Memorial of Samuel Eells

Preface

It will be asked why a Memorial Volume is published when he whom it honors has been dead more than thirty years, and these few words of explanation are given in _ answer.

At the time of his death none of the family of Mr. Hells were fitted to attempt the work now undertaken, nor did they really know to whom to entrust it, since they were personally acquainted with but few of his intimate friends, and he made choice of no one for such a service.

After conference, however, with those who were interested in the publication of some tribute to his memory, the material necessary was placed in the hands of a very able gentleman, who was a warm personal friend ; and he expected to prepare a book for which many were anxiously waiting. The pressure of business engagements obliged him to delay this labor of love for some time, and before he had made much progress in it, though having had the papers two or three years, he was himself removed by death.

The brother who now offers this volume to those who still cherish the name with interest, then obtained the materials which could be gathered, more for his own satisfaction than witn any thought of ever compiling them in this manner; supposing that most of those who had respected and loved their author, had during so long an interval lost the desire for such a memorial of him. Of late, a large number of those especially who have become familiar with his name- and learned something of his spirit through their connection with the Alpha Delta Phi Society, have urged that even at so late a day an effort should be made to embody what remain of his writings and history.

It is in obedience to this solicitation and as a token of a brother's still-glowing affection that this work is completed. There is no other attempt than that in it the man of whom it speaks, as far as possible, may write his own memoir ; the grateful task of the compiler being to arrange the matter and so connect the parts as to render the whole intelligible and attractive. Respecting the articles and addresses which are inserted, it should be said that they were selected not merely because of their intrinsic merit, but also as adapted to present their author's sentiments and feelings at the different eras of his life where they are introduced, and as furnishing a pleasing variety of subjects and composition. Regret may well be expressed that with the lapse of years so much has Keen Lost that might have added interest to the book at an earlier day ; yet it is believed to those who will welcome it, there will be enough presented to reward the desire that even so much be rescued from oblivion.

1'n pared amidst the exhausting cares and duties of professional life, the work is offered to those who knew, and to those who honor him, to whose memory it is devoted.

JAMES EELLS.

IN MEMORIAM.

Chapter I. His Kakly Life

QAMUEL EELLS was born in Westmoreland, Oneida ^ county, New York, on the 18th of May, 1810. His father was Rev. James Eel Is, for many years pastor of the Congregational Church in that town, and lie was third in a

family of seven children. The culture and habits of his home were eminently adapted to his peculiarities of mind and heart during the opening years of his life, and he was wont to refer to the influences that affected his childhood as having determined his whole career. Because of the pleasures and restraints, attended by the judicious instructions, of the domestic fireside, he grew up without any of those vicious habits to which many are addicted while they are boys, and he was ever devotedly attached to his kindred by blood. This was the more remarkable on account of his natural self-reliance and independence, and affords proof in his boyhood of that union of an affectionate disposition with a vigorous intellect, which was so pleasing in his mature years. He was admirably qualified to be a leader, in whatever circle lie might be, winning by the kindness that always was prominent, exciting interest by his wit and genius, and swaying by the acknowledged force of his character and mind ; so that being chief among the young persons of his native village he furnished occasion to not a few of the prophets who cast his horoscope, to predict a brilliant career for one who so often delighted and surprised them by his exhibition of rare gifts. When he reached his fifteenth year, however, there seemed to be danger that all these predictions of rustic admirers, and the more rational hopes of his parents and friends would be disappointed. Though quick in all his mental action, and learning with ease when giving himself to study, he was not fond of severe application to books. This Avas owing partly to the mercurial structure of his mind, and partly to the fact that he had been confined strictly to study since he was four years of age, and he had not yet begun to feel the pressure of that ambition which afterwards wrought so mightily upon him. In accordance with his inclination to form his own plans and reach his own conclusions, while always respectful toward others, he suddenly announced his desire to leave school, abandon the prospect of a liberal education, and devote himself to some more ordinary pursuit in life. Had his father been less wise in his manner of receiving this announcement, there would have been no occasion for this sketch of his life. Well aware, however, of his nature, and judging that absence from books for a time, and the lapse of a year or two would be likely to teach him what would be taught with difficulty by either preceptor authority, he adopted a course which resulted most favorably. Selecting a fanner with whom he could trust his son, he placed him under his care in the spring season, Samuel being well pleased with the coveted change

I [is EARLY LIFE. 6

from school to work. The effect of the change was most happy in several particulars. His constitution, which had never been firm, was rendered much more robust by his new mode ot' life; he acquired habits of industry which never left him, and although not until lie had persevered through two summers of farming, lie was at last entirely willing to recommence his studies with the purpose to enter college.

