Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 1. No 1, June 1850Various
General
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 1. No 1, June 1850
Various
American literature -- Periodicals; Civilization -- Periodicals; Culture -- Periodicals
If such was the public estimation of this great and amiable man, to the
very termination of his useful life, what language should describe the
charm of his influence in his private and domestic circle? The
affectionate pride with which every citizen of Edinburgh regarded him
rose here to a kind of idolatry. For here the whole man was known--his
kind heart, his open hand, his genial talk, his ready sympathy, his
generous encouragement and assistance to all that needed it. The first
passion of his life was its last, and never was the love of literature
so bright within him as at the brink of the grave. What dims and deadens
the impressibility of most men, had rendered his not only more acute and
fresh, but more tributary to calm satisfaction, and pure enjoyment. He
did not live merely in the past as age is wont to do, but drew delight
from every present manifestation of worth, or genius, from whatever
quarter it addressed him. His vivid pleasure where his interest was
awakened, his alacrity and eagerness of appreciation, the fervor of his
encouragement and praise, have animated the hopes and relieved the toil
alike of the successful and the unsuccessful, who can not hope, through
whatever checkered future may await them, to find a more, generous
critic, a more profound adviser, a more indulgent friend.
The present year opened upon Francis Jeffrey with all hopeful promise.
He had mastered a severe illness, and resumed his duties with his
accustomed cheerfulness; private circumstances had more than ordinarily
interested him in his old Review; and the memory of past friends, giving
yet greater strength to the affection that surrounded him, was busy at
his heart. "God bless you!" he wrote to Sydney Smith's widow on the
night of the 18th of January; "I am very old, and have many infirmities;
but I am tenacious of old friendships, and find much of my present
enjoyments in the recollections of the past." He sat in Court the next
day, and on the Monday and Tuesday of the following week, with his
faculties and attention unimpaired. On the Wednesday he had a slight
attack of bronchitis; on Friday, symptoms of danger appeared; and on
Saturday he died, peacefully and without pain. Few men had completed
with such consummate success the work appointed them in this world; few
men had passed away to a better with more assured hopes of their reward.
The recollection of his virtues sanctifies his fame; and his genius will
never cease to awaken the gratitude, respect, and pride of his
countrymen.
HAIL AND FAREWELL!
METAL IN SEA-WATER.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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