The Progress. [volume] (White Earth, Minn.) 1886-1889, 1889-06-29
THE POET WHITTIER.
Mcrited Tribute t., fSis Nobility of Char.
Acter . Mum.

A Mcrited Tribute t., Kis Nobility of Char.
acter as u Man.
The whole country and the whole
Eagiish reading world united in their
tribute of honor and esteem to,te good
Quaker poet, John G. Whittier, On his
eight;eth birthday. Whittier is an old
man whose work is done. All the ;sll-
tagonisms Of his prime are long since
forgotten, and I'll the aspelities Of his
early work have long since lost their
bitterness, and now, in the benign.
peace of his old age, he sits us il were.
in the warm chimney corner Of a Nh
TONS regard, the most veneratrd
figure, perhaps, in the whole land. Mr..
Whittier has no family of his own. bli!
now. in his old age, that imdescriblbir
feeling Of family regard goes ont IT.
rcsistibly toward him from q whole
people. He holds the pleasant place OF
gran pa i'll the Nations heart.
This widespread feeling of regard
for Mr.. Whittier is not due entirely t..
the fact that he is Il poet and the pos
SCISSOR Of a great literary renown. 1t
is due, IN large degree, to the con-
viction, which his whole life has served
to strengthen. that he is good mum
plain, genuine man Of homely vir-
tues, a man who, to the best light
within him, has done right. There
have been greater poets and broader
thinkers than Whittier who have been
lesser men than he. There have been
men in this country Of greater origin
atty, of keener wit. Of greater literar,
accomplishment; but there have been
few whose characters have been built
upon Il frmcr rpck-bottom basis 81
sturdy worth than his. !.
Then, again. Whittier possesses that
inevitable attribute Of great minds
mOdesty. There is something about;
true greatness that is always self-,lis-
trustful; and perhaps the surest evil.
dencc OF greatness in Il man il, his Owr5
unconsciousness Of the fact. Whittier
possesses this Inconsistencies ina r,,-
nlarkable degree; and for this rp:.so,.
the world is the more willing to- act..,r. !.
him that need of Honor that is, bp him
self, unclaimed. s.4.
He has often been called "a man, 81.
the people,. There is nothing weak
and literary about him. The letrne,:
afectations. the self-conscions vanity
the spirit.of caste and cotcrie that dr-
torn the characters Of So many liter;,r,s
people seem to be entirely ,nknoyE ii 8
Whittier. The learned polrsyllaI1ic:l
dignity with which SO many eminent
authors invest themselves, never freeze
the trembling visitor ut Wl:ttierss.
homelike home. He is as plain is ii.
farmer, and makes Ill men his neigh
bors. This is the style of man who en- $
dears himself to thoughtful. stu,,l,
men. He has followed Charles Dick
ems advice to boys much beyond the,
period Of his boyhood. and has ..ius,'
done all the good he can and not made,
any fuss about it =
1t is not necessary here to sneak 81
Whittier's poetry. His best poems arc
known by heart to the lovers of Ameri-
can song. His works will Ii. critically
.etissected and discussed by learned lit
erary specialists fol. many generations
Bnt the poets contemporaries do llin,.
best service in testifying To his srt,-
zzbility OF character as 1, man. ltt,tke1
Btade,