The
same has also been said of good statuary, even before we know what is
its subject. He knew all the people old and young in the village, and
had a kindly word or a smile for every one of them. His smile was better
than anything he said. There is no word in the language that describes
it. It was neither sweet nor saintly, but more like what a German poet
called the mild radiance of a hidden sun. No picture, photograph or bust
of Emerson has ever done him justice for this reason; only such a master
as Giorgione could have painted his portrait.
Every morning after reading the "Boston Advertiser" he would go to his
study, to take up the work of the day previous and cross out every word
in it that could possibly be spared. This procedure and his taste for
unusual words is what gives the peculiar style to his writing. It was
characteristic of him physically and mentally. He had a spare figure;
was sparing of speech, sparing of praise, and sparing of time; in all
things temperate and stoical. He had an aquiline face, made up of
powerful features without an inch of spare territory.
"With beams December planets dart
His keen eye truth and conduct scanned."
His eyes were sometimes exceedingly brilliant; his nose was strong and
aquiline; and the lower part of his face, especially the mouth, was
notably like the busts of Julius Caesar. His voice was a baritone of
rapid inflections, and when he was very much in earnest it changed to a
deep bass.
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