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

gressions when punishment Is deserved. we
are all bound to be Ienient toward our own
weak and erring natures.
You find, invariably, that be who makes The
! largest allowance for mems frallties and crimes,
Is himself the most free from their influence
and when ! find an old man who has seen
much Of heartless insinceFity, and falsehood,
and atrocity, viewing with charity the ohIiqui.
ties Of NEIL cannot but venerate and love
him. If he be an old Lawyer the reverence Is
stronger for it has been bis lot TO see men Ia
their undress--to examine the workings al
their worst passions-to invest gate the most
vicious acrs that men can perpetrate, and seen
them fully proved. He has, i'm his long pras-
tee. been brought into contact with all vari-
cites of human beings; he has been the conf
dant of the erring and the afflicted he has, in
hIs own person, known ingratitude OF the
blacklist dye, when he had performed services
for which no sufficient return could be made.
He has seen the treachery Of friend toward
friend brother toward brother. He has found
1 sin ard pollution hidden in forms Of perfection.
/ under couueenances open. and innocent Of as
Pect, from which suspicion would turn with
hopeless discontinue. He has seen every
phase of human life calculated to disgust him
with humanity, and, it after this ordeal he still
loves that humanity-stiIl finds, under all that
obscures or vanissles it, the evidences of radi-
| has studied his fellow men In Christian spirit
For an old lawyer like this. my affections will
| cling so closely that my very nature viii be in
'ertwined with his. He may have shperabun.
dant faulis-his Judgment may be awry, and
ms speculations dreamy and delusi, e-his
whole career may be stamped with irregnlaritv
and yet. while his moral nature retains the
feature have mentioned, VIII wear him sin
my heart of hearts,
II
whose Wondering form has carried to the very
sepulchre the warmest attachment could be-
stow. would halIow the spot where his col.
nm has been deposited, as ! cherish impefish.
ably the recollection of his benevolent charac-
terIstlcs. Ii 10 not loug SINCE he took ahis
chamber in the silent halls of DEATH" and it
was my painful pleasure to follow him to his
last resting place. He died full of years in the
midst Of those he loved, having given to soci-
ETY. family worthy TO perpetuate his name
summoned at a moment 10 the presence of the
Creator whose wisdom, benevolence, and maj
esty he stove rightly to understand, and value.
The summons did not find him unprepared.-
1t was one directly to his heart. and the con-
Vulsion that stopped its pulsations forever, lifted
him, hope, into heaven by the organ whose |
impulses, though the causes of his faults. were |
also the sources of his many noble qualities.-l
There was fitness in his decease, which, as |
It was the viii of Heaven, afforded me as his /
friend d sincere qualification. do not regret |
that he was not compelled TO inger day after
day until his vigorous frame, diminished to a |
skeleton, yielding strugglngly the spirit 10
which it was devoted. Here would have been
pain. and anguish to many fond watchers and I
and agonieS which, though they |
would have been borne without a murmur,
might have added TO the tomb in which the
good old lawyer reposee another form, to which
the Divine will may allow many years ofpeace-
full existence.
Poor W was a warm. hearted, be-
nevG lent creature, and not less eccentric than
kindly. Nature had endowed him with genius,
and given his intellect a canacity far from COM
mon. Fancy, wit, humor, all belonged to him
in abundance, and very liberal education
had refined all these. and supplied them ample
subjects for the exerc Sc and illustration of
their powers. lie had an eye for all that was
beautiful and majestic in the vast range Of na-
ture, and soul attuned by all the harmonies,
he contemplation of beauty and majesty can !
awaken. There was no limit to the word IN
which his Imagination chose to revei. pushing |
or itself farther and farther, the horizon line
hat seemed to bound it, and working in its ad.
Gances such ever.varying changes as could !
awaken pleasure or interest fer the journey. I
All that his Imagination thus bebeld. he had !
much facility in describing, for none who knew
am long failed to discover in his wild and Inn
,ulsive efurts, the strong evidences of real ell.
,quence. / have seen his eye dllate. his form {
ROW more aud more erect. and his face as
ume an enchanting appearance OF intelligent
)enevolence, while he poured out sentence al I
er sentence of poetical and feTvid language,
tudded with thoughts that would have ador. 9
led the most charming poem. all expended I
lpon some poor devil who was only waiting the .
ermination of the appeal to cheat poor W
# his fee. E
His efforts often astonished those who heard !
hem for he would, IN the weary details OF a
most dry and uninteresting question Of dollars =
nd cents. weave some beautiful reflections q
MY appreciated BY few OF his hearers, and
ven then made whimsical by their strange G
ssociation. Yet It was always thus. Erfat.
. as was his intellect IN the main, ne yet had Q
n annie store Of legal know ledge, very sound
Jews of all che relations and duties of lifes a
zen perception of the point IN which the very
irl,t could be found, and capacity TO sustain
Is views by logical and cogent reasoning.
ras his fancy that disturbed powers which, on q
; for ita eccentric control, would have won y
heir Dossessor a fame far beyond that which
q is now destined to enjoy. The eflecf was
hat of a prism--it Eefracted yarious-coioreo
avs over what thus became disngureQ.
ave seen him, with quick and mpetuous step :
~@~~%
erhaps sturdy sailoey staggering nnder the .
1eignt of a dozen law books to some court m 2
,hich tnere would be no one TO Appreciate one 2
urst of his oratoryF; and have known hln, !
then there, 10 waste upon an inattenfive au-
ience. passages that would have been appiau-
al in the Senate chamber. have heard him IN 9
suit for sailors wages, with probably
,orthless client and had cause, describe ~ 2 !
,anner not unworthy Of Shakespeare the peril =
Is vocation ola mariner the mercurial char. :.
cter it gave him, the dangers joys, and ms y
,rtunes of his cause. and the reasons why Z
uurts ofiusfice should make liberal alowan- g
q for Eis Irregularities The occasions Of g
nilar efforts have been neither few nor far p
etweens u : :
He had many pecuIaFilies: llese wsFe 9 9
\ the offspring 0fmpulGe. With sincere Do. 2
q e. di.rharre li6 duky---for no man ever 2
n tkat obligation more stFOnEl The iEnme. Z
80 snneal 70 his cid was fheona that would y
1nfral laira and be would NOT hesitate t0 imsf =