iitli! I Mi 
 
 
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C^x^t ~ 
 
OIT-HMD TAKINGS; 
 
 OB, 
 
 CRAYON SKETCHES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NOTICEABLE MEN OF OUR AGE. 
 
 GEORGE Wf 
 
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 *Emi.eIItJ5|)je& fottf) Qfo*itt2 ^oriiatts on 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 DE WITT & DAVENPORT, PUBLISHERS, 
 
 100 & 162 NASSAU STREET. 
 
ENTERED according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, by 
 
 DE WITT & DAVENPORT, 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York. 
 
 CRAIGHEAD, PRINTER, 
 
 53 VESEY STREET, N. *. 
 
 W. H. TINSOtf, ALEXANDER & STORM, 
 
 PRINTER AND STERKOTTPEB, BOOKBINDERS, 
 
 84 Beekman Street. 7 Spruce Street. 
 
Bancroft 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Daniel Webster 9 
 
 Henry Clay 20 
 
 Edwin H. Chapin (with portrait) 28 
 
 John Charles Fremont 37 
 
 Geo. P. Morris and N. P. Willis 43 
 
 William H. Seward (with portrait) 52 
 
 Edward Everett (with portrait) 59 
 
 John P. Hale (with portrait) 72 
 
 Father Taylcr 79 
 
 John C. Calhoun 82 
 
 Lewis Cass 92 
 
 Charles C. Burleigh 101 
 
 Henry Ward Beecher (with portrait) 104 
 
 Abbott Lawrence 116 
 
 Ralph Waldo Emerson 119 
 
 John VanBuren (with portrait) 127 
 
 John Greenleaf Whittier ~. 132 
 
 Washington Irving '. 141 
 
 G. W. Bethune 147 
 
 E. P. Whipple 156 
 
 G. C. Hebbe (with portrait) 162 
 
 Eufus Choate 1C7 
 
 Horace Mann 175 
 
 Dr. Boardman s . 182 
 
 Solon Robinson (with portrait) 186 
 
 John Ross Dix 190 
 
 P. T. Barnum (with portrait) 199 
 
 Dr. E.Kane 205 
 
 Nathaniel Hawthorne 210 
 
 Samuel F. B. Morse 214 
 
 Geo. W. Kendall 218 
 
 Samuel Houston (with portrait) 219 
 
 Pierre Soule 223 
 
 W. Thackeray 224 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 to another, a mere caricature. Now to meet this diffi- 
 culty it is requisite that the sketcher should possess 
 such an intimate knowledge of the man he seeks to 
 portray as will enable him to seize upon those broad 
 features of character which are observable by all, and 
 to dispose of those peculiarities that are perceivable 
 by but the few. These qualifications we believe MR. 
 BUNGAY to possess in an eminent degree, and do not 
 doubt that the reader will entertain the same opinion 
 when he shall have read through this volume. 
 
 All personal gossip is interesting. Although the 
 matter may at first glance seem trivial, we, all of us, 
 like to know something of the men whom we hear 
 
 talked of every day, and whose works have either de- 
 
 jji 
 
 lighted or instructed us. How they dressed, talked, 
 or amused themselves ; what they loved to eat and 
 
 ; drink, and how they looked when their bows were un- 
 bent. It is this sort of gossip that makes BoswelPs 
 Life of Johnson one of the most delightful works in 
 our language ; and such petty details, though the 
 " high art " biographer may deem them of but little 
 
 . value, constitute a charm which the most elaborate 
 expositions of mental characteristics would fail to 
 sgcure. 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 But let it not be thought that in the following por- 
 traits mental traits are lost sight of. On the contrary, 
 our Author has a keen eye for detecting such, and a 
 ready pen to record them. A poet himself, and a true 
 one, as the world will before long know, if it knows it 
 not already, he is well able to detect and prize the 
 poetic faculty in others ; and his general knowledge of 
 most subjects enables him to seize upon the prominent 
 features in the politician, the philosopher, the orator, 
 the merchant, or the journalist. In these " Takings" 
 we think he has been singularly successful ; and if in 
 some instances he has been hurried, by an enthusiastic 
 temperament, into over-coloring, the fault may be 
 easily excused, for where is the painter who does not 
 now and then overstep the " modesty of nature," and 
 produce effects which, though they existed in his 
 prolific imagination, are not set down in the strict 
 rules of art ? 
 
 To American readers this Gallery of Portraits of^\ 
 some of their most illustrious men will be of great and / 
 abiding interest. Of course there are many others"* 
 whom the Author might have sketched, but what single 
 volume could have contained all ? Should, however, 
 this book be received with favor, and we do not in the 
 
viii PREFACE. 
 
 least doubt it, a second and a third series may appear. 
 Of such, however, it is premature to speak at present, 
 and we therefore rest content with introducing this 
 volume to the American reader. 
 
 Boston, Mass., June, 1854. 
 
 
 J.R.D. 
 
OFF-SAID TAKINGS; 
 
 / " 
 
 OR, 
 
 CRAYON SKETCHES 
 
 DANIEL WEBSTER. 
 
 AMERICA is the greatest continent, and embraces within ite 
 limits the grandest mountains, the broadest lakes, the longest 
 rivers, the largest prairies, and, with all these, the mightiest 
 intellect. Its mountains stand up like pillars supporting the 
 azure arch in the temple of nature ; its lakes are inland seas ; 
 its rivers could swallow the waters of Europe without over- 
 flowing their banks; and its mind is correlative with the 
 magnificence of its scenery. There is but one Niagara, and**; 
 that is in America ; there is but one Webster, and he is in 
 America. The cataract flows now, as it did when God first 
 smote the rock in this Western wijderness, and He has woven 
 a rainbow about its silver forehead, and crowned it with a 
 fountain of diamonds. It shouts the same song of liberty it 
 did when the world was in its infancy. It is free and 
 mighty, and cannot be hushed into silence, nor flattered into 
 subserviency. So with Webster, when he lifts up his voice 
 
10 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 < 
 
 for freedom, it is like "deep calling unto deep;" and the 
 light of Heaven illuminates his magnetic eyes and beams on 
 his mighty forehead. 
 
 Geologists have discovered the colossal bones of the Mas- 
 todon, and hence we infer that there were larger animals in 
 ages gone by, than we have living at present ; so, future his- 
 torians will find, in their mutilated and mouldy libraries, 
 the remains of Webster's greatness. In the glory of his man- 
 ; hood he represented Massachusetts ; defended liberty ; sympa- 
 I thized with humanity", and won the approbation of all good 
 * men. In the arena of debate he usually came off more than 
 conqueror. He was regarded as the senator of the United 
 States. When he rose in his place, in the council chamber 
 of the nation, with a voice of thunder and eyes on fire, every 
 face was turned towards him, every tongue was silent, for he 
 was clad to the teeth in armor, had a spear like a weaver's 
 beam, and had been trained to battle. He has great self-pos- 
 session, coolness, adroitness, and tact ; never was remarkable 
 for sunshiny gaiety of imagination ; rarely strayed to select 
 bright flowers in the garden of literature ; his attempts at wit 
 were like the antics of the elephant that tried to mimic the 
 lap-dog ; but he was emphatically great. He was the 
 Defender of the Constitution, and could present arguments in 
 its defence with irresistible force and eloquence. His words 
 were full of marrow, his logic unctuous with fatness. He 
 = defeated his opponents, not by the " delicacy of his' tact, but 
 by the prodigious power of his reason." There " was no 
 honeyed paste of poetic diction " encrusting his speeches, " like 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 11 
 
 the candied coat of the auricula," but there was tremendous 
 weight in his arguments. ^. 
 
 Webster, in earlier days, was sublime as Chatham, class!-; 
 cal as Burke, terse as Macintosh, forcible as Tully. Endowed, 
 by nature, with a noble and commanding person, he never 
 failed to attract attention. When excited in debate, his 
 granite face glowed with intellect ; " the terrors of his beak, 
 the lightnings of his eye, were insufferable." He was the 
 king of the Senate, for nature had stamped him with the 
 unmistakable mark of sovereignty^ regardless of the republi- 
 canism of his country. There was grace in his gesture, dig- 
 nity in his deportment, and humanity as well as patriotism in 
 his speeches. His voice was rich, full, and clear ; now thril- 
 ling like the blast of a trumpet, now intimidating by the 
 awful solemnity of its tone, now animating by its soul-stirring 
 notes. Abroad, he was the lion of London, his noble exterior 
 making him "a man of mark." He has coal-black hair, 
 (now thickly sprinkled with grey,) a lofty brow, " the forge of 
 thought;" magnificent eyes; an ample chest; a patrician 
 hand; a face broad and dark as some of the fugitives he 
 would return to bondage. See him in the zenith of his man- 
 hood, standing on the battle-ground at Bunker Hill, witli 
 kingly dignity, uttering sentiments that will be fresh in the 
 memories of millions, when the shaft of granite now standing 
 there shall have crumbled to dust ! Apparently as impregna- 
 ble as the granite hills of his own New Hampshire, who sup- 
 posed that he, so great and gifted, towering above ordinary 
 men, was as the mountain which wraps the cloud-cloak about 
 
12 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 its shoulders, while a vest of eternal snow keeps the sunshine 
 for ever frqni its heart ! The mountain is great, sublime, and 
 lofty, but cold, barren, and unapproachable ; it points towards 
 Heaven, but remains fixed to earth. 
 
 Daniel Webster has accomplished noble feats, for which he 
 merits the gratitude of good men. Since the days of 
 Washington, there has been no man so well qualified, in 
 jpniny points, for the presidency, as he. His impatience and 
 irritability, in consequence of his disappointment, have been 
 frequently exhibited. As a last resort, he tried to conciliate 
 the South at the expense of the North. As a public speaker, 
 he seldom enlivens his arguments with the flashes of wit, but 
 he has said some keen things, which have become as common 
 as " household words." At a public meeting, a young aspi- 
 rant for poetical and political honors attempted to drink a 
 toast to the honor of the immortal John Q. Adams, who was 
 present. " Mr. Adams," said the toaster, " may he perplex his 
 
 enemies as " here the speaker hesitated, and Webster 
 
 thundered out, " as he has his friends." Foote made a fulsome 
 speech in praise of Mr. Webster, at one time, in the senate, 
 but the " god-like " cut him short by shouting, " Git eout? 
 The yankee twang he gave the sentence convulsed the senate 
 with irrepressible laughter. 
 
 For superior specimens of pure style, lofty reasoning, and 
 eloquent declamation, read Mr. Webster's arguments before 
 the Supreme Court, his speeches delivered in Faneuil Hall, his 
 best efforts in the senate chamber, his unstudied responses at 
 public dinners and conventions, his lectures before tho 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 13 
 
 lyceums, his remarks oh the great political and constitutional 
 questions of the past and present times. Indeed, all are 
 familiar with these efforts of a master mind. The profes- 
 sional skill and the parliamentary talent of Mr. Webster are 
 appreciated on both sides of the Atlantic. He has contended 
 with the ablest intellects, stout competitors, keen opponents, 
 and always came off with flying colors, when he was in the 
 right. Even his rivals give him the credit of being the most 
 forcible debater in America. 
 
 At the age of thirty he appeared in the Congress of 1812, 
 and Mr. Lowndes then said of him, that the North had not 
 his equal, nor the South his superior. That he has been a 
 sagacious statesman, a skillful diplomatist, a profound investi- 
 gator, and the greatest thinker in America, is the opinion of 
 millions of his countrymen. 
 
 Never was the English language more eloquently employed 
 than in Webster's magnificent speech, in reply to Haynes. 
 Hear him : 
 
 " And now, sir, I repeat, how is it that a state legislature 
 acquires any right to interfere ? Who, or what, gives them 
 the right to say to the people, ' We, who are your agents and 
 servants for one purpose, will undertake to decide that your 
 other agents and servants, appointed by you for another pur- 
 pose, have transcended the authority you gave them ?' The 
 reply would be, I think, not impertinent, ' Who made you a 
 judge over another's servants ? To their own masters they 
 stand or fall.' 
 
 " Sir, I deny this power of state legislatures altogether. It 
 
14 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 caunot stand the test of examination. Gentlemen may say, 
 that, in an extreme case, a state government might protect 
 themselves, without the aid of the state governments. Such 
 a case warrants revolution. It must make, when it comes, a 
 law for itself. A nullifying act of a state legislature cannot 
 alter the case, nor make resistance any more lawful. In 
 maintaining these sentiments, sir, I am but asserting the 
 right of the people. I state what they have declared, and 
 insist on their right to declare it. They have chosen to 
 repose this power in the General Government, and I think it 
 my duty to support it, like other constitutional powers. 
 
 '^For myself, sir, I doubt the jurisdiction of South Carolina, 
 or any other state, to prescribe my constitutional duty, or to 
 settle, between me and the people, the validity of laws of Con- 
 gress for which I have voted. I decline her umpirage. I 
 have not sworn to support the Constitution according to her 
 construction of its clauses. I have not stipulated, by my 
 oath of office or otherwise, to come under any responsibility, 
 except to the people, and those whom they have appointed to 
 pass upon the question, whether the laws, supported by my 
 votes, conform to the Constitution of the country. And, sir, 
 if we look to the general nature of the case, could anything 
 have been more preposterous than to have made a government 
 for the whole Union, and yet left its powers subject, not to 
 one interpretation, but to thirteen or twenty-four interpreta- 
 tions ? Instead of one tribunal established by all, responsi- 
 ble to all, with power to decide for all shall constitutional 
 questions be left to four and twenty popular bodies, each at 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 15 
 
 liberty to decide for itself, and none bound to respect the 
 decisions of others ; and each at liberty, too, to give a new 
 construction, on every new election of its own members 1 
 Would anything, with such a principle in it, or rather with 
 such a destitution of all principle, be fit to be called a govern- 
 ment ? No, sir. It should not be denominated a Constitu- 
 tion. It should be called, rather, a collection of topics for 
 everlasting controversy; heads of debate for a disputatious 
 people. It would not be a government. It would not be 
 adequate to any practical good, nor fit for any country to live 
 under. To avoid all possibility of being misunderstood, 
 allow me to repeat again, in the fullest manner, that I claim 
 no powers for the government, by forced or unfair construc- 
 tion. 1 admit that it is a government of strictly limited 
 powers ; of enumerated, specified, and particularized powers ; 
 and that whatsoever is not granted is withheld. But, not- 
 withstanding all this, and however the grant of powers may 
 be expressed, its limits and extent may yet, in some cases, 
 admit of doubt ; and the General Government would be good 
 for nothing, it would be incapable of long existence, if some 
 mode had not been provided in which those doubts, as they 
 should arise, might be peaceably, but authoritatively, solved. 
 
 " And now, Mr. President, let me run the honorable gentle- 
 man's doctrine a little into its practical application. Let us 
 look at his probable modus operandi. If a thing can be done, 
 an ingenious man can tell how it is to be done. Now, I wish 
 to be informed how this state interference is to be put in prac- 
 tice. We will take the existing case of the tariff law. South 
 
16 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 m 
 
 Carolina is jsaid to have made up her opinion upon it. If we 
 do not repeal it (as we probably shall not), she will then 
 apply to the case the remedy of her doctrine. She will, we 
 must suppose, pass a law of her legislature, declaring the 
 several acts of Congress, usually called the tariff laws, null 
 and void, so far as they respect South Carolina, or the citizens 
 thereof. So far, all is a paper transaction, and easy enough. 
 But the collector at Charleston is collecting the duties imposed 
 by these tariff laws he, therefore, must be stopped. The 
 collector will seize the goods if the tariff duties are not paid. 
 The state authorities will undertake their rescue : the marshal, 
 with his posse, will come to the collector's aid ; and here the 
 contest begins. The militia of the state will be called out to 
 sustain the nullifying act. They will march, sir, under a very 
 gallant leader ; for I believe the honorable member himself 
 commands the militia of that part of the state. He will raise 
 the NULLIFYING ACT on his standard, and spread it out as his 
 banner. It will have a preamble, bearing that the tariff laws 
 are palpable, deliberate, and dangerous violations of the Con- 
 stitution. He will proceed, with his banner flying, to the cus- 
 tom house in Charleston, 
 
 * all the while 
 Sonorous metal blowing martial sounds.' 
 
 Arrived at the custom house, he will tell the collector that he 
 must collect no more duties under any of the tariff laws. This 
 he will be somewhat puzzled to say, by the way, with a grave 
 countenance, considering what hand South Carolina herself 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 17 
 
 had in that of 1816. But, sir, the collector would, probably, 
 not desist at his bidding. Here would ensue a pause ; for they 
 say, that a certain stillness precedes the tempest. Before this" 
 military array should fall on the custom house, collector, 
 clerks, and all, it is very probable some of those composing it 
 would request of their gallant commander-in-chief to be in- 
 formed a little upon the point of law ; for they have doubtless 
 a just respect for his opinions as a lawyer, as well as for his 
 bravery as a soldier. They know he has read Blackstone and 
 the Constitution, as well as Turenne and Vauban. They would 
 ask him, therefore, something concerning their rights in this 
 matter. They would inquire whether it was not somewhat 
 dangerous to resist a law of the United States. What would 
 be the nature of their offence, they would wish to learn, if 
 they, by military force and array, resisted the execution in 
 Carolina of a law of the United States, and it should turn out, 
 after all, that the law was constitutional. He would answer, 
 of course, treason. No lawyer could give any other answer. 
 John Fries, he would tell them, had learned that some years 
 ago. How, then, they would ask, do you propose to defend 
 us ? * We are not afraid of bullets, but treason has a way of 
 taking people off that we do not much relish. How do you 
 propose to defend us?' 'Look at my floating banner,' he 
 would reply ; ' see there the nullifying law /' ' It is your 
 opinion, gallant^commander,' they would then say, ' that if we 
 should be indicted for treason, that same floating banner of 
 yours would make a good plea in bar ?' ' South Carolina is a 
 sovereign state,' he would reply. * That is true ; but would the 
 
18 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 judge admit our plea ?' ' These tariff laws,' he would repeat 
 * are unconstitutional.' 
 
 ********* 
 " That Union we reached only by the discipline of our 
 virtues in the severe school of adversity. It had its origin in 
 the necessities of disordered finance, prostrate commerce, and 
 ruined credit. Under its benign influence, these great interests 
 immediately awoke, as from the dead, and sprang forth with 
 newness of life. Every year of its duration has teemed with 
 fresh proofs of its utility and its blessings ; and although our 
 territory has stretched out wider and wider, and our population 
 spread farther and farther, they have not outran its protection 
 or its benefits. It has been to us all a copious fountain of 
 national, social, personal happiness. I have not allowed my- 
 self, si/, to look beyond the Union, to see what might lie 
 hidden in the dark recesses behind. I have not coolly weighed 
 the chances of preserving liberty, when the bonds that unite 
 us together shall be broken asunder. I have not accustomed 
 myself to hang over the precipice of disunion, to see whether, 
 with my short sight, I can fathom the depth of the abyss 
 below ; nor could I regard him as a safe counsellor in the 
 affairs of this government, whose thoughts should be mainly 
 bent on considering, not how the Union should be best pre- 
 served, but how tolerable might be the condition of the people 
 when it shall be broken up and destroyed. While the Union 
 lasts, we have high, exciting, gratifying prospects spread out 
 before us, for us and our children. Beyond that I seek not to 
 penetrate the veil. God grant that, in my day at least, that 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 19 
 
 curtain may not rise. God grant that on my vision never 
 may be opened what lies behind. When my eyes shall be 
 turned to behold, for the last time, the sun in heaven, may I 
 not see him shining on the broken and dishonored fragments 
 of a once-glorious Union ; on states dissevered, discordant, 
 belligerent ; on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched, it 
 may be, in fraternal blood ! Let their last feeble and lingering 
 glance, rather, behold the gorgeous ensign of the Republic, now 
 known and honored throughout the earth, still full high ad- 
 vanced, its arms and trophies streaming in their original lustre, 
 not a stripe erased or polluted, nor a single star obscured 
 bearing for its motto no such miserable interrogatory as, What 
 is all this worth ? nor those other words of delusion and folly, 
 Liberty first, and Union afterwards ; but everywhere, spread 
 all over in characters of living light, blazing on all its ample 
 folds, as they float over the sea and over the land, and in every 
 wind under the whole heavens, that other sentiment, dear to 
 every true American heart Liberty and Union, now and for- 
 ever, one and inseparable !" % 
 
 Note. It is is scarcely necessary to state, that the above sketch was written 
 prior to the decease of the great statesman to whom it refers. 
 
 AUTHOR. 
 
20 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 HENRY CLAY. 
 
 EVERY American citizen, who has arrived at years of 
 discretion, must be familiar with the remarkable history of 
 Henry Clay. What man figured more conspicuously in Con- 
 gress than he did during his terms of service there ? Who 
 exerted such a magnetic and potent influence over the Whig 
 party ? Where in this country could be found his equal for 
 impassioned eloquence ? Who understood better than he did 
 the modern history of the diplomacy of nations ? He was a 
 man of extraordinary endowments, courteous, brave, generous, 
 and urbane, and yet opinionative, arbitrary, and dogmatical. 
 It is said, that on a certain occasion,, while Rufus Choate wa? 
 a member of the United States Senate, the imperious Kentuc- 
 kian made the Massachusetts orator shrink to his seat, in the 
 midst of a speech, by simply shaking his finger at him. 
 What a sight ! Rufus Choate struck dumb by the pantomime 
 of Henry Clay. As a statesman he had great forecast, save 
 when he permitted himself to become a candidate for the 
 presidency ; then he unwisely hampered himself with answers 
 to the impertinent inquiries of the little great men which 
 flash like fire-flies when the stars are shining. 
 
 Had he been a Northern man, with a New England educa- 
 tion, he would have been a bolder and braver herald of 
 freedom, and he would have discountenanced those who have 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 21 
 
 betrayed liberty in the house of its professed friends for less 
 than thirty pieces of silver; renegades who have crucified 
 humanity by driving in the rusty nails of cruel enactments 
 and putting on the crown of bitter shame. He, however, was 
 a wise statesman and a magnificent gentleman. " Peace to 
 his ashes." 
 
 Having no desire whatever to dwell on that unpleasant side 
 of the medal, I turn to a theme in which the general reader 
 will take a deeper interest. Henry Clay had a well balanced 
 temperament, combining vast powers of .origination with 
 great force and activity. Indolence was punishment to him. 
 Mr. Fowler, the justly celebrated phrenologist, speaking of 
 him, says, " He also had great elasticity of constitution ; could 
 endure almost anything." He was tall full six feet in his 
 stockings, I should think stood erect as the towering pines 
 on the sandy hills of his native state, had a capacious chest, 
 sandy complexion, florid countenance, wide, sensual mouth, 
 starry eyes, and a magnificent forehead. He looked the 
 patrician. Even strangers knew at a glance that he was no 
 ordinary person. Nature had put a mark of distinction upon 
 him, and pedestrians would stop in the road and look back 
 after him. When he smiled, the infection charmed the circle 
 on which his countenance shone. When he spoke, he had 
 the entire nation for his audience. When he made an effort, 
 there was a vibration throughout the Confederacy. That he 
 was an ambitious man, and desired most ardently to be ele- 
 vated to the highest post of honor his country could offer 
 him, will not be disputed by those who are competent to 
 
22 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 appreciate his speeches and his sentiments. He was born to 
 be a leader, and he did lead, and sometimes drive. He drove 
 his cruel omnibus into the Senate, and would have had 
 scythes upon its wheels, if Benton had not knocked them off 
 with his battering-ram. 
 
 Mr. Clay was noted for his hospitality and great-hearted 
 generosity. He was fond of the approbation of his fellow- 
 men, and would often put himself to inconvenience to accom- 
 modate those even, who could render no return but gratitude 
 for his magnanimity. Not at all inclined to believe in the' 
 wonderful and marvelous, and not being overstocked with 
 veneration for religious rites and ceremonies, he was in his 
 earlier days regarded as a dashing, brilliant, reckless, gifted, 
 and graceless young man, with lofty anticipations that would 
 never be realized. It is quite evident he expected notoriety, 
 honor, and distinction, and his career proves that he did not 
 over-estimate his abilities, while it furnishes positive evidence 
 that his expectations were not often disappointed. Although 
 a popular man, who moved the masses and even the sympa- 
 thies of the poor as well as the rich while he was naturally 
 aristocratic and exclusive, and wished all to keep at a 
 respectful distance from him he was accessible and sociable 
 when approached through proper mediums. No one at all 
 acquainted with him could fail to notice his unfaltering firm- 
 ness and unyielding perseverance. "Whatever project he 
 undertook was pursued with volcanic vigor until it was accom- 
 plished. He was cautious, without being timid resolute, but 
 not rash firm, but not obstinate. He could mature his plans 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 23 
 
 in his own mind, and keep them shut up there until the time 
 came for their development ; hence he was a sage politician 
 a smart tactician. He was a warm friend, and a cold, dig- 
 nified enemy; an affectionate husband (when addressing a 
 large audience of beautiful ladies, a short time previous to his 
 decease, he told them they were very handsome, but there 
 was an old lady in Ashland, he loved more than he ^ved 
 them), a tender father (there can be no doubt that the death 
 of his son, on the Mexican battle-field, cut him to the heart, 
 and hastened him to the grave, by irritating the disease to 
 which he was predisposed), and an appreciating teacher (he edu- 
 cated the eminent scholar and distinguished orator, Bascom). 
 He had more courage than cruelty, and would defend him- 
 self when assailed with a degree of patriotic pluck which was 
 a caution to the invader. The love of money was not 
 remarkable in him. It is my impression that he left only a 
 moderate competency" behind him. . In his younger days, he 
 occasionally indulged in games of chance, not for the profit 
 but for the excitement of the game. Gambling, however, is 
 always reprehensible, and no excuse can whitewash it into 
 innocent amusement. After all, it was his mind that made 
 him such an attractive man. He was fond of the sublime 
 and beautiful, had a nice discriminating taste, hence his lan- 
 guage and his illustrations were chaste and elegant, and he 
 became the most eloquent expounder of the principles of his 
 party. The magazines are filled with specimens of his glow- 
 ing imagery and subtle reasoning. It was, indeed, a rich 
 *reat to look up at his stalwart form and listen to the deep 
 
24 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 notes that pealed from his organ-chest, until the senate 
 chamber rang with the mighty magic of his unapproachable 
 eloquence. He had not the massive grandeur of Webster, 
 but he was more acute in his argument, and had a more 
 gracious manner of delivery. He did not display the 
 scholarship of Benton, but he had a richer fancy and more 
 declamatory power, and far exceeded him in matters of diplo- 
 macy. Without the calmness of Cass, he always commanded 
 more attention in Congress than the great giant of Michigan. 
 
 Perhaps he may be called, the Canning of America; 
 although his style is peculiar to himself, there is the same 
 fascinating finish the same mingling of pathos and poetry, 
 argument and invective. He was rapid, forcible, brilliant, 
 piercing. His wit was always refined as attic salt, his humor 
 perfectly irresistible, though seldom indulged, his invective as 
 rankling as the bite of an adder. Now he sounded the deep 
 sea of passion then he soared to the sky of fancy. He 
 would have shone in Parliament with such men as Pitt, Fox, 
 Burke, and Sheridan. 
 
 His mind was not like the eye of Cyclops, " letting in a 
 flood of rushing and furious splendor," but a Drummond light, 
 illuminating without impairing what it shone upon. His let- 
 ters are lucid, terse, fluent, courteous, classical, with the heart 
 of their author throbbing in them. His collected speeches 
 form volumes of American eloquence, which should be found 
 in every well-appointed library in our land. The last 
 speeches he made breathe the same youthful vigor of his 
 earlier efforts, and the reader never thinks that the speaker was 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 25 
 
 a venerable white-haired man ; indeed, his heart never became 
 grey. If the Congress of the United States may be called an 
 aviary of birds of prey, he was the eagle in that aviary ; if 
 it may be termed a menagerie, he was the lion of that 
 menagerie. It is to be deeply deplored that such a man was 
 a slaveholder, that he lived and died a defender of slavery ; 
 that he ever countenanced in any way the cruel code of 
 honor which demands a man to make a martyr of himself to 
 " preserve his honor unsullied." 
 
 I here annex a specimen of the style of Mr. Clay's oratory : 
 
 Hon. Henry Clay's appeal in behalf of Greece. 
 
 " Mr. Chairman : There is reason to apprehend that a tre- 
 mendous storm is ready to burst upon our unhappy country 
 one which may call into action all our vigor, courage, and 
 resources. Is it wise or prudent, then, sir, in preparing to 
 breast the storm, if it must come, to talk to this nation of its 
 incompetency to repel European aggression, to lower its spirit, 
 to weaken its moral energy, and to qualify it for easy conquest 
 and base submission ! If there be any reality in the dangers 
 which are supposed to encompass us, should we not animate 
 the people and adjure them to believe, as I do, that our re- 
 sources are ample, and that we can bring into the field a 
 million of freemen ready to expend tneir last drop of blood, 
 and to spend their last cent in the defence of their country, 
 its liberty and its institutions ? 
 
 " Sir, are we, if united, to be conquered by all Europe com- 
 bined ? No, sir, no united nation that resolves to be free can 
 
 2 
 
26 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 be conquered. And has it come to this ? Are we so humble, 
 so low, so debased, that we dare not express our sympathy for 
 suffering Greece ; that we dare not articulate our detestation 
 of the brutal exercise of which she has been the bleeding vic- 
 tim, lest we might offend one or more of their imperial and 
 royal majesties ? Are we so mean, so base, so despicable, that 
 we may not attempt to express our horror, utter our indigna- 
 tion at the most brutal and atrocious war that ever stained 
 earth or shocked high heaven; at the ferocious deeds of a 
 savage and infuriated soldiery, stimulated and urged on by the 
 clergy of a fanatical and inimical religion, and rioting in all 
 the excesses of blood and butchery, at the mere details of 
 which the heart sickens and recoils ? 
 
 " But, sir, it is not for Greece alone that I desire to see the 
 measure adopted, it will give her. but little support, and that 
 purely of a moral kind. It is principally for America for the 
 credit and character of our common country, for our own un- 
 sullied name, that I hope to see it pass. What appearance, 
 Mr. Chairman, on the page of history, would a record like this 
 exhibit ? ' In the month of January, in the year of our Lord 
 and Saviour 1824, while all European Christendom beheld with 
 cold and unfeeling indifference, the unexampled wrongs and 
 inexpressible misery of Christian Greece, a proposition was 
 made in the Congress of the United States, almost the sole, 
 the last, the greatest depository of human hope and freedom, 
 the representatives of a gallant nation, containing a million of 
 freemen ready to fly to arms, while the people of that nation 
 were spontaneously expressing its deep-toned feeling, and the 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 2*7 
 
 whole continent, by one simultaneous emotion, was rising and 
 solemnly and anxiously supplicating and invoking high heaven 
 to spare and succor Greece, and to invigorate her arms, in her 
 glorious cause ; while temples and senate-houses were alike 
 resounding with one burst of generous and holy sympathy ; 
 in the year of our Lord and Saviour that Saviour of Greece 
 and of us a proposition was offered in the American Congress 
 to send a message to Greece, to inquire into her state and 
 condition, with a kind expression of our good wishes and our 
 sympathies and it was rejected P 
 
 " Go home, if you can, go home, if you dare, to your con- 
 stituents, and tell them that you voted it down. Meet, if you 
 can, the appalling countenances of those who sent you here, 
 and tell them that you shrunk from the declaration of your 
 own sentiments ; that you cannot tell how, but that some un- 
 known dread, some indescribable apprehension, some indefinite 
 danger, drove you from your purpose ; that the spectres of 
 scimitars, and crowns, and crescents, gleamed before you, and 
 alarmed you ; and that you suppressed all the noble feelings 
 prompted by religion, by liberty, by national independence, 
 and by humanity. 
 
 " I cannot, sir, bring myself to believe that such will be the 
 feelings of a majority of this committee. But for myself, 
 though every friend of the cause should desert it, and I be left 
 to stand alone with the gentleman from Massachusetts, I will 
 give to his resolution the poor sanction of my unqualified 
 approbation." 
 
28 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 EDWIN H. CHAPIN. 
 
 pi 
 
 EDWIN H. CHAPIN is one of the ablest and most eloquent 
 expounders and defenders of the doctrine of unlimited salva- 
 tion. He has no faith in the old black fellow who keeps the 
 
 * 
 
 fire-office. He imagines that poets and divines give him 
 more credit for sagacity and potency than he deserves, and 
 that if he ever was a genius he is now in his dotage, and, 
 furthermore, that he has not goodness enough to be entitled 
 to our respect, nor influence sufficient over our future destiny 
 to alarm our fears. To him a devil by any other name is just 
 as dreadful, and the Satan he endeavors to subdue he calls 
 Evil, Sin, Crime, Vice, Error. He thinks the distillery, whero ; 
 the worm dieth not and the fires are unquenched, is a hell on 
 earth, which causes weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. 
 
 Mr. Chapin is an independent, straight-forward man, wEcT" 
 has a will and a way of his own, and he is willing to allow 
 others the same freedom he assumes himself. He does not 
 expect his church to cough when he takes cold, nor to acqui- 
 esce in silent submission to every proposition that he makes. 
 He is not a theological tyrant, threatening vengeance, and 
 outer-darkness, and eternal fire, to all the members of his 
 flock who will not uncomplainingly and unhesitatingly yield 
 to his spiritual supervisorship. His lessons and lectures may 
 
' 
 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 29 
 
 sometimes smell of the lamp, but they never smelt of brim- 
 stone. His education, his temperament, his organization of 
 brain, his natural benevolence, and the society in which he 
 has lived, moved, and had his being, have contributed to 
 make him a preacher of the gospel. He advocates with 
 heroic courage and untiring zeal the doctrines of his faith, but 
 is universally respected by all denominations of professing 
 Christians. 
 
 Mr. Chapin, is happily constituted. The animal and the 
 angel of his nature are so nicely balanced, and his poetical 
 temperament is so admirably controlled by his practical 
 knowledge, that his intellectual efforts are invariably stamped 
 with the mint-mark of true currency. There is harmonious 
 blending of the poetical and the practical, a pleasant union 
 of the material with the spiritual, an arm-in-arm connection 
 of the ornamental and useful, a body and soul joined together 
 in his discourses. He avoids two extremes, and is not so 
 material as to be cloddish, of the earth earthy, nor so serial as 
 to be vapory, or of the clouds cloudy. There is something 
 tangible, solid, nutritious, and enduring in his sermons. He 
 is not profound in the learning of the schools. Many of his 
 inferiors could master him on doctrinal questions. The out- 
 bursting and overwhelming effusions of his natural eloquence, 
 the striking originality of his conceptions, the irresistible 
 power of his captivating voice, the vivid and copious display 
 of illustration, thrill and charm the appreciative hearer. He 
 presents his arguments and appeals with an articulation as 
 distinct and understandable as his gesticulation is awkward. 
 
30 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 He is sometimes abrupt, rapid, and vehement, but never " tears 
 a passion to tatters." " His tenacious memory enables him to 
 quote with great promptitude, and he has that delicate, sensi- 
 tive taste which enables him to select, with unerring precision, 
 whatever is truly sublime and beautiful." 
 
 Mr. Chapin declaims splendidly, in spite of his hands, 
 which are always in his way. The stiff and technical re- 
 straints of style, which disfigure the pulpit efforts of some 
 divines, never appear in his sermons, but seem rather to pinion 
 his elbows and cramp his fingers. He has a fervid imagina- 
 tion, great facility of expression, is scrupulously correct in his 
 pronunciation ; never indulges in hypocritical cant. There is 
 no theatrical uplifting of the hands and uprolling of the eyes, 
 so frequently witnessed in the hysteric raptures of mahogany 
 orators. He seems to have a thorough knowledge of his 
 subject, and commands your admiration by the kingly majesty 
 and sublime beauty of his thought. Now he flings a page of 
 meaning into a single aphorism, now he electrifies his spell- 
 bound hearers with a spontaneous burst of eloquence, now 
 he dissolves their eyes to tears by a wizard stroke of pathos, 
 now he controls their hearts with the sovereign power of a 
 monarch who rules the mind-realm. "He infuses his soul 
 into his voice, and both into the nerves and heart of the 
 hearer." 
 
 In person, he is stout, fleshy, and well-proportioned. He 
 has a full, florid face, which indicates good health and happy- 
 contentment ; countenance mild, benignant and thoughtful, 
 with an expression of integrity, denoting his inability to per- 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 31 
 
 form a mean action; is near- sighted,. and this defect is no 
 small disadvantage to him when he reads, and may account 
 for his ungraceful action in the pulpit, since it compels him to 
 face his manuscript so closely, he almost eats his own words, 
 and salutes his own rich figures and glowing sentiments, and 
 fulfils literally the scripture maxim, " He shall kiss his own lips 
 who giveth a correct answer." As I have just intimated, he 
 usually reads his discourses, although he is an easy extempo- 
 raneous speaker ; but he is apt to become so intensely excited 
 he rarely trusts to his impulses. He commands a very ready 
 pen, and is the author of two or three small volumes, which 
 are widely circulated. His hair is dark brown. He wears 
 glasses, so I cannot tell the color of his eyes ; has a broad, 
 high forehead, indicating the intellectual strength of its 
 owner ; is now about forty years of age, and has labored with 
 honor and success for many years, in Richmond, Va., Charles- 
 town, Mass., as well as Boston, but is now preaching in the 
 city of New York, where he is very popular and useful. 
 
 Mr. Chapin has recently delivered a number of discourses, 
 illustrating the phases and corruptions of city life. We give 
 below a few extracts from some of his lectures ; although it is 
 but just to say that they have been taken from reports and 
 sketches, and not from any revised or complete publication by 
 the author, who is now preparing them for the press of D. &D. 
 
 Here is an extract from his remarks made respecting the 
 fearful catastrophe on the New Haven Railroad. 
 
 " A natural and I believe a. proper impulse breathes in the 5" 
 old petition, "From sudden death, good Lord, deliver us!" I 
 
32 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 | At least from death in such a form ? Always solemn in its 
 \ presence, it brings with it, often, reconciling tenderness and 
 f majesty. There is consolation in dying at home a complete- 
 ; ness of circumstances, which is in harmony with the falling 
 leaf and up-springing grass, and all those inevitable yet 
 beneficent processes of nature, which steady our hearts and 
 assure our faith. There is a sweet anguish springing up in 
 our bosoms when a child's face brightens under the shadow 
 of the waiting angeL There is an autumnal fitness when age 
 gives up the ghost ; and when the saint dies there is a tearful 
 victory. Without recklessness, yet with intrepid determina- 
 tion, we feel that we carry our lives in our hands, as we go 
 into a battle, or walk by the skirts of the pestilence. But to 
 have life battered out in an instant ; to have death's darkness 
 overwhelm us with one plunge, and the rush of waters ; to have 
 \ the vital instrument beating with the full consciousness of its 
 ; own existence, and the next, stopped by a horror that 
 pttrifies itself in the dead form, and that carves itself upon 
 the dead face, as with a sculptor's chisel ; is a violation of our 
 nature. 
 
 ^ "But out of this specific experience in life there arises 
 another consideration, which is never out of place. It is that 
 sober balance of mind which we should always preserve. I 
 have shown that the Christian looks upon our present existence 
 with no mean or gloomy vision. Many are the joys and the 
 blessings of life, and he who shrouds them with ascetic melan- 
 choly, is as ungrateful as he is unwise. But if, on the other 
 hand, we are inclined to forget that tritest of facts that all 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 33 
 
 these joys and blessings are held in uncertainty ; that fact is 
 forced upon us by calamities like this. What hopes, what 
 associations, what schemes, went forth that ^morning 1 in the 
 crowded train ? Upon what a wreck did that day's noon look 
 down ! What bright plans dashed into darkness ! What 
 bounding hearts stopped by the sudden flood ! What dreams 
 instantly breaking into the great Reality ! Ye cannot tell us 
 now, who, but a week ago, sat side by side with loved 
 ones in the quiet New England Sabbath, whose graves to-d.ay 
 will drink the Sabbath rain. Ye cannot tell who, ministers of 
 healing to so many, had for yourselves such ghastly death-beds, 
 and heard, it may be, the cheering of the festal hall blend with 
 the thundering doom. Thou canst not tell whose marriage 
 covenant was sealed with the kiss of death, and who came up 
 from the waters with dripping bridal-robes. Sharp lesson of 
 uncertainty, crashing upon our ears, and causing all the secu- 
 rities of our life to topple ; out of whose confusion issues the 
 solemn text * Boast not thyself of to-morrow ; for thou know- 
 est not what a day may bring forth !' Teach us, while we grasp 
 our joys with due appreciation, to temper them with serious- 
 ness, and to live with prepared hearts. 
 
 ******* 
 " And against this recklessness, I repeat, provision should 
 be made by every measure which will enforce respect for 
 human life a sentiment which, I am grieved to say, needs to 
 be more widely and deeply felt in our age and our country. 
 Life is precious. It is a priceless freight which you bear in 
 those rushing cars, oh ! driving engineer a freight of warm 
 2* 
 
84 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 blood, and beating hearts, and dear relations' lives. The engine 
 
 lli;il, j.;ints Ix-lon- with t.liroM>in;_( hn-.-isI, :m<l :irli-ri-s of lin-, is 
 
 but a poor symbol of the precious vitality and curious work- 
 
 * manshlp of the meanest life that it drags along. An unsteady 
 
 * brain, a deceit of the eye, a slight risk, and the wealth of exist- 
 I enoe committed to your charge is shattered to ruin. And is 
 
 it not right that the community, that fathers, and wives, and 
 brothers, and sons should hold you stringently bound to all 
 the responsibilities of your office, and refuse to cast upon 
 Providence the burden of your fault? Something besides 
 profit and the price of stock must enter into your account, O ! 
 iron-hearted corporation. Against dollars you must balance 
 life ; and if a little gain is of more consequence than a bolt 
 more firmly driven, or an additional officer at a dangerous 
 point, say not that the community acts merely under excite- 
 
 racnt if it cute the nerves by which corporations do feel." 
 
 The following fine passage occurs in his sermon on the Vice 
 of Groat Cities. 
 
 M A young man now, when ho gets in town, is too groat 
 entirely to retain any regard for parental authority. His father 
 is no longer such ho turns into the * old man.' The mother 
 is also carelessly treated, and thus ties are weakened or broken 
 which should never end but with death, and sometimes even 
 then they scarce end ; for when misfortune meets you or dis- 
 grace comes on, what heart beats the truest for, and clings 
 closer to you in disgrace, in ruin, in poverty, even at the verge 
 of denth, but the mother's ? You, young men, should be care 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 35 
 
 fill of yielding to the first temptation, for it is in that tha 
 danger is. No one when he first took drink ever intended tc 
 become a drunkard, and yet we have seen intemperance so 
 gain on men, that it narrowed and narrowed, till it encased 
 them, as it were, in an iron shroud, which crushes and kills. 
 I have read a very impressive tale of a young man who was 
 confined in a dungeon having seven windows, but which was 
 made of iron. On the second morning after he went there he 
 found but six. He suspected something, and watched, and 
 the next day there were but five, and his food and bed changed. 
 So it went on changing from day to day, till he had but <.#< 
 window, and immediately the bells began to ring, and he then 
 knew he was fast enclosed in that tower by his enemy, in j 
 order to be crushed to death by a slow and tormenting process." 
 
 After some further remarks on the right of females to 
 an equality in everything with the male portion of society, 
 he concluded by again exhorting the youth to beware of yield- 
 ing to the first temptation. 
 
 With this gem which I tear from its setting in a recent 
 sermon, on " City and Country," I must close this sketch. 
 
 " The pleasures of a country life, moreover, are enhanced, 
 by having the city, with its intelligence and facilities within 
 reach. Is is comfortable to have one's retirement tapped by 
 the railroad, and connected by telegraphic wires ; and the 
 murmur of the trees mingles pleasantly with the hum of popu- 
 lar applause. To the country belong all the aspects and influ- 
 ences of nature of valley and woodland, of rock and river, 
 
36 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 the fitting stillness of night, the pomp of morning, the inex- 
 pressible loveliness it pictures ever new, and all the glories of 
 the punctual year. The poet's line one cannot help quoting 
 here, ' God made the country, but man made the town,' and 
 *' it has doubtless a true signification ; it really extends to Divine 
 works that stand far above any human achievement ; 'and 
 when one is sick and tired with routine when he is dazzled 
 by the shows, or troubled by the afflictions of life let him go 
 out into the calm breadth of nature, and confer with realities 
 that are fresh and unabused, as they came from the hand of 
 the Maker. Whatever is inspiring in mountains, lovely in the 
 reach of landscape, or impressive in the still woods, will serve 
 his deliverance from weariness and distaste. Let the medita- 
 tive man pass out from tangled controversies into the harmo- 
 nies of the universe. Let the man injured by the follies and 
 nonsense of books, recover health in studying the stereotypes 
 of God ; what revolution, what history is written in every 
 | wrinkle of the earth; what mysteries in all the unrolled 
 i heavens ; and let vice and sordidness, and all the brood of evil 
 I passions and canker, go and be rebuked by the holy presence 
 which is so evident in the air and sky. * God made the coun- 
 try,' and all around it keeps the stamp of the Maker ; but man 
 1 makes the town,' and fabrics of stone and brick, which shall 
 crumble away. However, this fact suggests to us to consult a 
 deeper truth." 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 37 
 
 JOHN CHARLES FREMONT. 
 
 ONE of the most remarkable men of modern times is John 
 Charles Fremont, Thomas Benton's son-in-law. He has reso- 
 lution, no obstacle can sway ; bravery, no danger can intimi- 
 date ; enterprise, no undertaking can over-match. 
 
 Having a strong wish to hang his portrait on the walls of 
 my little volume, I take the following sketch from the " Gal- 
 lery of Illustrious Americans." 
 
 " The feet of three men have pressed the slopes of the 
 Rocky Mountains, whose names are associated for ever with 
 those vast ranges ; Humboldt, the Nestor of scientific travel- 
 lers; Audubon, the Interpreter of Nature, and Fremont, 
 the Pathfinder of Empire. Each has done much to illus- 
 trate the Natural History of North America, and to 
 develope its illimitable resources. The youngest of all is likely 
 to become as illustrious as either, for fortune has linked his 
 name with a scene in the history of the Republic, as startling 
 to the world as the first announcement of its existence. To his 
 hands was committed the magnificent task of opening the gates 
 of our Pacific Empire. His father was an emigrant gentleman 
 from France, and his mother a lady of Virginia. Although 
 his father's death left him an orphan in his fourth year, 
 lie was thoroughly educated ; and when, at the age of seventeen, 
 
38 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 he graduated at Charleston College, he contributed to the 
 support of his mother and her younger children. From teach- 
 ing mathematics he turned his attention to civil engineering, 
 in which he displayed so much talent, he was recommended by 
 Mr. Poinsett, Secretary of War, to Nicollet, as his assistant in 
 the survey of the basin of the upper Mississippi. Two years 
 he was with that learned man in his field of labors, and 
 he won his applause and friendship. On his return to Wash- 
 ington, he continued his services to the geographer for two 
 years longer, in drawing up from his field-book, the great map 
 which unfolded to science the vast tract they had explored. 
 Thirsting for adventure, he now planned the first of those dis- 
 tant and perilous expeditions which have given lustre to his 
 name. Having received a lieutenant's commission in the corps 
 of Topographical Engineers, he proposed to the Secretary of 
 War to penetrate the Rocky Mountains. His plan was 
 approved, and in 1842, with a handful of men, gathered on 
 the Missouri frontier, he reached and explored the South Pass. 
 He achieved more than his instructions required. He not 
 only fixed the locality and character of that great Pass, through 
 which myriads are now pressing to California he defined the 
 astronomy, geography, botany, geology and meteorology of 
 the country, and designated the route since followed, and 
 the points from which the flag of the Union is now flying 
 from a chain of wilderness fortresses. 
 
 I 
 
 "His report was printed by the Senate, translated into 
 foreign languages, and the scientific world looked on Fremont 
 as one of its benefactors. Impatient, however, for broader and 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 39 
 
 more hazardous fields, he planned a new expedition to the 
 distant territory of Oregon. His first had carried him to the 
 summits of the Rocky Mountains. Wilkes had surveyed the 
 tide-water regions of the Columbia river ; between the two 
 explorers lay a tract of a thousand' miles, which was a blank 
 in geography. 
 
 "In May, 1843, he left the frontier of Missouri, and in 
 November he stood on Fort Vancouver, with the calm waters 
 of the Pacific at his feet. He had approached the mountains 
 by a new line, scaled their summits south of the South Pass, 
 deflected to the Great Salt Lake, and pushed examinations 
 right and left along his entire course. He joined his survey to 
 Wilkes' Exploring Expedition, and his orders were fulfilled. 
 But he had opened one route to the Columbia, and he wished 
 to find another. There was a vast region south of his line, 
 invested with a fabulous interest, and he longed to apply to it 
 the test of science. It was the beginning of winter. With- 
 out resources, adequate supplies, or even a guide, and with only 
 twenty-five companions, he turned his face once more towards 
 the Rocky Mountains. Then began that wonderful Expedi- 
 tion, filled with romance, achievement, daring, and suffering, 
 in which he was lost from the world nine months, traversing 
 3,500 miles in sight of eternal snows ; in which he explored 
 and revealed the grand features of Alta California, its great 
 basin, the Sierra Nevada, the valleys of San Joaquin and 
 Sacramento, explored the fabulous Buenaventura, revealed the 
 real El Dorado, and established the geography of the Western 
 
40 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 part of our continent. In August, 1844, he was again in 
 Washington, after an absence of sixteen months. His Report 
 put the seal to the fame of the young explorer. 
 
 "He was planning a third Expedition while writing a 
 history of the second; and before its publication, in 1845} he 
 was again on his way to the Pacific, collecting his mountain 
 comrades, to examine in detail the Asiatic slope of the North 
 American Continent, which resulted in giving a new volume 
 of science to the world, and California to the United States. 
 We cannot trace his achievements during the war with 
 Mexico, nor will future times inquire how many and how 
 great battles he fought. After the conquest of California, 
 Fremont was made the victim of a quarrel between two 
 American commanders. Like Columbus, he was brought 
 home a prisoner over the vast territory he had explored ; 
 stripped by a court-martial of his commission, as Lieut.-Colonel 
 of Mounted Riflemen, and re-instated by the President. Fre- 
 mont needed justice, not mercy, and he returned his com- 
 mission. His defence was worthy of a man of honor, genius, 
 and learning. During the ninety days of his trial, his nights 
 were given to science. 
 
 " Thus ended his services to the Government, but not to 
 mankind. He was now a private citizen, and a poor man. 
 Charleston offered him a lucrative office, which he refused. 
 He had been brought a criminal from California, where he 
 had been Explorer, Conqueror, Peacemaker, and Governor. 
 He determined to retrieve his honor on the field where he 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 41 
 
 had been robbed of it. One line more would complete his 
 surveys the route for a great road from the Mississippi to 
 San Francisco. 
 
 "Again he appeared on the far West. His old moun- 
 taineers nocked around him, and with 33 men and 130 
 mules, perfectly equipped, he started for the Pacific. On the 
 Sierra San Juan, all his mules and a third of his men perished 
 in a more than Russian cold ; and Fremont arrived on foot 
 
 V 
 
 at Santa Fe, stripped of everything but life. It was a moment 
 for the last pang of despair which breaks the heart, or the 
 moral heroism which conquers Fate itself. The men of the 
 wilderness knew Fremont ; they refitted his expedition ; he 
 started again, pierced the country of the fierce and remorse- 
 less Apaches ; met, awed or defeated savage tribes ; and in a 
 hundred days from Santa Fe, he stood on the glittering banks 
 of the Sacramento. The men of California reversed the 
 judgment of the court-martial ; and Fremont was made the 
 first Senator of the Golden State. It was a noble tribute to 
 science and heroism. 
 
 " His name is identified for ever with some of the proudest 
 and most grateful passages in American History. His twenty 
 thousand miles of wilderness explorations,, in the midst of the 
 inclemencies of nature, and the ferocities of jealous and 
 merciless tribes ; his powers of endurance in a slender form ; 
 his intrepid coolness in the most appalling dangers ; his 
 magnetic sway over enlightened and savage men ; his vast 
 contributions to science ; his controlling energy in the exten- 
 sion of our empire ; his lofty and unsullied ambition ; hia 
 
42 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 magnanimity, humanity, genius, sufferings, and heroism, make 
 all lovers of progress, learning and virtue, rejoice that Fre- 
 mont's services have been rewarded by high civic honors, 
 exhaustless wealth, and the admiration and gratitude of man- 
 kind." 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 43 
 
 GEO. P. MORRIS, N. P. WILLIS, 
 
 JUDGE NOAH, "PETER PARLEY," AND LONGFELLOW. 
 
 THE following characteristic article from tlie pen of Doctor 
 John Ross Dix, was written, at my request, expressly for this 
 volume. I am sure the reader will thank him a thousand 
 times for introducing to the public in such a handsome 
 manner the noted gentlemen whom he so graphically des- 
 scribes. 
 
 I had been about a week or ten days in the city of New 
 York, when, having got rid of the lassitude which the intense 
 and unaccustomed heat induced, I made arrangements for 
 presenting some of the letters of introduction with which I 
 had been provided in England. Selecting a few from the 
 bundle, I tripped down the steps of the " Astor," and cross- 
 ing that world-renowned thoroughfare, Broadway, entered the 
 Park, passed by the fountain which played, encircled by rain- 
 bows, beneath the bluest of skies and in the clearest of 
 atmospheres, and directed my steps toward Ann street. 
 
 Ann street, with its neighbor, Nassau street, may be called 
 the Paternoster Row of New York, since in it there are 
 situated most of the newspaper and periodical publication 
 offices. Over one of these appeared a sign-board, on which 
 were emblazoned in gold letters, the words " Mirror Office," so, 
 
44 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 m 
 
 drawing from ray pocket two letters, one of them addressed 
 to "General George P. Morris,", and the other to " N. P. 
 Willis, Esq.," I entered the counting-room. 
 
 It was a small, square apartment, divided into two portions 
 by an unpainted wooden counter, behind and above which 
 were shelves, on which lay back numbers and bound volumes 
 of the New York Mirror. On the wall, over a stove, were 
 hung proof impressions of some of Mr. Bartlett's Views of 
 American Scenery, and a flaming portrait of an American 
 Eagle, whose beak had "a downward drag austere," and 
 whose claws held a bunch of thunderbolts. Hung about 
 the place were sundry and divers bills, which informed the 
 public that the "New York Mirror"was, far and away, the 
 cheapest and best serial in the whole United States ; and 
 some lithographed circulars, which clearly proved that no more 
 profitable mode of investing dollars and cents, than by pur- 
 chasing the said " Mirror, " could by any means be hit upon. 
 
 On entering the office I looked round, but perceived no 
 one ; yet fancying that a clerk might be in an inner apartment, 
 I rapped on the counter with a dollar piece. Scarcely, however, 
 had the " silver sound" disturbed the quiet of the place, than 
 from behind a railed desk, at the end of the counter, near the 
 window of the office, emerged a bright-eyed, brisk looking 
 little gentleman, who very politely inquired my business. 
 
 Let me describe him. He was about five feet two or three 
 inches high, or, perhaps, a few inches more, not much more, 
 however. His face was genial and pleasant. Short, crisp, dark 
 curly hair, thinly streaked with silver threads, encircled a high, 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 45 
 
 well-formed forehead, beneath which was a pair of bright, 
 twinkling black eyes. The nose was well-shaped, and the 
 mouth and chin cast in delicate moulds, the latter being slightly 
 dimpled. The complexion was fresh and florid ; altogether 
 the aspect of the face was decidedly intellectual ; not your 
 pseudo-pensive, thoughtful sort of expression that mock senti- 
 mentalism of look which certain young gentlemen, with turn- 
 down collars, rejoice in, but a pleasant, vivacious, sparkling 
 Tom Moore-ish look, which at once convinced you that its 
 owner was open-hearted, as well as open-faced. The gentle- 
 man, too, had a semi-military air and carriage, albeit, he had 
 by no means a martial figure ; and I certainly was rather 
 taken aback, when, in reply to my question whether General 
 Morris was within, he replied with a smile : 
 
 " Yes I am General Morris." 
 
 It is not much to be wondered at that I felt some surprise 
 at thus unexpectedly confronting so potent a personage as a 
 great military commander ! for it must be remembered that I 
 had not yet been a fortnight in a country where generals, 
 majors and colonels, are rather more numerous than in Eng- 
 land. The very title of " General " had conveyed the idea of 
 a tall, pompous soldier, with plumed cap, fierce moustachios, 
 and dangling sabretasch, clad all in scarlet, and glittering 
 with gold. How different the appearance of the rather diminu- 
 tive gentleman before me, who, instead of a plume, brandished 
 a pen was surrounded by hot-pressed reams, instead of hot- 
 blooded soldiers, and in whose peaceful armory, books super- 
 seded bullets. 
 
46 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 It was not, however, in his military capacity that I now 
 sought the acquaintance of General George P. Morris. Years 
 and years before, both' myself and hundreds besides me in "Old 
 England," had, in many a street, lane, and alley, heard from 
 barrel-organs, hurdy-gurdys, bagpipe, and fiddle, aye, and 
 from grand pianos too, played upon by fair fingers, on still 
 summer evenings, as we wandered through quiet squares, the 
 windows of which were half-open to allow the melody to 
 stream through screens formed by flowers and foliage I say, 
 years before I had heard the General's popular and famous 
 song of " Woodman, spare that Tree," then, little dreaming 
 that I should ever grasp the hand of its author. But so it 
 
 happened, that no sooner had Morris read Dr. M 's 
 
 letter, than America's best song writer bade me a hearty wel- 
 come, and I felt myself at once at home with him. 
 
 I do not imagine that General Morris has seen much stern 
 military service, for ,1 believe him to be merely the command- 
 ing officer of a militia corps, a very peaceable and harmless 
 body of citizens in general, their operations being confined to 
 occasional musters, parades, and processionizing ; after which 
 services they lay aside martial glory, and peaceably repose, on 
 imaginary laurels, in the bosom of their affectionate families. 
 His, has been almost exclusively a literary life, and, like all 
 other writers for the public press, he has experienced vicissi- 
 tudes. Employed more as a journalist than as a poet, he has 
 not been very copious of verse, but such works as have pro- 
 ceeded from his pen are highly popular. He has been called 
 the Tom Moore of America, but such a title is not just, for in 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. ** 
 
 his own way, he is quite as original as the Bard of Erin. 
 Let us speak of him rather as the Columbian Korner the 
 well-known author of the "Sword-song," the hero of the 
 sword and pen. 
 
 As a man, there are few more respected, and, indeed, be- 
 loved, among his literary brethren in New York, than 
 General Morris. His liberality, even at times when, perhaps, 
 he can ill afford it, to his brethren in distress, is said to be 
 unbounded, and he has more than once impoverished himself 
 by serving others ; some years since, he had a lovely resi- 
 dence on the banks of the Hudson, but owing to losses in 
 business he was compelled to quit it. In conjunction with 
 another literary man, he has long been connected with the 
 New York Press, and " Morris and Willis," sound as naturally 
 as if the owners of these names had been a Siamese sort of 
 twins. At present they edit the best family literary paper in 
 America the " Home Journal," and in the office in Fulton 
 street, may any day be seen, florid and flourishing, the author 
 of " Woodman, spare that Tree !" 
 
 Fancy me, reader, still conversing with General Morris, 
 when a stranger, at least to me, enters the little Ann street 
 office. He is a tall dashing looking fellow, dressed rather 
 in the extreme of fashion, yet in good taste, and with an air 
 of fashionable languor about him. Nodding familiarly to the 
 General, who smilingly returns his salute, he drops into a 
 chair, stretches out his well-shaped legs, and, coquetting with a 
 cigar, appears to watch the circling blue rays of smoke that 
 soar to the ceiling. 
 
48 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 The stranger might be called handsome certainly he lias 
 been so, but time and the pen have left their traces on his 
 face ; evidently he cultivates the Graces, although the enemy 
 has thinned his curling locks, which are jauntily disposed over a 
 fine forehead. His eyes are blue, and have much vivacity in 
 their expression, but at their outer angles are those unmis- 
 takable evidences of coming age crows'-feet. The cheeks are 
 not so plump and fresh-looking as* they must have appeared 
 ten years ago, and they have a yellowish tinge, which travel 
 or good living might have caused. The nose is short and 
 slightly retrousse, the mouth delicately curved and the chin 
 systematically chiselled. The shape of the face is round, 
 and when the " dew of youth " rested on it, it must have been 
 intellectually handsome, despite the dash of effeminacy that 
 
 characterises it. Then, as to the figure of Mr. (I will tell 
 
 you his name presently), it is, to use a trite phrase, what is 
 called " good," that is it is tall and well-proportioned; and 
 if General Morris might be described by Goldsmith's line, 
 
 "An abridgment of all that is pleasant in man," 
 
 the gentleman now specially alluded to may be spoken of as 
 a D'Orsay-ish looking fellow, not at all curtailed either in 
 height or breadth of Nature's fair proportions. 
 
 I had some dim recollections of having seen that face some- 
 where before ; but where, for the life of me, I could not ima- 
 gine. It might have been in a theatre, in the street, in a 
 church, or in a drawing-room. JSTo, it had not been in any 
 such place. A thought struck me I had seen some one like 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 49 
 
 him on the frontispiece of a book. I had not long to remain 
 in doubt, for Morris, after having dispatched a boy with a 
 bundle of " Mirrors," said 
 
 " Mr. , let me have the pleasure of introducing you to 
 Mr. Willis my partner." 
 
 So then, the trifling mystery was cleared up. 
 
 Who has not heard of N. P. Willis, the renowned " penciller 
 by the way," upon whose shoulders Lockhart laid the critical 
 lash so severely ? Every one who knows anything of literary 
 people has heard of him. I had, of course known him well 
 by reputation, and therefore, on my introduction, regarded him 
 with considerable interest. On my name being mentioned, he 
 asked me whether I was the author of ^orne lines on the death 
 of Campbell which had a few days before appeared in the 
 " Mirror." After kindly complimenting me on them, we di- 
 verged into various topics of conversation, and, on my remark- 
 ing that I wished to find Major Noah, to whom I had a letter, 
 he very politely escorted me to the office of that gentleman. 
 
 We soon reached Noah's office, or "Ark;" it was in Nassau 
 street. Here Mr. Willis left me, and then I mounted a long 
 flight of steps, in search of the veteran journalist. Soon did 
 I find myself in the presence of the gentleman who in his own 
 portly person represented the Army, the Bench, and the Press. 
 
 He was tall, corpulent, very red in the face, and very frank 
 and good-humored. No one could for a moment mistake his 
 Mosaic origin, but he looked very little like that hard-working 
 personage he editor of a newspaper. Yet he had been one 
 for many years, and was the first to engage a regular Englisl 
 
50 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 correspondent, in the person of Dr. Robert Shelton Mackenzie, 
 who I believe, is now connected with the New York Press. 
 
 Judge Noah was one of the most sanguinely speculative of 
 mankind, and he devised the strangest schemes possible. His 
 last " spec " was the proposed getting up a company to pur- 
 chase Grand Island, just above Niagara Falls, on which to 
 found a Jewish colony, which should there await the gathering 
 in of the scattered Israelites. But the 
 
 " Tribes of the wandering foot and weary breast " 
 
 did not enter heartily into the scheme ; and Judge No^ih con- 
 tinued to mount, panting and perspiring, the long flight of 
 office stairs, until near the time of his death, which occurred 
 about five or six years ago. 
 
 The first time I ever saw Longfellow was some eight or nine 
 years since, at a Cambridge Commencement. I attended that 
 gathering in the company of my excellent friend S. G. Good- 
 rich, or, as he is known all over the world, " Peter Parley." 
 Mr. Griswold Goodrich is, in point of personal appearance, as 
 fascinating a man as you may fall in with in a summer's day. 
 Tall, and of a good figure, which is unbent by years, he is a 
 man of mark; but look at his intellectual face you cannot 
 see what color the eyes are, for they are constantly shaded by 
 a pair of smoked-glass spectacles notice his Eoman nose 
 his well-shaped mouth and chin, and observe the entire 
 expression of the face, and you will come to the conclusion 
 that Peter Parley the beloved of boys, and the glory of girls, 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 51 
 
 is a remarkably attractive personage. Mr. Goodrich's 
 manners are quite in keeping with his external appearance. 
 He is dignified, courteous, kind, and generous-hearted. Per- 
 haps the boys and girls of America, nay, of the world, have 
 no truer friend than he is certainly they never have had, 
 and probably never will have, a more laborious worker for 
 their best interests. 
 
 As we stood looking at the throng of professors and stu 
 dents, I observed a gentleman of a slight figure and rather 
 medium stature, rapidly flitting from one point to another. 
 He was dressed in a very fashionably made blue frock coat, 
 with a velvet collar, a fancy velvet vest, and unexceptionable ; 
 pantaloons. His face was intellectual, but not particularly so, if 
 we except the eyes, which were of a beautiful blue, and very 
 serene in their expression the nose was long, perhaps too 
 long, and the hair of a light brown. This was the author of 
 " Evangeline." 
 
 Since then Mr. Longfellow has grown stout, and so far has \ 
 lost the poetical grace of figure which we are apt to couple 
 with high mental qualifications. Of course I could not but 
 survey him with considerable interest, for, in England, he is 
 quite as popular as in his own country ; I doubt indeed, if any 
 British poet, Tennyson, perhaps, excepted, enjoys so extensive 
 a fame as the Cambridge professor. 
 
 Since writing the foregoing sketch of General Morris, this 
 best song-writer of America has collected his works in a 
 superbly illustrated volume. 
 
52 CRAYON SKETJCIIKS, AXD 
 
 WILLIAM H. SEWARD. 
 
 SENATOR SEWARD is the Daniel O'Connell of America; not 
 in stature, for the former is petit the latter was prodigious; 
 not in wit, for the Yankee seldom perpetrates even a pun, 
 while the Irishman was a " book in breeches," and every page 
 gleaming with wit; not in eloquence, for Seward requires 
 preparation and speaks without much unction; O'Connell 
 spoke spontaneously, and every word was a throb; not in 
 faith, for the defender of the " higher law " is almost a Protes- 
 tant, while the Great Agitator, as all know, was altogether a 
 Catholic. Yet there is a resemblance, notwithstanding their 
 dissimilarities. Seward stands at the tip top of his profession 
 as a lawyer, and so did O'Connell. Seward made a sensation 
 in the American Senate ; O'Connell did the same in the House 
 of Commons. Seward identifies himself with the party of 
 Freedom. O'Connell hated slavery, and "oppression made 
 that wise man mad." Seward is charged with demagogueism. 
 O'Connell made himself all things to all men, that he might 
 gain some. Seward has won the sympathies of the masses, 
 and is the pet of the liberty-loving people of the North. 
 O'Connell was the idol of Ireland, and his memory will* ever 
 live in the hearts of his countrymen. Seward is dreaded as 
 much by the Old Hunkers of this country, as O'Connell was 
 

OFF-HAND TAKINGS. ' 53 
 
 feared by tyrant tories of Great Britain. Seward split the 
 Whig party ; so did O'Connell. Seward is a practical tem- 
 perance man ; O'Connell was a pledged tee-totaller. Seward 
 would like to be President of the United States ; O'Connell 
 desired to be King of Ireland. Seward is a great man among 
 great men. He is not so volcanic as Benton not so logical 
 as Webster not so eloquent as Clay not so brittle as Foote 
 not so jovial as Hale ; but he can write a better letter than 
 any of them. A little from his pen will go a great distance 
 and keep a long time. His classic style, his earnest air, his 
 truthful manner, his uncommon sense, his perfect self-control, 
 his thorough knowledge of the leading questions of the day, 
 compel the attention and admiration of the hearer. He is 
 never timid, never tame, never squeamish, never vulgar, never 
 insulting. He is independent without egotism, modest with- 
 out subserviency, dignified without pomposity, and sociable 
 without affectation. 
 
 We need look back but a few months to find much to 
 admire in the character of Seward. See him rise in the 
 Senate Chamber, and hear him defend the rights of humanity 
 in an atmosphere of opposing influences. - There sits the 
 imperious Clay, with flushed face, and flashing eyes and the 
 Great Expounder, with pouting lip and brow of thunder ; and 
 fiery Foote, phosphorescent with excitement ; and philosophi- 
 cal Cass, as placid as though the Union was not in danger. 
 He (Seward) drops a word in defence of the higher law, and 
 forthwith there is " ground and lofty tumbling." The enraged 
 Senators appear to think that regard for the Commandments 
 
54 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 is an insult to the Constitution that reverence for the Deity 
 is " renegadism " from duty. So they examine the elements 
 of nature, analyze the facts in- history, and pervert the truths 
 of the Bible, to prove that we ought to obey men rather than 
 to obey God. Had Seward been an ordinary man, he would 
 have been swamped amid the storm ; but he remained firm 
 as a rock in the midst of that stormy sea, and gave proof, that, 
 although minimum in person, he was maximum in power. 
 Their impotent threats could no more shake his resolution, 
 than a pinch of snuff could make him sneeze (excuse the 
 homely illustration) for the former went in at his ears almost as 
 frequently as the latter does into his nostrils. 
 
