If he had any foible which affected at all his usefulness or success in life it was an impatience of authority, whether it were the authority of a great reputation, or of party, or of public sentiment, or of the established and settled opinions of mankind.
Hoar identifies a specific character flaw in a lawyer that may have impacted his success, emphasizing his rebellious nature.
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To yield to him was never the way to win his good will.
But, as I have already said, when the time came, he always subordinated his own desire to what he deemed the welfare of the public.
Self-seeking political adventurers and demagogues have not been slow to take advantage of this feeling for their own purposes.
One of the virtues of General Sheridan was that he knew when to act without orders.
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