Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-02-09
GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS
4 nr;cs sketch of HI. Career.
S. :. C,nant in the ccniury.l

t>. :. Clnant in the Cenury.l
Mr.. Curtis was born in Providence
Rhode Island, February 2i, 1924, bu
he was partly of Massachusetts desceut
his father having been born i'll Worces-
ter in that State, of which an ancestor
was the first settler His mother was the
daughter Of james Burrill, Jr., at one
time CAief-Juslice of Rhode Island, and
afterward United States Senator. In 1880
he went to boartllng-scho at Jamaica
Plain, near Boston, where he remained
for four years. Pleasant "Reminiscences of
his scnoUl-days here are found in the
early chapters of his novel, "Trumps, -
narrated with freshness and enthusiasm
which remind the reader of "Tom Brown
at Rugby" Meanwhile he lost his mo-
ther and in 1899, his father, who had
married agaiu, removed with his family
to New York, and, desirous that his son
should pursue mercantile career, placed
him, after a years study with private
tutor as clerk in German importing
house i'll Exchange Place.
But mercantile life was not agreeable to
the youth. His tastes were decidedly
literary. ami in the course of his reading
he became deeply interested in the trans
cendental movement, in which SO many
of the best and purest minds of New En-
gland were at that time engaged. Accor-
dinghy, after about a year of unconge-
nial drudgery III the importing house, he
went to Brook Farm. i'll company with
his elder brother, who shared IN his tas-
ties and aspirations. +
Mr.. Curtis and his brother remained
at Brook Farm until 1914, and they then
passed two years in Concord, Massachu
acts, studying and farming. Here Mr.
Curtis became very intimate with Emer-
son, Hawthorne, and Henry Thoreau,
forming warm friendships with them
which were broken only by death. In
his Homes of American Authors" he
has printed some interesting notes of his
intercourse with the philosopher the ro-
mancer and the hermit.
In 1916, Mr.. Curtis determined upon
making an extended tourin the Old World,
which, at that time, was more cventfnl
and important undertaking than it is now,
when the "Atlantic ferry" will take you
across III little more than week.
A journey across the desert by way Of
GAIA to Jerusalem, of which he wrote un
account in " The HowNdii i'll Syria, en-
ded Mr.. Curtis's Eastern travels. He
spent the early summer of 1850 in En-
gland, and returned home III August
His pen had not been idle during his
wanderings. Besides his journals, he
had written letters for the " Courier and
Inquirer of which Mr.. Henry j. Ray
mond was then managing editor. and for
the New York " Tribune" where his
friend, Mr.. Charles A. Dana, held the
Same position On his return, lie entered
upon an active literary life. He became
musical critic and editorial writer on
the Tribune, ard wrote out his Nile
Notes. which were published in 1851
by the Harpers. In the autumn Of that
year he wrote series of picturesque
travelling letters to the Tribune, from
the Catskills. Saratoga, Trenton, Niagara,
Newport, and Nahant, which were pu.
blished in 1852 us " tus-Eating," beau
tifully illustrated by his friend Kensett.
In the same year, "Ihe Howadii in Syria"
was published, and Mr. Curtis wrote
some sketches Of social lite for d" Hnr-
per's Monthly"
The establishment Of" Putnam's Mon.
thly, in 1873. opened n new field to Mr..
Curtis, who, in conjunction with Mr..
Parke Goodwin and Mr.. Charles +.
Briggs, assumed the editorial manage
ment oil that periodical, which was des-
tined to brilliant though brief career.
Within the first year of its existence he
wrote the papers on Emerson, Hawthorne
Longfellow, and Bancroft, in the
series on " The Homes of American An
thOrs. To this magazine Mr.. Curtis
contributed "The Potiphar Papers" n
brilliant satire ON certain phases of New
York society, and " Prue and !, series
of delightful sketches, rather than II story,
which was published i'll 1857. When the
I s,.4 l..
Dix and Edwards, Mr.. Curtis and
Frederick Law Olmsted became conncc-
ted with the firm, and were involved in
its failure, Considering. himself morally,
if not legally, responsible for II portion
of the Indebtedness, Mr. Curtis refused
to avail himself of the technicalities of
the Law, and set himself to the work of
paying tho creditors, He devoted him
self diligently to literary work. The
amount Of labor he performed was liter
ally enormous. Besides filling the easy
Chair" of " Harpers Magazine" in which
he had Just taken his seat, and wri-
ting "The Lounger' 'Iiarpers Week
ly, he delivered long series Of lect-
ures, sometimes speakinga hundred nights
in season, and travelling, almost without
rest, from place to place at the Unsuitable
call Of managers and committees No man
was ever more popular ns lecturer. The
charm of his manner was irresistible; he
had not only something to say which the
people wanted to hear, but knew how tc
say it with the grace and ease which be-
long to the true orator One of the most
popular Of his lectures was that upon the
perfect soldier Of chiyalry, Sir Philip
Sidney. Scarcely less popular wore his
Lowell lectures upon the modern English
novellsts, which We're repeated in New
York, Rrooklyn, and other places, The
physical and mental strain involved in
this labor was so excessive that many peo-
pie wondered that he was willing to un.
dergo it. A few only Of his immediate
friends knew that the proceeds of all his
lectures during period of almost ten
years, and part Of his salary as editor
were devoted to the liquidation of the
debt from which the law, bnt not hi,
high sense of moral responsibility, woulc
have absolved him
Considerable interest is manifested in tn,
town meeting which is to be held on Tues