 Governor Seward, as he is called, is a little past the prime 
 of life, somewhat under the common stature, has a very large 
 head, with a few gray hairs playing hide and seek amid the 
 mass of light brown ; he has blue eyes, a small forehead, a 
 long nose, and a patrician mouth. He is well to do in the 
 world, happy in his domestic relations, enjoys a good reputation, 
 and his star is still in the ascendant. 
 
 The Speeches and Letters of W. H. Seward have been pub' 
 lished recently, and the reader is referred to them for specimens 
 of his eloquence. Here is a mere mouthful. 
 
 " Yes sir, it is a complete, not an imperfect power. It is a 
 power over the District, equal to any authority which can be 
 exercised by any Legislature of any ' State in the Union,' or 
 by any Legislature of any State or nation ' in the world. 1 
 It is a power described in the philosophy of Government as 
 
OFF-HANI) TAKINGS. 55 
 
 ' summuni imperium, summo modo ' a power, within the 
 region of its exercise, complete, absolute, universal. Now, 
 every Legislature in this Union, every sovereign authority in 
 the world, has the power to abolish slavery. More than half 
 the States in this Union have abolished or prohibited it. 
 France, England, and Mexico, have abolished and prohibited 
 it. Congress can do, in the District of Columbia, what they 
 have done within their respective dominions. 
 
 " I dwell upon this point only a moment longer. Slavery 
 within the District of Columbia exists only by the action of 
 Congress. Instead of pursuing the argument further, to prove 
 that Congress has the power to make a free man, I demand 
 proof that Congress possesses the power to make a slave, or 
 hold a man in bondage. 
 
 "All the other points which have been raised, apply, not to 
 the merits of the proposition for emancipation, but only to the 
 form and manner of carrying it into effect. Such were the 
 objections raised by my honorable and esteemed friend from 
 Connecticut [MR. BALDWIN], and my no less honorable and 
 esteemed friend from Massachusetts [MR. WINTHROP]. It 
 will be seen at once, that these objectors concede that the 
 principle of the measure is right. Nevertheless, without 
 holding those gentlemen to this concession, but leaving them 
 to judge and act for themselves, I shall be content to reply to 
 them, so far as only to vindicate the plan of emancipation 
 embodied in the amendment. What, then, is the form, and 
 what the manner proposed ? The amendment declares that 
 slavery shall for ever cease in the District of Columbia, and 
 
50 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 that all persons held in bondage therein when the act shall go 
 into effect shall be free. It directs the Secretary of the Inte- 
 rior to pay the damages which any person holding slaves 
 within the District shall incur by reason of its passage, and it 
 appropriates two hundred thousand dollars as a fund for that 
 purpose. The amendment further provides for an election, in 
 which the qualified and competent citizens of the District shall 
 express their approbation or disapprobation of the act. If they 
 disapprove, it shall be void and of no effect. 
 
 "I submit, sir, in the first place, that the plan is adequate. 
 It will secure the abolition of slavery within the District, if it 
 obtain the consent of those who are most particularly con- 
 cerned in the question. I have not learned from either of my 
 honorable friends that he is in favor of emancipating the 
 slaves without the consent of the people in the District, and 
 we have all heard other honorable Senators insist upon that 
 consent as indispensable. I do not insist upon it for myself. 
 I have only surrendered so much to their objections ; but if a 
 majority of the Senate * should waive the objection, it would 
 give me pleasure to modify the plan accordingly. 
 
 " Secondly, the plan is an equal one. While it restores to 
 , the slave the inestimable right of freedom, it awards to him 
 who, by authority of Congress, has hitherto held the slave in 
 bondage, a just remuneration and indemnity for his loss. It 
 is then, adequate and equal. 
 
 " Speaking for myself alone, and imputing no prejudice and 
 no injustice to others, I may be allowed to remark that the abo- 
 lition of slavery anywhere seems to me a just and wise policy, 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 57 
 
 provided it can be effected without producing injury outweigh- 
 ing its benefits. Opposition to emancipation in the Dis- 
 trict of Columbia, therefore, seemed to me to be a bad cause, 
 and it is the nature of a bad cause to betray itself. I did 
 not mistake, then, in supposing that the opposition which my 
 proposition would encounter would prove its best vindication. 
 
 " Influenced by these considerations, I shall not now address 
 myself to the broad merits of the question, but shall be con- 
 tent with simply adverting to the points which have been 
 made during the present debate. The first point was made 
 by the honorable Senator from Georgia [Mr. DAWSON], with 
 the concurrence of some other Senators, and consisted in the 
 improper or bad motives which they saw fit to impute to the 
 author of the measure. Sir, the great instructor in the art of 
 reasoning (Lord Bacon) teaches that it is better always to an- 
 swer to the * matter ' of an adversary than to his ' person.' The 
 imputation of motives does not come within that rule, and 
 therefore it falls at my feet. The measure I have submitted is 
 either right or wrong. If right, no un worthiness of motive 
 of mine can detract from its merits ; if wrong, no purity of 
 motive can redeem it. 
 
 " The second point is that which has been so fully answered 
 by the honorable and distinguished Senator from Kentucky 
 [Mr. CLAY], viz. that Congress has no power to abolish 
 slavery in the District of Columbia. I find that power in the 
 Constitution, and it is defined by these words : * To exercise 
 exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever over such district^ 
 
 not exceeding ten miles square, as may, by cession of partic* 
 
 3* 
 
58 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 ular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat 
 of Government of the United States.' 
 
 "The District of Columbia is that district not exceeding ten 
 miles square. It has become the seat of the Government of 
 the United States by cession of the State of Maryland, accept- 
 ed by Congress. It is of the very nature of the power that it 
 is 'exclusive,' and applies ' to all cases whatsoever,' whenever the 
 district becomes, in the manner defined, the seat of the Gov- 
 ernment of the United States. This, I think, is a conclusive 
 answer to the argument of the honorable Senator from Ken- 
 tucky, that it is limited by an implied understanding that it 
 should not be exercised to abolish slavery. Neither could the 
 State of Maryland make nor could the United States yield 
 such a reservation. 
 
 "An exclusive power is that power which is possessed and 
 may be exercised independently of all other sovereignties on 
 earth. Congress, then, having 'exclusive power,' has abso- 
 lute sovereignty, unless cases be excepted in which it shall not 
 be exercised. But such exceptions are excluded by the broad 
 expression, * in all cases whatsoever.' " 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 59 
 
 EDWARD EVERETT. 
 
 THE first time the writer had the pleasure to see and hear 
 the distinguished gentleman, whose name is at the head of 
 this sketch, was soon after the death of John Quincy Adams. 
 Faneuil Hall, the famous cradle of liberty, was filled with the 
 wealth and beauty of Boston for it had been announced 
 through the medium of the newspaper press, that Edward 
 Everett was expected to deliver the euology on the death of 
 the much lamented ex-president. At the appointed time, the 
 orator commenced his discourse, and delivered it with that 
 courtly grace and noble dignity, for which he is so celebrated. 
 So thoroughly had he committed every sentence and every 
 syllable to memory, he did not once refer to his notes, which 
 lay unrolled before him. Like every production from his 
 polished pen, it was smooth, elegant, beautiful, and classical. 
 There was nothing new in it, nothing brilliant, no lofty 
 poetry, no profound philosophy, and yet there was a silvery 
 vein of subtle reflection running through it, but the channel 
 through which it flowed, had evidently been dug with a 
 golden spade, for it lacked the original convolutions of 
 nature ; there was too much uniformity in sloping the banks, 
 and scooping the vales, and rounding the hills. 
 
 Mr. Everett's writings and speeches are models of correct 
 composition ; the grammatical construction is faultless, the 
 
60 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 punctuation perfect, the arrangement accurate. His ideas, 
 like their author, are neatly dressed, and never appear before 
 the public in dishabille. His badinage is so polite, no one 
 can be offended; his sarcasm so refined, it never leaves a 
 pcratch upon the thinest cuticle ; his wit so genteel, it would 
 be vulgar not to smile at its exquisite finish. With more 
 courage and less fastidiousness, he would be the Addison of 
 America; indeed he is the only man entitled to that appella- 
 tion. 
 
 You may look and listen in vain for wild sallies of mother- 
 wit, or fierce invective, or exuberant passion. All the crooked 
 lines must be straightened, all the rough ledge's must be 
 smoothed down in his pages, or woe betide the unlucky 
 pi-inter. His drawing-room declamation, his elegant theoriz- 
 ing, his gentlemanly deportment, have made him immensely 
 popular with the aristocracy of America, for he is emphati- 
 cally a Yankee patrician, with vast scholarship, a handsome 
 face and figure, and an immense fortune, indispensable 
 requisites in those who would secure and retain the good 
 opinion of our Massachusetts marquises, Vermont viscounts, 
 Delaware dukes, and Louisiana lords. Mr. Everett lacks 
 vigor, because he is afraid of being vulgar ; he lacks origi- 
 nality, because he dare not be unfashionable. He is destined 
 to live in peace and die in peace, but his works will not 
 follow him to the same repose. They will live for aye. 
 
 When his friends prepared him for the pulpit, they should 
 have urged him to embrace the Universalist faith, for he is 
 too pleasant and polite to send any unfortunate victim to that 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 61 
 
 place not found on modern maps of geography, but which is 
 considered by some to be much warmer than the West 
 Indies. 
 
 After examining the most objectionable features in the 
 literary efforts of this learned* divine and experienced states- 
 man, it will be unjust not to look at his excellencies. He is 
 certainly an agreeable and amiable gentleman, whose moral 
 character is without a stain. Kind and generous to the poor, 
 ready to assist the unfortunate, and sympathize with the 
 afflicted. When at the Court of St. James, he did not belit- 
 tle the nation he represented by apeing the aristocracy of 
 England. The charge of snob-ism cannot be sustained 
 Against him, for he did not disfigure his noble person, by 
 wearing the bespangled and vulgar uniform of court; but 
 like an honest, and, we trust, true-hearted American, he was 
 satisfied with the plain dress of a republican citizen. How 
 unbecoming in the political minister of a young republic, to 
 attire himself in the gew-gaws of royalty, with a sword 
 dangling at his side. Let Austria, and Russia, and France, 
 indulge in such theatrical tomfoolery if they can afford it, 
 but let America, at home and abroad, in speech and deed, 
 dress and address, ever maintain the doctrine of fraternity, 
 liberty, equality, and republican simplicity. Let the old 
 driveling nations, now in their dotage, see that America has 
 ho inclination to copy their mistakes for the sake of their 
 transitory magnificence. , In this country, every subject is a 
 sovereign, and we acknowledge no hereditary titles, no aris- 
 tocracy, save that of genius and goo4ness. 
 
62 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 Mr. Everett is. an orator, and, were it not for the dignified 
 stiffness, to which I have already alluded, he would be an elo- 
 quent orator. There is no speaker in this country whose 
 gesticulation is so unexceptionable, not one who combines 
 such solid learning with such a graceful delivery, when he 
 forgets "propriety" in the momentary glow of passion. 
 How the masses rush to the pulpit or the platform to hear 
 him speak ! With what readiness do the people of all parties 
 appreciate the best utterances contained in his addresses ! 
 
 It was while delivering a lecture at Worcester, he called 
 attention to the learned Blacksmith, and Elihu Burritt has 
 been famous ever since that time. 
 
 I have said elsewhere, that his speeches are barren of 
 poetry by that I mean, he never soars to the heaven of 
 poetic eloquence. He has delicate fancy, but is deficient in 
 imagination. 
 
 Here is a specimen of his verse making : 
 
 "When I am dead, no pageant train 
 
 Shall waste their sorrows at my bier, 
 
 Nor worthless pomp of homage vain 
 Stain it with hypocritic tear, 
 
 For I will die as I did live, 
 
 Nor take the boon I cannot give. 
 
 " Ye shall not raise a marble bust 
 Upon the spot where I repose, 
 Ye shall not fawn before my dust 
 In hollow circumstance of woes, 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 63 
 
 Nor sculptured clay with lying breath, 
 Insult the clay that moulds beneath. 
 
 " Ye shall not pile with servile toil 
 
 Your monuments upon my breast, 
 Nor yet within the common soil, 
 
 Lay down the wreck of power to rest, 
 Where man can boast that he has trod, 
 On him that was the ' scourge of God.' 
 
 " But ye, the mountain stream shall turn, 
 
 And lay its secret channel bare, 
 And hollow for your sovereign's urn 
 A resting-place for ever there." 
 
 The above is part of a poem, entitled " Alaric the Visi- 
 goth," who stormed and spoiled the city of Rome, and was 
 afterwards buried in the channel of the river Busentius. 
 
 Mr. Everett seldom startles the reader with a paradox, 
 rarely assails any popular idol, never sneers at a rival. It is 
 evident that he writes with the expectation of being read by 
 future generations, or he would not finish his sentences, and 
 round his periods in such strict accordance with the rules of 
 rhetoric, and with such a lavish display of erudition, and such 
 fastidious nicety in selecting his quotations. He takes the 
 place of Webster, but he cannot fill it. He has not that 
 elephantine force, that ponderous logic, that masculine energy, 
 and that off-hand readiness, which so pre-eminently character- 
 ized the mighty Daniel. He is, however, a man of more 
 refined accomplishments, has more scholarship, has a better 
 
64 CRAYON SKETCHES, ^AND 
 
 acquaintance with general literature than his great predeces- 
 sor. In comparing him with those who were and those who 
 are his associates, I should say, he is more polished than 
 Webster, more classical than Cass, more graceful than Ben- 
 ton, more learned than Calhoun, more elegant than Clav. 
 
 Not long since, I saw him in the senate chamber, at 
 Washington; he was revising the smooth speech which he 
 delivered a short time before the senate adjourned. It was as 
 full of flattering compliments as a Christmas pudding is of 
 plums. 
 
 Mr. Everett is about sixty years of age ; erect as a liberty- 
 pole, of perfect mould, pale features, blue eyes, towering brow, 
 hair turning grey, mouth and chin finely cut ; in a word, 
 his face indicates the scholar and the gentleman he is. He 
 dresses richly, fashionably, not foppishly, and looks like a 
 lord. 
 
 The extracts with which we conclude our sketch of Mr. 
 Everett, are from a speech, delivered at Plymouth, on the 
 3d of August, 1853. 
 
 MR. EVERETT'S SPEECH. 
 
 " You, Mr. President, have been good enough to intimate 
 that among our numerous honored guests, to whom your com- 
 plimentary remarks might have applied with equal justice as 
 to myself, with possibly a single exception, that I am the indi- 
 vidual to whom you look to respond to the toast which has 
 just been announced. I rise to obey your call. It is true, 
 that there is a single circumstance by which it is possible that 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 65 
 
 the allusion may have been more exclusively applied to me 
 than any other gentleman present, for it is most true that on 
 one pleasant occasion on which I have been at this delightful 
 and beloved Plymouth, I have suggested that it might be 
 expedient, not always, but occasionally, to transfer the cele- 
 bration of the great day from the winter to the summer 
 season. Supposing that to be the allusion which you had in 
 your mind, I feel that I may, without impropriety, obey your 
 call in rising to respond to the toast that has just been given. 
 " It is now hard upon thirty years since I had the honor, on 
 the 22d December, to address the sons and daughters of the 
 Pilgrims, assembled in this place. I deemed it a peculiar 
 privilege and an honor. I deem it, sir, a still greater honor 
 to find myself here on this joyous occasion, and to be permit- 
 ted to participate in this happy festival, where we have an 
 attendance of so many distinguished friends and fellow citi- 
 zens from distant parts of the Union from almost every state 
 in the Union, sir, you have already told us where we are 
 favored with the company of the representatives of the New 
 England Society of New York, one of those institutions 
 which are carrying the name and the principles of the Pil- 
 grims to the farthest ends of the Union; where we are 
 gratified with the company of our military friends from the 
 same city, the great commercial emporium of the United 
 States; where we are honored with the presence of so 
 much of the gravity, the dignity, and the character of the 
 community ; and where we are favored with the presence of 
 so much of beauty, of grace, and of loveliness. (Applause.) 
 
60 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 "A few days ago, as I saw in the newspapers, two light 
 birch-bark canoes appeared in Boston harbor, containing each 
 a solitary Indian. They seemed, as they approached, to gazo 
 in silent wonder at the city of the triple hills, rising street 
 above street, and crowned with the dome of the State House, 
 and at the long line of villas stretching far into the back 
 ground ; at the numerous tall vessels outward bound, as they 
 dropped down the channel and spread their broad wings to 
 the breeze, and those which were returning weather-beaten 
 from the ends of the earth ; at the steamers dashing in every 
 direction across the harbor, breathing volumes of smoke from 
 their fiery lungs. They paddled their frail barks with dex- 
 terity and speed through this strange, busy, and to them, no 
 doubt, bewildering scene ; and having made the circuit of 
 East Boston, the Navy Yard, the city itself, and South Bos- 
 ton, dropped down with the current, and disappeared among 
 the islands. 
 
 " There was not a human being of kindred blood to utter a 
 word of welcome to them, in all the region, which on the day 
 we now commemorate was occupied by their forefathers in 
 Massachusetts. The race is gone. It would be a mistaken 
 sentimentality to regret the change ; to regret that some 
 thousand uncultured barbarians destitute of all the improve- 
 ments of social life, ajid seemingly incapable of adopting 
 them, should have yielded gradually to the civilized millions 
 who have taken their place. But we must, both as men and 
 as Christians, condemn whatever of oppression and wrong has 
 marked the change (as is too apt always to be the case, when 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 67 
 
 strong and weak are brought into contact with each other), 
 and without affectation we may indulge a heartfelt sympathy 
 for the feeble and stricken relics of once powerful and formid- 
 able tribes of fellow men. 
 
 ***** 
 
 "The discovery itself of the American continent may, I 
 think, be fairly considered the most extraordinary event in the 
 history of the world In this, as in other cases, familiarity 
 blunts the edge of our perceptions; but, much as I have 
 meditated, and often as I have treated this theme, its magni- 
 tude grows upon me with each successive contemplation. 
 That a continent nearly as large as Europe and Africa united 
 spread out on both sides of the equator, lying between 
 the western shores of Europe and Africa and the eastern 
 shore of Asia with groups of islands in either ocean, as it 
 were, stopping-places on the march of discovery ; a conti- 
 nent not inhabited indeed by civilized races, but still occupied* 
 by one of the families of rational man, that this great hemi- 
 sphere, I say, should have laid undiscovered for five thousand 
 years upon the bosom of the deep, a mystery so vast, within 
 so short a distance, and yet not found out, is indeed a marvel. 
 Mute nature, if I may so express myself, had made the dis- 
 covery to the philosopher, for the preponderance of land in 
 the eastern hemisphere demanded a counterpoise in the 
 west. 
 
 " Dark-wooded trees had drifted over the sea and told of 
 the tropical forests where they grew. Stupendous ocean cur- 
 rents, driven westward by the ever-breathing trade- winds, had 
 
68 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 
 
 wheeled their mighty flexures along the American coast, and 
 returned to Europe with tidings of the everlasting break- 
 waters which had stopped their way. But the fullness of 
 time had not yet come. Egypt and Assyria, and Tyre and 
 Carthage, and Greece and Rome, must flourish and fall, 
 before the seals are broken. The ancient civilization must be 
 weighed in a balance and found wanting. Yes, and more. 
 Nature must unlock her rarest mysteries; the quivering steel 
 must learn to tremble to the pole ; the astrolabe must climb 
 the arch of heaven ; science must demonstrate the spheroidity 
 of the earth, which the ancients suspected but could not 
 prove ; the press must scatter the flying rear of mediaeval 
 darkness ; the creative instincts of a new political, intellec- 
 tual, and social life must begin to kindle into action ; and 
 then the great Discoverer may go forth. 
 
 " He does go forth. The discovery is made ; the balance of 
 the globe is redressed. A continent nearly equal in extent to 
 one-half the ancient hemisphere is brought to ligiit. What 
 momentous questions present themselves ! Another world ! 
 Is it a twin siVrr of the ancient world? It has mountains, 
 and rivers, and lakes, and forests ; but does it contain the 
 homes of man ? of cultivated races, who have pursued, inde- 
 pendently of their Eastern brethren, separate, perhaps higher 
 paths of civilization? -In a word, has the great cause of 
 humanity, made an immediate gain by the wonderful event 
 which has added so much to the geography of the world, as 
 before known ? 
 
 '/The first contact answered these great questions in the 
 
OFF-HAND TAKTNGS. 69 
 
 negative. The native races, apparently incapable of assimi- 
 lation, seemed doomed by a mysterious Providence to pass 
 awayi The Spaniard came upon them, borne on winged mon 
 sters, as they thought, from beyond the sea; careering on 
 strange quadrupeds, horse and rider, as they supposed, form- 
 ino- but one animal, and he advanced under cover of that 
 
 O ' 
 
 fearful ordnance which they confounded with the three-bolted 
 artillery of the skies ; he came in all these terrors, and he 
 brought them death. 
 
 " Those that escaped have borrowed little from us but the 
 poisoned cup the loathsome malady the murderous weapon. 
 The skies are mild, the soil is fertile, there is every variety of 
 climate, a boundless theatre for human enjoyment and action, 
 but the appointed agent was not there. Over the greater 
 part of the new-found continent, society, broken down by 
 eternal wars between neighboring tribes, at once in its de- 
 crepitude and infancy, had not yet risen even to the pastoral 
 stage. Nature, in fact, had not bestowed upon man the mute 
 but faithful partners of his toil the horse, the ox, the sheep, 
 and other still humbler associates, whose aid (did we but know 
 it) lies at the basis of his civilization ; who furnish so much 
 of his food and clothing meat, milk, eggs, and wool, and 
 skins, and relieve his weary muscles of their heaviest burdens. 
 There is no civilized population to stand up and enter into 
 equal comparison and generous rivalry with Europe. The dis- 
 coverer has come ; but the settler, the colonist, the conqueror, 
 alas, that I must add, too often the oppressor and destroyer, 
 are to follow in his train. By these various agencies - 
 
70 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 joyous and sorrowful through these parts of triumph and 
 woe the culture of the old world, in th lapse of successive 
 generations, reformed of its abuses, enriched with new arts, 
 animated by a broader spirit of humanity, transferred from 
 the privileged few to the mass of the community, is to be 
 reproduced and perfected in the West. 
 
 /' I need not say to this company, assembled on the shores 
 of the haven for which so many noble hearts on that terrible 
 voyage throbbed with sickening expectancy that quiet haven 
 where the Mayflower furled her tattered sails that a greater, 
 a nobler work was never performed by man. Truly the opus 
 magnum, the great work of humanity. You bid me speak of 
 that portion of it which devolved on the Pilgrims. Would to 
 Heaven I could find words to do justice even to my own poor 
 conceptions, and still more that I could find conceptions not 
 far below the august reality. A mighty work of improvement, 
 in which (not to speak of what has been done in other por- 
 tions of the continent,) the poor solitary Mayflower, so to say, 
 has multiplied herself into the thousand vessels that bear the 
 flag of the Union to * every sea; has scattered her progeny 
 through the land, to the number of nearly a quarter of a 
 million for every individual in that drooping company of one 
 hundred ; and in place of the simple compact, which was 
 signed in her cabin, has exhibited to the admiration of man- 
 kind a Constitution of Republican Government for all this 
 growing family of prosperous States. But the work is in its 
 infancy. It must extend throughout the length and breadth of 
 the land ; and what is not done directly by ourselves, must be 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 1 
 
 done by other governments and Other races, by the light of our 
 example. The work the work must go on. It must reach, 
 at the North, to the enchanted cave of the magnet, within 
 never-melting barriers of Arctic ice ; it must bow to the lord 
 of day on the altar-peak of Chimborazo; it must look up 
 and worship the Southern Cross. From the easternmost cliff 
 on the Atlantic, that blushes in the kindling dawn, to the last 
 promontory on the Pacific, which catches the parting kiss of 
 the setting sun, it must make the outgoings of the morning 
 and the evening to rejoice in the gladsome light of morals, 
 and letters, and arts. Emperors, and kings, and parliaments 
 the oldest and the strongest governments in Europe, must 
 engage in this work, in some part or other of the continent, 
 but no part of it shall be so faithfully and successfully per- 
 formed as that which was undertaken on the spot where we 
 are now gathered, by the Pilgrim Fathers of New England." 
 
*72 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 JOHN P. HALE. 
 
 JOHN P. HALE is a free-and-easy, fat-and-social man, who 
 can relish a dish of oysters, or a good joke, as well as any 
 member of the Senate. He has the courage of Cromwell, and 
 the fun of Falstaff. He has a strong hand at one end of his 
 arm, and a strong head at the other. When he shakes the 
 former, you feel a heart throbbing in the palm ; when he 
 shakes the latter, it is the signal of a storm that will hail 
 for the space of an hour, and every stone will be the weight 
 of a talent. 
 
 Foote may rave and foam, and threaten to hang Hale, his 
 genial and generous fellow senator, on the tallest tree in 
 Mississippi ; but there will be a response so apropos, so full of 
 humor, from such a sunshiny countenance, the peppery Missis- 
 sippian will be ashamed of his impotent imprecations. There 
 is more thunder and lightning in the crack of Hale's joke, 
 than there is punishment in the crack of Foote's pistol. The 
 pungent wit of the former is more destructive than the explo- 
 ding powder of the latter. The sarcasm and irony of the 
 Northerner is more dreaded than the sulphur and saltpetre of 
 the Southerner. The cool man of "Granite" is more than a 
 match for the choleric representative of "Cotton." The small 
 sword of wit cuts deeper than the bowie-knife of wrath. 
 
, 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 73 
 
 Foote is a middle-aged gentleman, with a bald head, sear face, 
 shrunken limbs, and restless manners, and so ignitable, it is a 
 wonder he has not caught fire and burnt up long ago. Hale 
 is in the prime of life, broad shouldered, broad chested, and 
 stout limbed, and he has such control over his temper, he 
 never forgets to be courteous, even to those who permit 
 passion to rule reason, while they sink the glorious dignity of 
 the statesman to the gladiatorial level of the blackguard and 
 the bully. Hale can flog the powdery senator in debate, and 
 fling him out of the window of the Capitol afterwards, as 
 Commodus threw Oleander out of the Roman palace. 
 
 Foote has the most finished education, Hale the most prac- 
 tical sense ; Foote has read history, and is familiar with the 
 past, Hale has associated with the people, and knows the neces- 
 sities of the present ; Foote understands parliamentary usages, 
 Hale observes the rules of the Senate ; Foote is nervous, 
 furious, and vituperative, Hale is pleasant, manly and earnest ; 
 Foote has the rasping severity of Randolph, without his glow- 
 ing eloquence ; the brilliancy of Lee, without his chaste 
 dignity ; Hale has the self-reliance of Benton, without 
 his general information. The former is a Cavalier, the 
 latter a Roundhead. One would have fought to the death for/ 
 King Charles, the other would have united with republican 
 Oliver ; one is of the South, so extreme as to be tropical, the 
 other of the North, so distant as to be frigid. When that 
 great Nebuchadnezzar, the Compromise Bill, with its head of 
 gold (without brains), its feet of Clay (without a foothold), 
 was set up, Mr. Hale refused to bow before it; consequently 
 
 4 
 
74 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 he was bound hand and foot, and cast into the heated furnace ; 
 but he came out without the smell of fire upon his garments. 
 During the last session of the Senate he was like Daniel'(not 
 the Webster) in the lions' den, but he remained uninjured, 
 although there was no angel present to keep the mouths of 
 the lions closed. 
 
 Mr. Hale is a man whose telescopic discernment enables 
 him to discover danger at a distance, and when unwise or 
 reckless statesmen plot the ruin of the nation, he sends up a 
 rocket so that its showers of sparks, sheet of fire, and startling 
 report, may attract the attention of the people. When that 
 infamous Compromise Bill was before the Senate, he frequently 
 fired an alarm gun, to warn his constituents and his country- 
 men. Although he is constitutionally indolent, when his 
 mercury is made to rise to the blood heat of excitement he is 
 a giant, and ordinary men are like grass-hoppers in his hands. 
 He has not genius to originate, neither does he display much 
 original skill ; but his words drop at the right time and in 
 the right place, as the seed falls from the hands of the sower 
 into the furrow. He puts new wine into old bottles, and bursts 
 them. He is a man for the times, and speaks the language 
 as well as the sentiments of the masses. The man bleached 
 in the factory, and the man bronzed in the foundry, under- 
 stand him without the aid of an interpreter. 
 
 Mr. Hale is sociable and affable in his manner, hearty and 
 pleasant in his address. He has the courage to patronize and 
 defend whatever is designed to promote the welfare of the 
 Ijuman race, and the firmness to remain the unfaltering friend 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 75 
 
 of humanity. He speaks fluently and feelingly, and his style 
 and sentiment are both forcible and persuasive. He is a man 
 of foresight and sagacity, and keeps pace with the march of 
 progress. He speaks in behalf of the African race, and pleads 
 for the Abstinence cause. 
 
 In personal appearance, Mr. Hale is a large, stout man, 
 lomewhat inclined to corpulency ; has a full, healthy, rosy 
 face ; dark hair, touched with frost ; blue eyes, beaming with 
 mirthfulness ; an ample chest swelling with a generous heart, 
 and shoulders strong enough to bear the cross of his party. 
 
 We cannot resist the temptation to insert the following 
 graphic sketch from the ready pen of Mrs. Swisshelm : 
 
 " Hale is just as he looks in the Senate there. He has the 
 greatest amount of droll humor and sly sarcasm that ever fell 
 to the lot of one man ; but our opinion of him is, that the 
 basis of his character is combativeness and firmness. Let any 
 one walk up the pave .behind him, and notice the way he sets 
 down his foot ! Every step says, ' there ;' and there he is. 
 "When he has taken a position he will keep it, because he 
 took it for no other purpose. Attempts to drive him thence 
 Tfill only fasten him down. Rouse the lion in him, and you 
 may kill, but never conquer him. Opposition is the^most 
 powerful incentive to action. He loves an antagonistic posi- 
 tibn for the sake of its antagonism, and the reason he is so 
 perfectly good-humored while contending most obstinately, is, 
 
 tl 
 
 at strife affords the most ample scope for his energies 
 
 leaves no faculty to rust. At taast, that is our opinion of him, 
 
76 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 and we would trust our life to his stability and faithfulness, so 
 long as the cause in which he labors is unpopular very 
 unpopular ; but let him take the popular side of the question, 
 and he would be a very small matter. Let the cause in 
 which he labors become fashionable, and it is done with John 
 P. Hale. Liberty may trust him to advocate her cause so 
 long as she is an outcast, and while she has desperate battles 
 to fight. He will be very respectful to her ladyship, while 
 other people publicly spit upon her ; but if she becomes a 
 reigning princess, and crowds of courtiers kneel at her feet, he 
 will either turn round with a careless fling, walk off to attend 
 to some other business, without thinking to go backwards out 
 of the royal presence ; or he would hide behind a pillar of 
 her majesty's palace, and shoot bits of potatoe at her out of a 
 quill pop-gun. We do not believe he has a particle of vene- 
 ration for anything but weakness and misfortune, or that he 
 could set a higb value on anything that was not very difficult 
 to obtain. 
 
 " We walked up Pennsylvania Avenue behind him one day, 
 and watched him wearing the outside off the heels of his 
 boots with his firm dogged step, as he conversed with a gen- 
 tleman, turning his head on one side or the other, with an air 
 of droll waggery that is almost peculiar to him, and we fancied 
 we saw him, a little short-necked urchin, in slip and pinafore, 
 with his little, fat fists clenched, and every nerve strung to its 
 utmost tension, fighting with a youngster in breeches, twice 
 his own size, for an apple which he deemed his peculiar pro- 
 perty. We watch the battle in imagination, until, with 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 77 
 
 bloody nose and well-pulled hair, he held the prize secure, 
 - and stood looking defiance at his antagonist, and the other 
 young diplomatist with a snaky eye, and assumed look of 
 indifference, calling out, as if in triumph, * He ! he ! keep 
 your old apple! I didn't want it! I've got a whole 
 load !' 
 
 " There was the look of hesitation, a moment's pause, and, 
 without a word, the object of contention was hurled at the 
 head of the young intriguer, while John tottled off in pursuit 
 of something better worth having ; and perfectly satisfied with 
 the result of his encounter. 
 
 " If he has not or does not, at some time of his manhood's 
 career, re-enact this imaginary childish scene, we have greatly 
 mistaken him, or he has and will exercise this supreme con- 
 trol of reason over natural bent, which, in this case, would be 
 almost superhuman. If he does not, at some time, toss his 
 fame into the face of the public, from whom he has won it, 
 and start full chase after something else, he is not the John 
 P. Hale we take him to be. With him a day of pursuit is 
 worth twenty of possession. Abolitionists ought not to blame 
 him if he really throws up his seat in the Senate, as it is 
 rumored he will. He was true to the strongest impulses of 
 his nature while he stood there alone, and fought their battles. 
 He is alone no longer ! It is a mooted point if he be not in 
 the majority, and he has not half enough work to keep him 
 busy. The very impulses that drove him into the Senate are 
 now driving him out of it. He may resist them, but it will 
 be an unnatural warfare, and his spirit will chafe under it. 
 
 
78 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 If Free Soil gains a triumph in Congress, and he stays there, 
 just see if his good humor is not impaired if he does not 
 grow ill-tempered for want of something with which to con- 
 tend. Like Alexander, he will take sick for want of more 
 worlds to conquer." 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 
 
 FATHER TAYLOR. 
 
 Such vast impressions did his sermons make, 
 
 He always kept his flock awake. DR. WOLCOTT. 
 
 I venerate the man whose heart is warm, 
 Whose hands are pure, whose doctrines and whose life 
 Coincident, exhibit lucid proof 
 
 That he is honest in the sacred cause. COWPBR. 
 
 ONE Sunday morning I went to the Sailors' Chapel in 
 Boston, to see and hear the far-famed mariners' preacher, 
 Father Taylor. He was reacting the familiar hymn which 
 commences with the well-known lines, " Come, thou fount of 
 every blessing," when I entered the house of worship. The 
 choir wedded the words to music the Divine blessing was 
 invoked a chapter was read and then the sixteenth verse 
 of the third chapter of Colossians was selected as the basis of 
 the discourse. The striking peculiarities of the eccentric and 
 celebrated preacher cannot fail to attract the attention of the 
 seamen and landsmen who attend his church. He rises clum- 
 sily from the sofa in the pulpit, and puts his fore-finger on the 
 text as though he anticipated the danger of losing it, or was 
 determined to stick to it. After reading it distinctly and delib- 
 erately, he is pretty sure to raise the spectacles from his eyes 
 and let them rest over the organs of causality. 
 
 Father Taylor does not ape the clerical stiffness which so 
 
80 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 ill-becomes those who strive to make up in dignity what they 
 lack in devotion and intellect. When he walks the pulpit 
 floor, like a caged lion, or pounds the desk with his fists, there 
 seems to be, and doubtless is, honesty in his zeal. When he 
 distorts his weather-beaten face, and swings his out-stretched 
 arms about him, and shakes his lean fingers in the faces of his 
 hearers, we see that he has in him the elements of a good 
 actor. He is an odd genius, and I have no hesitation in affirm- 
 ing that he will utter more wise sayings and more sayings that 
 are otherwise, in a single sermon, than any other man in Massa- 
 chusetts. Not unfrequently he mixes his pathos and humor so 
 evenly, the listener knows not whether to laugh or weep. One 
 minute he appeals to Heaven, in a strain of sublimity that 
 excites your admiration and astonishment; and the next 
 moment he appeals to Mr. Foster, or some other member of 
 his congregation, in a style not comporting with the idea 
 most men have of the dignity of the pulpit. Now, with com- 
 pressed lips, grating teeth and flashing eyes, he denounces some 
 vice or some heresy, in words steeped in a solution of brim- 
 stone ; and then, with a smiling countenance, upturned eyes, 
 and outspread hands, he lavishes encomiums on hope, faith, 
 love, virtue, piety. Now he pours out a torrent of adjectives, 
 as though he resolved to exhaust the vocabulary ; then follows 
 a stream of nouns, from his unfailing Cochituate of language. 
 His sermons are ornamented with gems of poetry. 
 
 The following extracts from the sermon I heard a week or 
 two since, will give the reader a tolerable idea of his matter ; 
 his manner is unreportable, for he is the Booth of the Boston 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 81 
 
 pulpit. "Some men," said he, "will lie for a glass of grog, and 
 some women will lie for a cup of tea. If God respects somo 
 sinners more than others, there will be a back hole in hell for 
 liars." " Who are so low, vile, mean, hateful, as the wholesale 
 dealers and the retail pedlars in lies?" He prefaced a quo- 
 tation from Proverbs with these words: "Solomon was a 
 wise old fellow, although he had strange notions about some 
 things." Speaking of backsliders, he observed : " They slide 
 by moonshining and deceiving themselves." He ridiculed, 
 with bitter severity, the Oratorios of the present day; said that 
 "profane lips dared to imitate the groans of Christ upon the 
 cross. Infidels, with instruments of music, endeavored to show 
 the sufferings of the Saviour in the garden the driving of the 
 nails, the dripping of the blood upon the accursed tree and 
 they mimicked the blast of the angel's trumpet." It was 
 an eloquent and just rebuke to those who trifle with sacred 
 things. 
 
 Father Taylor is a plain-looking man, and his bronzed face 
 is strongly marked. He is now in the sunset of life, and his 
 head is thickly sprinkled with grey hairs. When excited, his 
 voice is harsh, and conveys the impression to the mind, that 
 the "man behind it" hates the devil more than he loves Jesus. 
 He is volcanic, and is often guided more by impulse than by 
 intellect. Although he is in the autumn of his years, he can 
 perform more service, endure more hardship, and preach 
 better sermons, than half the young preachers of the present 
 day. 
 
82 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 JOHN C. CALHOUN. 
 
 No one at all acquainted with the political history of the 
 United States, will deny the fact that John C. Calhoun, was 
 one of the distinguished few whose voices penetrated every 
 portion of our country. His bold and sententious and 
 condensed utterances were also echoed in other lands, and 
 excited indignation and admiration everywhere. The lovers 
 of universal liberty admired his genius, while they deplored 
 his course in the council chamber of state. Earnestly, 
 eloquently, and perseveringly did he labor, in season and out 
 of season, to defend and perpetuate slavery. Unlike such 
 men as Jefferson, Randolph, Henry, and Clay, he regarded 
 human slavery as an invaluable blessing promoting the 
 welfare of society, advancing the prosperity of the nation, 
 and perpetuating the free institutions of the Republic while 
 they, on the contrary, declared involuntary servitude an 
 unmitigated curse impairing our social happiness, hampering 
 the welfare of our common country, and threatening the 
 stability of our free institutions. 
 
 John C. Calhoun was a sectional senator -South Carolina 
 was so vast in his eye, he could never look beyond its 
 boundaries. He legislated and labored in his study and in 
 the senate, not for the good of the United States, but for the 
 protection and prosperity of South Carolina. That state waa 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 83 
 
 all the world to him, and he knew no North, no East, no 
 West. 
 
 It is astonishing that any man, having such breadth of 
 character, and such depth of intellect, did not have 
 more comprehensive views Webster went for our coun- 
 try, however bounded Winthrop for our country, right 
 or wrong, but Calhoun went for South Carolina for her 
 men, her laws, her institutions, and her slaves. He 
 toiled during a life-time, to persuade the world, that 
 slavery was not an infringement on the rights of man. 
 He was aware that it paid no respect to the institution of 
 marriage, and made every cabin liable to become a brothel. 
 He knew that whips, and chains, and yokes, and thumbscrews, 
 and bloodhounds, were some of the accompaniments of such 
 a state of society, yet he defended it. He knew that it 
 separated husband from wife, and child from parent, and 
 consigned three millions of human beings to stripes, and 
 sorrow, and premature death ; yet he demanded its everlasting 
 perpetuation. William Lloyd Garrison, speaking, said of him, 
 with characteristic vigor, soon after Calhoun made an able 
 speech in the senate : " There is no blood in him he is as 
 cold as a corpse. .He is made of iron, not flesh; he is 
 hybridous, not natural." Having seen the most forbidding 
 side of the picture, let us do him and ourselves the justice to 
 look at the favorable side. He was a consistent man, there 
 was no two-facedness, no double-heartedness, no dough in 
 the composition of his nature. Whichever way the wind 
 might blow whatever course the flood might take he waa 
 
81: CRAYON SKETCHES, A^D 
 
 the same unfaltering and invincible advocate of slavery. 
 There was no chicanery, no humbug, no hoisting of false 
 colors, no underhandedness in his course. He made the 
 auction block his platform, and there he sounded the bugle 
 blast in the ear of the nation, and acknowledged that he was 
 the champion of chattel slavery. No electioneering tricks, 
 no flattering nominations, no log rolling, no wire pulling, no 
 efforts of friends, no party considerations ; nothing contained 
 in the exchequer, could cause him. to swerve a single hair, for 
 a single moment, from his straightforward course. 
 
 He was frank ; his votes, and speeches, and efforts were 
 open and above board. He never dodged, never failed to 
 commit himself when an opportunity was presented to show 
 his hand ; and never wore the white feather when assailed by 
 his fellow senators. He was personally a virtuous man, 
 honest in his dealings (save with his slaves, he never paid 
 them), sober (except when intoxicated with excitement, in 
 defending slavery), chaste (his plantation was undoubtedly 
 like others). I say, personally, he was a brave, honest, frank, 
 chaste, and virtuous man. He had an active organization, 
 and his fiery temperament made him an injudicious and 
 unsafe counsellor, although his intellect was mightier than his 
 impulses. When his head and heart were cool, he was 
 generally right on all subjects, save one. He was a. man of 
 unbounded ambition, inflexible dignity, and great weight of 
 character; besides, he was wilful in his resolutions and 
 indomitable in his perseverance. He had wonderful self-pos- 
 session, and plenty of assurance for a score of ordinary men ; 
 
OFF-HASD TAXINGS. ' 85 
 
 some say he had a better balanced Lead than either of his 
 great compeers ; that his judgment was more correct, and his 
 views more consistent than theirs. It is certain he was 
 distinguished for clearness of conception, copiousness of logic, 
 and appropriateness of illustration. His speeches are more 
 remarkable for condensed logic, than luminous ornament. 
 He had the vehemence of Clay, without his bonhommie ; the 
 terseness of Beuton, without his humanity ; the philosophy of 
 Cass, without his double-dealing. If he was not so colossal as 
 Webster, he was a closer, reasoner, and his transparent 
 earnestness won the admiration of those who were indig- 
 nant at his doctrines ; indeed, men of all parties, and in all parts 
 of the country, entertained but one opinion respecting the 
 consistency of John C. Calhoun. 
 
 He was not a man of universal acquirements, although he 
 understood jurisprudence, mathematics, modern history, gene- 
 ral literature, the classic languages, and politics. The peculiar 
 features for which he is noted, are his practical and subtle 
 reasoning powers, his intuitive gifts of perception, and his 
 magnetic influence over his associates and friends. In public, 
 he spoke in a tone approximating to autocratic authority 
 (excuse the alliteration). Occasionally he was vehement as a 
 cataract; at such times he did not curb his passions, nor 
 restrain his invective, but dashed right on with lightning in 
 his eyes, and thunder on his lips ; now tearing a bit of 
 sophistry to shreds; now laboring 1 an argument fused in the 
 fire of his eloquence ; now lifting the veil from the goddess of 
 Liberty, to show his auditors her face, then uttering sentiments 
 
86 CRAYON SKETCHP:S, AND 
 
 that might make the busts of Washington, and Adams, and 
 Madison blush with shame. On, on, he dashed, with the 
 rapidity of a race-horse, out-speeding the swiftest reporters 
 saying more words in a given time, than any other man. 
 Wit is a weapon too small for our Hercules to wield ; poetry 
 is not practical enough for him ; besides, slavery detests 
 poetry, and cannot boast a single stanza in its defence ; pathos 
 he has not ; but he has philosophy, history, argument, facts, 
 at his fingers' ends, and he uses them as they were never used 
 before, for he is the only prominent man who in any age, in 
 any land plead for slavery as a blessed institution, to be 
 sustained at all hazards, for the social and political welfare of 
 the world. What a paradoxical man was the great Calhoun \ 
 yet he was idolized by the South Carolinians, and they would 
 have been willing to have crowned the great Nullifier their 
 king, and then they would have become his dutiful subjects. 
 
 A word or two. respecting his personal appearance must 
 conclude this sketch. 
 
 Mr. Calhoun was a tall, thin, straight, wiry man, with 
 sharp angular features ; hair, originally black, but turned 
 quite grey before he died. It was coarse, and bristled up in 
 the most combative manner imaginable, and trespassed on 
 that part of the forehead which is usually bare, consequently, 
 some persons, unacquainted W 7 ith the science of phrenology, 
 have quoted his peculiar formation of head, as evidence 
 against its doctrines. Doctor Lyman Beecher, the grandfather 
 of Uncle Tom, and the father of the temperance enterprise, is 
 another instance of this nature, which has been used by the 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 87 
 
 sceptical in the same way ; whereas the doctor has a 
 magnificent head, well balanced, and large at the right 
 points, to make him the blessed, good man he is. Excuse 
 this digression, I have a vagrant pen, and I have neither bit 
 nor bridle in its nib this evening. I have the impression that 
 Calhoun was of the nervous, bilious temperament, perhaps 
 the bilious predominated. He had great vital and great 
 muscular as well as great mental power. Great as was the 
 reputation of Calhoun, it did not equal his ability. He had 
 brain and bone enough to sustain himself in almost any 
 contest. An author who had frequently seen him and heard 
 him speak in Washington, says, " I do not now remember to 
 have met an organization of greater power, during all my 
 visits at Washington. Webster had more vital power, and 
 perhaps, as much muscular, but not as much mental. 
 Calhoun's head was not as large as Webster's, though it was 
 decidedly large. On a great occasion, Webster was decidedly 
 the greatest man ; but under all circumstances, and when his 
 powers were not wrought up and brought out by some 
 powerful stimulus, he was probably not so great. In matters 
 of detail and practical affairs, Calhoun, probably excelled; 
 but for profound argument, Constitutional questions, conduct- 
 ing great matters, &c., Webster had the best developments. 
 Still the powerful, the impressive, the forcible, the deep, and 
 the efficient, are the prevailing characteristics of both. 
 Calhoun's organization combines tremendous powers with 
 great activity ; these two conditions are rarely united in any 
 one man to as great a degree. He was indeed a great man. 
 
88 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 Clay's reputation was equal to bis talents, which were of a 
 brilliant, showy order. Not so with those of Calhoun. He 
 was all that he was supposed to be. * * * 
 
 " It is doubtful if there was a higher forehead in 
 Washington. Clay's appeared larger, for the hair retired in 
 him ; but the development of his reasoning organs was, 
 indeed, immense, especially comparison." In alluding to the 
 fact, that Mr. Calhoun's hair " grew lower down on his fore- 
 head," he observes, "The fact, that the hair grew on the 
 reasoning organs, does not affect either size or power, for it is 
 as easy to think through the hair as without it." 
 
 With the following specimens of his speech-making, I 
 conclude this article. 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM THE SPEECH OF JOHN C. CALHOUN, IN THE 
 SOUTHERN CAUCUS, 1848. 
 
 * * * I consider the address indispensable. Whatever 
 action is taken must proceed from the slaveholding states. 
 If the Constitution be violated, and their rights encroached 
 upon, it is for them to determine the mode and measure of 
 redress. We can only suggest and advise. We are in the 
 theatre of action, the witnesses of the alarming encroach- 
 ments which have been going on upon the rights of the 
 slaveholding part of the Confederacy. We see them plainly,, 
 we feel them deeply. They are rapid and alarming ; for who 
 would have believed, even three years ago. that preparations, 
 which have within a few days past commanded the support 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 89 
 
 of a majority of the Lower house of Congress, would have 
 been tolerated by any respectable portion of either house ? 
 
 " We are in the midst of events scarcely of less import than 
 those of our revolutionary era. The question is, are we to 
 hold our position in this Confederacy upon the ground of 
 equals, or are we to content ourselves with the position of 
 Qolonial Dependence ? Sir, it would be worse than Colonial 
 Dependence. For who would not prefer to be taxed and 
 governed without pretence of representation, than, under the 
 form of representation, to be greviously oppressed by measures 
 over which we have no control, and against which our 
 remonstrances are unavailing ? 
 
 " It is undeniable, that encroachments upon our rights have 
 been rapid and alarming. They must be met. I conceive, 
 that no Southern man can entertain, for one moment, the 
 idea of tame submission. 
 
 " The action of the South should be united, temperate, but 
 decided. Our position must be taken deliberately, but held 
 at every hazard. We wage no war of aggression. We ask 
 only for the Constitution, and Union, and government of our 
 fathers. We ask our Northern brethren to leave us those 
 rights and privileges which our fathers held, and without 
 securing which for their children, all know they would not 
 have entered into this Union. These we must maintain. 
 
 " It appears to me proper that we, who are on the theatre 
 of action, should address our constituents of the slaveholding 
 states ; briefly and accurately portray the progress of usurpa- 
 tion and aggression, vividly exhibit the dangers which 
 
90 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 threaten, and leave it in their hands to mark out the proper 
 time of action. 
 
 "What that should be, it is needless here to discuss. 
 Whatever it is, it should be temperate, united, and decided." 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM JOHN C. CALHOUN's SPEECH ON THE 
 SLAVERY QUESTION IN THE SENATE, MARCH 4, 1850. 
 
 * * * " But will the North agree to this ? It is for her to 
 answer this question. But I will say she cannot refuse, if she 
 has half the love for the Union which she professes to have, 
 or without justly exposing herself to the charge that her 
 love of power and aggrandizement is far greater than her love 
 of the Union. At all events, the responsibility of saving the 
 Union is on the North and not the South. The South cannot 
 save it by any act of hers, and the North may save it without 
 any sacrifice whatever, unless to do justice and to perform 
 her duties under the Constitution be regarded by her as a 
 sacrifice. It is time,. senators, that there should be an open 
 and manly avowal on all sides as to what is intended to be 
 done. If the question is not now settled, it is uncertain 
 whether it ever can hereafter be ; and we, as the representatives 
 of the states of this Union, regarded as governments, should 
 come, to a distinct understanding as to our respective views, 
 in order to ascertain whether the great questions at issue 
 between the two sections can be settled or not. If you who 
 represent the stronger portion cannot agree to settle them on 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 91 
 
 the broad principle of justice and duty, say so, and let the 
 states we represent agree to separate and part in peace. 
 
 " If you are not willing we should part in peace, tell us so, 
 and we shall know what to do when you require the question 
 to submission or resistance. If you remain silent, you then 
 compel us to infer what you intend. In that case, California 
 will become the test question. If you admit her under all the 
 difficulties that oppose her admission, you compel us to infer 
 that you intend to exclude us from the whole of the acquired 
 territories, with the intention of destroying irretrievably the 
 equilibrium between the two sections. We would be blind 
 not to perceive in that case, that your real objects are power 
 and aggrandizement, and infatuated not to act accordingly. 
 
 " I have now, senators, done my duty in expressing my 
 opinions fully, freely, and candidly, on this solemn occasion. 
 In doing so, I have been governed by the motives which have 
 governed me in all the stages of the agitations of the slavery 
 question since its commencement, and exerted myself to arrest 
 it, with the intention of saving the Union, if it could be done ; 
 and if it cannot, to save the section where it has pleased Pro- 
 vidence to cast my lot and which I sincerely believe has justice 
 and the Constitution on its side. 
 
 " Having faithfully done my duty to the best of my ability, 
 both in the Union and my section, throughout the whole of 
 this agitation, I shall have the consolation, let what will come, 
 that I am free from all responsibility." 
 
92 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 HON. LEWIS CASS is a gallant general, a good citizen, an 
 eminent statesman, who lias served his country at home and 
 abroad, for many years, with honor to himself and credit to 
 his country. He is a man of unimpeachable purity of cha- 
 racter, and his abstemious habits (unless he has met with a 
 recent change) deserve the commendation of all good men. 
 He is pugnacious, and often shakes his fist in the face of John 
 Bull ; is ambitious, and has made high bids for the presidency. 
 In his efforts to provoke the former and secure the latter, he 
 has displayed his weakest points. 
 
 Lewis Cass is a great man physically and intellectually, 
 There is nothing trashy or inane in his speeches ; he is not 
 subject to poetical hysterics, and there is not much of the ma- 
 jestic or the sublime in his speeches. It is seldom that great 
 and mighty thoughts leap from his mouth, as " Minerva sprang 
 from the bruin of Jove ;" but he is plain, practical, philosophical, 
 argumentative, correct, and classical. He does not soar like 
 an angel, but Jie stands erect like a man. He has a well- 
 balanced, ratiocinative mind deeply experienced, and tho- 
 roughly cultivated. He cannot, like Webster, " heap Pelion 
 upon Ossa," until his opponent is overwhelmed and crushed to 
 the dust, but he digs deeply, until the victim is first under- 
 mined, and finally buried under his own premises. 
 
 He is corpulent almost gross and has a dull face; is a 
 
OFF-HAXD TAKINGS. 93 
 
 perfect gentleman in his address, excellent company, when he 
 is sufficiently acquainted to " unbend the brow," and in the 
 convivial circle he can contribute his share of merriment. He 
 speaks French fluently, and is familiar with other languages. 
 He is a man whom his party delights to honor, and has been 
 governor, representative, foreign minister, is now senator, and 
 several times he has been almost President of the United 
 States. He lives in a large, plain, democratic-looking house, 
 in the beautiful city of Detroit. He is now ill with the ague* 
 the only thing that can shake him. Senator Douglass has 
 recently employed an artist to take his portrait. Perhaps he 
 designs to hang the shadow on the wall, and take th*e place 
 of the substance himself. He is highly esteemed in Michigan 
 and has more influence there than any other man in the state. 
 Permit me to record a joke, which has been exposed to the 
 sun and air so long it has become dry, if not stale. ** Tell 
 Hale," said Cass, " that he is a Granite goose.' " Tell Cass," 
 replied Hale, " that he is a Michi-^cwcfer /" 
 He*e is a specimen of his style : 
 
 SPEECH OF LEWIS CASS, ON THE DEATH OF DANIEL 'WEBSTER, 
 DELIVERED IN U. S. SENATE, DECEMBER, 14, 1852. 
 
 " MR. PRESIDENT. How Are The Mighty Fallen ! was 
 the pathetic lamentation when the leaders of Israel were struck 
 down in the midst of their services and of their renown. Well 
 may we repeat that national wail How are the mighty fallen J 
 
 * Since recovered. 
 
94 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 when the impressive dispensations of Providence have so re- 
 cently carried mourning- to the hearts of the American people, 
 by summoning from life to death three of their eminent 
 citizens, who, for almost half a century, had taken part 
 and prominently, too in all the great questions, as well of 
 peace as of war, which agitated and divided their country. 
 " Full indeed they .were of days and of honors, for, 
 
 " ' The hand of the reaper 
 Took the ears that werejieavy 
 
 but never brighter in intellect, purer in patriotism, nor more 
 powerful in influence, than when the grave closed upon their 
 labors, leaving their memory and their career at once an in- 
 centive and an example for their countrymen in that long 
 course of trial but I trust, of freedom and prosperity, also 
 which is open before us. Often divided in life, but only by 
 honest convictions of duty, followed in a spirit of generous 
 emulation, and not of personal opposition, they are now united 
 in death, and we may appropiately adopt, upon this sinking 
 occasion, the beautiful language addressed to the people of 
 England by one of her most gifted sons, when they were called 
 to mourn, as we are called now, a bereavement which spread 
 sorrow dismay almost through the nation, and under cir- 
 cumstances of difficulty and of danger far greater than any we 
 can now reasonably anticipate in the progress of our history : 
 
 S 
 
 " ' Seek not for those a separate doom, 
 Whom Fate made brothers in the tomb : 
 
OrF-HAND TAKINGS. 05 
 
 But search the land of living men; 
 Where shall we find their like again ?' 
 
 "And, to-day, in the consideration of the message of the 
 Chief Magistrate, it becomes us to respond to his communica- 
 tion commending itself, as it does, to the universal sentiment 
 of the country of the death of the last lamented statesman, 
 as a national misfortune. This mark of respect and regret, 
 was due alike to the memory of the dead, and to the feelings 
 of the living. And I have listened with deep emotion to the 
 eloquent testimonials, to the mental power, and worth, and 
 services of the departed patriot, which, to-day have been 
 heard in the high place, and will be heard to-morrow, and 
 commended, too, by the American people. 
 
 " The voice of party is hushed in the presence of such a 
 national calamity, and the grave closes upon the asperity of 
 political contests, when it closes upon those who have taken 
 part in them. 
 
 " And well may we, who have so often witnessed his labors 
 and his triumphs ; well may we, here, upon this theatre of 
 his services and his renown, recalling the efforts of his mighty 
 understanding, and the admiration which always followed 
 its exertion, well may we come with our tribute of acknow- 
 ledgment to his high and diversified powers, and to the 
 influence he exercised upon his auditors, and, in fact, upon his 
 country. He was, indeed, one of those remarkable men, who 
 stand prominently forward upon the canvass of history, 
 impressing their characteristics upon the age in which 
 
96 CRAYON 1 SKETCHES, AND 
 
 live, and almost making it their own by the force of thoir 
 genius, and by the splendor of their fame. The time which 
 elapsed between the middle of the eighteenth century and 
 our own day, was prolific of great events, and of distinguished 
 men, who guided or were guided by them, far beyond any 
 other equal period in the history of human society. But, in 
 my opinion, even this favored epoch, has produced no man 
 possessing a more massive and gigantic intellect, or who 
 exhibited more profound powers of investigation, in the great 
 department of political science to which he devoted himself, 
 in all its various ramifications, than Daniel Webster. 
 ***** 
 
 " It was my good fortune to hear him upon one of these 
 occasions, when, in this very hall, filled to overflowing with 
 an audience, whose rapt attention indicated his powers and 
 their expectations, he entered into an analysis of the Constitu- 
 tion, and of the great principles of our political organization, 
 with a vigor of argument, a force of illustration, and a felicity 
 of diction, which have rendered this effort of his mind one of 
 the proudest monuments of American genius, and one of the 
 noblest expositions which the operations of our government 
 have called forth. I speak of its general effect, without 
 concurring in all the views he presented, though the points of 
 difference neither impair my estimate of the speaker, nor of 
 the power he displayed in this elaborate debate. 
 
 " The judgment of his contemporaries upon the character 
 of his eloquence, will be confirmed by the future historian. 
 
 "He grasped the questions involved in the subject before 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. fl7 
 
 him with a rare union of force and discrimination, and he 
 presented them in an order of arrangement, marked at once 
 with great perspicuity and with logical acuteness, so that, 
 when he arrived at h\s conclusion, he seemed to reach it by a 
 process of "established propositions, interwoven with the hands 
 of a master; and topics, barren of attraction, from their 
 nature, were rendered interesting by illustrations and allusions, 
 drawn from a vast storehouse of knowledge, and applied with 
 a chastened taste, formed upon the best models of ancient 
 and of modern learning ; and to these eminent qualifications 
 was added an uninterrupted flow of rich and often racy, old- 
 fashioned English, worthy of the earlier masters of the 
 language, whom he studied and admired. 
 
 " As a statesman and a politician, his power was felt and 
 acknowledged through the Republic, and all bore willing 
 testimony to his enlarged views, and to his ardent patriotism. 
 And he acquired an European reputation by the state papers 
 he prepared upon various questions of our foreign policy ; and 
 one of these his refutation and exposure of an absurd and 
 arrogant pretension of Austria is distinguished by lofty and 
 generous sentiments, becoming the age in which he lived, and 
 the great people in whose name he spoke, and is stamped 
 with a vigor and research not less honorable in the exhibition 
 than conclusive in the application ; and it will ever take rank 
 in the history of diplomatic intercourse among the richest 
 contributions to the commentaries upon the public law of the 
 world. 
 
 " And in internal as in external troubles he was true, and 
 
98 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 tried, and faithful. And in the latest, may it be the last, aa 
 it was the most perilous, crisis of our country, rejecting all 
 sectional consideration, and exposing himself to sectional 
 denunciation, he stood up boldly, proudly, indeed, and with 
 consummate ability, for the Constitutional rights" of another 
 portion of the Union, fiercely assailed by a spirit of aggres- 
 sion, as incompatible with our mutual obligations as with the 
 duration of the Confederation itself. In that dark and doubt- 
 ful hour, his voice was heard above the storm, recalling his 
 countrymen to a sense of their dangers and their duties, and 
 tempering the lessons of reproach with the experience of age 
 and the dictates of patriotism. 
 
 " He who heard his memorable appeal to the public reason 
 and conscience, made in this crowded chamber, with all eyes 
 fixed upon the speaker, and almost all hearts swayed by his 
 words of wisdom and of power, wiil sedulously guard its 
 recollections as one of those precious incidents which, while 
 they constitute the poetry of history, exert a permanent and 
 decisive influence upon the destiny of nations. 
 
 " And our deceased colleague added the kindlier affections 
 of the mind ; and I recall, with almost painful sensibility, the 
 associations of our boyhood, when we were school-fellows 
 together, with all the troubles and the pleasures which belong 
 to that relation of life, in its narrow world of preparation. 
 He rendered himself dear by his disposition and deportment, 
 and exhibited some of those peculiar characteristic features 
 which, later in life, made him the ornament of the social 
 circle ; and when study and knowledge of the world had 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 99 
 
 ripened his faculties, endowed him with powers of conversa- 
 tion I have not found surpassed in my intercourse with 
 society, at home or abroad. His conduct and bearing at that 
 early period have left an enduring impression upon my 
 memory of mental traits, which his subsequent course in life, 
 developed and confirmed. And the commanding position and 
 ascendency of the man were foreshadowed by the standing 
 and influence of the boy among the comrades who sur- 
 rounded him. 
 
 " Fifty years ago, we parted he to prepare for his splendid 
 career in the good old land of our ancestors, and I to encoun- 
 ter the rough toils and trials of life, in the great forest of the 
 West. But ere long the report of his words and his deeds 
 penetrated those recesses where human industry was pain- 
 fully but successfully contending with the obstacles of 
 Nature, and I found that my early companion was assuming 
 a position which confirmed my previous anticipations, and 
 which could onjy be attained by the rare faculties with which 
 he was gifted. Since then he has gone on, irradiating his 
 path with the splendor of his exertions, till the whole 
 hemisphere was bright with his glory, and never brighter 
 than when he went down^in the west, without a cloud to 
 obscure his lustre, calm, clear, and glorious. Fortunate in life, 
 he was not less fortunate in death, for he died with his fame 
 undiminished, his faculties unbroken, and his usefulness unim- 
 paired; surrounded by weeping friends, and regarded with 
 anxious solicitude by a grateful country, to whom the messen- 
 ger, that mocks at time and space, told from hour to hour the 
 
100 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 progress of his disorder, and the approach of his fate. And 
 beyond all this, he died in the faith of a Christian, humble, 
 but hopeful, adding another to the roll of eminent men who 
 have searched the Gospel of Jesus, and have found it the 
 word and the will of God, given to direct us while here, and 
 to sustain us in that hour of trial, when the things of this 
 world are passing away, and the dark valley of the shadow of 
 death is opening before us. 
 
 "How are the Mighty Fallen! we may yet exclaim, 
 when reft of our greatest and wisest ; but they fall to rise 
 again from death to life, when such quickening faith in the 
 mercy of God, and in the Sacrifice of the Redeemer comes to 
 shed upon them its happy influence, on this side of the grave 
 and beyond it." 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 101 
 
 CHARLES C. BURLEIGH. 
 
 CHARLES C. BURLEIGH, the eccentric and eloquent aboli- 
 tionist, is brother to William H. and George Burleigh, the 
 celebrated poets. He is an out and out "come-outer" a 
 non-compromising radical a splendid scholar an oft-hand 
 orator. He is not so genial as Garrison but has more force 
 not so bitter as Pillsbury, but his severity has a keener 
 edge and cuts deeper less eloquent than Phillips, but more 
 logical than he not so blunt as Foster, but, like him, he is a 
 plain-dealer. His best thoughts are struck out at a heat, and 
 come to the heart winged with words of fire. 'There is 
 thunder and lightning in his logic arid the concussion, as 
 well as the conclusion, are irresistible. His arguments are 
 not betinselled with gauze and silver spangles ; it is pure gold 
 that glitters in his speeches. You look in vain for the double 
 refined essence of nonsense and affectation, with which literary 
 dandies perfume their productions. There is a smell of gun- 
 powder in the atmosphere, and a mighty fluttering of game, 
 when he levels his gun at a multitude. His arguments are 
 forcible his appeals pathetic his language classical. When 
 he follows an opponent in debate, he begins at the begin- 
 ning, pursues his meanderings, and sweeps away his sophistry, 
 as gossamer is swept by the wind. He may be seen selling 
 
102 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 books at the door of the building where the convention is 
 held, one minute, and the next minute he may be seen on the 
 platform, addressing an audience. Unmoved by the cat-calls 
 in the gallery, or the scribbling of the reporters at his elbow, 
 he speaks right on, as though, like the prophet Ezekiel, he 
 had swallowed the parchment roll. There is no flaw in his 
 unpremeditated addresses you cannot discover any welding 
 marks. I do not set him up " too steep," when I venture the 
 assertion, that his addresses found in the abolition papers, will 
 compare favorably with the best speeches made in the Senate 
 Chamber at Washington. Notwithstanding his superior 
 talents and his surpassing power of language, he is a wild 
 man, who ought to be caught and shaved, for his beard stands, 
 or rather hangs, in the way of his usefulness. Unlike Samson, 
 his weakness is in his hair, and he could better slay the Philis- 
 tines and shake the pillars of the temple, if he would permit 
 some one to crop off his locks. The first time the writer saw 
 him, he looked like a madman just out of Bedlam but he 
 spoke like an Apostle whose lips had been touched with a 
 live coal from the altar of inspiration. I have seen him 
 frequently since that time, and think that he looks better than 
 he formerly did as for his speaking, his last effort is always 
 the best. 
 
 Mr. Burleigh is a tall, thin man, with light eyes that glow 
 and sparkle when he speaks. He wears a golden beard, long 
 enough to please the taste of the most fastidious Nazarine ; 
 permits the hair on his head to grow long, parts it in the 
 middle, and it rolls in auburn ringlets over his narrow 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 103 
 
 shoulders; dresses plainly, and gives abundant proof that 
 dame Fashion seldom or never replenishes his wardrobe. Is 
 somewhat inclined to Quakerism although his creed does 
 not appear in the brim of his beaver or the cut of his coat. 
 His character is irreproachable. He has labored untiringly 
 for the welfare of humanity for many years. 
 
104 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 HENRY WARD BEECHER. 
 
 HENRY WARD BEECHER is one of the boldest thinkers and 
 
 bravest speakers in America. He not only wages war with 
 
 unpopular vices, but has the courage to seize national evils 
 
 by the throat; the mealy-mouthed, Janus-faced politician, 
 
 while fishing for votes and catching suckers in the alehouse, 
 
 he holds up to everlasting indignation and contempt; the 
 
 gambler, who in the great game of life " stakes his soul and 
 
 lets the devil win it ;" the lecherous libertine, whose look is 
 
 lust, whose touch is pollution ; the miser, who cheats the pale 
 
 sewing girl, and defrauds his apprentice ; the drunkard ; the 
 
 I death-dealer ; the oppressor, are all scourged by him ; and 
 
 every word he speaks is a blow ; every blow inflicts a wound. 
 
 *"Were he more ambitious than religious, he might employ 
 
 the irreverent language of Pope, and say, 
 
 " Yes. I am proud to see 
 Men not afraid of God, afraid of me." 
 
