Editorialana. 331
Hayes. Spiegel Grove is indeed the Mount
Vernon of Ohio. It is this
magnificent estate and home that the
present owner, Colonel Webb C.
Hayes, is transferring to the State of
Ohio for the Ohio State Archaeo-
logical and Historical Society, to be by
the latter preserved intact for
historic and educational purposes.
After reading Mr. Meek's production one
might think that San-
dusky county had a monopoly on Ohio
history. It certainly is rich in the
"lore of the brave days of
old."
SAMUEL SULLIVAN COX.
His FAMOUS WORD PICTURE.
S. S. Cox, during his latter days known
as Sunset Cox, was a
Buckeye of most illustrious fame. Born
in Zanesville in 1824 he became
a lawyer of brilliant promise but
deserted that profession in 1853 to
become the editor of The Ohio
Statesman in Columbus. For one year
he was secretary of legation in Peru. He
represented Ohio in Congress
for eight years (1857-65), and New York,
whither he removed in 1866,
for seventeen years, (1869-73, 1875-85,
and 1886-89). In 1885-86 he was
minister to Turkey. He was popularly
known as the letter-carriers' friend
in reference to legislation proposed by
him for increase in their salary
and the concessions to them of a
vacation with pay. A statue of him
was erected by the letter-carriers in
New York City. Mr. Cox wrote
and lectured a great deal, some of his
works being: Eight Years in
Congress; The Buckeye Abroad, and Why We Laugh.
The editor of the Quarterly remembers
seeing Mr. Cox and hearing
him speak during his residence in
Columbus. Mr. Cox was a polished
gentleman, a magnetic personality, with
most engaging manners, and
possessed of a style of oratory like
that of classic speakers of old. He
was erudite, humorous and witty, with
wonderful powers of logic and
persuasion. He was a mixture of the
Garfield and Galloway type of
public speakers, for he combined
information with entertainment in an
unsurpassed facility.
The description of the Ohio sunset that
today is one of the imperish-
ables of American literature, and which
brought recognition to Samuel
S. Cox as a master word painter, was
found at the close of a busy day.
Here it is:
"What a peculiar sunset was that of
last night! How glorious the
storm and how splendid the setting of
the sun! We do not remember
ever to have seen the like on our round
globe. The scene opened in
the West with a whole horizon full of
golden interpenetrating luster which
colored the foliage and brightened every
object into its own dyes. The
color grew deeper and richer, until the
golden luster was transfused into
a storm cloud, full of finest lightning,
which leaped in dazzling zigzags
332 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
all over and around the city. The wind
arose with fury, the slender
shrubs and giant trees made obeisance to
its majesty. Some even snapped
before its force. The strawberry beds
and grass plats 'turned up their
whites' to see Zephyrus march by. As the
rain came and the pools and
the gutters hurried away, thunder roared
grandly, and the fire bells
caught the excitement and rang with
heavy choruses. The South and
East received the copious showers, and
the West all at once brightened
up in a long, polished belt of azure,
worthy of a Sicilian sky.
"Presently a cloud appeared in the
azure belt in the form of a con-
stellated city. It became more vivid,
revealing strange forms of peerless
fanes and alabaster temples and glories
rare and grand in this mundane
sphere. It reminded us of Wordsworth's
splendid verse in his 'Excursion':
The appearance instantaneously disclosed
Was of a mighty city, boldly say
A wilderness of building sinking far
And self-withdrawn into a wondrous
depth,
Far sinking into splendor without end.
"But the city vanished only to give
place to another isle where the
most beautiful forms of foliage
appeared, imaging a paradise in the dis-
tant and purified air. The sun, wearied
of the elemental commotion,
sank behind the green plains of the
West. The 'great eve in heaven,'
however, went not down without a dark
brow hanging over its departing
light. The rich flush of unearthly light
had passed and the rain had
ceased, when the solemn church bells
pealed, the laughter of children
rang out joyous, after the storm is
heard, with the carol of birds, while
the dark and purple weapon of the skies
still darted illumination around
the startling college, trying to rival
its angles and leap into its dark
windows."