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THE SUXDAT OREGOXIAX,. PORTLAND. JULY 18, 1909,
MASTERS OF ENGLISH WHOSE GIFTS DIED WITH THEM
Edward Waldo' Emerson, Son of Ralph Waldo .
Emerson, U Not a Literary Figure, But the
Village Physician of Concord, Mass. His In
teresting Recollections of. Thoreau and Haw
thorne. Owner of the Woods Made Famous
by Thoreau.
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ID it ever occur to you that all the
great American masters of English
mho were famous in the middle and
the later years of the last century are to
day remembered only by their books or
Dther literary work?
At first thought It -would seem as if the
children of men or women who have
Ruined great fame as writers of fiction or
other literature would be likely to main
tain their reputation. The Brest lawyers
almost always bequeath their professional
success to their sons. Some of the most
succesful doctors of this day were the
eons of physicians and surgeons who
were famous a generation ago. So, too.
the bankers and men of finance as a
general thing find some one of their sons
capable of taking up their work.
But It is a fact that, with one or two
exceptions, not one of the men who were
regarded as the groat American masters
of English of 40 or 50 years ago is repre
sented now by any child or grandchild in
such a way as to make it possible to say
that his son or daughter Inherited great
literary abilities.
To American youths this fact is inter
esting and of value, because tt shows that
there is no family favoritism which wins
literary distinction for anyone. The hum
blest born American, boy or girl, hes even
retter promise, apparently, of gaining
fame or fortune or xth as a writer than
have the children of the men and wo
men who have succeeded as American
authors.
Probably If the question were asked,
"Who today is the most famous of the
American authors of a generation or two
ago?" PA out of 100 Americans would an
swer. 'Ralph Waldo Emerson, of course."
Kmerson"s home life at Concord, Mass.,
ought to have developed literary instinct
In any one who was brought up in that
atmosphere, if the literary gift was in
born. But of the children of Ralph Waldo
Emerson who arrived at mature years
only ne seems to have inherited, and he
in a slight degree, the literary gift which
has given to Ralph Waldo Emerson the
nsht to he named in the list of im
mortals. This child, the youngest son.
Edward 'Waldo, prepared the biography
of his father and one or two other works,
and he has written not a few magazine
articles. But they have won him no no
ticeable literary fame, and in Concord he
Is perhaps best known as the village phy
sician. Dr. Kmerson Interesting Personality
Dr. Emerson Is a most interesting per
sonality not only for himself, but by rea
son of his boyhood association with sev
eral of the most famous literary person
ages of the last century. Born In 1844,
in his childnood he was often spoken of
as a singularly attractive boy. He
charmed every ont who was brought In
onta.-t with him. He was an especial
pet of Henry David Thoreau. who. In
little Waldo's Infancy, was a member of
Ralph Waldo Emerson's family: and be
cause of certain childhood tendencies
every one predicted for him a literary
career which would be sure to equal
in its achievements the great triumphs
gained by his father as an essayist and
poet.
But little Waldo Emerson was not to
become a man of literature. When he
was preparing for college it became evi
dent that he was of a scientific turn of
mind. There is recollection of a great
snow cavern and a tunneled passage
umier the snow leading to the remoter
end. in which he. as a child, pi. iced a
lantern: and the story runs that Thoreau
discovered the boy studying peculiar op
tical or prismatlc effects of the lantern
light, whose rays feebly penetrated the
snow crystals. So. too, other little hints
were constantly furnished by the youth,
telling of an intellectual power that dif
fered from that of his father, and was
strongly In the direction of science. He
was sent to Harvard College, and. aftor
graduation, studied medicine. He re
turned to Concord to take up its prac
tice, and to -ns day his familiar doctor's
carriage may be seen making the rounds
of visits among his patients.
To the stranger who goes to Concord on
historic or literary pilgrimage. Dr. Emer
son is sure to be pointed out by his fellow
townsmen as he drives about the town:
and In the course of a twelve-month
many out-of-town persons make Concord
their destination especially to chat with
the iltor about his father, about Na
tt.antel Hawthorne and about Louisa M.