 Mr. Beecher hms studied the great folio of nature, and he 
 can read men, whether they be bound in boards, sheep, or calf. 
 He seems to be acquainted with the haunts and the habits, 
 the slang and the signs of the great army of sinners. He 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 105 
 
 never was a drunkard, but he speaks like one fresh from the 
 spirit land ; he never was a gambler, yet he speaks about 
 high, low, jack, and the game, as though he had studied the 
 pack as well as THE BOOK ; he never was a dandy, but he 
 knows " how such die of a rose in aromatic pain ;" he never 
 was a demagogue, yet he knows how to unmask the dema- 
 gogue. Mr. Beecher's invaluable lectures to young men com-\ 
 prise one of the richest galleries of word-painting to be found 
 in the world of literature. Now he shows us an obese, greasy, 
 wheezing, broken-down, political hack ; then a ripe, rosy, 
 plump, luscious rascal, " whose spotted hide covers a tiger ;" 
 here we see a lank, lean miser, who would fling his last penny 
 into his chest, sit upon the lid and swallow the key, for fear he 
 might lose it ; there we see the drunkard, with his floating 
 eyes and fiery face, &c., &c. 
 
 Mr. Beecher has a style of his own ; it- is more figurative 
 than argumentative, more popular than classical. He has a 
 fervid imagination, and although he seldom soars to the sub- 
 lime, the beautiful is quite accessible to him ; his humor is 
 like a spirited colt difficult to ride and hard at the mouth, 
 sheering from the road frequently at the sight of its own sha- 
 dow. He has great power of origination, and the skill to 
 Beecherize what he borrows until it becomes his own. His 
 mind is not a mint where every piece of metal bears the im- 
 pression of a die, but a mine where gold can be obtained by 
 the ingot ; and he is a fool, and not an alchymist, who rejects 
 it because there is some dross mixed with the precious ore. 
 He is a popular, but not an eloquent speaker; his matter is 
 
106 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 more entertaining than his manner. He is graphic, thrilling, 
 earnest, forcible, but the burden of his reputation seems not to 
 encumber him. When he goes from his closet to his pulpit, 
 he has power over the minds of his hearers ; his sermons 
 peninsulate the preacher with the congregation. 
 
 The subject of this sketch has more courage than most men 
 of his cloth. While some of his contemporaries made an 
 auction block of the pulpit, and sold the Saviour in the person 
 of the slave, for a few pieces of silver, or for fear of offending 
 the " silver greys," he uncringingly denounced the damnable 
 deed, and employed his prolific pen and tongue in defending 
 the down-trodden and oppressed. His sermons and editorials 
 are not still-born ; they have open eyes and throbbing hearts, 
 and they will continue to live and speak when the wicked 
 efforts of those who betray humanity will be forgotten ; or if 
 remembered, remembered with scorn. 
 
 Mr. Beecher is about thirty-five years of age, of common 
 size and stature ; has brown hair, blue eyes, pale complexion ; 
 a noble head, and thoughtful face. He puts on no awkward 
 airs of assumed dignity, but is sociable, pleasant, and commu- 
 nicative. He is not only admired, but loved by the people of 
 his charge. I will add to this imperfect and hasty sketch 
 the words of Hood : 
 
 "Thrice blessed is the man with whom 
 
 (The gracious prodigality of nature 
 The balm, the bliss, the beauty, and the bloom, 
 The beauteous Providence in every feature 
 Recall the good Creator to his creature ; 
 Making all earth a fane, all heaven its dome !" 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 107 
 
 The following extracts will give the reader an idea of his 
 
 style : 
 
 " Our citizens have been lynched for the suspicion of hold- 
 ing free sentiments ; letters and papers have been refused a 
 channel in the national mail ; it has been freely said, and it 
 was no vain threat, that a lamp-post or tree should be that 
 man's rostrum who dared to own abolitionism in Southern } 
 territory; free colored citizens have been kidnapped, carried ' 
 into hopeless slavery from our midst; our ships and boats could > 
 not carry colored cooks, stewards, or sailors, without having 
 their service withheld from them; our whole free colored 
 population are denied the right of travel and residence in slave 
 States, which the Constitution guaranties to all citizens ; they 
 are arrested if found, and sold, if proved free, to pay jail fees. - \ 
 
 " When our States, justly incensed at high outrages perpe- 
 trated against citkens and commerce, protested, they were 
 answered with scorn and defiance. When, to avoid public 
 scandal, and as the most direct and pe'aceable method, they 
 sent venerable men to defend our citizens in the courts of slave 
 States, their lives were threatened, innocent females in their 
 family insulted, and all of them driven headlong home again, j 
 ****** 
 
 " When such men as Henry Clay, Lewis Cass, and Daniel 
 Webster stand up without a blush to declare that Northern 
 citizens are bound to provide for catching and restoring fugi- 
 tive slaves, they separate themselves from the sympathy of 
 nine out of every ten true men in the North and West. Does 
 Mr. Webster believe that he is the Exponent of Massachusetts, 
 
K' 8 CEATON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 of New England, in this monstrous inhumanity ? Pass enact- 
 ments enough to fill all the archives of the Senate, and jour 
 slave-catcher shall not budge an inch faster or farther than he 
 now does in the North. Every village will spurn him. Every 
 ' yeoman along the valleys will run the slave and trip the 
 shameless hunter. Bread and shelter, protection and direc- 
 tion will be the slave's portion north of Mason and Dixon's 
 line, with more certainty and effect every year that elapses, 
 until the day of Emancipation. It will be so, not from any 
 special liking to the blacks, for they are not favorites; not 
 from any hostility to the South, for on any other question 
 than slavery the South will find no truer friends than in the 
 / North. It will be so, because, since the world began, the 
 1 sympathies of common men have been with the weak and 
 i oppressed. In that sympathy, they have conformed to the 
 fundamental law of humanity which lies deeper in the con- 
 ! sciousness of honest men, than any national compact can ever 
 go. Man cannot plant parchments as deep as God plants 
 principles. The Senate of the United States is august ; and 
 such men as lead her counsels are men of might. But no 
 man, and no senate of men, when once the eyes of a commu- 
 | nity are open to a question of humanity can reason and enact 
 \ them back again to a state of indifference, and still less can 
 \ they enlist them along with the remorseless hunters of human 
 ; ; flesh. And of all the very men who will justify Mr. Webster's 
 adhesion to the South, if a trembling woman, far spent with 
 travel and want, holding her babe to her bare bosom, true in 
 her utmost misery to motherhood, should timidly beg a morsel 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 109 
 
 of bread, a place to sleep, or a night's hiding-place from a swift 
 pursuer is there one of them all who would hesitate what to 
 do ? Is there a New England village that would not vomit 
 out the wretch that should dare harm the slave mother? 
 There are thousands of merchants that will say Mr. Webster 
 is right, who the next moment will give a fugitive slave a 
 dollar to speed on with ! There are thousands who will say 
 we ought to stick to the Constitution, who, when the case 
 comes, would sooner cut their right hand off than be party 
 to a slave's recovery. 
 
 " We solemnly appeal to Christians of every name, to all 
 sober and humane men, unwrenched by party feelings, to all 
 that love man, to behold and ponder this iniquity which is 
 done among us ! Shall an army of wretched victims, without; 
 a crime, unconvicted of wrong, pursuing honest occupations, I 
 be sent back to a loathed and detestable slavery ? Here is^no 4 
 1 abstract ' question. We ask you, shall men now free shall 
 members of the Church shall children from the school 
 shall even ministers of the Gospel be seized, ironed, and in 
 two hours be on the road to a servitude to them worse than 
 death ? 
 
 " For our own selves, we do not hesitate to say, what every 
 man who has a spark of manhood in him will say with us, 
 that no force should bring us into such horrible bondage. 
 Before we would yield ourselves to go away to linger and 
 long for death through burning years of injustice, we would 
 die a thousand deaths. Every house should be our fortress ; 
 and when fortress and refuge failed us, then our pursuers 
 
110 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 should release our souls to the hands of God who gave them, 
 before they should degrade them by a living slavery ! Who 
 shall deny these feelings and such refuge to a black man ? 
 
 " With such solemn convictions, no law, impious, infidel 
 to God and humanity, shall have respect or observance at our 
 hands. We desire no collision with it. We shall not rashly 
 dash upon it. We shall not attempt a rescue, nor interrupt 
 the officers, if they do not interrupt us. We prefer to labor 
 ' peaceably for its early repeal, meanwhile saving from its mer- 
 r ciless jaws as many victims as we can. But in those provi- 
 sions which respect aid to fugitives, may God do so to us, yea 
 I and more also, if we do not spurn it as we would any other 
 \ mandate of Satan. If in God's Providence, fugitives ask bread 
 or shelter, raiment or conveyance, at our hands, my own chil- 
 dren shall lack bread before they ; my own flesh shall sting 
 with cold ere they shall lack raiment. I will both shelter 
 them, conceal them, or speed their flight ; and while under 
 my shelter or under my convoy, they shall be to me as my 
 own flesh and blood ; and whatever defence I would put forth 
 for my own children, that shall these poor, despised, and per- 
 secuted creatures have in my house or upon the road. The 
 man who shall betray a fellow creature to bondage, who shall 
 obey this law to the peril of his soul, and to the loss of his 
 manhood, were he brother, son, or father, shall never pollute 
 my hand with the grasp of hideous friendship, or cast his 
 swarthy shadow across my threshold ! For such service to 
 * those whose helplessness and poverty make them peculiarly 
 God's children, I shall cheerfully take the pains and penalties 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. Ill 
 
 of this Bill. Bonds and fines shall be honors ; imprisonment 
 and suffering will be passports to fame not long to linger !" 
 
 KOSSUTH DINNER. 
 
 " Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, I am not accustomed to 
 making speeches on such an occasion as this, and yet I did 
 not feel at liberty to decline. I am sure that no sentiment 
 could have been given to me to speak to, which I more reli- 
 giously believe. Since I can remember anything, I remember 
 my aged father let neither morning nor evening fail, that he 
 did not supplicate God to send abroad the light of civil and 
 religious liberty. And he believed what he prayed ; and if I 
 had not, I should not have been what I am now. Yes, I so 
 thoroughly believe in it, that it is to me a part of my reli- 
 gion. In addressing you to-night, I cannot speak as though 
 it were an honor merely to be a supplicant to the cause to 
 which I am designated, but as if you were standing before the 
 altar of God, and I were put there as a man to teach you . 
 duty. [Applause.] Now, gentlemen, civil and religious lib- 1 
 erty is a thing that governments may declare" and recognise, 
 but which governments never make, any more than govern- 
 ments make a man. God made a man, and He never made 
 one without the hope of liberty in him ; and if there be a 
 man on this earth that has not got that, then he ain't made ! 
 [Great laughter and applause.] And because this is a part 
 of God's * talents ' let to us, and let on interest, and which we 
 are bound, as receiving it from Him, to trade well upon, 
 
112 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 therefore it is that every government and every nation that 
 has citizens who are worthy to be called men, and are worthy 
 to call their mothers ' Mother,' therefore it is that every such 
 nation is perpetually tending towards liberty no matter un- 
 der what oppressions as a seed put under a rock, or under a 
 board, or in the dark shadow of a wall, yet, so it has vitality, 
 will attempt to grow, will seek the water, send its root down 
 to it, and then seek out where light and heat may be found. 
 So, put a man under what superincumbent oppression you 
 \ please, there always will be reaching out a root that will have 
 \ Liberty ^here always will be reaching out a stem for the 
 light of God's precious civil and religious liberty ! [Ap* 
 plause.] But, gentlemen, it is an easy thing for us to speak 
 about civil and religious Liberty. It is easy for us who have 
 it, to praise it. Oh ! methinks we praise it, as I can imagine 
 
 an old curmudgeon, to whom Providence has given gold, arid 
 
 ] ' ' 
 
 who will not give it to the Hungarians as I would give it, 
 
 1 if I had it. And the first time I ever envied such a man was 
 lately. But I can imagine him dressed in velvet, with plush 
 I on which to rest his foot, flushed with wine, and surrounded 
 | with luxurious appliances, and fat and glowing in his abun- 
 dance, this old usurer take out his gold, and talk and talk over 
 and over about the benefits of life, while the beggars are on the 
 : sidewalk by his door, and get neither a crumb from his table 
 I nor a morsel of charity. I ask, what is the use of money to 
 | such a creature as that, except to damn him ? [Laughter and 
 I applause.] So it is with every man who is talking, talking 
 continually about civil and religious liberty. Now, I want to 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS, 113 
 
 know what they do with civil and religious liberty. [Cheers.] 
 * * * * Nor do we interfere with nations by our 
 example only. We are interfering by the propagation of our 
 ideas. We do propagate our ideas ; we do it on purpose ; 
 not by our literature only, but by our diplomacy, bad as our 
 diplomacy is (and few think worse of it than I), nevertheless 
 it is not possible for diplomacy to go out of the United States 
 without conveying, more or less, the impression of Liberty, 
 any more than for a person to go out of a room where o^ors 
 are and not carry some of the perfume in his garments. It is 
 not possible to convey messages, to write them on paper, that 
 are not more or less testimonials to the nations of the world. 
 This is not all. There is a worse conspiracy than that. Why 
 there are revolutionary societies on this continent, who have 
 their emissaries in France, Italy and Prussia, and almost 
 every part of the European continent. There is the Bible So- 
 cietv, one of the most revolutionary societies on the globe. 
 There is the Foreign Missionary Society. Do not think I 
 mean to play on words. The sum total of all Revolutions 
 is contained in the New Testament. It contains the greatest | 
 magazine of bomb-shells, torpedoes and rockets, and other de- ; 
 vastating elements of all other books put together ; and that ' 
 man that does send the Bible, and a Protestant Minister to 
 preach the doctrines of the Bible (it is no figure of speech to 
 say it), is just as surely preparing them for civil and religious 
 liberty, as the sun is preparing the tree for its blossoms and 
 fruits, when in the spring it begins to warm the roots, and j 
 swell the buds and bring them out. 
 
114 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 " Now, having interfered thus far, shall we begin to talk 
 about backing out, when there is required a little pluck as the 
 English call it ? [Cheers.] So long as it is safe, you can 
 fight, but the moment it is not quite so safe, you are a little 
 ; addicted to peace principles. [Laughter.] So long as it 
 - is safe, you are willing to send your missionaries, and all our 
 ; pious men may read to our audiences, and our most conserva- 
 tive men may wipe their eyes and cry, " Blessed be God !" 
 '; [Loud cheering.] Gentlemen, I'm a little like a river, so that if 
 you stop me by cheers, it dams me, up, and I don't want to be 
 I damned ! [Great laughter.] Therefore I hope you will not 
 cheer. [Cries of ' go on,' * go on.'] I say that while we re- 
 joice even the most conservative of us in all this early in- 
 terference, which I believe God directs and prospers, will you 
 shrink when the tug of war appears ? Have not the husband- 
 men gone out and sown the seed broadcast, and has not 
 the seed sprung up and flourished, and grown green, and from 
 green to yellow, and will you not now come and aid to reap the 
 r harvest? If men are ashamed to reap they should be ashamed 
 to sow. Either stop praying ' thy Kingdom come,' or else 
 when it does come, recognise it. [Laughter and cheers.] 
 For my own part, gentlemen, I have no sympathy whatever 
 with those who believe that it is our chief duty to talk bravely, 
 but take good care when the time comes not to do anything. 
 "I have but a word more to say. [Cries of 'go on,' 'go on.'] 
 It seems to me that if the history of the world had been ran- 
 sacked to find an occasion where we might, with propriety, 
 bring our doctrines to the test, no better time could be found. 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 115 
 
 . 
 
 than that which is now come. I think that above all lands/ 
 Hungary is the land, and above all other men, Louis Kossuth? 
 is the man. Stop one moment and think of Hungary, with 
 more than twelve millions of united people standing centrally 
 almost between occidental Europe and Asia, standing in a posi- 
 tion, fitted above all others, to make it the land of liberty for all 
 the world. It seems as if God for a long while had had his eye 
 upon Hungary, and he has given her what he has not given 
 to Italy or France. He has given her sound families, purity 
 of religion, and institutions .which prepare the people for self- 
 government. They are all ready there never was a nation 
 so well prepared. If we begin in France, many, many as are 
 her excellencies, there is a primary work to be done in the 
 education of the lower classes of the people. But in Hungary, 
 of all other lands over which God looks, he says to us : 
 'Take possession of that land in the name of Liberty!' ", 
 
110 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 ABBOTT LAWRENCE. 
 
 THE first time the writer saw ABBOTT LAWRENCE, the great 
 cotton-lord, was in Bratile Square church. He was standing 
 in the broad aisle, conversing with a negro, who is a brother 
 member of the same religious society to which the subject of 
 this sketch belongs. While the beauty and fashion, the 
 wealth and wisdom, the virtue and piety of that church were 
 pressing homewards, the distinguished man who is now at the 
 Court of St James, was holding a brief tete-a-tete with his 
 black brother, and I had a -fine opportunity to take his 
 portrait. 
 
 Mr. Lawrence is a tall, portly, noble and dignified-looking 
 man, about sixty years of age. His head is bald, and shines 
 as though it c?!m<> fresh from the hands of a skilful varnisher 
 and polisher; ,-ui.l it is quite evident that the shining qualities 
 of the head are not confined to the exterior of the skull, but 
 seem rather to result from something brilliant within. He 
 has a calm, pleasant face, indicating, to the minutest line, that 
 he is not afraid to see the sheriff or the clamorous creditor. 
 He wore, on this occasion, a thin cravat, light vest and a dress 
 coat (I think) of olive green. 
 
 I saw him again at a " mass meeting" in Faneuil Hall, the 
 very time when he said his breeches-pocket contained the 
 
OFF-HAND TAKIN'GS. 117 
 
 evidence that Gen. Taylor was a Whig ! The old " Cradle of 
 Liberty " was packed with people. It was no easy task for 
 those who came late to gain admittance, but, being accustomed 
 to crowds, and determined to see and hear the speakers, I 
 pushed my way through to the front gallery, where I obtained 
 a seat and a view of the platform. Our subject was in the 
 chair, and in more senses than one he filled it well. He was 
 surrounded by men well known to fame. Some of them 
 were acquainted with him when he was a poor, awkward 
 boy, employed as a clerk in a store in the city of Boston. 
 One of them told the writer that when Mr. Lawrence left his 
 native town of Groton, he came to the capital of Massachu- 
 setts with a pair of buckskin gloves on his hands. It was 
 during the Summer season, and some of the city gents 
 laughed at the verdancy of the country lad. That he after- 
 wards pulled off his gloves, the " cities of spindles " he has 
 erected, bear the most unequivocal testimony. 
 
 At the proper time he arose and made a speech. It con- 
 tained humor, pathos, and logic enough to be interesting. He 
 is more of a business than a literary man ; a better financier 
 than statesman, and would never have been more than a 
 moderate statesman if he had not been a first-rate financier. 
 He is indebted to his brains for his money, and to his money 
 for his honors. He went through the mill first, then 
 graduated at the counting-house, and recently journeyed to 
 London as minister-plenipotentiary. 
 
 Mr. Lawrence is a magnificent man. He does everything 
 by wholesale and nothing in the retail line. Not satisfied 
 
118 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 % 
 
 with the murmuring of a single mill, he must make every idle 
 stream turn a crank for him. Look at Lowell and Lawrence, 
 the cities erected by his enterprise ! He would not be Mayor 
 of Boston, but he would like to be President of the United 
 States ; is liberal to the poor, though he will not allow his 
 funds to filter through his own hands to the needy. He 
 prefers giving a large sum when he gives anything, but it 
 must be distributed by those who are willing to come in con- 
 tact with the sorrowing and distressed. 
 
 Mr. Lawrence is a practical business man, of pleasing 
 manners and polite address. Although he has devoted a 
 large portion of his life to business, he is familiar with the 
 modern history of nations, and knows enough respecting the 
 etiquette of courts and the usages of diplomacy to fill the sta- 
 tion he occupies with credit to himself and honor to his 
 country. 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 110 
 
 RALPH WALDO EMERSON. 
 
 
 RALPH WALDO EMERSON is one of the most erratic and 
 capricious men in America. Some of the wiseacres who at 
 first declared him a will-o'-the-wisp, have long since made the 
 discovery that he. is a fiery comet of the first magnitude, 
 sweeping through the heavens, and eclipsing the glory of 
 some of the fixed stars in our literary firmament. He is 
 'emphatically a democrat of the world, and believes that what 
 Plato thought another man may think, what Paul felt another 
 man may feel, what Shakspeare sang others may know to be 
 true. As for popes, emperors, kings, queens, princes, and 
 presidents, he looks Upon them as grown-up children in mas- 
 querade, uncrown them, disrobe them, and bring them on a 
 fair level with their fellow beings, and their superiors may be 
 found among their subjects. In his essay on ^elf-Reliance, he 
 says : " Our reading is mendicant and sycophantic in history, j 
 our imagination makes fools of us, plays us false. Kingdom ! 
 and lordship, power and estate, are a gaudier vocabulary than / 
 private John or Edward in a small house and common day's 
 .works, but the things of life are the same to both. Why alt^ 
 this deference to Alfred and Scanderberg and Gustavus ? 
 Suppose they were virtuous, did they wear out virtue ?" He 
 has no patience with the chicken-hearted, who have to refer 
 
120 CTIAYOX SKKTCHKS. AND 
 
 to mouldy records and old almanacs to ascertain if they may 
 say their souls are their own. We overlook present good in 
 our insane attempts to pry into the mysteries of the dark past. 
 We put the past in* front of our faces, instead of keeping it 
 behind our backs, where it legitimately belongs. Hear him : 
 " He dare not say I think I arn, but quotes some saint or sage. 
 He is ashamed before the blade of grass or blowing rose. 
 These roses uftder my window make no reference to former 
 roses, or to better ones; they are for what they are ; they exist 
 with God to day." " But man postpones or remembers ; he 
 does not live in the present, but with reverted eye laments the 
 past, or, heedless of the riches that surround him, stands on 
 tip-toe to foresee the future." 
 
 This idealistic philosopher mid Titian thinker is not san- 
 guine in his hopes of .progress. He has the impression that 
 men say "go," and stand still ; that radicals shout "reform," 
 and do not improve themselves ; that many Christians go to 
 church for the same reason that the multitude went into the 
 wilderness. If society improves here, it retrogrades there: 
 
 "when the tide of prosperity flows in one place, it ebbs in 
 another. We have maps, charts, books and globes, but 
 
 ; neglect to study the beautiful earth and the bright heavens. 
 
 \ We go fast (even by steam), but what we have gained in 
 
 ' speed we have lost m strength ; we have acquired a know- 
 
 ^ j ledge of science and sacrificed our health ; the telegraph is. 
 
 our n errand boy," and we die for the lack of exercise ; we 
 
 lose our roses in our teens, and grow grey in the morning of 
 
 life. If we are wiser, we .are also older than our fathers were 
 

 OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 121 
 
 at twice our age. We gape and gaze at every novelty that 
 comes before us. A quack with his nostrums, a priest with 
 his nonsense say to us, " Shut your eyes, open your mouth 
 and swallow ;" and we, like boa-constrictors, swallow the 
 whole, and then mistake an undigested stomach-full for i 
 heart-full. 
 
 Mr. Emerson is a terse, vivid, arid graphic writer. Some- 
 times there is a glow of poetry behind a veil of mist in hi? 
 essays. It is difficult to tell at what he is driving. He is 
 often like the sun in a fog ; we know there is light and heat, 
 but the vapor hangs like a thin curtain between us and the 
 luminary, as though the monarch of the skies was trying to 
 hide his spots. He now and then deals in unintelligible 
 inversions, inexplicable mysticisms, and seems to shake up ^ 
 his disjointed and unsorted ideas in ollappdiana. style, as 
 though he designed to give us the "clippings, parings, and 
 shreds of his thoughts." If Swedenborg be the Shakspeare 
 of theology, Emerson is the Swedenborg of philosophy. 
 Even his incongruous agglomerations are brilliant, as they are 
 incomprehensible. Read the following as a specimen of that 
 style : " The Gothic cathedral is a blossoming in stone, sub- 
 dued by the insatiable demand of harmony in man. The 
 mountain of granite blooms into an eternal flower, with the 
 lightness and delicate finish as well as the a3rial proportions 
 mid perspective of vegetable beauty. Jn like manner all 
 public facts are to be individualized, all private facts are to be 
 generalized. Then at once history becomes fluid and true, 
 and biography deep and sublime." 
 
 6 
 
|22 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 Mr. Emerson is a poetical as well as a prose writer, but 
 there, is more poetry in his prose than in his poems. In 
 Europe he is regarded as the essayist of America. During 
 I his tour through Great Britain, he met with a cordial recep- 
 tion, and his lectures were numerously attended. He is by 
 | some entitled the " Carlyle of America," but he is evidently 
 Fa better and a greater man than Carlyle. The pupil is wiser 
 * than the teacher. The chip is larger than the block. Ho 
 has a more opulent intellect, much better taste, and higher 
 and holier aims, than the snarling, cynical philosopher of the 
 Old World. 
 
 The only time the writer had an opportunity to hear Mr. 
 Emerson, was at a mass meeting in Worcester. He was in- 
 vited to speak, and responded with great reluctance, and then 
 made a failure. He stammered, halted, blundered, hesitated, 
 through a five minutes' speech. The people were astonished 
 at his awkwardness. He cannot make an extemporaneous 
 speech. He would not have appeared to such great disadvan- 
 | tage, perhaps, had he not followed directly in the wake of 
 \ Wendell Phillips. Mr. Emerson is in the prime of life, and is 
 an intellectual-looking man ; has dark brown hair, blue eyes, 
 a pale, thoughtful face, not a great development of forehead, 
 and is between forty and fifty years of age. He is a sociable, 
 accessible, republican sort of a man, and a great admirer 
 of nature. Had he been a Persian he would have worshipped 
 the sun. He is celebrated the world over as a lyceum lec- 
 turer. He is in independent circumstances. He is a strange 
 compound of contradictions always right in practice, often 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 123 
 
 right in theory. He is a sun, rising in the East and setting 
 in the West, but occasionally he Alarms and astonishes us by 
 rising and shining at midnight. 
 
 The literary lilliputians, who have endeavored to pin Emer- 
 son to the earth, find that he is in good standing with the 
 gods ; of course, their labors, not of love but of jealousy, are s 
 lost. He loves his brother man, whether he belongs to the 
 gretn-jacket tribe or the royal family. He looks upon the 
 flowers as his friends. 
 
 " The spendthrift crocus, bursting from the mould, 
 Naked and shivering with its cup of gold," 
 
 has honey and fragrance for him. The birds are his compa- 
 nions, and he interprets their warblings. He reads the les- 
 sons that are stereotyped on the rocks in a word, to him the 
 world is a book and the sky its blue cover; deserts and 
 oceans are its fly-leaves, and the busy nations the illustrations 
 of the volume. 
 
 Kossuth probably never listened to a more eloquent speech 
 than the following. 
 
 SPEECH OF RALPH WALDO EMERSON. 
 
 "SiR. The fatigues of your many public visits, in such 
 unbroken succession, as may compare with the toils of a 
 campaign, forbid us to detain you long. The people of this 
 town share with their countrymen the admiration of valor and 
 perseverance ; they, like their compatriots, have been hungry 
 to see the man whose extraordinary eloquence is seconded by 
 
|24 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 the splendor and the solidity of his actions. But, as it is the 
 privilege of the people of tbis town to keep a hallowed mound 
 which has a place in the story of the country as Concord is 
 one. of the monuments of freedom we knew beforehand that 
 you could not go by us ; you could not take all your steps in 
 the pilgrimage of American liberty, until you had seen with 
 your eyes the ruins of the little bridge, where a handful of 
 brave farmers opened our Revolution. Therefore, we sat and 
 waited for you. 
 
 " And now, Sir, we are heartily glad to see you, at last, in 
 these fields. We set no more value than you do, on cheers 
 and huzzas. But we think that the graves of our heroes 
 around us throb to-day to a footstep that sounded Hke their 
 own ; 
 
 ' The mighty tread 
 
 Brings from the dust the sound of liberty.' 
 
 " Sir, we have watched with attention your progress through 
 the land, and the varying feeling with which you have been 
 received, and the unvarying tone and countenance which you 
 have maintained. We wish to discriminate in our regard. 
 We wish to reserve our honor for actions of the noblest strain. 
 We please ourselves that in you we meet one whose temper 
 was long since tried in the fire, and made equal to all events ; 
 a man so truly in love with the greatest future, that he cannot 
 be diverted to any less. 
 
 " It is our republican doctrine, too, that the wide variety of 
 opinions is an advantage; I believe, I may say of the people 
 of this country at large, that their sympathy is more worth, 
 
01W-HAND TAKINGS. 125 
 
 . 
 
 because it stands the test of party. It is not a blind wave : 
 it is the living soul, contending with living souls. It is, in 
 every expression, antagonized. No opinion will pass, but 
 must stand the tug of war. As you see, the love you win is 
 worth something ; for it has been argued through ; its foun- 
 dation searched ; it has proved sound and whole ; it may be 
 avowed; it will last; and it will draw all opinion to itself. 
 
 " We have seen, with great pleasure, that there is nothing 
 accidental in your attitude. We have seen that you are 
 organically in that cause you plead. The man of freedom, 
 you are also the man of fate. You do not elect, but you are 
 elected by God and your genius to your task. We do not, 
 therefore, affect to thank you. We only see you the angel 
 of freedom, crossing sea and land ; crossing parties, nationali- 
 ties, private interests, and self-esteems ; dividing populations, 
 where you go, and drawing to your part only the good. We 
 are afraid you are growing popular, Sir ; you may be called to 
 the dangers of prosperity. But hitherto, you have had, in 
 all countries, and in all parties, only the men of heart. I do 
 not know but you will have the million yet. Then, may your 
 strength be equal to your day ! But remember, Sir, that every- 
 thing great and excellent in the world is in minorities. 
 
 " Far be from us, sir, any tone of patronage ; we ought 
 rather to ask yours. We know the austere condition of 
 liberty that it must be reconquered over and over again ; 
 yea, day by day ; that, it is a. state of war ; that it is always 
 slipping from those who boast it, to those who fight for it ; 
 and you, the foremost soldier of freedom in this age it is for 
 
126 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 us to crave your judgment who are we, that we should dic- 
 tate to you ? 
 
 "You have won your own. We only affirm it. This 
 country of working-men greets in you a worker. This Re- 
 public greets in you a republican. We only say, 'Well done, 
 good and faithful.' You have earned your own nobility at 
 home. We admit you ad eundem (as they say at college). 
 We admit you to the same degree, without new trial. We 
 suspend all rules before so paramount a merit. You may 
 well sit a doctor in the college of liberty. You have achieved 
 your right to interpret our Washington. And I speak the 
 sense, not only of every generous American, but the law of 
 mind, when I say, that it is not those who live idly in the city 
 called after his name, but those who, all over the world, think 
 and act like him, who can claim to explain the sentiment of 
 Washington. 
 
 " Sir, whatever obstruction from selfishness, indifference, or 
 from property (which always sympathises with possession) 
 you may encounter, we congratulate you, that you have 
 known how to convert calamities into powers, exile into a 
 campaign, present defeat into lasting victory. For this new 
 crusade which you preach to willing and to unwilling ears in 
 America, is a seed of armed men. You have got your story 
 told in every palace, and log hut, and prairie camp, through- 
 out tKis continent. And, as the shores of Europe and 
 America approach every month, and their politics will one day 
 mingle, when the crisis arrives, it will find us all instructed 
 beforehand in the rights and wrongs of Hungary, and parties 
 il ready to her freedom." 
 
/ 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 
 
 JOHN W BUREN. 
 
 PRINCE JOHN is the Duke of York, the distinguished son 
 of King Martin the First ; is the Jupiter Tonans of his party, 
 the Jove of jolly fellows, a royal roystering republican, a 
 genius and a good fellow, admired and adored by the masses. 
 He can accommodate himself to the society of the voters in 
 the " Sixth Ward," or the company of peers with laced gaunt- 
 lets, knights in golden mantles, or Presidents at the " White 
 House," without losing his identity. He is John Van Buren, 
 and nobody else, whether he be sitting cheek-by-jowl with 
 Tom, Dick, and Harry at the corner grocery, or debating with 
 the Cokes and Littletons of the law in chancery, or hugging 
 and kissing Queen Victoria in her palace. When the obese, 
 wheezing, antediluvian Hunkers met him in the arena of 
 combat, he attacked them vigorously and repulsed them with 
 great (slaughter. 
 
 This apostle of the " young democracy" bids fair to occupy 
 an important niche in the Pantheon of the present time. He 
 has a philosophical and penetrating mind, which has had the ' 
 advantages and disadvantages of every degree of cultivation 
 in the palace of the President and in the pothouse of the 
 demagogue. He knows there are zealots, bigots, and earnest 
 Christians in our churches; true patriots and truckling 
 
128 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 sycophants in our political parties ; devoted philanthropists 
 and hollow-hearted pretenders in our benevolent associations. 
 and he governs himself accordingly. He knows the man- 
 about-town, and permits him to be on sociable terms, for that 
 comports with his idea of republicanism. He allows the 
 hackman, the bar-tender, the wood-sawyer and the butcher-boy 
 to call him Jack, and slap him on the shoulder, for the same 
 reason the sportsman plays with his dogs at the commence- 
 ment of the chase. 
 
 John Van Buren is fond of the chase, and he will hunt the 
 rats to the barn, and then set the buildings on fire, for he is 
 truly a " barnburner." Sometimes he has to contend with 
 eloquent reasoners and men of imperious talent. On such 
 occasions he displays great versatility of mind, searching 
 analysis, nice taste, sound judgment, vivid fancy,* polished 
 scorn and convincing logic. He can be comic, dramatic, 
 energetic, picturesque, sedate, seductive, inductive, and deduc- 
 tive. He punished Croswell (a political editor) over the 
 remains of Silas Wright, as Marc Antony did Brutus over 
 the dead body of Caesar ; and when the man of " mighty 
 pens" attempted to retreat, he got his "foot in the gra- 
 ting." 
 
 At a mass meeting, when Prince John was the mouthpiece 
 of his party, one of the " unterrified " proposed three cheers 
 for Cass. " Oh, don't," said the Avaggish orator, with a look 
 of mock gravity ; " it will be like whistling at a funeral." 
 His speeches are often enlivened with caustic wit and unmis- 
 takable home-thrusts Sometimes he leads his hearers through 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 129 
 
 a dead level of political history, without either song or story 
 to change the dull monotony and cheer the impatient hearer, 
 He writes clearly and forcibly, regardless of finish or orna- 
 ment ; has as much shrewdness, adroitness, and world-wisdom 
 as his father, but less secretiveness, less suavity and less 
 dignity ; can excel his father at stump speaking, but cannot 
 equal him in writing a Message. John annihilates his 
 enemies by the simoon of his sarcasm ; his father catches 
 them in the trap of stratagem, and compliments them into 
 bosom friendship. Indeed, he is an unconverted Paul, 
 pursuing (not persecuting) hunkers (not Christians) to 
 strange cities, while his father is Absalom (without the 
 locks), winning the hearts of the people. 
 
 Prince John is a favorite among the ladies. It is currently 
 reported that when Queen Victoria presented her lily-white 
 hand for him to kiss, according to court etiquette, he, in 
 the face of such usages, with republican gallantry folded 
 his arms around her neck, and gave her a hearty smack 
 upon her cheek. It is also said that during his widower- 
 hood he paid some attention to a lady of fortune in Western 
 New York, and once upon a time, when they were riding* 
 on horseback, he ventured to pop the question. The 
 lady changed the subject by asking him to overtake her, 
 at the same time giving her horse a hint which caused 
 him to bound forward with the speed of the wind. John 
 was astride a livery stable hack, and was soon distanced; 
 and not a little mortified at seeing the lady's glove upon 
 
 the road ! If it be true that this distinguished " son of 
 
 6* 
 
130 CRAYON SKETCHES, AXD 
 
 York" has refrained from the use of wine, there is a 
 brilliant future before him. He is so frank, so generous, 
 and so gifted, he is the man the people will delight to 
 honor ; but he must not, like Alcibiades, deface the images 
 of the gods and expect to be pardoned on the score of eccen 
 tricity- 
 
 Mr. Van Buren is one of the first men in the " Empire 
 State." lie sustains the same relationship to the Democratic 
 party that Seward holds to the Whig party. In personal 
 appearance, he is a tall, spare man, with a " locofocoish" look^ 
 somewhat round-shouldered, and stoops a little when he walks, 
 as though he had to bear upon his back the responsibility of 
 the party he lately rejuvenated. His head is prematurely 
 bald, and the scanty supply of hair that is left is soft, thin, 
 and of a foxy color, and has that phosphorescent appearance 
 which indicates a readiness to blaze the moment there is any 
 friction of brain hence his flashes of wit when he is rubbed. 
 He is about forty years of age, has an ample forehead, expres- 
 sive eyes, and a countenance denoting a high order of 
 intellect. 
 
 He is an eminent lawyer, a great statesman, a progress 
 politician. There is a sort of don't-care-a-copper-ativeness 
 about him, a reckless spirit of dare-anything-ism, which is 
 repulsive to the amiable, though delightful to the disciples of 
 rowdyism. In his happiest moods, when speaking from the tri- 
 bune, he is chaste, classical, philosophical, and the illuminati 
 become his enthusiastic admirers. He only needs the grace- 
 ful polish, the serene dignity of his father, added to his other 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 131 
 
 best attributes, to render him one of the most useful, honora- 
 ble and distinguished men of the nineteenth century. 
 
 That he is destined, if Jiis life is spared, to hold an impor- 
 tant relation to the politics of his country, is the sincere belie! 
 of CRAYON. 
 
132 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER. 
 
 " THERE," said our driver, " is the birth-place of John G. 
 Whittier," when he pointed to a plain farm-house on the edge 
 of the town of Haverhill, situated a short walk from the road- 
 side or, as the poet himself describes the old homestead 
 " Our farm-house was situated in a lonely valley, half sur- 
 rounded with woods, with no neighbors in sight." 
 
 Soon after my arrival at the busy and beautiful village of 
 Amesbury, where the great poet of humanity now lives, I ascer- 
 tained his whereabouts, and gave him a letter of introduction, 
 
 written by our mutual friend, W. A. W , an untiring 
 
 co-laborer in the work-field of reform. I found him at home, 
 in his Quaker cottage, where his friends and visitors are sure 
 to meet with a kind reception. On the adjoining lot is another 
 nest in the bushes, where a family of singers give vocal utter- 
 ance to the poetry Whittier writes. Mr. W. responded to the 
 rap at the door, and invited me to take a chair in a plain, neat 
 room, which commands a view of a large and beautiful garden, 
 where he spends a share of his leisure time, when his health 
 will permit him to work there. He gave me an introduction 
 to his excellent mother, and after a little chat on the common 
 topics of conversation, politely invited me to remain and take 
 tea with him. 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 
 
 133 
 
 I knew quite well that I was in the presence of one of the 
 purest-minded and most gifted men in America ; a man whose ? 
 name and fame are world-wide, and " as familiar as household j 
 words ;" a man whose mighty thoughts are winged with words 
 of fire ; but he is so unassuming, so accessible, so frank, and 
 so well " posted up " on all matter of news, that, whatever sub- 
 ject is broached, one feels at home in the presence of a, friend, 
 while conversing with him. This eminent poet of the slave is 
 forty years of age. His temperament is nervous-bilious ; he is 
 tall, slender, and straight as an Indian ; has a superb head ; 
 his brow looks like a white cloud, under his raven hair ; eyes 
 large, black as sloes, and glowing with expression. He belongs 
 to the society of Friends, and in matters of dress and address, 
 he is of u the strictest sort." Should a stranger meet him in 
 the street, with his collarless coat and broad-brimmed hat, he 
 would not discover anything remarkable in his appearance, 
 certainly would not dream that he had seen the Elliott of 
 America. But, let him uncover that head, and see those star- 
 like eyes flashing under such a magnificent forehead, and he 
 would know, at a glance, that a great heart, a great soul, and 
 a great intellect, must light up such a radiant frontispiece. 
 His fellow townsmen are proud of his fame, as well they may * 
 be, for Amesbury will be known all over the world, to the end ; 
 of time/ as the residence of John G. Whittier, " the poet of the 
 poor." 
 
 Wherever he discovers the talisman of intellect he recog- 
 nises a brother ; " though his skin and bones were of the color 
 of night, they are transparent, and the everlasting stars shine 
 
134 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 through them with attractive beams." He knows that com- 
 plexion is not a crime, crisped hair is not a sin, thick lips are 
 not a transgression, and he has bared his arms to avert the 
 blow that would plough the quivering flesh of the toil-worn 
 slave. He has heard the wail of the distracted mother, who, 
 
 ^a""*""" 
 
 like Rachel, refuses to be comforted because her child has been 
 torn from her bosom and sold into hopeless servitude, where 
 her eye cannot pity its sorrows, where her hand cannot allevi- 
 ate its distress ; and he has denounced such fiendish cruelty 
 with an eloquence and pathos approximating to inspiration. 
 
 iHe has seen hollow-hearted statesmen tear the stripes from our 
 flag and put them on the backs of our countrymen ; and he has 
 spiced sheets that will preserve such mummies in the amber 
 
 . and pitch of infamy for ever. He has seen the fugitive flying 
 *"**' 
 from the house of bondage, with hunters and blood-hounds on 
 
 his track in hot pursuit, and he has shouted, " God speed the 
 slave !" until lungless echo has repeated the cry on every hill- 
 top of the free North. He has seen where the red-hot brand- 
 ing-iron has been pressed on the shrinking flesh of a freeman's 
 hand, until the sizzling blood spouted from the wound ; and the 
 angel of his muse torched his lips with a burning coal from the 
 altar of God, whilst he immortalized the patient hero, and 
 annihilated everything but the damnable infamy of the heart- 
 less, soulless persecutors. 
 
 Mr. Whittier is a sincere lover of truth and right, and his 
 language is, " In vain, and long, enduring wrong, the weak 
 may strive against the strong, but the day shall yet appear, 
 when the might with the right and the truth shall be, and 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 135 
 
 come what there may, to stand in the way, that day the world 
 shall see." (Pardon my drawing the lines into prose. I quote 
 from memory, and fear I might do still greater injustice to the 
 author, by measuring the sentiment off into verse.) Such men 
 as he, are excluded from the South, but slaveholders can no 
 more keep out his sentiments than the fool could keep the 
 wind out of the barn-yard by closing the gate. Judging by 
 the emotions excited by his writings, we are led to the con- 
 clusion that he usually writes with tears in his eyes, but a 
 certain magazine publisher, whose likeness accompanied one 
 .of the numbers of his magazine, can testify that his satire 
 punishes like the sting of a scorpion. Read the following 
 lines : 
 
 " A moony breadth of virgin face, 
 
 By thought unviolated, 
 A patient mouth to take from scorn 
 
 The hook with bank-notes baited, 
 Its self-complacent sleekness shows 
 
 How thrift goes with the fawner , 
 An unctuous unconcern for all, 
 
 Which nice folks call dishonor." 
 
 An eminent statesman will find it difficult to outlive the 
 following lines : 
 
 " So fallen, so lost ! the light withdrawn 
 
 Which once he wore ! 
 The glory from his grey hairs gone 
 For ever more. 
 
CEAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 " Let not the land once proud of him 
 
 Insult him now, 
 
 Nor brand with deeper shame his dim. 
 Dishonored brow. 
 
 " But let its humbled sons instead, 
 
 From sea to lake, 
 A long lament as for the dead, 
 In sadness make 
 
 " Then pay the reverence of old days 
 
 To his dead fame ; 
 Walk backward with averted gaze, 
 And hide the shame." 
 
 Whittier s poetry is eloquence measured with a golden reed, 
 verse on fire, pathos crying in the notes of the nightingale, 
 philosophy playing on the harp, humor laughing in numbers, 
 wit rained down from heaven in a shower of stars. His writ- 
 ings are not free from imperfections of style and sentiment ; 
 but men seldom notice pebbles, while looking at the lights 
 in the cerulean arch above. He is the author of several 
 volumes of prose, which are widely circulated. His verses are 
 full of philosophy, beauty, and sublimity. He sympathizes 
 with the unfortunate, and chastises the oppressor with a whip 
 of adders. In some of his patriotic appeals he reminds us of 
 the old prophets. Had Isaiah lived in these times, he might 
 have written the following lines without impairing his reputa* 
 tion : 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 
 
 " Now, by our fathers' ashes ! where* s the spirit 
 
 Of the true-hearted and the unshackled gone ? 
 Sons of the old freemen, do we but inherit 
 
 Their names alone ? 
 
 v 
 
 " Is the old Pilgrim spirit quenched within us ? 
 
 Stoops the nroud manhood of our souls so low, 
 That mammon's lure or party's wile can win us 
 To silence now ? 
 
 " No ! When our land to ruin's blink is verging, 
 
 In God's name let us speak while there is time ! 
 Now, when the padlocks for our lips are forging, 
 SILENCE is CRIME ! " 
 
 Some of his best poems have been published in beautiful 
 style in Boston lately, but the work is so expensive the masses 
 are not able to buy it. His writings do not need such costly 
 embellishments to be appreciated, any more than the sun 
 needs a stained window through which to shine. The lark 
 and the nightingale need not the costume of the peacock to 
 ensure admiration. 
 
 Mr. Whittier is one of the editors of the " National Era," 
 and I may say, in a whisper, to the ladies, he is a bachelor. 
 
 The reader is here presented with a short specimen of Mr. 
 Whittier's prose composition. 
 
 AN INCIDENT OF THE INDIAN WAE OF 1695. 
 
 " The township of Haverhill, even as late as the close of 
 the seventeenth centuiy, was a frontier settlement, occupying 
 an advanced position in the great wilderness, which, unbroken 
 
CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 by (Ije clearing of a white man, extended from the Merrimack 
 rivtii to the French villages on the river St Francois. A tract 
 of twelve miles on the river and three or four northwardly 
 was occupied by scattered settlers, while in the centre of the 
 town s compact village of some thirty houses had grown up. 
 In the immediate vicinity there were but few Indians, and 
 these generally peaceful and inoffensive. On the breaking 
 out of the Narragansett war, the inhabitants had erected 
 fortificaibns, and taken other measures for defence; but, 
 with tho horrible exception of one man, who was found slain 
 in the wvis in 1676, none of the inhabitants were molested; 
 and it waa not until about the year 1689, that the safety of 
 the settlement was seriously threatened. Three persons were 
 killed in th&t year. In 1690, six garrisons were established 
 hi different parts of the town, with a small company of 
 soldiers attached to each. Two of these houses are still 
 standing. They were built of brick, two stories high, with a 
 single outside door, so small and narrow that but one person 
 could enter at a time? the windows few, and only about two 
 and a half feet long by eighteen inches wide, with thick 
 diamond glass, secured with lead, and crossed inside with 
 bars of iron. The basement had but two rooms, and the 
 chamber was entered by a ladder instead of stairs, so that the 
 inmates, if driven thither, could cut off communication with 
 the rooms below. Many private houses were strengthened 
 and fortified. We remember one, familiar to our boyhood, a 
 venerable old building of wood, with brick between the 
 weatherboards and ceiling, with a massive balustrade over the 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 139 
 
 door, constructed of oak timber and plank, with holes through 
 the latter for firing upon assailants. The door opened upon a 
 stone-paved hall or entry, leading into the huge single room 
 of the basement, which was lighted by two small windows ; 
 the ceiling black with the smoke of a century and a half a 
 huge fire-place, calculated for eight-foot wood, occupying one 
 entire siae while overhead, suspended from the timbers, or 
 on shelves fastened to them, were household stores, farming 
 utensils, fishing rods, guns, bunches of herbs, gathered perhaps 
 a century ago, strings of dried apples and pumpkins, links of 
 mottled sausages, spare-ribs, and flitches of bacon ; the fire- 
 light of an evening dimly revealing the checked woollen 
 coverlet of the bed in one far-off corner and in another, 
 
 " ' the pewter plates on the dresser 
 
 Caught and reflected the flame as shields of armies the sunshine.' 
 
 "Tradition has preserved many incidents of life in the 
 garrisons. In times of unusual peril, the settlers generally 
 resorted at night to the fortified houses, taking thither their 
 flocks and herds, and such household valuables as were most 
 likely to strike the fancy or minister to the comfort or vanity 
 of the heathen marauders. False alarms were frequent. The 
 smoke of a distant fire, the bark of a dog in the deep woods, 
 a stump or bush, taken in the uncertain light of stars and 
 moon for the appearance of a man, were sufficient to spread 
 alarm through the entire settlement, and to cause the armed 
 men of the garrison to pass whole nights in sleepless watching. 
 
 " It is said that at Haseltine's garrison-house, the sentinel on 
 
140 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 duty saw, as he thought, an Indian inside of the paling which 
 surrounded the building, and apparently seeking to gain an 
 entrance. He promptly raised his musket and fired at the 
 intruder, alarming thereby the entire garrison. The women 
 and children left their beds, and the men seized their guns, 
 and commenced firing on the suspicious object, but it seemed 
 to bear a charmed life and remained unharmed. As the 
 morning dawned, however, the mystery was solved by the 
 discovery of a black quilted petticoat hanging on the clothes 
 line, completely riddled with balls." 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 141 
 
 WASHINGTON IRVING. 
 
 IT is really surprising* that a country so young as America, 
 can count so many men of extraordinary talent and true 
 genius. I know that unappreeiating asses and conceited 
 ascetics, who glory in denouncing the land they disgrace, tell 
 us, with all the gravity of ignorant and impertinent assurance, 
 that there are no great men (of course they except them- 
 selves) in the United States, as though intellect was bounded 
 by state lines, or blighted by the atmosphere on this side the 
 Atlantic. To such an extent have the unthinking masses 
 caught this infection of contempt for their own countrymen, 
 that poets and preachers, actors and authors,- of all degrees of 
 talent, are, comparatively, unrecognised until they have been 
 endorsed by an European reputation. Indeed, this remark 
 applies to persons who are not devoted to literary pursuits. 
 If a man would succeed in sailing a boat, or picking a 
 lock, or mowing n, field of grain, his fortune is made when 
 England acknowledges the superiority of his skill, and it is 
 much to the credit of the mother country, that she is ever 
 ready to acknowledge the peculiar gifts and graces of her 
 transatlantic rival. 
 
 We are indebted to famous old England for the discovery 
 that Cooper and Irving were men of true genius, and that the 
 latter could write in a style which would be no discredit to 
 Goldsmith. When Dickens was in this country, he paid a 
 
142 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 very handsome and merited compliment to the celebrated 
 author of the " Alhambra " and " Knickerbocker." . I began 
 by alluding to 'men and women of genius, with the intention 
 of glancing at a few of them, but I mu^t postpone that plea- 
 sant task for the present, and proceed at once with my sketch 
 of the American Goldsmith. I know not among his own 
 countrymen, any author with whom to compare him. He 
 has more polish and less wit than Paulding ; he is not so 
 much given to detail, and has greater wealth of imagery than 
 Cooper ; he has a smoother style, and a more fascinating 
 manner than Hawthorne ; and is no more like Emerson, than 
 a candle is like a comet. In many points he is unlike the 
 author of the " Vicar of Wakefield." Goldsmith was bashful, 
 awkward, and of ordinary personal appearance ; Irving has 
 the assurance of- a well-bred gentleman, is graceful in his 
 manners and movements, and his form of perfect proportion 
 is surmounted by a magnificent head and handsome face> 
 Notwithstanding these and other dissimilarities, their style 13 
 alike. There is the same glowing rhetoric, the same opulence 
 of illustration, the same perfection of finish. This is not the 
 result of education ; there has been no effort to imitate the 
 conversational ease, the tender shiftings, the pleasant pathos, 
 the gentle sportiveness, the splendid raillery of Goldsmith. 
 
 Irving excels in " literary light horsemanship ;" he never 
 stops to argue his case, and yet there is a meaning and a 
 depth in his philosophy, which answers the purpose of the 
 most elaborate logic; and here I may be permitted to say, that 
 not a few of our writers who are now in active service, and 
 
OFF-IIAXD TAKINGS. l-'il 
 
 who make no pretensions whatever to prove their positions by 
 mathematical demonstration, give the appreciative reader that 
 proof which sinks lower and weighs heavier than the profound- 
 est argument. Read some of the best things by N. P. Willis, 
 and he has written some of the best things in the English 
 language, and you will find sermons in a sentence, poems in 
 parentheses, scattered with princely profusion over the works 
 which come from his prolific pen. Yet, Mr. Willis is not a 
 metaphysician, he is not a sermonizer, not a discussionist, but 
 he has the genius to invent, and the pluck to print what he 
 discovers, without waiting to hunt up mouldy precedents to 
 sustain him. I have noticed more originality often in a sin- 
 gle page of the "Home Journal," than I have found in the 
 next octavo that I perseveringly waded through. This is but 
 a single instance to show that conviction does not always 
 depend on solid argument, and that sound philosophy is not 
 necessarily excluded from the works of those who write, 
 because they cannot help it ; men, whose impulses are often 
 more reliable than the intellect of those who weigh every 
 word, and use square and compass on every sentence, before 
 they venture to feed those who are hungering and thirsting 
 after knowledge. 
 
 The popularity of Irving arises principally from the fact, 
 that while his style is elegant, and his thoughts are full of 
 suggestions, he does not soar above the comprehension of the 
 mass of readers, while he never fails to gratify the refined 
 taste of the most fastidious, and satisfy the demand of the 
 best thinkers. 
 
144 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 Being of the sanguine, nervous temperament, he imparts 
 the thrilling glow of his exuberant nature to the rich 
 productions of his magic pen, so that the reader becomes 
 intensely interested; indeed, one almost feels the author's 
 heart throbbing at the point of his pen, and the pulse beating 
 in every paragraph ; he is genial as the light, and when he 
 puts forth an intellectual effort, it seems as though his soul 
 arose like a sun in his breast, shedding warmth, and light, 
 and beauty, on the enchanting page. His readers, not only 
 admire his genius but love the man ; his humor is so amiable, 
 his pathos so touching, and his philosophy so true to nature, 
 that he commands our affection, while he irresistibly compels 
 our attention. Then, again, his cordial greeting, his constant 
 urbanity, his genuine courtesy, his gentlemanly address, and 
 his spotless character, all contribute to form life-lasting 
 friendships. Who ever heard any one speak contemptuously 
 of Washington Irving ? Everybody acquainted with his 
 writings desire him all the happiness and all the success he 
 aimed at. Such flexibility of style, such purity of sentiment, 
 such perfection of finish, is rarely found in prose writers of 
 the present day. Who has such richness of ideality, such 
 copiousness of language, such exuberance of fancy? His 
 writings are chaste as the snow, and surpassingly beautiful in 
 their elegant uniformity. 
 
 His physical organization is perfect. Although now quite 
 advanced in life, he is erect as a palm tree, and walks with 
 the elastic vigor of a young man. He is not above the com- 
 mon size, of ordinary stature, with a contemplative cast of face 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 145 
 
 dark hair, dark complexion, and dark pensive eyes, which 
 kindle when he becomes interested in conversation. Speci- 
 mens of his style may be found in all our books of choice 
 prose selections. 
 
 The following is from a beautiful work, entitled " Homes 
 and Haunts of American Authors :" 
 
 "Washington Irving, although so obviously adapted by 
 natural endowments for the career in which he has acquired 
 such eminence, was educated, like many men of letters, for 
 the legal profession ; he, however, early abandoned the idea 
 of practice at the bar for the more lucrative vocation of a, 
 merchant. His brothers were established in business, in the 
 city of New York, and invited him to take an interest in 
 their house, with the understanding that his literary tastes 
 should be gratified by abundant leisure. The unfortunate 
 crisis in mercantile affairs that followed the peace of 1815, 
 involved his family, and threw him upon his own resources for 
 subsistence. To this apparent disaster is owing his subse- 
 quent devotion to literature. The strong bias of his own 
 nature, however, had already indicated his destiny; his 
 inaptitude for affairs of business, his sensibility to the 
 beautiful, his native humor, and the love he early exhibited 
 for wandering, observing, and indulging in day dreams, would 
 infallibly have led him to record his fancies and his feelings. 
 
 " Indeed, he had already done so with effect, in a series of 
 letters, which appeared in a newspaper of which his brother 
 was editor. His tendency to a free, meditative, and adven- 
 turous life, was confirmed by his visit to Europe, in early 
 
 7 
 
146 
 
 youth. Bora in the city of New York, on the 3d of April, 
 1783, he pursued his studies, his rambles, and occasional 
 pencraft there, until 1804, when ill health made it expedient 
 for him to go abroad. He sailed for Bordeaux, and thence 
 roamed over the most beautiful portions of southern Europe, 
 visited Switzerland and Holland, sojourned in Paris, and 
 returned home in 1806. In 1809, 'Knickerbocker's History 
 of New York, appeared, then followed the 'Sketch Book,' 
 'Bracebridge Hall/ 'Tales of a Traveller,' 'Life of Columbus,' 
 
 * Conquest of Granada,' ' Alhambra,' &c. He was afterwards 
 appointed Secretary of Legation to the American Embassy, in 
 London, which office he held until the return of Mr. McLane, 
 in 1831. During his stay in England, he received one of the 
 fifty guinea gold medals, provided by George IV., for emi- 
 nence in historical composition and the degree of LL. D. 
 from the University of Oxford ; on his return to New York, 
 in 1832, he was welcomed by a festival. 
 
 " He afterwards wrote the ' Tour on the Prairies,' 
 
 * Newstead Abbey,' ' Legends of Spain,' ' Astoria,' ' The Adven- 
 tures of Captain Bonneville,' and other works, and is now 
 engaged on the ' Life of Washington.' " 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 147 
 
 G. W. BETHUNE. 
 
 BY refering to Griswold's popular and beautiful book of 
 American Poetry I find that the Rev. George. W. Bethune, 
 the poet and the preacher, was born in the Empire State. His 
 reputation as a scholar and an orator are such as to render his 
 name quite familiar to American citizens, in all parts of this 
 Confederacy. He is the author of several volumes of literary 
 and religious discourses, which are as much distinguished as 
 his poems, by a genial loving spirit, and a classical elegance of 
 diction. In 1847 he edited an edition of Walton's Angler, 
 supplying many ingenious and learned notes, and in the same 
 year he published a volume of " Lays of Love and Faith." 
 The following graphic sketch I have been permitted to copy 
 in advance of publication from a splendid work now in press 
 in Boston. The work to which the writer is so deeply indebted 
 is entitled the " Church-goer ;" it is from the pen of my friend 
 Dr. J. R. Dix, a sketch of whom may be found in another 
 portion of this volume and here I will venture the prediction 
 that his series of pulpit sketches will have an immense circula- 
 tion in this country. The allusion to the English clergymen* 
 in the following extract, although by no means disrespectful, 
 offended one of our Yankee aristocrats to such an extent that 
 
 * The articles were published first in a weekly periodical in Boston. 
 
148 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 he foolishly exhibited his bad temper and worse taste by 
 denouncing the writer and the publisher. 
 
 " There he stands, and so let him for a few moments, whilst 
 the reporters are sharpening their pencils the people settling 
 down in their places, and your humble servant ' all eye all ear.' 
 "Externally, Dr. George W. Bethune is of the portly, parso- 
 nic order, and in respect of adipose matter he forms a very 
 striking contrast to the reverend gentleman upon whom, the 
 reader will remember, I accidentally stumbled in Philadelphia. 
 He was none of your lean, hungry, ascetic looking men, such 
 for instance as was in appearance the late Moses Stuart, who, 
 when I saw him in his dusty old study at Andover, looked as 
 musty and as dry as any of the 'Fathers' on his shelves. 
 K"o, the Doctor rather reminded me of that sleek and oily 
 gentleman, Friar Tuck, whose very name is suggestive of 
 venison pasties and * dainty bits of warden pie.' Neither did 
 he at all provoke remembrances of certain hard-working 
 Curates. Far from it ; he was of the Bishop order that sort 
 of bishop I mean who holds a fat diocese, and dispenses di- 
 vinity in lawn sleeves. Mind, I speak only of externals, for I 
 believe that very few of the old British bishops to whom I 
 refer are, so far as mental endowments or usefulness are con- 
 cerned, at all comparable with our orator of the Phi Beta 
 Kappa. 
 
 " Dr. Bethune's face possesses a shrewd but certainly not a 
 highly intellectual expression it is too fleshy for that. The 
 forehead is broad, but not high ; and on its summit the long, 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 149 
 
 light colored straight hair is parted in the centre and combed 
 back behind the ears. The eyes are of a greyish or blueish 
 tint, and rather small. The nose is short, and the mouth 
 large too large indeed for symmetry, and the plump cheeks 
 are whiskerless. After what was just now said, the reader 
 will be prepared for a double chin, a considerable amplitude 
 of waistcoat, and for a stomach like that which Shakspeare 
 described as 'capon lined.' Altogether, on surveying the 
 Doctor, you would at once pronounce him to be ' something 
 out of the common,' whilst his unaffected and offhand manner 
 would convince you that no one was farther removed from any- 
 thing like the consciousness thereof, or of affectation of any 
 kind, than himself. 
 
 " Dr. Bethune's oratory is chaste, poetical and glowing. A 
 ripe scholar, his sermons are always models of style ; and 
 without too .much elaboration, they possess exquisite finish. 
 Some of his discourses remind us of a polished shaft - crowned 
 with its graceful capital of carved acanthus leaves, symmetry, 
 elegance, and firmness, all combining to form a perfect whole. 
 If they do not exhibit the profound thought that characterizes 
 the sermons of a Hall or a Boardman, they exhibit the flowers 
 of oratory in all their beauty and glory. His command of 
 language is great, he at times displays even an affluence of 
 diction, and an opulence of imagery. A shrewd observer of 
 men and manners, he is fond of shooting folly as it flies, and 
 when it so pleases him he can be as sarcastic as Randolph, or 
 as sour as Burgess. The ' shams' of the day are his abhor- 
 rence, and he fearlessly attacks them. No man has a highel 
 
150 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 respect for the ' powers that be,' but no minister ' holds his 
 own' so independently, or with more dignity sustains his 
 sacred office. His descriptive passages remind us somewhat 
 of the verbal grandeurs of Croly, the author of ' The Angel 
 of the World,' and the Rector of St. Stephen's, Walbrook, 
 London. The last time I heard that distinguished English 
 Divine, his subject was one which led him to refer incidentally 
 to the splendors of Ancient Nineveh, the city whose long- 
 buried glories have since been revealed by Layard. Certainly 
 such a magnificent specimen of word-painting I never before 
 heard. Listening to him was like reading scenes from his own 
 gorgeous, eloquent * Salathiel,' or perusing the Apocalypse by 
 flashes of lightning ! With a marvellous pomp of language 
 he described the glories of the now ruined cities, and with 
 amazing fluency heaped splendor on splendor,, until, as the eye 
 grows dazzled by gazing on the changing glories of a tropic 
 sunset, when clouds of amber and vermilion, piled on each 
 other, assume a thousand fantastic shapes, so the mind became 
 almost overwhelmed by his many and superb illustrations. 
 Thus is it sometimes in the case of Dr. Bethune. Occasionally 
 he over-colors his pulpit pictures, so. that in place, as it were, 
 of the delicious harmony of a Claude, we now and then behold 
 the extravagant gorgeousness with which Turner used to cover 
 his canvass. 
 
 " Dr. Bethune well supports the dignity of the pulpit. He 
 appears to feel that it is no place for trumpery show, or idle 
 display. He commands respect as well by his manner as his 
 matter. He uses but little action, and that is always graceful 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 151 
 
 as graceful indeed as it can be, when we remember that he 
 confines himself to his notes. Did he preach extemporaneously 
 he would be far more effective. Alas ! for written discourses, 
 what they gain in correctness they lose in warmth. When 
 will ministers fling their manuscripts away and trust to the 
 inspiration of the moment? There is to me something 
 supremely ridiculous in a man's clutching the leaves of his 
 sermon book with one hand, for fear he should lose his place, 
 whilst with the other he is frantically beating empty air ! It 
 is like a bird with a lame wing, or a race horse with a fettered 
 hoof. I question whether Wesley or Whitefield would have 
 produced a tithe of the effect they did, had they read their 
 sermons. It is a pedantic, mind-cramping, inspiration-destroy- 
 ing practice, and the less we have of it the better. For my 
 own part, I would rather hear the humblest preacher ' out of 
 book,' than the most admired minister who is tied to his 
 written lines. Some folks may sneer at my taste perhaps 
 let them. I do not of course advocate unstudied sermons, 
 for I take it to be an insult to any congregation for a minister 
 to go into the pulpit unprepared. What I deprecate is, the 
 dull, dry system of reading, and often of badly reading, a 
 coldly correct composition a consequence of which is, that 
 there is seldom a spark of genuine feeling elicited from the 
 time the text is announced until a final ' Amen ' closes the 
 dreary discourse. 
 
 " Dr. Bethune is an author. Scattered among hymn books 
 and annuals we find some very charming productions from his 
 pen. Griswold, in his * Poets and Poetry of America, 
 
152 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 assigns to him a niche which I scarcely know whether to con 
 sider an honor or otherwise. For, turning over the leaves of 
 the same compilation, I noticed the other day that from 
 amongst the works of another ' poet,' of America, who also 
 has a place given him in this walhalla of harmony, the Doctor 
 had extracted, as a specimen of ' poetry/ a strange description 
 of a captain, who, when his alarmed passengers were 
 
 / " ' busy at their prayers ' 
 
 in the cabin, behaved in the most imseaman-like way, for we 
 are told that 
 
 " ' We are lost,' the captain shouted, 
 As he staggered down the stairs !' 
 
 u Now this may be suggestive of drunkenness and piety, but 
 certainly not of poetry ; and so we may doubt whether to be 
 magnified in Griswold is any great compliment after all. 
 Seriously, though, Dr. Bethune is, if not a great bard, a very 
 pleasing poet of the Alaric A. Watts school, and to prove it 
 we here insert the following stanzas : 
 
 TO MY WIFE. 
 
 f r- 
 
 " Away from thee ! the morning breaks, 
 
 But morning brings no joy to me ; 
 Alas ! my spirit only wakes 
 
 To know that I am afar from thee ; 
 In dreams I saw thy blessed face, 
 
 And thou wert nestled on my breast ; 
 In dreams I felt thy fond embrace, 
 
 And to mine own thy heart was pressed 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 153 
 
 " Afar from thse ! 'tis solitude ! 
 
 Though smiling crowds around me be. 
 The kind, the beautiful, the good, 
 
 For I can only think of thee ; 
 Of thee, the kindest, loveliest, best, 
 
 My earliest and my only one ; 
 Without thee, I am all unblest, 
 
 And wholly blest with thee alone. 
 
 " Afar from thee ! the words of praise 
 
 My listless ear unheeded greet ; 
 What sweetest seemed in better days, 
 
 Without thee seems no longer sweet. 
 The dearest joy fame can bestow, 
 
 Is in thy moistened eye to see, 
 And in thy cheek's unusual glow, 
 
 Thou deem'st me not unworthy thee. 
 
 " Afar from thee ! the night is come, 
 
 But slumbers from my pillow flee ; 
 Oh ! who can rest so far from home ? 
 
 And my heart's home is, love, with that. 
 I kneel me down in silent prayer, 
 
 And then, I know that thou art nigh ; 
 For God, who seest everywhere, 
 
 Eends on us both his watchful eye. 
 
 " Together in his lov'd embrace, 
 
 No distance can our hearts divide ; 
 Forgotten quite the mediate space, 
 
 I kneel thy kneeling form beside. 
 
 7* 
 
164 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 
 
 My tranquil frame then sinks to sleep, 
 
 But soars the spirit far and free p 
 Oh ! welcome be night's slumbers deep, 
 
 For then, sweet love, I am with thee. 
 
 " Bc8ides poems, Dr. Bethuno has made some valuable con- 
 tributions to literature, both in theological and scientific paths. 
 His orations and occasional discourses, says one of his re- 
 viewers, show that " he is a man of large and generous views, 
 uniting to the attainments of the scholar a profound know- 
 ledge of mankind. In discourses prepared for public occasions, 
 it is almost impossible that allusions, more or less direct, and 
 more or less connected with the occasion to the institutions, 
 the policy, the legislation of the country, and the duties of its 
 citizens should not often occur. Dr. Bethune's political 
 philosophy is liberal and enlightened; it is the uncompro- 
 mising application of Christian morality to public life, and there 
 is no nobler and truer political philosophy than this. One of 
 the most remarkable discourses in this volume is that entitled 
 * The Claims of our Country on its Literary Men.' We could 
 wish that it might be read attentively by all those in our coun- 
 try who devote themselves to letters, whether in the retirement 
 of our academic institutions, or in the hours snatched from 
 other pursuits. Its wise counsels are expressed in a manly 
 style, and sometimes with eloquence. 
 
