The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1877-04-13

! lot LH0 S8iHo T6asOil tuat uC HtLio di
fected Gibbon !; it required too much
of palpable, ostensible effort to "maa~
wacture the Miltonic grandeur" The
quiet, quaint, halt hid humor of
Tristram Shandy he could read and
laugh over by the hour, all day long;
and he said "Sterne mistook his CALI
ing when be put on the sacerdotal
robes" He never could detect any
wit in Rabelais and he said, 81
have searched for it in vain Toombs
or Tom Thomas can, and frequently
do, speak more witticisms in one
night than Rabelais, in lifetime
wrote" Bulwer was his beau-adeal
of monarch in the realms of fiction
greater than Thackeray, or Dick
ems, or Scott, because he had deep>
er and more philosophic insight into
human nature especially in its no.
bier manifestations and his great
est merit was the beauty, and fideli-
ty, and delicacy with which he por-
trayed the excellence of female char
acter, 10 it's best exhibitions. He
once said /: "There is no grammar,
and hardly dictionary, in onr lan>
guage. Webster is the best de6ner;
but his photography, in SO many in
stances, is not akin to the etymolo-
gy; for example, theater is only the
step daughter of theatron, etc
Horne Tooke was the greatest of
English philologists. He knew the
power of words, and made them
things; the shortest cut to knowl-
edge of our mother'tongue is through
the Diversions of Purley." He
had peculiar aptitude and fondness
for meta physical study and inquiry;
and, in the line of speculative phil
osophy, he ranked Sir William Ham
ilton above Reid or Stewart-even
alongside his great prototype, Arts
totle.
He was passionately fond Of biog
raphy -"the philosophy which teach
es by example" more aptly and spe~
officially than history ; and he gave
full indulgence to his taste for that
sort of reading. "Kenuedy's Life
of Writ" he considered the best spec
linen of American biography, wheth-
CIR regarded in point of style, the
skilful handling Of his material, the
delcacy and elegance of the portrsi>
ture, or the attractive light in which
he presents his subject, as an ex,
ample for the emulation of youth.
His colloquial talents were of the
first class. Like Burke, he talked
because "his mind was full !" he
never opened his mouth without hav-
ing something to say. His conver>
sation was alike instructive and en-
tertaining-at timer, adorned with
classical aIlusion, enivened with apt
anecdote, enriched with prompt and
sparkling wit, and illustrated by
serious or comic incident. No man
had keoner appreciation of the
ludicrous, either in incident or in
character and none more exquis.
itely enjoyed well.told story, or
better relished good joke; when
the humor was on him, and the oc~
casion to his liking, few knew go well
how sto set the table on a roar, "
All men of mark have their specs
iaI theatres wherein their peculiar
talents and abilities show to greatest
advantage. There are those who
shine most brilliantly in the forum,
addressing the bench-like Toombs
or HulI-or addressing the Twelve,
like Wright or Lumpkin; others
there are, whose Titanic strength is
best displayed before deliberate as
semblies, like johnson or the elder
Stephens; others, again, are in their
element and in their glory on the
hastings, like Hill and Yancey ;
others, yet again, in the lecture
room, like McCay or LeConte. |
believe the greatest exhibitions OF
intellectual resource and power ever
made by Linton Stephens were in
familiar conversation, when, inspir>
ed by the topic under discussion,
and conscious of no effort on his own
part, he poured forth wealth o.
learning and wisdom, wit, logic, and
eloquence, that was marvellous to the
auditor. He was one Of the few
men | have known, whose mental
bulk and stature aggrandized On APP
proach-possibly some frailty may
have been, at the same time, more
fully disclosed to view-but his rea
greatness enlarged-it did not di'
minish.
Other and ADLER pens have, in the
proceeding RACES, portrayed him in
the character of statesman, jurist,
orator, friend one, especially, has
beittingly OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES his
own letters do not entirely reveal
the excellence and beauty of the en-
dearing and nobler parts of his ma.
ture, as daily exemplifed in social
and domestic life, and which, lending
mild and sweet expression to the
sterner features of great mental en-
dowmept-severely cultured-mas'
culine will, unquailiug courage, com
plete the picture of MAN.
The affluence of just, discriminate,
appreciative eulosy, which was
heaped upon his tomb through chan