Personal
asperities engendered by political strife, and which too often follow in
the train of collisions of opinion and partisan warfare, were "alien to
his nature." In his retirement from the public arena, during the last
twenty years or more, he sympathized but little with the busy world.
Of most happy temperament, and without a particle of ostentation or
parade, "his spirit was finely touched with the gentler virtues," and
those who enjoyed the privilege of his social intimacy will remember
with delight the unaffected frankness and simplicity of his manners, the
varied range, the breadth and depth and vivacity of his "marvellously
rich and beautiful conversation," whilst they must deeply deplore the
loss of one as remarkable for mildness and the kindliest affections in
his domestic relations, and all the intercourse of private life, as for
profound thought and rare attainments.
It is not the purpose, nor is it within the scope of this brief
memorial, to delineate the character of this eminent citizen. _Clarum et
venerabile nomen_--"a fairer tribute shall one day grace his honorable
tomb.
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