Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1897-10-08
w. II. II. Murray.

New and Complete Edition OF His
Works TO be Issued---Mr. whiting of
the Springfield Republican on John
Norton"
The announcement is made in the Lit
erary Wayside" of the Springfield Repub-
lican Of the forthcoming publication Of a
complete, revised and enlarged edition of
the writings of W. H. H. Murray. Owing
to the failure Of publishing house some
six years ago, Mr.. Murray's plans were
sadly upset. and his books practically ban
ished from the market. But at last things
have so come his way that he is not only
| free to publish his books, but able to bring
| them out in a style pleasing TO himself and
to men who buy books Owing 10 the de-
morslized condition Of the book trade the
| books will be published by subscription.
| An edition Of Is volumes is planned. They
will contain Mr.. Muuay's entire writings,
from the first Adirondack tales TO the end
of the published John Norton" series
and with several additional tales. carrying
on threads dropped in the original series !:
| the poeticSl books, "Mamelons," and
"Ungava," erhbodying in musical prose
! the LEGENDS of the elder Canadian red men :;
nor will his work as minister Of Park
street church in Boston be sighted, but a
volume Of sermons will be included. OF
the central and essential figure in Mr. Muir
rays writings Mr. Whiting SAYS with the
enthusiasm of a warm and appreciative
admirer:
The first instalment will be FIVE vol
umes, and in them will be found that
most vital part Of his writings-the pres
| entation of a noble type Of man. with long
ancestry, OF peculiar religious culture. as
he develops in the intimacy Of Nature
man familiar with humanity, and tender
toward all that's sweet and true in il, at
the same time that he is removed from its
passions and envies by his wild surround
| ings,-we mean, of course. John Norton.
II is doubtless TO this parsonage, so full Of
| living breath and ideal feeling, that the
| popularity Of Murrays writings has beer
chiefly due. II is no small thing TO have
created one enduring character. such as
this.
ave find in John Norton the inheritance
| of the pioneer ancestry Of New England,
! the succession of wilderness explorers and
! forest rangers, which just as leeitimately
followed the generation of the tanners of
the earth and establishers of communities
as one day follows another. :
John Norton is the New Englander of
Puritan ancestry. in whom contact with
the wide life, the enticements Of natures
freedom, and distaste for the falsehood
and convention of intruding standards of
living, have wrought a great and strong
independence. His heart is great and
tender, his soul is ample and cordial; but
the conditions of the development of
communities require of him a conformity
which he cannot give without abandoning
that which makes life precious to him
his truth, his simplicity, and his intimacy
with nature, his unity with the Divine
Spirit which informs the life of nature.
The Indian was not
troubled by knowing too much, nor is Mr..
Murray's old trapper, whom he has made
to live in a sense that few men live whose
! birth date and what are called the facts of
their lives are definitely ascertainable.
Then John NortOn's humor is a deli
cious and subtle quality, born out OF these
circumstances Of character and conduct.
There is never a false note struck 10 this
matter; all Mr.. Murray's experience of
conventional life has DOT led him into a
sophisticAtion Of this son of God in the
free life. John Norton's speech bewrayeih
him,-he is humorous, pathetic, but all
with that singular undertone of self-com-
III uHiHs winch 10 OoIu VI soIlluue, ana
asks nothing Of the hearer, if there be a
hearer. He has become his own sufficient
audience, and when he talks TO others, it
is not with desire of display of effect.
In the cities man is great, but in the
wilds, natures primitive force rules man.
Thus it is that John Norton and Wild Bill
when he is sober-are as still as nature.
One could write long in the consideration
of this rare and admirable creation.-one
of the vital additions to the list of person
ages of romance, whose spell is not lost
after the passing of so many years"