 " The Doctor is the author of the Introduction to Walton 
 and Cotton's Angler, which is prefixed to the best American 
 edition of that charming work, and few are able to " whip 
 the water " with more success than the pastor of the Dutch 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 155 
 
 Reformed Church in Brooklyn. In this * contemplativa 
 man's recreation,' as good quaint old Izaak hath it, he is not, 
 in my opinion, overstepping the proprieties of parson-hood, 
 for were not Peter and James and Simon fishermen ? Some 
 caviller may say * Aye, but they were piscatorial for a living* 
 No matter, we think Dr. Bethune may preach all the better 
 for an occasional ramble by the running brooks, for such 
 souls as his can find ' good in everything.' Doubtless he has 
 studied many a sermon with rod and reel in hand, and quite 
 as useful ones as if they had been painfully composed with 
 some of the musty old Fathers on one side of him, and a heap 
 of dusty Commentators on the other. As I have intimated, 
 Dr. Bethuno is the pastor of a Dutch Reformed Church, in 
 Brooklyn, N. Y. The edifice is new and handsome, and the 
 congregation rather fashionable, I believe, but of such matters 
 I know little and care less." 
 
156 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 E. P. WHIPPLE. 
 
 DURING the past week the weather has been summer-like. 
 It seemed as though the sky stooped down to clasp the earth 
 in its blue arms, and when night came with its thousand eyes, 
 it seemed but a step from sod to star. 
 
 "Winter paid us a visit to-day, and furnished us with a 
 pattern of the white dress she intends to wear this season. 
 Owing to the unwalkable condition of the streets, and the 
 threatening aspect of the skies, the audience was not so large 
 as usual at the Music Hall. By the time the first comers had 
 devoured the contents of the evening papers, E. P. Whipple, 
 the justly celebrated critic, essayist, and lecturer, made his 
 appearance. I had often seen him in my walks about the 
 city, and wondered who he was. I knew by his step and 
 look, that he was no ordinary man. 
 
 He is a short, slender person, with a superbly developed 
 head, a white, high, broad forehead, smooth brown hair, parted 
 carefully and brushed behind his ears, large star-like eyes, 
 flashing with magnetism, a thin, pale, sickly face, written all 
 over with thought-marks. A little strip of white collar 
 turned over a black neck-cloth, having the appearance of a 
 large snow flake fresh from the clouds, was about his neck, 
 the black neck-cloth was rounded as gracefully as one of his 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 157 
 
 own periods, and tied as handsomely as though some of hi* 
 rhetoric had been woven into silk and fastened there. Mr. 
 Whipple speaks distinctly, in a sharp, nervous, energetic 
 manner, with a graceful, yet monotonous gesticulation, 
 emphasizing every dozen words with a jerk of the head and 
 a swing of the arm, as though he were pumping the blood 
 from the vitals to the brain. Indeed, his head is a large 
 reservoir of a stream of vitals, too slender to supply the 
 demand of the brain. If one could just chop off Van * * * * 
 head (it would be a small loss, you know), and put Whipple's 
 cranium on his broad shoulders, under his great heaving 
 lungs, there would be animal power sufficient to work the 
 mental mill, which at present has too much machinery to 
 operate well. (It would be necessary to change hearts also.) 
 Then how his voice would ring, and chime, and toll start- 
 ling, cheering, and aweing his hearers. How his great eyes 
 would flash with human lightning. How he would wing his 
 thunder-bolts with electricity. Now his weak voice staggers 
 under the heavy load of his Titan thoughts.- Now his white 
 cheeks cannot call sufficient blood from his heart to redden 
 them in the midst of a storm of excitement. He thinks too 
 much, and acts too little. Were he to study less and ramble 
 more, he would not thus offer his body a living sacrifice on 
 the altar of literature. Let him exchange Parnassus for 
 Wachusetts the Elysian fields of belles lettres for Boston 
 Common, the fount of Helicon for Cochituate Lake, the 
 society of the Gods for the society of Men, he would enjoy 
 better health and have a stronger body, and propelling power 
 
158 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 enough to work his brain-mill to better advantage. Mr. 
 Whipple is an effective writer, an honest^ critic, a brilliant 
 essayist. Although not more than thirty years of age, he has 
 eaten 'more libraries than a University could digest in one 
 generation. He is an encyclopedia individualized, and seems 
 to be thoroughly familiar with history, science, art, agriculture, 
 geology, theology, poetry, and almost everything else desirable 
 to know. This evening he gave us a splendid lecture on 
 Heroism. Were I to give you its beauties, I should have to 
 quote the whole of it. It was packed full of meaning, terse, 
 vigorous, classical, and original ; beautiful in language and 
 mighty in thought. He is an earnest man who speaks with 
 the authority of a prophet, and labors with the zeal of an 
 Apostle. He says Milton was a hero, who plucked out his 
 eyes and laid them on the altar of his country's weal. So I 
 say Whipple is a hero, who tears out his vitals and offers 
 them a sacrifice at the shrines of science. 
 
 The interest enkindled at the commencement of his lecture 
 is constantly kept up by the beauty and grandeur of his 
 images, and the life-like pictures that hang up on the walls 
 of his memory. We see Jupiter nodding on the summit of 
 Olympus. Hercules lifting his club. Apollo stringing his 
 bow. Neptune swaying his trident. Bacchus draining his 
 goblet, and Mammon grasping his gold. The fictions of 
 mythology, the facts in history, and the truths of religion, are 
 skilfully employed to interest and inform the listener. Mr. 
 Whipple is a man of ardent enthusiasm and vivid imagination. 
 He has a keen relish for the elegancies of art, and the 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 159 
 
 beauties of nature. He has a ready appreciation of the pro- 
 prieties of language, thought, and manners, as established by 
 the usages of society, and a refined sympathy with the best 
 sentiments of the purest intellects, hence he is a critic. He 
 has been brought up, not with a silver spoon, but a book in 
 his mouth, and has acquired such a command of the best 
 language, he is able to give us " thoughts that breathe^ in words 
 that burn ;" hence he is a lecturer. 
 
 In the commencement of his lecture, he gave us a graphic 
 sketch of the sneak ; he then defined heroism, and afterwards 
 described the hero soldier, the hero patriot, the hero reformer 
 and the hero Christian. If the enterprising and enlightened 
 people of * * * * desire to hear one of the best lectures of 
 the season from the faithful lips of one of our first men, let 
 them forthwith secure the invaluable services of Mr. Whipple. 
 I have the impression that Mr. W. is a native of Massachusetts, 
 of humble parentage, and that he is self-taught. When quite 
 young, he secured a situation as clerk in a large library, 
 where he had ample opportunities for intellectual culture. At 
 the meeting, I noticed an unappreciating goose of a girl, 
 directly in front of him, who had the bad manners to open 
 her book and read during the delivery of some of the richest 
 portions of the lecture. An unappreciating ass of a man also 
 hissed him when he said Louis Napoleon was a sneak and not 
 a hero. One dear little woman was so pleased she laughed 
 and nodded and looked from side to side, where she saw . 
 scores of sympathizers. The following extracts from his 
 lecture will give an idea of his style : 
 
100 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 "The noblest and most exhilarating objects the human 
 mind could contemplate were," he said, " those which exhibited 
 the mind in an exalted aspect. Heroes inspired our weakness 
 with the energy of their strength, and taught us to feel that 
 we, not they, were unnatural ; that nature, obstructed in 
 common men, appeared unchecked in them. They were so 
 filled with the wine of life they had, in Fletcher's phrase, 
 ' so much of man thrust into them ' that they appeared in 
 colossal proportions. Heroism was genius in action. 
 
 "This principle was no sparkling epigram of action, but 
 gradually developed itself in the mind until it rose to action. 
 There was a unity between the will and the intelligence of the 
 Hero. He was not perched upon a giddy height of thought, 
 but stood upon the table of human character and action. 
 Opposition tended but to call out the qualities of his courage, 
 and urged him on through all impediments. His eye ever 
 had the impression of looking into the distance. No fear of 
 death disturbing him ; it was lost in the intensity of his life. 
 
 " In the heroism of the soldier, glory was the absorbing 
 idea. It was this which distinguished the man from the brute 
 in the bloody field. Glory made the grim battle-field seem as 
 a vision of youth to the warrior's eye. In such men as 
 Bayard, this principle of glory was. sublime ; in men like 
 Napoleon the idea degenerated into a thirst after universal 
 fame. 
 
 " The Patriot Hero took a place above the soldier. He was 
 self sacrificing, elevated, and inspired with a love of ountry 
 that made death sweet in her service. The idea and senti- 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 1C I 
 
 ment of country was felt in his heart, and dilated his indi- 
 viduality to the size of the national individuality. He 
 regarded every wrong to his country as a wrong to himself. 
 
 " The Reformer felt the full force of the responsibility that 
 rested upon him, when the seed of reformation was dropped 
 into his heart to be nurtured into action. Many were the 
 obstacles against which he has to contend ; and not least the 
 accusations of those whom he was sacrificing himself to 
 benefit. Heroism," continued the lecturer, " was distinguished 
 by a principle positive of love not of negative hate. They 
 might be soldiers, patriots and reformers, but not Heroic, 
 except by a principle of love. It was love of his own country, 
 not hatred of any other, which made the heroic patriot ; nor 
 was it fear or hate of hell, but love of God, which made 
 the heroic saint. This latter was the highest degree 
 of heroism, but yet it was a kind of heroism not eagerly 
 coveted nor zealously approved. The patriot of the Heavenly 
 Kingdom was the true pilgrim. The still, deep ecstasy 
 which imparadised his spirit, could but ill describe itself 
 in words. Its full power could only be seen in the vir- 
 tues which it created ; in the triumphant faith which defied 
 the pains of the rack, and lifted the spirit above the world. 
 He regretted his deficiencies, in trying to paint the character 
 of Heroism for them. From a consideration of its records 
 they would rise, not as from memories of the past, but living 
 forces of the present, which would graft upon the mind its 
 deathless energies." 
 
162 CRAYON SKETCHES, AXD 
 
 G. C. HEBBE. 
 
 DURING- my short stay at the city of Washington, I availed 
 myself of an opportunity, afforded by a letter of introduction, 
 to call and see the renowned Dr. G. C. Hebbe. He is so well 
 known at the capitol of our country, I found little difficulty 
 in ascertaining his whereabouts. After threading my way as 
 best I could through the crowd that occupied the spacious 
 sidewalks (for I happened to hit upon a time when multitudes 
 were hungering after the loaves and fishes of office), I 
 ascended a flight of stone steps in front of a private house, 
 and pulled the bell, which brought an immediate response. 
 
 " Does Dr. Hebbe board here ?" I inquired. 
 
 " He does," was the reply from a modest waiting maid. 
 
 " I should like to have this letter presented to him." 
 
 "Walk in, sir, if you please," said the servant, and 
 hastened to the apartment occupied by the author it is my 
 intention to sketch. In a few moments came a request for the 
 writer to visit him in his study. I met him at the door, 
 where he gave me a cordial greeting, free from affectation, and 
 full of that heartiness which is one of his peculiar character- 
 istics. After announcing the object of my visit, he very 
 generously volunteered to render any assistance in his power. 
 He had the kindness to offer me letters of introduction to 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 163 
 
 several of the United States senators, with whom he was per 
 sonally and intimately acquainted. I found him, on my 
 second visit, buried in books, working vigorously at something 
 for his publishers, De Witt & Davenport. 
 
 The Doctor's study is not a dusty garret, like those honored 
 by some of our most celebrated writers of prose and poetry ; 
 but a spacious, airy, neatly furnished apartment, commanding 
 a fine view from its windows. 
 
 The distinguished occupant of this apartment is a vigorous 
 and classical writer, whose magical pen has multiplied friends 
 to his party. Having had the advantage, in early youth, of 
 the best schools and universities in the old world, and having 
 further improved his mind by travel and intercourse with 
 many of the first and best men in Europe, we need not be at 
 all surprised that his fluent pen created the sensation it did, 
 when he wrote his political pamphlets ; neither is it a matter 
 of surprise, that when expatriated to this country, he at once 
 was welcomed by the ablest writers of America, for his fame 
 and his works had preceded him. Perhaps, no man in this 
 country is so thoroughly familiar with ancient and modern 
 history certainly, no man in the United States has written so 
 voluminously as he, on the intensely interesting subject of Uni- 
 versal History. He is a profound philosopher, a deep thinker, 
 a cogent reasoner, a caustic antagonist, and a never-tiring 
 student. He never twangs his bow without piercing the mark 
 with his arrow, which though sharp, is never pointed with 
 poison. 
 
 In person, he is tall, well proportioned ; has a fresh, healthy 
 
164 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 face (ladies pronounce him handsome) ; dark hair ; lofty 
 forehead ; dark, dreamy eyes, which light up in conversation. 
 He speaks and writes our language much better than a 
 majority of even our literary men. The following letter which 
 was written by a friend, gives a condensed and graphic 
 sketch of the life of this noted man, and with it I close 
 this " taking." 
 
 "Dr. Hebbe's family is originally from Bohemia; where 
 one of its members received a large landed estate, together 
 with the title of Baron, in the tenth century, from the 
 emperor, Henry the Fowler, on account of great military 
 services in the war against the Magyars. In the sixteenth 
 century, the family of Hebbe adopted the Protestant religion, 
 and suffered terribly during the following century from the 
 persecution of the Catholics. Thirteen of its members lost 
 their life by the sword and the axe, and only two were saved ; 
 one of whom rose to high military dignity in France. The 
 other again entered the Swedish army, and was badly 
 wounded in t!i" battle of Lutzen. He came then to Sweden, 
 where he bought large estates having become very wealthy 
 by his marriage with a Dutch lady, of immense riches. He 
 had several children, all of whom became distinguished by 
 high positions and wealth, as well as by noble traits of 
 character. 
 
 " Dr. Hebbe's grandfather married a Grecian lady of wonder- 
 ful beauty, whose only daughter became afterwards, grand 
 governess of the children of the unfortunate king, Gustavua 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. If,.") 
 
 Adolphus IV.. of Sweden. His father distinguished himself 
 in the service of France was severely wounded; married 
 an Italian lady, and was reputed to be one of the most 
 learned men of Europe. 
 
 " Dr. Hebbe received a most accomplished education, and 
 graduated with the greatest distinction at the celebrated 
 University of Upsala, in Sweden, and became soon known as 
 one of the most liberal minded men of his country. He 
 visited many parts of the Orient world, and became, in a few 
 years, known as the author of many of the most powerful 
 political articles in several continental papers. He had, 
 * meanwhile, married a young lady of much genius and extra- 
 ordinary mental abilities and discharged, several times, the 
 honorable duties of a judge, and became very popular. He 
 was an intimate friend of the chief leaders of the opposition 
 at the Swedish Diet, and was the chief instrument in defeat- 
 ing the attempt of the king to extend his royal prerogatives. 
 His administrative qualities recommended him, however, to 
 the attention of the king, who offered him the management 
 of all his private affairs and his immense landed property ; 
 but this offer was most respectfully declined by Dr., or rather, 
 Judge Hebbe, who was soon found to be one of the leaders 
 in the revolutionary movement, which took place in 1838, 
 and which led to the imprisonment of Judge Cresenstolpe 
 and some other of the leaders, and the exile of Judge Hebbe 
 and some others. 
 
 "In 1843, Dr. Hebbe arrived in this country, where he 
 soon became distinguished as the ablest political writer, in that 
 
166 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 then widely circulating periodical, called the 'New World,' and 
 as author of several political pamphlets, and as the accom- 
 plished translator of many of the finest works of fiction 
 of the day. In 1848, he began the publication of his great 
 ' Universal History,' which has stamped him as a man of the 
 most profound learning, the deepest philosophical mind, and 
 the highest order of literary genius. This work will embrace 
 twenty volumes, and has already cost its eloquent and high- 
 minded author more than fifteen years of incredible labor. 
 
 " Dr. Hebbe is one of the ablest Democratic leaders, and it 
 is generally conceded that he did more than any other man 
 for the triumphant election of Mr. Pierce. He numbers, per- 
 haps, more warmly attached friends than any other man in 
 this country; thanks to his affable manners and sweet 
 temper." 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 
 
 167 
 
 RUFUS CHOATE. 
 
 RUFUS CHOATE is the Brougham of the Western World. 
 He is not so profound a metaphysician nor so great a philoso- 
 pher as the English Lord * v but he is equally eloquent, and 
 there is more lightning in his oratory. When he speaks, his 
 black eyes glow with electricity, his hair stands erect, as though 
 his head were a galvanic battery, charging each individual 
 hair with the subtile fluid. He is furious as a madman in his 
 gestures, and not unfrequently tears his coat from the collar to 
 the waist, when he becomes intensely excited. He walks from 
 one end of the platform to the other, and swings his arms 
 backwards and^brwards as though he intended to take a leap 
 into the middle of the room and land upon the heads of his 
 hearers. If he ever should take a hop, step, and jump, in the 
 midst of one of his orations, there would be danger of his 
 tumbling down the throats of some of the gaping multitude, 
 whose mouths are ever open to swallow every syllable he 
 utters. No wonder the people gape and gaze with such as- 
 tonishment and admiration, for he has such a beautiful gallery 
 of pictures in the chambers of his imagination such an 
 affluence of language so retentive a memory such varied 
 learning such luminous eloquence and so eccentric a manner 
 of delivery. Often, when he finishes a period in his most ener- 
 getic style, the listener involuntarily looks up to see if the fiery 
 bolt just launched from his lips, has not raised the roof, or at 
 
168 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 least gone through the ceiling. It is as difficult to report his 
 speeches, as it would be to report the trumpetings of the 
 storm, with the moaning wind, the pattering rain, the vivid 
 lightnings and the crashing of the thunders. He begins like 
 an eagle soaring from his eyrie, and continues his upward 
 flight over the mountain tops, up higher and still higher, and 
 higher still, with the clouds under his feet and a crown of 
 stars about his head ; and when he descends, he shines like 
 Moses coming down from the mountain, and like him, he 
 breaks the Commandments when he finds the people worship- 
 ping the idol of another party. You may talk about torrents 
 of eloquence he is the very Niagara of eloquence, with the 
 silver spray, the effulgent bow, and the wasteless waters foam- 
 ing and flashing through a narrow channel of rocks. His 
 speeches are brilliant with unmeasured poetry, and abound 
 in attic wit, biting invective, glowing rhetoric, and " logic on 
 fire." " He can hew out a Colossus from a rock, or carve heads 
 on cherry stones." He is not a glancing stream, fettered with 
 ice half the year ; but a magnificent and mighty river, run- 
 ning South ; and as he sweeps on, he swallows up allusions, 
 quotations, figures, from Hesiod, and Homer, and Virgil, and 
 Voltaire, and Shakspeare, and Milton, and Washington and 
 Webster, still flowing on, 
 
 " Like to the Pontic Sea, 
 Whose current and compulsive course 
 Never feels retiring ebb, but keeps right on 
 To the Propontic and the Hellespont.' ' 
 
 To drop the figure and take up the fact, he has intensity of 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 169 
 
 purpose, and often allows his impulsiveness to control LIB 
 judgment. Every great effort he makes at the Bar or on the 
 rostrum, so excites his nervous system, that he cannot sleep 
 sufficiently to satisfy the wants of his physical nature. But 
 he is fond of fame and of money, and seems determined to 
 keep up his reputation and his revenue ; consequently, his 
 services are available when fair opportunities are afforded for 
 the improvement of either. Yet he is not a mercenary man ; 
 for, notwithstanding his vast practice, he has not secured 
 a great fortune. His speeches sound better than they read. 
 Indeed, it would not be gratifying to the vanity of him- 
 self or his numerous friends to pass his extemporaneous 
 speeches through the crucible of criticism. . He skips from one 
 topic to another with the agility of a squirrel, a fact unnoticed 
 amid the blaze of his surpassing eloquence, until the storm 
 has passed by and the fever is over, and then we behold the 
 best a reporter can do in the columns of the newspaper. 
 
 Mr. Choate is a dark complexioned, thin, cadaverous look- 
 ing man, with keen black eyes, and a profusion of unkempt 
 hair, of a glossy black hue. He is between forty and fifty 
 years of age, and of a nervous bilious temperament. He is 
 a conservative Whig of the Webster school, and has made 
 eloquent speeches recently upon the leading political questions 
 of the day. Mr. Ghoate is one of the most popular orators 
 of modern times. We have abler lawyers in America, but 
 the Bar has not a more brilliant and successful advocate. 
 We have more experienced statesmen, but few serve 4heir 
 country with more fervid zeal. It is indeed a rich treat to 
 
170 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 listen to the gorgeous words which drop from his lips like 
 apples of gold in pictures of silver. 
 
 We subjoin a specimen of his style of oratory, taken from 
 a discourse, delivered before the Faculty, Students, and 
 Alumni of Dartmouth College, on the day preceding Com- 
 mencement, July 27th, 1853, commemorative of Daniel 
 Webster. 
 
 RUFUS CHOATE ON DANIEL WEBSTER. 
 
 " IT would be a strange neglect of a beautiful and approved 
 custom of the schools of learning, and of one of the most 
 pious and appropriate of the offices of literature, if the col- 
 lege in which the intellectual life of Daniel Webster began, 
 and to which his name imparts charm and illustration, should 
 give no formal expression to her grief in the common sorrow ; if 
 she should not draw near, one of the most sad, in the procession 
 of the bereaved, to the tomb at the sea, nor find, in her classic 
 shades, one affectionate and grateful leaf to set in the garland 
 with which they have bound the brow of her child, the 
 mightiest departed. Others mourn and praise him by his 
 more distant and more general titles to fame and remem- 
 brance ; his supremacy of intellect, his statesmanship of so 
 many years, his eloquence of reason and of the heart, his love 
 of country, incorruptible, conscientious, and ruling every hour 
 and act; that greatness combined of genius, of character, 
 of manner, of place, of achievement, which was just now 
 among us, and is not, and yet lives still and evermore. You 
 come, }iis cherishing mother, to own a closer tie, to indulge 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. l7l 
 
 an emotion more personal and more fond grief and exulta- 
 tion contending for mastery, as in the bosom of the desolated 
 parent, whose tears could not hinder him from exclaiming, 
 ' I would not exchange my dead son for any living one of 
 Christendom.' 
 
 * * * * 
 
 ' ; ' With prospects bright, upon the world he came 
 Pure love of virtue, strong desire of fame; 
 Men watched the way his lofty mind would take, 
 And all foretold the progress he would make.' 
 
 " And yet, if on some day as that season was drawing to 
 its close, it had been foretold to him, that before his life 
 prolonged to little more than threescore years and ten 
 should end, he should see that country, in which he was 
 coming to act his part, expanded across a continent; the 
 thirteen states of 1801 multiplied to thirty-one; the territory 
 of the Northwest and the great valley below sown full of those 
 stars of empire ; the Mississippi forded, and the Sabine, and 
 Rio Grande, and the Nueces; the ponderous gates of the 
 Rocky Mountains opened to shut no more ; the great tranquil 
 sea become our sea ; her area seven times larger, her people 
 five times more in number ; that through all experiences of 
 trial, the madness of party, the injustice of foreign powers, 
 the vast enlargement of her borders, the antagonisms of inte- 
 rior interest and feeling the spirit of nationality would grow 
 stronger still and more plastic; that the tide of American 
 feeling would run ever fuller; that her agriculture would 
 grow more scientific ; her arts more various and instructed, 
 
172 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 and better rewarded ; her commerce winged to a wider and 
 still wider flight ; that the part she would play in human 
 affairs would grow nobler ever, and more recognised ; that in 
 this vast growth of national greatness time would be found 
 for the higher necessities of the soul ; that her popular and 
 her higher education would go on advancing; that her 
 charities and all her enterprises of philanthropy would go on 
 enlarging ; that her age of lettered glory would find its aus- 
 picious dawn : and then it had been also foretold him that even 
 so, with her grace and strength, should his fame grow and be 
 established and cherished, there where she should garner up 
 her heart ; that by long gradations of service and labor he 
 should rise to be, before he should taste of death, of the peer- 
 less among her great ones ; that he should win the double 
 honor, and wear the double wreath of professional and public 
 supremacy ; that he should become her wisest to counsel and 
 her most eloquent to persuade ; that he should come to be 
 called the Defender of the Constitution and the preserver of 
 honorable peace ; that the ' austere glory of suffering ' to save 
 the Union should be his ; that his death, at the summit of 
 greatness, on the verge of a ripe and venerable age, should be 
 distinguished, less by the flags at half-mast on ocean and lake, 
 less by the minute-gun, less by the public procession, and the 
 appointed eulogy, than by the sudden paleness overspreading 
 all faces, by gushing tears, by sorrow, thoughtful, boding, 
 silent, the sense of desolateness, as if renown and grace were 
 dead ; as if the hunter's path, and the sailor's in the great 
 solitude of wilderness or sea, henceforward were more lonely 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 173 
 
 and less safe than before ; had this prediction been whispered, 
 how calmly had that perfect sobriety of mind put it all aside 
 as a pernicious or idle dream ! Yet, in the fulfilment of that 
 prediction is told the remaining story of his life. 
 
 ***** 
 " But it is time that the eulogy was spoken. My heart 
 goes back into the coffin there with him, and I would pause. 
 I went, it is a day or two since, alone, to see again the home 
 wjiich he so dearly loved, the chamber where he died, the 
 grave in which they laid him, all habited as when 
 
 ' His look drew audience still as night, 
 Or summer's noontide air,' 
 
 till the heavens be no more. Throughout that spacious and 
 calm scene all things to the eye showed at first unchanged. 
 The books in the library, the portraits, the table at which he 
 wrote, the scientific culture of the land, the course of agricul- 
 tural occupation, the coming in of harvests, fruit of the seed 
 his own hand had scattered, the animals and implements of 
 husbandry, the trees planted by him in lines, in copses, in 
 orchards, by thousands, the seat under the noble elm on which 
 he used to sit to feel the southwest wind at evening, or hear 
 the breathings of the sea, or the not less audible music of the 
 starry heavens, all seemed at first unchanged. The sun of a 
 bright day, from which, however, something of the fervors of 
 mid-summer were wanting, fell temperately on them all, filled 
 the air on all sides with the utterances of life, and gleamed 
 on the long line of ocean. Some of those whom on earth he 
 
1Y4 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 loved best, still were there. The great mind still seemed to 
 preside ; the great presence to be with you. You might 
 expect to hear again the rich and playful tones of the voice 
 of the old hospitality. Yet a moment more, and all the 
 scene took on the aspect of one great monument, inscribed 
 with his name, and sacred to his memory. And such it shall 
 be in all the future of America ! The sensation of desolate- 
 ness, and loneliness, and darkness with which you see it now 
 will pass away ; the sharp grief of love and friendship will 
 become soothed ; men will repair thither, as they are wont to 
 commemorate the great days of history ; the same glance 
 shall take in, and the same emotions shall greet and bless the 
 Harbor of the Pilgrims and the Tomb of Webster." 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 175 
 
 HORACE MANN. 
 
 THE name and fame of the distinguished subject of this 
 sketch are world -wide. He is known, honored, and appre- 
 ciated as the promoter of education and the defender of the 
 oppressed. The mantle dropped by the lamented Adams sits 
 gracefully upon his shoulders. He is eminent as a writer, a 
 speaker, a scholar, and a statesman. His essays and his 
 speeches command the attention and win the admiration of 
 all who read or hear them. He never fails to get the eyes 
 and ears, if not the hearts, of his hearers, whether they be 
 little children in a common school, or larger ones in Congress. 
 He is a prophet who hath honor in his own and other coun- 
 tries. The first time the writer saw him, was at the opening 
 of a primary school in Boston. Several prominent men had 
 spoken to the children present, in unintelligible language ; in 
 fact, they spoke to the youths as they were accustomed to 
 speak to adults. By-and-by, a tall, thin, graceful man, with a 
 high forehead and silvery hair, arose in one corner of the 
 room, and in a familiar manner asked the children to let him 
 see their red lips and bright eyes. In a moment a sea of 
 sunny faces was turned toward him. He told them to perse- 
 vere in the acquisition of knowledge, and asked them if they 
 ever saw a honey-bee go out from its hive on a May morning 
 in pursuit of its sweets. They said they had seen the bee on 
 his tour among the flowers. " Now," continued the speaker, 
 
]r!76 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 " when lie comes from the leaves he does not bring a whole 
 hive on his back, but he flies home with a little at a time. 
 You must copy the example of the bees, and gather the 
 sweets of knowledge from book leaves, as they gather honey 
 from flower leaves." The children were intensely interested 
 in his stories, comparisons, allusions, and admonitions. 
 
 The next time I saw this prominent and popular MANN, was 
 at the dedication of a grammar school in Boston. Many of 
 the first citizens were present, and listened with delight to his 
 extemporaneous and appropriate speech. His tongue is like 
 the pen of a ready writer. It costs him little or no effort to 
 round a period handsomely, or polish a sentence until it 
 becomes transparent with beauty, and as for grammatical 
 inaccuracies, even in his impromptu efforts, they are out of 
 the question. Last winter he delivered the introductory lec- 
 ture before the Mercantile Library Association. Tremont 
 Temple was packed, from the orchestra to the entrance. 
 Many persons were obliged to leave the crowded doors for 
 want of accommodation. After the usual preliminaries, the 
 orator appeared on the platform and was warmly greeted by 
 the vast audience. He commenced at once by leaping, at a 
 single bound, into the middle of his lecture, and he addressed 
 the young merchants in a strain of surpassing power and elo- 
 quence. The last survivor of that large assembly cannot 
 outlive the impression that masterly effort made on every 
 appreciating mind. He spoke forcibly, rapidly, emphatically. 
 Wit, humor, pathos, irony, argument, flowed from his lips as 
 freely as water from an unfailing fountain. Those who cany 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 
 
 their souls in the sacks of their stomachs, and those who carry 
 their hearts in their breeches-pockets, were shown up as Mar- 
 shal Tukey exhibits the light-fingered gentlemen who some- 
 times visit the City of Notions. He did not spare the wine- 
 bottle nor the tobacco-box, the coffee-pot nor the tea-kettle. 
 He pronounced woes against those who will not breathe pure 
 air, and drink cold water, and eat plain food, and sleep on 
 hard beds in ventilated rooms. He has a stout heart and a 
 strong hand, and the whip he holds over the backs of glut- 
 tons and imbibers has a silver lash and a golden handle, and 
 although every blow reaches the red, the wounded and the 
 whipped save their lamentations for the secret chamber where 
 they sit upon the stool of repentance. 
 
 If it be true that New England is farther from perdition 
 and nearer paradise than any other portion of America, it ia 
 owing to the superiority of her public schools. Horace Mann 
 has done more than any other person to elevate the educa- 
 tional advantages of New England. His praise is in all the 
 schools. His system of instruction is almost universally 
 adopted. The moral atmosphere of Washington is sure to 
 spoil the principles of some men whom the multitude delight 
 to honor. Not so with Horace Mann. He does not wear a 
 double face. He does not blow hot and cold in the same 
 breath. He does not amend, abridge, or alter his speeches to 
 suit the latitude in which he lives. Even the Hercules of the 
 senate, the mighty Expounder of the Constitution, has felt the 
 weight of his arm, and staggered under the force of his blow 
 Horace Mann not only goes for free soil and free men, but foi 
 
 8* 
 
178 ' CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 free air and the free use of cold water. He is liberal-minded, 
 generous-hearted, dignified in his deportment, genteel in his 
 address,, and his character is like Caesar's wife, above suspicion. 
 He is not only admired, but really beloved, by his friends, 
 acquaintances, and constituents. 
 
 He has a classical face and forehead. The organ of 
 benevolence is prominently developed, as are the organs of 
 causality, comparison, ideality, and sublimity. He is a poet, 
 although he may not have exhibited any symptoms of that 
 sort in rhyme. In his happiest efforts before an audience, he 
 often leads them high up the mountain so that they may see 
 the promised land where the nations shall dwell in the good 
 time coming. 
 
 Mr. Mann is a cogent reasoner, a deep thinker, a ready 
 debater, an elegant writer, a splendid speaker. There is a lit- 
 tle lisping impediment on his tongue until he becomes excited. 
 Anti-progress men cannot bribe him, nor scare him, nor gag 
 him, nor cope with him at the press, or in the forum. He is 
 remarkable for his originality, and his ideas are like pictures 
 painted on glass, by those ancients who had the art, now lost, 
 of making the colors penetrate the surface so that the object 
 appeared as vividly on one side as the other. He may be 
 called a "proverbial philosopher," a prose poet, a sayer as 
 well as a doer of good things. Some of the " old liners " in 
 literature and theology, do not approve his liberal sentiments. 
 They have not the courage to assail him openly, but they 
 damn him with faint praise in private circles. He is apt to 
 indulge a taste for alliteration. It is almost the only blemish 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 1*79 
 
 in his essays and speeches. There is no man in New England 
 so well qualified in every respect to occupy the post of honor 
 and duty rendered vacant by the death of John Quincy 
 Adams, as he. 
 
 Mrs. Jane Swisshelm has the following in one of her inimi- 
 table sketches : 
 
 HON. HORACE MANN. 
 
 " The people of the district of the ' old man eloquent ' cer 
 tainly did a very becoming thing when they sent Horace 
 Mann to take his place in the House of Representatives. 
 One does not feel that he, or any other man, can fill the place 
 of John Quincy Adams ; but in looking at Horace Mann, we 
 felt it was becomingly occupied. In the general characteris- 
 tics of personal appearance, he is strikingly like our neighbor, 
 Hon. William Wilkins tall, erect, and thin, with hair of that 
 singular whiteness which shows the premature bleaching of 
 care or sorrow. It is said that his hair turned thus in twenty- 
 four hours after the death of his wife. He afterwards married 
 Miss Peabody, a sister to the wife of Hawthorne, author of 
 the ' Scarlet Letter.' His movements show a large amount of 
 muscular energy and activity, but the most remarkable fea- 
 ture in his personal appearance is that singular transparency 
 of complexion, and that uncommon cleanliness, that gives one 
 a kind of spiritual look. He has long been a warm public 
 advocate of a plentiful use of fresh air and pure water, or a 
 physiological education, as necessary to develope the natural 
 powers of the mind ; and he certainly is a good example of 
 
180 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 the system. To look in his face, you would not dream his brain 
 was ever clouded with impure humors, and you look not ow, 
 but into his face, through the clear white skin, for the spirit 
 within. His conversational powers we have seldom seen 
 equalled. One is attracted, fascinated by the steadfastness of 
 his gaze, and the information to be gained by his rapid con- 
 versation. Yet our sensations, while listening to him, were 
 not all pleasurable. His eye has that piercing expression 
 which is so often described as looking one 'through and 
 through,' and we did not choose to have him read on our 
 withered brow, a record of all the cups of tea we had drank. 
 Then his enunciation of every one of his rapidly spoken 
 words is so very correct, and the rendering of his sentences so 
 very perfect, that it made the contrast of our blundering 
 answers somewhat mortifying. 
 
 " His affections must be of the strongest class, but they are 
 not apparent to a stranger. His appearance is that of a half- 
 disembodied intelligence of a superior order. We never saw 
 an old man for whom we had so much respect an<J, admira- 
 tion, with so little affection ; but then he looks as if he could 
 not get the gout or the rheumatism, or the bilious fever, and 
 nothing about him appeals to one's pity ; so he has no occa- 
 sion to be loved by any but the few he loves. He has none 
 of that broad, good-humored smile, that invites the love of all 
 the world, and promises an ample return. His smile is as dis- 
 criminating as his look is penetrating, and shows that his 
 heart is approached through his reason; that he loves but 
 few, and loves them passing well. His stock of information 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 181 
 
 is very large and very accurate, for on almost any subject of 
 general interest, he is ready, at a moment's warning, to give 
 you the general view and the minute details ; but education, 
 education for all, is the topic he loves best, and he can give 
 one clearer views of its importance in fifteen minutes' talking, 
 than can be obtained from reading a dozen respectable essays 
 on the subject. We should rather listen to his talk, than any 
 one whom we have ever heard lecture on education. Any 
 one visiting Washington may know him without the trouble 
 of 'pointing out.' He is the tall, straight, thin gentleman, 
 with the clean face, white hair, gold-rimmed spectacles, black 
 clothes, and firm, quick motions." 
 
182 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 REV. DOCTOR BOARDMAJT, 
 
 THE Rev. Dr. Boardman preaches in a neat and beautiful 
 church in Walnut street, Philadelphia ; the building will seat 
 about a thousand persons, has galleries on three sides, a hand- 
 some pulpit, trimmed with red silk velvet, pews wide, well- 
 cushioned and accessible. The only opportunity I had to hear 
 the celebrated preacher and author who has occupied, for fifteen 
 years, his present post of honor and duty and responsibility, 
 was on my home return from Washington, when he delivered 
 one of his inimitable and eloquent lectures to the merchants 
 of Philadelphia. 
 
 Some of the solid men of the Quaker city were present. 
 The house, a spacious one, was so crowded it was with 
 difficulty the preacher wedged his way to the pulpit. Scores 
 went away, unable to obtain even a standee good evidence 
 that the Doctor " wears well," that he has not " run out," 
 that he is still popular. He read the opening hymn in a 
 clear, distinct, manly voice. The hymn was well sung by a 
 thoroughly disciplined choir. Good singing is one of the most 
 attractive and delightful features of public worship it is the 
 language of heaven the dialect of angels. It seems to give 
 us " the sense of wings " on which we float sky-ward. Who- 
 ever heard of a vile deed being done immediately after 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 183 
 
 singing a sacred song? Here the congregation joins with 
 the choir in singing ; this is surely much better than being 
 happy by proxy. After singing, the preacher read a chapter 
 giving Solomon's opinion of a virtuous woman. The prayer 
 which followed was fervid, honest, and impressive. The text 
 was from the writings of Solomon, " many women have done 
 virtuously," an eloquent extract from the Merchant's Magazine 
 followed ; it was written by a lady who complains of her lord 
 because of his neglect. The speaker regrets that he cannot 
 deny the grave imputations brought against merchants who 
 allow themselves to be so submerged in business they seem to 
 forget their families. 
 
 But I intend to sketch persons and not sermons. The Rev. 
 Doctor Boardman has a good voice. It is mellow, with a 
 gentle grate and quaver in it, which seems to leave his 
 peculiar mark on the word he utters. His gesticulation is 
 graceful, natural, and emphatic. The peculiar manner in which 
 he " fixes " his eyes upon his hearers and the way in which his 
 lips come together, when he has concluded a sentence, (he 
 desires to be pondered and- remembered,) and the manner in 
 which he throws his face forward, as he does occasionally, 
 gives the idea that his words are arrows from a shaft stronger 
 than steel, that hit the heart of the appreciating hearer. His 
 matter is solid not heavy, sprightly not light, practical not 
 mechanical, classical not cobwebish, it is philosophical, argu- 
 mentative, and scriptural. Such matter as any sensible man 
 may hear day after day, week after week, month after month, 
 year after year, and never suffer a surfeit, or starve for lack of 
 
184 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 spiritual food. There is no need of making points to keep up 
 the interest, no need of his using spice to sharpen the appe- 
 tite. When he is severe his sarcasm cuts like a lancet. 
 
 He is not a subtle metaphysician, not a prating pedant 
 not a noisy bunkum declaimer. He has a strong clear 
 intellect, and common sense of that uncommon quality which 
 is closely allied to genius. He is well educated, and what he 
 knows he knows thoroughly, and has complete mastery of 
 the stock of wisdom always on hand. His language is 
 now strong, now soft, now bold, now beautiful. His sarcasm 
 is refined, compact, steeped in humor, and spiced with irony. 
 He has many brilliant qualities, often breaking forth in bursts 
 of kindling magnificence. He is generally moderate, some^ 
 times vehement, always majestic, commanding the attention, 
 impressing the impartial, and overawing the sceptical. His 
 sermons are his own, not copies, not echoes, not shadows, but 
 real transcripts of his own heart and brain ; shining here and 
 there wi'h lucidus ordo. His sentences are so perfectly 
 finished they are fit for the reviewer as they fall from his lips. 
 He was rather uncivil to the ladies who lead the Woman's 
 Rights party, declaring they were Amazonians quarreling with 
 Providence for creating them women instead of creating them 
 men. In person he is rather tall, well formed, has dark brown 
 hair, carelessly pushed back from a noble, prominent forehead ; 
 has an oval face, blue eyes (I think), straight nose, thin, may 
 I say literary, lips, dresses in a most unministerial manner, 
 with a black neck tie in place of the white cravat. He is 
 upwards of forty years of age. Long life to him and may he 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 185 
 
 always have the grace, the gift, and the courage to rebuke evil 
 in whatever latitude it may exist, whatever alias it may assume ; 
 may he not be too timid to call it hard names and grapple 
 with it, forgetting fame, knowing nothing but Christ and him 
 crucified. 
 
183 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 SOLON ROBINSON. 
 
 THE noise in the world which " Hot Corn" has made, and is 
 still making, may cause, in some of our readers, curiosity tc 
 know something respecting its author, whose personal appear- 
 ance has been dimly shadowed forth in the posting bills of 
 that popular book. We therefore add Solon Robinson to our 
 Gallery of the Noticeables of America. 
 
 To the readers of agricultural journals the name of Solon 
 Robinson has been as familiar as any other household word for 
 twenty years, and to many of them his face and general 
 appearance are familiar ; but a more particular acquaintance 
 will be none the less acceptable to those who have seen him 
 than to those who have not, while to the purchasers of fifty 
 thousand volumes of his first book, who have had a glance at 
 his appearance as indicated in the rough wood-cut jof the 
 "poster" before alluded to, the present pen-sketch may be par- 
 ticularly acceptable. 
 
 In personal appearance, as seen in the street, Mr. Robinson 
 looks like an old man ; his head is gray, and his beard, which 
 he wears long, is entirely white. He is six feet high stoop- 
 shouldered long-limbed has an awkward gait, walks with a 
 long stride and always with a cane, and is not overwell dressed. 
 He generally wears black, and sports a Quaker-looking hat, 
 generally " the worse for wear." 
 
 A stranger would suppose, to see him pass rapidly through 
 

 
 f 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 187 
 
 the thronged streets of New York, that he saw nothing but his 
 boots, yet few of the quick young eyes of the crowd see more 
 than he does, for he searches to the very bottom of everything, 
 and penetrates all with a mere glance. 
 
 Solon Robinson is a true specimen of Yankee character, and 
 possesses great versatility of talent. He could build a ship or 
 a log-cabin write a philippic or a sermon " set the table in 
 a roar," or draw tears from a " full house." His nature is an odd 
 compound of seriousness and mirth. His voice is soft enough 
 for a parlor and quiet conversation, or full, clear, arid distinct 
 enough, when he speaks in the open air, for thousands of 
 people to hear him. His eyes are blue, but very sharp ; his 
 hair was of a soft dark brown, and skin fair, in all of which he 
 resembles his mother, as well as in form and stature. 
 
 His nature is truthful and candid if he likes you, you will 
 know it if he does not, you will not long remain in doubt as 
 to the fact. He is too plain and blunt ever to be personally 
 popular. The vicious will always hate him. Those who read 
 his book will see that he is no friend to Vice, particularly that 
 which makes the world vicious the Rum Traffic. His aim 
 is to build up (not to pull down) society to his own level. 
 
 His versatility of talent has surprised -a good many people. 
 They have wondered that a man who could write so well upon 
 farming, could give such graphic reports as he does every 
 week of the cattle and horse markets of New York, should also 
 have the power to draw tears from the million with the story 
 of "Little Katy." They think, perhaps, as one did of old, 
 " How can he get wisdom that holdeth the plow, and that 
 
188 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 glorieth in the goad, that driveth oxen, and is occupied in their 
 labors, and whose talk is of bullocks ; who giveth his mind to 
 make furrows, and is diligent to give the kine fodder." 
 
 Yet the subject of this sketch has got all the wisdom he 
 possesses, amid just such scenes and occupations, for he was 
 born and has always lived amid the green fields, and has fol- 
 lowed after the plow and led the kine until within a few years 
 past, and has not yet done talking of bullocks, having made 
 the reports of the New York Cattle Market a prominent 
 feature in the Tribune. 
 
 Solon Robinson was born October 21st, 1803, about a mile 
 south of the village of Tolland, Connecticut. His father, whose 
 name was Jacob, the son and grandson of Jacob, and lineal 
 descendant 'of James, the Puritan, whose son came over with 
 the Pilgrims, was born in Scotland parish, a few miles east of 
 the scene of the great bull-frog fight, or fright, which has 
 made their native town of Windham wide-world renowned. 
 
 Solon's mother was Salinda Ladd, of Coventry. His father, 
 a small farmer on the hard lands of that part of the state, and a 
 cooper, died w'ur.i Solon, the fourth son, was about six years 
 old, and his mother, who had one son a week after her hus- 
 band's death, found herself, as many a widow has, obliged to 
 sell everything to pay debts, and to put her boys out to places 
 with farmers, who would teach them to hold the plow and 
 talk of bullocks. 
 
 After a second marriage, and a sixth son, she died, and his 
 three eldest brothers subsequently, with a similar pulmonary 
 complaint. Solon, himself, has several times been " given up 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 189 
 
 by the doctors" with the same complaint. Once he was cured 
 by electricity once by cold water. 
 
 His education was just such as might be expected in the 
 old school house, at the corner of the cross roads, where he 
 attended at irregular intervals. At fourteen he closed this 
 course of study with ability to spell the hard words of Noah 
 Webster's spelling-book and to write his name in a good round 
 hand. 
 
 After that he went to learn the trade of a carpenter; his 
 master found him exceedingly useful when an old roof was 
 to be mended or a new one built. This work he was com- 
 pelled to quit because he had not sufficient strength, but the 
 knowledge gained by it he found very useful in after life, 
 especially during his log-cabin experiences in the West. 
 
 He then, like many other Yankee boys went peddling, and 
 after many and various other avocations wrote some graphic 
 papers in the Albany Cultivator, which attracted much atten- 
 tion. For several years he has been connected with the press 
 in the city of New York, and is now the associate, on the 
 Tribune, of Horace Greeley and C. A. Dana. 
 
 Of the former it is needless to say anything in praise, and 
 scarcely is it so of Mr. Dana, who is one of the most accomp- 
 lished of American editors, and who has done much to raise 
 the Tribune to its present high position. The Hot Corn 
 stories have made their author a celebrity, and with Mrs. 
 Stowe, and a few more favored writers, Solon Robinson enjoys 
 a reputation more extensive, perhaps, than that of any othei 
 living sketcher of men and manners. 
 
190 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 JOHN ROSS DIX 
 
 Is one of the most fluent and forcible writers in America, 
 and having made his mark on the present age by the produc- 
 tions of his classic pen, I will endeavor to gratify the general 
 reader by inserting the following " off-hand " sketch, which 
 was written by me for an editorial friend at a time when 
 family afflictions incapacitated him for superintending the 
 management of his paper. Mr. Dix is a native of Bristol 
 England, and now editor of the " Waverley Magazine," pub- 
 lished in Boston : 
 
 In this issue of our paper we close the interesting series of 
 articles entitled " Passages from the History of a Wasted Life." 
 They have been to the " Life Boat " what the thrilling tale of 
 "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was to the "National Era." Our 
 readers will be delighted to know that our enterprising and 
 excellent fellow-townsman, B. B. Mussey Esq., has made 
 arrangements with the distinguished author of this truthful 
 narrative to publish it forthwith, so that its appreciating 
 admirers, and others, may have it in a more beautiful and a 
 less ephemeral form. During the many years that we have 
 been connected with the press, nothing has appeared in the 
 columns of our Temperance Journals, whose melting pathos, 
 sparkling poetry, earnest air, and laughing humor, have 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 191 
 
 
 
 created such a sensation in the great circle of Temperance 
 readers. 
 
 The magnificent poem entitled "To-Morrow," which 
 appeared in last week's paper, is a perfect gem ; and stamps 
 its author as a man of rare genius. Indeed, there is so much 
 feeling and passion in these lines, we seem. to feel the pulsa- 
 tions of the heart out of which they throbbed and see the 
 radiant light of the cultured brain that conceived them. 
 
 It is not a matter of astonishment that such an eminent 
 man as Lucius M. Sargent, who stands at the head of Tem- 
 perance literature in this country, should volunteer his 
 approval of the work in question. From all quarters the 
 same verdict is rendered by disinterested parties ; even the 
 enemies of our common cause admire the thrilling style and 
 truthful history of our author. Here it may not be amiss to 
 say, that this inimitable series of sketches is not the maiden- 
 effort of our highly esteemed friend and correspondent. 
 
 His prolific pen, like a match ignited by friction, has blazed 
 through many folios. He is the author of the " Pen and Ink 
 Sketches" "Loiterings in and about Boston " " Life of John 
 B. Gough" "Pen Portraits of English Preachers," and per- 
 haps a dozen other different works. 
 
 Doubtless, our readers would be gratified with a personal 
 sketch of one, in whose remarkable history they have been so 
 intensely interested. We were on the point of mentioning 
 his name ; but, as we are not authorized to take that liberty, 
 we will proceed by saying, our author is a well-formed man 
 of common stature rather slender of the nervous bilious 
 
192 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 i 6 ^ 
 
 temperament has black curly hair a handsomely developed 
 forehead a nose that would have suited Napoleon and hia 
 pale classic face is lit up with a pair of black eyes, in which 
 his soul shines like a star in the firmament. He is very 
 sensitive and nervous ; when excited, he cannot maintain his 
 seat a minute, but moves about quickly, as though he would 
 twitch his limbs from their ligaments. At such times he has 
 a habit of shutting and opening his eyes rapidly, while light 
 flashes from them, like lightning from a summer cloud. He 
 dresses neatly, not foppishly ; has the air of a well-bred 
 gentleman ; converses fluently, is acquainted personally with 
 most of our literary lions on both sides of the Atlantic ; 
 reads much and in addition to his literary and scientific 
 attainments, has a large stock of general knowledge. He is a 
 regular apothecary and surgeon ; and has been editor of a 
 journal in England. His style is peculiar to himself ; clear, 
 graphic, eloquent, and original. At some future time we may 
 write a criticism on that subject; at present we will add but 
 a word or two by way of urging our readers to procure an 
 early copy of " Passages from the History of a Wasted Life." 
 His style reminds one of De Quincy somewhat there is in 
 it the same bonhommie and graphic energy the same manly 
 courage which dares to utter the truth in plain Saxon words, 
 which are strong as "hooks of steel." He never "glories in 
 his shame," but like the author of the " Opium Eater," tells 
 his story frankly, that his experience may be a lesson and a 
 warning to others. His " Life of Chatterton," the boy-poet, 
 although one of his earliest efforts, is full of memorable pas- 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 193 
 
 sages. His miscellaneous writings, to be found in the periodi- 
 cal literature of the day, would make a volume which would 
 be a valuable acquisition to any library. Those who are 
 familiar with the productions of his pen, must have admired 
 his chatty, sketchy, dashing way of word painting. He 
 writes rapidly, and seldom re-touches his most elaborate 
 essays and their smoothness is not to be attributed to the file 
 and polisher, but to the fine texture of the natural enamel. 
 Owing to his intuitive and quick habit of thought, and the 
 entire command he has acquired over his intellectual resources, 
 he is ever ready at a moment's warning to write a " leader " 
 for a newspaper, a lyric for an annual, or an essay for the 
 most fastidious review. The autobiography of John B. Gough, 
 which has been scattered broadcast over the American Con- 
 tinent, and republished in Europe, was written by him in a 
 single week. We have not space in the present crowded 
 columns of our little sheet, to amplify on a theme which 
 deserves more space and an abler pen. 
 
 Here is the beautiful poem alluded to, with a preface from 
 his own pen ; I clip it from one of the passages of his history. 
 
 " Before I more particularly allude to this residence of mine 
 * in Chambers,' I may, perhaps, as an indication of the morbid 
 condition of my mind at this period, be permitted to present 
 the reader with a copy of some verses, written at midnight, 
 during a fit of deep despondency. No one has a more 
 thorough contempt than myself for ' occasional verses,' made 
 to order ; and I trust the reader will not suspect that these 
 
194 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 were written to gratify a stupid vanity. They were penned 
 one dreary night, in a bare room, almost within the shadow 
 of the towers of Westminster Abbey, the great bell of which 
 was booming twelve o'clock over the wilderness of London, 
 whose dull mysterious roar sounded even then. 
 
 TO-MOEROW. 
 SWEET day from whose perpetual dawn 
 
 Half of Life's little light we borrow ; 
 Veil of the future yet undrawn ! 
 
 Hope's own blue beautiful TO-MORROW ! 
 Day ever rising never risen ! 
 
 Time ever coming never come ! 
 Thou, who^ost paint the soul's dim prison 
 
 With landscapes of Elysium, 
 Still peeps thy morning-star behind, 
 
 Though sorrowful TO-DAY is glooming; 
 And o'er the vexed, tempestuous mind, 
 
 The thunder-peals of thought are booming ! 
 When the heart to its black depths is stirred, 
 
 Still, in each pause of raging sorrow, 
 A Voice, a soft, blest Voice is heard ! 
 'Tis thine the sky-lark of Hope's heaven, To-MoRROW ! 
 
 What hoards of Happiness to be, 
 
 Lie somewhere in thy secret keeping ! 
 Aye keeps, as keeps a sunny sea 
 
 The rich wrecks in its bosom sleeping ! 
 Yet, blest in but expected pleasures, 
 
 Earth's millions wait, and watch thy dawn : 
 As well the owners of those treasures 
 
 Might wait to see the deep gulf yawn, 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 195 
 
 And give them back their gold !. Oh ! when 
 
 That burial-vault of wealth shall ope, 
 Then shall the soul and not till then, 
 
 Unfold the landscape of thy dream, oh ! Hope ! 
 
 Like some bright host with untried powers, 
 
 Bright, marching in the morning sun, 
 Started TO-DAY, with all its Hours, 
 
 Prepared a bright career to run; 
 Like that lost army, madly strewing 
 
 The battle field ere day is done ; 
 From all that field's dumb death and ruin, 
 
 But one voice heard, and that a dying one ; 
 Such this TO-DAY'S last hours now taking flight, 
 With all their hopes and aims and prospects bright, 
 And purposes sublime, to everlasting Night ! 
 
 Then, wherefore hail a Day new-born, 
 
 As though, upon its soundless wing, 
 Some dove unto life's Ark forlorn 
 
 The olive branch of Peace might bring ? 
 No Eden Bird this bosom's emblem ! 
 
 The stormy Petrel's mine might form, 
 That builds no nest, but fluttering trembling, 
 
 Lives out at sea, and fights the storm ! 
 Screaming its sad song o'er the abyss, 
 Heard but by men distressed : as this, 
 Lost on the world's dull ear, may reach lone misery's. 
 
196 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 The following, from the pen of Mr. Dix, has never before 
 appeared in print. While it affords a specimen of our 
 author's style, it cannot fail to interest the reader. 
 
 A PAIR OF ROMISH PORTRAITS. 
 
 FATHER GAVAZZI AND CARDINAL WISEMAN. 
 
 " Travel, with us, reader, to the Princess' Concert Hall, 
 for in that spacious and splendid Hall, a famous Monk is about 
 to lecture on the abuses of the Roman Catholic Church. 
 Light is about to be emitted from a dark church lantern. 
 The Canon Laws and Papal Usurpation is to be the subject 
 of the oration. 
 
 Look at that swarthy man, on the platform, whose fine 
 figure is draped in the flowing robes of his religious order ; a 
 cross being worked on the left- breast. Look at his broad 
 forehead, his dark, glancing, half-sinister eyes, arid listen to 
 his magnificent voice. The Concert Room is as crowded, as 
 if Jenny Lind were to sing, for here is a mighty gathering of 
 exiles and patriots of every grade. There is Mazzini, tall and 
 gaunt, with his olive-complexioned face, large melancholy 
 eyes, and fine head ; and others, of lesser note, are to be seen 
 in the crowd of brave men and fair women. All these are 
 attracted not less by sympathy for suffering humanity than by 
 the exquisite beauty of Italy's language, embellished by the 
 splendid delivery of the monk. Members of the House of 
 Commons muster in great force ; and, indeed, all intellectual 
 London has its representatives present at the Hall. 
 
 Gavazzi commenced his oration. At first his tones were 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 197 
 
 low and solemn, gradually he warmed up with his theme, and 
 then, with amazing vigor he poured forth a rushing tide of 
 eloquence. Satire, sarcasm, invective, pathos, sublimity, and 
 piety followed each other in rapid succession. His form 
 dilated, and his eyes flashed, as he denounced the rascalities 
 of Popery, and his garments, flowing in the wind of stormy 
 applause, rendered his appearance highly picturesque. He 
 evidently made his expose with a gusto ; after any point he 
 would partially stoop, lean forward, clap his hands, and a 
 triumphant smile would play on his features. The enthusiasm 
 which for two hours pervaded the assembly, and which the 
 vigorous declamation of the orator, never allowed to flag for 
 a moment, found frequent utterance in the most energetic 
 bursts of uproarious applause. It would require so fluent 
 was he a regular staff of stenographers to fairly report a 
 speech of Father Gavazzi, for the eloquence of the monk is 
 of a higher and different order than that which the * gallery 
 men ' of the great legislative assemblies usually have to do 
 
 with." 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 Here is a sketch from the life of Cardinal Wiseman : 
 
 " Slowly, and with an air which some might mistake for dig- 
 nity, and which it is very possible was meant to express it, 
 came on the prime emissary of the Vatican. Before him was one 
 official bearing a lofty triple, gilded cross, and a second carry- 
 ing a magnificent crosier ; and on either side of the " proud 
 prelate " slowly walked two priests, in amber-colored robes, 
 richly braided with gold, supporting his train. With tall 
 
198 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 robust form, towering above these appeared Cardinal Wiseman. 
 He was superbly clothed ; on his head pressed a mitre, all 
 glistening with gold and jewels ; a robe of amber colors, pro- 
 fusely decorated with gold embroidery, and on the back 
 embroidered with a gorgeously wrought cross, enveloped his 
 portly frame ; and from beneath the rustling garment appeared 
 trowsers (profanely so to speak) of white satin, glistening 
 with gold spangles, and white satin shoes also spangled with 
 auriferous ornaments ; his great, fat hands were enclosed in 
 white gloves, elaborately embroidered, and over these were 
 rings of dazzling lustre but conspicuous among all was the 
 large Episcopal signet, which appeared gloomy and grim 
 among its sparkling companion-gems, like the dark church 
 of which it was a symbol, when compared with that of a 
 simpler but a far purer and more resplendent faith. 
 
 Shade of Wolsey ! we mentally exclaimed, as we gazed on 
 the new Cardinal, can the priest upon whom we gaze be the 
 man who has set Protestant London at defiance? Is that 
 vulgar, coarse, and sensual-looking individual, the head of 
 the Catholic Church in Britain ? The universal homage that 
 was paid him as he slowly paced the aisles of St. George's 
 Cathedral presented us with an affirmative reply. 
 
Engraved "by - T - c Buttre 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 199 
 
 P. T. BARNUM. 
 
 P. T. BARNUM, the chief caterer for the amusements of 
 the million, tne prince of showmen, the curiosity king, the 
 ex-editor, ex-school teacher, ex-clerk, ex-merchant, is one 
 of the most remarkable men of any age in any country, 
 and my book would be incomplete without some allusion to 
 his wonderful energy and successful enterprise. He has been 
 regarded by multitudes as a strange something, part humbug, 
 part human, part Hercules. At present he is the proprietor of 
 the American Museum, and one of the sleeping, but not one 
 of the sleepy, partners of the firm which controls the New 
 York Illustrated News. He is a writer of more than medio- 
 cre ability, and he ranks high as a platform speaker, while 
 his financiering skill is unsurpassed even among Yankees. 
 Whatever he touches turns to gold, whether it be Joice Heth, 
 or Jenny Lind, Tom Thumb, or a pair of giants. For his 
 generous efforts in assisting the unfortunate and aiding young 
 beginners, he has endeared himself to many recipients of his 
 bountiful benevolence ; for his disinterested labors to promote 
 the temperance cause, he deserves the gratitude and admira- 
 tion of our race ; at his own expense he has travelled and toiled, 
 week after week, in the face of obloquy and opposition, to 
 secure the advancement of a glorious reform which is identi- 
 
200 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 fied with the happiness of every member of the human 
 family. Barnum is a man and not a humbug. He is an 
 extraordinary man, he is a great man. See with what tact, 
 boldness, and practical good common sense he managed'the 
 Jenny Lind affair : did he not deserve the princely profit he 
 received from his well directed efforts to secure the services 
 of the queen of song, and the admirable manner in which he 
 carried out his well directed plans ? 
 
 It was risk enough for a corporation to hazard, and required 
 as much enterprise as a community possesses to execute the 
 arrangements after they had been made. With what 
 Napoleonic energy, and superior generalship did he foil the 
 attempt made to decoy the bird from his hands after he had 
 caught it from the bush ; what a knowledge of human nature 
 has he displayed in the tact and skill with which he has 
 brought out cunning contrivances for the entertainment of 
 the curious. Now he shows a "fictitious" nurse of Washing- 
 ton, now a mermaid, half cod-fish and half monkey, manu- 
 factured more to please than to deceive the public, now an 
 amiable and handsome dwarf, is exhibited in the presence of 
 the Queen and nobility of England. Now, for the sake of 
 notoriety, he calls himself a humbug, and the cry is echoed by 
 the press all over the Union. 
 
 But he always gave his patrons their money's worth of 
 amusement, and it cannot be proved that he ever received the 
 price of a ticket " under false pretences ;" that Joice Heth was 
 not 163 years of age has never been proved, that the mer- 
 maid which is now in the Boston Museum was not the creature 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 201 
 
 it purported to be was no fault of his. If it is not a natural it 
 is a mechanical curiosity. The woolley horse was a natural 
 curiosity, for which he paid the sum of five hundred dollars. 
 
 Barnum is a shrewd man, who has the art and mystery of 
 making large sums of money in a short time, and then he 
 has the magnanimity to distribute it unostentatiously among 
 those who will make wise appropriations of it. He is a 
 scheming speculative man, but far removed from selfishness, 
 and would never sacrifice nor deny his principles to obtain 
 place, or power, or fame, or fortune. He is a business man, 
 and his rules for success in business, deserve te be written in 
 gold, and preserved in frames of silver in every counting 
 room, work-shop, foundry, and factory, and dwelling, in the 
 land. He is a gentleman, polite not finical, courteous not 
 affected, and truthful without dissimulation in his personal 
 intercourse with his fellow men. He is a philanthropist. 
 Where is the man who gives more generously, and makes lesn 
 parade about it ? In politics he is a cold water Democrat ; 
 in religion he is a cold water Universalist. 
 
 Mr. Barnum is a native of Danbury, Connecticut, and is 
 now forty-three years of age. He is a fine-looking man, well 
 formed and somewhat above the ordinary size and stature. 
 He has a noble forehead, expressive eyes, and a mouth finely 
 cut and indicative of decision and energy ; there is a mixture 
 of mirthfulness,* shrewdness and benevolence in his counte- 
 
 * While lecturing out West on the subject of temperance, some one in the 
 meeting cried out, " What shall we do with our surplus grain?" 
 "Feed the starving wives and children of drunkards," replied Barnum. 
 
 9* 
 
202 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 nance, which comports with his character. He dresses neatly, 
 without much ornament, is very accessible, and treats even 
 the humblest person with much kindness, and never cuts an 
 old acquaintance in the hour of trial and misfortune. He is 
 charitable and strictly honorable in all his business trans- 
 actions. He has a beautiful home, and is very happy in 
 his domestic relations. One of his daughters was recently 
 married. The following description of his residence will form 
 a fitting close to this sketch. It comes from one of his own 
 townsmen. 
 
 P. T. BARNUM, AND HIS RESIDENCE. 
 
 One of the first places which a stranger visits on coming 
 here, is Iranistan, the residence oft* P. T. Barnurn, proprietor 
 of the American Museum and importer of heavenly minstrelsy 
 into our unharmonious country. It stands upon a level plateau, 
 about half a mile from the main street, a unique and mag- 
 nificent building, in the Oriental and Turkish style its wings, 
 piazzas, galleries, pinnacles, and dome giving it a light and 
 airy appearance. It is especially beautiful, when viewed by 
 moonlight. The grounds are laid out in excellent taste, with 
 the gardener's cottage, the green-houses and the stables built 
 in a style of architecture corresponding sufficiently to that of 
 the house, without being stiff copies of it, all disposed in the 
 best manner for a pleasing general effect. The gates are con- 
 stantly thrown open, and, in pleasant weather, visitors may at 
 almost any time be seen riding or walking through the 
 grounds of this earthly paradise. Is it thus thrown open to 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 203 
 
 the public merely to gratify an ostentations pride ? I think 
 not. 
 
 It is a Sabbath evening, and the sun is just setting. Groups 
 of gentlemen and ladies are threading the walks among the 
 trees the hard-working mechanic with his wife and children, 
 all dressed in their best, are sauntering over paths thickly 
 strewed with tiny seashells, admiring the flowers and rare 
 shrubs that border the walks, or throwing crumbs to the tame 
 fishes in the fish-pond, or gazing at the rare exotics in the 
 green-houses, and all enjoying the costly scene, as really, for 
 the moment, as if it were their own. The proprietor, if he 
 is at home, simply enjoys the innocent pleasure which his 
 establishment affords the people, and I really believe, that if 
 he were conditioned to hold it guarded with the exclusiveness 
 which characterizes some of the snobbish aristocracy of our 
 land, he would sooner burn it to the ground. But the 
 chances are that, instead, of being at home, stretched upon a 
 luxurious sofa, this Sunday evening, he started in his buggy 
 some hour or two since, to fulfil an appointment to lecture 
 upon temperance in some country village, distant ten or fifteen 
 miles. His heart is thoroughly interested in this reform, 
 which, heaven knows, is unpopular enough in Connecticut, 
 and he is constantly sacrificing his money and ease to promote 
 it. Although unaccustomed to public speaking, his addresses 
 tell upon an audience in a most effective manner. 
 
 With many others, I was once accustomed to associate the 
 name of Barnum with humbug, but the truth is, there is no 
 humbug about the man Barnum. He may have taken tha 
 
204 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 advantage of the craving for humbugs, -which is one of the 
 passions of mankind, but he is a real man, with noble qualities 
 and feelings and no humbug. He is proving in many ways 
 that the public know nothing of, that he unites benevolence 
 and enlarged views to his acknowledged business tact, talent, 
 and enterprise. This latter has indeed been placed above all 
 cavil by his engagement with the famed Swedish Nightingale ; 
 for who in America could have given us Jenny Lind, but 
 Barnum ? 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 205 
 
 DR. E. KANE. 
 
 IT was announced that Dr. E. Kane, of Arctic Expedition 
 notoriety, would lecture before the citizens of Boston, on Mon- 
 day evening, consequently an immense audience convened at 
 an early hour to see and hear the intrepid traveller. While we 
 were patiently waiting the arrival of the great tourist, a 
 sudden outburst of applause advertised the arrival of a short, 
 stout, fat, corpulent old gentleman, whose large round head 
 was thickly covered with long dark hair, carefully parted in 
 the middle and combed behind his ears. He had a low fore- 
 head, full, fat face, light inexpressive eyes, and his jaws seemed 
 to cave in as though he had lost his teeth. He looked more 
 like a Dutch ploughman from the valley of the Mohawk, than 
 a learned lawyer, but it really was Chief Justice Shaw, the 
 most distinguished jurist in Massachusetts. 
 
 Another explosion of applause, and a slender man of average 
 height, weighing perhaps one hundred and twenty-five pounds, 
 walked gracefully toward the desk. It was the heroic adven- 
 turer, who has probably seen as much of the physical world 
 as any living man of his age. He has black hair with a curl 
 in it, carefully brushed aside, leaving one of his lofty temples 
 
206 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 bare and concealing the other. His pale thin face is lit up 
 with a pair of small round blue eyes, and his mouth is shaded 
 with a short black moustache, which terminates in an impe- 
 rial ; his long- nose indicates clearness of brain, and his earnest 
 countenance denotes unfaltering integrity of purpose. His 
 voice, though clear and flexible, has not sufficient volume and 
 power to fill the great hall where he lectured. He extem- 
 porised nearly half the time, and spoke fluently and cor- 
 rectly. In his right hand he held a fish pole, with which he 
 pointed to the diagrams on the wall in front of the audience. 
 
 His lecture was the shortest of the season, and might have 
 been made the most interesting one had he confined himself 
 to the history of his search for Sir John Franklin, instead of 
 giving us a geographical history of the North Pole. A report 
 of a part of his lecture, however, I am sure will be intensely 
 interesting. 
 
