Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1864-05-26
from the Boston Post Of May 20th.l
hawthorne.

Hawthorne is dead. This announcement
will be surprise to the people-to the
| lovers of American literature it will send
sorrow His death occurred yesterday
morning at Plymouth, n. III. He was stop
ping there in the course of journey for
his health with eX-President Pierce, his
lifelong friend. At two in the morning his
friend looked in upon him, and at three he
found him dead in his bed. Though he
has long been aninvalid, none of his friends
supposed him to be so near his end. Mr..
Hawthorne was born in Salem, July 4, 1904;
hence, he was nearly sixty years Of age
His life was uneventful, yet it has an out
line. There are prominent facts well to
note here, not so much as mile-stones in
dicating his progress, as isolated facts denot-
ing his existence. His growth was that of
man of the imagination, not that of a man
of the world; so the ordinary standards of
human life will not measure him. His an
cestors were men of the sea-his father died
at Havana in 1910. 1t is said of his mother
that she was woman of great beauty and
extreme sensibility,' and her grief for her
husbands death caused her to live the rest
of her life mourner in absolute seclusion.
Here are the sources Of the power and the
genius of Hawthorne-this 'eXtreme SEN
sibility" was transmitted to the son; he also,
by nature, took to seclusion, and there this
sensibilty full of eyes, and ears, and activ-
tiles sofimagination, coniured ur, and created
those exquisite characters that have become
an honor to- and an enduring part of Amer
lean literature. At 10, Hawthorne was sent
to live on the borders of Lake Sebago, in
Maine; finally returned and completed his
preparatory course for college in Salem, and
graduated from Bowdoin College in 1926
in the same class with George B. Cheever
and Henry w. Longfellow. His friend, the
ex-President, graduated in the class preced-
ing. After graduation he remained many
years in Salem, a recluse almost from his own
household-his only delight was the fairy
land his own brain created. In 1882 he
published romance never since acknowl
edged, nor identified by the public. In 1887
he published Twice Told Tales" collected
from his contributions to current literature.
Longfellow soon pronounced it the work OF
a man of genius. 1t was slow, however, in
making its way to second edition, which
appeared in 1S42. A second series was col
lected from The Democratic Reuie,o and pub
lished at the same time; and they were pro-
nounced by competent judges to be supe-
rior creations. In 1888 Mr.. Bancroft, the
historian, as Collector of the Port of Bos-
ton, made him weigher and gauger in the
Custom-house, which place he retained un-
til removed by Whig Administration in
1S41. After this he became one of the
founders of the Brook Farm Association,
and spent few months among the burrows.
He soon returned to and resided in Boston
until 1S43, when he married, and took up
his home at the old manse at Concord, near
the first battle ground of the American
Revolution. Here he wrote 'Mosses from
an old Manse," in the study, in the rear of
the house, in the same room where Emer-
son w~ote Mature" and from the windows
of which the clergyman of Concord watch
ed the battle of Concord Bridge. Here his
residence of three years was that of a re-
cluse--he mingled little with the society of
the village. In 1916 Mr.. Bancroft appoint
ed him Surveyor of the Port of Salem, and
for the next three years he was the chief
man in the decayed old Custom-house of
that city. In lS49 he removed from Salem
to Lenox, and lived in small red cottage
on the shore of lakelet called the Stock
bridge Bowl. Here he wrote the blouse of
the Seven Cables" printed in Boston In
1851: also the "Blithedale Romance." His
"Scarlet Letter" appeared in 1850, one of
the most powerful Of his books. In 1852 he
removed to Concord, where he purchased a
house and few acres of land; In the same
wear he published life of his old friend the
candidate for the Presidency. After the in
auguration of the new President he was
appointed by him as Consul to Liverpool,
Which office he held Until 1857, when he re-
signed, and spent some time In travelling In
Europe. Since his return here, he has pub
lished a series Of papers In The Atlantic
Mdnthlu, and they have been issued under
the title Of "Our Old Home.n These are
simple, plain facts, which outline the prin-
cipal incidents Of his outward life. His life