Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. II.djvu/207

MILLARD FILLMORE 163 The last surviving member of Fillmore s cabinet, who also sat in the 27th congress with him, in a communication, with which he favored the writer, says: "Mr. Fillmore was a man of decided opinions, but he was always open to conviction. His aim was truth, and whenever he was convinced by reasoning that his first impressions were wrong, he had the moral courage to surrender them. But, when he had carefully examined a question and had satisfied himself that he was right, no power on earth could induce him to swerve from what he be lieved to be the line of duty. . . . There were many things about Mr. Fillmore, aside from his public character, which often filled me with surprise. While he enjoyed none of the advantages of early association with cultivated society, he possessed a grace and polish of manner which fitted him for the most refined circles of the metropolis. You saw, too, at a glance, that there was nothing in it which was assumed, but that it was the natural outward expression of inward refinement and dignity of character. I have witnessed, oil several occasions, the display by him of attributes apparently of the most opposite character. When assailed in con gress he exhibited a manly self-reliance and a lofty courage which commanded the admiration of every spectator, and yet no one ever manifested deeper sensibility, or more tender sympathy, with a friend in affliction. . . . He seemed to have the peculiar