 " It is difficult," the lecturer remarked in opening, " as we 
 look at a map of the world, to believe that all the world, save 
 a very limited expanse, was wrapped in ignorance. Nor has 
 that ignorance totally disappeared, for there are portions of 
 the globe entirely unknown to the civilized world, and much 
 exploration is needed to reveal vast regions, still hidden from 
 the knowledge of man. The vicinity of the North Pole is 
 among those portions yet to be explored. It is shut out from 
 us by a vast barrier of ice. The early settlers of Iceland 
 revealed an extension of ice far to the north. It was then 
 shown to extend to Hudson and Baffin's Bays, and Captain 
 Cook defined its existence in Behring's Straits. 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 207 
 
 " Modern science has taught us to lay down the limits of 
 this vast ice barrier, and to define the boundaries of a great 
 polar- continent. The ice barrier, commencing at Labrador, 
 extends to that portion known as Lost Greenland, and then 
 comes across the Atlantic to Spitzbergen, thence to Nova 
 Zembla. On the northern coast of Russia it may further be 
 traced, and also north of America, while whalers have found 
 it throughout Behring's Straits. This immense body of ice 
 bounds a circle 6000 miles in circumference, and encloses an 
 area one-third larger than the continent of Europe. It can 
 be safely stated that this ice barrier is not continuous, but is a 
 ring surrounding an open sea. How solemn is the conception 
 of such a vast inland sea, shut in by ice, on whose coast no 
 human being has yet trod ! 
 
 " There are facts to how the necessity and certainty that 
 there is a vast inland sea at the North. There must be some 
 vast receptacle for the drainage of the polar regions, and the 
 gi-eat Siberian rivers. To prove that water must actually exist, 
 we have only to observe the icebergs. These floating masses 
 cannot be formed without terra firma, and it is a remarkable 
 fact that out of 360 in only 30 are icebergs to be found, 
 showing that land cannot exist in any considerable portion of 
 the country." 
 
 " Again, Baffin's Bay was long thought to be a close bay, 
 but it is now known to be connected with the Arctic sea. 
 Within the Bay, and covering an area of 90,000 square miles, 
 there is an open sea from June to October. We find here a 
 
208 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 vacant space with water at 40 temperature eight degrees 
 
 higher than freezing point. This is due to the polar ice drift. 
 
 ****** 
 
 " A halt is ordered, and rising twenty feet in the air is a 
 ridge to oppose the progress of our party. Quickly the 
 sledge is taken to pieces, the various parts are conveyed over 
 the ridge, it is again put together, and the party move on. 
 Another halt, and a black river flows directly across the path 
 of our party. The gutta percha boats are taken out, the 
 sledge is -again taken to pieces and carried across, again to be 
 put together. No hesitancy is allowed, and although the 
 hours of work in a day are many, yet ten miles is considered 
 good progress. 
 
 " Another halt, and the day's work is done. A snow-hut 
 is erected, the men remove their wet boots and stockings, 
 wash their feet in snow, and step into a wolf-skin blanket, 
 spread upon water-proof cloth, thrown upon the icy ground. 
 A lamp is lighted, and water is procured from the snow. The 
 supper is prepared, another wolf skin is thrown over the 
 fatigued explorer, and he sleeps only to wake again to 
 renewed labor. The food to be used by Dr. Kane's Expedition 
 is dried pemmican, which is composed of the muscles of oxen, 
 prepared in the marrow of these animals, forming a nutritious 
 article of sustenance. 
 
 " All unnecessary baggage will be avoided, and the smallest 
 needful quantity of food and raiment will be proportioned to 
 each man. 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 209 
 
 " The line of travel to be pursued will be due north until we 
 reach the headlands of Greenland, and then we shall descend 
 in search. It has been determined to make the expedition 
 one of scientific importance, and for this purpose every obser- 
 vation possible will be made and chronicled. Natural history, 
 the mysteries of northern migration, in a word, all subjects, 
 that are worthy of investigation will be made objects of 
 search by the expedition. Prof. Henry of the Smithsonian 
 Institute, always ready to advance every endeavor to attain 
 knowledge, has furnished the party with a supply of instru- 
 ments for observations, and the Secretary of the Navy will 
 apply to Congress for appropriations necessary to carry 
 forward the work. And now an appeal is made to Boston 
 for sympathy and aid. 
 
 " Whether Sir John Franklin is alive or not, is not now the 
 subject under discussion. Our duty to attempt to rescue him 
 if alive, or to seek the solution of his fate is plain. Traces 
 can be found, and it is incumbent on us to attempt to find 
 them." 
 
 In concluding, Dr. Kane asked the sympathy of all the- 
 good and kind, for the party who are soon to leave for a 
 region where even day and night are unknown, and all is 
 dreary and desolate. 
 
 * / 
 
 The Hall was densely crowded, and Dr. Kane's lecture 
 was listened to with marked attention by all. 
 
210 
 
 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. 
 
 WHAT grand accommodations are provided for the people 
 of this generation ! Rivers are bridged, hills are tunnelled, 
 ships are launched, while fire, wind, and water are harnessed 
 and compelled to turn a crank here, and roll a wheel there, 
 and drive a wedge yonder. The elements once controlled us. 
 We were blown about by the wind, scorched by the lightning 
 and drowned in the flood. Now the sea is the " highway of 
 nations," the lightning our messenger, and the wind our hard- 
 working slave. 
 
 Then, again, we have such advantages in this " land of the 
 free and home of the brave." Our kind-hearted relative, 
 Uncle Sam, is such a clever old chap, who knows how to 
 provide for his twenty millions of nephews and nieces. In 
 every place, that is any place, drop a letter into his post box, 
 and forthwith he mounts the stage-seat, and with a bland smile 
 drops the billet on the breakfast table the next morning, one 
 thousand miles away. If one desires to ride, he yokes his 
 team of fire and water, and his steeds, with lungs of fire and 
 manes of smoke, speed forward with wings on their heels. 
 
 Accept my grateful acknowledgments, good, dear, kind 
 Uncle Sam, for the delightful ride I have had from Boston to 
 Concord this glorious morning. The trees are in full blossom ; 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 211 
 
 birds arc flying from busli to bush, and they have set to music 
 the poetry Spring has written ; lambs, with no fear of the 
 butcher and no thought of the glutton before them, are frolick- 
 ing in the green meadows ; and lovely children, apparently as 
 innocent as lambs, and certainly more beautiful than flowers, 
 are on their way to school with bouquets in their hands. 
 
 A kind friend has invited me to accompany him to the 
 monument erected to the memory of the first battle fought 
 during the revolutionary struggle. We have passed several 
 ancient buildings, relics of the "olden time." From that 
 window looking eastward, the old lady who now occupies the 
 house saw the soldiers passing over the hill, with their hand- 
 kerchiefs in their sides to staunch the blood gushing from 
 their gaping wounds. 
 
 We have now reached the spot where some say the first 
 blood was shed in the battle for freedom in America. A shaft 
 of granite, about thirty feet high, marks the spot where the 
 first victims w r ere sacrificed on the altar of Liberty. On the 
 19th of April, 1775, three hundred intrepid rural soldiers 
 drove before them five times that number of regular British 
 troops, and forced them to find shelter behind their own bul- 
 warks. 
 
 There goes a tall, lean, venerable, senatorial looking man, 
 his head whitened with the snows of seventy winters. It is 
 Judge Hoar, the distinguished jurist and the noted hero of the 
 South Carolina explosion. Ealph Waldo Emerson, the essay- 
 ist and lecturer, lives in that large square, un poetical-looking 
 cottage, so handsomely situated ; and that Gothic summer- 
 
212 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND - 
 
 house in his garden was built by his intimate friend Alcott, 
 the author of the Delphic Oracles." 
 
 In the old parsonage yonder, near the monument, Nathaniel 
 Hawthorne, the author of the "Scarlet Letter," and other 
 popular books, was born. Here is a good back-ground for a 
 picture : suppose we take his portrait. 
 
 Until within a few years, the author of " Twice Told Tales " 
 has remained in comparative obscurity ; for it is one of the 
 sins cf the American people, that they rarely appreciate 
 genius on this side of the Atlantic until it has been discovered 
 by some critic on the other side. Besides, the few here who 
 think they have grown to full fame seem anxious to make the 
 number grow " beautifully less," and while they hold the keys 
 of the temple of fame, no man is allowed to step over its 
 threshold, who comes unheralded by a trumpeter from 
 England. Thank fortune and his own gem'us, he has worked 
 his way to true appreciation without using cant or claptrap- 
 humbug and hypocrisy. Long ago he should have stood in 
 the company of such men as Irving, Paulding, Bancroft and 
 Prescott ; but he was too poor and too honest to purchase 
 labored puffs and eloquent eulogies in the magazines. No 
 thanks to the critics (who tried to kill him by letting him 
 alone severely) for the prominent position he now occupies. 
 
 Edgar A.Poe, speaking of Hawthorne, says that he is pecu- 
 liar, not original something like the German Tieck in his 
 manner and in the selection of his subjects, while his same- 
 ness, or monotony, or peculiarity is mistaken for originality. 
 He is less original but almost as allegorical as John Bunyan, 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 213 
 
 and when we read the " Old Arm Chair," " Sights from a 
 Steeple," " Little Annie's Ramble," " Sunday at Home," "A 
 Rill from the Town Pump," " The Toll Gatherer's Day," " The 
 Haunted Mind," " The Snow Flakes," " Night Sketches," and 
 the " Celestial Railroad," we find as many figures and as 
 much dreaming in Hawthorne's progress as we do in 
 "Pilgrim's Progress." He has not the polish of Irving, the 
 poetry of Lamb, nor the variety of Hazlitt. The subject of 
 this sketch is to all intents and purposes a first-rate story- 
 teller ; for he has invention and imagination, refined style, 
 exquisite taste, delicate humor, melting pathos, and scholar- 
 ship sufficient and ingenuity enough to employ all the 
 materials and attributes he possesses to the best account. 
 
 A friend of mine informed me to-day that Hawthorne is 
 such a modest man that he will not look another in the face 
 that he is so bashful he avoids society, and will sometimes 
 leave his house to avoid the contact of visitors. 
 
 In person he is a little above the ordinary stature has dark 
 hair and dark, dreamy eyes. He is seen so seldom in public, 
 it is as difficult to describe him as to paint a figure of the fleet- 
 ing air. 
 
214 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE.- 
 
 WHAT an age of invention and improvement is this ! 
 Our path is paved with rails of iron, on which steeds of steam 
 outrace the eagle ; our portraits are painted by the sun, so 
 accurately that ugly people, who are vain, seldom look a 
 daguerreotypist in the face ; but the greatest and most impor- 
 tant invention of this century, is the Magnetic Telegraph, as a 
 communicator of intelligence by signs, which it records in cha- 
 racters so palpable that he who runs may read while no one 
 can run so fast as the news can fly. The railroad, the steam- 
 boat, sun-painting, are not to be compared for a moment with 
 the invention perfected by Professor Morse. Watts, Fulton, 
 Franklin, and other men deserve our affectionate admiration, 
 but Morse overshadows them all; and he will live for ever, 
 fresh in the recollection of his countrymen ; while those who 
 would deprive him of his honor, fairly won, and his reward, 
 so niggardly bestowed, will sink to insignificance. I do not 
 now refer to the men who have suggested improvements in 
 the method of recording the communication received and 
 transmitted on the wires, but to those who, through envy and 
 jealousy, manifest a mean reluctance to give honor to whom 
 honor is due, and withhold the consideration to which Pro- 
 fessor Morse i so well entitled. 
 
 The distinguished American artist who invented the Elec- 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 215 
 
 trie Telegraph, is the eldest son of the Rev. Jedediah Morse, 
 the first writer on geography in this country. He was born in 
 Charlestown, Massachusetts, and is now about sixty years of 
 age. He studied at Yale College, where he graduated in 
 1810. Having an irresistible desire to become a painter, his 
 father reluctantly gave his consent, and permitted him to sail 
 for London under the care of Washington Allston. After his 
 arrival in the great Babylon of Britain, he became acquainted 
 with Leslie, and their first efforts were portraits of each other. 
 So industrious and successful was Mr. Morse in his profession, 
 that two years after his landing in London he exhibited, at 
 the Royal Academy, his famous picture of Ci The Dying Her- 
 cules." He received the most flattering compliments from 
 connossieurs, and the model which he made to assist him in 
 painting his picture, obtained the sculpture prize for him. 
 
 When he returned to the United States, he settled in Boston, 
 where he had to contend with so many discouragements, he 
 quitted the city of " Notions " and went to New Hampshire, 
 and painted portraits for a trifling consideration say from $10 
 to $15 each. Afterwards he plied his pencil in Charleston, 
 South Carolina, where his talents were appreciated, and where 
 he was more generously compensated for his labors. In 1822 
 he commenced operations in the city of New York, where he 
 became popular as a painter, and where he was handsomely 
 compensated for his skill. It was there, under the auspices 
 of the City Corporation, he painted the full-length likeness of 
 Lafayette. , 
 
 / About this time he was mainly instrumental in organizing 
 
 W . 
 
216 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 the Artists' Association, from which grew the National 
 Academy of Design. He was the first president of this 
 famous institution, and he delivered the first course of lectures 
 on Art in America. In the year 1829 he again visited Europe, 
 and was absent from his native land three years. " On his 
 return from Europe," says the author of the "Men of the 
 Time," " a gentleman in describing the experiments that had 
 just been made in Paris with the electro magnet, the question 
 arose as to the time occupied by the electric fluid in passing 
 through the wire, stated to be about one hundred feet in 
 length. On the reply that it was instantaneous (recollecting 
 the experiments of Franklin), he suggested that it might be 
 carried to any distance, and that the electric spark could be 
 made a means of conveying and recording intelligence. This 
 suggestion, which drew some casual observation of assent from 
 the party, took deep hold of Professor Morse, who undertook 
 to develope the idea which he originated, and before the end 
 of the voyage, he had drawn out and written the general plan 
 of the invention, with which his name will be inseparably 
 connected." 
 
 After landing in New York, he resumed the practice of his 
 profession, devoting his leisure moments to the accomplish- 
 ment of his object. In 1835 he demonstrated the feasibility 
 of his plan in the New York University, by putting a model 
 telegraph in operation. Two years afterwards, "Wheatstone, 
 of England, and Steinheil, of Bavaria, also invented magnetic 
 telegraphs, differing from each other, and both inferior to the 
 invention of Professor Morse. 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 217 
 
 Since that time the entire world has been made acquainted 
 with the progress and history of the invention. Professor 
 Morse has received honors and presents from various sources. 
 At the suggestion of Steinheil, his system was adopted in 
 Germany ; the sultan of Turkey bestowed on him the " order 
 of glory," with a diploma decorated with diamonds; the 
 king of Prussia, though not wishing the discovery to be sneezed 
 at, gave him a gold snuff-box ; the king of Wiirtemberg gave 
 him a gold medal. In 1840 he received his patent from 
 Washington. The first news carried over the wires was 
 the announcement of the nomination of James K. Polk as 
 the candidate selected by the Democrats for the Presidency. 
 Now there are nearly twenty thousand miles of wire in opera- 
 tion in this and other countries. This lightning compeller 
 has such a passion for painting, that even now he speaks of 
 resuming his pencil. I do not like to hunt up coincidences, 
 but it is somewhat singular that the man who taught our 
 fathers and grandfathers geography, should have a son whose 
 inventive genius has taught us how to annihilate the distance 
 which divides one part of the world from the other and that 
 the inventor should have a brother, the editor of the " New 
 York Observer," whose business can be so much improved 
 and accelerated by this great discovery. Columbus discovered 
 this continent, Washington made it free, Franklin caught the 
 lightning, and Morse has harnessed it and made it our mes- 
 leuger. 
 
 10 
 
218 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 GEORGE W. KENDALL. 
 
 GEORGE W. KENDALL, known the world over as the editor 
 of the New Orleans Picayune, is a " Green Mountain Boy,' f 
 who passed the days of his boyhood in the beautiful town of 
 Burlington. 
 
 When he* attained his majority, he visited the city of New 
 York, where he remained until 1835, when he went to New 
 Orleans ; there he assumed the editorial management of one 
 of the most popular papers in America (the New Orleans 
 Picayune). His attic wit, his exquisite taste, his elegant com- 
 positions, were admired and appreciated on both sides of the 
 Atlantic. Hood in his palmiest days was not a cleverer pun-. 
 ster. Douglas Jerrold has never displayed more genuine 
 wit. He may be styled the merry-Andrew of the press, and 
 yet he is not a harlequin nor a clown, but a polished gentle- 
 man, saying the pleasantest things in the most delightful 
 manner. His humor is irresistible his wit sharp as a two- 
 edged sword his pathos sure to move the heart and unseal 
 the fountain of tears. Hypochondria has no chance to survive 
 the first scratch of his magic pen. Volumes of amusing and 
 touching articles might easily be selected from his model 
 paper. As a paragraphist and essayist he occupies a proud 
 position. But he wields the sword as well as the pen. In 
 the spring of 18.41, partly for the benefit of his health, and 
 
V 
 
 
 

 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 219 
 
 partly to gratify his love of "adventure, he set out for Austin 
 with the Santa Fe Expedition ; and when he returned wrote 
 a most interesting history of it, giving a graphic account of 
 his captivity and sufferings in Mexico. 
 
 ' He resumed his editorial functions and duties, and remained 
 in the Cresent city until the commencement of the Mexican 
 war, when he once more abandoned his literary labors, and 
 attended General Taylor as a member of his staff, through 
 the whole of his campaigns. At the close of the war he 
 made the tour of Europe. He has obtained an enviable repu- 
 tation as the author of a splendid " History of the War be- 
 tween the United States and Mexico." He is a sociable, 
 agreeable, accessible gentleman, whose extraordinary talents 
 and manly bearing command the respect of a vast multitude 
 of friends. 
 
 The Picayune is a brilliant sheet, abounding in good things , 
 and, unlike many of its contemporaries, it is not indebted to 
 the confectioner for them. 
 
 SAMUEL HOUSTON. 
 
 GEN. SAMUEL HOUSTON, United States senator from Texas, 
 is an extraordinary man, whose common sense and courage 
 have won for him the good opinion of his appreciating coun- 
 trymen, everywhere. Although a self-taught and self-made 
 man, he has few superiors in debate on the floor of the senate-; 
 
220 CRAYOX SKETCHES, AND 
 
 chamber, and fewer equals on the field, in the perilous hour 
 of battle. Indeed, he displays equal courage and coolness, 
 whether acting in the capacity of statesman or soldier. We 
 admire him as the hero of San Jacinto, when he captures 
 Santa Anna, and we applaud him as the herald of freedom, 
 when he throttles the " little giant " of Illinois, and virtually 
 says to the demagogue, " Get thee behind me, Satan." 
 He is one of nature's noblemen, whom the people delight to 
 honor, and his fame will be fresh in the memory of the mul- 
 titude when the name of Douglas will be forgotten ; or, if 
 remembered, be associated with Arnold and infamy. Gen. 
 Houston is tall and straight as an Indian, of perfect propor- 
 tions, with sharp gray eyes, and a nose like the beak of an 
 eagle. He usually wears a profusion of hair upon his face. 
 His commanding countenance and towering figure contrast 
 finely with the pigmy proportions and plebeian features of the 
 ambitious and heartless man who would enslave nations for 
 the gratification of his wicked vanity. I am indebted to 
 " The Men of the Time " for the following sketch of his history : 
 " Gen. Samuel Houston, United States senator from Texas, 
 ^as born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, March 2, 1793. 
 He lost his father when quite young, and his mother removed 
 with her family to the banks of the Tennessee, at that time the 
 limit of civilization. Here the future senator received but a 
 scanty education ; he passed several years among the Cherokee 
 Indians, and in fact, through all his life, he seems to have 
 held opinion with Rousseau, and retained a predilection for the 
 savage mode of life. After serving for a time as clerk to a 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 221 
 
 country trader, and keeping a school, he became disgusted 
 with mercantile and scholastic pursuits, and, in 1813, he 
 enlisted in the army, and served under General Jackson in 
 the war with the Creek Indians. He distinguished himself 
 highly on several occasions, and at the conclusion of the war 
 he had risen to the rank of lieutenant ; but he soon resigned 
 his commission and commenced the study of law at Nash- 
 ville. It was about this time that he began his political life. 
 After holding several minor offices in Tennessee, he was, in 
 1823, elected to Congress, and continued a member of that 
 body until, in 1827, he became Governor of the State of Ten- 
 nessee. In 1829, before the expiration of his gubernatorial 
 term, he resigned his office, and went to take up his abode 
 among the Cherokees in Arkansas. During his residence 
 among the Indians, he became acquainted with the frauds 
 practised upon them by government agents, and undertook a 
 mission to Washington for the purpose of exposing them. In 
 the execution of this philanthropic project he seems to have 
 met with little success ; he became involved in several law- 
 suits, and returned in disgust to his savage friends. During 
 a visit to Texas, he was requested to allow his name to be 
 used in the canvass, for a convention which was to meet to 
 form a constitution for Texas prior to its admission into the 
 Mexican union. He consented, and was unanimously elected. 
 The constitution drawn up by the convention was rejected b^ 
 Santa Anna, at that time in power, and the disaffection of the 
 Texans caused thereby, was still further heightened by a de- 
 mand upon them to give up their arms. They determined 
 
222 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 upon resistance; a militia was organized, and Austin, the 
 founder of the colony, was elected commander-in-chief, in 
 which office he was shortly after succeeded by Houston. He 
 conducted the war with vigor and ability, and finally brought 
 it to a successful termination by the battle of San Jacinto, 
 which was fought in April, 1836. The Mexicans were totally 
 routed, with the loss of several hundred men, while the Tex- 
 ans had but seven killed and thirty wounded. Santa Anna 
 himself fell into the hands of the victors, and it was with 
 great difficulty that they were "prevented from taking sum- 
 mary vengeance upon him. In May, 1 836, he signed a treaty 
 acknowledging the independence of Texas, and in October of 
 the same year, fiouston was inaugurated the first president 
 of the republic. At the end of his term of office, as the same 
 person could not constitutionally be elected president twice in 
 succession, he became a member of the congress. In 1841, 
 however, he was again elevated to the presidential chair. 
 During the whole time that he held that office, it was his 
 favorite policy to effect the annexation of Texas to the United 
 States, but he retired from office before he saw the consum- 
 mation of his wishes. In 1844, Texas became one of the 
 States of the Union, and General Houston was elected to the 
 Senate, of which body he is still a member." 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 223 
 
 PIERRE SOULE. 
 
 PIERRE SOULE, formerly senator from Louisiana, now 
 minister at the court of Spain, was born in France. After 
 receiving a collegiate education, while yet in his teens, lie 
 took part in a conspiracy against the Bourbons, which fact 
 being discovered, he fled to a small village where he assumed 
 the humble occupation of a shepherd. At the termination of 
 twelve months or more, he turned his steps to Paris, where he 
 associated with Barthelemy and Mery for the purpose of pub- 
 lishing a liberal paper. His republican sentiments soon 
 became distasteful to the authorities, and he was put on his 
 trial for treason ; but when his lawyer appealed to the court for 
 clemency on the score of his youth, Soule was displeased at 
 this, and at once arose, denying the criminality of his conduct 
 in strains of impassioned eloquence ; but his speech did not 
 save him, so he sought an asylum in the United States. 
 
 He landed at Baltimore, but took up his residence in New 
 Orleans, in the fall of 1825. Having studied the English lan- 
 guage and the law, he passed a very creditable examination, 
 and rose rapidly in his profession. In 1847, he was elected 
 U. S. Senator from Louisiana, and was re-elected in 1849. 
 He is a graceful and eloquent speaker ; it is said, indeed, that 
 the mantle of Calhoun has fallen upon his shoulders. The 
 slight French accent which marks his pronunciation, is as 
 pleasant as a dash of olive oil on a dish of salad. He is a 
 
224 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 man of fine proportions, with coal black hair ; large lumin- 
 ous eyes, shining like black moons in the firmament of his 
 handsome face. He is a polished gentleman, a successful 
 lawyer, a respectable but not a profound statesman. He 
 caught the filibuster fever at Washington, but the sea air and 
 the climate of Spain have proved a most effectual cure, for he 
 broke out in court dress there, so that the nation understands 
 the diagnosis of his disease. 
 
 .~ THACKERAY. 
 
 I HAVE just sharpened my pencil, I wish I could sharpen 
 my wit as easily. Now I will fold my paper, then my arms, 
 and wait patiently for the speaker. There he comes; that 
 grey-haired man, who approaches the desk, must be the 
 lecturer. No, that is the sexton, who mounts the platform to 
 light the candles. There goes a silver-haired man toward 
 the organ ; I am told Thackeray is prematurely grey that 
 must be him. Pshaw, that's the organist ! That's him, the 
 tall, rosy, robust man, whose face is so much younger than his 
 head, it looks like a rose under a snow-ball. The aristocracy 
 of Boston are present, an d they cheer the lecturer faintly, for 
 kid gloves and thin boots render it impossible to create a real 
 rackety, thackery, thundering welcome ; besides it is vulgar to 
 allow one's heart to throb so rapturously as to reach to one's 
 p eet and fingers. 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 225 
 
 There stands the great satirist, the inimitable humorist, the 
 famous novelist. He can crush a humbug and scare the blue 
 devils from the town, as easily as a farmer can frighten the 
 crows from his corn-field. Thackeray is a great man, and 
 there is a good deal of him. He must be upwards of six 
 feet in height, for he towers up above common men as 
 the Alps tower above common mountains, and like the Alps 
 he is crowned with snow. He has a wide forehead of 
 respectable height ; eyebrows, handsomely arched and neatly 
 pencilled ; fat English cheeks (such as roast beef, plum pud- 
 ding, and pure air can make) ; a pair of unfrosted whiskers 
 (that appear in the distance like an inch and a half of mouse- 
 colored moss, under his ears) ; heavy aristocratic chin and 
 finely chiselled mouth. A low black stock hugs a linen col- 
 lar, too lazy to stand erect his shirt bosom is unjewelled 
 (real gentlemen in Europe are never bedizened with jewelry), 
 a plain watch guard, terminating in a cross of gold which 
 leans against his dark vest, is all the ornament that is visible 
 on his person. See what a free and easy, I may add, indolent, 
 way he has of leaning on the desk, and lolling from side to 
 side; then his hearty, healthy face, lit up with eyes that 
 gleam through golden spectacles, seems to say, " How-de-do, 
 Jonathan ? you have given me a generous welcome ; you are 
 not a fair weather friend, for the inclement skies and the 
 streets of mire and clay have not detained you at home." 
 
 It is not enthusiasm, nor a propensity to over-estimate the 
 worth of Mr. Thackeray, that induces me to say the lecture to 
 
 which I now listen is one of the most interesting and im'ruQ- 
 
 10* 
 
226 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 tive lectures I have heard. He has a clear voice, and reads 
 right on with little gesture. The. sly satire, and sharp jest, do 
 not stumble at the red threshold of his mouth, but come forth 
 gracefully as though used to the way. Those who do not 
 wish to have the skeletons of their character rattle in the 
 winds at the cross-roads, must take heed and not fall into the 
 hands of Thackeray, for he has the power to gibbet men so 
 high the whole world can gaze at the victims. No one how- 
 
 
 
 ever, need be afraid of him, unless he be a quack, a humbug, 
 or a tyrant, for he has a heart brimful of pity and running 
 over with pathos. He is so far in advance of the age, not a 
 few old fogies who would like to admire him, because he is 
 endorsed by the first men in Europe, dare not, for reasons best 
 known to themselves. 
 
 As for the juvenile criticism elicited by his lectures, it 
 reminds one of a giant running the gauntlet between rows of 
 Liliputians. Shoot away, ye grass-hoppers, armed with pop- 
 guns. Don't be afraid, the grand jury will never indict you 
 for murder, for you cannot kill, and if you could you are not 
 accountable. 
 
 Every person in the Melodeon fell in love with Steele, when 
 the speaker, in his own peculiar manner, said he was "a 
 black-eyed, soft-hearted, Irish boy," and their affection 
 for him did not wane the least when he continued, " he was a 
 lazy, good-natured, generous, good for nothing, talented boy, 
 fond of lolly-pop, had an early taste for sack, and the gift to 
 borrow money of his school-mates" (I do not quote verba- 
 tim). The speaker here introduced a brief history of his own 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 227 
 
 experience at school. Said he had seen many great men, but 
 none so, great as the head boy at school ; and when he had 
 met such in after years, he was astonished to find them not 
 more than six feet tall, and was surprised they had not 
 become prime ministers. He said, Addison was head boy at 
 the school Steele attended. 
 
 Mr. Thackeray was exceedingly happy in his description of 
 Steele as a soldier, " when he became deep in debt and deep 
 in drink." Steele was not a teetotaller, for after he had 
 become a Minister, and after he had written the " Christian 
 Hero," he would put on his wig, cap, and laced coat, kiss his 
 wife and children, tell a lie to them about his pressing engage- 
 ments, and heeler over to the " Rose," and have a jollification 
 with his bottle companions. Addison was willing to assist \ 
 him, but found it impossible to keep the tipsy man upon his 
 legs. Steele deserved the admiration and affection of woman, 
 for he was the first of that age to appreciate her worth. 
 Swift and Addison were ungallant, but Steele set a proper 
 estimate upon woman. He dedicated one of his books to his 
 wife, and in the four hundred letters written to her, mani- 
 fested the traits of true love. He was married twice and out- 
 lived his wife, his fortune, and his health. 
 
 The above is a very imperfect sketch of the lecture, dashed 
 off in a crowd, with my hat for a writing desk. Thackeray 
 seems blest with an intuitive perception for distinguishing the 
 difference between what things are and what they ought to 
 be. " The world is a stage " and men are players, but he has 
 a box to himself, and an opera glass with clear lens. There 
 
228 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 he sits, weeping at the tragedy and laughing at the comedy 
 of life. 
 
 He has a profound insight into human nature, and knows 
 exactly how far to go and precisely the place to stop at, when 
 he vibrates between the sublime and the ridiculous. His wit 
 is refined and effectual, because it is based on the detection of 
 unlooked-for resemblance or dissimilarity of ideas, rather 
 than words. He is not like Falstaff, who in a double sense 
 made a butt of himself, first by swallowing so much sack, 
 secondly by his frequent allusions to himself. There is good 
 sense, and practical wisdom, elevation, and enthusiasm in the 
 wit of Thackeray, and however sharp may be the sting, there 
 certainly is no spleen in his satire. His forte lies in describ- 
 ing the characters of men, their modes of dress, their pecu- 
 liar gestures, their different humors, their singular manners, 
 their style of speaking and writing. He amuses by his coin- 
 cidences and contradictions, he surprises by his comparison? 
 and combinations. His lectures are not darned and patched 
 with epigrams, quips, quirks, and conundrums. There is no 
 leaving of the high way of his discourse for the purpose of 
 lugging in a metaphor to enliven it. All the figures rise up 
 naturally out of the subject, as blossoms break out under the 
 genial sunshine of Spring. Mr. Thackeray's visit to this 
 city will brush the dust from the old classic authors who 
 have been shamefully slighted for several years past in this 
 country, while the masses have been satisfied with the lolly- 
 pop literature of the present age. No offence to the book- 
 makers, for my enemies can say, that I too have written a book 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 229 
 
 JOHN PIERPONT. 
 
 And girded for thy constant strife with wrong, 
 Like Nehemiah, fighting while he wrought 
 
 The broken walls of Zion, even thy song 
 Hath a rude martial tone, a blow in every thought. 
 
 WHITTIEK TO PMBPONT 
 
 THE purchased puff the hurrah of the mob the presenta- 
 tion of medals the multitude at one's heels are not fame. 
 Fame is the spirit of man's genius, which lives in the minds of 
 others, while he lives and after he is dead ; for fame is immor- 
 tal. Popularity is ephemeral, and bears the same relationship 
 to fame that shadow bears to substance. The gross Esau 
 would sell his birthright for a mess of pottage. He 'would 
 mortgage the blessing of his father for personal gratification ; 
 while the man of true genius waits hopefully for the homage 
 which will surely be paid to the everlasting forms of truth and 
 beauty he has left on record, as the reflections of his own 
 mind. Like Jacob, he sees a ladder of light reaching to 
 heaven. He thinks little of himself and much of his subject. 
 He aims at perfection and not popularity. He turns his back 
 on the past, and his face tSwards the future. He is willing 
 to abide the decision of posterity hence he speaks the truth. 
 Men of true genius are men of progress ; they are reformers. 
 Whoever saw a verse of genuine poetry in defence of oppres 
 
230 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 sion? What tyrant ever wrote a stanza of pure poetry? 
 Genius never glows in the heart of a tyrant, and Fame will 
 never build her temple over his ashes. John Pierpont, the 
 preacher and poet, is a man on whose shoulders the mantle 
 of true genius has fallen. His pen is never elegantly feeble. 
 He never gives you the glitter of fine words for the gold of 
 pure thought. He does not cringe and creep and bow and 
 lisp like a literary fop ; but like a brave, honest, earnest man, 
 as he is, speaks the sentiments that are born in his soul. He 
 is an artist, who thinks the picture of more consequence than 
 the frame. He will not spoil a good thought for the purpose 
 of saying a good thing. He loves Nature more than he fears 
 the Critic, and never commits infanticide on his ideas, at their 
 birth, for fear they should hereafter be murdered by some 
 hypocritical reviewer. The themes selected by him are con- 
 genial to his heart. Is there a temple to be dedicated to the 
 service of God ? his muse, with harp in hand, stands between 
 the porch and the altar. Is there a monument to be erected 
 over the dust of departed heroes ? he there builds a pyramid 
 of verse that will stand when the stones shall have fallen in 
 decay. Is there a crisis in the cause of reform, when the 
 great heart of humanity must speak or break ? his words are 
 its throbs, his song its sentiments. 
 
 No reform poet in America is so great a favorite among 
 the elite and literati as Mr. Pierpont. Perhaps no man in 
 this country receives as many invitations to read poetry before 
 lyceums and colleges as he. At Harvard and New Haven, 
 and every -other place where genius is appreciated, he is 
 
OFF-I1AXD TAKINGS. 231 
 
 Welcome. Notwithstanding this fact, Gocley and Graham, 
 and other lords in the kingdom of magazinedom never employ 
 his pen. The best effusions of his classical quill are found in 
 the reform journals, for he does not deem it beneath his 
 dignity to contribute to the columns of the papers that are 
 not fashionable and popular. 
 
 Holmes is the poet of taste and fashion, cheerful, gay, and 
 light as Ariel. Should he prick a sinner with his stiletto, he 
 would at once apologize, by 'declaring he was in fun, and 
 hoped no offence. Longfellow is so nice and elegant, he 
 sometimes does injustice to his noble nature ; but he is fond 
 of 'freedom, and sympathizes with the men of progress. 
 Lowell is a radical, wielding a two-edged sword when he is 
 aroused ; he belongs to no school but his own. His muse is 
 a jolly jade, with the thumb on her nose and all fingers of 
 both hands vibrating, when she would pour contempt upon a 
 national sin. Sprague's poetry is as current and more valuable 
 than the bank bills that bear his signature. Whittier is the 
 poet of the slave. Pierpont is emphatically the Temperance 
 Poet. 
 
 See him standing in that magnificent Music Hall, reading 
 his poem before the members of the Mercantile Library 
 Society. He is straight as a palm-tree, fanned by the " airs 
 of Palestine," his snow-white hair looks like a halo of glory 
 about his head, and the rosy glow of health upon his face, shows 
 that his heart can never grow old. Few men of his years 
 (he is upwards of sixty) have been- young so long as he ; few 
 men of his age are so young as Jie is now. He always 
 
232 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 dresses neatly, and has an air of military compactness, looks 
 well in the street or on the platform. His eyes are blue and 
 brilliant ; forehead stamped with the lines of intellectual 
 superiority ; temperament sanguine-nervous. In any audience 
 he would be singled out as a leader. As a speaker he is 
 always interesting -often eloquent. There is a rich vein of 
 poetry running through his sermons and speeches, which 
 enhances the value of his efforts. While speaking, he stands 
 erect, and has a habit of shaking his hand, with his forefinger 
 extended, when he is earnestly emphatic on any particular 
 subject under discussion, at the same time moving his head, 
 while his eyes flash as though he was shaking stars out of his 
 forehead. I wish I had space for a more extended specimen 
 of his poetry. The following beautiful and melodious stanzas 
 are real poetry without a waste word : 
 
 Was it the chime of a tiny bell, 
 
 That came so sweet to my dreaming ear, 
 Like the silvery tones of a fairy shell 
 
 That winds on the beach, so mellow and clear, 
 When the winds and the waves lie together asleep, 
 And the moon and the fairy are watching the deep, 
 She, dispensing her silvery light, 
 And he, his notes as silvery quite, 
 While the boatman listens and ships his oar, 
 To catch the music that comes from the shore ? 
 Hark ! the notes, on my ear that play, 
 Are set to words : as they float they say, 
 
 " Passing away ! passing away !" 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 233 
 
 But no ; it was not a fairy's shell, 
 
 Blown on the beaeh, so mellow and clear j 
 Nor was it the tongue of a silver bell, 
 
 Striking the hour that filled my ear, 
 As I lay in my dream ; yet it was a chime 
 That told of the flow of the stream of time, 
 For a beautiful clock from the ceiling hung, 
 And a plump little girl, for a pendulum swung 
 (As you've sometimes seen in a little ring 
 That hangs in his cage, a canary bird swing) ; 
 
 And she held in her bosom a budding bouquet, 
 
 And as she enjoyed it, she seemed to say 
 
 " Passing away ! passing away !" 
 
 Where is the voter in America who has not heard the 
 following extract from a popular poem entitled the Ballot- 
 Box ? I quote from memory : 
 
 We have a weapon firmer set, 
 
 And better than the bayonet, 
 
 A weapon that comes down as still 
 
 As snow-flakes fall upon the sod, 
 Yet executes a freeman's will, 
 
 As lightning does the will of God, 
 
 Perhaps no temperance poem ever had so wide a circulation 
 as the "Two Incendiaries," recently published in the Life 
 Boat. Here is a verse as pure, sparkling, and refreshing as the 
 
 rain. 
 
 Ye gracious clouds ! ye deep, cold walls, 
 Ye gems, from mossy rocks that drip ! 
 Springs, that from earth's mysterious cells 
 Gush o'er your granite basin's lip ! 
 
234 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 To you I look : your largess give, 
 And I will drink of you and live. 
 
 Mr. P. is the author of the Airs of Palestine, a poem of 
 nearly a thousand lines in the heroic hieasure for sublimity 
 of thought, beauty of expression, and graceful versification, it 
 is unexcelled by any American production. 
 
 Mr. P. is a native of Litchfield, Conn. He entered Yale 
 College when fifteen years of age, and graduated in the 
 Bummer of 1804. Afterwards he engaged in teaching, which 
 he soon relinquished for the study of law. The practice of 
 law not agreeing with his health, he entered into mercantile 
 pursuits, which resulted disastrously in 1816, but his loss was 
 our gain. Not long after his failure he began to prepare for 
 the pulpit. Left Harvard University in 1818. In 1819 he 
 was chosen pastor of the Hollis street church, where he 
 remained nineteen years. He is now pastor of a flourishing 
 church in Medford. May he long live to entertain, enlighten, 
 and bless the brotherhood of man. 
 
 The extract which follows is taken from an Address deli- 
 vered to his unrelenting persecutors in the Hollis street church 
 Boston. They assailed him with the most persevering malig- 
 nity because he rebuked them kindly but earnestly and 
 repeatedly for manufacturing and selling intoxicating liquors. 
 He triumphed over them all, for he had the Law as well as 
 the Gospel on his side. Want of space is my excuse for not 
 indulging the reader with a more extended specimen of Mr. 
 Pierpont's chaste and beautiful prose. 
 
 " And now, my brethren, as this may possibly be the last 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 235 
 
 counsel that, as your minister, I may ever have an opportunity 
 to give you, those of you especially, who have been most 
 active in disquieting the sheep of this Christian fold, by your 
 persecution of its shepherd indulge me, I pray you, in one 
 word more of counsel. The time is coming when you will 
 thank me for it ; thank me the more heartily, the more 
 promptly you follow it. Desist I counsel you to desist, from- 
 that part of your business which has been the cause of all 
 this unhappy controversy ; the cause of your troubles, and 
 of my trials and triumph for I shall be triumphant at last. 
 Desist from the business that, through the poverty of many, 
 has made you rich that has put you into your palaces by 
 driving them, through hovels and prisons, down into the gates 
 of the grave. Abandon the business that is kindling the 
 fires of hatred upon your own hearth-stones, and pouring 
 poison into the veins* of your children yea, and of your 
 children's children, and sending the shriek of delirium through 
 their chambers the business that is now scourging our good 
 land as pestilence and war have never scourged it ; nay, the 
 business, in prosecuting which you are, even now, carrying a 
 curse to all the continents of the world, and making our 
 country a stench in the nostrils of the nations. I counsel you 
 to stay your hands from this work of destruction, and wash 
 them of this great iniquity, as becomes the disciples of Him 
 who came not to destroy men's lives, but to save them. As 
 His disciples, I counsel you no longer to absent yourselves 
 from your wonted place of worship, and to return to your 
 allegiance to your church and to God. Say to your minister, 
 
236 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 ' Well done, good and faithful servant ! you have faithfully 
 done the work that you were ordained to do. You have 
 neither spared us nor feared us. You have even wounded 
 us ; but faithful are the wounds of a friend. We commend 
 you for your work, and charge you to go on with it, that we 
 may meet together, and rejoice together in the presence of 
 God.' " 
 
OFF-IIAXD TAKINGS. 
 
 237 
 
 HORACE GREELEY. 
 
 THE subject of this sketch is the prince of paragraphists 
 the Napoleon of Essayists. For years he has employed his 
 talents in winding and unwinding the "tangled yarn" of 
 human affairs in Church and State in Philosophy and 
 Politics in Art and Literature. He is the great recording 
 secretary of this Continent, employed by the masses to take 
 notes and print them. His business is to " hold the mirror up 
 to Nature, and show the very age and body of the time its 
 form and pressure." He has the pluck to say as an editor 
 what he feels as a man when he forgets that he is a politi- 
 cian. It is then that we find truth without concealment, and 
 genuine open-heartedness without wire-working behind the 
 curtain. It is then he 
 
 " pours out all as plain 
 
 As downright Shippen, or as old Montaigne." 
 
 Notwithstanding his wayward whims his eccentric man- 
 ners his love of the intangible ideal his faith in Fourierism 
 his responses to spirit-rappers his man-worship when 
 Henry Clay was the human god he is still the model Editor 
 and the leader of the " press gang ;" and the columns of The 
 Tribune afford a panoramic view of the American world as it 
 
238 CRAYON' SKETPHKS AN T r> 
 
 is. Greeley is a pen pugilist (but never a bully), and woe 
 betide the unlucky wight that begins the assault. Is he a 
 clergyman ? then duodecimos, octavos, and quartos of eccle- 
 siastical history will be hurled at his head, and he cannot 
 dodge them though he makes a coward's castle of the pulpit. 
 
 Is he a political man ? then he must bo right, or he will 
 be flagellated, if he ventures to measure lances with one who 
 is a walking register, and familiar with every important politi- 
 cal event that has transpired for the last twenty years. He 
 has more than a usual knowledge of the past. His writings 
 embrace every variety of style classic beauty, exquisite 
 poetry, graphic description, vapid commonplace, the full sun- 
 blaze of originality, the moon in the mist, and the ignis fatuus 
 light of whimsical nonsense. It is but just, however, to say, 
 that he rarely troubles his readers with verbiage or pedantry. 
 He gives us his immediate impressions * of things, and his 
 style depends somewhat upon the state of his health and the 
 leisure at his disposal. He does not stop to tack on syllables 
 to make a sentence even, nor measure periods so that they 
 will be as mathematically correct as the vibrations of a pen- 
 dulum ; but he dashes on, heedless of consequences. His 
 widely circulated journal contains good specimens of acute 
 wit, critical reasoning, solid argument, brilliant invective, pro- 
 found philosophy, beautiful poetry, and moving eloquence, 
 mixed with the opposites of these. 
 
 Mr. Greeley is entirely free from heartless bigotry or hypo- 
 critical obstinacy. He is benevolent in his disposition, affable 
 and sociable in his manners, often speaks in public, and, owing 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 239 
 
 to his fame as a writer, attracts considerable attention ; but he 
 is pretty sure to disappoint his hearers, for he has not suffi- 
 cient eloquence as an orator, to buoy up the reputation he has 
 won as a writer. His manner is uncouth, his matter often 
 dry, and his person by no means prepossessing. Here permit 
 nie to say, that his careless, slipshod, slovenly way of dressing 
 his person, has rendered him a man of mark and remark. 
 His white hat and white coat have been immortalized, because 
 they are ever worn and everlasting. If this Whig prophet 
 had more dignity and more dandyism, he would be less 
 popular with the masses, but a great favorite with uppercrust- 
 dom. 
 
 Mr. Greeley is a practical printer, and has risen to his pre- 
 sent eminence by his untiring industry, his unconquerable 
 perseverance, and extraordinary talents. No man in this 
 nation controls public opinion more than he. He is a Grand 
 Marshal in the great army of reformers, not afraid or ashamed 
 to speak to commit himself, save when his party may suffer 
 by the act. He is a patriot Whig, a philanthropic Whig, a 
 temperance Whig, an anti-slavery Whig, a Whig writer, a 
 Whig speaker, the editor of a Whig paper, and that paper 
 one of the very best in the United States. 
 
 No wonder Mr. Greeley knows so well how to meet the 
 wants and wishes of his patrons, for he has been in the world 
 ever since he was born, and has been in various situations in life 
 charcoal burner and member of Congress. Mr. Greeley is 
 about fortv years of age, of nervous temperament, has a large 
 too large for his vital organs a pale complexion, small 
 
240 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 eyes, sunk under a dumpling forehead, a very scanty supply 
 of very soft, white hair (not grey), which will not grow in 
 front, but makes up the deficiency by a patriarchal over- 
 growth behind. 
 
 When the reader beholds a man with an old white hat 
 stuck on the back of the cranium, and leaving the forehead 
 bare, a shirt-collar neckerchiefless and unbuttoned, a vest 
 which looks as though it had been put on with a pitch-fork, 
 a pair of trowsers with one leg stuck in a coarse boot and the 
 other striving in vain to reach the ankle, a coat that seems 
 to 'have been blown upon his back, and pockets filled with 
 exchange papers he may be sure he sees Horace Greeley. 
 
 This gentleman is a dietarian ; eats coarse, plain food, 
 drinks nothing but cold water, bathes daily, and sleeps upon 
 a hard bed. 
 
 In conclusion, permit me to say, that Mr. Greeley is a man 
 whose virtuous life, abstemious habits, generous deeds, and 
 magnificent talents, entitle him to the admiration of his fellow 
 men. 
 
 The following sketch of Horace Greeley " at home" we re- 
 cently found in a newspaper, the name of which we do not 
 now remember. 
 
 Some of our readers may like to hear of Horace Greeley, in 
 his sanctum, and for their benefit we quote a description of 
 these indispensable " appendages " to the leading newspaper 
 establishment of the country. 
 
 Mr. Greeley's personal appearance and eccentricities are 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 241 
 
 known the country through ; the former, doubtless, better, pre- 
 vious to his European tour and visit to the World's Fair, than 
 since, as he is said to have returned home in costume which 
 would pass current on the Boulevards of Paris. Despite this 
 " turning of the coats," as long as he shall be remembered, 
 even so long will the fame of that very white integument, with 
 hat, boots and etceteras, also survive in the memory of man. 
 Accompanied by the reader, let us make our way to the 
 fourth story of the 'Tribune Buildings, corner Spruce and 
 Nassau streets, opposite the City Hall ' as the notice on the 
 first page of the ' Tribune ' directs us. Passing through a good- 
 sized room in which we see half a dozen men busily engaged 
 with pen, ink, and paper we enter a small snug apartment. 
 Mr. Greeley is invariably " at home," except when travelling 
 abroad, which he does pretty often, at the proper season, of 
 late years. We take it for granted, therefore, that he is at 
 his post, as we make him our imaginary call. There ho 
 stands at a desk, much like a plain counting-room desk, 
 totally absorbed in writing or in his papers. This desk is 
 very high, reaching nearly or quite to a level with his eyes, 
 and his arm rests upon it, the elbow higher than his head. 
 We believe he invariably writes in a standing position, and 
 his desk is so constructed (as we have intimated) that he looks 
 up rather than down to his paper. He is so constant at his 
 work and so near-sighted withal, that he is obliged to follo\v 
 this habit, or bend quite double. There are papers, pamphlets 
 and a book or two on his desk, and quantities of the forme; 
 scattered over the $opr 
 
 U 
 
242 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 The distinguished Editor does not notice us as we enter the 
 room, nor would he apprehend that he was intruded upon 
 were we to remain all day and not make ourselves known. 
 If we are strangers, and it is apparent that we " drop in " out 
 of mere idle curiosity, when he has nodded his head to us, in 
 response to our interruption, he resumes his labors, and we 
 may as well " clear out," first as last, for we shall receive no 
 further attention from him. Those unacquainted with his 
 business might well consider this "hard usage," but the 
 reasonable reader (whom we are presumed to have in our 
 company) will recognise this course of conduct, as a rule. 
 His daily visiters may be reckoned by the hundred, and were 
 he to play " the agreeable " to each and every one, the sum 
 total of his day's work would count an insignificant footing. 
 On the other hand if we happen to be " particular friends," 
 politically, he will give us due attention, and we shall get 
 posted up on the " state of things," and very likely receive some 
 excellent practical advice, touching our future public events. 
 
 Mr. Greeley has been through life emphatically a great 
 worker. Otherwise, it is plain, he could never have accom- 
 plished the immense amount of work he has done. A near 
 friend of his, at the time when he first independently ventured 
 into newspaperdom, has assured us that he closely applied 
 himself from fifteen to eighteen hours per day. Since he has 
 become firmly established, he has in a degree, relaxed his 
 efforts, but we know of no harder working editor, at this 
 day and that is saying a good deal for Mr. Greeley's industry 
 and perseverance. 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 243 
 
 Mr. Greeley is a quick composer and a rapid writer. 
 Printers pronounce his manuscript decidedly worse than that 
 of any other editor in the land, which is setting it at a very 
 low notch indeed. In putting it in type, they declare they 
 take it for what it ought to be, rather than what it seems to 
 be. Lines on paper are of no use to him ; he persists that 
 the pen should be a free agent, and, to be consistent, lets it 
 take pretty much its own course. The fac simile of Byron's 
 chirography in the large edition of this writer's works is really 
 reasonable, compared with Greeley's ordinary manuscript. 
 
 We have, perhaps, deviated somewhat from the object of 
 our visit ; but, as we have described, we claim to belong 
 exclusively to Greeley and his sanctum sanctorum. This last 
 is a perfectly plain, unpretending room, and the only article 
 in it having anything the air- of luxuriousness is a good old- 
 fashioned lounge, upon which, it is said, he sometimes takes a 
 snooze. We are told that this remarkable man has the very 
 convenient faculty of working as long as there is anything to 
 be done, and then sitting down in a chair, or reclining upon 
 his lounge, and finding refreshing rest in sleep. Truly, a rare 
 and a comfortable habit, and admirably adapted to the neces- 
 sities of such a man. 
 
 But, having exhausted our knowledge and " said our say " 
 of the room and its occupant, remembering that we treat of 
 one, with whom the corner-stone of all rhetorical virtues is to 
 stop when you are done, let us take ourselves off casting back 
 a lingering glance at the form of our friend, at his work, with 
 brain, and quill, and nose converged and concentrate and 
 
244 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 sending up our earnest aspirations that he may live to stand 
 at his old desk, and drive his powerful and faithful pen for 
 the Truth and Right, and so " leave him alone in his glory." 
 
 In the year 1830 and 1831, he worked as an apprentice in 
 a printing office in Erie, Pa., for fifty dollars a year ; out of 
 that sum he saved enough to buy his father a yoke of steers 
 $25 or $30 clothed himself, and laid by what paid his 
 expenses to New York. His father at that time was very 
 poor, living on a small piece of rugged hemlock land, near 
 the line of Crawford co., Pa., and Chatauque county, N. Y. 
 The whole of the worldly gear of Horace, when he started for 
 the city to make his fortune, might be summed up in a short 
 schedule a suit of blue cotton jeans, two brown shirts, chip 
 hat, and brogans, and less than five dollars in money. 
 
 And now, at this moment, he is wielding an influence 
 greater perhaps than any other man in America. He is the 
 editor-in-chief of the New York Tribune. Mr. Greeley is 
 a model worker, temperate, economical, industrious, and a 
 ready writer. He will make a mark upon the world, and be 
 numbered among the leading spirits of the NINETEENTH CEN- 
 TURY. 
 
OFJf-HAND TAKINGS. 
 
 MOSES GRANT. 
 
 MOSES GRANT has obtained a world-wide celebrity, by his 
 untiring efforts to ameliorate the condition of the unfortunate 
 children of poverty and sorrow. The widow and the orphan 
 have reason to rise up and call him blessed. The drunkard 
 and the prisoner have abundant cause to remember him 
 gratefully, for his labor of love. Although advanced in years, 
 he has the vigor, forecast, and decision of the prime of life. 
 Between the hours of eight and one, in the morning, he 
 may be found every working-day in his office, serving the 
 poor. Groups of men, women, and children, of every com- 
 plexion, from every country, may be seen at his office every 
 forenoon, soliciting aid and advice. The dusky African, the 
 mercurial Celt, the solid Englishman, the chattering French- 
 man, the lymphatic German, and the exiled Hungarian. One 
 sits on a bench at the window, eating a bowl of soup another 
 stoops down to fit a pair of shoes to his feet another strips 
 the rags from his back and puts on a warm jacket. Look at 
 the procession passing through the gate. Here is a boy with 
 a bag of rice, there is a girl with a loaf of bread, yonder is a 
 woman with a basket of provisions. See that red-faced young 
 man, his home is in the country, but he last night fell among 
 
246 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 thieves, between Broad and Beacon streets, and he has just 
 borrowed a sum sufficient to take him to his parents. That 
 modest woman, so plainly yet so neatly dressed, suffered 
 uncomplainingly, until pinching hunger compelled her to soli- 
 cit charity her immediate wants are supplied, and employ- 
 ment will be procured for her. The man with a slouched 
 hat and seedy coat has signed the pledge, and left his brandy 
 bottle among the curiosities in the Deacon's temperance 
 museum. There comes the porter with a stack of letters and 
 papers from the post-office the former will be answered and 
 the latter examined, before the rising of to-morrow's sun. 
 
 It is now noon. The sad faced, broken-hearted, and down- 
 trodden procession, has passed away. from the beautiful resi- 
 dence, and the owner and occupant of the mansion hurries 
 down to his place of business, from that to the bank, and then 
 home again, in time to dine. After dinner he calls for his 
 carriage, and takes a poor boy to the Farm School dropping 
 in at South Boston to see the juvenile offenders, and calling, 
 on his return, to see a sick woman, and administer such con- 
 solation and assistance as he can render. Her lips are white 
 as the wild white rose, but she calls for blessings to descend 
 upon kind friends, whose visits are better than medicine to 
 her aching frame ar^l breaking heart. 
 
 The subject of this sketch is never idle. Now presiding at 
 a Mass Meeting on the Common, or in Faneuil Hall, or in 
 Tremont Temple then making a speech to the convicts in 
 Charleston Prison, or visiting the paupers at Deer Island 
 or attending to his official business at the Board of Aldermen 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 247 
 
 or his duties as an office bearer in the Brattle street Church, 
 where his father served before him, in the same capacity of 
 Deacon. 
 
 His father was one of the brave men who threw the tea 
 overboard in Boston harbor. Mr. Grant is the senior partner 
 in a large paper establishment, Overseer of the Poor, Almoner 
 for the benevolent who choose to contribute of their abundance 
 for the relief of the distressed ; President of the Boston Tem- 
 perance Society, and a director in many other institutions. 
 He is a man of fortune, has a good education, and has visited 
 Europe. He writes a sensible letter, and makes a practical 
 speech ; is peculiarly happy in his remarks to children, and 
 always a welcome visitor at all juvenile demonstrations. For 
 many years he has been identified with the temperance cause. 
 His house, and purse, and heart, are ever open for the advance- 
 ment of, his favorite enterprise. He is the unfaltering friend 
 and patron of that eminent orator, J. B. Gough, and stood by 
 his side in the hour of trial, when summer friends forsook 
 him. 
 
 It is rather difficult to describe his person. The portrait 
 in the American Temperance Magazine is a pretty fair resem- 
 blance, although not a perfect likeness. He has brown hair 
 sprinkled with lines of silver blue eyes, thin face, cheeks 
 somewhat sunken, is rather under the medium size. He is 
 of the nervous-sanguine temperament ; has a singular habit 
 oi twitching the muscles of his face and shrugging his shoul- 
 ders when excited ; often speaks abruptly, when pressed with 
 business, and does not always appear to the best advantage 
 
248 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 at first sight, but wears well and "improves on acquaintance." 
 In a word, he is a man of sound judgment, superior business 
 talents, a practical philanthropist, and a sincere Christian. 
 For many years he has been a hero in the battle-field of life, 
 and many would be willing to give a dukedom to possess the 
 laurels and golden honors he has won. 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 249 
 
 GEORGE N. BRIGGS. 
 
 Lives of great men all remind us 
 
 We may make our lives sublime, 
 And, departing, leave behind us 
 
 Foot-prints on the sands of time. 
 
 LONGFELLOW. 
 
 His Excellency, GEORGE N. BRIGGS, is an American 
 nobleman in the full-orbed manhood of life. He is robust, 
 of broad build, and medium height. His eyes are blue, and 
 his brown hair is tinged with the frost of more than fifty 
 winters. His forehead is wide and high, and indicates more 
 than a mediocrity of intellect, and his countenance is of a 
 serious and thoughtful cast. He dresses plainly, and never 
 wears a collar above his cravat. We attribute this freak of 
 taste to his innate love of liberty. He certainly is unlike the 
 drunkard who was such an ultra republican he would not 
 wear a crown in his hat. He belongs to the Baptist church, 
 and is one of its most efficient anfl influential members. He 
 takes a deep and lively interest in the religious and reforma- 
 tory movements of the age. In the temperance ranks he has 
 fought many battles and gained many victories. When for- 
 gotten as Governor of the glorious old Commonwealth of 
 Massachusetts, he will be gratefully remembered as having 
 been a successful champion of the temperance enterprise. 
 
 Gov. Briggs recentlv manifested a disposition to secura 
 11* 
 
250 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 further legislation on the subject of temperance, and he did 
 not handle that question as good old Izaak Walton did the 
 frog he used for a bait, touching it tenderly, as though he 
 would put the hook into its mouth without hurting it. In 
 this way he displeased the publicans and sinners more than 
 he did the friends of the total abstinence cause. He is always 
 right on this question, and deserves great credit for his devo- 
 tion to the principles of the pledge, and his courageous 
 advocacy of its doctrines. It is difficult for a politician to be 
 a philanthropist, but he is more of the latter than the former, 
 He is not a bogus republican, friendly on election days and 
 forgetful at other times. He is not a hypocrite, who spreads 
 palm leaves in the path of Jesus when he is popular in 
 Jerusalem, and denies him after he is nailed to the cross. He 
 believes men live in the deeds they do, and not in the noise 
 they make ; in the thoughts they have, and not in the breaths 
 they draw ; in the beatings of a good heart, and not in the 
 throbbings of a gold repeater. 
 
 When the Hon. Edward Everett delivered the eujogy on 
 the death of the lamented Adams, every little great man in 
 the city, who had an opportunity to make a display, was bedi- 
 zened with the tinselry, jewelry, and regalia of office ; but the 
 Governor, who is a wise man and a good man, wore a plain 
 citizen's dress, marked with a simple badge of mourning. 
 He knows that birth, genius, talent, learning, wealth, and per- 
 sonal attractions do not alone make one man better than 
 another. A man may carry a silver-headed cane and wear a 
 wooden head. He may learn the time he squanders from a 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 251 
 
 gold watch, while his heart is as corrupt as a nest of unclean 
 birds. He may have a soft hand at one end of his arm and 
 a softer head at the other. A fool with a fortune is pretty 
 sure to clothe his back more than he cultivates his brains. 
 
 Governor Briggs was apprenticed to the hatting business 
 at an early period of his life, and although he afterwards 
 became a lawyer, he never treated working men with disre- 
 spect. He loves to grasp the hand hardened by toil, and 
 whether a man's face be bronzed at the plough or bleached in 
 the mill, whether he be clad in ruffles or in rags, he is sure to 
 meet with a warm and welcome and unostentatious reception 
 when introduced to George N. Briggs. He is not so eminent 
 a lawyer as he is a Governor, although he is considered an 
 Aristides in his profession. He is an attractive speaker, and 
 is always ready on all suitable occasions to give free utterance 
 to his manly sentiments. He is more fluent than eloquent, 
 more solid than brilliant, more inclined to elaborate arguments 
 and relate facts than to round periods and polish sentences. 
 When his voice is not hoarse, and his mind is roused, he will 
 occasionally thrill the heart like a blast from a trumpet. 
 
 During his stay in Congress he organized a Congressional 
 Temperance Society, which did a vast amount of good, but, 
 unfortunately, it died out soon after he returned to Massa- 
 chusetts. In the Sabbath School this distinguished man is 
 " at home." Let the nobles of the land copy his example in 
 this respect, and make themselves useful in their day and 
 generation. . 
 
 Governor Briggs has, among his political opponents, many 
 
252 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 personal friends. He doubtless has imperfections, but few 
 public men have less. It is said that he has exercised too 
 much clemency towards convicts whom he has pardoned ; if 
 this be a fault, it leans towards the side of virtue. Some think 
 his course respecting the Mexican war reprehensible, but this 
 is not the time nor the place to investigate that matter. 
 Some complain that he has not sufficiently imbibed the spirit 
 of anti-slavery, but as we are not all organized, nor educated, 
 nor situated alike, we must make some allowance for differ- 
 ences of opinion. Whatever may be the opinion of some, he 
 will long b remembered as a consistent Christian, and the 
 model Governor of the Old Bav State. 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. * 253 
 
 THEODORE PARKER. 
 
 "This, like a public inn, provides a treat, 
 Where each promiscuous guest sits down to eat; 
 And such this mental food as we may call 
 Something to all men, and to some men all." 
 
 LET the reader imagine it is Sunday morning. The bells 
 are tolling, and the good church-going people of Boston are 
 wending their way to the various places of worship which 
 are open for religious services. Suppose we spend an hour 
 this forenoon at the Melodeon, and hear the celebrated 
 philanthropist who usually preaches there. 
 
 Mr. Parker is seated in an arm-chair on the platform. 
 A Bible and a bunch of flowers are on the desk in front of 
 him, and it is difficult to say beforehand from which of the 
 two he will select his text. He will doubtless glorify the 
 fragrant and beautiful blossoms, and condemn some parts of 
 the inspired volume, before he concludes his address. See 
 him rise slowly and walk gently toward the desk. He now 
 leans upon it, closes his eyes, clasps his hands, and commen- 
 ces prayer, in an inaudible voice. Now the hoarse whisper 
 becomes a low, murmuring sound. Now you hear words, 
 and a whole sentence occasionally, and wish you had come 
 earlier so as to have obtained a seat nearer the preacher. 
 
254 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 Now, by opening your ears and watching his lips attentively, 
 you can hear his prayer ; but if God is not present, there is 
 no one there who understands it. It abounds with smart 
 maxims, deep philosophical reflections, pious acknowledg- 
 ments, earnest invocations, and reverential promises. 
 
 He has taken his text and commenced reading his manu- 
 script. His voice is rather husky, and his thick lips seem 
 unwilling to part. He now speaks louder and more dis- 
 tinctly ; his lead-like eyes begin to glow with genius, and his 
 bald head seems to shine transparently with thought, while 
 t he utters, in choice and classical English, sentiments so new, 
 so strange, so mighty, and so mad with radicalism, incorrigi- 
 ble conservatives are offended. He is a moral Columbus, 
 who discovers whole continents of thought, and is sure to 
 cause mutiny in the ship he sails in, because he ventures so 
 far from the dry land on which most men build their hopes. 
 Indeed, he is regarded as a theological corsair, and most of 
 our great guns have been levelled at him, but he sails on 
 uninjured, amid the roar of their opposition, although he 
 frequently endangers his own immortal life by mistaking a 
 whale's back for a green island. His philosophy and his 
 divinity do not agree, for his philosophy is more divine than 
 
 .. his divinity. He has but little faith in any part of Scripture 
 that is not apparently susceptible of interpretations favora- 
 
 ! ble to his peculiar views of religious duty, and does not 
 hesitate to ridicule those passages which come in collision 
 with his "utopian" doctrines. In this way he unintention- 
 ally destroys, in the minds of many, all reverence for 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 255 
 
 religion, and obliterates the sense of moral obligation. If 
 his hearers were all . learned philosophers, his lectures would 
 be invaluable to them ; but they consist of all classes. The 
 wise, who sift the wheat from the chaff, may live under his 
 teaching, but the mass, who swallow everything he offers, 
 are in danger of suffering all the pangs of spiritual starva- 
 tion. 
 
 He is a true and thorough reformer, and advocates with 
 great zeal and greater ability the peace reform, the temper- 
 ance reform, the anti-slavery and anti-hanging reforms. In 
 the course of his sermon he is sure to apply the rod to 
 " Uncle Sam's prize-fighters," the Army and the Navy. 
 The old autocrat Alcohol will be flagellated the South will 
 receive a blow here the church will get a whack there 
 and the gallows will be kicked over yonder. He reminds 
 one of the schoolmasters of ancient times, but he- serves 
 great men as they did little boys. Statesmen, clergymen, 
 aristocrats, are called up and publicly chastised, if they do 
 not say their lessons correctly. A few days ago, Daniel 
 Webster had to hold out his hand and feel the ferrule Gen. 
 Cass is frequently compelled to stand on the dunce-block at 
 the Melodeon Foote has to wear the cap and bells every 
 time he threatens to hang or shoot his fellow Senators he 
 pats Benton on the shoulders by way of encouragement, 
 when he speaks for freedom John P. Hale he thinks is a 
 precocious child of great promise Ralph Waldo Emerson 
 is so far advanced in knowledge, he would employ him as j 
 usher in his school. 
 
256 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 Mr. Parker's matter is more fascinating than his manner. 
 Indeed, he is often awkward in his gestures and indistinct in 
 his utterance, but he has the happy faculty of compressing a 
 volume of meaning in a few simple words. He never appears 
 before an audience without giving his hearers at least one 
 drop of fragrance which contains the concentrated essence of 
 a whole garden of roses. 
 
 He is the poor man's friend, although he regards poverty 
 as an unmitigated curse and would never be like the hypo- 
 crites who pass by on the other side when humanity ia 
 prostrate, bleeding, and beseeching help. He has an extra- 
 ordinary share of moral courage, and wages war like a hero, 
 against the kingdom of scoundreldom. He is fond of the 
 company of the gods, and talks about Mars, Jupiter, Neptune, 
 as though they had been his school-mates ; is a modern 
 among the ancients, an ancient amongst the moderns ; will 
 tell you with perfect coolness, that Paul was not so good a 
 writer as Socrates ; that Jesus was a perfect man, that by-and- 
 by there will be other men as perfect as Jesus ; and that the 
 statutes of Moses are not equal to those of Massachusetts. 
 He seems to spurn what he cannot fathom, and condemn 
 what he cannot comprehend. He doubts whether Christ 
 could perform miracles, because he cannot perform miracles 
 himself; thinks inspiration is reason magnetized; the Bible an 
 interesting, but not always reliable history of the Jews, the 
 popular religion of the times a delusive sham; loves to 
 trace human progress from the barbarous ages to the present 
 time, and then look forward to a golden future. "Were he to 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 25 Y 
 
 manifest more reverence for the truths of revelation, and show 
 that he placed as much faith in God as he does in man, he 
 would, with his varied learning and great talents, accomplish 
 an immeasurable amount of good ; and many young men who 
 have more faith in a newspaper than they have in the New 
 Testament, would endorse its sentiments and follow the pre- 
 cepts of that heavenly guide. 
 
 Mr. Parker is a chaste and elegant writer, his works are 
 widely circulated and read by scholars on both continents. 
 Although he is denounced as an infidel by his opponents, he 
 certainly behaves like a Christian in his private intercourse 
 with his fellow men. He thinks there is nothing in the 
 world so sacred as man, which accounts for the fact that he 
 hates flogging in the Navy, and is opposed to hanging, and 
 oppression, and intemperance, and the butchery of the battle- 
 field. 
 
 He is upwards of forty years of age, rather under the 
 medium stature, head large and bald, and his face dull, until 
 he becomes animated before an audience ; is quite popular as 
 a lyceurn lecturer, and is in great demand during the 
 lecturing season. 
 
