The Indianapolis journal., 1896-07-05

brought her s100 00o and this good boy also
brought her letters from Longfelow and
Whittier. from the Earl OF Carlisle, from
the Earl of ShaftsbCry and she goes OF 10
Europe to see Jenny Lind and Charles
Dickens, and the whole affair seems IKE
magic Great is the P power OF a,I success: sye call
them sons or daughters? Ii has been held
| that to write well. one must have suffered
| IL Uncle Tom was born of poverty, sick
ness and maternal caIe and anxiety. Ihe
| Minister'S Wooing' was born OF maternal
anguish Mrs Stowe could hardly be rec
onciled TO the crushing sorrow OF the loss
| of her frstborn. Henry Ellis. drowned
while bathing in the river She feels dis,
| tressing doubt as to his spiritual state ana
| an old negro woman comforts her. lniS
episode is reproduced. greatly maSnined
and intensihed. in The Minister'S Woo
ing." which thus becomes. in part auto
geographic.
] The letter written to Mrs. Stowe by
James Russell Lowell concerning this pow
i erful work contains valuable hints TO nov
eiists Mrs. Stoves genius goes right TO
/ the original elements of human nature
/ There is a great deal of human nature in
men" he saws. but amazingly little of
il in books. Fielding only deals with life
| In the broadest sense. Thackeray and
Shakespeare drew ideal. Fielding natural,
men and women. Thackeray, gentlemen or
snobs: Dickens. unnatural men or artihcial
oddities only. The first two knew human
| nature, the last two only London; tthe
world) and the streets of London. Mrs.
Stowe gets at the element of universal h1-
|
| Scudder the notable Yankee housewife;
Mary turning from Cupid to Calvin; James
! Marvyn. the coast boy, in whose heart the
wild religion Of nature breaks through MS
straight jacket of Puritanism; DR.. Hop
| kins. the conscientious minister. simeon
| Brown, the man of theological dialects.
| These all new to literature. The writ
| er depends for interest on the coIlusion
| of innate character and not on the shallow
| traits Of rank distinctions. A moral is a
fine thing. but in making a story artist
| is a traitor who doesn't sacrifice everything
to art. The Pearl of Orr's Island is
Lady Byron thinks the Ministers Woo
ing as powerful as Adam Bede" which
also has just appeared. Mrs. Stowe spends
a winter in Italy. She corresponds with
| Ruskin. Mrs. Browning and Dr. Holmes.
The Pearl of Orr's Island is highly
The civil war breaks out Mrs Stoves
son enlists. Mrs. Stowe writes "A Reply
letters. from John Bright. Archbishop
Whately and Hawthorne. Mrs. Stowe. de-
string to have a home in the South. buys
a place at Mandarin. Fla. charming win
| ter residence. She is writing "Poganne
People" and DR.. Holmes sends congratu-
| lations. In 1869 appeared the masterpiece.
| ''Oldtown Folks"
THE VISIONARY BOY.
Mrs. Stoves husband writes a letter to
George Eliot confessing that he was the
original of the visionary boy in that
book. 1t seems that when a child he had
| a neurosis and was subject to very dis
| tinct hallucinations of sight, often seeing
phantoms-both fairies and bogies-play-
| ing about him. He could see them passing
through the floors, the ceilings and the
| walls of the house. When he was we'll
| and cheerful the phantoms were pleasant
and harmless little beings and quite agree
| able companions, but when in a low state
of health there came in their place another
| set OF objects which were mischievous and
| They a heavy
black, spotted with brown, float ting from
place TO place in great numbers. These
evil clouds would pursue, catch and swal-
low up the good little fairies in d most cur
| ious fashion. Each different apartment he
occupied had different set of phantoms.
| II he was in a neat, well-furnished room
| there was a neatness and polish in their
| form and motions. If he was in a rough
| unfurnished apartment there was a corre-
| spending rudeness and roughness in my
aerial visitors. A corresponding difference
was visible when he saw them in the
| or on the ground, in the air or among the
| stars. Still more startling things are told.
| One night, as he was lying alone in his
chamber. there came out of the closet
very large Indian woman and a very small
| Indian man with huge bass VOL between
| them. They disputed for. the possession of
| the VOL the man struck it. ''and the notes
| seemed to vibrate through my body he
| says. with strange singing sensation"
| This vision was repeated night after night,
! he being fully awake the last time. Later
| he had other visions; saw legions of the
damned, and one night five devils carrying
| OFF IAN unpr cipled and dissipated man in
| the neighbC )od-a man of whom L had
| stood in gre terror" says the confession.
| For a long time Professor Stowe. then a
| boy, never doubted the real existence OF
the phantoms. George Eliots letter of
| thanks TO the Professor for detailing his
| youthful psychological experience is of in
| terest. How slowly the world learns that
| such things as fairies. angels and devils,
gods and spirits are cerebral images and
| not cosmic exiStences-subjective. not OBJ
| jective-brain products and not inhabitants
of the Cosmos-whch only produces stars.
crystals, plants. animals and men.
| | find IL hard to agree with the biogra-
pher who says that 'Oldtown Folks is the
last last work by by, Mrs. Stowe that will outlvs
ISL; My Wife and /. 1872: I'VE and Our
Neighbors." 1879. are fascinating pictures
American hstory-the life of the heart the
| true history-put into artistic FORM
| Whatever she has produced from first to
| last, this greatest of American women, an
imated by a love incompr ehensible to fee
bier souls. inspired through it with such
| sympathy with human nature as is given
only the Shakspearean and Fielding order
| of mind. has given a life. vitality that
| Will tend to be very enduring. Is il not
even possible that future generations will
appreciate these later works more than do
the present?
Following is a brief chronology of Mrs
Stoves life:
1911. Birth.
1894. Composition the immortality of
the Soul" Sent to school in Hartford
1882, Starts a school in Cincinnati with
her sister Catherine. Age twenty-one.
1896. Married and gives birth to twin
daughters. Age twenty-five.
| 1s49. Six children. Cares, cares, poverty,
sickness. Age thirty-eight.
1853. Uncle Tom" and a trip to Europe
Age forty-two.
1859. Minister'S Wooing." Tragic death
of eldest son. Age forty-eight
1862. Pearl of Orrs Island" Age fifty
one.
1863. Agnes of Sorrento, Italy. Age
fifty-two.
| 1869. ''Oldtown Folks" Age fifty-eight
1871. Pink and White Tyranny" Age
1872. MY Wife and l." Age sixty-one
| 1879. I'VE and Our Neighbors." Age
| sixty-four.
| "REMINISCENCES OF MRS. STOWE.
| Elizahefl Strarf Phelna Wrifea af