New-York tribune., 1893-11-26

Bailey Aldrich. Pp ILL.,. l2S. Houghton, Mllin
& Co.
A delightful little book is this. full OF good
humor and twinkng In an atmosphere OF its own.
an atmosphere that once envelopcd all NewEng-
land Everywhere In New England" says Mr..
Aldrich mournfully. 'thc impress OF the past is
fading out The few old-fashoned and women
quaint. shrewd and racy Of the soil who nger
in little sivery-gray old homestcads strung along
the New England roads and byways will shortly
cease TO exist class. save In the record OF
some such charming chroncler as Sarah Jcwett or
Mary wilkins on whose sympathetic pages they
have already taken to themselves remote air
Of long kept lavender and pennyroyai." He only
alludes to these ancient danes. as they were af-
fectonatey called. In order 10 Indicate what
changes have come the inner social life OF
Portsmouth and other ancient and once secluded
towns For Portsmouth Is the town by the
which Mr.. Adrch describes. He calls II old
town. and yet he is reminded that In comparison
with some other antiquities It was only the other
day. say In lGO3. that the first effort made TO
explore the reaches OF the Piscataqua River. The
commander Of the vessel one Martin Pring
and his object was not the romantic Of pure
discovery. but the more prosaic perhaps aro-
matte. one OF obtaining a cargo OF sassafras In
the search for the wonderful medicinal tree he
may have landed the very spot where Ports
mouth now stands; and Mr. Adrich magincs how
the river widening at that point. with its green
banks covered with "a network OF strawberry
vines" and In the background n vast forest OF
hemlock. maple. oak and pine. must have looked In
those days. Master Prng was followed eleven
years later by that strangest OF all the explorers
and settlers in the New World. Captain John
Smith, who discovered Shoa Islands and named
them after himself. but neglected by pos
terity until "a few years ago tardy sense OF
justice expressed Itself In erecting on Star Island
a simple marble shaft to John smith--the multi
tudinous!"
To Smiths suggestion. perhaps and certainly
TO the subsequent voyage OF Sir Ferdnando
Gorges was due the founding OF Portsmouth, three
miles from the sea. on reach OF the Piscataqua,
which At noodtide looks more like a lake than a
river Many town twice It's age In the Old World
one may infer from Mr.. AIdrchs description, would
look no older than Portsmouth does at the water
side. He thinks OF the worm-eaten wharves, here
and there grass-grown the empty. weather-stained
warehouses. and remembers that upon "A time
these wharves and warehouses silent now, re-
echoed TO the sounds OF a busy trade with the
West Indies. In those days Portsmouth seemed a
vigorous rival TO Boston and New-York But
they were the days OF knee-breeches and silver
hoebuckes and plun-colored coats with rufiies
at the wrists. An episode OF that ancient time
was the War of 1872 with the innumerabe priva-
teers sent out from Portsmouth Harbor As the
town became antiluated. the descendants Of those
daring spirits who had made It's early fame de-
parted 10 new scenes. and as Mr. Al1rch remarks
almost every city In the Union. and many n city
across the sea, point to eminent merchant
lawyer, or what not as Portsmouth boy" But
10 the dreamy OF letters the silent idle
wharves are more attractive than they were In |
he busy years OF the past. The sunshine" says
Mr. Aldrch. with graphic emphasis seems to |
lie a foot deep upon them. The svery line OF the
opposite shore and the islands between are like
portion OF fairyland. and as one could stay In /
hat magic region seven years and think he had /
,ny been gone quarter OF an hour, so the author
ays he could fancy a>man sitting on the end
II that old wharf very contentedly for two or
hree years. provided It could always be June"
But Mr.. Aldrich does not proong his story upon
he wharves 10 the limit OF June possibility He
eads his readers among the wide streets and an
lent trees OF the town. He points out the an |
lent houses and the graveyards. and as he strolls
long he tells stories OF many old celebrity In
eed. the index OF names. considering the size |
( the book. Is somewhat startling. But then all |
he people he mentions did not live I'm Portsmouth, |
Dr. example. Socrates and Micheangelo and Mo- |
ere and Queen Elizabeth. He notes the fact that
hough Portsmouth did not escape the witchcraft |
elusion. there hangings In the township
Ie doubts II any New-England town ever turned
ut so many eccentric characters as Portsmouth |
ere @ hermit and there hen-pccked husband oc- |
lr to his memory. and he watches his reader
nile over the sign OF shop-keeper third OF the |
ame who called himself Timothy WInn 3d"
hich was instantly translated into Three penny |
,inn." Finally he turns to his own immediate and |
srsonal reminiscences. and surely his readers will
gree with him that he had strange varieties OF {
Iman nature to study In his boyhood The pref | ,
e to the book Is poem to the Pscataoua | !
iver