Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1871-06-22


absolutely bIazei with intellect. III
mouth was large, but cut with all tlr
/ precision of n sculptor's chisclinl
| lie was rather pale, but, when excited
his complexion lit up with sudlcl
rush of ruldy tlushes, that added some
thing like beauty 10 its half.sad au,
and half-sarionic expression. 4 wor,
and a glance told me at once. ths Is
most extraordinary man.
Judge Wheeler knew but little o
the antecedcnts of Summcriirld. II,
was OF northern birth. but oi what
State II Is impossible to SAY dciiaiteh
Early IN life. he removed Ia the fruu.
tier of Arkansas, and pursued Tot
some years the avocatiuu Of villa (,
schoolina,ter. II was the su.gestin.
of Judge " ieeler that induced nim iu
read law. In six months time hc hal
mastered Story's Equity, ami gained
an important suit. based upon one oi
it, most recondite principles. But hi>
heart was not in the legal profession,
and he made almost constant sallic>
into the fields of science, literature and
art. lie was natural mathematician
aud was the most profound aud oriLin-
al arithmetician IN the Southwest.
lie frequently computed the astron-
omlcai tables FOR the alinanacs of New
Orleans. Pensacola. and Mopile. and
calculated eclipse. transit obscrva-
tons with ease and perfect accuracy.
lie was also deeply read in mctaphys- =
les, and wrote and published IN tAc
old Democratic Review for 1916. au
article on the Natural Proof III Il
DEITY that for beauty Of language.
depth of reasoning, versatility OF ll-
lnstra;ion, and compactmcss Of logic.
has never been clualcd. The on,l
other publication which at that period
he hal made, was book that aston
ishci all ot his friends, both IN title
and execution II WAS called +" The
Desperadocs of the West. Ada pur-
ported 10 give minute details of some
Of the most note,l and blooI-~ta,nci
villain, IN the Western States. But
the book bc!.cd 1t, title /, d, fIl rr
splendid description AMI ori-iua,
thought. No volume in the lan.ua.,
contains So many eloquent p,,,a.,-
and such gorgeous imagery, Ill tnc
same space. His plea for immortal
". on heholdlns the execution Of one
OF the most noted culprits oi Arhau-
sas. has no parallel In any itvlnz LAM
guagc for beauty Of diction and pow
er of thought. A. my sole object lu
thi- communication j. e. defend u,,
self. some acquaintance With the m,u-
Ia! resources Of >umner.licld j. au-5-
lutclv Indispensable for hi, death wu-
the immediate consequence uf his
ne was Was c3'niiip'ii'ete ilasto.. 'he.'sIfl
crIbcs Il IN his y oun-cst Daughter Of
the Sciences. bonn amid fauics, anu
"a roller, II fire" lf there
Were any one science 10 which h.. was
more specially devoted than any ami
all others, il was chemistry. But iIy
really seemed an alcpt IN all, Aui
shone about everywhere with clua.
lu-irc.
MANY Il these characteristics "rre
mentioned hy Judge Wheeler il j.r
time Of Nunmcriirld'- visit tp Cal
Weston. but others subsequently came
to my knowledge. after ni- ictrca; to
Brownsville. on the bank, ~ the R.p
Grandc. There hc filled thu position
just previous 10 his arINA. IN TIN, city
in the month OF September Of the past
year.
One day toward the close Of last
September, an old man rapprl al n,
Office door, and on invitation came IA.
and advancing, called me hy name
Perceiving that | did not al first res
ognize him. he Introduced himself a,
Gregory Sunmeriield. Aftcr inviting
MIN 10 seat | scrutiniZcd his features
more closely and quirhly identified hun
As the same person whom / had met
twenty-five year, before. lie was
greatly altered in appearance, but the
lofty forehead and the gray eye Were
still there. unchanged and unchansa-
bic. lie was not quite 50 stout bnt
more "uddy in complexion and cXhib!-
ted some symptoms, as then thought,
of intemperate drinking. Still there
was the old charm of intellectual su-
periorlty in his conversation. and
welcomed him TO California as AN I'M
portant addition 10 her mental wealth.
Ii was not many minutes before ht
requested u private interview. lie
followed me into my back office, carc-
fully closed the door after him and
locked il. We had scarcely seated
ourselves before he inquired of me III
| had noticed any recent articles IN the
newspapers respecting the discovery
of the art of decomposlng water 80 =,
To fit il for use as fuel for ordinary
purposes
Irepli.d that had observed moth
ing new upon that subject since th'
experiments of Agassiz and Protesso
Henry. and added that in my opinion
| the expensive mode of reduction woul,
always prevent its use.
In few words he then Informed IN
that he hal made the discovery, tina
the art was extremely simple, and th
expense attending the decompositio
so slight as to be insignificant.
Presuming then that the object Q
his visit TO me was To procure the nee
essary forms to get out apatent for Ill
right, ! congratulated him upon HI
good fortune, and was about 10 branc
forth with description of some Of til
benefits that must ensue TO the con
munity, when he suddenly and som,
what unciviily requested me to "be $
lent" and listen to what he had 10 sa,
| He began with some general r.
marks about the inequality Of fortuI
amongst mankind. and instanced hiu
self as a striking example Of the fa'
of those men who, according to all ii
rules Of right, ought to be near the toI
instead of at the foot of the ladder
fortune. But" said he, springing
his feet with inpulsive energy, IL hay