Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-04-22
NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE.
HIS LIFE ASD CHARACTER-INTEREsrING PER-
sOEAL "REMINISCENCES BY ONE WHO KNEW
HIM

soHsI REEINIsCENCEs BIZ ONE WHO KNEW
HIN.
The following abstract of lecture, delivered
ut All Souls Church April 18th, BY Hon George
b. Lorin@ npol Nathaniel Hawthorne, will be
found interesting both for the ability with
which the subject is treated and for the vivid
personal rccolections OF Hawthorne, given by
one who knew him well:
DR.. Lcring commenced with a discussion Of In
herited faculties and their Development In sue
cea,ling genrr lions He expressed strongly hi4
b :liei in the moifytng irnuences OF association
Interests habits OF thought aud life, occupations
and affections which surround every stare Of mars
fa,. ami That mans spiritual Impressions are
WORK cut human greatness are 50 concerted that
we can only survey their ne}d OF operations and
content ourse.v. with TIE knosiedse We can %,
more. When, therefore, we approach the hives
ttg.ton OF q character IKE n swthorne We start
with the feeling inst our vision must be limited.
His horizon l. 50 much more vast than ours that
We hsrdy expect TO view it either with the naked
eye or with any .rttcil nd within our reach: but
We can turn with interest AMI Sitisfacton 70 the
rCumStanCes unter which he was developed and
the INF uences by which he was surrounced.
THs PACT THAT HAwTHoRsE WAS BoRN IN SALEM
m y not amount to much with other people, but it
amounted to a great deal to him The sturdy and
defiant spirit Of his progenitor who first landed
those shores found n congenial abode among the
people OF NIunkeay, after having vafnly endeav-
o-ed TO accommodate itself to the moro imposing
mountain, and OF Endicott at hts new hone He
was strn separatist. it l. true, and tad that
colony the bone OF the prosecuted, and gave it
immortal power In controlling the religious and
warrior. politician, legislator, a iegai adviser.
a merchant, an orator with persuasive so q h His
riesy seldom drove MIN to ranaticism: ana he had
sound and just understanding of the wants of
tsiose about him, and OF the form OF government
unier which they were tn iive-an understanding so
GEAR that whenever he surrendered as a magis-
trate TO the heated ami intoler mt spirit of his
times he did 1t reluctantly and with mental and
moral protest He had
GREAT POWERS OF MIND AND BODY,
and formed a conspicuous figure in that imposing
md heroic group which st mis- around the cradle
OF New England The generations OF the family
that followed took active and prominent part In
tle manly adventures which marked our entire
colonial period. With less religious demonstra-
ton than the first OF their line on this continent
they were severe and gloomy justices, strong and
successful farmers, bold and adventurous mr.
liners, down t. the time when the great author was
born. IL among the family traditions lth-
ered from the Inii an wars, the tragic AMI AWFUL
spectre OF the witchcraft teluson the wild life of
the privateer. that h. first saw the II hr, and
distant port was impressed upon his mind as
one OF the solemn mysteries OF the sea
IL was not conspicuous, but 1t was an iDti-
mate part which his progenitors performed in that
period, which constitutes the romance OF Amer
lean al tory Brought by the necessities OF their
NE into immediate contact with the hardy
elements OF society, In fact, forming n part Of
them, ana beins in no way removed from them
ether oy we1tn or social 'sition, they preserved
the characteristics OF that ERA In all their fresh
PISS ard power They were yeomanry on the
ranase1doGs on the sea They grew up and
experiences OF a maritime people, and hey lived
In social atmosphere filled W tn all the pecu-
naritles and eccentricities which gather in the
purutuS OF Il town where every kindred nation and
tongue Under Heaven find their abode and into
whose caily life the highways OF the SEA pour
every Yer tty OF instinct, thought and speech.
No have1tit Gus circui1st mes enerv.ted their
naturai fIcultcs; there WAS never more intense
H1th0ae th,n the father OF y ,thani i Ha,-tho,np
the SILENT $cnbre sailor, who representa- al the
courage and power OF the f,mily. with busy and
iu IN; nd which dwet upon that curious
perst1tiout awe and deep admiration. 50 far IS
any Inheritance OF faculties from his fathers line
is concerned, Hawthorne had Il right to be q Tow
eriGL tLouSitul ret!cs AZ. dreamy, bTooding, SEN
sole, unlmoitious, retiring man-and he was
And 10 81 happenet tn It his mother simply added
20 all tneSe qutnte5 greater intensity and more
Iervor from her own soul, solemn enough by M
tore, bur dOuby 50 u1ier the weight OF that
caidIniiJ wAlch IT her widow with a young
family IN lry LIE.