AK-ott. who wrote "fjttle Women" in a
bouse almost directly across the street
from the Emerson home. And within the
last few years many inquiries have been
put to Dr. Emerson concerning Henry
Thoreau, one of the most original men
who ever lived. Thoreau's writings, by
the way. are now so eagerly sought and
highly recognized that the publishers a
year or two ago issued an edition of his
works said to have been the most ex
pensive and beautiful edition of the works
of any American author ever published.
Dr. Emerson la now the owner of the
Walden Woods, made famous by
Thoreau: and he Is also the owner of
the cleared patch of land adjacent to
these woods which Thoreau has immor
talized in his famous chapter, "My Bean
Field. " contained in his masterpiece,
"Walden."
Thoreau and Hawthorne.
When Dr. Emerson was little Waldo,
beloved of every one, and especially of
Thoreau, he often was taken to these
woods to see the place and hut where
Henry Thoreau lived in solitude for two
years. It is one of the most famous in.
cidents connected with the life of any
American master of English. Thoreau
borrowed an ax of Bronson Alcott. Louisa
M. Alcott's father, and went into these
woods to clear a place for a cabin. He
built a single room cottage entirely with
his own hands, and gathered about It
group of men, who afterward became
noted, to help him in his house-raising.
Among mem were Dr. K lerson's father.
George William Curtis and Bronson Al-
cott.
Across the highway from these woods is
a weird forest, with intertangllng limbs
and strange, mysterious ravines. Through
these woods Thoreau and Hawthorne, and
often young Waldo Emerson, used to
pass by a romantic path from Walden
Pond to the village street of Concord.
Her Hawthorne planned many of his
Tanglewood Tales," for this was Tan-
glewood. Dr. Emerison knows every foot
of these woods, and is able to tell some
of the traditions associated with them
which inspired various Hawthorne tales.
Eventually Thoreau's hut became fa
mous, both in this country and in Eng
land, and many are the pilgrimages made
by those who are interesteu In Thoreau's
career to the spot where it stood. Fre
quently Dr. Emerson drives a visitor to
this place. The hut is gone, but the
foundations which Thoreau dug are still
there. They have, however, been filled
In with stones and pebbles brought from
the shores of Walden Pond by admirers
of Thoreau and of Ralph Waldo Emerson
as welL One by one these pebbles and
small stones have been placed upon that
spot until at last a calm, some 12 feet in
height and pyramidal in shape, stands
over the spot which Thoreau's famous
hut once occupied.
As he points out the site of the hut to
his friends. Dr. Emerson is able to tell
them from personal knowledge what be
came of the hut. When he was a little
boy it was bought by a Concord family,
placed upon wheels and dragged by oxen
ta a remote part of the town. For years
thereafter It was used by its purchaser
as a tool house, and thus a famous liter
ary relic was lost to America.
The admirer of Hawthorne, as well as
the lover of Emerson or Thoreau, when
he goes to Concord should not fail to call
on Dr. Emerson and chat with him about
Hawthorne, if a visit can be arranged.
Dr. Emerson knew the author of "The
Scarlet Letter" well. He was a lad in
college, or Just out of college, when Haw
thorne made for a second time his home
at Concord. His first home was the old
parsonage so long occupied by Dr. Emer
son's maternal grandfather. From the
windows of that parsonage the clergy
man saw the fight at Concord Bridge, the
first battle of the American Revolution.
When Hawthorne dwelt in this house he
named it the "Old Manse." and that title
he gave to his book. "Mosses from an
Old Manse." But at the time Hawthorne
lived there Waldo Emerson was a little
boy.
