The Portland daily press., 1884-11-19
The Late Henry Fawcett.

(T. w. HiggiHson in Woman's Journal)
had the pleasure OF meeting Prot. Fawcett
twice at his own house; once at lunch in May,
1872, and again at dinner in May, 1878, he
having during this interval removed his resi-
depce and enlarged his domicile. The i'm
preston on seeing him led iLt) the room by
his fair little wife was that of blinded IT,
tian, so imposing and ovsrpowsriDg his aspect.
His hight was colossal, he ranked in this
respect with Tnackeray and Charles Sumner;
and he had q veice migbtisr than the two
combined. 1t seemed as II all the vigor and
self-assertion OF the mans life had been con-
csntrated, after his eyes we're lost, in these
powerful tones. His very blindness seemed to
enhance his strength OF utterance; when he
had anything to say, he simply said it, and all
else was drowned; as he saw nothing, he paid
no attention to any interference. There was
no discourtesy, no unwillingness to hear inter-
ruptors, but not noticing them, he talked on.
His mind was so rich, his knowledge so i'm
meDse, his vitality SO overpowsring, that it
was simply impossible for him to take any but
the conspicuous part that was bis BY right.
When he asked a question, he courteously
heeded the answer, but when he begau in his
turn, he went on. Yet this busy and vehement
giant was held In leash by one quiet woman;
their exissencs seemed ideutifsd; AZ whisper
from her, he paused; aud his appeals TO hsr,
for the largest ana smallest things, were as
absolutely trusttul as those Of au ouly child.
"M!llyl where ~ that book? MiIiy! where arc
NV spectacesW Instantly the book was
placed III his hand or the sOsctaces-w
Onlgto conceal mis- sishtess eyes-were within
his reach; and ths cDp,OuS stream OF soDoTous
talk was scarcely brOksn II cost one an
effort to realize that this close tie, seemingly
SO unequal, was in reality tee most aDsolute
and equal intellectual eompanionship; and
tDsG the frrnini0e hand that brought the book
bad also helped 10 write II; aud had prepared
the Manual Of Polit cal Economy" used in
so mauy Of our schools.
Prot. Fagcett's BAR and eyes we're dark,
his features large, his face Strong aud b5nig-
nsnt rather thaa handsome. 10 Parliament,
when IN the opposition. he tormsnted Lord
Beaconsteld with his perplexing questions,
and was once compared 0y him t. "the
Catechism alter the Second Lass0n." When
he made speech he was charged with being
nerclsss in bis amplitude OF statement, IN
undatiDg With his torrent of speech that par
liamentary sudieuce whose greatest dread was
always of DO ng bored But when the liberal
par came in again, and he bad charge OF the
poat office. the administration was always glad
0! his extraordinary power of detailed stste-
meat He was surpassed only by Gladstone
In the prolonged and methodical array Of tacts
dui ukUF6a5 DuL Wullo NfihQbtOu0 COuiu ub9
notes, Fa~cetT was blind. Yet he never faltsr-
ed for fact, or lost tue thread OF an argument;
and III bis administrative capacity he introdac-
ed and carried, by his own sole weight, some
Very important improvements. He was long
professor OF political economy in ths Udivef-
sity of Cambridge; and exhibited that rare
combination of scholarship and public Office so
rare among ourselves. Even in his physical
habits he showed bis fearless and robust ma
ture, not merely cultivating the quiet pursuits
OF the angler, but 'riding TO hounds" IN fox
hunliIg.
The last time / was at his house met as fell
loW-gnests Frederick Harrison, the well-known
positivist writer; aud Mr. Hill Of tie London
Daily News. Their wives were also present,
and hiss Helen Taylor, the adopted daughter
OF Stuart Mill-the only woman L mot in
England who seemed to be habitually treated
as an equal by intellectual men. | remember
noticing that she was more sauguine than
either OF the gentlemen present both as to
woman sntfrags and the growth Of democratic
sentiment in English society; though all
agreed that II the French republic lasted ten
years. these democratic tendencies would re-
caive powerful support. l remember, too,
that she differed from the others In their
opinion that women were naturally more re-
ligous than msp, she holding it to be mainly
matter Of training. She was also the ouly one
of the party who knew much OF the woman
suffrage NOV ment in the United States,
though Prof. Fawcets did not SAY to me in
1873 as he did in 1872, "Wendel Phillips and
Horace Greeley are both advocates Of free love,
are they not?" Indeed, at that earlier visit,
had hard work to convince him Of the con-
trary.