ordinary period, has its analogy in his physical constitution--it being a
fact that he continued to grow in stature between his twenty-first and
twenty-fifth years.

He had not met with that misfortune, which, it is to be feared, befalls
many men who throw their ardor into politics. The pursuit had taken
nothing from the frankness of his nature; now, as ever, he used direct
means to gain honorable ends; and his subtlety--for, after all, his heart
and purpose were not such as he that runs may read--had the depth of
wisdom, and never any quality of cunning. In great part, this
undeteriorated manhood was due to his original nobility of nature. Yet
it may not be unjust to attribute it, in some degree, to the singular
good fortune of his life. He had never, in all his career, found it
necessary to stoop. Office had sought him; he had not begged it, nor
manoeuvred for it, nor crept towards it--arts which too frequently bring
a man, morally bowed and degraded, to a position which should be one of
dignity, but in which he will vainly essay to stand upright.

In our earlier meetings, after Pierce had begun to come forward in public
life, I could discern that his ambition was aroused. He felt a young
man's enjoyment of success, so early and so distinguished. But as years
went on, such motives seemed to be less influential with him. He was
cured of ambition, as, one after another, its objects came to him
unsought. His domestic position, likewise, had contributed to direct his
tastes and wishes towards the pursuits of private life. In 1834 he had
married Jane Means, a daughter of the Rev. Dr. Appleton, a former
president of Bowdoin College. Three sons, the first of whom died in
early infancy, were born to him; and, having hitherto been kept poor by
his public service, he no doubt became sensible of the expediency of
making some provision for the future. Such, it may be presumed, were the