New-York tribune., 1884-11-16

light upon their author unless tho student be

unmisafa able conception Of that authors human
and natural (as distinct from his merely macina-
tive and artistIc personality. "Few men, be
al Is. who have made literature the business OF
their lives h We been less dependent than Ilaw-
thornc upon literature for n character. If he bad
never written q line he wond still have possessed,
ms n human being scarcely less interest and import
ance than he does now. Those who were most
intimate with him not only found in him all the
promise of his works. hut they found enough more
to put the works quite in the background His
literary phase seemed phase only. and not the
largest or most characteristics" He was not shy
and fantastic visionary; he was man OF serene
common scnse-able. even. to make the fire and
boil the kettle if he could thereby tighten his
Sophe's burdens. He was. told. many
sided. unmpulsife, clear-hcaded: he had the deb-
Grafton and lcisureliucss of we-baanced in
tellcct; he was the slave Of no theory and Of no
emotion: he always knew. 10 speak. where he
was and what he was about" AS for the stories
concerning his shyness. his systematic avoidance
of peope-stories which have been gathered in
the effort to account for" this unique genius
they are foolish enough His English friend.
Bright. showed that lie knew him thoroughly
when he ocosely sang of him:
Thinks one friend worth twontv friendly,
Cares for o Q, but rO for liking
He was ntocrant of ntrusiOns upon his reserve
and his hours of thought. and he hated to be bored
and lionzed but assuredy these are the pecular-
ties of many sensitive gentlemen and busy writers.
and need not have been construed into evidences Of
prctrrnatural morbidity. 10 tell the truth no
sober-mindcd person who knows anything of the
trausccndcntal movement in Massachusetts, can
doubt that the woods were marvellously full of
borcs in IIawthorne's dav. Even person who was
aJ,, bnv aucilv teVaaIp1 uusngnpptp1
abilities for " getting away"
Although Hawthorne lived in the home Of
iransccndenta SIN. the movement had little attrac-
ion Tor hin. and for its hiGh-rriestes- Margaret
Fuller he had positive aversion II was some
what justified indeed. by her not very delicate
cndcayor to thrust another married pair into his
homo during thr first months of his marriage He
left among hrs paper. rather harsh analysis Of
her character and career an analysis which if
partially mistaken and prcudced has in il many
elements of Truth and is, perhaps, quite as trust
worthy as tho unduly worshippng estimates Of
her followers. "Therc never was such n tragedy
as Eer whole story" wrote Hawthorne, "the
saador and sternor because so mnch OF the rldlcu-
Ions was mixed NJ " IN it. and because she could
bear anything better III n 10 be ridiculous. II was
such an awful oke that she should have resolved
IN all sincerity. 10 G0ubt. 10 make hcisrlf the
greatest wiscst. best woman OF the age, and to
that end she set 10 work on her strong heavy.
unpliable and IN many respects. detective and evil
nature and adorned with n mosaic Of admirable
qualities. such "a she chose 10 possess; putting
in here n splendid talent. and there moral cx-
cccncc, aud polishing each separate piece and the
whole together. ill II seemed to shine afar and
dazzle all who saw il. Sho took credit to herself
FIR having been her own Re lccmer if not her own
IT.. . i,nrn a.fs In,n tln az
mont of Mozcr, the sculptor, that before she left
Rome Margaret had quitc lost all power of literary
productions though occasionally the charm and
power of her conversation would reappear. MIR.
Mozcr added that to his cert in knowledge she had
no IMPORTANT manuscripts with her when he sailed
fshc having shown him all she had with view to
his procuring Their publication in America. and
the " History OF the Romln Revolution" about
which there was so much llmentatOn in the belief
that had been lost with her. never had existence.
If ever son were justified in publishing his
fathers ovclcttcrs this biographcr is the man.
The world should be grateful Tor the records OF
50 wise and noble Il sentiment. 80 unseliish and
Wholesome "A passion i hoSo letters and In wer's
arc at the very extremes of taste aud feeling
the Nngishnans are degrading. the Americans eX-
aiting. to human nature. The younger Hawthorne
declares that the most fortunate event of his
fathers life was probably his marriage with SOPHIA
Peabody. As food and repOse nourish aud rciresl
the body, ~ did she refresh and nonrlSh her hus
bands mind and heart Her feminine intuition
cOrrcspondcd To hs masculine insight. she felt
the truth that he saw and his recognition OF TIM
pure faculty in her and his reverence for i endowed
his pcrccpt on with that tender humanity IN winch
otherwise it might hayo been doicnnt. Her lofty
ard assured ideals kept him 10 belief In the
b.. l.. t1t.t. .ts.tlf
mud Ii ht Of such compnnionship rs hers. he could
not fan into the codnc,s and gloom Of a selfish
intellectual habit. He was not as 50 ma"y
men are. n merely passive and complacent
ab,orhcr of all this devotion. What she gave. he
returned; she mover touched him without n
response: she never called to him W thout m echo
lie never hecame 50 iamar with her mini~tratons
increasing though these were. rs to accept them as
= matter of course. The springs Of gratitude and
recognition could not run dry in Eim his Nil,
niwnva remained to him sort Of mystery o.
goodness aud hclpfulness." IL was in the early
days of their Ilo in Concord that Hawthorn,
wrote: "Alothinks my little wife "a twin-sistcr tc
the Spring; 40 thoy Shonld greet one another ten
derry. for they are both fresh 9nd dewy. both full
of hone and chcerfulnrss; both have bird voices
always singing ont of their hearts; both are some
times overcast with Hitting mists which only make
tho nowcrs bloom brighter aud both have power
fo renew and rc-crcatc the weary spirit. / have
MARI ed the SpH e, ! am husband to the month
of Nnvlr The sing e.hcarted love and reverence
which marked llawihornc's letters to his betrothed
are his biopiaphor says. just as conspicuous in
every letter winch followed their union mp TO tie
end of their welded existence. HE story of this
ma,riace Is IN strange contrast with tho story OF
another told rot lcng ago The llawihornes were
of finer mould than were Carlyle aud hs wiio nnd
vet n vas the coaiscf and siernct pair that wer
drmutnii2pd hy the slrnpulr with poy,iiy and pfi-
,atiun The rrasant nature with iis affinity ioi
iir kltrhrn rnd barntaii huhl Hpipssion M gus-
sip nni rani Seer ihe shortcomings ~ seitaHis the
nnrlit ul oatmeal ani iht titwine ~ rurhsl linw
ihn,ip ttnihnan ani ruet tatp 'lltnit rtrn ~
lhM spiua ~ hratfasl ani nttsf ihrnshi of