CI. 
 
 Bk. 
 
 Trinity College Library 
 Durham, N. C. 
 
 
 7 
 
 RccU _. 
 
• 
 
 PERKINS LIBRARY 
 
 UuKe University 
 
 Kare Dooka 
 
 m 
 
PERSONAGES: 
 
 % ^odlt of filtiiig C|aradi;rs 
 
 R. A. YOUNG. 
 
 ^9 90C 
 
 NASHVILLE, TENN.: 
 PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR BY J. B. M'FERRIN, Ag't. 
 
 1861. 
 
^tiN 
 
 -^^ 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 0-") 
 
 PAGE 
 
 PREFACE vii 
 
 EDWARD EVERETT, 
 
 The American Cicero 9 
 
 REV. JOHN HANNAH, D. D., 
 
 British Delegate 19 
 
 JOHN B. GOUGH, 
 
 Prince of the Platform 35 
 
 REV. THOMAS H. STOCKTON, D. D., 
 
 The Inspired Declaimer 58 
 
 REV. FREDERICK J. JOBSON, D. D., 
 
 British Delegate GG 
 
 BAYARD TAYLOR, 
 
 The Traveller 75 
 
 REV. CIIAS. B. PARSONS, D. D., LL. D., 
 
 The Converted Actor , 87 
 
 REV. JOHN E.VRLY, D. D., 
 
 The Venerable Bishop 102 
 
 (iii) 
 
 ^ ^9CC 
 
IV CONTENTS. 
 
 THOMAS FRANCIS MEAGHER, ESQ., 
 
 Tub Ieisii Exile 113 
 
 HENRY GILES, 
 
 The Lectueer 122 
 
 JOHN MITCHELL, 
 
 The Revolutionist 129 
 
 REV. JOHN r. DURBIN, D. D., 
 
 The Plli'it Orator 140 
 
 REV. ALEXANDER R. ERWIN, D. D., 
 
 The Faithful Preacher 152 
 
 WM. M. THACKERAY, 
 
 TuE Novelist IGO 
 
 REV. CHARLES TAYLOR, M. D., 
 
 The Uktursed Missionary 178 
 
 JENKINS AND CUNNYNGHAM, 
 
 A Brace of Missioxarie.s 188 
 
 KELLEY, BELTON, AND LAMBUTH, 
 
 A Trio of Missionaries 199 
 
 H. R. II. ALBERT EDWARD, 
 
 The TiiiNCE of Wales 208 
 
 REV. D. U. McANALLY, D. D., 
 
 Editor anii Avthor 220 
 
 <i^V d ^ 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 REV. JOHN B. M'FERRIN, D. D., 
 
 Book Agent 
 
 HON. WILLIAM T. HASKELL, 
 
 The Tennessee Orator 234 
 
 REV. JOHN HENRY YOUNG, 
 
 My Beloved Brother 239 
 
 HON. JORDAN STOKES, 
 
 The Successful Pleader < 247 
 
 MAJOR URIEL WRIGHT, 
 
 The AVestern Lawyer 253 
 
 REV. GEORGE COPWAY, 
 
 The 0jebav.\y Indian 259 
 
 FATHER JOHN HERSEY, 
 
 The Wandering Preacher 2G8 
 
 JOHN G. SAXE, ESQ., 
 
 The Hu.MORiST 274 
 
 HON. TRUSTEN POLK, 
 
 United States Senator 283 
 
 CASSIUS M. CL.VY, 
 
 The Abolitionist 289 
 
 REV. BEX J. TAYLOR K.WAXAUGH, ^l. D., 
 
 The Pioneer Preacher 296 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Most of tlic matter in this book was prepared 
 several years ago. The letters were originally 
 addressed to Drs. Huston, M'Ferrin, and M'Au- 
 all}^, and appeared in their papers. I say letters, 
 because they are written in the easy and familiar 
 style of the letter ; and not one of them has been 
 rewritten. They are not arranged here in chro- 
 nological order, as will be seen by the dates ; but 
 for the sake of variety. 
 
 I have been told frequently, especially since my 
 return to Tennessee, that if my " Characters" 
 were collected together in book form, they would 
 be read extensively. The venture is now made, 
 
 (vii) 
 
viii PREFACE. 
 
 and here is the result: a book written by a very 
 young author, for the l)enefit of 3'oung men. I 
 hope they will read it, and be fired with an am- 
 bition that may be vindicated. 
 
 R. A. Young. 
 
 Nashvillk, Tens., Jan. 1st, 1861. 
 
PERSONAaES. 
 
 EDWARD EVERETT, 
 
 THE AMERICAN CICERO. 
 
 Some of tlie ladies of the Mound City have 
 formed an association, called the " Mount Vernon 
 Association." Their object is to raise funds, and 
 assist in purchasing the home and grave of "Wash- 
 ington. On Monday evening, April 13, I attended 
 their first public meeting ; at which the officers of 
 the Association were elected, and to which Major 
 Wright delivered a very handsome address. Two 
 United States Senators — Polk, of Missouri, and 
 Crittenden, of Kentucky — had been announced; 
 but the emergencies of business carried one out of 
 the city, and indisposition detained the other at 
 
10 PERSONAGES. 
 
 home. At the conclusion of his speech, !Major 
 Wright announced that the ladies of the Associa- 
 tion had secured the services of the Hon. Edward 
 Everett for the next Monday evening, at Avhich 
 time he would appear, and deliver his " Oration on 
 the Life and Character of Washington." 
 
 Long before the hour arrived for Mr. Everett's 
 oration, tickets had been sold at fifty cents apiece 
 to as many persons as could be crammed in the 
 large hall of the Mercantile Library Building. I 
 went an hour before the time, and was met by a 
 friend on the ground floor, who told mc the hall 
 was filled. As I ascended stairway after stairway, 
 I met crowds coming down, going home. To Dr. 
 Spaulding, one of the "masters of ceremonies" for 
 the evening, I am indebted to a seat in hearing of 
 the speaker. 
 
 At the appointed time, the orator appeared upon 
 the platform, and ddivcrcd his oration, without 
 reading-desk or notes, and with that grace and 
 fervor for which he is so celebrated. It is under- 
 stood that Mr. Everett is the most accomplished 
 speaker, according to the rules laid down in books, 
 this country has ever produced. With this under- 
 standing I went to hear him, and was very agree- 
 ably disappointed; for he does occasionally lose 
 
EDWARD EVERETT. 11 
 
 8iglit of the proprieties of elocution, and follow 
 the impulses of his noble nature. His lower limbs 
 move with much ease, and he occupies a considera- 
 ble area of the platform. He gestures more at the 
 beginning of his speech than at the conclusion, 
 and altogether too much with his left hand. He 
 speaks loudly — right on — rapidl}' from the start. I 
 record these things with much gratification ; be- 
 cause I am always best pleased with a good and 
 great speaker who violates about half the rules of 
 rhetoric and elocution. 
 
 As old Dr. Baird says, "!N"ow, as to this man's 
 personal appearance, let me inform you it is very 
 fine." And his voice, in cultivation and compass, 
 excels an}^ in our land. Mr. Everett's reasoning 
 powers are not remarkable, though his understand- 
 ing of logic and its kindred sciences is said to be 
 almost perfect. His narrative and descriptive pas- 
 sages, his groupings and illustrations, are worthy 
 of admiration and study. He draws a striking 
 contrast, and quotes with familiarity from every 
 department of human learning. It would be im- 
 polite not to laugh at his wit — it is so refined. Mr. 
 Everett dwells upon the life and character of "Wash- 
 ington with the heart of a lover ; and this oration 
 has brought tears to the eyes of many delighted 
 
12 PERSONAGES. 
 
 thousands. Though by no means his masterpiece, 
 it lias inseparably connected his name with the 
 enterprise whose design is to purchase the tomb 
 and farm of George Washington. It has been 
 delivered about thirty times, and has put perhaps 
 twenty thousand dollars into the treasuries of the 
 various "Mount Vernon Associations" of the 
 countr}'. 
 
 Washington University was "inaugurated" dur- 
 ing Mr. Everett's stay in St. Louis. On "Wednes- 
 day, April 22, the audience assembled in the 
 * 'Academic Hall" of the University Building, and 
 were read io by President Elliott, one of the Pro- 
 fessors, and ex-^Iayor IIow ; and were spoken io by 
 Judge Treat, Dr. Post, and Judge Bates. In the 
 afternoon the Mercantile Library Hall was full to 
 overflowing, to witness the concluding exercises, 
 and hear the concluding address from Mr. Everett. 
 This address occupied two hours in the delivery, 
 and I dismiss it by saying, it is independent of 
 criticism, and beyond the reach of praise. An 
 Episcopal dignitary thought the AVashington ora- 
 tion was child's prattle when compared to it; and 
 my friend, Dr. Pope, said he could conceive of 
 nothing beyond it. What a pity that the mind 
 of Edward Everett was ever diverted, even for a 
 
EDWARD EVERETT. 13 
 
 single week, from tlie cliannel of religion and lite- 
 rature ! 
 
 By request, Mr. Everett remained in the city 
 until Saturday evening, and repeated liis " Oration 
 on the Life and Character of Washington." The 
 Church of the Messiah, said to be the largest in 
 the place, was crowded with people — entrance, fifty 
 cents. 
 
 I write purely from memor3^ Edward Everett 
 is descended from one of the oldest families in 
 America. The name of his first American ances- 
 tor, Richard Everett, appears in the archives of the 
 village of Dedham as early as 1630. His grand- 
 father, Ebenezer Everett, was a good New England 
 farmer. His father, Oliver Everett, was first a 
 carpenter; afterwards graduated at Harvard, and 
 became pastor of the new South Church, Boston ; 
 after this retired to the village of Dorchester, and 
 became a justice. Here the subject of my sketch 
 was born, 1794. 
 
 Edward Everett entered Harvard University in 
 his thirteenth year, and graduated in his seven- 
 teenth, a prodigy of talents and scholarship. He 
 preferred the law, but his friends and relations 
 urged him to study theology. He completed the 
 course in the Divinity School at Cambridge in his 
 
14 TERSONAOES. 
 
 nineteenth year, and was immediately called to the 
 pulpit of Brattle Street Church, Boston, made 
 vacant by the melancholy death of a wonderful 
 young man, the Bev. Joseph Stevens Buckminster. 
 
 Mr. Everett was going on twenty when he be- 
 came the pastor of the largest, most wealthy, and 
 most intellectual society in Boston. And, though 
 he followed the most remarkable pulpit orator of 
 that day, he succeeded in holding his congrega- 
 tion, and doing good. In addition to his pastoral 
 labors, he wrote a book of five hundred pages in 
 less than twelve months, and published it ! It was 
 called "A Defence of Christianit}^," and was in 
 reply to an infidel publication — " Christianity Ex- 
 amined," etc. I wonder if it will be reimhllshcd 
 with his other works ! 
 
 Before he was twenty -one, Mr. Everett was 
 elected Professor of the Greek Language and Lite- 
 rature in Harvard University, with the permission 
 to go to Europe to recruit his health and complete 
 his studies. lie spent the first winter in England ; 
 the second in Germany, where he studied German, 
 and visited various colleges and universities. The 
 translator of Plato, M. Cousin, met him in Ger- 
 many, and, after making his acquaintance, pro- 
 nounced him the best Grecian he had ever known. 
 
EDWARD EVERETT. 15 
 
 Mr. Everett passed Ms third winter in Paris, pre- 
 paring for the duties of his professorship ; his 
 fourth in Eome, where he studied ancient litera- 
 ture in the library of the Vatican. He returned to 
 the United States in 1819, having been absent four 
 years and a half, and entered upon the duties of his 
 office. 
 
 During the five years which Mr. Everett spent as 
 Professor at Cambridge, he delivered lectures on 
 the Greek Language, Literature, and Art; pub- 
 lished a Greek Grammar and a Greek Reader ; and 
 edited the North American Review. For this peri- 
 odical he wrote fifty elaborate articles ! 
 
 He entered the Congress of the United States 
 about the year 1825, and was a member of that 
 body for ten years. He was a working, not a 
 speaking member. In this time, he wrote sixty 
 articles, currciite calamo, for the North Americnn 
 Review! Also twenty-seven orations on various 
 subjects, and for divers occasions, which were given 
 to the public in 1836. Li the year 1829, Mr. Ever- 
 ett made a tour through the valley of the Missis- 
 sippi. He spoke at Lexington, Ky., and Nashville, 
 Tenn. Public dinners were given him at both 
 places. Li 1836, he was elected Governor of Mas- 
 sachusetts ; also in 1837, 1838, and 1839. 
 
10 PERSONAGES. 
 
 Mr. Everett was appointed Minister to England 
 in 1841 ; and during the whole of the five years 
 which he spent at the Court of St. James, he wore 
 the plain dress of an American citizen. I hope 
 the ministers of this young republic, who may be 
 sent to the gay and luxuriant capitals of the old 
 world, will ever copy his example, and never be- 
 deck their persons with the gewgaws of royalty. 
 The old University of Cambridge conferred the 
 degree of Doctor of Laws on Mr. Everett while he 
 resided at London. 
 
 Mr. Everett returned in 1846, and on the 30th 
 day of April, in that year, was inaugurated Presi- 
 dent of Harvard University. Since then he has 
 been, for a short time. Secretary of State, and a 
 member of the United States Senate. He is now 
 a private gentleman. 
 
 Mr. Everett has not made the most of life. 
 True, he has been successful in every thing he has 
 undertaken ; but he has undertaken too many 
 things. He has been industrious — no man of his 
 day has been more so ; but it is evident the organ 
 of "continuity" is not well developed on his head, 
 and has not been well "cultivated" in his life. As 
 a divine, he might have been the greatest light of 
 the American Churches; in literature, he might 
 
EDWARD EVERETT. 17 
 
 have been a star, and dwelt apart ; as a writer, lie 
 miglit have boon the Addison of America ; as an 
 orator, he might have been the greatest that has 
 trodden the world's stage for centuries; and as a 
 statesman, he might have equalled "Webster: but 
 he is not any of these things, and, I may say, has 
 almost frittered away his Avonderful mind. Think 
 of fift}^ articles for the North American ; then sixty 
 articles more while his brother was editor; then 
 twenty -seven published orations — add to these 
 twenty-seven unpublished ; and you have one hun- 
 dred and sixty-four compositions, on different sub- 
 jects, all thrown off in the midst of other and 
 pressing engagements — the mere triflings of a 
 laborious student and statesman ! Had the time 
 spent in these writings been bestowed on the ela- 
 boration of exhaustive volumes on great subjects, 
 the reputation of Edward Everett would have been 
 familiar to the "Last Man." 
 
 A poet also he is ; and did my space permit, I 
 would give you a specimen of his verse-making, 
 from the "Dirge of Alaric the Visigoth." 
 
 Mr. Everett dwells in Cambridge, Mass. I had 
 the pleasure of being at his house in the year 
 ISi'd. He is a member of the Unitarian Chtirch, 
 
18 PERSONAGES. 
 
 and a man whose moral character is without a 
 stain. "Withal, he has gathered ahout him a multi- 
 tude of friends, and an ample fortune. 
 
 St. Louis, April 28, 1857. 
 
REV. JOHN HANNAH, D.D. 19 
 
 REV. JOHN HANNAH, D. D., 
 
 BRITISH DELEGATE. 
 
 A RIDE on the rail, commencing at five o'clock 
 in the afternoon, and ending at one o'clock the 
 next day, makes the trip from St. Louis to Indian- 
 apolis. Only twenty hours out ! and one crosses 
 the Father of Waters, the country of the Suckers, 
 and enters deep into the land of the Hoosiers. 
 Dickens thinks the Americans call almost every 
 little collection of houses "a cit}-." Very good. 
 The capital of Indiana is a citi/, of "magnificent 
 distances." Every man seems to have as much 
 amplitude of street, yard, garden, lot, as could be 
 desired, out of the country; and to content him- 
 self with a small house, elegantly built. In num- 
 ber, and architectural beauty, and perfect adapta- 
 tion to the purposes for which they have been 
 constructed, the public buildings of Indianapolis 
 would be creditable to any place of its size. Out 
 of Washington City, I have seen no place where 
 
20 PERSONAOES. 
 
 they form ro prominent a feature. The liospitality 
 of tlio citizens is not rcraarkahle. A member of 
 the General Conference wrote during the session : 
 " The resources of private hospitality are com- 
 pletely exhausted!" A Southern village, of twelve 
 or fifteen hundred inhabitants, will entertain an 
 Annual Conference, with its crowds of visitors — its 
 separate families complain while you are there that 
 they have nol as many guests as they agreed to 
 take — petition the Conference to assemble there the 
 next year ; but the city of Indianapolis, with four 
 years to make ready, cannot entertain a General 
 Conference of two hundred and twenty members 
 without exhausting the resources of its private 
 hospitality, completely ! There were also about two 
 hundred visitors, official and unofficial, attending 
 the session. Most of the "unofficials" were able 
 to pay their board ; and all of them found an oppor- 
 tunity of doing so, at from four to fourteen dollars 
 per week. If any of m}' acquaintances, 
 
 •'Sailing o'er life's Bolemn main," 
 
 should land at Indianapolis, my advice is, go at 
 once to the " Bates House." There you will find a 
 man behind the desk, who can decide in so short a 
 space of time as from dinner to dark, exactly what 
 
REV. JOHN HANNAH, D.D. 21 
 
 room you arc to occup}^ — particularly if you are in 
 a hurry — and who can make up his mind, between 
 supper and bedtime, tluit you can't have thai room ! 
 Dost thou trace these lines, vinegar-nosed clerk 
 of the "Bates House," who triedst to oust me from 
 number forty-six, "at dead of night," and failedst? 
 I will mark the place, and send them to thee. These 
 things aside, Indianapolis is a charming place. I 
 know of no place north of Mason and Dixon's line 
 I would select for a home sooner than this. • Churches 
 are abundant, and w^ell filled ; and, during the ses- 
 sion of the General Conference, of course, Method- 
 ism was the " established religion." It is the head- 
 quarters of Dr. Ames, the youngest, and one of the 
 ablest. Bishops in the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 The Rev. John Hannah, D.D., senior representa- 
 tive of the Wesleyan Methodist Conference of Great 
 Britain to the Methodist Episcopal Church in the 
 United States, was the guest of his Excellency, 
 Governor Wright. Among a people like the Eng- 
 lish, who pay great deference to position, and wor- 
 ship men in high political places, this fact will be 
 mentioned. In this country, where the majority of 
 men are sovereigns, and distinguished men arc so 
 abundant, it is difficult to determine which was 
 complimented. Governor "Wright is a shrewd man, 
 
SJ, PERSONAGES. 
 
 and a successful politician : Dr. Hannah is a useful 
 preacher, and a sound theologian : both are men of 
 talents, without an atom of genius. 
 
 Dr. Hannah had been received by the General 
 Conference, and had delivered his opening address — 
 Lad preached in "Wesley Chapel, on Sunday, to an 
 overflowing house — and had made a model speech 
 at the Anniversary of the Tract Society — before the 
 day arrived for the delivery of his sermon to the 
 General Conference, as a body. This sermon was 
 preached in the afternoon of AVednesday, May 14th, 
 in Wesley Chapel, before the entire Conference. 
 The text was 2 Cor. v. 21 : " For he hath made him 
 to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might 
 be made the righteousness of God in him." The 
 subject was: "Reconciliation, and the Ministry of 
 Reconciliation." At tlic time, I could have given 
 3()u the outlines of the sermon quite easily; but, as 
 soon as the final Amen was pronounced, on motion 
 of the Rev. John A. Collins, of Baltimore, the Con- 
 forencG resolved to publish it. So I dismissed them 
 from my mind. 
 
 This was a great occasion. Dr. Hannah was Inlly 
 himself, I am told. He is a large, solid, old man, 
 with a bald head, and a florid complexion. He 
 dresses with perfect taste, and in the latest style. 
 
REV. JOHN HANNAH, D.D. 23 
 
 On this occasion, lie was clad precisely as an Eug- 
 lisli gentleman clothes himself to meet a dinner- 
 party. He wore about as much jewelry, in the pul- 
 pit, as a well-bred English gentleman ever wears — 
 namely, a watch, chain, and seal. I looked at my 
 poor, old-fashioned, dusty, slovenly garb, and 
 thought: "If neatness is the product of godliness, 
 my preacher, to-day, must be a most holy person ; 
 
 and I must be" Well, I grieve to speak it. 
 
 Dr. Hannah stands up, and reads his lessons, re- 
 cites his hymns, and offers prayer, in a constrained, 
 smothered, and monotonous style, as all Englishmen 
 do whom I have heard. Some preachers can be 
 natural and easy ever^^where but in the pulpit. The 
 moment they get into that box, naturalness seems 
 "clean gone for ever." Like all the English Wes- 
 leyan Methodist preachers whom I have observed, 
 Dr. Hannah stands up to pray. They kneel at home : 
 the kneeling arrangements in English churches arc 
 quite sumptuous. When they come over to this 
 country, they decline kneeling in dust and dirt; 
 they only recline forward — bow their hearts. "When- 
 ever I see a minister of the gospel violating the dic- 
 tates of his conscience, the plain instructions of 
 God's word, and the rules of his Church, to avoid 
 a little dust, I am reminded of the old negro's 
 
24 PERSONAGES. 
 
 cxprcRsion, after attending service in a fiisliionable 
 eliurcli : '• Uu^li ! deux peoples worship de Lord same 
 like he was a gentleman !" Then came the sermon 
 — so simple — so critical — so perfect ! A good, and 
 gracious, and glorious gospel sermon was tliis ! It 
 instructed one's head, thawed out his heart, and 
 melted his eyes. No manuscript, thank God — no 
 jiotably dull "notes" — no strutting performer de- 
 livering memoriter — claimed the attention of the 
 vast, motley, and magnificent assemblage ; but a 
 great and good man, from a full intellect and a 
 warm heart, preached to us " the glorious gospel of 
 Christ." It has been my good fortune to listen to 
 many good sermons : this was among the very best 
 I have heard. It was an expository sermon. 
 "Firstly," "Secondly," "Thirdly," etc., were in 
 the preacher's mind ; but he did not annoy the dis- 
 ciples of Abel Stevens by announcing them " homi- 
 letically." The composition was irradiated with 
 thought, and beautified and strengthened by quota- 
 tions from the Sacred Scriptures. There was not a 
 single (quotation, noticed, from any other book. 
 This characteristic of Dr. Hannah's preaching was 
 alluded to by Mr. Collins, at the time he ofiered the 
 resolution to publish ; and by the venerable Bishop 
 AVaugh, before the General Conference. Dr. 
 
REV. JOHN HANNAH, D.D. 25 
 
 Hannah is not brilliant, nor eloquent, but perfectly 
 sound. 
 
 He is an Englishman by birth, and is sixty-four 
 years of age. In his thirty-second year, that is to 
 say, thirty-two years ago, he accompanied Mr. Reese 
 to this country. They were the British delegates 
 to the General Conference which sat in Baltimore, 
 May, 1824. Since then, he was appointed a Profes- 
 sor in the Wesleyan Theological Seminary, at Dids- 
 bury. He is now principal Professor in that insti- 
 tution. Hundreds of "Wesleyan Methodist preachers 
 have received instruction from him. So Dr. Han- 
 nah may be put down on the side of theological 
 seminaries. And (supposing an .interval of two 
 weeks between the mention of our names) you may 
 put me down against them. As an author, he has 
 written much, and published little. I have a small 
 volume from his pen in my library ; which I have 
 read frequently, and with much profit. It is said 
 that we arc to have Hannah's Theological Institutes, 
 now, soon. John Calvin's Institutes — the found- 
 ation of Calvinistic churches and Calvinistic theo- 
 logy — w^ere published before he was twenty-five 
 years old ! Watson's Theological Institutes were 
 written in a great hurry — their composition engaged 
 Richard Watson only one year and a few months ! 
 
26 PERSONAGES. 
 
 If there is truth in man, tlic present text-book of 
 universal Methodism was composed in haste. Dr. 
 Hannah does not like it — does not use it, as a text- 
 book, in his school. It is hoped his Theological 
 Institutes have been the work of a lifetime. 
 
 He is probabl}' the ablest theologian, as well as 
 one of the best men, among the living followers of 
 John Wesley. As Carlyle says of Edward Irving, 
 he strives to be a Christian priest in the nineteenth 
 century. And although he said nothing, privately, 
 socially, or i)ublicly, from which one could infer that 
 he had ever heard of the Methodist Episcoj)al 
 Church, South ; still, I wish him a serene old age, 
 a hapi>y death, a decent burial, immortal fame, and 
 a glorious resurrection. 
 
 Here is the substance of Dr. Hannah's great 
 speech, delivered in Roberts' Chapel, Indianapolis, 
 at the Anniversary of the Parent Tract Society of 
 the Methodist Episcopal Church. It is given as a 
 specimen of his platform-speaking : 
 
 He said it was worthy of attention, that the New 
 Testament Scriptures had been issued in inspired 
 tracts. They were not issued connectedly, but were 
 severally adapted to times and circumstances, and 
 their sublime truths were couched in the simple 
 language of the people. We have thus a high, a 
 
REV. JOHN nANNAII, D.D. 27 
 
 Divine pattern in tlae tract operations. It is worthy 
 of remark, too, that with the revival of primitive 
 religion, came the revival of this peculiar feature. 
 Look at the Keformation, inaugurated by Luther. 
 The tracts which were scattered among the people, 
 did more to bring about this great movement, and 
 give it ultimate success, than did the elaborate and 
 j>onderous volumes. "Wesley understood this mat- 
 ter, and in this respect he was fifty years in advance 
 of his contemporaries. He was assiduous in the 
 distribution of tracts. He himself had seen many 
 a sermon issued by Wesley, having printed on its 
 title-page : " This tract is not to be sold, but given 
 away." These shorter pieces had done more than 
 any thing else in these great movements ; and in 
 issuing them they had followed the high example 
 of the inspired apostles themselves. 
 
 Dr. Hannah went on to say, that we had great 
 reason to rejoice that the Tract Society had such 
 sway here. He had listened with profound interest 
 to the address of Dr. Peck. As these exhibitions 
 passed before him, he was enabled to see more and 
 more the great links of union which bind Great 
 Britain and these United States together, and he 
 trusted in God that these links might never be 
 broken. He adverted to the operations of the Tract 
 
28 PERSONAGES. 
 
 Societies in Great Britain, and was truly rejoiced to 
 find that so much had been done here. It is hard 
 to comprehend statistics in such cases. The naked 
 figures do not exhibit all the facts in the case. We 
 are told that twelve hundred persons have been 
 converted and brought into the Church during the 
 last three years. But who can follow the influence 
 of these twelve hundred persons upon the world at 
 large ? And who can tell how many more have 
 been indirectly brought into the Church through 
 this instrumentality ? He devoutly trusted that the 
 Tract Society will yet be more useful, both in this 
 conntr}' and Great Britain. He would further call 
 attention, 
 
 1. To the peculiar character of these tracts, and 
 their adaptation to the ends they are designed to 
 accomplish. They are biographic, historic, moni- 
 tory, and didactic. lie did not altogether agree 
 with the remark that a great book is a great evil : 
 there are subjects which can only be properly ela- 
 borated in large volumes ; but for purposes of prac- 
 tical instruction, tracts have greatly the advantage. 
 Tln'ir wide range of topics makes them applicable 
 to all conditions of humanity. 
 
 2. They associate the circulation of trutli printed 
 with the power of truth spoken. Nothing can 
 
REV. JOHN HANNAH, D.D. 29 
 
 supply the place of the living teacher — the com- 
 mand was 'to go and preach the gospel. The great 
 Head of the Church had ordained the living teacher, 
 and he could not be displaced or dispensed with. 
 But these tracts go not out alone — they are circu- 
 lated by living teachers, who thus have the oppor- 
 tunity of enforcing the truths which they contain. 
 The students of the Theological Seminary at Dids- 
 bury, England, where he had the honor to be placed, 
 devote one afternoon of each week to tract-distri- 
 bution in the village and its suburbs. This plan 
 gives them direct access to the people, and thus 
 affords them great opportunities of doing good. 
 He honored the tract-distributor, and hoped the 
 time will speedily come when all the Lord's people 
 will be found heartily engaged in this great and 
 good work. 
 
 He fully endorsed the reference of Dr. Peck to 
 the harmony which existed between all the great 
 Christian benevolent societies. Christianity is the 
 greatest unity. A beautiful illustration was here 
 introduced of the assemblage of the Christian 
 graces. The apostle said that the fruit — not the 
 fruits — but "the/mi of the Spirit is love," etc. It 
 is meekness working by love, temperance working 
 by love, etc. Love was in all and through all. As 
 
30 PERSONAGES. 
 
 God is love, so the one undivided fruit of tlic Spirit 
 is love. The idea which he wished to enforce is, 
 that as Christianity is one, and the fruit of the Spirit 
 is one, so these great auxiliary institutions of the 
 Churcli are one. Each exerts an influence upon the 
 other, and they mutually assist each other. He 
 tlien related an anecdote concerning an individual 
 who ohjected to the British and Foreign Bible So- 
 ciety, on the score that it would act injuriously 
 upon a society already established, to which he be- 
 longed. When asked how much he contributed to 
 the society for whose safety he was so anxious, it 
 came out that he contributed just nothing at all. 
 lie was fearful many of those who raised the objec- 
 tion that too many institutions would conllict with 
 each other, would be found in the same condition, 
 rraetical things arc best learned by practice, and 
 the more we do, the more we can do. lie devoutly 
 trusted that all these great institutions may flourish 
 yet more and more, and tind themselves working 
 together in harmony, and mutually assisting each 
 other. The day of unity will come : it is nearer 
 than many suppose. It may not be a union of sen- 
 timent, but it will be a union of love and of Chris- 
 tian labor. 
 
 Un Monday afternoon, May lUth, we had a scene 
 
REV. JOHN HANNAH, D.D. 31 
 
 worth witnessing. Bishop Morris arose and said, 
 that as the representatives of the British Confer- 
 ence were ahout to leave the seat of the General 
 Conference, to return to their native country, he 
 desired that they might be permitted at this time to 
 take their leave. 
 
 Dr. Hannah then rose, and, addressing the Pre- 
 sident, remarked, that he desired he would receive 
 for himself and for his respected colleagues, and all 
 the members of the General Conference, the warmest 
 expression of gratitude for the kindness they had 
 received at their introduction ; and the same kind- 
 ness which had been continued to them during their 
 stay. They trusted that the delegates which should 
 be appointed to attend the session of their Confer- 
 ence by this body, will meet with the same large- 
 hearted kindness. 
 
 The Doctor remarked that the great object of 
 their visit was to promote a greater union between 
 English and American Methodism. They did not 
 feel willing to enter into any discussion in regard 
 to questions which might agitate them, and which 
 they could not fully understand, unless they were 
 more acquainted with the country, and the nature 
 and genius of its in'stitutions. Their exclusive ob- 
 ject was to express their warmest regards, and they 
 
82 PERSONAQES. 
 
 most sincerely prayed tliat Methodism on both sides 
 of the Atlantic might he one. Ho was peculiarly 
 struck with one thing, and that was, that in doc- 
 trine, and, si)irit, and aim, Methodism in America 
 was in accordance with the Church in its primitive 
 days. He jtrayod that the Lord God of their fathers 
 might he among them, and that they might ever 
 possess the same spirit and apostolical zeal that 
 characterized those whose footsteps they were fol- 
 lowing, lie admired the manner in which Method- 
 ism adapted itself to the circumstances by which it 
 was surrounded, lie tliought of the sentiment 
 advanced by Bengelius, and adopted by ^Ir. Wes- 
 ley, that religion was like the air, which yields to 
 all bodies, and yet penetrates and pervades all 
 bodies : so with Methodism ; it was yielding and 
 accommodating, yet penetrating and all-pervading. 
 The Doctor remarked that there were some plans 
 of operation adopted by the Church here, which, 
 of course, diiVered from their plans ; but though 
 the plans difi'ered, the great ends were kej)t in 
 view. lie was gratified witli the tone and senti- 
 ment of the Conference, and the general spirit 
 which prevailed among the members, and he hoped 
 that it would remain throughout the entire sittings 
 of the body, lie was not ignorant of the fact that 
 
REV. JOHN HANNAH, D.D. 33 
 
 questions of deep and stirriiig interest would come 
 before them, and claim their investigation ; but lie 
 trusted they would be able, b}'- the help of God, to 
 meet those questions, and dispose of them to the 
 benefit and spiritual prosperity of the Church. He 
 would also express his gratitude for the kind and 
 hospitable manner in which the Irish delegates were 
 received. He loved those brethren much. He was 
 strongly attached to Mr. Scott, and his old pupil, 
 Mr. Arthur, who had been with us, and to Mr. 
 Gather. He also felt grateful for the interest the 
 American Church had taken in their mission at 
 Fejee, and spoke most feelingly of the missionary 
 who had labored with such zeal and devotion as to 
 become an old man at thirty-five. He alluded to 
 the difficulties there, and to the timely interference 
 in its behalf. He prayed that the Lord God, who 
 had raised up the Methodists as a people to show 
 forth his praise in the earth, might keep them by 
 his power ; that He who had kept the old ship with 
 its rigging, and enabled it to breast the storms 
 through which it had passed, would bring it to the 
 haven ; that the God of heaven would be with us, 
 and pour out his Spirit ; and that from Passama- 
 quoddy to the Pacific, the light and truth of salva- 
 tion might spread. He then addressed Bishop 
 
34 PERSONAGES. 
 
 Morris, and said : " I now take my leave of your- 
 self and your respected colleagues, and the mem- 
 bers of the Conference ; and may the God of all 
 grace guide you in your deliberations, aud preserve 
 you to his heavenl}' kingdom !" 
 
 This is the substance o??7y. The manner ! 0^ the 
 wanner ! how unctuous — how patriarchal ! Bishop 
 AVaugh responded, at some length, and with much 
 feeling. AVhen he closed his remarks, every mem- 
 ber, every spectator in that vast llall rose from his 
 seat, to spend one minute in silent prn3'er, for the 
 safe return of the foreign brethren to their fiimilies 
 and charges. A deep religious feeling pervaded 
 the entire assembly. Dr. Hannah was overcome 
 with emotion, as he bowed his venerable head, aud, 
 with a voice sweet and tremulous, said : " Brethren, 
 farewell ! I shall never forget your kindness, nor 
 the scenes of this hour." Taking their leave of the 
 Bishops, the British representatives passed through 
 tlie crowded hall and rotunda ; and, amid tears, and 
 luxlf-suppressed sighs, and farewell blessings, they 
 retired to their lodgings at the house of the Gover- 
 nor. 
 
 IsDiANAroLio, Ind., May, 1856. 
 
JOHNB.GOUGH. 85 
 
 JOHN B. GOUGH, 
 
 PRINCE OF THE PLATFORJI. 
 
 "Well done for tlie ladies of the Martha "Wash- 
 ington Society ! They displayed more world-wis- 
 dom in the employment of a lecturer this season 
 than any Association of the city. They all wanted 
 to furnish the puhlic with popular lectures — hut 
 they all wanted the puhlic to furnish them with a 
 large amount of money. They needed lectures 
 less — they needed funds more. The other Associ- 
 ations announced great names — the Martha Wash- 
 ingtonians announced a great man — a perfect 
 master of eloquence. A name "draws" the first 
 evening, and never "draws" any more. A man — 
 having "the gift of the gods" — speaks to hundreds 
 on the first evening — to thousands on the last. A 
 name hrings out a small audience twice a week. 
 A man hrings an eager crowd every evening, and 
 we wish the evenings came twice as often. The 
 
86 PERSONA OES. 
 
 other Associations employed handbills and pla- 
 cards ; they pulled and reported, that an excite- 
 nient might be kejjt up. The Martha AVashing- 
 tonians announced the arrival of John B. Gouoii ! 
 and, to quote iVom one of our city papers, "a thrill 
 of delight passed through our entire community." 
 
 The gentlemen of the Library Association brought 
 on Professor Benjamin Silliman, Sen., the old man 
 from Yale College. They issued, in elegant pamph- 
 let form, "A Programme of the Course of Twelve 
 Lectures on Geology T' Tuesday evening, half-past 
 seven o'clock, November 6th, 1855, in the Grand 
 Hall of the Mercantile Library Building, the vene- 
 rable lecturer appeared, ami»ly 8up[)licd with repu- 
 tation and rust, diagrams and drawings, fossils and 
 fishes, rocks and reptiles. Single tickets fifty 
 cents ! A thousand people present, perhaps. Tlie 
 reader expects me to say, that after a few evenings 
 he came down to the Small llall, and that was not 
 filled. Well, such was the fact. It is said the 
 Association sunk several hundred dollars on him. 
 I do not mean to say that Professor Silliman is not 
 the ablest geologist in this country; that ho does 
 not lecture well in his class-room at New Haven ; 
 but I do mean to say that something more is de- 
 manded of popular lecturers than mere learning. 
 
JOHNB.GOUOn. 37 
 
 The Young ISIen's Christian Association em- 
 ployed The Right Rev. John Henry Hopkins, 
 D. D., LL.D., of the Diocese of Vermont, for a 
 course of six lectures. St. Ambrose, what a 
 name ! Look at the prefixes and affixes ! That 
 name ought to bring a crowd ! Ample posters, 
 with "Bishop Hopkins lectures to-night!" stared 
 upon you from the corners of " dead-walls." At 
 the appointed time, an elderly gentleman — in re- 
 spect of ^adipose matter, suggestive of venison 
 pasties and dainty bits of warden pie — a man of 
 the Bishop order — that sort of a Bishop who holds 
 a fat diocese, and dispenses divinity in lawn sleeves 
 — appeared and read an opening lecture. The 
 young men thought best to begin in the Small 
 Hall. After the first evening, they thought best to 
 remain there. A series of old sermons — dull ones 
 at that — with the texts taken off the tops, will not 
 answer for a course of lectures, even in the "Far 
 "West." However, I suppose the course paid ex- 
 penses, and more. 
 
 The Christian Association gave two other courses 
 of lectures, by the Rev. John Lord. The first 
 course, on the " Bourbon Kings of France," was ap- 
 preciated and successful. The second course, on 
 the "Fathers of the Church," was not appreciated, 
 
88 r E R S N A <l E s . 
 
 and therefore unsuccessful. As a brilliant histo- 
 rical lecturer, I presume Mr. Lord has no equal. 
 
 Three courses of lectures were delivered before 
 the Youns^ Men's Catholic Institute, during the 
 winter. The first, by the Hon. Joseph R. Chand- 
 ler, an ex-editor, and ex-member of Congress, from 
 l*hi!adcli>hia. The second by Donald Macleod, 
 Esq., cx-Episcopal clergyman. The third, by Levi 
 Silliman Ives, ex-Bishop of the Diocese of Korth 
 Carolina. Chandler read. iMacleod declaimed. 
 Ives preached. Chandler's audiences were bril- 
 liant. Macleod's were mixed. Ives's were motley. 
 
 "Xow, Sir, you may draw a figure — John B. 
 Gough is coming to St. Louis!" said Dr. Parsons, 
 one morning, as he entered my oflice. On the 
 same day, the Kev. J. AVhitaker said to me : '" You 
 will have a ' Character' now — Gough is coming!" 
 I mean to say that Mr. Gough's visit to the West 
 was a matter of deep interest to many thousands 
 of peoi)le. It was his first visit. lEc was coming 
 to si)eak in the largest hall in tlie West; to replen- 
 ish the treasury of one of our noblest charitable 
 Associations. Theme — Temperance. Hundreds 
 of our citizens had previously hoard him in the 
 Eastern and Xorthern States, when he held en- 
 chained with his eloqueuco the assembled multi- 
 
JOHNB.GOUGH. 39 
 
 tildes. "They had everywhere witnessed, as the 
 result of liis labors, prosperity and peace restored 
 to desolate homes, and the hearts of women and 
 children leaping for joy." 
 
 On the first evening, he was to appear at half- 
 after seven o'clock. I took a friend, and went at 
 half-after six, and found the hall fast filling up. I 
 did not expect to find many of the upper circles 
 there. See ! it was a sort of temperance meeting 
 — and they did not know whether the lecturer had 
 been to Europe — or wore a nice moustache. But 
 several of the remote were there. Eloquence " set- 
 tles all," as Charles Lamb says of "print." 
 
 The reporters were quietly sharpening their pen- 
 cils, as if a whole staft' of stenographers could 
 report a man who speaks so rapidly — so vehe- 
 mently — and so amazingly — as John B. Gough ! 
 Your "gallery men," if they have the ordinary 
 kind of blood in them, must find it very difficult 
 to stick to the cold paper and the desk's dead 
 wood, when he speaks. The "boys about the 
 hall" were clearing the platform of gas-burners, 
 desks, cushions, and tables ; for they had just 
 learned the lecturer did not read! And, now and 
 then, you might see a "manager" of the Martha 
 Washington Society, casting a furtive glance at tho 
 
40 PERSONAGES. 
 
 vast assemblage, with that ineftable satisfaction of 
 countenance which is produced by the expectation 
 of a full treasury. 
 
 The hour arrived. Mr. Goug^h appeared on the 
 platform. The Rev. D. Kead ofi'ercd the prayer. 
 Dr. Parsons gave the introduction. Mr. Gough 
 spoke about two hours. He is a small, homely, 
 modest, timid, sad man, who dresses very plainly, 
 and is totally free from afFectatiou. The matter of 
 his speech — I will give you a quotation directly. 
 His manner is entirely unreportablc. The cftect 
 produced — no tongue can utter it — no pen de- 
 scribe it. 
 
 A writer in the Chiistian Advocate, who informs 
 us on "What I have seen and heard," and signs 
 liimself "M.," says: "And now, for the benefit of 
 Bucli of my readers who have never seen ]\Ir. 
 Gough, we would state that, having heard this 
 gentleman in one of his happiest moods, at Con- 
 cert Hall, we will attempt to give them an idea of 
 his person and powers. Wo attended particularly 
 to every word of his lengthy discourse, examined 
 liis diction, language, attitude, voice, and, as fur as 
 wo could, looked through the man, to see where 
 liis great strength lay." Now, reader, attend! 
 You will hear something remarkably philosophic ! 
 
JOHNB.GOUGH. 41 
 
 " Our cool, calm, hall and home reflections led to 
 the following conclusions : That in point of mental 
 ability, Mr. Gough is not much above mediocrity. . . . 
 The great secret of his power — as we believe — is 
 in his manner. This we infer from the fact, that 
 upon the main question, 3Ir. Gough gave us no new 
 ideas. We had ourselves used all the points intro- 
 duced by him many years ago." Had " M." known 
 any thing of the decisions of critics, ancient and 
 modern, the above would not have been written ; 
 and, lacking such information, propriety should 
 have dictated his saying nothing — at least, nothing 
 disrespectful. Rogers says: "If this be so, the 
 intellect of the orator must be regarded as one of 
 the rarest phenomena which appear in the world 
 of mind. Such, at least, has been hitherto the 
 uniform judgment of criticism. To possess a 
 genius for consummate eloquence is always con- 
 sidered to imply intellectual excellence of the high- 
 est order. So peculiar are the required modifica- 
 tions and combinations of intellect, imagination, 
 and passion, that it may be pretty safely averred, 
 we shall as soon see the reproduction of an Aris- 
 totle as of a Demosthenes." I present this de- 
 cision of a learned man to "M.'s" consideration, 
 inasmuch as he admits, in the same letter, that Mr. 
 2 
 
42 PERSONAGES. 
 
 Goiij^h's "attitudes, with some correction.s, would 
 win immortality on the stage!" that, "by a happy 
 art, he transfers to the platform, before the audi- 
 ence, the absent living and the dead, in all the 
 vivid reality of personal presence !" and that, 
 " upon the whole, he regards Mr. Gough as among 
 the most gifted of platform speakers !" 
 
 lie delivered live lectures in our city. Tlis audi- 
 ences increased to the last. People of all occupa- 
 tions, all religions, all philosophies, all ranks, heard 
 him. In the gustiest midwinter that has been felt 
 for sixty years — paying the ordinar}' admission fee 
 — to hoar the discussion of an un})Oiiular subject — 
 thousands of people thronged the lecture-room of 
 this Uix nawd'i on the Temperance Reform. I heard 
 liim three times; and I have no hesitancy in be- 
 lieving liini to be the most cfteetive platform- 
 speaker in the a\ orld. 
 
 Let us hear what others say. In an article 
 headed, "IvKlkjious Ouators in London," the ac- 
 c'omiilished writer says: 
 
 *'Amoug popular religious orators in England 
 we may justly place in a prominent iiosilion your 
 illustrious countryman, John B. Gough. It is true 
 that he has never spoken publicly in this country, 
 directly and avowedly, on sacred subjects; but 
 
JOHNB. CxOUGn. 43 
 
 tlicrc arc various ways in wliicli the seed of ever- 
 lasting trutli is scattered abroad, besides the labors 
 of those who by their profession go forth with the 
 seed-basket in their hand. As drunkenness is the 
 greatest curse of the Anglo-Saxon race, any one 
 who labors successfully for its removal is entitled 
 to be reckoned among the benefactors of his 
 species ; but when the advocacy of temperance is 
 conducted on sound gospel principles — when the 
 necessity of power from above is acknowledged to 
 enable men to keep their promises and fight against 
 tlieir besetting sins — and when it is clearly pro- 
 claimed that although outward reformation may 
 have been accomplished, still there remains the 
 same necessity of being made a new creature in 
 Christ Jesus — such a course entitles the advocate 
 to be reckoned among the true laborers in the gos- 
 pel vineyard. ]N'o orator has made so great a sen- 
 sation among all ranks and classes of people in 
 England for many years past as Mr. Gough. His 
 brilliancy, fervor, humor, energy; his inventive- 
 ness of imagination, his true poetic feeling without 
 a particle of affectation, his immense power over 
 the hearts of bis auditors, and the evident sincerity 
 which pervades the whole man, are unsurpassed, 
 and, in some respects, unequalled. He will bo 
 
44 PERSONAGES. 
 
 most heartily welcomed whenever he revisits Old 
 England." 
 
