Books: Memories of Hawthorne

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While on a visit to her mother, Mrs. Hawthorne writes to her
husband:--

BOSTON, July.

. . . I received your most precious letter yesterday. I do not need to
stand apart from daily life to see how fair and blest our lot is.
Every mother is not like me--because not every mother has such a
father for her children; so that my cares are forever light. Am I not
eminently well, round, and rubicund? Even in the very centre of
simultaneous screams from both darling little throats, I am quite as
sensible of my happiness as when the most dulcet sounds are issuing
thence. I have suffered only for you, in my babydom. You ought not to
be obliged to undergo the wear and tear of the nursery; it is contrary
to your nature and your mood. You were born to muse, and through
undisturbed dreams to enlighten the world. Una mourns for you. "Oh, I
must go home to see my papa! Oh, when are we going to Salem?" Her
little heart has enough of mine in it to feel widowed without you.
Julian does not walk yet; but he understands everything, and talks a
great deal.

There was a sharp contrast between Mrs. Hawthorne's earlier life of
intercourse with trooping, charming friends, and devotion to art and
literature, and the toils of motherhood in poverty which now absorbed
her days. She refers to this new order of existence with joyful
patience in the following letters to Mrs. Peabody:--

SALEM, September, 1848.

Dora Golden [Julian's nurse] takes this to you. She deferred her
visit to Boston for my convenience, because Mr. Hawthorne thought of
going to Temple, to visit General Miller; but he did not go. Mr.
Hawthorne will contribute to Elizabeth's book, but not for pay. Mary
Chase took Una and me to Nahant to see Rebecca Kinsman at her cottage.
It was a dear little nest, on the brow of a hill commanding the
boundless sea. Una flew around like a petrel; only that her hair
floated golden in the sunshine, and the petrel's feathers are gray.
You are quite right; I am so happy that I require nothing more. No art
nor beauty can excel my daily life, with such a husband and such
children, the exponents of all art and beauty. I really have not even
the temptation to go out of my house to find anything better. Not
that I enjoy less any specimen of earthly or heavenly grace when I
meet it elsewhere; but I have so much in perpetual presence that I am
not hungry for such things.

November 19, 1848.

I intended almost every day last week to go to Boston, but was
detained by various circumstances. Among other things, Mr. Daniel
Webster was to come to lecture, and I thought I must wait to hear him.
I am glad I did, for it was a very useful lecture, and in some parts
quite grand. It was upon the Constitution--a noble subject. You know
he is particularly designated as the Expounder of the Constitution.
He stood like an Egyptian column, solid and without any Corinthian
grace, but with dignity and composed majesty. He gave a simple
statement of facts concerning the formation of our united government;
and towards the close, he now and then thundered, and his great
cavernous eyes lightened, as he eloquently showed how noble and
wonderful it was, and how astonishing the sagacity and insight of
those young patriots had been in the memorable Congress. The old Lion
walked the stage with a sort of repressed rage, when he referred to
those persons who cried out, "Down with the Constitution!" "Madmen! Or
most wicked if not mad!" said he, with a glare of fire, as he looked
about him. He had risen with his hat in his hand, and held it all the
time, making no gestures excepting once, when he referred to the
American eagle and flag. He then raised his hand and pointed as if the
eagle were cleaving the air; and he said, "Who calls this the
Massachusetts eagle, the Illinois eagle,--or this the Virginia flag,
or the New Hampshire flag? Are they not the American eagle and the
American flag? And wherever the flag waves, let him touch it who
dares!" His voice and glance as he pronounced these words were the
artillery of a storm; and they were followed by tremendous rolls of
applause. Mr. Hawthorne, who is one of the managers of the Lyceum (!)
was deputed to go on Monday to West Newton, to see Mr. Mann about
lecturing here.

