The National tribune., 1898-03-10
CHAPTER Mn.


untleroy'-Washingto Literary Socie
ties.
In Georgetown lives the noted novelist
Mrs. J.. ID. T.. \. SouthWorth. At the hea
of Prospect avenue stands a quaint httl
cottage of many gables, yine-clad an
bright with flowers. Mrs. Southworth
not one of our greatest noveliStS, and vel
perhaps no writer has been more wldel
read. We knocked at the cottage door on
afternoon and were ushered into the pres
ence of a pleaSant-faced woman; her hal
was gray brushed back, revealing a hlgi
and broad forehead. Her eyes were blue
full of tenderness, and when she talked
her whole face seemed illuminated. Hhlte
soft lace encircled her neck and bosom
And as we listened 10 her delightful ahc
fluent conversation. she revealed a chaf
acter rich in womanly traits.
Her life has been a checkered one; bu
the maternal instinct and her own self
respect re llumined the spark OF genius ano
she has gone on through the years uniirlnG
until very many novels have emdnated
from her pen and brain.
When the civil war broke out she nailed
the Stars and Stripes over her front gate,
saying: Whoever comes 10 nay door must
pass under that" With patriotic zeal she
nurSed the sick and wounded in camp and
hospital until she herself became victim
to the smallpox. With true philosophy
she said:
Il cannot prevent the soldiers from TAX
ing the disease. but can suffer with them;
there is some comfort in that
As we stood upon the Veranda OF THIS
ideal home and glanced along the Virginia
hills memory took us back To the lar
away past that consecrated and mace
them classic ground. We Thought OF me
brave and loyal men who laid down their
lives. sleeping among the green hills over
there. TO bequeath TO the present all that
the sacrifice. suffering and struggle OF Tie
past achieved.
In the beautiful home, 1870 Massachu-
sets avenue Mrs. Frances HoGgSon bur
nett wrote Little Lord Fauntleroy." Il has
home sass Olive Logan. even as Luch-
field House was bought by Miss BraGdon
out of the proceeds OF Lady Audley
Secret so is hrs. BurnettS residence due
TO 'Fauntleroy.' \ substantial tribute IN
deed from the manly little Lord TO Dear
est"
Passing from the front drawing room to
the back drawing room, from dining room
TO tapestry hung hall, up the quaint, WIND
ing stairs to the various sitting rooms,
bedrooms and work rooms on the upper
floors, one was perforce required 10 draw
heavily on the stock Of epithetS OF adnlTa-
ton: for each of these apartments seemed
to outvie the other in freshness, dalntlneSS
and beauty.
Hanging here. handsomely framed, was
the Illuminated address Of thanks OF Ing
fish authors for the resolution taken by
Mrs. Burnett and sustained by her at the
laws point. concerning the right OF an
author to dramatize his own story, an IN
Justice against which Charles Dickens pro
tested in vain, against when OuIoa mas
hurled some of her most vigorous language
from which hundreds of authors have
silently suffered, and which was rlghted
for all time by the energetic acton oi
Frances Hodgson Burnett.
Mrs. Burnett was born in Manchester,
] ..al l,farr fX
and there it was that she became familiar
with the Lancashire dialect and character
which she has so bewitchingly used IN her
Lass o. Lowrie's." But 1T was alter she
had become a child OF America, after
THAT Lass o Lowrie's," "HawOrth'S,
Through One Administration, "Esmer-
aida" after she was wife, after she was
the mother of two beautiful boys, that
motherhood in all its glorious beatitudes
received its jeweled setting in the inspired
pages OF Little 10 Fauntleroy."
Washington society does not all revoive
around the Capitol, nor does it all get It's
illumination by reflection. From city OF
primitive inSignificance in the beginning oil
the century. Washington has become not
only the political capital OF the Union, but
the scientific and literary center
II has its Biological, AnthrOpolOgical and
PHILOSOPHICAL societies. devoted 10 general
scientific investigation. At the Cosmos
Club, whose headquarters are IN the house
so long the home OF Mrs. Madison, these
scientists meet and exchange the better
thoughts Of their natures and develop the
social talents also.
The literati meet and mingle among the
different social clubs. The Literary So
cietv finds doors open to receive them;
and men and women of culture and edu-
cation contribute TO the evenings enter
tanment.
The Unity Club is founded on nearly the
same plan and is a counterpart OF the
other: il has among its members many
names familiar 10 the literary world.
There j. the Travel Club; as its name
indicates, the work is given entirely 10
travel in the different countries throughout
the world. With their guide, courier and
travelling correspondents they ferret out
the places Of interest, and then some
clever member Of the club tells what he
knows about it. The geography, history,
science, fine arts and practical arts OF
other nations become familiar as house
hold words 10 the members. Travellers Of
note, foreign Ministers, men Of letters, and
women Of brains have helped TO furnish
this intellectual feast these many years.
There is the Educational Bureau, the
Observatory, with its magnificent instru-
ments for astronomical purposes, the
Coast and GeOdetic Survey, and the sew
eral libraries chief among them the Con
greSsiOnal.
The Womans National Press Associa-
ton is another Of the clubs that brings
together the literary women Of the city. IT
has the honor Of being the first Of the
kind organized in the country, and has
among its members women from almost
every State in the Union. 1t embraces
among its members journalists, magazine
writers and authors.
Washington, like all other cities. has a
journalists guild, and its masculine pens,
flowing with sparkling reparlee and ready
wit, have been supplemented by those Oi
the women correspondents, whose letters
are filed with interesting gossip, and are
garnishcd with realistic pictures Of society.
and cever pen pictures Of public men and
women. Correspondence and even editor
ship has risen 10 q profession among
women, and with the exception If a small
minority who do not find the circulation o
scandals and mis- statements in any sense
profitable, they are generously rewarded
Women, Is Il rule, write from a conscien
tiOus love OF their work and they becom.
popular IN proportion as their style differ,
from the rough rhetoric of their brofhe
bohemians Their energy and perseycr
ance Is making the profession 4 perna
nent vocation for women, and as tn,
press grows in influence more and NOR.
VIII II require the wit, grace and spark,
mat emanate from intellectual woman
hood.
CHAPTER Xxx.
The Fre;nghuysen House-Home Of Fo,,
Cabine O1icers-ArlhuT's Adminjst .
tion-Nrs VIII am c. Whitney a Charm
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