 In an article lieaded, "John B. Gougii," the 
 Christian Intelligencer says : 
 
 " This young "Wliitefield of temperance has re- 
 turned from Great Britain to his cottage-home in 
 Boylston, having achieved greater triumphs of po- 
 pular eloquence than any man of his generation. 
 To listen to an unpopular theme, he has attracted, 
 for seventy different evenings, in the single city of 
 London, crowds of auditors too vast to be accom- 
 modated in tlic most spacious halls of the metro- 
 polis. This, too, with a charge for admission ! 
 Edward Irving, in his palmiest days, achieved no 
 such marvels of oratory. Durino: Mr. Gouffh's 
 British tour, he has spoken on an average once in 
 every twenty-four hours ; has addressed nearly a 
 million of souls ; has attracted the most intellec- 
 tual to his eloquence ; and has carried a knowledge 
 of the temperance movement up into the influential 
 strata of English and Scotch society. Yet he looks 
 more vigorous than when he left us on his mission 
 of truth to the Old World ; he is stronger in body 
 and mind. From the shower of 'testimonials' and 
 complimentary addresses — of silver cups and golden 
 guineas — he has escaped to the quiet of his rural 
 
JOHNB.GOUGH. 45 
 
 home iu Massachusetts, to catch a breathing-spell, 
 before he gh'ds again for his hatile against the bottle!'' 
 
 From the Southern Christian Advocate — whose 
 editor, as a writer and selecter, has no superior 
 among Southern religious journalists — I clip the 
 following : 
 
 "As we write of Mr. Gough's achievements on 
 the platform, we recall the rainy day, eleven years 
 ago, when we first saw the handbill posted on a 
 dead-wall in this city, announcing that ' Mr. John 
 B. Gough, of Boston,' would discuss the hackneyed 
 theme of total abstinence, in the Broadway Taber- 
 nacle. We heartil}^ pitied the youthful stranger 
 making his debut in this overgrown cit}'. Since 
 that time we have pitied him. The Tabernacle 
 speech went off very well : our sober-sided college 
 *chum,' who heard it, pronounced him 'a pro- 
 digious fellow, but somewhat theatrical.' At the 
 first opportunity we went to hear the young adven- 
 turer from Boston. As we entered the house, it 
 was already jammed with an audience, comprising 
 
 many of the most intellectual citizens of P . 
 
 Curiosity was on tiptoe. Presently there was a stir 
 in the crowded aisle, and a pale stripling, appa- 
 rcntl}' just out of his 'teens,' made his way to the 
 rostrum. He cast his dark eye once over the for- 
 
46 PERSONAGES. 
 
 mulal)lc crowd, and tlieu Lent liis sad, tlionglitfiil- 
 looking foce timidly towards the floor. The hitc 
 venerable Pr. Miller introduced him to the audi- 
 ence. A few modest words were uttered with some 
 hesitation of tone : we wondered what we had all 
 come there for. Presently the young orator said : 
 ' My friends, when the temperance reform first 
 originated, it was among the middle classes, and, 
 like a mine exploded in the sand, it did its work 
 without violent concussion. Then came the Wash- 
 ingtonian movement, when the match was kindled 
 in the solid granite of the lower orders, and the 
 mighty upheaving shook, for a time, the nation. 
 And now, to-night, I want to thrust a fusee into 
 the upper strata.' This happy geological simile 
 was received with pleasant surprise ; people began 
 to exchange nods of approval ; surprise quickened 
 into wondering delight ; the house grew still as the 
 grave ; and at the end of twenty minutes the spell 
 of enchantment brought us all to the orator's feet. 
 He did with us as he chose. He shook us with laugh- 
 ter, and then melted us into tears. Our mathe- 
 matical professor — who never cried without a 
 reason for it — sat before the pulpit with tears roll- 
 ing down his cheeks. As Mr. Gough's voice sunk 
 into a thrilling whisper, the house was painfully 
 
JOnNB.GOUGH. 47 
 
 still ; and then it swelled up into a trumpet blast, 
 that resounded to the farther side df the street. 
 E,emarkable as was the mimicry displayed, we soon 
 discovered that the orator's fork lay in his graphic, 
 terror-moving sketches of thrilling and pathetic 
 scenes. His descriptions of the hoy rescued from 
 the burning house — of the sister wiping off the 
 clotted blood from her wounded brother's brow — 
 of the lean, pale wife, who blesses her reformed 
 husband at her bedside — of the infatuated man 
 who gives himself up to the rapids of Niagara, and 
 of his conduct while on the awful verge — all these 
 were equal to the most vivid touches of Charles 
 Dickens. As he brought before us his fearful pic- 
 ture of the delirium tremens, we actually suffered in 
 sympath}^ with the victim of rum, held up to our 
 startled view, and were ready to cry out with 
 anguish. 'I could not sleep after that speech last 
 night,' said a friend to us the next morning: 'it 
 absolutely haunted me.' " 
 
 The writer thinks that a man who works ou^ht 
 to be paid for it. He also believes that the labor 
 of the brains is worth more than the labor of the 
 hands. And liaving performed a little of both, 
 claims the right to judge, at least for himself. He 
 was glad to see, from the Berwick Warden, that 
 
48 PERSONAGES. 
 
 the English paid Mr. Gough handsomely for his 
 lectures. ^ 
 
 "Mu. Goran and the Income Tax. — While in 
 Edinhurgh, Mr. Gough's equanimity at hrcakfast 
 ^vas ninch disturbed one morning by an income-tax 
 Bchodule being thrust into his hand. The commis- 
 sioners had 'calculated' that Mr. Gough would 
 carry oft' no inconsiderable number of Queen Vic- 
 toria's sovereigns across the Atlantic, there to be 
 added to his store of 'almighty dollars,' and they 
 reckoned he was quite as liable to pay their lawful 
 14^/. in the pound as any of her Majesty's subjects. 
 Mr. Gough was of course much 'riled' by this 
 specimen of British tyranny and rapacity, and 
 made many strenuous protests both against their 
 right to tax a citizen of the great United States, 
 and, when that would no longer avail, against the 
 amount at which he was assessed. Ultimately, 
 however, he consented to bo assessed on X1500, as 
 the amount of his gains during his lecturing tour 
 in Great Britain ; and his contributions to the ex- 
 penses of the war was the pretty little sum of j£87 
 
 105." 
 
 The Good Templar has a charming contributor 
 who has heard Mr. Goujjh since his return from 
 Europe. He writes : " I confess I was somewhat 
 
JOHNB.GOUGH. 49 
 
 skeptical as to his abilities to do all tliat was pro- 
 mised. I had often heard the peopM laud to the 
 skies inferior talent ; and I had seen even clergy- 
 men allowing their names to appear before the 
 public in pujBing commendations. I, however, 
 consented to hear him, although some said it was 
 not genteel to appear at temperance meetings. 
 His addresses were effective beyond description. 
 He enchains his audiences as with a spell. They 
 were entirely under his control. I was prepared 
 for something vastly superior, but not for this rich 
 feast of oratory which he had provided. He would 
 at one time convulse them with laughter, then sud- 
 denly unseal the pent-up fountain of tears, and 
 make strong men cry like cliildren, and seem 
 bursting with very grief; then anon the hall would 
 ring again with the merry plaudits of his delighted 
 and submissive hearers. No wonder the thousands 
 of Exeter Hall, London, were forty consecutive 
 evenings spell-bound by his oratory. Mr. Gough 
 has in a wonderful degree the three grand requi- 
 sites of poetic genius — an eye to see nature, a heart 
 to feel it, and a resolution that dares follow it. 
 He is entirely free from that unaccountable stifli"- 
 ness of manners and articuhition which cliaractcr- 
 izes 80 many public speakers, and even some 
 
50 PERSONAGES. 
 
 clergymen, so that their hearers arc continually 
 reminded of abortive attempts to imitate theatrical 
 performances. His characters arc well studied — 
 well drawn — and perfectly natural. A Hogarth or 
 Sir Joshua Keynolds could paint his orations life- 
 like on the canvas. Ilis pathetic appeals enter 
 your very soul, and stir up the depths of your 
 being in sympathy for the poor, infatuated drunk- 
 ard." 
 
 I have given these long quotations, because 
 they are from different religious papers of great 
 respectability and iniluencc — because they were 
 written by men living in difierent latitudes and 
 countries — because they sustain my estimate of 
 Mr. (lough as a man of intellect and eloquence — 
 and, finally, because the Christian Advocate's con- 
 tributor needs information with regard to the man 
 of whom he speaks so disparagingly. 
 
 This sketch has grown mion my hands to such a 
 length, I am almost sorry that I itromised the 
 reader a (pu)tati()n or two from Mr. Gough's lec- 
 tures. On the first evening, he concluded with 
 these words : 
 
 "What fills the almshouses and the jails ? What 
 hangs yon trembling wretch upon the gallows? It 
 is drink I And we might call upon the tomb to 
 
JOHNB.GOUGII. 51 
 
 break forth, ' Ye mouldering victims ! wipe tlie 
 grave-dust crumbling from your brow, stalk forth 
 in your tattered shrouds and bony whiteness, to 
 testify against the drink ! Come, come from the 
 gallows, you spirit-maddened slayer ; give up your 
 bloody knife, and stalk forth to testify against it ! 
 Crawl from the slimy ooze, ye drowned drunkards, 
 and, with sutfocation's blue and livid lips, speak 
 out against the drink ! Unroll the record of the 
 past, and let the recording angel read out the mur- 
 der-indictments written in God's book of remem- 
 brance: ay, let the past be unfolded, and the 
 shrieks of victims wailing be borne down upon the 
 night-blast! Snap your burning chains, ye deni- 
 zens of the pit, and come up sheeted in the fire, 
 dripping with the flames of hell, and with your 
 trumpet-tongues testify against the damnation of 
 the drink !'.... Of those who began this work, 
 some are living to-day ; and I should like to stand 
 now, and see the mighty enterprise as it rises be- 
 fore them. They worked hard. They lifted the 
 first turf — prepared the bed in which to lay the 
 corner-stone. They laid it amid persecution and 
 storm. They worked under the surface ; and men 
 almost forgot that there were busy hands laying 
 the solid foundation far down beneath. By and by 
 
62 PERSONAGES. 
 
 they got tire foundation above the surface, and then 
 commenced another storm of persecution. Now 
 we see the superstructure, pillar after pillar, tower 
 after tower, column after column, with the capitals 
 emblazoned, ' Love, truth, sympathy, and good-will 
 to all men.' Old men gaze upon it as it grows up 
 before them. They will not live to see it com- 
 pleted, but they see in faith the crowning cope- 
 stone set upon it. Meek-eyed women weep as it 
 grows in beauty ; children strew the pathway of the 
 workmen with flowers. We do not see its beauty 
 j'^et — we do not see the magnificence of the super- 
 structure yet — because it is in course of erection. 
 Scaffolding, ropes, ladders, workmen ascending 
 and descending, mar the beauty of the building; 
 but by and by, when the hosts who have labored 
 shall come up over a thousand battle-fields waving 
 with bright grain, never again to be crushed in the 
 distillery — through vineyards, under trellised vines 
 with grapes hanging in all their purple glory, never 
 again to bo pressed into that which can debase and 
 degrade mankind ; when they shall come through 
 o'.-chards, under trees hano-ino; thick with golden 
 pulpy fruit, never to be turned into that which can 
 injure and debase — when they shall come up to the 
 last distillery and destroy it ; to the last stream of 
 
J II N B . G U G II . 63 
 
 liquid death and dry it np ; to the last weeping wife 
 and wipe her tears gently away ; to the last little 
 child and lift him up to stand where God meant 
 that mankind should stand; to the last drunkard 
 and nerve him to burst the burning fetters, and 
 make a glorious accompaniment to the song of free- 
 dom by the clanking of his broken chains — then, 
 ah ! then will the cope-stone be set upon it, the 
 scaffolding will fall with a crash, and the building 
 will start in wondrous beauty before an astonished 
 world." 
 
 The Good Templar gives the following from a 
 lecture delivered in Exeter Hall, London : 
 
 " Let us look," said he, " at the man enslaved by 
 his appetite. There he stands. "We might fancy 
 that he has a vision. Before him stands a bright, 
 fair-haired, blue -eyed, beautiful boy, with rosy 
 cheek, and pearly teeth, and ruby lip — the perfect 
 picture of innocence and peace, health, purity, and 
 joy. What is that ? That is your youth, all that is 
 your past. Then there comes another figure before 
 bim, the youth grown a man, intellect flashing from 
 his eye; the broad, noble brow speaking of genius, 
 as he stands in a commanding position, and claim- 
 ing for himself, by the mighty power God has given 
 him, an iuflueuce over the words, feelings, and con- 
 
54 PERSONAGES. 
 
 duct of his fellow-men. There he stands, a glorious 
 spectacle. "What is that ? Tliat is your ideal. 
 
 "Xow creeps in a wretched thing, manacled 
 liaiul and foot: there are furrows upon the face; 
 there is the swollen lip, a fit throne for sensuality; 
 the eyes wildly glaring or hedimmed. There he 
 stands ; and what is that ? That is your present. 
 "We may have one more, if you please, to fill up 
 the scene, and that shall be a wretched, emaciated 
 creature. As he opens his breast, you see his 
 heart all on fire, with the worm that begins to 
 gnaw, and that never will die, coiled in the flames. 
 What is that ? It is your future. iSTow let me tell 
 you, young men, that the power of evil habit, 
 though it may destroy a man's faculty, docs not 
 destroy his consciousness. The curse of the man 
 who feels himself going down the sliding scale, is 
 the remembrance of the past — the remembrance of 
 those bright dreams of ambition. Those dreams, 
 those scenes are before liim, separated from him by 
 a whole contiiK'ut of grief and gloomy disappoint- 
 ment, and pain of body, and fever of spirit — dis- 
 tinct, but distant as the stars — clear, but cold as 
 the moon that shines on his waking agon}'', or on 
 his terrible repose. For, indeed, it is a terrible 
 repose. Yonder there, he sees the point he once 
 
JOHNB.GOUGH. 55 
 
 occupied, and tlic cloud of sin, brewed in the cald- 
 ron of liis own sensual appetite, ready to crush 
 him, and press him down deeper, with the con- 
 sciousness that every particle of the propelling 
 power emanates from himself; and such a slave is 
 he to evil habit, that, shrieking madly, he goes 
 down with the very smoke of future torment 
 almost so near that he can bathe his hands in it. 
 What does a man get in barter for all the enjoy- 
 ments that he has given away — for the miserable, 
 paltry pleasures that are obtained in this world? 
 I believe that a merciful God has set a ban upon 
 certain pursuits, and if we follow them, we are un- 
 grateful to Him who has given us so many sources 
 of enjoyment. Take the man that has been all his 
 lifetime a slave to evil habit; what has he got? 
 He has spent his life, his fortune ; he has bartered 
 his jewel, sold his birthright, and what has he got? 
 Nothing but the mere excitement of chasing after 
 that which is not reality. Men talk about enjoy- 
 ment in these pursuits. There is no enjoyment. 
 The enjoyment is merely momentary and imagin- 
 ary. 'No man ever received solid satisfaction in 
 wicked pursuits, that he could long enjoy and hold 
 fast. 'Aha! aha!' he says, 'now I am happy.' It 
 has gone from him. And the enjoyment that men 
 
5G PERSONAGES. 
 
 can obtain in tliis world, apart from the enjoyments 
 that God lias sanctioned, arc enjoyments that lead 
 to destruction, through the power of fascination, 
 habit, and excitement. It is as if a man should 
 start in a chase after a bubble. Attracted by its 
 bright and gorgeous hue, a gay set of merry com- 
 panions with him, it leads him through vineyards, 
 under trellised vines, with grapes hanging in all 
 their purple glory — through orchards, under trees, 
 bearing their golden, pulpy fruit — by sparkling 
 fountains, with the music of singing- birds. He 
 looks at life through a rose-colored medium ; and 
 he leads a merry chase. In the excitement he 
 laughs and dances, and dances and laughs again. It 
 is a merry chase. By and by that excitement be- 
 comes intense — its intensity becomes a passion — its 
 passion becomes a disease. Now his eye is fixed 
 upon it with earnestness, and now he leaps with 
 desperation, pleasure, and disappointment, mingled 
 with excitement : now it leads him away from all 
 that is bright and beautiful — from all the tender, 
 clustering associations of bygone days; it leads 
 him up the steep, hot sides of a fearful volcano. 
 Now there is pain, anguish in the chase. He leaps^ 
 falls, and rises — scorched, and bruised, and blis- 
 tered. Yet still the excitement and power of evil 
 
JOnNB.GOUGH. 57 
 
 habit become almost a passion. He forgets all that 
 is past, or strives to forget it in his trouble. He 
 leaps again. It is gone ! He curses and bites his 
 lips with agony. He shrieks the wild, almost wail- 
 ing shriek of despair. Yet still he pursues his 
 prize, knee-deep in the hot ashes. He staggers up, 
 with torn limbs and bruised, the last semblance of 
 humanity scorched out of him. Yet there is his 
 prize, and he will have it. With a desperate effort, 
 he makes one more leap ; and he has got it now ; 
 but he has leaped into the crater with it, and, with 
 a bursted bubble in his hand, he goes to his retri- 
 bution ! Every man that is carried on, a slave to 
 evil habit, seeking for enjoyment in those pursuits 
 that God has not sanctioned, assuredly loses all, 
 and gains — what? He stands before God's bar, 
 and cannot even present the one talent unwrapped 
 from the napkin ; but, as the result of his influence, 
 power, and intellect, and position, he presents be- 
 fore the assembled world all he has gained, and 
 that is a bursted bubble ! God pity him !" 
 
58 PERSONAGES, 
 
 PvEV. THOMAS II. STOCKTOX, D.I\, 
 
 THE INSPIRED D E C L A I M E R . 
 
 I WISH to induce more than ton thonsand people 
 to read a very oliarming poem written by a West- 
 ern authoress. As I can reach tliis numher throngli 
 the columns of your paper, I am tempted to intro- 
 duce it with a brief reminiscence of Dr. Stockton, 
 of Baltimore. 
 
 I had recently heard Dr. N'eely, in Huntsville, 
 Ala., Dr. Summers and Dr. Smith, in Charleston, 
 S. C, and Dr. Young, of Kentucky, and Jesse T. 
 Peck, in AVashington City, when I arrived in Balti- 
 more. This was in rluly, 1S."»2. To be frank, ever 
 since I read the lines alluded to above — and this 
 was when I was a boy — I had thought of Baltimore 
 simjyli/ as the liome of Dr. Stockton ; and, " to tell 
 you the precise truth," I stopped there purposely 
 to hear him. 
 
 On Saturday morning, several of the daily papers 
 
REV. THOMAS II. STOCKTON, D.D. 59 
 
 ainiounced that lie would preach in the forenoon of 
 the next day at a school-house in the suburbs ; and 
 at night in the Methodist Protestant church. 
 "Hero -worshippers," as Carlyle would say, are 
 always in good time ; so you may take it for granted 
 that I was at the aforesaid school-house by ten 
 o'clock A. j\I. A man, a woman, and a boy were 
 already in waiting. At ten and a half the little 
 room was tolerably well filled, and the preacher 
 came. Just imagine Henry Clay dressed in loose 
 black clothes, somewhat emaciated, laboring under 
 the influence of the asthma, and you have the best 
 idea I can give you of Dr. Stockton's personal ap- 
 pearance. First he bowed in silent prayer, then 
 arose, and panted and wheezed through the lessons 
 and hymns, and public prayer. If any stranger 
 came to criticise, he felt no disposition to do so now. 
 Those words of prayer, so brief, so quiet, so solemn, 
 and so trustful, made one feel. Surely God is in this 
 place! The preacher announced his text, and for 
 the first time looked out upon his audience. Before, 
 and during the opening service, he had cast no 
 glances at the assembly, but conducted himself as 
 one alone with his God. 
 
 The text was Eccl. ix. 10: "Whatsoever thy 
 hand findcth to do, do it with thy might; for there 
 
CO PERSONAQES. 
 
 is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom 
 iu the grave, whither thou goest." The sermon wiis 
 brief, no mean recommendation nowadays, when 
 ponderous divines would give us wind for wisdom, 
 and length for logic. At the conclusion of the ser- 
 vice, Dr. Stockton " opened the door for the recep- 
 tion of memhers." Ilis invitation was substantially 
 the following: " Wc want to build up a union so- 
 ciety here. Persons who join us need not be called 
 Methodists ; but may hold their membership in the 
 various evangelical churches in the city. All Chris- 
 tian people who may desire to worship here, and 
 receive the gospel from us, and keep up the ex- 
 penses of this place, will come forward and unite 
 with us wliile we sing. This is the third Sabbath we 
 liave worshipped here. If no one should join us 
 to-day, we will take it for granted that you do not 
 desire such a society here." The Doctor raised a 
 tune, and we stood and sang it through. Did any 
 one join ? Xot a soul ! They all knew that ho had 
 attempted, at various times and in various places, 
 to collect together such a society, and had invari- 
 ably failed. This is his weakness. 
 
 I left the school-house with such thoughts as these 
 running through my mind : Coming up liere this 
 iiioriiing "did not pay" quite as I expected; some- 
 
REV. THOMAS H. STOCKTON, D.D. 61 
 
 what disappointed in liim ; but lie is a wondronsly 
 gifted man. How common even a great man be- 
 comes at home ! lie would draw an immense 
 crowd in the South ! I must hear him again to- 
 night, etc. " For Jesus himself testified that a 
 prophet had no honor in his own countr3\" John 
 iv. 44. 
 
 Soon after dinner. Dr. Stockton was in the Cathe- 
 dral, filling his soul with music. And soon after 
 this he was in the Friends' meeting-house, keeping 
 silence. Soon after this I saw him standing erect 
 in St. Paul's Episcopal Church, repeating the Creed. 
 I accompanied him home for tea. From tea until 
 service-time, which was one hour, he spent in his 
 closet. I was informed by an inmate of his family 
 that this is his constant practice. No company is 
 ever allowed to interfere with these devotions. 
 
 That night I saw Dr. Stockton in his glory. The 
 large Methodist Protestant church was brilliantly 
 lighted up. The pews, and aisles, and vestibules, 
 and gallery, all filled with a serious congregation. 
 Not such an audience as hurries and hustles, and 
 jostles and rustics, and staves and stamps into Henry 
 Ward Beecher's church, in Brooklyn, to hear Beech- 
 erisms and blasphemy, but a quiet, solemn congre- 
 gation was there, expecting to hear " the glorious 
 
62 PERSONAGES. 
 
 gospel of the blessed God," from a man of true 
 genius and vocation. The preacher ascended the 
 pulpit alone. Now "all the air a solemn stillness 
 held." Soon the words of a chamiing "voluntary" 
 came floating down from the choir, and stealing 
 into the soul like voices from the spirit-land. As 
 we were singing the last stanza of the hymn before 
 sermon, I noticed perhaps a hundred persons take 
 up large cards from the pews, and look at them a 
 moment, and place them back again. "When the 
 text was announced, I took up one, and running my 
 eyes about one-third of the way down, saw that we 
 were seated to hear " number thirteen" of a "series 
 of forty luiU-liour sermons" on the thirteenth chap- 
 ter of 1 Corintliiaiis. The text was 1 Cor. xiii. 4: 
 " Charity euvieth not ;" and the sermon was char- 
 acteristic of the man, and satisfiictory to the assem- 
 bly. Dr. Stockton is about the only famous preacher 
 I have heard up to this date who is fully able to 
 sustain his reputation, and meet the expectation of 
 strangers. 
 
 Considered merely as a public speaker, he OAves 
 much to his personal appearance, but more to his 
 genius, and learning, and industry. As a minister 
 of the gospel, we are to look upon him as one who 
 has been sent out by the Great Commissioner, and 
 
REV. THOMAS H. STOCKTON, D.D. G3 
 
 ■who is most mightily aided by his Holy Spirit. As 
 au author, he will never take the first rank. We 
 think of him as one who can write for a generation, 
 but not for an age. His late volume, " Sermons for 
 the People," is a very readable book. 
 
 Dr. Stockton is a member and minister of the 
 Methodist Protestant Church; has spent most of 
 his professional life in and about Baltimore. Popu- 
 larity has never spoiled him, or ever affected him, 
 so far as I have heard. He has written poetry, 
 prose, and criticism. 
 
 It is generally understood that he is the preacher 
 referred to in Amelia B. Wclby's poem, entitled 
 ^'■Pulpit Eloquence.'' When I commenced the sketch, 
 I intended to annex that entire poem to it, but have 
 committed my usual fault, and written too lengthily. 
 I shall, therefore, content myself by presenting to 
 your readers that part of the poem which refers to 
 Dr. Stockton : 
 
 ' In stature majestic, apart from the throng, 
 He stood in his beauty, the theme of my song! 
 His cheek pale with fervor — the blue orbs above 
 Lit up with the splendors of youth and of love ; 
 Yet the heart-glowing raptures that beamed from these eyes 
 Seemed saddened by sorrows, and chastened by sighs. 
 As if the young lieart in its bloom lia<l grown cold 
 With its loves unrc'iuitcd, its sorrows untold. 
 
64 r E R S N A r, E s . 
 
 " Such language a? liis I nmy never recall ; 
 Hut his thenic was salvation — salvation to all; 
 And tljc souls of a thousand in ecstasy hung 
 On the nianna-likc sweetness that dropped from his tongue. 
 Not alone on the ear his wild eloquence stole ; 
 Enforced by such gesture, it sank to the soul, 
 Till it seemed that an angel had brightened the sod, 
 And brought to each bosom a message from God. 
 
 " He spoke of (he Saviour — what pictures he drew ! 
 The scene of his sufferings rose clear in my view — 
 The cross, the rude cross where he suffered and died, 
 The gush of bright crimson that flowed from his side. 
 The cup of his sorrows, tlie wormwood and gall, 
 The darkness that mantled the earth as a pall, 
 Tiie garland of thorns, and the demon-like crews, 
 Who knelt as they scoffed Him — 'Hail, King of the Jews!' 
 
 " He spake, and it seemed that his statue-like form 
 Expanded and glowed as his spirit grew warm — 
 His tone so impassioned, so melting his air. 
 As touched with compassion he ended his prayer, 
 His hands clasped above him, his blue orbs upthrown, 
 Si ill jilcafling for sins (hat were never his own. 
 While tlial moutli, where sucii sweetness ineffable ching, 
 Still spoke though expression had died on his tongue. 
 
 "0 God! what emotions the speaker awoko! 
 A iriortal he seemed — jet a Deit}' spoke ; 
 A man — yet so far from huniiinily riven! 
 On earlli — yet so clearly connected with heaven! 
 How oft in my fancy I've pictured him there. 
 As he stood in that triumph of passion and prayer, 
 With his eyes closed in rapture — their transient eclipse, 
 Made bright by the smiles that illumined his lips. 
 
REV, THOMAS n. STOCKTON, D.D. G5 
 
 " There 's a charm in delivery, a magical art, 
 That thi'ills, like a kiss from the lip, to the heart; 
 'Tis the glance — the expression — the well-chosen word 
 By whoso magic the depths of the spirit are stirred, 
 The smile — the mute gesture — the soul-startling pause, 
 The eye's sweet expression, th.it melts whilo it awes, 
 The lip's soft persuasion — its musical tone — 
 ! such was the charm of that eloquent ouo l" 
 
 St. Louis, December 12, 1850. 
 
66 PERSONAGES. 
 
 REV. FREDERICK J. JOBSON, D.D., 
 
 BRITISH DELE (^. ATE. 
 
 Several months ago, a sketch of the Rev. Dr. 
 Hannah appeared in the columns of the Home Cir- 
 cle. The name of the Rev. F. J. Jobson, M.A., 
 the companion of his voyage, was not mentioned, 
 I believe, in that sketch. True, Dr. Hannah was 
 the fraternal delegate from the Wesleyan Conven- 
 tion in England to the General Conference of the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church ; but Mr. Jobson was 
 dvlcfjaUd to come over with the venerable gentle- 
 man, and perhaps liis name ought not to be omitted 
 altogether, especially as he created a greater sensa- 
 tion ever^'where than Dr. Hannah. 
 
 Furthermore, I have heard and read and seen so 
 much of Mr. Jobson's late book, "A ^lother's Por- 
 trait," I think his name ought to be. brought pro- 
 minently before the reading public. This book was 
 first published in England about two years ago, and 
 lias hud an immense circulation in Methodist cir- 
 
REV. FREDERICK J. JOBSON, D.D. 67 
 
 cles. Within the last six months it has been repub- 
 lished in this countiy. "A Mother's Portrait" is 
 the testimonial which Mr. Jobson has paid to his 
 excellent mother — a literary monument erected 
 upon the basis of her domestic and Christian char- 
 acter. It is such a work as the "Life of Mrs. 
 Fletcher," "Hester Ann Rogers," or "Martha 
 Laurens Ramsay." Perhaps some would prefer it 
 to ain^ one or even all of these. Every mother in the 
 land ought to procure and read the book this year. 
 Did you ever see in any old JSIethodist magazine 
 or book a picture of Bishop Coke ? Then 3'ou have 
 quite a correct idea of the shape and personal ap- 
 pearance of Mr. Jobson. Short head, short neck, 
 short body, short legs, short feet, short arms and 
 hands — altogether the shortest man you ever saw, 
 not to be a dwarf. He sat with Dr. Hannah on the 
 platform at the right of the bencl/of Bishops, while 
 the delegates from Ireland and Canada sat on the 
 left. I entered the Conference-room with my friend 
 Johnson. Said he, "Do 3'OU sec that perfect speci- 
 men of John Bull on the platform ? He is one of 
 the British delegation." Directly I fell in with my 
 old friend Irwin. Said he instantly, "That little 
 man on the platform, who looks like he had been 
 fed on roast beef and plum pudding all his life, is 
 
68 PERSONAGES. 
 
 Mr. Jobson." Poor Dr. "Watson, the editor of tlie 
 Chicago Christian Advocate, who did not recollect 
 ever to have spent a day without pain, stood and 
 looked steadfastly on him. "Well," said he, "I 
 w^onder how a man feels who enjoys such health !" 
 
 A paragraph on dress, indulgent reader, before 
 leaving the personal appearance of our subject. 
 Mr. Addison has a fine remark on a female warrior 
 celebrated by Virgil. lie observes that with all her 
 great qualities, this llitle foible mingled itself; be- 
 cause, as the fact relates, an intemperate fondness 
 for a rich and splendid suit of armor betrayed her 
 into ruin, * In this circumstance our critic discovers 
 a moral concealed ; this he admires as a neat though 
 oblique satire on that trifling passion. (See Spectator, 
 Vol. I., Xo. 15.) 
 
 Upon this, quiet James Ilcrvey writes : " I would 
 refer it to tlie judicious reader, whether there is not 
 a beauty of the same kind, but touched with a m.ore 
 masterly hand, in the song of Deborah. Speaking 
 of Sisera's mother, the sacred eueharistic ode repre- 
 sents her as anticipating, in her fond fancy, the vic- 
 tory of her son, and indulging in the following 
 soliloquy : ' Have they not sped ? Have they not 
 divided the prey ? To Sisera a prey of divers colors, 
 a prey of divers colors of needlework on both sides, 
 
REV. FREDERICK J. JOBSON, D.D. 69 
 
 meet for the necks of tliem that take the spoil ?' 
 She takes no notice of the signal service which her 
 hero would do Iris country, by quelling so danger- 
 ous an insurrection. She never reflects on the pre- 
 sent acclamations, the future advancement, and the 
 eternal renown which are the tributes usually paid 
 to a conqueror's merit. She can conceive, it seems, 
 nothing greater than to be clad in an embroidered 
 vesture, and to trail along the ground a robe of the 
 richest dyes. This is, in her imagination, the most 
 lordly spoil he can win, the most stately trophy he 
 can erect. It is also observable how she dwells upon 
 the trivial circumstance, reiterating it again and 
 again ; it has so charmed her ignoble heart, so en- 
 tirely engrossed her little views, that she can think 
 of nothing else, speak of nothing else, and can hardly 
 desist from the darling topic. Is not this a keen 
 though delicately couched censure on that poor, 
 contemptible, grovelling taste which is enamored 
 with silken finery, and makes the attributes of a but- 
 terfly the idol of its affections ?" 
 
 I make these quotations, and shall allow you to 
 make the application. An English Wesleyan 
 preacher, shining in cloths and silks, and absolutely 
 glittering with jewelry, ought to receive at least 
 this passing notice. 
 
70 PERSONAGES. 
 
 I heard Mr. Jobson in the pulpit once. I need 
 not say there was a great crowd to hear him. In- 
 dianapolis was full of people, lief preached in one 
 of the central churches, and it was his sermon be- 
 fore the General Conference. True, ho had ad- 
 dressed tlic Conference briefly on his arrival, and 
 had preached in some of the churches duriniij the 
 Sabbath ; but this was his .'icrmon before the repre- 
 sentatives of the American clergy. In addition to 
 all this, somebody in the old country had written a 
 ])riva(e letter to somebody in this country, telling him 
 to hear Mr. Jobson, for his oratory reminded the 
 people in England of Dr. Chalmers more than of 
 any other living num. This letter was published, 
 and those of us who had read it, went to lu'ar Dr. 
 Chalmers as well as Mr. Jobson ; and I do not know 
 that any of us went away disappointed. lie waited 
 quietly until the people were packed and seated ; 
 then as soon as the Bishop told him to proceed, he 
 was o//'. He read eloquently, prayed rapturously, 
 and preached like a man ^\•ho had been ereate<l and 
 sent into this world for no other purpose — has plenty 
 of action, ^tremendous volume of voice, and almost 
 unbounded eommand of language; and with all 
 these attributes of the finished orator, he moves on 
 like a torrent, bearing down every thing before 
 
REV. FREDERICK J. JOBSON, D.D. 71 
 
 liim. The late Dr. "Watson, after hearing him, sat 
 down and wrote to his paper: "Mr. Jobson does 
 not liave to get up steam — all he has to do is to let 
 it off." 
 
 It was the most scriptural sermon I have heard. 
 If you are fond of "homiletics," I here present you 
 a "sketch" of it: Eph. iii. 14-21, inclusive. 
 
 Introduction. — " For this cause I bow my knees 
 unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom 
 the whole family in heaven and earth is named." 
 
 1. An enumeration of tue blessings mentioned. 
 — "That he would grant you, according to the 
 riches of his glory, to be strengthened wdth might 
 by his Spirit in the inner man ; 
 
 " That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith ; 
 that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 
 
 " May be able to comprehend with all saints what 
 is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 
 
 "And to know the love of Christ, which passeth 
 knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the ful- 
 ness of God." 
 
 2. God's ability to bestow them all. — "Now 
 unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly 
 above all that we ask or think, according to tho 
 power that worketh iu us." 
 
 3. Our gratitude to God for ever. — "Unto him 
 
72 PERSONAGES. 
 
 1)C glory ill the Clmrtli l)y Christ Jesus tlirough- 
 out all ages, world without end. Amen." 
 
 Ou Monday afternoon, May 19th, 185G, Mr. Job- 
 son took leave of the General Conference. His 
 speech on this occasion, a meagre report of.wirK'h 
 is given below, left an exceedingly pleasant impres- 
 sion, lie said, when he had the honor of being first 
 introduced to the Conference, ho did not know 
 what to say ; and now, after he had gone in and out 
 among them for seventeen or eighteen days, he was 
 still at a loss. He must use strong language as ex- 
 pressive of his feelings, and say: Fathers and bre- 
 thren, I love you. He could give strong reasons for 
 his attachment. lie loved them as fellow-laborers 
 in the gospel field. lie loved them in their free, out- 
 spoken manner. He loved freedom of thought, and 
 freedom of speech, as 
 
 *' Thoughts shut up would spoil, 
 Like bales unopened to the sun." 
 
 Free, open, undaunted discussion was always dear 
 to him. He loved them for the devout spirit they 
 manifested in their deliberations, as well as in their 
 labors for the salvation of souls, lie might say, 
 with liis friend, he loved them for the kind and 
 generous maimor in which they had received and 
 treated him. He loved the BishojJs for their gravity 
 
REV. FREDERICK J. JOBSON, D.D. 73 
 
 and wisdom, and for the zeal tliey manifested in 
 the cause of God. He loved the old men, the 
 fathers, and the young men, and he wanted to 
 say to those venerable men, we will not leave 
 Methodiem worse than we found it. These young 
 men are strong, zealous, self-sacrificing, and he 
 was happy to say they had the same kind in his 
 country. The speaker here alluded most feelingly 
 to Mr. Hunt, the Fejeean missionary, to his early 
 life and training, and related some amusing anec- 
 dotes and thrilling passages in the life of that 
 devoted man, that produced a powerful impres- 
 sion upon the Conference. He thanked God that 
 the great brotherhood of JMcthodism was one, and 
 he would join his friends in praying that the 
 General Conference would send to their Confer- 
 ence delegates frequentl}^ that England and Ame- 
 rica might be united jNIethodistically. They were 
 one in language, and one in religion, and he 
 prayed that they might remain one for ever. He 
 was now four thousand miles away from home, 
 and yet he saw before him Englishmen and Eng- 
 lishwomen, that made all things look familiar as 
 liomc. 
 
 Tliis speech left the Conference and the vast as- 
 semblage bathed in tears, and radiant with smiles. 
 3 t 
 
74 TERRONAGES. 
 
 There is this power about the oratory of !Mr. Job- 
 son — he can superinduce feelings of sadness, or 
 produce thrills of joy, at his own pleasure. 
 
 Mr. Jobsou landed safely at home, and spoke be- 
 fore his Conference, of the American country and 
 people, in the most glowing terms. He is about 
 forty. 
 
 St. Louis, Jan. 24, 1857. 
 
B A Y A R D T A Y L R . 75 
 
 BAYARD TAYLOR, 
 
 THE THAVELLER. 
 
 I HEARD Bayard Taylor last night. I have seen 
 and heard this celebrated traveller before. Directly 
 after his last return from the Old "World to the 
 United States, he was invited west of the Missis- 
 sippi as a public lecturer. His audiences were not 
 large enough, but his subjects were. On the occa- 
 sion alluded to, Mr. Taylor selected, as the subject 
 for his first lecture, "The Arab." During its de- 
 livery he repeated the description of " Sultan Fill- 
 more's Palace," as given by himself to a company 
 of credulous and amazed Arabs. The reader will 
 probably recollect this remarkable specimen of 
 American boasting. It was copied into the secular 
 press generally throughout our country', and was 
 lieaded, "Bayard Taylor Abroad," or "An Ameri- 
 can Abroad," or "A Yankee Abroad," etc. Mr. 
 Taylor was telling us of the propensity of the Arab 
 to lie. lie remained in Arabia and associated with 
 
76 PERSONAQKS. 
 
 the descendants of Islimael so long, that lie found 
 himself under the influence of the same disposition. 
 One night he had listened to their marvellous sto- 
 ries — almost equal to the Arabian Nights — until ho 
 could endure no longer. So he prepared himself 
 for the wordy combat, and spoke out. The result 
 was his description of " Sultan Fillmore's Palace." 
 Mr. Taj'lor "beat them at their own game" so far, 
 that they hyperbolized no more to the subject of 
 the great " Sultan Fillmore." He observed to us 
 that he had abandoned the practice, measurably, 
 since he had gotten back among matter-of-fact, 
 truth-loving people ! I confess to an astonishment 
 at the stories contained in the Arabian Nights — 
 have always considered them as the production of 
 an order of mind not now possessed or manifested; 
 but, since listening to Air. Taylor's account of tho 
 conversation oi" ihe inmates of an Arab's tent, 
 during a long evening — and especially since hear- 
 ing his description of the gorgeous visions which 
 he and his cunijxt/jnon du voyage had, while under 
 the iiiihience of one of their "drinks," my asto- 
 nishment has somewhat abated. I think he could 
 write a pretty good continuation of that remarkable 
 book. 
 
 The subject of the second lecture was "Japan 
 
BAYARDTAYLOR. 77 
 
 ai^d tlio Japanese." He gave us an account, of 
 considerable length, of tlic expedition of Commo- 
 dore Perry to Japan, accompanied with many valu- 
 able reflections on the nature and probable results 
 of that hazardous voyage. This lecture was more 
 interesting than the tirst. We know much of the 
 Arabs ; we know very little of the Japanese ; con- 
 sequently, in his first lecture, he told us much that 
 was familiar ; in his second, we heard scarcely any 
 thing that we knew before. Mr. Taylor left next 
 morning, I believe — left>us to shine on some more 
 intellectual people — left in disgust, no doubt; for 
 our people had exhibited a total want of ability'- to 
 appreciate a modest and sensible man, who desired 
 to give them instruction in a modest and sensible 
 way. Robert Hall said once of the Liverpool 
 people, " "What a parcel of pigs they must be, not 
 to like Dr. McAll !" So sa}^ I of any people who 
 do not greet Bayard Taylor. 
 
 More than a year has passed away, and the dis- 
 tinguished poet, traveller, editor, and author, is in 
 our midst again. We have repented of the injus- 
 tice we once did liim, and last night, from the plat- 
 form of the grandest saloon of the West, he looked 
 out upon fifteen hundred smiling faces ! After all, 
 that interesting individual known as "The Public" 
 
78 P E II S N A E S . 
 
 is a person of more discriniinatiou than wc arc ac- 
 customed to tliiiik. I'rofessor George AVm. Curtis, 
 a travelling litterateur^ who spent four years abroad, 
 who wrote The Nile Notes, Ilowadji in Syria, 
 Lotus-eating, and The Potiphar Tapers, stood and 
 delivered us three lectures not long since. Ilis in- 
 effably small talk, his old-maidish love of slang, his 
 poorly disguised contempt for religion and its min- 
 isters, and even his occasional excess of charm, left 
 the community barely willing ever to see him or hear 
 him again. The Rev. l)r..AchiUi, too, an Italian 
 of world-Avide notoriety, the mildness of whose lec- 
 tures against Topery is only surpassed by their fury 
 against Protestantism, is scarcely out of town. 
 "The Public" here sent him on last Sunday even- 
 ing not more than one hundred people to be "mo- 
 rally pitched into." And Dr. Cox, "the old man 
 eloquent," may visit us again, it' he chooses, as a 
 patriotic American, as a New-School Presbyterian 
 clergyman, as the central charm of many an even- 
 ing coterie; but in all good conscience we shall 
 find no further use lor him as a lecturer on history. 
 Taylor has spent no more money than Curtis — per- 
 haps not so much — in the gratifications of foreign 
 travel : Taylor has been abroad no longer than 
 Curtis — I think not so long; but he went abroad 
 
BAYARD TAYLOR. 70 
 
 Avitli a different pair of eyes, and lias returned a 
 better-balanced man, Taylor has endured and suf- 
 fered no more than Dr. Achilli — not near so much ; 
 but his endurance and sufferings have left him a 
 milder, a wiser, and a better man, than the great 
 Italian. Taylor has some learning, has seen some 
 things, and written a few books, as well as Dr. 
 Cox ; but then, he understands so much better how 
 to keep himself modestly in the background than 
 the great Doctor ! The one is always the hero of 
 his own story in his own estimation, but is never 
 so in yours : the other is never the hero in his own 
 eyes, but is always so in yours. Taylor can occupy 
 our homes, our hearts, and our halls, for a Avholc 
 season: for the others we care — not much. 
 
 His subject was "India." In his long wander- 
 ings he had often been excited, but never so much 
 as when approaching the shores of India. A new 
 country appears nevv. America is a new country — 
 its air, its forests, its waters, its earth, are fresh, 
 and seem as if "made to order." An old country 
 looks old. India is an old country — the air, the 
 forests, the waters, and the soil, are old, and seem 
 to have been in use a long time. India resembles 
 Mexico. If he had been carried to India asleep, 
 and had been waked up in the interior of the conn- 
 
80 PERSONAGES. 
 
 try, he would liavo looked around him, and ex- 
 claimed, " This is Mexico !" If the people of these 
 United States were not so ohstinately opposed to 
 the acquisition of new territory, (!) they micjht 
 some day govern as heautiful a country as India — 
 namely, Mexico. The Himalaya Mountains were 
 lofty and grand bej'ond description. We ought at 
 least to respect the reverence and devotion of the 
 Hindoos. The basis of their cumbrous and impos- 
 ing system of religion is a true one — a belief in the 
 existence of one God. The Hindoos believe that all 
 English and Americans arc unclean — that every 
 vessel touched by them is unclean.. His journey 
 through their country occasioned the destruction 
 of nmch crockery. When thirsty, he would ask 
 the use of a vessel to dip some water ; they would 
 refuse, of course ; he would take the vessel and 
 drink ; thoy would break it forthwith, because he, 
 a sinner, had polluted it ! The literature of India 
 is perhaps the oldest, most extensive, and most 
 beautiful in the world. The Sanscrit, or sacred 
 language of the Hindoos, is said to be the finest of 
 all languages for tlie expression of metaphysical 
 thought. Mr. Taylor concluded with a very able 
 estimate of the cfovernment of India under the 
 British East India Company. On the whole, India 
 
BAYARDTAYLOR. 81 
 
 lias been benefited ; and yet, the Company has fre- 
 quently been guilty of acts of injustice, and even 
 cruelty, towards the natives. These are a few of 
 the "stand-points" which the lecturer made while 
 passing through a production teeming with thought 
 as India teems with inhabitants. 
 
