Williamsburgh Word Portraits, No. 9

image 1image 2image 3image 4cropped image 1

WILLIAMSBURGH WORD PORTRAITS.

By Apelles—No. 9.

PORTRAIT No. 25

Some men carry their position in society legibly engraved upon their countenances and general appearance, so that the instant you catch sight of them you involuntarily say to yourself, “there goes a lawyer,” clergyman, banker, military man, as the case may be. I regard it as a clear proof of a man’s aptitude for his occupation when he thus evidently bears on his face the impress of his position. To me such an accordance between the man’s business and his aspect, proves that he is the right man in the right place. There is a certain short set frame, full-featured, good-humored countenance, traditionally characteristic of the well-to-do banker or extensive shareholder, to which the appearance of one of our best known citizens exactly corresponds, and by which he may be easily recognised. With his grave demeanor, grey hair, plain but precise attire, manner dignified but not degenerating into pomposity, no one can glance at this man ever so casually without pronouncing him respectable. There are some men of whom you inevitably conclude that there is a mystery about them; against whom you think it is best to be on your guard, and whose approach you instinctively feel for your portmonuaie, to make sure of its retention. There are others again who attract your attention by the incongruities of appearance, which induce you to speculate as to who and what they can be. But this is not the case with my present subject. One half look at him would suffice to assure you that he belongs to the comfortable and fortunate class known as “our solid men,” and longer scrutiny would but confirm the impression.—My subject deserves a very favorable notice. Though always ready to take part in public movements, when a direct benefit to the community or the locality bids fair to be secured, he never seeks noteriety, nor strives to float on the tide of popular impulse by thrusting himself forward in movements which appear likely to prosper well enough without his aid. And when he does join in any public affair, he brings to the promotion of the object sought, the same unflagging industry which he applies to the conduct of his own personal concerns, and that closeness of attention which his manifold occupations and pecuniary investments demand and receive from him. Though verging on the sere and yellow leaf, so far as years are concerned, he has yet in him the full vigor of manhood, and an enthusiasm buoyant as that of the youngest. He enlisted heart and soul in the efforts made before the sale of the Peck Slip lease to secure, beyond the risk of monopolist speculation or avarice, good and cheap ferry accommodation for the people; and if his efforts had been properly seconded by the representatives of the city in the State Legislature, the plan devised by him would by this time have relieved us from any fear of future exactions, and given in perpetuity that low fare which the hostility of rival companies now offers but for a brief while. Into the demonstration made at this end of the city on the occasion of the water celebration he entered heartily, and to it he subscribed largely; besides lending his personal labors and services without stint to the arrangement of the details, which in the aggregate showed so well. Nearly at midnight on the evening previous to the day, a messenger was wanted to fetch over a band of musicians from New York. Young and active men recoiled from the unpleasant duty of going across the river at that late hour, and hunting up the scattered Teutons in the lager bier salons where it was reasonably supposed they might be found. But our venerable friend, regardless of inconvenience, buttoned up his coat, and with an activity and dispatch which would have done credit to the pedestrian capacities of a man of half his years, succeeded in ferreting out from among the various haunts of the class, the requisite performers on the different instruments. This incident may be trivial in itself, but it shows the energetic, resolute, indefatigable character of the man, and affords a guarantee of the persistence and exertion which he is applying to the difficult task of resuscitating the standing and reputation of a financial institution, which under his management bids fair soon to equal in prosperity the best managed of its rivals.

