Genius in Sunshine and ShadowBallou, Maturin M. (Maturin Murray)
General
Genius in Sunshine and Shadow
Ballou, Maturin M. (Maturin Murray)
Literature -- Anecdotes
[Footnote 18: Is it generally known that among the accomplishments of
his after years was that of music and an instrumental performer? Leigh
Hunt says that "Dr. Franklin offered to teach my mother the guitar, but
she was too bashful to become his pupil. She regretted this afterwards,
possibly from having missed so illustrious a master. Her first child,
who died, was named after him."
In his Autobiography Franklin says: "At ten years of age I was called
home to assist my father in his occupation, which was that of a
soap-boiler and tallow-chandler, a business to which he had served no
apprenticeship, but which he embraced on his arrival in New England,
because he found his own, that of a dyer, in too little request. I was
accordingly employed in cutting the wicks, filling the moulds," etc.]
[Footnote 19: His original name was John Horne, but being adopted and
educated by William Tooke, he assumed his name. His humble birth being
suspected by the proud striplings at Eton, when he was questioned as to
his father he replied, "He was a Turkey merchant!" He was imprisoned for
a year because he said that certain Americans were "murdered" by the
king's troops at Lexington!]
[Footnote 20: Elliott, the Corn-Law Rhymer, was no pander to popular
cries unless they were founded on reason. Being asked, "What is a
communist?" he answered, "One who has yearnings for equal division of
unequal earnings. Idler or bungler, he is willing to fork out his penny
and pocket your shilling." Whipple says: "His poetry could hardly be
written by a man who was not physically strong. You can hear the ring of
his anvil, and see the sparks fly off from his furnace, as you read his
verses."]
[Footnote 21: While these notes are writing, the city of Boston is
erecting a bronze statue to the memory of Garrison, which is to adorn
one of its finest and largest public parks,--a fitting tribute to the
honored philanthropist.]
[Footnote 22: Hosea Biglow's words are specially applicable here:--
"An' yit I love th' unhighschooled way
Ol' farmers hed when I wuz younger;
Their talk wuz meatier, an' 'ould stay,
While book-froth seems to whet your hunger."]
[Footnote 23: His "Death on the Pale Horse," now in the Academy of Fine
Arts at Philadelphia, is the most remarkable of his productions in this
country. The Pennsylvania Hospital, in the same city, has also "Christ
Healing the Sick," by West,--a truly noble conception, a vigorous work
of art, and a generous gift from the author.]
[Footnote 24: His old employer, Moses Kimball, paid Ball twenty thousand
dollars for the bronze group now standing in Park Square. It represents
President Lincoln Freeing the Slaves. The purchaser presented it to the
city of Boston.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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