The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-06-01

meantime two distinct civilizations
developed. Unde influences climatic
and social, n the system Of slave
labor, the Southern States were agrl-
cultural, and like agricultural races
M patriarchal communities generally,
they chung closely to their traditions
and local institutions.'
It is certainly gratifying to find a
leading Northern paper and an emf
nent Northern man Of gifts so agreed
in reference to the actual conditions
and obligations of the two opposing
sections. 1t is to be hoped that with
more enlightment and true dictiOn to
what is right and fair and just that
the North as we'll as our highly ia
vored Southland shall become more
united and fairer and ulster in con-
sidering the great principles involved
in the tremendous war.
For a half century I have been a
reader and great admirer of Nathan
iel Hawthorne. He impresSes me as
the greatest genius in fiction that u
country possesses. l have so thought
through the decades Of New England's
truly great writer in fiction, and time
has not changed or abated my admlra-
ton of the foremost writer in the
North in the realm of the novel. l
have long felt that in style and ere
atiVe power he had no equal among
American authors. The more | have
read him and the fuller that | have
comprehended him the greater has
been my admiration and delight. He
vas not only a great stylist but q most
original writer. When you learn the
man, how he was reared, and with
what humilfations the greater your
SI1rnrjCa a nd tho infaocnr 1vn,,r n n ~ ira
ton of his superb inventive powers.
No man can read Understandings his
first prOductiOns-.The House of the
Seven Cables" The Scarlet Letter."
The Blithedale Romance" The
Twice Told Tales without admiration
and delight. They are indeed produc-
tons of a higher grade both as to in
vention. originality and style. As has
been said of him by a bishop-critic in
1871. the beauty of his language and
the rich qaintness of his humOr possess
irresistible attractions. It is a fact that
among the foremost writers of Eng
land in the last forty years some of
his greatest admirers are found. ]
think over some of the most receptive
and positive of his Interpreters and
admirers are found among the writer's
CT fiction. Several years ago a highly
readable and admirable article on
Hawthorne was written by Mrs. Tun-
phrey Ward, then probably the best
of female novelists in Great Britain.
as she is still estimated now. She wrote
a paper on Hawthorne for the then
much-read The Cornhil Magazine"
| that acute, very entertaining and salts
flying. The discussion was awakening
and penetrating. She pointed
out the disadvantages attend
ing the early life Of Hawthorne
and the Instructions hat lay in his
| course. She showed the disadvant-
n of hic rno1ino for q broad ON
prehension Of the world of letters, and
yet how he ~triumphed. She particu-
larry dwelt upon the wonderful pas
| sage" in The House of the Seven
Gables which reversed 50 admirably
the romantic temper of Hawthorne.
She writes with fascination of the
many extraordinary pictures or de-
scriptionS in the great novel as else
whereof the grim vengeance of
Roger Chillingworth; the appearance
rious prosecutor; that swift murder
on the Tarpein rock; Hilda's confess
! son in ST. Peters,: and a hundred
more-nOt to speak of such things as
Roger Malvin's Burial or THE Am
bilious Guest or "Rappacini's Daugh-
ter" each of them a romantic mas
terprise which may match with any
other of a similar kind from the first
or second generation of the European
Romantics. Surprise, invention, mys-
terry, a W~ide-ranging command, now
of awe, horror, and magnificence. and
now of a grace, half-toned and gentle
as a Spring day, combined with that
story %teller's which is the
gift of the gods alone-these things
We shall find in Hawthorne, just as
We fine them-Some or all of them
IN Hugo or Musset, in Gautier or
Merimee.
Now the mystery, the wonder is
that n reared and educated under
the surroundings Of the greatest New
England novelist should have devel-
oped into such a marvellous creator
and stylist. a mar Of marvellous pow
ers and originality. She shows how
great the advantages of eminent au-
thors like Hugo, and others IN
! the past. Of Hugo's younth and