Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-06-22
HAWTHORNE'S
"FANSHAWE"


that he had made progress on ms nov CT
and within three years OF SItdu,atioh ~, ~
published 'Fanshawc; Il tale. l,is' lii
nrst romance, issued ahOiS iiou1iS rn,,a
at his own expense, he afterWaru slroVG
to suppress BY buying and burning an
the copies he could find. So well ana ne
succeed that any one OF the lew remain
ing will today DrIng its owner three OF
TOUR times the original cost OF the entirc
edition.
Half century after the publication of
tins book of his Doyhood Hawthorne
reputation as an author may be SAID TO
have become of age. This was marked,
perhaps. by the inclusion of him as the
only American i'll John Morleys we'll
ters, perhaps, by the republication of
TINS brief romance, so different from his
later novels, and yet prophetic OF them.
Az an events 'Fanshawe' has Tor a
complete edltlon OF his works; has
been, studied by those curious as to the
development of his rare literary genius:
and read by an increasing number of
those vino merely desire a story worth
their while. When these last chance to
be Bowdoin men, they are not Il little
perpieNed by such statements as The
sceEe of this tale is laid at Bowdoin;"
This, no doubt, is a reproduction of
Bowdoin;' or even the more guarded
EXPRESSION attributed to Longfellow.
mat the descriptions and general atmos-
phere Of the book suggest the situation
Oh ms Alma Mater. and of college days
within her walls. For, if they are hon
est with themselves. few will find Bruins
equivalent of the Harley College" of
the romance. The explana ton lies in
the fact that while Hawthorne is in no
sense a reaist, he is true 10 the life, of
the period he describes His characters
may be too shadoWy to be accurate; his
personaScs speak in his elegant English
rather than their own dialect: yet those
who knew them never fail to feel the
truth OF the portraiture. Since many of
the details of the scene, as well as most
incidents in the story, do not apply to
to mention few bits of local color that
doubtless meant much to the Class of
lS2J though urrecognizcd by the Bow
doin students of today.
The stream that takes its rise at a
short distance above the college, and
affords, along its wOod-fringed banks
many shady retreats, where even study
is pleasant. and idlencss delicious is the
one to which Hawthorne lovingly refers
in the dedication of THE Snow-Image.',
as that shadowy little stream which. |
s ,hpp' is still wandering river-ward
wanders. but in straight. artificial chan
nels, and with waters diminished that
, the colleGian no longer realizes it is IL
brock. passes silently beneath his feet as
he walks to the railway station. The
track of the iron horse and the growth
| of the village has sadly disturbed the
quiet retreat of the trout Only thirty
years since, the wild Gala. the pOgunia.
and the calopogon grew freely along the
sides of this rivulet between Maine and
Spring Streets, where it is now confined
by unSightly plankS.
1t was. however. farther on in its
course that the messy tree trunks and
the academic pines of earlier days shut
out the gimmer of its waters from all
save its friends and lovers. Then no
nigh railroad embankment had turned
and shortened its course to the river.
Only a short detour from its banks
brought one to the Paradise Spring of
| that day, favoritc spot for communing
with Nature. as well as for out-of door
gatherings of the undergraduates. Since
q grove of young oaks now flourishcs in
the neighborhood. we can conjecture that
still nearer the river stood the 'old bare.
oak tree" with the trout pool beneath
its roots. where Fanshawe and the hero
inc first met the mysterious and very
wicked villain of the story.
However this may be. their second
meeting was surely on the college cam
pus. 1t was in the Presidents garden
! IAN intermxturc. of kitchen and flower
garden. labyrinth of winding paths
| h"rd"red by hedges and impcded by
shrubbcry. Many Of the original trees
| the eXotics which the doctor had trans
planted thithcr." His house faced upon
Maine street. standing between the
Scarlcs Science Building and the Walker
Art Building The garden lay behind
it. and while lilac bushes and balm-of-
silcad trees are the only rNotics of which
| rose the Thorndike Oak, young tree
| in the nov"list's day. Near by and
connected with the Presidents home by
a plank walk stood tho wooden chanel.
| shown in the earliest picture of tho col
| lege. Here the heroin"'s numerous
admirers whose situation compelled them
to stand afar off. and gaze upon her love
Illness. as if she were n star who's bright
ness they saw. but whose warmth they
could not feel bcheld hor on III" Sab
baths when she worshipned with them.
mo student shall eat or drink in any
tavern unless in company with his par
| ent or guardian. nor shall he
frequent any tavern after being forbidden
by the President" In the catalogue
of Harley College that of tavern-haunt-
ing was one of the principal 'TIalc.
Hawthorne and Mcllon. fined ono dollar
each for being at a tavern on Saturday
night last" These quotations taken re-
Spectively from the college laws Of 49,
the novel. and the Faculty records. call
for some mention of tho strnctur" which
stood at that time in the northwest cor
n"r Of the present campus near tho Con
gregational Church. The novelist put
the time of his romance in the previous
century. and so alludcS only briefly to
the tavern of his day rs n house of two
stories whose "dnGy Wilderness and APP
parent supcrfluity of windows give 1t
Some what Of Il drcarv look. especially in
Il wet day" This New Inn still exists
as private residence. being that num-
h"rcd twentv-thrcc on Noble street, That
many dSSOtl'IipnS OF MS tbii'Sf nv N'It
connected with ii may he inferred hy the
prominent part its imaginary predecesS nr.
"Thc Hand and Bottle. plays in the
story. Even today beneath the leaning
elm that marks its site. one can without
difficulty picture mentally its GOODNESS in
summers heat when the trees swept the
roof with their long branches. and
seemed to create a breeze where there
was not one"
When "Fanshawe' was published,
Hawthornes acquaintance with the world
had been practically confined to his four
college years. Before. hoYhocd re-
markahly secluded: after, youth almost
mysterious in its aloofncsS from lie. lt
seems therefore. inevitable that those
whom he met during the period in which
he won his most intimate friends. li"ratio
Bridge and Franklin Pierce. should have
affected the characterization Of his ro-
nance. The passage describing the
change in the appearance of tho under
graduates of Harley College. as they
advanced in their course. has Justly been
quoted as drawn from his fellow collcgi-
ans. IL,
MANY n Bowdoin alumnus will wager
auy reasonable amount that TINS dcScrlp-
ton of one of the college bed-maKers was
true to life in every detail. the other
was short. squat figure. about two