Columbus Democrat. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 18??-18??, 1851-10-04
DEATH OF JAMES FENNIH0RE
COOPER.

a. lhllock has irulhtu.iy Characterized him. =
NOW M moTs. Hs died At b., fe-'drnce IN
ConF5srnVn. on Sunday, the l4'h inst, ahnut
one u'clock IN the afternoon. This sad event
d d ,ui I'll span Ms fzr"ily and friends with The
suI,uuuess e a sHrpris-, because, during hi-
long ard psiuial previous ilue.-, they had been
ratgh, 10 expect IT,, though hoping against hope.
1P letter Which brings bis intelligence 10 Us
sar that "he died peacefully and happily ia the
bos1n Of coajugal and flial affection"
M Cooper was Der best known man Of letters,
less cad in England perhaps, than Washington
Irving, b1, enjoying 4 far wider continental pop
ular'y. while il is doubtful whether there il
reaang man among his eountrymen, wholly ig"
norut Of his works. lie rose with the dawn Of
our Literature, and a, period when it had 10
struggle Tor recognition before the tribunals Of
Eus p-an opinion bis nafas was one Of the few
in Vhch W. coChdenlly appealed 10 subs,anti-
ate or claims. le has since grown with its
growth. aud IN ri. lit 4 iIl4,trou. bpoks. he has
left us noble and imperishable uherirtnc".
Er. Cooper was born 10 The year 1899. at
Buias'ou. New Jersey. where hi. father, vii
han Cooper, an Engli.h emigrant, had settled
sane twcnty wears before. tie was educated
u'der private teachers until the year 1902 when
When be entered Yale COLLEGE, where he was
graduated ia 1905. The next year he procured
a midshipwan's warrant and adopted the navy
as his profession. His frank, during and genpr.
ous nature, no less than the quickne,s Of his mind
admirably fitted him for the duties of the ser'icp,
but after siI wears, years ofthe most profitable
adventure as his writings have since shown.--
he resigned his commission, and returned TO pri-
vale life.
In 1911, he was married 10 Miss De L1npey,
a sister Of the Bishop Of the Diocese Of Western
New York, with whom after brief residence in
Westchesier county, the scene ofone Of his finest
fctions, he removed 10 Coop"rstown, where,
with the exception Of his occasional absences in
Europe, he has passed The greater part OF his
life.
1t was jnst before his removal to Coopersiown
that he commenced his career as an author
He had written, in his moments Of leisure. a
novel Of English life, called Precaution, which,
published anonymously and under great disad
van'ages, met with liut or no success. Ii indi
Gated talent, but not that high order OF talent
which the aahor subsequently displayed. But
the Spy which speedily followed it, a, once es-
ubishrd his fame. The ,igor offs descriptions
the rapidly aud interest OF the narrative, its beau
Itll local alusions aud the genuine Ameri IAN
spirit which pervaded it,, 10 say nothing Of the
iustrious characters Of our history which il dark
ly shadow. fonh commended It to his own coun
trymrn, aud won the admiration Of the critics
ahrp,d. More than any other work then pub
lshed, il rescued our people from the feeling OF
intellectual dependence.
II 1898, the Pioneers appeared TO sustain and
aud advance The reputation ol the author aud to
Introduce to our love and admiration. character
which has run through many ct MIR. Coopers
works, but who never appears without exciting
a deep and peculiar interest. We refer To The
Immortal hero 0f the Leather Stocking Tales.
10 he Natty Bumpo Of the Pioneers, tho rrapper
Of the Prairie, the scout of the Mohicans, and
the Pathfinder and the Deer Slayer Of later vo.
tunes. II is worthy Of remark, perhaps. that IN
writing the lie Of this typical hackwoodsmsn in
developing the several stages Of his growth, the
author has given il backwards, and presents US
with his youth and early manhood, afer he had
described his old aye aud death. Had he known,
when he published he Pioneers, what an m>
mense iayorile of the public he had created, he
would, douhlr.s, have presented his growth in
more logical and consecutive order, A il is, the
series Of tales in which this one prominent figure
appears, is unsurpassed for originality and inter.
est. by any in or language
But shortly after the success Of the Pioneer
had made Mr.. Cooper our frs, list, he
achieved n triumph on the sea a, signal as thai
he had first won in the forests. His romance
of the Pilot followed as il has since been at in,
tervaIs by the Red Rover, the Water.Wtch, The
Two Admirals, Wing and Wing, &c, placed
him at the head Of nautical novests, where he
sill stands, without Il peer, aud almost without
rival. The Long Tom CoIIin of the Pilot is
as popular a, the Scout. and as piece fsaior
characterization, will maintain its rank by the
AIDE OF well known Trunnions AMI Pipes Of the
British hunorisis.
Ia the year 1926, MIR. Cooper went to El-
rope, whore his fame had preceded him, and
where, while advancing his own reputation b,
new ti.tions he defended II at Of his country, by
his pI,rioic pamphlets and letters. The intel
lecjual f uils of his European exi enre, were
he Bravo, III lleidcnmaur, the lleadsmAn, &c.
tales eNhibnin! the same robust powers Of de-
srriplion which marked his earl or NO ks, but
whose want OF national costume prevented them
from reaching the same high degree of success
On his return to the United States he wrote The
Letter to his Countrymen, the Homeward Bound
and The Home as Found. in which the induI,
gence OF certain constitutional irritabiliIy, and
a disposition to find fault, gave great offence to
his critics, and quite deprived him Of his former
popularity. The public does no, care to be IL
lored by its favorites. and resenls their sinceres
criticism as an impertnence or an outrage
But This revulson of the popular taste was re.
buked with still severer structures on the part Of
the author, who, in the ID, came to an open
rupture with his old admirers, aud, when he
could no longer correct them with his pen, hr
tried to justify himseIfby an appeal to the law.
The memory Of those ieuds, however, we believe.
has happily passed away. and Copper will be
cherished in the minds of bis fellow. izens,
eager to forget his 1Ibes and his mistakes, as
one Of their most munfcenl benefc'ors.
Besides the novels, which everybody has read.
Mr.. Cooper was the author OF an admirable