The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-10-29
Lillian ON HALLOWEEN
MAKES A Plea FOR THE MOST
NEGLECTED HOLIDAY.
some Famous Men Loved the Day Edgar
Aen Poo and Benjamin Disrae ',lI AT
Did Some Odd Things on Baowe'en.

That such a holiday as Halloween.
endowed with all the sweet nostalgia Of
love and romance" as ST. George Nivart
has it, should suffer neglect on the part
OF all who are not In the first flush OF
youth, seems TO me both regretable and
inexpllcable. We Americans have not so
many holidays as to be able to afford the
loss Of even one.
1t may be that the absence Of all trib-
ute to the day. in the literary or artistic
sense. may be responsible for the purely
infantile associations OF Halloween. For
instance, there are famous Christmas
stories and TO some extent Thanksgiving
tales that have won celebrity for their
authors. We are all familiar, too, with
Christmas and Thanksgiving poems, pic
tunes and plays. But who has read a
really good Halloween story-where Is
there a Halloween picture or play?
To be sure, there is the quaint fresco
on the walls Of St. Etienne's, the dis
used sanctuary near Notre Dame, az
Paris. The reproductions OF this paint
ing seem known nowhere outside OF
France. however, beautiful as they are.
The Marquis Of Ripon is now the owner
of superb collection OF old prints. rep
resenting the charts Of Hallow mass by
the monks who played IN the chapel con-
nected with the Ripon Castle only on this
october holiday and, the service over,
wended their way 20 the hollow trunk
Of a tree in the garden and marched there
in-not 10 be seen for a whole year So
far as | know Halloween Is not intimate
~ associated with any locality except
this. The Ripons. very naturally. have
taken pride in the eminence thus con-
ferred upon their baronial acres. While
the old Marquis lived, the Halloween
parties there were famous. Disraelrs
witticsm of years ago. still quoted by
ardent admirers Of the primrose premier
that a man ought 10 take himself
seriously If nobody else will, was uttered
at one OF these affairs. He stood under
the famous monks tree and, OF course,
the parliamentarian's inimitable dictiou
and address made the utterance far more
impressive than its repetition In cold type
can ever be. IL is no wonder that when
this Halloween tree blew down some
years ago the Ripons spared no pains in
having it restored to its old place. where
it fiourishes to-day and long will do so,
hope.
The South seems TO honor Halloween
try. Father Ryan wrote scme exquisite
verses on the day shortly before his death,
and l understand, although my informa-
ton on this point is not definite. that
they are 10 be printed shortly. The Gus
tom Of dressing entirely in white on Hal
lowe en- seems TO prevail more generally
south Of Mason and DiNon's lire than
anywhere else. Nor do l think we of
the North have such melodies as are
sung on this particular night near the
Gulf Of Mexico.
Are Halloween supersttions or tradi-
tons credible? VIII the boarding school
miss, gazing into a cracked mirror at the
dead hour OF night, really see her future
husband, If she counts seven hundred
slowly and thoughtfully? Perhaps such
queries are best answered by experience.
At ell events the world is prosaic enough
without destroying such illusions too rude
ly. This recalls the story, by the way, |
that IL related Of Edgar Allen Poe, and /
which. curiously enough. has not found /
its way into his biographies. HIS fancy 4
was caught by the traditions OF Halloween /
and he determined TO write story on
he theme. Unfortunately he did not sue
,eed i'm developing his motive until too late
Tor publication In any magazine 80 far
rs that particular year was concerned. J
SO tne manuscript Jay IrHlfhlfN TIT ~ ]
.r6wer for many months. Finally, when
halloween drew near again, his child
wife looked up the unfinished tale. Poe
sailed forth 20 find a market for his
but his 100 cOnvival habits
frustrated the plan. Wien The Ravens
author awoke I'm a tavern next morning
iis money and manuscript were gone
where he seems never 10 have known
mis- is a thousand pities. not alone on
.ccount of the personal Inconvenience Poe
must have experienced az the time, which
concerns himself mostly, but because our
literature ias thus been robbed Of what
hay have turned ont 10 be the best and
he only Immortal Halloween tale ever
written. No wonder Poe's blographers
10 rot find much Halloween enthusiasm
n bis make Up.
l cannot recall that eny mCmentous
vCEts in the worlds history have trans
lred on Halloween. nor is IT, like the
Fourth OF July and Christmas, made adj
itionally eminent as the date 81 the death
r birth OF great men, nor as the ami
ersary Of memorable events. After all.
olldays can be advertised as effectively
3 business enterprises II some immortal
r other could contrive 10 associate the
ay with portentous circumstance con-
lected with himself lovers OF Halloween |
yould appreciate the compliment. This |
l know, was once made b.