 Since writing, I have heard Mr. Taylor on " The 
 Philosophy of Travel." Heretofore his lectures 
 had been in tlie narrative style, or rather, I should 
 say, the descriptive style — the style of his books — 
 descriptions of voyages and journe3^s, diiFerent 
 lands and their inhabitants, manners and customs, 
 temples of religion and worship of gods. It was 
 therefore natural that his admirers should feel 
 some anxiety about his success as a lecturer on 
 abstract subjects. We have heard him, and our 
 verdict is this : If Mr. Taylor has been travelling 
 to furnish himself with matter for poems, books, 
 or lectures, he need travel no longer. And if any 
 one should inquire why he has travelled so much, 
 so earl}- in life, this lecture is the key which ex- 
 plains the whole of his travels and toils, his self- 
 denials, and his remarkable life. He is an insane 
 man, and nothing short of it, if there is not a 
 reality and a reasonableness in the motives which 
 have governed him. Look at the nations of ancient 
 
bZ PERSONAGES. 
 
 and modern times that have travelled. They have 
 been the known and acknowledged powers of the 
 world. Look at the nations of ancient and modern 
 times that have, under the influence of indolence 
 or the laws of caste, remained at lionie ! They 
 have evorheen the dwarfed, unknown and unknow- 
 ing, people of earth. The Anglo-Saxon race is a 
 travelling race; and it is yet destined, in more re- 
 spects than one, to rule the world. The negro race 
 discovers no })ropensity to travel, except now and 
 then from our Southern States to Canada ; and of 
 all the races of men, it has the least influence. I 
 know of some sapient fathers and fond mothers, 
 who never were, and never will be, willing for 
 their sons to open their eyes beyond their own visi- 
 ble horizon. Keej) them close at homo, dear old 
 friends I but if your neighbor's manly and enter- 
 prising son returns from abroad, do not wonder 
 why everyl)ody considers him, and why he really 
 is, amazingly superior to your huge tun of a boy. 
 
 Mr. Taylor has seen nearly every land and every 
 city from California to .lajian, and consequently 
 nearly every city and every land from Japan to 
 California has seen this earnest and remarkable 
 young man. It was befitting, therefore, that he 
 should close his present "Course" with a lecture 
 
BAYARD TAYLOR. 83 
 
 on "The Animal ISIan." Perhaps no one, save the 
 venerable Humboldt, is better prepared to write on 
 man's animal nature than Bayard Taylor. He has 
 seen man in every zone of the earth — in every state 
 of society, from the savage to the enlightened — re- 
 joicing or sorrowing under every form of govern- 
 ment or anarchy — elevated or depressed by every 
 system of religion, from the life-giving doctrines of 
 the Church of Christ, to the Avild vagaries and un- 
 meaning ceremonies of the countr^mien of Confu- 
 cius — and in every social position, from the Hindoo 
 servant who calls himself "your beast," to the 
 palaccd Londoner. He knows the animal man. To 
 hear this lecture on "Man," though the earth was 
 covered deep, and tlie snow still falling rapidly from 
 clouds that promised an abundance, hundreds of 
 solid men and fair women assembled in our "Grand 
 Hall." As the Scotchman wrote of Channinsf's 
 mind, I write of this lecture : " It was planted as 
 thick with thoughts as a backwood of his own nia<j^- 
 nificent land; and, when loosened in eloquence, 
 they moved down on the slow and solemn current 
 of his style, like floats of fir descending one of the 
 American rivers." 
 
 Of the purely literary men whom I have had the 
 pleasure of seeing and hearing. Bayard Taylor is 
 
84 PERSONAGES. 
 
 the most unequivocally religious. lie quotes patri- 
 archs, kings, and prophets, Christ and his apostles, 
 as authorities not to be disputed. He describes 
 with religions enthusiasm the bright "sun" of 
 Christianity obscuring the pale "crescent" of Mo- 
 hammedanism. He glories in the belief that all 
 men will yet worship the true God, and adopt the 
 Christian faith. He tried to remember and observe 
 the Sabbath-day in Central Africa. He announces 
 boldly, that in all his perils, by land and by sea, he 
 felt he was protected by the hand of God. He ad- 
 vises young men to travel ; to enter upon their voy- 
 ages trusting in the providence of God, and they 
 will return safely to their homes, wiser and better 
 men. How different the sentiments of Mr. " How- 
 adji" Curtis, in his lecture on the "Gilt and Gold 
 of Young America!" Take this for example. The 
 young preacher, without any knowledge of the 
 world, goes from his study to the pulpit, and confi- 
 dently says: '^Bcgood! Be (/ood !" But the Aviser 
 elder, having acquired a large knowledge of man- 
 kind, enters his pulpit, and modestly says : '■^ If you 
 canvoi be f/ood, he as good as you can." Such advice 
 as the former wc wouhl expect from Mr. Taylor; 
 such as the latter we would expect from Mr. Curtis. 
 Bayard Taylor is a native of Pennsylvania, and 
 
BAYARD TAYLOR. 85 
 
 is thirty years of age. lie is perhaps six feet in 
 height, with quite a slender frame. lie is a very 
 young, lively, healthy, handsome - looking man, 
 who wears hlack hair on his head, and chin, and 
 upper lip, and covers his body with plain black 
 cloth. He comes to his lectures late, stands be- 
 fore his audience erect and feai-less, gestures indif- 
 ferently, enunciates slowl}^ and distinctly — so much 
 so, that you could quite easily call out the marks 
 of punctuation as he proceeds. "He certainly has 
 been a printer, or an editor, or both," a stranger 
 remarked. 
 
 Bayard Taylor's first production was a small 
 volume of poems ; then came Views Afoot ; or, 
 Europe seen with Knapsack and Staff, in 1847. 
 Rhymes of Travel, Ballads, and other Poems, ap- 
 peared in 1848. Eldorado ; or. Adventures in the 
 Path of Empire, two volumes in one, was published 
 in 1850. Poems of the Orient appeared in Boston, 
 1854. Bomances, Lyrics, and Songs, about the 
 same time. I have two other volumes before mo 
 by Mr. Taylor, one A Journey to Central Africa, 
 the other The Lands of the Saracen, both pub- 
 lished in 1855. His lectures, when published, will 
 be his most interesting book to many readers. 
 
 One who has labored so hard, travelled so far, 
 
86 PERSONAGE^. 
 
 and written this pile of volumes now hcfore me, 
 might, just turned of thirty, now enjoy a little 
 of that oriental repose of which he speaks so elo- 
 quently. 
 
 St. Locis, March 15, 1855. 
 
REV. CHARLES B. PARSONS, D. D., LL.D. 87 
 
 REV. CHARLES B. PARSONS, D.D., LL.D.,* 
 
 THE CONVERTED ACTOR. 
 
 The First Metliodist Episcopal Cliurcli, South, in 
 St. Louis, is situated on the corner of Eighth street 
 aud AV^ashington avenue. The lot of ground on 
 which it stands is one hundred and sixteen feet 
 deep in one place, and one hundred and fifty-one 
 feet deep in another, by one hundred and twenty- 
 three feet front : costing sixteen thousand dollars. 
 
 This church is built in the Norman style of archi- 
 tecture — George I. Barnett, Architect; Messrs. Sage 
 and AVebster, builders — costing thirt^'-four thousand 
 dohars. Length, one hundred and nine feet; 
 breadth, sixty-five feet; height, seventy-five feet. 
 The basement-story is above the surface, and con- 
 
 * Alas! Since all this was written. Dr. l'ar!?oris has left us, and 
 entered the ministry of the Protestant Episcopal Denomination ; and 
 ia now the Hector of Calvary Parish, in the Diocese of Kentucky. 
 
88 PERSONAGES. 
 
 tains the pastor's study, a relicarsal-room, two class- 
 rooms, a liall, a cliapel, a Sunday-scliool library- 
 room, a furnace-room, and an ample vestibule. 
 The suifc of rooms just mentioned is eighteen feet 
 by fifteen ; the hall, dividing these from the chapel, 
 is nine feet in width ; the chapel will scat about four 
 hundred persons ; the Sunday-school library-room 
 is sixteen feet by fourteen ; cost of furnaces, five 
 hundred dollars; and the width of the vestibule is 
 sixteen feet. 
 
 The basement-story is finished and furnished 
 throughout; lighted in the daytime by stained glass 
 windows, and at night with gas ; ormimented in 
 front l)y a handsome portico, sustained by massive 
 iron ])il]ar.s. This story may be entered by six 
 large doors. 
 
 Xow we will enter a very spacious doorway in 
 front, will turn either to the right hand or to the 
 left, and through any one of four doors wc will pass 
 into the main audiciiee-room. MiUjiiiJiccnt! It is 
 ninety feet long by sixty feet wide, handsomely 
 carpeted. The pews are circular, and elegantly 
 cushioned. There are four aisles, sufficiently wide, 
 though not the widest. The altar and puljnt are 
 much larger than usual, carpeted with the finest 
 velvet and liirui.shed with a sofa, a table, and three 
 
EEV. CHARLES B. TARSONS, D. D., L L. D. 89 
 
 chairs, surpassing any pulpit and altar-furniture tbat 
 I liave noticed. Forty persons can kneel comfort- 
 ably at tlic altar. Tlie walls of tlie church, inside, 
 have been made to assume somewhat the appear- 
 ance of granite. This room is lighted in daytime 
 by eighteen stained-glass windows ; two of which, 
 the one in front and the one in the rear, are rose- 
 windows of enormous isize. It is lighted at night 
 by chandeliers and gas-burners which cost about 
 one thousand dollars. It has l)ut one gallery — a 
 front gallery — twenty feet wide and sixty feet long. 
 The ceiling, which is forty-four feet from the floor, 
 is painted in oil, grained oak, with oak decorations. 
 The building is covered with slate. The fronts of 
 portico and church arc surmounted with handsome 
 ornaments. A row of shade-trees, broad pave- 
 ments, elegant fencing, and yards set with a beau- 
 tiful species of grass, surround this magnificent 
 Christian temple. 
 
 "Behold thy temple, God of grace, 
 
 The house that we have reared for thee ; 
 Regard it as thy resting-place, 
 And fill it with thy majesty." 
 
 The parsonage (I despise the word) of the First 
 Church is a large and comfortable dwelling, built 
 of brick, by L. 1). Baker. It stands on the same 
 
90 PERSONAGES. 
 
 lot, a few feet west of tlie church. It is tlirec stories 
 hiij:h above the cellar, containing a parlor, u (lining- 
 room, five bed-rooms, a bathing-room, ample halls, 
 wardrobes and closets, a kitchen, and servants' 
 room. AVhen I mention that it has a yard siifli- 
 ciently large, a small portico in front, that it is well 
 furnished by the Church, and is lighted throughout 
 with gas, the description closes. This parsonage 
 cost upwards of four thousand dollars, besides the 
 ground. It is said to be the best in the city. 
 
 The sexton's house is built on the same lot with 
 the church and parsonage. It is just in the rear — 
 built of brick — contains four rooms, and cost 
 about one thousand dollars. There is a bountiful 
 supply of good Mississippi water in the yards. 
 
 Rev. Charles B. Parsons, D. 1)., of Louisville, 
 was unanimously chosen to present this i)ropcrty an 
 ottering unto the Lord of Hosts, and dedicate it to 
 His service. ]t was lilting that this distinguished 
 preacher should have been selected for the occasion. 
 I know a few men of greater talent, and a few of 
 more extensive and })rofound erudition, in the ^Tc- 
 thodist Church, than Dr. Tarsons; but I know 
 not one who is so perfectly equal to what we call a 
 (jrcat occasion as he. Any reader familiar with the 
 antecedents uf \)i\ I'arsuns will not be astonished 
 
REV. CHARLES B. PARSONS, D. D., LL.D. 91 
 
 at tliis statement. He has been accustomed to 
 meet great occasions, I am told. " Practice makes 
 perfect." 
 
 The day of the dedication, Sunday, December 
 31st, 1854, was a delightful Christian Sabbath. Pro- 
 vidence favored us with one of those brisk and 
 beautiful December days that are seldom equalled. 
 At half-past ten o'clock the preacher entered the 
 pulpit, and looked out on as large an audience as I 
 have ever seen assembled in the house of God. 
 Every Methodist church in the city, excepting two, 
 suspended their regular services for this occasion. 
 After conducting the opening services himself. Dr. 
 Parsons announced this text : Psalm Ixxxvii. 5 : 
 "And of Zion it shall be said. This and that man 
 was born in her ; and the Highest himself shall 
 establish her." The text being read and introduced, 
 lie announced this theme : " The Divinity of the 
 Church," and proceeded — slowly, very slowly, at 
 first; but afterwards with the thundering utterance, 
 graceful, powerful action, and rush of soul, char- 
 acteristic of the man, when assisted by the Holy 
 Ghost. And, although this sermon was not pre- 
 cisel}^ equal to one I heard from him two years ago, 
 in Tennessee, yet it was far above the ordinary; 
 and the celebrated pulpit orator gave fresh evidence 
 
92 PERSONAGES. 
 
 to his old friends and admirers that he still possessed 
 " the action, and the utterance, and the power of 
 speech," as avcII as the influences of the Spirit, *'to 
 stir men's blood." The trustees of the church have 
 asked and obtained a copy of this sermon for pub- 
 lication. It Avill appear in a small volume, prepared 
 by the writer, and entitled : "A Memorial of the 
 ISIcthodist Church in the City of St. Louis." After 
 the sermon, a suflicient collection was taken ; and 
 after the collection, the dedicatory services were 
 performed, and prayer offered, in the most solemn 
 and impressive manner. 
 
 The services in the afternoon were conducted by 
 the pastor of the church, assisted by Rev. William 
 R. Babcock and Rev. George Copway, the Indian 
 Chief. The large audience-room was well lillod dur- 
 ing tliis service. The preacher's text was Rom. xii. 
 5 : " So we, being many, are one body in Christ, 
 and every one members one of another." His sub- 
 ject was: "Unity with Variety in the Churcli of 
 God." The trustees of the church have also. re- 
 quested a copy of this sermon for publication. It 
 has been furnished, and will appear with Dr. I'ar- 
 sons's sermon, in the " Memorial." 
 
 The dedication Sabbath being the last day in the 
 yea^, its closing hours were improved, after our 
 
REV. CHARLES B. PARSONS, D. D., LL. D. 93 
 
 good old ]\Ictliodist custom, as a watcli-niglit. The 
 evening was as calm and beautiful "as ever star 
 slione on." The house, nt nine o'clock, was filled 
 from pulpit to pavement. All the Methodist 
 churches in the city were represented in the assem- 
 bly. The usual Sabbath-evening services having 
 been performed in the various Protestant churches, 
 their members came in companies. About half- 
 after nine, I noticed the anointed heads of more 
 than a dozen neighboring clergymen, peering up 
 amidst the throng. When the house was filled to 
 its utmost capacity, the people left by scores and 
 hundreds who could gain no admittance. And now 
 all was still. The serene congregation of the stars 
 was shining, and watching, and worshipping above ; 
 while we were singing, and listening, and watching, 
 and worshipping below. The Old Year was fold- 
 ing up 
 
 " His weary wing upon his withered licart," 
 
 while the New Year, with outspread pinions, was 
 sweeping onward to us 
 
 "With health gushing from a thousand springs." 
 
 Dr. Parsons preached another powerful sermon, 
 to an audience wide awake and deeply impressed, 
 and " continued his speech until midnight" — nearly. 
 If I were to speak of the divisions of this serr^on, 
 
94 PERSONAGES. 
 
 I should say, it contained distinct licdgcs and 
 ditches — of its delivery, I should say, there were 
 peaks and i^oricos — of its spirit, exceedingly cliari- 
 tiible — of its matter, decidedly orthodox. After a 
 song and a prayer, Copway stood in the altar, and 
 delivered a farewell address to the dying year, al- 
 most as beautiful and eloquent as Envin's. AVc 
 sang " Renewing the Covenant," and wore led in 
 prayer l>y the Ticv. Wesley Browning; aftoi- wliich, 
 we wished each other "A happy New Year!" as the 
 vast throng were departing. Thus passed our dedi- 
 cation-day — one of the highest in the eventful life 
 of Dr. Parsons — thus passed the last day, and the 
 last Sabbath, of 1854 — a day of religious instruc- 
 tion, improvement, and joy, 
 
 "This life! What is it ? Say. 
 A peevish April-day. 
 A little sun, a little rain, 
 And then nipht sweeps along tlie plain, 
 And all thiii<;s fade away." 
 
 I had heard Dr. Parsons preach twice before his 
 late visit to St. Louis. He came to JsTashville, Tenn., 
 in the fall of 1853, to dedicate Ilobson's Chapel, in 
 the beautiful suburb of Edgefield. One-fourth of 
 the mcml)ers of the Tennessee Conference were 
 present, besides a large congregation. The brethren 
 were on their wav to Franklin, to attend the session 
 
REV. CHARLES B. TARSONS, D. D., LL.D. 95 
 
 of their Amiual Conference ; and, attracted l)y the 
 fame of this facile princcps of the Louisville pulpit, 
 Edgefield was exactly in their road. His text on 
 this occasion was Psalm xx. 5 : " "We will rejoice in 
 thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will 
 set up our banners." To be a Christian preacher, 
 and sustain what Gilfillan calls "a traditional repu- 
 tation," is the next thing to an impossibility. But 
 on that day Dr. Parsons pierced the highest heaven 
 of oratory possible to him; and brethren who came 
 with high opinions, left with religious admiration — 
 brethren who came to be cool spectators, left all 
 aglow with enthusiasm — brethren who came to criti- 
 cise, saw the icy rules which they had set up thawed 
 down by warm tears ; and, what is not Avorst of all, 
 some who came to give twenty-five cents, sooth to 
 say, gave about twenty-five dollars. ^' lie is the 
 most eloquent man who gains his point." 
 
 There are many men of reputation we are satis- 
 fied to hear no more, when we have listened to them 
 once. As an instance, I went to hear Thomas II. 
 Skinner, D.D., deliver the opening sermon before 
 the Presb^'terian General Assembly, yesterday morn- 
 ing. The sermon was good enough. I am satis- 
 fied. If the " Committee on Religious Exercises" 
 should not read him out for our pulpit next Sunday 
 
96 PERSONAQES. 
 
 forenoon, I sliall not complain. But those who hear 
 Dr. Parsons once, are willing and anxious to liear 
 him again. It was difficult for the Presiding Elder 
 to secure the services of a preacher for the chapel 
 ill the evening, such was the anxiety of all to follow 
 him to Nashville and hear him again. And we did 
 follow him, and formed a part of one of the largest 
 audiences that ever assemhled in the McKendree 
 Church. The voice of the preacher was hoarser, 
 and his delivery less rapid and thrilling than in the 
 morning ; but his matter far more solid, and his act- 
 ing somewhat more suitable to the pulpit. It was 
 said, at the time, that all the players of the Nash- 
 ville stage were present; and, on retiring, pro- 
 nounced it the finest sermon they had heard for a 
 long time. And I doubt not it was the best sermon, 
 and the only sermon, they had heard for many 
 months — perhaps 3'ears. 
 
 The friends of Dr. Parsons do not claim for him 
 a profound miiid. He docs not belong to the Ed- 
 wards, or AVeslcy, or Foster school of intellect. 
 Neither do they claim for him extensive or correct 
 scholarship. His name is not on the roll where the 
 names of Clarke, and Professor Stuart, and Dr. 
 Alexander are written. But they assert his claims 
 to talents and learning above the ordinary. 
 
REV. CHARLES B. PARSONS, D. D., LL.D. 97 
 
 He is converted. He is called of God to preach 
 tlie gospel. He is a Methodist. He is an aft'ection- 
 ate and laborious pastor. He is accessible and com- 
 municative — he is no oiul. He is a hard student, and 
 the peerless pulpit orator of the West. These arc 
 some of the reasons why Dr. Parsons stands so 
 iirraly, and is so solid!}- popular, among the mem- 
 bers of his own congregations, and with the people 
 and preachers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 South. 
 
 I have said that he is accessible and communi- 
 cative. So was Paul. Hear him, ye self-withdrawn 
 domesticators of dignity : " For though I be free 
 from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto 
 all, that I might gain the more. And unto the 
 Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews ; 
 to them that are under the law, as under the law, 
 that I might gain them that are under the law. To 
 them that are without law, as without law, (being 
 not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) 
 that I might gain them that are without law. To 
 the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the 
 weak : I am made all things to all men, that I might 
 l)y all means save some. And this I do for the 
 gospel's sake, that I may be partaker thereof with 
 you." No matter iu whose presence Paul stood, 
 
98 PERSONAGES. 
 
 whctlicr the keeper of a jail, a soldier on ^nnrd, or 
 a governor, king or emperor, his uppermost desire 
 was to save that man's soul, lie could relax Ins 
 dignity, and lahor for the conversion of the weak 
 as well as the mighty : an act of condescension, 
 some semi-celehrities whom I know would at least 
 hcsltaO' to perform. Neither did he go through the 
 world like Sir Artcgale's iron man Talus, with a 
 ilaiJ, crushing and trampling down all opposition, 
 provoking wrath, and stirring up to the utmost 
 every malignant passion, rasping and lacerating 
 feeling, having no part or lot in human infirmity. 
 Because the gospel detects prejudice, it is a sad mis- 
 take to infer that it was designed to excite and i>ro- 
 voke prejudice. AVhen our Lord told his disciples 
 that the eifect of his gospel would he to send swords 
 ratJier than peace among the relationships of life, 
 he spoke of an effect incidental and not designed, 
 lie also instructed his discii»les to he wise as ser- 
 pents and harmleiis as doves. That man has not yet 
 learned the first lesson of nature or grace who hopes 
 to save the souls of any in his family, neighborhood, 
 or walks of usefulness, without considering the age, 
 circumstances, education, and characters of those 
 whom he seeks to approacii and address. He must 
 become ''all thint's to all men." If he would save 
 
REV. CHARLES B. PARSONS, D. D., LL.D. 99 
 
 a child, lie must become a cliild. How absurd to 
 irive a ba])e strong: meat ! Or to feed Christ's little 
 lambs iu racks so high that nothing but a giraftb 
 can reach them ! It is an ingenious art of the devil 
 to push a man on in an opinionated, self-willed, 
 cast-iron, imprudent, and headstrong way, and then 
 misname this, Christian fidelity. Better is it to be 
 studious of occasions ; to speak a word in season ; 
 to be fruitful in expedients ; to be expert in means, 
 that by all means we may save some. On the sub- 
 ject of religion Paul was communicative to the last 
 degree, and down to the minutest details. Bear 
 witness every one of his Epistles. Following at an 
 liumble distance, so is Dr. Parsons. 
 
 Dr. I'arsons is a native of one of the New Eng- 
 land States. Ilis childhood and youth were spent 
 in the State of New York. His riper years have 
 been passed mostly in Kentucky. He selected the 
 dramatic profession about the age of eighteen, and 
 left it at thirty-three. All agreed that he was a 
 good actor — many thought him a "star." I have 
 lieard it asserted that he was superior to Forrest. 
 The religious impression which led to his conversion 
 was received, I have been told, while listening to 
 a sermon from one of the stated pastors in I'itts- 
 burgh. This impression was renewed in the midst 
 
100 PERSONAGES. 
 
 of a revival of religion in Louisville, where he 
 professed religion and joined the Metliodist Church. 
 In a few months he was licensed to preach the gos- 
 pel of Christ ; and shortly thereafter, was admitted 
 on trial as a travelling preacher in the Kentucky 
 Conference that was. Since then, he has been labor- 
 ing on circuits, stations, and districts, within the 
 State of Kentucky, excepting four years. Two of 
 these were spent in Fourth Street Church, St. Louis; 
 and two in Soule Chapel, Cincinnati. Of Dr. Par- 
 sons as a circuit-preacher I know nothing. In a 
 station, he looks after every interest of the Church, 
 and sustains and increases his congregation to the 
 last. He is patient in the pastoral work, and adroit 
 in the work of a revival. On a district, his labori- 
 ousness, his large knowledge of aftairs, his capacity 
 for details, and — let it not be omitted — Christian 
 politeness, rendered him a capital executive officer. 
 Unlike some quarterly meetings I have witnessed — 
 beg pardon, quarterly sleepings — Dr. Parsons' meet- 
 ings were occasions of great spiritual interest. It 
 is also said that he knew the proper famihj names 
 of all the preachers in his district ; and being blessed 
 with such a memory, did not fall into that common 
 practice — too sweet to be wholesome — of calling 
 them by their familiar Christian names. Dr. Par- 
 
REV. CHARLES B. PARSONS, D. D., L L. D. 101 
 
 sons spent, in connection with liis ministerial duties, 
 three or four years in the sanctum, as associated 
 editor of one of our Church papers. He did not 
 make his impcr a ?iei6^5paper. Dr. Parsons has a 
 large frame, as well as a large fame — a fortune as 
 well as a family. "May his shadow never grow 
 less!" 
 
 St. Louis, May 20, 1855. 
 
102 PERSONAGES. 
 
 REV. JOHN EMILY, D. D., 
 
 THE VENERAULK lUt^lIoP. 
 
 One briglit niorning in July, li^Crl, 1 liiiuled in 
 Richmond, Virginia. After breakfasting at an Old 
 Virginia ln)tel — luxvc forgotten tlie name — no mat- 
 ter — I stepped into our Deposi/ory, to Bee our dis- 
 tinguislied Deposi/</ry. Several clerical -looking 
 l)ersons were in a back counting-room. One, a 
 ])lain, i>roper, pious man, presiding elder of the 
 irulmiond district. One, a slow, careless, awk- 
 ward, and sensible man, the ])opular author of 
 "Confessions of a Converted Iniidel." Another, a 
 neat, grave, "wise and i)rudent" D. ])., the editor 
 of a ponderous (Quarterly Iveview. Another, a tall, 
 slender, long-haired, intellectual gentleman, now 
 the author of several works, and one of the [io})ular 
 preachers of the Old Dominion. Above, and at a 
 distance, sat a man of immense mental resources, 
 the editor of a Church paper, but suspected by the 
 others of being slightly heterodox ou the subject of 
 
REV. JOHN EARLY, D.D. 103 
 
 "lay representation." Lastly, an elderly gentle- 
 man, tall and gray-li aired, \Titli a large mouth, pro- 
 minent nose, piercing eyes, and heavy eyebrows — 
 an old Virginian, " out and out," with a. chieftain's 
 born-to-command air about him — stood at a desk, 
 pen in hand, listening approvingly to Rosser on the 
 lay -representation question. This was .the Rev. 
 John Early, D. D., since Bishop of the ^lethodist 
 Episcopal Church, South. Next morning, when I 
 got to the depot, to take the train for Washington 
 City, the first man I saw was Dr. Early, with his 
 right foot placed upon his trunk, and both hands in 
 liis pockets — good as to say, " Gentlemen, you need 
 not make any mistakes — this is my baggage — / am 
 here in time.'' "SYe sat together that day, and I need 
 not inform our personal acquaintances that a pro- 
 found silence was not kept. 
 
 Bishop Early was present at the great meeting in 
 ]!s"ashville, Tennessee, when the Bishops, and edi- 
 tors, and agents, and secretaries, and treasurers, 
 and others, met, in April, 1855, to inaugurate our 
 affairs. All necessary preparations for their recep- 
 tion, and speeches, and sermons, and deliberations, 
 had been made by the citizens, the Publishing 
 House, and the Church. Notices had been given. 
 A programme had been printed. A few days be- 
 
104 PERSONAGES. 
 
 fore their arrival I heard these assertions fre- 
 quently: "Bishop Early will get here first — sure." 
 "Bishop Early will be here in time, if he is alive and 
 able." The committee on religious exercises gave 
 liim the great appointment of the occasion — Sab- 
 bath forenoon in McKendree Church. They knew 
 he would be there to fill it. And he was. The 
 service and sermon of that morning were blessed 
 to a very large audience. Here, now, is the key 
 that unlocks the secret of much of his success in 
 financial matters, and as a minister of the gospel — 
 Punctuality — Keliability. You may always look 
 for him at or before tlic time. You may rely upon 
 the fulfilment of what he promises, to the last de- 
 gree. I have travelled with him. He is in the 
 hotel, and has his name registered, /rs<. He is up 
 in the morning, and has his bill paid, and ready to 
 start, first. He gets into the most comfortable car, 
 and selects his scat, first. lie goes on board a 
 steamboat, if possible, a day beforehand, selects a 
 state-room, and then attends to his aflairs. "\Ylien 
 he gets through his business in one place, and has 
 any time to rest, he goes immediately on to his 
 next place of business, and spends his leisure time 
 there. Last fall the Bishop telegraphed from Louis- 
 ville, to a friend of his in St. Louis, that he would 
 
REV. JOHN EARLY, D.D. 105 
 
 breakfast witli him on a certain morning. His 
 friend supposed that, as he was getting old, he 
 would take a comfortable boat, and might get to 
 the city, or might not, by the time appointed, and 
 thought not much more about it. While the family 
 were at breakfast, on the appointed morning, in 
 stepped the Eishop ! " Good morning. Bishop ! 
 we were not looking for you much this morning." 
 "Did not I tell you that I would be here to break- 
 fast this morning?" was the instant reply. 
 
 I had supposed, from w^hat had been told me, 
 that Bishop Soule finds more old acquaintances 
 than anj' Methodist preacher that travels through 
 this land. But since my visits to the Missouri and 
 St. Louis Conferences last foil, in company with 
 Bishop Early, I am inclined to believe the venera- 
 ble senior will have to admit a competitor in this 
 line. We go on board the "Admiral," bound for 
 the Missouri river. Several gentlemen shake his 
 hand — know him well. He recollects their names. 
 We pass a woodyard. " Is not that Mr. Early on 
 board?" "Yes, Sir." "I have heard you preach 
 often in Raleigh," shouts a North Carolinian, from 
 the bank. We stop at a warehouse. "Doctor 
 Early, of Virginia, I believe!" exclaims an old 
 countryman. " Yes, Sir." " Have heard you many 
 4 
 
lOG PERSONAGES. 
 
 a time in Pctcrsbursf." AVc are standing ou the 
 guards, wliilo our lioat is moving up to a village. 
 "That's Bishop Early! That's Bishop Early! 
 standing on the guard. Isn't it?' issues I'rom a 
 crowd of spectators on lliu wharf. "Yes, Sir!" 
 " AVe knew you well when we were students at 
 Randoljih Macon." Now we "round to" at Glas- 
 gow. Two gentlemen, Mr. U. and Mr. i'., walk up, 
 and shake his liand, and insist on his going ashore, 
 and spending the night. Directly his old friend S., 
 lie is informed, is looking for him. AVe land at a 
 tobacco establishment. "Dat you, Massa John?" 
 says an old Virginian, " of color," while any num- 
 ber of white eyes, and ivory, may be seen around 
 him on the l)ank. "Yes, UncK'. How do you 
 come on?" "Ha! ha I Iloani you many a time 
 wiv dese two years, in dat old Methodist church in 
 Lynchlnirg." At midnight we land at Lexington, 
 and walk into a hotel. I register the names. The 
 bar-kei'pcr looks at llicm, and begins: "Mr. Early, 
 of Lynchburg. \\ »■ have been looking for you 
 several days. The landlord of this hotel, and his 
 wife, are second-cousins of yours." lie then goes 
 on to tell him of a score of white folks, and a dozen 
 negroes — all old acquaintances — who are preparing 
 to come in on Sunday, and hear him preach onco 
 
REV. JOHN EARLY, D.D. 107 
 
 more. Says they have been coming to the hotel 
 for a week, and inquiring for him. 8nggcsts that 
 there will be a "great time" among them on Sun- 
 day. Word being conveyed to the landlord of the 
 arrival, lie gets up, comes in, and claims kin. The 
 night passed, we sleeping in the parlor ; and upon 
 going into breakfast, the landlady met the Bishop 
 at the dining-room door, shook hands, and claimed 
 kin. Breakfast over, we found, upon returning 
 from a morning walk through town, the parlor filled 
 with company, whose carriages and mule teams 
 were in waiting at the door. While coming in a 
 private carriage from Springfield to Jeft'erson City, 
 we entered a small village after night. It was de- 
 sirable to get to a private house, (for the morrow 
 was Sunday,) but were told that we must go to the 
 hotel. This was to be regretted, but the landlord 
 came out, exclaiming, " How do you do, Bishop ? 
 I used to know you well in Virginia. Walk in. 
 Make yourself at home." 
 
 These are a few, and only a few, of the evidences 
 presented to my mind, during two weeks, last fall, 
 that more persons have seen and heard Bishop 
 Early than any preacher in our Connection — except- 
 ing, perhaps, Bishop Soule. 
 
 Bishop Early is a man of remarkable presence. 
 
108 PERSONAGES. 
 
 There are no higliways in any country, no streets 
 in any city in the world, where men would not stop, 
 now and then, and inquire who he was. What has 
 been said of Professor John Wilson, crossing the 
 streets of any metropolis, might be said truthfully 
 of Bishop John Early. He is about six feet high — 
 will weigh about one hundred and eighty pounds — 
 dresses in the style of an Old Virginia gentleman — 
 has a full suitof white hair, with dark eyebrows — is 
 all of seventy years old, and as perfectl}- capable of 
 taking care of himself and family as any man in the 
 nation. 
 
 Judsriuir from the "creature comforts" that sur- 
 round him in Lynchburg — the style in which he 
 lias brouglit up and in wiruli lie has educated his 
 sons and daughters — the positions of commanding 
 influence he has held in the financial altairs of Vir- 
 ginia, and of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 South — the responsible oflices whose duties ho has 
 been solicited to assume in Washington City, I sup- 
 pose liis talent lor managing money is considered 
 superior. 
 
 He is a native of Virginia, born about the year 
 1785, of Baptist parents. At an early ago, perhaps 
 in 1807, he joined the Virginia Conference, and be- 
 came an ilinerant. From all I can learn, he has 
 
REV. JOHN EARLY, D.D. 109 
 
 filled the office of secretary to an Annual Confer- 
 ence oftener, has travelled and preached in the 
 capacity of presiding elder of a district a greater 
 number of years, and has sat in General Conference 
 as a delegate more frequently, than any man now 
 living ! At the General Conference which met in 
 Petersburg, Virginia, in 1846, he was elected Gen- 
 eral Book Agent ; and at the General Conference 
 in . St. Louis, in 1850, ^he was reelected. Several 
 General Conferences have given him a respectable 
 vote for the episcopal office, but he was not elected 
 until May, 1854. This was done by the General 
 Conference which assembled in Columbus, Georgia. 
 
 Bishop Early is a traveller. He has the experi- 
 ence, and health, and determination to go right on. 
 He can find out more about the routes, and lose 
 fewer connections, than anj- man you will meet in a 
 summer's day. The writer of this sketch lacks 
 several years of being half as old as the subject of 
 it; but he would dislike very much to be compelled 
 *' to make time" with Bishop Early for more than 
 a month. Shortly after that, the papers, he fears, 
 would have to chronicle — "Another man fallen" — 
 not in "the field," but in the road. 
 
 Bishop Early is a revivalist. Bear witness the 
 fruits of his morning prayer-meetings in the Con- 
 
110 PERSONAGES. 
 
 ference room, and the glorious results of his pulpit 
 labors, wherever tliey are bestowed. The daily 
 morning jirayer-meetings at our annual sessions, 
 and the manner of conducting them, originated 
 witli him, and I am glad to learn they are becoming 
 somewhat general. As they are good in themselves, 
 as their results are very good, and as they origin- 
 ated with a good man, may they continue as long 
 as there is a sinner unconvicted, a penitent uncon- 
 verted, or a preacher unsanctified. And if any 
 of our superintendents in the great future (we have 
 none such now) should not know how to conduct a 
 prayer-meeting, "and call mourners," as Gough 
 said to the Oxford students, " they may consider 
 themselves dismissed." 
 
 Bishop Early is a preacher. lie has prepared his 
 sermons with considerable care, and preserved the 
 sketches in elegantly bound manuscript volumes, 
 lie generally has a volume of these notes with him 
 in the pulpit. Sometimes he lays it before him on 
 the Bible — sometimes leaves it on the i)ulpit sofa — 
 and sometimes he does not even take it out of his 
 pocket. I have listened to him in Nashville, in St. 
 Louis, in Lexington, and in the country, and I never 
 lieard him }troach, but once, when a decided impres- 
 sion was not made, and an instantaneous effect 
 
REV. JOHN EARLY, D.D. Ill 
 
 produced. There is considerable uniformity in liis 
 sermons. The first half contains much instruction 
 in theolos^ical science, or Christian duty, the con- 
 clusion nearly always to the heart. His discourses 
 are short, and do not ignore the anecdote. 
 
 Preaching to the negroes in Lexington, Missouri, 
 one very warm afternoon, with the house crammed 
 to the last stool, and about six children fretting and 
 crj'ing at once, to the great disturbance of the or- 
 thodox and devotional, said he — " l!^ever mind, 
 friends. Let the children cry. It will strengthen 
 their lungs. I say, this is what strengthens their 
 lungs. Then, their mothers cannot leave them at 
 home — nobod}' to leave them with. And you would 
 not have a mother lose a sermon just to accommodate 
 you. If those mothers were to take those children 
 out now, they would lose the sermon — lose the ser- 
 mon, I say, to please you." The Bishop talked on 
 about five minutes. By this time the little weepers 
 increased in number rapidly, and their lungs began 
 to give evidence of great strength. He paused a 
 moment, then remarked very gravely — "There 
 might be occasions when a noisy child should be 
 taken out. Such occasions as the present, for ex- 
 ample — funeral occasions, sacramental occasions." 
 He was preaching a funeral sermon, which was to 
 
112 PERSONAGES. 
 
 be followed by the sacrament. The mothers and 
 children adjourned, without motion, and quiet was 
 restored. 
 
 Bishop Early is a chairman. " What a splendid 
 judge was spoiled when he took the pulpit I" was 
 more than once on the lips of the lawyers of Spring- 
 field, Missouri, last fall. He knows what is in the 
 Discipline, having helped to put it there. He knows 
 what the General Conferences have said, and de- 
 cided, without reference to "Proceedings:" was 
 present, and helped them to sa}-, and decide, and 
 make up their "Proceedings." The rules which 
 ordinarily govern deliberative bodies are as familiar 
 to him as forty years' practice can make them. 
 Then he has the nerve, the eye, the cheek, and the 
 voice, "to put business through." 
 
 Finally, he has given me a very large district to 
 travel, for which I do not thank him much, now 
 that I am nearly frostbitten, and have to start in a 
 few hours on the l*acilic Kuilroad, to my " Manches- 
 ter Quarterly Meeting;" and, reader, if this sketch 
 is not long enough, it is because the subject of it 
 has given me work which requires me to leave it 
 here. 
 
THOMAS FRANCIS MEAGHER, ESQ. 113 
 
 THOMAS FRANCIS MEAGHER, ESQ., 
 
 THEIRIS II EXILE. 
 
 In the city of St. Louis, on tlie soutli-west corner 
 of Fifth and Locust streets, stands the Mercantile 
 Library Building. It is built of brick, in the best 
 style of architecture. It is three stories high. The 
 first story is divided into several rooms, which are 
 occupied by merchants, and by the Young Men's 
 Christian Association. The second story contains 
 the large Mercantile Library and a small lecture- 
 room, elegantly fitted up. The Grand Hall occupies 
 the third story. It is the largest — the most beauti- 
 fully painted — the best lighted — the best heated — 
 the most comfortably seated — tlie best carpeted and 
 ventilated hall I have seen. This hall was used in 
 the fall and winter of 1853 in rather an unfinished 
 state. Orville Dewey, N. L. Rice, 0. A. Brownson, 
 Lucy Stone, Dr. Post, and Bayard Taylor, lectured 
 here. But it is now finished and furnished — the 
 grand centre of attraction for the intellectual of 
 
114 PERSONAGES. 
 
 " the ^found City." It will contain an audience, or 
 somnience, as the case may be, of about two thou- 
 pand person?. On the same evening thatKev. Wil- 
 liam Homes pronounced the Dedicatory, or rather 
 Congratulatory, Oration before the Mercantile Lib- 
 rary Association, Thomas Francis Meagher was 
 announced for the First Course of Lectures. 
 
 It is customary for talkers, orators, and writers to 
 call the age in which we live by many different 
 names. The reason of this is, men watch the move- 
 ments of the age from different points of view, and 
 " Mounts of Observation." I will call it the age of 
 public lecturing. Who denies it ? In what civilized 
 and enlightened nation do they not lecture? What 
 large city has not its lecture-rooms and lecturers? 
 What respectable institution of learning does not 
 have its courses of lectures? What Christian As- 
 sociation docs not provide for useful lectures ? Men 
 lecture on almost every thing. They lecture on 
 language, on science, on art. They lecture on ma- 
 thematics, metaf)hy9ic8, music. They lecture on 
 philosophy, poetry, and fashion. They lecture on 
 history, on oratory, and on wit. Theologians 
 lecture. Moralists lecture. Physicians lecture. 
 Quacks lecture. Lawyers lecture. Politicians lec- 
 ture. Editors lecture. Authors lecture. The gen- 
 
THOMAS FRANCIS MEAGHER, ESQ. 115 
 
 tier sex do also lecture — the Lucy Stones, on Wo- 
 man's Rights — the Charlotte Elizaheths, on "Wo- 
 man's Wrongs — the Mrs. Britts, on Spiritual 
 Philosophy — and the "Mrs. Caudles," from behind 
 the " Curtains." I have many things to say in favor 
 of popular lecturing, and some things to say against 
 it ; hut will not say them here or now ; inasmuch 
 as a writer whom everybody reads has exhausted 
 the subject, in a paper on his " admirable friend, 
 Professor Nichol." Thomas Francis Meagher came 
 to St. Louis, delivered a Course of Lectures, " and 
 went his way." 
 
 Who 's Meagher ? " Everybody knows, or might 
 know, or should know Curran." So thinks Mea- 
 gher. Everybody knows, or might know, or ought 
 to know Meagher. So write I. In the exordium 
 of his introductory lecture, Mr. Meagher stated 
 that he wished to derive no interest whatever from 
 his antecedents — from his being a foreigner, a stran- 
 ger and an exile : he wished to be received and 
 lieard simply as a public lecturer. It may not, 
 therefore, be proper in me to notice him in any at- 
 titude other than that of a popular lecturer. 
 
 If any single word can convey to the mind of the 
 reader a correct idea of the lecturing of Thomas 
 Francis Meagher, it is the word gaslo. Ue walks 
 
116 PERSONAGES. 
 
 out on the platform quickly, and presents himself 
 before his audience bravely. If the table is not in 
 its proper place, no servant or friend is asked to re- 
 move it ; he picks it up and sets it down where he 
 wants it. If a pitcher of water is near, he drinks 
 heartily, and then places it where it suits him. K 
 grave editors or rickety reporters are in attendance, 
 armed with "cedar" pencils, blank-books, and small 
 tables, it is all the same to him. If the sprigs of 
 criticism are present, who deem that " as for that 
 ere Shakspeare, he has been vastly overrated," he 
 does not recognize them at all. lie who in 1848, 
 when he was tried for treason, and condemned to 
 be "hanged, drawn, and quartered," could deliver 
 a masterly, an eloquent, and an overwhelming ad- 
 dress to the court, does not fear the face of man. 
 The moment he fixes his left hand upon the table, 
 and his eyes upon the assembly, (not on a manu- 
 script,) and pronounces his iirst three words, 
 "Ladies and (Jentlemen," you feel like saying: 
 "Keep cool, perfectly cool! The exiled patriot 
 asks for no sympathy !" I question if Caractacus 
 before the lioman Emperor presented a much nobler 
 appearance than Thomas Francis Meagher before 
 an American auditory. Indeed, the picture of the 
 brave old Briton, found in one of Russell's Ilistories, 
 
THOMAS FRANCIS MEAGHER, ESQ. 117 
 
 will give one a fine idea of Meagher, when he 
 straightens himself, and looks out on a sea of anx- 
 ious faces. 
 
 For a knowledge of the personal appearance of 
 Mr. Meagher, I refer the reacler to the numerous 
 pictures of him which may be seen in the numerous 
 show-windows of our city book-stores. Suffice it 
 to say, that he has neither horns nor cloven feet ; 
 but is an Irishman — an accomplished, earnest, pa- 
 triotic, great-souled Irishman. He is an educated 
 gentleman — the son of an educated gentleman — the 
 grandson of an educated gentleman ; both his father 
 and grandfather having " sat in Parliament." 
 