In the spring of 1826 he entered the Clinton Academy,

then under the care of Mr. Wilmarth. This teacher

succeeded in firing him with new interest in all departments of education, and while with him his young pupil became fully possessed of that spirit which heeded no difficulties and hesitated before no task. Especially did he discover at this time an unusual talent for declamation and creditable facility in composition, quite surprising himself by his success. The first production of his own which lie exhibited in public was a eulogy on Henry Kirke White, which in its style both 01 rhetoric and elocution, was regarded by those who heard it as indicative of great promise. The fact that on the threshold of his own short career, he should have been in such sympathy with that brilliant young poet whose genius really destroyed [he frail body by which it was represented, may almost be considered prophetic of what would be true of himself.

In August, 18:27, he became a member of the Freshman class in Hamilton College, but in a few months his health failed, and it was doubtful whether he could continue his studies. About the same time some difficulty occurred respecting a portion of the college officers which somewhat affected his interest in the institution, and with the hope that a change would take place within the year, he decided, by the advice of his parents, to suspend his course for that length of time at least, and endeavor to recruit liis health.

It was determined that he should go to the sea side or take a sea voyage, and notwithstanding the difficulties which attended it since his father was unable from his slender resources to render him assistance, he left home in April following to make the experiment. It was his first departure from home for any extended absence, and the trial was severe. At that time it was no small journey from the central part of New York to Connecticut. In his feeble condition he was obliged to travel alone, to be separated from those who were exceedingly dear to him with the doubt whether he would ever see them again, and for the first time to care for his own fortunes in the great world. It was not with a light heart that his eyes lingered as long as possible upon the quiet scenes that had constituted to him a large part of the world, and when the last view was taken and he passed into new and unfamiliar regions, he greeted the prospect before him with a gush of tears. A good part of the journey was made on foot, and he reached New Haven without any remarkable interruption of the monotony which marks that primitive mode of traveling. Soon he had opportunity to make a trip to Chesapeake Bay, and the first letter he wrote to his parents after he left them was written directly after his return from this short voyage. In it he says : " I left New Haven on board the sloop Heroine, for Norfolk. I could not wish for kinder treatment than I received from the captain of this vessel, and while I was on the water I felt strong and vigorous ; but as soon as Ave arrived in port I began to have a pain in my breast, and sometimes was worse than I had been before. I find that a short

HIS KAKLY LIFE.

trip will not do me any essential good. My friends tell me I ought tobeon the salt water a whole year, without coming in sight of land ; but I think that would be really too hard."

With the purpose to find a vessel bound on a longer voyage he went to New York at once, though he was not aware; that he knew any one in that city. Boy that lie was, and even then struggling with the disease which threatened to take his life, we may imagine his feelings when he set toot on the dock of the crowded metropolis and found himself in the solitude of such a throng who cared nothing- for him. He writes: " For a day or two I purchased my meals at the market, and spent all my time in looking for a ship. I worked as hard as ever I did. At night the bottoms of my feet were almost. blistered, and my spirits were weighed down with the reflection that my best efforts were fruitless, as I found that none would take me even on a fishing trip of two or three months for less than ten or fifteen dollars." Accidentally he met a friend of his family who was a merchant in the city, and when his stock of money was reduced to a very small sum, he was rejoiced by an invitation from this gentleman to remain at his house while staying in town. By the aid of this friend he soon made arrangements for a passage to France, and while waiting for the ship to sail he wrote a letter to his parents which illustrates some of his characteristics in a marked manner. It would have been natural for a boy of seventeen, having a little leisure in New York, and with a keen relish for things new and strange, to spend a portion of his time, at least, in sight-seeing j but he preferred other pleasures. "I have divers occupations about these days, sometimes keeping store, sometimes writing, sometimes walking, sometimes

G MEMORIAL OF SAMUEL EELLS.

painting, and the rest of the time studying Algebra. lam left to dig it all out myself, and so I understand it as I go along. If I make my intended voyage I shall take it with me, just for the sake of amusement, to pass away the time that would otherwise hang heavily on my hands. I do not know that I shall ever see home again, but I hope I shall, and till then, good-bye."

