The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1895-03-15

'saretaker and fnvorite ''aunty" of
Mrs. Bradley's family of little ones.
She finally married Carl Albert Feste-
ills, the son of an old Hungarian fam
lily and an officer in the Austrian army,
whose republican proclivities brought
him to this country.
While her sister was still at school
Mrs, Bradley had become at home in
literary circles in New York, and n
pleasant incident which she still re-
calls was the firft meeting between G.
p. r. james and William Gilmore
Simms, two famous novelists in their
day, which took place at her own
house. Among other guests who were
present on the same occasion were
Richard Henry Stoddard, whom
the world was just beginning to
recognize as a true poet, and
his newly married wife. Mrs
Stoddard had not then made her
own brilliant mark as a writer but
her beauty and distinct individual
charm made themselves fully felt in
advance of her literary fame. Stod-
dard's spontaneous wit and charming
social talent were also equally pro-
uounced in those early days, ana from
that period dates friendship between
the two families which lasted for forty
years
Col. Festetils died three years ago,
and the death of Mrs. Bradley's hus-
band occurring two years later, the
sisters have shared a quiet home in
Georgetown, continuing their literary
labors as they began them-together
Their work has usually been on the
same line; and, with the exception of
contributions to magazines, has been
chiefly in the direction of books for
young people. They have represented
young people naturally and sympa-
thetically, and even in Sunday school
books (where mature" is too often
overcome by an impossible "grace')
they have painted real children, with
such ideal suggestions as come within
the scope of healthy nature.
In addition to their prose work, they
have written more or less verse-Mrs.
Bradley more than her sister-the
quality of which is best attested by the
approval of such critics as the authors
of 1.-The Victorian Poets" and Under
the Evening Lamp" A Christmas
poem by Mrs. Festetils, chosen as
representative selection for 1.-THE Lii
brary of American Literature" is
highly praised by Mr.. Stedman for its
picturesqueness, vigor of utterance and
fine lyric quality; and Mrs. Bradley's
verse is characterized by Mr.. Stoddard
as having imagination, with tender
ness and simplicity, and delicate
sense of melody"
The poems of the latter have been
copied widely, often without credit to
the author, One of them in particular
-"Heartsease"-has been frequently
repeated aud claimed by INSCRIPTIONS
admirers. Mrs. Bradley's daughter,
who also writes gracefully, under the
nom de plume of Dorothy Holroyd,
was amused recently at the cool APP
of some verses of which
she was the author, which were repro
duced in a Washington paper as an
"original" poem written to grace the
birthday of a senator's daughter. The
authoress herself, however, is very
indifferent to things of this sort, and
rarely takes the trouble to correct
them.
The only issue Of Mrs. Bradley's
poems in book form-so careless of her
fame has she been--is small volume
entitled Hidden Sweetness" col
lected and illustrated by Dorothy Hol-
royd, who yields her pencil as grace
fully as her pen. She, by the way, is
the only living daughter of her mother,
who has besides two married sons.
Mrs Festetils also has one daughter,
her only child. The sisters have two
brothers, well known in southern cir
cles. John Nicely is, a prominent law
yer in Norfolk, Va, and Edward
Nicely, the giver of the cherished an
nual, is equally prominent in the edu-
cational interests of st. Joseph, Mo.
GILBERTA S. WHITTLE.