Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1888-03-15
L0ITSA NAY ALCOTT.


}o,toa Herald. March :
less tlsa two days after the death of
Bronson .Alco,t lis distinguished daugh-
5er is called 20 follow him. For the death
OF The one the pubic was prepared. and
tie change was one over which no one
could sorrow. but the departure of, Miss
Alcott in the prime of life and at the
height OF her well-eaned fame carries
sorrow Of no common sort 10 thousands
Who have Crawn up with her stories as the
delightful and inspiring reading of their
childhood. She had been very Ill, but
was doing well and felt thankful that her
father. for whom she had cared during all
her mature life with the tenderest sOlci-
tude. had been taken without suffering to
his final rest Her own summons was sud
den beyond her own or the expectation
of her friends She had, indeed, done her
work as an author. though her powers
were not exhausted in the field which she
had chosen. but it was believed that her
fulneSs of years was unreached. and all
the strength of life seemed yet with her.
The double affiictiOn of her family is one
in which the public will largely share, and
viii carry pain to the heart of childhood
the world over that the hand that wrote
" Little Women" is at rest forever. She
has left an example of industrious and
high-minded wOmanhOOd and of patient
and joyous performance CT duty IS a
daughter. conSecrating her genius 10 the
SanctitieS of home. which is as notable as
her work, and will ever be known as its
fitting complement.
Her range of authorship was not wide
Invent scarcely beyond the Alcott family,
but within that household, which was the
micrOcOsm of the world outside, she found
the human nature and the vision of ideals
which made the studies of her own home
the type and reproduction of the constit-
uent elements of other homes. and touch
ed the instincts which make the whole
I world kin. Every girl saw herself in one
CT other of tie Little Women" and every
boy felt that Miss Alc0tt, in some secret
way, had put into words what he was
/ thinking about among Little Men. =
Here WIS the basis of a large and perma-
nent popularity which neither race nor
language could limit. Her career recalls
the remark of Dr. Johnson that the Incl
dents of any life truly set forth in their
human interest would take hold of hut
manity as with spell, and this deeply
/ human interest, sparing nothing which is
! true to life, and teaching lessons of purity
and nObleneSS i'll its unconscious truthful
ness of pOrtraiture, was the secret OF q
/ popularity which, since Mrs. Stowe burst
/ upon the world as the author of Uncle
Toms Cabin" has been enjoyed by 10
other woman author in this country. Her
success was as much of a surprise to her
as it was to her publishers or to the larger
/ public. but it was genuine in the Sense
/ that it grew ont of right conditions; it was
/ the fruit OF home where the best blood
and the best virtues combined to educate
youth according to the order of natural
grOwths. and never has great teacher,
who had not the gift of literary art, been
more fortunate III speaking his thought
i'll form where it plays a part i'll univer-
sal education than was Mr.. AicOtt i'll
training his gifted daughter to give his
thoughts upon life through the affections
the currency where they would do most
to mould humanity according to his own
ideals.
There is complement to Miss Alcott's
public career which is so interviewer into
her character. and has been so much a
part Of her life, that notice OF her work
as an author without some reference to it
would be incomplete. What she received
as the gift of nature and the fruit of train
ing from her father and mother, she did
not fold up in napkin, but multiplied
till it enriched the whole family life as a
rich harvest bleSSeS the huSbandman i'll
his home. Nj AlcOtt was not one to fill
his garnerS with wheat from the soil; he
had other garnerS to fill with something
of more spiritual substance than wheat.
and it was the privilege of Louisa AlcOtt,
as it was also her JOY, to make tie home
OF her youth such q comfort to her parents
and to her family that nothing was more
touching to those who knew them both
than to see the mutual reverence and al
fectiOn which existed between parent and
child. The quiet beauty and pastoral gen
tleneSs of Mr.. AlcOtt's later life were fed
and sustained by a daughters love, which
was the best illustration of the influence
of his own teachings upon childhood and
youth everywhere. There is no lesson Sug-
gesteC in Little Men or in 'Litt!e'W D.
men" which is not supported by the deeds
of the pulSing heart that has now ceased
to beat When the family history, out of
which this remarkable authorship grew
shall be told to the public, it will be ap-
parent that few New England homes have
ever had closer converse with the great
things Of human destiny than that of the
EAlCOlCS. liOlt nOlh III
has never been done, and few authors have
ever had so large returns from the hearts
OF boys and girls whose lives have been
shaped and guided by Miss AlcOtts books.
They have never been pushed into pOpu-
larity: they have so recommended them
selves that the children would not consent
to do without them. Her wOmanlineSS
her clearneSS of Judgment in all questions
where il WAS fitting for q woman to have
voice. the largeness Of her sympathies
with her SEX. and the habitual rightnasS
of her mind were united with womanly
reserve and good sense. which made her
wherever she chose to 60 one of the mark
ed women Of her time and her fine pres
ence carried that impression to the eye.
It was always pleasure to meet her, and
those who had her friendship will count
it one Of the richest blessings of their
lives.