I was reading through selections of the Letters and Diaries of John Henry Newman the other day and came across these two descriptions of Cardinal Newman in 1873 and 1886 respectively:
". . . very kindly, with a sort of grave sweet simplicity which coming from so old a man, has in it something inexpressibly touching . . . an air of melancholy, as of one who has passed through terrible struggles, yet of serenity, as of one who had found peace." (1)
"[his voice had] much of its old strange sweetness . . . the look of almost anxious searching had passed into the look of perfect peace. His mind was not only bright as ever, but with the cheerfulness and humour of youth." (2)