Sophia writes to Mrs. Mann, then in Washington:--

"Is Congress behaving any worse than usual? The members are always
giving the lie and seizing each other by the collar, ever since the
grave and majestic days of the first Sessions, it seems to me. But we
have not got to being quite such monkeys as the French are in their
Assemblies. Mrs. George Peabody, a week or two ago, gave a great
ball, to which she invited us. I heard that Mr. Peabody had put his
magnificent Murillo picture in the finest light imaginable, having
built a temporary oratory for it, on the piazza upon which the library
opens. The library was dark as night, and as I entered it, the only
object I could see was this divine Madonna at the end of the
illuminated oratory. It is the Annunciation. There is not the
smallest glory of color in the picture. The power, the wonder of the
picture, is the beauty of the expression and features. Her eyes are
lifted and her hands crossed upon her bosom. The features seem hardly
material, such a fineness and spiritual light transfigure them. It is
the greatest picture I ever saw."

A fragment of a letter suggests a lecture and a great innovation.

"My husband bought a ticket for himself, and went with me!! Mr. Alcott
spent an evening with us a week or more ago, and was very interesting;
telling, at my request, about his youth, and peddling, etc. There were
six ladies and six gentlemen present last Monday evening. They
assembled at Mr. Stone's. Miss Hannah Hodges, Mrs. J. C. Lee, and two
ladies whom I did not know, besides Mrs. Stone and myself; Mr.
Frothingham, Mr. William Silsbee, Mr. Shackford, of Lynn, Mr. Pike,
Mr. Streeter, and my husband, besides Mr. Stone and his son. Mr.
Alcott said he would commence with the Nativity, and first read
Milton's Hymn. Then he retreated to his corner, and for about an hour
and three quarters kept up an even flow of thought, without a word
being uttered by any other person present. Then Mr. Stone questioned
him upon his use of the word 'artistic;' which provoked a fine
analysis from him of the word 'artist' as distinguished from
'artisan.' I thought the whole monologue very beautiful and clear.
This evening Mr. Thoreau is going to lecture, and will stay with us.
His lecture before was so enchanting; such a revelation of nature in
all its exquisite details of wood-thrushes, squirrels, sunshine, mists
and shadows, fresh, vernal odors, pine-tree ocean melodies, that my
ear rang with music, and I seemed to have been wandering through copse
and dingle! Mr. Thoreau has risen above all his arrogance of manner,
and is as gentle, simple, ruddy, and meek as all geniuses should be;
and now his great blue eyes fairly outshine and put into shade a nose
which I once thought must make him uncomely forever."

Several letters from Mr. and Mrs. Hawthorne break in upon the usual
quietude with allusions to the real hardship of public misapprehension;
yet no false statements and judgments were ever more coolly received.
Still, Mrs. Hawthorne writes with an excited hand:--

June 8, 1849.

MY DEAR FATHER,--Mr. Hawthorne received news by telegraph to-day that
he is turned out of office headlong. I have written to mother, and
told her, fearing she would hear of it accidentally. We are not cast
down at all, and do not be anxious for us. You will see by my letter
to mother how we are hopeful and cheerful about it, and expect better
things. The cock is crowing the noon of night and I must to bed. I
have written a long letter to mother. We are all well. Your
affectionate daughter,

SOPHIA.

The letter to her mother has not been completely preserved, but
runs:--

. . . The telegraph to-day brought us news that would have made the
cottage [at Lenox] particularly acceptable, because we could have
lived there upon our own responsibility--for the Old General has
turned Mr. Hawthorne out of the Surveyorship. Do not be troubled;
for we are not.

Mr. Hawthorne never liked the office at all, and is rather relieved
than otherwise that it is taken out of his hands, and has an inward
confidence that something much better and more suitable for him will
turn up. As for me, you know I am composed of Hope and Faith, and
while I have my husband and the children I feel as if Montezuma's
diamonds and emeralds were spiritually in my possession. But we look
forward with a kind of rapture to the possibility of now going into
the country somewhere this summer, and setting Una down in a field,
where she so pines to go. Meantime, the newly appointed Surveyor's
commission has not arrived, and so Mr. Hawthorne is not yet out of
office.

