The sun., 1913-11-16

editors, read it aloud to the others, one
of them exclaimed;
"Ah, Phillips, YOU have been imposed
upon-no one on this side Of the At
lantic could write such vcrscs,' But
with "Thanatopsis" true poetry had
come to America. 1t was the soul utter
ance OF youth Of 1.-THE most famous
thing written by one of that age in our
| land-and 1t is read to-day with rev.
| ercnt carncStness
| Bryant was in Williams College for
less than year and then was honorably
dismissed. He would have entered Yale,
hut DR.. Bryant was unable to pay
tuition bills; SO rcgretfully his son took
up the study Of law and worked very
hard In order to support himself as soon
as possibl. and in 1915 he War admitted
to the bar.
Whittier-land ncstles in the valley Of
the Merrmac, from the granite hills to
where the lower river seeks the ocean
at Newburyport, and on Its broad.
smooth current" Havcrhill
"over,ooks on either hand
4 rich and many watered land"
Three miles beyond this hill city.
little back from the highway, stands
tho primitive Whittier homestead.
hardly altered from the olden day. In
it is shown the room where on De-
cember II. 1907. the quaker poet" first
saw the light. The mothers bedroom
remains with linen and blankets woven
by her own hand.
The great fireplace in the kitchen is
almost as large as modern kitchcnette
In this swings the crane and pendent
trammcl." and never has New England
kitchen been SO hallowed by poetic
touch. For ii was in this "old, rude
furnished room" many years after Whit
tier had left his early home that he
stretched "thc hands of memory forth"
and gathered the household, and as the
freight illumined their faces he threw
upon the screen the picture Of the
family group and this he presented to
the world in Snow Bound" n perfect
poem of New England winter life.
Mr.. Garrison, "thc lion hearted cham
pion Of freedom" interested his young
friend in the anti-slavcry question that
for many years before the civil war
agitated the country, and the poet of
| "brotherly love" was born with such a
spirit of "brothcry rights" that he
threw himself heart and soul into the
| conflict.
1t was in 1888 that he openly consc-
Grated himself to the cause to which he
gave the best years of his life. In these
times of turmoil he drifted into journal
ism in Boston, Hartford, Philadelphia
and Washington. He became secretary
and Journalist for the "Anti-Slavery So
ciety" in Philadelphia. His office was
sacked and burned and here and in
other cities he was several times
bounded and mobbed.
He was poor until his masterpiece,
nSnowbound," appeared In 1866, and
this-his heart inspiration brought him
large returns. The world read and hon
ored this charming winter idyl 1t was
in the same year that Harvard College
bestowed upon him an LII. ID.
/ Ralph Waldo Emerson was the most
famous OF the transcendcntalists and
in his day Americas greatest philoso-
phcr. and he came naturally by his
learning. for he had an ancestry of
seven or eight generations of preachers.
The father. n scholarly man, was settled
over Boston parish when Ralph was
born. and although the child was sent
almost at once to DANES school his
father dcplored that. at 3. he could not
read very well. The little fellow was
extremely gentle, and We may imagine
that he was inculcated with high moral
standards.
Ralph was hut 3 when his father died,
and he always remembered with pride
the stately funeral, mt which the
Ancient and Honorable Artillery cs-
corted the body Of their late chaplain to
the grave; and the child had other
memories too. and these were Of pow
erty and self -denial--of sharing his
brothers overcoat, so that In winter he