TEE QUALITIES OF MIND AND HEART
Hhich were active IN these n generations OF
Toll and triIl AMI varied experience on land nd
sea, strong IS they in their primitive st1ta.
were fuli OF I'd nrable power, when, free from de-
preSsns cir um stances AMI pu iii I'll OF all dross
they entrra1 upon fell OF intellectual labor.
The boy, WHO in after lie was looked upon by some
as gloomy AMI SombTP, was album ling iu 2 rich
anu inflow um'r-tha seaf:rns hum0r OF his
cltss. ~ m M SniS IS boy O1 very gu irr-l-
some di>p0 'iton,' he On unity remlrkptl Of a
sshoolm t with whom he W 5 IN const Mt battle.
SWop3eet 30 ket-knivcs with B1JiaSon Coos yes
terdty- JscOo Dingley s-ys int ne che ter mo
Dut think not, for cut 1sbing-po!e I'll s morn.
Ing and dill it w II: b 8 lae h.. Is 4 On ter and
they never che tr-he enters in his Y MN moo
OF thong Is. HIS descript on OF a 80 s.nr,-f,cei
eld hofSe tchcd 10 the trough Is inmit bic In its
If-ntp
hulnor Wh!ch he had boy, and il never de-
sertrd him through his long literary lite Even
avoided the low association OF fde IS which tes ut
the Iouniatlon OF nuch OF the acceptable wit OF
the w0rlL OF GulEver'S Trav Is he says: ..Fhe
VIII Is obscene and the lies too Use"
HAwTHogSE's PERCEPTION
was eHquisitely keen also. HIS eyes were as quick
and sharp a were those OF his ancestor with his sail
ors eye To the wind'ari" In a gale at sea. Not a
Dlrd, not beast, or a flower, or wig or cloui or
tree escaped him, when he followed his uncle and
aus men on their trmps along the shores OF Sebago
lake And 50 1T was through life Stroling alony
the street In apparent reverie dreaming on ma
taii stool ut the custOm-hou> pacing his snltary
Walk IN the country, ut home or abroad he saw ali
snas was 10 DE seen; saw more with his eyes shut
tnan most persons do with their eyes opan He
aoiired Iacts and thin[s ani reache Their pilii0-
SupHIeai eini0y by instinct and not By procas,
OF re .SonlnZ. He saw things Just as they are
whether things OF the past or the pres ,nt-sIW
colonial life when he wrote OF IL w tn the s,ma
clear vision as he saw the CONTENDER naOus life M
England when he wrote or that II any one eun
poses he had distorted and di5color1d Wv or
society, IL thou rhtS and incidents ana In iyl ia
In the early periods OF our colonial history he
must remember int no m n ms ever described
prison. nj things about him better than he did
lew 80 wei; and thIt the eye which saw ENGLAND
am Rome as no ono else h seen them s,y
unkeag and Trimountjin lust as Gle frIy He
iad ln' reOyer the keen insight IntO AMI UNDER
standing OF human n ture wh.tn belong To those
VINO are early thrown upon their own resources
aho tossed about from shore TO slore over all seas
and among ali peoples
His DELINEATION OF PURITAN CHARACTER
We have hid m ny essays upon the
Furlt1n character, many treati es OF PurIt IN
history, m1ny pictures OF Puritan life in
New England, but the secret chambers were
hrst unlocked and opened by him In 1.-The Scarlet
Letter." aud we s1w the Purit IN as he was-bIs
heaven and his hell We have had IN INV brf mt
anu .Iahor te Inscriptions or Rome, It's art md
achitrcture; but never inside vi w oI lie
aftStS ne there, never picture OF the IL ,lin
SrhltS W!llch pTesidcS over that land OF ne ,utv
and tle DetSt-untn this great magf ian ere rel
Ihe AtTOle 'un" Slle;n in "The H1u % a. tre i
seyen q ;hles," and Con or1 in s.Mos,es from an
Ohi MANS, are Salem and Concord IN Int N e re-
my. hiS pcthrs are Not the fruits Ola diseased
inagin1tion: but they the aatull life as saen
py the eye 81 Him who made 10. II he M akes yir-
suf as Ocduteouj STIR and vice as hi teouS as