5\^ S ij^a WILLIAM LOWELL PUTNAM. Pass Z", r/3 Book— ^'yju LOWELL PUTNAM. LOWELL PUTNAM. ' Ardilo. umauo cor, uobil fietvzza. Sublime Ingegno, «, in ftTTenentiffpof(lie. BelUfsini' aim*/* CAMBRIDGE: RIVERSIDE PRESS, 186;j. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S62, by H. 0. Houghton, , the Olerk-s Office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts. /49^^' DEDICATED CHARLES GREELY LORING. LOWELL PUTNAM. I. William Lowell Putnam was born on tlie ninth of July, 1840. The attainment of his ma- jority was marked by his entrance into the ser- vice of his country. His commission as Second Lieutenant in the Twentieth Regiment of Massa- chusetts Volunteers bears date the tenth of July, 1861. In little more than three months after, he fell mortally wounded on the banks of the Potomac. " He only lived until he was a man : The which no sooner had his prowess confirmed, In the unshrinking station where he fought. Than like a man he died. " Our cause of sorrow Must not be measured by his worth, for then It hath no end." His friends, receiving the pale form of the mar- tyr-boy, and looking on the face from which the radiant life had passed only to leave it with a 10 LUWELL PUTNAM. holier, tenderer beauty, might well have had in their hearts the answer, — " Why, then, God's soldier be he ! "We could not wish him to a fairer death." And yet how many and what hopes passed with that passing breath ! those that his young breast had cherished, silent and resolute ; those which admiring comrades had set in him, generous and cheerful; those that already bereaved hearts had treasured for him, trembling and prayerful ! But the life which was in hope, how shall its record be written ? We must tell what Lowell Putnam was rather than what he did. If we may ask his country to hold him in her memory, it must be not only because he laid down for her an almost untasted existence, but because he gave up with it projects of great and noble accomplish- ment. Lowell Putnam was distinguished from his in- fancy, not for premature development or preco- cious attainment, but for vigor of intellect and steadfastness of character. He possessed with these a singular beauty and charm, which won love even from passing strangers. Those nearest to him watched the unfolding of his haimonious powers with an almost trembling delight. But, although he bore on countenance and character the stamp LOWELL PUTNAM. 11 which suggests that Heaven will soon reclaim its own, yet his healthy constitution, his mirtliful tem- per, his practical ability, and the energj' of his will gave assiu-ance of an extended, a happy, and a use- ful life. From infancy to childhood, from childhood to manhood, there was still seen in liini the same beautiful companionship of love and power, al- ways working together with the same simplicity. Framed to act on a large scale, he yet overlooked no smallest office of affectionate duty. His self- reliance was tempered and confirmed by a most dignified modesty. Of a very tender and yield- ing temper, he was yet independent in opinion and inflexible in principle. Eager, he was yet pa- tient ; prompt, he was persistent. He possessed that rare combination of enthusiasm with com- posure which characterizes the men who set a mark upon their time. And all this material for greatness he held un- consciously, or only with such consciousness as calls into use the strength possessed. He enjoyed the pleasure found in the exercise of fine faculties and noble dispositions, but not that of their lull recognition by others or by himself. He did not know that the results of liis study and thought ■were sometimes expressed in words that were lis- tened for ; he did not even know how liis loving 12 LOWELL PUTNAM. heart, speaking through his frank face, drew love to him. When, therefore, before his powers had attained their maturity, before tlie warm, strong heart had yet had time to animate them to ade- quate performance, the sentence. It is finished, was passed upon his earthly career, it might almost have seemed that he had been defi'auded of his due. But no ; " He lived long enough to do a man's work " : this has been pronounced by wise and impartial lips accustomed to discriminate and decide. No intercepting cloud of human praise was permitted to pass between that pure soul and the Light from which it drew its sustenance. But neither was it decreed that so much greatness and beauty inhabiting a mortal form should fade from earth and leave no record of its passage. We may perhaps even dare to believe that the homage which follows a bright example, as it passes out of sight, is an incense not too gross to penetrate the atmosphere of heaven. Lowell Putnam's short course was no stirring drama. It was a calm and sweet, though an he- roic poem. His equal powers were formed by no struggle with outward or inward hindrance. Like a straight young elm springing in a pleasant field with room enough and air enough, he grew up into strength and beauty and gracefulness. To all his other good gifts he added one, per- LOWELL PUTNAM. 