 "Action! action! action!" I have heard of the 
 ease, the grace, the appropriateness, and the won- 
 ders thereof. I have heard of tlie action of Garrick, 
 of Macready, of Maffit, of Parsons; but of none so 
 perfect as Meagher's, saving and excepting that of 
 the great enemy of Philip. He gestures with his 
 
 n. 
 
 head, with his forehead, with his eyes, with his 
 nose, with his mouth, with his neck, with his shoul- 
 ders, Avith his arms, hands, and fingers, with his 
 legs and feet; in fact, when speaking of Sheridan, 
 lie gestured with his hips! I would give, this mo- 
 ment, more than the price of a ticket, to see him 
 stand ou the extreme edge of the platform, with 
 
118 PERSONAGES. 
 
 his body as quietly equipoised aa his mind, aud 
 "his keen demonstrative lins^er," as well as his 
 piercing o^-e, "fixed on vacano}*," and hear him re- 
 peat his hriHiant description of Richard Brinsley 
 Sheridan. I would, this night, walk to the most 
 distant lecture-room in this city, to hear him tell, 
 with inimitahle sai)f/ froid, an Irish joke, at the ex- 
 pense of Harry Grattan. 'When he yawns out, with 
 suitable position of body, a lazy paragraph, abusive 
 of "old gouty Dr. Johnson," farewell vest-buttons! 
 When, from the highest heavens of oratory, he 
 pours out a flood of invective upon " religious des- 
 potism," you feel your blood warming from the 
 scalp to the ankle. In a word, he is the very es- 
 sence of an Irish orator. 
 
 All Irish friend noar by tells mo that, to Irish 
 ears, the pronunciation of Mr. Meagher has some- 
 thinjr of Dublin affectation in it. Of this "affecta- 
 tion" I know nothing. Styk' ho seems to be a 
 master of. lie narratos well, J le argues well. He 
 describes well. Ho deelaims well, lie moralizes 
 well, and he applies well, lie is good in the anec- 
 dotical, the poetical, the humorous. I know of no 
 style, suitable to the popular lecturer, that he does 
 not command. The newspaper critics say, that 
 occasionally ho is too studied — too highly finished 
 
THOMAS FRANCIS MEAGHER, ESQ. 119 
 
 for a popular lecturer. There is a grain or two of 
 truth in this statement. An audience, listening to 
 a splendid production, does not want to think of 
 the dire labor and weary woe that produced it. It 
 is rather too evident that Mr. Meagher writes out, 
 in exienso. his lectures, then commits to memory, 
 and — perhaps — practices them before the glass. 
 
 Mr. Meagher is a many-sided man. He is not 
 only an educated man, but a man of vast reading 
 and information. He is not only a lawyer by pro- 
 fession, but is skilled in the political tactics of Ire- 
 land, England, and continental Europe. Moreover, 
 he is a travelled gentleman. At least, he has taken 
 two considerable trips ; one from Ireland to Botany 
 Bay, the other from Botany Bay to the United 
 States ! " Last, but not least," he has been guilty 
 of occupying the chair editorial. 
 
 Thomas Francis Meagher delivered four lectures 
 before the Mercantile Library Association of St. 
 Louis, to large and intelligent audiences. Protest- 
 ant preachers and Catholic priests, editors of news- 
 papers and authors of books, medical lecturers and 
 hard-wrought doctors, jurists profound and pleaders 
 eloquent, lynx-eyed politicians and lazy school- 
 masters, writers of prose and writers of poetry, 
 simpering belles and brainless fops, solid men and 
 
120 PERSONAGES. 
 
 fair women, of every description, were present, 
 pleased, and deliglitod. ^Mr. Meagher's first was an 
 Introductory Lecture, in the delivery of which, it 
 was difficult to tell whether he admired and loved 
 the more the home of his youth, or the land of his 
 adoption — Ireland or America. Ilis second was a 
 liighly interesting and amusing lecture on the Irish 
 orator, Curran, in which he repeated mauy of that 
 great man's witticisms. lie did not inform us, how- 
 ever, whether they were impromptu, or whether 
 Curran wrote them out on slips of paper, laid them 
 away carefully in his drawer, and repeated them 
 now and then, at different places, and in different 
 companies, through life. His third lecturc was on 
 Daniel O'Conncll, and Avas pronounced, l)y a Calho- 
 lic editor of course, '■''the lecture of the course." I 
 did not hear this lecture. I presume that Meagher, 
 the "physical-force-reform-man," said nothing ex- 
 tremely good of O'Connell, the " moral-forcc-reform- 
 man." His fourth and last lecture was devoted to 
 the Irish orator, Harry Grattan. During the last 
 fifteen minutes of this lecture, Mr. Mcaglier out- 
 shone himself, in his most eloquent denunciation of 
 religious bigotr}' and intolerance — " the cause of in- 
 fidelity, and the curse of Ireland." 
 
 Mr. Meagher is about thirty years of age. He 
 
THOMAS FRANCIS MEAGHER, ESQ. 121 
 
 and Smith O'Brien and John Mitchell agitated Ire- 
 land for several years. O'Brien was the most influ- 
 ential, Mitchell the most hloodthirsty, and Meagher 
 the most eloquent. In 1848 they were arrested, 
 tried, and condemned to be " hanged, drawn, and 
 quartered." After this sentence was pronounced, 
 ^Meagher addressed the judge in a characteristic 
 speech. It is said that he concluded in such lan- 
 guage as this : "I am now going to a tribunal where 
 many of the sentences of that bench shall be for 
 ever reversed." I do not know what effect this 
 speech may have had. Through the extreme clem- 
 ency of Her Majesty, they were not hanged, but 
 were transported to Australia. O'Brien has since 
 been pardoned; John Mitchell is in this country 
 editing a newspaper; Thomas Francis Meagher is 
 on his way to San Francisco to settle there. The 
 Lion of England still has his paw upon priest-ridden 
 and down-trodden Ireland. 
 
 St. Louis, November 20, 1854. 
 
122 PEllSONAGES. 
 
 HENRY GILES, 
 
 TUE LECTURf:R, 
 
 In bis " Pictures from Italy," Charles Dickens 
 says : " It was no more my Rome, the Rome oi any- 
 body's fancy, man or boy — degraded and fallen, and 
 lying asleep in the sun among a heap of ruins — than 
 the Place de la Concorde in Paris is." On first 
 seeing Giles, I suiiered a disappointment that, at 
 least, reminded me of Dickens's disappointment on 
 first driving info Rome. He is no more m}' Giles, 
 the Giles of anybody's fancy who has read his cap- 
 tivating volumes, than the little man in jeans who 
 used to desire the oflice of doorkeeper in the Ten- 
 nessee House of Representatives is. I always figured 
 him about six feet high, weighing one hundred and 
 forty pounds — with light hair, long and iiowing, 
 such as the poets write about, with blue eyes, lengthy 
 face, and beautiful, clear, expansive forehead. 
 Moreover, I figured him with clerical garments on, 
 and speaking with a voice of bewitching and irre- 
 
HENRY GILES. 123 
 
 sistiblc intonations. A mild, contemplative, Chris- 
 tian scholar and orator I expected to see. His lec- 
 tures, too, I supposed would be heard by almost 
 every person in the city of pure literary sympathies, 
 tastes, and talents. 
 
 Our preachers frequently tell us that " this is a 
 world of disappointment;" and our preachers tell 
 the truth. Rev. Henry Giles, the public speaker 
 with a national reputation and more, the author of 
 four or five splendid volumes, looks not magnifi- 
 cent. Much such a personage, no doubt, sat for 
 the picture of the "Little Man in Black." As the 
 reader Avill most probably never see a picture of 
 him, I have a mind to describe, in few words, his 
 personal appearance. Mr. Giles, to be plain, is a 
 dwarfs with small chubby feet, crooked "lower 
 limbs," and a hunchback. His arms are small, and 
 his hands seem to be of no use to him when speak- 
 ing, except that he wipes his forehead with his right 
 hand, and turns the leaves of his manuscript with 
 the left. His head is an indifterent, ecrubby-look- 
 ing head, covered with uncultivated, black liair. 
 Of course, he appears to be a little awkward. His 
 voice, in the first of his lecture, is somewhat husky; 
 but afterwards loud, clear, ringing. Sometimes, 
 when he reads a paragraph that has cost him great 
 
124 PERSONAGES. 
 
 labor, or describes a lovely and interesting scene — 
 one perhaps that he has looked upon — it is tremu- 
 lous and most touching. I should think Mr. Giles 
 numbers forty years, and measures live feet. This 
 description, reader, is candid if not kind. 
 
 " What is the great secret of Dr. Stockton's popu- 
 larity as a preacher?" This is the question that a 
 distinguished divine once put to a plain clerical 
 brother. It was answered in the following style : 
 " Dr. Stockton, you say ? "Well, first, he is a ghost, 
 and ghosts, you know, awe us into great reverence; 
 secondly, his voice is sepulchral, and any thing 
 from the grave produces wonder and amazement ; 
 thirdly, his style is very eloquent." Mr. Giles is a 
 decided favorite with lecture-going people. What 
 is the secret of his great popularity ? First, he is a 
 poor, little, deformed man, and excites your sym- 
 pathy at once; secondly, that purged, severe, self- 
 withdrawn, philosophic look of his commands your 
 respect ; thirdly, he has written lectures, delivered 
 lectures, and published lectures, until his name is 
 associated with scarcely any thing but public lectur- 
 ing: he is known and discussed as " Giles the lec- 
 turer;" fourthly, a man of his scholarship, and 
 style, and eloquence, and genius, would be a man of 
 mark in any country. His being a foreigner and a 
 
HENRY GILES. 125 
 
 Unitarian clergyman are disadvantages, except 
 among ^^ snobs." Mr. Giles occasionally treats his 
 auditors with as much familiarity as if they were 
 his first-cousins. In the delivery of his first lecture, 
 on "Exaggeration in Popular Oratory," about a 
 quarter of an hour before its close, he paused, took 
 out his watch, looked around at the gentlemen on 
 the platform, and remarked : " Gentlemen, I wish 
 these lectures were to be more than an hour long;" 
 then, turning several leaves of his manuscript re- 
 luctantly, he remarked to the audience very care- 
 lessly, ''That was a paragraph or two on the exag- 
 gerated eulogy bestowed upon what are called 
 self-made men ; but we w^ill turn on to something 
 more important." And on he would go, despite 
 the clamorous feet of the assembly, calling long and 
 loud for the paragraph on "self-made men." As 
 sensible a man as Mr. Giles is, I have no doubt, 
 thinks that all men who are made at all are self- 
 made men ; that Daniel Webster, with a collegian's 
 opportunities, is as much a self-made man as Elihu 
 Burritt, with a blacksmith's advantages ; that books 
 and teachers do not and cannot make learned and 
 great men ; they must make themselves. 
 
 Mr. Giles's second lecture was on " The World- 
 ling." Here he took the middle ground; neither 
 
12C PERSONAGES. 
 
 glorifying extreme poverty, as a Catliolic priest 
 would have done, nor recommending the accumula- 
 tion of immense wealth, as the great and inisaiy 
 Dr. Franklin did. But, that you may have some 
 idea of the solidiiy of his "middle ground," I will 
 repeat a part of liis lecture which " fairly hrought 
 down the house." "Ladies and gentlemen, if a 
 man were to bequeath me a million, upon the con- 
 dition that I should manage it myself, I do not think 
 I would accept it — my habits are not very familiar 
 with tlie use of such sums ; but if he were to pro- 
 pose to bequeath me a quarter of a million, upon 
 the same condition, I should say, ' Write it down.' 
 I think I could manage a quarter of a million T' 
 
 Mr. Giles's third lecture was on "Temper." It 
 was a most agreeable, yet strange compound of wit, 
 pathos, biography, poetry, sarcasm, and eloquence, 
 tlic whole i)ervaded I)}' the highest philosophy. If 
 those elderly ladies who are " walking excommuni- 
 cations" — if Pharisees, who exhibit such a " fero- 
 cious sanctity" — if politicians, who have returned 
 home after so many days of "hard sraijing" — and 
 if those preachers who are patent " millennium- 
 makers," did not get a suitable and severe rebuke, 
 while listening to this lecture, it is because there is 
 not power in thought or language to make them feel. 
 
HENRY GILES. 127 
 
 The fourth lecture of the course was on " The 
 Personality of Shakspeare;" and though there are 
 two more lectures to come, before the completion 
 of the series, I am pretty confident that this is Mr. 
 Giles's master-effort. Gilfillan says: "Everyman 
 lias a dark period in his career, Avhcther it is pub- 
 licly known or concealed ; whether the man outlive 
 or sink before it." I do not believe this is true of 
 "every man^;" I do not believe it is true of the 
 meek and blameless patriarch Isaac — neither does 
 Gilfillan ; (see Bards of the Bible ;) but I do believe 
 that William Shakspeare had many " hours and 
 powers of darkness ;" and that sheer justice should 
 have forbidden the Bevcrmd Mr. Giles from speak- 
 ing so beautifully and charitably of the poet's great 
 sins. Among many other statements, Mr. Giles 
 made in substance the following: "All that the 
 curious — all that his admirers — all that historians 
 and biographers the most learned — all that societies 
 formed for the express purpose can find out and 
 authenticate of the personal history of Shakspeare, 
 might be written on the back of a visiting-card !" 
 Kather difiicult to believe. AVithout arising from 
 my table, or looking into a single book, I have found 
 out nearly that much myself: William Shakspeare 
 was born — was baptized — was educated in a free 
 
128 PERSONAGES. 
 
 grammar-school — was a student — was fond of fun — 
 was a thief — was irregularly married to a woman 
 much older than himself — had his first child bap- 
 tized about six months afterwards — became the 
 father of twins after that — became the father of 
 children no more — went to London in early life — 
 went on the stage as an actor — wrote most of his 
 life for the stage — cared more for the money which 
 his plan's brought than for their immortality — made 
 a handsome fortune — lived in London himself, while 
 his neglected family lived at Stratford — had no re- 
 ligious creed — finally retired — made a will, and 
 such a will ! — and died — and was buried. His sep- 
 ulchre is with the English unto this day. They 
 esteem him greatest of poets and of men. 
 
 St. Louis, December 5, 1854. 
 
JOHN MITCHELL. 129 
 
 JOHN AI ITCH ELL, 
 
 THE REVOLUTIONIST. 
 
 We who are in the habit of "running to lec- 
 tures" have been complaining of the dulness of the 
 season. This is the last week of November, and 
 not a lecturer has appeared, save one, during the 
 autumn. Why is this ? Is St. Louis too near the 
 far West ? Are not our halls ample enough ? Are 
 not our audiences sufficiently large and brilliant ? 
 Do not our " associations," their employers, give 
 them money enough? Perhaps you, the Editors, 
 do not herald them and "puff" them as you might. 
 Or is the lecture going out of fashion, and the 
 essay, or the treatise, coming in ? I ask these ques- 
 tions — I do not answer them ; I am too busy sketch- 
 ing the last lecturer, and watching the papers and 
 posters for the arrival of the next. 
 
 John Mitchell's lecture for last Saturday night 
 had been announced, placarded, and talked of, for 
 several days. My dull friend, who has such a pas- 
 
180 PERSONAGES. 
 
 sion for lectures, and who dreamed, not long since, 
 that he was in Boston, making a small experiment 
 in lecturing liimsclf, tliouglit of the occasion about 
 once an hour ! The lecturer was to appear at half 
 after seven. I "dropped in" at seven precisely, 
 and found about five hundred persons, wlio deemed 
 they also had half an hour to lose, for the sake of 
 getting a comfortable seat. A larger number of 
 Irish ??im, and distinguished men, I venture, never 
 met before in our Library Hall, to hear a lecturer. 
 Among distinguished men were Trusten Polk, Gov- 
 ernor of Missouri ; Dr. Charles A. Pope, Dean of 
 the Medical College ; Judge Hamilton, of the Cir- 
 cuit Court; Rev. Dr. Post, author of "The Skep- 
 tical Era," and others. 
 
 At first I found a scat among some respectable 
 representatives of "Young Ireland." They were 
 engaged in a brisk conversation. One said, " Well, 
 I came out to-night just to see John. I want to see 
 if he looks like he used to in the old country. Glo- 
 rious fellow! Expect he begins to show age." 
 Another said, "I never saw him ; but I just wanted 
 to have the pleasure of telling my children that I 
 had seen John Mitchell ; that is what brought me 
 here." Another fellow, rather envious, I suspect, 
 unwilling that one individual Irishman should 
 
JOHN MITCHELL. 131 
 
 appropriate so much of the world's esteem, re- 
 marked coolly, " He is not an educated man at all. 
 lie never made much noise at home. I was raised 
 in the same town with him, and I never heard of 
 him !" Here I left them, "fighting all their battles 
 o'er again," and discussing the merits and demerits 
 of the "coming man," and obtained a seat some- 
 where else. 
 
 Now a thousand feet began to call long and loud, 
 and repeatedly, for John Mitchell, the patriot, the 
 revolutionist, the exile, the republican. He came, 
 escorted b}^ " Young America." He rose to speak 
 amid deafening applause, and spoke until nine 
 o'clock. "How did he speak?" He talked 
 smoothly, wittily, learnedly, passionately, elo- 
 quently. He talked exactly like a man who had 
 been on the hustings man}- a time. He neither 
 read nor declaimed ; he talked^ and showed his good 
 sense by so doing. His subject was the " Peace of 
 Europe," and he showed us, well and truly, how 
 they cry, " Peace ! peace ! when there is no peace." 
 
 "How does he look?" He is a little man, in 
 plain black, with a profusion of hair and beard, 
 a face which seems to say, I have studied and 
 struggled, and resolved, in solitude ; I have sighed 
 and wept, and sighed and wept again, in lonely 
 
132 PERSONAGES. 
 
 prisons. He closed his speech, and left us, with 
 this single allusion to himself: " I am not a Repub- 
 lican because I was banished from ray country, but 
 I was banished from my country because I was a 
 Republican." 
 
 John Mitchell is an Irish patriot. He was born 
 in Dungiven, in the North of Ireland, in the year 
 1816. His father was a Unitarian clergyman. He 
 received the rudiments of an excellent education 
 at !N"ewry, and was afterwards sent to Dublin, where 
 he graduated as Bachelor of Arts, at Trinity Col- 
 lege, and carried off several honors. It is said : 
 " His learning is not only varied, but profound on 
 many subjects ; and his knowledge of the classics 
 and ancient law is only equalled by his mastery of 
 the modern systems of government." Mitchell was 
 intended and educated for the Church ; but his 
 mind underwent a change, and he studied law with 
 Mr. Quinn, of l^ewry. His professional career was 
 commenced as a partner of a lawyer in Banbridge. 
 During his apprenticeship, and when he was only 
 twenty years of age, he and Miss Yerner eloped 
 and wore married. To draw a picture of the love 
 and fortitude of his accomplished wife will be the 
 most delightful task of IMitchell's biographer. 
 
 John Mitchell is a revolutionist. His "Life of 
 
JOHN MITCHELL. 133 
 
 Hugh O'Neil," the great Ulster Chief and Statesman 
 of the seventeenth century, a hook of remarkable 
 power, published in 1845, shows that he had long 
 been cultivating revolutionary sentiments. This 
 work fixed his position, not on!}' as a writer, but as 
 a "Nationalist." In 1846 Mitchell was the chief 
 writer and thinker of a paper called the Nation. 
 During this year he wrote an exceptionable article 
 on railroads. For this article the paper was prose- 
 cuted. The " secession" from the O'Connell party 
 went oft* during this year also. He was one of the 
 "Secessionists." O'Connell desired to repeal the 
 legislative Union between England and Ireland — 
 nothing more ; Mitchell wanted for his country a 
 distinct nationality — a separate State. 
 
 In the year 1848 Mitchell ceased to write for the 
 Nation, and started another paper, called The United 
 Irishman. It expressed the European mind of 1848 
 more fully and powerfully than any paper in Eu- 
 rope. Of this paper and its editor, said a New 
 York journal : " Since the days of Dr. Drennan 
 liad not been read in Ireland such noble exhorta- 
 tions 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 sum-. 
 
134 rERSONAGES. 
 
 moncJ the j'oung students of Germany to arms in 
 the Xapoleonic war; and which again, in the up- 
 heaving of the nations, in 1848, called forth, in 
 surging crowds, the students 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, intonations 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 <|uick vibrations, elicited the mirth, the scorn, 
 the hope, the vengeance, of the Celtic spirit. It 
 was the omnipotent voice of freedom, Avhich speaks 
 in every tone and dialect, and from crowded cities, 
 as from the dreariest solitudes, evokes the respon- 
 sive chorus. 
 
 "Whether we speak of sea or fire, in the ex- 
 haust! ess nature of each we find a type of that 
 spirit which in Ireland the foreign foe lias for cen- 
 turies sought to master, but has never tamed, and 
 never can anniliiiatc. If it be like the fire, and if 
 it sometimes smoulders, a bold hand, flinging fresh 
 fuel, can light it up anew. If it be like the sea, 
 and if it sometimes sleeps, a passing wind will wake 
 it into anger. This has been the history of Ire- 
 laud, this the explanation of her mysteries, relapses, 
 
JOHN MITCHELL. 135 
 
 and commotions. This gives ns an insight into the 
 perplexing fnture. 
 
 " Mitchell's writings did not create, hut evoked, 
 the insurrectionary spirit of the country. The 
 spirit had hcen there, and there for ever it will 
 al)ide. But it was smouldering, and he cast it up 
 in flames once more. It wns stagnant, and he 
 stirred it from its depths, and lashed it into a 
 storm." 
 
 John Mitchell is an exile. Toward the latter 
 part of the year 1847, or in the heginning of 1848, 
 Sir George Gray, M. P., introduced the " Treason 
 Felon}^ Bill," or "Gagging Act," as it was com- 
 monly called, into the British Parliament. The 
 ohject of this bill was to stop the career of Mitchell. 
 His paper. The United Irishman, was brought, forth- 
 with, under the power of the "Gagging Act," and 
 the editor was captured on May 13, 1848, and com- 
 mitted to Newgate, on the charge of "Felon}-, 
 under the provisions of the new act." His trial 
 came oft' on the 26th, and on the same day a ver- 
 dict of " guilty" was returned. ISText morning he 
 was sentenced to fourteen years' banishment. Im- 
 mediately after the sentence had been pronounced, 
 Mitchell arose, and spoke with a voice which indi- 
 cated very clearly that a brave man stood behind it: 
 
136 PERSONAGES. 
 
 ]SIr. Mitchell, — The law has done its part, and 
 the Queen of England, her crown, and government 
 in Ireland, are now secure, pursuant to act of Par- 
 liament. I have done my part also. Three months 
 ago I promised Lord Clarendon, and his govern- 
 ment 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 
 nie, or else that I would walk a free man 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 vic- 
 tory should be with me ; and it is with me. N'ei- 
 ther the jur}', nor the judges, nor any other man 
 in this court, presumes to imagine that it is a crim- 
 inal who stands in this dock. [Murmurs of ap- 
 plause, 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 sus- 
 tains itself in Ireland by packed juries, by partisan 
 judges, by perjured sherifls. 
 
 Baron Lefroy. — The court cannot sit here to hear 
 you arraign the jurors of the country, the sheriffs 
 of the country, the administration of justice, the 
 tenure by which the crown of England holds this 
 
JOHN MITCHELL. 137 
 
 country. We cannot sit here to suffer 3'ou to pro- 
 ceed thus, because the trial is over. Every thing 
 you had to say previous to the judgrment the court 
 was ready to hear, and did hear. We cannot suft'er 
 you to stand at the bar, to repeat, I must say, very 
 nearly a repetition of the ofl'ence for which you 
 have been sentenced. 
 
 Mr. Mitchell, — I will not say any more of that 
 kind ; but I say this 
 
 Baron Lefroy. — Any thing 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. 
 
 Mr. Mitchell. — I have acted all through this 
 business, from the first, under a strong sense of 
 duty. I do not repent any thing I have done, and 
 I believe the cause which I have opened is only 
 commenced. The Roman who saw his hand burn- 
 ing to ashes before the tyrant, promised that three 
 hundred should follow out his enterprise. Can I 
 not promise for one ? for two ? for three ? 
 
 The writer of an article in the Crayon Sketches 
 says : "As Mr. Mitchell pronounced the words one, 
 two, and three, he pointed to the friends behind 
 him. The men thus solemnly indicated were 
 Messrs. Meagher, Kcilly, and O'Gormau. He then 
 5 
 
138 perso'nages. 
 
 raised his eye with a proud glance, and recognizing 
 others in all parts of the court, he added, with 
 eagerness, 'ylv/, for Imiulreds.' Several voices in the 
 vicinage of the dock, simultaneously and with deep 
 solemnity, cried, 'Thousands!' and 'Promise for 
 me !' These words were taken up all through the 
 court, and for some minutes the building resounded 
 with 'For me!' 'And for me, Mitchell!' 'And for 
 me, too !' " 
 
 Forthwith Mitchell was carried off in chains. 
 First he was taken to Spike Island, then to Ber- 
 muda, where he passed a year of " suspense, agony, 
 and meditation." iN'ext he was taken to the Cape 
 of Good Ilope. There, in a " close, unclean, un- 
 healthy cavity," in the hinder part of the Neptune, 
 he spent five months more. Finally he was carried 
 to Van Dieman's Land. A few years ago, assisted 
 by a friend, whom the Irish sent from America, 
 Mitchell escaped from Van Dieman's Land. He 
 landed in San Francisco, where he received a mag- 
 nificent " demonstration." He then proceeded to 
 ISTew York, where he edited the Citizen for a while. 
 Mr. Mitchell is now settled on a farm in Blount 
 county, East Tennessee. 
 
 In politics he is a Republican ; though, as he 
 told us in his speech last Saturday night, not an 
 
JOHN MITCHELL. 139 
 
 Ethiopian or Black Republican. His political doc- 
 trines have always been based upon the doctrines 
 of Jefterson, and the exam]ple of the American 
 Union. In religion he is decidedly Protestant ; but 
 believes that liberty is a Catholic as well as a Pro- 
 testant right. I conclude this paper in the beau- 
 tiful words of Savage : 
 
 JOHN MITCHELL. 
 
 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 grains, 
 
 Bought up their sense, re-buying with it bright 
 
 Golden-lined favors from the despot's hand. 
 
 O ! thou wert one — John Mitchell, in the isle. 
 
 To stand before the dooming cannon's file. 
 
 And preach God's holy truth unto the land! 
 
 Ay, your faith shook them from the damned eclipse, 
 
 As Christian sinners shrink 'ncath the Apocalypse. 
 
 St. Louis, November 28, 185G. 
 
140 PERSONAGES. 
 
 REV. JOHN p. DURBIN, D.D., 
 
 THE PULPIT ORATOR. 
 
 Is it an episcopal decision that every sketcher of 
 Dr. Durbiu shall tell that same old story, about the 
 first appearance of the "Western Professor" before 
 an "Eastern Audience," in the "Old Academy," 
 Philadelphia, or forfeit his ministerial standing? 
 Is there a dispensation now laid upon me, as I step 
 upon the threshold of this article, to tell all about 
 the Philadelphia " "Wiseacres" — the " Swan's Song" 
 — the "Goose-cackle" — the "Western Preacher" — 
 and the "Begging Expedition?" I hope that I 
 may hazard nothing in leaving this gossip — this 
 twaddle — to "A Journeyman" of 1852, and Abel 
 Stevens of 1855. Once, in Brooklyn, I showed this 
 story to Dr. Durbin, and have good reason for be- 
 lieving and writing that he thinks a part of it is 
 false, and the Avhole of it foolish. 
 
 Dr. Durbin is nearly fifty-five years old, having 
 
REV. JOHN P. DURBIN, D.D. 141 
 
 been born October 10th, 1800. He is a native of 
 Bourbon County, Kentucky. Poverty or neglect 
 deprived liim of an early education. In 1814, lie 
 entered a cabinetmaker's shop in Paris, Kentucky ; 
 where he remained, like a sensible boy, and learned 
 a trade. In 1818, he was converted — made a pub- 
 lic profession of religion — and joined the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church. Rev. Benjamin Lakin received 
 him into the Church. One week after this, through 
 the instrumentality of Rev. Absalom Hunt, he re- 
 ceived a recommendation to the Quarterly Meeting 
 Conference for a local preacher's license. He was 
 licensed to preach November 28th, 1818, by Rev. 
 Alexander Cummiugs, and sent to a place called 
 Limestone Circuit. In 1819, he was sent to a cir- 
 cuit two hundred miles round, in the north-west 
 corner of Ohio, to exercise his " gifts and graces" 
 in preaching the gospel to about one hundred 
 church members. Here he became a student in 
 good earnest, and read the works of Wesley, Flet- 
 cher, and Dr. Clarke. The editor of the National 
 Magazine says : "All of which he thoroughly mas- 
 tered in the Western cabins." This is simply a 
 Stevensism. I am afraid the eloquent Doctor has 
 not " mastered" them yet! Next year found him 
 the colleague of Rev. James Collard, the printer, 
 
142 PERSONAGES. 
 
 Oil a circuit in the State of Indiana. Here he 
 studied English Grammar. One who lias listened 
 to the amusing anecdotes of Dr. Ilenkle, of Ten- 
 nessee, would infer that "John," as the Doctor 
 familiarly styles him, learned the grammar to per- 
 fection. The Conference stationed him in Hamil- 
 ton, Ohio, in 1821. While in this charge, he 
 studied Greek and Latin, etc., in Miami University 
 at Oxford. That was an unusually sensible con- 
 gregation of Methodists, who put the time of their 
 young pastor at his own disposal, during the week, 
 that he might furnish his mind, and prepare him- 
 self for future usefulness and influence in the Church 
 of God. In 1822, he was stationed in Lebanon, 
 where he pursued his studies under the direction of 
 Dr. Martin Jiuter, and the tuition of a private in- 
 structor of rare accomplishments. In 1823 and 
 1824, he was in charge of a church in the city of 
 Cincinnati. Here he completed the course of study 
 in Cincinnati College, and was admitted at once to 
 the degree of Master of Arts. The A. B. was 
 omitted. 
 
 Such is an outline of the history of John P. Dur- 
 bin, during the first few years of his travels, toils, 
 and self-denials, in search of the souls of men. 
 The honor of writing tliat exquisite story, "I'll 
 
REV. JOHN P. DURBIN, D.D. 143 
 
 Try," sits becomingly on one who lias cut and 
 cleaved his way through so many obstacles. 
 
 " Behold the portrait, and admire : 
 Nor stop to wonder — imitate and live." 
 
 Young man, young woman, would you like to 
 rise too ? Well, get up. Who hinders you ? 
 
 Since his graduation, Dr. Durbin has been em- 
 ployed — in teaching the languages in Augusta Col- 
 lege, Kentucky, to students who still speak of him 
 with the generous glow of enthusiastic admiration — 
 as chaplain in Washington Cit}-, where his sermons 
 to the senators are still remembered for their pith, 
 pathos, and power — as President of Dickinson Col- 
 lege, supported by the most remarkable Faculty of 
 young men (Emory, Caldwell, Allen, McClintock, 
 Sudler, Crooks, Reed, McClintock, M.D., Scott, 
 Bowman, and Walker) ever associated in any Me- 
 thodist institution — in travelling over the Old 
 World, and writing us four volumes of great merit, 
 to let us know how he waked and how he slept ; 
 how he walked and how he talked ; what he saw 
 and what he suftered — in preaching to crowded 
 churches in the city of Philadelphia, for years in 
 succession — presiding over a district in Philadel- 
 phia; and, as we younglings say, preaching "with 
 great acceptability and usefulness" — editing a news- 
 
144 PERSONAOES. 
 
 paper — and acting as tlie Secretary of the Mission- 
 ary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 
 Dr. Durbin, in addition to all this, is rather an 
 industrious writer. Besides Observations in Eu- 
 rope, two volumes, 12mo, and Observations in the 
 East, two volumes, 12mo, he has contributed arti- 
 cles, stories, and reviews for the quarterlies, month- 
 lies, and weeklies of our Church and country, 
 which will live long after he is gone. " I'll Try" is 
 one of them. And he can lecture withal. In a 
 conversation with Dr. N. L. Kice, not long since, 
 he said to me: "Dr. Durbin, of your Church, de- 
 livered one of the most interesting lectures I heard 
 while I was in Cincinnati." 
 
 The editor of the National Magazine writes : "We 
 have no hesitancy in pronouncing Dr. Durbin the 
 most interesting preacher now in the Methodist 
 jiulpit. AVe gave Oliu this distinction once, but it 
 remains now with Durbin. Others there are who 
 excel him in particular respects, but none that equal 
 him cither in i)opular effect or in the interest of in- 
 telligent, thoughtful minds." Yes, Dr. Stevens, 
 " others there are." I know one — a great obscurity, 
 when compared with the wide fame of Dr. Durbin 
 — who excels him in every "particular respect." I 
 know another — more distinguished than Dr. 
 
KEV. JOHN P. DURBIN, D.D. 145 
 
 Durbin — wlio excels liim in every "particular re- 
 spect," save one. That is to say, I know Dr. John 
 "W. Hanner, one of the most eloquent Methodist 
 preachers alive ; who perhaps combines more per- 
 fectly than any man now in the pulpit, the strength 
 of the lion with the flight of the eagle ; who, if he 
 were in London, and so minded, could relume the 
 days of Edward Irving : and this is to say, I know 
 Dr. George F. Pierce, incomparably the most elo- 
 quent Bishop in the Methodist Church, North or 
 South. 
 
 The eulogist of Dr. Durbin says : " We speak 
 deliberately." I claim to do the same. I have 
 heard Dr. Durbin twice, in his loftiest moods, in 
 Pacific Street Church, Brooklyn, to crowded au- 
 diences. I have heard Bishop Pierce preach twice 
 also. Both great occasions — once at the session of 
 the Georgia Conference, and once in Nashville, the 
 funeral sermon for Bishop Capers. I have heard 
 Dr. Hanner only twice — both times before the 
 Tennessee Conference. And depend upon it, when 
 the Recorder of Immortal Names comes to register 
 these three, he will write them down : " Hanner, 
 Pierce, Durbin" — among 
 
 " the few, tlie immnrtnl names, 
 
 That were not born to die." 
 
146 PERSONAGES. 
 
 It is not difficult to describe the personal appear- 
 ance of Dr. Durbin. In calm, he stands before you 
 a shade below the ordinary height of Americans, 
 but firmly put together. His head is rather com- 
 mon, but not so contemptible in appearance as has 
 been represented. It is covered with long, well- 
 cultivated, brown hair, mingled with gray. His 
 eyes do his own seeing, stupid as they appear. 
 Above them is a forehead — like Calhoun's — like 
 Channing's — like Bancroft's — like Bishop Simp- 
 son's — neither broad, nor high, nor prominent. 
 Fortunately, however, brains are behind it. He is 
 broad enough between the ears. His nose is small, 
 turned up slightly at the end. The mouth indi- 
 cates — that you are not to press on Dr. Durbin — 
 that he is disposed to have his own way. The gen- 
 eral complexion of the face is florid. His neck is 
 short, and clothed daily with polished linen and 
 most elaborate lawn. He Avcars fine black clothes, 
 from the best of tailors. These arc brushed entirely 
 too often. Hands and feet small, but active, well 
 gloved and unexceptionably shod. He is broad be- 
 tween the shoulders, and weighs one hundred and 
 fifty pounds. In Morm — that is only when he is 
 spoakinj, and sometimes not then — he is a trans- 
 formed mau, moving before you in majesty, vital 
 
REV. JOHN P. DURBIN, D.D. 147 
 
 from head to foot, his hands waving eloquence 
 itself, his chest erect, his face transfigured before 
 you ; his eyes, as the Englishman said of Daniel 
 Webster, opening, and opening, and opening — you 
 think they will never quit opening ; his thought, 
 like lightning, piercing you ; and his voice, like 
 thunder, amazing and overwhelming you. Be it 
 reverently quoted: "Lord, it is good to be" there ! 
 Ilis manners in private are those of a quiet, chill- 
 ing — cold friend ! inclined to be serious ; but per- 
 fect of their kind. They would suit some acquaint- 
 ances of mine, who think to be feared is not to be 
 hated; who suppose their tubs tower like unto 
 Diogeues's, but who are simply mistaken. "As for 
 my single self," I have little use for persons of such 
 freezing friendships, unless they could be persuaded 
 to sit for grave pictures, to fill a department of Ori- 
 ginal Tragicalities, in some new monthly magazine ! 
 A polite note, in August, 1852, in reply to one I 
 had sent him through the post-ofiice, invited me to 
 Dr. Durbin's residence, in Philadelphia. I delivered 
 a letter of introduction, given me by Dr. Wight- 
 man, in Charleston. The same afternoon we set 
 out for New York together. The next morning, 
 Sunday, I walked all the Avay to Pacific Street Me- 
 thodist Church, "over in Brooklyn," to hear my 
 
148 PERSONAGES. 
 
 first sermon from Dr. Durbin. The sacrament of 
 the Lord's Supper was to be administered in the 
 afternoon. The service and sermon in the forenoon 
 were appropriate and impressive. I had heard bro- 
 ther Elliston, of !N'ashville, describe liis manner of 
 introducing a service and sermon so well, that I 
 supposed I was prepared for the worst. But so 
 slow, so feeble, so drawling, so whining an effort at 
 reading, praying, and talking, was beyond my 
 powers of endurance ; and being a stran^Jer, and 
 lost in the crowded church, and sadly disappointed, 
 I leaned over on the back of the pew in front, and 
 prepared for a dull hour, and a deep intellectual 
 sleep. Precisely at this moment, he threw oft' his 
 first thrilling paragraph. It brought me as straight 
 up as the starting of a railroad car. I looked at 
 the preacher, and behold, his eyes were open ! The 
 afflatus had come ! Sleep had fled ! Directly — 
 another — and another — and another — to the conclu- 
 sion of one of the longest, most instructive, most 
 refreshing, most eloquent gospel sermons that ever 
 fell from the lips of Christian preacher ! There was 
 no provoking conceit, or paradox, or daring specu- 
 lation, that day ; but a pure stream of gospel truth 
 flowed from the preacher's head and heart. The 
 "Academy" listeners were willing to hear him again. 
 
REV. JOHN P. DURBIN, D.D. 149 
 
 I was anxious. Tlie concluding services reminded 
 us that he had not forgotten to drawl yet. A paper 
 sermon against Pantheism, read from the pulpit of 
 the Church of the Pilgrims, in the afternoon, and 
 another from the platform of Henry Ward Beech- 
 er's church, at night, on the subject of Astronomy, 
 cooled me off, so that I slept well. On the next 
 Sabbath morning, the same congregation, in the 
 same church, were favored with another sermon 
 from Dr. Durbin. His subject was the address of 
 the servant to Naaman. It was much better suited 
 to the preacher's genius than the " Institution of 
 the Eucharist." It brought out his full narrative, 
 and descriptive, and illustrative, and pictorial 
 powers. It was the better sermon of the two, and 
 satisfied me that Dr. Durbin ought to stand third 
 among " The First Three." 
 
 Dr. Durbin's is a great nature that can rest. 
 Wonder if he is any akin to Goldsmith, or Pope, 
 or Cowper ? He sleeps fully as much as they are 
 reported to have done. Immediately after early 
 family devotion, he gets to bed and goes to sleep. 
 A while after the second bell rings for prayers, late 
 in the morning, he comes down in masterly com- 
 posure. It is Sabbath morning, at brother Ray- 
 mond's, in Brooklyn. He preaches at eleven, dines 
 
150 PERSONAGES. 
 
 at one; goes to bed, drawling out: "Now, 3'on get 
 ready to preach to-night, or tlicre will be no preach- 
 ing done," and sleeps till three. lie arises at three, 
 attends church, administers the sacrament, and 
 spends the remainder of the afternoon in reading, 
 or low serious conversation. After tea, he attends 
 church, listens to you attentively, declines conclud- 
 ing the services for you. From the church he 
 hastens to his bed-room, hastens into bed, expresses 
 his astonishment at those who keep such late hours, 
 and falls to sleep or ever the words die upon your 
 ears. Next morning, comes very near arising in 
 time for pra3'ers. Misses it about five minutes, and 
 apologizes elegantly. We spend the next Sunday 
 in the same pious family. The Doctor preaches in 
 the forenoon, gets iuily awake, dines at one, and 
 immediately prepares to get fully asleep. I venture 
 to ask him to liear Kev. K. S. Storrs at three. He 
 jH'omises upon condition that you will not awake 
 liiui until three. At the minute, I awako liini. ]Ic 
 looks at his watch, and yawns out: " Blessed is the 
 man that invented sleep !" Says it will be time 
 enough in fifteen minutes, and a deep sleep falls 
 upon him. (Quarter after three lie arises, and we 
 go to the Church of the Pilgrims. Storrs is absent. 
 A youth from the Theological Seminary, in New 
 
REV. JOHN P. DURBIN, D.D. 151 
 
 York, reads a manuscript sermon. We retire, and 
 just as we step upon the pavement, the Doctor 
 quietly remarks : " Right clever sort of young man 
 — rather a sprightly mind ; but, he has knocked me 
 out of at least two hours' sleep !" Dr. Durbin told 
 me, that one of the most cheering thoughts, when 
 busy in the execution of his work, was that of sleep- 
 ing soimdljj when it was done. Said that frequently, 
 after days of mental toil, he lay down, and slept 
 from fourteen to eighteen hours ! Men of genius 
 must have some peculiarity. It strikes me, this is 
 Dr. Durbin's. I conclude — not in reference to his 
 sleeping, but to his wonderful activity and energy 
 when awake — with that beautiful stanza from Long- 
 fellow : 
 
 " Lives of great men all remind us 
 We can make our lives sublime, 
 And, departing, leave behind us 
 Footprints on the sands of time." 
 
152 PERSONAQES. 
 
 REV. ALEXANDER R. ERWIN, D.D., 
 
 THE FAITHFUL PREACHER. 
 
 Some warm day in June or July many readers of 
 the Ilome Circle will take it up, and look for an 
 easy article. This is one : suppose you stop here. 
 
 Fourteen years ago, lacking a few months, I rode 
 into Nashville on horseback, and stopped at the 
 Sewanee House. A lady reader asks, "Was this 
 your first visit?" Yes; and I got on my horse 
 next day, and rode deliberately " all over the 
 town." An Ea&t Tennessee boy, taking three 
 meals a day at the Sewanee, and opening his eyes 
 on the wonders of Nashville, was prepared to ^vritc 
 home to liis mother a letter as full of the marvel- 
 lous as a Christmas pudding is of plums. 
 
 I think of this period of my life as the time 
 when I made the accpiaintance of the Rev. A. R. 
 Erwin, and heard him preach. One evening I 
 went to the M'Kcndrec Church: it was very full 
 
REV. A. II. ERWIN, D.D. 153 
 
 of people. The pulpit was occupied hj a young 
 man — tall, lean, swarthy — with black hair and a 
 brilliant eye. This frame was deposited in loose 
 black garments, and its utterances were firm. The 
 sermon was short, perspicuous, practical, and 
 abounded in passages of pathos and eloquence. 
 All agreed, I believe, that it was the best sermon 
 delivered during that session of the Conference. 
 He was the only preacher of genuine cultivation 
 and great pulpit power I had ever heard, excepting 
 two or three. This young man was A. R. Erwin, 
 who afterwards became the dearest and most inti- 
 mate friend I have ever known. He wrote to me 
 regularly and constantly for fourteen years. His 
 last letter, written just before his death, covers 
 three pages, and concludes: "God bless you for 
 ever, dear brother !" 
 
 Dr. Erwin was a quick man — remarkably so. 
 Once, in 1847, he came to see me. He read the 
 livelong night on the boat, and reached the village 
 in time for breakfast. Immediately afterwards he 
 went to bed, and slept like a log. The first bell 
 rang for church, and I aroused him. He got up, 
 washed, dressed, prayed. The second bell rang. 
 He put his fingers into his pocket, and took out a 
 scrap of paper, crumpled after the fashion of a 
 
154 PERSONAQES. 
 
 bank bill in tbc bands of a railroad conductor, and 
 quietly remarked : 
 
 "Wait a moment. I must look over my ser- 
 mon." 
 
 In less tban five minutes be was before a strange 
 audience, and tbat day seemed to preacb better 
 tban usual. 
 
 Dinner over, be went to sleep again. Slept tbree 
 bours. Arose ; took up tlic Ladies' Repository ; 
 read aloud until supper — and be road beautifully ; 
 tben went into tbe pulpit, and preacbed witb 
 fluency and power. Tbe morning sermon was a 
 masterly argument against Unitarianism : tbe even- 
 ing discourse poured tbe oil of consolation into tbe 
 soul of tbe tempted believer. 
 
 In 1848 we were at a temperance supper in 
 Clarksvillc, Tennessee. After supper, tbc regular 
 speecb was delivered, and a banner was presented 
 and received. Some admirer called out, " Erwin !" 
 Fortbwitb, more tban a hundred voices sbouted 
 for Erwin. He walked out on tbc platform, and 
 made an address to tbc banner. It was twenty 
 miimtcs long, and remarkable for correctness of 
 composition, beauty, and l)rilliancy. lie informed 
 me afterwards tbat it was wbolly impromptu. 
 
 Once more. Tbe citizens of Atbens, Alabama, 
 
REV. A. R. ERWIN, D.D. 155 
 
 will testify that lie gave them a sermon once on 
 short notice. A young brother had thoughtlessly 
 consented to fill the pulpit at an hour when Dr. 
 "Wadsworth was expected to do so. After perform- 
 ing the opening service, he surveyed the crowd. 
 There were present about two hundred preachers 
 and four hundred people. Something akin to pride 
 whispered : 
 
 "Fain would I climb, 
 Yet I fear to fall." 
 
 Something akin to prudence answered: 
 
 "If thy heart fail Ihee, 
 Climb not at all." 
 
 So he walked down from the pulpit, Egomet. 
 Rev. F. P. Scruggs knew the man for this emerg- 
 ency ; so he looked over the pulpit, and called the 
 name of Brother Erwin. In less than one minute, 
 Erwin had read his text, and was preaching. 
 
