The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1879-06-21

MRS. SARAH JosEPHA HALE.

This sketch Of HE pioneer w"lnar-s,iito
Of America. who recent, died ri rhiiadri
pp>Srssr an interest beth general and his
tor:r. Like her contemporary, MADAME
Patterson Bonarartc, Mrs. lialc'S life m0r
than >Iann;'i the organized cNi~trGcc o
oar republic. Bern N Newport, N"w llaIHr
Shire. O,.;,p|cr -, Il 81. Size WIS already
wcil-grOwu babe when Washington was iii
auguratrd III" first President OF the n:et
States, and th"ncctGrw:tr,i she saw the Ion.
line of the nation rulers appear and dis
appear i'll succession, until her eyes close,
on earthly things during the time of on
own Pre-. i'!"mt Hayes. Ii :c"inS Tx; ivam
ing to rrranitHiatr the events which have
been a"tuaily seen by one WHOM we our
S,'!v":; hay" known. and who has hun thi.
In"inemt passed away from Us: it is lilzt
i"hho5''iaG with thr las; century. Wash
in%tnr, Hamilton. Jefferson, Adams, and
| Franklin W..rt rs familiar names to hcl
chiidI!r",l Is are Grant and Sherman to til.
boys al to-day: ST." was already grown NJ
when the war Of lSl2 hrok. ont. and was
lnildr-agcl af tn" time of the Mrxicari
war: she hvhrld iii" various parties that
HAY" ,trivcm for lIowcT-Fu,l"ralist and
.tnti-Fedcrali>tS, Wings, LocoiOcoS, etc
rl5" and fall on" after another: jackson.
| Webster, Clay, Calhoun, and like person
ages Were hut boys to her as they lifted
across the stage: She witnessed the Begin
ming. progress, and end OF the grj'aG strug-
gle between freedom and slavery that play
| ed 50 important a part in he history "t the
| nation: and, moreover, She saw cities spring
NJ from villages, populouS States reclaimed
| from til" wilderness, and the entire West,
with the Pacific coast, brought within the
! pale of ii ,iliZltion. Then, too, what changes
We're not wrought during her time i'll liter
ATTIRE, such as are admirably summed M as
| follows by the Boston TiurcioY: ''Shc was
born oalv thirteen months after Feniln0rr
| Coopcr, and She survived him almost TWEEN
! ty-"ight years: and She published No.fi-
| '"3o' III 1871, the same year Iii which Cooper
| published III" Rel Rprcr, one of he Very
best of his sea novels, the novelist 5 rcputa-
ton being then in the zenith. No,fhrood
is Il work that bears repeated reading; and
is there was not Il clnt of American novel
ISIS when it appeared, it made 7 name for
the author, and il keeps the place il won in
1871, 80 far as Il first place can hc kept after
the lapse of fifty-two HetrS When that
novel came OIt, Hawthorne WAS but a youth
at',l Ind written nothing, and HrwthurH"
has been sleeping at Concord fnr fifteen
Wears. lomgtcil"w wa; still y"ungrr and
Holmes was younger than !.rn.ti.lluw and
both are new old men, with rey,,ltatinrs us
wild" as III" world. Whittier came unGn
tn" stag" after She had become known. and
Emerson not very far from the same time
Montgomery Bird began his literary career
i tWelvcmonth after the publication of
N"'fh""rd, when he WAS bnt Twenty-Five,
amt II" died twenty-five years ago. Ken
needy and Bryant We're younger than Mrs
fial" and they began to publish before she
had thought OF writing. ana she survived
them both. and also SimmS, Poe and Leg
gctt. Ticlinor, Prescott, Hiliard. I.ryare.
Edmund Quincy, Theodore Parker, Theo-
d3re Winthrop, belonged TO the letterct. pro-
ccSSion that she saw depart Ii helps show
how long was the time that her life measur-
ed that she was in her twentieth wear when
the first of our Ipvcli:;tS. Charles Broc1,lrn
Brown, died, and he departed at the begin
ming of 1919, hut Il few week; after Wash
ington lrving's clevcrest work had come
ont. She was til. senior of Mr. Plifrcv by
more than tiv" yearS, and ten years older
than Mr.. Hln@roft. She WIS about three
wears youngc. than Richard Henry Dana,
who died but Il few months ago. She NAV
have read VI aShinA ton'S farewell address in
the week of lis appearance, and She died
On the day after the appearance of Presi-
dent Hayes first message"
Mrs. l!ai,,'S native place was il charming
little New Hampshire town, in the vicinity
of tn" Connecticut River Valley. Her ia
thr;'. Captain Gordon Buell., held Il commits
sion under General Gates, and served
through the campaign against Bursoyne
II" married Miss Martha Whttlr,cy, of
Sayhrook, Connecticut, i lady OF much ma
tive energy, and highly accomplished for
the time. Mrs. Hale was accustomed to
;scribr all that sh" had herself been able To
accomplish to her mother : influence. lndrr
her guidance She pursued her studies, and
before attaining the age of sixteen had read
the work OF many of the best English au
thorS. SHE l:ld also the benefit of the as
s,Stanc,. OF her elder brother, a:terward
known as Judge liuratio Eucll, of Glrnn'S
Falls, New York, whose son, ,Jalncs Buell.,
i, HOW President of the Importers and
Traders Bank of New York city.
In early youth her mothers death and
her father falling health made her anxious
to contribute to the support 81 the family.
With this object she qualified herself for the
office OF teachcr-an Office which she filed
with much success from the age of eighteen
until her marriage At the age of twenty
five she married David Hale u lawyer of
Newport. He WAS several years older than
herself, IL man Of good literary attainnentS,
OF excellent character, and already one of
the leaders Of the New Hampshire bar. He
had Il high opinion of his wiie's talents,
and encouraged her in their exercise. Mr..
Hale died in September, lS:12 leaving five
children, the oldest only seven years of age,
to the care of his young widow, with means
altogether insufficient for their support. To
provide for them, and tn give them the edr-
cation which she wished them to possess,
WAS the task to which She now devoted her
sell. Some of her poctical compositions
hal Ia ,pu rir.iilir.l m aud
much admired. Her frcndS-partcularly
among the Masonic fraternity, in which ker
husband had held a high rauk-urgcd her
To collect her pieces into Il volume, and nm
| drrtook to assure her against loss from he
publication. The book was issued at Con-
cord, New Hampshire, in 1923, under the
title of The G"nih& "t Dbiiri"H, dnd Ghcr
P,rn,S. The edition WAS quickly sold, ard
the returns were sufficiently sood to en-
courage her to further efforts Her next
attempt WAS Il novel No,'thwoc,i-leScrip-
tive of New England life and character.
This work, written with much care. was
published i'll Boston in 1877 and achieved a
! decided success. 1t had the homer of being
reprinted in London, and we'll commended
hy several English journals. 1t procured
also for the authoreSS an invitation 10 come
| to Boston aud take charge of Il periodical
| which was about 10 be- commenced III that
city for the especial bchuof of women. The
first numhcr of The LodicS' I"CdEiHc, edited
by Mrs. Sarah !. Hale, appeared in Janu-
AIRY, 1875. 1t was the first periodical OF this