But none of his friends seem to have had any foresight of the eminence he was destined to attain.

The Directors of the Society did not even rank him among their ablest men.

It is interesting to contrast the opinion entertained of him then with that expressed by Sir Bartle Frere, after much personal intercourse, many years afterward.

"Of his intellectual force and energy," wrote Sir Bartle, "he has given such proof as few men could afford.

Any five years of his life might in any other occupation have established a character and raised for him a fortune such as none but the most energetic of our race can realize[18]." [Footnote 18: _Good Words_, 1874, p.