New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-09-01
GEORGE VILLIAM CURIIS.

This generation has so completely filled as Mr.
Curtis did the ideal of clear intellect pure
taste. moral purpose, chivalry of feeling and
ncrsonal refinement and grace. From the
moment of his entrance into public life, as
sncaker.-now nearly forty years ago-hc has
entirely satisfied, especially for the mind OF
sensitive and generous youth the higher con-
ccption of purity, dignity, and sweetness. Ills
noble presence and serious demeanor the re-
nose and sweep and sway of his cloquence, and
the crystal clearness Of his literary style were
all felt to be naturally and spontaneously repre-
sentative of an exalted personality. Upon all
nublic occasions the tremulous scnsibility OF
his feelings and the inhexible yeticence of his
mind were not less remarkable than the abso-
lutte propriety and perfect symmetry OF MS
language. In the element of felicity few orators
have eoualled him and no orator has surpassed
him. He was, of course an artist; but the
soul Of his art was the virtuous and wise sin
coritv of a noble nature. The work was fine
hut the man was finer than the work; and OF
all the charms that he exerted mono was so
great as that of his pure and gentle spirit
His manners, indeed, were so undemonstrative
and so polished as to seem cold but all VINO
knew him, all who ever listened to his speech,
felt and owned in him the spell of inherent
genuine nobility.
There is. indeed, conception of character
and conduct which assumes that when man
is not, ELUSIVE and familiar he is aristocratc :;
and to that idea it is probable that Mr.. Curtis
gave some dsquiet. Yet no one ever more
profoundly and practically believed than he
did in the brotherhood OF humanity. He was
republican. through and through. His voice
and his pen. his personal influence and his pri-
vate means were always enlisted in the cause
of the helpless. the oppressed. and the weak.
Perhaps the best Grafton he ever delivered was
his Grafton upon Robert Burns-in which every
word thrills with the pulsation Of human kind
ness. and Of which the spirit is love for every
virtue and pity for every weakness OF the
human race But his theory of equality was
not DEGRADATION. He desired, and he laborcd.
to equaze the race, not by dragging people
down. but by raising them up. If he was
fastidi6us and reticent, he did not deny 10
others the right to be faStdous and rctccnt
also. In this he was OF the kindred OF bryant
and Washington Irving, and Longfellow and
Emerson,-wth whom he had much in com
mon. and the spotless standard OF whose art
and life he Loyalty and brilliantly sustained and
has transmitted in light and beauty to all the
Younger men of letters who succeed him. In
all that tho word implies he was n gentleman !;
and there is no worthier or more expressive
tribute that can be brought to any mans
coffin than the tear that will not he rcprcsscd
for lifelong devotion to duty, for goodness
that never faltcrcd and kindness that never
failed.
In the immediate presence of death and under
the instant sense of bereavement it is not
easily possible to speak with cold judgment
of his achievements as writer lie was the
master of style AZ pure as that of Addison
and as flexible as that of Lamb. In its char
acteristic quality however. it does not re-
semble either of those models. The influences
that we're most intimately concerned in form
ing his mind were Emerson and Thackeray
He had the broad vision and the fresh brave
aspiring spirit Of the one and he combined
with those the satrical playfuncss, the cordial
dctcstation Of shams and the subtle com
mingling OF raillcry and tender sentiment that
are characteristic Of the other. His habitua
mood was pcnsivc, not passionate, and he was
essentially more contcmpativc philosopher
than either an advocate, n partisan, a reformer
or potician-a Of which parts he sometimes
was constrained to assume. He was born for
the vocation Of letters and his best success
was gained in the literary art. His " llowadj
in Syria" his Nile Notes" and his Pruc and
- will survive in the affcctionate admiration
Of his countrymcn long after his political
papers are forgotten. "Prue and T. is one of
the most delicate, drcamlikc books in our Ian
guagc, and the spirit that it discloscs is full of
romance and tenderness and beauty. Tho
affectionate heart, the lively fancy, and the
subtle literary instinct Of Goldsmith could not
have made it finer. As an orator he had all
the grace and fifty times the emotion of Ever
EFT, whose tradition he has perpet' led. His
rhetoric was not merely sheen OF words but
it burned and shimmered with the vital spen
dor of sincere heart. He was in earnest in
all that he said and did lie has had n long
and good life and his name is noble forever.