New-York tribune., 1879-04-22
ters Of that day. Of whom he has recorded his I'M
nrnsainns in n snries of arrnnah hln latches

often laughed at lie was at one time United states
senator RON He" & aoIh, Tu tusr T az panrsst
beng pioneer, IN this country OF that department vi
earnng), and was in fact learned man. He was very
fond Of natural history and taught the public MUD
many things which now seem very simple. Ihcie wa,
0uIe coptroyersy in the newspapers becaUse Mtchill
| said In some statement, that whale was not fish
The public took 1t for granted thai anythlng Wnch u
than bird. The whale belongs TO the class OF mann
! malta. II was account Of some OF his natural
| tions" that the wags, often very ignorant of such
things. made fun OF him: He Insisted upon cahS @ Ine
| United states " FredOnia." because " Columbia was
| wrong Columbus did not discover the United states,
and states" did not mean anythinx; Dut rfeGop ro
ference these pecultaTities, wrote Dtsdtele' III
! which was this
| "of all tho pirds and fishes rarest,
Fredonan MitchlI is the queerest'
Dr. Mtchil was large. pory man. full Of conversa-
ton; and, as ] remember on that evening very COM
! plmentary TO the ladies.
| De Witt Clinton was frequent visitor at West
Point and at that time was the bright particular
star of New-York politics. Mr.. Mansfield compares
him with Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln who'
he aflrms are the only three of the American Pres-
dents who actually accomplished al original work.
Clinton, he maintains, had as mucb talent as either
of them and more cultivation. lie Tasmuch better
educated than Washington or Lincoln, and was as
| good writer as Jefferson -
In person he was remarkably handsome and dignl1ed
He pOrtlv, with iuddy compt Hi0n ana hSh Ioie
head His address polite ana pcasani WITHOUT III
yitlug to any familiarity lie appeared 10 mere ny
stauder rather stn; but not enOutu so - ne nauSmy 2
pared with the frank, buh address o. many puDc ucn
used against nm by the petty - icldi9 "a n @
Erie Canal That was carried throdgh by Ills talent anu
| popularity.
I'm 1913 Mr. Mansfield entered the Litchfield
Law School. of which place and its people he gives
several effective personal sketches Among the
teachers IN the Law School, Judge Gould is de-
scnbed as &" handsome man" (the author never
loses his eve for beauty in man wOman), very
able lawyer. with keen and superior mind, subtle
discriminating, and yet clear as crystal" Inc
founder OF the school, Judge Tapping Ruve, was
man noted for cccentrcItles. After the death OF
his first wife he married his hOUsekeeper, good
woman however noted FOR pety and beneyoence.
Ho was seen walking in the street one day with
bride N IS hand but without his horse, who had
quietly stepped out and walked of The Judge
fastened the budle 10 the post, horse OF no horse,
and walked into the house. But the most con-
smcuous man in Litchheid was DIR. Lyman Beecher,
wl1 was then the pastor OF the Congregational
Church. His fiddle sent forth It's plaintiye OF
merry tones lar and wide. On returning from a
funeral, he composed his soul with the llyelicst
airs No man reioiced in a more cheerful tenn
perament. His bhthesomc spirit was well matched
with intellectual power. After his removal to Bos-
ton Unitarlanlsm stood poor chance -
Dr. Bcocher was remarkable for great irrcgulaTity In
what may be called tn quality OF nj sermons IleIc
was mono inferior, but there times when he was
dull friend saId to me once that hr mad heard much
OF Dr. BeacAer. and went TO near him. but lie never
heard q duer sermon. can realize that might have
becn Dr. Beecher at tunes exceedingly eloquent
His spells OF elUqutuC0 seemed 10 come on bJ MS one
very hot day Summer, ana III the afternoon, was
in church and Dr. Beecher going on in sensible,
but rather prOsy, half Sermon when all at once ne
recOec hat he had Just heard OF the death
OF Lord Byron. lie an ddnlrer Of Byrons poetry,
| rs all who admire genius must be- lie raised ms
spocaces, and began with an account OF Byron, hls
genius wonderful gifts aud then went on TO ms want
| OF virtue, and his want OF true religion, and finally
described lost soul and the spirit OF Byron going or
wandering I'm the backness Of darkness forever! 1t
struck me az electric shocK and left an i'm
! pcrlshaDle memory
| The work of Mr. Mansfield, as will be seen, lays
! no claim to profuudity of wisdom, originality of
thought, or peculiar yigOr of expression; but he
commands an easy narrative style, makes no at
tempt at fine writing, il always unaffected, sincere,
cordial and never fails to win the sympathy and
respect Of the reader by bis natural manner, his
large knowledge of men and affairs. his high tone of
character. and his purity and soundness of princi-
pie. His proof-readeTs have done injustice TO the
book, especially in the matter of proper names,
thus the notorious PierrepOnt Edwards, OF COnnec-
tIcut is bisected into two different men, PerrepOnt,
and Edwards. Professor Samuel Mitchill is trans
formed into Mitchell. and Professor Ornsby Mitchell
into Mitchell Mathew Carey receives superDuous
{ in his Christian name, which is changed into that
of Matthew the Apostle President Woolscy loses an
0 and becomes WOlsey, Mrs. Caroline Lee lleutz is
elongated into Hence Charles COteSwoTth Plnck-
ney, of South Carolina, Is cOnfoundcd with the
MARYLAND branch Of the family, and changed into
Piukney, beside becoming Colesworth instead Of
Cotesworth, while Meg Merrilies, the witch, loses
an fol- her sins, and appears as Meg Merre5.