 He studied, read, sermonized, and wrote irregu- 
 larl}' but rapidly. That is to say, he was no ma- 
 chine. If he was greatly absorbed, he studied late 
 at night. Then, if he wanted to sleep in the day- 
 time, he slept — sometimes long and deep. The 
 dullest man I ever saw arose at four in the morn- 
 
156 PERSONAGES. 
 
 ing. Tlicn ho would nod until dayliglit. Some 
 one would persuade him to lie dowu again, llis 
 invariable reply was : 
 
 *' Mr. Wesley rose at four !" 
 
 At ten o'elock my stupid friend would retire. 
 After lying awake for an hour, some one would 
 ask him to get up. 
 
 " Mr. Wesley always retired at ten I" 
 
 Dr. Erwin read books — read them through, and 
 re-read them, provided they were interesting and 
 profitable : if not, he threw them to the top shelf, 
 and went at something else. He was fond of mag- 
 azines also, and read them by the bushel. 
 
 He was an extensive sermonizer, but onlv made 
 sermons as he needed them. He would take half 
 a sheet of small paper, fill it with notes, fold it up, 
 and put it in his vest pocket. During the week, he 
 would refer to it, read it over, think about it, throw 
 the notes away, and know the sermon ever after- 
 wards. 
 
 He wrote sketches, addresses, and edited a 
 monthly magazine one year. Aside from these, he 
 only wrote for the press occasionally; sometimes 
 prose, sometimes poetry. The pages of the Home 
 Circle, Christian Advocate, and Sunday-school Vis- 
 itor furnish specimens of his poetry. 
 
REV. A. R. ERWIN, D.D. 157 
 
 Dr. Erwin's talent for the pastoral work, and for 
 the secular business of life, I think, was only mod- 
 erate ; but his ability to manage your heart has 
 seldom been equalled. He was a genuine lover of 
 mankind. He knew you once, and he knew you 
 always. "Whether you were land-owner or brain- 
 owner, he knew you. His cordial greeting was not 
 like that of the demagogue, acquired after years of 
 hard smiling ; but the spontaneous expression of a 
 loving heart. He would counsel with you by the 
 hour, and could tell you of all your faults without 
 giving offence. You could talk to him, or write to 
 him, in confidence, without any thought of betrayal. 
 I never knew a word of evil to fall from his lips. 
 Your character was safe with him, and you felt it. 
 
 As a preacher, he was all you desired : would 
 visit you, exchange pulpits with you, preach when 
 you asked him, and stand by you in a revival as 
 long as he could. He talked well, read well, sang 
 well, and prayed like a child of God. He was a 
 man of good Christian fellowship, hardly surpassed 
 once in a century. And I never met but one per- 
 son who was tired of his preaching. His sermons 
 were so clear and compact, so pathetical and prac- 
 tical, that all men of sense or sensibility were pro- 
 filed by them. 
 
158 PERSONAGES. 
 
 Dr. Erwiii Lad long ago proclaimed the bans of 
 niatriniony for religion and literature. IIo read 
 the IJiblc, and he read French; delighted in the- 
 ology and books of travels ; was fond of prayer 
 and good poetry ; could teach as well as preach ; 
 could lay down the telescope and take up an 
 infant's catechism ; and turn from viewing the 
 Fpangk'd heavens to the worship of the Babe of 
 Bethlehem. The great Creator put more stuff 
 into the making of this man than he does ordina- 
 rily; and the annals of Methodism will take care 
 of his reputation. 
 
 Dr. Erwin was born in Louisiana, the son of a 
 teacher and Baptist preacher, January 12, 1820. 
 He completed his academic studios at Lebanon, 
 Tenn., and married early in life. He entered the 
 ministry about the age of twenty, spent his profes- 
 sional life within the Tennessee Conference, and 
 died in iruntsville, Ala., January 10, 18G0. I con- 
 tribute this evening's writing to the sacred fame of 
 liim who longed to spend the fortieth anniversary 
 (>r Ills birthday in heaven. 
 
 A brother so saintly, an educator so successful, a 
 preacher so eloquent, should be extensively known 
 in our Church. He was prominent in the sessions 
 of Annual and General Conferences ; and I take it 
 
REV. A. R. ERWIN, D.D. 159 
 
 for granted that our good Book Agent will make 
 his shining face prominent in our Home Circle or 
 Quarterly Review. Thousands of loving eyes will 
 rest upon it; and the sight will move thousands of 
 loving hearts. 
 
 Lexington, Mo., May 24, 1860. 
 
160 PERSONAGES, 
 
 AVM. M. THACKERAY, 
 
 THE NOVELIST. 
 
 You arc invited to read a short sketch of William 
 Makepeace Thackeray, author of twenty volumes — 
 such as they are — namely : The Newcomes, 2 vols, ; 
 History of Pcndennis, 2 vols. ; Vanity Fair ; Eng- 
 lish Humorists of the Eighteenth Century; The 
 Luck of Berry Lyndon, 2 vols. ; Confessions of 
 Fitz-Boodle and Major Gahagan ; Men's "Wives ; A 
 Shabhy-Genteel Story, and other Tales; Jeames's 
 Diary, a Legend of the Rhine ; The Book of Snobs ; 
 The Paris Sketch-Book, 2 vols. ; The Yellowplush 
 Papers ; Punch's Prize Novelist ; Ballads ; Prince, 
 etc. ; and Lectures, etc. 
 
 Of this long list, the Humorists, the Ballads, and 
 the Lectures, are worth reading, through, perhaps. 
 The others ought not to be recommended. 
 
 Thackeray, the satirist, the liumorist, the novelist, 
 is now before us : the man who is said to be en- 
 dorsed by many of the iir^t miuds of Europe. Is 
 
WM. M. THACKERAY. 161 
 
 lie prematurely gray? I think not. His lower 
 limbs totter, his hands tremble, his hair is almost 
 white : he is an old man. If not, he has been 
 slight]}^ paralyzed, or given to dissipation, or greatly 
 enervated by study. His head is large ; forehead 
 wide and low ; eyes elegantly spectacled ; nose, 
 small ; cheeks, fat ; mouth, large ; chin, decidedly 
 aristocratic ; face, whiskerless ; neck, rather short ; 
 arms, long, and always in his way, when speaking ; 
 body, robust — feeds it on roast beef and plum pud- 
 ding, exposes it to pure air, and bathes it in cold 
 water ; lower limbs, lengthy ; feet, huge. 
 
 Thackeray towers above ordinary men as the 
 mountain towers above surrounding hills. He 
 must be six feet four inches. His dress is black, 
 extremely plain : not a piece of gold to be seen 
 on his person, except spectacles and watch-chain. 
 Real gentlemen never bedeck themselves with 
 jewelry; but if you want a vulgar person to run 
 wild in his admiration of you, come into his pre- 
 sence wearing a seal as large as a brickbat ! In- 
 fants, idiots, Indians, and some others, are fond of 
 trinkets. 
 
 Before an audience, Thackeray stands perfectly 
 still, or leans indolently against the desk. He 
 holds his manuscript with the left hand, and puts 
 
162 PERSONAGES. 
 
 the right into his vest pocket, -wliore it remains 
 during the lecture, unless its assistance is roijuired 
 in turning a leaf. With a voice of line deep tones, 
 a composition almost faultless, as such, he reads like 
 one who had been in the world ever since lie was 
 born. 
 
 It has been said that there is always something 
 lacking or something out of place when Thackeray 
 arises to lecture. One evening, during his course 
 on the Georges, a gentleman said to a literary friend : 
 " Do you see that desk, that platform, those chairs, 
 etc. ? Do you see any thing wanting — any thing 
 out of the way ?" " No," he replied ; " every thing 
 looks very neat and convenient." " Wait," said the 
 first speaker, " until Thackeray comes, and you will 
 Bee." Very soon, Thackeray came aboard the plat- 
 form, and the elite gave him as hearty a round of 
 applause as thin soles and kid gloves can produce. 
 Major William M. Morrison, in his easy and elegant 
 way, introduced him to the auditory. With this 
 came another round of ;q)plause. Thackeray 
 turned to the Major, and asked him to give notice 
 that the lecture for the next evening would be on 
 George IV. This done, the desk was not high 
 enough, and a gentleman was dispatched for a load 
 of blank-books to make it hii^her. Then, the 
 
( 
 
 WM. M. THACKERAY. 163 
 
 pitcher of water must be lifted from the floor, and 
 placed upon the desk. Finally, he lectured ou 
 George III., and such a lecture ! 
 
 Thackeray and his employers deemed his fame all 
 that was necessary to bring out a large audience. 
 When he Avas engaged for two lectures, one of the 
 leading morning papers stated so much, and no 
 more. I^o sketch of his life appeared : no list of 
 his works were given : no history of his lecturing 
 tours in the United States was printed : no columns 
 of quotations, from other newspapers that have 
 either praised or blamed, were made up : none of 
 the usual trumpeting, which nearly always precedes 
 other lecturing heroes, was heard. Ko placards, no 
 pamphlets, no pufiing — nothing — but Thackeray 
 and his "Georges!" Many thought he was not 
 coming. But he came. The papers next morning 
 stated that he was on hand, and would lecture. 
 At half-past seven o'clock that evening, every sit- 
 ting in the Hall was taken, at fifty cents entrance. 
 At eight o'clock, the evening after, the seats and 
 chairs were all occupied, and many persons only 
 obtained standing-room. Some of these were 
 ladies. 
 
 His lecture on George HI. is brief, conversational, 
 anecdotal, humorous, gossipy. Withal, it is more 
 
1G4 PEK SON AGES. 
 
 spiritual than you would expect from Thackeray, 
 lie has read up the subject, such as it is, with 
 great care, and has culled the spiciest items. Occa- 
 sionally there occurs a passage which shows all the 
 artist. He ought to have followed painting, as well 
 as authorship. Of this character is the description 
 of good, old, Protestant George, in his last years, 
 after he became blind, deaf, and hopelessly beretl 
 of reason. The vividness of this picture, the artis- 
 tic heightening of its pathetic tints, the tragic 
 grandeur of the principal figure, the exquisite charm 
 of a style almost perfect, produce a whole, seldom 
 to be enjoyed, and superior, I think, even to the 
 celebrated close of his lecture on the Dean of St. 
 Patrick's. 
 
 His lecture on George IV. is longer, more sarcas- 
 tic, more eloquent, and more instructive. In the 
 descriptions of streets and buildings, courts and 
 company, furniture and dress, manners and gesture, 
 which make up the principal parts of this lecture, 
 Thackeray is Imrdly excelled. The portrait he draws 
 of George, the English Grand Lama, the seducer, 
 the drunkard, the gambler, jockc}', fop, spendthrift, 
 "Defender of the Faith," "Head of the Church of 
 England," and "First Gentleman of Europe," is 
 one that will hang in the chamber of your memory 
 
WM. M. THACKERAY. 165 
 
 for many years. There is scarcel}- any thing more 
 heautiful in American literature — there is nothing 
 more agreeahle to American patriotism — than the 
 contrast he draws between George Fourth and 
 George Washington, in the conchision of this lec- 
 ture. Thackeray describes the British society of 
 George IV. 's day in most unflattering terms. Its 
 baseness, profanity, drunkenness, and other unami- 
 able traits, are made to pass before you ; while any 
 number of " piuk-satin-coats," " under- waistcoats," 
 " nut-brown wigs," ''cocked-hats," "pigtails," and 
 enormous "shoe-buckles" — things not very majestic 
 in the eye of reason — are brought into relief, to 
 point his jests, and win the applause of the audi- 
 ence. Thackeray " will never be shot for a Puri- 
 tan," as Dr. Summers . remarked of some one, not 
 long since ; still, as well as my memory serves, 
 there is nothing in these two lectures oflensive to 
 the principles of orthodox Protestants. From what 
 I have heard, I am free to say, his last book of Lec- 
 tures will be worth reading by those for whom it is 
 written. 
 
 "Thackeray's Ballads," a book of 228 pages, 
 published simultaneously in England and America, 
 is very appropriately styled by its author, a " little 
 volume of verses." Take an extract: 
 
100 PERSONAGES. 
 
 TO A VERY OLD WOMAN. 
 
 And thoTi wcrt once a maiden fair, 
 
 A blusliing virpin, warm and young, 
 With myrtles wreathed in golden hair, 
 And glossy brow that knew no care — 
 Upon a bridegroom's arm you hung. 
 
 The golden locks arc silvered now, 
 The blushing cheek is pale and wan ; 
 
 The spring may bloom, the autumn glow, 
 
 All's one — in chimney-corner thou 
 Sittcst shivering on. 
 
 A moment — and thou sink'st to rest ! 
 To make, perhaps, an angel blesi. 
 
 In the bright presence of thy Lord. 
 O, weary is life's palli ti) all! 
 Hard is the strife, and liglit the fall. 
 
 But wondrous the reward I 
 
 Here arc the concluding stanzas of the lasthalhul 
 in the volume. It was first printc<l at the end of a 
 Christmas Book, 1848 : 
 
 THE END OF THE PLAY. 
 
 So eiicli slirtll mourn, in life's advance, 
 
 Dear hopes, dear frien<ls, untimely killed; 
 Shall grieve for many a forfeit chance. 
 
 And longing i):ission unfulfilled. 
 Amen ! whatever fnle be sent. 
 
 Pray Ood the heart may kindly glow. 
 Although the head with cares be bent. 
 
 And whitened with the winter enow. 
 
WM. M. THACKERAY. 167 
 
 Come wealth or -want, come good or ill, 
 
 Let young and old accept their part, 
 And how before the Awful Will, 
 
 And bear it with an honest heart. 
 Who misses or who wins the prize ? 
 
 Go lose or conquer as you can : 
 But if you fail, or if you rise, 
 
 Be each, pray God, a gentleman. 
 
 A gentleman, or old or j'oung ! 
 
 Bear kindly with my humble lays; 
 The sacred cliorus first was sung 
 
 Upon the first of Christmas days : 
 The shepherds heard it overhead, 
 
 The joyful angels raised it then: 
 "Glory to Heaven on high," it said, 
 
 "And peace on earth to gentlemen." 
 
 My song, save this, is little worth ; 
 
 I lay the weary pen aside. 
 And wish you healtli, and love, and mirth. 
 
 As fits the solemn Christmas-tide. 
 As fits the holy Christmas birth, 
 
 Be this, good friends, our carol still — 
 Be peace on earth, be peace on earth. 
 
 To men of gentle will. 
 
 Thackeray's series of lectures on " The English 
 Humorists of the Eigliteenth Century," were de- 
 livered at home, and in several of our large cities, 
 during the winter of 1852-3. Swift, Congreve, Ad- 
 dison, Steele, Prior, Gay, Pope, Hogarth, Smollett, 
 Fielding, Sterne, and Goldsmith, make up the 
 "series." The works of these great wits had, for 
 
1G8 PERSONAGES. 
 
 many years, occupied tlie undisturbed corners of 
 publishing-houses and bookstores — had been mo- 
 lested, only occasionally, by solitary spiders and 
 stray book-worms, until Thackera3''s first visit to 
 New York. Then, they were brought out of pack- 
 ing-rooms, displayed in show-cases, bought by the 
 people, and thoroughly read. Thackeray's Lec- 
 tures alFectcd the book-market, and changed the 
 reading of New York city, for a whole season. 
 
 An eminent Scottish divine and critic says of 
 this volume of lectures : "As a readable book, 
 this has seldom been surpassed. Whatever quan- 
 tity of summer-salmon, hotch-potch, veal pie, and 
 asparagus, you may have been discussing, and how- 
 ever dreary you may feel after your dinner, Thack- 
 eray's amusing anecdotes and conversational style 
 will keep you awake. Next to Macaulay and Ilaz- 
 litt, he is the most entertaining of critics. You 
 read his lectures with quite as much gusto as you 
 do Pendennis, and with infinitely more than you 
 do such dull mimicry of the past as is to be found 
 in Esmond. Clever, too, of course; sagacious 
 often, and sometimes powerful, are his criticisms; 
 and a geniality not frequent in his fictions is often 
 here. Sympathy with his subjects is also a quality 
 he possesses and parades; indeed, he appears as 
 
WM. M. THACKERAY. 169 
 
 one born out of his proper time ; and seems, occa- 
 sionally, to sigh for the age of big wigs, bagnios, 
 and sponging-houses. Such are, we think, the main 
 merits of this very popular volume." 
 
 I now bid farewell to the kind-hearted author 
 of the History of Henry Esmond, and The Great 
 Hoggarty Diamond, wishing him a happy life, and 
 heaven at last ; and praying devoutly that his twenty 
 volumes of fiction may perish beyond redemption ; 
 and willing that his Georges, and Ballads, and Hu- 
 morists ma}^ live. 
 
 Thackeray was born in India. Accompanied his 
 parents to England when a boy. Was educated for 
 a gentleman. Has a genius for painting. Spent the 
 early part of his life in amusing himself — the latter 
 part in amusing the public. He denounces gam- 
 bling. Lives in London. 
 
 CONCLUSION OF THACKERAY'S PORTRAIT OF KING 
 GEORGE III. 
 
 King George's household was a model of an Eng- 
 lish gentleman's household. It was early ; it was 
 kindlj' ; it was charitable ; it was frugal ; it was 
 orderly ; it must have been stupid to a degree which 
 I shudder now to contemplate. Ko wonder all the 
 princes ran away from the lap of that dreary domes- 
 6 
 
170 PERSONA r.ES. 
 
 tic virtue. It always rose, rode, dined, at stated 
 intervals. ])a3' after day Mas the same. At the 
 same hour at night the king kissed his daughter's 
 jolly cheeks ; the princesses kissed their mother's 
 hand ; Madame Thielke hrought the royal niglitoap. 
 At the same hour the equerries and women in wait- 
 ing had their little dinner, and cackled over their 
 tea. The king had his hackgammon or his even- 
 ing concert; the equerries yawned themselves to 
 death in the ante-room ; or the king and his family 
 walked on AVindsor slopes, the king holding his 
 darling little Princess Amelia hy the hand ; and the 
 Eton hoys thrust their chuhby cheeks under the 
 crowd's elbows ; and the concert over, the king 
 never failed to take his enormous cocked hat oft*, 
 and salute his band, and say, " Thank you, gentle- 
 men." 
 
 A quieter household, a more prosaic life than this 
 of Kew or Windsor, cannot be imagined. Rain or 
 shine, the king rode every day for hours ; poked 
 his red face into hundreds of cottages round about, 
 and showed that shovel hat and Windsor uniform 
 to farmers, to pig-boys, to old women making apple- 
 dumitlings ; to all sorts of people, gentle and simple, 
 about whom countless stories are told. Nothing 
 can be more undiguilied than these stories. When 
 
WM. M. THACKERAY. 171 
 
 Haroun Alrascliid visits a subject incog., the latter 
 is sure to be very much the better for the caliph's 
 magnificence. Old George showed no such royal 
 splendor. He used to give a guinea sometimes ; 
 sometimes feel in his pockets and find he had no 
 money ; often ask a man a hundred questions about 
 the number of his family, about his oats and beans, 
 about the rent he paid for his house, and ride on. 
 On one occasion he played the part of King Alfred, 
 and turned a piece of meat with a string at a cot- 
 tager's house. "When the old woman came home, 
 she found a paper with an enclosure of money, and 
 a note written by the royal pencil : " Five guineas 
 to buy a jack." It was not splendid, but it was 
 kind and worthy of Farmer George. 
 
 One day, when the king and queen were walking 
 together, they met a little boy — they were always 
 fond of children, the good folks — and patted the 
 little white head. *'"S\^io8e little boy are you?" 
 asked the "Windsor uniform. "I am the king's 
 beef-eater's little boy," replied the child. On which 
 the king said, "Then kneel down and kiss the 
 queen's hand." But the innocent offspring of the 
 l)eef-eater declined this treat. "No," said he, "I 
 won't kneel, for if I do so I shall spoil my new 
 breeches." The thrifty king ought to have hugged 
 
172 PERSONAGES. 
 
 liim and knighted liini on tlie spot. George's ad- 
 mirers wrote pages and pages of such stories about 
 hira. One morning, before anybody else was up, 
 the king walked about Gloucester town ; pushed 
 over Molly the housemaid, who was scrubbing the 
 door-steps, with her pail ; run up stairs and woke 
 all the equerries iu their bed-rooms ; and then trotted 
 down to the bridge, where, by this time, a dozen of 
 louts were assembled. *'T\Tiat! is this Gloucester 
 New Bridge?" asked our gracious monarch.; and 
 the people answered him, "Yes, your Majesty." 
 "Why, then, my boys," said he, "let us have a 
 huzza!" After giving them which intellectual 
 gratification, he went home to breakfast. Our fa- 
 thers read these simple tales with fond pleasure ; 
 laughed at these very small jokes; liked the old 
 man who poked his nose into every cottage ; who 
 lived on the plain, wholesome roast and boiled ; 
 who despised your French kickshaws ; who was a 
 true, hearty old English gentleman. You may have 
 seen Gilray's famous print of him, in the old wig, 
 in the little stout old hideous Windsor uniform, as 
 the King of Brobdignag, peering at a little Gul- 
 liver, whom he holds up in one hand, whilst in the 
 other he has an opera-glass, through which he sur- 
 veys the pigmy. Our fathers chose to set up George 
 
WM. M. THACKERAY. 173 
 
 as tlie type of a great king, and the little Gulliver 
 was the great Napoleon. We prided ourselves on 
 our prejudices; we blustered and bragged with ab- 
 surd vainglory ; we dealt to our enemy a monstrous 
 injustice of contempt and scorn; we fought him 
 with all weapons, mean as well as heroic. There 
 was no lie we would not believe ; no charge of 
 crime which our furious prejudice would not credit. 
 I thought at one time of making a collection of the 
 lies which the French had written against us, and 
 we had published against them during the war ; it 
 would be a strange memorial of popular falsehood. 
 In the capital Burney Diary and Letters, the 
 home and court-life of good old King George and 
 good old Queen Charlotte are presented at porten- 
 tous length. The king rose every morning at six ; 
 and had two hours to himself. He thought it effemi- 
 nate to have a carpet in his bed-room. Shortly 
 before eight, the queen and the royal famil}^ were 
 always ready for him, and they proceeded to the 
 king's chapel in the castle. There were no fires 
 in the passages; the chapel was scarcely alight; 
 princesses, governesses, equerries grumbled and 
 caught cold ; but cold or hot, it was their dut}- to 
 go, and, wet or dry, light or dark, the stout old 
 
174 PERSONAGES. 
 
 George was always in his place to say Amcii to the 
 chaplain. 
 
 The queen's character is represented in 13urney 
 at full length. She was a sensible, most decorous 
 woman ; a very grand lady on state occasions, simple 
 enough in ordinary life ; well read as times went, 
 and giving shrewd opinions about books; stingy, 
 but not unjust ; not generally unkind to her depend- 
 ants, but invincible in her notions of etiquette, and 
 quite angry if her people suffered ill-health in her 
 service. She gave Miss Burney a shabby pittance, 
 and led the poor young woman a life which well- 
 nigh killed her. She never thought but that she 
 was doing liurney the greatest favor, in taking her 
 from freedom, fame, and competence, and killing 
 her oil' with languor in that dreary court. It was 
 not dreary to her. Had she been servant instead 
 of mistress, her spirit would never have broken 
 down ; she never would have put a pin out of place, 
 or been a moment from her duty. She was not 
 weak, and she could not pardon those who were. 
 She was perfectly correct in life, and she hated poor 
 sinners with a rancor such as virtue sometimes has. 
 She must have had awful private trials of her own ; 
 not merely with her children, but with her husband, 
 
WM. M. THACKERAY. 175 
 
 ill those long days about wliicli nobody will ever 
 know anj'^ thing now, when he was not quite insane ; 
 when his incessant tongue was babbling folly, rage, 
 persecution ; and she had to smile, and be respect- 
 ful and attentive under this intolerable ennui. The 
 queen bore all her duties stoutly, as she expected 
 others to bear them. At a state christening, the 
 lady who held the infant was tired, and looked un- 
 well, and the Princess of Wales asked permission 
 for her to sit down. "Let her stand," said the 
 queen, flicking the snuff off her sleeve. She would 
 have stood, the resolute old woman, if she had had 
 to hold the child till his beard was grown. " I 'm 
 seventy years of age," the queen said, facing a mob 
 of ruffians who stopped her sedan ; " I have been 
 fifty years Queen of England, and I never was in- 
 sulted before." Fearless, rigid, unforgiving little 
 queen ! I don't wonder that her sons revolted from 
 her. 
 
 From November, 1810, George III. ceased to 
 reign. All the world knows the story of his mal- 
 ady ; all history presents no sadder figure than that 
 "f the old man, blind and deprived of reason, wan- 
 dering through the rooms of his palace, addressing 
 imaginary parliaments, reviewing fancied troops, 
 holding ghostly courts. I have seen his picture as 
 
 k 
 
17G PERSONAGES. 
 
 it was taken at this time, hanging in the apartment 
 of his (laugliter, tlie Landgrave of Hesse Ilomhourg 
 — amidst books and AVindsor furniture, and a Imn- 
 dred foreign reminiscences of her English home. 
 Tlie poor old father is represented in a purple gown, 
 his snowy beard falling over his breast — the star of 
 his famous order still idly shining on it. He was 
 not only sightless — he became utterly deaf. All 
 light, all reason, all sound of human voices, all the 
 pleasures of the world of God, were taken from 
 him. Some slight lucid moments he had ; in one 
 of which, the queen, desiring to see him, entered 
 the room, and found him singing a hymn, and ac- 
 companying himself on the harpsichord ; when he 
 had finished, he knelt down and prayed aloud for 
 her, and then for his family, concluding with a 
 prayer for himself, that it might please God to avert 
 his heavy calamity from him ; but if not, to give him 
 resignation to submit. lie then burst into tears, 
 and his reason again fled. 
 
 What preacher need moralize on this story ? what 
 words, save the simplest, are requisite to tell it ? It 
 is too terrible for tears. The thought of such a 
 misery smites me down in submission before the 
 Kuler of kings and men, the Monarch supreme over 
 empires and republics, the inscrutable Dispenser of 
 
WM. M. THACKERAY. 177 
 
 life, death, happiness, victory. brothers I speak- 
 ing the same mother tongue — comrades ! enemies 
 no more, let us take a mournful hand together as we 
 stand by this royal corpse, and call a truce to battle ! 
 Low he lies to whom the proudest used to kneel 
 once, and avIio was cast lower than the poorest; 
 dead, whom millions prayed for in vain. Driven 
 oft* his throne ; buffeted by rude hands, with his 
 children in revolt ; the darling of his old age killed 
 before him untimely ; our Lear hangs over her 
 breathless lips, and cries, " Cordelia, Cordelia, stay 
 a little !" 
 
 " Vex not his ghost — ! let him pass — he hates him 
 That would upon the rack of this tough world 
 Stretch him out longer." 
 
 Hush strife and quarrel over the solemn grave ! 
 Sound, trumpets, a mournful march. Fall, Park 
 curtain, upon his pageant, his pride, his grief, his 
 awful tragedy ! 
 
178 PERSON AGTES. 
 
 REV. CHARLES TAYLOR, M. D., 
 
 THE U E T U 11 N E I) .M I S S H) N A 11 Y . 
 
 Charles Taylor is a native of Boston, Massa- 
 chusetts, boru about thirty -six years ago. ITis 
 father is a minister of the Presbyterian Church, 
 and superintended the early education of his son, 
 in his own academy, in the interior of iSTcw York. 
 At the age of fifteen Charles Taylor walked to 
 New York citj', three hundred miles distant, and 
 became a clerk in a dry-goods store. A few months 
 after this, his employer and himself professed reli- 
 gion, and joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 It was while he was selling goods in this establish- 
 ment that he delivered the speech at an anniversary 
 missionary meeting of the Duane street iSuuday- 
 school, which called forth from our sagacious 
 Bishop Andrew this rcnuirk : '' The little fellow 
 who made that speech will be a Methodist preacher 
 some of these days." 
 
 Charles Taylor left the store, and went to his 
 
I 
 
 REV. CHARLES TAYLOR, M.D. 179 
 
 father's in 1836, where he spent the summer 
 reviewing his studies. In the fall, his father, a 
 man in very moderate circumstances, paid his 
 expenses back to the city, when he entered the 
 University of New York, without a single cent! 
 Four years after this, at the annual commencement 
 of 1840, with a healthy body and a stout heart, he 
 graduated, carrying ofl* the first honors of the 
 University ! But between these two periods, what 
 loneliness in that little attic - room in Spring 
 street — what chilliness on that scanty cot-bed — 
 what shivering under light blankets, covered with 
 snow, driven through a broken window — what 
 livelong nights spent in constant writing in gloomy 
 printing - offices — what emptiness produced by 
 liunger and loss of sleep — what prayers went up 
 to heaven while watching the premises of the 
 University " at dead of night" — what brave study- 
 ing — wliat perfect reciting — what pleasant vacations 
 spent at home and in the country ! 
 
 The story is an interesting one — by far the most 
 interesting of the kind I have ever heard — but time 
 fails me to tell much more. Let it suffice, that at 
 the end of two years he sustained the first grade in 
 all his studies, had paid his own way without 
 incurring a shilling's debt, and had a small surplus 
 
180 PERSONAGES. 
 
 to put under his dear old mother's plate the first 
 time they all sat down to dine together after his 
 arrival home. At the close of the fourth year he 
 came out of the University slightly in debt for 
 boarding, a bill which he soon paid off "to the 
 uttermost farthing." 
 
 Soon after his graduation, Charles Taylor went 
 to Charleston, South Carolina, and became a 
 teacher. His salary here soon enabled him to 
 "square himself" with the world, and make 
 frequent and handsome remittances to his parents. 
 " Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days 
 may be long upon the land which the Lord thy 
 God givetli thee." At the session of the South 
 Carolina Coufcrcncc, held in Columbia, December, 
 1844, he was admitted, on trial, into the travelling 
 connection of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 South. Bishop Andrew was present, and no doubt 
 called to mind the prediction he had made, ten 
 years before, in the city of New York. Camden 
 Station was Brother Taylor's second appointment. 
 Here, in addition to his studies and labors as a 
 preacher and pastor, he read medicine under the 
 direction and tuition of the eminent Dr. George 
 Ileynolds. Having determined on a foreign 
 mission, he repaired to the Bhiladelphia College 
 
REV. CHARLES TAYLOR, M.D. 181 
 
 of Medicine, Dr. James M'Clintock, President. 
 Here lie took his medical diploma, with distinction, 
 March, 1848. 
 
 Actually Dr. Taylor must acknowledge that he 
 is a "fast man." He received his M.D. in the city 
 of Philadelphia; married Miss Gamewell in the 
 State of South Carolina ; was ordained elder by 
 Bishop Andrew, at a special meeting in Norfolk, 
 Virginia ; and sailed from Boston, Massachusetts, 
 for Shanghai, China — all in less than two months, 
 in the spring of 1848 ! Here is a man that eschews 
 the vitality of the owl, or the vivacity of the work- 
 ox. Let consecrated stupidity behold him, unfold 
 its hands, elevate its head, cease to whine, and go 
 to work ! 
 
 Dr. Taylor has performed one of the most heroic 
 journeys known in the history of missionary 
 enterprise. Before Shanghai had fallen into the 
 hands of the insurgents, he set his heart upon 
 penetrating as far as the insurgents' camp at Chin- 
 kiang-foo, in order to ascertain what were the real 
 sentiments of the invaders in reference to Chris- 
 tianity, and what would be the result as to Chris- 
 tian missions should they finally triumph. This 
 was a bold and dangerous project, for the city was 
 then besieged by the Imperialists, both by land and 
 
182 PERSONAGES. 
 
 Avatcr; and if ho oven succeeded in evadins: their 
 vigilance, lie know not what reception he might 
 expect at the hands of the insurgents. But he 
 resolved to make the attempt, and God prospered 
 him, and preserved him in safety. 
 
 As a specimen of Dr. Taylor's style as a talker, 
 I take the liberty to present a small portion of his 
 thrilling description of this adventure. " On my 
 way," he says, "as I passed along, I frequently 
 heard the sound of people chanting ; and inquiring 
 of my attendants what was the meaning of these 
 sounds, I was told that the people were worshipping 
 God, and that it was the hour of morning worship. 
 I saw idols thrown down in all directions, as I 
 passed through the streets, and I was frequently 
 saluted by the term 'brother.' This was perfectly 
 new, for at Canton the appellation is 'foreign 
 devil ;' and wliilc walking in the suburbs of 
 Canton you will hoar this perhaps a hundred times. 
 
 "I at last arrived at the head-quarters; and after 
 passing through a number of gatewaj's, on either 
 side of which were curtains of yellow silk, and a 
 great deal of embroidered drapery of various kinds, 
 for a distance of upwards of three or four hundred 
 yards from the street, I came at last to the inner 
 recess, and there I was requested to sit. Again I 
 
REV. CHARLES TAYLOR, M.D. 183 
 
 was interrogated as to my object, but I said I must 
 communicate with tlie chief. He presently made 
 his appearance, but owing to tlie simplicity of his 
 dress, I for some time doubted whether he was the 
 chief. In order to remove my doubts, he took his 
 scat in the middle of the hall, and his attendants 
 arrayed him in his robes. And when I was per- 
 suaded he was the man, I opened my carpet-bag, 
 spread before him the Gospels, the Acts of the 
 Apostles, and some tracts, and told him the object 
 of my visit, which was to give him a complete 
 knowledge of the doctrines of Christianity. He 
 seemed grateful for the books, and entertained me 
 hospitably. 
 
 " The hour of breakfast was approaching, and 
 they had morning prayer before breakfast. He 
 and his attendants were seated in this large hall, 
 on cushioned chairs. One individual read a portion 
 of Scripture, and then they chanted some hymns, 
 which the leader prol)ably liad composed. At the 
 close of these hymns I noticed that they chanted a 
 literal translation of the Doxology. After this 
 they all took their cushions, placed them on the 
 pavement, kneeled on them, closing their eyes and 
 lifting up their faces towards heaven, while the 
 secretary of the chief read a prayer. At the close 
 
184 PERSONAGES. 
 
 of this we proceeded to breakfast in the adjoining 
 hall. 
 
 "As a guest, it would have been etiquette to 
 have commenced with my ' chop-sticks' first ; but I 
 waited, thinking they would ask a blessing. This 
 I told them ; when they informed me it was their 
 custom, but it had been included in the previous 
 prayer. I explained to them that it was not exactly 
 our course, and asked to be allowed to do so ; which 
 they requested me to do, and I did it accordingly 
 in Chinese." 
 
 Dr. Taylor became fully acquainted with the 
 military resources and ability of the insurgent 
 army, and entertained at the time a strong convic- 
 tion of their ultimate success. lie said: 
 
 " I ascertained that these people were sincere 
 worshippers of the one true God; that they had 
 sworn the extermination of idolatry in every form ; 
 that they were exceedingly friendly to foreigners ; 
 and expressed themselves desirous of becoming 
 more instructed in Christianity, only the difficulties 
 at present were so great, that they thought I had 
 better wait for some months. This movement has 
 for its object the overthrow of the Tartar dynasty, 
 and the establishment of the old Chinese govern- 
 ment. Tlierefore, it is strictly a patriotic move- 
 
REV. CHARLES TAYLOR, M.D. 185 
 
 mcnt ; and we are in the habit, in China, rather of 
 calling them 'patriots' than ' insurgents.' " 
 
 Many of us have changed our views somewhat 
 of the character of the Chinese revolutionists and 
 their leader since Dr. Taylor wrote the paragraphs 
 above. AYe think Christianity has not quite as 
 much to hope from the Chinese revolution as it 
 had a few years ago. We shall rejoice greatly if 
 the future develops that we are wrong in this 
 opinion. If Dr. Taylor has modified his views 
 materially, and my readers are anxious to know in 
 what respect, they are referred to two or three 
 interesting articles which appeared during the year, 
 in the Southern Christian Advocate. 
 
 In consequence of the prostrate condition of his 
 wife's health, Dr. Taylor has spent the last two 
 years in the United States. He employs himself 
 in itinerating through the Southern States, creating 
 much sympathy and interest for China, lifting 
 collections for the support of our brethren at 
 Shanghai, attending the annual commencements 
 and literary festivals of our colleges, and writing 
 articles for the weekly and monthly publications of 
 the Church and country. His contributions are 
 generally made up of notes of travel, and are 
 written in rather a fresh style, occupying about 
 
186 PERSONAGES. 
 
 tlie middle ground between the careless and the 
 classical. 
 
 Tlie personal appearance of Dr. Taylor indicates 
 that tlic sturdy little man might have accomplished 
 just what he actually has accomplished. lie has a 
 large head, not quite covered with unkept "foxy" 
 hair; a round face, lit up with steady bright eyes, 
 that seem to look " right on ;" a speaking mouth — 
 that is, a mouth that can speak, and does speak a 
 great deal — to the point too. " Truth is no 
 eloquence without words; eloquence is not wisdom 
 laid up in the iiiiiid, hut wisdom in action." Ilis 
 voice is well toned, but not sufficiently animated. 
 In social conversation he is too rapid, in public 
 speech too slow. His body is built for strength 
 and incredible endurance ; and there is a sort of 
 dare-any-thing-ism in his tread. 
 
 I met Avith Dr. Taylor last April, in Nashville, 
 Tenuessee; had him under my observation in the 
 Railroad Depot — in the Methodist Publishing 
 House, where he was sauntering around like a 
 separate existence — at the sumptuous dining which 
 William R. I'.lliston gave the Bishops and others — 
 at the tea-party which Mrs. Dr. Huston gave to the 
 "press-gang," and others more or less noticeable — 
 at the McKendree Church — in the Missionarj' 
 
REV. CHARLES TAYLOR, M.D. 187 
 
 Board — and on the platform ; and as Dr. Wightman 
 has said, " He is one of the noblest developments 
 of self-sustaining energy and patient perseverance 
 which have ever come under my observation. And 
 I am persuaded that no young man, struggling with 
 difficulties, bent on acquiring an education, resolved 
 to be something and to do something which shall 
 lead to usefulness and influence in the world, can 
 study a worthier lesson than Dr. Taylor furnishes." 
 
 " Let us, then, be up and doing, 
 With a lieart for any fate : 
 Still achieving, still pursuing, 
 Learn to labor and to wait." 
 
 St. Louis, Nov. 15, 1855. 
 
188 PERBONAGES. 
 
 JENKINS AND CUNNYNGIIAM, 
 
 A BRACE OF MISSIONARIES. 
 
 It was in September, 1853. ^Ve were in the 
 town of Franklin, Tennessee. The Tennessee Con- 
 ference had assembled there. All the preachers 
 and many of the people met one morning in the 
 Christian Church. The late accomplished Bishoi> 
 Capers was in the chair. Johnson, secretary. "Do 
 you see that short, heavy man ; with a red-ish 
 head ; fine, large English face ; who wears a stand- 
 ing collar, white cravat, black clothes, and sits back 
 among the spectators, yonder, with Brother Kelly ?" 
 said I to my friend Sawrie. " AVho 's he ?" " That 
 is the Kev. Dr. Jenkins, from China. I spent an 
 evening with him not long since," was the ropl}'. 
 I thought within myself: " Well ! there is a great 
 deal more of the well-conditioned and the well-fed 
 about your free-and-easy, fat and social appearance, 
 than there is of the foreign missionary." 
 
 But, apijearances aside, Kev. Benjamin Jenkins, 
 
JEN INS AND CUNNYNGHAM. 189 
 
 D. D., is one of "tlic few, the immortal names." 
 I want to call liim Rev. Polyglot Jenkins ; for lie 
 reads Hebrew, Greek, Latin, French, Spanish, Ger- 
 man, English — and how many Chinese dialects I 
 do not know ! If Elihii Burritt, Esq. — who ought 
 to be denominated the "Acquaintance of the An- 
 cient Classics through the medium of translators" 
 — is entitled to the appellation of "Learned Black- 
 smith," surely none will deny to Dr. Jenkins the 
 name of "Learned Printer." He is a native of 
 Newfoundland, about forty years of age, and has 
 spent most of his life, I understand, in a printing- 
 office. He has been in the ministry about eight 
 years — was ordained Elder by Bishop Andrew, at a 
 meeting held for that purpose, at Norfolk, Virginia, 
 in the spring of 1848, and, with his family, sailed 
 from Boston, Massachusetts, for Shanghai, China, 
 April 24th, 1848. 
 
 Dr. Jenkins, as well as Dr. Taylor, engaged to 
 remain in China at least ten years. On his arrival, 
 he devoted himself to the acquisition of the Chi- 
 nese language, and meanwhile made himself useful 
 through the medium of an interpreter. He turned 
 part of his house into a cliapel, and soon liad an 
 attentive and interesting congregation, and a few 
 souls became deeply coucerned for their salvation ; 
 
190 PERSONAGES. 
 
 one of whom, in particular, has begun to he useful. 
 Accompanied l»y this native preacher, Liew-scen- 
 sang, he also established regular preaching in the 
 open air, at the principal place of resort in the city. 
 Dr. .Jenkins ought to be well supported. lie ought 
 to have a good building for a church, and another 
 for a school. Give him a printing-press also. 
 
 Early in the year 1853, he and a part of his fam- 
 ily arrived in the United States. His afflicted wife 
 left China with him ; but was taken to her eternal 
 rest on the way. It was the hope of restoring Mrs. 
 Jenkins that induced her husband to visit the 
 United States. Dr. Jenkins was not idle during 
 liis stay with us, but rendered himself exceedingly 
 useful. lie published long lists of appointments 
 in our Church papers, and met them — travelled 
 through more than half of the Annual Conferences 
 of the Southern Chuicli, and was present at their 
 sessions. Besides, he attended Sunda3--school anni- 
 versaries — anniversaries of Auxiliary Missionary 
 Societies — college commencements, and camp- 
 meetings, "not a few." lie came nearer to our 
 ideas of omnipresence, I opine, than any man that 
 ever travelled thtough the Southern States. lie 
 drew larger crowds, too, than any other returned 
 missionary ; for, in addition to his iine personal 
 
JENKINS AND CUNNYNGIIAM. 191 
 
 appearance, and readiness as a polished lecturer, 
 and rolls of gorgeous maps, and box after box of 
 Chinese gods, he was always accompanied by his 
 live Chinaman, arrayed in "cerulean blue" linen — 
 as Philip S. White would say — " to illustrate." At 
 the annual commencement of Emory College, in 
 Georgia, for the summer of 1853, Dr. G. F. Pierce 
 being President, Rev. Benjamin Jenkins received 
 the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity. 
 
 Dr. Jenkins has furnished us and our children 
 with more information respecting the mythology 
 and worship of the Chinese, than any other of our 
 missionaries. This he has done through the Sunday- 
 school Visitor, whose columns he enriched, during 
 the editorial career of Dr. Summers, more than any 
 other contributor. I have but one objection to the 
 contributions and lectures of Dr. Jenkins ; and, as 
 I have never stated it before, impartiality demands 
 that I should state it here : they are not sufficiently 
 spiritual — at least for a missionary. 
 
 A very pleasant episode, I apprehend, in the 
 eventful life of our subject, was his visit to "the 
 town among the cedars," in the fall of 1853. 
 While Ne Quay and the rest of us travelled side- 
 ways, in an omnibus, the portly Doctor came on 
 face foremost, in a carriage, his ears receiving sage 
 
192 PERSONAGES. 
 
 advice, the while, from one every way capahle of 
 imparting it. And in town, while some of us were 
 nursinc; cripjilcd feet — the reward of leaping from 
 the top of a stage-coach, and alighting on a turn- 
 pike road, about midnight — he was taking the eyes, 
 heads, and hearts — purses too — of about five hun- 
 dred people, with two of those "invincible" lec- 
 tures. While some of us were preparing, at the 
 request of two Bishops, to remove to St. Louis, he 
 was making a "small experiment," in the way of 
 getting off for the "Middle Kingdom." I call no 
 names, but quietly quote from Pope : 
 
 " The proper study of mankind is Man." 
 
 In the year 1854, after attending the farewell 
 missionary meeting in Richmond, Virginia, and 
 taking to his side a missionary wife in the city of 
 New York, Dr. Jenkins sailed for Shanghai a 
 second time. 
 
 Rev. AVilijam G. E. Cunningham. — Conceive a 
 small man — youth rather — weigliing a little up- 
 wards of one hundred pounds, with polished boots, 
 a checked waistcoat, frock coat, fancy cravat, straw 
 hat in his hand, a mild, clear eye, smooth feminine 
 face, and an orator's mouth, a little soiled with 
 
JENKINS AND CUNNYNGHAM. 193 
 
 tobacco-juice ; seated in the window of a church, 
 and speaking gravely with a few young preachers, 
 while Bishop Andrew is driving on the business of 
 the Holston Annual Conference, and you have 
 before you Brother Cunnyngham, as I saw him 
 first, in Athens, Tennessee, September, 1845. For 
 three or four years, while I was in school, I had 
 been receiving letters from my brother, almost 
 every one of which contained a few paragraphs in 
 praise of the person, the piety, the zeal, the intel- 
 lect, the oratory, and great popularity of a young 
 preacher, named Cunnyngham ; but it did not 
 occur to me then, that the mere boy, seated in the 
 window, beyond the bar of the Conference-room, 
 •was he. I took him for a dry-goods clerk, willing, 
 possibly, to learn something beyond bows and posi- 
 tions, and driving buggies by moonlight. 
 
