admonition of the Spartan mother to her warrior son, on the eve of battle. ' With your shield, or upon it.' The whole party were delighted with the rich tones and clas sic teachings of the gifted colloquist, except his equally gifted competitor for conversa tional laurels, who, notwithstanding his enforced admiration, sat uneasily under the prolonged disquisition, anxiously waiting for an opportunity to take his place in the pic ture. At length, a titillation seizing the olfactory nerves of Mr. Preston, he paused to take a pinch of snuff, and Mr. Davis im mediately filled up the vaeuum, taking up the line of speech in this wise : ' I have listened,' said he, ' with equal edification and pleasure to the classic discourses of our friend, sparkling with gems alike of intellect and fancy, but I differ from him toto eoelo. He may say what he will as to the superior vigor and condensation of thought and speech, characteristic of classic Greece and Rome; but for my part, I think there is nothing equal to our own vert1aeular in these particulars, and I am fortunately able, al though from a humble source, to give you a striking and conclusive example and illus tration of the fact. As I was returning home from Congress, some years since, I approached a river in North Carolina, which had been swollen by a recent freshet, and observed a country girl fording it in a merry mood, and carrying a piggin of butter on her head. As I arrived at the river's edge, the rustic naiad emerged from the watery element. ' My girl,' said I, ' How deep's the water and what's the price of butter?' ' Up to your waist and nine pence,' was the prompt response. Let my learned friend beat that if he can, in brevity and force of expression, by aught to be found in all his treasury of classic lore." Mr. Preston was a man of genial, amiable disposition and he was full of fun and frolic. He had a sanguine, hopeful temperament, and looked upon the bright side of things. He had broad, liberal views, and was gen
erous to a fault. He never tried to lay up money. Mrs. Rion tells us that he always had a beneficiary at his table, and, mention ing one of them, she says that he was proud of him and always spoke of him " as one of his jewels." He established the Columbia Athenaium, was its president, and gave it his fine library of some three thousand books. He was "a knightly character, brave, high-toned, sincere, honest." He was "democratic in his manners — perhaps aris tocratic in his tastes." He was a man of fine personal appearance, courtly manners, and magnetic style. In Dr. Baer's address, we find the follow ing description of him : " Mr. Preston had a commanding form. His face was large and long to an extent out of proportion even to his big body. He had heavy gray eye brows and his eyes were very large, blue and somewhat prominent. When they blazed up under excitement, they fascinated, and took possession of you, and transfigured the whole face. One moment, you saw a big, sleepy-looking face, and the next, you stood awed and fascinated before a human countenance, wonderfully manly, noble, and expressive. There was grace, and dignity, and propriety in his every movement. Crip pled as he was, sometimes, on a fine after noon, he would walk with Mrs. Preston down the campus, and then back again. It ap peared to me that every student followed the couple with his eyes, from the time they came out of their gate, till they re-entered it. The air, manner, and movements of both were so singularly striking and perfect. I have been told that, in his visit to Europe, in his younger manhood, both in London and at Paris, admiring crowds followed him when he appeared on the streets. I can well believe it. I suppose no one ever saw Mr. Preston without being satisfied that he was looking at a very extraordinary man. I never heard him make a speech, continues my friend, but it was my good fortune once
