gleaned from his writings, confirming the inference reached somewhat
mechanically by the scrutiny of his actions. They play to the latter
the part of the soul to the body, and thus contribute to the rather
anatomical result of the dissecting process a spiritual element it
would otherwise lack. But if this is so even of the outward career, it
is far more deeply true of the inner history, of that underlying
native character, which masterfully moulds and colors every life, yet
evades the last analysis except when the obscure workings of heart and
mind have been laid bare by their owner's words, recording the
feelings of the fleeting hour with no view to future inspection. In
these revelations of self, made without thought of the world outside,
is to be found, if anywhere, the clue to that complex and often
contradictory mingling of qualities which go to form the oneness of
the man's personality. This discordance between essential unity and
superficial diversities must be harmonized, if a true conception of
his being is to be formed. We know the faces of our friends, but we
see each as one. The features can, if we will, be separately
considered, catalogued, and valued; but who ever thus thinks
habitually of one he knows well? Yet to know well must be the aim of
biography,--so to present the traits in their totality, without
suppression of any, and in their true relative proportions, as to
produce, not the blurred or distorted outlines seen through an
imperfect lens, but the vivid apprehension which follows long intimacy
with its continual, though unconscious, process of correction.

For such a treatment of Nelson's character, copious, if imperfect,
material is afforded in his extensive and varied correspondence. From
it the author aims, first, to draw forth a distinct and living image
of the man himself, as sketched therein at random and loosely by his
own hand. It is sought to reach the result by keeping the reader in