 I saw Brother Cunnyngham last, a few years 
 before he sailed for China. The woods were alive 
 with horses and oxen — the servants were tearing 
 and turning things in every direction about the 
 camps — the tramp of many feet was heard — the 
 hum of busy voices arose from little clumps of 
 spectators that had gathered upon the encamp- 
 ment — Christian hearts were beating " high and 
 warm" — praises went up like the " sound of many 
 
104 r r R s N A (1 E s . 
 
 waters" — penitents wept and i)rayed at the altar; 
 but above all, the clear, well-toned, and well-trained 
 voice of Brother Cunnyngham arose, as he sung 
 the hymn commencing, 
 
 "0 niiiy wc meet in heaven." 
 
 He was closing the services of a successful camp- 
 niceting. The tones of that voice linger in the ear 
 of memory to this day, and the appearance of his 
 dear and venerable father, as he stood at tlio right 
 hand of the i)ulpit, and looked upon the scene — 
 one tear stealing tremblingly after another down 
 his furrowed cheeks — is before me now as it was 
 then. 
 
 Pardon me, reader. Tlie young n^an who liad 
 preached the farewell sermon that Tuesday morn- 
 ing was a native East Tennesseean. He had been 
 trying to preach the gospel of Christ only a few 
 months. For reasons which were sulticient to his 
 mind then — for reasons which the judgment of 
 maturer years now justifies — he was se})arating 
 himself from the land of his childhood and youth 
 for time and eternity. lie was now several miles 
 nearer the "Great AVest" — the glory of whose 
 future developments and triumphs he fondl}" hoped 
 to wituosB — than he had ever been before. In the 
 
JENKINS AND CUNNYNGHAM. 195 
 
 rural assembly before him, there shone the face of 
 a young Christian woman — then wholly unknown 
 to him — who was in a few months to become the 
 companion of his joys and sorrows, his travels and 
 toils, through life. More than eight years have fled 
 away since that morning. The hand of that young 
 preacher holds this pen, and the face of that Chris- 
 tian woman lights up the other side of this table, 
 with smiles of approval, for this honest effort to tell 
 the homely story of our nuptials; and the single 
 pledge of our matrimonial happiness that remains 
 on earth breathes deep and peacefully, while we are 
 both recounting 
 
 "The smiles, the tears of boyhood's years, 
 The words of love then spoken." 
 
 Brother Cunnyngham remained in the Holston 
 Conference about ten years ; and no young man in 
 that country ever enjoyed a wider popularity, sus- 
 tained by "gifts, grace, and usefulness," than he. 
 I have a mind to express the opinion that, had he 
 lived and preached in the days of Summerfield, he 
 would, to a considerable extent, have shared the 
 public attention and affection with that extraor- 
 dinary young man. Converted, called of God to 
 preach the gospel, watching "in all things," "en- 
 
196 PERSONAGES. 
 
 during afflictions," doing "the work of an evangel- 
 ist," making " full i)roof of his ministry," Brotlier 
 Cunuyngliani exerted a wonderful influence among 
 the masses and the minds of East Tennessee and 
 Western Virginia. 
 
 To announce an old text, which, like the first 
 Psalm, may be denominated " every preacher's 
 text" — to announce the same old divisions, which 
 more than a score of other preachers have done, 
 from the same passage of Scripture, in the same 
 pulpit, to the same congregation — and then hold, 
 and entertain, and instruct an assembly, is almost 
 an impossibility. Yet AVilliam G. E. Ounnyngham 
 can do this. One of the freshest, most interesting, 
 most instructive, and most eloquent sermons which 
 the citizens of Athens, Tennessee, ever heard, was 
 delivered by him from this text, and these divi- 
 sions, viz. : 
 
 Text.— " AVluit think ye of Christ?" 
 Divisions.— I. "As a Prophet?" 
 II. "As a Priest?" 
 III. "As a King?" 
 
 The subject of this sketch is the son of the Rev. 
 Jesse Cunnyngham, of Midway, Tennessee. The 
 father is an intelligent, }>atriarclial man ; was for 
 many years a laborious and influential member of 
 
JENKINS AND CUNNYNGHAM. 197 
 
 the Ilolston Annual Conference, in whicli he 
 attained to the office of Presiding Elder. His 
 name still stands among the "superannuated." 
 He brought up his son on a farm, and gave him a 
 fair English education. Both father and son have 
 for years enriched the columns of our Church 
 periodicals with pleasing letters and profitable con- 
 tributions. Indeed, the son, while he is the most 
 eloquent preacher, is, at the same time, the most 
 captivating letter- writer we have in China. We 
 find in his letters a terseness of style, an opulence 
 of statistics, an acquaintance with governmental 
 aflfairs, an appreciation of the influence of an 
 ancient worship upon the minds of the Chinese, 
 and an earnest longing after the salvation of the 
 heathen, not exhibited in the letters of some 
 others. 
 
 The wife of Brother Cunnyngham is a Virginia 
 lady, brought up in the town of Abingdon, and 
 educated at the famous Science Hill Female Acad- 
 emy, at Shelbyville, Kentucky, under the steady 
 hand, and practiced eye, and governing will of the 
 queen of Southern teachers. The countenance of 
 Mrs. Tevis must grow bright, and her heart warm, 
 as she reads the reports that reach us of her fair 
 pupil, and her missionary - school, in Shanghai. 
 
198 PERSONAGES. * 
 
 May tlic pupil live as long as her accomplished pre- 
 ceptress has lived, and be instrumental in accom- 
 plishing as much for her sex and the Church of 
 God! Brother Cunnyngham and wife sailed in 
 1852. 
 
 "Perhaps in some far future laml 
 
 Wc yet may meet, we yet may dwell; 
 If not, from off this mortal strand, 
 Immortals — Fare thee well .'" 
 
 St. Loris, Dec. IG, 1855. 
 
KELLEY, BELTON, AND LAM BUTE. 199 
 
 KELLEY, BELTON, AND LAMBUTII, 
 
 A TRIO OF MISSIONARIES. 
 
 Rev. David Campbell Kelley, M. D., is ouc of 
 "the Sons of our Sires." Did Elkanah and 
 Hannali prove a blessing to Israel by the training 
 up of such a child as Samuel ? Do all Christian 
 ages owe a debt of gratitude to the grandmother, 
 Lois, and the mother, Eunice, for such a character 
 as Timothy ? Yes ! And the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, South, does not forget the Rev. John 
 Kelley, of Lebanon, Tennessee, and his Christian 
 wife, Mrs. M. L. Kelley, when they think of this 
 heroic young missionary. 
 
 Two kindred assertions have been afloat in the 
 world for many years — " The children of religious 
 people are much worse than other children ;" 
 "The minister's children are always the worst 
 children in the neighborhood." This stale slander 
 usually comes from brainless people, who are 
 wholly innocent of those correct conclusions which 
 
200 PERSONAGES. 
 
 result from careful observation. On the tongues 
 of the more sensible and enlightened these asser- 
 tions seem to be studied falsehoods. Behold the 
 fathers and mothers of our whole band of mission- 
 aries to China — the parents of their wives also — 
 and then cease to retail a slander — not the result of 
 your own powers or means of observation, but 
 which has passed through a thousand weak and 
 wicked heads before it ever entered yours ! Go 
 into any city of the land, and select fifty families 
 whose fathers and mothers are both consistently 
 pious, and among the children " who have come to 
 years of discretion," you will find that a majority 
 are pious, or seeking so to be. Then take the same 
 number of families where only one of the parents 
 is religious, the other irreligious, and you will 
 ascertain that a minority of the children arc reli- 
 gious. After this, go into fifty families of children 
 whose fathers and mothers are all unconverted, and 
 of necessity sinners, and you will oiilymeetwithafew 
 professing faith in Christ, and living devoted lives. 
 Do not content yourself with simply denying these 
 statements : investigate, and then base your denial 
 upon your investigations. I know a minister who 
 w^ent out into a large city, took the families as they 
 lived along each street, fifty of the first class, fifty 
 
KELLEY, BELTON, AND LAM BUT II. 201 
 
 of the second class, and fifty of tlic third class, and 
 his investigations confirmed the correctness of the 
 statements written in this paragraph. 
 
 The children of pious parents are known and 
 observed, and something good is expected of them. 
 The children of ministers of the gospel are usually 
 better known and more closel}^ scrutinized than 
 other children ; and they are expected to be 
 patterns of propriety and models of goodness. 
 But, once in a while, a daughter becomes thought- 
 less and imi)rudent; or a son, in his wickedness, 
 becomes almost as extensively known as the father 
 in his faithfulness ; and straightway silly men and 
 women include the prudent with the imprudent, 
 the pious with the impious, and pronounce sentence 
 against them all. " Pious people always bring up 
 wicked children!" "Ministers' children are sure 
 to be the worst children in the neighborhood !" 
 
 Dr. Kelley had received his A. B. and A. M. 
 from Cumberland University, at Lebanon, Ten- 
 nessee ; his M. D. from the j^ashville University ; 
 and his deacon's and elder's jjflrchments from the 
 Tennessee Conference, Bishop Capers presiding, 
 before he was twenty-one years of age. He merited 
 all these, too, not in consequence of any unusual 
 7 
 
202 PERSONAGES. 
 
 precocity, or wliat tlic world calls "genius," but 
 because lie had applied himself regularly, under 
 the direction of his father and mother, and the 
 instructors whom they had selected, for at least 
 twelve years, to literary, scientific, and theological 
 Btudics. And I may say here, that Dr. Kelley is 
 what he is, despite one of the greatest hindrances — 
 a knowledge of the fact that he was the only child 
 of wealthy parents. 
 
 In the fall of 1852, when he was presented before 
 the Tennessee Annual Conference, at Pulaski, for 
 admission on trial into the travelling connection. 
 Bishop Andrew asked how he preached. His 
 presiding elder, Kev. Dr. Green, replied: "Bishop, 
 he preaches like a man who had been at it for about 
 twenty years." I have heard Dr. Kelley frecpiently, 
 in school -liouses, in village churches, at camp- 
 meetings, and this is the best description of the 
 style, and matter, and elleet of his preaching that 
 can be given ; provided, that the man who has 
 been "at it" twenty years, preaches well. Jlis 
 mental equipoise, his calmness, and even gravity of 
 manner, his steady How of correct language, the 
 solidity and usefulness of his matter, the philoso- 
 phical correctness and rigid orthodoxy of hia 
 
KELLEY, BELTON, AND LAM BUT 11. 203 
 
 Opinions, the practical bearing of his sermons, and 
 the ahnost perfect propriety of his private life, arc 
 all those of a preacher ninch older than himself. 
 
 He has a little fondness for controversy. His 
 mother says that when he was a small boy, she used 
 to send him to mill ; that he generally stayed a 
 long time, discussing the subject of baptism with 
 the miller, who was a Baptist brother; and that 
 when he returned home, after laying dow^n the 
 meal, he laid the arguments, on both sides, before 
 his mother, for her decision. It is hoped that the 
 religious opinions and practices of the Chinese will 
 afford him a field sufficient!}' ample for the cultiva- 
 tion of this talent. David, have you seen the 
 emperor yet, on the subject of temperance, and laid 
 before him the provisions of a prohibitory liquor law 
 for the eighteen provinces? Time you had seen 
 the old gentleman ! Recollect, you and I failed to 
 get our prohibition candidates, Gleaves and Turner, 
 into the Tennessee Legislature, in 1853, notwith- 
 standing we were eloquent from Lent to the Hog- 
 Days, before the sovereign people of " Old "Wilson." 
 Vou must put the "Bill" through in China! 
 
 If there be any person in China who docs not 
 wish to know wliatever is thought to be wrong in 
 his heart or life, he had better not become too 
 
204 PERSON AOES. 
 
 intimate with our young missionary, for he will 
 remonstrate with liim in the plainest and most 
 faitliful manner. Dr. Kelley will, perhaps, weigh 
 something over one hundred pounds ; was licensed 
 to preach in 1852, ordained in October, 1853 ; 
 married an accomplished and pious young lady, 
 near Florence, Alabama, in 1854; and sailed from 
 New York for Shanghai a few months thereafter. 
 Since then, the missionary band has been strength- 
 ened by the addition of Miss Mary Kelley. Dr. 
 Kelley is not yet twenty-three years of age. 
 
 Rev. James S. Belton, A. M., was born in New- 
 herry District, South Carolina, on the Tth of Sep- 
 tember, 1833. In the winter of 1839, his parents 
 removed to Lowndes county, Mississippi, and 
 settled thirteen miles south-west of Columbus, 
 where they still reside. He belongs to a fixmily of 
 twelve children, only live of Avhmu are living, lie 
 was converted, and made a public profession of 
 religion, on the 19th of August, 1850, and joined 
 the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, imme- 
 diately. On the 24th of September following he 
 exiierienced the sanctif^'ing grace of God. He 
 entered the Sophomore Class in La Grange Col- 
 lege — Dr. Wadsworth, president — in January, 1851. 
 Here he graduated with honor, in June, 1853. 
 
KELLEY, BELTON, AND LAMBUTH. 205 
 
 August 23(1, 1851, Brother Belton was licensed 
 to preacli tlie gospel. Having received this author- 
 ity, he preached his first sermon in South Florence, 
 Alahama, September 14th, 1851. He was admitted 
 on trial into the Tennessee Annual Conference, at 
 Pulaski, in October, 1852, and was immediately 
 transferred to the Alabama Conference. It will be 
 seen b}* these dates that Brother Belton finished 
 the course of stud}', and entered the travelling 
 connection, several months before the regular 
 college term was finished, and he was formally- 
 graduated. His first appointment Avas Columbus 
 Circuit, on which he labored faithfully and success- 
 full}' during the year 1853. 
 
 While travelling this circuit, he received from 
 Bishop Andrew his appointment as missionary to 
 China. He was united in marriage January 5th, 
 1854, with Miss Susan M. Burdine, a young lady 
 eminently qualified by nature, education, and 
 divine grace, to become the wife of a foreign 
 missionary. Brother Belton is in his twenty-third 
 j-ear. Those who are accustomed to estimate age 
 ])y the number of years a man has existed, or by 
 the number of gray hairs on his head, will exclaim, 
 " Too young ! too young" to occupy such a position, 
 and take upon him such fearful responsibilities. 
 
206 PERSONAGES. 
 
 But those Avlio always reckon age by what a man 
 has accomplislicd and is capable of accomplishing, 
 •will decide that Brother Belton is old enough to 
 begin the studies and labors of a missionary to the 
 Chinese. So think the authorities of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church, South. He and Mrs. Belton 
 sailed from New York in the spring of 1854. 
 
 Rev. J. W. Lambuth, A. M., is a native of 
 Alabama, and is now in his twenty-sixth year. 
 lie, too, is the son of pious parents, who impressed 
 his mind with the truths and obligations of Chris- 
 tianity from childhood. Al)Out the year 1840, the 
 family, after having made an extensive visit to 
 Tennessee, removed to the State of Mississippi. 
 Here the subject of this sketch attended a private 
 school, in his father's neighborhood, about six 
 years ; from which he passed into the University of 
 Mississippi, at Oxford — Judge Longstreet being 
 president. After three years' study, he received 
 his diploma. 
 
 Brother Lambuth road medicine, then studied 
 law, and finally, in the year 1853, entered the 
 ministry. On the 20th of October, 1853, he was 
 married to Miss Mary Isabella McClellan— a young 
 woman of talents, piety, and resolution. He 
 joined the Mississippi Conference, at Canton, 
 
KELLEY, BELTON, AND LAM BUTE. 207 
 
 December, 1853, and Avas ordained deacon and 
 elder, and solemnly set apart for the China Mission. 
 In the spring of 1854, Brother Lambuth and wife 
 sailed from New York for Shanghai. 
 
 St. Louis, January 20, 1856. 
 
208 PERSONAGES. 
 
 n. R. II. ALBERT EDWARD, 
 
 THE 1' R I N C E OF WALES. 
 
 I AViLL trouble you first Avitli his titles. Albert 
 Edward, Prince of Wales, Duke of Saxony, Duke 
 of Cornwall and Rothsay, Earl of Chester aud Car- 
 rick, Baron of Renfrew, and Lord of the Isles. 
 And yet the young man who wears all these is an 
 exceedingly plain, modest, aud timid personage. 
 Wears shoes, gray pantaloons, and vest to match, 
 striped shirt, and a dark-blue business coat, short 
 hair, and a black hat, (rather well worn.) There is 
 not a piece of jewelry or personal ornament about 
 him. Being a well-bred Englishman, of course 
 there is not. Let fashionable young gentlemen 
 " take notice." 
 
 In this country, out of courtesy to our democracy, 
 and that the strict etiquette appertaining to royalty 
 may not be subjected to violations, he assumes his 
 lowest title, that of Lord Renfrew. The Duke of 
 Newcastle, the Earl of St. Germaius, Lord Lyons, 
 
n. R. n. ALBERT EDWARD. 209 
 
 Major -General Bruce, Major Teasdale, Captain 
 Grey, Dr. Acland, Mr. Engleliart, Mr. Jenner, Mr. 
 Warre, and their attendants, tvvent3'-six in all, 
 make up the royal party. 
 
 The visit of the Prince of Wales to the United 
 States aftbrds the severest test of Christian virtue, 
 in a national relation, that our people have ever 
 had. We are brought face to face with a descend- 
 ant of the old Georges, (Thackeray's royal brutes,) 
 and find ourselves obli2:ed to manifest our feelins^s, 
 good or bad, for the future commander of all the 
 " red coats" in the world. It is an evidence of the 
 progress of civilization, and of the general intelli- 
 gence of the American people, that the Prince's 
 reception has so far been an unbroken ovation ; and 
 that, up to the date of his arrival in the great city 
 of the AVest, unbounded hospitality has waited 
 upon him, and cordial welcomes, not exceeded 
 even by what he experienced in Canada, among 
 his own people, have been extended to him. It is 
 irratifying to know that such fraternity of nations 
 is possible. It is a triumph of civilization over 
 barbarism ; of peace over war ; of humanity over 
 the diabolism of destructiveness. 
 
 It is gratifying, too, to know that the Prince of 
 Wales, by many facts and associations, is worthy to 
 
210 PERSONAGES. 
 
 receive these tokens of personal and national kind- 
 ness. He is the oldest son of an exemplary 
 mother, who knows how to rule licr own life by 
 the Christian decalogue, lier own househokl after 
 the manner of the Protestant Church, and a great 
 people according to the requirements of an ad- 
 vanced civilization. And his father, too, by a life 
 of assiduous study and enterprise, has done much 
 to devclo}) the arts, and advance the material 
 interests of mankind. During the reign of Vic- 
 toria, the British government has been very liberal 
 towards all nations, and particularly so towards the 
 United States. The social position of American 
 citizens residing near the Court has been distin- 
 guished, and yet easy — the etiquette of royalty, 
 sanctioned as it is in England by centuries of usage, 
 being liappily allowed to blend with republican 
 8imi)licity. The liighcst characteristics of courtesy 
 and true politeness liave always marked the inter- 
 course of lilt' jircscnt reigning family of Great 
 Britain with all mankind; and on this ground 
 alone, l>y the universal law of good-breeding, the 
 Prince of ^V'ale8 is entitled to honorable and gentle 
 receptions wherever he goes. These arc the senti- 
 ments of the most respectable political Journals of 
 St. Louis. 
 
H. R. H. ALBERT EDWARD. 211 
 
 The Prince and suite have reached this city, I 
 believe, by way of Niagara, Detroit, and Chicago. 
 They travel in special trains, placed at their dis- 
 posal by the various companies over whose roads 
 they pass. They are always preceded by a " pilot- 
 engine," to see if the track is all right. They ex- 
 hibit the same indisposition to having their necks 
 broken common to the sons of Adam. 
 
 The Prince is remarkably fond of hunting. The 
 party stopped at Dwight, Illinois, on last Tuesday ; 
 went out to Stewart's Grove, and shot quails, prai- 
 rie chickens, and rabbits, the livelong day. They 
 bagged about two hundred, as the result of the 
 day's sport. He inherits this fondness. Eight 
 hundred years ago, his venerable ancestor, William 
 the Conqueror, " loved the high deer as if they 
 were his kin." 
 
 They arrived at Alton, Illinois, (a city which 
 fiilk-stocking Willis calls "a small landing at the 
 mouth of the ^Missouri river,") three o'clock on 
 Wednesday. A spontaneous crowd of a few thou- 
 sand republicans had assembled, to see this young 
 scion of royalty walk from the cars to the deck of 
 the steamer City of Alton. Nor was this curiosity, 
 in itself, mean or unworthy. We are so made that 
 we love to see and learn ; and when an object of 
 
212 PERSON AOES. 
 
 legitimate interest has for us the charm of novelty, 
 curiosity is praiseworthy in proportion as it is in- 
 tense. " I am a man," exclaimed the ancient sage, 
 "and whatever pertains to man is of interest to 
 me." Without a particle of un-democratie defer- 
 ence, our people may laudably gratify the wish to 
 see the heir prospective of the British throne. Nor 
 need any, save those who feel that their democracy 
 is dying out, seek to stinmlate it by indulging in 
 depreciatory criticism u])<)n a gentleman, because 
 lie happens to be called a Trince. 
 
 Sundry gentlemen in gray coats and white hats 
 soon emerged from the cars, with some hindrances, 
 and succeeded in moving through the swaying and 
 accompanying throng. Among them, the slender 
 and meek-looking man, who advanced as if eager 
 to escape the polite attentions paid him, was voted 
 to be the Prince. From the shore to the deck, the 
 passage was kept free, and the Queen's son i)as3ed 
 on board, wnth a single companion, in advance of 
 his pai-ty. The eagerness ami keenness with which 
 his person and features were scanned seemed rather 
 to discompose him, and he sought a temjiorary 
 relief by inspecting the clean planks of the deck. 
 His party being all on board, they remained a few 
 moments on the lower deck, while his Highness 
 
II. R. H. ALBERT EDWARD. 213 
 
 waited, with amiable patience, to be delivered from 
 Lis part in the show. Meanwhile, the ejaculations, 
 exclamations, sententious reflections, etc., of the 
 surveying spectators were incessant and eloquent — 
 such as, "His nose is Roman," "Why don't he 
 look up?" "He seems fagged," "He looks plea- 
 sant," "He 's bow-legged !" " Which is he ?" " It 's 
 the one with the cane in his mouth," "La! is that 
 the Prince?" "I thought his hair was lighter," 
 "Ain't he stoop-shouldered?" " There, he 's talking 
 to the big-whiskered man," "He 's reg'lar Dutch !" 
 "There is no harm in A/m, sure!" "That cane!" 
 "Won't he make a speech?" etc., etc., indefinitely. 
 The run from Alton to St. Louis was made in 
 two hours, the royal party standing on the "texas," 
 and the Prince sitting quietly in the pilot-house. 
 The entrance of the turbid Missouri into the clear 
 Mississippi particularly attracted their attention. 
 At length the gay steamer rounded to at the 
 packet-landing, where thousands upon thousands 
 of freemen had congregated. The Prince looked 
 appalled at the prospect before him. Five elegant 
 chaises were in waiting from Barnum's Hotel, and, 
 by the assistance of the police, the strangers found 
 their way into them, and were driven, with great 
 dilliculty, through the immense throng. Mean- 
 
214 PERSONAGES. 
 
 while, the band paraded on the humcanc deck of 
 the steamer Florence, and played " God save the 
 Queen," and "Hail Columbia!" It is proper to 
 state that this was no prearranged and formal 
 reception — the Prince desires none such. It was 
 wholly spontaneous. AVhcn the party had taken 
 rooms at Barnum's, the Mayor and others called on 
 them, and tendered the hospitalities of the city. 
 During the night, they received two delightful ser- 
 enades. 
 
 Yesterday was the fourth day of our great Na- 
 tional Fair. It is supposed there are fifty thousand 
 strangers in the city ; and, as the business houses 
 and public schools were closed, it is thought the 
 city added fifty thousand more to the throng on the 
 Fair grounds. I had heard and road of " acres of 
 people;" but now, for the first time, I saw them.* 
 Not one, or two, or ten, but fifty acres, black with 
 moving humanity — the largest crowd ever assem- 
 bled on the continent of America. At half-past 
 twelve o'clock, after a long drive through the prin- 
 cipal streets of our city, the Prince and suite entered 
 the Fair grounds. They were accompanied by a 
 number of our most distinguished citizens — Mayor 
 Filley, Colonel 0. Fallon, Edward Bates, Doctor 
 Charles A. i'ope, Doctor Adreon, James E. Yeat- 
 
II. R. II. ALBERT EDWARD. 215 
 
 man, D. A. Jannaiy, and others. The Prince was 
 drawn in an open barouche, with four black horses; 
 the others followed in carriages drawn hj two 
 horses each. This was the central feature of our 
 Annual Fair ; and if a premium had been oftercd 
 for ^^ blooded''' men, his Roj^al Highness would have 
 taken the blue ribbon ; for he belongs to a long 
 line of kings. 
 
 As they drove around the arena, the band played 
 "Hail to the Chief;" when they were drawn up 
 and received at the Fagoda, "God save the Queen;" 
 afterwards, " Hail Columbia" and " Yankee Doo- 
 dle," when the cheering became wild, irrepressible, 
 and indescribable. The royal party lifted their 
 hats, and we gazed upon a spectacle so rarely 
 seen — a company of astonished Englishmen. I im- 
 agined the Prince was thinking his lion could not 
 roar at all, and that he would never be able to 
 retake this country ! No wonder he looked so 
 modest and retiring, and scarcely raised his mild 
 blue eyes ! He might have been thinking of the 
 might that lurked in the muscle of that multitude. 
 
 After inspecting some thorough-bred cattle and 
 horses, seeing some of the " outside shows," and 
 lunching at the Directors' rooms, the royal parly 
 eutorcd their carriages, and drove back to the city. 
 
216 PERSONAGES. 
 
 Late ill the afternoon, they visited the Academy of 
 Fine Arts, the dome of the Court-house ; 'and, at 
 night, were entertained with steam fire-engines and 
 serenades. They left this morning at nine o'clock, 
 in a special train, for Cincinnati. 
 
 Such is a very hasty and very meagre account of 
 the visit of the Prince of Wales to the Far "West. 
 Two things connected with it appear to me very 
 remarkable. No heir-apparent ever travelled so 
 far, witli so small a retinue, without getting into 
 trouble ; and no human being ever left a better 
 impression on all sorts of people. 
 
 He comes amongst us without any show or 
 parade of I'oyalty. In fact, he throws aside all the 
 insignia of ofiice, rank, and power, and desires to 
 assume the character of a private gentleman, travel- 
 ling to gratify a laudable curiosity, and to gather a 
 knowledge of the world, that may be useful to him 
 and his future subjects. In this capacity, he should 
 be greeted Avilli all the courtesy and genuine hospi- 
 tality which the true sons of liberty know how to 
 exhibit. He represents the greatest political power 
 in the world — a realm on which the sun never sets ; 
 and it is a happy circumstance that has brought 
 hiui, Ijefore assuming the sceptre, to spend a few 
 months in social intercourse with his future sub- 
 
11. R. H. ALBERT EDWARD. 217 
 
 jccts in Canada, and tlieir neighbors in these United 
 States. May he live long to bless a free and will- 
 ing people with the rule of a wise prince, and may 
 England and America never strive, except in their 
 emulative efforts to promote the interests of hu- 
 manity. 
 
 A WIFE FOR THE PRINCE. 
 
 A report from Europe says that, besides other 
 important things settled during the Queen's late 
 visit to Germany, a wife was selected for the heir 
 to the crown. The happj- lady is the Princess 
 Augusta Louisa Adelaide Caroline Ida, daughter of 
 the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, who was born August 
 6, 1843. As the Prince of "Wales was born Novem- 
 ber 9, 1841, the young couple will be well matched 
 in years. ^ 
 
 The Saxe-Meiningen family have a great deal to 
 be proud of in tlie matter of blood, though not 
 much in territory or political grandeur. The ducal 
 dominions comprise a territory of less than a thou- 
 sand square miles, and a population of about 
 170,000. ^Iciningen, the capital city, has between 
 six and seven thousand inhabitants. The Saxe- 
 Meiningen family is a brancli of the old Saxon 
 
218 PERSONAGES. 
 
 royal race, to ■\vliich belongs rrince Albert's family, 
 and several others, that furnish husbands and wives 
 for European royalty. 
 
 The young lady now spoken of as likely to be a 
 Queen of England, will not be the first of her fam- 
 ily that has had that dignity. Queen Adelaide, the 
 wife of William IV., was a Princess of Saxe-Mein- 
 iiifiren, and the aunt of the rumored intended wife 
 of Albert Edward. She was selected as a bride for 
 the' then Duke of Clarence, after the lamented 
 death of the Princess Charlotte, when there was 
 danger that, of all George the Third's fifteen chil- 
 dren, none would leave a legitimate heir to wear 
 the crown. The Dukes of Clarence, Kent, and 
 Cambridge, and the I'rincess Elizabeth, were all 
 married as rapidly as possible. Queen Adelaide 
 never bore children, and the daughter of the Duke 
 of Kent succeeded 'William IV. Her son, in turn, 
 is to marry a niece of her uncle's wife. 
 
 The German element is becoming more strongly 
 infused into the English royal family than ever. If 
 lineage could be analytically traced, there would be 
 found in Queen Victoria very little of the ancient 
 IMantagenet, Tudor, or Stuart blood, and a great 
 deal of the Germ:iii. Her cliildrcn have still more 
 of it, and, as she has man"uil her oldest daughter 
 
H. R. H. ALBERT EDWARD. 219 
 
 to a German prince, betrothed her second to an- 
 other, and is likely to marry her oldest son to a 
 German princess, her grandchildren will be English 
 only in name and rank. It is probably natural that 
 she and her husband should prefer alliance with 
 their own race. But another reason for selecting 
 German husbands and wives for their children is, 
 that Protestant royalty is to be found only in Ger- 
 many, and as it is considered wrong for an English 
 prince or princess to marry any thing below royalty, 
 in title at least. 
 
 St. Louis, Sept. 28, 1860. 
 
220 FEBSONAOES. 
 
 REV. D. R. McAXALLY, D.D., 
 
 EDITOR AND AUTHOR. 
 
 Dr. JSIcAnally belongs to an ancient Scotch 
 family. Ilis branch of it came to the United 
 States more than two hundred years ago. The 
 grandfather on the paternal side was a member of 
 the Church of England until after the Revolution ; 
 then he became a Methodist. His father was a 
 local i>reacher; a man of strong intellect and 
 fervent piety. In his younger days he was for 
 twelve consecutive years sheriff of his county. 
 After this, he was elected justice of the peace, and 
 surveyor to the county. His grandfather on the 
 maternal side was also a local preacher — all 
 Virginians. 
 
 Dr. McAnally was liprn in Grainger county, 
 Tennessee, February IT, 1810, and Avas baptized 
 into the Methodist Church. There he has remained 
 ever since, lie was admitted to full I'elluwsliip in 
 
REV. D. R. M 'anally, D.D. 221 
 
 his thirteentli year; embraced religion in bis six- 
 teeutb ; and was licensed to preacb tbe gospel at 
 nineteen. He entered tbe travelling connection in 
 tbe Holston Conference, December, 1829. By 
 reference to tbe Minutes, I find bim on Circuits, 
 Stations, or Districts, for fourteen years. In 1843 
 be was elected to tbe presidency of tbe East Ten- 
 nessee Female Institute, at Knoxville ; wbicb place 
 be filled until bis transfer to St. Louis, in 1851. 
 
 Dr. McAnally bas been well educated. At five 
 years of age, be entered an excellent country scbool, 
 wbere be remained until be was eleven. Tbeu be 
 was placed in a classical scbool at Rutledgc, Ten- 
 nessee, wbere be remained five years more, under 
 sucb teachers as tbe lamented Barton, and General 
 T. D. Knight. 
 
 Since bis residence in St. Louis, this distinguished 
 editor and author has performed an immense 
 amount of work. " Life is real, life is earnest," 
 with bira. 
 
 First, as a student. There are certain American 
 and foreign magazines and reviews of the highest 
 grade, wbicb be reads as regularly and thoroughly 
 as any literary farmer, enjoying a country solitude. 
 New books, intended for any department of the 
 " Course of Study," are examined and read by him 
 
222 PERSONAGES. 
 
 with as much interest and care as if he wore at the 
 head of a university. Indeed, his previous ac- 
 quaintance with scliool - books makes it an easy 
 matter for him to examine an ordinary treatise in 
 one 'day. He has been a theological student all his 
 life, and keeps up his studies now with a regularity 
 which is absolutely surprising ; reading the Bible, 
 the Commentaries, the Institutes, the Bodies of 
 Divinity — old standard works — through and 
 through, between stated periods of time. The 
 Doctor always lias a book along. For example, 
 he goes to Brunswick to an Annual Conference, 
 attends to the interests of the Advocate and 
 Depository, speaks, preaches, exhorts, calls mourn- 
 ers, and gives "Bledsoe's Theodicy" a searching 
 perusal. lie has read civil and ecclesiastical law 
 with great care; and in the latter, his opinion, 
 with me, is golden. Current literature, especially 
 Methodist, receives Ids attention, as the columns of 
 his paper show. And bear witness, he never writes 
 a "book notice" which he has to take back, "on 
 further examination" — not he. I expect him to 
 read this book carefully, tell the public exactly 
 what he thinks of it, and then stick to liis opinion 
 until "reason reels." Withal, I think he has read 
 a due share of novels and politics. 
 
REV. D. R. M' AN ALLY, D.D. 223 
 
 Secondl}^ as an editor. Dr. ISIcAnally has edited 
 the St. Louis Christian Advocate for ten years ; 
 was elected first by its Publishing Committee, then 
 by the General Conference of 1854, then reelected 
 by the same body in 1858. He took it when it had 
 no capital, but few exchanges, and a small subscrip- 
 tion list; and, by the assistance of the travelling 
 preachers, has run it up to a circulation of nearly 
 ten thousand. At first he worked on a small 
 salar}', not promptly paid ; and besides filling its 
 columns, assisted in pressing it, mailing it, and 
 keeping its accounts. Now he is relieved from 
 every department except the editorial. But what 
 wonderful industry is manifested, especially on 
 "the inside!" I frequently sec from five to ten 
 columns of editorial — not so polished as Carnes's, 
 or so pithy as Dr. M'Tyeire's, or so aesthetic as 
 Gillespie's, or so classical as Dr. Myers's, or so 
 profound as Dr. Rosser's ; but, like his own descrip- 
 tion of a Western Virginia dance — strong ! From 
 the moment you lift his paper before your eyes, you 
 cannot resist him. He calls for your intellect and 
 heart. The St. Louis Christian Advocate is almost 
 the only Methodist paper that circulates in Mis- 
 souri and Kansas. "It is not newsy enough," is 
 
224 PERSONAGES. 
 
 the only objection urged against it. Its " Com- 
 mercial Report" or "Weekly Review of the St. 
 Louis Market," makes it the most popular farmers' 
 paper issued in the West. Often, while travel- 
 ling along those "borders of civilization," have I 
 been delighted at seeing the brown-faced planter 
 wreathed in smiles, or his brow knit with thought, 
 as his eyes ran up and down the columns of his 
 Church paper. Others there are, " beyond the 
 river," who could edit a Church paper, and manage 
 its affairs ; but perhaps none so well or so success- 
 fully as Dr. McAnally. 
 
 Thirdl}^, as an author. Since his residence in 
 the West, the Doctor has written and published 
 several books. "Martha Laurens Ramsey" is a 
 small and well-written biography of a pious and 
 distinguished South Carolina lady. It was pub- 
 lished b}" the house of Morton & Griswold, Louis- 
 ville, and ought to take rank along with " Mrs. 
 Fletcher," "Hester Ann Rogers," and "A Mother's 
 Portrait." Next, "The Life and Times of Rev. 
 Williani Patton," published at the Book Depository 
 of St. Louis, showing an appreciation of a good 
 and faithful man, and a knowledge of the origin, 
 rise, and progress of Methodism in Missouri, in its 
 
REV. D. R. m'anally, d.d. 225 
 
 minutest details. Then came " The Life and Times 
 of Rev. Samuel Patton, D. D.," published at the 
 same establishment, and designed to perpetuate 
 the memory of the early champion of our Church 
 in East Tennessee. Dr. Patton was a man of 
 singular piety, talents, and power; all of which 
 are made to appear on the pages of this charming 
 biography. Meantime, Dr. McAnally has pub- 
 lished one or two separate sermons, a controversial 
 tract or two, a hymn - book, a Sunday - school 
 Manual, etc. ; all of which obtained a wide circu- 
 lation. 
 
 Fourthly, as a preacher. During all this time, 
 with the exception, perhaps, of a year or two. Dr. 
 McAnally has been a regularly appointed preacher 
 in charge — of Centenary Church, St. Louis City 
 Circuit, Sixteenth Street Church, and Carondelet. 
 He has been spoken of for presiding elder of the 
 St. Louis District, and is now Superintendent of 
 German Missions. As a preacher, he stands in the 
 front rank. Sometimes writes his sermons, and 
 reads them ; sometimes makes full notes, and uses 
 them; but gcncrall}^ he is like old Dr. Coxe, "just 
 holds forth !" and when he holds forth, he is like 
 Paul — '■'■holding forth the word of life.'' His sermons 
 have body and soul, and are delivered with power. 
 
226 PERSON AGES. 
 
 He preached in Knoxville, Tennessee, eight or ten 
 j'ears. They say he always had something new. 
 Senator Polk lias lieard him for years — says he has 
 the richest variety of any preacher in the West. 
 All of which "I steadfastly believe." As an 
 orator, the Doctor must consent to take second 
 rank. He has but little imagination, and no fancy. 
 
 Fifthly, as a business man. See him commence, 
 about eight years ago, in a little class-room in 
 Centenary Church, with a few books, and, from tluit 
 small beginning, build up the splendid establish- 
 ment that now lifts its front on Pine street! lie 
 now retails, wholesales, manufactures, publishes ; 
 and has never had an assistant ao:ent. Further- 
 more, I am inclined to think the Doctor himself 
 went to St. Louis in moderate circumstances, but 
 now lives in comparative atllucnce. 
 
 Finally, Dr. McAnally is a true man. You may 
 always know Avhere to find him. If you are wrong 
 and corrupt, he differs with you and dislikes j'ou : 
 no interest can buy him over. If you are right 
 and worthy, he defends you an<l loves you : no 
 interest can buy him off. Can this be said of all 
 the black coats in the West ? He dislikes lazy men 
 and ladies' men, stingy men and pretenders ; but 
 loves a working man, a family man, a liberal man, 
 
REV. D. R. M 'anally, D.D. 227 
 
 and a whole man. He has a good, a great, and a 
 true heart, whose shicerity would challenge tho 
 admiration of a committee of angels. 
 
 Lexington, Mo., September 1, 1860. 
 
228 PERSONAGES. 
 
 REV. JOHN B. M'FEimiN, D. D., 
 
 BOOK AGENT. 
 
 It docs not take you an hour to find out tliat Dr. 
 M'Ferrin is a very kind -hearted man. Twelve 
 years ago, this month, I entered his oifice, and saw 
 liini for tlic first time. I was a mere youth, from 
 the mountains of East Tennessee; a boy that had 
 come to Nashville, to get a place in the Tennessee 
 Conference. I knew nobody, and supposed there 
 was not a man in the city who knew me. I was 
 lonely, and sad, and silent. M'Ferrin saw it, took 
 
 me to one side, and thus discoursed: "Mr. L , 
 
 a mcjuber of the Senate, from East Tennessee, says 
 he knows you — knows your parents — was present 
 when you joined the Church — has heard you preach 
 — is well acquainted with you. He says we must 
 admit yoii, and give you an appointment — he re- 
 commends you, and so will I. Come to my house 
 for dinner to-day, and I will introduce you to some 
 of the brethren." God bless the genial, kind-hearted 
 
REV. JOHN B. m'ferrin, d.d. 229 
 
 man ! I put this to what Eev. F. P. Scruggs and 
 Rev. F. E. Pitts had said to me, and came to the 
 conclusion, that out of the mouth of two or three 
 witnesses, every word would be established. This 
 word of encouragement came at the right time to 
 save me ; for, about an hour before this, a certain 
 quasi Doctor, whose light is now fiiding in another 
 region of the heavens, had told me the Conference 
 was full — no room for me — I ought to proceed 
 straight to Arkansas. Good enough advice, I dare 
 say, but given in a sttjle that made an impression, as 
 you plainly perceive. My plans, as Dr.- Lipscomb 
 would say of the race, "were put together with 
 rivets," and I did not wish them wrenched asunder. 
 They did not include the fertile State of Arkansas. 
 Thus commenced an acquaintance, which I trust 
 will be like that of David and Jonathan, or Damon 
 and Pythias ; and when broken on earth by the 
 sword of the King of Terrors, I hope it may be 
 renewed beyond the pearly gates and jasper walls. 
 
 Dr. M'Ferrin is a plain man — you do not have to 
 watch him, and study him, and balance probabili- 
 ties, to know where he stands. If you wish to 
 know the ground he occupies, ask him, and he will 
 tell you. If he were presiding over a deliberative 
 body, and a member were to put a question to the 
 
230 PERSONAGES. 
 
 chair for decision, it would be decided — you would 
 uot have to wait twent^'-four hours. He is a sincere 
 man — does not get your confidence, to go straight- 
 way and betray you. One can unbosom himself to 
 him and feel safe. He is a pious man, whose re- 
 ligion consisteth "in righteousness, peace, and joy 
 in the Holy Ghost." 
 
 Dr. iM'Ferrin has been in the ministry upwards 
 of a quarter of a century — as missionary, circuit 
 preacher, pastor, presiding elder, and editor of the 
 Nashville Christian Advocate. ISTo man in the 
 Church has occupied the editorial chair so long as 
 he, except, perhaps, Dr. Lee, of Virginia. He took 
 the Advocate when it had been written to death, 
 and infused light and life into its columns. He 
 made it a newspaper for tlio family, as Avell as a 
 theological medium. He took it when its affairs 
 were bankrupted, brought order out of confusion, 
 and "made it pay." Such a man is worthy of the 
 position assigned him by the late General Confer- 
 ence — Book Agent of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, South. I predict his administration will 
 be a complete success. 
 
 We have not in all the South a more successful 
 platform speaker than Dr. M'Ferrin. He is always 
 in requisition, always ready, never very much em- 
 
KEY. JOHN B. M'FERRIN, D.D. 231 
 
 barrassed ; has a ready flow of strong language, 
 and rather enjoys the excitement of an anniversary. 
 Practice makes perfect. With the exception of 
 Bishop Pierce and Dr. Sehon, he has experimented 
 on the American public, as a beggar for the Lord's 
 treasury, as much as any other man. When did he 
 ever attend a Conference Missionary Anniversary 
 without speaking? It makes no difference who de- 
 livers the opening address, or liow he delivers it, 
 M'Ferrin closes. In this he resembles our friend 
 Caples across the river. They are both large, both 
 humorous, good at repartee, and sometimes throw 
 out thoughts like great slugs of hot iron, making 
 you scamper. M'Ferrin knows more than Caples, 
 but Caples can tell what he does know a shade 
 better. 
 
 As a debater on the floor of Annual or General 
 Conference, who ever saw him go under? As 
 Frank. English would say, " lie gets all under holds, 
 and upper side of the hill," and down goes his an- 
 tagonist ; but, then, the brawny Doctor tickles him, 
 and smiles on him, and lets him up. 
 
 Dr. M'Ferrin has a rare talent for preaching. 
 Perhaps the word adroitness will describe it better 
 than any other. He is all you could ask in a re- 
 vival of religion — preaches " in demonstration of the 
 
232 PERSONAGES. 
 
 Spirit," and \vitli power. His practical sermons 
 move you to " work out your own salvation with 
 fear and trembling." His doctrinal discourses are 
 compact witli thought, and show an intimate ac- 
 quaintance with all Arminiauism. In controversy he 
 wields a right Damascus blade, cutting his way 
 through all weak or learned sophistries. Preaches 
 as many funeral discourses as any man in Middle 
 Tennessee. The Doctor is not exactly an orator, 
 nor can he preach a literary discourse. I heard 
 from one of his Annual Commencement cftbrts. 
 The pupils thought he was going to call mourners ! 
 The Doctor never reads in the pulpit, or uses 
 "notes:" his call seems to be to "pw/c'/i the gospel." 
 He never "leaves his carpet-bag at Berea," or a 
 railroad station ; but is always ready. 
 
 By appointment from the late General Confer- 
 ence, Dr. M'Ferrin is the central figure of our Pub- 
 lishing Uousc, surrounded by these distinguished 
 personages : Rev. li. Abbey, Financial Secretary — 
 a voluminous writer, a polished gentleman, and a 
 shrewd financier ; Thos, 0. Summers, D.D., Editor 
 of Books, Tracts, and the Quarterly, a divine whose 
 profound and critical scholarship, whose varied and 
 extensive reading, preeminently fit him for the posi- 
 tion ; L. D. Huston, D. D., Editor of the Home 
 
REV. JOHN B. m'ferrin, d.d. 233 
 
 Circle and Sunday-school Visitor, an eloquent 
 preacher, and a charming writer, a liitcratcur, who 
 talks well on every subject, from shoe-leather to the 
 solar system; H. I^. M'Tyeire, D.D., Editor of 
 Christian Advocate, a classical scholar, and a j'oung 
 man who is wise and witty, and, with me, the prince 
 of editors ; E. "W. Sehou, D. D., Missionary Secre- 
 tary, elegant as Bishop Burnet, and eloquent as he 
 wants to be. Then, there are Green, Gardner, El- 
 liston, Leo, Watson, Taylor, and Litton, into whose 
 construction the Creator has put the choicest ma- 
 terial. They are all '■'■worthy and ivell qualified." 
 
