| Show HOMES OF NO red FED AMERICANS if to trace the footsteps f genius and M to to gerand lin linger and muse in the haunts of those men and women whose works w e love sol well if to loiter around the and inhale the influence 1 places eg of history of those surroundings which have Aft the imagery of poems and tile 0 i settings of tales then no pilgrimage can compare with those taken to the old homes of our american authors aa one sits and dreams on t the he travels ot of the charles river or at the dear old wayside the home of louisa M al att he seems to be brought into closer sy sympathy pathy with those men inen and women who have given us a golden age of Aine american rican literature perhaps concord 1 a the old bay state is the greatest 1 S ecca ca we have in america for it is a place ilce where hundreds of pilgrims go bevet wary y year to pay homage at the shrines brines of our famous men of let urs kh 8 here lived thoreau emerson hawthorn and that dear friend of oil all the girls and boys loura M att f trie traveler sits today on the banks ot of the concord river sees the stream signed with pines and willows hears the lark and the chirp of the squirrel but with only a fractional part of the feeling and understanding of those great dreamers who roamed over the same ame spots one enters the town of concord having come along a beautiful country road which leads from lexington the old wright tavern is the center of town and here an old fashioned magland england dinner to t served to the p wayfarer aber this house was i 1747 and here major pitcairn ed 05 himself Im selfon on the morning of jy 1776 concord itself is not a bame but it to is a beautiful and placid somnolent village with streets skirted with large trees end and homes surrounded with gardens and lawns the tourney lourney is is continued and the destination is the old manse which is northward from the town a half mile along a pretty road with pines and oaks on both siles sides in every spare space the traveler goes quietly along nothing breaks the monotony but the now and then chirp of a squirrel as he scampers off to his hole or the melancholy cry of some distant dove one is so filled with delight that he can hardly horn hold himself when he spies through the trees the famous old manse this was the home of the grand sire of ralph waldo emerson and afterward was tenanted ten anted by dr ripley emerson nathaniel hawthorne and the celebrated sarah bradford who was looked upon as one of the best educated women in new england she used to train young men for harvard and it is 19 said that one day a caller found her hearing at once the lesson of a student in latin and another in differential calculus while she was rocking the cradle and shelling peas for dinner and now who would not think of our hawthorne and his description of this home the opening in the stone wall is soon reached and passing between two tall gate posts one follows on down a long avenue of trees with the wheel track almost covered with grass the surrounding of the old manse is a veritable eden an eldorado for dreamers and as one looks up at the dormer window and then into the broad fields beyond where were the orchard the garden and the walls of hawthorne he feels as if the muse of poetry were hovering near and urging him to love and venerate in thought and word the noble names of history the picturesque old mansion stands between foliage and greensward the house is a wooden structure and looks very antique under its large overhanging gambol roof time has toned its color and it blends beautifully with the trees the shrub shrubbery berj and the sky within the shades of the oaks are the old paths so carefully carpeted with grass and daisies where hawthorne emerson and thoreau used to walk in thear hours of reverie I 1 visited this place list last july and as I 1 stood in front of the building I 1 was almost daft with delight A son of the eminent divine edward C hale who has charge of the house refused me admittance but his wife being more compassionate asked me in and I 1 was ushered into the parlor at the left of the hall where the sages of concord used to meet and discuss over the their r teacups the topics of the times all the rooms are wainscoted which Is colored in extremely dark paint and this combined with the low ceilings makes one think of the old home of our quaker poet the study is at the top of the stairs to the right and has a north window which looks out upon the old battle field and far tar far beyond the concord flows lazily in the light of the afternoon sun this room was the study of emersons grandfather and from its windows his wife watched the battle of april 18 1775 here emerson wrote his essay on nature and afterwards the dreamy hawthorne came to the little study and culled many of his shorter tales two windows look westward into the garden and on one of the panes hawthorne has scratched the following nathaniel hawthorne this is my study 1848 below another hand that of his fals wife lia haa written inscribed by my husband at sunset april la 13 in the yow light S AH A H maws mans accidents are 0 mods gods purposes SOPHIA A HAW HAWTHORNE the little shelf which slants from the wall by the side of the old chimney and on which the romancer used to write is still in its place and seeming to realize that he will come no moro more it stands as a 4 kind of sentinel to keep watch over the sacred little room above the second floor to is the garret where hawthorne found so many books that had long lain in the dust and cobwebs here he spent my many secluded udea hours it was abis this seclusion that caused him to say with goethe A talent is perfected in solitude a character in the stream of the world I 1 wanted to linger longer in this peaceful haunt but the afternoon was waa passing quietly away the quiet environment viron ment the peaceful solitude the thoughts of those who had lived in thi sunshiny place filled me with a feel ing of emotion and in my soul I 1 gooda seemed to more fully realize the goodness of god to man and yet how sadly it is to think that poverty drove hawthorne athorne ha from this home that he had to give up his garden where he used to watch the peas and the beans grow from day to day the trees and the river the squirrels and the birds to accept a remunerative position under the government behind the old manse flows the concord the river of peace sung of by thoreau and amerson pm erson and above all by hawthorne A narrow grassy path leads from the back door to the bank and here under the willows hawthorne kept his boat and often on a sunshiny afternoon he would paddle up 1 and down the stream and lose hilvi himself f in the music of nature it Is said anat one night he and his friend elroy channing aided in rescuing a young girl suicide from the stream and it made such an impression on the mind of T hawthorne that he employed it as the thrilling determination of the story ot of zenobea in the Blithe dale romance loitering northward along the paths where the river kisses the tangled gras gram and where the boughs of the willows bend as if impatient to dip their branches into the clear cold stream I 1 jumped the wall a few rods northwest of the house and stood stood on the battlefield of concord an april 18 19 1775 maj smith who had bad command of the british forces in this part had sent a few companies of men uto ut to the old north bridge which still stands not far from the historic manse the soldiers came wandering down downto to the river and coming to the bridene they crossed the minute men some distance beyond in a field on seeing the redcoats reds oats immediately started toward them trailing their guns the british withdrew to the other side and prepared for battle the americans hur bur ried along and having received a volley of the shot from the enemy their commander buttrick by name shouted fire ire boys for gods god s sa sake ke fire it was all over with a minute arid aad the battle at concord had passed into history the famous words of Emer emerson soft now adorn the monument which has been erected in honor of the americans who fell i here by the rude bridge that arched the flood their flag to aprils breeze unfurled here the embattled farr herB hers stood and fired the shot heard round the world that shot ahot has been the cause of 09 sk A regener regeneration tion of thought it wag th tb death knell to tyranny and opp reon an in this new worm it announced announce 6 bringing forth upon this continent A nation that should lead all other to in the affairs of government A granite monument marks the spot amt where the british stood and near by the side of the wail walli axe are the two hum ble graves oy ot the ted red coats wh ofell here their sleep has been peaceful for they were two boys perhaps that fought zealously and sincerely and al though they were burled buried far from home their graves have not been forgotten the story told that one of these men was struck in the head with an ax which was in the hands of a boy who had hid himself behind a wood pile and after the fight had gone down to the river to see what the results had been LEVI LEV E YOUNG |
