Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-08-17

the French Catholic Church ia eiaboratelv
oedecked with bunting and Japanese lam
terms and the words "Bien Venue have been
placed with electric lights over the door.
Tor beloved priest landed In New York
last night from visit 10 his old home In
France and his parishioners have prepared
nearly welcome. l met a long procession
or little girls and boys In charge OF a
sWe't-'aced nun. who told me that they
were on their way To rehearse an original
hymn which had been written by "A local
poet for the occasion
amesbury is surrounded by farms with
big whit" houses and bigger barns Tho
people live simpe lives but are highly
educated and engage daily In the homrly
Sens SEEMS an experiences which whittier
loved TO describe The Merrmac river
- broad at Amcshury and used to be deep
IN carry da\s ships used to come lp from
me sea anu sailors who went out from
the place brought home many OF the tales
that Whittier put INTO verse Almost every
one OF his poems IS based upon or sug-
gested by legend or a local incident
Anti Marriage Contract.
Whittier was a bachelor. you know. and
lived with his sister Elizabeth who WIS
also poet and wrote pretty verses. some
or which are published with his In 1878
he entered into a compact with Theodore
ID. Weld. the intimate friend OF his boy
hood. that they would never marry. but
W eid violated the agreement "A few years
Grimke. beautiful Quakrress from South
Carolina. who had freed her slaves and
came north 10 join the abolitionists Whit
TIER wrote poem To celebrate that event.
as ne dld almost every other. and il closes
with these lines
The s'rnt never lifted hts eyes from the book
"h"n the tenipt"r appeared In the guIsc Of
But her voice WAS sweet that he yentured on.
And the devil reJoceei that the saint had proved
human.
Whittier had a romance In his early life
The reason he never married was that h,
could not have the wife he wanted In thu
garden room Of his cottage Is a minia
ture on ivory of beautiful young girl
Evalina Bray of Marblehead-who was IL
his class at the Haverhill Academy in 1871
He was nineteen and she was seventeen
when they became engaged. but the case
was hopeless from the first. Her family
were Puritans of the severest sect. while he
belonged to the gentle but positive clan Of
Quakers. who were just intolerant rs
the more demOnStrattve PreSbyterians The
latter were Quaker-baiters. while the for
mer considered II an objectionable sin to
marry outside OF the faith. In \. filters
case both families were uncompromising.
His father. mother and sister would never
have consented. while the Bray family were
equally opposed. Whittier never loved any
other woman. and among his relics
several articles that were associated with
her In his school days. The strength OF his
attachment may be measured thereby.
Devotees Are Welcome.
The yellow old house on School street. as
1t Is now called. In which he liveu from
1886 to 1892. is occupied by Mr. Samuel T.
Pickard. formerly editor Of the Portland
(Me.) Transcript, who married the niece
of the poet. She was his housekeeper after
the death of his sister Elizabeth. and his
heir Toward the latter end OF the poets
life Mr.. and Mrs. Pickard came to live
with him. Mr.. Pickard wrote his bogra-
ply and collected his scattered poems.
Their son, Greenleaf Whittier Pickard, Is
an electrical engineer OF reputation In Bos-
ton.
The lower part of the house is maintained
precisely as Whittier left II and Is always
open TO visitors. who are usually received
and entertained by Mr.. Pickard himself
They came to the number of about 300
last year, according Ia the register in which
they inscribe their names.
When he first came to Amesbury In july
1895, after his editorial experience at Hart
ford Whittier bought a four-room cottage
with an attic chamber. and an acre of land.
for which he paid 81 POO Four years later
he made a tour of the country with Joseph
Surge. an English philanthropist. who
having noticed his straltened circum-
stances, offered him loan In a most dell
cate way, which enabled him to add another
story and build an addition to the cottage,
which made him and his sister more COM
Portable. And 1t remains so until this day.