The daily Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1854-1855, 1855-02-06
From IL . Beaten Transcript.
Finished Lives,

iSueu Lives, lIUiil lie pen VI Tie ReF. d . II.
Morrison 1t is based upon the Hon. Rol
ert C.Winthrop's lecture On Algerron Sid
ney, before the Mercantile Library, and tn,
speech Of Hor. Josiah Quincy, senior, bt.
fore the Wing Convention in August last
Tie writer in abiding to Sidney, says:
T" Here is man OF extraordinary power.
deyoting the enthusiasm OF his youth anc
manhood to its highest ends, yet apparently
failing in what he undertook, living fol
years in exile, condemned as felon, and Fl
nally dying by the hand of a public exeeu
toner. Yet his life does not strike US as
incomplete, nor his death as prcmature."-
In answer to the suggestive Query:-WEa,
is it that gives the impression of q finished
life the writer says Net length Of days
nor immediate success in the particular meas
ures to which Their strength hes been Gevt-
led" He contrasts tie lives of Rober,
Wheaton and DR.. Arnold with that of Hay
don the artst.-the Duke OF Marlboro viii
the Duke Of Wellington, as illustrations O.
Lis thought. Washington is regarded IS
belonging to the highest rank Of the worlds
great men, whose lives give an impression
of completeness.
While discussing the question, in what
pursuits we are most likely to find men
whose protracted lives leave sense OF har
mOny and completeness the author thinks
it certainly is not among the poets. After
referring to Homer, Shakespeare and Milton,
the writer says that among the names III
Sohnson's Lives of the Poets, there is not
one which suggests to Us the idea Of u har-
monious and happy life. In almost every
case the sensibiIlieS which made them poets
turned inward, and fed upon their own IA
lures. We quote one passage in full.
Even Addison, the finest character among
them ALL dying as Christian should die,
does not by his whole history leave on the
mind an impression which We altogether
love to recall. Dryden aud Pope, Prior,
Savage and Young, need Only to be named
to bring before lis the thought of talents
which we admire, but of lives dsionted and
unhappy. Cowper and Burns, and the po-
cts OF the last generation, Byron and Shelly,
Colcridge, Campbell and Moore, however
beautiful the song they may have sung,
leave Us with feeling Of disappointment
and sadness, as we follow them through
their lives, and close the memoirs which
have been prepared even by their most par
tial friends Southey's was, perhaps, q hap
py life, though the cloud that rested on his
latter days leaves something Of its gloom
behind it.
Among statesmen We find more men Of
well-balanccd character and life
Benjamin Franklin and George Washing
ton, John Jay and John Marshal, both en-
inent as statesmen before they graced tic
highest judicial Office Of the nation, are
names to which we may turn, not only SIS
calling before us distinguished public benc-
factors, but as suggesting SEINE OF the best
examples Of well-tinished lives that tie
world has yet seen. John Adams, Thomas
Jefferson and James Madison may, with
some qualifications, lie added to the list.
Although it has usually been supposed
that agriculture, as it is the employment Of
the greatest lortion OF the human family, is
most favorable 10 the culture OF those quail
tiles which make happy and useful life, the
writer is inclined to think, that, though
agriculture, Ike literature, is admirable ii.
its influence on the mind, when employed as
a healthiul recreation and au occasional re-
source for men who have other occupat ons,
or as furnishing peaceful retreat to those
who have done Their work, it is not favora-
ble to the best development of our nature
where it is made the sole pursuit"
OF the liberal professions, the writer
thinks "the medical is that Which most Sc
verel y tasks the body, and which, for one in
the routine of its daily practice, does per-
haps, the least for the enlargement OF the
mind by literary culture The social quail
ties and kindly feelings orc called into exer-
else, and upon the whole the pursuit may
be considered favorable to tie life and char
acter.'
In the clerical profession, Mr.. Morrison
says no branch Of the public service has con-
trlbuted finer specimens of manhood, adorn-
ed and enlarged 10y high qualities Of mind,
and rich and varied culture Chancellor
Kent, Jeremiah Mason, Daniel Webster,
John Davis, William Prescott, Paine Win
gate, and Timothy Farrar, are honorably
mentioned among the dead ard Judge
Shaw, Ex-Judgc S. S Wilde, Charles Jack
son and Josiah Quincy, are named among
those whose public services are precious, and
their private lives cheerful and respected.
After referring to the elder Quincy in
connection with his Presidency Of harvard,
and the venerable President Mott Of Union
College, the writer asks whether the Office
of President of College, even though it
should be held only for short time Is not
favorable to length OF days, and the gener-
al preservation of the faculties?
Bellies the two distinguished octagena-