Sketches of the Flush Times of Alabama and Mississippi [pp. 553-560]

Sketches of the Flush Times of.labarmca.
grey may be seen in his hair, and possibly
too, his slight, but graceful and well-knit
form may be a trifle less active than of old.
I put these as possibilities-not as matters I
can note.
The large, well-developed head-the mild,
quiet, strong face -the nose, slightly aquiline,
-the mouth, firm yet flexible-the slight ly elongated chin-the shape of the head
oval and protruding largely behind the
ears in the region that supplies the motive
powers, would not have conveyed a right
meaniing did not the blue eyes, strong yet
kind, beaming out the mingled expression of
intelligence and benignity, which, above all
other marks, is the unmistakeable, uncoun terfeitable outward sign of a true gentleman,
relieve and mellow the picture. The voice
kind, social, gentle-and the whole manner
deferential, simple, natural and winning-'
self-poised, modest, friendly and yet deli cate and gracefully dignified. Dignified is
scarcely an apt word in the vulgar meaning
attached to it; for there was no idea of self,
much less of pretension or affectation connected with his manner or bearing. But
there was, towards high and low, rich and
poor, a genuine and unaffected kindness and
friendliness, which every man who approached him felt had something in it peculiarly
sweet towards him; and made the most unfriended outcast feel there was, at least, one
man in the world who felt an interest in and
sympathy for him and his fortunes. Towards
t he young especially, was t hi s exhibited and
by them was it appreciated. A child would
come to him with the feeling of familiarity
and a sense of affectionate consideration;
and a young man, just coming to the bar,
felt that he had found one who would be
glad to aid him in his struggles and encourage him in difficulty. Were this rare manner a thing of art and but a manual gone
through with- put on for effect-it could not
have been long maintained or long undiscovered. But it was the same all the time —
and the effect the same. We need scarcely
say that the effiect was to give the subject of
it a popularity well nigh universal. It was a
popularity which during years of active life,
in all departments of business affairs, public
and private — all the strifes of rivalry and
collisions of interest never shook. The
Sketches of the Flush Times of Alabama.,
I ni b my pen and impa rt to it a fine hair stroke in order that I ma y give the more deli cate touches which can alone show forth the
character of th is distinguished gentleman.
It i s no ordinary character and yet it is most
difficult to draw. There are no sharp angles,
no salient points which it is impossible to
miss, and whi ch serve as handles whereby to
hol d up a character to public view. The lines
are delicate, the gr ain fine, the features regular, the contour full, r ounded and perfectly dev eloped, no w here f eeb le or stunted and no
where disproportioned. He is th e type of a
cl ass, unfortunately of a small class; more
unfortunately of a c lass rapidly disappearing
in the hurly-burly of this fast age of steampressure and railway progre ss: a gentleman
o f the Old School with the e nergy of the
N~ew.
If I hold the p encil in hand in idle reverie, it is because my mind r ests lovingly
upon a picture I feel incapable of transcribing wi th fidelity to the original: I feel that
the coarse copy I shall make will do no justice to the image on the mind; and, therefore, I pause, a moment, to look once more
at the original before it is obscured by the
rude counterpart.
Fifteen years ago —long years crowded
with changes and events-such changes as
are only effected in our country within so!
short a period,-the savage disappearingthe frontier-man following on to a further
border —that border, like the horizon, widening and stretching out towards the sinking
sun, as we go on;-then the rude settlement,
now the improved neighborhood, with its
school-houses and churches; the log cabin
giving way to the mansion,-the wilderness
giving way to the garden and the farm; fifteen years ago, I first saw him. He was
then, so far as I can remember, what he is
now: —no perceptible change has occurred
in any outward or inner characteristic, except that now a pair of spectacles occasionally may be found upon his nose, as that unresting pen sweeps in bold and beautiful chirography across his paper; a deeper tinge of
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.1853.]
553
THE HON. FRANCIS STROTHER.