Page:James Thomason (Temple).djvu/24

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JAMES THOMASON

a power working for the good of others. Thus his life was a pattern of how a Christian Governor ought to live.

His character, founded upon the Rock of Ages, naturally displayed calmness as a dominant quality; and in subordination to this were patience, moderation of thought, and intellectual deliberation. His kindness was not demonstrative, nor evoked without consideration; when awakened, it shone with mild beams, but was directed effectively. Firmness, energy and zeal served as bulwarks to his character. For firmness, his mind was ordinarily made up slowly, but when once fixed was imperturbable or even inflexible. His energy was not meteoric nor ardent, but was unfailingly constant and perseveringly strenuous. His zeal was as a slow fire, but it burned unceasingly and inextinguishably. There was innate dignity of soul in him, but it was clothed in humility, and in unostentatious simplicity. Though outwardly he was never enthusiastic, yet an enthusiasm glowed within him, and it was the enthusiasm of humanity. His character was composed, so to speak, of two strata; the first consisted of enlightenment and sweetness, the second of resolution and persistency. The two elements were joined together by the bond of Christian faith.

Intellectually, the most prominent feature was his capacity for mental toil, beyond the ordinary standard even of great and able men. There was a variety in his endowments, for he possessed those