Though the theatre in which I beheld the first exhibitions of the character of Mr. D. was limited in its extent, the exercise of those manly powers and the manifestation of those good qualities of his heart, which in after days found full scope and became so conspicuous, were never for a moment held in abeyance. I remember with what zeal and perseverance he engaged in the political affairs of the day. I think his first political essays found the light in the columns of the Norwich Journal, then conducted by one of his distinguished political friends, and who filled at one time a high office in the State. I know the fact that he contributed often to the pages of that paper in the earlier days of his political activities. In the exercise of his pen on this wise, he became at length one of the best essayists of the hour in practical and passing politics.

These exercises at this time, in connection with his legal and political studies, made him the strong and terse writer which is evinced in his letters and addresses of later days. By unsparing industry in his profession, by constant activity in political movements and discussions, and by faithful performance of official duties in various relations to the government, State and national, he became a well-developed man of affairs.

Mr. Dickinson was a born poe. Poeta nascitur; orator fit. That the poetic afflatus was naturally and truly felt by him, is demonstrated by his occasional effusions shaped under the inspirations of the art divine. As a satirist, in point and severity, I find few if any superiors in modern times, and among the ancients, perhaps, may not be reckoned Horace and Juvenal. I readily remember how the partisan and profligate follies of the age and of politicians sometimes received unmerciful lashes from his pen in newspaper New Year's addresses in verse. A poem addressed to yourself, and revised only a few days before his exit from the stage of mortality, illustrates his ease in versification as well as his mastership in dealing with the tender and pathetic in poetry. Mr. D. was a lover of good poetry, and his retentive memory enabled him to keep in memory for recital, on occasion, the richest passages from some of the best poets. He was fond of recitations from Sir Walter Scott. The Lady of the Lake was a favorite poem, from which he would repeat at great length. His memory

held Blair's Grave in perfect command from beginning to end: it was stereotyped on its tablets.

I have been told that most, if not all of the years of the youth of Mr. Dickinson were passed in the period of the early settlement of the country, when books were less accessible than in later days; that in most families, in those days, the Bible, Watt's Psalms and Hymns, the Assembly's Catechism and, perchance, a Commentary on the Scriptures would constitute the chief stock of reading matter; that the library of Mr. D.'s father was not overstocked with books other than the usual religious and school assortment; that his excellent mother was a diligent teacher of her children in the religious doctrines of those books; hence the familiarity of the son, so often manifested in manhood, with the literature of the Bible and the lyrics of Dr. Watts. The bible was his classic. I venture to say that no man not specially educated for the profession of divinity, and not constantly practised in the uses of biblical literature in pulpit exercises, had at command so large a fund of knowledge of the scriptures as Mr. D., and that but few of the preachers and doctors of Divinity of those days were his equals in that behalf.

The friendships of Mr. Dickinson were always strongly marked; they might be classed as ordinary and extraordinary. Perhaps in all history an instance cannot be found where so great sacrifice of personal ambition and benefit was ever laid on the altar of political friendship as is seen in the affair of his proposed nomination for the Presidency of the United States, at the Baltimore Convention, and the declination thereof, on account of his friendly relations with General Cass. How admirably does his conduct on this occasion quadrate with the formula given by Cicero in his De Amicitia, and which he calls the fundamental law of friendship: "To expect from our friends only what is honorable; and for our friends' sake do what is honorable; not even to wait until we are asked; to have our zeal ready; our reluctance distant; to delight in giving ignorance advice; that in our friendship, the influence of our friends, when they offered sound advice, should have the greatest weight; and that this be applied to admonish not only candidly, but even sharply, if the case require it; and to act in accordance with it when so applied."

If I had it in my power to write any words that should carry consolation to you for so great a bereavement, more fully than the memory of your husband's love and kindness to yourself and family, and of the services he rendered to his country must always bring to you, I would write them here; but I have no such potent pen. If, however, what I have written shall contribute to preserve a knowledge of his superior worth, and to strengthen you in cherishing his memory, I shall not regret that I have listened to your call to furnish a communication relative to the early life, personal recollections, &c., of Mr. Dickinson."

I am very sincerely and truly yours, &c.,

TO MRS. L. DICKINSON.

66

HORACE DRESSER.

