The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-02-09
A Notable Autobiography in Letters

matte English which never leaves you in
any doubt as TO the authors meaning. So
fully do they cover the incidents of Miss
Susan Hale's life that they make up
fairly complete autobiography without
the need of any editorial annotations or
additions except such as are furnished in
the preface and introduction.
A Useful Introduction.
The introduction, by Edward f. Hale,
gives the reader an informing and SYM
pathetic comprehension of the attractive
personality which found such varied ex-
preston in these letters. To those now
living she was best known As the mistress
Of the delightful home at Matunuck in
the summer and us an enthusiastic tray
eller in the winter; but in the society of
Boston in the '70s she was brilliant
woman of the world in the best sense of
that term, with spirit of sympathy that
made young people always regard her as
one of themselves.
Mr.. Hale, in view of her varied rharac-
teriStics, admits that it is hard to say
Just what was the real Susan, but on the
whole he concludes that "the most real
Susan" was Susan by herself at Matunucli
in the moderated autumn, which we call
Indian summer. "Then she would swim
in the pond in tl, early morning. break
fast on the piazza. write her letters till
mail time, stroll about the hill with the
current cat, Geronimo, or some other, talk
with Louisa or Mr.. Franklin or Mr..
George, sit in the south window or on the
piazza and darn stockings over sort Of
small gourd, read THE Sun, make fire
in the evening and read a novel, out of
which she had torn the illustrations, and
go to bed at about s, humming the most
successful morning song of the week"
This, of course, is a picture belonging
to the second half of her life; she died in
1910, at the age Of II. 1t should be ex-
planned that she was very fond of cats
and, indeed, had invented a eat language,
in which to talk with them. Her "norn-
ing songs" which she used to sing to
herself, were also original.
The Amateur Naturalist.
The first letters in the present volume
were written in Boston and Brookline,
1913 to 1867. Some of these, and many
others, were illustrated by pen and ink or
pencil sketches, after the manner of
Thackeray. In a letter describing her
early school days, at school of seventy
pupils, where Jane Bra,ford's sister"
was one of the teachers, Susan attempts
to reproduce some of the pictures from
an admirable old text book, now rcmem-
bercd only by select few, Agassiz and
Goulds ZoolOgy. She had an evening les
son in zoology every day, except Monday
and Saturday, and was taught by the
great Prof. Gould himself. Evidently this
instruction did much toward making her
faunai naturalist; for years later, writ
ing to her sister about warm SIX mile
walk on an April afternoon, Susan gives
Lucretia the following list Of the animals
which she saw and heard:
"Saw one mud turtle, one purple lizard,
with yellow spots; 1000 squirrels, 1,lOO,-
900 birds and one dead snake
HHeard millions of bird, one phpbe,
one bird, very rare, name unknown;
20,0OO,O00 frogs, and 0 hylas.
II forgot to mention among Saws one
hepatica bud, very small smell one dozen
sk-k cabbagcS and no end of good
things"
The Great Storm of 81.
In the following January. the Great
Storm Of 1867 was the subject of long
letter to her brother, Charles Hale, then