The Democratic Whig. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 1842-1843, 1843-03-16

the wofsf vices Of mankind, Yesi The wori
vices-ior while We should not excuse trans
gressions when punishment Is deserved, we
are an bound 10 Be lenieni toward our own
weak and erring natures
You end, invariably, that he who makes the
largest allowance for men's fraillics and crimes,
is himself he most free from their Influence
and when I find an old man who has seen
much Of heartless Insincerity, and alsehood,
and atrociiy, viewing with charity the oblqui-
ties Of men, / cannot but veneraie and love
him. II be be an old lalcgsT the reverence is
stronger ior il has been bis lot 10 see men m
their undress--t0 examine the workings Of
their worst passions--to invest gate the most
vicious acm that men can perpeirate and seen
them fully proved. lie has, in his long pras
tee, been brought into contact with al Vari-
cites 0fhuman beings he has been the conf
dant Of The eTing and the afflicted be has, 10
his own person, known ingraiilnde Of the
blacklist dye, when he had performed services
for which no sufficient return could be made.
Ile has seen the treachsy Of friend toward
friend brother toward brother. He has found
sin ard pollution hidden IN forms Of perfection,
pnaer countehances open, and innocent Of as
pect, from which suspicion would turn with
hopeless discontinue. he has seen every
phase Of human Iifo calculated to disgust him
with humanity, and. il after this ordeal he still
loves that humaniiy--stIl finds, under all that
ubscures or vsnishes il, the evidences Of mdi-
cal goodness and majesty, It Il sure that be
has studied his fellow menin Christian spirit
For an old lawyer like this, my affections viii
cling 50 closely that my very nature will be in
iertwined with his. He may have sbperabun-
dant auls--his judgment Inay be aWTy, and
hs specuatiUus dreamy and delusr CHS
whole career may be stamped with irregnlarity
and yet, while bis moral nature retains the
feature have mentioned, I will wear him ain
my heart Of hearts"
have "in my minds eye" an lawyer,
whose Wondering form has carried 10 the very
sepulchrs the warmest attachment / could be-
stow. | would hallow the spot where his COT.
% has been deposited, as ! cherish impefish-
ably tho recollection Of his benevolent clarsc-
teTistios. Il 10 nol loug since he took ahis
chamber in the siirnt halls Of DEATH" and il
was my painful pleasure to follow him to his
last resting place lie Died foil ofyears in the
midst Of Hose he loved, having given TO soci-
ely iamily worthy to perpeius,e bis name
summoned at a moment TO The presence Of The
Creator whose wisdom, benevOlence, and maj-
esiy he stove rightly TO understand and value.
The summons did not fnd him unpTepared.-
Ii was one directly 10 his heart. and the con-
vulsion that stopped its pulsalons ioTever lifted
him, I hope, into heaven by the organ whose
impulses, though the causes OF hs faults, we're
also the sources Of bis many noble qualities
There was itless in his decease, which, as
It was the viii Of Heaven, afforded me as bis
friend sincere qualification. do not regret
thai he was not compelled 10 llger day after
day until his vigorous frame, diminished to a
skeleton, yielding strugglngly the spirit 10
which II was devoted. Here would have been
pain. and anguish To many fond watchers and
multiplied cares and agonies which, though they
would have been borne without a murmur,
might have added TO the tomb IN winch The
good Old lawyer reposes another form, to which
ihe Divine will may allow many years ofPeaee-
fol existence.
Poor W was e warin.hearted, be- |
nevtleut creature, and not less eccentric than !
kindly. Nature had endowed him with genius, |
and given bis ntellect capacity far from CON-
mon. Fancy, wit, humor, all belonged 10 him |
IN abundance, and a very liberal education |
had rehued all these, and supplied them ample |
subjects for the exerc Sc aid illustration Of |
their powers. lie had an eye for al that was /
beautiful and majestic in the vast range Of ma
ture, and soul attuned by all the harmonies,
the contemplation Of beauty and majesty can /
aW AIKEN. There was no limit to The world in /
which his Imagination chose to reVel. pushing /
for itself farther and farther the hnriaon line /
that seemed to bound Il, and working in It's ad-
vances such ever-yarying changes as could !
awaken pleasure or interest fer the Journey. /
All that his Imagination thus behold. he had
much AGILITY IN describing, TOT none WIN knew
hm long failed 70 discover IN his wild and i'm
pulsive efforts, the strong evidences Of real e-
oquence. have seen his eye dllate, his form
grow more and more erect, and his face as
sumo an enchanting appearance Of intelligent
while he poured out sentence az
ter sentence Of poetical and fervid language,
studded with thoughts thai would have ador-
ned the most charming poem, al expended
upon some poor devil who was only waiting the
termination Of the appeal to cheat ploF W.
Of his fee.
Ills efforts often astonshed those who heard
them for be would, in the weary details Of a
most dry and undressing question Of dollars
and cents, weave some beautiful reflections
only appreciated BY a few Of his hearers, and
even then made whimsical by their strange
association. Yet Il was always thus. ErFat-
e as was his intellsct in the man, he vet had
m ample store Of legal know ledge, very sound
s'sws Of al The relations and duties Of hfe, a
keen perception ofthe point in which the very
right could he found, and a capacity 20 sustain
bis views by logical and eogent reasoning. It
vas bis fancy that disturbed powels which, on
y ior lis eccentric control, would have won
heir possessor fame Tar beyond that which
be Is nov destined 10 enjoy. The effect was
hat Of q prism--it Fefracted various-colored
-ays over what thus became disfgured. ]
ave seen him. with quick and mpetuous step
lurying along with SINE strong. armed client,
perhaps a sturdy sailor, staggering under the
weight ola dozen law books to some court in
which there would be noone to'appreciaie one
burst Of his oratoryl; and have known him,
when there, 10 waste upon an inattenlive au-
Hence, passages that would have been applau-
ted in tie Senate chamber. have heard him in
] suit foF a sailors wages, with probably 3
worthless client and bad cause, describe in
manner not unworthy Of ShakspeFe, the peril
lus vocation ola mariner, the mercurial char
,cter il gave him, The dangers, Joys and mis-
nrfunea nf he rauen and the rpaenna vvhe