South Australian Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1858 - 1889), Wednesday 28 November 1866, page 2


THE LATE MR. FREDERICK SINNETT.

The Melbourne Argus of the 24th November contains the following graceful and well-merited tribute to the late Mr. Frederick Sinnett. We will only supplement the notice by stating that the first colonial newspaper

with which Mr. Sinnett was connected was the South Australian Gazette and Mining Journal, then under the management of the late G. Stevenson, Esq., and we may further add, that no one more thoroughly appreciated Mr. Sinnett's literary talents than did he, who, while he lived, was the most powerful writer on the colonial press:—"Our obituary records the death of Mr. Fredk. Sinnett, at the early age of 30. He was born at Hamburg, where he received his education, and ac-qnired a knowledge of the German language and of German literature, such as comparatively few English-men possess. Originally intended to follow his father's profession—that of an architect and surveyor—his natural tastes inclined him towards literature- an inclination which was no doubt strengthened by the example of his mother, Mrs. Percy Sinnett, who is still living, and who is well known in the literary circles of London as an authoress and as a translator of German writers. To that city his family subsequently removed, and there the subject of our notice attracted the attention and formed the acquaintance of Mr J S. Mill and of some of the leading members of what was then known as the school of philosophical radicals. At this time, too, he acquired that thorough mastery of the principles of political economy which he subsequently turned to such excellent account in his writings; while he evidently espoused those views of government by democracy which were afterwards developed by Mr Mill in his Considerations on Representative Government. Before he attained to manhood the seeds of consumption manifested themselves in his system, and he was advised to visit Australia in order to arrest the progress of that insidious disease. Accordingly he came out here about 16 years ago, and after some time spent in the pursuit of his profession as a surveyor, and in explorations of the interior of South Australia, he connected himself with the colonial press. He was for some time editor of the Melbourne Herald. At a later period he joined The Argus staff ; and in 1855 he originated Melbourne Punch, of which he continued the editor for three years, at the expiration of which term he was induced to undertake the editorship of the Geelong Daily News. Family reasons urged him to remove to Adelaide, where he was appointed short-hand writer to the Legislature, and where he en-gaged somewhat extensively in business pursuits. He also conducted the Telegraph, an evening newspaper, besides contributing to the Wallet and other publica-tions. In so doing it is to be feared he overtaxed his powers both of body and mind; and when, in response to an invitation from the conductors of this journal, he returned to Melbourne about 12 months ago, it was painfully evident that his strength had given way, and that the disease from which he died had made such ravages upon his frame as to discourage the expectation of his recovery. During the last eight weeks he was sinking gradually, and about 4 o'clock yesterday morning he fell into a peaceful sleep, from which there was no waking in this world. In speaking of him as a writer, we do so with reference to a period when his intellect was at its highest, and before the powers of his mind were impaired by disease. He combined the logical with the imaginative faculty in a rare degree. No one could detect a fallacy or a flaw in reasoning more acutely, expose it more clearly or demolish it more adroitly than he could. On the other hand, he could enliven, and illustrate the dullest sub-jects with a ray of fancy or a flash of humor. With humor, indeed his mind was saturated, and there was not a touch of malice in it. He could wield the weapons of banter, scarcasm, and irony, without wounding or irritating those against whom they were employed, therein reminding us of what has been said of Hood-— ' With all his sense of fun and ridicule and his abun-dant playfulness, he never lost his exquisite feeling for the beautiful. . . He took up cant, looked at it laughed at it and over it, till you almost pardoned its ugliness for the sake of the burning and brilliant light he threw around it.' His versatility was not the least conspicuous of his qualities. He could turn from writing a closely reasoned and weighty dissertation on some problem of political science to the composition of a parody on a popular poem, an epigram, or a skit on some passing event, with the utmost faculty. His ear for versification was almost faultless ; and while he was in the habit of bracing his mind by the study of some of the great masters of modern philosophy he enriched it by the intimate acquaintance he maintained with the writings of men like Tennyson, Ruskin, Goethe, and Schiller. His memory was stored, in fact, with passages from his favo-rite English and German poets, and the wonder was that so prolific a writer should have found time to be so diligent a student, and should hare succeeded in cultivating so retentive a memory. In matters of literature and art his taste was generally pure, and his judgment sound; and it is to be regretted that the exigencies of journalism should have necessitated the dispersion, as it were, of the powers of his mind over so wide a surface, with so little apparent result, when their concentration, under happier circumstances, upon the production of some durable work, might have enabled him to acquire a distinguished reputation as a novelist, an essayist, or dramatist. For success in each of these departments of literature he possessed special qualifications; and had his life been spared his ability might have seconded his ambi-tion to achieve something the world would not willingly let die.' But all these possibilities have be-come part and parcel of the past; and to use the words of the poet he was most fond of citing -'The world which credits what is done Is cold to all that might have been.' Of the personal qualities of the deceased, those who knew him best will probably remember most affectionately his imperturable good humor and buoyant cheerfulness. If the latter succumbed to a protracted and depressing illness, neither sickness nor calamity could destroy or even impair the former. It was partly the product of a kind heart and partly the result of genial views of the world and mankind. His conversation was as clever, as shrewd, and as humorous, as his writings; and while he made few enemies he conciliated the esteem of many friends; and especially endeared to him those who could penetrate the slight husk of shyness and reserve which may have prejudiced him in the eyes of superficial observers."