Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-02-20

tune, and Were Married Inci-
dents of Their Courtship.
The interesting thing in the life of
Nathaniel Hawthorne Gas told in two
volumes by his son Julian) is his court
ship. The mother was a widow and
q reclusc. The Hawthorne children,
Elizabeth and Nathaniel, played timid-
ly with the Peabody children, and, as
they grew older, it became apparent
that Nathaniel was getting his heart
%cntangled in the charms of Sophia
Peabody. But the road of their happi-
ness was full of thorns and stones.
Elizabeth Peabody who was older
than the rest. tells how she read in the
New England Aagasine, between 1880
and 1886, some stories that attracted
her attention. She thought they We're
written by a s'New Light Quaker,
who had outgrown some OF the peculi-
arlt:es OF the sect, and she went SO far
as to write a letter to the supposed
-;old man asking him how he knew
THAT sensitive natures are espec-
tally apt to be malicious" The
next year she discovered that the
'.Hawthorne boy was the author
of the stories. Another year passed
before the two families attained visit
ing acquaintance with each other. One
evening Nathaniel and his sister Eliza
beth called on the Peabodys. Sophia
Peabody was i'll, and Elizabeth went
up to her room and begged her to come
down to see the callers. s.You never
saw anything so splendid as he is-he
is handsomcr than Lord Byron" The
sick girl was not to be so easily won.
She declined to make the effort to see
the rising novelist. Miss Peabody re-
ecails the ''beauty Of the outline Of his
features, the pure complexion, the
wonderful eyes, like mountain lakes
rejecting the sky"
OF course he called again and then
Sophia saw him. 1t was a fatal attack
ON hoth sides. SEAS we went on talk
ing she would frequently interpose a
remark in her low, sweet voice. Every
time she did so he would look at her
ang gaze. l was struck with it and
thought what if he should fall in love
with her, and the thought troubled me,
" SIN ltI OllCH lOlo liz luU IIOlHlll2
would evcr tempt her to marry and in
valid" Years afterward Mrs. Haw-
TTnorne used to tell her children howthe
presence of the young writer exercised
upon her from the beginning so
strong Il magnetic attraction that in
stinctively and in self-dcfensc she drew
back and repealed him. Both found
she courage to confess that they had
been III love from their first meeting.
The determined retirement OF Nine.
-IIawthornc.madc it Very difficult for.
the son to introduce his friends to her,
and the Peabodys called with some
hesitation long before it was suspected
by any one that the families were to be
so closely united.
The widowed mother was a woman
OF strong will and fine individuality.
She Wore antique costumes and always
looked as if she had stepped out of IN
old picture. Her face had a lovely
sensibility and great brightness"
There was no sentimental confidence
between her and her son, although
they held each other in mutual esteem
and affect on. Nathaniel confided to
nobody that he had asked Sophia Pea
body 10 be his wife rs Don as he was
able TO provide for her, and the secret
of Their engagement was kept for
three years, He had Il petty position
i'll the Boston OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES OF
We.9hcr-but lie conla not marry on it,
and when he was dismissed from it by
the change OF administration in lS4l he
entered upon the Brook Farm expert
ment to see what prom sc it embodied
for him and his promised wife. His
rather mere prosaic son says that the
chief advantage it Brought him was
..that it taught him how to plant corr
and squashes and to buy and sell at the
produce market; and that it provided
him with IN Invaluable background for
his 'Blithcdale Romance written about
tea years afterwaId.
He had no money, but tie lovers grew
tired waiting for fortune. ''Rents We're
low in New England then" and they
married. His mother attitude toward
his wife proved an agreeable surprise.
She told him tn..t she had known OF his
engagement almost as long as he had
known it himself, and that Sophia Pea.
body was Just the wife she would have
chosen for him. And how did he make
love for himself. this teller OF the love.
making Of imaginary men and maids:
He rcjo.cts because q pettish cousin has
an an gry political dispute with him
which VII separate them for Il time and
leave Nathaniel more hours to think OF
her, For '.peacn ovcrllows from youl
heart to mine He cautions heragainst
walking with his robust sister Eliza
beth because .'shc is interchangeable and
wants to walk half round the world
NLc,, once out doors He assures he1
49, aiAI...r.l, La iG..as in.. l1.aaal,. L.