s: "What I wish to know, Governor, is whether this
State is to be 'shoemakerized' or not?" With a laugh I said, "General,
I cannot tell, whether it is to be 'shoemakerized' or not." Upon this
the general left. When he had had interviews with Greene and Hallett,
he became anxious for Sumner's defeat; when he was with the
coalitionists he would become, in a measure, reconciled to his
election. The truth was, Cushing was destitute of convictions. By his
residence in the east he had lost faith in our religion, in our
civilization, and, in a degree, in our political system. However, he
had no stronger faith in any other system. His purposes were not bad,
and his disposition to aid others was a charming feature of his
character. He would oblige an associate whenever he could do so. As
a legislator he would perfect bills that he did not approve, and his
stores of knowledge were at the service of any one who chose to make
requests of him. Indeed he often volunteered information and
suggestions. His reading was so vast and his experience so great,
that his professional arguments were often over-loaded. As a jurist
his influence with courts was limited. He did not aid the judicial
mind. It was seldom necessary for the court to either accept or
answer his arguments. On one occasion, he commenced an argument to the
Supreme Court of Massachusetts with the obscure philosophical
observation: "An impossibility is the greatest possible fact."

General Cushing was learned in many ways, but his faculties were not
practical, and he was too much inclined to adhere to the existing
powers, and consequently he was ready to change whenever a new party
or a new set of men attained authority. As an official, he would obey
instructions, and as an assistant in legal, historical, or diplomatic
researches, he had no rival. He attained to high positions, and yet he
was never fully trusted by any administration or party. His personal
habits were peculiar. In later years, his economy degenerated into
parsimony. This may have been due in part to his lack of financial
skill. First and last he was led into many unprofitable undertakings,
and as a results, his patrimony, which was something, and his
professional earnings which were considerable, were consumed. He was
in debt usually, and he limited his expenses that he might meet his
liabilities. He was eccentric. I have met him at evening
entertainments arrayed in a dress suit wit