The long years in India had
also made a deep impression on his character, and many things about
him would have appeared strange and odd in a European. They amounted
to sheer contradictions, but their explanation was to be looked for
in the environment of his life. Physically he was still young, but
his mind seemed very old, and had that appearance of dwelling
quietly apart which is the privilege of wise minds who have done
with life, and who look on at the close of the comedy free from
illusions. His eyes often flashed with enthusiasm, but his speech
was always gentle and quiet. In his relations with other men he had
the decided manner of one who was accustomed to command, and at the
same time the kindness of a patriarch for his children. He was a
moderate sceptic, nevertheless he combined with it a mysticism which
a superficial judge might have denounced as superstition. He
believed, for instance, that many persons had power over wild
animals; that they could raise themselves into the air; that they
could interrupt the duration of their lives for months, or even for
years, and then resume it again; that they could read the thoughts
of others, and communicate without help the speech of others over
unlimited distances.
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