He was favored of the gods.

He possessed a bright, forceful mind.

His achievements were thrust upon him.

Though it sometimes ran away with him, his pen possessed extraordinary facility.
Thus he was ever able to put his best foot foremost.

Never in the larger sense a leader of men as were Chatham and Fox, as were Washington, Clay and Lincoln; nor of ideas as were Rousseau, Voltaire and Franklin, he had the subtle tenacity of Louis the Eleventh of France, the keen foresight of Richelieu with a talent for the surprising which would have raised him to eminence in journalism.