 a wild Western territory, had come
hither, twenty years before, to spend the decline of his varied and honorable
life. The brave soldier had already numbered, nearly or quite, his threescore
years and ten, and was pursuing the remainder of his earthly march, burdened
with infirmities which even the martial music of his own spirit-stirring
recollections could do little towards lightening. The step was palsied now, that
had been foremost in the charge. It was only with the assistance of a servant,
and by leaning his hand heavily on the iron balustrade, that he could slowly and
painfully ascend the Custom-House steps, and, with a toilsome progress across
the floor, attain his customary chair beside the fireplace. There he used to
sit, gazing with a somewhat dim serenity of aspect at the figures that came and
went; amid the rustle of papers, the administering of oaths, the discussion of
business, and the casual talk of the office; all which sounds and circumstances
seemed but indistinctly to impress his senses, and hardly to make their way into
his inner sphere of contemplation. His countenance, in this repose, was mild and
kindly. If his notice was sought, an expression of courtesy and interest gleamed
out upon his features; proving that there was light within him, and that it was
only the outward medium of the intellectual lamp that obstructed the rays in
their passage. The closer you penetrated to the substance of his mind, the
sounder it appeared. When no longer called upon to speak, or listen, either of
which operations cost him an evident effort, his face would briefly subside into
its former not uncheerful quietude. It was not painful to behold this look; for,
though dim, it had not the imbecility of decaying age. The framework of his
nature, originally strong and massive, was not yet crumbled into ruin.
    To observe and define his character, however, under such disadvantages, was
as difficult a task as to trace out and build up anew, in imagination, an old
fortress, like Ticonderoga, from a view of its gray and broken ruins. Here and
there, perchance, the walls may remain almost complete; but elsewhere may be
only a shapeless mound, cumbrous with its very strength, and overgrown, through
long years of peace and neglect, with grass and alien weeds.
    Nevertheless, looking at the old warrior with affection, - for, slight as
was the communication between us, my feeling towards him, like that of all
bipeds and quadrupeds who knew him, might not improperly be termed so, - I could
discern the main