PORTRAIT No. 26

There is more than one man connected with the Williamsburgh ferries who illustrates the remark that great energy and mental powers frequently are encased in frames of corresponding size. If the disputes between the rival companies had to be settled now as was the fashion to arrange differences in the days of David and Goliath, by single combat, I anticipate that my present lofty subject would be selected by his colleagues to meet the redoubtble​ Live Oak George in deadly strife. As no such plain and reasonable way of terminating disputes is now in vogue, however, I am enabled to express the hope that he will long continue to flourish amongst us. He is a self-made man—came here without a dollar, from a land which has sent us the best of its bone and sinew, and no small share of its brains as well; and has steadily, by dint of honest exertion and business aptitude, won his way to wealth and position. He is largely interested in the material prosperity of the locality, and has laterally, with others similarly situated, made an effort, which I trust will be eventually remunerative as well as successful, to cheapen and improve the means of access to this city from New York. In this sphere his long practical acquaintance with the laws of mechanics has been brought into play; and he has applied to the construction of the future means of transit improvements in design and model, the idea of which, originating with himself, has already so operated, in the hands of a professional naval architect, as to obtain for the latter a world-wide fame. The further development of these ideas, as soon to be tested, will no doubt confer on my subject the credit and eclat to which he is entitled; and may place his name high among those of the practical mechanics of the day. My subject is a jovial, good humored man (who indeed ever knew a big stout man that wasn’t?—it’s only your lean Cassiuses who are mean, selfish, and envious). He dispenses his ample means, not with prodigality, but generosity; values money for the uses to which it may be applied and the benefits and comforts it may bring, rather than for itself; is a pleasant companion, of genial sympathies, a jolly host, a welcome guest, a man of his word, ranking high one side of the river as a man of business, and on the other as a citizen and resident.

PORTRAIT No. 27

I understand that not everybody approves of the selections I have made of subjects, for these portraits. Some grumble because they have been selected, and the presentment does not quite come up to the exaggerated ideas they have formed of their own merits. Others grumble because they have not been pictured, and they think that their eminent importance entitled them to a front place in the gallery. To the first I would say, in the words of the poet,

Oh wad some power the giftie gie us, To see ourselves as ithers see us.

To the second class I would recommend patience, assuring them that if I still live, and there are any salient points about them, they will receive attention in due time, as fast as my manifold occupations permit me leisure to scribble sketches for the newspapers, an occupation which is, after all, a kind of mental dissipation, which a wise man will not too frequently indulge in, even to gratify Mr. Editor and his countless readers. I understand also that some have complained of the absence of all the local clergy from the gallery. Let me remind such that I am writing of public men, in the common sense of the term; and to this category no clergyman can belong, except in so far as he lowers himself from the higher and more sacred sphere in which Providence, or the Prince of Darkness, as the case may be, has placed him. If I were writing sketches of all the good men, I should have to include at least some clergyman; but as I am writing of public men, I have to include at least a few who might be better. This is my apology for introducing here the man that was to have gone up in a balloon, but unluckily didn't. Treating of him as a public man, and writing, as I have done in measure throughout, couleur de rose, I must say that he is a man of great influence, supreme at primaries, influential in conventions, and potent at elections. You quiet citizen, who flatter yourself that because you obey the laws and pay the taxes, and insert the ballot, you have as large a share in the government as anybody else, are somewhat mistaken; it would take fifty such as you to counterbalance the influence of the one man who I am indicating. You rich man, who fancy that because you are potent on ‘Change, and listened to with deference at meetings of capitalists, you are therefore among the big bugs of the community, are vastly mistaken. The real big bug is the influential personage I am picturing, whose sweet voice is sought by candidates and aspirants with unrelaxing assiduity and solid arguments, while you have nothing to say as to who shall be nominated, and very little more as to who shall be elected. You man of high connections and affluent associations, who inhabit a brown stone domicile, ride in your carriage and give grand parties, and lay the flattering unction to your soul that you are not only of the Upper Ten Thousand, but are the essence of the crème de la crème of aristocracy—believe it not. The real aristocrat is not you, but my subject. You but lift a finger against your neighbor, and a professional jury will mulct you with heavy damages; you but trifle with an old maid’s sympathetic affections, and a very large proportion of your possessions will be confiscated. But this man may do as he pleases—may disregard or violate the laws, as he thinks proper; and the institution is not built in which his liberty may be restricted. No Sir-ee! he is the aristocrat, he is the big-bug, he is the truly great man, before whom incipient law makers and aspirants for position humble themselves, and to whom during their terms of office they sedulously defer, and treat him with respect and consideration, lest at the next election his influence should defeat their renomination, and deprive them of their places.