since 1842 the young man passed through experiences on the road, brought
about by deep snows and blundering Postmasters that would sicken
anybody's heart, experiences that without excellent brain-work would
simply have stalled anybody, but his coolness, his use of the telegraph
with unerring judgment in following the movements of his superior (who
was traveling in like difficulties--it was like Kepler making a path for
Mars while himself riding on the earth),--extricated him, and made his
journeys little more costly, all told, than those of the preceding year.
In the city all depends on courage. This young man espied a few weak
places in the enemy's lines. He attacked with vigor. In the charge on
the theatre he met the enemy in force and was thrown back with heavy
loss, but in all the other onsets the enemy had no force to withstand
him. One quality which the young man had in a large measure was the fear
of failure. "The brave man is not he who feels no fear, for that were
stupid and irrational; but he whose noble soul its fear subdues, and
bravely dares the danger Nature shrinks from." There is a quality much
akin to moral courage, which, however, is not present very noticeably in
the strongest natures, but which is