For some unknown reason he failed to make his contemplated voyage to France, and soon after left New York, and visited several ports on the Xew England eoast, hoping to find an opportunity to sail on a fishing cruise in the Northern waters. At last he succeeded in obtaining a passage, engaging to go as fisherman and give the captain one half the fish he should take. One incident connected with his stay on this vessel exhibits his strength of principle and ability to execute his own will, even when in so dependent a position. The captain and crew were utterly godless, and always fished on the Sabbath when they were on fishing ground. This Samuel refused to do, and was at first denounced for his superstition and then threatened for his obstinacy. He arranged the matter, however, by agreeing that as there was another lad on board who was of about his own age, they would compare the amount of fish caught by each at the end of the season, and if Samuel should have less he would make up the deficiency to the captain from his own share. He was not a little gratified and strengthened to learn when the comparison was made, that although the other boy had fished every Sabbath, and he had not thrown out a line on that day, his number of fish was considerably the largest. This practical lesson was of value to his associates as well as himself.

HIS EARLY LIFE. i

With only a short interval after his return, lie made a second voyage to the coast of Nova Scotia, and come hack to New Bedford in October, feeling that he could go home with some assurance of ability to pursue his education. Money in small sums had been sent for him by his friends to several points, hut none of it had reached him, so that by his own industry economy and energy, he had defrayed his expenses, supplied himself with a new wardrobe, and apparently regained his health. In November he arrived at Westmoreland again, having been gone eight months, and welcoming with all the enthusiasm of his nature the familiar scenes of his native region, and the dear ones in his home, who had been ever iu his heart during his new and to him eventful experience.

The discipline and education of this year, just at the period when they would have most influence, were probably of more importance as bearing on his future than the contributions of any other single year of his life. He had tested and learned himself, than which there is no. knowledge of more value to one who proposes to attempt an elevated career. lie had studied men ; and the lessons furnished him so early opened the way to success on many occasions of difficulty afterwards. He had come in contact with the rough world, and encountered some of its severest tests of the human will and energy, and felt that he could face what might meet him hereafter without trembling, though no aid should be given him save that of the unseen Helper. The stripling who took his place in Hamilton College in the early winter of 1828 was very unlike the boy who was there the year before, and he was sood able to make his mark among the unusual number of brilliant young men who were at that time in the institution.

Chapter II. His Life In College

IT is to be regretted that as respects this portion of his life, so little can be learned from papers left by Mr. Eel Is, or from those who were his associates. It is known that he was in a class which, though small, was distinguished for its number of those who became eminent men, and that he was cheerfully placed by them, as well as by the faculty, at its head. Rarely has a young man passed the ordeal of a college course, as to friendship or culture or attainment, with so much that might be recorded in his favor ; and rarely has one so fully appreciated the advantages thus brought within his reach. The ambition that possessed him during the last year in the academy was not quenched by his absence for a year, and for his recreation on shipboard he seems not only to have studied Algebra, but to have reviewed all that would be requisite to thorough preparation for the race he anticipated. He rejoiced as a strong man to run this race. He expected much from communion with the classic authors, whose names had been familiar to him from his infancy. He entered the fields of mathematical and philosophical discipline, assured that grand ills LIFE TN COLLEGE. V

harvests could be gathered from them. lie began the manly Strife of mind with mind, resolved that his own should be sharpened and better prepared for use in the more important struggles of after life. There was little romance in his apprehension of what was before him, but a stern sense of the realities to which he must address himself) and a purpose to gain the most from whatever might aid him in mastering them. It is believed that he had not an enemy among his fellow Students, and that he left the walks and halls of his Alma Mater, whose gifts and honors he bore with him, respected and esteemed by rivals and warmly loved by all whose real acquaintance with him had given them opportunity to test his mind and heart. The genuine love of college scenes and the cherished reverence for their power upon him by which be was ever distinguished, appear in a short account of a visit be made to Clinton six years after he graduated, in a letter to his familiar friend and college associate, Rev. Dr. A. C. Kcndriek : " I did snatch time enough to revisit the scenes of my early studies and youthful competition, and to experience the pleasures and the pains of memory. I arrived at Clinton on the afternoon of Wednesday, shook hands with Professors North and Lathrop, met the Union and Alpha Delta Phi Societies in the evening, had a most refreshing season, went into the chapel, libraries, eve., and trod once more; the sounding halls of my Alma Mater. The next morning, at break of day, a line, (leai' frosty morning in October, before a solitary student had rubbed his eyes open or thrown up his window for the fresh air, I stood on the top of the hill, and was surveying again that beautiful prospect which had imprinted itself on my mind in all the freshness of its coloring and the beauty of its outline, and which in the retrospect ever returns to my eve blent with a thousand, strange and mingled memories.

