The Arkansaw traveler., 1882-12-31

kiphy uas mAhled te cary eat . leas cAeTiahpa 61nire so vssss Enrope ana within tAe nexs few yeArs Ae again crozsex ] the w1eer. His 6rsk visit uas rafher hur ] rcd and uns1sisfarsnsy. bm on kis seccad ee rassed several moushs in EnGlnnd and e 4e continent These nsootAs wers lvesy pleasant and valuable ones to th< gsent critic whose fame had ionr sincs Il erossea the water and wAcse ahslisies ssse recognised by every literary man oi Europe. He mel and chancsA views with men whose names were kno~n ever~hesx and he vas thus enabled to add the value cf pessonal acguaiaeancs with noted Anthors. Feformers and sRates- mea to his knowledge of their doings and opinions. But the instincts of the re- ecymes were stiil strong within him and he took more interest in the condition q the working classes of England than he did in the ~orkines of CAmhrdge CT oA- ford, and the hlue-yackesed vorkman d Paris attracted hts attention more than did the Laxemhcesg cf the Tuillesses. He came back 10 Amessca more m lose with the institutions of hts o~n country and prouder of ,he achievements of his ccuntymen than ever. He came back tc hls pen and desk improved and ,nvig- osased by travel. and he returned to his work with an amount Of enthusiasm and real that would havc done horror to a younger man.
 As before his trip abroad, So aiser his return, the lie of At Riple, vas the ars dVo0>. uneventful one of man of les- ters. The shadow of old age began to broaden and deepen around h,m ba, his commanding intellect and giant en- ergies remained unimpaired Long ater he had passed the age of three score and ten he was one of the busiest journalists in the metropolis and his habits os indus ,ry continued with him until the last, During the las, years of his life in order to save time he was accustomed to do his work al his house and vas rarely seen al hss desk Tn the I,isssx office From his cosy bbrap came forth the fruits of has busy pen, ax able, iiseerniag and just as of old. Hut q painful disease ~as slowly wearing him away. and though he apparently conquered il and btasel, la bored on. h,s friends kne~ that h,s time to go was coming very near. And their forebodings were loo true. for one peace
 
 the many thousands by whom he vas re- spected and admired were thinking tha, ;hs ~ise old man would .ise yes for years, II vas sent flashing over the wires tha, George Ripley work had ended, that the noted scholar, the famous critic. the ear nest reformef, the distinguished Ioufnat- is,. the great man vas, dead. Ills long life had been one oi labor and useiulness, his old age one of honor and peace. AL ways just and temperate, he had been preserved until the harvest was fully ripcned and the bending heads of golden grain beckoned the reaper to hls toii. Sorrew A, his death was profound and universal, but every one feis that he had done a great work, nobly and ell and death had come as a final rewarder and to make hls name a pure and benehccnt memory among his coun,rymen. Three days after his death he vas lad in his las, resting place. Distinguished jour nalists, authurs. preacher statestnen. men of all eallings followed his remains to the grave. 4 yrea, Unitarian divine conducted ihe funeral sefyices and paid tender and touching iubute to his tal- ents and worth. EvcD where through the press and pulpi, men sied m doing honor io the memory of the dead man. Everyone feI, that a great genius had gone, tha, bfillian, hgh: had been ex- iingnished forever.
 The position which George Ripley oo- cup,e, in the literary history of Amenea is at once important and unique. lie had passed the prime oi lie before he began the lSbors which were to make him fa- nous. After years of toil when the world was glad to aokno~le ledge his talents no one placed lighter value on hih labofs than did he Fra,se seeined always dis tasteful to him and bu; few years before his death he hassned 10 correct a young admirer who in dedicziing hss f,rst book to him called h,m the father of Amer,- can criticism" He was eonten, to toil m silence, with the sztisfas ton that he vas doing ~hsi ~as sci for him so do as best he could, as h,s only reward. Among all the noted men who have made New York 'he,r home during the last half cen tury none led more secluded life ,haa did Mir. Ripley He rarely appeared in public, he never spoke to large audi great dinner. The number of
 hosc ~uo totbiuk fb NOutASt with him could not help but honor the man and respec, his abilities was large, bu, the number of those whom he de- lighted to call his friends was sery small. Every one xho mel him found him a pleasant and agreeable companion. a man easy to approach and association sith shom ~as valuable. but man who im- pressed all wifh the fact that he pos ses>sd an immense reserve fosoe, and though there nigh, be locked up within his breast many crushed hope and long g-buried secres. 10 one could CT would dare ,o attempt to draw them out.
 {, Like all iaboress for tAe pres mpeh ol what Mr. Ripley wrote possessed of A necessity an ephemeTal character and has mes uith the iase of such. The hard wost of many yezrs vili be Sound buried ,a the old kles of ths 7ri1ss<, with that ol Greeley and Raymond. The journalist vbo ensers upon his ealing wish the hope of reading iss highes 0sels, ssa bs prepared so saesikee mseh. Hs 0ss noe mumus hecanee uhaa he syt1es.