Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1871-12-21

j. FENINoRE CoorER's DoNEsr,c Liry
RcsigniaS his position in the navy, Mr..
C"oper. at the age Of twenty two, married
Miss Susan De l.ancev. sister Of the Bish-
"p of Western New York aud now that
twenty wears have passed since the graves
nf husband and wife were made in the liz.
tie churchyarJ under the pines. comment
may be permitted. and with more freedom,
since, sooner or later. the lives efcmincnt
men must necessarily become The proper
~ of the public. Among the sad henrt.
histories which the geographic, Of men of
genius are almost sure 10 reveal. the
charming lovc-s,ory Of Fcnimore Cooper
aud his wife shines out with pure radiance.
an ideal picture of n happy marriage. 4
lovely, accomplished woman, Mrs. Cooper
was blessed with the unchansins. tender
devotion Of her husband through for,v
long years; and even in death they were
not separated. for within four mouths af.
ter tue husbands departure his gentle wife
followed him. fit resident for that hea-
ven for which her whole life had beer, one
constant preparation. Mrs. Cooper was
retiring and feminine in every movement.
word. and action. Her strong. impetu.
Gus hu,band--massive aud vigorous in
frame. decided and independent in action
yielded to her chivalrous devotion
most beautiful and rare She was his pre-
terrcd companion above all others. aud in
his daily drives to his mountain farm, cal
led the Chalet. he always wanted her by
his side. while in the evening his fayorilc
amusement WAS game Of chess with his
wife as antagonist. Although children
grew up around them. although the hosp-
table mansion was often filed with dis
tin:uishcd and delightful guests, although
time passed and they grew old, the hus-
band ana wife never sank into the mere
father and mother but to the last they
cherished for each other that fresh affec-
ii"n which is so seldom seen after the
bloom of youth and the charm of novelty
have passed away. The fair. gentle wo-
men who hover o"cr Cocp"r's pages were
patterned after his beloved wife. who. hap
PLY occupied in h.r own quiet sphere, was
content TO follow the old fashioned rule Of
the Bible. that 1.-THE husband is the head of
he wife. even rs Christ is the head Of the
Church. in every thing
After his marriage. Nr. Cooper lived
for some time at Scarsdalc. in Wcs;chcs
tr County. and here he wrote his first
story, "Precau;ion. tale Of English
life. IIe was reading an English novel
s'oud to his wife, VII suddenly he threw
down the book a,lI cAcliimct.. IL believe
could write a better myself" Follow
Ing the impulse. he in me liatcly composed
few chapters and read them to Mrs.
Cooper. who encouraged him III the work,
and urged him to publish it when com
pletCd. al,h ugh mt this time he had no
intention Of appearing before the public.
The manuscript. however. was at length
submitted 10 the late Charles Wilkes, and
meeting with his approval, was published
in 1920. winning favorable no,icc both i,
this country and England. and showing
germs of that genius which. when en-
ploycd upon a more congenial and origi-
nal subject. gained for the author such
triumphant success. In 1871. Mr.. Coop
cr published the Spy" which was i'm
media,cly and brilliantly successful, BE-
ing the fret sp rtcd story of our Rcyo,u-
:ionary war. and thus opening 4 ncw era
in American literature. The Spy" has
been translated into al the languages Of
Europe. and even crossed tho borders into
Asia. Persian version having appeared
ia 1917 nj Ispahan.
From 1921 until his death. period Of
thirty years, Mr.. Copper published TO
less than thirty nine volumes, thir,v-two
being noyels-an amount of mental and
physical labor which justly entities him
10 be called n hard working man; for al-
though he sometimes employed his daugh-
tcrs Is amanuenses. still the work of cont
posing aui preparing even one book for
he press is arduous, as any douttcr win
End if pc tries it.
In rccalling the number of fvvlumcs that
the authors pen produc il NIGH. natu-
rally be supposed that his whole time was
devoted to writing bar, instead Of this.
he had many other occupations. Rising
early 10 the morning. he generally accom-
pli>hed all his writing before breakfast.
which took place at nine devoting the
hours in the middle Of the day to his noun
tain farm. the Chalet, where he found out
door recreation in an obstinate contest
with the stony soil. he being determined
tha, the crops should grow, and the noun
tain being determined that they should
not il is sid that the mountain won the
day. since. dnring sll the years Of the
contest. the farm enly paid its expenses
once The relaxation obtained in this
way. however, was heartily enjoyed ~
Mr.. Cooper; and n" doubt this constant
communion ~i,h nature and HE vigorous
open-air exereiSe contributed to preserve
the healthy. manly 'one 30 conspicuous in
b. writings. Your morbid. unnatural
authors are generally hot house dysper-
ties. Constance fe.,iu o-c, in Imp 70
n.3G=ia- tos Dtermtsr.