There was old ' Paris Hill/ with its scattered houses and patches of cultivation, its broken forests robed in the glory ot those rich autumnal dyes. There was ' thy sweet vale, Oriskany/ stretching gracefully away to the eastward till it faded into the smoke of Utica and the Mohawk ; and beneath me in the quiet and sheltering valley lay the little village of Clinton, like a child in its mother's arms, still hushed in its soft repose. Those were golden moments, worth my whole journey east. I forgot that I was a lawyer. I flung my profession behind me in high scorn, repeated Coleridge's ' Hymn before sunrise in the vale of Chamouni/ and returned. That day I was again on my way toward the far West, having made only this mere call on Hamilton ; but did I not condense much of the essence of existence into those few hours ? I do hate to bid an everlasting adieu to the glorious region, sparkling with beauty, learning, love, and all that can furnish food for an intellectual nature. I think the Law a noble study ; but I assure you I choose it at an immense sacrifice; and as I plunge deeper and deeper into its vast and labyrinthian mazes, and find myself surrounded by its shadowy and doubtful twilight, instead of the pure and golden radiance of a classic sky, I experience a feeling of sadness in ray inmost soul, and cast many a longing look back to the pleasant land of the muses.'' Bearing on the same point, and showing how others were impressed by his enthusiasm respecting the influence of college upon him in after years, two letters may properly have place here from distinguished gentlemen who knew him well. The first is from Professor Edward North :

II is LIFE IN COLLEGE. 1 1

Hamilton' College, March 23, 1863.

My acquaintance with Samuel Bells began in the fall <>f 1838, while I was a Sophomore in college. At that time he was visiting with relatives in Hampton, where his father had been settled in the ministry years before. One Wednesday evening Mr. Eells rode over to Clinton to attend a meeting of the Union Society, to which he was strongly attached. His speech on thai evening made an impression on my mind which no lapse of years will ever efface. What he said, and how he said it, are still a living memory to me, as they probably are to others. His manner was graceful, earnesl and impressive. He began by Baying : " I have been six weary years out on the busy, dusty, rattling highways of life, and it gives me joy to stand again in the quiet shadows of Gentle Mother." There was a certain magic in his eye and voice, 80 potent and searching, that before he had spoken a hundred words each one of his hearers seemed to himself to he singled out as the particular and only person addressed. Nor was there any lack of classic pleasantry in his speech; as when he quoted the familiar maxim, " Possumus quia posse videmur," and added the translation once given by "Long" Woodruff of the (lass of 1833, (who will take no offense at this, traditional prefix to his name). "We can, because we seem to can." When Mr. Eells closed his appeal to the young men before him to aim at high and unselfish n suits in the struggle of life, with a couple of lines from Willis —

" The beautiful shall know the purer language of thy brow,

And read it like a talisman of low,''

his own brow seemed to us all, who were sitting before him, to he radiant with unearthly beauty.

Mi-. Eells pronounced his oration on the Progress of Civilization, the most finished ofhis efforts, in Julv, 1839,asa candidate for the degree of Master of

Arts. It was soon after repeated at New Haven, Conn., before a Convention of the Alpha Delta Phi Society. He was then in poor health. Histrouble was dyspepsia, which he called " a Pandora's box with no hope at the bottom ;" but his audience saw no Bigns of ill health save in his pale, thin face, as lie stood before them on that memorable Commencement day. He spoke more than an hour without notes, and with no apparent effort to recall the words of his manuscript. Coming on toward the evening of a hot day, after the Beniora had made their orations, and the patience of the crowded audience seemed to he clear gone, his power as a popular speaker was put to a sever.'

12 MEMORIAL OF SAMUEL EEL.ES.

test. Yet it was wonderful to see now quickly a feeling of relief and delight was apparent on the faces of his hearers. The general effect of the oration may be described by saying that it caused each hearer to feel that life is a sublime drama, in which himself was invited to bear an honorable part. If any particular passages were more admired than others, they were those in which he pictured the French Kevolution and the landing of the Pilgrims. But as this oration will be embraced in your collection of your gifted brother's writings, I need not dwell upon it.

George Langford, Jr., whose mind " was nursed upon the self-same hill," and whose sic itur ad astra was as brilliant as it was brief, used to say of Samuel Eells, that he never expressed a thought incompletely ; that even his offhand, unpremeditated utterances had a classic finish and point that made them fit to be laid away in the memory.

