Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1907-12-14

Mrs. Harriet Blaine Beale. daughter Of
the late Hon. James G. Blaine, is the au-
from the Old Testament for Children
| published by putficld & Co Herbert
Moore and Roscoe Shrader. two young
pupils of Howard Pyle, have been Sc
The recent death of Mrs Mary j.
Holmes at the age of seventy-six has call
ed out deal of comment, large
! ly from those who have always looked
down from superior heights upon the many
novels which this writer composed during
her long life. says Il writer in The Book
man for December. 1t was as far back as
1854 that she wrote her first book. TEN
pest and Sunshine" and since then she
did novel nearly every year. their net
circulation being reported as more than
! two million copies. Here is a concrete
fact viii II is very interesting. More
seasons OF popularity-often meteoric-and
then they have passed out of rccollec-
ton; but the public to which Mrs. Holmes
appealed was faithful to her until the
very end. Mrs. Holmes as a young wom-
| an taught district-school anu hers
was the point of view of many millions
whose education and experience are limit
ed to the country village and the snail
town. She thought as they thought
and she wrote the sort of thing which
they could best appreciate. She gave as
as Thackeray and Meredith ever gave to
theirs. Her art was simple and her etfi-
cal code was not complicated by sophis-
! try. She rewarded virtue and punished
vice in the good old-fashioned way, which
the ma iority of human beings thoroughly
approve. Slightly didactic her teaching
was. after all, the sort of teaching which
endWeS; and with ner. no less than with
| Aristotle, art was linked with fundamcn-
tai morality. There Is always some writ
er of this sort. usually d woman, who
may be neglected by critics or even
rocked at by the supercilious, but who.
nevertheless, goes straight to the heart
and conscience of the average untutored
man ard woman. The literary school
of Mrs. Holmes was earlier represented
by Miss Susan Warner. VINO was born i'll
1878 and who wrote The Wide. Wide
WCrlu." in 1851. This is one of the novels
which publishers long rejected, but which
when it appeared. swept over the reading
public rresistiby. Perhaps TO one reads
is now. for it is even more old-fashioneed
it's day it was translated into French Ger
man and Swedish and it is said to have
book next to Uncle Toms Cabin Miss
) Warmers second novel, 'Qucechy." which
appeared in 1852, was almost as popular;
and she continued writing until 1865.
Charles Garvice. the author of The
Gold in the Gutter" is writing book
20 be published under the title OF The
mote moorand district in North Devon
England, owns several farms. is president
Of the Landowners and Farmers Assecia-
list and lecturer runs his own home farm
Of fifty acres Mr. Garvice has recently
written of his home: We are so remote
as to be nine miles from the railway
station many OF the village folk have
never seen railway train: we are exact
~ 14o years behind the rest OF the world
For some time past I have been worried
bv the desire to write book, sort Of
Il country book which should give an
account not only of my farming eXper-
fences hut Of the life one leads III spot
so far from the maddeninG crowd. The
title If this hook when it is finished will
| he "a Farm in Greenland.
MlS NJ c. NJ Simpson. who died re-
rantlv in England, remembered seeing
| through her nursey window Cobbett
working in his garden. and OLD Ta!ley-
rand with white. pOmatimed hair. limp
ing around the square. She danced with
the youthful John Stuart Mill. was petted
| by Sir ThCmas Lawrence and ron7ed
| with " hatcly ard sydney Smith. She saw
much IF Thackerav. and calling one day
| to take him to Il dinner pal ty she heard
him say wait few minutes TIL l have
| killed her The cher" was Helen Pen
dennis. As they drove through CuZon
street he said sudderN. Look at that
| small house: that is where Becky died
and I lost a hundred pounds"