13 haps the rarest of all, — contentedness. He never found the folded rose-leaf. He has sometimes said that there was no circumstance in liis life or po- sition that he would wish chani^ed. Especially he valued the liberty allowed him by his large- minded father. " When I think," he has said, — summing up his debt to Divine Providence, — "when I think what a father I have!" And well might he be grateful to Heaven for a father to whom he owed so much, not only of accorded, but of transmitted good. The erect manliness, the intrepidity, the self-reliance, the strong prac- tical judgment, the prompt decision, — those vig- orous virtues which gave value to his softer gifts and graces, were a paternal inheritance. His life knew but one sorrow, a tender and sa- cred one, reverently accepted and trustfully borne. Until the age of fifteen he had enjoyed the pro- tecting friendship of an elder brother, not less high- ly, though somewhat diflerently endowed. The two brothers offered, both in person and in mind, a lovely likeness and contrast. The younger seemed to be wholly of the North, except for the sunshine in his light locks and the warm hue of his hazel eyes. The dark hair and brows of the elder heightened the whiteness of a skin not less fair than his brother's, and through which the mantling blood showed even more vividly ; his 14 LOWELL PUTNAM. long dark lashes shaded eyes of deepest, calm- est blue. The trustful look in those soft eyes of Willie's waked solicitude for the tender, confiding nature whose interpreter they were, until it was seen that they could jSash as well as smile, and that they were in company with a forehead on which judgment held its quiet throne, and with lips that could say No. The shade of melancholy which Alfred's face wore when he was silent, the almost feminine beauty of his exquisitely moulded mouth and dimpled chin seemed to reveal the poet, the dreamer, the unpractical man who must have a plain path to walk securely. But, if this judgment had been hastily formed, it must be as quickly revoked ; for the steady look of the clear eyes and the prominent brows above them an- nounced one who could both see his way through the world and find it. The brothers were alike in the essential attri- butes of a manly and Clu-istian character. It could not have been said that one was more truthful, more generous, more high-minded, more affectionate, more courageous than the other. Both delighted in manly and athletic games, in long excursions on foot and on horseback. Both were awake to the srand and beautiful in Nature and in the masterpieces of genius. But, while they stood together, it appeared that the younger LOWELL PUTNAM. 15 was tlie more impulsive, the elder more self-con- tained. Alfred had already known the chasten- ing of sorrow in the death of a brother whom he had ardently loved. William, at the time of this loss too young to feel it deeply, had a vivacity and gayety of heart which distinguished him even when among French children. Both enjoyed hu- mor. Alfred had a keen relish for wit. His pleasure in it played over his face in arch smiles ; he seldom gave way to merriment. Willie's iiTe- sistible laugh sent the genial infection of mirth to all within its reach ; tliey must echo it without stajnng to inquire its source. Willie's affections expressed themselves gladly and gracefully in ca- ressing words, in fond good -wishes, in tender di- minutives, to which his sweet face and voice gave an inexpressible charm. Alfred's spoke only in the beaming look, the softened tone, — at most in a few low words or a quick pressure of the hand. But while his feelings were deep and restrained, Alfred's mind moved over an extended field. William's readily concentrated itself. Alfred was, almost from infancy, a wide and rapid reader. William studied slowly and thoughtfully the few books that interested him. Alfred's fine percep- tions and varied tastes aided to develop the poet- ical element in William's mind, where the rea- soning powers seemed disposed to claim the as- 16 LOWELL PUTNAM. cendancy ; while, in return, the sensitive and re- served elder brother foinid in the frank fondness of the younger, in his passionate adieus, his eager welcomes, enjoymeiit of a love which never let itself be doubted of. The two brotliers were so mucli alike that they lived in fullest sympathy, — so different that each recognized a superiority in the other. William looked up to