New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-12-01
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE.
THE STORY OF HER LIFE.

LIFE OF HARRIET BEEonEg STOVE We som @srIss
from Her Letters ara JoeI Ii 5ao Houghton, Mlfn
Co. .
,,opv or THE AUTHOR OF UNCLE
TOMS 0ARIN.' by FloIins mayer "'S
DID 4zo Funk Wasnahs
The life Of Mrs Harriet Beecher stowe oy neS SOU
has been compiled principally from her ie.'efe auu
iournals The brief aatoolosrapho"i ' e. -
.t;.h gives so raoy a sketch OF her chiiu-ilie 10
49, 80. rubbsbed for the first time, having APP
~ orieinally in the Correspondence and Auto
t.aoh,r ~ LYMAN Beecher." 1t is, however,
49, LIZ account Of this period Of her lie gwen
=. h.r rresent biomapher, and so far as IL soeS
,,o.h,nc oouh be moro bright ands interesting
Mr. Stowe was born of a strong and capaoie ruoo'
The Beechers had long been powers I'D Wv
land They were Of those sturdy OH uIl C 81
stocks which used to run to theology as ndVuI"iS
as other old families in Europe have run 10 ihIl'-
tary talent All Lyman Beecher's sons seven ia
number became ministers and all his daush'ele
distinguished themselves in one way or anoVnci
Never was there a better demonstration OF the pos
sibilities Of plain living and high thinking 'n"n
this family presented, and Mrs. Stowe may Win
little exaggepation be said 70 have oecn oorn WIN
tho literary bent in her One of her earliest recol-
lectious was that of sitting on the uoor ID her
fathers library. keeping very quiet because he was
grim thsoloeical folios around her. puzzled by the
title Idghtfoot Opera" on the backs OF certain
nonde-ou tones suggesting anything but lovlty,
ann feeling q sort of comfort and coslness IN the
situation. however little she was able to compre
kand H.
We do not fee. sure that Mr.. Stowe has done
wisely in republishing his mothers first formal
composition, a school essay with the formidable
title Can the Immortality of the Soul be proved
hv the Light of Nature?" Considering that 1t is
the work Of child Of twelve it is curious; but
in regard 10 all such juvenile precocites, the re-
mark OF Dr. johnson apropos Of dancing dogs seems
10 be in order The child undoubtedly had knack
Of easy composition which is as a rule, a natural
Gift. Much nonsense has been written as to the
acquisition of style by the following of mechanical
rules but it is tolerably safe conclusion that II
writer does not compose easily by something like
unconscious cerebraton. he she will never learn
TO do so unconstrainedly and we'll. The letters
of Mrs Stowe conclusively prove her title TO the
literary instinct When she writes most naturally
che writes most effectively, and this holds good IN
her books as we'll her correspondence. more
natural book than Uncle Toms Cabin" never
made itself, and few if any books have so taken
tho heart of the world ny storm. Another proof
Of the inherent nature of Mrs. Stoves literary
CAPACITY consists in the fact that she was able 10
exercise it under conditions commonly regarded
rs necessarily incompatible with composition
very amusing illustration of this Mr.. Stowe gives
in letter from ono Of her friends, narratng the
writer's success in getting Mrs. Stowe TO write an
instalnent Of a magazine story in the intervals
of nursing the baby looking after her other chill
d-en. and instructing new and green servant IN
hcr duties On this occasion she wrote in the kitchen
sometimes debating, sometimes using the pen her
self and interrupted at every moment by the
cocks questioning or the baby's whimperng. The
faculty which could triumph over such difficulties
as these must have been strongly grounded indeed
Mrs Stowe married learned theological pro
fcsSor, but a very poor man, and while her family
grew rapidly their income long continued very
narrow They lived at Cincinnati several years
and il was there that the material for Uncle
Toms Cabin" was collected. For the first time
in her life Mrs. Stowe became acquainted with
slavery as it really existed There were constant
escapes across the Ohio from Kentucky and the
underground Railway" had been established
on the Ohio side. Professor Stowe and his wife
were obliged one occasion 10 bestir themselves
70 conceal negro girl who though free, was
about to become the victim OF conspiracy such as
was not uncommon in those dark times. They
ran off the girl into the woods and efiectually md
her from the slave-hunters who made regular
raids across the river Both Mrs. Stowe and her
son attempt to vindicate the Northern clergy from
the reproach of defending the right OF slavery.
Perhaps il is not worth while at this late day
10 open up that unpleasant question again. but
IL must be said that the facts of history do not
warrant the aceuittal of the recreant churches.
nor can they stand excused upon the plea that the
Northern people generally were of the same way
Of thinking. Mrs Stowe in writing " Uncle Tom $
Cabin acted upon impulse. IL was first printed
as a serial in Washington paper that has long
ceased to exist 1t was intended as IN some
sort a protest against and an answer TO the fugl-
tive Slave Law, and it proved a most formidable
weapon. In the beginning the author meant to
complete il in three or four instalments, but it
took hold of her and spun itself out until 1t had
appeared for more than year, and had attracted
so much attention that when it was cast in book
form its success was almost immediate and quite
unprecedented.
Those who read the book now for the first time
are no. unlikely TO quarrel with its literary form
and tone to be repealed by It's sentimentallty,
70 see in il exaggeration and artificiaty, and 10
wonder how il could have produced the effect
il upouestionably did. But the critic who
4 TOO Young to identity himself with the period
IN which Unolo Toms Cabin was written may,
by studying the key to it which the author
published shortly after the book itself, learn IN
some measure the secret of its great success.
There were two principal causes OF this In the
first place. it written fresh from tender
woman's heart In the second place, 1t dealt with
the most terrible, touching. pathetic and stmulat-
ing Of realities. There was no concrete relation
in the book for which corresponding facts, In
every respect as moving, could not he cited. The
simple truth is that it impossible to overstate
or overcolor the denominations implied and made
possible by the slave system. was II possible
10 represent any atfocty potentially involved IN
the system which had not somewhere in the South
been reduced to practice Il was the knowledge
OF this, the conviction that Mrs Stoves book