pearance of physical strength, and of that temperament
which some physiologists call the sanguine. He was
fond of pleasure, but capable of exertion when the occa-
sion required it, and, as he was not disinclined to con-
troversy, the occasion often arose. His temper was
generous and sincere, his manners kind and courteous;
he was always ready to meet more than half way the
advances of an enemy; a kind or appealing word dis-
armed his resentment at once, and a pitiful story, even
though a little improbable, always moved his compassion.
He delighted in athletic exercises before his health
failed, and while yet residing in Massachusetts is said,
in Buckingham's Reminiscences, to have skated in an
evening from Greenfield to Northampton, a distance of
twenty miles. He was naturally courageous, and hav-
ing entered into a dispute, he never sought to decline
any of its consequences. His reading lay much in the
lighter literature of our language, and a certain elegance
of scholarship which he had the reputation of possess-
ing was reckoned among his qualifications as a jour-
nalist.

The original prospectus of the Evening Post, though
somewhat measured in its style, was well written. The
editor, while avowing his attachment to the federal
party, acknowledges that "in each party are honest and
virtuous men," and expresses his persuasion that the
people need only to be well informed to decide public
questions rightly. He seems to contemplate a wider
sphere of objects than most secular newspapers of the
present day, and speaks of his design "to inculcate just
principles in religion," as well as in "morals and poli-
tics." Some attempt was made to carry out this inten-
tion. In one of the earlier numbers is a communication

-313-