I have not seen my husband happier than since this turning out. He has
felt in chains for a long time, and being a MAN, he is not alarmed at
being set upon his own feet again,--or on his head, I might say,--for
that contains the available gold, of a mine scarcely yet worked at
all. As Margaret [Fuller] truly said once, "We have had but a drop or
so from that ocean." We are both perfectly well, too, and brave with
happiness, and "a credence in our hearts, and esperance so absolutely
strong, as doth outvie the attest of eyes and ears." (So Shakespeare
somewhere speaks for us, somewhat so--but not verbatim, for I forget
one or two words.)

Above all, it has come in the way of an inevitable Providence to us
(whatever knavery some people may have to answer for, who have been
the agents in the removal), and I never receive inevitable Providences
with resignation merely; but with joy, as certainly, undoubtedly, the
best possible events that can happen for me--and immediately I begin
to weave the apparent straw into gold, like the maiden in the fairy
tale.

Good-by now, dear mother. Do not be anxious. I should not have told
you this now--fearing you might be troubled--but I was afraid you
might see the removal in the papers, or hear of it; and I thought it
best to let you know just how it is with us, so that you might not
have a shock. Your most affectionate child,

SOPHIA.

MY DEAR FATHER,--Here is a pretty business, discovered in an
unexpected manner to Mr. Hawthorne by a friendly and honorable Whig.
Perhaps you know that the President said before he took the chair that
he should make no removals, except for dishonesty and unfaithfulness.
So that all who voted for him after that declaration pledged
themselves to the same course. You know also doubtless that there has
never been such a succession of removals of honorable and honest men
since we were a nation as since the accession of President
Taylor,--not even under Jackson,--who, however, always removed people
because they were Whigs, without any covert implication of character.
This has been Democratic conduct--to remove for political reasons.

This conduct the Whigs always disapproved, and always said that no one
ought to be removed but from disability or dishonesty. So that now
when any one is removed, it is implied that the person is either a
shiftless or a dishonest man. It is very plain that neither of these
charges could be brought against Mr. Hawthorne. Therefore a most base
and incredible falsehood has been told--written down and signed and
sent to the Cabinet in secret. This infamous paper certifies among
other things (of which we have not heard)--that Mr. Hawthorne has been
in the habit of writing political articles in magazines and
newspapers!

This he has never done, as every one knows, in his life--not one word
of politics was ever written by him. His townsfolk, of course, know it
well. But what will surprise you more than this fact is to hear who
got up this paper, and perjured his soul upon it; who followed his
name with their signatures, and how it was indorsed. It was no less a
person than Mr. C. W. U.!!! who has thus proved himself a liar and a
most consummate hypocrite; for he has always professed himself the
warmest friend. He certifies the facts of the paper; and thirty other
gentlemen of Salem sign their names! Among whom are G. D. and young N.
S., and Mr. R. R.! Can you believe it? Not one of these gentlemen knew
this to be true, because it is not true; and yet, for party ends, they
have all perjured themselves to get away this office, and make the
President believe there were plausible pretexts; they had no idea it
could be found out. But the District Attorney saw the paper. He is a
Whig, but friendly to Mr. Hawthorne, on literary grounds; and the
District Attorney told a Salem gentleman, also a Whig and a personal
friend of Mr. Hawthorne's. Thus, the "murder" is out, through better
members of the same party.

Mr. Hawthorne took the removal with perfect composure and content,
having long expected it on account of his being a Democrat. But
yesterday, when he went to Boston and found out this, the lion was
roused in him. He says it is a cowardly attack upon his character,
done in such secrecy; and that he shall use his pen now in a way he
never has done, and expose the lie, addressing the public. Your child,

SOPHIA.

June 17.

