ring between himself and Adam Smith. "What did Smith say, sir?" Dr. Johnson: "He said I was a liar." "And what did you say?" "I said he was a" — never mind what. Benjamin's language was more senatorial, but not too much so. "The Senator is mistaken and has no right to state any such thing. His manner is not agreeable at all." Davis "If the Senator happens to find it disagreeable, I hope he will keep it to himself." Benjamin: " When directed to me, I will not keep it to myself, I will repel it instanter." Davis: "You have got it sir." 47
And pistols for two, of course. But kind friends pre- vented the future Secretary of State from shooting at his President. More seriously instructive and profitable is the contrast between the explanations offered by the two men in the Senate. Davis's is in his best vein, nobly characteristic, as thoroughly frank as it is manly and dig- nified. Benjamin's is well enough, but cautious, as if he were afraid of his position and anxious not to say a word too much. 48
The keen sensibility, whether superficial or not, which appears in these incidents, characterized Benjamin in other ways besides temper. He liked excitement. It was the excitement of public contest that made for him, I think, the charm of his profession. After the war he was offered an excellent opening in Parisian finance, but he preferred to fight his way up in the English courts. And there is a remarkable sentence in his speech at the fare-
