I prize my witness ; for Benjamin Peirce was a healthy mind, with no itch 

 of vanity or tumor of pride, although he had that elevation of humility which 

 cannot be distinguished either from self-respect or a respect for other men. 

 His bearing was that of a noble among nobles, who do not credit any thing 

 base. We sometimes see a personal beauty, which we think God must mean 

 to. last forever, however hereafter it may be suited with a different and more 

 fitting dress. How much higher claim has beauty of disposition and thought ; 

 and into what loftier degrees than any sacred story ever recorded it may yet 

 rise ! As the thrifty rice-bird of the South, bent on eating, is the singing 

 bobolink of the Northern spring, flying and chanting at once, let us hope for 

 our nature a transformation, of which the feathered chorister is but a type. 



