He  was  "  authoritative,  and  yet  obedient."  This,  too,  is,  in
the  measure  possessed  by  him,  an  unusual  mixture.  It  is  diffi-
cult to  find  eminent  military  commanders,  used  to  the  "  habit
of  command,"  who  have  not  become  arbitrary  ;  and  it  is  diffi-
cult to  find  one  who  has  become  arbitrary,  who  is  ready  to
yield  a  cheerful  and  willing  obedience  to  others  in  authority.
Yet  has  Scott  manifested  this  quality  in  all  cases,  and  under
trying  circumstances.  When,  after  years  of  argument,  in  re-
lation to  brevet  rank,  and  when  he  firmly  believed  himself
right,  the  President  decided  against  him,  he  still  remained  in
the  army,  and  took  the  position  assigned  him,  at  the  expense
of  injured  feelings.  When,  at  the  end  of  a  series  of  unex-
ampled victories,  he  received  the  unexpected  and  extraor-
dinary degradation  of  being  summoned  to  answer  his  inferiors
before  a  court  of  inquiry,  he  silently  delivered  up  his  com-


HISTORY    WILL    DO    HIM    HONOR.  191

mand,  and  appeared  to  answer  at  the  tribunal  the  President
had  chosen  to  constitute.  Indeed,  through  forty  years  of  ser-
vice, he  never  once  came  into  collision  with  any  of  the  civil
authorities,  or  transgressed  in  any  way  the  laws  of  his  country.
Of  how  many  other  military  commanders  can  that  be  said?

When  we  closed  our  first  account  of  the  life  of  General
Scott,  we  left  him  in  the  midst  of  peaceful  occupations.  The
army  was  on  the  peaceful  establishment.  There  was  little
for  him  to  do,  except  to  read  the  reports  of  subordinates,  and
devise  schemes  for  the  improvement  of  his  soldiers.  It  was
only  two  years  after  that  the  war  with  Mexico  broke  out,  and
added  a  new  series  of  events  to  his  already  remarkable  career.
