before it; but in his charges or decisions nothing of this feeling was
perceptible, except that lightness and grace of expression in which
his youth seemed to linger to the last, and a quick sensibility to
emotion and enjoyment which half concealed the ravages of time.
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
fervour of his encouragement and praise, have animated the hopes and
relieved the toil alike of the successful and the unsuccessful, who
cannot hope, through whatever chequered 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!
THE YOUNG JEW OF TUNIS.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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