The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1857-03-26

from them st last, as "ehildren Of the same
Creator - n q ,,5oEa $50 s,ss -
This lovely trait ills which forms the sc.
eret Of much Of that enthusiasm his name
elicits, and dsepens: the universal sor.
row with which he Is lamented His was
character which, as Il spontaneously dis
closed itself through hts writings, attracted
all the warmth Of personal friendship even
In the absence Of personal aequaistanee.--
At many a tiresids where hisTace was never
seen, he Is mentioned In terms of affection.
ate admiration. Thousands. who know
nothing Of the winning gentlensss Of his
manners, feel now that they have lost a
friend. To such greatness the world does
not yield the tribute of cold respect. but
the deep and feryent homage Of the heart.
Then, as the lifting support of this noble
quality. there was also, an indomitable ener.
gy. II was the iron column, around whose
capital that delicate lily work wss woven.
His was not benevolenoe which must
waste itself in mere sentiment, for want of a
power Of endurance adequate to support il
through hardship and peril In that slight
physical frame, suggestive only of refined
culture and intellectual grace, there dwelt
sturdy force of will, which no combination
Of material terrors seemed to sppal, and, by
a sort of magnetic impulse, subjected all in
ferior spirits to it's control. 1t was the calm
power ofreason and duty asserting their su.
periority over mere brute courage, and COM
peilng the instructive homage Of Herculean
strength and prowess. L
/ With that firm yet conscientious resolve
does he quell the rising symptoms of rebel.
lion which threaten to add the terrors OF mu-
tiny TO those Of famine and disease. And
all through that stern buttle with Nature in
her most savage haunts, how he ever seems
to turn his mild front toward her frownihg
face. as if In appealing for pity, yet not less
10 fixed resignation. t.4e ..4s.. u.
But il, in that character, benevolence ap.
pears supported by energy and patience, so,
too, was it equipped with most marvellous
practical tact. He brought 10 his benifcent
task not merely the resources Of acquired
skill, but native power of.adapting himself
to emergencies, and q fertility in devising
expedients, which no occasion ever seemed
to battle. Immured in dreadful seclusion
where the combined terrors of nature forced
him into all the closer contact with the pas
sions Of man, he not only rose, by his ener-
gy, superior to them both, but, by his ready
executive talent, converted each to his min.
istry. Even the wild inmates OF that ic,
world, from the mere, stupid wonder witt
which at first they regarded his imported
marvels of civilization, were, at length
forced to descend toa genuine respect ant
love, as they saw him compete with them in
the practice of their own rude, stoical vir,
:ues. ..,1...f .,..s.-e gg
To these more sterling qualities wer.
joined the graces of an afiuent cheerfslness
that never deserted him in the darkest hours
"a delicate apd capriciops hunor, glapcing
among the most rugged realities like the
sunshine upon the rocks land, above all
that inyariabe stamp Of true greatness, a
beautiful modesty, ever sufficiently conten,
with itselfto be above the necessity ol pre-.
tension. Yet strong and fair us were the
proportions ofthat character in its more con
spicuous aspects, we should still hare been
disappointed did we not find, though hidden
i deep beneath them, a firm basis OF religion.
sentiment. For oil serious and lhoughtfu
minds this is the purest charm Of those
/ graphic volumes in which he has recorded
4 the story Of bis wonderful escapes and de.
liveranccs. There is everywhere shining
through its pages chastened spirit, TOO ia.
miliar.with humon weakness to overlook 0
Providence in HE trials, and too conscious
Of human insignifcnnce to disdain its recog.
nition. Now, in his lighter, more pensive
moods, we see it rising on the wing OF de.
vout fancy. into that region where piety bo.
comes also poetry.
II have trodden the deck and the foes
where the life Of earth seemed suspended;
its movements, its sounds, its colorings, it
companionships; and as looked on the ra'
diant hemisphere, cireling above me, as i
rendering worship to the unseen centre ol
| light, | have ei,culate 10 humility Of spirit
Lord. what is man, that thou art mindful oi
him,'"
4 Again, In grnycr emergencies, It appear:
as habitual resource, to which he has come
in conscious dependence:
"a trust, based on experience as well al
on promises, buoyed me up in the worst 0
times. Call il fOtalism. as you ignorantly
J may, there is that in the story OF every
eventful life which teaches the ineficienc,
Of human means, and the present control o
Supreme Agency. See how often relic
has come as the moment Of extremity, il
, forms strangely unsought. almost al the tim'
unwelcoms; see, still more. how the bacl
has been strengthened to its incr easing bur
den. and the heart cheered by some con
A scious inaaence Of an unseen Powcr.'I #
II Those Arctic Sabbaths were "full Of sobe
|, thought aud wise resolve" We hear no pro
fame oath Wanting ITSELF from that little ice
bound isle: Of hpman life, where man ha
Il been thrown 90 helplessly into the hands 3