When Hawthorne returned to Concord
he rented a house that had long been oc
cupied by Bronson Alcott. and behind
which stood the latter's famous grove of
philosophy. Many times In his youth and
college days Waldo Emerson wandered
through this grove, and he afterward
watched with keen Interest the cupola
like structure which Hawthorne caused to
be built on the roof of the house. There
Hawthorne wrote many of his tales, col
lected afterward in hie book called "'Tales
of a Wayside Inn." In person Dr. Emer
son somewhat resembles his father, al
though he is somewhat stouter and not
quite so tall.
Lincoln's Ability Not Handed Down.
Though the popular mind has never
clearly classified him as such, it is unde
niably true that Abraham uncom was
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The Descendants of "Ik Marvel,- Henry Ward'
Beecher, John G. Saxe and George William'
Curtis Took to Business, Law or Medicine. Not'
Literature, The Extinction of Lincoln's Mar
velous Literary Expression. Elizabeth Stuart
Phelps Ward. the.NotahleException. ,
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English of the 19th century. At the time of
his centenary, last February, al
most every prominent man and woman
who made addresses or wrote In com
memoration of the event dwelt on Lin
coln's amazing gift for literary expres
sion. James Russell Lowell called Lin
coln's Gettysburg address the one Ameri
can literary production which would last
through the ages. John Hay. who was
Lincoln's private secretary, thought the
second inaugural even surpassed, at least i
tn pathos and in exqulMte English, the
Gettysburg address. Today there is no
one living who Inherited Lincoln's remark
able literary power, although twice nts
Intimates were led to hope that tt would
show itself In another generation.
When Robert T. Lincoln entered Har
vard College. Just before Abraham Lin
coln came to the Presidency, it was
thought bv his friends in Springfield, Til..
that the young man might have Inherited
much of hl father's gift for literary ex-
nresslon. But In Harvard Robert Lincoln
was chieflv known as the son of the Pres-
ldrent. althougn a few of his college mates
were convinced that he could nave gained
rood olace among American writers had
he cultivated a latent talent for writing".
But young Lincoln preferred a life of
activity, and war naturally attracted him
first.
General Joshua L. Chamberlain usea to
tell an anecdote of young Lincoln's ap
pearance in the last years of the Civil
War as an aide de camp upon the staff
of General Grant. The orncers Keenly
scrutinized him when he first came to
the front to see whether or not the son
of Abraham Lincoln had any of the physi
cal characteristics that distinguished his
father. They could find none, nor did
they discover any other attribute, mental
or temperamental, which at any time sug
gested that he was tne son oi Aoranam
Lincoln. Even then he showed a tend
ency to stoutness of physique: his face
was full, while his father's was always
narrow, with prominent, high cheekbones.
Rut closer intimacy with the young man
-revealed to his fellow officers that he did
possess his father s sense or numor ana
something of his father's ability to tell an
anecdote. '
After the war young Lincoln, wno nan
married the daughter of one of the great
war Senators of Iowa, James Marian, set
one of the great American masters of j tied in Chicago. It seemed to every one
that he would be a patient, plodding law.
yer, submitting to much drudgery. He
had much of his father's capacity for in
finite patience. But he was almost for
gotten, or at least overlooked, when at
last General Garfield brought him prom
inently before the public by appointment
as Secretary of War.
When Mr. Lincoln, then only 38 years
old. walked into the War Office at Wash
ington, to take command where he had
.formerly seen his father's great war Sec
retary, Edward M. Stanton, in complete
authority. It seemed to the young lawyer
almost as If he were dreaming. As a
Cabinet member he was of such modest
demeanor and apparently so disposed to
"retirement and inconspicuousnees, that it
soon was almost forgotten that the son
of Abraham Lincoln was serving as Sec
retary of War. He was the only member
of General Garfield's Cabinet who served
throughout the Administration of Presi
dent Arthur.
Today, as the country pretty generally
knows, Mr. Lincoln is head of the coun
try's sleeping car corporation, and his
entire career demonstrates the usual rule,
that the sons of great men or women of
notable literary achievement as a general
thing, succeed better In some other voca
tion. But though Robert T. Lincoln did
not Inherit the unsurpassed literary
ability of his father. It was the fond
belief of all who knew his son. Abra
ham Lincoln, tnat the lad. when he
reached mature years, would become
one of the great American masters of
English. The boy was the only one
who remained to carry the name of
Abraham Lincoln to future generations.
