Recollections on My Room-mate [pp. 215-217]

216 RECOLLECTIONS
lived, and thence, in company with his uncle, visited the home of his childhood. Here he remained
about three months with his relatives, and till his
health was again established. After spending a
few weeks at home, upon his return, he went to
Cincinnati, where he again commenced to work at
his trade, in the Methodist Book Concern. Not
long after he was employed in the editor's office of
the Western Christian Advocate, where he was engaged for about sixteen months, and till his last
sickness.
In the editor's office he was at home. All his
life he had had predilections for the editor's chair,
and amply was he endowed to discharge its duties
and fulfill its obligations. Of a pure spirit, a
strong intellect, and a noble heart, his taste was
critical and exact, his literary acumen nice, and his
judgment never at fault. This occupation was so
congenial to his feelings, that I have often found
him, late in the afternoon, so abstracted with the
duties of the office, as to have forgotten his repast
and the lapse of the time.
While serving at this post he was invited to deliver a Master's oration at the Commencement of
his Alma Mater, upon the occasion of his receiving,
in cursu, his second degree. He chose for his subject "The Newspaper Press," and made a very fair
address. Two months subsequent to this time he
was attacked with the typhoid fever, and in a few
days he fell asleep in Jesus.
Those only who knew him can appreciate his
worth. He had many excellent traits, and he consecrated them all to God. He endeavored to labor
for the Church and for humanity; and was just beginning to make his influence felt in society, when
he was cut off. He has left to his friends and to
the world the legacy of a good name and the memory of his rare accomplishments.,
His character may be summed up in a few words.
He was humble and sincere; and here he possessed
the first element of greatness. He never was pertinacious in his views, nor dogmatical in his opinions; yet he was firm in his counsels and unwavering in his conduct. He respected the sentiments of
others, and never censured their misjudgments or
indulged in bitterness at their errors. He endeavored to reclaim more by the gentle mastery of love
than by the sterner rebukes of friendship.
His disposition was always amiable, and hence
he never suffered himself to become angry, though
greatly provoked. His was the ornament of a meek
and quiet spirit, disposed to brook insult and injury rather than seek revenge. Several years since
we were connected together in the publication of a
college periodical, to which he, upon one occasion,
contributed a very commendable piece of poetry.
Clinton was setting up the type on his own article,
when a friend stepped into the office and picked up
the manuscript; and without knowing who was the
author of the piece, immediately accused the writer
of plagiarism. Against this serious charge, though
conscious of innocence, Clinton made no defense,
F MY ROOM-MATE.
but very coolly joined in condemning the verses, and
even printed at the bottom of his own article the
remark of the critic, that he feared it was not original.
All assumed superiority and affectation he thoroughly hated. He was fond of ridiculing the conceited smartness of those who were really ignorant.
A student of this description was once boasting in
Clinton's presence of his literary acquirements and
his taste for study. He had read Locke's Essay
on the Understanding, he averred, and he thought
it a fine work. He was delighted with history, he
said, and reveled in biography. Clinton very seriously inquired if he had read Shakspeare's Memoirs
of the Poets. The student betrayed his ignorance
by replying that he believed he had, or, at least, he
had seen the work, and was very desirous of getting hold of it!
Upon another occasion, in the society to which
he belonged, a student having advanced some novel
views concerning the mind, Clinton ironically criticised the performance, saying, "The remarks which
we have just heard do not surprise me. The sentiments advanced by the gentleman have been propounded by several distinguished writers. The
learned Sangrado, in his immortal work, De Principiis, defended these views; and, moreover, Braganza, the Scythian, wrote to the same effect in his
scholarly treatise on the education of the mind."
This propensity to sarcasm and sport, however,
Clinton often deplored; for though he never used it
but innocently, he was fearful of wounding feelings.
He was too benevolent to injure another purposely;
and his generous and hearty impulses toward strangers, as well as toward friends, prevented him from
jesting at their failings or making sport of their
foibles.
To him literature in all its departments was dear;
but of poetry and music he was specially fond.
They always found in him an attentive ear and a
ready tongue; and so long as we were together, he
was wont to spend the twilight of many a summer
evening in singing, or making the echoes respond
to the sound of his flute. This was his passion;
and I have frequently found him with note-book in
hand, conning over a piece of music, and deriving
intense satisfaction from the melody which the
notes suggested.
Clinton possessed a rich fund of humor which occasionally developed itself in wit. His style of writing was racy and his periods sententious. There
was a delightful piquancy and sprightliness about
some of his compositions, which prove him to have
wielded a master's pen.
Though he excelled in writing, he was so modest
and diffident of his abilities, that he was often at a
loss how to express himself; and this slowness of
speech sometimes occasioned serious embarrassments in conversation. This inability to communicate his thoughts freely was perhaps the greatest
defect which he had; and, while not noticed in
the social circles of his comrades, it was painfully