The Farmer Boy, and How He Became Commander-In-Chief — John Shaqi
The Farmer Boy, and How He Became Commander-In-ChiefHeady, Morrison
History
The Farmer Boy, and How He Became Commander-In-Chief
Heady, Morrison
Washington, George, 1732-1799
If there is one thing about Uncle Juvinell that we might venture to
pronounce more charming than another, it is the smile of mingled fun,
good-humor, and love, with which his countenance never ceases to
shine, save when he hears the voice of pain and his breast with pity
burns. Touching this same trait of his, a lady once said in our
hearing, that she verily believed a cherub, fresh from the rosy
chambers of the morning, came at the opening of each day to Uncle
Juvinell's chamber, just on purpose to dash a handful of sunbeams on
his head; and, as there were always more than enough to keep his face
bathed with smiles for the next twenty-four hours, they were not
wasted, but, falling and lodging on his gold spectacles, his gold
breast-pin, his gold buttons, his gold watch-chain, and the gold head
of his ebony cane, washed them with lustre ever new, as if his face,
bright and broad as it was, were not enough to reflect the love and
sunshine ever dwelling in his heart. We will not undertake to vouch
for the truth of this, however. As the young lady was a marriageable
young lady, and had been for a number of years, it would not be
gallant or generous for us to mention it; but of this we are certain,
that, when this good old gentleman enters a room, there is a warmth
and brightness in his very presence, that causes you to look round,
half expecting to see the tables and chairs throwing their shadows
along the floor, as if, by the power of magic, a window had suddenly
been opened in the wall to let in the morning sunshine.
If the affections of Uncle Juvinell's heart are childlike in their
freshness, the powers of his intellect are gigantic in their
dimensions. He is a man of prodigious learning: for proof of which,
you have but to enter his library, and take note of the books upon
books that crowd the shelves from the floor to the ceiling; the maps
that line the walls; the two great globes, one of the earth and the
other of the heavens, that stand on either side of his reading-desk;
and the reading-desk itself, whereon there always lies some book of
monstrous size, wide open, which no one has ever had the courage to
read from beginning to end, or could comprehend if he did.
In the languages he is very expert; speaking French with such
clearness and distinctness, that any native-born Frenchman, with a
fair knowledge of the English, can with but little difficulty
understand more than half he says; and in German he is scarcely less
fluent and ready; while his Latin is the envy of all who know only
their mother-tongue. In mathematics, his skill is such, that you might
give him a sum, the working-out of which would cover three or four
large slates; and he would never fail to arrive at the answer, let him
but take his time.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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