Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1884-07-17
ErudIte Black Jack.

L
Inc more is known abon+ LII a,
a1der Logan the more he ia fo,,nd to
The more light is turned unor
ais black and burly figure. the n,ors ,
o.safiy Is he seen to possess the scho, o
81 : as Wen as the soldiers excelleno,
e wonderful how great is the amonnt
- earning with which he has filed nm
IL: ihterstices of his boisterous career,
.s = even more wonderful that his ac-
nPnshments have hitherto blusbed
snssen. his gifts have been hidden
.as ,ne Republican papers are Graduate
san.o.alng them from the napkin of neG-
iec. 10 which an ungrateful peonle has
aet them rust.
Here Is our neighbor, the Trfbune
which no longer ago than in 1875 ~,
NOT the vein of culture concealed in the
proiound of Black Jacks massv mind
aua nouted him in its sinful Ignorance
.a 1919. "he went for his mother tonoue
. smote it right and left,'' and
mashed beyond recognition the Ian
suage of sixty millions of people -
90 said the Saul of the Tribune in 1875:
put q thorough conversion has changed
MS opinions since. Hear the Paul of the
.osae laud Logan to-day:
Perhaps his English NAV sometimes be.-,r
cent.sDI the pioneer habits of q third of n
tbep sEFr ny ago in southern Illinois. He speaks
thus M i II ana Spanish languages. is an en-
knna ~noie plays by heart He has been
: ah Own among his brother Senators to correct
49, and z Williams graduate in shaKspearean
1aotatlon. and his familiar acouaintance with
s fsi breach when other senators fasersa and
his English may be that of Jackson
county. but his French is of Paris, and
ms Spanish of Madrid. His ear is
quick to catch false Latin quantities.
ana ne has the Shakespeare Phrase
BOOK at his fingers ends. So saws
the ex-Saui of the Tribune, his voice
thrilled with respectful admiration, and
we may believe him. He admires
Logaa SO much that he drops into
Loganese himself: Shakespeare. of
which he can repeat whole plays by
heart. =" The Tribune Saul-Paul has
evidently studied that mysterious dialect
with care, but he cannot yet rival his
master. Only from the only Logan can
come the deluge of wild and whirlino
words, the swIrling syntax, the de-
spalrlng cry of English grammar swung
unanimously in dance of death. For
Logan, kind as he may be to the other
modern tongues, is relentless in his
hostility to English. He cries aloud.
and spares it not.
Ut is interesting to find that such a
man Is such a scholar. 1t would be still
more interesting to ascertain why he
knows SO much about Latin, French,
Spanish and Shakespeare, and yet {" be-
trays traces of pioneer habits in his
English. Apparently he studied every
thing but English when he was an un-
dergraduate at the Louisville University
Much may be pardoned to one who
knows So much. For Latin, French.
Spanish, Shakespeare's works, are only
small part of the acquisitions of Black
Jacks multifarious. mind. Our caligi-
nous contemporary, the Cleveland Ledti-
er, AYERS that he is also q Grecian, a
theologian, student of comparative re-
hgion and of history. bibliophile, and
the keeper of a general store of knowl-
edge. One might search through all
the files of our caliginous Cleveland
contemporary and find nothing else so
valuable as its description of the accom-
plishments and pursuits of this ripe and
uproarious mind:
HE has 1--WE thousand volumes and among
them are many old and very rare books. You
have heard of the book of Jeshur There
are. understand, only three copies in the
country. and Logan has one of them. Logan
was long time in finding his. He had agents
looking for it in different parts of Europe, but
he finally stumbled upon it himself one day
while ookIng over the stock of an old second
hand bookseller on the Strand, in London.
He has also many rare copies of the Bible,
and his theological library Is very complete.
He delights in theological study. and has read
closely not only the Christian religion. but the
works of Confucius, the Koran. and the
Hindoo Bible. He likes 20 discuss the doc
trinat points of Christianity; but, I said
Methodists- John A Logan has also been a
great reader OF history He has read all of
nal and has a wide scope of general knowi-
edge"
How sad it is that an intellect fed
with such profound and various study
should be unable to articulate its con-
cepts in English IN Y. Sun.