The Washington herald., 1912-06-30

was appointed surveyor Of the Salem
custom-hOuse.
story of "ScarIet Letter.
During his tenure Of ONCE he wrote
the first part OF The Scarlet Letter "
One evening James T. Fields. the pub
Usher. called on him. and during the
course OF his visit offesed to assume the
risk on the publication OF any book
which the author might present. Haw-
thorne insisted that he had written moth
ing for some time. and that he had no
book TO offer
You might as well take your manu-
script from out that bureau drawer"
said FIELDS. for must be going in fve
minutes"
It was just a chance shot, but it hit
the mark squarely. Little did Fields
suspect that there was any manuscript
in that bureau drawer. but Hawthorne
looked perplexed and wondered at the
apparent omniscience Of the publisher.
Fields started down the stairs to leave,
when Hawthorne rushed after him and
thrust a manuscript into his hand. II
was the first part OF The Scarlet Let
ter" The publisher read Il over that
evening on a railroad train, and was so
impressed with il that he wrote Haw
thorne at once that the book would make
.
that the production. which was devel
oped as a short story. be expanded into
a romance Of larger proportions This
was at once done and the book was pub
lished with the result that more than
5000 copies were sold in the first ten
days. It was Hawthorne's chef doeuvre.
After writing The Snow Image" Haw-
thorne moved to LenOx. Mass, in pur-
suit Of seClusion. He wrote The
while there. For a year and a half he
lived in a little red house in Lenox. but
he soon grew weary Of the hills and
longed for a home near the mournful sea. !
So in 1S52 he again moved to Concord, !
occupying a great old house, called The
Wayside,'' opposite the home Of Emer- |
son.
Made Consul Mt Liverpool.
Franklin Pierce. Hawthorue's college !
friend. was elected President, and the |
author was at once appointed consul at |
Liverpool He spent five years at the |
consulate. The work was far from con- |
genial to a man Of his temperament He
did not mingle in society nor confer with /,
England's great Iiterati. as other Amer !
lean consuls with literary ability had !.
done before him. After leaving England !
he travelled for two years IN France and /
Italy. His literary nature was nourished |
by the beauty OF Italy, and ii was there
that he wove the plots OF a score of /
stories, which were prevented from be- /
ing developed by the death Of the author. |
He lived in a grand old residence at 1
Florence, which was we'll suited TO fur
nish the atmosphere for the type OF tales |
in which Hawthorne delighted. During /
the time the author was at the mansion /
he did not succeed in exploring all OF |
the labyrinthine passages and remote |
chambers OF the old Florentine castle. It 1
was in Italy that Hawthorne collected |
the material for his Marble Faun'
Hawthorne returned to the United /
States at the beginning Of the civil war
He was beginning to decline in health,
and he took the part of a lOOker-on rather
than an actor. Our Old Home" was his
last work. It was dedicated TO his firm
friend. President Pierce. The DoIllver
Romance was begun in The Atlantic
but the death of Hawthorne
brought the story to a sudden termina-
ton. It may be said that Hawhorne's
literary life ended in 1864 In May Of
that year he went with Pierce on a car
rage drive through the White Mountains
in an attempt to regain his health
On May IS they stopped at a small |
hotel in Plymouth. n. H. Pierce and
the great author went to bed II was
the latter's last sleep. During the night
Hawthorne drifted into the other world
In his slumbers. Pierce awoke at .
o'clock in the morning and noticed that
Hawthorne was apparently sound asleep
At o'clock he again noticed the author.
and his attention being attracted by the
death-like appearance OF Hawthorne'sl
face and the rigidity of his body he
felt the author. The body was cold
At the time Of his death Hawthorne
was writing 'Septimius FELTON," The
was placed In the casket with