his loss, all strove to do him honor, all united in offering the homage of their profound respect and admiration to the memory of a man of eminence, usefulness, and worth.
That build their monuments where virtue builds
Art thou; and gathered to thy rest, we deem
That thou wast lent us just to show how blest
And lovely is the life that lives for all."
In any mere outline like the present, it were hardly possible to do more than touch very lightly on some of the more salient points of a character that would require a volume for its due development. If the sketch which I have drawn, impart a just, though a faint and imperfect, impression of the original, it will not be deemed altogether unsuccessful. A skilful pencil would have given to the picture life and coloring, and have caused it to stand forth more vividly from the canvas; but—non cuivis homini contingit adire Corinthum. The portrait is a faithful transfer of my own conception, and may not, therefore, be entirely satisfactory to all. Craving the indulgence of the College for whatever of failure there may be in design and execution, I take my leave— not without misgiving, from conscious demerit, that the latter part of the award may be mine—in the language of the author of one of the Apocryphal Books:—
And now if I have done well, and as is fitting the story, it is that which I desired; but if it slenderly and meanly, it is that which I could attain unto.[1]
- ↑ II. Maccabees. xv. 38.
