Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1882-10-20

Il
my shoulders Il quote from memory, land
should not regret my removal were it no,
that have no other source of income left ;
and were TO return to America | should moi
know how TO get living.n
IL has been my fortune in varied and ad-
venturous life to make the acquaintance Of
many distinguished men. and of all ever
knew George p. Marsh was the noblest com
bination, nc judice, of the noblcst qualities
which distinguish man-inflexble honesty,
public and private the most intelligent and
purcst patriotism idealiiy of the highest as
TO his service in his official career gcneros-
ity and self-sacriflce in his personal relations
quick and liberal appreciation of all good in
Others and the most singular modcsty In all
that concerned himself unfalcring adhcr-
cncc to truth at any cost an adamaninc re-
cognlton OF duty which knew no detection
from personal motive and, binding the
whole in the noblcst and trlest of lives, u
| sincere religious temperament, in which the
extreme of libcraity to others was united to
the profoundcst humility as 10 himself. A
nan on whom his country or his countrymen
might rcpose any trust, or impose any wor-
thy service, and whose modesty alone pre-
vented him from acquiring the highest hon
ors human intellect can win, all that the
great Republic the richest country in the
enough to pay its debts, could do with
him was to keep him in second and third rate
legations wearing out his life in the utilities
OF diplomacy which has neither value nor
meaning, and the anXieties of an insecurity
OF position which no intelligent merchants
clerk in one of our great cities is liable TO. A
diplomatic service which has had drunkards
and gamblers in its highes, positions whose
tenure of office Is regulated by the claims of
Oar-foom politicians and the recompenses due
TO electoral frauds and corruption which
dlsmisscs Motley and menaccs a Lowell be-
cause they are too well brcdto suit the tastes
oil our average politician, or because they are
not pleasing to the lowest drcgs of the COM |
politan populacc of our States, may lie proud |
OF having retained even unwilngly such a |
man as Mr. Marsh in its service so many |
years. But to me it seems wilfu waste of |
what IN America we have II woful want of |
the. culture Of which he was one OF the highest |
results. What any man could do to increase
Inc respect OF the representatives, or indvid-
lals OF other nations for the United States he
hid. knew no European who had met him
who had not higher esteem of our country
rom having known him. have often heard
European men of letters speak of him as a
'plendid result of American institutions
which perhaps in one sense he was-and an
-Namplc OF the sagacity OF our government.
which he certainly was not. As with Lowell
1t present, his place was continuity fought
or by all the Greeks and Trojaus of our
politics, and it was due purely to influences
which, unfortunately, are rarely present in
our politics, that ir the one case, as in the
Ithcr- the better man kept the place
IL was my misfortune TO spend eight years
u my lie in the consular service of the
. nited States. From the first post, that at
come, was removed to silence my rcmou.
FRANCES against the diSgaceful state of our
egation there; and after our usual shop.
.teplhg SA stem. ! was sent TO II distant sta
ION az my own expense, after having been
lnancNilly RUNE by my official countrymen
u Rome Mr.. Marsh was then minister at
'orthcr at which place | was stopped bv
ne cholera blockade which almost suspended
rave IN the l.evant and when lac learned
hat had exhausted my means and was
tranucd without resources, he came To my
lolel in the Quiotcst manner and insisted on
ny accepting thousand francs. | did not,
now then, what | learned aftcrward, that he
al ~ restrict himself 10 give me the money
no though II was SIX years before | could
'ay the last installmcnt OF the loan, he never
made an allusion to it. Nor am the only I
american who has been benefited by his I'M
stentatious bencvolcnce and fear that in
II cases his confidence was not even as well
Justified as in mine. His generosity was only
united by his means,
Mr.. Marsh could never have been IL popu-
lf man, except among students His high,
intending sense of Justice his aversion TO
nd contempt for anything that savored of
nplcity, disingcnuousncss. plriialiiy. or fa- !
ortlsm his intolerance of ANYTHING that j
'sembled corruption, untitled him for Amer j
IAN pollt'cs, while the same Justice in per-
ohal matters, coupled with singular want
/ egoistlc ambition and rare humility SEEM
Il TO prevent that display of personal prefer
uc"S which contributes so largely to The ere
ton Of individual enthusiasm. If ANYBODY
wed nm, 1t was for the sake of the truth {
nj justice he himself so rcvercd he was so I
ROAD IN his humanities SO uncompromsiug +
his Judgments on hi1 own falings. so free
'om vanity OF any kind, or os,entation, that L
{ seemed almost impersonal. He seemed /
me to shrink from anything that looked |
Ike personal admiration with the sensitive. =
css Of pure and modest woman. and in :,
Is relations with his surroundings he was as "
'nder, ms loving as any woman, and all his y
lpcrlence IN the world had not in the least :
iccted The unworldliness Of his nature ore =
llnlshed his intense enthusiasm for purc and
ma nature. lie loved children. the Alps. the !,
Iaciels, the woods and fields and trees, with j.
n untirng devotion, and the only complaint -
remember his making of his own losses and y
ccay was OF his being unable to climb as he i.
sea 10 do; and, indeed, his only failing in :
over was physical, for to the very last his !,
ind seemed cndued with an immortal child :,
ood his speech became indistinct, but only y
all his physical forces yielded. His at a.
'nlion never Tagged, nor his appreciation of i
assing events.
80 round and full was his character. SO
&c from any one-sidedness or ccccntricity, :,
lal II will require a long and complete re. T.
lew 81 what he was and did to enable the n
a,ion TO realize how great man il has lost, i.
id then ii will he seen that with all his in l.
llcctual great ness his moral dignity was !,
reater still never visited him without &c :, ~
. away ashamed OF my moral shortcomings II
he seemed to have none. w.
G"iteau's Second Shot Found