When in England he was under private
tutors and received other careful in
struction. He was very fond of read
ing. He also had inherited his grand
father's great muscular strength. In
his features he somewhat resembled the
great President- It was said of the
boy that he took, as the saying is, from
his grandfather's side rather than from
his grandmother's side. But In the third
year of his father's residence abroad
Abraham Lincoln, then in his 14th year,
was taken ill and after a brief illness
died. With his death the Lincoln name,
so far as future generations are con
cerned, became extinct.
Henry Ward Beecher, who so ably I
supported Lincoln and the Union cause
during the Civil War, is better known
to fame as an orator than a writer.
Still, he was a big literary character.
His Star Papers were very popular, and
he wrote one novel. "Norwood," for
which he received $25,000. But he trans
mitted none of his literary gifts to his
children. One of them, William C.
Beecher, is today a lawyer in Brooklyn.
He Is careful, plodding and fairly suc
cessful, but never in any address made
by him to a jury or court has he re
vealed the slightest spark suggesting
the literary and elocutionary powers
which distinguished his father.
This son also differs materially from
his sire in physical characteristics.
Henry Ward Beecher was short and
thick-set, with large expressive eyes
and a very mobile mouth, and he wore
his hair long, brushing it back straight
from the temples over his head. Will
iam C. Beecher .is tall, somewhat angu
lar, rather slow of movement, sharp
featured, keen-eyed and without that
unusual ruddy complexion which dis
tinguished his father. In fact, when
Henry Ward Beecher was 70 years old
it was said of him that he had the com
plexion of a boy of 15.
One of the greatest admiralty law
yers America ever has known was
William Allen Butler. His father wa
a great lawyer, and served as Attorney-General
of the United States in
the Cabinet of Martin Van Buren. But
William Allen Butler was better known
to the public of his day in fact,
exclusively known to it as the
writer of the famous ballad en
titled "Miss Flora McFlimpsy, or Noth
ing to Wear." His literary gift was very
great. Had he chosen literature instead
of the law as a profession he would have
gained a permanent reputation. His son,
William Allen Butler, Jr., was a constant
companion of his father, but did not in
herit the literary gift..' Of if he did he
permitted it to be undeveloped. He is a
quiet, inconspicuous but successful law
yer in New Torta-City.
To this day the name of John G-. Saxe
1s familiar to many who are fond of the
delicious humor in the poetry which gave
Mr. Saxe a national reputation in the
mid-years of the last century. He was of
Vermont birth, afterward living in Al
bany, and in his later years was a citizen
of Brooklyn. His children did not inherit
either his literary capacity or his sense of
humor, or at least the ability to make use
of humor in literature. Instead, the
grandson who bears his name, John God
frey Saxe, Is an industrious young law
yer of New York City. He was graduated
at the Columbia Law School in the class
of 1900, and is an especially serious man
nered young man. He is gradually gain
ing good recognition for ability as a law
yer, not because of any ability as a writer
or advocate, but because of the conscien
tious thoroughness of his work.
