New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-12-27
WHITTIER AT OAK KNOLL.
Mrs. Spo0ord IN HQrper's Mdgozl'

Tbouoh he seems tmid and reserved to the
stranger vet he is of marked social turn, hiking TO
reach he arg opinions OF Ola an sO gsy Ci TI
ship although the severe neuralgia headaches 10
which he has always been subject unht nun l0r
much general society," and cause INN usually 10 take
hack seat at the lectures and public meetings that
he attends, not from modesty but that ne may SIP
out without annoyance when the pam Deglns. ms us
Glanced to observe him once applaudlng his own
verses from lecturers lips might not have Thought
SO had not occurred to him that the poet failed 10
recognize his own clothed in the sOnOrous tones OF
DIR Chapin's voice. Perhaps it is these headaches
that make it so difficult TO secure him as the guest
of public dinners and similar occasions: WINE
ACME nervous sensation causes Mr. Whittier to feel
disturbed if crowded he likes to sit remotely and
look at a crowd. acknowledging that In him
mature compromised between
Good fellow and recluse ~;
and he enjoys thus at the mountain places, resting
on the piazza of the hotel and watching the arrivals
and departures losing nothing cOmical in dress,
cbaracteristic or behavior his quick eye seeking for
any dosyncrasy, catching ANYTHING laughable, ana
no bridal party however well disguised, escaping IT,
Swift to see the ridiculous only those VINO Know w
him well or who remember the delicate humor OF
his prose writings guess from his grave delnean0r,
when IN the hands of solemn bore or some iatterer
lost to the fear of man, the amusement with when
he IA Drumming over, and which only betTays itself
by and by when nObOdy's feelings can be hurt Ot
course he has had great deal of that sort OF thng
to endure, aud perhaps IN no more yexatlous form
than in the submission of reams OF manuscript Tor
his consideration by young writers VINO nave no
consideration. He reads and crltlclses and returns
these manuscripts often, too, at his own expense,
the fedgelingS; he answers as much as couple OF
thousand requests for autographs yearly; his KIND
ness and his generosity TO young writers are SO pro-
verbal that long novels are sent hun with the
request that Inc will secure publisher Tor them.
That all this is an mpertiDence past expression ne
never allows the guilty party to feel, although II
costs him hours of invaluable time-tlme the more
invaluable that the headaches of which we have
spoken seldom let him work continuously more than
quarter of an hour But he is not an lnsplIational
writer: he reaches his best only when application
and effort have fired his brain he subjects his
verses 10 minute and severe revision, and he believes
thoroughly in hard work The sums that Mir. " hit
tier has received for his work of late years have been
more like compensation than formerly; and
although be is by no means rich, yet ms circun-
stances quite comfortable. he Is one OF the lew
authors to whom publisher has been better than
his word as happened when after the success OF the
illustrated issue of Snow-bound," he received a
second check for the same amount as that paid on
the original contract
But it in not only in reading the ambitious efforts
of aspirants that demands made upon Mr. Whit
tier: innumerable requests Of other natures crowd
in upon him, such. for example, as that OF the
clergyman who wished his signature to poem that
he had himself composed, possibly less from vanity
than TO help good cause by the publicity of an es
tablshed name: How would that accord with Thy
preaching I" asked Mr.. Whittier. That his co-opera.
ton should constantly DO sought in charities, and
chat beggars shonld clamor at his heels for all sums
from a pittance to competency, Is q matter OF
courses and owing to his belief in the duty OF the
citizen, he has been eagerly beset by claimants
for public Office. We recall In this connection Q