The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1852-02-26

an earthouaka had shaken the ground ON which We
- Cd ana sho~sd the grave openng BY our path -.
grief for his lu,. his virtues ony "e'c 70
q enhered and bis tailirgs forgotten
ofhis fittings have ssid Titles such ~ ns nsa ~sis
obvious 10 All the world; they lay on tue surface Vi nus
oha-sctsF thee hpes HIM least maoe tne most 40
count Of them Witha character 20 Insoe up OF posve
ora,it,as. rharsct,r 90 independent and un,ompro-
msinv sud wh 3 sen.ityepsss far more acute than he
ma. willing 10 acknowledge II IL not surprising that oc
s..,ons s,sou-n,ly arose bring him sometimes into
s,is.5Ix collision and sometimes into graver disagree-
nsnts sra Misunderstanding. with bis fellow For
81, pIrrnies bis friends found ample couuterposa
80 the generous sincerity OF his nature. lie never
thought Of dguising his opinions, and he sbhorred all
dirsuise IN oiher', o. a.! not even deign 90 use
think well which the world tolerates and almost de-
nands. manly espiessicn Of opinion. however differ
ent fropl his own commanded bis peot or his
works he spoke with the freedom Of the works o.
other, snd hesitaed b express bis judgment
of bt ok the that II WIS written by himself
yet he could bear with genuenesS Gny dissent from the
estimate he placed on his writings. HIS character
vas lte tie bark Of the ciRnamon rough and sstrn-
gent rird without, and intense sweetness within
Those Who penetrated below the surface found genial
temper, warm affections snd heart with ample place
for his friends, their pursuits their good name their
welfare They found him g phisnthropist though
not precisely after the fashion Of the day; re-
apt to be feeling rather thsn custom, in the
household circle; hospitsbie, and to the extent OF
bs liberal hsuded In acts Of charity. They
found also that though in general he would as soeI
have thought Of giving OH friend OF giving up
opinion he proof against testimony aad could
part with mistaken opinion one parts with old
friend who has been proved faIthlet, and unworthy In
short Cooper we' one Of those Who to be loved must be
intimately known.
OF his literary character have spoken largely in
the narrative Of Lis life but there yet two
marx, which nutt he made 10 dc it justice In that
way OF writing in which he eScsen, il seems to me
that he united, in rc.enirent degree, those quail
ties which enabled him to interest the largest number
cf readers. lie wrote not for the fastdious the
refined, the morbidy delicate-for these find in his
genius somethirg teo robust for their nking--soms
thing with which their sensiblities too rudely
fhaten bot he wrote for msnbird ~ larg.-for men
and womep in the ordinary heath!ul state OF feeling
and in their admiration h found his gsrd 1t is for
this Glaze that pubic libraries obliged TO provide
themselves with extraordinary number Of copies of
bis works the number IN the Mercantile Library in this
city am told forty H-rce il, that ne has earned
fame wider think than any author of modern time,
wider, csrtsiny, than apy author, OF any age ever
euioyed ip his lifeline All his excesnc;es ara rauss
abethey pass readily into languages the least allied
In their genius to that in which be wrote ard in thar,
he touches Tho heart an kodles the Imagination with
the same power SIS ia the original English
Cooper not wholly without humor; it Is sometimes
found lurking il the dialogue Of Harvey Birch and Of
in his work. end ii it did would nave stood in the
gay o. his universal popularity since, of all qualities
it the mort difficult TO ran'fnss no foreign Ian
gusge Nor did the effect he produced upon the reader de-
pend any grace Of style which would escape trans
lator Of ordinary sk with his style II is true he
teok great pairs, and in lis cartier works, am
told, sometimes altered the proofs srut from
the printer go inrgey, that they might be said 30
be written over Yet be attained special fell
city, variety, or compass OF expression Hi, STYLE
however, answered its purpose; &c has defects, but
is manly and clear, ana stamps On the mind Ct the
reader the imprestion he desired to convey.
that Of the very defects OF Coopers novels
do net add, by certain force of contrast, 20 their
power over the mind He is long in getting at the
interest Of bis narrative The progress the plot at
first, is like that Of of his vessels OF wsr,
-lovly, heavily, snd even ewkwardly WORKING out OF
hsrbog. We are i'm patient and weary; but when the
vessel in the open and feels the free breath
heaven in her full sheets our dehsat and sdmiraton is
al the greater at the grsce the iusety aud power wta
which shc divides and bears down the and puc
her oour,e at will over the great waste of waters
Such are the works 20 widely read and universally
every kindred and svsry tougue--works which have
made Of thoee who dwell in ruraote laUuaes wander
in forests, and observers Of OUT manners. and
have inspired them with interest in history
gentsmsn who had returned from Europe just befor.
the dsHth OF Cooper, was asked what he found the
people Of tbs continent doing They all reading
Cooper he answered. " In tie little Kingdom OF Ho!-
ssrd with its three millions Of INHABITANTS looked into
four dereu TRANSACTIONS Of Cooper in the language Of
the country Auaveller who has uush of the mid
die cestet OF itsy lately ss2 to i found that al they
knew o. America and that was not little they had learned
from Cooper novels from hiG they had sGrn ed the story
Of Ameicsr liberty and through him they had been intro
duced to Nashingon tLsy had read his works till the
thoTss Of The Hudson ard tbs valleys Testchcste and
the banks cf the ottego lake had become TO tAsm
Over sll the countries into whore speech this groat
Fans works have been rendered by the isbcrs Of their
scholars the sorrow Ct that legs whsh denlorc 4.
diGusinf isscl Here We lament the ornament Of our
country there they noutu the death Ct him who de-
lighted the human rase. Lyen nov while speak
the puse Of grief which i passing through the nation
has happy just reached come remote neshborhsod the
Of his death has been brought 70 dwelling
tbs Noftb snd the dsrEeye1 Qase n Chile the fair
haired maid Of Norway, Is sai to think he whose
stories Of hsrc and true love have often kept her
for hours from ber Pillow, iives no
lie CONS, bat the creations OF his genius fixed in
living WORKS survive TIE irs material oryees by which
tks word, 1rst traced. ghey par.ake Of a middle
ure between The ethereal md Jtath.ss mind and
the decsyDR body OF which they are the common Of
spring, ard therefore, dssnsd co duration If not
eternal jet indefinite The examples he has given in
HE glorou. fctieps Of hsrot, honor and truth, OF
large sympsthes between ard NAN, Of all that s
good great aud excellent embodied in persopagss
marked With 80 strong individuality that
place them among cur friends AVID tavoIites
his frank ami gensrou. men, his gentle and
noble women, shall live Though centuries to come,
and only perish with language. have said with
lsngusee but who ,ha say when it be the fate Of
the Epgsh language TO he numbered with tho extinct
sorrns Of human speech WIZ shall dsclsre which Of
the present tongues of tie civilized word will survive
its fellows? II may be that soms ore Of them
fortunate than the rest will long outiast them, in
undstuTbed quarter CT the globe and IN the midst Of
civilization The creations OF Cso9ers genius.
Transferred to that language, may remain to be
the delight OF the nations through smother great cycle
centuries beginning after the English language and
its attendant foEm OF civilization shall have passed