The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1867-01-09

cards Aud ne deilg hted, perhaps above
all other things, in familiar intercourse
with his friends, where be could throw off
all restrain. where he called them John or
Bob, and they called him by his favoritc
name, Joe Baldwin, where his brotherly
disposition and ine2haustiblo fund Of an
ecdote and humof made him the life and
idol Of the company He wasabrilliantc con
versationist. A distinguished gentleman
familiar with the highest circles in Wash
ington, pronounced him the wittiest man
he ever knew He told more anecdotes
than any man We have ever known, and
old them better, often Illustrating them
with such ludcrous grilnaccs and gesticu
lations as '4set the table on roar Not
to laugh until your sides ached vas an
lmpossibility. Even now, al the distance
OF thirty years we never think OF some Of
his inimitable dramatic exhibitions without
chuckling spectaelea gray beard as we
are. He YVES Il great mimic. In repartee,
he was as qss.ck - ightning, and generally
very happy It-Swi4 W+Assas brilliant Is
Congleve, and IS genial as Addison s.
Ills ion naots went the rounds Of society.
His conversation ahounded too il piquant
remarks and original observations GA books,
men and things, and was easy and fluent,
well expressed philosophic, and ins,ruc-
tive as well as sparkling and amusing He
read mems hearts and characters as by in
tuition. and often photographed them BY a
single stroke. There was no pedantry about
him. He did not, like several conceifed
nInnies we know. use big words to express
small ideas, but the reverse He made no
ostentatious display Of his learning. There
was no Ink on his fingers Lii was man
Of the world as well as a scholar, and un-
deFstood men aud things as we'll as books.
Books. (Which he read with great rapldity).
were his servants not his masters. He used
them, as Lord Bacon advises, mot to re
ceive and take for granted nor to find talk
and discourse, but to weigh and consider
lie was any thing but dreamy, visionary
book worm, like Dominic Sampson, full Of
undigested and useless learning, and ut
terly destitute OF common sense.
He was rather fond Of argument, and
what NJ Cauely says Of Lord Holland ;.,ay
be said Of Judge b.. The was most courte-
oasly and pleasantly disputatious' LIE was
never guilty OF the weakness Of asserting
to false propositions or false facts from a
mistaken politenesa or from a craven fear
Of giving offence.
10 his most intimate personal friends
and to them alone, Judge Baldwin talked
OF hilnseii-as Cicero to the elder Cato.
who were great brags, are said to have
spoken Of themselves seriously and toeyery
hody-;gitll humorous aasuete ard abaa-
don that were highly amusing No one
criticised his productions wish more sever
ity than himself, and he often asseated
most cordially to the criticisms of his
friends. Ifasked why he committed GER
tain errors, he would say, with surly old
Sam j ohnson. .'tOrough ignoranee, madam,
sheer ignorance l aes;s aoyoag, were not
unutterab!e words BY him, as they are BY
some stuck-up fools, who as St. Paul
humorously remarks, deceive themselves
by supposing they are somebody when
they are nothing" He laugned at an over
sensitive friend-one Of the genus isYiti6ile-
who, lie said. looked three days for a grapa-
vine to hang himself with, because 4 care
less printer had made slight but very un-
scholarly typographical error in one Of his
publications.
We have said that Judge Baldwin was
a man Of the most kind, flowing and
brotheily disposition, without faint OF
envy or nalignity in his composition, aud
so he was, as his numerous friends eau
testify. But it was nevertheless, not
altogether safe experiment so far to per.
severe upon his good nature as to pull his
nose or even to tread on his coras. Tor he
carried behind him u lash of scorpions,
which, upon just provocation, he applied
with terrific severity to the shoulders OF:
the miserable oulpflt. lie seems to have
adopted thepoets happy definition Of virtue.
'.Viatue (for mere good nature is q fooD
Is sense with spirit and humanity
He excelled in letter writing as well as
in conversation. His familiar letters to-
his friends would I'll several volumes, aud
are probably inferior to 10 published col
lection in the language. They have all
the charm OF his conversation, are easy,
genial, and full OF thought, sentiment,
wit, hunor, and common sense.
! It's known only to few Of Judge Bald
win's4nost intimate friends that he could
write poetry. We have seen productions
7 of his muse that abounded in ielicitous ex-
pFessions brilliant imagery, natural scnti-
ments and genial humor. and sonic that
we're pointed with a cat1stic satire that re
minded us of Pope's Or Swift's. lie did
not, however, often invoke the reluctant
muse (Minerva invita) from a conscious
ness perhaps, that his effiisions were oc-
casionally deficient in rhynth, from the
entire absence of music among his phre-
biological developments. Neither had he
any taste OF talent for mathematics or the
physical sciences, though his mind was in
the highest degree logical and philosophic.
One trait in Judge Baldwin's character
deserves especial commentator. With
all his brilliant genius, he was always a
hard student: He loved the pursuit of
truth as the fox hunter loves the chase
He went to the bottom Of every thing
Though never an early riser, he often trim
med his midnight lamp. He studied his
causes, il necessary, for days aud weeks
together. He examined every paper and
every authority until he was master of the
case. He read great DEAL he observed
great deal, and he conversed a great deal,
and his active and powerful mind was
always at work on what he read. saw and
heard analysing it into its elements, ex-
tracing whatever Of golden ore was in it