Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1830-10-13


--,yere sca,tered To the winds. Two hours be
e,re thai viewed him with commiseration: now
rnyied him. rn
.Poeta nasctur orator fit is an adage OF the
Roman poet which is generally true, and by Its
operation most men arc denied the privilege o; .
adding the ivy Of the poet to the bays OF the ORA
ator: but HAYES, singular as he was IN every thing
else, was also an exception to this ruse-he was
both born and made Although eioquence was
certainly the highest cast of his talents. ana tat
nv which he was best known and will be longest
he possessed also no incon ',deraoie
portion of the poecal estrus, or per!Ious nre wmca
was said to have been purloined from Heaven;ms
Waslingtonian. an incomplete poem. published
in two cantos, is certainly. very credip'e 10 MS
muse. but it has shared the fate of the best pro-
ductions Of our home market--that oi oeihS very
little read on known. II seems that Poeuca' pro-
ductions. to be popular in America. must have
undergone a sea sweat: otherwise, why IS II tnat
we hear so little of the Airs Of Palestine. OF Pear
pont: the Powers of Genuius. John Blair Linn,
of perciyal, and MANY other very tolerabIe Do
nestle manufactures of verse. Bartistown has
itself produced other singing birds besides Hayes,
of rare pumase and exquisite note. Amongst the
finest Of this tropical avsry is the late Doctor Har-
ney. whose Chrysiali0a Is rambling and moral
less fairy tale, Of good workmanship. 1t Is
slender thread on which is strung some pearls
and Jewels of the greatest value and highest 0rii.
liancv. He certainly was poet-and why should
he net have been one, since Apollo Is the patron
gud of Poesy as well as Of Physic: Had 1t been
otherwise. in vain should we have looked Tor such
bards as Darwin, or Armstrong, or Akcnslde. or
Garth. or Smollett. or Moore. or Goldsmith, or
Gond, or MANY others of surprising merit, who
! J,,lt nd N n.
mortal verse.
But. although we have spoken of Washington
as the theme Of Haves' eloquence, as well as the
the hero # his unfinished Epic. it is not to be I'M
! derstood that it required subject SO exalted as
him. who was first in war, first IN peace, and
FIRST in the hearts of his countrymen,' to elicit
the happy and exclusive powers Of his genius, and
that he was great ouy when treatngof great OBJ
iec;s This was not the case. Although he de-
| lighted most. as was NEST natural. III the mari
7uS, he could chime out his tentinabularv sounds
upon the pafru5 the minor and the nai"i0'"s.--
| As nothing could soar above his genius, 50 no.
thing was too minute for It's ken. Ii was not on
" strong and fecund. butt was versatile aud d.
versiied. 1t was like an imperial jet d'eau OF
more properly, like the widows crnse-alwavs
bubbln~ over, vet ALWAYS full He could play
the dsta fl az we'll as WELD the club of Hercules.
He could treat of minums without making them
whales. 1t cost him no effart.w counted rou
leaux of gold ia his intellectual treasury. to speud
a shilling. He could have discOursed with Add
son upon black patches for ladies checks-witt
Bloomfield on an oaken table-with Burns on Z
wee modest crimson tippit flower'-wih Cow
nrt-7-tHA. 44 heel Of al old shne-e.----
The infinite diversity of his conversation is re
collected bv the inhabitants of this town, where
for many years, he exercised his social and con
viva Notwithstanding the lively with his wit
the serious with his knowledge. the scholar witt
his learning and the politician with his sagacity
Whist wurds of learn, length and laundering sound
I'm I'd the gazing rusies ranged around;
AID still they g'ze'l. and still The wonder grew,
| Elo" snail h. al could carry all he knew
Hitherto we have viewed Hayes only in his
most favorable phases; we have spoken Of him as
scholar and "a a genius,-aS an orator and as a
poet; but more difficult task is before us, and
one to the performance of which we acknowledge
ourselves inadequate. To us. IN many respects.
he ,caS sealed book!-Wcre you to ask any per-
son in the streets Of Bartstown. did YOU know
John Hayess' the answer would probably be, .Yes,
very welI--intimately.' And thus ii is. and 50
little attention is paid to the meaning of words.
These persons could tell YOU what kind of look
in. man he was. how he walked, and talked, and
acted. and what kind of clothes he wore; but of
his moral diathesis,-the tone, coloring or con-
plexily of his feelngs-thc power. direction, or
combination OF his muves-and Other internal
i movements and springs of action. they knew no
! thing. He was. in truth. very difficult and
singular moral enigma HIS most intimate friends
knew nothing of him. His respectable father.
and mother that bore and nurtured him at her
breast. knew him not. He was ignorant of HIM
self! To one only was he known. and that was
the Great Author of his being, who saw fit to
make him such as he was. How then shall we
proceeds
Although HAYES moral tempera ment was
strange. aud often inexplicabe, much of it may
be illustrated by description of two remarkably
strong characteristic traits-the one of his tenn
per, the other of his constitution, -which, like
the Sin and Death of Lucifer, accompanied him.
aud tyranulzed over him through life We shall
attempt this IN a few words.
Ambition, that vice of great minds, az it has
been emphaticaly called, was the strong, master
ing. and demon passion of his soul. Incited by
the writings and contortions of this internal ny