EDITOIl'S TABLE. 



A. J. Downing. — In reply to the call of Prof. Tukneb, in our last, we have been 

 kindly furnished with the following interesting reminiscences by the author of "^ visit to 

 the House and Garden of A. J. Downing,'''' in our January number. 



" It was in the winter of 1851-2 that the writer first saw Mr. Downing. Happening to be at a 

 small party where he was among the guests, just Avhen the cirele was breaking up, I was saluted 

 by a tall, somewhat grave gentleman, who, after an introduction, cordially and frankly invited 

 me to his house in Newburgh, naming the day and thus leaving no doubt in my mind as to the 

 sincerity of his intention. As he talked to me, I observed that his eyes were of a peculiar beauty, 

 large, dark, and finely shaped, inspiring confidence by their steady glance and friendliness of 

 expression. His hair was long and dark, falling on his forehead somewhat, and aiding the poetic 

 character of his fixce. In his mouth lay the key to the secret of his success. Wide, and rather 

 compressed, and not well opened in speaking, it expressed will and perseverance in Uo common 

 degree and ballanced the less stern and more flowing character of the upper portion of his face- 

 His figure was slight and gracoful ; neat and precise in his dress, which was seldom of a lifditer 

 hue than black, his manners had a certain gravity and restraint through which a close observer 

 could easily distinguish the possibilities of a large and generous humonr. To all who are familiar 

 with his writings, it is unnecesary to say that Mr. Dowxing's vein of humor and delicate sharp- 

 cutting satire, was by no means the least of his gifts. These powers shone out in his conversa- 

 tion, which was rich and varied, and made him a welcome addition to the troupe of private 

 theatric stars whose performances so often made his house ring with mirth. One of Mr. Down- 

 ing's performances in this way, we well remember. It w^as a charade, which, about Christmas 

 time, was keeping the cheerful fire and lights to make our hearts glad with 



"Mirth that wrinkled Care derides. 

 And Laughter, holding both his sides." 



" Mr. Downing's share in the acting was a discontented traveling Englishman, who is fighting 

 his way through the grand tour, and doing his best to make himself and his companions as miser- 

 able as possible. No words can do justice to the manner in which he fretted and teased, nor the 

 solemnity with which he received "the inextinguishable laughter" that shook his audience. His 

 acting was natural, unexaggerated, and, like everything he did, perfectly unaffected. Even in 

 these slight and apparently unimportant matters, he gave a stranger, such as I was then, the 

 impression of a man who attempted nothing that he did not feel confident he eould perform in 

 the most complete manner. 



" In dispensing the hospitalities of his house, Mr. Downing was free and generoiis ; his time, of 

 course, was largely occupied with his immediate business, and his absences were frequent. Once 

 a month he went to Washington, and his visit there generally included other places, Baltimore, 

 Philadelphia, Newport, and some others nearer home, where he was building houses, or laying 

 out grounds. My first visit was made a few days before he left for his monthly journey, and as 

 the weather was stormy, and he much occupied with indoor work, I saw but little of the arran-ge- 

 ment of his garden, but I had a fine opportunity to learn something of the man. This is not the 

 place, nor is it my object, to analyze Mr. Downing's character. Another pen will shortly give to 

 the world a fitter and more complete account than I have power to write — a life of Mr. Downing, 

 to which these feeble hints and sketches, with which our journals have long abounded, will serve 

 but as preface and introduction. 



" I reached Mr. Downing's house late in the evening. Tlie winter had been unusually severe ; 

 the river was frozen to a greater extent than is at all common ; the ferry had ceased plying, ana 

 loaded wagons, sleighs filled with passengers shrinking from the cutting blasts that streamed up 

 and down between the mountains; and, beside these, hundreds of foot passengers crossed, thro' 

 the day, over this apparently frail, but in reality secure, bridge of ice. At night the spectacle was 

 grander but less enlivening. It was not with an entire freedom from anxiety that I found myself 