 The subject of this sketch, though wrong in theory, is 
 right in practice, and has courage enough to seize the social 
 and public evils by the throat. We, as a community, are 
 deeply indebted to him for his efforts to improve the condi- 
 tion of the unfortunate. He " goes " for baths, ventilators, 
 hard beds, coarse food, cold water, and cheerfulness, and 
 "goes" against tobacco, hot slops, quack medicines, thin 
 
258 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 shoes, and tight lacing ; hates bigotry, gluttony, drunkenness, 
 poverty, war, and slavery, and loves purity, fidelity, liberty, 
 equality, fraternity. He is one of the most learned and 
 gifted men in America, and is a better Christian than some of 
 his .bigoted detractors, who say he is like Noah's carpenters, 
 who built a ship for other folks to sail in, and yet were 
 drowned themselves. 
 
 The following passage in eulogy of Amos Lawrence, who 
 died in this city on the 31st ult., is from a sermon by Rev. 
 Theodore Parker, preached on the next Sabbath. We copy 
 from the " Commonwealth :" 
 
 " Only two days ago, there died in this city, a man rich in 
 money, but far more rich' in manhood. I suppose he had his 
 faults, his deformities of character. Of course he had. It 
 takes many to make up a complete man. Humanity is so 
 wide and deep that all the world cannot drink it dry. He 
 came here poor ; from a country town. He came with 
 nothing nothing but himself, I mean , and a man is not 
 appraised, only taxed. He came obscure ; nobody knew 
 AMOS LAWRENCE forty-five years ago, nor cared whether the 
 handkerchief in which he carried his wardrobe, trudging to 
 town, was large or little. He acquired a large estate : got it 
 by honest industry, forecast, prudence, thrift. He earned 
 what he got, and a great deal more. He was proud of his life ; 
 honorably proud that he made his own fortune, and started 
 with 'nothing but his hands.' Sometimes he took gentle- 
 men to Groton, and showed them half-a-mile of stone-wal] 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 259 
 
 which the boy Amos had laid on the paternal homestead. 
 This was something- for a rich merchant to be proud of. 
 
 " He knew what few men understand when to stop 
 accumulating. At the age when the summer of passion has 
 grown cool, and the winter of ambition begins seriously to set 
 in ; when avarice and love of power, of distinction and of 
 office, begin to take hold of men ; when the leaves of distinc- 
 tive generosity fall off, and the selfish bark begins to tighten 
 about the man some twenty years ago, when he had 
 acquired a large estate, he said to himself ' Enough ! No 
 more accumulation of that sort to make me a miser, and my 
 children worse than misers.' So he sought to use nobly what 
 he had manfully won. He didn't keep 
 
 ' A brave old house, at a bountiful rate, 
 With half-a-score of servants to wait at the gate.' 
 
 He lived comfortably, but discreetly. 
 
 " His charity was greater than his estate. In the last 
 twenty or thirty years, he has given away to the poor a 
 larger fortune than he has left to his family. But he gave 
 with as much wisdom as generosity. His money lengthened 
 his arm, because hq had a good heart in his bosom. He 
 looked up his old customers whom he had known in his 
 poorer days which were their rich ones and helped them in 
 their need. He sought the poor of this city, and its neigh- 
 borhood, and gave them his gold, his attention, and the 
 sympathy of his heart. He prayed for the poor, but prayed 
 gold. He built Churches not for his own sect alone, for he 
 
260 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 had piety without narrowness, and took religion in a natural 
 way ; churches for Methodists, Baptists, Unitarians, for poor, 
 oppressed black men, fugitive slaves in Canada, nay, more, 
 he helped them in their flight. He helped colleges gave 
 them libraries, and philosophical apparatus. He sought out 
 young men of talents and character, but poor, and struggling 
 for education, and made a long arm to reach down to their 
 need, sending parcels of books, pieces of cloth to make a 
 scholar's jacket or cloak, or money to pay his term bills. He 
 lent money, when the loan was better than the gift. That 
 bountiful hand was felt on the shore of the Pacific. He was 
 his own executor, and the trustee of his own charity funds. 
 He didn't leave it for his heirs to distribute his benevolence at 
 their cost. At his own cost, he administered the benefactions 
 of his testament. At the end of a fortunate year, he once 
 found thirty thousand dollars more than he looked for, as his 
 share of the annual profits. In a month he had invested it 
 all in various charities. He couldn't eat his morsel alone 
 the good man ! 
 
 " His benevolence came out also in smaller things, in his 
 daily life. He let the boys cling on behind his carriage 
 grown men did so, but invisibly ; he gave sleigh-rides to boys 
 and girls, and had a gentle word and kindly smile for all he met. 
 
 " He coveted no distinction. He had no title, and wasn't 
 a 'General,' a 'Colonel,' a 'Captain,' or 'Honorable' only 
 plain * Mister,' ' Esquire,' and ' Deacon,' at the end. 
 
 " His charity was as unostentatious as the dew in summer. 
 Blessing the giver by the motive, the receiver by the quicker 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGP. 261 
 
 life and greener growth, it made no noise in falling to the 
 ground. In Boston, which suspiciously scrutinizes righteous- 
 ness with the same eye that blinks at the most hideous 
 profligacy, though as public asthe street even the daily 
 press never accused his charity of loving to be looked at. 
 
 " Of good judgment, good common-sense, careful, exact, 
 methodical, diligent, he was not a man of great intellect. Ho 
 had no uncommon culture of the understanding or the imagi- 
 nation, and of the higher reason still less. But in respect of 
 the greater faculties in respect of conscience, affection, the 
 religious element, he was well-born, well-bred, and eminently 
 well disciplined by himself. 
 
 " He was truly a religious man. I do not mean to say he 
 thought as Calvin or Luther thought, or believed by Peter, 
 James, or John. Perhaps he believed some things which the 
 apostles newr thought of, and rejected others which they all 
 held in reverence. When I say that he was a religious man, 
 I mean he loved God, and loved men. He had no more 
 doubt that God would receive him to Heaven, than that he 
 himself would make all men happy if he could. Reverencing 
 God, he reverenced the laws of God I mean the natural laws 
 of morality the laws 'of justice and of love. His religion 
 was not ascetic, but good-natured and of a cheerful counte- 
 nance. His piety became morality. The first rule that he 
 took to his counting-house was the Golden Rule ; he never / 
 laid it by, buying and selling and giving by that standard 
 measure. So he travelled along, on that path which widens 
 and brightens as it leads to heaven. 
 
262 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 *' Here was a man who knew the odds between the Means 
 of Living and the Ends of Life. He knew the true use of 
 . riches. They served as a material basis for great manly 
 excellence. His ton of gold was a power to feed, to clothe, to 
 house, and warm, and comfort needy men ; a power to educate 
 the mind, to cheer the affections, to bless the soul. To many 
 a poor boy, to many a sad mother, he gave a 'merry Christ- 
 mas' on the earth, and now in due time, God has taken him 
 to celebrate Epiphany and New Year's day in Heaven !" 
 


 
OFF-IIA\n TAKINGS. 203 
 
 NEAL DOW. 
 
 THE man who had the talent to fra.me and the courage to 
 execute the Maine Law, deserves to be honored and remem- 
 bered by every patriot and philanthropist in our broad free 
 land. Neal Dow is the Kossuth of the temperance revolu- 
 tion, and his name is already registered in the book of fame, 
 " among the few, the immortal names not born to die." 
 Poets sing his praise, painters put his shadow on their can- 
 vass historians record his deeds, and multitudes of appreci- 
 ating mothers will call their children by his name. 
 
 We wrote pledges, made speeches, obtained signatures, 
 foimed societies, and framed laws, to suppress intemperance ; 
 we tried moral, magnetic, Bible, and ballot-box suasion ; we 
 plead, and prayed, and promised, and did incalculable good, 
 but failed to accomplish the entire extinction of the rum traf- 
 fic, the consummation so devoutly desired. We were brought 
 to a moral Panama, with a gulf of billows rolling between us 
 and a golden California beyond, without bridge or boat to 
 carry us safely over to the land of promise, when N"eal Dow, 
 who understood every rope in the ship, took the helm, and 
 piloted our storm-beaten vessel into the harbor of safety. 
 
 Yes, a private citizen of Maine, possessing the stern will 
 and Puritan zeal " of the earlier anc! better day," arose in the 
 
269 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 common sellers shall be heavily fined and imprisoned for per- 
 sisting in violating the law that no lawless rum-seller shall 
 be allowed to sit as a juror on a rum suit that liquors may 
 be searched for, seized, and destroyed that in case of appeal, 
 bonds must be given that the case will be prosecuted, and if 
 the judgment goes against the defendant, he must pay 
 double the fine and suffer double the imprisonment, <fec., &c, 
 Read the law, it is a good one. It has not been pared down 
 by abridgment, nor patched up with amendments. It is the 
 people's law, and not the law of politicians. It is a terror tc 
 those who do ill, and a praise to those who do well. It is a 
 fire annihilator, and works well out doors or in, and the effect 
 is the same whether the building be a small one or a large 
 one. Success to the MAIN LAW, which is the Law of Maine. 
 With the following impromptu we conclude this sketch : 
 
 - Thy holy laws are stereotyped to deeds, 
 Thy honored name is now our nation's pride ! 
 Upon our cottage walls thy portrait shines ! 
 We call our children by thy magic name ! 
 Our poets laud thee in immortal verse ! 
 Thy monuments in Maine are empty jails, 
 Thy laurels, laws observed and unrepealed, 
 Thy medals, grateful hearts of men redeemed, 
 Thy friends, the noblest of the human race. 
 E'en Legislatures stop to learn thy laws, 
 And nations shout thy name across the deep ! 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 267 
 
 PHILIP S. WHITE. 
 
 EVERYBODY said, " Let us go to the great meeting at Tre- 
 mont Temple, this evening, and hear Philip S. White, the 
 distinguished champion of the temperance reform." At the 
 appointed hour, that magnificent forum was filled with the 
 wealth, beauty, talent, and moral worth of Boston. The 
 immense building was brilliantly illuminated, as though the 
 sun had risen behind the orchestra, and concentrated its rays 
 within the walls of the Temple. On the platform were some 
 of the elite and literati of society, authors, orators, and phi- 
 lanthropists. After the usual preliminaries, at the commence- 
 ment of the exercises, skilful fingers touched the magic keys 
 of the mammoth organ, and we were pleasantly entertained 
 with sweet strains of delightful melody. Sometimes it seemed 
 as if a choir of soft-voiced maidens was enclosed behind those 
 golden columns, singing such rich, lute-like airs, that angels, 
 on their mission of mercy, might have mistaken that place for 
 the gate of heaven. Then the heavy bass would roll like a 
 wave of thunder through the large hall, startling the charmed 
 hearers to a sense of the fact that they were still under the 
 clouds. 
 
 As the music subsided, a tall, portly man, on the mellow 
 side of fifty, arose to aL'ress the audience. "Is that the man 
 
2G8 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 who stood at the head of the Order of the Sons of Tempe- 
 rance ?" was the general inquiry. ** It is," was the response. 
 The " observed of all observers," on this occasion, is a person 
 of good mould, somewhat bald, but makes up that deficiency 
 by a luxurious growth of whiskers, which become his face as 
 feathers do an eagle. He has a large, aquiline, Bardolphian 
 nose, dark eyes, and a wide mouth, indicative of eloquence 
 and good nature. He commences in a conversational pitch 
 of voice ; face dull and passionless as marble ; has spoken ten 
 minutes without saying anything, and the sanguine expecta- 
 tions of the people are sadly disappointed. The hearers bow 
 their heads like bulrushes, and some would leave the meeting 
 but that they hope for better things. He is not quite so prosy 
 now as he was fifteen minutes ago. His voice is deeper and 
 clearer, his utterance more rapid and distinct, and his face shines 
 as though it had been freshly oiled. There is a resurrection 
 now among the bowed heads; he has just made a thrilling 
 appeal, which moved the audience like a shock from an electric 
 battery. Now he relates a tale of pity, which is drawing tears 
 from eyes " unused to weep." Now he surprises his attentive 
 hearers with an unanticipated stroke of humor, which makes 
 them laugh until they shake the tear-drops from their cheeks. 
 All are glad they came now, for the orator is in his happiest 
 mood, his blood is up, and his tongue as free as the pen of a 
 ready writer. He throws light on the question by the corrusca- 
 tions of his attic wit ; drives home a truth by solid argument, 
 and clinches it by a quotation from Scripture ; convulses the au- 
 ditory by using a ludicrous comparison ; convinces them by 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 
 
 269 
 
 presenting sober-faced statistics ; entertains them by relating 
 an appropriate anecdote, and fires their indignation against tha 
 traffic, while the rum-dealers present shake in their shoes. He 
 warns the drinkers with a voice which arouses them like a clap 
 of thunder through a speaking-trumpet. In a word, his spark- 
 ling satire, keen wit, eloquent declamation, happy comparisons, 
 classical allusions, rib-cracking fun, and-heart-melting pathos, 
 render him one of the most efficient public speakers in Ame- 
 rica. 
 
 Mr. White can labor a syllogism, or tell a story, with the 
 same ease that Talleyrand could turn a coffee-mill or a king- 
 dom. He goes for moral, legal, Bible, pocket, and ballot-box 
 Suasion. His inimitable histrionic powers enable him to tell a 
 story admirably. He has almost omnipotent power in swaying 
 the minds and hearts of his hearers, when he is fairly engaged, 
 and has a sea of crystal faces before him. He speaks without 
 notes, and is so careless, withal, that he preserves no minutes 
 of his speeches ; consequently, when he responds to a second 
 invitatkm to visit a place, he is apt to repeat the same stories, 
 although he has an inexhaustible supply of unused material 
 always on hand. He has studied human nature so thoroughly 
 he knows how to reach the hearts of the masses. If the people 
 will but listen to his lectures, they will open their mouths so 
 earnestly he could almost reach their hearts by the way of the 
 oasophagus. Mr. White is personally known on the green 
 mountains of Vermont, on the granite hills of New Hampshire, 
 in the pleasant valley of the Connecticut, on the banks of the 
 Mississippi ; has hosts of friends at the sunny South, at tha 
 
270 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 stormy North, and the far-off West. Years ago ho made the 
 tour of Europe. At that time he was fond of luxurious living 
 and unweaned from the wine-cup ; he was a good judge of 
 Otard and Madeira, and can speak from personal experience on 
 matters pertaining to fashionable drinking. 
 
 Mr. White is a good specimen of a Kentucky gentleman 
 gallant, generous, and urbane. Indeed, he can accommodate 
 himself to any company, and would be a welcome guest at the 
 table of a duke, or feel perfectly at home in the cottage of a 
 peasant. He must have been a studious man in his day, but 
 he has bravely overcome that habit now ; for he would rather 
 hold a man by the button all day, entertaining him by telling 
 stories, than to read a page or write a " stick-full " of matter 
 for a newspaper. When he has a report to make, he will 
 throw the burden, if he can possibly do so, on shoulders not so 
 able to bear it as his own, and he will put off the unwelcome 
 task to the last hour, then dash off an impromptu report, and 
 beauty will break out of statistics and facts, like flowers on the 
 rod of Aaron. Sometimes he visits Subordinate Divisions of 
 his favorite Order, as well as Sections of the juvenile Cadets, 
 to fire the zeal, strengthen the faith, and encourage the hopes 
 of the " Sons " and their sons. I once heard him address one 
 of the latter societies on the evils arising from the use of to- 
 bacco, but, unfortunately, he had that evening quite a gathering 
 -in his own mouth, which somewhat choked his utterance. The 
 not altogether unusual swelling somewhat disappeared before 
 the meeting adjourned, and it is hoped that by this time he 
 has got entirely rid of it. 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 27 1 
 
 Mr. White is, good company, a good story-teller, and a ter 
 ror to all hypochondriacism and dyspepsia. Blessed are they 
 who hear his voice and see his face, for they shall laugh and 
 grow fat. I am no stickler for empty dignity, but remain 
 under the impression that Mr. W. is not so dignified at the 
 fireside as he is in the forum. There are vulgar persons who 
 call him the Hon. Philip S. White when they speak of his 
 public efforts, and yet abbreviate the title to Phil, in their 
 personal interourse with him. He is no favorite with those 
 who will not "give up a 'pint' of doctrine nor a pint of rum," 
 for as the bottle-imp of Asmodeus unroofed the houses of 
 Madrid, for the gratification of Le Sage's servant, so he uncovers 
 the hearts of those whose bigotry or appetite or interest oppose 
 the temperance reformation. Mr. White is by profession a 
 lawyer, and, if I am correctly informed, was at one period of 
 his life Attorney-General of one of the Western Territories. 
 He is proud of his lineage, and is not backward in speaking 
 about his former position in society, which is in bad taste, since 
 he is now in a loftier position than any Baronet of England. 
 
 The fraternity, I think, manifested forecast worthy of their 
 trust when they selected him to be their leader, for his abun- 
 dant self-sacrificing and faithful labors in this country and in 
 the neighboring Provinces, have accomplished incalculable 
 good to the cause in general, and won unfading laurels for him 
 in particular. He is the author of a work entitled the " War 
 of Four Thousand Years, 1 ' and a tract entitled " Vindication 
 of the Order." It is a pity that he did not give a more Chris- 
 tian name to the first, and a matter of regret that he went 
 
272 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 into partnership with others in writing either. His admirers 
 would like to see a book from his own pen, and know that he 
 wrote it. His idea of a national newspaper organ, to be 
 managed by some master-mind of the National Division, does 
 not meet with general approval, because it would be unwise to 
 put such power into the hands of one man , because it would 
 narrow the circulation of the local papers to the starving point ; 
 because one sheet would not suit every meridian ; because the 
 temperance press now in operation is not properly sustained ; 
 because there is as much editorial tact and talent connected 
 with the local press as can be found in the National Division 
 because monopolies are monsters not favorable to the growth 
 of Love, Purity, or Fidelity, the characteristics of our Order. 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 
 
 273 
 
 CHARLES SUMNER. 
 
 NEW YORK is the head-quarters of commerce, a great wil- 
 derness of marble and mortar, the abode of merchant princes 
 and millionaires. Its harbor is crowded with ships from every 
 nation, its mammoth mercantile establishments contain every 
 variety of fabric and produce, its streets are busy as a broken 
 ant-heap, its spires point, like fingers of pilgrims, to the land 
 of the beautiful above, and its grog-shops are plentiful as car- 
 buncles on the face of the toper. It has the best editors, and 
 the poorest speakers, of any city in the Union. Philadelphia 
 is noted for handsome buildings erected on straight lines. It 
 is the metropolis of magazinedom, where Graham and Godey 
 make gold and win golden honors. It is famed for the bro- 
 therly love of its inhabitants, which trait is beautifully displayed 
 in the manner in which they get up rows and send their fel- 
 low-citizens to Heaven. Boston is the bank of New-England, 
 the beacon-light of reform, the seat of science and learning, the 
 forum of chaste, classical, thrilling, heart-quaking, soul-stirring 
 eloquence. There is no city in the United States that contains 
 so much speaking talent as Boston. Baltimore is choleric, 
 noisy, and patriotic ; Philadelphia is fastidious, lymphatic, and 
 metaphysical; Washington is like Babel, where there is a con- 
 fusion of languages, or like a vineyard of lazy laborers, where 
 12* 
 
274 
 
 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 there is a " winey " atmosphere ; New York is energetic, bom- 
 bastic, and original ; Cincinnati is slow of speech, but sound 
 at the heart ; Boston is radical, forcible, eloquent. 
 
 Among the most eminent speakers in the modern Athens, 
 Charles Sumner stands preeminently conspicuous, for tho 
 classic elegance of his style, the Protean power of his thought, 
 and the finished beauty of his illustrations. He is one of the 
 most remarkable men of this remarkable age, and a combi- 
 nation of circumstances have rendered him the darling 
 favorite of good fortune. He was cradled in Faneuil Hall, 
 Judge Story was his teacher, and Harvard University the 
 school in which he was taught. When he had availed him- 
 self of the advantages afforded by this institution of learn- 
 ing, he made the tour of the continent. England, France 
 and Germany contributed liberally to his store of knowledge. 
 If he has not an ample competence, he has what is better 
 an army of friends and a thorough education. 
 
 Charles Suinner is a stockholder in the bank of original 
 thought. We may know he has considerable bullion there, 
 for his drafts are honored at sight, and our first men are his 
 endorsers. He has great power of condensation, without the 
 wearisome monotony which often accompanies the writings 
 and sayings of close thinkers and rigid reasoners. There is a 
 vigorous and graceful stateliness, an easy felicity, a fastidious 
 accuracy, and an imperial dignity in his style, which is both 
 commanding and fascinating. There is a vast breadth of com- 
 prehension and a vast depth of meaning in his matter. There 
 is also a luminous beauty, a Gothic grandeur, a sublime gor- 
 geousness, in his labored and polished essays, which entitle 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 2Yo 
 
 them to the appellation of prose poems. He sometimes invests 
 his ideas in such lively, such attractive, such speaking, sucu 
 magic language, and displays so much philosophical sagacity, 
 so much poetical sensibility, so much profound knowledge of 
 ecclesiastical and political history, the reader and the listener 
 are carried away on the current, while they are admiriug, 
 almost adoring, the man whose kindling words have set their 
 imaginations on fire. 
 
 Mr. Sumner's orations are written with great care. They 
 abound with allusions to the sayings and doings of the ancients, 
 and manifest deep research and profound thought. His bril- 
 liant arguments at the bar have elicited unbounded admira- 
 tion, and his model manner of delivery enhances the value of 
 his eloquent appeals. The dreary desert of a common case is 
 sure to bloom with garden beauty uiider his management. 
 The forum, however, is his/orfe. He has the dignity of Pitt, 
 without his pompous declamation; the sublimity of Burke, 
 without his tedious uniformity ; the vigor of Fox, without hi? 
 roughness. He is not so fluent as the first, not so classical as 
 the second, not so ready and original as the third. He has 
 more solidity but less eloquence than Phillips ; more energy 
 but less originality than Mann; more poetry and as much 
 polish as Everett. His heart is not an island, separated from 
 his head, but a peninsula, uniting one with the other. There 
 is a relationship between the throb of the former and the 
 thought of the latter. There is a joining of impulse an$ intel- 
 lect. The affections and the reflections are brothers and sisters. 
 The heart thinks and feels, the head feels and thinks. 
 
276 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 In tliis respect Mr. Sumner differs from not a few distin- 
 guished men. Sumner believes in Christian law, and throws 
 the weight of his influence, the force of his example, and the 
 skill of his profession, in the scale of the right and true. He 
 is a preacher of peace, a lover of freedom, a worker for prison 
 amelioration in short, a noble soldier in the ranks of reform. 
 With a generous, impulsive nature, he feels the woes and suf- 
 ferings of every portion of the human family. 
 
 Charles Sumner is a popular man. The masses admire him 
 because there is no " dough " in his face, no demagogueism in 
 his politics. The turncoats, flunkeys, time-servers, office-seek- 
 ers, and political hypocrites of every party, fear him as the 
 enemies of Greece did the Athenian orator, but they cannot 
 despise him, they cannot ostracise him, they cannot make him 
 false to his convictions. Hence he is the man the people 
 delight to honor, though he seeks no popular applause. He 
 is now in the prime of manhood, and the star of his fame is 
 in the ascendant. In person, he is tall, well-proportioned, 
 with a low but broad forehead, light magnetic eyes, and a 
 luxuriant growth of dark brown hair. He has a long, uneven 
 face, which is marked with the manly traits for" which he is 
 distinguished. His smile is very sunny and infectious, and his 
 greeting very cordial ; he walks with firmness, and swings his 
 arms (especially when upon the platform) as though he designed 
 to knock down the obstacles in his way ; has a full, rich bass 
 voice, which becomes very seductive as he proceeds in his 
 speech, enlisting irresistibly the attention, and appealing 
 warmly to the feelings. When he is intensely excited, the 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 27*? 
 
 tones of his voice move one like the blast of a bugle. As an 
 orator, he has but few superiors. 
 
 Mr. Sumner would excel as a diplomatist, for he has that 
 peculiar ingenuity and intuitive skill which ,would enable him 
 to disentangle the complicated questions that would come 
 before him for arbitrament. When his party desire to move 
 the political world, they are apt to shift it upon his Atlantean 
 shoulders. Is there a great gulf between Dives the demagogue, 
 and Lazarus of his own league? He will bridge over the 
 chasm, if it can be done, and unite them in mutual friendship, 
 without sacrificing truth and right on the altar of compromise. 
 But some say Mr. Sumner is not sufficiently practical. He 
 hopes to see the dawn of a golden future, and mistakes the 
 scintillating lights of the Northern skies for the sunrise of the 
 millennial day. Although he is ambitious in worthy causes, 
 he is wise, and patiently bides his time, without egotistically 
 thrusting himself before the people ; is fond of fame, but when 
 he is crowned with honors, his modesty is equal to his grati- 
 tude. Has a Faneuil-Hall-full of affectionate admirers in his 
 own city, and multitudes of them elsewhere. 
 
 As might be expected from his heart-sympathies, Mr. Sum- 
 ner early connected himself with the Free Soil party ; indeed, 
 was one 'of its originators, and without question is one of the 
 ablest men in it and politicians of all shades of opinion will 
 agree that that party embodies a large share of intellectual, 
 moral, and personal strength. Recent events in the political 
 affairs of Massachusetts have placed Mr. Sumner conspicuously 
 before the community as a candidate for the United States 
 
278 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 Senate. If he should receive the honor of that post, he would 
 be more of a statesman than a partisan, more of a sound, humane 
 political economist than the mouth-piece of a faction -and I 
 need not say, would do honor to the State he represents. His 
 benevolence of character never will allow him to be a party 
 demagogue, but for all that gives dignity to manhood or exalts 
 true political science, he has every requisite.* 
 
 The following extracts are from a speech delivered in Faneuil 
 Hall, previous to his election to a seat in the Senate of the 
 United States. This speech is not so highly polished nor so 
 argumentative as some of his addresses, but it is the most 
 graphic and eloquent he has uttered. 
 
 "The soul sickens in the contemplation of this legalized 
 outrage. In the dreary annals of the past, there are many 
 acts of shame there are ordinances of monarchs, and laws, 
 which have become a by-word and a hissing to the nations. 
 But, when we consider the country and the age, I ask fear- 
 lessly, What act of shame, what ordinance of monarch, what 
 law can compare in atrocity with this enactment of an Ameri- 
 can Congress ? [' None.'] I do not forget Appius Claudius, 
 the tyrant Decemvir of ancient Rome, condemning Virginia 
 as a slave ; nor Louis XIV., of France, letting slip the dogs 
 of religious persecution by the revocation of the edict of 
 Nantes ; nor Charles I., of England, arousing the patriot-rage 
 of Hampden by the extortion of Ship-money ; nor the British 
 
 * Since the above was written, Mr. Summer has been elected to the United 
 States Senate 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 279 
 
 v 
 
 Parliament, provoking, in our own country, spirits kindred to 
 Harnpden, by the tyranny of the Stamp Act and the Tea Tax. 
 I would not exaggerate ; I wish to keep within bounds ; but j 
 think no person can doubt that the condemnation now affixed 
 to all these transactions, and to their authors, must be the lot 
 hereafter of the Fugitive Slave Bill, and of every one, according 
 to the measure of his influence, who gave it his support. [Three 
 cheers were here given.] Into the immortal catalogue of 
 national crimes this has now passed, drawing after it, by an 
 inexorable necessity, its authors also, .and chiefly him, who, as 
 President of the United States, set his name to the Bill, and 
 breathed into it that final breath without which it would have 
 no life. [Sensation.] Other Presidents may be forgotten ; 
 but the name signed to the Fugitive Slave Bill can never be 
 forgotten. [' Never !'] There are depths of infamy, as there 
 are heights of fame. [Applause.] I regret to say what I 
 must ; but truth compels me. Better for him had he never 
 been born ! [Renewed applause.] Better far for his memory, 
 and for the good name of his children, had he never been 
 President ! [Repeated cheers.] 
 
 "Surely the love of Freedom cannot have so far cooled 
 among us, the descendants of those who opposed the Stamp 
 Act, that we are insensible to the Fugitive Slave Bill. The 
 unconquerable rage of the people, in those other days, com- 
 pelled the Stamp-distributors and inspectors to renounce their 
 offices, and held up to detestation all who dared to speak in 
 favor of the Stamps. And shall we be more tolerant of those 
 who volunteer in favor of this Bill ? [* No ! no !'] more 
 
2RO CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 'i" 1 
 
 tolerant of the Slave-hunter, who, under its safeguard, pursues 
 his prey upon our soil ? ['No! no !'] The Stamp Act could 
 not be executed here * Can the Fugitive Slave Bill ? 
 ['Never!'] 
 
 " And here, sir, let me say, that it becomes me to speak 
 with peculiar caution. It happens to me to sustain an impor- 
 tant relation to this Bill. Early in professional life I was 
 designated by the late Mr. Justice Story one of the Com- 
 missioners of the Courts of the United States, and though I 
 have not very often exercised the functions of this post, yet 
 my name is still upon the list. As such I am one of those 
 before whom, under the recent Act of Congress, the panting 
 fugitive may be brought for the decision of the question 
 whether he is a freeman or slave. But, while it becomes me 
 to speak with caution, I shall not hesitate to speak with plain- 
 ness. I cannot forget that I am a man, although I am a 
 Commissioner. [Enthusiastic cheers.] 
 
 " Did the same spirit which inspired our fathers, inspire the 
 community now, the marshals, and every magistrate who 
 regarded this law as having any constitutional obligation, 
 would resign rather than presume to execute it. This, how- 
 ever, is too much to expect from all at present. But I will 
 not judge them. To their own consciences I leave them. 
 Surely, no person of humane feelings, and with any true sense 
 of justice living in a land ' where bells have tolled to 
 church ' whatever may be the apology of public station, 
 could fail to recoil from such service. For myself, let me say, 
 that I can imagine no office, no salary, no consideration, 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 281 
 
 which I would not gladly forego, rather than become in an^ 
 way an agent in enslaving my brother man. [Sensation.] 
 Where for me would be comfort and solace, after such a 
 work ? In dreams and in waking hours, in solitude and in 
 the street, in the meditations of the closet, and in the affairs 
 of men, wherever I turned, there my victim would stare me in 
 the face ; from the distant rice-fields and cotton-plantations of 
 the South, his cries beneath the vindictive lash, his moans, at 
 the thought of liberty once his, now, alas ! ravished from him, 
 would pursue me, telling the tale of his fearful doom, and 
 sounding in my ears, * Thou art the man !' [Rapturous 
 applause.] 
 
 " Sir, I will not dishonor this home of the Pilgrims, and of 
 the Revolution, by admitting nay, / cannot believe that 
 this Bill will be executed here. [' Never !'] Individuals 
 among us, as elsewhere, may forget humanity in a fancied 
 loyality to law ; but the public conscience will not allow a 
 man, who has trodden our streets as a freeman, to be dragged 
 away as a slave. [Applause.] By his escape from bondage, 
 he has shown that true manhood, which must grapple to him 
 every honest heart. He may be ignorant, and rude, as he is 
 poor, but he is of a true nobility. The Fugitive Slaves of 
 the United States are among the heroes of our age. In sacri- 
 ficing them to this foul enactment of Congress, we should 
 violate every sentiment of hospitality, every whispering of the 
 heart, every- dictate of religion. 
 
 " There are many who will never shrink at any cost, and 
 notwithstanding all the atrocious penalties of this Bill, from 
 
282 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 efforts to save a wandering- fellow-man from bondage ; they 
 will offer him the shelter of their houses, and, if need be, will 
 protect his liberty by force. But, let me be understood, I 
 counsel no violence. There is another power stronger than 
 any individual arm which I invoke ; I mean that invincible 
 Public Opinion, inspired by love of God and man, which, 
 without violence or noise, gently as the operations of nature, 
 makes and unmakes laws. Let this opinion be felt in its 
 Christian might, and the Fugitive Slave Bill will become 
 everywhere upon our soil, a dead letter. No lawyer will aid 
 it by counsel; no citizen will become its agent; it will die of 
 inanition like a spider beneath an exhausted receiver. ! 
 it were well the tidings should spread throughout the land, 
 that here, in Massachusetts, this accursed Bill has found no 
 servants. [Cheers.] ' Sire, I have found in Bayonne honest 
 citizens and brave soldiers, only ; but not one executioner ',' was 
 the reply of the governor of that place to the royal mandate 
 of Charles IX., of France, ordering the Massacre of St. Bar- 
 tholomew. [Sensation.] 
 
 "But it rests with you, my fellow-citizens, by your words 
 and your example, by your calm determinations and your 
 devoted lives, to do this work. From a humane, just, and 
 religious people, shall spring a Public Opinion, to keep per- 
 petual guard over the liberties of all within our borders. Nay, 
 more, like the flaming sword of the cherubim at the gates of 
 Paradise, turning on every side, it shall prevent any Slave- 
 Hunter from ever setting foot in this Commonwealth! 
 [Cheers redoubled.] Elsewhere, he may pursue his human 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 283 
 
 0- 
 
 prey ; he may employ his congenial bloodhounds, and exult 
 in his successful game. But into Massachusetts he must 
 not come ! [Immense enthusiasm.] And yet again I say, 
 I counsel no violence. I would not touch his person. Not 
 with whips and thongs would I scourge him from the 
 land. The contempt, the indignation, the abhorrence of the 
 community, shall be our weapons of offence. Wherever he 
 moves, he shall find no house to receive him no table 
 spread to nourish him no welcome to cheer him. The 
 dismal lot of the Roman exile shall be his. He shall be a 
 wanderer, without roof, fire, or water. [Sensation.] Men 
 shall point at him in the streets, and on the highways : 
 
 " ' Sleep shall neither night nor day 
 
 Hang upon his pent-house lid ; . 4 
 
 He shall live a man forbid. 
 Weary seven nights, nine times nine, 
 Shall he dwindle, peak, and pine.' 
 
 The villages, towns and cities shall refuse to receive the mon- 
 ster; they shall vomit him forth, never again to disturb 
 the repose of our community." [Repeated rounds of applause.] 
 
284 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 OGDEN HOFFMAN. 
 
 
 
 IN this country newspaper notoriety is so easily obtained, 
 printed compliments by the column-full being sold for a dol- 
 lar or a dinner, it is not considered a difficult task to become 
 immortal, nor very desirable to enter the prize list with such 
 ambitious competitors for the laurel of fame. A quack who 
 knows not the difference between the veins and the vertebrae, 
 and a pettifogger who never read a page of law, can buy repu- 
 tation for a shilling a line, go to bed an obscure ignoramus, 
 and find himself famous in the morning. Now this state of , 
 society is so sickening to men of sterling talent and true 
 genius, that few who have the ring of true metal in them 
 care to tumble in such a promiscuous scramble for a great 
 name. 
 
 But there are men, who, like the oak king of the forest, stand 
 firmly anchored in the soil, while saplings strew the vale or 
 lean upon its branches, and look through its buds into the 
 future, when the forests folded in its acorn cups shall be the 
 pride and glory of the hills and plains. 
 
 Ogden Hoffman is such a man, and his name is as familiar 
 in the Great Metropolis and the Empire State as household 
 words. 
 
 He comes of good stock too, learned in the law. His 
 father, Josiah Ogden Hoffman, being the contemporary of 
 
byj.C Buttre 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 285 
 
 Thomas Addis Emmet, Judge Story, Williams, and others 
 of that calibre, when to maintain one's position in the forensic 
 arena was no child's play. And he occupied the bench too 
 at a time when it was the reward of deep study and great 
 ability, not as now, often obtained as the result of successful 
 political chicanery. 
 
 His brother, Charles Fenno Hoffman, has occupied in the 
 literary world, both as a brilliant poet (he has written some 
 of the sweetest things in our language), and as a novelist, a 
 position of enviable notoriety. But to return to Ogden, the 
 subject of our present sketch. Who, among the inhabitants of 
 New York, does not recollect the sensation that occurred in 
 the minds of the people in the good old days of Andrew 
 Jackson and old-fashioned democracy, when the news was 
 spread abroad that Ogden Hoffman and Dudley Selden, mem- 
 bers of Congress from this city, had refused " to go the whole 
 hog," but had come out flat-footed, uncompromising whigs ? 
 Deep was the cjiagrin of the b'hoys, and as great the transport 
 of their opponents. And to this day, wherever there is a 
 whig gathering, and the masses are to be stirred up with soul- 
 breathing eloquence, there will be heard the trumpet voice of 
 Hoffman, urging them to do their duty as men, and to vote 
 as becomes freemen. 
 
 The great power of Hoffman is before a jury. Tkere is a 
 sweetness, a pleasantness about his eloquence that is very 
 difficult to withstand, and when excited his powerful voice 
 will ring like a clarion, and at one moment he will draw tears 
 from your eyes for the sorrows of his client, and at another 
 
286 CRAYON" SKETCHES, AND 
 
 convulse you with indignation for the wrongs ho has suffered. 
 The famous Richard P. Robinson, in the Helen Jewett case, 
 no doubt owed his acquittal to his matchless eloquence. 
 
 Mr. Hoffman we should judge to be about fifty years of 
 age, of medium height, rather inclining to be stout. He has 
 a noble forehead and finely-formed head, from which (from 
 too much mental application probably), the hair is worn 
 off on the back part. He has fine, expressive eyes, and a 
 countenance generally denoting kindness and benevolence of 
 heart. He is a gentleman in every sense of the word, urbane 
 in his manners, and polite in his address, and has drank 
 deep at the fountains of both law and general literature. No 
 man in this part of the country is more deservedly popular. 
 He now holds the responsible office of Attorney-General of 
 the State of New York. 
 
 It is truly refreshing to find a man whose solid learning, 
 SQtind sense, and professional ability have been appreciated, 
 while so many shams and pettifoggers are ailing in every 
 petty quarrel or political puddle for the fish which has the 
 tribute money. 
 
 E. L SNOW. 
 
 THE HON. E. L. SNOW, who has won an enduring reputa- 
 tion as a consistent and conscientious temperance man, was 
 born in Boston, in the State of Massachusetts, where he was 
 educated and honored with various positions of public trust. 
 He represented one of the wealthiest wards in the Puritan 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 287 
 
 city in the Common Council, and held high office in the Fire 
 Department. 
 
 In 1830, he left Boston and commenced business in the city 
 of New York. Ten years afterwards, when the Washingtonians 
 began that reform which revolutionized the drinking usages of 
 society, he attended their meetings, became convinced of the 
 illegitimacy and wickedness of the rum- traffic, in which he 
 was engaged affixed his signature to the pledge, and forth- 
 with discontinued the disreputable business. 
 
 From that time he has been a constant and efficient advo 
 cate and promoter of Temperance. In 1842, he assumed the 
 editorial management and proprietorship of the New York 
 Organ, one of the ablest journals devoted to the temperance 
 enterprise. On the 29th of September, 1842, he, with fifteen 
 others, instituted the order of the Sons of Temperance, and he 
 had the distinguished honor of being chosen the first Worthy 
 Associate of that order. In 1846, as a compliment to him for 
 his invaluable services in spreading the principle of the Sons 
 of Temperance, his friends instituted the order of the " Snow 
 Social Union " a society composed of ladies and gentlemen. 
 
 Colonel Snow was unanimously chosen commander of the 
 first temperance military company kno.vvn in the United States 
 or the world " The New York Temperance Guards," a noble 
 body of men, numbering sixty guns. For several years this gen- 
 tleman was connected with the New York .police establish- 
 ment, and in 1844 he was appointed Mayor's Marshal by 
 the Hon. James Harper, and soon after received from the 
 Common Council the appointment of Cleric of Police. Ho 
 
288 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 opened a pledge-book at his desk, and during the four years 
 of his clerkship he obtained upwards of ten thousand names 
 to the total abstinence pledge. In November, 1851, he was 
 nominated for the Assembly, and after a severe contest, was 
 elected by a majority of three votes. His election was con- 
 tested before the Board of Canvassers, and declared duly 
 elected. In January he took his seat in the Legislature. 
 But his opponent followed him to Albany, and a committee 
 from the Assembly heard the evidence and counsel from both 
 sides, and reported that he was entitled to his seat. After- 
 ward, however, at five o'clock in the morning, when the 
 House had been in session all night, and some of his friends 
 were absent, and many of his enemies were intoxicated, or 
 bribed, or both, his seat was declared vacant. But he still 
 continues an active and able expounder of our principles 
 being an able debater and a forcible writer. He is six feet 
 three inches in height, stoutly built, handsomely framed, and 
 erect as a liberty-pole. He has the voice of a Stentor, and 
 can fill the ears of twenty thousand hearers. 
 Success to him, and honor to his cause. 
 
 THOMAS FRANCIS MEAGHER. 
 
 THOMAS FRANCIS MEAGHER, the eloquent Irish Nationalist, 
 is a native of Waterford. He was born August 3d, 1823. 
 His father, the present representative of that borough, in the 
 British Senate, was -a merchant, extensively engaged in the 
 Newfoundland trade, from which he realized a fine fortune. 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 2S9 
 
 At the age of nine, the hero of this sketch was sent to the 
 Jesuit College of Clongowes Wood, in the county of Kildare, 
 where he remained six years, when he was removed to tho 
 celebrated College Stonyhurst, near Preston, in Lancashire, 
 England, where, among other distinguished men, Richard 
 Lalor Sheil was educated. Although Meagher was more 
 devoted to pleasure than x study, he bore away the bell from 
 all competitors, for the prizes for rhetoric and English com- 
 position. 
 
 In 1843, he left Stonyhurst, and soon afterwards attended 
 the great National Meeting, under the auspices of O'Connell, 
 which took place at Kilkenny, and here the youthful orator 
 made his first appearance, although not yet twenty years of 
 age. From that day his heart and soul were dedicated and 
 devoted to the welfare of Ireland. 
 
 In 1848, the "Confederation" adopted an address to the 
 French, on their achievement of a republic, and Meagher was 
 one of the delegates selected to present it to the Provisional 
 Government in Paris. On his return, he presented an Irish 
 tricolor to the citizens of Dublin. " From Paris," said he, 
 " I trust that beneath its folds, the hand of the Irish Catholic, 
 and the Irish Protestant, may be clasped in generous and 
 heroic brotherhood. Should this flag be destined to fan the 
 flames of war, let England behold once more, upon that white 
 centre " the red hand " that struck her dowafrom the hills of 
 Ulster ; and I pray that heaven may bless the vengeance it 
 is sure to kindle." 
 
 On the 21st of March, Meagher was arrested on a charge 
 13 
 
 
290 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 of sedition, as also were Mitchel and O'Brien : bail was a ;- 
 cepted for their appearance at the Court of Queen's Bench. 
 The passage of the Treason Felony Act, their speaking and 
 organizing being peremptorily forbidden, the opposition of the 
 priesthood, with a combination of other causes, precluded the 
 possibility of "their rising by harvest time." Mitchel was 
 arrested a second time, and a reward of 500 offered for the 
 "Young Rebel" (Meagher). After a series of adventures he 
 was finally captured near Rathgannon, on the road between 
 Clonoulty and Holy Cross ; this was in the month of August, 
 He was tried in October, and the sentence of death pro- 
 nounced against him. The sentence was subsequently com- 
 muted to banishment for life, and on the 9th of July, 1849, 
 he was transported to Van Diemen's Land, from which place 
 he escaped in 1852. 
 
 In December, 1852, "The Speeches of Thomas Francis 
 Meagher " on the Legislative Independence of Ireland, were 
 collected, and published by Redfield, New York, with elabo- 
 rate notes on the state of Ireland, and the cotemporary his- 
 tory of the European revolutions, by his friend, Mr. John 
 Savage. It at once rose in public favor, and is, we believe, 
 at present in the fifth edition. 
 
 A critic in a southern journal speaking of the subject of 
 our sketch, says : " As an orator, Meagher stands original and 
 alone. He is no copy of a copy, no second-hand Cicero or 
 diminutive Demosthenes ; he can neither imitate nor be imi- 
 tated ; he is a master who has had no model, and no follower. 
 His fig and features are not more his own than his elo- 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 291 
 
 quence ; and his words are unaffectedly natural offsprings of 
 his soul, as his frowns or smiles. Out of the great mine of 
 his heart does he dig his huge thoughts, reined all by threads 
 of gold, which sparkle in the sun." This is great praise ; 
 but the power capable of raising the indignation and chas- 
 tisement of the politic British Government must certainly be 
 of no medium or mediocre character. 
 
 The modesty of Mr. Meagher is only surpassed by his bril- 
 liant talents. When before an audience, he has not only the 
 " poet's vision and the faculty divine," but a river-like flow of 
 graceful and beautiful language. His lectures and speeches, 
 to which reference has already been made, abound in appro- 
 priate imagery, striking illustration, classic allusion, and poeti- 
 cal expression. His voice is rich and full, and gives unmis- 
 takable evidence that a man stands behind it. In manner 
 he is polite, pleasant and frank, but dignified. In person he is 
 rather robust, with a florid complexion, blue eyes, and dark 
 brown hair. Although a Catholic, it is evident he is no favo- 
 rite with the Jesuit priesthood indeed, until quite recently they 
 have treated him with indignity, having pelted him with 
 paragraphs in the newspapers, and bespattered him with hints 
 from the pulpit. At the present writing he is in California, 
 where he is making a great sensation among the people in the. 
 golden land. He is one of the editors of the Citizen, and it 
 is to be hoped he does not sympathise with his co-laborer on 
 the subject of slavery. He is a great favorite with the masses 
 everywhere, and almost idolized by his own countrymen. 
 Crowded houses greet him in city and country, and handsome 
 compensation rewards his labors. 
 
292 CRAYON SKETCHES. AND 
 
 WENDELL PHILLIPS. 
 
 WENDELL PHILLIPS is the Patrick Henry of New-England 
 If he has less natural eloquence, less thrilling pathos, than the 
 orator of the Revolution, he has more polish and as much 
 power of origination. He is a ripe scholar, a lawyer of no 
 ordinary calibre, a magazine writer 'of considerable note, and 
 a reformer of the most radical school. He is the pet speaker 
 of the East. He has great power of perception, sincere 
 sympathy for the oppressed, and wonderful command over 
 the stores of varied knowledge treasured up in his retentive 
 memory. He has the " gifts that universities cannot bestow," 
 the current coin that cannot be counterfeited "the prophet's 
 vision," the poet's fancy, the light of genius. He is at home 
 on the mountair-top, and when he soars skyward he is not 
 lost among the clouds; has all the sagacity of the man of 
 business united with the enthusiasm of the Utopian, and seems 
 to be equally related to Maia the Eloquent, and Jupiter the 
 Thunderer. He admires the eternal, the infinite, the heaven- 
 like, the God-approximating in the nature of man, whatever 
 may be the color of the envelope that contains these attri- 
 butes. 
 
 Mr. Phillips's speeches have in them the breath of life 
 hence they live long to swell the bosom and make the heart 
 
OFJ?-HA A VD TAKINGS. 203 
 
 throb. " He does not go to the lamp of the old schools to 
 light his torch, but dips it into the sun, which accounts for its 
 gorgeous effulgence." He is something of a metaphysician, 
 but is too much absorbed in the work of revolutionizing 
 public sentiment, to devote his attention to subtle research and 
 profound analysis. He makes but little preparation, and 
 always* speaks extemporaneously; consequently some of his 
 addresses are like a beautiful damsel in deshabille ; then his 
 quotations are ringlets rolled up in papers, and the main part 
 of the lecture like a loose gown, which now and then reveals 
 u neck of pearl and a voluptuous bust of snowy whiteness 
 and beautiful proportions. He is often brilliant, never tedious. 
 Sometimes his scholarship is seen conspicuously, bu it is 
 never pompously displayed. 
 
 It is a rich treat to hear Wendell Phillips speak to a large 
 and appreciative audience. Let the reader fancy he is at a 
 mass meeting in some forest temple. The sun shines as 
 though delighted with the gathering ; the shy birds perch in 
 silence on the neighboring trees, as though they were aston- 
 ished at the proceedings; a song makes the welkin ring. 
 The chairman announces the name of a favorite speaker. A 
 genteel man steps gracefully upon the platform. He is 
 neatly, not foppishly, dressed. A pleasant smile illuminates 
 his noble face. He leaps, at a single bound, into the middle 
 of the subject. He reasons, and his logic is on fire ; he des- 
 cribes, and the subject is daguerreotyped on the retina of 
 memory; he quotes from some classic author, and the ex- 
 cerpt is like an apple of gold in a picture of silver ; he tells 
 
294 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 a story, and the impression it gives is indelible ; lie makes an 
 appeal, and tears flow freely; he declaims, and the people are 
 intensely excited ; he soars, and his lips are touched with a 
 live coal from the altar of inspiration. Mr. Phillips believes in 
 a " higher law," so he appeals to the sense of the everlasting 
 in man. 4 ' He plays the Titanic game of rocks, and not a 
 game of tennis-balls," and yet he "floods the heart with 
 singular and thrilling pleasure." " He is the primed mouth- 
 piece of an eloquent discharge, who presents, applies the 
 linstock, and fires off ;" and the conservatives, who stand with 
 their fingers in their ears, are startled by the report. Is there 
 a mob ? his words are like oil on the troubled billows of the 
 chafed^ sea ; he rebukes the winds of strife and the waves of 
 faction, and there is a great calm. The serene face of his 
 bosom-friend, the leader of the league, is radiant with smiles ; 
 the severe front of a turncoat or a tyrant present, begins to 
 relax ; the doughface is ashamed of himself, and determines 
 that hereafter he will be " a doer and not dough ;" the stiff- 
 limbed finds a hinge in his joints, and his supple knees bow 
 in homage to the speaker. 
 
 But I must find some fault, or I shall be deemed a 
 flatterer. Let me see what shall I say ? " Oh, he is an 
 impracticable radical ; he goes for the dissolution of the 
 Union, the dismemberment of the church, the destruction of 
 the political parties." In this he is partly right and partly 
 wrong. The Christian should do for Christ's sake what the 
 worldling does for the sake of humanity, then there will be no 
 necessity for such a reproof. The body politic should sever 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 295 
 
 the leprous limb of slavery, and then America would not limp 
 so as to become the laughing-stock and a by-word of the 
 nations of the earth. The political parties at the North are 
 leavened with anti-slavery doctrines, and it is hoped they will 
 soon rise to the level of that benevolence which will render 
 such rebukes unnecessary. I declare it is difficult for me to 
 find any fault in him. Reader, you may be Herod, but I 
 cannot be Pilate, and consent to his crucifixion. I must con- 
 fess that I love the man, although I cannot endorse all his 
 creed. It is a pity that he limits his usefulness by his fierce 
 warfare against men and measures that are too long or too 
 short for his iron bedstead. 
 
 Mr. Phillips is a man of fortune, and one of the distinguished 
 few who contribute to support the enterprise in which he 
 feels an interest as much as he expends in sustaining himself 
 and family. Physically he is a noble specimen of a man. His 
 head is sparingly covered with reddish hair 
 
 " The golden treasure nature showers down 
 On those foredoomed to wear Fame's golden crown." 
 
 A phrenologist would pronounce his head worth more than 
 the South would be willing or able to give for it. He has 
 large ideality and sublimity, hence he soars ; large comparison 
 and causality, so he reasons by analogy ; large hope and 
 benevolence, and the genial sunshine of good-nature irradi- 
 ates his countenance ; large firmness and adhesiveness, and he 
 abides by his friends through evil and through good report. 
 His face is pleasant, and indicates exquisite taste, pure gene- 
 
296 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 rosity, and Roman firmness. He is now in the full vigor of 
 manhood, and ever ready at a moment's warning to battle 
 for what he deems the right. Woe be unto the man who 
 enters the arena with him, for he wields a two-edged sword 
 of Damascus steel. x Many strong men have been slain by 
 him; yea, many mighty men have fallen before him. Had 
 he united with either of the great political parties, he would 
 have been chosen as a champion, for he is brilliant as Choate, 
 without his bedlamitish idiosyncrasies ; clear as Clay, without 
 his accommodating, compromising disposition ; learned as 
 Winthrop, without his bookishness and drawing-room man- . 
 nerism ; genial as Cass, without his dulness ; fiery as Benton, 
 without his unapproachable self-sufficiency. He would enter- 
 tain a promiscuous audience better than either of the above- 
 named men. He is not so logical as Webster; not so 
 luminous as the ever-consistent Calhoun ; not so learned as 
 the second Adams ; not so thrilling as Kentucky's favorite ; 
 and yet he is a more instructive and a more interesting speaker 
 than either of those distinguished men ever were, even in 
 their palmiest days. 
 
 Wendell Phillips is universally esteemed and beloved. 
 Even those who hate his creed, and dread his power, admire 
 his disinterested kindness arid irresistible eloquence. 
 
 I regret that I have room for only the following extracts, 
 from the last annual report of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery 
 Society. 
 
 " Neither would I be understood as denying that we use 
 denunciation, and ridicule, and every other weapon that the 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 297 
 
 .human mind knows. We must plead guilty, if there be guilt 
 in not knowing how to separate the sin from the sinner. 
 With all the fondness for abstractions attributed to us, we are 
 not yet capable of that. We are fighting a momentous battle 
 at desperate odds one against a thousand. Every weapon 
 that ability or ignorance, wit, wealth, prejudice or fashion can 
 command, is pointed against us. The guns are shotted to 
 their lips. The arrows are poisoned. Fighting against such 
 an array, we cannot afford to confine ourselves to any one 
 weapon. The cause is not ours, so that we might, rightfully, 
 postpone or put in peril the victory by moderating our 
 demands, stifling our convictions, or filing down our rebukes, 
 to gratify the sickly taste of our own, or to spare the delicate 
 nerves of our neighbor. Our clients are three millions of 
 slaves, standing dumb suppliants at the threshold of the Chris- 
 tian world. They have no voice but ours to utter their 
 complaints, or to demand justice. The press, the pulpit, the 
 wealth, the literature, the prejudices, the political arrange- 
 ments, the present self-interest of the country, are all against 
 us. God has given us no weapon but the truth, faithfully 
 uttered, and addressed with the old prophet's directness, to 
 the conscience of the individual sinner. The elements which 
 control public opinion and mould the masses are against us. 
 We can but pick off here and there a man from the 
 triumphant majority. We have facts for those who think 
 arguments for those who reason ; but he who cannot be 
 reasoned out of his prejudices, must be laughed out of them ; 
 he who cannot be argued out of his selfishness, must be 
 
 13* 
 
298 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 shamed out of it by the mirror of his hateful self held up 
 relentlessly before his eyes. We live in a land where every 
 man makes broad his phylactery, inscribing thereon, 'All 
 men are created equal' 'God hath made of one blood all 
 nations of men.' It seems to us that in such a land there 
 must be, on this question of slavery, sluggards to be awakened 
 as well as doubters to be convinced. Many more, we verily 
 believe, of the first, than of the last. There are far more dead 
 hearts to bo quickened, than confused intellects to be cleared 
 up more dumb dogs to be made to speak, than doubting 
 consciences to be enlightened." (Loud cheers.) 
 
 * *# # 
 
 " All this I am not only ready to allow, but I should be 
 ashamed to think of the slave, or look into the face of my 
 fellow-man, if it were otherwise. It is the only thing that 
 justifies us to our own consciences, and makes us able to say 
 we have done, or at least tried to do, our duty. 
 
 " So far, however you distrust my philosophy, you will not 
 doubt my statements. That we have denounced and rebuked 
 with unsparing fidelity will not be denied. Have we not also 
 addressed ourselves to that other duty, of arguing our ques- 
 tion thoroughly of using due discretion and fair sagacity in 
 endeavoring to promote our cause ? Yes, we have. Every 
 statement we have made has been^ doubted. Every principle 
 we have laid down has been denied by overwhelming majori- 
 ties against us. No one step has ever been gained but by the 
 most, laborious research and the most exhausting argument. 
 And no question has ever, since Revolutionary days, been so 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 299 
 
 thoroughly investigated or argued here, as that of slavery. 
 Of that research and that argument, of the whole of it, the old- 
 fashioned, fanatical, crazy, Garrisonian Anti-Slavery move- 
 ment has been the author. From this band of men has pro- 
 ceeded every important argument or idea that has been 
 broached on the Anti-Slavery question from 1830 to the pre- 
 sent time. (Cheers.) I am well aware of the extent of the 
 claim I make. I recognise, as fully as any one can, the abi- 
 lity of the new laborers the eloquence and genius with which 
 they have recommended this cause to the nation, and flashed 
 conviction home on the conscience of the community. 
 * * * * * * 
 
 " At present, our leading men, strong in the support of large 
 majorities, and counting safely on the prejudices of the com- 
 munity, can afford to despise us. They know they can over- 
 awe or cajole the present ; their only fear is the judgment of 
 the future. Strange fear, perhaps, considering how short and 
 local their fame ! But however little, it is their all. Our only 
 hold upon them is the thought of that bar of posterity, before 
 which we are all to stand. Thank God, there is the elder 
 brother of the Saxon race across the water there is the army 
 of honest men to come ! Before that jury we summon you. 
 We are weak here out-talked, out-voted. You load our 
 names with infamy, and shout us down. But our words bide 
 their time. We warn the living that we have terrible memo- 
 ries, and that their sins are never to be forgotten. We will 
 gibbet the name of every apostate so black and high that his 
 children's children shall blush to bear it. Yet we bear no 
 
300 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 malice cherish no resentment. We thank God that the love 
 of fame. ' that last infirmity of noble minds,' is shared by the 
 ignoble. In our necessity, we seize this weapon in the slave's 
 behalf, and teach caution to the living by meting out relent- 
 less justice to the dead. How strange the change death pro- 
 duces in the way a man is talked about here ! While leading 
 men live, they avoid as much as possible all mention of slavery, 
 from fear of being thought abolitionists. The moment they 
 are dead, their friends rake up every word they ever contrived 
 to whisper in a corner for liberty, and parade it before the 
 world ; growing angry, all the while, with us, because we 
 insist on explaining these chance expressions by the tenor of 
 L a long and base life. While drunk with the temptations of 
 'the present hour, men are willing to bow to any Moloch. 
 When their friends bury them, they feel what bitter mockery, 
 fifty years hence, any epitaph will be, if it cannot record of 
 one living in this era, some service rendered to the slave ! 
 These, Mr. Chairman, are the reasons why we take care that 
 'the memory of the wicked shall rot.'" 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 301 
 
 ELIHU BDRRITT. 
 
 "Our country is the world; our countrymen are all mankind." Auos. 
 
 A SHORT time ago the friends of Peace called a meeting 
 at the Park street Church, for the purpose of appointing 
 delegates to attend the World's Peace Convention, on the 
 banks of the Maine. In consequence of the inclemency of 
 the weather, and the unbusiness-like manner in which he, I 
 meeting was advertised, there were but few persons present ; 
 but the distinguished gentlemen who were called upon to 
 address that audience might have consoled themselves with 
 the reflection that what their assembly lacked in number it 
 made up in talent, learning, influence, and moral worth. 
 
 The chief object of attraction, at this meeting, was Elihu 
 Burritt, the " learned blacksmith." He sat on the first seat 
 opposite the pulpit, with his back toward the audience, his 
 head resting on his hand, and his eyes closed most of the 
 time, during the delivery of the speeches. Thomas Drew, Jr., 
 immortalized as Burritt's "blower and striker" at the forge 
 and anvil of reform, was busy with pencil and paper in one of 
 the side pews. The hearers waited peaceably but impatiently 
 for Mr. Burritt to take the rostrum, and when it was 
 announced that he would speak, every countenance became 
 
302 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 radiant with joyful anticipation. Mr. Burritt arose in a quiet- 
 unpretending manner^ and modestly responded to the 
 invitation to speak. He stood on the top stair of the pulpit, 
 and at first seemed to shrink back bashfully from the gaze of 
 the upturned faces before him. Although he is no coward, I 
 have no doubt his heart beat as though it would batter a 
 breach through its tenement when he first unsealed his lips 
 in the presence of that assembly. In fact, the contour of his 
 face, and the tones of his voice, are the tell-tales which pub- 
 lished his lack of self-conceit. 
 
 Mr. Burritt is now in the meridian of his manhood, but his 
 premature baldness is his apology for wearing a wig. He has 
 a towering forehead, but, owing to the large development of 
 the perceptive faculties, it appears to retreat. I think his eyes 
 
 are blue, when they do not blaze. His face indicates 
 
 
 
 j perseverance that will not falter, and integrity that will not 
 l disappoint. He speaks slowly, distinctly, and forcibly, with- 
 | out ever uttering a foolish thing. He has a peculiarity of 
 
 tone which is unreportable, but which tells with thrilling 
 effect on the hearts of his hearers, when he enters earnestly 
 j into the subject he discusses. All who have heard him must 
 '\ acknowledge that his matter is as full of thought as an egg is 
 I of meat. He employs facts and statistics in his speeches and 
 I editorials, but they have the varied beauty of the rainbow, 
 I and the golden glow of sunlight, when viewed through the 
 ] prism of his rich imagination. 
 
 ""The following extract from the London edition of the little 
 
 volume entitled " Sparks from the Anvil" will give the 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 303 
 
 reader an idea of Mr. Burritt's style of writing. In an 
 article on temperance, he alludes to the history of a distin- 
 guished statesman who had been snatched as a brand from 
 the liquid burning : " And he was found, with all tfre 
 resuscitated vigor of his talents, exhuming, as it were, his: 
 fellow beings, who, like him, had been buried before they 
 were dead. Massachusetts welcomed him back to her ; 
 embrace with emotions of maternal joy, and invited the 
 returning ^leiad to resume his rank among the stars of her- 
 crown. The doors of her halls and churches were thrown 
 open to the newly-returning prodigal, and many were touched 
 to life and salvation, at the burning eloquence which fell from 
 his lips. Sister states heard of this new Luther in temper-: 
 ance, and he obeyed their call. He stood up in their cities v j 
 like Paul in the midst of Mars Hill, and, with an eloquence/ 
 approaching inspiration, set forth the strange doctrine of \ 
 total abstinence. That man, unfortunately, was led astray 1 
 by fiends in human form, but a band of Washingtonians 
 persuaded him to sign the pledge once more, and this time it 
 was an un violated policy of insurance against the fires of 
 destruction." He concluded that graphic sketch in the follow- 
 ing words : " That man is again a giant, and he is abroad ; 
 look out for him ! Like Samson, he is feeling for the pillars > 
 of the temple of Bacchus, and he will ere long revenge the \ 
 loss of his locks by a mighty overthrow of that doomed 
 edifice." ^^ 
 
 It affords the writer no small degree of pleasure to lift up 
 the curtain which hangs between the past and the present, 
 
304 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 and look back to the time when the now eminent champion 
 of peace first put on his paper cap and leather apron, and 
 made the forge blaze and the hammer ring. He did not 
 dream, then, that he one day would '* beat swords into 
 ploughshares, and spears into pruning-hooks." His friends 
 did not at that time give him credit for any striking mani- 
 festations of genius. To use his own words, he was a 
 " plodding, patient, persevering " lad, gathering by " the 
 process of accretion, which builds the ant-heap, particle by 
 particle, thought by thought, fact by fact." In this way he 
 worked and studied, night by night, for years, with " blistered 
 hands and brightening hope," at lessons which have made 
 him shine a star of the first magnitude in the firmament of 
 fame. 
 
 In the summer of 1838, Governor Everett, of Massachu- 
 setts, in an address to an association of mechanics in Boston, 
 took occasion to mention that a blacksmith of that State had, \ 
 by his unaided industry, made himself acquainted with fifty 
 languages ! Prior to this announcement, Mr. Burritf "EacT ' 
 lived in obscurity, and the fame of his acquirements did not 
 extend beyond the smoke of his work-shop. When Mr. 
 Nelson called on Mr. B. at Worcester, he found him at his 
 anvil. When told what the Governor had reported respecting 
 him, he modestly replied that the Governor had done him 
 more than justice. It was true, he said, that he could read 
 about fifty languages, but he had not studied them all 
 critically. Yankee curiosity had induced him to look at the 
 Latin Grammar ; he became interested in it, and persevered, 
 
OFF-HAND TAK1KGS. 303 
 
 and, finally, acquired a thorough knowledge of that language. 
 He then studied the Greek with equal care. An acquaintance 
 with these languages had enabled him to read, with equal 
 facility, the Italian, the French, the Spanish, and the Portu- 
 guese. The Russian, to which he was then devoting his odd""\ 
 moments, he said, was the most difficult of any he had ' 
 undertaken. He went to Worcester to secure the advantages 
 of an antiquarian library, to which the trustees allowed him 
 free access. He spent eight hours at the forge, eight hours 
 in the library, and the remaining eight hours of each day in 
 recreation and rest. After he had studied Hebrew, and made 
 himself acquainted with its cognate languages the Syriac, 
 Chaldaic, Arabic, Samaritan, Ethiopic, &c., he turned his 
 attention to the languages of Europe, and studied French, 
 Spanish, Italian, and German, under native teachers. He 
 then pursued the Portuguese, Flemish, Danish, Swedish, : 
 Norwegian, Icelandic, Welsh, Gaelic, Celtic, &c. 
 
 It is somewhat remarkable that a man who has devoted 
 so much of his time to the acquisition of languages, that 
 he is a living polyglot, should have such mighty mathe- 
 matical powers. Figures tumble from his pen like seeds from 
 a sack when the string is untwined from its throat. There 
 are but few men of past or present times, that can excel him 
 in description. Take the following graphic sketch of the 
 iron horse, as a specimen of his skill in that department of 
 literature : 
 
 " I love to see one of these creatures, with sinews of brass 
 and muscles of iron, strut forth from his smoky stable, and, 
 
306 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 saluting the long train of cars with a dozen sonorous puffs 
 
 from his iron nostrils, fall back gently into his harness. 
 
 There he stands, champing and foaming upon the iron track. 
 
 his great heart a furnace of glowing coals, his lymphatic 
 
 blood is boiling in his veins, the strength of a thousand horses - 
 
 / is nerving his sinews he pants to be gone. He would 
 
 ] * snake ' St. Peter's across the desert of Sahara, if he could 
 
 , be fairly hitched to it ; but there is a little, sober-eyed, 
 
 ( tobacco-chewing man in the saddle, who holds him in with 
 
 / one finger, and can take away his breath in a moment, should 
 
 he grow restive or vicious. I am always deeply interested in 
 
 '. this man, for, begrimed as he may be with coal, diluted in 
 
 / oil and steam, I regard him as the genius of the whole 
 
 ; machinery, as the physical mind of that huge steam-horse." 
 
 ""'Mr. Burritt believes that God has made of one blood all 
 
 the nations of the earth, and he aims to unite them by the 
 
 (fraternal chain of brotherhood. He looks upon war as an 
 inexcusable evil, and labors manfully for its extirpation. He 
 would dismantle the arsenal, disband the army, spike the 
 ' cannon, and reforge the cutlass ; he would take our ships of 
 war and " lade them down to the water's edge with food and 
 covering for human beings." "The ballast should be round "7 
 clams, or the real quahaugs, heavy as cast iron, and capital 
 /or roasting. Then he would build along up, filling every 
 square inch with well-cured provisions. He would have a 
 hogshead of bacon mounted into every port-hole, each of 
 which should discharge fifty hams a minute', when the ship 
 was brought into action ; and the state-rooms should be filled 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 307 
 
 with well-made garments, and the taut cordage and the 
 long tapering spars should be festooned with boys' jackets 
 and trousers. Then, when there should be no more room for 
 another cod-fish or herring, or sprig of catnip, he would run 
 up the white flag of peace. He would throw as many hams 
 into the city in twenty-four hours as there were bomb-shells 
 and cannon balls thrown into Keil by the besieging armies ; 
 he would barricade the low, narrow streets with loaves of 
 bread ; would throw up a breast-work, clear around the 
 market-place, of barrels of flour, pork and beef, and in the f 
 middle raise a stack of salmon and cod-fish as large as n 
 small Methodist meeting-house, with a steeple to it, and a bell 
 
 in the steeple, and the bell should ring to all the city bells, 
 and the city bells should ring to all the people to come to 
 
 . 
 
 market and buy provisions, without money and without price. 
 And white flags should everywhere wave in the breeze on 
 the vanes of steeples, on mast-heads, on flag-staffs along the v 
 embattled walls, on the ends of willow sticks, borne by the 
 romping, laughing, trooping children. All the blood-colored 
 drapery of war should bow and blush before the stainless / 
 standard of peace, and generations of Anglo-Saxons should S 
 
 
 remember, with mutual felicitations, the conquest of the white 
 flag, or the storming of Quebec." 
 
 Mr. Burritt has made his mark upon this age a mark 
 which time will not erase. His society is courted by the 
 great men of Europe and America. He quietly suggests a 
 world's convention, and Senators, members of Parliament, 
 Baronets, and crowned heads, hearken to his counsels. He is 
 
308 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 the same great and good man, whether in the smithy, talking 
 
 with the hard-handed nailers, or in the magnificent forum, 
 
 pleading for peace, in presence of the dignitaries of the land. 
 