REV. MR. BARTLETT TO MRS. DICKINSON.

MRS. DANIEL S. DICKINSON-MY DEAR MADAM-From no class of your lamented husband's admirers will you receive heartier condolence than from the young men whom it was his peculiar pleasure to encourage. His interest in the young was a characteristic which ought not to be obscured by his more conspicuous gifts. Patriotism and philanthropy make us debtors to the future. This obligation Mr. Dickinson acknowledged by his sympathy with the struggles and embarrassments of young aspirants in all callings. Aside from his own eminent success, which was a constant stimulus to the young, he was painstaking to know the names and ages, and test the mental brightness of the boys in his neighborhood, and by some cordial, wise word arouse their self-respect and ambition. More than once, years gone by, have I seen him come upon a group of children, recognizing one and another by a family likeness, and put his hand upon their heads, as though knighting them for their life-battle, while he dropped a bit of counsel in a witty phrase.

The unconscious influence of such an one, like a monument which embodies history, both instructs and moulds character. In boyish years, feeling the force of his presence and quickened to diligence by his partial kindness, it is a pleasure to know

that, while recording my own experience with him, I am giving expression to similar sentiments entertained by young men of various avocations scattered over the country.

Since my own professional life began, I prize as a reminiscence most of all, the few interviews in which he spoke freely of his religious conviction and his personal hopes. During his convalescence, in the summer of 1865, he led me to his study and read some poems he had recently written. The one upon his deceased children, so pathetic and trustful, brought him directly to a frank and pleasant conversation concerning his own expectations in the future, and left an abiding impression upon my own mind that underneath his bustling public life ran a current of simple-hearted piety and Christian faith. Like some rare flower whose bloom and fragrance perish to make way for its abundant seed-prophets of spring and resurrection -so his influence diffused in his life shall be multiplied many fold by his death, and his gifts and graces come to maturity on immortal fields.

With great respect and sincere sympathy I am your friend. WILLIAM ALVIN BARTLETT.

BROOKLYN, August 23, 1867.

REV. MR. LIGHTNER TO MRS. DICKINSON.

DETROIT, August 28, 1867.

MY DEAR MRS. DICKINSON-The numerous friends and admirers of your departed husband, who will peruse with melancholy pleasure his private correspondence, may be interested in a brief reference to his confirmation and consequent admission into full communion with the church, which occurred on the 29th of June, 1862, in Christ's Church, Binghamton, where he had long served as a vestryman, and devoutly worshipped. Few who were present on that occasion will ever forget the beautiful spectacle, when the eminent statesman reverently came forward, among more than fifty others, leading by the hand his little grandson and namesake, to renew his baptismal vows and publicly take up his cross as the follower of Christ.

This step was taken by Mr. Dickinson with the simplest trust in the promises of our divine Redeemer. It only requir

ed that his self-distrust should be overcome by a fair exposition of the gospel covenant, to secure his prompt submission to the love of God in Christ. Admitted to his fullest confidence, well do I know how anxiously, on that solemn occasion, he bore his bleeding country upon his heart to Him who is the judge of nations as well as men. Never did I feel more hopeful of my country in all her great distress, than when I beheld one of her leading statesmen, the man to whom so many eyes were turned for comfort and counsel, humbly acknowledging dependence upon God. Those who were most intimate with Mr. Dickinson will remember the beautiful trust in His overruling power with which he continued to labor in season and out of season for the preservation of the government and the integrity of the Union. It was, I believe, his intense love of country that made him so tenderly alive to his own personal obligations to his Maker. Nor can I doubt, that wilst laboring in conferences with the public authorities, in eloquent appeals at public meetings, and in words of cheer to his countrymen everywhere, he never forgot his country in his daily approaches to the mercy-seat of God.

Gone to his rest and reward, in the communion of the Catholic Church, in the confidence of a certain faith, in the comfort of a reasonable, religious, and holy hope, it is pleasant to believe that he has borne with him a tender remembrance of the country he had loved so well and served so faithfully. Among her departed heroes and statesmen, few will rank higher in the estimation of a grateful country than Daniel S. Dickinson.

With heartfelt sympathy I remain

Your friend and former pastor,

M. C. LIGHTNER,

Rector of St. Paul's Church, Detroit.