Alfred with admiring respect ; Al- fred cherished for his younger brother a more confident ambition than for himself. When death separated them and Wilham was left an only son, he felt the duty laid upon him of adding his brother's attributes to his own. It was in Italy, to which the brothers had been looking forward as to a land of promise, that this grief overtook him. He was not de- pressed or long saddened by it. But it was ap- parent that a great change had passed over him. Or rather, it was manifest that he had received an accession of gifts and an enhancement. New tastes were developed ; the old expanded to em- brace larger objects. He had now, when silent, a certain manly gravity. His young features often wore the expression of deep thought. Yet all that he had been he remained. If his exuberant spirits were somewhat tamed, he never lost his delightful light-heartedness ; the growth of his in- LOWELL PUTNAM. 17 tellect and the accumulation of knowledse took nothing from his childlike simplicit}'. The next world seemed from that time to be as real to him as the present, — and yet did not too much obscure it. The earthlj life only gained in dig- nity and value as the more clearly recognized threshold of the heavenlv. William became more diligent than ever be- fore. Especially he cultivated those studies in which Alfred had found pleasiu-e. He felt him- self continually in the beloved presence, and drew from it aid and inspiration. He not only re- solved on a more energetic performance of the leading duties of his life, but also on a stricter obsenance of the minor virtues. Alfred had been remarkable for an exact punctuality. . Wil- liam now made this the rule of his daily life, and did not afterwards depart from it ; he was never waited for. Yet his very exactness took a color from his easy temper and genial nature. He never had an air of impatience or hurry ; his firm, regular step was that of one who knew that he was always sure to be in time. He in- herited his brother's love of art in painting and in poetry. He made a serious study of the gal- leries of Italy, showing, from the first, a surpris- ing insight. He singled out at once not only the works of those masters whose merits are of 2 18 LOWELL PUTNAM. universal recognition, but also of those whose ap- preciation is thought to require an educated taste. He was never a large reader. He liked only masterwork. But he was not exclusive. As in painting, so in poetry, he recognized and en- joyed superiority of many different kinds. The majesty of Dante did not leave him insensible to the graceful charm of Metastasio or the com- posed earnestness of Alfieri. Schiller's "Wallen- stein " he read and read again with ever in- creasing pleasure ; but he had the " Iphigenie " of Goethe almost by heart, too. When he found that a work of fame was not interesting to him, he did not, therefore, call in question the author's claims ; he said simply, — "I am not ready for it yet." Thus in 1856 he was not ready for the " Paradise Lost " ; but in the summer of 1858 — the last he passed in Paris — he found delight in it. Shakspeare he loved early and late. Le- gend and primitive song had a great chann for him. He liked to seek out these sweet wild-flow- ers m their early homes. The li^^ng poetry of the people, too, interested him. Wherever he went, he collected floating ballads. There are friends of Lowell Putnam's who, meeting, when he greeted them on his return from Europe, after an absence of seven years, the same bright, innocent, confiding smile with which LOWELL PUTNAM. 19 he had looked up to tliein in infancy, have in- ferred that this tender and holy charm could have been preserved only by the most watchful care. Others, who first knew him after his re- turn, and who were aware how close the ties were which bound him to his home, how warm and equal a ft-iendship existed between him and his parents, took for granted that he had never been separated from tlie paternal guardiansliip. It seemed that the perfect candor and purity which lav on his brow and spoke in the heavenly light of his look could be thus retained, through twenty years of mortal life, only by a soul care- fully guarded from the soil of earth. He was, indeed, compassed with favor as with a shield by Him who has promised to be a defence to them who put their trust in Him; but a large liberty and entire confidence were the only secmrities in- terposed by his earthly parents. He was con- versant, during more than two years, with all the variety of character and diversity of prin- ciple to be found in a Paris boarding-school, which had among its pupils representatives of almost every country of Europe. He afterwards passed many months at a large school in Ger- many. From the age