Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-06-29

American perpetuiiy.
Miss janet Christine stephens had a
delightful subjec; and in a delightful way
told CT
The Romance Of New England.
The romance Of New England is redo
lent with the smartimg sweetness "a II
glowing affairs of old fashioned roses. the
healing odor of tansy and sweet mar
joram. the breath CT an old fashioned
garden.
slow. thoughtful utteranres OF cool
meadow brook; the half suppressed COM
plant Of the sad, stern pines; the siiei4ce
Of the eternal hills. Their coioIs are as
picturesque as il they had stolen them,
from The plumage of cur New England
orioles. when TWO of three drop iiSl@tY
down in their fight Ike shower OF FOR
geous stars at the burst of 4 ROCKET; or
VIXEN one SCARED up again 10 DSht the
pointed torch Of "A pine tree into q aIne.
In New England nature one iiilds 4 SET
ting rs truly suited TO romance a. > the
sunny South. nominally the land of love
and passion. The South Is even outdone
by the sturdy output CT sentiment IN the
North indeed. the lace mantillas ofrthe
warmer cline can stand 10 sort OF conf
parison with the opp0rtunlties anordei
by the rcomy and coquettish northern
sur5onrets =.
boast of ut leist three Study. love NJ
fairs in good standing. But If you think
the course OF true love runs smoolhly
here, pitch your tents in a New England
village where cats and old MAIDS the
one By day and tine other by night, cons.
stitute themselyss pillars 10 guide thW
loving sojonrrrs % The promlsed laiiq,f
lieve that New England has gone TO
seed" But while. 1t may be true that
New E,nglard farmers III at 2rei. I, a ga
tatu nj MAT the f1tta lDf New
f.ngiands roi2slnee is sa,iimed, or thar.
the power 9fadsfyins this caste IS de-.
The romafzN literature Of New Eng
land IS. proviucially speaking. in its seq
ond CROP The fruit of the first was thf
establishments OF type or character. u
Is the aim OF present writers 10 individ-
ualize to prove that these northern citl-
zens are as Individually -dinererf as the
blades Of weii-rememb@rgd striped grass
which grew In grandmothnrs garden.
The New Enfiand character built on the
Puritan feurG.ftiCn. As firm as and ~
immoyable a. the thus far-ard -no-farther
stone walls which dIvieed ~ farms. hds
grown up in loneliness; not IN Inc crowd.
which wirps the form Of the human char
meter rs truly as hat Of trees.
At H. contested that New England Is
losing her Puritan element through mi
grafton. Society at large seems to see
nothing but an uRending line Of white
TOPPED ships Of the prairie. containing th
Puritan element and bearing il OFF 10 the
West and South. Ii sees the vacant
places filled by new race OF sabbath
breakers, who set up their idols by the
Puritan hearth-stone. and turn up me o..
Sabbath foot-stoyes with their plough
Flirting civilization is ever. in New
England patois stealing her rest. T.
some degree Is this true OF me % seei l.i5
ants Of the Purltans. Yet IN the old
place under the const citation of the seven
plough oxen there still abides renIllfli
of that mighty body whose germ Wi,s
lr.4.. - flff,-iFY =
upon the earth who in 1920 set their zee
on plymouth Rock,-the doorstep mao a
world unknown"
The most iliustrious example CT what
the New England romantic soil has pro-
Cuced is Nathaniel Hawthorne. He Is
not. however a writer CT merely New
England romance His romance might
bt. naturalized in any country or nation.
Ia Hawthornes garden with the up
right. deW-tiiled cups are always dfooi'-
ing flowers. But this close linking q
TO enc who considers at all how the llY-
ing dwellings are being iostled by the
graves-the cellars of God.
Hawthorne likes intensely the grim
nonp of the funeral procession. the black
hangings the long glitter of wheels slow
~ turning in the sun. lie regrets the one
white horse, which is TO him q blot on
tie perfect picture of woe. lie dweils on
the gloomy cortege long after the dust
which rose from the huIfyns Wheels OF
the last beidtcd mourner has again been
I
re Is an outrider on the misty borders
az death. II is this familiarity with both
llse ard life's swartbN brother. which
makes hawthorne Sect to speak Win the
tongue Of men and of angels.
Ia this gloomy tenderey OF the author
there Is certain fascination; but Hdw-
thorue's greatest Power to charm lies N
his Imagination. BN il he eNcites our
curiosity. until in our forGttfulneSs we
s.rc4ch forth hand 10 lift the sheltering
cuFLs which hide the ears OF a human
descendant OF a faum or eudeavor 10
snatch away the black veil from before
coed Minister Hooper's mysteTlousis md
cen face.
Many Of HawthOrne's shorter stories
were founded on some chance advertise
ment OF legend of his native place; but
il Is tlle lire of his imaSratic.l which
lights the drifiwood of his geniui-those
Twice Told Tales-afld causes 1t 10 senu
lis silent CLEANS Of The most exquisite
eclaiing. almost weird in the play OF fas-
cinatir- tame. The flower of Haw-
tllcfrc romance had root in the author
own soul, not in 4 particular parcel OF
VEN different is the New England ro-
nance HOW daily being written. The lat
ter IS descriptive Of The people and their
Characteristics. II seems TO be the pleas
ure az The writer to seek out individual
ehalaeters which. Ike The May flowers
than Jena Alden gathered for Prscilla.
the Puritan maiden. nestls snSiy in the
heart Of every New England Town.
This II what Mary Il. wilkins has done.
Miss NllkinS seems acquainted with lHt
u 2uIe Evidently She has lived In a
neighhrrhocti: has set on the frort door
ste, mtwesn the whkewasaed reckcfies
and fiGtg Hies and gosS.psd of The do
ings of the village. She has set her
chair back against the wall and helped
to clear up after the funeral. She can
say:
THE deaths We died | have watched be-
And the lives that we led were mine
Her hurnor is subtle and is deliciously
spicy To read one OF her stories is like
.rushil.a. agairDt q bed Of old-fashioned
southerr-wcod and pennyroyaL Some
times In a keen sense of the ridiculous
she lays on her colors with an unsparing
hand yos this tendency is balanced by
her deep womanly sympathy. She shows
her simple. homely character, but in her
hands they can become the saints and
madonnas of the village.
Sarah Drne Jewett has all of Miss
wilkins pathos but none Of her spright- |
iineSs Miss Jewett has humor, but of n |
quiet. kindly sort. You think. whsn you
read her stories, Of the little superstition
OF the children. Laugh in the morning, |
cry before night" Her sunshine is al |
ways the forecast of Il shower.
The weather Of American fiction has |
stuck Fast with its finger pointing to- |
ward the northeast. From this bleak. has |
sprung up a breeze. warm with the kiss |
II the sunl II has flown far ever the |
country and whispered of the love. the |
al