St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1894-06-07
Correspondence
HA WTHORNE.
Written for the CALEDoxrAN.I

thousand-page biography of him
and his wife by their son, or any of
the numerous other accounts OF his
life, the idea of trying to say any
thing instructive or interesting IN a
sketch as brief as this must be. seems
somewhat presumptuous. can
hope to do little more than present,
in a different manner, thoughts
which might easily be found else
where.
The Hawthorne family have been
residents of New England for more
than two hundred and fifty years.
The earliest ancestor, William, was
an English farmer who came to this
country soon after the landing of
the Mayfower. In following the
line down, we find only ordinary
men, serving in ordinary capacities,
at sea as well as on land. till Ma
thaniel appears. The Hawthornes
are connected, more or less, with the
history of our country. Besides
their being a representative family
of New England for two centuries
and half, we find them, from time
to time, filling public offices. Ma
thaniel's father was born in the year
in which the Declarat ton of Indepen-
dence was signed. Twenty eight
years later and on Independence
Day came Nathaniel himself
Hawthorne's child days were
spent at Salem, the home OF his an
cestors. There he attended school
with other boys, but did not care
much for association with them, pre-
ferring to be alone. His love of ma
ture developed when he was very
young. He lost his father, too, at
this early age, and it is fair to be-
lieve that sadness on that account
had something to do with his prefer
ence for solitude. He is described as
being shy, but this was a natural
result of his inexperience in society.
Hawthorne's financial resources
were very meagre. His oppOrtuni-
ties were, for this reason, extremely
limited. He fitted for college under
a tutor, and entered the famous class
of rs at BowdOin, the class which
was rendered so illustrious by him
self, Longfellow and Cheever
Hawthorne's course in college was
marked by trihing irregularities in
habit, but irregularities which made
him better able to meet life in it's
true sense than he might otherwise
have been. They gave him an in
sight into human nature, and an
unquenchable thirst for a knowledge
of what men are likely to do under
given circumstances.
Hawthorne seems to have been
much devoted to the occupation Of
letter writing, and early conceived
the idea of becoming an author. In
childhood letter to his mother, we
find him asking how she would like
to see, some day, long shelf con-
tanning "Hawthorne's Works.
Here for the first time, the w ap-
peared in the name, inserting it, he
says, for the sake Of euphony. We
have letters which emanate from
every epoch in his career. Some Of
the most interesting, be it reverently
said, are his matchless epistles O
love.
Hawthorne published a few verse:
and wrote an article, now and then
while in college, but his first book
"Fanshawe," did not appear unit
three years after he was gradua ted
This work by no means represent
the author at his best. Indeed, hi
own dissatisfaction was so grea
that he did what he could to sup
press the publication; and so wei
did he succeed, that not above half
dozen copies survived his destroyin,
hand. "Fansha we" is, more Or less
an embodiment of Bowdoin exper
icnces, intensely interesting in thei
presentation, and showing for tn
first time the authors love for tn
study of human nature. The clos
of the story does not strike the rea6
er as being we'll chosen. There II
mains an unpleasant disappoin
ment of expectations, justified by tn
first nine-tenths of the plot. One r
members the romance as being pa
ticularly good, but ending rattle
fatty.
At different times, between 1S2