Morning journal and courier., 1891-08-22
THE FLEETING SHOW.
Some of Its Facts and Fancics.

Written for the JOURNAL AND CoURIER.l
 THE WOMEN OF THE LOWELL FAMILY.
 Among the gracious and potent influ- ences surrounding James Russell Lowell in childhood and manhood, and combining to form in him the genial, faithful friend, the gifted man of letters and the courteous, honorable diplomat, were those exerted by mother, wife and sister. From his fath- CTS mother also were inherited admirable traits, for she was a remarkable woman, sweet and spirited, and so endowed with outward graces that when, as the second wife of Judge Lowell she was introduced to stepson, he thought within himself, "If ever an angel appeared upon earth ,one has come down now" His mother was a gifted woman, refined, thoughtful and tender, an enthusiastic lover of poetry and song, watching over her children with so licitous care, and surrounding them with an atmosphere in which every grace of mind and heart expanded naturally as flowers in the sunshine. The home at Elmwood was one of pure happiness, a se- cluded place with ample grounds, where all the year round the birds found shelter, and where the hereditary gifts of the chil- dren were stimulated and fostered by all that, within and without, was noble, and spiritual, and inspiring. Appreciation of nature, letters and art, must necessarily follow such training in youth as is shown by the characters and writings of Robert, Mary and James Russell Lowell.
 Mary Lowell Putnam, now in her eight ieth year, shared the literary genius of her brothers. Less ridely known as an author she has written poetry of a very high order of merit and her two volumes of prose sk etches show what enrichment litera- ture might have gained had she devoted her time and thought entirely to it. Her career as an author began with the publi- cation of articles on Kossuth and the his Review, and the Church Examiner. Dur ing the civil war her best known works were brought out: Records of an Ob- scure Man," ''The Tragedy of Errors' and ''The Trage dy of Success" 8 dramatic poem in two parts, and |" Fifteen Days," sequel to the other volumes. l Always intensely interested in the African | people, these works are the development I of that interest and though they are not | popular and do not display her genius to its best advantage, they abound in pas l sages which exhibit her powers of expres- | sion and her keen insight into life and Lowell Putnam," who fave his life in the service of his country, as did his cousins, | Charles and James Lowell is the mothers record of a young and ardent spirit, thai combined all the finest traits of the Lowell family and that, with longer life, would have conferred upon it new distinction.
 Maria White, who was married to MT Lowell in 1844, is described as having beer singularly beautiful in person and charac ter. She, too, was gifted with poetic tai ent and published large number of i'm aginative poems, most of them Illustrating questions of morals and humanity, an6 several excellent translations from tho German Her poem, ''The Morning Glo ry," deserves to be ranked with the one so we'll known, of Mr.Lowel's, "The Firs Snowfall" Both are poems of bereave ment, stirring the deepest sources of feel ing, wonderfully pathetic, yet not despair ing, and to many @ sorrowing heart they have come with an exquisitely tendel touch of consolation.
 The Lowells early caught the spirit O.
 the anti-slavery movement, a natural re suit probably of their fathers interest il it, which had been aroused during the pc riod of his education in England by thu | ol w F11bCllohSO. 4o eil1o Snu6C
 too, Maria White Lowell had committed herself with an intense devotion. Sh
 came into her husbands life as an inspira
 ton and directing force, stirring him t.
 write ''The Biglow Papers," in which h
 brought all the resources of his wit ant
 satire to bear upon the institution of sla
 very and the events of the Mexican war
 Thus, early in life, he was committed t
 the advocacy of great moral reform, ant
 the application of his powers to this caus
 gave grand opportunities for their use an'
 development.
 So much for the wife of the young poet
 She passed away while stilli in her youth
 and when her place was taken by anothe
 it was by one in every way worthy to fl
 it. Of the wife of the diplomat says Joh
 Russell Young, "His home was illume
 and blessed by gracious presence. N one could have seen it without seeing ho, much the tact, friepdliness, consideration the supreme qualities of a noble and gifte
 woman contributed to the triumph of legation" She died, after lingering an terrible illness, and her husband was we've