From boyhood that was his habit.

He must know the meaning of things.

An event might be as fruitless as a shooting star unless he could trace the relations which tied it to what came before and after.
Hence his deliberation which gave to his opinions the solidity of wisdom.

Audacious he might be in battle, but perhaps what seems to us audacity seemed to him at the moment a higher prudence.

If there were crises when the odds looked ten to one against him, he would take the chance.