New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-05-28
HAWTHORNE AND LOWELL.
TWO GENIAL BOOKS OF REMINlSCENCE.

IN. tx, 200. Harper & Brothers
TIE POET AND THE MAN: kecoliec'i ION anu anu
els ii. Underwood, L. d. PIP. " u.s. Lee ~
shepard.
II is not always that two men who have oceh
comrades in college able 10 maintain u.e"
youthful familiarity unbroken Throughout me-
time The value of Commodore biluseS 9ooh
on Hawthorne is a record OF just oh' ~
rare unbroken friendships There Is no sig" 'i''.
the intercourse Of the two men was ever ii"iic'
by a single misunderstanding. They had learner
=, p,,,doin IN estimate each the value of the
other and no subseq ucnt broadening OF eNpe-
,iepce changed the aspect of one to the othcr.
Tbonoh Hawthorne became q government OIL
floor Of many years training, he always re-
.ained in his friends eyes the air OF mprac-
ticabity and self-distrust which surrounded nun
at the outset On the other hama, bridge s'c"e'
% bis tr;end the resourceful man Of affairs, who
co,,d he trusted with all necdful communlca'
tiops between the reclusc and the woro. lev
Bridge came nearer shipwreck III business u'au
would have been possible for Hawthorne. LONE
after the calamity which forced Bridge to chane,
al, the plans of his life. Hawthorne RESPONDED
IN the request of Mrs. Bridge for a story pS
saying: lilo.
I will tell Won one which could write, making
that gentleman ore OF the principal character
/ should begin with the description OF ms ia, III
fled. conservative
wears had lived by the side of noble river, anu
had daily enioycd the sight of the beautliui srcan
flowing placidly by. without thonght vi , n
turbinC its natural course. His chiiuren i .I
nlaved uron its banks, and the boys swan IN 1ne
omict stream or rowcd their boats thereon. bu'
after their fathers deceasc, his sons grown 10 an.
hood-progrcssive in unison WIN III The great
sCe-conccivcd the project of utihzing uie I'll .ho
body of water flowing idly by 30, Gaining III '"'
aid of a famous engineer. they built hleh an.
costly dam across the river. thus crea'ih2 s,.a'
rrospcctivc mills and factories. Inc river
hiding its timr--quctly allowed the oos'ruc'lohS
TO he finished and then II rose IN ,,s and The
buildings connected with it, and took ITS course
maicsticuy to the sea. Nor did TINS satisfy ,h,
offended river gods: for they cut new c hanne1
for the stream. and swallowed up the patsrH;a al
mansion Of the young men, and desoiated ilS
beautiful grounds. thus showing the SUPERIOR
power of nature whenever II chooses 10 "'N''
itseIf.
The words here are the words Of Bridg" But
one can see in them glimpse of what Hawthorne
would have done with the theme how he wonio
have traced the irresistible course of that 1a'e
which can neither be placated nor evadea. Dun
n. vas content 70 view such struggles OF man
against the nature of things from safe ground. Tic
saw too clearly the baefu consequences OF iaiiurc'
at seems TO me-" wrote his friend in 1886. that
Won never look on the bright side with any hoP'
or confidence. 1t ia not the philosophy 10 ma,
one happy" In the letters preserved IN 'h's
volume tho melancholy is almost wholly on tn"
side Of Hawthorne, thr saneulnc confluence III
the future on the side of Bridge. The latter had
hopes enough to 90 around. rs the saying Is.
Rarely did he allow himself the luxury OF an
allusion 10 his own hard case, as, for example
when he wrote: II am not in a very COOL mood
myself lust now. and certainly unit to wri''
81 think" and even then he was thinking most
OF his friend for he burst ont with the reouke'
Il fear that You are too good subject lor
.uicide and that some day you2wl end your
mortal woes on your own responsibility but
NJ the bottom of it, there was more danger
OF suicide for Hawthorne than there was generally
IN the case Of any man driven hither and thithcr
nv thoughts for which he could not as Yet ma
fit uttcrnnce. In 1851 of liawthorn"s letters
contained this self-deprecatory note: How slowly
have made nv way in life. How much is still
to be done. How little worth outwarlly speak
inr-is all that have achieved. The bubble
reputation is as much a bubble in literature as
IN war; and should not he one whit happier II
mine were worldwide and tmn-long, than | was
when nobody but yourself had faith in me-
Remember that this was written after The
Scarlet Letter and the House Of the Seven
Gables were in the hands of the public. II
must he obvious that though lie had advanced
immeasurahly IN the practical knowledge and
management Of his genius, he was not one whit
wiser respecting his own temperament than he
had been in college days when he listened silently
to his young friends glowing prophecies, in
sisted that he could never bring himself into ac-
cord with the general reading public nor make
himself sufficiently understood by it to gain
anything more than bcggary support as an
author" Bridge characterized Hawthornc's fault
with the commonplace phrase. borrowing
trouble" 1t is accurate enough. though it might
be eXpoundcd into a far-reaching study Of mental
phenomena. IIawthorncs real struggle. whether
he was conscious of it or not, was with him
self, not with the world When he conquered
his own mind, the world at his feet. But
see how the practical man lectures the genius
And SO Frank Pierce is elected Senator There
il an instance Of what man can do by trying
With no very remarkable talents, he, at the age
of thirty-four fills one of the highest stations
in the nation" 1t might be thought that Bridge
fancied il all one whether man went in for
writing masterpiece like The Scarlet Let
ter" or for Senatorship But it would be
a mistake TO think that. lie did not pretend 10
wisdom in literary matters. What he aimed at
was any stratagcm by which he might help
his friend Truly lovely character went the
way of mortality when Commodore Bridge died
the other day at his home, The Moorings in
PENNSYLVANIA.
One of tho noteworthy passages in Dir. Under
woods little volume Lowell is that in which
lie reports the subtle critics estimate of iiaw-
thornc lie said 10 the writer he would not
venture a comparison between Hawthorne
and Shakespeare, but he believed the
world would sooner see another Shakespeare
than another Hawthorne" These re-
niarkablo words deserving of close AID impartial
consideration. MEANWHILE there some pleasant
pages aside from problems Of criticism in Mr..
underwood's book For example, this picture Of
the group at one of the monthly dinners Of
"Thc Atlantic" contributors in the early days ::
The bright powerful and inspired faces that
surrounded the elipsc mind almost like
sight Of yesterday. Each guest in turn
seems 10 fix his eyes upon the onlookcr in this