The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-02-07
MRS. WILLIAM C. WHITNEY.
A Tribute to Her Worth Published the
Day Before Her Death.
sTom the Brooklyn Ed1le.


From the Brooklyn Ed1Ie.
Scholarship, affairs, society and woman
hood will regret to learn Of the mortal ill
ness of Flora Payne Whitney, the daughter
of one statesman and the wife Of another
Science, love and friendship have done all
that is possible to prevent or avert the sad
result; but in vain. Her sunny, ripe and
useful life has been attacked at the heart
and the impossibility of recovery was
mournfully recognized.
The people who have concluded that Mrs.
Whitney has been the social leader OF the
federal capital and Of the metropolis have
been right. but such as have concluded that
she has been only that have been mistaken.
Her rank in writing, as a linguist as an au-
thority IN archaeology and as a Judge Of the
affairs of literature and of state Is
high among experts and authorities in all
those fields. The world has not known l..
for much as she lived in the world and large
and constant as the witness was which it
had Of her, the other better life she has lived
and inspired in the home and heart OF her
parents, her husband and her children has
never been put in general evidence. 1t was
held to be too fine and too sacred for that
II is, however, now in order to say that
this tRctful, gentle and gracious woman
possessed one Of the most learned forcefuI
and commanding minds Of her time She
Is the daughter Of the venera BILE Henry B.
Payne, recently senator Of Ohio in the fed
eral congress. Her fathers position at the
bar and in the House of REPRESENTATIVES
his creative power in vast business trusts
and his service as senator, party leader and
the friend and adviser of Tilden, Thurman,
Chase and other great men coinsided with
a family life Of ineffable happiness, in
which his children became the comrades of
his intellect as well as the idols of his affec-
sion. Toward none Of them did mis- pride
and love 60 out more than toward her who
united with the charms Of womanhood a
virile power OF thoughJ aud an alaority for
knowledge and judgment raTelY sshown by
her sex.
Private tutors, the best schools OF Cleve-
land and Of New York and a season of
study in Europe brought 90 Flora Payne
rare educational advantages. The advau"
tages were used with conscientious fidelity
and enthusiasm. They were followed by a
special course Of several years in science at
Cambridge, Mass, under the direct instruc-
tion Of the late Louis Agassiz the leading
physicist Of this generation, who never had
a more attentive and intelligent pupil than
the Ohio girl who preferred his instruction
to the allurements OF social life ct time
when those allurements were most enticing.
During her residence in Europe the daugh-
OcE Wdh bu6 COuHbdub correspondent OF DeE
father, who was alike her best teacher and
critic. Her personal letters to him en- braced
large range Of topics, and dealt with his
torlcal as we'll as with CONTEMPORARY facts
concerning places aud characters. What
was written for his eye alone deserved, IN
his opinion, wider currency. Without her
knowledge, he caused her letters to be pub
llshed. Their publication justified his judg
ment; revealed literature as a field in which
guCpasS aVaitad the yVyitar and vv.au FIR bor
the approval Of the best discernment and
culture. The event, however, did not deter
her from etfacing whatever ambition it
might have encouraged in order to take the
gutter and richer rewards of the period of
studious association with the illustrious sci
enlist who was the glory and bulwark of
Harvard University.
Following this came her marriage with
William G. Whitney. The duties of wife
and mother thereafter dominated her life
Incident to that life we're the pleasure and
obligation to be the inspiring and cousoling
force in the works which statemsmAnship
and patriotism devolved upon her father
and her husband. The daughter was the
best friend Of the one the wife wss the best
counselor Of the other and the woman was
the solace, pride and incentive OF both.
For over twenty teeming years her agency
In their careers has been the significant
function in the agency OF those careers In
the history Of democracy in America.
While the leadership OF society, by the
evolution of it's own suffrages, was a posi-
tion neither coveted nor declined by her,
and while 1t was discharged with an ex-
Quisite regard to its duties and its power 30
be Of help and of example TO others, that
position was held subordinate to the prepa-
ration of her sons and daughters for the
realities and responsibilities Of life. Nor
did the liseratures of Rome and of Greece
lose their charm and hold TO one who con-
stantly REQUIRED to them In their original
tongues, any more than did the treasures of
modern thought aud art which found in her
a thorough student and discriminating
friend. The learned, the wise, the brave
the men Of genius and the men of force
were her confidants with whom she con-
ferred on terms Of equal knowledge and
sympathy.
Her fading out in the summer of her
years Is a lamentable event and a signal de-
prtvatton. IL raises h private sorrow to a
public loss and leaves learning as we'll as
society the poorer by the cessation of one
who exemphfied and ministered to what was
best in both. The smiling fortitude and the
intreptdly cheerful mien with which life
has been nobly met while nearing death
was seen but feared not, have illustrated
the heart that beat only for others happi-
ness and in it found its own. Her kindred
will have the coincidence OF their country in
grief beyond the description or the medi-
cament of words