In a letter written to me at seventy
years of age she said: 'The older I grow the more I am awe-struck
(not frightened, but awed) by the great mystery of an existence
here and hereafter. No thinking can solve the problem. Infinite
wisdom has purposely sealed it from our eyes.'"
There was never a moment of Whittier's life when, prostrated by
illness, or overwhelmed by private sorrows, or removed from the haunts
of men, he forgot to take a living interest in public affairs, and to
study closely the characteristics and works of the men who were our
governors. He understood the characters of our public officers as if
he had lived with them continually, and his quick apprehension with
regard to their movements was something most unusual. De Quincey, we
remember, surprised his American friends by taking their hands, as it
were, and showing them about Boston, so familiar was he with our
localities. Whittier could sit down with politicians and easily prove
himself the better man on contested questions. In 1861 he wrote:--
"Our government needs more wisdom than it has thus far had credit for
to sustain the national honor and avert a war with England. What a
pity that Welles _indorsed_ the act of Wilkes in his report! Why
couldn't we have been satisfied with the thing without making such a
cackling over it? Apologies are cheap, and we could afford to make a
very handsome one in this case. A war with England would ruin us.
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