Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1856-01-21

DEATH OF SAMUEL RoGaRs.-Samucl Rogers,
banker and poet, has at last yielded the life on
which he had so strong hold; he died on the
morning Of the 18th of December last. aged nine
ty-Six years. Rogers had probably larger cx-
pericncc oflife than any man Of modern times,
for, long US his life was, he lived every day of it.
lie published his first volume of poems in 1887,
and thus made his debut before the great grand
fathers 0fthe present generation. In one OF the
extended biographical notices which his death
elected in London, he is said to have represented
the bridge over which literature has passed
! from the old condi ion Of patronage to the new
one of independence He indccdwaS the con-
Meeting link betweenn not only two generations but
two centuries of literary men for the establish
ell authors who were the contemporaries of his
t youth were i'll the prime of their power more
than Il hundred years ago. 1t is to be regretted
that he did not personally know DR.. johnson.
We do not see any notice in the English ohitua-
ries of his attempt to make the Doctors
1uointancC. He went to his house determined
to present himself, but wncn he had lifted the
kn0cker his heart failed him; he dared not give
the rap which would bring him before the burly
tyrant Of the realm Of letters and letting the
knocked quietly down, he slipped silently away,
and thus dropped link which would otherwise
have connected Dickens and Tcnnyson, through
him aud johnson and Pope, and DRYDEN and
He saw England become the mistress of the
seas, and the United States Of America pass from
the condition of an Insignificant dependence on
Great Britain to their present commanding po-
sitiou among the first-ratc powers Of the world.
The great events which thus passed before his
eyes we cannot even enumerate; among them,
however, were three revolutions in France, ami
the career of the first Napoleon.
tits, however, says the London Times, to
: ~, IA : IL.
mainly look for correct appreciation of Rogers
career. He not only outlivcd two or three gen
erations of men, but two or three literary styles.
The Poet of Memory, as he has been called,
must not be rashly Judged by the modern stu
dent whose taste has been partly exalted, partly
yulgarized, by the performances oflater writers;
We are speaking of a contemporary Of Dr.. John
son.
1t was less however poet than as the COM
paniOn, entertainer, and friend of men ofletters
and of distinction in all the walks of life that he
was known. His verse is colby correct and for
mally elegant, without n spark of inspiration
1t is to be regretted, however, that there was
one unplcaSing trait in his character so promi-
nent that it cannot be passed over in notice of
his life. ''lle was, says the London News,
plainly speaking, at once u tlattcrcr and cynic
1t was impossible for those who knew him best
to say, at any moment, whether he was in earn
est or covert jest Whether he ever was in
earnest there is no sort of evidence but his acts
and the consequence was that his hattery went
for nothing, except with novices, while his caue-
ITCHY bit as deep as he intended"
But at the same time, and while this vile habit
was growing on him with his years, he continued
his acts Of private benevolence and courtesy;
and at his literary breakfasts, which arc sure Of
record in any historical sketch of the literature
of the past generation, Americans who had any
claim upon his notice were always honored
guests. When The men whom he satirized have
followed him, his sneers will be forgotten, and
his memory will live as that of one who united
literary ability, taste in art and true benevo-
lence with wealth and social position in that
rare degree which made him heMcccenas ofhalf
u century.
We add that some years ago Mr.. Rogers said
TO gentleman OF this city that William Cullen
Bryant was the greatest Of living poets; criti-
cal dictim which by no means diminishes our
respect for his taste and judgmcnt.-Ntee YORK
Courier.