Then he has chosen proper times and manners for saying his good things;
has spoken to almost every great interest as it rose. Nor has he let
the good opportunities pass unheeded, or failed to make them for
himself. He has taken discretion along as his constant attendant and
ally; has shown how the gentlest temper ever deals the surest blows.
His method is that of the sun against his rival for the cloak, and so
is free from any madness of those, who, forgetting the strength of the
solar ray, go blustering against men's prejudices, as if the wearers
would run at once against these winds of opposition into their arms for
shelter. What higher praise can we bestow on any one than to say of
him, that he harbors another's prejudices with a hospitality so cordial
as to give him for the time the sympathy next best to, if, indeed, it
be not edification in, charity itself? For what disturbs more, and
distracts mankind, than the uncivil manners that cleave man from man?
Yet, for whose amendment letters, love, Christianity, were all given!
* * * * *
There is a virtuous curiosity felt by readers of remarkable books to
learn something more of their author's literary tastes, habits, and
dispositions, than these ordinarily furnish. Yet to gratify this is a
task as difficult as delicate, requiring a diffidency akin to that with
which one would accost the author himself, and without which graceful
armor it were impertinent for a friend even to undertake it. We may
venture but a stroke or two here.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account