Part 32 (2/2)
Mr. Ware's second romance, _Probus, or Rome in the Third Century_, was published in the summer of 1838. It is a sort of sequel to the Zen.o.bia, and is composed of letters purporting to be written by Piso from Rome to Fausta, the daughter of Gracchus, one of the old Palmyrene ministers. In the first work Piso meets with Probus, a Christian teacher, and is partially convinced of the truth of his doctrine; he is now a disciple, and a sharer of the persecutions which marked the last days of the reign of Aurelian. The characters in Probus are skilfully drawn and contrasted, and with a deeper moral interest, from the frequent discussions of doctrine which it contains, the romance has the cla.s.sical style and spirit which characterized its predecessor.
Mr. Ware's third work is ent.i.tled _Julian, or Scenes in Judea_, and was published in 1841. The hero is a Roman, of Hebrew descent, who visits the land of his ancestors, to gratify a liberal curiosity, during the last days of the Saviour. Every thing connected with Palestine at this period is so familiar that the ground might seem to be sacred to History and Religion; but it has often been invaded by the romancer, and perhaps never with more success than in the present instance. Although Julian has less freshness than Zen.o.bia, it has an air of truth and sincerity that renders it scarcely less interesting.
About the time of the publication of Julian, Mr. Ware was attacked with Epilepsy, while in his pulpit, at Lexington, near Boston, and he suffered all the residue of his life from disease and apprehension; but his illness did not affect his intelligence or its activity, and he continued to devote himself to congenial studies, for several years, chiefly as editor of _The Christian Examiner_. For a short period he was pastor of the Unitarian society at West Cambridge, but the condition of his health did not permit a regular discharge of his functions, for which, indeed, he was scarcely fitted in any thing but a spirit of humility and piety. His tastes and capacities would have secured for him greater triumphs in any department of pictorial or plastic art, to which he was always insensibly drawn by instinct and congenial studies.
In 1848 Mr. Ware pa.s.sed several months abroad, and after his return he delivered in _Lectures on European Capitals_ the best fruits of his travel. These Lectures have recently been published in a very attractive volume, which has been favorably received in this country and in England. Among his unprinted writings is a series of Lectures on the _Life, Works, and Genius of Was.h.i.+ngton Allston_. He died on the 19th of February.
The romances of Mr. Ware betray a familiarity with the civilization of the ancients, and are written in a graceful, pure and brilliant style.
In our literature they are peculiar, and they will bear a favorable comparison with the most celebrated historical romances relating to the same scenes and periods which have been written abroad. They have pa.s.sed through many editions in Great Britain, and have been translated into German and other languages of the continent.
JOHN FRAZEE, the sculptor, died at the age of sixty, on the--th of March, at the house of his daughter, in New Bedford, Ma.s.sachusetts. The _Evening Post_ remarks that ”he was a man of decided talent for sculpture, but the necessity of employing himself in other occupations, prevented his attaining that skill which, under more auspicious circ.u.mstances, would have been within his reach.” Mr. Frazee was born in Brunswick, N.J., and in early life was a farmer and stone-cutter. One of his first attempts at sculpture which attracted notice, was a clever female bust, a likeness of one of his own family, exhibited in the gallery of the Academy of Design. He afterwards, at the request of the bar of New-York, was employed in the mural tablet and bust of John Welles, which fills a conspicuous place in St Paul's Church. This production, with others subsequently executed, attracted the attention of the Trustees of the Boston Athenaeum, and at their request, in 1834, he proceeded to Boston, and modelled a series of busts of eminent men in that city--Webster, Bowditch, Prescott, Story, J. Lowell, and T. H.
Perkins. Afterwards he went to Richmond, where he produced the likeness of John Marshall, copies of which adorn the Court rooms of New York, New-Orleans, and the Capitol of Virginia. On his return he visited President Jackson, at whose house he executed an inimitable head of that extraordinary man. Among his other productions were heads of General Lafayette, in 1824, De Witt Clinton, John Jay, Bishop Hobart, Dr.
Milnor, Dr. Stearns, Nathaniel Prime, George Griswold, Eli Hart, &c. The monument, however, which is destined to perpetuate his fame, is the New York Custom-House. This edifice was commenced in 1834 by another gentleman, who, when he had finished the base, abandoned the work and withdrew his plans. Mr. Frazee was obliged to commence _de novo_, and in 1843 had completed the work. During the erection of the Custom-House, from the dampness of its material and concomitant causes, he contracted a disorder which caused paralysis, from which he never recovered. For several years he held a subordinate post under the Collector. His last effort with the chisel was in giving the finis.h.i.+ng touch to the bust of General Jackson, which had remained in his studio seventeen years, without an order for completion. This was in November last, and while a.s.siduously at work, his mallet fell from his hand, and his worn-out body followed it to the floor.”
