The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1871-09-22
The Untold Love of Alice Gary.

The Untold Love Of Alice Gary.
Alice Cary lived and died Il maiden
queen of pOesy. 1t had seemed TO many
impossible that she should have carried
her tender and passionate heart through
the social and literary thoroughfares
wherein she was called to tread, un-
pierced by any amOrOus shaft. And it
il was indeed impossible. There is a Sc
cret page of the history of the deceased
pOetess which has never been written,
and seldom, of late years, been told.
To this Phoebe Cary briefly and indie
finitely alludes i'm the sketch published
in the Ladies' Repository of last month,
and widely copied. The writer says
substantially therein that if her sister
ever loved there is no line i'll her pub
| lished works to tell the tale; over the
mouth of the sepulchre of her sad eX-
perience she rolled the stone never by
| herself removed. The doubtful sir
half conceals and half disclOses the
truth. Ii seems intended to stop flying
rumors, while refraining from an un-
cquiVOcal and impossible denial.
/ As the story can only serve as a foil
| to the virtues and amiable qualities of
/ its subject, we need no further excuse
I for our efforts to rescue the fragmentary
record from the Oblivion to which the
mistaken and morbid kindness of friends
would fain consign it. When the Cary
sisters made their first pilgrimage to
the Eastern literary Mecca, Rufur Will
mot Griswold was among their earliest
acquaintances. This gentleman was a
prominent GHcFdtciT in New York
when men of letters were less numerous
than at present. He was born in Ben
son, Vt, i'm 1915, and was, consequently,
but about five years the senior of the ell
der sister. Having been educated Is a
printer, he became successively Bap-
list preacher, a journalist and an author.
As an editor he presided over the des-
tines of the Brother Jonathan and the
Ncsr World, mammoth weeklies the
Neir Yorker, "A celebrated literary heb
domadal; and Grdhdm'S and the Inter-
national Magazine. To the first month
" mentioned he added considerable
character. The last resenbled HGTpcF's
lIOnfhiJ. and was bought out by the
owners of that magazine after brief
existence. In the wider field OF letters
he should be spoken of rather rs conf
piler than as an author. He published
various collections of the prose and po-
T etry of England and America, and, in
canncctiOn with other authors several
{ works of popular biography. No one
. the literary market, or with the pub
: fishers of the metropolis, than Mr.. Girls
: void. The two rural devotees To litera-
, ture from the far West were strangers,
and needed a chaperOne. he came To
: the rescue. He gave them space in
| his books, fiattcred them, encouraged
[ their hopes and assisted in finding 4
4 market for their wares. Toward Alice
!. he more especially inclined. Their frs
# acquaintance ripened into friendship
t friendship into intimacy, and intimacy
/. into love. 1t was said at last that TIL
q PARTIES were solemnly atfianced. Thi
e was nearly % years ago, and Alice ha'
n then passed 80. He was still older, an
o would seem to have passed the bound
of Juvenile folly, if those bounds ar
e ever passed by man. But he was a bias
;, citizen of the world, and she was quie
IF retired, sensitive, domestic, and unas
e suming. Trouble came between the tw
Df in the shape of n woman of society, eN
ternally more attractive than AliC
Cary This HdSOn produced n separs
tion. The engagement was broken, an
- Alice, concealing her sorrows, kept he
- self more closely at home, and turne
= her attention more assidiOusly to ht
=, special labors. The story needs not I
.e be fully detailed here. II has been tol
ls over and over again, ever since I'll
ol world had II literature. Several veal
u passed, and in 1867 Rufus WilmOt Gri
ne wold lay dying of lingering disease
re the metropolis, i'm poverty, and alOn
Is His literary ventures had brought il
ne adequate remuneration, and he lived
III life which il was not altogether plea
lis ant to look back upon. But the siste
,is had made many friends, and been re;
he sOnably blessed by fortune. The il
iured woman forgot her wrongs and 70
M gave the past with n readiness chara
a teristic OF her sex She came to Il
as bedside of the man who had 50 grie
eri ously deceived her, and watched wit
hg him day after day and week after wee
re as life slowly ebbed away. The sit
ne room was made cheerful with book
a flowers, and all necessary comforts; an
IN to defray necessary expenses, the mont
I'D earned bv days and nights Of labor wi
"a the pen was freely lavished. At Il
Ter death ended the sufIerings of the fal
Ne. lover. and the grave closed over the :
OF cret of wOman's sorrow, now for q
i'm first time made chicago R,l'u
AZ IicdH.