[304]I like your brother Marion very much, and hear pleasant tidings of him in various quarters. I observe that he has read very little in history and belles lettres, which has induced me to advise him to withdraw from music as much as possible, that he may find more time for these important branches. I do not undervalue a musical taste, nor the beautiful accomplishment which he enjoys so much; but I would have him possess them, not be possessed by them. I hope he will continue to let me see him at my office familiarly. Let me assure you of the pleasure I have derived from your kind appreciation of the slender labors of mine which had fallen under your eye. I have sent you since a short article on a curiosity in jurisprudence,1—the effusion of a couple of evenings,—which I trust may amuse you.
I join with you in esteeming Wise's farewell address. It shows the want in his own case of some of that culture which he commends; but it is able, clear, and novel in its mode of presenting the important subject. For that address I pardon all his past transgressions, and commence anew with him. Perhaps in the future he may further atone for the much evil he has caused to the country by his recklessness, vulgarity, and insubordination.
Ever sincerely yours,
To Thomas Crawford, Rome.
Boston, April 30, 1844.my dear Crawford,—.. The ‘Orpheus’ has been kept in a locked apartment all winter, waiting for genial spring, when the world should be invited to visit it. In our frozen region spring comes tardily, and it is only now that we feel that the time is arrived for the exhibition. The walls were colored last week. My desire was to have the porphyry red, but our colorist could not produce this in water colors. His nearest aproximation—with which we have been content—is a sort of mahogany brown. I have purchased to-day a carpet for the floor,—which is nearly red,— and I shall have a thin curtain of pink or crimson gauze to let down over the window. A few chairs and settees will complete the appointments of the room; and in a few days the good-natured public will be invited to come and see.I am confident that you will reap a harvest of fame. The committee of the Athenaeum all admire it most heartily; so do all who have seen it. None as yet have seen it except critics and connoisseurs with eyes trained by observation; but all express the warmest admiration. Even Mr. Franklin Dexter, the distinguished lawyer and devoted lover of art, having a little studio in his house, fastidious by nature and censorious by habit, he confessed that it was ‘a remarkable work.’ Mr. Henry Dexter, the artist who restored it, told me to-day that it was one of the most important events of his life, his being employed upon your statue. Let me say that I am entirely satisfied with the
