Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1884-12-16
A CHAT WITH A POET.
son. Llasr On soHN q. wHIrrIEn

the QaAker Posss s5th Birtnday -lnsersst- |
Ing Personal Ksminiscsncss- HIS Views
On sne slavery Agitation.
From the Baltimore Sun.
Nearly seven years have elapsed since
John g. Whittier completed tho allotted
three SCORE and ten years, and yet he Is as
hale, hearty aud vigorous as one whose
years arc scarce In excess Of half q hun.
dred. Next Wednesday he will be II
years Of age, and on that day many Of his
friends and admirers will extend their con.
CALCULATIONS to the Quaker poet at his
winter residence In Danvers, to which the
pleasing title Of "Oak Koolr' has been
given. BY previous appointment Q call
wAs made upon the "bard Of n" q few
days since, and he was found to be In the
most cheerful spirits, and proved the soul
OF hospitality. A newspaper interview is
something he always hesitatss to be a
party to, but the idea which was to be the
foundation Of this one was so interesting
to him that he soon began to talk in an
easy, pleasant way about his efforts as q
builder Of rhymes and the sentiment
underlying some Of the choice gems of his
great genius. In his boyhood days his
lore was limited to what he could fiud in the
six volumes which constituted tho simple
household library, and his only school
mid winter in each year. One OF these
volumes was "History OF King David. {"
In poetry, by Thomas Ellwcod, and the
crudeness of the work struck him as most
remarkable, and set him thinking how 1t
might be improved upon. Later on, his
old sohoolmaster, Joshua Coffin, lent him
copy of Burns works, and in the author
he recognized q master mind. Tho wr-
tings Of Scotland's great poet were a new
revelation to him, and he profited largely
by them. AS he grew older he spent two
years at an academy, and then, when
seventeen years of age, he wrote The
Deity" his first poem. He had not the
slightest idea Of offering 1t for publication,
and did not know that it had been accept
ed by William Lloyd Garrison, then of
the Newbury Free Press, until his sister
had taken the manuscript from his room
and oom mi.sioned the paper carrier of the
section in which they lived to offer il for
publication, but on no account to disclose
the identity OF the author, 81 was work.
ing in the field when the Free Press
reached me-" said Mr.. Whittier, and
when read my lines in print the momeat
was one Of the happiest Of my life."
ECCENTRIC MISS LrvERNoRE.
After speaking Of his early experience as
q journalist Mr.. Whittier led up to his
poetic works and the motive underlying
his "snov Bound" Upon reflection he
began the explanation In q tone
of sadness "Snow Bound," he said.
twas written after two beings had passed
away whom loved dsvotedly-my mother
and my sister. 1t is In one sense memo.
rial Of them aud as could not disasso-
ciate them from my home life. the poem
became narrative Of my early days in
Haverhill. The physician alluded to in
Snow Bound was my old friend, DR..
Theodore Weld, Of whom also speak in
. prelude to little poem. The Countess
and the young woman was Miss Harriet
Livermore, daughter of Judge Livermore.
became acquainted with her while she
was stopping at DR.. Yields house. She
was highly gifted and eccentric woman,
very willful and strong minded, aud a
religious enthusiast. l remember well
the pride she took ia correct
ing my pronunciation. One day she
determined to visit the Greek and Catho-
went, spending some thirty years travel.
ing in the East aud passing some time
with Lady Hester Lucy Stanhope, who
lived In an old convent on the slopes OF
Mt. Lebanon, near Beyrout. In his ele.
giant written book, 'Eothsn,' Alex.
Kinglake devotes chapter to Lady Stan.
hope. She exiled herself from England
after the death Of her unole, the cele.
brated William Pitt, and bs..-s; ..~c.
| Of tribe Of Arahs al-o was saio 20 oe
ve..-a IN mystical lore, ana pretended 70
| prophecy. In the course of his travels
Lamartine visited usr, aud 1t is said that
she told him he would be the head of q
nation /; indeed. during the revolution he
was sort of dictator of France. Harriet
| Livermors ought to have been happy
with Lady Stanhope, but they quarreled
and Miss Livermore returned to this
country. Soon after her arrival met her,
and she spoke at length of her journey.
ings, more. especially OF her visit to Lady
Stanhope. Among other things she said
that her whilom friend kept two milk.
| white horses in her stable on which to
ride with the Lord whom the summons
] "ame to tho New Jerusalem. / am in
olined to think" said Mr.. Whittier.
laughing at the recollection Of the conver
sation, "that Miss Livermore thought
one Of the horses should have been
reserved for her rather than for Lady
Stanhope, and that tho white horses
eventually estranged the two ladies. Oh,
I remember her domineering ways She
afterward visited ths East, and friend OF
mine travelling in Syria found her dwell
ing in tent, the ruler of small dirty
tribe Of Arabs. In her declining years
she became disgusted with her mode OF
living, and returning again to this
country, died in Philadelphia."
THE roET's FAMOUS FRIEND.
Running over the pages of volume OF
his poems as he sat In front OF the glowing
crate In his Workshop" Mr.. Whittier,
after q short silence, resumed "sThe
Tent on the Beach describes itself. At
the time 1t was written Salisbury Beach
was almost destitute OF houses so l
pitched my tent on the shining sands.
| Ny old friend Bsyard Taylor and James
T. Fields were with me, and to them am
supposed to read the poem. Ispent many
summers among the mountain ranges OF
Ossipee and Sandwich and along the banks
OF Bearcamp and Chocorna. Amid the
beautiful scenery OF that picturesq ue
country, with all I had seen of natures "a
charms freshly photographed upon my
mind, wrote Among the Hills which
dedicated to Mrs. Annie Fields. never
had any method about my work, but
always wrote when I could. Many Of my
poems were composed In the presence of
| my mother and sister. Their talk
seldom disconcerted me. I suppose I
Can attribute whatever faculty Of express
sion l possess 70 my journalistio eIpe-