 Lexixgtojt, Mo., Sept. 20th, 1858. 
 
234 PERSONAGES. 
 
 HON. WILLIAM T. HASKELL, 
 
 THE TENNESSF. E ORATOR. 
 
 You have recorded the death of a wonderful man. 
 I knew him — General Haskell. He was endowed, 
 furnished, amazingly eloquent, frail, and unfortun- 
 ate. His was a life of earnest purposes never re- 
 alized, splendid promises never fulfilled. If he was 
 a fragment of a man, he was large, brilliant, blazing. 
 But his " continuity" was not large. He passed too 
 rapidly " from thing to thing." 
 
 "William T. Haskell was the son of the Hon. 
 Joshua Haskell, born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, 
 in 1817 or 1818; graduated at the old Nashville 
 University, while Dr. Philip Lindsley presided. The 
 roll of the Senior Class for 1834-5 contains his 
 name, I think. lie was a scholar, fond of reading 
 — deep in history, spoke some French. 
 
 He served his country in the Florida war well 
 and bravel}', and immediately afterwards served his 
 constituents of Madison county in the Tennessee 
 
HON. WILLIAM T. HASKELL. 235 
 
 Legislature : not more tlian twenty-three 3^cars of 
 age at this time. As early as 1840 he began to ex- 
 hibit those powers of speech — that complete mas- 
 tery over the multitude — which he retained till rea- 
 son fled. I have not heard his equal on the stump. 
 
 In 1844 he was on the electoral ticket in the Clay 
 canvass. At the breaking out of the Mexican war 
 he volunteered as a soldier, but was elected to com- 
 mand a regiment : hence his military title. 
 
 It was immediately after his return from the war 
 when I first met him. A young friend, Mr. Lewis, 
 and myself were spending some time in l^ashville. 
 One day we called on Allen A. Hall, Esq., then 
 editing a N'ashville paper. Said he, "Have you 
 seen General Haskell yet?" "No." "You ought 
 to call on him : his talk is astonishingly brilliant 
 and eloquent." After this I met him at the Sewa- 
 nee House. He was surrounded by admirers, be- 
 cause covered with honors : was tall, pale, and per- 
 fectly dressed. The hearing ear is always found 
 close to the speaking tongue. Haskell was contin- 
 ually tempted to talk, because there were so many 
 to listen. But he talked well on every subject. If 
 such a man had entered the clubhouse in London, 
 in the days when Garrick, and Burke, and John- 
 son talked there, his conversation would have been 
 
236 PERSONAGES. 
 
 accepted; he wimiUI have had listeners, I liavo 
 heard some line convcrsatiouists — Thackeray, Ever- 
 ett, Bayard Tnylor — hut none whose natural powers 
 were superior to Haskell's. 
 
 Soon after this, though harely thirty, General 
 Haskell was elected to Congress. As Marshall, and 
 Prentiss, and others, before him, so did Haskell : 
 nay, worse than these ; for he came home with his 
 constitution wrecked, and reeling under the inllu- 
 ence of Washington City life, and having lost thou- 
 sands of mouc}'. One long, dark night, in a solitary 
 stage-coach, he gave me full details. 
 
 Here a beautiful streak of temperance appears in 
 the ever-darkling web of his existence. He lectured 
 over the State to vast crowds: and men cried till 
 their faces were spotted, or laughed themselves 
 hoarse, over the many-colored pictures he drew. 
 But he was a man at constant hand-grips Avith des- 
 tiny, and in the struggle soon lapsed again. Tie 
 was fast yielding to a malady more fearful than that 
 which preyed upon the vitals of Prometheus. 
 
 In 1852 he was placed, "for the State at large," 
 on the electoral ticket in the Scott canvass. The 
 newspapers said such crowds never came out, and 
 such speeches were never uttered before on Tennes- 
 see soil. During this canvass I was coming through 
 
HON. AVILLIAM T. HASKELL. 237 
 
 from Knoxville to Nashville, by stage. On top of 
 Cumberland Mountain General Haskell got in. He 
 was worn, slovenly, soiled. lie entered the stage 
 swearing. The moment he suav me, though the 
 stage was full, he extended his hand, and said, " Mr. 
 Young, I beg your pardon, sir. It is mean in any 
 one to swear, especiall}^ so in nie. I was once a 
 member of your Church, sir, and enjoyed religion 
 — was a class-leader ! My wife is a Christian wo- 
 man, and I am the father of children. You and I 
 became acquainted at the Sewanee House, on my 
 return from Mexico. You shall not hear me swear 
 any more in this coach, sir." And he kept his pro- 
 mise. 
 
 That night he talked French and English, history 
 and politics, religion and literature, love and temper- 
 ance — a perfect salmagundi. At midnight it rained 
 heavil}?' ; the road became slippery. After a while 
 the driver stopped and told us that unless two men 
 would hold the lead horses, he could go no farther 
 down the mountain. On one side was a deep pre- 
 cipice. Haskell stepped over to that side, saying : 
 " Mr. Young, you may take the upper side. One 
 of us may get killed, and I think it likely j'our life 
 will be more beneficial to the world than mine." 
 
 Wo got to Sparta about daylight. Haskell walked 
 
238 PERSONAGES. 
 
 to the desk, and glancing his eye down a page or 
 two of names, remarked, "There's nobody been 
 here ! Let 's register our names, and let them know 
 somcbodij has been here." So he wrote in large, 
 bold hand, " Wm. T. Haskell," and then entered 
 my inarticulate name. 
 
 I have never seen Haskell since. I understood 
 he volunteered some service for Fillmore, in 1856. 
 Long and dark was the night he spent in the Asy- 
 lum at Lexington. Longer, darker, and fataler still, 
 his last daj's in the Asylum at Ilopkinsville. Be- 
 tween these madhouses he enjoyed a few lucid weeks. 
 During this time he produced an eloquent Poem, in 
 two parts. Part I. is a description of Haskell in- 
 sane. Part II. is a picture of Haskell restored. 
 
 Borders of Civilization, April 15, 1859 
 
REV. JOHN HENRY YOUNG. 239 
 
 REV. JOHN HEI^RY YOUNG, 
 
 INI Y BELOVED BROTHER. 
 
 The date of liis birth is January 13th, 1822. 
 His entrance into this world was near Campbell's 
 Station, East Tennessee : his departure to Para- 
 dise, from Marion, Crittenden county, Kentucky. 
 He remained here nearly thirty-eight years — was 
 my brother, and some years older than I. 
 
 Delicacy and disease were the companions of his 
 life. In infancy and childhood he struggled for a 
 mere existence. I recall the days of his boyhood, 
 as he grew up slim and pale, timid and silent, fond 
 of solitude and curious old books. I do not 
 remember that I ever saw him play. The only 
 noticeable sin was excess of temper. 
 
 Under conviction from the first dawning of 
 reason, he yielded all his leisure moments to 
 devotion and the study of the Scriptures. He 
 attached himself to the Church early in life, and 
 for years lived self-withdrawn and remote from 
 
240 PERSONAGES. 
 
 society as possible : so much so, tliat after clays, 
 and even weeks, devoted to his Looks and prayers, 
 he sometimes startled us all by symptoms of mental 
 aberration. Though brought up in the country, he 
 never discovered the slightest disposition for farm- 
 ing or financing. These matters were intrusted to 
 his younger brother. 
 
 But he was fond of learning — solid school-book 
 learning; especially the Latin classics, which he 
 read Avith astonishing ease, for one ol his years, 
 lie composed in Latin: but always composed 
 prayers — never speeches. I remember well how 
 he used to take me to some of those lonely places 
 he frequented, and read to me his solemn Latin 
 prayers — then translate. My brother could never 
 be induced to enter any school or college of repu- 
 tation ; but relied exclusively on private instruction. 
 Some of his instructors were men of finished 
 scholarship. I mention the name of one — Jere- 
 miah Moore — a graduate of the old Greenville 
 College. 
 
 The books he read had stood the test of centu- 
 ries. Flavius Josephus, Plutarch's Lives, Seneca's 
 Morals, Jeremy Taylor's Holy Living and Dying, 
 The Pilgrim's Progress, and, above all, the Bible — 
 if I were to write how much and how often he read 
 
REV. JOHN HENRY YOUNG. 241 
 
 these books, I should not expect to he heliovcd. 
 His nearest approach to modern or fashionable 
 literature was seen in his iiimiliarity with Dick's 
 Works, Chalmers's Sermons, Hervey's Meditations, 
 and the British Sp}'. If you found a book in his 
 pocket, it was either a miniature Lexicon or 
 Hervey's Meditations. He read but little poetry, 
 wrote a great deal, and published none. His single 
 contribution to periodical literature may be seen in 
 one of the early numbers of the Southern Lady's 
 Companion — "Arabella Johnson." 
 I quote from one of his latest letters : 
 " The Bible and Seneca arc my guides, in con- 
 junction with reason and conscience. The devil 
 inspired Dean Swift, Swedenborg, Defoe, and the 
 author of the Arabian Nights to write their books. 
 All fiction I hate, and the fashionable literature of 
 the day. I serve God because I ought, and hate 
 the devil because he is wicked. Jesus Christ is 
 my IJgnum Vitce, and his word is my Magna 
 Charter 
 
 At the age of thirteen, my brother entered the 
 Baptist Church, in which he spent five years — 
 restless, gloomy jears ; brightened occasionally by 
 rays of religious enjoyment. At the age of 
 eighteen, though an "ofliciur' in the Church, he 
 
242 PERSONAGES. 
 
 determined to commune with the rest of the family. 
 So he quietly withdrew from the Baptist and united 
 with the Methodist Episcopal Church. At the age 
 of twenty, he entered the ministry, and was hap- 
 pier. In the Ilolston Conference he spent a few 
 years; growing in grace and usefulness; becoming 
 wiser and better and liappier still. During this 
 time, he became an author withal ; wrote and pub- 
 lished a book on the "Authenticity, Genuineness, 
 etc., of the Holy Scriptures." There are in this 
 unpretending volume evidences of extensive read- 
 ing, many words set in the strong mortar of logic, 
 and passages of surpassing pathos and eloquence. 
 
 A visit to Illinois, in company with a brother-in- 
 law, and a sojourn there of two or three years, 
 occupied his time until he was about twenty-eight, 
 since which his home has been in Kentucky. He 
 was a member of the Louisville Conference a few 
 years, and has been local since. This last period 
 was dark and troublous. It saddens me to think 
 or write of it. Too much veneration for the men 
 and opinions of pagan antiquity ; too much respect 
 for the utterances of tlio old religions of the East; 
 too much love for German neology, had well-nigh 
 overshadowed him. The darkness became so deep, 
 and the night so cold, that he only discerned the 
 
REV. JOHN HENRY YOUNa. 243 
 
 excellences of tlic Churcli "through a glass 
 darkly," and his love for her ministry was greatly 
 chilled. After reading his letters for the last two 
 years, I am compelled to make this candid admis- 
 sion. 
 
 But he never shipwrecked his faith in Jesus of 
 Nazareth. In answer to one of my letters, con- 
 tending as earnestly for the faith as I was capable 
 of doing, and pleading for the very fringes of the 
 tabernacle of Methodism, he holds the following 
 language: "But you say, 'Pantheistic nonsense!' 
 I say, ' Pantheistic good sense !' You say, 'A 
 tissue of infidelity!' I say, 'A tissue of natural 
 and revealed morality and religion !' But you are 
 'shocked.' Wh}-, you answer me as if I were 
 Julian the Apostate, or Thomas Paine ! All 
 earthly tribunals are fallible — liable to err; they 
 are partial ; some are kingly, despotic. There is 
 one great tribunal to which I am amenable ; that 
 is, the tribunal of God on high. There I shall 
 receive justice. I rejoice to know this. A wise 
 man changes sometimes ; but a fool never : he is 
 always a fool. I am not the enemy of any man or 
 any Church. I love to pray for my enemies and 
 persecutors, like my adorable and crucified Saviour. 
 I can still say, 
 
244 P E U S N A G E S . 
 
 'Jcsu3, lover of my soul! 
 Lot me to tin/ bosom fly !' 
 
 "Brother, I am for virtue, charity — universal 
 benevolence. I love all good, and hate all evil. 
 Am sincere in all I do. I love my mother and my 
 family; I love my brother and my sisters; I love 
 the burial-places of my father and my children ; I 
 love the angels of God in heaven ; I love God 
 supremely^ and Jesus the crucified. I will preach 
 him while living, and praise him when dying ; and 
 in heaven sing him for ever. May the God of 
 Israel bless and sanctify you wholly !" 
 
 "Praise him when dying." So it was, thank 
 Heaven ! His young widow says to me, in her last 
 letter, " Your brother is dead ! Died last Friday, 
 November 25th, 1859, at twelve o'clock, ^I. lie 
 was sick fifteen days. He prayed the whole time 
 of his sickness, died in his right mind, and died 
 happy in Christ Jesus. This is all that comforts 
 me." 
 
 Milburn, in his " Chapters from an Autobiogra- 
 ])hy," holds out a solemn warning to all nascent 
 and speculative minds — enough to make them <piito 
 careful and prayerful, when they venture under the 
 influence of certain great minds; great minds, 
 especially, that have gone wrong. Here is another. 
 
REV. JOHN HENRY YOUNG. 245 
 
 And I mention it for this self-same purpose. Let 
 this stormy mental period of my brother's history 
 alarm those who are inclining from " the narrow 
 way" — forsaking "the old paths." The}- may 
 travel on right thoughtfully or right m'errily along 
 the "broad road," until they come to the ford of 
 Jordan ; then all such wish to come up to our 
 fording -place. Occasionally, these narrow -way 
 travellers get startled by the cavils of skepticism, 
 or feel scandalized by the ridicule of the openly 
 vicious. But wait a while. Then " Mark the per- 
 fect man, and behold the upright ; for the end of 
 that man is peace." 
 
 My brother's earthly existence was silent, modest, 
 and melancholj'^ ; he had no talent for making and 
 surrounding himself with groat or influential 
 friends ; never passed for more than half his real 
 worth, I think. He loved the obscure and poor, 
 and some of them loved him, and do now lament 
 him. Causation, the mystery of existence, the 
 badness of men, and want of friendship, caused 
 many a wave of trouble to roll across his now 
 peaceful breast. He sleeps his final sleep, has 
 fought his last battle with smoke and error and sin, 
 his thoughtful eyes have closed upon this cold 
 world, and his spirit summers in Paradise. Ken- 
 
240 PERSONAGES. 
 
 tucky has furnished a hospitable grave to the pale 
 and solemn man, who itinerates no more. Twelve 
 hundred people received into the Church by his 
 hand will bless him for ever. Let the people of 
 Crittenden county treat his widow and babe ten- 
 derly. 
 
 Lkxi.ngton, Mo., January 25, 18G0. 
 
HON. JORDAN STOKES. 2-47 
 
 HON. JORDAN STOKES, 
 
 THE SUCCESSFUL PLEADER. 
 
 I. M. JuLiEN asked mc not long since, " Who is 
 this Colonel Stokes of Tennessee ? He seems to be 
 the incarnation of eloquence ; the orator of that 
 crowd." My friend Julien had been reading of the 
 demonstrations in Louisville and Columbus, in 
 honor of the Legislatures of Tennessee, Kentucky, 
 and Ohio. The Tennessee Legislature had gone 
 over to Louisville, where they had been joined by 
 the Kentucky Legislature, and where Col. Stokes 
 made a speech so marvellously eloquent, as to as- 
 tonish even the veterans of the platform. Both 
 bodies proceeded to Columbus, Ohio, where Col. 
 Stokes grew so eloquent again, that the reporters 
 were charmed into forgetfulness of duty. I quote 
 from the published account : " The jnoneers of Ken- 
 iucbj^ Tennessee, and Ohio — a band of brothers, brave, 
 honest, and noble. May their descendants emulate their 
 virtues. The response to this, by the Hon. Jordan 
 
248 PERSONAGES. 
 
 Stokes, of Teniicsst'L', was .su cloqueDt in il> urms, 
 that we have to regret that no report of it was made 
 or ean be obtained. It was a most stirring appeal 
 in behalf t»f the Union, deelaring the fidelity of 
 Tennessee to the Constitution and to the union of 
 the people in one eommon national brotherhood." 
 
 I will answer the question. lie was born in 
 Chatham county, IlTorth Carolina, about forty-one 
 years ago, of highly respectable parents. His 
 father was killed by an accident on his way to the 
 "West, leaving the subject of this sketch only six 
 months old. The widowed mother, with three small 
 children, proceeded on the journey, and settled in 
 Smith county, Tennessee. Ilere young Stokes was 
 educated in a classical school, or "college," as it 
 was called, by two gentlemen eminently qualified to 
 conduct his studies. Tradition says that he studied 
 from daylight until midnight almost every da}', ex- 
 cept Sundays, for years. No wonder he knows 
 something outside of law and politics, and no won- 
 der he is training up his family to the same rigid 
 discipline. Col. Stokes had completed his educa- 
 tion, read law with II. J. Meigs, of Nashville, been 
 admitted to the bar, and elected to the Legislature, 
 before he was twenty-one years of age ! After this 
 he settled in Lebanon, Tennessee, forming a law 
 
HON. JORDAN STOKES. 240 
 
 partnership with the Hon. R. L. Carutlicrs, now on 
 the Supreme Bench. Here he was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Martha Jane Frazcr, daughter of 
 Dr. James and Mrs. Ilannali Frazer, October 11th, 
 1842, a union that has been as happy and prosper- 
 ous as the ideal of a novelist. With a sensible, 
 pious, and polished wife, well bred, well managed, 
 and well educated children, his family-room must 
 be a domestic Eden. 
 
 "There woman's voice flows fortli in song, 
 Or childhood's tale is told, 
 Or lips move tunefully along 
 Some glorious page of old." 
 
 Col. Stokes has been eminent!}- successful in his 
 profession, not only obtaining a very large and 
 lucrative practice, l)ut attaining to the first rank as 
 a lawyer. Law with him is the science of right, 
 and he realh' loves the practice, so much so, that a 
 speech of his on a dry land-suit interested me as 
 greatly as one of Dr. Baird's lectures on Europe. 
 It is positively surprising to run your eye up and 
 down the docket of the Circuit Court, and sec how 
 often the name of Stokes appears. I once lived in 
 Lebanon, (1852-3,) and though never fond of court- 
 liouses or courts, it was always convenient for mc 
 to be present when he argued a case. lie pro- 
 
250 PERSONAGES. 
 
 nounces well, composes well, discusses well, paints 
 well, declaims well, pleads well, reaches the fans 
 lachri/marinn at a stroke, and in his loftiest moods, 
 when he reaches the white-heat of the peroration, 
 he absolutely owns the jury. 
 
 Col. Stokes was on the electoral ticket for Scott, 
 in 1852. I heard his last speech during this can- 
 vass, the day before the election, lie made the 
 most of the matter he had on hands ; praised the 
 old General hugely. The day was raAV and rainy, 
 the crowd not very highly flushed with hope — '' a 
 hasty plate of soup" would have helped mightily; 
 but the speaker elicited many rounds of hearty ap- 
 plause. The truth is, I never liked old "Fuss and 
 Feathers" much, and I cannot exactly write about 
 this speech as I desire to do. 
 
 Col. Stokes served in the Legislature in 1852, as 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives, and again 
 in 1860, as a member of the Senate. He was also 
 a member of the Baltimore Convention that nomi- 
 nated John Bell for the Tresidency. 
 
 Col. Stokes has not sought Congressional honors, 
 lie might have been elected in 1853 easily, but re- 
 fused to run. In a word, I should say he has no 
 great taste for politics. He sees the whirlpool into 
 wliieli so many have been drawn who embarked 
 
HON. JORDAN STOKES. 251 
 
 upon this dangerous sea. A family man, so quiet, 
 SO intellectual, so fond of literature and law, and 
 one so profoundly sensible of the value of religion, 
 hesitates to venture upon its dark and stormy 
 waters. I predict, however, that my serene friend 
 will some day take his seat in the Senate of the 
 United States, and, like Polk, of Missouri, exhibit 
 the rare spectacle of a Christian statesman in the 
 nineteenth century. 
 
 My observation has compelled me to think that, 
 aside from law and politics, lawyers are not great 
 students. I meet them on the promenade or on the 
 drive too often. Chestnut street in this city swarms 
 with them. I see them surrounded by clumps of 
 men, and thronging the rotundas and saloons of 
 hotels too frequently — lawyers don't study. But Col. 
 Stokes must be excepted. He is fond of the old 
 sea-gods 'of literature. Plato and Bacon, Butler 
 and Milton, Shakspeare and Bunyan, rule his spirit 
 from afar. Nor does he dislike Parnassus, when 
 
 " Ilis nights arc filled with music, 
 And the cares (hat infest the day 
 Fold up their tents like Arabs, 
 And as silently steal away." 
 
 Another Book there is to which he is no stranger 
 — " The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the 
 
252 PERSONAGES. 
 
 soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making 
 wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are 
 right, rejoicing the heart : the commandment of the 
 Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of 
 the Lord is clean, enduring for ever : the judgments 
 of tlie Lord are true and righteous altogether." 
 
 St. Louis, Sept. 25, 18G0. 
 
MAJOR URIEL WRIGHT. 253 
 
 MAJOPv URIEL "WRIGHT, 
 
 THE WESTERN LAWYER. 
 
 In my last I drew an outline of the Governor of 
 Missouri. Since then he has heen elected to the 
 Senate of the United States for the term of six 
 years. IN'ow make room, on your first page, for a 
 sketch of Major Uriel Wright, the orator of ]Mis- 
 souri. 
 
 Great men may be divided into these two classes: 
 First, those -who have a great reputation abroad 
 and none at home. Mr. Tupper, the poet and 
 novelist, belongs to this class. A few years ago, I 
 met an English D. D., from London, who had never 
 heard of Mr. Tupper or his books. " Surely," said 
 he, "you are mistaken! If there were an author 
 in England of that name, I should have known it." 
 Second, those who possess wonderful popularity at 
 liome, but are not well enough known abroad. 
 Major Wright, the scholai?, the lawyer, the orator, 
 belongs to this class. Every man in the West, who 
 
254 PERSONAGES. 
 
 takes and reads a newspaper for a few years, knows 
 somctliing of Major Wright; still he lias not at- 
 tained a national reputation. 
 
 I confess I had never heard of Iniii until, a few 
 years ago, I came to make my home in the metro- 
 polis of the Great West. One Monday night I 
 saw the Old Fourth Street Methodist Church lighted 
 up. I stepped in — saw a few gentlemen sitting 
 together around the stove. One, a small man, with 
 dark complexion, l»lack hair, and black eyes, sat 
 back at a little distance, muffled up in a cloak, and 
 looking so very quiet that he scarcely seemed to 
 breathe. I was introduced to him by the elder, 
 Mr. Finney, who said, " Let me introduce you to 
 Brother Wright, one of the stewards of our 
 church." From the evening of that stewards' and 
 leaders' meeting until the present moment, our 
 fricndsliip has been uninterrupted. 
 
 Major AV^right is another of our distinguished 
 Methodist laymen. If you attend the First Church 
 in St. Louis, and remain in with Mr. Finney's class, 
 which he leads immediatel}' after morning service, 
 you will likely meet with him, and hear him talk 
 in class-meeting. He will say something that will 
 edify you. If you step into the lecture-room of the 
 same church on the evening of their general prayer- 
 
MAJOR URIEL WRIGHT. 255 
 
 meeting, the pastor will likely call on liim to lead 
 in prayer; and you may hear a prayer, to every 
 petition of whicli yoji can heartily respond. Amen ! 
 Should you enter one of their love-feasts, held on 
 Monday night of each quarterly meeting, you will 
 be likely to hear a speech from him that will elec- 
 trify you. And when the altar is surrounded with 
 penitent sinners, seeking the religion of our Sa- 
 viour, he does not consider his position too exalted 
 to labor with them, weeping wdth those who weep, 
 and rejoicing with them that do rejoice. 
 
 In ^March, 1854, a revival meeting was held in 
 the Old Fourth Street Church. The pastor was 
 somewhat fatigued, and had invited Major "Wright 
 to conduct the services for one evening, giving him 
 only a few hours' notice. At seven o'clock he 
 walked up into the altar, sang a h^^ran, offered 
 prayer, read a portion of the third chapter of 
 John's Gospel, explained the nature of the iieio 
 birth, and called for " mourners," in such a style, and 
 with such success, as would have led any stranger 
 to suppose that he was pastor of the church. A 
 few Sundays after this, the Asbury Chapel was 
 crowded with people — children, i-)arent8, friends. 
 It was the occasion of their Sunday-school Anni- 
 versary. Major Wright was present, by sjiecial 
 
256 PERSONAGES. 
 
 invitation, and delivered the Anniversary Address, 
 AV'lien the great Sunday-school Convention for the 
 AVest assembled liere in the s|^ring of ISoo, Major 
 Wright was selected to deliver the speech of the 
 occasion. More than one thousand persons, includ- 
 ing children, crammed into the Verandah Hall to 
 hear him. 
 
 I mention these things simply to show how n 
 irabf (jTeat hian, with an immense legal practice, and 
 a wide popularity, can afford to make himself iiseffd. 
 lie is not afraid of turning the attention of the 
 puhlic from liimself to the cause of Christianity. 
 Ponder these statements, ye little-great men — ye 
 semi-celebrities — throughout the land; and if in- 
 deed you have any light, let it shine. 
 
 At present, Major AVright lives quietly, and with 
 sufficient elegance, on the corner of Eighth and 
 Pine, St. Louis. He is a native of the Old Domin- 
 ion, and a graduate of one of her venerable literary 
 institutions. His wife was born and raised in the 
 same State, and is cra'i/ W(t>j worthy of her gifted 
 husband. Ilcr piety and J)r. Boyle's preaching, 
 under the blessing of Cod, led him to Christ. I 
 may also add, the son and the daughter are worthy 
 of their excellent parents. 
 
 About thirty years ago, Uriel Wright began his 
 
MAJOR URIEL AV RIGHT. 257 
 
 career as a lawyer, in the northern part of the 
 State of Missouri. He culminated ahiiost at a 
 single bound. As a^ pleader, he has stood at the 
 head of the list in the State of Missouri, for at least 
 twenty years. I never expect to hear this state- 
 ment disputed. ]More : since the death of S. S. 
 Prentiss, Uriel Wright is by far the most eloquent 
 lawyer and politician in the Mississippi Valle3\ 
 He has devoted his life to his favorite profession, 
 and he understands it; and, remember, there is no 
 intuition in the law — it must be read, studied, mas- 
 tered, and remembered. Said a distinguished 
 judge to me, a few evenings ago, "Major Wright 
 is the most wonderfully adroit man that ever man- 
 aged a case in m^' presence. I question, sir, if he 
 has an equal in the nation." A very intelligent 
 ph3'sician was talking to me, not long since, on the 
 subject of public speaking. Said he, "In arrang- 
 ing for a debate, a man should always avoid, if he 
 can, following the most powerful effort. Judge 
 Bates's speech, in the celebrated 'Child's case,'" 
 continued he, " would have done him great credit, 
 if he had not followed Major Wright." 
 
 Major Wright has not sought to figure largely 
 cither in State or national politics. He has served 
 his party once or twice as an Elector in his own 
 
258 PERSONAGES. 
 
 Congressional District, or for the State at large. 
 He has been spoken of by his friends for a seat in 
 the Senate of the United States several times ; and, 
 I am inclined to think, he will yet be a member of 
 that body. 
 
 Major Wright has not written mnch for the 
 public. His lectures before the various associa- 
 tions, and his orations before colleges and fairs, 
 would make a handsome volume, if collected to- 
 gether. His printed addresses show the rhetorician 
 as well as the orator. He says he studied " Old" 
 Booth and ^Ir. Clay, when he was a young man. 
 He might add Hugh Blair and Lord Kames, I 
 think. 
 
 Major Wright is well read, outside of his profes- 
 sion. His favorite author is Dr. John Harris. He 
 will regret Harris's death, mainly because the 
 world will get no more books from his prolific 
 brain. The subject of my sketch is a little turned 
 of fifty. 
 
 Jefferson City, Mo., Feb. 5, 1857. 
 
REV. GEORGE COPWAY. 259 
 
 REY. GEORGE COTWAY, 
 
 THE J E B W A Y INDIAN. 
 
 " Big Injun Me /" This quotation may convey to 
 tlic mind of the reader an idea of the impression 
 wliich the Reverend George Copway has left upon 
 many of our citizens. He fed our listeners on lec- 
 tures so long, and so plentifully supplied them with 
 his literar}" slop, during the last winter, they are 
 now ready and willing to give in their testimony that 
 the fountain from which it proceeded is rather a 
 huge one ! Here is mine. 
 
 Copway is an Ojebway — " full blood" and no mis- 
 take. I say Ojebway, because this is the correct 
 orthography and pronunciation. The French, in 
 Canada, either could not pronounce or would not 
 pronounce Ojebway, but said Chippewa. Hence the 
 origin of the word Chippewa. Tliis item of infor- 
 mation I received from Copway himself. He lived 
 in the forest, with his family and his nation, until 
 he was well-uigh grown. About this time, he and 
 
260 PEllSONAGES. 
 
 a few other Indian boj's entered a scliool in Jack- 
 sonville, Illinois, I believe. This school was under 
 the direction of Rev. Peter Akers, D. D., now Pre- 
 sident of McKcndree College. Here he completed 
 an education which is hy no means extensive. 
 Since his academical curriculum, Copway has kept 
 himself busy, preaching, lecturing, and writing for 
 Indians and "Whites" — for Americans and Euro- 
 peans. 
 
 As a j^reachcr, he has not succeeded. First, be- 
 cause he is a man of dress — amazingly fond of fine 
 garments — "perfectly devoted to perfumes." Se- 
 cond, because he is a ladies'-mau, and if living in 
 London, would frequently be seen in the Park, 
 "Avith lady at his side." Third, because he is not 
 zealous — does not liave his " work greatly at heart." 
 Fourth, Ijecause he is like some other clerical mos- 
 quitoes — does not remain in any one place long 
 enough to make " full proof of his ministry." And 
 fifth, because he is an Indian, and, being an Indian, 
 has no idea of abstract truths. 
 
 As a lecturer, he has succeeded amazingly. First, 
 because he is an American Count D'Orsay. Second, 
 because in female circles he "takes eight eyes out 
 of ten." Third, because his religious scruples do 
 not obstruct his flight through the mid-heaven of 
 
REV. GEORGE COP WAY. 261 
 
 the marvellous. Fourth, because he is not a man 
 for solitude, but for society — can sit for pictures, 
 dine on beef and sup on oysters, and talk the while. 
 No hand is more welcome to ring an up-town bell 
 than Copway's. Fifth, because he makes the ac- 
 quaintance of writers and editors, and asks them to 
 notice his last lecture. Sixth, because these words : 
 " The Indian Chief !" at the head of his enormous 
 posters, may be read across a square. Seventh, be- 
 cause he is an astonishingly eloquent Indian, the 
 thunder of whose voice is never stayed in mid-vol- 
 \ey. And last, because he has been to Europe ! 
 
 As an author, he has produced four volumes : 
 "Recollections of Forest Life," which I presume is 
 a sort of autobiography of George Copway ; " Tra- 
 ditional History of the Ojebway jSTation;" "The 
 Ojebway Conquest," which I understand is a poeti- 
 cal love-story ; and an " Indian's Views in Europe," 
 which I suppose chronicles his pilgrimage to the 
 great Peace Convention in Germany. Besides these 
 works, Copway has addressed a pamphlet or so to 
 the Congress of the United States, to enlighten the 
 darkened understaiulings of its memliers on Indian 
 Aflairs ; and written articles innumerous for the 
 political and literary newspai^ers and magazines of 
 our country. Indeed, he supports himself and 
 
2G2 PERSONAGES. 
 
 family bj writing for the press one half of the year, 
 and lecturing for the public the other half. 
 
 I infer, from some of his conversations, that Cop- 
 way's literary acquaintances are many, and of the 
 first rank. He speaks of Cambridge and Henry 
 Longfellow as one would of his birthplace and the 
 pleasant companion of his youth. lie mentions poor 
 Nathaniel "Willis, dying with consumption, as ten- 
 derly and familiarly as one talks of a domestic who 
 is a hopeless invalid. Anne C. Lynch and Emma 
 C. Embury are his faithful friends. And so of many 
 others ! 
 
 He delivered many lectures, in many places, before 
 many audiences, and on several dilfcreut subjects, 
 while he remained in the city ; but as I did not 
 hear them all, and as those I did hear were of vari- 
 ous merits, let an analysis of his first lecture sufiice. 
 It appeared as an editorial in one of our morning 
 papers, and as I wrote the editorial, I shall appro- 
 priate it. 
 
 Mr. Copway, the Indian Lecturer. — "We were 
 on last Thursday evening, where the reader ought 
 to be this evening, at the Centenary Methodist 
 Church, listening to one of Mr. Copway's Indian 
 lectures. The spacious church was elegantly lighted, 
 and tolerably well filled by some of our most intel- 
 
REV. GEORGE COP WAY. 263 
 
 ligent citizens, with here and there a stray hero-wor- 
 shipper like ourself. We noticed that "the cloth," 
 including Kev. Dr. Akers, of Lehanon, 111., were 
 well represented on the occasion — the lecturer him- 
 self being a clergyman. 
 
 At half-past seven o'clock, Mr. Copway, every inch 
 a Red-man, walked out in the chancel before a de- 
 lighted auditory. When we saw him, we thought 
 Nature had fallen in love with herself, and had lav- 
 ished her charities upon his magnificent form. Mr. 
 C. began by singing a solo in his laud's language. 
 Then came the lecture, instructive, amusing, poetic, 
 witty, eloquent, and interesting, from " Ladies and 
 Gentlemen," to the final bow. The elegancies of 
 Meagher pleased us — the witticisms and puns of 
 Saxe made us laugh — the philosophizing of Giles 
 provoked us to think ; but the stormy eloquence of 
 the Indian heated our blood " from the scalp to the 
 ankle." He is a living specimen of the highest 
 style of oratory — the natural. He is a Titan among 
 a brood of Titans — a Boanerges among Sons of 
 Thunder. 
 
 Ilis subject for the evening was, " Tlie Religious 
 Belief, Poetry, and Eloquence of the North Ameri- 
 can Indians." Mr. Copway said, the Indians be- 
 lieve in the Great Spirit, or Bouevolent Spirit, or 
 
264 r r, r s o x ages. 
 
 Merciful Spirit: that, after searcliing lonu: •'^kI pa- 
 tiently for his ahode, they came to the conclusion 
 that his whjiram was the sun ; that fathers instructed 
 tlu'ir children around tlio dying embers of their 
 camp-lircs in the knowledge of the Great Spirit ; 
 that wherever there was any thing mysterious in 
 nature — any thing he could not understand — in the 
 belief of the Indian, there was Spirit. He believed 
 there was Spirit in the Falls of Niagara, for example, 
 lie said that the Indians believed in another 
 Spirit — the Evil Spirit: that he lived under the 
 earth ; that he was in the form of a serpent of in- • 
 credible length, having horns longer than the tallest 
 pine; that they offered more sacrifices to appease 
 the wrath of the Evil Spirit than they did to pro- 
 pitiate the ftivor of the Good Spirit ; that the Evil 
 Spirit caused all the sin and suffering of the world. 
 Tliis is the belief of the Indians of North and 
 South America, and the islands of the ocean. Upon 
 tliis article of religion, in the unwritten creed of 
 the Indian, he predicated an argument for the 
 unity of the races; inasmuch as Moses, in Gene- 
 sis, represents Satan, who "brought death into the 
 world, and all our woe," in the form of a serpent. 
 The blow which the " Poor Indian" gave the theory 
 of Dr. McDowell here was decidedly healthy. 
 
REV. GEORGE C P W A Y . 265 
 
 \ 
 
 The lecturer then spoke of the Poetry of the 
 Indian : said that it was not written poetry ; that 
 the Indian could not write such poetry as the white 
 man wrote : the Indian's poetry was the poetry of 
 nature. Here he gave a glowing picture of the 
 lovely Valley of Wyoming, which once belonged to 
 his kindred. This description was a 2^^^ose j^ocm 
 about twenty minutes in length. The strong and 
 gorgeous web of his eloquence caught easily such 
 liies as Akers, McAnally, Hogan, and ourself. He 
 met a young lad}" in the Valley of "Wyoming, who 
 said she had been sitting upon the very rock where 
 Thomas Campbell sat when he wrote " Gertrude 
 of Wyoming!" She did not know that Campbell 
 had never visited America ! 
 
 On the Eloquence of the Indian, Mr. Copway was 
 very happy : said the eloquence of the Indian em- 
 braced these three elements — simplicity, earnestness, 
 and the correct use of figures. His people were 
 simple — their language did not afford them many 
 words. They were earnest — their public speakers 
 were not like the clergyman he had heard, while 
 making the tour of Europe, whose action and mo- 
 notony he then imitated. Their eloquence was 
 highly figurative : all great thought links itself to 
 imagery, but tlieir figures were drawn from nature. 
 9 
 
2C)(\ P E R S N A (1 E S . 
 
 The lecturer concliulcd by giving his audience a few 
 specimens of Indian clo<nicncc. We inferred from 
 his final remarks, on Thursday evening, that Mr. 
 Copway intends to educate a number of Indian boys 
 with the money secured by these lectures. Let his 
 houses be crowded. 
 
 "The Indian Chief" tarried in St. Louis several 
 weeks. lie enjoyed the hospitalities of one of our 
 elegant private families, and "dined out" perhaps 
 as often as any gentleman then in the city, lie 
 lectured before our congregations, public schools, 
 in the Mercantile Library Hall, and before some of 
 the secret orders to Avhich he belonged. lie preached 
 in almost every Methodist church in the place — was 
 present and took a part in the services on the day 
 of general Thanksgiving — was also present and 
 took a part in one of the dedicator}-- services of the 
 First Methodist Church; and endeavored to render 
 himself agreeable and useful generall3\ 
 
 Copway's great enterprise, with which he dazzles 
 the eyes of the public, and creates for himself some 
 attention in Wasliiiigton City, is this: He wants the 
 Government to give him a small piece of land, 
 somewhere in the JSTorth-west. On this he proposes 
 to erect a seminary for the education of Indian boys : 
 two or three boys are to be selected from each In- 
 
REV. GEORGE C P W A Y . 267 
 
 (liun tribe, and all educated together in this school. 
 After they finish their education, the hoys are to be 
 sent back to their respective tribes. There the}' are 
 to agitate the people, and to correspond with each 
 other on the subject, until, finally, all the Indian 
 tribes of the West and North-west shall be amal- 
 gamated, civilized, educated, christianized, and per- 
 petuated. This is Copway's grand enterprise ; and 
 allow me to say that, in my humble judgment, it 
 would be diflicult to find an Indian, from Greenland 
 to California, less likel}^ to carry it out than him- 
 self. 
 
 Copway is about thirty-five j-cars of age — is mar- 
 ried to an English lady of considerable family — and 
 resides in !N'ew York city. They have baptized one 
 child. 
 
 St. Louis, April 1, 1855. 
 
268 PERSONAGES. 
 
 "FATTTER" JOHN IIERSEY, 
 
 T II E W A N D E R I N G 1' K E A CHER. 
 
 It is singuliu* enough tluit your St. Louis corrc- 
 spoudcut failed to mention the name of tlie most 
 noticeable of all the notables who attended the late 
 session of our Conference. It would have been 
 precisely like Marvin to have chronicled the fact of 
 his visit, and recorded the impressions he made; 
 for Marvin loves the righteous man, and holds him 
 in everlasting remembrance. And Lcftwich, too — 
 an admirable skctcher — from whose table went 
 much of tj[ic "copy" that made up the " Daily,'' 
 did not add greatly to the sacred fame of the 
 venerable jji-eacher. But, then, Father Horsey 
 came in so late, sat so far back, and (U'lncancd 
 himself so meekly and quietly, that few would 
 think of mentioning his name, except some one, 
 like myself, looking up a ^'character." During the 
 most interesting and exciting, and even .slonii>j 
 
FATHER JOHN H E R S E Y . 209 
 
 periods of tlie debates that characterized our late 
 session, the form and face of Father Ilersey might 
 have been seen, far back from the Bishop, cahn 
 and serene, as if 
 
 "Not a wave of (rouble rolled 
 Across his peaceful breast." 
 
 I do not now call to mind that the wonderful old 
 man was even introduced to the Conference; pre- 
 sume that he was asked, and refused. 
 
 Father Hersey is tall, and lean, and has passed 
 his three-score years and ten ; clothes himself in 
 tweed kerseymere, made up in the stjde qf the 
 eighteenth ccntur}', and tiles himself with a broad- 
 l>rim. His hat and coat are without l>and, binding, 
 or button. He told me that he was an ignorant old 
 man — very ignorant- — had but little education ; had 
 read scarcely any thing; knew nothing but what 
 lie had learned from the Bible, the Holy Spirit, 
 and human nature, llemarkable sources of infor- 
 mation ! thought I. It was inferred, from his con- 
 versation, tliat he was a Virginian or Marylander ; 
 had been bred to the mercantile profession ; had, 
 early in life, failed for several thousand dollars; 
 liad seen "the vain pomp and glory of this world," 
 
270 PERSONAGES. 
 
 and "renounced them all ;" had never belonged to 
 any Annual Conference ; but had been " wandering 
 around this world of care," preaching the pure 
 gospel, and paying off his debts. The last one was 
 old — very old — but "the uttermost farthing" had 
 been paid ! 
 
 Father Ilersey rises at four — attends to his ablu- 
 tions and devotions — reads the Bible on his knees — 
 preaches at five M'herever he can get a congrega- 
 tion — breakfasts — spends the morning going " about 
 doing: srood" — letting his "lisrht shine before men" 
 — dines sparingly — sometimes preaches in the after- 
 noon^ sometimes at night. He is " a terror to evil- 
 doers" — reproves men for talking, chewing, smok- 
 ing, drinking, money-making, money-spending — 
 for "all carnal desires of the flesh," and "all 
 covetous desires of the same," and insisted that I 
 ought to throw in my cane to the Missionary 
 treasury — reproves women for " softness and need- 
 less self-indulgence" — for "high heads, ruffles, and 
 riTigs" — for want of humility, faith, good works, 
 family government — so that the jj^acen^ uxor ex- 
 claims, " He makes the road to heaven so narrow, 
 I am afraid I never can Avalk therein." This is 
 no fancy sketch. I visited in the family where 
 
FATHEll JOHN II E 11 S E Y . 271 
 
 he stopped, and heard liim repeatedly at five 
 o'clock. 
 
 Father Hersey meets his cougregations promptly , 
 does not read the lessons, sings a short hymn, 
 oftcrs a brief prayer of his own, omits the Lord's 
 Prayer, announces a plain text, preaches a short 
 sermon, remarkable for method and perspicuity, 
 and filled with memorable sayings and aptest illus- 
 trations. I liked every thing he did and said, 
 except when he intimated that his exposition of a 
 chapter in the Book of Revelation had been 
 revealed to him by the Holy Spirit many years ago. 
 
 Father Hersey has been w^andering around 
 through the State of ^lissouri for several months ; 
 and when it was announced that he expected to 
 attend our Conference, and preach ever}- morning at 
 five, the young preachers w^ere delighted ; but some 
 of the graver elders thought there would be no 
 congregations at that hour. However, the preacher 
 came to time, and the ample chapel of the First 
 Church was well filled ; and the precious treasures 
 of that hour \\\\\ be kept in the storehouse of 
 memor}'^ until the last light fades. 
 
 His text was, " For God hath not given us the 
 spirit of fear ; but of power, and of love, and of a 
 
272 PERSONAGES. 
 
 sound mind," Tlic next morning be preaclied 
 from, " Tvcdecming the time, because tbe days are 
 evil." The third from, "I will give power unto 
 my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thou- 
 sand two hundred and three-score da} s, clothed in 
 sackcloth." Then again in the afternoon, to 
 parents, On the training of children. Like all old 
 bachelors, he deems that he understands this sub- 
 ject thoroughly, and can emit floods of light 
 thereon. 
 
 Father Hersey is singularly unselfish. lie tells 
 the people, wherever he goes, that he does not 
 preach for money, that he does not want any 
 money — that the people give him more money and 
 • clothes than he needs. Now, 
 
 "Ye cliff "rent sects, who all declare, 
 Lo I Christ is here, or Christ is there," 
 
 show us another man travelling over the country, 
 and talking in this style. 
 
 He preaches frequently about clothes. A humor- 
 ous Old Virginia preacher says: "His mission to 
 the Africans was a fiiilure for this reason : the 
 congregations drew up to him almost in a state of 
 nudity, and Father Hersey (having never preached 
 
FATHER JOHN HERSEY. 273 
 
 about any thing but clothes) had nothing to say ; 
 and finally came home." This is all pleasantry — 
 for the old man is a good sermonizcr, and a deeply 
 spiritual preacher. lie is coming South this winter, 
 and is hereby cordially invited to visit 
 
 Lebanon, Tennessee. 
 
274 PERSONAGES. 
 
 JOHN G. SAXE, ESQ., 
 
 THE HUMORIST. 
 
