The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1902-03-10
WO:: AMERICAN MEN :: OF LETTERS

hand for instant use. Dr. Hale In a man
OF infinite ps.. ience and rarely II ever.
breaks forth into expletive. He has OF
ten expressed himself-in print-as
going TO do this and that to the Tools
who come To interview him and deprive
him of sleep or opportunity Tor WORK,
but he never carries out his threats.
Work and sleep, by the way, are MS
hobbies, and he has made them very
useful In his long life. Give one plenty
OF sleep, he says, and the disposition to
do work. and there will always be some
thing for that one 10 do. Nine or ten
hours devoted 10 sleep. three or four to
continuous literary work in his hand
some old home i'm Roxbury. the rest OF
the day and evening TO the varied ac-
tivities incident to his life, such as his
torical research. lecturing and OF yore
preaching or pastoral calls-these, with
generous allowance for meals make
up the sum of his days allotment.
III there is a lesson 10 he learned from
his life, il is that work may be made
into play by alternating one form with
another: that a prodigious quantity or
work may be performed by doing lit
tie at a time and keeping at IL: that the
buster a life is the happier II Is, all 9TH
er things being equal; that human sym
pathy evolSes a corresponding feeling In
others: that ones religion requires no
other preachment than life useful to
others and above all else, that IL
pays" to be patriotic and inculcate
love of country
In fact as a preacher OF Americanism
pure and simple no other man has
cqualed Edward Everett Hale. He be-
gan early in his long life. and he has
"A
his Man without a Country without
a tug at his heartstrings or moisture In
his eyes and by deduction taking home
the moral of the story. And 1T was pure
fiction, all of IT, There was no Philip
Nolan. there was no man without
country until the master wove his fc-
tion and put forth his cloth OF gold.
Then. the verisimilitude was so perfect.
the diction so simple and beguiling, that
all who read the work declared IL true.
Well il might have been true. and there
is where the moral comes in: That our
country Is great and grand, worth low
ing, worth fighting for and worth living
ina truth that DIR. Hale has forged
from his inner consciousness and ham,
mered out on the anvil OF his discern
ment. II is a truth that cannot be too
often sent home either. and ii is the
recognition OF this truth and the awak-
ened admiration for the man who has
enunciated il year in and year out for
more than a generation past that give
TO Edward Everett Hale his national
reputation. He cannot travel anywhere
in this land, be 1t north east. south or
west without encountering some spon-
taneous outburst, some heartfelt tribute
of affection from people, particularly
young folks. who have learned TO love
him through his works.
AS already said, DR.. Hale has been
identified with almost every forward
| movement that has shaken America.
| His earliest companions were Wendell
| Phillips. William Lloyd Garrison and
| men OF their stamp. He lived through
| the "transcendental'' movement when
| Dana, Hawthorne, Alcott and many
| others sought way of living that
might lead direct TO a blissful state. but
| he did not diverge from the path he
| himself saw so clearly before him. He
| was a friend OF Emerson. Webster
| Holmes Lowell. Longfellow, Sumner
| Whittier Freeman Clarke, Phillips
| Brooks and all the intellectual lights of
I New England, the chosen companion Of
many and the peer OF them all. Yet he
never sought fame or fellowship; both
came TO him unsought.
DR.. Hale, despite the fact that he is
almost the last leaf on the tree" of
| that great New England coterle. is re-
markably vigorous and is today a fa-
miliar figure on Bostons streets. He
has outlived nearly all his famous con-
temporaries one OF the last to go being
DR.. Holmes, over whom he read the
burial service in 1894. Only two years
| previously, at the banquet and recep-
ton rendered by friends on Dr. Hale's
SEVENTEEN birthday, the witty author
| of THE one Hoss Shay" and other
| gems, himself then in his eighty third
| year. contributed a poem. i'm which.
with his peculiar style. he hit off his
! venerable" friends characteristics. 1t
| was entitled
THE LIVING DYNAMO.
| Re ours TO heed its lessons while we may:
Look up for light to guide our devious
| way.
/ Look forward bravely. look not weakly
/ The past is done with; mind the coming
track.
Look in with searching eye and courage
stout.
But when temptation comes, look out.
I Heaven grant all blessings time and earth
can give
TO him whose life has taught us how 20
live
! Tin on the golden dial OF the spheres
The twentieth century counts its gather
ing years
While many a birthday tells its cheerful
tale
And the round hundredth shouts: "All
haill All hail!
The witty DOCTOR" the ruling passion
strong TO the last, could not stay his
pen from perpetrating pun; but. this
defect aside, the poem Is an eloquent
tribute 10 the professor OF American
ISM" and all will echo the wish that he
may yet celebrate his round hun
dredth" birthday. and more-beat al
existing records for longevity.
TRUMAN l.. ELTON.
HAD EASY HOURS.