Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-03-03
A form of mingled mis- Rsd light,

Dear guest and ghost!
The publication of this poem brought
him two letters from Scotland on the
same day. The first thanked him briefly
for the wonderful verses on Robert
Burns" adding: "They will touch the
heart of every true Scotsman
The second letter ran as follows:
Dear Sir-Hoping the information
conveyed herein may be sufficient for
the intrusion of a stranger. Your new
poem about Robert Burns has created
a melancholy interest When Burns
was on his deathbed, in Dumfries, one
of the town Baillies went to his bed
side and endeavored to get him to ex-
press a belief and trust in Christ. In
stead of doing so, Burns replied: In
a hundred years they will be worship
ping me- Burns had no personal ex-
perience of the human soul created
anew in Christ Jesus, without which
there can be no entrance into heaven.
But Burns had extensive knowledge of
fallen human nature. 1t was this that
led him to prophesy that in hundred
years men would be worshipping him,
a prophesy which is being fulfilled in
many quarters Your poem is an in
prise you that the last verse of your
poem made me feel it was an effort to
hold fellowship and friendly inter-
course with one now in the place of
eternal Woe"
The sentiment of the Burns verse.
together with other poems, notably
Footsteps of Angels" and 'Resigna-
tion," led the Spiritualists to claim
Longfellow as a convert to their phil
osophy, and tie poet straightway re-
ceived an offer of honorary member
ship in the English Association of
Spiritualists, to which he replied as
follows:
Jan. Is, 1875. To Miss k:
Not being Spiritualist in the
popular sense of the word, that is to
say, never having seen any evidence
that convinced me Of the presence of
spirits, l should deem it an act of
dishonesty on my part to accept the
compliment you offer l must there
fore, with many thanks for this mark
of your consideration, beg leave to de-
cline 1t"
The poets charity was as wide as
his creed, and tho his income from his
poems was mere pittance during the
greater period of his active writing,
his purse was always open to the poor
and needy, and better still, his assist
ance was usually given by stealth.
Speaking of the smaller kipdnesses
and courtesies of life Mr.. Fields noted
an instance, as follows: "One day,
seeing the poet cutting something from
a paper, I asked him what he was
about. OH he replied. here is par
agraph speaking kindly of poor old
blank. You know he seldom gets q
word of praise nowadays, poor fellow,
and fearing he may not chance to see
this paper ] am shipping this out to
mail him. know these few lines of
recognition will make him happy for
hours, and couldn't bear to think he
might miss seeing these pleasant
words so kindly expressed
His kindness to our lower kin is
manifested in the poem Birds of Kill
ing Worth" and in his speech and in
tercourse with others. He writes to
poet friend: Many thanks for your
beautiful poem, Notwithstanding the
subject for which / have no sympathy.
l am so little of sportsman that
rank fox hunting with bull fighting
and think them equally detestable.
You may smile, but never lose an
of entering my protest
against all pleasures that spring from
the pain of dumb animals"
sA*
Like Lincoln, the poets love for
children was a marked trait. Not only
did he love to play and romp with MS
own, but no child ever passed him I'M
noticed, and none ever appealed to
him in vain. When taxed beyond en-
DURANGO with the correspondence that
swept in on him daily. he could never
refuse a child's request, and of them
he writes in one of his most beautiful
poems:
Eye are better than all the ballads
That ever were sung or said,
For we are living poems
And all the rest are dead.
In THE Children's Hour" we have
the picture of his own three little ones
"Graye Alice and laughing Allegro,
And Edith with golden hair.
Longfellow was not without the trou-
bles of publicity-the penalty that ge-
MUS ever pays for the laurel He writes
to Charles Sumner: II am so driven by
angels and demons-by books, bores
and begears, that I can never achieve
that shall rise to the dignity of
a letter." And again to his friend
Greene: 81 have only written to my en-
emies, the worst of all enemies. the en-
tire strangers who ask questions that
take a days research to answer"
He makes the following entries in his
journal
Jan. 3-Seventeen letters received
today, all but three asking some favor.
FEB. ga gentleman writes me for
your autograph in your own hand
writing" Another request for an QUITO
graph from an CENTRE stranger stated
that the writer loved poetry in most
any style and would the poet please
copy his Break, break, break" for him.
He writes to Mr.. Fields: do you
know how to apply properly for my
autograph and sends the formula just
received by postal card: Dear Sir-As
l am getting a collection of the auto
graphs of all honorable and worthy
men, and think yours such, I hope you
will forfeit by next mail" And here is
another entry:
"a stranger writes me for two poems
on friendship or a subject like that.
for young lady's album who is very
particular friend and asks me to send
the bill with the goods"