JOHN PARK, M. D., died in Worcester, Ma.s.sachusetts, on the 2d of March, aged seventy-eight. He was an active member of the old Federal party in Ma.s.sachusetts, during the administration of Jefferson and Madison, and exerted a wide and important influence by his well-known journal, _The Boston Repertory_. At a subsequent period, he established a private school for young women, which acquired a celebrity second to that of no similar educational inst.i.tution in the old Commonwealth. He was distinguished for his cultivated literary tastes, his uncommon purity of character, his fine social qualities, and his cordial and attractive manners. Dr. Park was the father of Mrs. L. G. Hall, wife of the Rev.
Dr. Hall, of Providence, the auth.o.r.ess of _Miriam_, and other successful productions, and of Mr. John C. Park, an eminent lawyer in Boston. Mrs.
Osgood and several other distinguished literary women were among his pupils.
WILLIAM THOMPSON, of Belfast, the naturalist of Ireland, died in London on the 17th February. Mr. Thompson was born in 1805, and from earliest youth was attached to scientific and literary studies. For the last fifteen years his name has been before the world of science in connection with arduous researches on the natural history of Ireland.
The numerous memoirs published by him, chiefly in scientific periodicals, and latterly in the _Annals of Natural History_, of which he was a warm supporter, extend in their subjects over all departments of zoology, and several are devoted to botanical investigations. He was constantly on the watch for new facts bearing on the natural history of his native island, which could boast of no more truly patriotic son. At the meeting of the British a.s.sociation, at Cork, he read an elaborate report on the _Fauna of Ireland_, since published _in extenso_ in the a.s.sociation _Transactions_; and it was his intention to communicate a continuation of that report at the Belfast meeting. He did not confine his inquiries to Irish subjects, but added considerably to the natural history of several parts of England and Scotland; and when Professor Forbes proceeded to the aegean at the invitation of Captain Graves, Mr.
Thompson, himself an intimate friend of that distinguished officer, accompanied him, and devoted the short time he was in the Archipelago to zoological observations, since published, chiefly on the migration of birds. His love of ornithology was intense, and the results of his labors in that department are narrated with charming details in the volumes that have been published of his great work on _The Natural History of Ireland_. His name is a.s.sociated with many discoveries, and numerous species of new creatures have been named after him. His reputation stood equally high on the Continent and in America, and he had been elected an honorary member of several foreign societies. He numbered among his intimate friends and correspondents all the eminent naturalists of the day. His love of the fine arts was second only to his love of science, and for many years he was one of the most active promoters of tasteful pursuits, especially of painting, in Ireland. He was a gentleman of independent means, and of no profession.
ROBERT REINICK, deservedly the most popular of recent song writers in Germany, died at Dresden early in February. He was born at Dantzic, in 1805, and was educated an artist, but he never painted more than one picture which attained any considerable reputation. His sketches were, however, remarkable for great delicacy of feeling, and of touch, a genial humor and an endless variety of fancy. But it was his songs that first and most widely made him known to the public. Without any surprising features of genius, they were so natural, so replete with true and happy sentiment, and flowed so sweetly and melodiously in a spontaneous beauty of language, that they were every where taken up, and still remain the intimate favorites of the people, but especially of artists, to whose peculiar life and customs many of them are devoted.
One of the most pleasing books ever published in Germany, was his _Songs of a Painter_, which was ill.u.s.trated with designs from all the prominent artists of Dusseldorf. Its appearance made an epoch in the book trade, and introduced the many splendid ill.u.s.trated works that have succeeded it. It is some years since we read these songs, but their naivete, tenderness, and frolic humor are still fresh in our memory. Reinick also had a great skill in the writing of story books for children, and ill.u.s.trating them with his own drawings. One of these, the _Black Aunt_, has been translated into English, and was published in this city some three or four years since. The poet died quite suddenly, and was s.n.a.t.c.hed from a life full of happiness, amid constant artistic activity, and the love of his family, and a boundless circle of friends. All Dresden sorrowed at his death, and his funeral procession seemed to embrace the entire city.
WILLIAM HENRY OXBERRY, comedian, was the son of the once eminent actor Oxberry, and was born in Brownlow-street, Bloomsbury, on the 21st of April, 1808. He was educated at Merchant Tailors' school; and subsequently studied with an artist and in a lawyer's office. At length he was apprenticed to a surgeon: and was asked by Sir Astley Cooper, during an examination, whether, ”when he saw his father convulse the audience with laughter, he felt no ambition to tread in his shoes?” No doubt he did, for he soon after made his essay at the Rawstone-street private theatre, in the character of _Abel Day_, which he performed to the _Captain Careless_ of Mr. F. Matthews. His public commencement was deferred till the 17th March, 1825, for the Olympic, in the part of _Sam Swipes_, in ”The High Road to Marriage.” He remained not long there, but took a situation under Mr. Leigh Hunt, on the _Examiner_. Shortly afterwards he returned to the stage, and went on a provincial tour, and finally appeared in 1832 at the Strand Theatre, as _Fathom_, in ”The Hunchback.” Since that period he was seen with credit in turn at every theatre in the metropolis. On the 11th December, 1831, he married Ellen Malcombe Lancaster. He also became manager of the English Opera-House, but was not successful. The loss of his wife was a misfortune, and his subsequent career was not prosperous. He died on the 28th of February.
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