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he was far from weakness: for with him rebuke and censure to evil lay in the beauty of his own character, not in the severity of his criticism. In his very goodness and kindliness lay the elusive element that made his personality so peculiar, original and impressive. He was not condescending, as many excellent people are, for he did not conceive of others as below him; he could not be called tolerant, for he had no idea even that the opinions of his neighbor were subject to his approval.

He was the companion of men of rare intellectual capacity, and sometimes in his praise of them he would wish for a greater share of their attainments; but the brightest and best of them would have been happy in the richer endowment that made his presence a promise of peace and a source of harmony.

The poet Donne, in speaking of the various elements that make up human life, says of certain souls, "they are those fine spirits who do tune and set this organ," and it is they that "beget wonder and love."

He was such a fine spirit.

The impression that he has left will remain long after that made by men of greater apparent brilliancy and force has passed away. What they may seek to formulate, express or advocate as to simple manhood -- he was.

A close friend of Mr. Perkins has penned the following tribute:

No citizen of Rochester enjoyed wider regard or commanded more entirely the confidence of the whole country than Mr. Perkins. Possessed of a most delicate sense of honor in all the public relations of life, he was the model of uprightness and integrity, while to his family and friends his heart was a treasure-house of affection and of unfailing, inexhaustible tenderness and kindness.

Beyond all words by which they can testify their grief tears will be the silent tribute of love and sorrow which those who have known him in these closer relations of life will pay to his memory.

No one in recent years has passed out of the life of our city leaving a name more honored and a record of more useful and unselfish service. Such lives of simple truth and love and unaffected piety are beacon lights in a community and extend their beneficence far and wide in the inspiration they afford and the emulation they excite. The city is richer while they last and feels their withdrawal as a deep loss.



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