Page:Life of Henry Clay (Schurz; v. 1).djvu/38

26 good fellowship in his Kentuckian surroundings; a superior person, appearing, indeed, immensely superior at times, but making his neighbors feel that he was one of them, — such a man was born to be popular. It has frequently been said that later in life he cultivated his popularity by clever acting, and that his universal courtesy became somewhat artificial. If so, then he acted his own character as it originally was. It is an important fact that his popularity at home, among his neighbors, indeed in the whole state, constantly grew stronger as he grew older, and that the people of Kentucky clung to him with unbounded affection.