 He strives to smite off the clanking manacles from the uplifted 
 
 hands of the bleeding slave, and to strike down the monster 
 
 that wades in blood, and to build up the temple of universal 
 
 peace, and to weld the world in an unbroken band of eternal 
 
 brotherhood. He sees a spirit of selfishness abroad that would 
 
 ( rob earth of its flowers and heaven of its lights, disinherit the 
 
 s angels, uncrown the Almighty, and sit upon the throne of the 
 
 [ universe. So he has unfurled the white banner, and is now 
 
 I leading the crusaders of a good cause, to a battle where no 
 
 blood will be shed, but where that evil, selfish spirit will be 
 
 subdued, and peace shall triumph ! ,* 
 
 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 309 
 
 WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. 
 
 NATURE has not a more appreciating admirer and devout 5 
 worshipper than William Cullen Bryant. The beautiful trees, 
 when covered with green foliage, or crowned with the golden .*. 
 pomp of Autumn, or glassed in the ice of winter, as they 
 stand with root clasped in root, and branch embracing 
 branch, like a band of brothers, have been his instructors. 
 The sweet sisterhood of flowers, gleaming like drops of sky 
 and sunbeam, and rainbow, are the pets of his passionate 
 love. The warbling birds, pouring forth their roundelays, 
 or building their soft, round nests, or sitting on their spot- 
 ted eggs, or cutting the air with swift-moving pinions, are 
 his favorites. So are the lakes, shining like broaches set 
 in emerald on the bosom of the earth so are the streams 
 sweeping like silver sickles through the green fields and 
 forests. 
 
 The rock is an altar on which he would offer the sacrifice 
 
 \ 
 of a song each stanza burning with holy fire, when, on the 
 
 mountain sod he stands, with his feet on the earth and his 
 heart in Heaven the mountain is a footstool which touches 
 the throne of God, and he kneels there. He looks upon the 
 sea with sublime emotions, and the spirit which moves upon 
 the waters stirs the great deep of his soul. 
 
310 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 " He can impart substance to shadows, and spirit to storms 
 put an Oread on every hill, and plunge a Naiad into every 
 gushing spring " 
 
 " Ah ! Bard, tremendous hi sublimity, 
 Could I behold thee in thy loftier mood, 
 Wandering alone with finely frenzied eye, 
 Beneath some vast, old, tempest-swinging wood, 
 Awhile with mute awe gazing I would brood, 
 Then weep aloud in a wild ecstasy." 
 
 Mr. Bryant is one of the most polished poets of the age 
 No one in America approximates more closely to perfection 
 : of finish than he. He is generally meditative, always in 
 earnest, often sad. He has never been guilty of literary 
 larceny ; has never violated the exact rules of exquisite taste : 
 has never published a mediocre poem from his own pen, and 
 although for many years connected with the daily press, he has 
 never wantonly assailed a brother bard or any one else, but 
 has invariably exhibited that Christian courtesy for which he 
 is preeminently distinguished. As for his style, it is so 
 accurate, so elegant, so in accordance with the "decora of 
 composition" he has been regarded by some, as cold and 
 conservative, and without genius but such is not the case. 
 It is true he has not the versatility of Willis, nor the fire of 
 Whittier, nor the humor of Lowell, nor the eloquent radi- 
 calism of Pierpont ; but he is not a whit behind them in his i 
 appreciation of nature, and far ahead of them in artistic skill, 
 and unsurpassed by any American writer in descriptive 
 power. He is not only a scholarly man of superb talents, 
 
OKF-HAND TAKINGS. oil 
 
 but a man of remarkable genius, whose writings will be a 
 fresh as nature, centuries hence, when the writings of many 
 of his cotemporaries, overestimated now, will be confined to 
 the closet of the antiquarian. He was a precocious child ; 
 when but thirteen years of age he wrote a poem, from which / 
 I copy the following lines : 
 
 " Oh, might some patriot rise, the gloom dispel, 
 Chase Error's mist, and break the magic spell! 
 But vain the wish, for hark the murmuring meed 
 Of hoarse applause from yonder shed proceed. 
 Enter and view the thronging concourse there, 
 Intent with gaping mouth and stupid stare, 
 While in their midst their supple leader stands, 
 Harangues aloud and flourishes his hands." 
 
 The " Waterfowl " is one of the most beautiful and perfect* 
 poems in the language. 
 
 - " Whither, midst falling dew, 
 While glow the heavens with the last steps of day, 
 Far, through their rosy depths, dost thou pursue 
 Thy solitary way ? 
 
 " Vainly the fowler's eye, 
 
 Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong, 
 As, darkly painted on the crimson sky, 
 Thy figure floats along. 
 
 " Seekest thou the plashy brink 
 Of weedy lake, or marge of river wide ; 
 Or, where the rocking billows rise and sink, 
 On the chafed ocean side ? 
 
312 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 " There is a power whose care 
 Teaches thy way along that pathless coast, 
 The desert and illimitable air, 
 
 Lone, wandering, but not lost. 
 3***"*. 
 
 " All day thy wings have fann'd, 
 At that far height, the cold, thin atmosphere, 
 Yet stoop not, weary, to the welcome land, 
 Though the dark night is near. 
 
 " And soon that toil shall end ; 
 Soon shalt thou find a summer home and rest, 
 And scream among thy fellows ; reeds shall bend, 
 Soon, o'er thy sheltered nest. 
 
 " Thou'rt gone, the abyss of heaven 
 Hath swallowed up thy form, yet, on my heart 
 Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast given, 
 And shall not soon depart. 
 
 " He, who, from zone to zone," 
 Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight, 
 v In the long way that I must tread alone, 
 Will lead my steps aright." 
 
 Edgar A. Poe, says that the poem entitled " Oh, Fairest of 
 the Rural Maids," will strike" every poet as the truest poem 
 written by Bryant. It is richly ideal. 
 
 Here are a few passages which prove their author a man 
 of lofty genius, and not a mere man of talent and erudition. 
 
 " Breezes of the south, 
 That toss the golden and the flame-like flowers." 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 313 
 
 " And pass the prairie hawk, that, poised on high. 
 Flaps his broad wings, yet moves not." 
 
 " The great heavens 
 
 Seem to stoop down upon the scene in love, 
 'Till twilight blushed, and lovers walked and wooed 
 In a forgotten language, and old tunes 
 From instruments of unremembered form, 
 Gave the soft winds a voice." 
 
 " The mountains that infold, 
 In their wild sweep, the colored landscape round. 
 Seem groups of giant kings in purple and gold, 
 
 That guard the enchanted ground." 
 
 " So live, that, when thy summons comes to join 
 The innumerable caravan, that moves 
 To that mysterious realm, where each shall take 
 His chamber in the silent halls of death, 
 Thou go not, like the quarry slave at night, 
 Scourged to his dungeon, but sustained and soothed 
 By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave 
 Like one, that draws the drapery of his couch,. 
 About him, and lies down in pleasant dreams." 
 
 "**** **& 
 
 Rumor says, that the magnificent lines, last quoted, werf 
 never read by Thomas Campbell, the author of the "Pleasures ? 
 of Hope," without causing him to shed tears. 
 
 Mr. Bryant is a native of Cummington, Massachusetts. 
 His father was an eminent physician, distinguished for his 
 learning, and taste, and scientific attainments. When our 
 author was sixteen years of age, he entered Williams' college, 
 where he was eminent for his attainments. He commenced 
 
 the study of law in 1812 ; and was admitted to the bar threa' 
 
 14 
 
314 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 years afterwards, and forthwith commenced practice ir ci.-j 
 town of Great Barrington. He was but little more than -gh- 
 teen years of age when he wrote " Thanatopsis," which was 
 first published in the North American Review. In 1821, he 
 delivered " The Ages " before a literary society in Harvard. 
 After ten years practice at the law, he removed to New York, 
 and devoted himself to literary pursuits in the society of such 
 men as Verplanck, Sands, Legget, &c. In 1826, he assumed 
 the chief management of the " Evening Post ;" a position he 
 still occupies with honor to himself, and credit to his craft. 
 
 The Post is one of the most readable and influential jour- 
 nals on this continent. Of course, no true poet can counte- , 
 nance oppression ; and when the question of slavery was 
 first agitated by leading men, in and out of his party, he 
 wielded his pen in defence of the weak and down-trodden. 
 He has been a vigorous opposer of the Fugitive Slave Bill ; 
 and like a brave, honest man, fearlessly trips up the infamous 
 
 jgtfMMMM**! 
 
 intriguers, who make the auction block their platform. Mr. 
 Bryant is a reformer, and is classed among the " Softs " of 
 the democratic party the term, however, applies more to the 
 hearts than it does to the heads of the humane leaders in 
 the ranks to which he belongs. 
 
 Mr. Bryant is upwards of fifty years of age, about five 
 feet nine inches in height, with rather athletic frame ; he has 
 a large, thin, sallow face, lit up with a pair of sharp, grey 
 eyes, which twinkle like stars, under heavy eye-brows his 
 countenance indicates the reserved dignity for which he is 
 lipped : Ms forehead is broad, head quite bald, hair fine, 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 315 
 
 soft, and grey, with whiskers to match ; he dresses with neat- 
 ness and simplicity. Notwithstanding the sternness of his 
 smile, and the sedateness of his physiognomy, he is genial as 
 the sunshine, and his heart overflows with generosity. If j 
 General Pierce was king, and not President, he could not do I 
 a wiser thing than to make the greatest poet of his party-} 
 Poet Laureate. As Wordsworth linked his name with the \ 
 waters of Windermere, and the vale of Keswick, and the \ 
 towering Helvellyn ; so Bryant's name is indissolubly associ- 
 ated with the lakes, and prairies, and mountains of America. 
 
316 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 DANIEL S. DICKINSON 
 
 THE political nomenclature of New York is a science not 
 taught in the schools. A thorough knowledge of the various 
 names assumed by some and assigned to others, requires an 
 out-door education a sidewalk and street-corner tuition, a 
 convention and mass-meeting training. Why, the names given 
 to the "Federalists," and "Republicans," the "Clintonians," 
 and the 'Bucktails," have become obsolete, and the terms 
 "Whig" and "Democrat" are regarded as altogether too 
 antiquated for modern use; so we have the "Silver Grevs" 
 and the "Hunkers," the "Conscience Whigs" and the "Cot- 
 ton Whigs" the "Free Democrats," which of course implies 
 there are Democrats that are not free, such for instance as are 
 known by the euphonious title of "Hunkers" then we have 
 the Barnburners, known also by the names of "Softs," "Putty- 
 heads," "the Unterrified," and their bitterest opponents, the 
 "Hards," "the Terrified," &c. 
 
 Daniel S. Dickinson is an "Old Hunker," dyed in the wool, 
 although not a "woolly head." He is one of the hardest of 
 the hards, one of the most terrible of the terrified a Northern 
 man with Southern principles a Virginian born by mistake 
 in Connecticut, and the burden of his song, is " Oh, carry me 
 back to old Virginia, to old Virginia shore." If he ever prayed 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 317 
 
 he prayed (to whom ?) for the passage of the Fugitive Slave 
 Law. If he ever labored harder at one time than another, it 
 was when his voice and vote could help to place the compro- 
 mise measures so called upon our statute books. No man 
 crawled longer and crouched lower than he did, to serve the 
 south at the expense of the north. He forgot he had constitu- 
 ents to serve, and devoted himself exclusively and unsparingly 
 to the slave power toiling incessantly for those who despised 
 his principles while they praised his " patriotism." The chival- 
 rous southerner, whose instincts and education and interests 
 wedded him to the "peculiar institution" is guilty enough in 
 the face of humanity and heaven, but his guilt whitens into 
 innocence when contrasted with the contemptible meanness 
 which impels a native of New England to crouch and cringe 
 in the most "terrified" manner in the presence of his masters. 
 Pray what will be the reward of his trimming and treachery? 
 Will he step from the neck of the slave to a seat in the 
 cabinet ? Can he climb into the presidential chair on the bleed- 
 ing back of a negro ? Will the nation clap its hands to see him 
 chase a fugitive ? Will his nomination terminate in anything 
 but defeat? He is, undoubtedly, a man of extraordinary talent, 
 without however a single spark of genius. He is a debater of 
 uncommon ability a well read statesman, an industrious wor- 
 ker, a skilful tactitian, a shrewd sharp politician, up to all the arts 
 and tricks of wool and wire pulling and log-rolling and had he 
 kept pace with, the progress of the progressives in his party, he 
 would have been a man the Democrats would have delighted to 
 honor. In private life, I have the impression he is a most esti- 
 
318 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 mable man, a faithful husband, an affectionate parent, a dutifuj 
 son, a law-abiding citizen, an obliging neighbor, and I cannot 
 force myself to believe that he would not shelter a slave over 
 night, under his hospitable roof that he would not shield him 
 from the sharp teeth of devouring hounds that he would not 
 give him a crust of bread and a cup of water, and speed him on 
 his way, even though he travelled on the underground railroad. 
 Yes, his heart is better than his avowed sentiments, for surely 
 he is too dignified to steal babies, and whip women, and sepa- 
 rate families. Senator Dickinson is a native of Goshen, Con- 
 necticut, and was born September llth, 1800. When he was 
 16 years of age, he accompanied his father to the State of New 
 York, where he was apprenticed to a mechanic, and acquired a 
 knowledge of some useful branch of industry. What trade he 
 learned, I have not the power to say. Preferring to work with 
 his head, he relinquished the work of his hands, and. studied 
 law, and in 1823 he was admitted to the bar of the New York 
 Supreme Court. He became distinguished in his profession, 
 and pursued it with triumphant success, until he was elected 
 to the State Senate in 1836. While Lieutenant-Governor and 
 President of the Senate, he was the oracle of his party. In 
 1844, he was appointed to the Senate of the United States, and 
 continued a member of that body until March 4th, 1851. So 
 much for Senator Dickinson. His political career is nearly 
 ended his party winding-sheet already woven. His political 
 grave is dug and his political damnation sure, and he must 
 bear the blame on his shoulders. His conscience, his reason, 
 his friends, and even his party warned him of the danger thaf 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 819 
 
 lurked like a lion in his path, but he heeded not the counsel 
 of the wise, and laughed at the experience of sages, now he is 
 " terrified," and has become one of the hardest of the hards. 
 His speeches are rather dry, but well put together. They are 
 not adorned with many gems of poetry and eloquence, but are 
 practical, sensible, logical, and philosophical speeches. If he 
 reforms, I shall be glad to tear this sketch from my book and 
 substitute the good things it would afford me so-much pleasure 
 to say respecting him. 
 
 " Scripture Dick," as he is sometimes called, is so exhilara- 
 ted because the Adamantine Democrats have just now an 
 opportunity to show undisguisedly their heart-hatred of Van 
 Buren and Dix and Marcy, and men of that kidney, he has 
 become quite facetious. His most intimate friends will be aston- 
 ished at the mother wit and cleverness he has recently exhibited 
 on the platform at New York and Buffalo. When the staging 
 fell at the former place at the mass meeting in the Park, he 
 was hard enough to pass through the ordeal- uninjured. He 
 deserves some credit for his courage and consistency, for he is 
 noi afraid to avow his sentiments, and he keeps his party 
 pledges inviolate. He does not attempt to bridge over the 
 great gulf between the Buffalo and the Baltimore platforms 
 with resolutions in favor of compromise measures. 
 
 I am indebted to the " New York Tribune " for the following 
 extracts from recent speeches. The editor remarks: 
 
 " ' Scripture Dick,' whom we used to consider the sorriest of 
 slow jokers, has really brightened up, and is 'redolent' of good 
 
320 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 things witness the following sparkles from his speech last 
 Friday evening at Buffalo : 
 
 * * * "The Democratic party now stands where it has 
 ever stood. Let those who planted themselves upon the oppo- 
 site [Buffalo] platform, remain there until they can come back 
 truly repentant. When the time arrives, the Democratic party 
 will stand with. open arms to receive the prodigals. But they 
 must be content to serve in the ranks, and to prove the sin- 
 cerity of their repentance. It is not usually considered fair or 
 consistent to put one in command as a captain, as soon as he 
 returns from a part} 7 of desertion ; and the masses may require 
 that these men should at least get the smell of treachery off 
 their garments, before they adopt them as leaders. The boat- 
 men n the Susquehanna River have a rule that no person 
 shall be allowed to steer until he has rowed for five years ; and 
 this is a healthy rule, if applied to those politicians who have so 
 recently been in open hostility to the party they pretend now 
 to rejoin. Their conversion is sudden enough to excite at least 
 a suspicion of its honesty, and should be tested before it is 
 trusted. A veteran fisherman was once famous for catching 
 eels, but he would sometimes catch something else. His 
 experience taught him that all were not eels that came to the 
 net. He would therefore turn them out upon the shore, and all 
 that ran for the water he took for eels, while all that ran for a 
 stone-heap he killed for snakes. I am not sure but this is a 
 good rule to apply at the present time to ascertain who are 
 true and who are bogus Democrats." 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 321 
 
 Here is another good thing from Daniel, better than we 
 often find so compactly and caustically presented in a stump 
 
 " But these men [the Short-Boys], I regret to say it, were 
 not the only ones present at that [Syracuse] Convention, who 
 should not have been there. The Governor of the State I 
 allude to it with sorrow the Governor of the State of New 
 York was there. Perhaps he was there merely to amuse him- 
 self by making auger-holes with a gimlet but there he was. 
 It was the first time that ever a Governor of the State of New 
 York was found in a Convention, lobbying and bargaining 
 with its members, and I believe it will be the last. I know, 
 indeed, that it will be the last time that Governor will be guilty 
 of such an impropriety, and I do not think we could readily 
 find another who would emulate his example. Other State 
 officers were there also. The Controller and some others went 
 up from the Capitol, probably to prevent their own nomination. 
 I am very happy to say they were entirely successful. But, in 
 spite of all these appliances, Union and Harmony were, after 
 all, defeated. It is a singular fact, but so it is. The members 
 of the Convention had the Governor of the State tempting 
 them on with the spoils in front, and the Short-Boys of New 
 York pricking them up with bowie-knives in the rear, and yet 
 they failed to harmonize. They had everything under heaven 
 to induce united action ; and yet, behold the result !" 
 
 Just one more extract from this clever speech. It is as 
 candid as it is characteristic : 
 
 " We have got rid of the mischievous traitors, let us keep 
 
322 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 clear of them. It is true, they say, we are all on one platform, 
 but when did we get there ? No longer ago than last winter, 
 when just such resolutions as the platform embodies were intro- 
 duced into the Assembly ; if a cholera patient or a hand gre- 
 nade had been placed in their midst, there could not have 
 been a more effectual scattering of these very men. The very 
 speaker had to fly the house like a dog with a tin kettle fas- 
 tened behind him. It was only last winter that one of their 
 body got up and denounced this very platform, as embraced 
 in the President's Inaugural, as damnable. Then, gentlemen, 
 is it to be wondered at, considering the formidable head they 
 presented then, and the tapering tail they present now, if you 
 and I, and all of us refuse to go near them? No; I prefer 
 imitating the action of the man, who, while attending a race, 
 was kicked by a woolly horse which had Jbeen hitched to a 
 post too near the path. He was much hurt, and paced the 
 walk in fury, crying out, ' show me the man that hitched the 
 woolly horse to the post.' When the bystanders sympathized 
 with him, ' Show me the man that hitched the woolly horse 
 tharj was all his reply. Presently the owner of the horse, a 
 stout-built man, approached. ' My friend,' he began, ' I am 
 sorry.' 'I want none of your sorrow, sir,' replied the man; 
 'show me the man that hitched the woolly horse tharf 1 
 * Well,' said the owner, ' if you want to know so badly, / did ; 
 and what are you going to do about it ?' ' Well,' said the 
 injured individual, ' I swear I'll never go near that woolly 
 horse again !' And, my friends, I'll never go near that woolly 
 horse again. I have no faith in it. It will kick at any 
 moment." 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 323 
 
 GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT. 
 
 GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT is a giant in stature, six feet six 
 in his stockings, and of perfect proportions. In regimentals, 
 and on horseback, he is the most magnificent soldier in Ame- 
 rica. Nicholas of Russia, is the only man in Europe known 
 to fame who at all approximates to such an unusual develop- 
 ment of form. In any age, in any country, he would have 
 been a chosen chieftain. The Red men of the forest would 
 have been proud of such a chief. The Romans would have 
 followed him during a lifetime and deified him after death. 
 No wonder Uncle Sam chose his tall, broad-shouldered nephew 
 to be his prize-fighter. His very presence scared the Mexicans 
 as Goliath of Gath frightened the Hebrews. Should there be 
 a World's Fair for the display of physically great men of per- 
 fect mould, the United States would win the first premium, 
 and Scott would wear the medal. He is a soldier a scientific- 
 soldier, a brave soldier, a magnanimous soldier, a hero whose 
 name belongs to history, whose fame is perpetual. 
 
 The American people have expected and exacted too much 
 of this scarred and battered veteran. No man excels in every- 
 thing. One great thing is as much as we should look for from 
 any one man. 
 
 Divest General Scott of his regimentals, and place him on 
 the rostrum, and we have a hundred white-livered one-horse- 
 
324 CKAYOS SKETCHES, AND 
 
 power attorneys who can excel him in debate, and they would 
 shine, while he would stammer and become a laughing-stock. 
 
 Take away his sword, ask him to write, and he will wield 
 the pen so awkwardly, that little mousing editors will denounce 
 him, and cry " blockhead," and a great many other delectable 
 names which may be found in the black-letter literature of the 
 day. That General Scott is intellectually a great man, nobody 
 pretends to say, who is at all qualified to judge. He is great 
 in the camp, he would be good for nothing in Congress. He 
 is a brave soldier, but a bungling statesman. He is a capital 
 swordsman, but a wretched speaker. He can fight well, but 
 he cannot write so well as some of the private soldiers under 
 his command. When he attempts to address an audience, his 
 tongue hangs fire at first, and when it does go off, it goes oft' 
 "half cocked," and never hits the mark. It is well for him 
 he was not elected President of the United States, for a free 
 people do not desire to be commanded, and it is more than 
 probable, in the event of his election he would have been either 
 the tool of his cabinet, or a tyrant, over the country. In either 
 case he would have disappointed his friends and lost the green 
 laurels and the golden honors he has won. He would have 
 been always.eating a hasty and indigestible " plate of soup," 
 with a most tormenting " fire in his rear." 
 
 In private life he is a most exemplary man, abjuring the use 
 of wine, consequently, he will never fall under the influence of 
 grape-shot. His history is so familiar to every schoolboy, I 
 will not repeat the facts in this sketch. 
 
 His character may be summed up in a few words. He ia 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. o2o 
 
 vain and loves military display, " fuss and feathers " delight 
 him exceedingly. He is proud, and cannot brook opposition 
 without an explosion of bad temper. He is sensitive, and exacts 
 much attention from his friends. He is brave, and woe 
 betide his enemies. When he speaks from the black lips of 
 cannon, and cannon-balls are the iron words he utters, he makes 
 an impression, and the nations of the earth hear his eloquence. 
 When bayonets are arguments, he is pretty sure to make his 
 opponents yield to the force of his pointed reasoning. He is 
 fond of fame, and the following lines are not inappropriate, 
 although when I wrote them I had another person in view. 
 
 Clarissa. We all must die, for Death will serve his writ, 
 And we must pay down life, when Nature's debt 
 Is due. When sickness, like a notary, comes 
 To warn us that the days of grace are few 
 We need not fear, if our accounts are right, 
 And we're stockholders in the bank of heaven. 
 
 William. I'm ths ten millionth fraction of the race, 
 A grain of sand upon the sea-washed shore, 
 An insect fluttering in the light of day. 
 An item lost in the vast aggregate, 
 And when I drop into the grave, the world 
 Will miss me, as the forest does a leaf. 
 Plucked by the wind and blown away from sight ; 
 Then why this inextinguishable thirst for fame ? 
 Fame is a sea that will not seek the grain 
 Of sand the sea bird swallowed with its meal. 
 Fame is a sun, that will not leave its sphere, 
 To find the gnat that sported in its beams. 
 Fame will not seek me in my sodded home, 
 When the red sea of life has coased to dash 
 Against this narrow shore of flesh and bones ; 
 And when the sun of life, unclouded now, 
 Sinks out of sight behind the churchyard mound. 
 
526 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 Clarissa. Ambitious man ! if fickle fame should press 
 A golden trumpet to her lips of air, 
 And sound thy name throughout the wondering world, 
 Until it filled the earth as yonder moon 
 Fills all the space twixt earth and heaven with light, 
 And mothers called their children by thy name, 
 And sculptors in Carara carved thy bust, 
 While poets praised thee in immortal verse 
 And nations named their capitols for thee, 
 Until thy broad-mouthed appetite was gorged 
 And thou wert covered o'er with stars of fame, 
 As over-arching skies are paved with light. 
 Would fell disease respect thy laurelled brow? 
 Could scowling death be bribed to spare thy life ? 
 And after death, would the unsparing hand 
 Of time be slow to turn thy form to dust ? 
 Couldst thou step from thy monument to heaven ? 
 Would bannered angels with their golden harps, 
 Echo the brazen throated fame of earth, 
 Ind shake with shouts the battlements of bliss, 
 A.nd march in triumph through the golden streets ? 
 
 William. The ocean swallows streams, then puts its lipa 
 Of sand against the river's mouth for more 
 Clasping the green banks in its ardent arms, 
 Until at last, the jealous moon comes forth 
 From her white chambers in the lofty sky, 
 And with her wand drives back the wanton waves. 
 Fame is the restless ocean in my breast, 
 To which all other passions flow like streams. 
 
 Clarissa. Good resolutions stereotyped in deeds, 
 Pure hearts whose throbs are felt in what we say 
 Souls shining with the light that comes from God, 
 And lives unselfish and unstained by vice, 
 Should be our aim, and not the praise of men. 
 The loud hosannas of to-day, may be 
 Exchanged for scorn, and cross, and crown of thorns 
 Before the next moon fills her horn with light. 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 327 
 
 WILLIAM R. STACY. 
 
 WILLIAM R. STACY is a plain, business man, whose hands, 
 and heart, and soul, are earnestly engaged in the total 
 abstinence reform. In season and out of season, he is the 
 same untiring, uncompromising and unflinching champion of 
 the cause. In Societies, in Sections, in Divisions, in Tents, 
 and in Temples, he is known as an efficient worker. Fair- 
 weather friends and summer-fly advocates of abstinence 
 doctrines are constantly rebuked by his unyielding adhe- 
 rence to the letter and the spirit of the pledge. Temperance 
 thermometers, whose mercury is sure to rise and fall, 
 according to the state of the atmosphere, wonder with open 
 mouths and open eyes, and leathern ears and leaden brains, 
 why Mr. Stacy denies himself the lazy ease which they mis- 
 name enjoyment. Politicians, who can accommodate them- 
 selves to every sect in religion, to every party in politics, to 
 every shade of society, and, like chameleons, assume the color 
 of the community in which they move, are astonished that a 
 man of his tact and influence, and persevering energy, does 
 not attempt to reap laurels and gain gold in the field of poli- 
 tical action. Those who need not envy the donkey its redun- 
 dancy of ear, are surprised that such, a sensible man should 
 engage in such " small business." 
 
328 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 Captain Stacy is President of the Parent Washingtotrian 
 Temperance Society, in this city an institution which has 
 been in successful operation for twelve years, during which time 
 hundreds and thousands have been added to its membership. 
 This good Samaritan society not only secures names to the 
 pledge, but feeds the hungry, clothes the destitute, visits the 
 sick. It has been instrumental in healing hearts that were 
 broken, and restoring to society men who had degraded them- 
 selves by the use of strong drinks. Through summer and 
 winter, spring and autumn, fair weather and foul weather, Mr. 
 Stacy has attended the meetings of this society. 
 
 His friends seem to appreciate his worth by heaping honors 
 upon him. The last two years, he was Most Worthy Asso- 
 ciate of the National Division. He is now Most Worthy 
 Templar of the National Temple. These distinctions have 
 fallen upon a worthy man. There is no poetry, no tinselry 
 about his speeches. His thoughts are clad in a thin covering 
 of scanty words. He works noiselessly and out of sight, but 
 very effectually. Is there a cross to carry, his shoulders are 
 chosen to bear the burden. Is there money to raise, his 
 financiering skill is called into exercise. Is there a mammoth 
 meeting to be held, he is expected to make the necessary 
 preparations. 
 
 Mr. Stacy is in the prime of life, a man of common stature, 
 has dark hair, large light eyes, an honest face, a good develop- 
 ment of benevolence, and firmness enough to render -him 
 obstinate when opposed providing ho has reason to believe 
 he is on the right side of the question. Few men are so well 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 323 
 
 acquainted with the "workings" of the- National Temple as 
 he ; few men have more influence in the great national tem- 
 perance movement than he. It is evident that he accepts 
 office for the purpose of extending the sphere of his usefulness, 
 and not for the gratification of his personal vanity. 
 
 He never occupies much time in his public addresses 
 does not stop to dissect his dictionary for choice language, but 
 speaks out in manly style the thoughts that are uppermost 
 in his mind. He is not a classical scholar, and never tries 
 to pass for more than he is worth, by awkward attempts at 
 rounding periods and polishing sentences. His striking cha- 
 racteristics are generosity, energy, perseverance, courage and 
 common sense. 
 
330 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 GERRIT SMITH. 
 
 ON my return from the West, I called to see that generous 
 philanthropist, eminent orator, and impracticable radical, Ger- 
 rit Smith. I found him in his office, pen in hand at his wri- 
 ting-desk. When he read my note of introduction, he remarked 
 that he was familiar with my name, and supposed I was a 
 much older man. He politely invited me to avail myself of 
 his hospitality. I did so, and had an opportunity of seeing 
 him at home. 
 
 Mr. Smith lives in a small white house, about two miles 
 distant from the village of Peterboro'. It is plainly and spa- 
 ringly furnished. There are no luxurious sofas upon which 
 to lounge, no costly carpets upon which to tread, no costly 
 mirrors at which to gaze. Everything about his residence 
 partakes of the useful rather than the ornamental. I found 
 him an accessible, sociable, pleasant man, thoroughly familiar 
 with the history of the reformers and the reformatory move- 
 ments of the present day. 
 
 It is well known that this distinguished man stands at the 
 head of the most radical class of reformers. Indeed he stands 
 out so far in front of his age, that slow-moving conservatives 
 cannot appreciate the man nor his motives. He denounces 
 rum-patronizing and pro-slavery churches consequently all 
 
.- J C Buttr 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 331 
 
 the anathema maranathas of unsympathizing and unsanctified 
 professors of religion are hurled at his head, and he is con- 
 demned as an infidel, whereas he evidently is an humble and 
 devoted follower of Christ. " By their fruits ye shall know 
 them." He asks a blessing at his table. Night and morning 
 he lays the sacrifice of a broken and contrite heart on the 
 altar of family devotion. Every day he carefully studies the 
 Scriptures ; and manifests his love to God whom he has not 
 seen, by his love toward his brother-man whom he has seen. 
 
 Few men have done more than Mr. Smith to assist the poor, 
 to clothe the naked, to feed the hungry, reform the drunkard 
 and liberate the bondman. The hotels owned by him in dif- 
 ferent towns and cities in this country, are invariably rented 
 for half the sum liquor-landlords would pay for the same pre- 
 mises. In this way, he has cheerfully sacrificed thousands of 
 dollars to promote the temperance cause. I have not men- 
 tioned his munificent donations and eloquent lectures directed 
 to the same object. This model man gave three thousand 
 farms to the same number of black persons, and now he offers 
 a thousand farms and ten thousand dollars to a thousand white 
 persons in the State of New York. Mr. Smith's father was in 
 partnership with John Jacob Astor, at one period of his life. 
 When he died, he bequeathed to the subject of this sketch 
 three quarters of a million acres of land. 
 
 In point of intellect, Mr. Smith ranks with such men as Clay 
 and Benton. His mind is comprehensive and well cultivated. 
 His temperament volcanic, but usually controlled by an acute 
 judgment. As an orator he has but few superiors. His man- 
 
332 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 ner is deliberate and dignified ; his matter choice and clas- 
 sical ; his personal appearance noble and attractive. He is about 
 six feet tall, and of perfect proportions ; forehead high and 
 broad; eyes large, dark, and expressive; hair brown, and 
 cropped close to his head. At the time I saw him he wore a 
 suit of bottle-green, and his broad shirt-collar lay down like a 
 large snow-flake over a black neckerchief. He never deco- 
 rates his person with the tinselry and jewelry of fashion. He 
 eats plain food, sleeps on a hard bed, bathes every day, drinks 
 nothing but cold water, walks from four to ten miles a day, 
 writes from fifty to two hundred letters per week, furnishes 
 long and labored communications for the press, and speaks 
 frequently at public meetings. 
 
 It is not often we find a man with such immense wealth at 
 his command, sympathizing as he does with his less fortunate 
 fellow men. He believes that man is as much entitled to the 
 earth as he is to air and water, and desires to see every man 
 own a house and lot ; is opposed to tariffs, and advocates with 
 great zeal and eloquence the doctrine of free trade ; believes 
 there is " a good time coming," when the clarion of war shall 
 cease, and the olive-trees shall grow above mouldering bones 
 on battlefields ; when degrading poverty shall hide its dimin- 
 ished head, and smiling competence shall find all men sitting 
 under their own vines and fig-trees, none daring to molest or 
 make them afraid ; when slavery shall no longer bind on heavy 
 burdens ; when intemperance shall be among the things that 
 were, and abstinence principles shall universally prevail. With 
 such views, it may not be expected that he always travels on a 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 333 
 
 smooth road and sleeps on a bed of roses. He stirs up the old 
 hornet-nests of liunkerism, and awakens the slumbering dog< 
 kennels of conservatism ; so that he frequently hears the buzz* 
 ing of insects and the baying of hounds. 
 
 Incorrigible conservatives, who cling to grey old customs 
 and straight roads, who hate an uneven pathway, although 
 it may be the safest and the nearest, remind one of the 
 rats of Norway, that travel in millions jrom the hills toward 
 the ocean.* They turn neither to the right nor the left, but 
 gnaw their way through barns and corn-fields, swimming or sail- 
 ing over rivers, climbing walls and mountains, sweeping through 
 crowded thoroughfares, tumbling from the roofs of houses. 
 On, on, rolls the wave of rats, leaving behind nothing but dead 
 carcases and a foul atmosphere. Man is a progressive animal, 
 and the more conservative he is, the nearer he approximates to 
 the unintellectual brute, and the further he recedes from estab- 
 lished laws. God made man upright, and furnished him with 
 a capital of bones and brains with which to commence life. 
 Experience, observation, and reflection taught him that winter 
 would freeze him, summer scorch him, fire burn him, water 
 drown him, the wild beast devour him, and the avalanche 
 crush him. He robed himself in garments to protect him from 
 the cold of the North and the heat of the South. He built a 
 house for his comfort and protection. He domesticated the 
 dog, the cow, and the horse, for his own accommodation. He 
 dried venison and fish, sowed seed and reaped harvests, and 
 continued his progressive movements until the rude hut became 
 
 * Oarlyle. 
 
334 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 a stately palace, the bark canoe a mighty ship, with sails and 
 masts, the clumsy cart, a city on wheels, drawn by steam-steeds 
 over iron roads. Steam is our horse, lightning our herald, 
 water our servant, and the sun our portrait-painter. 
 
 Reform tunnels our mountains, levels the hills, lifts up the 
 valleys, and flings its floating bridges of steel and steam and 
 flame and smoke over the oceans. Our railroads are iron 
 bands binding us in the bonds of universal brotherhood. Oui 
 electric wires are so many nerves of sensation, reaching from 
 Maine to Minnesota. 
 
 Mr. Smith is one of the few who keep pace with the march 
 of improvement, and he heartily employs his purse, pen and 
 tongue in behalf of free trade, free soil, free types, free lips, 
 and free men. He believes the Constitution is an " anti-slavery 
 document;" so do the free-soil abolitionists, yet is not a "free- 
 soiler." He believes the church is pro-slavery, and on that 
 question agrees with the Garrisonians, but he does not belor- TJ 
 to that party. He is at the head of the " Liberty party," ai \ 
 his creed embraces every degree of reform, from the use < r 
 cold water as a beverage and in the bath, to the emancipatio 
 of three millions of men. 
 
 GERRIT SMITH S SPEECH AT THE ANTI-SLAVERY CONVENTION, 
 PETERBORO', N. Y., OCTOBER, 1835. 
 
 " MR. PRESIDENT. Allow me to commence a few remarks 
 by stating the history of this resolution. On returning home 
 from Utica last night, my mind was so much excited with the 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 335 
 
 horrid scenes of the day, and the frightful encroachments made 
 on the right of free discussion, that I could not sleep, and at 
 3 o'clock I left my bed, and drafted the resolution as just read, 
 and also noted down a few heads of thought which I may 
 refer to or not as I proceed. 
 
 "It is known to all here that I am not a member of the 
 anti-slavery society nor am I prepared to become a member. 
 I rise under the courtesy of the vote by which I have been 
 kindly invited to sit with you and take part in your delibera- 
 tions. At the same time I am admonished by passing events, 
 that it will soon be necessary for every friend of human rights 
 or of the slave, and every man who is not himself a slave, or 
 willing to be one, to act in concert with those over whose heads 
 the war is apparently to be carried on against the right of 
 free discussion, and probably the day is not distant, when, with 
 all my objections, I shall become a member of your society. 
 
 "That I have had objections to the course of the Anti-slavery 
 Society is well known. What those objections were I need 
 not state here. They are spread out before the public, and it 
 would be unreasonable to bring them forward here. 
 
 "This much, however, I will say now. Your great principles 
 are my great principles. I was born with them. I am not 
 conscious that I ever in my life opposed, for an hour, the great 
 and glorious doctrine of immediate emancipation. The odious 
 doctrines that you hold, I hold also. All the sentiments that 
 occasion you to be called amalgamators and insurrectionists, 
 make the supporters of slavery call me an amalgamator 
 and an insurrectionist. I love to look at the Anti-slavery 
 
336 CRAYON SKETCHKS, AND 
 
 Society, and at myself, and to say, ' una spes, unaque salus, 
 ambobus erit?* 
 
 " When I see your reputation, and property, and lives in 
 peril, I love to bring my reputation, and property, and life into 
 the same peril. Let me read the resolution. 
 
 " ' Resolved. That the right of free discussion given to us 
 by our God, and asserted and guarded by the laws of our 
 country, is a right so vital to man's freedom, and dignity, and 
 usefulness, that we can never be guilty of its surrender, without 
 consenting to exchange that freedom for slavery, and that 
 dignity and usefulness for debasement and worthlessness.' 
 
 " I love our free and happy government. But not because 
 it confers any new rights upon us. Our rights spring from a 
 nobler source than human constitutions and governments 
 from the favor of Almighty God. Constitutions and laws are 
 modes of human device for asserting and defining and carrying 
 out the great natural and inherent rights of man, which belong 
 to him as a rational creature of God. 
 
 " We do not learn our rights in the book of Constitution. 
 We learn them from the Book of Books, which is the great 
 charter of human rights. Rights belong to human nature. 
 Constitutions at the most do but recognise and preserve what 
 never was theirs to give. The reason why I love a republi- 
 can form of government is, not that this form of government 
 clothes us with rights withheld by other forms, but that it 
 makes fewer encroachments on the rights which God gave 
 
 * One hope and ODO salvation shall b to us both. 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 337 
 
 I 
 
 us, fewer restrictions upon the divinely appointed scope of 
 man's agency. 
 
 * . * * * * * 
 
 " I must say one word under the head I have marked in 
 my notes of * Utica Mobs.' Not that I design to dwell on 
 the transactions of yesterday themselves. But a topic which 
 they suggest is important enough to be noticed. ^ This right 
 of free discussion, sir, there is one class of men who ought 
 to be particularly tenacious ofj I mean poor men. These 
 constitute the most numerous class in every country, and 
 therefore to the true philanthropist they are of the greatest 
 value. The worldling graduates his interest in men according 
 to their wealth, or rank, or external show. But the eye of 
 the Christian philanthropist regards all with equal interest, 
 because all souls are equal. When the rich are diyested of 
 their rights, they have still their riches and honors to rest on, 
 for dignity and for defence. But when the poor man is 
 divested of his right to speak he is divested of all his rights. 
 Take from him that in which, almost alone, he stands on 
 equal ground with his rich neighbor, the freedom of speech, 
 and, sir, the man of poverty will soon find himself wholly at 
 the mercy of the man of wealth. The poor men in Utica 
 whom we saw led on by men of wealth to a violent assault 
 against free discussion, will yet see the suicidal character of 
 their proceedings. 
 
 " The rights which they have attacked in your persons, are 
 their own dearest rights, without which they cannot help 
 
 being trampled into tlie cjust, for wealth and title have always 
 
 15 
 
338 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 of old trampled into the dust those who have not this right 
 to speak. 
 
 " We are even now threatened with legislative restrictions 
 on this right. Let us tell our legislators in advance that we 
 cannot bear it. The man who attempts to interpose such 
 restrictions does a grievous wrong to God and man, which we 
 cannot bear. Submit to this, and we are no longer what God 
 made us to be men. Laws to gag men's mouths, to seal up 
 their lips, to freeze up the warm gushings of the heart, are 
 laws which the free spirit cannot brook. They are laws 
 contrary alike to the nature of man and the commands of 
 God, laws destructive of human happiness and the divine 
 constitution, and before God and man they are NULL and 
 VOID. They defeat the very purposes for which God made 
 man, and throw him mindless, helpless, and worthless, at the 
 feet of the oppressor. 
 
 " And for what purpose are we called to throw down our 
 pens and seal up our lips, and sacrifice our influence over our 
 fellow-men, by the use of free discussion ? If it was for an 
 object of benevolence, that we were called to renounce that 
 freedom of speech with which God made us, there would be 
 some color of fitness in the demand. But such a sacrifice, 
 the cause of truth and mercy never calls us to make. 
 
 " The cause requires the exertion, not the suppression, of our 
 noblest powers. 
 
 " But here we are called on to degrade and unman our- 
 selves, and to withhold from our fallen men that influence 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 339 
 
 which we ought to exercise for their good. And for what ? 
 I will tell you for what. 
 
 " That the oppressed may lie more passive at the feet of 
 the oppressor ; that one sixth of our American people may 
 never know their rights; that two-and-a-half millions of our 
 own countrymen, crushed in the cruel folds of slavery, may 
 remain in all their misery and despair, without pity and 
 without hope. 
 
 " For such a purpose, so wicked, so inexpressibly mean, the 
 southern slave-holder calls on us to lie down, like whipped 
 and trembling spaniels, at his feet. 
 
 " Our reply is this ; our republican spirits cannot submit to 
 such conditions. God did not make us, Jesus did not redeem 
 us, for such vile and sinful uses. 
 
 ****** 
 
 " Whom shall we muster on our side in this great battle 
 between liberty and slavery. Not the many. The many 
 never will muster in such a cause, until they first see unequi- 
 vocal signs of its triumph. 
 
 " We don't want the many, but the true-hearted, who are 
 not skilled in the weapons of carnal warfare. We don't 
 want the politicians, who, to secure the votes of the south, "care 
 not if slavery is perpetual. We don't want the merchant, 
 who, to secure the custom of the south, is willing to applaud 
 slavery, and leave his countrymen, and their children, and 
 their children's children, to the tender mercies of slavery 
 for ever. 
 
340 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 "We want only one class of men for this warfare. Be 
 that class ever so small, we want only those who will stand 
 on the rock of Christian principle. We want men who can 
 defend the right of free discussion on the ground that God 
 gave it. 
 
 " We want men who will act with unyielding honesty and 
 firmness. 
 
 " We have room for all such, but no room for the time- 
 serving and selfish. We have room as well for the aged and 
 decrepid warrior as for the vigorous and the young. 
 
 "The hands that are now trembling with the weight of 
 years, are the best hands in the world to grasp the shield of 
 faith. These gray-haired servants of God best know how to 
 move the hands that move the world. 
 
 " We want them and such as them ; men who are acquainted 
 with God, and used to God's work, and these we shall have. 
 And his blessing we shall have if we are humble, and we 
 cannot fail. 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 841 
 
 EDWARD BEECHER. 
 
 Oh, what is man, Great Maker of mankind ! 
 
 That Thou to him so great respect dost bear- 
 That Thou adorn'st him with so bright a mind, 
 
 Makest him a king, and e'en an angel's peer ! 
 
 SIR JOHN DAVIES. 
 
 EDWARD BEECHER is a close thinker, a cogent reasoner, an 
 impassioned speaker. His sermons are not elegant essays, 
 got up for the entertainment of his hearers. They are not 
 blank verse wire-drawn into very blank prose : not pearls and 
 diamonds and precious stones, all stolen except the string) 
 that ties them together. They are, true-blue, orthodox 
 sermons, full of Beecher, truth, spirit, and scripture. They 
 are living, breathing, talking sermons famous for great 
 thoughts and simple words. 
 
 Mr. Beecher is a fluent and forcible speaker, and makes 
 use of the simplest (not always the purest) Saxon in his 
 discourses. In his happiest mood his voice is often raised to 
 a high pitch, and he soars with untiring wing higher, and 
 higher still, and still higher, until his head is among the 
 stars, and his face like the countenance of Moses on the 
 mountain reflects the radiance of inspiration. He not 
 unfeequently produces a thrilling effect by reiterated strokes, 
 
342 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 and by presenting epithet after epithet, figure after figure, 
 fact after fact, argument after argument, appeal after appeal, 
 which flow on like the waves of the sea, exciting the alarm 
 of the unconverted, who have spread their sail upon the 
 waters of life, without provisions or pilot, and eliciting the 
 admiration of those who have, and those who hope they have, 
 fair prospects for reaching the haven of rest. 
 
 Mr. Beecher has studied mental philosophy, and is well 
 versed in theology ; has considerable knowledge of the ways 
 ' of the world, for, unlike many of his cloth, he does not deem 
 i it a duty to shut himself up in his study continually, for fear 
 of rendering himself " too common " to excite the wonder of 
 the people on the Sabbath. There are some clergymen who 
 keep themselves as wild beasts are kept in a menagerie; 
 you cannot see them without a ticket, and then you must 
 keep at a respectable distance. Why, it is more difficult to 
 obtain an interview with some ministers, than it is to have a 
 tete-a-tete with the Pope of Rome I If Paul, with his hands 
 hardened at tent-making, or Peter, fresh from his fishing 
 tackle, were to solicit an opportunity to preach in their 
 pulpits, they would give Peter and Paul such a response as 
 the Pharisees of old gave them. Dr. Beecher is not one of 
 that class of spiritual teachers. You will see him in tho 
 streets, and at the exchange, in the reading-rooms, in the 
 police court, at the public meetings in Faneuil Hall and Tre- 
 mont Temple. He is a sociable, accessible, generous man, 
 and capital company where he is sufficiently acquainted to 
 " unbend the monkish brow." It is because he mingles with 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 343 
 
 tlie people that he is in advance of many of his clerical 
 brethren. 
 
 But Edward Beecher, like the rest of us poor mortals, has 
 faults. He often seems to attempt to work up his feelings to 
 a pitch of intense excitement. Under such circumstances 
 there will be noise without eloquence, extreme gesture with- 
 out extreme unction. In that way he exchanges the sub- 
 lime for the sledge-hammer style. He has a good share of 
 moral courage. Like his brother, the " Thunderer" in Brook- \ 
 lyn, he assails with tongue and pen, from the pulpit and the 
 press, the tergiversation, the coat-turning, the mouse-ing, the 
 meanness of public men, who, for laurels or lucre, basely 
 betray their country with a kiss. 
 
 The Brooklyn Beecher is almost constantly throwing shot 
 and shell into the camp and court of the enemy. Some poor 
 fool in his congregation became offended with him, the other 
 day, because he publicly rebuked the recreancy of a promi- 
 nent politician who recently betrayed his country, and put a 
 crown of thorns on the bleeding brow of humanity. This 
 nervous simpleton put down on paper the unpalatable senti- 
 ments he could not swallow, -and 'had them published; and 
 Sir Oracle, the editor, in all the pomp of pigmy grandeur, 
 undertook to lecture H. W. Beecher on the duties of preach- 
 ers ! His labors were lost ; for it does not run in the blood of 
 the Beeehers to be frightened at pop-guns in the arms of 
 grasshoppers. Dr. Lyman Beecher, speaking of his two dis- 
 tinguished sons, said, Edward fires forty-pounders, and woe 
 
344 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 ' betide the man that he hits. Henry fires grape-shot, and kills 
 the most men. 
 
 Edward Beecher is in the zenith of his manhood. He has 
 used his brains more than he has his teeth, consequently his 
 head looks older than his face. His hair is now turning 
 grey ; his forehead is broad and high, and indicates extraordi- 
 nary intellectual power ; his eyes are large and expressive, 
 and burn like meteors, when he hides himself behind the 
 cross, and pleads earnestly for the welfare of men and the 
 glory of God. He is one of the editors of the Congregation* 
 alist, a religious journal of great merit. He is also pastor of 
 the church in Salem street. At one period of his life, he was 
 President of one of the Western colleges. He is a man of 
 unimpeachable purity, has a highly cultivated and strong mind, 
 and is esteemed and honored in the walks of private and 
 public life. Go and hear him, and he will prove, beyond 
 doubt, that whatever is lovely in innocence, pure in virtue, 
 good in morality, thrilling in eloquence, sublime in poetry, or 
 holy in truth, may be found in the Bible. 
 
Engraved "by J C B^ttre 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 345 
 
 THOMAS HART BENTON. 
 
 THOMAS HART BENTON is a ripe scholar, a ready debater, 
 a brave soldier, and the ablest statesman now living in 
 America. He was born in North Carolina, in 1783, and edu- 
 cated at 'Chapel Hill College, studied law in William and 
 Mary's College. In 1810, entered the U. S. Army, afterwards 
 practised law in Nashville, Tennessee. Soon afterwards, 
 moved to Missouri, where he edited a newspaper. In 1820, 
 was elected to the U. S. Senate, and remained in that body 
 until 1851. In the Senate he at once became distinguished 
 for his surpassing talents. He was one of the chief sup- 
 porters of the administrations of General Jackson and Martin 
 Van Buren. He is now a member of Congress, having 
 defeated the entire army of demagogues that opposed him 
 kicking down their platforms, breaking up their caucuses, 
 exposing their wire-pulling, and mocking at their nominations. 
 This apostle of freedom for the south and west, has an iron 
 will, indomitable resolution, and perseverance that " never sur- 
 renders." 
 
 He is a short stout person, with a magnificent head ; grey 
 eyes ; Roman nose, and a face beaming with intellect. As 
 a speaker, he is more argumentative than eloquent ; more phi- 
 losophical than poetical. Webster, Calhoun, Clay, Benton, 
 15* 
 
S46 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 and Cass were to the II. S. Senate what the five senses are tc 
 the human system. " Old Bullion " is a hero of Herculean 
 strength, who has turned the river of reform through the 
 Augean stable of party politics in the State he represents. 
 
 WILLIAM L. MARCY. 
 
 WILLIAM L. MARCY was born in Sturbridge, Worcester 
 County, Massachusetts, December 12, 1786. After graduat- 
 ing with honor at Brown University, he took up his residence 
 in the city of Troy, in the State of New York, where he stu- 
 died and practised law. He rendered efficient service during 
 most of the war of 1812. In 1816, he was appointed recor- 
 der of the city of Troy, but owing to his political relation- 
 ship with Mr. Van Buren, and his opposition to Gov. Clinton, 
 he was deposed from office two years afterwards. In 1821, 
 he became adjutant-general of the State, and in 1823, he was 
 elected Controller, when he removed to the capital of the 
 Empire State, and became a member of the Albany Regency. 
 In 1829, he was appointed one of the associate justices of 
 the Supreme Court, but resigned that office in 1831, when he 
 was elected to the United States Senate, where he remained 
 two years, during which time he was elected governor of the 
 State of New York. He was twice re-elected to that post of 
 honor. During Mr. Folk's administration he accepted the 
 place of Secretary of War, the arduous duties of which he 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 
 
 discharged with credit to himself and honor to his country. 
 He is now Secretary of State, and is, far and away, the ablest 
 man in the Cabinet. His State paper on the Koszta affair is 
 one of the most profound arguments ever presented to the 
 American people. It created a wonderful sensation in Europe, 
 but no crowned head could find a man competent to meet his 
 unanswerable logic. President Pierce could not have found 
 another man within the radius of his party so perfectly quali- 
 fied to be " prime minister " of the United States. 
 
 ALFRED BUNN. 
 
 I HAVE just returned from the New Music Hall, where I 
 heard a repetition of the reminiscences of a stage manager, 
 from the lips of Mr. Alfred Bunn, 
 
 Mr. Bunn is a portly man with a dull face, large round 
 head, bald on the crown and thinly covered with grey hair on 
 the sides. He looks, speaks, and acts like a gentleman John 
 Bull. He must be nearly sixty years of age, but he is erect 
 and elastic, as most men are in the prime of life. He dresses 
 in simple black, wears a huge collar that threatens to saw his 
 ears off, while the points of it play peak-a-"boo around 
 his ample chin. A lady at my side declared that his feet were 
 handsome. The gentleman is a bun who has been more than 
 half baked but those who go to hear him will be done 
 
348 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 brown, even though they be dough. Mr. Alfred Bunn has 
 been over e&timated by the American press. It is all fol-de- 
 rol to prate about such a man lecturing on the genius of 
 Shak&peare. He has not the genius to appreciate the 
 writings of the immortal bard. Twice have I listened atten- 
 tively and impartially to his best efforts in his happiest 
 moods, and I am not unkind nor unjust, when I pronounce 
 both efforts utter failures. Not one new sentiment did he 
 offer. There was not a gleam of originality in his lectures. 
 What he did present, has been presented a thousand times 
 before, and a thousand times better. Then his voice is thick 
 and hazy, so that you cannot understand much that he says. 
 While you look at him you seem to be listening to a voice 
 from one of the ante-chambers, and when he quotes 
 Shakspeare, he spoils the passage by the theatrical and 
 forced gestures which accompany his quotations. He 
 abounds in puns, quips, quirks, jokes, bon mots, and 
 anecdotes ; and if you do not laugh at them, you certainly 
 must laugh to see him laugh at them "himself besides, he 
 has been the manager of the very theatre where Garrick and 
 Sheridan amused an empire, and he has been personally 
 acquainted with Lamb, and Smith, and Matthews, and has 
 had large experience in London Life. I have no doubt he is 
 an agreeable companion, lighting up the social circle with the 
 sunshine of his goodnature. As the manager of a play 
 house, I venture the remark, that he was judicious, liberal, 
 and honorable. Mr. Bunn said that one of the admirers of 
 the genius of Shakspeare, wrote in a legible hand over a 
 
OFF-IIAJfD TAKINGS. 349 
 
 "lass case containing the works of the great Poet, the follow 
 ing notice. To Authors, " Thou shalt not steal." To Critics 
 and Commentators, "Thou shalt not bear false witness 
 against thy neighbor." To Actors, " Thou shalt do no mur- 
 der." 
 
 Since the foregoing was written, this " hot cross bun " has 
 published a volume, in which he has caricatured some and 
 flattered others. A cotemporary speaking of Bunn's sketch 
 of Moses Kimball, says : 
 
 "We apprehend that should Mr. Bunn again visit the 
 'Little Yankee Theatre,' he will be served worse than he 
 was by Macready, at Drury Lane, a few years ago. ' Smith, 
 the box-office feller,' doubtless would assist the ' lusty looking 
 fellow,' Kimball in a boot demonstration. 
 
 " Mr. Bunn's book is a mere record of ' hotel-bills,' vain- 
 glorious accounts of his lectures, flippant anecdotes, and use- 
 less descriptions. What is new in it is not true, and what is 
 true is not new. As we last week hinted, the story of his 
 intercourse with Mr. Kimball, of the Museum, is a fabrication 
 from beginning to end ; the best of it is, he puts the genuine 
 cockney dialect into KimbalPs mouth." 
 
 Here is the sketch : 
 
 " 'Take a seat,' said he ; 'I'm d d if I ain't glad to see 
 yer ; heard a deal on yer ; read all yer works, and so I'll tell 
 yer how I've got along.' 
 
 " When I observed that I had but a few minutes to stay, 
 he replied 
 
 " * D n that ; it won't take yer long. I was formerly a 
 
350 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 merchant, and made bad affairs on it ; but seem' a way o 
 gettin' on agin' I started fresh ; first of all at Gleason's, now 
 the pictur' gallery ; saw a better chance, and got a feller to 
 build the Museum my own idea. Barnum copied after me. 
 I could tell yer many things, how I hit, and how I missed ; 
 but the first great " go " was the " Temperance Reform " 
 piece ; I made a sort of " Tom and Jerry " affair on it ; lug- 
 ged into the piece a young fellow, a quiet, modest person at 
 starting, but who turned out a h 11 of a drunkard ; and then, 
 I had a sort of Logic man to go about with 'un, just to try 
 and keep 'un in order, and a Yankee chap to make some fun. 
 We put the thing together among ourselves; and I made 
 Smith my manager he's a capital feller, though he can't 
 act ; but anything '11 so I made Smith play the hero. 
 
 ** * In order to create a proper feeling among the sober 
 classes, I loaned about fifteen black coats, bought as many 
 white chokers, and dressed up fifteen fellers in 'em, to look 
 like parsons, and put 'em in the most conspicuous part of the 
 house ; and thus we managed to hook in all the clergy and 
 Christian soft-mouths. The piece drew all h 1 ; we played 
 it sometimes four times a day on Christmas Day we 
 played it six times, beginning at nine in the morning.' " 
 
 No one who knows Mr. Kimball will believe this, nor what 
 follows. We omit the profanity which he puts into the 
 manager's mouth : 
 
 " Here I rose to take my leave. ' Wait a minute I'll tell 
 yer what I did wi' yer ! That 'Bohemian Gal' o' yourn 
 didn't we go ahead wi' her ? I kept in all the situations, 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 
 
 351 
 
 sent the music to smash, threw in a couple of Dromios for my 
 low comedians, and away we went like fun !' 
 
 " We literally shrieked with laughter when he added : ' Ay, 
 and I shall do the same with your Enchantress, if I can pick 
 up a couple of funny chaps.' 
 
 " I naturally asked him how much he paid per annum for 
 his literature, when he answered : ' About twelve and a half 
 cents every packet that arrives. I get all the last pieces from 
 England the cheap editions as Lacy publishes ; and as soon 
 as they come to hand, I and Smith, and the box-office feller, 
 *et to work, and lick a bad piece into good shape in no 
 time !' " 
 
 PETER CARTWRIGHT. 
 
 THE great Western preacher has arrived and is now 
 searching the well-thumbed Bible for his text. Quite a 
 number of distinguished divines are present. The preacher 
 looks like a backwoodsman, whose face has been bronzed, 
 at the plough. His black hair, straggling seven ways 
 for Sunday, is slightly tinged with the frost of age. A 
 strip of black silk is twisted around his neck, and a shirt col- 
 lar, scrupulously clean, is turned down over it. He is of ordi- 
 nary size, dresses plainly, and looks like a man perfectly free 
 from affectation. In a faltering voice he reads a hymn. The 
 choir wed the words to sweet and solemn music, a fervent 
 prayer goes up on the wings of faith another hymn is read 
 
352 
 
 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 and sung the 12th verse of the llth chapter of Matthew is 
 selected for his text. Now the old pioneer preacher, who has 
 waded swamps, forded rivers, threaded forests, travelled with 
 Indians, fought with bears and wolves, preached in the woods 
 and slept in the field or on the prairie at night, is standing 
 before us. Look at him, ye gentlemen with white neckcloths 
 and black coats, who ride in carriages over smooth roads to 
 supply churches with cushioned pews and soft benches to 
 kneel on. How would you like to labor for nothing among 
 wild beasts, and board yourselves, in a climate where the ague 
 shakes the settlers over the grave two-thirds of the year? 
 Would you exchange your fat livings, and fine palaces, and 
 unread libraries for black bread and dry venison, a log hut 
 and the society of bears and blue-racers? God bless the 
 brave, wise, and good men to whom we are so much indebted 
 for the blessings we enjoy. 
 
 He says he would make an apology if he thought it 
 would enable him to preach better, for he is afflicted with a 
 severe cold. " Some folks," said he, " say I am fifty years 
 behind the age. God knows," he continued, " I am willing to 
 be a thousand behind such an age. Religion is always of age, 
 and can talk and run without stilts or silver slippers," Ho 
 concluded an able and interesting discourse, which elicited 
 undivided attention, with the following fact. " During a 
 splendid revival of religion at the west, a young preacher, 
 manufactured in one of your theological shops out here, 
 came to lend a helping hand. I knew he could not handle 
 Methodists' tools without cutting his fingers, but he w#s very 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 353 
 
 officious. Well, we had a gale, a Pentecostal gale, and 
 sinners fell without looking for a soft place, and Christians 
 fought the devil on their knees. Well, this little man would 
 tell those who were groaning under conviction, to be 
 composed. I stood this as long as I could, and finally sent 
 him to speak with a great, stout, athletic man who was 
 bellowing like a bull in a net, while I tried to undo the 
 mischief he had done to others. He told this powerful man 
 to be composed, but I told him to pray like thunder just at 
 that instant, the grace of God shone in upon his soul and 'he 
 was so delirious with delight, he seized the little man in his 
 hands and holding him up, bounded like a buck through the 
 congregation." 
 
 It is impossible for the pen to do justice to this fact. The 
 speaker moved us all to tears and smiles at the same moment 
 while he said what few men should venture to say. 
 
 The subject of this sketch once put up at the Irving 
 House, 1ST. Y., (if I am correctly informed) and when he 
 wished to retire at night, one of the waiters lighted him to a 
 room near the roof of that mountain of marble and mortar. 
 
 " How shall I find the way back ?" inquired the preacher. 
 
 " Oh just ring the bell and we will show you," said the 
 waiter. 
 
 By the time the waiter reached the bar-room, tingle, tingle 
 went the bell, the waiter climbed five or six flights of stairs 
 and asked what was wanted. 
 
 "Show me^the way down," said Mr. Cartwright. The 
 waiter did so. " Now show me the way up again ;" he did so r 
 
* 
 
 354 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 but he had scarcely reached the reception room when the bell 
 rang again. This time the landlord went up stairs to see 
 what the matter was. 
 
 " I want a broad-axe," said the preacher. 
 
 ** What do you want with a broad-axe ?" inquired the 
 astonished landlord. 
 
 " I want to blaze my way down stairs," was the cool reply. 
 
 The landlord took the hint and gave the frontier preacher 
 a room on the first floor. 
 
 A foul-mouthed infidel once attacked him on board of a 
 boat on the Western waters. Mr. Cartwright submitted 
 quietly to his profanity, vulgarity and obscenity for a long 
 time. Finally, he approached the gaseous sceptic with a stern 
 face, and with a voice of a stentor said, " if you do not take 
 back what you have said, I will baptize you in this river in 
 the name of your father the devil." 
 
 The infidel at once apologized and saved himself a duck- 
 ing. 
 
 The other day some member of the Conference suggested 
 that some act should be done out of courtesy. This 
 announcement brought the old gentleman to his feet and he 
 said, " I do not know what you gentlemen at the East think 
 of courtesy, but we out West, who were born in a cane-brake 
 cradled in a gum-tree and who graduated in a thunder 
 storm, don't think much of modern etiquette." 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 355 
 
 ANSON BURLINGAME. 
 
 HON. ANSON BURLINGAME was born in 1822. When a 
 mere child he was sent to the Far West, where he remained 
 many years. He was educated at the Branch University of 
 Michigan, and studied law at Cambridge. It was his intention 
 to return to the broad, free West, but being susceptible of the 
 tender passion, he was detained by a beautiful, accomplished 
 and wealthy lady, the daughter of Hon. Isaac Livermore, 
 Cambridge, to whom we are indebted for such a rare acqui- 
 sition to New England society. 
 
 Mr. Burlingame is probably the truest representative we have 
 of the " Young America" being enterprising, eloquent, pro- 
 gressive, persevering, industrious, and independent. A 
 speech he made in Faueuil Hall, when he was stumping the 
 district for Congress, abounds in thrilling bursts of eloquent 
 patriotism, the reading of which without the kindling soul of 
 the speaker, even moves the blood like the blast of a trumpet. 
 In alluding to the rendition of Sims, I can only quote a sen- 
 tence or two; he remarks: "It does not pay, I submit, to put 
 our fellow citizens under practical martial law, to beat the 
 drum in our streets, to clothe our temples of justice in 
 chains, and to creep along by the light of the morning star 
 over the ground wet with the blood of Crispus Attucks, the 
 noble colored man who fell in King street, before the mus- 
 
356 CRArOtf SKETCHES, AND 
 
 kets of tyranny, away in the dawn of our Revolution ; creep 
 by Faneuil Hall, silent and dark ; by the Green Dragon, where 
 that noble mechanic, Paul Revere, once mustered the sons of 
 liberty; within sight of Prospect Hill, where was first unfurled 
 the glorious banner of our country ; creep along with funeral 
 pace, bearing a brother, a man made in the image of his God, 
 not to the grave Oh, that were merciful, for in the grave 
 there is no work and no device, and the voice of a master never 
 comes but back to the degradation of a slavery which kills 
 out of a living body an immortal soul. [Great sensation.] 
 Oh, where is the man now who took part in that mournful 
 transaction, who would wisji, looking back upon it, to avow it? 
 It did not make a President, it did not give a tariff, it did not 
 increase the business of Boston a single dime." 
 
 In speaking of the importance of public improvements, he 
 pays the following glowing and merited compliment to the 
 West: 
 
 " The necessity of these improvements we have in the great 
 loss of property every year, and oh, if the dead could speak* 
 if those who have gone beneath the turbulent waters of the 
 Mississippi, and the stormy lakes, could give their testimony, 
 what evidence should we have of their necessity ! The West 
 has been neglected in this respect. When its forests blazed 
 with battle fires, when the scythe of death hung upon its bor- 
 ders, it received but grudging aid ; but still its sons have been 
 loyal ; they have met every trial and every danger without 
 repining ; and when their country, which had neglected them, 
 was assailed, seeing in her but the stern mother they should 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 
 
 357 
 
 cherish, they were the first in the field, and under the gallant 
 Jackson and Taylor, and Harrison and Scott, they crowded 
 the way to death as to a festival." 
 
 Here is an extract which forcibly reminds one of the style 
 which characterises the school of Young America. " My hope 
 is that I may live and I believe I shall, to see the day when 
 no foreign drum-beat shall be heard on the American conti- 
 nent [great applause] ; when the feet of no foreign soldier shall 
 tread its sacred soil [renewed cheers] ; when no man will have 
 to say on what particular point he dwells, to indicate his 
 nationality ; but when the proud title of American citizen shall 
 be an assurance all over the world that he is a member of this 
 Western Republic, so that its gorgeous banner shall wave its 
 protection over him, not only on the shores of the distant 
 Pacific, in the delta of the Mississippi, on the coral reefs of 
 Florida, but from the bastions of Quebec, in the Bay of Cha- 
 leur, on the banks of the Chaudiere, the St. Lawrence, and the 
 Ottawa." The following impromptu remarks have been much 
 admired. He was speaking of Mr. Webster, when some one 
 in the audience said, " Mr. W. is ill." " My friend exclaims, Mr. 
 Webster is ill. I am sorry to hear it. Indeed my soul was 
 saddened this afternoon when there came tidings from Marsh- 
 field that soon the angel of death might flutter his dark wing 
 over the mansion of the great New England statesman. 
 [Sensation and deep silence.] The cares of life are over for 
 him ; the hurly burly of this night, in the streets of Boston, 
 and the political storm now raging over the country, will not 
 disturb his solemn reflections. I pause at the bedside of death. 
 
,358 CRAYON SKETCHES, A> T D 
 
 No word shall escape my lips here to-night to wound one 
 friend of his." [Increased sensation.] 
 
 The indignant pathos of the following is unexcelled by any 
 equal number of words in our language. 
 
 " I ask ypu if glorious Rantoul did more than this ? Did he 
 more than differ from his party on that single question of the 
 Fugitive Slave Bill ? Was he not hunted from convention 
 to convention even unto premature death, and even now his 
 vile assassins drive their daggers deep down into his new 
 made grave ? But, thank God, his lofty spirit is beyond the 
 reach of their miserable malice, and his reputation is in the 
 hands of those who loved him while living, and who cherish 
 his memory now he is gone." 
 
 The spirit of Young America breathes again in this quotation 
 from Mr. Burlingame's Northampton speech. 
 
