Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1860-03-03

q couple OF nflnuteS'
And how came it that this house was so small,
when Mr.. Irving's books were sold by hundreds
of thousands, nay mil lons, when his profits were
known to be large, and the habits of life of the
good old bachelor WEE notoriously modest and
simple? He had loved once in his life. The
lady he loved died and he, whom all the world
loved, never sought toreplace her. | can't say
how much the thought of that fidelity has
touched me. Does MT the very cheerfulness of
his nfter-life add to he pathos of that untold
story? To grieve always vas not in his nature
or, when he had his sorrow, to bring all the
world in to condoIe with him and bcmoan it.
Deep and quiet he lays the love of his heart,
and buries it and grass and flowers grow over
the Scared ground in due time.
Irving had such snail house and such mar
row rooms because thgc was great number of
persons to occupy then. He could only afford
to keep one old horse (which, lazy and aged as
1t was, managed once or twice to run away with
that careless old horsemm). He could only af-
ford to give plain sheryto that amiable British
paragraph-monger from New York, who saw
the patriarch asleep over his modest, blameless |
cup, and fetched = public into his private
chamber to look at him, Irving could only live
very modestly, because the wifeess, childless
man had a number of children to whom he was
as a father. He had as many as nine neces, |
I saw two of these ladies at his house--with
all of whom the dear old man had shared the
produce of his labor and genius.
"Be good man, my dear." One can't but
think of these last words of the veteran Chief
of Letters, who had tasted and tested the value
of worldly success, admiration, prosperity. Was
Irving not good, and, of his works. was not his
life the best part? In his family gentle, gener-
Gus, good-humored, afiectionatd, self-denying:
in society," delightful example Of complete
gentlemanhood quite unspoiled by prosperity;
never obsequious to the great Tor, worse still,
to the base and mean, as some public men are
forced to in his and other countries); eager to
! acknowledge every cotemporary' merit; always
kind and afable with the young members OF
his calling; in his professional bargains and
mercantile dealings delicately honest and CRATE
full one of the most charming masters of our
lighter language; the constant friend to us and
our nation; to men of letters doubly dear, not
for his wit and genius merely, but as an exem-
plar of goodness, probity and pure life. l don't
know what sort of testimonial will be raised to
him in his own country, where generous and
enthusiastic acknowledgement of American
merit is never wanting: but Irving was'i in our
service as well as theirs and as they have placed
a stone at Greenwich yOnder in memory of that
gallant young Bellot, who shared the perils and
fate of some of our Arctic seamen, would like
to hear of some memorial raised by English
writers and friends of letters in affectionate re-
membrance of the dear and good Washington
Irving.
) AS for the other writer, whose departure many
, friends, some few most dearly-loved relatives,
! and multitudes of admiring readers deplore, our
; republic has already decreed his statue, and he
must have known that he had earned this post
5 humous honor He is not poet and man of
: letters merely, but citizen, statesman, a great
British worthy Almost from the first moment
when he appears among boys, among college
: students, among men, he is marked, and takes
, rank as great Englishman. All sorts of sue
t cesses are easy to him lad he goes down
: into the arena with Others and wins all the pri-
y zes to which he has mind 4 place in the
II Senate is straightway offered to the young man
/ He takes his seat there; he speaks, when Sc
/ minded, without party anger or intrigue, but
IS not without party faith and sort of heroic en-
is thusiasm for his cause. Still he is poet ant
is philosopher even more than orator. That HI
: may have leisure and means to pursue his dar
e ling studies he absents himself for while, anC
o accepts q richly y-remunerated post in the East
N AS learned a man may live in a cottage or
IT college common-room but it always seemed tC
l. me that ample means and recognized rank wer'
1t AIacaulays as of right. Years ago there was
re wretched outcry raised because Mr.. Macaula.
lie dated a letter from Windsor Castle, where h,
RS was staying. Immortal gods! Was this MAJ
A. not fit guest for any palace in the world? o.
ut fit companion for any man or woman in 1t
I'd dare say, after Austerlitz, the old H. X. cour
10 officials and footmen sneered at Napoleon TO
Id dating from Schoenbrunn. But that miserabl
p, "Windsor Castle outcry is an echo out of fast
We retreatng old world remembrances. The plac
of such a natural chief was among the first c
rs the land; and that country is best accordin
to to our British notion, at least, where the ma
is, of eminence has the best chance of inyestin
e. his genius and intellect.
n; If company of giants were got -togethe
II, very likely one or two of the mere six-feet-si
SIS people might be angry at the incontestable ST
&C. perority of the very tallest of the party; an
nd so l have heard some London wits, rather pee'
le, ish at Macaulay's superiority complain that
occupied TOO much of the talk, and SO fort
lily Now that wonderful tongue is to speak no NOR
gs will not many man grieve that he no longt
We has the chance to listen? To remember Il
ell talk is to wonder: to think not only of Il
M treasures he had in his memory, but of the TT
all hes he had stored there, and could produce wi
er- equal readiness. Almost on the last day hf
an the fortune to see him, conversation happen'
an suddenly to spring up about senior wrangleI
I'VE and what they had done in after life. To Il
ta- almost terror of the persons present, Macaul
OF began with the senior wrangler of lSOl-2-3
de- and so on, giving the name Of each, and rel
Pnt ting his subsequent career ard rise. Every mi
the who has known him has his story regarding tn
ed. astonishing memory. 1t may be he was not
'rs, pleased that you should recognise it; but
in those prodigious intellectual feats, which we
lad so easy to him, who would grudge his tribr
of homage? His talk was, in word, admin
vas ble and we admired it.
tu- OF the notices which have appeared regai
ess ing Lord Macaulay, up to the day when
las present lines are written (the 9th of Januar
ice. the reader should not deny himself the pleasl
the of looking especially at two. 1t is good 81
Ir- of the times when such articles as these II me
rm- the articles in the Times and Saturday Rerit
G to appear in our public prints about our put
ore men. They educate us, as it were, to adm
cry rightly. An uninstructed person in muse
rye or a concert may pass by without recognising
kes picture or a passage of music, which the c.
The noisseur by his side may show him is mast
the piece of harmony, or wonder of artistic SIX
ing After reading these papers you like and resp
out more the person you have admired so much
use, ready And so with regard to Macauay's st.
II it there may be faults OF course-what critic ca
GER point them outP But for the nonce we are
VI q talking about faults; we want to say, nil