Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1857-06-06

John Godfrey SAKE.

The world is hui ulSpooSu w t'S " "'N' $500
il for mo, G than one thing at a time.-BRyANT n
is known as the Poet rather than the Publisher.
There are plenty of people who are not aware )
that LoNGrELLow was, for years one Of the I
most popular and successful Professors of liar c
ward College. DR.. HlTcHcocK writes and
breaches excellent sermons, but fame has COW {
cred them with geological strata-and when I
PERcIvAL died, the world mourned the Poet
and not the geologist. L
JOHN G. SAKE supports, in the motely ranks
of life, the title Of I" the witty Poet"--a title
which was long since awarded him by acclama-
lion. and little which--unlike hosts of 9th
ers--is richly deserved. He is, indeed, occa-
sionaly spoken of as the " editor OF the Bur.
linpton Seminal" but he might have edited
that hebdomade for century without having
suspected, by nine people out of ten, of "having
finger in its pi," or its leaders. SAKE is
known to the public as the witty poet, and the
title is barnacle that will cling TO his anatomi-
cal " timbers" until they are shivered by the
bomb of dea,h-a missile that makes no noise
when it explodes. But like every other son
of genius, SAKE lives an inner life Of which
the world knows but little, and which we beg
| leave ~ uNCuItdltit oo was thooS WV 49, N'N
admire the Poet may be constrained to admire
and love the Man.
SAKE is a conversationalist word that car
les its own superlative with it. AS we have
rarely met his peer-never his superior. He
brings to bear upon his forte of conversation
the powerful artillery Of comprehensive intell-
eence, and opulent fancy, the keenest wit, the
readiest repar,ee and possesses that faculty Of
successfully adapting himself TO trivial or
wrestling with a lofty subject, the envy OF
which is a. common as its lack. His language
is ever fresh and piquant-never 81 stale and
unproftable." He talks as easy rs a brook
nows-and, like the brook, the wide margins
of his conversations are beautifed by the vio-
le,s and clover-blossoms Of simple and elegant
rhetoric. One of the secrets Of his power in
this respect exists in the fact that SAKE is a tho
rough scholar. The classics are his play things.
He remembers what he has studied, and can
. quote the knottiest Greek sentences with no
more trouble than he expends in the act Of res
piraton. He knows every spear Of grass in
the field of belles-letters. Metaphysics are
never dose TO him-and his love for the Natu-
It raj Sciences is almost unnatural. He Is well
lnIOTIIlcu Uidn-tO duupt COhCutouai phiooS
o which really means more than it seems TO
$ mean-able 10 scope with the professor, the
j divine, the savan, and sure TO " hold his own
i with the bes, of them.--Hs power is an edu-
/ Gated power-alied 10 genius Of no ordinary
: character, and controlled by the strongest good
G sense, the most refined taste and the incest
: sense of property. He makes no show of his
u learning he never attempts TO 'air his voca
y bulary;" but it is impossible for him 10 con-
d verse at all wi.hou, evincng the qualities which
/ we have here set down to his credit.
SAKE possesses the attribute Of genal,y to
h remarkable extent The secret Of this pos
d session lies 10 his own heart. That heart is
II gushing fountain and not an Artesian WE'LL
Ks s%oGas SSw S Sb IL
N He is not soured by care Of suffering. Through
I'd them all-and he has preserved an amiability
re a feeling of fraternity that beams from hi
n, honest face like morning sun. He loves an
d. hates most cordially loves the good, the beau
tiful and true-and hates their opposites. ii
n is perfectly familiar with the acids of sarcasm
on but he never employs them-upon the vitrio
x thrower's principle-to crafty any privat
ey pique or animosity. His wit is Attic-it nev6
'st grovels in the basement. 1t is ever ready
N how-and of its flow he himself is unco
ms sciOus.
We 1t might be supposed that one who ha
. climbed TO the pinnacles Of popularity, wi
ire had been fattered, as the world loves TO fiatt'
se, its favorites, would be in danger Of entertai
'ur ing self conceit which would render him r
a pulsive TO his less favored fellows.-This
The not so. SAKE possesses just appreciation
ms, his own abilities-and he is to he pitied wi
wv does not-but it is as different from the feeli
md OF self conceit as THALBERG's Last Rose
Summer" is different from dried flower
to No one who really knows SAKE can fail
or credit him with modesty as well as genius.
lat Readiness is one Of SAxEs prominent CHI
ad- acterisiics. Tax him as you will, you W
red always find him equal to the emergency.
lent pretty instance Of this quality, let US me
do ton the fact that when he last in this cit
'eir and just as he was preparing to leave, lit
,ve- airy gentleman-one Of his warmest adm
the ers-begged his autograph. SAKE instan
'ed- seized pen-lierally " the pen Of rea
her writer and dashed of the following
and piomtu
and My autograph tits pleasant to reflect
Although the thought may cost q single sigh
That what a banker would with reject,
bal May find value in scholars eye!
the Il not that nea, and pointed
AVE The career of JOHN G. SAKE, marked thou
light it has been by glorious achievements and s
ling nal honors, has but fairly begun. If k
ring heaven continues his life and health, his fui
Iced will be lit by the rays of stars that the VIC
and has not yet discovered and beauti6ed by fl
real ers whose germs have not yet sprouted.
pas does not hold its courts in vain-and il is
they mean honor to be its Prime Minister.
boot -.-
IL.