One of the most graceful writers among
Americans of his time, the atmosphere of
the home life of George William Curtis
on Staten Island was almost exclusively
! literary. In association with his father
and Theodore . Winthrop (the first New
York State officer to be killed In the Civil
War), who had gained fame as a writer at
that time, Francis Shaw Curtis, the only
son of George William Curtis, passed his
early childhood. If a literary atmosphere
and association with a distinguished
writer could have stimulated a gift for
literature, the boy Curtis should have
early revealed capacity of that kind. But
he, like young Waldo Emerson, seemed
disposed toward science. 'In his boyhood
and throughout his college career he was
studious, reserved, not particularly at
tracted to literature, but an enthuiastic
student of science. He became a physi
cian and has practiced medicine in one
of the suburbs of Boston. k
A few months ago Donald G. Mitchell
("Ik Marvel") died at the age of 86 years,
knowing well that it was in his books
and the gentle traditions associated with
his romantic writings that he was to be
known to posterity, and not through any
literary achievement of his children. To
the people of New Haven It used to be a
great treat to see Mr. Mitchell driving
into town behind a patient, faithful,
serious-minded nag that jogged leisurely
along,- not needing any reins to control
him. Nor did Mr. Mitchell have much
opportunity to use reins, being busily oc
cupied with his children. They were upon
his knees, by his side and sometimes sit
ting upon the floor of the carriage a
merry, rollicking group of girls and boys,
ranging fim 8 or 4 years of age to 15.
It naturally would have been surmised
that among these children one would in
herit his father's charming literary gift.
But no. The hoys all became business
men and one of the sons was associated
with the artist, Louis C. Tiffany, in the
manufacture of stained glass and em
blazonries. -
But while It is true that most all the
sons and daughters of our great literary
personages of the last century have failed
to follow in their footsteps, there are a
few exceptions to the general rule, but
very few. And of this small company
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward is the most
noted, because she is the most excep
tional, her literary fame being even
greater than was that of her father in
his particular day and generation.
Persons whose memories go back to
the late 60s will doubtless recall that at
that time there appeared a little cook
called "The Gates Ajar." Within a month
after It was published everybody who
read was talking of lt Its audacity, as
well as the brilliancy of Its writing,
brought to' it universal attention. The
writer had gone so far as to describe the
playing of a piano In Heaven. "Who is
it who has dared to write a book of this
kind?" every one asked. Very pious
people were extremely doubtful about the
propriety of it. But it soon became known
that the author was the daughter of a
clergyman, a young woman, only a little
past 20 years of age, end In her daily
life was as religious, although not always
as conventional, as any Puritan descend
ant could be.
She was Elizabeth Stuart Phelps. Her
father was a distinguished clergyman and
professor in the Andover Theological
Seminary- A mere word that he was to
preach in Boston or in New York was
sufficient to fill the church within which
he was to preach. He was one of the
great literary forces of his time, although
his literary work was confined entirely to
subjects relating to his professional ca
reer, theology and the Christian religion.
Almost In a day Elizabeth Stuart
Phelps became famous. At that time a
neighbor, a young woman of about her
own age. had also gained great fame
as a writer. This was Louisa M. Alcott.
Miss Phelps and Miss Alcott were not in
timate, although a pleasant acquaintance
ship was established between them. Both
lived in what are really the suburbs of
Boston, Miss Phelps at Andover and Miss
Alcott at Concord. Miss Alcott's "Little
Women" and Miss Phelps' "Gates Ajar"
were the literary sensations of the years
1868 and 1869. Both books were chance
ventures. Miss Alcott wrote her story
upon the suggestion of a friend who was
a publisher, although he did not outline
the story as she planned it. Miss Phedps
wrote her story upon her own inspira
tion, and, as Charlotte Bronte did with
"Jane Eyre," caused it to be sent to a
publisher who knew nothing of her.
College Tribute to Miss Phelps.
The Summer of the year that her first
book was published Miss Phelps attend
A im enTnmpneement exercises at Yale
College. Her brother, Moses Stuart
Phelps, was a member of the graduating
. T., ain't- rtlH chHTiel WSA
thronged on the hot commencement Sun
day afternoon by students who were to
hear the baccalaureate sermon of the
venerable president, Theodore Woolsey.
The galleries, which were almost with
in hand's reach of the rafters, so high
were they, were packed with the friends
and families of the graduates-elect. Of
a sudden and in some mysterious manner,
almost by telepathic suggestion, as it
seemed, word was passed from one to an
other that Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, who
wrote "The Gates Ajar." was sitting In
the gallery. The" announcement at once
(Concluded on Page 5.)