But, unlike Coleridge, he was not always preaching. Among the traditions of his college life is an anecdote that may give a glimpse of the humorous side of his character. At the club where he boarded, it was strongly suspected that the morning coffee was made of roasted barley, or some other home-raised cereal. After a night made hideous by a collision between the two lower classes, the keeper of the boarding house hoped that none of her boys were engaged. in it. Mr. Eells replied that a ceres of rows w T as certainly to be deprecated ; but it was too much to expect that boys kept on grain would not be a litttle coltish and noisy at times. Mr. Eells was a fine classical scholar, and received the highest honor at his graduation ; but owing to the prevalence of the cholera at that time, no public exercises were held. He spent the winter of 1840-1 in Havana, and while there he mastered the Spanish language, which added largely to his fund of facts for entertaining conversation. It is to be hoped that you will find among his papers some record of this journey.

Yours, very truly,

Edward North.

The other letter is from the much-admired and respected Professor when Mr. Eells was in college, afterwards Chancellor of the University of Missouri, and now deceased, Dr. J. H. Lathrop :

II is LIFE IN COLLEGE. 13

Columbia, Mo., April 12,1863.

I am pleased to bear that a memorial of your brother, Samuel Eel Is, is to be prepared by your hands, in the shape of a volume of his literary remains, with a sketch of his life.

Assuming an official connection with Hamilton College in the spring of 1829, 1 found him a member of the Freshman class of that year. Fen classes in any college have a better record than this, in scholarly attainment and in the outgrowth of professional and public life. It is with much personal gratification that 1 recognize several names, now illustrating the public service, that once adorned the catalogue of that collection of emulous young men. Eminent among these was Samuel Eells. A distinction was his, not fitful and occasional, hut gracefully and firmly assured. With a mind capacious of the exact sciences and the material philosophies, he subordinated his acquisitions in these fields to the uses of a nature singularly, but beautifully and chastely aesthetic. The Literce Humaniores were more congenial to his tastes as a scholar. He dwelt long and affectionately amid the vestiges of the classic civilizations. Here he nurtured his spirit ; here his intellect wrought its discipline ; hence he drew that wealth of illustration with which he illuminated and adorned whatever he touched.

Thus skilled and thus furnished, he entered the Held of moral and political philosophy with the loving spirit of the artist, and moulded the elements of our Christian civilization into forms of phophetic beauty, which his earnest soul felt to be possible, nay, certain, to be realized in the social structures of the latter day. Nor was this, with him, a mere barren sentiment. His faith in human progress was a motive power, which commanded, on all suitable occasions, the wealthy contributions of his pen and his voice, in conservation and advancement of the useful, the generous, the humane. After graduation in 1S32, during a course of professional study and a few years of practice in the Courts of Cincinnati, he was withdrawn from my personal observation. His reputation at the Bar, it is well known, was deservedly high, and, had he lived, would have realized the promise of his youth. But it gives me pleasure to be able to testify, of my own knowledge, that the technicalities of an absorbing profession were powerlessto impair the genuineness of his manhood and the productiveness «i hifi philosophy. At the frequent calls of literary associations, he graced the yearly festivals of the Universities of the country, where scholars love

14 MEMORIAL OF SAMUEL EELES.

to congregate ; and thousands who annually throng these greater games of our American civilization, still hold in living memory the seed-thoughts commended to their keeping and nurture by the faultless elocution of Samuel Eells. But few letters passed between us, and those of a character strictly personal. I have nothing from his pen which could reasonably claim a place in the collection you propose to make. But as one of his early instructors, I have thus briefly, but heartily, answered your call for ray impressions of his genius. As a mourner over his early grave, I have deeply felt that the world has need of such as he : but the Master who knows best had use tor a beautiful spirit in another sphere. Very truly, your friend,

J. H. Lathkop.

Similar testimony might be multiplied, were this necessary ; but it is not. The name of Mr. Bells is still mentioned on College Hill with interest and pride, and the savor of his scholarship and talents continues as a part of the valued heritage of the institution he always honored and revered. The feelings with which, after completing his course of study, he looked forth upon life, are expressed in the closing sentiments of his Commencement address; and his personal affection for his associates found utterance in his Valedictory, neither of which were publicly delivered, for reasons mentioned already. An extract from this address will appropriately close what need he written respecting his college life.