Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1860-03-09
DR.. Kane.

The name OF Dr. hane IS intimately 4
associated with all that is good and great, /
wild and romantic in life. In him we
see brilliant type of all that was beauti
ful and sublime in chivalry in its purest,
palmiest hours. A web of the richest
materials ever woven in the loom of life;
courage and truth were the warp and
wool, and brilliant setting of the noblest
aspirations that ever found Judgment
in the human breast, blended in the it's
sue. He was the very impersonation of
chivalry, when love, truth and justice had
Phenix-like sprung from the tomb, vivi-
fed and regenerated, and shaking off the
dust of centuries, had appeared in their
primeval simplicity and pristine beauty,
when the institution of chivalry, like the
star Of Bethlehem, pointed out tie re-
) demption and dellverance of man and
was the faint precursor, the first few
, feeble glimmerings of that blessed light,
that dispelled the Tartarian darkness of
ignorance and superstition that had rest
ed ike a dark pail upon the hopes of
mankind; which even in its decline could
boast of such spirits as Bayard . the
5 knight, without fear and reproach." DR..
Kane is the Chevalier Bayard of the
present age, possessed of a bravery, a self
sacrificing spirit, a noble magnanimity of
. soul, and pure spotless name, equal, if
not superior TO that of the Spanish
= warrior. His name and memory is
t now, and will be through all ages to
e come as fragrant and refreshing as the
S first breath of spring. To admire is
e easy, to describe him is difficult indeed.
S Fear was an utter stranger to him, he
r never felt its slightest pulsations-his
nature was too high for that. His cour-
e age was of that stamp, which we may
j term true courage It differed essentially
: from that blind, reckless exposure Of life,
so frequently and falsely termed courage ;
and which may in as eminent degree
belong to him who leaps from the preci-
pice, as to him who dies in battle-a
n courage combining all the attributes of
J. moral courage, with the impetuosity of
n mere animal or physical courage, a cour-
= age that never shrinks from duty. Such
+ was the courage of DR.. Kane when hope
d had well-ngh fed and the deepest, dark
L est shades of despair, were sinking into
- the hearts of the crew; when in the ST.
lence of the Arctic winter death stared
7 him in the face, there do we behold the
r sternness of the commander melting
l. away into tenderness for the sick and
: helpless, which cromprised all but him
? self of that bold, hardy crew. With the
Il, angel of death constantly lowering over
5, and ever threatening him, he had &C.
" complished his work, he had passed
through the ordeal and the laurel wreath
of victory encircled his brow. indie
;. cision, with all its tagging, procrastina.
d ting counsels, never retarded the promp-
Ell titude of his action, but from the begin
= : ming to the close of his life, the machinery
of mind and body, moved as with al
accelerating force to the end; it never
t. Jagged until the cold, icy breath of death
d. froze-up the life-current that gave it mo
y ton. Throughout the whole period o.
= his life, in all vicissitudes, in every po-
b; sition, under all circumstances, whether
n in the smoke and fame of battle, amids
'o the wbistling OF balls, or on the quarter
deck; whether in the hospital, or in tht
~ burning crater of volcano; whether ii
es organizing and equipping an arctic ex
k petition, or on the ice-foes, at the heat
Oh of rescue party, " true folorn hope" 0
of a forlorn adventure-he is still tn
no same marvel of increasing, vigilant &C
or. tivity. We are not to view him in tina
B. cherries, barren, sterile light of mere
or, bold, reckless adventurer, soldier c
|" fortune, who courted danger, for dan
~, gers self alone" but as one animated b
yn the purest and noblest of motives a
n one who in the strength, purity and sim
plicity of his character, was the "chiefes
Sc among ten thousand and the one Al
N together lovely" He possessed an intu
IA ition, that enabled him to look beyond tn
ms; present and provide for all possible emel
RS, gencies.
49, He was a born explorer. There was til
stern iron will, energy and decision {
character, which SO eminently fitted biz
/ for the task. Combining the impetuor
daring of the Zouave with the stern di
Y. cipline of Wallenstien, the benevolenc
Of a Howard, the untiring energy of