 I HAVE the pleasure of introducing to my readers 
 John G. Saxe, Esq., of Vermont, a peculiarly pun- 
 gent, pain-producing, poetical pyrotechnist ! He is 
 not only a person, hut a personage, having been at 
 diflFerent times a farmer, a collegian, a schoolmaster, 
 4 a lawyer, an editor, a contributor, a traveller, a 
 public lecturer, and an inspector of customs at Bur- 
 lington. < 
 Unlike one of his own heroines, 
 
 •♦ WliDsc birth, inJce«l, was uncommonly h'njJi, 
 For Mi.^s Macliridi' iirst, opeueil licr oye 
 Through a xkii-liiihl dim, on the light of the sky," 
 
 John G. Saxe first opened liis eycn in a farmer's 
 cottngc ; like llobert Burns, " a ploughman, the 
 son of a ploughman." He was born at Highgatc, 
 Franklin county, Vermont, on the 2d day of June, 
 1816; consequently he is about thirty-eight years 
 
JOHN G. SAXE, ESQ. 275 
 
 old. His boyhood has been taken in the following 
 st3-le: "Bred on a farm, John cultivated pump- 
 kins instead of puns until he was seventeen. In- 
 deed, his awful habit of punning did not develop 
 itself to an alarming extent until he was of age. 
 Ilis youth of innocence did not overshadow his 
 wicked literary career. Little did the world know, 
 when John was dropping corn and pumpkin seeds, 
 raking hay and digging potatoes, like any other 
 honest and industrious swain, that he would one 
 day be ' riding on a rail' over the country, drawing 
 people together in lecture-rooms, and then sending 
 them home with their mouths ajar and the side- 
 ache." 
 
 At the age of seventeen Mr. Saxe took formal 
 leave of rural occupations, and entered the gram- 
 mar-school at St, Albans. Some fathers rush their 
 sons and some sons rush themselves into college at 
 a very tender age. Such boys are then rushed 
 tlirough college, and rushed into one of the lil)cral 
 professions, or into business. After this they arc 
 generally rushed into disgraceful mediocrity, or loss 
 of health, or bankruptcy. Farmer Saxe permitted 
 liis son to remain quietly at home until his physical 
 constitution was matured. He was of the opinion 
 that a great mind ought to have, if possible, a large 
 
27G PERSONAGES. 
 
 IVaino to Btruc:glc in. Mr. Saxe liimself was con- 
 tented to enter a grammar-school at seventeen, and 
 after entering it, he "was contented to study. After 
 wasting a part of liis substance in riotous living on 
 tlie roots of Greek words, Mr. Saxe left St. Albans, 
 and entered Middlebury College. Here he re- 
 mained four years, and was graduated Bachelor of 
 Arts in the summer of 1830. 
 
 Rufus Wilmot Griswold, the doomsday -book 
 maker, the old dry-nurse of the Poets and Poetry 
 of America, and the most learned bibliographer in 
 our country, says: "I remember that Avhon Mr. 
 Saxe was in college he was well known for his 
 manly character, good sense, genial humor, and, 
 for an under-graduate, large acquaintance with lite- 
 rature. He preserves, with lilting increase, his 
 good reputation. Besides writing with such de- 
 lightful point and facility, he is one of the best con- 
 versationists, and wastes more wit in a day than 
 M'ould set up a V'aukee 'I'uncli,' or a score of 
 ' Yankee Doodles.' He is a good general scholar, 
 ' Avcll read in llic best English authors, and, besides 
 his comical compositions, has produced many pieces 
 of grace and tenderness, that evince a genuine 
 poetical feeling and ability." 
 
 At least one half of the distinguished men of our 
 
JOHN (1 . S A X E , E 8 Q . 277 
 
 nation have been, at some period of tlieir lives, 
 teachers of youth. Our land, like every other en- 
 lightened and Christian land, generally renders 
 "honor to whom honor is due ;" consequently we 
 honor the private or public instructor of children 
 and youth. Here Mr. Saxe is in " the regular suc- 
 cession." For many a weary day, in the once 
 famous academy of Lewiston, ISTew York, did he 
 listen to the ••' hic-h.ec-hocking" of girls and boys. 
 
 Having at last filled those empty spaces which 
 v>crc not made for emptiness, Mr. Saxe entered 
 upon the study of the law at Lockport, and was 
 afterwards legall}^ finished at St. Albans, where he 
 was admitted to the bar in September, 1843. Thus, 
 at the age of twenty-seven — quite early enough, as 
 I might prove, by reference to those who have dis- 
 tinguished themselves in learned professions — he 
 entered upon the duties of his profession, and 
 began to practice in the courts of the county. Dr. 
 Griswold says he has had more than the average 
 success of young lawyers, and a writer in the West- 
 ern Literary Register says he has held the office pf 
 District Attorney. In addition to his legal and 
 jiolitical gains, Mr. Saxe, "I calculate," has realized 
 something handsome in the last few years by edit- 
 ing and publishing the Burlington Sentinel, by con- 
 
278 PERSONAGES. 
 
 tributing to the Boston Morning Tost and the 
 Knickerbocker Magazine, and by bringing out, in 
 handsome style, from tlie liousc of Messrs. Tick- 
 nor, Reed k Fiekls, Boston, a volume of his 
 poems. 
 
 If Mr. Saxe has been abroad, I am not aware of 
 the fact ; but he has travelled extensively about 
 home. His poetical lecture on "Yankee-land," 
 which, l>y the way, is in true Sax-on heroic verse, 
 lias been recited more than one hundred and fifty 
 times in as many cities and villages. As he jour- 
 neys over the land, he enjoys himself hugely. 
 Hear how he sings : 
 
 "Singing through the forests, 
 
 Rattling over ridges, 
 Shooting under arches, 
 
 Rumbling over bridges ; 
 Whizzing tlirougli the mountains, 
 
 Buzzing o'er tlie vale; 
 Bless mo ! this is pleasant, 
 
 Riding on a rail !" 
 
 As a poet, our laughing Yankee will hardly go 
 down to posterity. lie excels most in fun, bur- 
 lesque, and satire. Ilis household gods arc Juve- 
 nal, Horace, Hood, and Holmes ; and though Juve- 
 nal and Horace have floated down the stream of 
 time to us — though portions of Hood and Holmes 
 
JOHN G. SAXE, ESQ. 279 
 
 may be read a ceiitiiiy lionce — Mr. Saxc, I tliiiik, is 
 not destined to longevity. He has written a legal 
 ballad, called, in bis publisbcd works, " The Brief- 
 less Barrister;" "Progress, a Satire," tlie longest 
 of bis printed poems ; "A New Rape of tbc Lock," 
 wbicb appeared in 1847; "The Proud Miss Mac- 
 Bride," wbicb appeared in 1848 ; and " Tbe Times," 
 wbicb came out in 1849. 
 
 Tbese poems bave already run tbrougb many 
 editions. "Yankee -land," a poem, and "Poets 
 and Poetry," a lecture, are not yet in print. 
 
 " Tbe Proud Miss MacBride" is Mr. Saxe's favor- 
 ite production. Hear bis desperately wicked wit, 
 about tbe middle of tbis poem, on the pride of 
 birtb : 
 
 " Of all the notable things on earth, 
 The queerest one is pride of birth, 
 
 Among our 'fierce democracie!' 
 A bridge across a hundred years, 
 Without a prop to save it from sneers — 
 Not even a couple of rotten peers — 
 A thing for laughter, ilcers, and jeers, 
 
 Is American aristocracy! 
 
 English and Irish, French and Spanish, 
 German, Italian, Dutch, and Danish, 
 Crossing their veins until they vanish 
 In one conglomeration ; 
 
280 PERSONAGES. 
 
 So 8ul)(lc a tangle of blood, indeed, 
 No heraldry-Ilarvey will ever succeed 
 In finding the circulation! 
 
 Depend upon it, my snobhish friend, 
 Your family thread you can't ascend, 
 ■Without good reason to apprehend 
 You may find it waxed at the farther end, 
 
 13y some plebeian vocation ; 
 Or, worse than that, your boasted line 
 May end in a loop of stronger twine, 
 
 That plagued some worthy relation !" 
 
 I have seen Mr. Saxe. He is tall and large. His 
 appearance indicates the preponderance of the 
 " fat-limb-ic rather than the lymphatic." He is a 
 good-looking person, and wears garments very like 
 a Green Mountain farmer's. A large head, with 
 high forehead, a big hand, and a tremendous foot, 
 are some of his outlines. However, Mr. Saxe de- 
 scribes himself best. Hear him : 
 
 "Now, I am a man, you must learn. 
 
 Less famous for beauty than strength, 
 And, for aught I could ever discern, 
 Of ratlicr supci-fluous length. 
 
 In truth. His but seldom one meets 
 
 Such a Titan in human abodes ; 
 And when I walk over the streets, 
 
 I'm a perfect Colossus of rort</«/" 
 
 I liavc heard Mr. Saxe deliver "Yankee-land," 
 
JOHN G. SAXE, ESQ. 281 
 
 "Poets and Poetry," and "The Prond Miss Mac- 
 Bride," to laughing audiences. He gets before his 
 audience awkwardl}-, recites with amazing rapidity, 
 and Avith an awful nasal twang;, while his long 
 arms hang b}' his sides with the grace of clock- 
 weights. When he began to recite "Yankee- 
 land," before one of the largest audiences I ever 
 saw assembled to hear a lecture, I remarked to an 
 English clerical friend of mine: "If you see any 
 of my acquaintances, you need not mind telling 
 them that I was here." These words were scarcely 
 uttered, when Mr. Saxe convinced the whole as- 
 sembly that the wittiest of living poets, the prince 
 of punsters, the veritable John G. Saxe, of Ver- 
 mont, was before them ! 
 
 It is said when Thackeray was lecturing in New 
 York on the " English Humorists of the Eighteenth 
 Century," that the works of Swift, Congreve, Ad- 
 dison, Steele, Prior, Gay, Pope, Hogarth, Smollett, 
 Fielding, Sterne, and Goldsmith, were brought 
 down from the top shelves of book-rooms, and sold 
 and read. I was reminded of this a day or so after 
 Mr. Saxe left the city. After inquiring at four of 
 the largest book-stores in tlie place, I learned that 
 scores of volumes of his poems had been sold 
 during his stay, and that not a copy was left. 
 
282 PERSONAGES. 
 
 Bryant is rich, Ilalleck is rich, Longfellow is 
 rich, Dr. Holmes is rich, Spraguc is rich, and it is 
 said that John G. Saxe lives very well, if not very 
 wisely. 
 
 St. Louis, November 25, 1864. 
 
HON. TRUSTEN POLK. 283 
 
 HOI^. TRUSTEN POLK, 
 
 UNITED STATES SENATOR. 
 
 Trusten Polk was inaugurated Governor of the 
 State of Missouri this day. As Judge McLean is 
 the greatest Layman of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, (North,) so Governor Polk is the most 
 distinguished layman of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, South. He is D'Arcy Paul, of Petersburg, 
 and Harry Hill, of New Orleans, combined — is as 
 exemplar}^ as the one, and as benevolent as the 
 other. 
 
 The Church of Christ owes much to this class of 
 men. Stephen and Cornelius and Philemon be- 
 longed to it. Constantine of Rome, Clovis of 
 France, Alfred of England, and "Washington of 
 America, were all pious laymen. Those powerful 
 friends and patrons of Martin Luther and the 
 Reformed Church — Frederick the Wise, John the 
 Constant, and John the Steadfast — were pious tem- 
 poral princes. William Wilberforce, Edward Eve- 
 
284 r E R S N A (1 E s . 
 
 rctt, and Jaiiu's K. Polk, will be remeuibered as 
 Cliristian stalcsinoii. Matthew Hale, Chief Justice 
 ^Marshall, and Thomas Farmer belong to this class 
 of men. In this paragraph are the names of those 
 who have thought, and praj-ed, and written, and 
 legislated, and even fought for the prosperity of the 
 kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 Mr. Polk is not a Kew England man, as some 
 have supposed : he is a native of the State of Dela- 
 ware, and a better friend of the South, and all her 
 institutions, I do not know. I ditfer with Mr. 
 Polk in the cardinal principles of his political 
 creed, but his SoulJicndsm is w^orthy of all admira- 
 tion. 
 
 Whether he educated himself, in the ordinary 
 acceptation of this phrase, or not, I am not pre- 
 pared to say. He is a graduate of Yale College. 
 Mr. Polk's literary taste, general reading, and 
 actual scholarship, "vvould rank him among " men 
 of letters," if he had sought their society. lie 
 enjoys a lecture, I am sure. For years past, I have 
 noticed him at such places regularly, and he always 
 seemed like a hard-worked lawyer unbending him- 
 self delightfully. 
 
 We cannot say of IMr. l*olk that he road law 
 there or studied law here — he is one of those 
 
HON. TRUSTEN POLK. 285 
 
 sensible men wlio lias read and studied law all the 
 time, since lie entered the legal profession. lie sits 
 doAvn to a law book like Dr. Rice does to a work 
 on polemical theology — because lie loves it. Gen- 
 tlemen of his profession have told me that there is 
 not a lawyer in the West whose opinions have more 
 weight with judges and jurymen than Trusteii 
 Polk's. And if his political friends had not de- 
 signed him for the place he now occupies, and 
 afterwards for the United States Senate, he would 
 have been elevated to the Supreme bench of Mis- 
 souri years ago. Mr. Polk's speaking abilities arc 
 of a high order — though not of the highest. 
 
 He came to the city of St. Louis about twenty 
 years ago. Some say he came afoot. This may be 
 true. When he was a student at Yale, he employed 
 his vacations travelling over New England on foot. 
 And it is said there is scarcely a place of interest 
 in I^few England that he did not visit, during liis 
 four years of college-life. That he entered upon 
 his professional career in the West with very 
 limited means, is certain. An old citizen of St. • 
 Louis said to me once, " The first time I saAV 
 Trusten Polk, he was quite a young man, sitting 
 by a small cooking-stove, frying a beef-steak for his 
 breakfast. His office served him for. a kitchen, a 
 
280 PERSONAGES. 
 
 (lining-room, a bed-room, and a study. But lie 
 received us like a gentleman, and a man of 
 Lusincss." lie now lives in a comfortable man- 
 sion, with an interesting and intelligent family 
 around liim, and au abundance of means for their 
 education, support, and introduction into the world. 
 Mr. Polk became a Methodist and a class-leader 
 while he was a student. He could say of the 
 fascinations of college-life, and all the allurements 
 to dissipation, and tendencies to evil connected with 
 it, ^^Kone of these things move mc." lie has led a 
 class nearly ever since ; and, if his pastor has not 
 changed him within the last month, he is a class- 
 leader now. The young men of Centenary Church 
 had but one objection to his election. They said, 
 " The State will get a good Governor, but we shall 
 lose a good class-leader. Brother Tolk leads our 
 class in good style, and then invites us home with 
 him to take tea." One of the preachers of the St. 
 Louis Conference, when asked his political prefer- 
 ences, during the canvass last summer, always 
 replied, ^'•Hurrah for ihr Class-leader !" This Avas 
 his "rough and ready" way of telling his politics. 
 Mr. Seay, who was the travelling companion of Mr. 
 I'olk during the canvass, said to me on his way to 
 Jeft'erson City, " Wherever we went last summer, 
 
HON. TRUSTEN POLK. 287 
 
 we were certain to be greeted by some warm- 
 hearted Methodist preacher." Mr. Polk is a 
 steward in Centcnarj^ Church, and a trustee in 
 two or three churches. "Wesley Chapel and Six- 
 teenth Street Church are built on his ground. In 
 addition to this, he pays ^50 a year to the Church- 
 Extension Association of St. Louis ; and is the 
 Chairman of their Board of Trustees. 
 
 Mr. Polk is exceedingly punctual in the perform- 
 ance of his duties. Since he was elected Governor 
 of Missouri, I was dining with him at a friend's. 
 It was an elegant place, and the dinner came on at 
 rather a fashionable hour. When we were exactly 
 half through the courses, Mr. Polk looked at his 
 watch, and remarked, " You must excuse me, ladies 
 and gentlemen ; it is my hour to attend my class- 
 meeting." It is needless to say that such a man 
 was excused. The gentleman of the house fol- 
 lowed — it was Jill hour to meet his class, too. 
 
 Ml-* Polk is a consistent man. Does not receive 
 letters on Sunday. Does not send letters on Sun- 
 day. Does not buy the Sunday Republican, nor 
 read it. 
 
 The evening after the inauguration, the Governor 
 gave a magnificent eutertiiiiiiiiciil to fbc incriibrrM 
 
288 PERSONAGES. 
 
 of tlic Legislature, officers of State, citizens, and 
 strangers, at his residence in Jefterson City. 
 His wife and diiuglitcr entertained tlicir guests 
 elegantly. 
 
 Jefferson City, Mo., January 6, 1857. 
 
CASSIUS M. CLAY. 289 
 
 CASSIUS M. CLAY, 
 
 THE ABOLITIONIST. 
 
 Some of those "large and enthusiastic" abolition 
 meetings that we read of, arc much larger and 
 more enthusiastic on paper than they are in reality. 
 At least, this is the conclusion at which I have 
 arrived. iS^ot long since, the Alton papers came 
 down among us with some such exclamations as 
 the following: ^^ Great abolition meeting in Alton!" 
 ^^ Cassias M. Clay is to speak here on Tuesday!" 
 ^^Let all the icorld come out to hear the ^ Great Ken- 
 tuckian!' " 
 
 Said I to myself: " Now this is your chance : you 
 never witnessed the glow and enthusiasm of a real 
 abolition meeting, and this will be one of peculiar 
 feeling and powerful excitement : you never heard 
 a scries of abolition resolutions read to a sweltering 
 multitude of great-hearted freemen : you never 
 heard Cassius M. Clay in his lofty moods, his bold 
 invective, his torrent- raptures — in his thunder- 
 
290 r E u s N A a E s . 
 
 peals: you never lieard the licarty haters of the 
 'peculiar institution' ring their proud hurrah. Go 
 up to Alton : hy all means, go !" 
 
 As a contrihution to geographical information, 
 Alton is a toitii on the east hank of the Mississippi 
 river, in the State of Illinois. It is near the junc- 
 tion of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, where 
 the water is too thick to swim (pleasantly) in, and 
 too thiu to walk on. Furthermore, Alton is 
 situated on, and among, and round about, several 
 respectable hills; and taking the hotels of St. 
 Louis to be first-rate, it has several fourth-rate 
 hotels. It is divided into Upper Alton and Lower 
 Ahon: these are two or three miles apart. I have 
 not been sufficient of a tourist to visit the Upper 
 villitfje. 
 
 We landed (I say we, for several "gentlemen 
 from about town," and m3'self, were on the packet) 
 about ten o'clock in the forenoon, and registered at 
 the principal hotel in Lower Alton. About six 
 lines above our iinines, we saw, in bold pencil- 
 marks — "C. 31. Clay — Kentueki/." The following 
 conversation took place : 
 
 "I see that Clay is here." 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Landlord, is Mr. Clay here?" 
 
CASSIUS M. CLAY. 291 
 
 "Yes, sir; lie is here." 
 
 "Where is he now?" 
 
 "He is asleep. Has not had his hreakfast yet." 
 
 "When did ho arrive?" 
 
 "On the morning's train, sir." 
 
 "Does Mr. Clay speak here to-day?" 
 
 "Well, really, I can't say, gentlemen." 
 
 " If he does speak, loherc do you suppose he will 
 hold forth?" 
 
 "I don't know, indeed, where." 
 
 "Well, if he speaks at all, he will speak this 
 morning, I suppose?" 
 
 "Can't tell you that, either; he is in hed yet; 
 has not had his hreakfast ; his trunk has not come." 
 
 Just at this stage of the conversation, a short, 
 sandy-haired fellow, with loose, pale '■'■nankeen'' 
 clothes, and a '■'■Knoio-Notldng'' hat on, said : "Hold 
 on, gentlemen ; I will run down into the bar-room, 
 and find out all about it." 
 
 In a short time he returned, and in an air of 
 triumph said : " Mr. Clay is at this very house, and 
 talks right here., at half after three o'clock, this after- 
 noon !" 
 
 Thinks I to myself, ^ot much excitement on 
 hand yet; but as Mr. Clay arrived this morning, 
 and is expected to leave in the evening train, to 
 
202 PERSONAGES. 
 
 nioet otlier engagements, bis friends, of course, 
 will give Lira a public dinner bere to-da}'. So I 
 called for a room, and told tbe landlord I would 
 stay until after dinner. !Not being entirely exbausted 
 and overcome by excitement, baviug met not more 
 tban balf a dozen freemen about tbe botel, ami fail- 
 ing to find tbe morning papers, I improved tbe 
 time by getting into a sound sleep. 
 
 About one o'clock, I was informed tbat tbe second 
 gong bad sounded, and tbat "//*r_y" were eating 
 dinner. Remarkably early for a public dinner, 
 tbinks I. However, tbere is no accounting for 
 taste. So I attended to my ablutions, glanced at a 
 four-sbilling mirror, elevated my crest, and entered 
 tbe dining-room. Small dining-room, ordinary 
 tuljle, very common clotbs and furniture, ordinary- 
 looking company, not mucb to eat — wbere is Clay? 
 tins is no public dinner ! I seated myself, and 
 began to meet tbe responsibility, wben I saw, just 
 across tbe table, a gentleman wbom I knew at once. 
 Not tbat I liad ever seen Imn before ; but I bad seen 
 his jiicturc in sbop-windows, etc., frequently. He 
 was a little less tban six feet, weigbed about one 
 bundred and fifty, seemed to be near fifty years of 
 :ii!:c', bad a beautiful suit of bair, sligbtly frosted, a 
 mild and uncommonly benevolent -looking face, 
 
C A S S I U S M . CLAY. 293 
 
 was dressed in blue garments, neatly fitted on him, 
 talked in a mild undertone, bolted beef, green 
 corn, and cucumbers, etc., and was accompanied by 
 one acquaintance. lie was Cassius M. Clay, of 
 Kentucky. 
 
 After dinner, I took a chair in the gentlemen's 
 sitting-room, and entered into a conversation with 
 a student from McKendree College, supposing that 
 the satellites would soon be in, and revolving 
 regularl}' around their great Primary. Mr. Clay 
 wrote a letter — folded and directed it, and nobody 
 came to disturb him. Mr. Clay then seated him- 
 self, all alone. Directly, a small man with. a linen 
 coat entered. Soon after, a fat man entered. 
 Then, a doctor came in. Then, a tall lawyer-look- 
 ing gentleman came in. Finally, two farmer-look- 
 ing people entered, and sat down. A full half 
 dozen of stray hero-worshippers, all told, did the 
 lionizing of this afternoon. 
 
 At twenty-five minutes after three o'clock, Mr. 
 Clay remarked: "Gentlemen, it is my time for 
 speaking." At this moment, the small linen- 
 coated man started off" towards the shadow of a 
 large stone building near the river. I followed him. 
 AV"e reached the place. The sun had been shining 
 on the street, and pavement, and south side of the 
 
294 PERSONAGES. 
 
 building all day, until about three o'clock, ^vllcu 
 the building began to cast a shadow a few feet in 
 width. I leaned against the building a few minutes 
 and sickened with heat. I stood on the pavement, 
 composed of rough, triangular, octagonal, and 
 many-angular stones, until my feet suffered. The 
 dust was several inches deep in the street, and, 
 about ever^' five minutes, was stirred into a cloud 
 by a passing dray, wagon, or omnibus. Yet this 
 was the place selected for the "Great Kentuckian" 
 to agitate the burghers on the abolition of slavery 
 and the dissolution of the Union, etc. 
 
 Half after three came. Half after three went. 
 There stood an old rockaway, with a pale-eyed Rev. 
 "W^hite-cravat seated in it, said to be the President 
 of a "one-horse" Baptist College in Upper Alton. 
 He was accompanied by a bookseller, I believe. 
 Yonder stood a lone dray, with a boy seated on it. 
 Here, in the shade of the building, stood twelve or 
 fifteen remarkably well-humbugged people. There, 
 in the window, sat, or rather lay, two drunken 
 Irish laborers, wondering if Cassius was "old 
 Henry Clay's son." This was the waiting audience 
 — waiting in the dust and on the hot rocks, while 
 the thermometer stood at about one hundred degrees 
 in the shade ! 
 
C A S S I U S M . CLAY. 295 
 
 "AVell, but did Mr. Clay speak?" ITot that I 
 have heard of. He may have spoken, I can't say. 
 The reception was so very warm, that I found 
 quarters on the St. Louis packet, at about four 
 o'clock. Thus, Doctor, for the edification of your 
 numerous Southern readers, I have given a minute 
 account of the proceedings of the first and last abo- 
 lition meeting that I attended. The Union was not 
 dissolved ! 
 
 St. Louis, July 25, 1854. 
 
296 PERSONAGES, 
 
 REV. BENJ. TAYLOR KAVANAUGH, M. D., 
 
 THE PIONEER PREACHER, 
 
 Was born iu Louisville, Ky., April 28tb, 1805. 
 He is the fourth son of the Rev. Williams Ivavan- 
 augh, who was identified with the earliest settlers 
 of the "dark and bloody ground," and who spent 
 his life in preaching the gospel to the first immi- 
 grants to that State, when every neighborhood was 
 under the protection of a fort. His mother was a 
 daughter of Dr. Thomas Hinde, a celebrated sur- 
 geon in the revolutionary army ; who, after serving 
 under General Wolfe, entered the American service, 
 and continued in the army, until our independence 
 was acknowledged by Great Britain. 
 
 Having lost his father in infancy. Dr. Kavanaugh's 
 early education was left to the management of his 
 mother. This excellent lady removed to Clarke 
 county, among her friends, near Lexington, where 
 her son grew up to manhood. She was a woman 
 of unusual decision and energy of character, and, 
 
REV. B E N J . T . K A V A N A U (J II , M . D . 297 
 
 although laboriug iiuder the embarrassments of 
 poverty, succeeded in rearing her five sons to ma- 
 turity, with such qualifications, moral and intellect- 
 ual, as to place them in prominent positions in 
 society. 
 
 At the age of eighteen, Benjamin Taylor began 
 to develop his character, and to enter upon schemes 
 of his own devising. IS'otAvithstandiiig his youth, 
 and existing engagements wdth his master- work- 
 man, he gained permission to embark in the New 
 Orleans tobacco trade. Colonel F. F. Jackson, of 
 Clarke county, an extensive operator in that line, 
 selected him to take charge of one of his boats, as 
 pilot and commander, with the privilege of shipping 
 his own purchases on the same boat. In the spring 
 of 1824, Benjamin Taylor mounted his "broad- 
 horn" or "ark" in the Kentucky River, three hun- 
 dred miles from its mouth, with a crew of three 
 men — these all his superior in j^ears. He navigated 
 the waters successfully to New Orleans, (a distance 
 of seventeen hundred miles,) never having seen any 
 portion of them before, excepting a few miles of 
 Kentucky River. 
 
 The only settlements on the Mississippi River at 
 that time, below the mouth of the Ohio, were New 
 Madrid, a few houses at the Chickasaw Bluffs, 
 10 
 
298 PERSONAGES. 
 
 (Memphis,) one house at the Walnut Hills, (Vicks- 
 burg,) a few at Fort Adams, and the coast below 
 Xatchez. 2sc\v Orleans was a town of less than 
 ten thousand souls. 
 
 Having gained some knowledge of trade, and the 
 demands of the tobacco market in the South, young 
 Kavanaugh returned, and, with a small capital 
 cleared from his first adventure, determined to cm- 
 bark anew in the trade of the next spring. He now 
 ascended the Kentucky Kiver to the mountains, 
 built his own boat, and performed a second trip, 
 wholly on his own account, which was more suc- 
 cessful than the first. 
 
 Having established a character for enterprise and 
 success, and enjoying a liigh standing for veracity 
 and integrity as a man, his services were sought by 
 men in extensive trade, to transact business of a 
 general character in various parts of the countr3\ 
 In such agencies about two years were spent in 
 Kentucky. Travelling through all weather ami all 
 seasons proved too severe for liis physical powers, 
 and brought him down to his bed, from the effects 
 of which he did not recover for four or five years. 
 
 He now grew restless under the restraints of ill- 
 health and a limited sphere of action, and deter- 
 mined to make the State of Illinois the field of his 
 future movements. The young emigrant accord- 
 
REV. BENJ. T. KAVANAUGII, M.D. 299 
 
 ingly selected a Kentucky wife, embarked in a 
 family boat built by himself, and, with the aid of 
 two boys, landed at Mount Carmel, on the Wabash, 
 April 29, 1829. 
 
 An engagement was made with the proprietor of 
 the place for the management of a large landed 
 estate, including the unsold lots and adjoining lands 
 of the town. In this real estate agency he spent 
 about five years. Diligent application to business 
 again prostrated him, and he was compelled to turn 
 his attention to something calculated to free him 
 from the toils of out-door life. 
 
 Hitherto Mr. Kavanaugh had never applied him- 
 self to the pursuit of knowledge, beyond the sphere 
 of a business man. In the world, he had succeeded 
 well — had gained a considerable amount of valuable 
 property ; so, now, he determined to divide his 
 time, and to devote a portion of each day to the 
 study of some useful science, and to continue this 
 course until he had acquired a knowledge of all the 
 elementary branches of a common education. 
 
 In the fall of 1829, having been moved by the 
 Holy Ghost, and solicited by many members and 
 ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Mr. 
 Kavanaugh had accepted a license to preach the 
 gospel. He had made a profession of religion ten 
 years before this, and maintained his standing as a 
 
300 P E II S N A O E S . 
 
 useful member of the Churcli up to tliis time. But 
 lie now felt more than ever the necessity of an 
 intimate acquaintance with moral and religious 
 truth, and so, it is said, he went into excess in pur- 
 suit of knowledge. Mr. Kavanaugli soon found 
 himself declining in strength, and was compelled 
 again to seek for some suitable and useful employ- 
 ment. 
 
 In the fall of 1831, he received a commission from 
 the American Sunday-school Union, constituting 
 him a Sunday-school Missionary for the eastern 
 half of the State of Illinois. He entered immedi- 
 ately on the duties of this mission — travelling and 
 lecturing on Christian education — and ranged 
 through every county on the eastern side of the 
 State as far as the settlements extended at that time. 
 He was successful in organizing Sabbath-schools in 
 nearly every village and town, and populous country 
 place, throughout his extensive field. In some of 
 these schools, gray-haired men and women, for the 
 first time in their lives, were taught to read and pray. 
 
 After spending three years on this delightful mis- 
 sion, contributing to the purity and permanence of 
 a new population in a new State, Mr. Kavanaugli so 
 disposed of his private business as to give his ser- 
 vices wholly to the Church, and entered the Illinois 
 Conference, October, 1835. 
 
REV. BEN. T. T. K A V A N A U (MI , M.D. 301 
 
 His first appointment was an agency for McKen- 
 drcc College, an institution located at Lebanon, Il- 
 linois, about twenty miles east of St. Louis. In 
 this work he continued four years. It was one in 
 which several able members of the Conference had 
 failed. Indeed, the college had almost entirely gone 
 down — a heavy debt resting upon it, with no assets 
 to meet liabilities. 
 
 Mr. Ivavanauffh's desire was to engage in the 
 regular work of the ministry ; but his skill as a finan- 
 cial agent was known to the Conference, and this 
 governed the Bishop in his appointment. Having 
 become an itinerant, he considered it his duty to 
 take any position assigned him by the Church. So 
 he reported himself at once to the trustees of the 
 institution; made himself familiar with its aftairs, 
 and devised plans for its rescue and elevation. In 
 the course of four years, he succeeded in paying off 
 its debts, and making extensive additions to the 
 college-grounds. He also procured a new and inorc 
 liberal charter, supplied it with chemical and philo- 
 sophical apparatus, a good library and cabinet of 
 minerals, and, by the aid of an assistant one year, 
 secured an endowment fund of Jif/>/ ihonsand dollars. 
 When the institution passed from his hands, it owed 
 oidy a small debt, and had assets to the amount of 
 sevenly-jive thousand dollars. 
 
302 TERSONAGES. 
 
 The plans by -which so much was accomplished 
 were a little peculiar, and may be mentioned. He 
 had no hope of obtainini^ donations to a college 
 already dead, from the citizens of the county. 
 They had not only given large sums for its support, 
 but had lost all faith in its success, i^or had he 
 any notion of going to the Eastern States for aid, 
 when nothing could be accomplished at home. 
 Mr. Kavanaugh determined to ask donations of 
 none until he could get the institution into sue- 
 cessfal operation, and funds enough on hand to 
 insure its success ; when this Avas done, to make an 
 eflbrt for a full endowment. 
 
 To accomplish this object, he relied upon his 
 resources as a business man and a land agent; 
 went to Washington City, and after securing letters 
 from various Senators and Representatives from 
 the Western States, he journeyed to the cities of 
 New York, Providence, and Boston, and estab- 
 lished a land agency in each, to purchase lands in 
 Illinois, for any person desiring to make entries. 
 
 Mr. Kavanaugh charged twenty-five per cent, on 
 the amount expended, or one half the profits on 
 the lands entered, for five years from the date of 
 entry. On these terms, a large number of persons 
 were induced to make entries through this agency ; 
 and several thousand dollars in ready ca-«h were 
 
REV. BENJ. T. KAVANAUGH, M.D. 303 
 
 realized for the College, besides an interest in a 
 large amount of land. 
 
 This scheme was more easily carried out at 
 that period than it eonhl have been at any other; 
 because money was very plenty in 1836 and 1837, 
 and a splendid system of railroads had been 
 devised and undertaken by the State of Illinois. 
 Foreigners were easily induced to buy up lands 
 along the lines of these roads. Thus the money 
 procured for the College was actually earned by the 
 adroit agent. 
 
 While in this land agency, Mr. Ivavanaugh had 
 occasion to visit many portions of the United 
 States ; by which he became acquainted with some 
 of the leading men of the nation, and added vastly 
 to his stock of general information. 
 
 The endowment fund of fifty thousand was 
 obtained by getting one hundred persons to sub- 
 scribe five hundred dollars each, securing to them- 
 selves a perpetual scholarship in McKendree 
 College. 
 
 In the autumn of 1839, the trustees of the 
 College were surprised and mortified on hearing 
 that their agent had been appointed Superintendent 
 of the Indian Mission District. This District was 
 about the head of the Mississippi river, and touch- 
 ing on the western border of Lake Superior. Its 
 
304 r E R S N A G E s . 
 
 business affairs were deranged, and, in the judg- 
 ment of the presiding Bishoj), it was necessary to 
 make a change in the supcriutendency ; and Mr. 
 Kavanaugh was selected for the purpose of " bring- 
 ing order out of confusion." 
 
 This appointment was one which had many 
 attractions for the mind of the newly-appointed 
 missionary. It lay in the wild and unexplored 
 regions of the ISTorth-west, and brought him in 
 immediate contact with tlio wild men of the woods. 
 It afforded liini an opportunity of breaking the 
 silence of the wide wilderness of the North with 
 the messages of life and salvation, to a people who 
 liad never heard them before. Three years of 
 Mr. Kavanangh's life were spent in these bleak 
 regions. 
 
 After visiting the various missions on the Dis- 
 trict, a cabin was built, near the Kaposia Village, 
 (a few miles below the present St. Paul's of Minne- 
 sota,) by the Superintendent and his brethren, for 
 the accommodation of his family. They were 
 brought to the mission-ground in the spring of the 
 second year. 
 
 In procuring supplies, visiting the different and 
 distant points of his work, and establishing several 
 new missions, Mr. Kavanaugh travollcd imndreds 
 and lliousands oC miles each year, sometimes on 
 
REV. BEN J. T. KAVANAU(!H, M.D. 305 
 
 foot, sometimes in sleighs, but mostl}" in bark 
 canoes. 
 
 These missions were among the Sioux and Ojeb- 
 ways. The only establishment among the Sioux 
 was near the residence of Mr. Kavanaugh. Here, 
 on the eastern side of the Mississippi river, he 
 established a school for "half-bloods," and on the 
 western side another school, for "full-bloods." 
 
 It is a custom among the Indians to hold a coun- 
 cil or public "talk" with every leading man sent 
 out to them, either by the Government or the 
 Church. Hence the Superintendent of this mission 
 had to go through this ceremony at every village 
 he entered. This aftbrded him a good opportunity 
 of presenting to them the advantages to be derived 
 from the institutions of Christianity, and preaching 
 to them the gospel of Christ. This was done in 
 every "talk;" and the Superintendent had the 
 pleasure of receiving into the Church, as a con- 
 verted man, residing at Sandy Lake, the great high- 
 priest of the Ojebway nation. He was enlightened 
 and indoctrinated in the Christian religion. 
 
 Many converts were made, chiefly among the 
 pupils of the two mission schools. Mr. Kava- 
 naugh was greatly aided in his work among the 
 Chippewas by throe converted and educated native 
 preachers, obtained from the missions in Canada. 
 
306 PERSONAGES. 
 
 They had been educated for this work by the 
 Illinois Conference. 
 
 At the session of the Ilock River Conference, 
 held in Chicago, 1842, Mr. Kavauaugh was 
 appointed presiding elder of the Platteville District, 
 situated in the south-western portion of Wisconsin, 
 and covering all the mineral regions of this State. 
 Here he travelled three years, through all the 
 settled portion of TVestern Wisconsin. His district 
 embraced the seat of government, and, having been 
 elected chaplain to the Legislature, much of his 
 time was spent there during the winter seasons. 
 He was also elected by the Masonic Order to pre- 
 side over the Gi'and Lodge of the State. In this 
 way Mr. Kavanaugh became intimate with the lead- 
 ing men of Wisconsin. 
 
 By the kindness of his friend. General Dodge, 
 U. S. Senator, his name was presented to the 
 American Colonization Society, at Washington 
 City, and he was recommended as a suitable person 
 to be employed as an agent. He was accordingly 
 commissioned, and assigned to the States of Indiana 
 and Wisconsin. Retaining his connection witli his 
 Conference, and receiving an appointment from it 
 to tliis agency, Mr. Kavanaugh accepted, and 
 entered upon his duties, locating his family at 
 Indianapolis. 
 
REV. BENJ. T. KAVANAUGH, M.D. 307 
 
 This proved to be an intGrestiug and exciting 
 enterprise ; for no sooner had he entered fairly 
 upon his duties as an advocate of African Coloni- 
 zation, than he was encountered by a host of 
 abolitionists, who had been holding undisturbed 
 dominion over a large portion of the State. There 
 were three newspapers and about ten public lec- 
 turers actively engaged in the field. Most of these 
 immediately attacked the new agent and his cause, 
 and seemed to look upon them as impudent 
 intruders upon their domains. Such were the 
 violent and ill-natured attacks made upon him by 
 the abolition press, that he Avas compelled to resort 
 to the press for defence. "The Colonizationist," a 
 neatly-printed monthly of eight pages, was gotten 
 up, and issued to subscribers at ten cents a copy. 
 A circulation of thirty -five hundred was soon 
 attained ; besides, a great number of copies were 
 thrown broadcast all over the State. 
 
 Besides editing and publishing this paper, Mr. 
 Kavanaugh visited nearly every county in the State 
 of Indiana, and lectured to crowded assemblies, 
 who seemed to take more interest in the matter, 
 because the agent had been so outrageously abused 
 by the abolitionists. 
 
 When it was found that the public mind was un- 
 derfiroinc: a chanire in favor of Colonization, the 
 
008 PERSON A OES. 
 
 loading spirits of the opposition became desperate, 
 and challenged Mr. Kavanaugli to a public discus- 
 sion. This was very gladly accepted, and the time 
 and place were fixed — March 15th, 1846, the time; 
 Knightstown, in a (Quaker abolition neighborhood, 
 the place. When the agent arrived in the village, 
 he was waited upon by a committee of his friends, 
 who advised him not to go into the debate ; said 
 that his antagonist was a learned and adroit lawyer ; 
 had the sympathies of all the peo[)le in his fiivor; 
 and it would be very mortifying to them to see 
 Brother Kavanaugh demolished. 
 
 The debate came on, and continued three days, 
 in the presence of a crowded assembly. The in- 
 terest increased with every hour u}) to the close. 
 At the termination, the bold advocate of " imme- 
 diate and universal emancipation, regardless of 
 consequences," took leave suddenly, and Mr. Kav- 
 anaugh remained to form a flourishing Colonization 
 Society on the battle-ground. 
 
 This was the lirst of seven different challenges, 
 all coming from the same quarter, and all of which 
 were accepted. The last of the series came oft' in 
 the city of Chicago, where the discussion was con- 
 tinued for nine consecutive evenings, under an 
 agreement that it should bo continued until one of 
 the parties should cry, "Enough!" The result 
 
REV. BENJ. T. KAVANAUUII, M.D. 301) 
 
 was all that the friends of Mr. Kavanaiigh or his 
 cause could possibly desire. 
 
 Before his election to the executive chair, Gov. 
 AVright, of Indiana, was one of the early friends 
 of Colonization ; and, after his election, he brought 
 the subject before the Legislature. This resulted 
 in a grant of five thousand dollars a year to the 
 Society. The labors of the agent, it is said, pre- 
 pared the public mind to receive with great favor 
 this action of their legislators. 
 
 Finding that he could not provoke his abolition 
 friends to make war upon him any further, and 
 seeing that every paper advocating their cause in 
 the State had gone to repose, and having no fears 
 for the ultimate triumph of Colonization principles, 
 Mr. Kavanaugh resigned his agency to accept 
 another. 
 
 The study of medicine had engaged his attention, 
 at intervals, for several years. Indeed, he had been 
 compelled to engage in the practice, among the 
 Indians and early settlers of Wisconsin, as a matter 
 of charity. lie therefore spent tlie winter of 
 1847-8 attending a course of lectures in liush Med- 
 ical College, Chicago, to which he had been invited 
 by the Faculty. 
 
 Dr. Kavanaugh returned to Indianapolis in the 
 spring of 1848, and embarked in the cause of Tem- 
 
310 PERSONAGES. 
 
 peranco, as agent for the "State at large," under 
 the auspices of the Grand Division of the Sons of 
 Temperance. Again he found it necessary to em- 
 ploy the press in behalf of his cause ; so he edited 
 and published the Family Visitor, which was soon 
 made the organ of the " Order" for the State. 
 This was a weekly, in quarto form, eight pages, 
 very neatly gotten up. 
 
 Two years were employed in this work, a tour of 
 the entire State was made each year, and every 
 prominent place was made the scene of most zeal- 
 ous and persevering eftbrts. The total prohibition 
 of the liquor traffic was insisted on, and this before 
 the Maine Liquor Law had been heard of. Through 
 the Visitor the same great truths were inculcated, 
 so that all others who spoke on the subject were 
 indoctrinated in the principles advocated by the 
 agent. The amount of travelling and lecturing 
 performed in a single season was truly astonishing. 
 Such was his zeal in any enterprise, when he be- 
 came fully enlisted, that the Doctor knew no 
 bounds short of entire success. 
 
 His winters were spent at home, conducting his 
 paper, and attending two courses of medical lec- 
 tures in the city of Indianapolis, where he gradu- 
 ated as an M. D. in the spring of 1849. Dr. Kav- 
 anaugh now determined to settle himself, and 
 
REV. BEN.T. T. K A V A N A U G II , M.D. 311 
 
 devote his time to the practice of his profession, 
 preaching from time to time, as occasion might 
 offer. 
 
 He arrived in St. Louis February 25th, 1851. 
 lie had been invited to remove here by a vote of 
 the Preachers' Meeting. Within a week after liis 
 arrival, at the Annual Commencement of the Med- 
 ical Department of the St, Louis University, he 
 was honored with the degree ^'■ad eundcm" The 
 same honor was conferred by the Medical Depart- 
 ment of the State University, at its next Annual 
 Commencement. Thus honored by both Medical 
 Colleges of the city. Dr. Kavanaugh found no diffi- 
 culty in obtaining an extensive and lucrative prac- 
 tice in a very short time. 
 
 The Doctor was further surprised by an election 
 to a Professorship in the Medical Department of 
 the State University. This honor was the more 
 valued by Dr. Kavanaugh and his friends, for the 
 reason tliat lie was not an applicant for the vacant 
 chair. 
 
 lie is a great Mason withal. In passing through 
 all the grades of Masonry, up to that of Knight 
 Templar, he was invariably called to preside over 
 the Lodges, Chapters, Councils, and Encampments, 
 wlicrc he held his membership. Dr. Kavanaugh 
 never filled an inferior office. His perfect famili- 
 
312 PERSONAGES. 
 
 arity witli tlie "work and lectures" of eacli degree 
 ill the various orders, his acquaintance with all the 
 duties of the Chair, and the jurisprudence of the 
 Order in general, gave him a most commanding 
 position in the general convocations of Masons in 
 all the States where he resided. In Wisconsin and 
 Indiana the Grand Lecturers were required to 
 appear before him, to receive such instructions, and 
 to pass such an examination, as would enable him 
 to certify to their qualifications to perform the deli- 
 cate duties pertaining to their office. It is be- 
 lieved that few men ever conferred as many degrees 
 in the higher departments of Masonry as Dr. Kav- 
 anaugh. 
 
 In the fall of 1857, Dr. Kavanaugh united with 
 the St. Louis Annual Conference, and was stationed 
 in the city of Lexington, Mo. Here he remained 
 two years, edif3'ing the flock. lie is now in charge 
 of a pious and wealthy congregation in the city of 
 Independence. His literature is limited, his talents 
 above the ordinary, his theological attainments ex- 
 tensive. I never heard him repeat a sermon but 
 once ; then he was requested to do so. And I have 
 heard him scores of times. He has a vigorous 
 frame, and a voice that may be heard half a mile. 
 
 Lexington, Mo., Jan. 1, 1860. 
 
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