Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1914-09-04

LA Slroyeu lne WnOle OF tne
Il "a manufacturing section of Sa
lem, Mass, there still sits the
ancient city dreaming long dreams of
a historic past.
More and more, as the years slip
by, Hawthorne comes to be the pre-
siding genius of Salem, and reverend
pilgrims in increasing numbers come
back to seek the few abiding traces of
his life there; and though they go to
Gallows hill and also view the relies
OF the old merchants and their por-
traits and the pictures of their ships
they go first to the house where Haw-
thorne was born. to the other where
he lived and worked, and to the sleepy,
dignified old custom house from whose
drab duties grew the strange flower
OF weird romance. II may be that out
OF the Ghettos and Warsaws which
now surround The old custom house
will come again as great merchants
as once dwelt there. or as great a
writer OF romance as he who worked
on its Scared old wooden desk, now
preserved with such care In the Essex
institute, but one may be pardoned for
having his doubts.
Madness Of Hltcheraft.
Never again, the world surely hopes,
can come upon pioneer people SO
mysterious n madness as the Salem
witchcraft delusion, yet In it were set
the roots Of temperament which made
Hawthorne what he was. Its gruesome
mystery seems to brood in all he wrote
and one cannot visit the haunts and
the scenes OF its terror today without
feeling some atmosphere of II still hov.
ering the place. Hawthorne's ancestor
sat in Judgment over the witches, and
Judge Hawthorne. invisible indeed but
grimly unlocking, seems to me to pre-
side over many tale which he wrote
AS relentless fate Knocked the witches
while 1t gripped them and killed them
with trivialities. so It does the char
acters in Hawthorne's stories. nor in
the progress of events is there room in
the tale. In the one case or the other
for the saving grace of humor. From
Hawthorne to Hawthorne came the
somber impress of the days of witch
finding.
The spring sun and the spring rain
fell alike gently on Gallows hill, yet
II stands bare and wind-swept today
as II did when the witches met their
fate there, as II stood since the gla
Tiarq prntfnh u l.
many thousand years ago The tough
rock Of which II was built shows every
where the traces Of the fires which
melted and reset II In its present
form. Its twist and coloration burnt
into II as the story OF the deeds
wrought on its summit is scared into
the annals OF old Salem town. Here
and there on Its fantastic lodges one
sees zigZag marks struck pale as II
lightning had welted the tormentet
stone and left the impress OF its sud
den anger there. The softening years
can do little with this rock. A curse
far older than that OF the witch find
Ing has set its seal upon the height
and though the gentle things OF earth
strive patiently to ameliorate the evi
dence. they do little to wipe out the
bleakness Of the place. The green Of
spring grasses climbs patiently towart
the topmost ledges, indeed. and draws
with 1t the gold OF potentilla and the
white of wild strawberry bloooms
Dandelions set the round image OF the
sun in sheltered places. and little lila,
consultations Of bluets star the moist
er spots down the slope, but the bar
rem soil Is too shallow and the summer
turns all these TO brown garment o
sorrowful sackcloth and sprinkles /
with the gray ashes Of drought
Salems golden days began a cen
tury or more after the witchcraft dc
lusion had burnt TO ashes In the fur,
OF its own FIRE Certainly the descend
ants of the men who feared the devi
and his emssarles feared little else
He might be formidable dancing n
night with withered crones on Tn
weird hills OF Salem pastures, but the
laughed I'm his face when he came o
the high seas with shotted guns an
foreign sailors outnumberlhg thei
own guns and crews two TO one. The
beat the devil and they outgenerale
him. those Salem sailors OF the se,
enteen hundreds. whether he came /
English privateer or French man.o
war or a score OF feluccas or PIRATES
junks. and they brought great trea
ures home TO Salem town. They eI
Dlored uncharted sens, visited port