Newspaper Page Text
Entered according to Act of Congress, in June, 1870, by J. W. Bprkk & Cos., in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the So. District 0 i Georgia
Vol. IY—No. 5.
WILLIAM GILMORE SIMM3.
_
N the death of Mr. Simms,
011 the o f -June, at
Charleston, the country
has lost one more of its time
honored band of authors, and the
South the most consistent and de
voted of her literary sons. Born
in 1806, of a good family, though
not among the wealthy proprie
tors of the South, Mr. Sim ms grew
up under favorable influences of
culture, which were not thrown
away upon his ingenuous, lively
disposition. He early acquired a
taste for reading, and some know
ledge of the modern languages.
The assistance which he received,
however, was but slight. The self
reliance and energy with which he
marked out and pursued his ca
reer, proclaim him essentially a
self-made man. He studied law,
and was admitted to the bar at
the age of twenty-one; but the
real bent of his disposition was
shown in the same year, in the
publication of two small volumes
of lyrical poems at Charleston.
Several others followed, and in
1832 he fairly began his career
as an author by profession, with
the publication at New York, by
the Messrs. Harper, of “ Atalan
tis,” an imaginative poem—a tale
of the sea —of considerable merit.
The next year appeared his first
prose romance, “Martin Faber,”
from the same house, followed by
“Guy Rivers,” “The Yemassee,”
the precursors of a host of novels
from his pen, running along the
next thirty years. During all this period,
and to the end of his life, Mr. Simms’
pen was never idle. Not only were his
novels varied in character and subject,
embracing several distinct classes of
works of fiction, but his poetical pro
ductions were numerous; he wrote dra
mas, histories of his'native State, several
volumes of biography—of Marion, Gen.
Greene, and others ; furnished multi
tudinous essays and critical articles to
MACON, GEORGIA, JULY 30, 1870.
WILLIAM GILMORE SIMMS.
many periodicals, himself editing seve
ral, from the quarterly to the weekly
newspaper; delivered also various pub
lic orations and-addresses ; in fine, was
one of the most indefatigable authors of
this or any other age. All this work
was done under the influence of a
commanding genius, seconded by great
physical powers. It bore the marks of
thought and study. Its author had a
genuine love of letters, the passion of
his life. For this he turned aside from
the immediate rewards of political life,
almost irresistible at the South to one
of his oratorical powers and ardent
temperament. In fact, there have been
few examples in the country of so ex
clusive and persistent a pursuit of liter
ature. The temper of mind which led
him to this was essentially poetic and
speculative. Though best known to the
public as a novelist, he would, we be-
Whole No. 161.
lieve, greatly have preferred to
devote his powers to imaginative
compositions in verse, with the
lyrical predominant. His works
of fiction are colored with this
romantic element. Through how
many kindling pages has he pur
sued his favorite topic, the exer
cise of the imagination in the cul
ture of the beautiful, which with
him meant love, reverence, the
virtues for time and eternity 1 His
last appearance in public, only a
few weeks prior to his death —
leaving a couch of sickness for
the effort was to deliver an
address before the Charleston
County Horticultural Society, in
stinct with these ideas of his life.
It is entitled, “ The Sense of the
Beautiful.” Affection with full
hand can sprinkle no choicer
flowers upon his grave than the
lilies and amaranthine blooms
reared in the eye of heaven in
this his own noble death-song.
In his personal character —a
man of singular simplicity and
straight-forwardness, of sound
principles and honest impulses,
ready in sympathy, friendly to
the young, and where he was
best known, in his family, of pe
culiar devotion and tenderness.
His religious affections, tried by
many domestic losses and severe
privations, bore a lofty spirit of
reverence and profound submis
sion to the Divine will. We men
tion these traits now, for at his
newly-made grave the moral must
take precedence of the intellec
tual ; and they were qualities not
always looked for by those at a
distance, who, in the heat of national
controversy, make but a rough estimate
of the man. Those best acquainted
with him, apart from the tribute which
they may render to his writings, will ever
regard tenderly and affectionately the
memory of William Gilmore Simms.
Harper's Weekly, July 2.
If you suspect anything to be wrong,
refrain from doing it.