River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1880-10-14
GOOD.LOOKING PRESIDENTS.
As Well as some who Were Decided
~ Personal Appearance
or Certain PFesiden -Ge0rge
Washington as Josiah Quincy De
Scrihed him.

asHIHSAoh as Sosiah quincy Ee-
seribed him.
Boston Traveller.
Justly enough has it been said that
mo man was ever elected president OF
the United States because of his good
looks" Many of oGr presidents never
could have been nominated for Office
had beauty been an indispensable quail
ification in our national chief magis-
trate. Washington was man of inn
posing presence, and it would have
been admitted that he was better look
ing than most men, even by an obsery-
er who was not under the power of the
sped east by his great deeds and great
name. The popular idea of the father
Of his country comes from Stuart's por-
trait; and there is Mt least one compe-
tent authority that that famous paint
ing is to highly idealized to afford a
Just liken ess of the just man. In Mr.
Edward Quineys noble Life Of Josiah
Quincy" we find the following lively
passage: 81 was curious 20 know how
my fathers recollections of the person
al appearance of Washington agreed
with the popular descriptions and pic
torial representations Of it with which
we are all familiar. He was not an
imaginative man, and never dressed his
heroes in colors Of fancy. No man had
a profounder reverence for Washington
than he, but this did not affect his per-
ceptions of physical phenomena, nor
his recollections Of them My mother,
on the contrary, was 'ofimaginatiOn all
compact, and Washington was in her
minds eye, SIS she recalled him, more
thansa hero-a superior being, as far
above the common race of mankind in
majesty and grace of person and bear
ing as in moral grandeur. This was
one of the few subjects on which
my father and mother differ
ed in opinion. He maintain
ed that Stuarts portrait is Il highly
localized one, presenting its great sub
ject as the artist thought he ought to
live in the midst of posterity, but not
strong resemblance of the actual man
in the flesh. lie always declared that
the portrait by Savage in the college
dining room in Harvard hall, at Cam
bridge, was the best likeness he had
ever seen Of Washington, though its
merits as Il work Of art are but small.
One day, when talking over those times
in his old age, | asked my father to tell
me what were his recollections Of
Washingtons personal presence and
bearing. 81 win tell YOU" said he,
''just how he struck me. He reminded
me of the gentlemen who used to come
to Boston in those days to attend the
general court from Hampden or Frank
lin county, in the western part of the
state. A little stiff in his person, not Il
little formal in his manners, not par
ticularly at ease in the presence of
strangers He had the air of Il coun-
Try gentleman not accustomed to mix
much in society, perfectly polite, but
not easy in his address and converse
ton, and not graceful in his gate and
movements" From the recollections
of Mr.. William Sullivan, which he pub
lished many years afterward, it would
seem that the impression made upon
him by Washington, who was the OBJ
iect of his political idolatry, was much
the same as that made upon his friend.
He says: 'In his own house his action
was calm, deliberate and dignilied,
without professions to graceftllness or
as might be expected in such man.
When walking in the streets his move
mcnts had not the soldierly air which
might have been expected. His habl-
tual notions had been formed long be-
fore he took command of the Ameri-
can armies, in the wars of the interior,
or in the surveying Of the wilderness
lands-employments in which elegance
and grace were not likely to be acquir
ed. 1t certainly was perfectly natural
that Washington's manners were those
of country gentleman living remote
from cities, he having been engaged in
rural occupations the chief part of his
life, and moving in a very narrow cir
Gle Of society when he was called at the
age of 43 to the leadership of the
revolution" We prefer Mrs. Josiah
Ounces estimate of Washington to
that of her husband, because she was a
woman capable Of forming opinions on
all matters, and because women are far
better judges of character than men;
but Mr.. ounces estimate is entitled to
great weight
President John Adams portraits
create the belief that he was a good
looking man when young, and also in
middle live. His grandson, Mr.. c. f.
Adams, in closing his Life" of his
grandfather, says; ''In figure, John
Adams was not tall, scarcely exceed
ing middle height, but of stout, we'll
knit frame, denoting vigor and long
life, yet, as he grew old, inclining more
and more to corpulence His head
was large and round, with wide fore
head and expanded brows. His eyes
humorous, when he was free from
emotion, but when excited it fully ex-
posed the vehemence of the spirit that
stirred within. His presence was grave
and imposing on serious occasions, but
not unbending" A very good descrip-
ton of the man, and remarkable as
coming from relative, who was 10
years old at the time of the ex-presi-
dents death.
President jefferson was a very tall
man-as tall as Washington-and this,
drawback on his figure when he was
young and slim, was highly favorable
II his appearance in later life. He was,
even in youth, an impressive man,
with good, but not a handsome face.
He was a very fair man, and for every
man of that complexion who is good
looking there are at least twenty dark
men who are thus favored by nature.
He was a polite and pleasing man, but
he never insulted others by condescen-
sion. Mr.. William Sullivan tells us
that President Madison was "a man of
small stature and grave appearance"
when in congress (1789-97), adding that
sat the close of his presidency (1Sl7)
he seemed to he careworn man, and
appeared, by his face, to have ad-
vanced to a more advanced age than
was the fact. He had n calm ex-
preston, penetrating blue eye, and
looked like thinking man. He was
dressed in black, bald on the top of his
head, powdered, of rather protuberant
person in front, small lower limbs
(meaning spindle-shands) and grave in
speech" Evidently not a beautiful
man, but he had capital brains.
OF President Monroe we have two
accounts, one representing him as tall
and insignificant, and the other as short
and more insignificant. A life of him,
by competent person, could be made
a more interesting work than that of
any other president we had in the six
ty years that separate the outgoing Of
John Adams from the incoming of
Abraham Lincoln President John
Quincy Adams was a small man. We
saw him about the time he bad entered