of sixteen he enjoyed an almost complete independence. Living in Paris or other of the great capitals of Europe, he 20 LOWELL PUTNAM. was master of his time and bis pursuits. He had friends in the " Latin Quarter," and was familiar with it. But student-hfe in Paris did not offer to him the aspect which it so often presents to the imagination or the observation of the foreigner. He did not look for what, per- haps, was there, of levity, of recklessness, of coarseness ; but he respected profoundly what he discovered of manly, of devoted, of heroic. He found there lessons, not temptations. He made frequent excursions and jom'neys, on foot or in the saddle, by railroad or by diligence, with friends of his own age or with elder associates. His genial temper, large sympathies, and various tastes fitted him for easy intercourse with men of very different sorts. Among his European ac- quaintances were found the man of science, the man of the world, the collegian, the young offi- cer, the ouvrier, the common soldier, the peasant. He was at home with all and learned from all, yet remained ever himself. His earnestness and the absence of self-consciousness defended him from falling into imitation even of men whom he admired. He entered warmly into the feelings of those with whom he associated, but his opinions were modified only by conviction. His mind ad- mitted nothing but the just and pure. Yet it was only by this exclusion that he showed him- LOWELL PUTNAM. 21 self fastidious. No critical word was heard fi-om him. He knew his fiiends and companions by what they had of best ; if there was another side, it could not be said that lie had seen it. After his return to the United States, he had no regretful longing for what he had left in Eu- rope. His love for his country was as warm as if he had never been absent from it, and his admiration only deejjcned as he saw the working of the institutions so beautiful to him in theory. Yet he never lost sight of the caution found in one of his letters to an intimate friend, — ".John, never let patriotism lead you into upholding what is wrong." His was the antique patriot- ism in its passionate love and unreserved devo- tion, but chastened by a Christian conscience. He lost no time in visiting Lexington and Concord. He brought away from these shrines of Freedom pious souvenirs, as before from Edfe Hill, or from La Rochelle, or from the then mournful field of Novara. Wherever man, made in the image of God, has lived and labored, the divine has transfigured the terrestrial. William was not long in discovering that his country pos- sessed stores of delight for the imagination as well as for the mind and heart. The streets of his native place are as much classic ground as those of the Eternal City. Its environs are as rich 22 LOWELL PUTNAM. as the Campagiia, and with a more inspiring poetry. As in Europe, so in America, Lowell Put- nam's acquaintances were not of one age or class. He formed affectionate ties with youths of his own years and with others who had advanced a few steps farther forward in life ; but men of half a century, too, accepted him as a compan- ion, and the boy who had hardly more than ful- filled his first decade hailed him as a comrade ; his courteous geniality and refined .tastes secured him a welcome from the cultivated and fastidi- ous ; the hand of the mechanic met in his a clasp as honest and as strong as its own. His parents often pleased themselves with the thought that their vigorous and happy boy offered the type of Young America. They delighted to see in that nature, so ardent, yet so serene, so fearless, yet so reverent, so strong to bear, yet so tender to others' suffering, a promise of the gold- en time on which our country should enter when she should have shaken from her limbs the tram- mels with which an iron age had impeded them. May the life he laid down be completed in that of the country for which he gave it ! May she be blessed with generations exhibiting his ro- bust and genial virtues, in ever increasing meas- vu-e, until all her sons shall manifest the courage LOWELL PDTNA5I. 23 which is ready for danger, with the forbearance which does not provoke it, — the wise and moder- ate industry which, fortifying and not exhausting, leaves leisure for the claims of mirth, — the frank and graceful generosity which makes of giving and receiving a mutual benefit, — the unstinting liberality which would open to the Immblest of men the privileges of the highest, not onlv extending to them the satisfaction of material wants, but striving to reveal to them those finer delights whose perception makes life rich amidst the rudest surroundings, but without which all the luxuries of earth leave it gi'oss and dull ! Jakuabt, 1862. '13