History of Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts, including Lynnfield ...

Biographical Sketches. Newhall. 185
ening and renewal by the Master, who said, ' I am the resurrection
and the hfe ; ' and there was deep solace in the Voice from
heaven, saying write, * Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.'
" Encircled in a garland of delicate flowers and green foliage
was a miniature sheaf of ripe wheat lying upon the coffin which
contained the inanimate form of the departed saint. The design
was appropriate and significant : 'Thou shalt come to thy grave
in full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in his season.' "
Newhall, Isaac, of Mall street. By referring to page 540
of the 1865 edition of the History of Lynn, the reader will find a
notice of this individual, who was a native of the place, and established
something of a literary reputation by his letters on Junius.
It is hardly probable that he anticipated the rank his little work
was destined to attain so soon after he had ceased to be moved
by anything the world could say of it or of him. The writer
well remembers that when the volume appeared, in 183 1, it was
somewhat talked about, but probably not many copies were circulated
in Lynn. The truth is, it was upon a subje6l concerning
which very few in our community knew much, and to most
of those few it had little interest. It was to the learned class
of statesmen and politicians, rather than to the mere partisan,
that it commended itself But yet a sort of romantic interest
attended its advent, it being so unaccountable that a man of Mr.
Newhall's hum-drum vocation, could, while pursuing his daily
routine, be pondering on themes that agitated the minds of a
Burke and an Eldon.
In an address delivered by Hon. Charles W. Upham, of Salem,
before the Essex Institute, in
1868, appeared a warm recognition
of the success of Mr. Newhall, and interwoven were graphic allusions
to his personal traits, habits, and pursuits. Said the
speaker :
" Behind the counter of a retail store on Essex street,
[Salem] was to be found a person pursuing the daily routine of a
most unpretentious life, apparently thinking of nothing else than
the accommodation of customers, in the exhibition of his stock,
and measuring out, by the yard, linen, cotton, ribbons, and tape.
He was apparently beyond middle life, of a mild and courteous
demeanor, quiet, and of few words. There was, it is true, in his
mien and manners, a combined gentleness and dignity, that