The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-08-14
THE CAREER OF A GENIUS.
MAJ. EDWARDS REMARKABLE LIFE.
Fitting Memorial of One of the Most Bril-
liant and Accomplished Journalists
This Country Has Known-The Best
of His Writings Preserved.

Maj. John n. Edwards, who died in Jefferson
City, No., last May, was in many respects one
of the most remarkable men this country has
produced. A native of Virginia, he emigrated
to Missouri in early life, and from that time
until his untimely death was a commanding
figure in the politics, the journalism and the
social life of his adopted state. Probably no
man ever lived in Missouri who had so large
number of warm and devoted friends; GER
tainly none whose rare qualities of head and
heart better entitled him to the affection and
esteem of his fellow-men. Maj. Edwards was
an intellectual phenomenon. His early ad-
vantages were limited. He left school at the
age when most persons are just beginning
the serious work of education. From school to
the printing Office, from the devils" task to
the case, from the case to war and from war to
the editorial chair was the course of his subse-
quent busy and restless life. His opportunities
for reading, reflection and general culture,
especially during the tempestuous years OF his
early manhood, were very mesger. Yet even
as young man his attainments were e1traor-
binary. He was thoroughly acquainted with
the whole range of English letters. He was well
read in the literature of other nations and
of antiquity. He knew the bible by heart.
Shakespeare was cat his tongues end" The
great poets, ancient and modern, were at his
command. With the "lesser poets"-that legion
OF shy or humble sOngsters who break silence
but once or twice in a lifetime to carol
few sweet plaintive notes into the worlds
ear, and then vanish into the infinite, leaving
but a bare name-oft not so much to testify
their identity-he had q surprising acquant-
Hls cd
readily to the daintiest touch of sentiment
harmony, and he rescued unnumbered gems
from the obscure corners of village newspapers,
and added their beauty or pathos to the
literary treasures of his generation. He
was a perfect encyclopedia of history and
biography, ancient and modern, sacred and
profane. He had devoured ali the fiction,
English and foreign, that revealed genuine
creative power. He was familiar with all the
great essayists and critics; he was fairly versed
In political economy and the science of govern
ment; he had good general knowledge of
science; and withal there were few men any
where who had frmer grasp upon current
events. His memory, or his powers OF absorb
ton, seemed inexhaustible. AS he never for
got a name or a face, so all that he read be-
came his absolute possession from that moment.
He was great lover of nature. He lived
much out of doors The fields and the brooks,
the birds and the flowers the sky and the sea,
had never failing fascination for him. lie
a student of human nature; rather, per-
haps, he had an intuitive knowledge of il; for
he seemed to know men without studying
them. He was born poet, although he seldom
clothed his thoughts in the stereotype forms of
poetry. But almost all his prose was poetry, in
the right sense of the word. He was an amaz-
ingly prolific and versatile writer. he could
dash of column after column of matter upon
all sorts of topics-politics, religion, science.
economics, sociology, a baby's death-and not
line of it would fall TO the level of the common
place. His exuberance of diction was fairly
tropical. He thought swiftly but his resources
OF language we're so great that his mental opera
tons, rapid though they were, seemed never to
keep pace with them. All of which is simply
to say that John n. Edwards was a genius-a
man whose rare gifts would have made him as
well known throughout the English-speaking
world as he was in Mssouri-where his name
was a household word-had his am
bition and self-control been equal TO his intel
lectual endowments
Maj Edwards had a romantic career. He
fought through the war of the rebellion as
officer in the Confederate Gen. Joseph Shelby's
famous corps He was a brave soldier par
ticipated in several notable engagements, was
repeatedly wounded and shared with the gal
LIANT Shelby the affections of all the command.
After the war he accompanied Shelby and
thousand of his veterans TO Mexico, where they
joined their fortunes with those OF the ill-starred
Macmillan. He spent two years In Mexico
and then returned to Missouri, where he passed
the remainder of his life, engaged in journalism
at st. Louis, Sedalia, st. Joseph and Kansas
City. At his death he was the leading editorial
writer on the Kansas City Times, with whose
proprietor, DR.. Munford, he had maintained a
more than brotherly intimacy for twenty
years.
Mai. Edwards was personally one OF the most
fascinating of men. Modest, diffident reserved
in his manner, he was as bold as a lion on oc-
casions, yet as gentle and tender as a woman in
all the relations of domestic life and social in
tercourse. He was erratic impulsiye, high
spirited, sensitive to aHront jealous of his
honor, yet generous even to his enemies, and
all Astounding in moral courage.
Mai. Edwards died penniless. The most IN
selfish of men, his heart and hand were always
open to the appeals of others, and this fact,
together with the terrible appetite, against
which he struggled so heroically, though
vainly, kept him always a poor man. His
widow, a talented and accomplished woman,
has made a selection of his writings, including
his most famous newspaper articles, several
hitherto unpublished poems, and many private
letters which is published in a neat volume of
42S pages. This volume contains also an APP
preciative sketch of Mai. Edwards from the pen
OF the Rev. George Plottenburg-- Twenty
Years of Friendship" a touching tribute from
the pen OF Dr. Munford; large number OF per-
sonal and newspaper tributes, and Maj. Ed
wards brilliant narrative of 'Shelby's Expedi-
ton to Mexico" There is also an excellent
portrait of the subject. The whole forms a
most graceful and appropriate memorial. 1t is
sold for the benefit of his widow and children,
and for this, as well as for its rare literary
merits, should meet hearty welcome from the
thousands of Maj. Edwards friends and adj
mirers, as well as from the general public.
Copies can be obtained from Wiley o. Cox,
president of the state bank, Kansas City, Mo.
The Starving MJnars