New-York tribune., 1885-10-25
w. II. HUNTINGTON.
PERSONAL "REMINISCENCES OF HIS LIFE IN
PARIS


PARIS
,-,o,, THE prcuIIR CORRESPONDENT THE TRIBUNE.
PARIS, October 3.
1t NAV be said of the late W. II. Huntington that
as n writer he had many admirers. and AZ man
manv friends and not single enemy. need not
enlarge on bis qualities journalist. His letters
to THE TRIBUNE havo spoken for themselves.
shall only deal with Huntington as knew HIM.
He was think, the quaintest product of what ls
old in New England that ever came across. one
saw that ne was of the race soil and early environ
ments that produced the types in which Hawthorne
quietly revelled. He had a curious way OF looking
az things 1t was philosophical and sometimes
revealed mind that had dipped deep into
Emerson. But often when he seemed to soar he
suddenly swooped down to earth and exercised
his dry humor upon what was earthly. daresay NJ
Athens in the Socratic time such flights ana
swoops we're made. Huntington, when he
descended from transcendental attitudes, made the
oldest remarks about the facts OF lie that came
within his range of observation. In making theih
h. raised his voice to high key. The eyes looked
os if they would like to laugh but the rest OF the
face was grave; that is to say the region OF the
nostrils for tho mouth was shaded with mus
tache and the chin covered with long dark beard.
He did not mean to be strikingly original But
he liked to be himself to live out his own ie anu
tO
of his own. A keener observer never lived But
under his tendency to see the weak points OF those
he watched and criticised there was deep stratum
of hnman kindness He was gifted with the finest
sensibilities IL he had consg gned his thoughts to
naper as thcy arose in his mind and we're expressed
nv his tongue he might have taken rank IN liter
ature between Butler, the author OF :" Hudibras.
and Sterne There often in his talk much that
was akin to tho bcst things in "Tristram Shandy,"
with. however a strong American flavor.
Huntington only visited old aud congenal
friends; and that rarely. He could not imagine
why auy one should be glad of his company. used
70 saw TO him. If you were crabbsh should call
Won hermit crab" He hated crowds and tho kind
of sensations which are sought by the world and
mis- wife" Intensely conservative in his ways. he
WAS in sympathy with those VINO struck out boldly
rs pioneers. He was one OF the frst-porhaps the
6rst-to divine OF what stuff Cl6menceau was made.
Ua knew him through General Ciuseret (whO, he
said. ahad good quality so. but was, taken In
the lump. n cuss"l, and gave him when he was
going 10 America in 1864 letters of introduction to
Horace Greeley.
When Huntington was in good health he spent
much time in rummaging book stalls ana old
curiosity shops in the not always vain hope OF nd-
ing documents and pictures which might possibly
throw light on the political founders OF the United
States The search was at first made because IL
was a source of pleasure. 1t WAS kept up because
the materials gathered might be of use to somo
future historian of tho tune when, IN ohclaI
parlance America became Nation. Anything
which shed a light upon the period IN which his
ancestor as a representative OF Connecticut signed
the Declaration of Independence precious to
hIm. He discovered in his rambles in the suburbs
of Paris ut pubic-house at Neuilly an engraving
of a picture done by Benjamin West. the Phadel-
pha painter who established himself in London and
WAS so warmly patronized By George III. Inc
original there is reason to suppose was done bv
West when he revisited his native land. Men,
women and children, grandparents. parents. aunts,
ncphews neces. all represented IN an oid-iash-
ioned paror and IN Quaker costumes. daresay
West was vividly impressed when lie went back to
PENNSYLVANIA from Europe, where he had seen many
fine courtly b:r!s with their honest. simple air,
their sobrety and calm and their friendly ways
never saw Quakerism placed in a more charming
light Huntington offered a high price Tor the
engraving, which was refused Ihe pubiicahs
name also was West and he had a vague notion
that the artist gave the picture To his greaterand-
father as a cOusinly present Not beng aDle 10
obtain it for his COLLECTION, Huntington used often
TO 90 to breakfast in the pnbllchOuse where u was
so as To be able to get il well into his brazil. lie
sa,d that il explained to him one very healthy germ
of the national life Of America These quiet. easy
going prm Quakers." he one day opined were the
source whence sprung the movement that freed the
negro slaves Their lives were good. shey were
bnsy workers as much from taste and from sense
of duty as from the necessity OF colonial life. In
their hive there were drones, and so they coud
afford 10 act according TO their cOnsclcnces aud the
insprations of their hearts"
w H. Huntington lived rs long rs knew him in
n fat ON second floor III the Rue 3ouI sault. The
walls of all his rooms hidden with hooks and
rare pietures all of which believe lie has left to
the clty of Boston. HIS life was that of a lone
bachelor of kindly sympatbies, scholarly and OF
artistic and philosophical tastes. When ho went
! abroad he always wore a loose brown palctot and
soft melou hat the fashion of both u0-
alterable as the laws Of the Medes and Persians.
| He carried stick in his hand. l asked him one
! day how it was that dog was not at his heels.
| " Because" he replied. am waiting for one to
take a fancy TO me and follow me home. The hrss
| dog that does that even were he NANCY and the
! yerest cur will be well received Pm fond of
dogs and cats and it's wonder TO me that they are
| not fonder Of me-" Huntington occasionally went
| to explore fresh fields and pastures new. Before
| the cold cure was though, of he went 10 Switzer-
land IN winter. His object was to see things there
! unadorned and untacatrical In summer he
| believed Switzerland a stage and all the
Sw,zer men and women players. They plucked
the tourist Huntington TO keep up his faith IN
| human nature did not want to 90 among them i'll
| the plucking season. Italy was also visited occa-
! sonally. But the anchor was cast in PARIS. 1t Is
strange that an American in all respects acy of his
native soil aud an utter stranger to the gayetes OF
the Parisan world should have been 80 welded to
the French metropolis.
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| WPARY OP EYIJH yN RHlZYI