The life and letters of John Hay . ows of heart and promises an honorable and tranquil shall not be much missed except by my wife. I really believe that in all history I never readof a man who has had so much and such varied suc-cess as I have had, with so little ability and so littlepower of sustained industry. It is not a thing to beproud of, but it is something to be very grateful for. There never could be a better time to retire.(August 22, 1902.) Almost the last entry in John Hays Diary con-tains the following farewell. It is dated June 14,1905: — I say to mysel
The life and letters of John Hay . ows of heart and promises an honorable and tranquil shall not be much missed except by my wife. I really believe that in all history I never readof a man who has had so much and such varied suc-cess as I have had, with so little ability and so littlepower of sustained industry. It is not a thing to beproud of, but it is something to be very grateful for. There never could be a better time to retire.(August 22, 1902.) Almost the last entry in John Hays Diary con-tains the following farewell. It is dated June 14,1905: — I say to myself that I should not rebel at thethought of my life ending at this time. I have livedto be old, something I never expected in my have had many blessings, domestic happinessbeing the greatest of all. I have lived my life. I havehad success beyond all the dreams of my name is printed in the journals of the worldwithout descriptive qualification, which may, I sup-pose, be called fame. By mere length of service I I. ?>- 4;.: •^.- X^.U.^ < 2 CONCLUSION 409 shall occupy a modest place in the history of my I were to live several years more I should probablyadd nothing to my existing reputation; while I couldnot reasonably expect any further enjoyment of life,such as falls to the lot of old men in sound health. Iknow death is the common lot, and what is universalought not to be deemed a misfortune; and yet —instead of confronting it with dignity and philosophy,I cling instinctively to life and the things of life, aseagerly as if I had not had my chance at happinessand gained nearly all the great prizes. THE END INDEX Page references to the letters and parts of letters of John Hayprinted in these vol-iimes will be found under the names of his correspondents, after other references. Thevery numerous subjects touched upon in the extracts from Mr. Hays Diaries are notindexed under his name except when they seem to be of special importance, or when they
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