And observe that in many instances the secretary appears to have been right and wise. This only emphasizes the misfortune of his getting into such difficulty. The suavity, the graceful tact, which served him so well with Davis, seem to have deserted him in dealing with those over whom he had control. Or rather, it is said that the very suavity produced double exasperation when it was used merely to glove an arbitrary display of authority. "When I do not agree with Benjamin, I will not let him talk to me," said Slidell, who was his friend; "he irritates me so by his debonnair way." 32
And now, with the qualities of Benjamin's public career clearly suggested, let us turn for a moment to his private life and see how that helps to illuminate the other.
To begin with his social interests, involving, as they do, what we have just been discussing. As with Davis, so with all equals, in daily intercourse his manner was full of courtesy, some even say, charm. To be sure. Wise calls him "oleaginous"; but Alfriend, who knew him well, goes to the other extreme: "I have never known a man socially more fascinating than Judah P. Benjamin. He was in his attainments a veritable Admiral [sic] Crichton, and I think, excepting G. P. R. James, the most brilliant, fascinating conversationalist I have ever known." 33 One is tempted to blend these two views in Charles Lamb's pleasant characterization of the singer Braham: 34 He was a rare composition of the Jew, the gentleman, and the angel; yet all these elements mixed
