198 Fred Wilbur Powell
thing.' For natural endowment, I have nothing to boast of, yet, the operations of my mind, I think indicate sanity, and such gifts as ekvate character, as high above the characters of my groveling enemies, as the clouds are above the ground."*^
"Being an educated man and an enthusiast, writing was easy," said Bancroft ; and again, "Indeed, all of Kelley's works are well written. His command of language was far above the average.**^ But on these points Kelley's word is quite to the contrary and much nearer the truth. "I never had skill at composition; my thoughts being always occupied in other business. My aspiration has been, more to the attainment of preeminence as an architect than as a painter. For the busi- ness of the former, I think I have been measurably qualified with science and skill ; while in that of the latter, have been an ordinary performer."^ He introduced his Geographical Sketch with a statement that he was fully conscious of his literary limitations, and declared that he attempted only "to impress the public mind with simple and unadorned facts,*' since he was not "possessed of that free and imperial com- mand of words, which is the peculiar felicity of a few."** Upon several occasions he expressed regret that he was unable to adorn his composition "with the ordinary embellishments of rhetoric." Thus in his old age, he said, "My head is confused, and that continually ; and I cannot help it. Thoughts, at times, enter the mind disorderly. That which should come first comes last, and the last first; and they are a long while in coming. Utterance is stammering. Language is broken and diffuse, without imagery or beauty, or any rhetorical embellish- ment It is impossible for me to condense it and render it concise and perspicuous. My compositions abotmd with errors. I copy and copy, again and again, and sometimes the last copy is worse than the first."
He therefore took to dictation; and his last work. The History Of The Settlement Of Oregon, was prepared in this
ai n>id., s-6.
aa Bancroft* Northwest Coast, II, 556n. 55811.
2$ Narrative of Evenis and DifficulHes, postscript.
a4 Pp. 3-4.
