To join their dark encounter in mid-air
So frowned the mighty combatants.”
But this dispute with Marshall was a very exceptional thing to happen to Mr. Kelly. He was a universal favorite in both Houses of Congress, and his popularity continued to grow the longer he remained at the Federal Capital. Some rare men there are in this world in whom there is such unity of character, whose talents however high are equalled by the qualities of their hearts; whose virtues however great are equalled by the warmth of their affections and the sweetness of their temper; they carry a passport to the common heart written, as it were, upon their fronts by the finger of God. “The world is a looking-glass,” says Thackeray in Vanity Fair, “and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face. Frown at it, and it will in turn look sourly upon you; laugh at it and with it, and it is a jolly kind companion.” Sir Thomas More was one of those rare characters who won the general heart by the sunshine that played about him. He met Erasmus at a dinner table in London without an introduction, but Erasmus knew him at once. “Aut Morus aut Nullus,” said he. “Aut Erasmus aut Diabolus,” was the waggish reply. In America occasionally some noble spirit appears who finds his way to all hearts without an effort. Such a man was Nathaniel Macon of North Carolina, simple, plain, unostentatious, the political idol of John Randolph, “the last of the Romans” as Jefferson called him; “a speaker,” says Benton, “of no pretension and great performance, who spoke more good sense while he was getting up out of his chair and getting back into it, than many others did in long discourses.”[43] Mr. Stephens frequently said to the present writer that John Kelly reminded him more of Nathaniel Macon than did any other man in public life. Kelly’s rugged sense of right, his blunt honesty, sagaciousness, modesty, and good humor, conspired to make friends for him on all sides of the House. If he was asked to do a favor for any one, he generally did more than was asked, and never said anything about it afterwards. Kindness and service to mankind were virtues of which he was the cheerful exemplar.
Stephens and Kelly were strikingly alike in this respect, both seemed never to tire in well-doing and deeds of benevolence. The number of poor boys who have owed their education and success in life to these two men has been very large. There are hundreds of happy homes in this country to-day where poverty has been turned into comfort, and pinching want into comparative prosperity, by Alexander H. Stephens and John Kelly. The two gentlemen were deeply attached friends, and each regarded the other as the type of an honest statesman. Twenty years after the close of their Congressional relations, Mr. Stephens, in a letter to the present writer, desired to be remembered to Mr. Kelly in the kindest manner. The following is the letter, personal matters of no interest to the general reader being omitted:
Liberty Hall,
Crawfordsville, Georgia,
28th October, 1878.
My Dear Sir:
Your letter was duly received. Two days afterwards the parcel came. * * *
I am now just about leaving home for an absence of several days. I want you to read Johnston and Browne’s recent book. I have ordered several copies, but none has yet reached here, or I would send you one. Give John Kelly my kindest regards when you see him. I regard him as one of the ablest and truest men in this country. * * *
With best wishes to you and all yours, I remain,
Very truly,