John Lothrop Motley. a memoir — Volume 1Holmes, Oliver Wendell
General
John Lothrop Motley. a memoir — Volume 1
Holmes, Oliver Wendell
Motley, John Lothrop, 1814-1877
It is not very difficult to reconcile these two portraitures. I
recollect it was said by a witty lady of a handsome clergyman well
remembered among us, that he had dressy eyes. Motley so well became
everything he wore, that if he had sprung from his bed and slipped his
clothes on at an alarm of fire, his costume would have looked like a
prince's undress. His natural presentment, like that of Count D'Orsay,
was of the kind which suggests the intentional effects of an elaborate
toilet, no matter how little thought or care may have been given to make
it effective. I think the "passion for dress" was really only a
seeming, and that he often excited admiration when he had not taken half
the pains to adorn himself that many a youth less favored by nature has
wasted upon his unblest exterior only to be laughed at.
I gather some other interesting facts from a letter which I have received
from his early playmate and school and college classmate, Mr. T. G.
Appleton.
"In his Sophomore year he kept abreast of the prescribed studies,
but his heart was out of bounds, as it often had been at Round Hill
when chasing squirrels or rabbits through forbidden forests.
Already his historical interest was shaping his life. A tutor
coming-by chance, let us hope--to his room remonstrated with him
upon the heaps of novels upon his table.
"'Yes,' said Motley, 'I am reading historically, and have come to the
novels of the nineteenth century. Taken in the lump, they are very hard
reading.'"
All Old Cambridge people know the Brattle House, with its gambrel roof,
its tall trees, its perennial spring, its legendary fame of good fare and
hospitable board in the days of the kindly old bon vivant, Major Brattle.
In this house the two young students, Appleton and Motley, lived during a
part of their college course.
"Motley's room was on the ground floor, the room to the left of the
entrance. He led a very pleasant life there, tempering his college
duties with the literature he loved, and receiving his friends
amidst elegant surroundings, which added to the charm of his
society. Occasionally we amused ourselves by writing for the
magazines and papers of the day. Mr. Willis had just started a slim
monthly, written chiefly by himself, but with the true magazine
flavor. We wrote for that, and sometimes verses in the corner of a
paper called 'The Anti-Masonic Mirror,' and in which corner was a
woodcut of Apollo, and inviting to destruction ambitious youths by
the legend underneath,--
'Much yet remains unsung.'
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