 " We, the sons of the Pilgrims, who are knolled to church 
 from the cradle to the grave who drink in learning and 
 liberty with the air and the light who hew through moun- 
 tains ; chain the brawling rivers, and curb the whelming ocean 
 itself; it is expected that we are to leave our grand employ- 
 ments, and put ourselves under the command of negro-drivers, 
 who cannot sit at an honorable planter's table, and that we 
 will chase men, women, and children over the graves of our 
 fathers." 
 
 Although Mr. B. does not court the Muses, they are evidently 
 in love with him, indeed there is a rich vein of poetry running 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS, 359 
 
 through all his lectures and speeches. What can be more 
 beautiful and poetical than the following gem taken from an 
 oration delivered in New London, Connecticut. 
 
 " Mr. Webster is the only survivor of that illustrious trio of 
 statesmen, 
 
 Who shook the nation through their lips, and blazed 
 Till vanquished Senates trembled as they praised. 
 
 " One sle'eps this beautiful day, in the sweet shade of the 
 magnolia's blossoms his great heart is still, and quenched is 
 the light of his glorious eye for ever. Another and fit companion 
 of the great South Carolinian fell but yesterday on the field of 
 his fame, and now, cold and dead, is borne on his bier through 
 a weeping nation, back to the generous soil of old Kentucky, 
 there to sleep the sleep that knows no waking. The orator, 
 the chivalric gentleman, and noble friend, is beyond the reach 
 of malice or of praise never again shall he rouse us with his 
 bugle blasts, nor melt us into tenderness by the touching mel- 
 ody of his voice. And he, of the imperial intellect, 
 
 ' With the Athenian's glowing style, and Tully's fire,' 
 
 wanders, companionless and alone, by the deep sea he loves 
 so well gazing, with his great eyes, toward ' that undis- 
 covered country, from whose bourne no traveller returns.' 
 Oh ! long may he live and may the refreshing breezes fan 
 his brow and bring back the roses of health to his fading 
 cheeks. 
 
 " I refer thus to these great Americans, not to conciliate 
 
360 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 their friends not as a partizan ; no ! no ! let the buglea 
 of party this day sound a truce but in obedience to the 
 
 ' Echoes that start. 
 When memory plays an old tune on the heart,' 
 
 I could not better illustrate the glory of our institutions than 
 by reference to these great men, their noblest offspring." 
 
 I cannot do justice to the young man's eloquence within the 
 narrow limits of such a sketch as this, for I might quote a 
 volume of beautiful extracts without exhausting the material. 
 
 The Hon. Ansoii Burlingame is about five feet eight inches 
 in height, and well formed; has dark brown hair, usually 
 brushed smooth as the wing of a bird ; broad, white forehead, 
 indicating strength of intellect; light-grey magnetic eyes 
 and fair complexion ; is naturally gentle and generous, with 
 impulse and intellect pretty evenly balanced. He possesses the 
 true vivida-vis of eloquence. His style is what may be termed 
 poetical, and yet he displays a good degree of terseness and 
 conciseness ; is sparing of uniting particles and introductory 
 phrases, usually employs the simplest forms of construction. 
 No young man of his age in New England has appeared before 
 the masses so frequently as he. No man of his years has a 
 sunnier prospect before him. 
 
 I have elsewhere said that Mr. B. is a poet. I do not charge 
 him with perpetrating verses, but there are poetic pearls glit- 
 tering here and there in all his public efforts. The ethereal 
 tone and harmonious construction of his sentences, the strange 
 imaginings that make fancy mount upward on her rainbow- 
 tinted pinions show that ideality sits close by the throne of 
 
OFF-HAJsD TAKINGS, 361 
 
 reason, and reigns conjointly with causality over the realm of 
 intellect. His designs are never clumsy, his pictures are never 
 coarse ; his opinions, however unpopular^ are never offensively 
 thrust before his opponents, although he is known to be an 
 unflinching advocate of freedom, an uncompromising hater of 
 slavery. He can be mild " as honey dew or the milk of para- 
 dise," or vehement and volcanic as though his veins were filled 
 with lightning. His chief fault consists in an over sensitive- 
 ness with respect to the opinions of others, though he is always 
 true in the trial hour. What does the multitude think and 
 say about me ? Shall I perpetrate an offence against my friend 
 by adopting and adhering to such a set of sentiments ? are 
 questions that may never have been stereotyped into words 
 upon his lips, but the writer is much mistaken if they have 
 not weighed heavily upon his heart. As he grows older, he 
 will become wiser, and learn to lightly estimate the hastily 
 formed views of the multitude or the mob. For the plaudits 
 of the people to-day, may be exchanged for the " crucify him" 
 of to-morrow. Mr. B. is a candidate for congressional honors, 
 and ere many years he will be rewarded with a seat in the 
 highest council chamber of our country. He has already been 
 elected to the Massachusetts Senate, from the great county of 
 Middlesex, receiving about twelve thousand votes. He was the 
 youngest member of the senate. He now enjoys the honor of 
 having been elected according to the borough system of 
 England, out of the place of his residence, as was Hon. Charles 
 Sumner, R. H. Dana, junior, and a very few others, to a seat in 
 
 the Convention to revise the Constitution of the State. I will 
 
 16 
 
362 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 conclude this sketch with the following beautiful extract, taken 
 from his celebrated speech delivered at the State Convention 
 at the city of Worcester. It speaks for itself, and needs no 
 comments from my pen. 
 
 " And now, thanking" you for the kind manner in which you 
 have listened to me, I must take my leave. [' Go on ! go on !'] 
 No ! I must not go on. There are worthier here who should 
 speak ; to them I yield happy indeed that I have witnessed 
 this day. My heart is warmer for it. My step shall be freer 
 and prouder. I shall take away in my memory the melody 
 of the eloquence I have heard, and the light of the faces I have 
 seen. [Cheers.] I shall go, determined to do in the future, 
 all I can for the great cause we have at heart to struggle for 
 the true glory of our country, ever mindful that though it has 
 the sin of slavery upon it, it is still the freest in the world ; 
 yes, the freest in the world. . My feet have trodden the soil of 
 old England, in whose air no slave can breathe. I have tra- 
 versed the warlike fields of Germany and France have stood 
 in the home of the glacier, and gazed down with full heart 
 upon the first altars of Liberty ; and heard the cannon of 
 tyranny thunder from San Angelo in the land of the old Roman 
 eagles. But nowhere did I find so free a people, and so happy 
 a people, as in this my own, my native land. [Great enthusi- 
 asm.] And my earnest hope is, that the time may soon come, 
 when the sun, which is now dipping its broad rim behind yon 
 western hills, in all this* land from north to south, from sea 
 to sea shall not " rise upon a master, or set upon a slave." 
 [Tremendous applause.] 
 

OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 
 
 GEORGE LAW. 
 
 IN sketching the celebrated George Law, I am tempted to 
 indulge in alliteration, at the expense of the rules of rhetoric, 
 but that is of little consequence, since I am writing off-hand 
 takings and not elaborate essays. George Law, then, is the 
 Titan of traders, the colossus of contractors the mastodon of 
 men. He is upwards of six feet in height, and of perfect pro- 
 portions, with physical strength to match his Herculean frame. 
 This American Anak has not only the power of a giant and 
 the voice of a Stentor, but the eye of an eagle and the heart of 
 a lion. 
 
 He has vital energy enough for a village of ordinary men ; 
 and had he lived in the days of the Ancient Romans or Britons 
 he would have been crowned king. See how he sends out 
 armies to level the hills and fill up the vales, and pave our 
 roads with iron. See how he scatters steamboats over our 
 waters. There is nothing small about the man, his plans are 
 great, his conceptions vast, his contracts immense, his fortune 
 princely even his oaths are plump and unctuous with energy. 
 As Samson carried away the gates of Gaza and afterwards 
 whipped the Philistines, so he would take up the gates of 
 Cuba and slay the Spaniards with the jaw-bones of filibustering 
 
 Like Thor the thunderer he makes his dent wherever he 
 strikes, for he has force of intellect as well as bodily strength, 
 
364 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 and a generous heart beats in his broad chest. America owes 
 much of her fame and wealth to such men. He is now in 
 the prime of life, and having an iron temperament and a vast 
 field in which to exert his incomparable enterprise, we wish 
 him long life, and hope that his shadow may never be less 
 
 DR. JOHN W. FRANCIS. 
 
 DR. J. W. FRANCIS, one of the most distinguished physicians 
 in the city of New York, is an excellent and amiable gentle- 
 man of the old school, whose pleasant manners and polite 
 address have won for him many friends in the various walks 
 of life. He is the son of Melchipr Francis, a native of Ger- 
 many, who emigrated to this country shortly after the peace 
 of 1783. The subject of this brief sketch graduated at Co- 
 lumbia college, in 1809, when he commenced the study of 
 medicine, under the supervision of the celebrated Dr. Hosack, 
 and afterwards became his partner in business. He has been 
 a lecturer on materia medica, professor of medicine at Rutgers 
 college, afterwards of obstetrics and forensic medicine, and was 
 the first president of the New York Academy of Medicine. 
 His medical works have earned for him a world-wide reputa- 
 tion. For forty years he has been actively engaged in the 
 duties of his profession ; yet amid the incessant toils of his 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. . 3(55 
 
 laborious vocation, he has found time to prepare admirable 
 lectures on various topics. His name is identified with the 
 history of the Empire City, and he is far and away the most 
 conspicuous man there of his profession. A municipal con- 
 vocation or a public demonstration involving the present or 
 prospective interests of the city would not be called without 
 consulting him, and his absence from such a gathering would 
 be noticed and deplored by his vast army of friends. 
 
 DOCTOR S. H. COX. 
 
 DOCTOR Cox, the Christian gentleman whom the most devo- 
 ted Christians delighted to honor, the mighty man whose praise 
 was in all the churches ventured to speak and write against 
 American sins. At this time Doctor Cox was among his 
 cotemporaries (a few excepted) what Saul was among the 
 Hebrews, a head and shoulder the tallest, and the pulpit 
 was a proper pedestal for such a noble statue. His sermons 
 were sparkling with truth, beauty, and poetry. He seemed 
 equally at home, at Parnassus, or Lebanon, or Calvary. His 
 words had wings of fire and eyes of flame. Eloquence laughed 
 in his humor and sobbed in his pathos. " The cross was always 
 seen at the painted window of his imagination." He was the 
 people's preacher, the defender of the down-trodden, a bright 
 light on a golden candlestick. But where is he now ? His 
 late sermon in defence of the lower law has the gloss of silk, 
 
366 CRAYON SKETCHES, ANB 
 
 while in reality it is more than half cotton. Is he so tired of 
 his former eloquence that he eats his own words? Has human- 
 ity fewer claims now than it had ten years ago ? Has the truth 
 undergone a radical change. No, no. The mob said great is 
 Diana, and the Doctor said so she is. He saw there was some 
 weight in the arguments that broke his church windows. He 
 once identified himself with the friends of freedom ; he now 
 turns his back upon them, and is numbered with those who go 
 down to the South. At the World's Religious Convention, 
 he was pre-eminently distinguished for his world-wide sym- 
 pathy his Christian magnanimity his soul-stirring elo- 
 quence his heaven-inspired zeal, and he would have been 
 welcomed to any Protestant pulpit in England ; now, many 
 Evangelical churches in England are closed against him. 
 Why did he strip off his laurels and sacrifice so much on such 
 an altar? 
 
 He became the Pastor of a wealthy church, in the city of 
 Brooklyn ; that church embraces some who are related by 
 commerce and consanguinity to the South. These men got 
 on the blind side of their minister, and made him believe the 
 Union was in danger ; so he stopped saving souls and went to 
 saving the Union, and wretched work he made of it. His 
 effort was a failure. His heart was not in it. He has too 
 much light in his brain, and too much grace in his heart, to 
 do his talents justice, when he assails the "higher law." 
 With regard to the Doctor's style, it is more radiant than 
 profound it has more glitter than depth besides he makes 
 an egotistical display of his Greek and Latin. He lacks 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 367 
 
 coiicentrativeness, and cannot reason acutely and consecu- 
 tively. His work entitled Quakerism not Christianity, was a 
 weakling at its birth, and never will be able to run alone. I 
 doubt if it has reached a second edition. He sometimes 
 preaches in blank verse, and since he is not John Milton, his 
 sermons sound better than they read. Doctor Cox is upwards 
 of sixty years of age a noble, dignified looking man with 
 a magnificent head, and eyes of starlike brilliance. He speaks 
 rapidly, notwithstanding an impediment, and in his palmiest 
 days he spoke with so much force, he seemed sometimes to 
 split the words in which he clad his thoughts. Few men 
 have uttered so many brilliant thoughts as he ; many of his 
 wise sayings have passed into proverbs. He has more than 
 a common store of originality extraordinary power of elo- 
 quence, compresses a great deal of meaning into a few words, 
 but he is not a metaphysician. He is a comet of the largest 
 magnitude, sweeping through the heavens, and not a fixed 
 star. He is remarkable for his excellent social qualities a 
 great favorite with those with whom he is intimately acquain- 
 ted. 
 
368 CR*Y^V SKETCHES, AND 
 
 FREEMAN Huffi. 
 
 THE other day I called to see a friend, and found him con- 
 versing with the indefatigable Freeman Hunt, the enterprising 
 editor of the Merchant's Magazine. The thought immediately 
 occurred to me that he deserved a sketch. Mr. Hunt is one 
 of the most persevering and energetic men in this country. 
 Prior to the publication of that indispensable organ of commer- 
 cial news, he was poor and involved ih debt, but the idea occur- 
 red to him, that a first class monthly, devoted to the interests 
 of merchants, traders, <fcc., was needed that it would be appre- 
 ciated and sustained by the mercantile men of our country. 
 He did not flood the land with promising prospectuses nor 
 cover the walls of our public buildings with huge handbills, 
 announcing his intentions to the gaping and gazing crowd, who 
 avail themselves of the lazy leisure at their disposal, to read 
 such gaseous productions; but like a man of forecast and 
 action, he went to work, not by proxy, sending mealy-mouthed 
 agents here and there, but personally, and visited many of the 
 merchant princes of New York, to whom he explained in a 
 manly and straightforward manner what he designed to do. 
 They, like wise and generous men, as many of them are, 
 seconded his resolution and unhesitatingly endorsed his sub- 
 scription list When he had made a good beginning in the 
 
OFF-HAKD TAKINGS. 369 
 
 Empire city, he visited Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and 
 other cities, where his exertions were crowned with success. 
 Now look at the fruit of his labor. He first originated the 
 idea of starting such a journal, he next procured the list of 
 subscribers requisite to sustain it, he then assumed the editorial 
 management of it, and he now commands an influence of which 
 a prince might well be proud, and has an income sufficient to 
 satisfy the demands of his constantly increasing business. Mr. 
 Hunt is a man, a noble man, a reliable man, who never forgets a 
 friend, and never fails to recognise him, whenever or wherever 
 he meets him ; for this reason, as well as many others, the writer 
 is glad to see him prosper. Mr. Hunt is not only a very ener- 
 getic and determined man, but a man of exquisite sensibilities 
 and cultivated taste. 
 
 His statistics of trade show that he possesses unfaltering 
 industry his elaborate essays prove that he wields the pen of 
 a powerful writer. No well appointed counting-room should be 
 without his invaluable magazine ; indeed, his list of subscribers 
 and corps of contributors will not suffer in comparison with 
 those of any in the United States or the world. He is pre- 
 eminently a practical man, of broad understanding, a wise 
 knowledge of mankind, and great tact, governed by extraordi- 
 nary talents. 
 
 N. P. Willis, speaking of him, says : 
 
 "Hunt has been glorified in the Hong-Kong Gazette, is 
 
 regularly complimented by the English mercantile authorities, 
 
 has every bank in the world for an eager subscriber, every 
 
 consul, every ship-owner, and navigator; is filed away aa 
 
 16* 
 
370 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 authority in every library, and thought of in half the countries 
 of the world, as early as number three, in their enumeration of 
 distinguished Americans ; yet who seeks to do him honor in 
 the city he does honor to ? 
 
 "The Merchant's Magazine, though a prodigy of perseverance 
 and industry, is not an accidental development of Hunt's ener- 
 gies. He has always been singularly sagacious and original in 
 devising new works and good ones. He was the founder of 
 the first Lady's Magazine, of the first Children's Periodical ; 
 he started the American Magazine of Useful and Entertaining 
 Knowledge, compiled the best known collection of American 
 anecdotes, and is an indefatigable writer the author, among 
 other things, of "Letters about the Hudson." Hunt was a 
 play-fellow of ours in round-jacket days, and we have always 
 looked at him with a reminiscent interest. His luminous, 
 eager eyes, as he goes along the street keenly bent on his errand, 
 would impress any observer with an idea of his genius and 
 determination, and we think it is quite time his earnest head 
 was in the engraver's hand, and his daily passing by a mark for 
 the digite monstrari 
 
 I have taken the liberty to copy from the writings of Edgar 
 A. Poe the following sketch of his personal character and 
 appearance. 
 
 " He is earnest, eager, combining, in a very singular man- 
 ner, general coolness and occasional excitability. He is a 
 true friend, and the enemy of no man. His heart is full of 
 the warmest sympathies and charities. No one in New York 
 is more universally popular. He is about five feet, eight inches 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 37 1 
 
 in height, well proportioned, complexion dark florid ; forehead 
 capacious, chin massive and projecting, indicative (according to 
 Lavater and general experience), of that energy which is, in 
 fact, the chief point in his character ; hair light brown, very 
 fine, of a web-like texture, worn long and floating about the 
 face ; eyes of wonderful brilliancy and intensity of expression ; 
 the whole countenance beaming with sensibility and intelli- 
 gence. He is married, and about thirty-eight years of age." 
 
 Poe's sketch was written about six or seven years ago, and 
 Mr. Hunt must have grown so much older, although there are 
 no indications of it in his face or form. He is now in the prime 
 of life, ripe with experience, with his naturaLforce unabated, aa 
 the elasticity of his step, the vigor of his pen, the magic of 
 his voice, and the magnetism of his countenance bear ample 
 testimony. 
 
3*72 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 B. P. SHILLABER. 
 
 NOTWITHSTANDING the popularity of Mrs. Partington, and 
 the deep interest manifested by the masses in her present and 
 prospective happiness, there are but few individuals who have 
 an accurate conception of her personal peculiarities, her mode 
 of dress, her physiognomy, her education, her habits of life. 
 
 She has been represented as an antique specimen of the 
 feminine gender in petticoats, with a pinch of snuff between 
 her thumb and finger, a pair of spectacles astride her nose, and 
 a mouse-colored parasol in her hand. Now you and your 
 readers will undoubtedly be surprised to hear, that this famous 
 hero, I would say shero, wears pantaloons instead of petticoats 
 a vest instead of a visite brogans instead of bootees and 
 a Kossuth hat in the place of a "kiss-me-quick." Indeed there 
 appears to be more of the masculine than the feminine in her 
 dress, and in her address also. Without any desire to test the 
 credulity of the reader, I assure him, that I have seen the veri- 
 table Mrs. Partington late at night, in company with some of . 
 our city editors, perambulating the streets. You know enough 
 about the moral character of such men, to form a fair estimate 
 of her standing in that community without any hints from me. 
 She smokes, drinks soda-water, wears men's clothes, and seems 
 fond of the society of men. In politics, she is on the Post,* 
 instead of the fence. She used to carry a handsome Carpet 
 
 * One of the editors of the Boston Daily Po*t. 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. o7'3 
 
 Bag,* filled with beautiful things, dry-goods, and jewels, 
 besides spicy things and sharp things too numerous to name. 
 
 It is pretty generally known, hereabouts, at least, that B. P. 
 Shillaber, a practical printer in this city (Boston), is the author 
 of the quaint, odd, and humorous sayings attributed to Madame 
 Partington. 
 
 Mr. Shillaber has, within a few years, won a reputation which 
 some lovers of notoriety would give a dukedom to possess. 
 His strange speeches have been copied in all portions of our 
 country; they have crossed the sea and kindled smiles on faces 
 in foreign lands. There is a wise and humane blending of 
 humor, philosophy, and benevolence, in the short utterances to 
 which this writer has given vitality, which entitle him to a 
 position among those who contribute largely to the fund of 
 human happiness. 
 
 Mr. Shillaber was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 
 July 12th, 1814. His parents were poor but respectable. 
 They educated their son according to their ability, and per- 
 mitted him to enter a printing-office at the age of sixteen. In 
 1832, he paid his first visit to Boston. He did not dream that 
 he could write anything save a weekly letter to his parents. 
 In 1847, however, he made his debut with the sobriquet of 
 Mrs. Partington. Soon after that, he awoke one fine morning 
 and found himself famous. Recently a volume of his sayings 
 and songs has been published, to which I refer the reader for 
 specimens of his style. I have room for only one or two para- 
 graphs of a later date than the book. 
 
 * Formerly edited the Carpet Bag. 
 
3*74: CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 " I don't see," said Mrs. Partington, yesterday, as Ike came 
 home from school, and threw his books into one chair and his 
 jacket into another, and his cap on the floor, saying that he 
 didn't get the medal; "I don't see, dear, why you didn't get 
 the meddle, for certainly a more meddlesome boy I never knew. 
 But no matter; when the adversary comes round again, you'll 
 get it." What hope there was in her remark for him ! And 
 he took courage and one of the old lady's doughnuts, and sat 
 wiping his feet on a clean stocking that the dame was prepa- 
 ring to darn, that lay by her side. 
 
 "How do you do, dear?" said Mrs. Partington, smilingly, 
 shaking hands with Burbank, in the Dock square omnibus, as 
 he held out his five dexter digits towards her. " Fare, ma'am," 
 said he, in reply to her inquiry. "Well, I'm shore I'm glad 
 of it, and how are the folks at home?" "Fare, ma'am," con- 
 tinued he, still extending his hand. The passengers were inte- 
 rested. "How do you like Boston?" screamed she, as the 
 omnibus rattled over the stones. "Fare, ma'am," shouted he, 
 without drawing back his hand; "I want you to pay me for 
 four ride." " Oh," murmured she, " I thought it was some one 
 that knowed me," and rummaged down in the bottom of her 
 ridicule for a ticket, finding at last five copper cents tied up in 
 the corner of her handkerchief the "last war" handkerchief, 
 with the stars and stripes involved in it, and the action of the 
 Constitution and Guerriere stamped upon it. But the smile 
 she had given him at first was not withdrawn there was no 
 allowance made for mistakes at that counter and he went 
 out, with a lighter heart and a heavier pocket to catch t'other 
 coach. 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. '6 7 5 
 
 Mr. Shillaber is a true poet, and were he to write less and 
 commune with nature more, he would soon rank in the first 
 class of American poets. The following sonnet is worthy of 
 Wordsworth instead of "Wideswarth," (the nom de plume 
 he recently assumed). 
 
 TO AN OLD CANNON BALL. 
 " Grim messenger of war, before me lying, 
 
 No more at thee will mortal cheek turn pale, 
 No more wilt thou with hostile aim be flying, 
 
 A stone of revolutionary hail; 
 As the bright sun melts up the icy rain, 
 
 That the black clouds of summer sometimes pour j 
 So time is melting thee to dust again, 
 
 Thou dark remainder of an iron shower ! 
 Good omen this, when war's clouds clear away, 
 
 And Peace angelic all our bosoms fills, 
 That good, through strife achieved, alone doth stay, 
 
 While rust away, in sure decay, its ills ! 
 A better fate is thine, depend upon it, 
 
 Than rusty death thou livest in a sonnet." 
 
 Here is something containing less poetry, but just as much 
 truth, and sinoe this is one of the warmest days in August, 1 
 will copy 
 
 A SEASONABLE SONNET. 
 WTien June's hot sun pours down in fervid beams 
 
 In striking beams that knock a mortal down, 
 Or make the perspiration flow in streams, 
 
 In regal streams, descending from the crown 
 My mind recals a fat and jovial one, 
 
 A jovial one that I did call my friend, 
 
376 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 Who melted on a time 'neath such a sun, 
 'Neath such a sun, just like a candle-end. 
 
 I saw him for a moment stand alone 
 Stand all alone beneath a hat of straw ; 
 
 A moment more and on the sidewalk stone 
 That reeking stone my wond'ring visuala saw 
 
 A heap of clothes, suspenders, hat and boots, 
 
 An empty wicker flask, and twenty smoked cheroots." 
 
 The subject of this sketch is in the prime of life, a stout, hale, 
 hearty man, considerably above the common stature, with a 
 plain, frank face, a full breast, an honest heart, and a head clear 
 as* crystal. He has dark hair, is of the bilious-nervous tem- 
 perament, dresses in a careless manner. Since he has become 
 an author, however, the hole in his coat elbow has disap- 
 peared. 
 
 Should the reader meet him in the street, he would take 
 him for an unsophisticated backwoodsman, and not for one of 
 the editors of one of the most influential journals in the United 
 States. He is genial as the sunshine, and generous to a fault 
 sensitive, gallant, courteous, and urbane. 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 37? 
 
 BISHOP JAMES. 
 
 ON Sunday morning, I went to Dr. Waterbury's Church 
 on Bowdoin street, to hear the justly celebrated Eev. Bishop 
 James. The church, or rather the building where the church 
 meets, is a modest and substantial edifice, located away 
 from the noise and bustle of the business streets. The sing- 
 ing in the church is super-excellent, and the sermon delivered 
 by the Bishop, was one of the best I have heard. He spoke of 
 the glory of Heaven in such glowing language, and illustrated 
 his theme with such appropriate and beautiful imagery, and 
 sustained his theory with such unanswerable logic, I will not 
 do him, nor his sermon, nor the reader injustice by attempt- 
 ing to report what was so fitly spoken. When words have 
 eyes, glowing with emotion, and syllables have souls, full of 
 inspiration, reports will afford more faithful records of such 
 heart-stirring sermons, than voiceless paper language can give 
 at the present time. The Bishop is probably forty-five years 
 of age, of the nervous-bilious temperament, is under the 
 common stature, and has a womanish voice. He has a dig- 
 nified and ministerial look, dresses neatly in black, with a 
 white cravat. He has a pale, intellectual face ; indeed, the 
 commonest observer would say his countenance indicated 
 nice taste, and superior intellectual power. 
 
878 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 REV. MR. WADSWORTH, - 
 
 ATTRACTED by the fame of the Rev. Mr. Wadsworth, I went 
 to the Arch street Church, for the purpose of hearing him. 
 In order to secure a seat, I obeyed the first summons of the 
 bell, and was fortunate enough to find exactly the place that 
 suited me. While waiting for the preacher, I occupied a short 
 leisure by looking at the building and those who came to wor- 
 ship there. The church is a plain, substantial building, well 
 windowed for light during the day, and abundantly supplied 
 with lamps for illumination by night. Indeed the tall lamps, 
 on each side of the preacher, have the appearance of golden 
 trees with branches of fire. The spacious edifice was filled 
 below and above with a well-dressed, good-looking, wide-awake 
 and appreciating audience. The pastor opened the services 
 with a short prayer, but he spoke in such a low tone of voice, 
 the sharpest ears in the nearest pews could not understand half 
 the words he uttered ; then followed a beautiful psalm, which 
 was better heard that was succeeded by a hymn which was 
 read monotonously, but distinctly. 
 
 I turned around to see the persons to whom I was indebted 
 for such sweet music, and saw nothing but an ugly red curtain. 
 I do not like the fastidious modesty which hides the choir from 
 the congregation, for such voices as I heard there must come 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 379 
 
 from " human faces divine," and to see them would not detract 
 from the devotion of any worshipper. The prayer that followed 
 the delightful singing was earnest, sincere, heart-moving. It 
 seemed as though the pulpit was so near the throne of heaven 
 the preacher was whispering at the ear of God. I remember 
 the following sentence?,- " Running a race, fighting a battle, cut- 
 ting off an arm, plucking out an eye, knowing nothing, fearing 
 nothing, obeying nothing, loving nothing, but God." His text 
 was part of the twenty-fifth verse of the sixteenth chapter of 
 Luke, " Remember." He commenced in a low voice, with lit- 
 tle or no gesture, with a very modest manner, a very earnest 
 air, giving undoubted proof that his soul was in his sermon. 
 It is quite evident that he labors hard, for every sentence shinea 
 with the "beaten oil of the sanctuary." 
 
 Being somewhat fond of alliteration, he has fche art of wed- 
 ding his words, so as to clothe his thoughts in their Sunday 
 suits. That he is a poet of the highest order, and no second- 
 rate orator, I am already convinced, for notwithstanding his 
 weak, and I may add, rather husky voice (perhaps he has a 
 cold to-day), he has riveted the attention of his hearers and stir- 
 red the great deep of the heart. 
 
 He warms as he proceeds in his discourse-, and raises his 
 voice, and in spite of his apparent determination not to move 
 a muscle, he begins to gesticulate, jerking his head backwards 
 and forwards, suddenly stooping and rising, and now and then 
 extending his arms. His elocution is just right for him, because 
 it is natural, but it would not become any other speaker. Mr. 
 Wadsworth is an orator endowed with genius ; he can delight 
 
380 C'KAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 the fancy, please the taste with his exquisite poetry, move the 
 heart and rouse the passions with his glowing rhetoric, and con- 
 vince the judgment with his irresistible logic. Now he points 
 to the little grave under the sod of which sleeps "our darling" 
 child, then he points to a sweet angel with its throne and harp 
 and crown. Now he uncovers the pit, and scares us with its 
 horrors, then he withdraws the curtain which hides Heaven 
 from our sight, and shows us the golden streets and gleaming 
 spires of the New Jerusalem. Now he calls a victim from the 
 dark chambers of the damned, and we see him robed in a sheet 
 of fire, with the undying worm on his bosom ; then he points to 
 the cross which is planted in the pathway of the sinner. 
 
 Mr. Wadsworth is a poet, an orator, a sermonizer, a theolo- 
 gian, a philosopher, a scholar. One of his chief faults consists 
 in giving too much thought in one discourse for the common 
 mind to digest. A good poem of a dozen stanzas might have 
 been taken out of the discourse I heard, and then there would 
 have been sufficient poetry left to light up every sentence with 
 effulgent beauty. The sermon would have suited some better, 
 if individual and national sins had been specified and reproved. 
 In person he is of slender build, of common stature and hand- 
 some figure. His hair is black and long, forehead full, broad 
 and high, showing very large ideality, comparison, and causal- 
 ity; eyebrows black, eyes expressive of benevolence, nose 
 straight, mouth classically chiselled, cheeks fat, round, and 
 pleasant ; complexion dark, temperament nervous-bilious. He 
 wears spectacles, dresses neatly, wears no ornaments, save 
 those of a meek and quiet spirit. He pronounced the benedic- 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 381 
 
 tion in a whisper. While the choir was singing the closing 
 hymn, I observed that the tears flowed freely from his eyes 
 honest tears tears such as attest a man's sincerity, not crocodile 
 tears for common exhibition. In ending this brief sketch, writ- 
 ten on short notice, the reader must permit me to say, that Mr. 
 Wadsworth is a man who seems to be panting with poetry. 
 His thoughts bloom up in spontaneous and brilliant clusters. 
 
 He has a terse way of wedging a volume of argument into 
 the interstices between his poetry and his philosophy : for 
 instance : " Do you say God cannot make a hell ? He has 
 made a conscience. He has made a memory. He has made 
 the soul immortal." He will never sober down, for such men 
 never grow old. The flock must take care of their pastor, for 
 he will not take care of himself, while he takes care of the 
 flock. As the people of his charge value his life, let them see 
 that he has air, and exercise, and repose ; money enough he 
 will be sure of. What he needs is more physical and less 
 mental labor. 
 
382 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 REV. DR. DURBIN. 
 
 A SMALL, plain man, with a neck-cloth white as snow, and a 
 coat black as a raven's feather, is sitting in the desk, supported 
 on the left by the pastor of the church, and on the right by a fine- 
 looking man, whose duke-like countenance is lit up with a pair 
 of glowing eyes. Something extra is expected, for the congre- 
 gation is punctuated with preachers, and Bishop Waugh, with 
 his Calhoun cast of figure and feature, is sitting within the 
 railings of the altar. Every stranger supposes the magnificent 
 man on the right is the author of " Observations in Europe," 
 the preacher whose praise is in all the churches ; and they will 
 be pleased when that pale-faced man, with dull eyes and nar- 
 row forehead, has got through with the opening ceremonies, for 
 he has such a feminine voice, and such a drawling manner, and 
 there is nothing prepossessing in his features, and no drawing- 
 room mannerism in his gestures. He has just concluded a fer- 
 vent prayer, so full of thought, and piety, and spirit, it seemed 
 as though there was a telegraphic communication between the 
 pulpit, where the preacher prayed, and the throne where God 
 answers prayer. Another hymn is read in the same monoto- 
 nous manner, by the same loth-to-part lips ; and now, to the 
 astonishment of the audience, that same prosy little man rises 
 up to preach. Well, he has displayed nice tate in selecting a 
 
if a- *.""* 
 
 
 J C Buttre 
 
 X -X 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 
 
 part of the history of Naaman as the thesis of his discourse. 
 There is a pudding-headed man, who has eaten so much break- 
 fast he cannot keep awake, he thinks, under such a preacher, 
 so he rests his head upon the top of the pew. In the mean- 
 time the preacher proceeds, speaking extemporaneously, with 
 his hands sometimes resting on the open Bible before him, and 
 sometimes they are brought together in the region of the 
 heart. 
 
 S. A. DOUGLAS, 
 
 STEPHEN ARNOLD DOUGLAS the famous, or infamous 
 United States Senator, from Illinois, and one of the most pro- 
 minent politicians in the Democratic party and the origin- 
 ator of the Nebraska Bill is a native of Vermont ; but he 
 sustains no relationship whatever to Ethan Allan, or any of 
 the Green Mountain boys, whose names are crystalized in our 
 country's history. He is a man of considerable ability, but 
 his selfish ambition has overleaped itself, and his fall has 
 rendered him a political cripple for life. 
 
 He has been weighed in the balance and found wanting in 
 political integrity wanting in his attachment to liberty 
 wanting in his loyalty to the land of his birth wanting in 
 his regard for the welfare of humanity, and wanting in his 
 respect for our holy Religion. His speeches in the Senate in 
 defence of the Nebraska iniquity his efforts to break the 
 
384 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 sacred seal of Compromise his utter contempt for the con- 
 tracts of our fathers, and his vulgar abuse of the New Eng- 
 land Clergymen, furnish abundance of proof that we do not 
 speak without book when we declare Douglas to be the prince 
 of Demagogues. 
 
 He is a Northern man, whose lungs inhaled the free air 
 of the verdant mountains of Vermont, but whose heart never 
 imbibed the noble principles of its patriotic inhabitants. He 
 purchased a plantation and stocked it with slaves, to show his 
 attachment to the peculiar institution. He was instrumental 
 in banishing the free blacks from the State he misrepresents, 
 that he might get Southern votes. Now he would doom 
 Nebraska to " everlasting shame and contempt," to obtain a 
 post of honor he is totally disqualified to fill. This unhappy 
 and unfortunate man is now despised by the North, and dis- 
 trusted by the South ; and he richly merits the contempt of 
 all mankind. Why, for a bauble he would barter the rights 
 of unborn nations. That he might be the President of the 
 United States, he would enslave the blacks for ever, in the 
 bosom of this continent. 
 
 If the middle name of Stephen Arnold Douglas could be 
 exchanged for the last, it would be most appropriate. Fate, 
 however, has given him a part of the name to which he is 
 above all men living pre-eminently entitled. Although a 
 man of some talent, he has nothing approximating to genius ; 
 having a good memory, and opportunities for intellectual cul- 
 ture, he studied industriously and rose rapidly from a cabinet 
 maker's apprentice to be one of the Judges of the Supreme 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 385 
 
 Court, and member of the United States Senate, honors of 
 which he might well be proud, had he been true to freedom 
 and humanity. He has not been the faithful exponent of 
 liberty. He has not been a true friend to humanity. 
 
 In person, he is short and thick, with a broad, dark face, 
 hazel eyes, high cheek bones, plebeian hands and feet. He 
 is by no means prepossessing, and his manners are not such 
 as would become a court of fashion. In debate he is a bully, 
 and very brave when he fights with men who wear white 
 cravats. He is pretty sure not to pick quarrels with plucky 
 men; for, although he thinks very little of the rest of mankind, 
 he has a great deal of regard for himself. Of his style of 
 writing and speaking, I have not much to say. It is plain, 
 blunt and logical, without much depth, and with no origin- 
 ality, and perfectly free from elegance of diction or eloquence 
 of expression. 
 
 He has no poetry in his composition ; tyrants never are on 
 terms with the Muses. Without the stature of a Vermonter, 
 he claims to be the giant of the West but if he is the Brob- , 
 dignag, the rest of the inhabitants must be small Liliputians 
 for Douglas is so little, he was never seen until he made the 
 auction block his platform, or climbed into notice on the back 
 of a negro. Contrast him with Sam Houston, his superior as 
 much in mental as in physical stature. It is perfectly aston- 
 ishing that Mr. Everett should have displayed the white 
 feather, when this impertinent little whippersnapper assailed 
 the three thousand clergymen of New England. It is a pity 
 
 that gentleman had so little " grit," when such a famous * 
 
 17 
 
386 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 opportunity was afforded to annihilate the anti-Nebraskian. 
 If Sumner could have assailed him, we should have heard the 
 reverberation of his blows throughout the land. If Daniel 
 Webster had been alive, he would have made another speech 
 equal to his reply to Hayne. 
 
 If it be true that "coming events cast their shadows 
 before," then the days of Douglas are numbered his politi- 
 cal death-warrant is signed by the people's autograph his 
 political winding-sheet is woven by the hands of fate, and his 
 political grave yawns to receive his remains. 
 
 WILLIAM GILMORE SIMMS. 
 
 WILLIAM GILMORE SIMMS, an American poet, historian and 
 novelist, is a native of South Carolina, and was born April 
 17th, 1806. In consequence of the premature death of his 
 mother and the failure of his father in business, he was placed 
 in charge of his grandmother in Charleston, when he was quite 
 young. At first he designed to study medicine, but afterwards 
 determined to read law, and he was admitted to the bar at 
 the age of twenty one. 
 
 He had practiced his profession but a short time when he 
 assumed the editorial management of a daily newspaper, in 
 which he battled manfully against nullification. In this enter- 
 prise his expectations were not realized, and he retired from 
 
OFF-llAND TAKINGS. 387 
 
 the avocation of an editor under a load of pecuniary embar- 
 rassment. 
 
 / 
 
 But he " resolved to retrieve his fortunes," and in the year 
 1827, he made his authorial debut before the public, by issu- 
 ing a volume of poems. Other poems speedily followed, but 
 the one which attracted most notice was "Atlantis; a story 
 of the Sea." It met with a hearty reception, and elicited en- 
 thusiastic encomiums from the press on both sides of the 
 Atlantic. In 1833, he published his first novel, "Martin 
 Faber," which was followed by "Guy Rivers," "Yemassee," 
 "The Partisan," "Mellichampe," " Pelayo," " Carl Werner," 
 " Richard Hurdis," " The Damsel of Darien," " Count Julian," 
 " Beauchamps," " The Kinsman," " Katharine Walton." His 
 principal biographical and historical works consist of lives of 
 Captain John Smith, General Marion, General Green and 
 Chevalier Bayard, a "History of South Carolina." These 
 works do not embrace all the productions of his versatile and 
 prolific pen. He has been a member of the State Legislature, 
 and has won some renown as a public speaker. His literary 
 reputation procured for him the title of LL. D. He is one 
 of the brightest stars in the firmament of American litera- 
 ture. 
 
 Mr. Simms has a vivid imagination, and is by no means 
 deficient in artistic skill. His language is frequently faulty, 
 but that is undoubtedly owing to the fact, he writes so 
 much he does not take time to revise the productions of his 
 pen. While he occupies a respectable rank among the poets 
 of America, he stands at the head of that class of authors who 
 
388 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 entertain us with light literature. I have only room for the 
 following specimen of his poetry. 
 
 Well may we sing her beauties, 
 
 This pleasant land of ours, 
 Her sunny smiles, her golden fruits, 
 
 And all her world of flowers. 
 The young birds of her Jforest groves, 
 
 The blue folds of her sky, 
 And all those airs of gentleness 
 
 That never seem to fly. 
 They wind about our forms at noon, 
 They woo us in the shade, 
 When panting from the summer heats, 
 
 The woodman seeks the glade. 
 They win us with a song of love, 
 
 They cheer us with a dream 
 That gilds our passing thoughts of life, 
 
 As sunlight does the stream. 
 And well would they persuade us now, 
 
 In moments all too dear, 
 That sinful though our hearts may be, 
 
 We have our Eden here. 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 389 
 
 JAMES GORDON BENNETT. 
 
 JAMES GORDON BENNETT, the editor and proprietor of the 
 "New York Herald," is a native of Scotland, but he has 
 been so long connected with the press in this country, he has 
 become a live lion here. A few years ago, I noticed a vast 
 crowd of persons in front of a fashionable hotel in a western 
 city, and inquired the cause of such a convocation ; I was 
 informed that James Gordon Bennett had just arrived. 
 Whether he be more notorious than popular, I will not 
 assume the province of determining, but will hazard the 
 remark, that the people of the United States would go 
 farther and give more to see him than they would to see the 
 President or any member of the United States Senate. 
 lie has passed through various phases of literary life, having 
 been reporter, sub-editor, and editor, and being now editor 
 and proprietor of a paper broadly circulated all over this con- 
 tinent and Europe. While it undoubtedly owes a part of its 
 circulation to the surpassing ability of its chief it is indebted 
 much to the efforts made by cotemporary journals to crush 
 it, for the vast number of readers which daily devour its 
 contents. While many deprecate the course its editor pur- 
 sues respecting the reforms of the day, they cannot fail to 
 give him credit for his courage and they must admire his 
 
390 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 genius. Mr. Bennett has acquired an ample fortune; lias 
 visited various portions of the Old World and rumor says, 
 that he recently gave his mother a handsome chateau in the 
 land of song and story, where she resides. In person, he 
 is tall and slender, with a " literary stoop " in his shoulders ; 
 his head is covered with long silvery grey hair, and his face 
 hid behind a grey goatee, and moustache to match ; his eyes 
 are light, with a squint in them, which fact he notices more 
 than any one else. He is about fifty-five years of age ; quick 
 in his movements ; and of a nervous temperament ; he 
 dresses neatly ; and is very sociable and pleasant in the 
 society of his friends, although his pen burns at the nib, and 
 its strokes are like the stings of scorpions. 
 
 CALEB GUSHING. 
 
 CALEB GUSHING and William Lloyd Garrison, were the 
 principal contributors to one of the first papers published at 
 Newburyport, Massachusetts. The former was a young attor- 
 ney of fair talents, with a good country practice ; the latter, 
 a journeyman printer of superior ability, and the anonymous 
 author of some splendid essays, which were attributed to some 
 of the most classical and popular writers of that period. 
 Gushing was a Whig originally, but being disappointed in 
 his aspirations, he resolved not to drown himself, but to turn 
 democrat ; he afterwards became a coalitionist, and now he ia 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 301 
 
 a "crusher." He is a paradoxical politician. He went to 
 the Mexican war and fell into a ditch, cleaned himself, went 
 into office at Washington, and again returned to his wallow- 
 ing in the mire. He is an ambitious man, with his eye on 
 the presidential chair, and will " stick at nothing " to gratify 
 his ambition. He is an accomplished scholar, familiar with 
 several languages, a perfect gentleman in his address, has a 
 large circle of friends and admirers, is personally handsome, 
 tall, and of good mould. His late eulogy on the death of 
 Vice-president King, is an eloquent and masterly production, 
 abounding in pathos, and the most chaste and beautiful 
 imagery. Although on the sunny side of fifty, he has been a 
 judge, a Mexican general, a member of Congress, minister to 
 China, and is now Attorney- General of the United States. 
 
 JAMES WATSON WEBB. 
 
 JAMES WATSON WEBB, editor and proprietor of the " New 
 York Courier and Enquirer, was for many years the Apollo 
 of the press, towering like a proud patrician above the heads 
 of his compeers : 
 
 " His fair large front and eye sublime declared 
 Absolute rule, and hyacinthi#e locks 
 Round from his parted forelocks manly hung, 
 Clustering, but not beneath his shoulders broad." 
 
 Even now, his natural force is unabated ; his eye has not lost 
 
392 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 its lustre ; his pen retains its power, and notwithstanding the 
 fact, that his raven hair has been bleached (more by thought 
 than years), he is erect and massive as a column crowned 
 with snow. He is a soldier, " born to command," and wields 
 the pen or the sword with equal facility. When a mere boy 
 he ran away from home, afterwards entered into military life, 
 and became noted for his feats of strength and activity. 
 Having a constitution of iron strength, he was equal to any 
 hardship he had to encounter. That he is a ready writer, 
 and that his paper is the highest authority in commercial 
 matters, no disinterested person qualified to judge will deny. 
 He is, however, of the silver grey school, and turns a cold- 
 shoulder on the political and moral reforms of this progres- 
 sive age ; a fact to be deplored, since his social position, his 
 commanding talents, and his vast influence with leading men 
 would enable him to accomplish an incalculable amount of 
 good, were he to side with the " radicals," and stop saving 
 the Union. 
 
 DOCTOR DUFFIELD. 
 
 THE Doctor is a deep thinker, a sound reasoner, a logical 
 but not an eloquent debater. His voice, face, and manner all 
 denote depth, earnestness, and sincerity. His sermons have 
 little poetry, but much common sense ; few striking compari- 
 sons, but many straightforward truths; they do not shine 
 with ornaments, but they are sharp, and cut deeply. Dr. 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 393 
 
 Duffield has more judgment than fancy, more power of con- 
 centration than power of origination. He never sinks down 
 to mediocrity, and seldom soars to the heavenly heights of 
 impassioned oratory. He has a heavy stock of goods on 
 hand, and cannot display them all at the front window; 
 indeed, he lacks taste, and is apt to show them the wrong 
 side out ; I fear he is too conservative to keep pace with the 
 strides of progress. He has courage, and yet like the coward 
 in a duel, he chooses to fight the enemy at a distance; for 
 instance, last Sabbath he attacked the tyrants of Europe, but 
 let the tyrants of America go unscathed. 
 
 The subject of this sketch is upwards of fifty years of age ; 
 of medium size and stature ; wears a long, earnest, serious 
 face ; has a%quare, not high forehead ; Roman nose ; flashing 
 eyes, and aristocratical chin. He looks as though his clothes 
 had been put on his person by some one else. His collar, 
 unlike his creed, yields to every pressure, and his shirt bosom 
 may be without spot, but is not without wrinkle or any such 
 thing. His coat hangs like a bag on his back, and one 
 would think he was unused to wearing such a garment ; then 
 that huge gold chain, dangling against his satin vest, is out 
 of place. Imagine' a backwoodsman (with an intellectual 
 face) fashionably dressed for the first time, and you will form 
 a tolerably correct idea of the manner in which Doctor 
 Duffield appears. 
 
394 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 J. R. LOWELL. 
 
 LOWELL is one of the few who has the frankness and the 
 courage to unrobe his bosom, and let the world see his heart 
 beat. He has sufficient independence to think aloud, and 
 dream with his eyes open. He shines because there is light 
 in his brain, and he writes because his mind is pregnant with 
 thought which must be born. He has a divine call to preach 
 the gospel of love and liberty, in verse ; and he does not 
 grieve away the spirit of his muse by remaining mute when 
 he should speak. In his L' Envoi, he says : 
 
 " But if the poet's duty be to tell 
 His fellow-men their beauty and their strength, 
 And show them the deep meaning of their souls, 
 He also is ordained to higher things ; 
 He must reflect his race's struggling heart, 
 And shape the crude conceptions of his age." 
 
 He deems this the land of song ; and he looks upon the 
 vast forests, broad prairies, huge rivers, lofty mountains, and 
 thundering cataracts, as the poetry of nature ; and yet he 
 thinks the spirit of poetry does not spring from waves and 
 woods, and rocks ; " her womb and cradle are the human 
 heart," and man is the noblest theme for song. He proclaims 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 395 
 
 with trumpet-tongue that every nation has a Messiah with a 
 message to man : 
 
 " One has to teach that labor is divine ; 
 Another, freedom; and another, mind." 
 
 The bard must " write the death-warrant of tyranny," " stab 
 falsehood to the heart," " make despots tremble," " preach the 
 freedom and the divinity of man and the glorious claims of 
 brotherhood," without waiting for hints from nodding trees, 
 and dashing waves, and fiery clouds. The magnificent poem 
 from which the above extracts are taken, is his masterpiece. 
 It is highly finished, full of wondrous fancy and mighty 
 thought. His sonnets are the sins of his poetry ; for he has 
 no right to cramp his " genius " in one place and stretch it in 
 another, on such an iron bedstead ; but since they are among 
 the best to be found in our land or in our language, we 
 pardon the transgressor, and say, " It is Alcibiades defacing 
 the images of the gods." 
 
 The following, addressed to that eminent and eloquent 
 reformer, Wendell Phillips, is one of his best : 
 
 " He stood upon the world's broad threshold ; wide 
 
 The din of battle and of slaughter rose ; 
 He saw God stand upon the weaker side, 
 
 That sank in seeming loss before its foes ; 
 Many there were who made great haste and sold 
 
 Unto the cunning enemy their swords ; 
 He scorned their gifts of fame, and power and gold, 
 
 And underneath their soft and flowery words 
 
396 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 Heard the cold serpent hiss ; therefore he went 
 And humbly joined him to the weaker part, 
 Fanatic named, and fool, yet well content, 
 
 So he could be the nearer to God's heart, 
 And feel its solemn pulses sending blood 
 
 Through all the wide-spread veins of endless good." 
 
 Lowell has a great heart, brimful and running over with 
 irresistible humor. His Bigelow papers abound in sly strokes 
 of mirth that would make a stoic shake his sides with laugh- 
 ter. He is the Hudibras of America, and woe betide the 
 unfortunate wight at whom he pokes his fun ; for, while it is 
 sport to him, it is death to the subject of his sarcasm. He 
 puts the following words into the mouth of a Yankee, when 
 a man in epaulettes requests him to join his regiment and 
 fight the Mexicans : 
 
 "As for war, I call it murder ; 
 
 There you have it plain and flat ; 
 I don't want to go no furder 
 
 Than my Testyment for that. 
 God has said so plump and fairly, 
 
 It's as long as it is broad, 
 And you've got to get up airly 
 
 Ef you want to take jn God. 
 'Taint your eppyletts and feathers, 
 
 Make the thing a grain more right ; 
 'Taint a follering your bell-weathers, 
 
 "Will excuse you in his sight. 
 Ef you take a sword and dror it, 
 
 And should stick a feller through, 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 397 
 
 Government ain't to answer for it, 
 God will send the bill to you." 
 
 Mr. Lowell is a genuine philanthropist. He beholds poor 
 Jown-trodden humanity, bleeding by the way-side, and like 
 the good Samaritan, he lifts up the down-fallen, and the beast 
 he puts them on is not an ass, but a true Pegasus. He 
 teaches what we are, and what we ought to be what we do, 
 and what we neglect to perform. He makes the brain and 
 bosom glow with the luxurious beauty of his imagery, and 
 spurs on to the performance of noble deeds by his clarion cry 
 of forward. His "Legend of Brittany" is a labored and 
 beautiful production, and gives ample proof of his descriptive 
 powers as a poet. It exhibits, however, one of his glaring 
 faults, for every now and then he exchanges his own Ameri- 
 can Harp for a German Flute. Several stanzas are disfigured 
 by his dove-tailing Dutch and English words together, such 
 as, "whilere," " unruth," "undazed," &c., &c. The reader 
 may liunt through library after library, without finding any- 
 thing more like the music of an organ than the follow- 
 ing : 
 
 " Then swelled the organ up through choir and nave, 
 The music trembled with an inward thrill 
 
 Of bliss at its own grandeur ; wave on wave 
 Its flood of mellow thunder arose, until 
 
 The hushed air shivered with the throb it gave ; 
 Then, poising for a moment, it stood still, 
 
 And sank and rose again, to burst in spray, 
 
 That wandered into silence far away. ?} 
 
398 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 His miscellaneous poems are sweet and fresh as winrows of 
 aewly-mown hay. Here is a verse taken at hap-hazard : 
 
 "It's a mere wild rose-bud, 
 
 Quite sallow, new, and dry ; 
 Yet there is something wondrous in it 
 Some gleams of days gone by." 
 
 The u Violet" is sweet as the breath of that flower. The 
 words in that " Fountain " rain down like pearl-drops in the 
 sun-light leaping, flashing, sparkling, " waving so flower-like 
 when the winds blow." Into the sunshine, into the moon- 
 light, into the starlight, into the midnight, ever up-springing, 
 always down-falling. In the " Rosaline " we have pictures 
 that make the flesh creep and the hair stand erect. Beneath 
 the thick stars he sees the blue-eyed and bright-haired Rosa- 
 line. Her hair was braided as on the day they were to bo 
 wed. The death-watch ticked behind the wall, and the wind 
 moaned among the pines, the leaves shivered on the trees, 
 strange sounds were on the air, and her lidless eyes gazed on 
 him, while the mourners, with their long, black robes and 
 nodding plumes, passed by. Then he sees the shroud of 
 snowy white. By and by the stars came out : 
 
 " The stars come out 5 and one by one 
 Each angel from his silver throne 
 Looked down and saw what I had done ; 
 I dared not hide me, Rosaline ! 
 I crouched, I feared thy corpse would cry 
 Against me to God's quiet sky ; 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 399 
 
 t 
 
 I thought I saw thy blue lips try 
 To utter something, Rosaline !" 
 
 Then faces loved in infancy looked mournfully at him, until 
 his heart melted. The poem must be read to be appreciated. 
 
 Mr. Lowell has been liberally educated, and is one of the 
 brightest lights that ever shone within the walls of old Har- 
 vard. Unlike most men of true poetic talent, he is a man of 
 fortune, who knows how to enjoy the good things of this life 
 without abusing them. He is a reformer of the most radical 
 school. Notwithstanding the high ground he maintains as an 
 out and out abolitionist, and the unpopularity of bis senti- 
 ments on the subject of slavery, his literary labors are in great 
 demand, and the productions of his pen command the highest 
 price paid in this country, and obtain the widest circulation. 
 Is not ten dollars per stanza good pay ? Mr. Lowell is thirty- 
 four or five years of age, of medium stature, has a low, broad 
 forehead, light eyes, a large shock of auburn hair on his head, 
 and too much moustache, imperial, goatee, and whiskers, on 
 his face. He is sociable, affable, humorous, and humane. 
 He is married to a lady of exquisite taste and rare attain- 
 ments, who has written poetry her husband might be proud 
 to own.* J. K. is a son of the celebrated Rev. Doctor Lowell. 
 Mr. Lowell and his family have recently returned from Italy. 
 
 * Since the above was written Mrs. Lowell has " gone to the angel land." 
 
400 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 JOHN MITCHEL. 
 
 THE most powerful opponent of English dominion in Ire- 
 land, during our day, has been the person whose name heads 
 this article. O'Connell, at one period, had a wider influence, 
 and a more popular audience ; but the endeavors of the great 
 orator were directed to a widely different purpose than were 
 those of Mitchel. The former was a monarchist; the latter 
 a republican. The one sought only to repeal the Legislative 
 Union between the two countries. The other desire*d a dis- 
 tinct nationality a separate State. O'Connell himself, at one 
 period " an uncrowned monarch," as some termed him, was 
 subservient to the trappings the gold and glitter the 
 pageantry the " Tribute of a kingly position," and never 
 dreamed of a self-reliant nationhood for hre native land. He 
 even condemned the republican spirit which actuated the 
 Tones, Emmetts and Fitzgeralds, on whose ruin, and from 
 the suggestiveness of whose thoughts he came into power. 
 Mitchel, in every particular, was the opposite of this. He 
 labored with a fixed purpose ; that purpose based on the 
 doctrines of Jefferson, and the example of the American 
 Union. He was tolerant with the intolerant, and earnestly 
 strove to sunder those differences and enmities between the 
 religionists of his countiy, which the agitation of O'Connell 
 had too deeply sown. He believed that no especial religion 
 
, 
 

OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 401 
 
 should be linked with the national cause. Liberty was a 
 Protestant as well as a Catholic right, and ably and with 
 great effect did he dare public opinion, as then formed, and 
 state those things in the face of all. Himself a Protestant, 
 he was not less a Catholic in his nationality ; and exposed to 
 both parties the paltriness of their fears, as regarded the 
 ascendancy of either sect, in the event of a successful revolu- 
 tion. His words fell with desperate effect, especially in 
 Ulster, whose growing adhesion to the national movement 
 more than anything else, forced the government from the wiles 
 of policy into open and undisguised opposition to Mitchel. 
 
 This remarkably man was born in Dungiven, in the 
 North of Ireland, in the year 1816. His father was a Uni- 
 tarian minister, who had married Miss Haslett of Deny. 
 While the subject of our sketch was yet young, his parents 
 removed to Newry, where the future revolutionist received 
 the rudiments of an excellent education. He afterwards came 
 to Dublin, where he graduated as Bachelor of Arts, at Trinity 
 College, and carried off several honors. His learning is not 
 only varied, but profound on many subjects, and his knowl- 
 edge of the classics and ancient law is only equalled by his 
 mastery of the modern systems of government. 
 
 Mitchel, like nearly all of the leaders of the " Young Ire- 
 land" party, was originally intended for the church ; but his 
 mind having undergone a change, he entered the office of an 
 Attorney, a Mr. Quinn, in Newry ; and at the closing of his 
 apprenticeship, began life as the partner of a lawyer in Ban- 
 bridge. 
 
402 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 There is one incident at least of his apprenticeship which 
 cannot be left unchronicled, and this was his marriage with 
 Miss Verner. He was only twenty at the period, and the 
 circumstance is thg more noticeable, that the parties eloped. 
 In the Life of Theobald Wolfe Tone, we are struck with the 
 noble devotion of his beautiful wife ; and when the life of 
 Mitchel comes to be written, in distinct characters, on the 
 page of history, the love and fortitude of his accomplished 
 wife will not be the least noble or interesting reminscence 
 among the many that will surround his name. 
 
 That Mitchel's mind had been a long time brooding over 
 the state of his country, before he came out publicly, is evident 
 from the research shown in his " Life of Hugh O'Neil," the 
 great Ulster chief and statesman of the seventeenth century. 
 This work was published towards the close of 1845 ; and at 
 one bound its author took a high position as a writer and a 
 nationalist. It is spoken of as a work of remarkable power, 
 and a perfect daguerreotype of its able subject and his exciting 
 period. 
 
 On the death of the lamented Thomas Davis, whom 
 Meagher called their "prophet and their guide," Mitchel 
 became the chief writer and thinker of the Nation. In 1846, 
 he wrote the famous article on Railways, showing how- they 
 might be used by the people in troublous times ; and were 
 not alone constructed for government use, as the officials had 
 calculated. For this article the paper was prosecuted. In 
 the same year the " Secession" from the O'Connell party took 
 place. On the occasion, Mitchel opposed the " Peace Reso- 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 403 
 
 lutions" introduced by the O'Connells, and strongly repro- 
 bated the adhesion of repealers to either whig or tory ranks. 
 He said : 
 
 " For me, I entered this association with the strong convic- 
 tion that it was to be made an instrument for wresting the 
 government of Ireland out of the hands of Englishmen, 
 whether Whig or Tory, and not a coadjutor of any of 
 them, perpetuating the provincial degradation of the country." 
 
 And again this timely and scathing warning : 
 
 " Drive the Ulster Protestants away from you by needless 
 tests, and you perpetuate the degradation both of yourselves 
 and them. Keep them at a distance from you make your- 
 selves subservient to the old and well-known English policy 
 of ruling Ireland always by one party or the other and Eng- 
 land will keep her heel upon both your necks forever. Slaves, 
 and the sons of slaves, you will perpetuate nothing but slavery 
 and shame from generation to generation." 
 
 The " Secessionists" formed the Irish Confederation, which 
 was composed of all the talent and energy of the national 
 party. At the commencement of 1848, Mitchel left the 
 Nation, as he deemed a more warlike policy necessary to the 
 preparation of the country, than Mr. Duffy, the proprietor 
 of that journal, would admit. To speak his own principles 
 freely and without constraint, he started the United Irishman, 
 called after the men whose labors he desired to continue to 
 the destiny they augured for Ireland. It was the most pow- 
 erful exponent of the European mind of the day. With the 
 shibboleth, that, the life of a peasant was equal to the life of 
 a peer, he, in all the consciousness of right, preached the hope- 
 ful doctrines of a comparatively new faith. 
 
404 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 " Since the days of Dr. Drennan," says .the writer of a 
 brilliant series of papers furnished to a New York journal, 
 " had not been read in Ireland such noble exhortations as this 
 famous journal put forth. They had all the vigor of Swift, 
 and the point of Berkeley. But there was running through 
 them, and flashing from them, an enthusiasm like that 
 which summoned the young students of Germany to arms, in 
 the Napoleonic war ; and which, again, in the upheaving of 
 the nations, in 1848, called forth, in surging crowds, the stu- 
 dents of the European schools and universities, from Rome to 
 Berlin, and from Pesth to Paris. It was a divine literature. 
 It was resonant with the sublime intonation of antiquity. It 
 absorbed and poured out again the songs of the Rhine and 
 Alps, but was touchingly modulated with the sorrows of the 
 Irish race ; and, in quick vibrations, elicited the mirth, the 
 scorn, the hope, the vengeance of the Celtic spirit. It was 
 the omnipotent voice of freedom, which speaks in every tone 
 and dialect, and from crowded cities, as from the dreariest 
 solitudes, evokes the responsive chorus. 
 
 " Whether we speak of sea or fire, in the exhaustless nature 
 of each, we find a type of that spirit, which in Ireland the 
 foreign foe has for centuries sought to master, but has never 
 tamed and never can annihilate. If it be like the fire, and if 
 it sometimes smoulders, a bold hand flinging in fresh fuel, 
 can light it up anew. If it be like the sea, and if it some- 
 times sleeps, a passing wind will wake it into anger. This 
 has been the history of Ireland ; this the explanation of her 
 mysterious relapses and commotions. This gives us an insight 
 into the perplexing future. 
 
 " Mitchel's writings did not create, but evoked the insurrec- 
 tionary spirit of the country. The spirit had been there, and 
 there for ever it will abide. But it was smouldering, and he 
 cast it up in flames once more. It was stagnant, and he 
 stirred it from its depths, and lashed it into a storm. 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 405 
 
 " Like a sky-wonder in a gloomy night 
 Outshone this man upon the ways of men, 
 Illumining the fetid social den, 
 In which souls dwindled in their prime of might ; 
 For that they lacked an honest guiding light, 
 To cheer them from the chamber-house of chains, 
 Where ghouls, with more tongues than the crop had grams, 
 Bought up their sense, re-buying with it bright 
 Golden-lined favors from the despot's hand. 
 Oh, thou wert one JOHN MITCHEL in the isle, 
 To stand before the dooming cannons' file, 
 And preach God's holy truth unto the land ! 
 Ay, your faith shook them from the damn'd eclipse, 
 As Christian sinners shrink neath the Apocalypse ! 
 
 SAVAGE. 
 
 The government was thrown from its centre. The most 
 decisive steps were necessary such was the success Mitchel's 
 appeals to Ireland had met with. The villainous " Treason- 
 Felony Bill," or " Gagging Act," was introduced by Sir George 
 Gray into the British Parliament, notoriously to put Mitchel 
 down. W. J. Fox, M. P., the well-known English Liberal, 
 considered the bill " an infringement of the liberty of the 
 subject." If it were passed, he said " No man would be safe in 
 addressing a meeting in times of political excitement." Of 
 course the United Irishman was immediately brought beneath 
 the lasso of the Gagging Act ; and Mitchel was arrested May 
 13, 1848, and committed to Newgate, on the charges of 
 " felony under the provisions of the new act." He was brought 
 to trial on the 26th, and at seven o'clock in the evening, a 
 verdict of " guilty" was returned. On the following morning 
 he was sentenced to fourteen years' banishment. The closing 
 of the scene was deeply exciting. When the sentence had 
 
406 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND 
 
 been pronounced, Mr. Mitchel, in a clear, firm, and manly 
 voice, then spoke as follows, amidst a solemn hush of breath- 
 less excitement : - 
 
 "The law has done its part, and the Queen of England, 
 Jier crown, and government in Ireland, are now secure, pur- 
 suant to act of Parliament. I have done my part also. 
 Three months ago, I promised Lord Clarendon and his gov- 
 ernment, in this country, that I would provoke him into his 
 courts of justice, as places of this kind are called, and that I 
 would force him publicly and notoriously to pack a jury 
 against me to convict me, or else that I would walk a freeman 
 out of this court, and provoke him to a contest in another 
 field. My lord, I knew I was setting my life on that cast ; 
 but I knew that in either event the victory should be with 
 me, and it is with me. Neither the jury, nor the judges, nor 
 any other man in this court, presumes to imagine that it is a 
 criminal who stands in this dock, (Murmurs of applause 
 which the police endeavored to suppress.) I have shown what 
 the law is made of in Ireland ; I have shown that her Majesty's 
 government sustains itself in Ireland by packed juries, by par- 
 tisan judges, by perjured sheriffs." 
 
 BARON LEFROY. "The court cannot sit here to hear you 
 arraign the jurors of the country, the sheriffs, or the country, 
 the administration of justice, the tenure by which the Crown 
 of England holds this country. We cannot sit here to suffer 
 you to proceed thus, because the trial is over. Everything 
 you had to say previous to the judgment, the court was ready 
 to hear, and did hear. We cannot suffer you to stand at the 
 bar to repeat, I must say, very nearly a repetition of the offence 
 for which you have been sentenced." 
 
 MR. MITCHEL. " I will not say any more of that kind ; 
 but I say this" 
 
OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 40 1 
 
 BARON LEFROY. " Anything you wish to say we will hear ; 
 but I trust you will keep yourself within the limits which 
 your own judgment must suggest to you." - ; -^.;f 
 
 MR. MITCHEL. "I have acted all through this business 
 from the first, under a strong sense of duty. I do not repent 
 anything I have done, and I believe the cause which I have 
 opened is only commenced. The Roman who saw his hand 
 burning to ashes before the tyrant, pr.omised that three hun- 
 dred should follow out his enterprise. Can I not promise for 
 one, for two, for three ?" 
 
 As Mr. Mitchel pronounced the words one, two and three, 
 he pointed to the friends behind him. The men thus solemnly 
 indicated were Messrs. Meagher, Reilly, and O'Gorman. He 
 then raised his eye with a proud glance, and recognising 
 others in all parts of the court, he added with eagerness, 
 " aye, for hundreds." 
 
 Several voices in the vicinage of the dock simultaneously, 
 and with deep solemnity, cried " thousands," " and promise 
 for me." The words were taken up all through the court, 
 and for some minutes the building resounded with " for me," 
 "and for me, Mitchel," "and for me, too." 
 
 Scarcely were the echoes in the court-room silent before 
 Mitchel, carried off in chains, with a strong force of cavalry, 
 was put on board an attendant steamer, and bound for his 
 destination. He was taken to Spike Island, in the Cove of 
 Cork, afterwards to Bermuda, where he spent a year of " sus- 
 pense, agony, and meditation." After a five months voyage, 
 he was next at the Cape of Good Hope, for five months, in a 
 l close, unclean and unhealthy cavity under the poop of the 
 
 
408 CRAYON SKETCHES, AND OFF-HAND TAKINGS. 
 
 Neptune," when the Home Government ordered him fearing 
 he should instigate, even by his presence, the excited men of 
 the Cape to rebellion to Van Diemen's Land. With the 
 assistance of Mr. P. J. Smyth, sent from America, by the 
 friends of Mitchel, the Irish Revolutionist effected his escape 
 in the middle of last year, and landed in San Francisco towards 
 the close of October, where he met with the most rapturous 
 reception. He immediately proceeded to New York, and 
 has taken up his residence in the city of Brooklyn, L. L, with 
 his family and friends around him. 
 
 I am indebted to one of Mr. Mitchcl's personal friends for 
 the above graphic and beautiful sketch. It must have been 
 written before the gifted patriot sacrificed himself on the altar 
 of American slavery. John Mitchel, in Ireland, was a repub- 
 lican, a hero, and a patriot. Had he died there, or in the 
 land of his banishment, he would have been honored as a 
 martyr to liberty ; but he unfortunately came to America, 
 and, in a fit of passion, wrote an infamous paragraph, which 
 went like a dagger into the very heart of freedom. Being too 
 proud or too obstinate to retract, the indignation of the people 
 of this country came down upon him like an avalanche. I 
 cannot allow the above to appear in the pages of my book, 
 without uttering a protest against his views of American 
 slavery. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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