, possessing a sweet nor yet an uncultivated voice--a blend
between a low tenor and a high baritone--I was almost about to write a
"contralto," it was so soft and liquid. Its tones in speech retained to
the last their charm. Who that heard them shall ever forget them?

Early in 1861 my friend Jefferson came to me and said: "There is
going to be a war of the sections. I am not a warrior. I am neither
a Northerner nor a Southerner. I cannot bring myself to engage in
bloodshed, or to take sides. I have near and dear ones North and South.
I am going away and I shall stay away until the storm blows over. It may
seem to you unpatriotic, and it is, I know, unheroic. I am not a hero; I
am, I hope, an artist. My world is the world of art, and I must be true
to that; it is my patriotism, my religion. I can do no manner of good
here, and I am going away."

II

At that moment statesmen were hopefully estimating the chances of a
peaceful adjustment and solution of the sectional controversy. With the
prophet instinct of the artist he knew better. Though at no time taking
an active interest in politics or giving expression to party bias of any
kind, his personal associations led him into a familiar knowledge of the
trend of political opinion and the portent of public affairs, and I can
truly say that during the fifty years that passed thereafter I never
discussed any topic of current interest or moment with him that he did
not throw upon it the side lights of a luminous understanding, and at
the same time an impartial and intelligent judgment.

His mind was both reflective and radiating. His humor though perennial
was subdued; his wit keen and spontaneou