MY BLESSED MOTHER,--Your most welcome and beautiful letter of the 11th
I very gladly received. You take our reverse of fortune in the way I
hoped you would. I feel "beyond the utmost scope and vision of
calamity" (as Pericles said to Aspasia), while my husband satisfies my
highest ideal, and while the graces of heaven fill the hearts of my
children. Everything else is very external. This is the immortal life
which makes flowers of asphodel bloom in my path, and no rude step can
crush them. I exult in my husband. He stands upon a table-land of
high behavior which is far above these mean and false proceedings,
with which a party of intriguers are now concerning themselves, and
covering themselves with the hopeless mud of Dante's Inferno. The
more harm they try to do, deeper down they plunge into the mire; and I
doubt if ever in this world some of them will be able to wash their
faces clean again. My husband supposed he was removed because he was a
Democrat (and you know very well how he has always been a Democrat,
not a Locofoco--if that means a lucifer match). Therefore he took it
as a matter of course in the way of politics; though it surprised me,
because General Taylor had pledged himself not to remove any person
for political opinions, but only for dishonesty and inefficiency. This
was why all Mr. Hawthorne's Whig as well as Democrat friends were sure
he would not be disturbed. He could not even have provoked hostility
by having taken any active part in politics,--never writing, never
speaking, never moving for the cause. But these intriguers secretly
carried out their plan. They wrote in letters false charges which they
sent to Washington, and thirty gentlemen signed their names to a paper
requesting the appointment of Mr. Putnam.

June 21, Thursday.

MY OWN DEAR MOTHER,--I am truly disappointed that you have not had
this letter before, but the tide of events has hurried me away from
it. Now I must write a few words. You never heard of such a time about
any one as there has been about Mr. Hawthorne. The whole country is
up in arms, and will not allow Mr. Hawthorne to be removed. And now I
have the good news to tell you that his removal is suspended at
Washington, and he is either to be reinstated if he will consent, or
to be presented with a better office. At Washington the Government was
deceived, and were not told that the person to be removed was Mr.
Hawthorne--so secret and cunning were these four gentlemen of Salem! I
cannot tell you all the abominable story now; and it is no matter,
since they are caught in their own toils, and defeated. Mr.
Hawthorne's name is ringing through the land. All the latent feeling
about him now comes out, and he finds himself very famous. Mr. Samuel
Hooper has been very active for him. Mr. Howes has done nothing else
for ten days but go back and forth to Boston, and come here to see my
husband, upon the subject. It has wholly roused him out of his deep
affliction for the death of Frederic [his brother], for whom he feels
as if he were acting now, so deep was Frederic's love and admiration
for Mr. Hawthorne. I wrote the above on my lap, following Julian
about, this hottest day. Now I can only say good-by, and implore you
to stay through July among the mountains. It is too hot in West Street
for you. We are all well, here, and there. When I see you, I will
tell you this long story about the removal, which has proved no
removal, as Mr. Hawthorne has not left the Custom House, and the
commission of the new officer has not arrived.

Your loving child,

SOPHIA.

P. S. Just to show to what a detail of meanness and cunning the
reverend person descends, I must tell you that he brought from
Washington a paper which he copied from the original memorial there;
which memorial was a testimony of the merchants of Salem in favor of
Colonel Miller's being Collector. This memorial Mr. Hawthorne, in
official capacity as Surveyor of the Port, and acquainted therefore
with the merchants, indorsed,--saying that, "to the best of his
recollection," these were all the principal merchants, and that they
were responsible persons. In the copy which Mr. U. made he left out
"to the best of his recollection," and made it read that these were
all the merchants of Salem. Stephen C. Phillips's name was not
signed. And so Mr. U. brings this to prove that Mr. Hawthorne is
impeachable for want of veracity! He tried hard to find that my
husband acted politically with regard to Colonel Miller's appointment;
and as this was impossible, he thought he would try to prove him a
false witness. Did you ever know of such pitiful evasions? But there
is no language to describe him. He is, my husband says, the most
satisfactory villain that ever was, for at every point he is
consummate. The Government had decided to reinstate Mr. Hawthorne
before Mr. U.'s arrival at Washington, and his representations changed
the purpose. I trust Mr. Everett will be enlightened about the latter,
so as to see what an unjust act he has committed by retracting his
first letter. "What!" said Charles Sumner of Mr. U., "that smooth,
smiling, oily man of God!"

Hawthorne has occasion to write to the

HON. HORACE MANN, M. C., WEST NEWTON, MASS.

SALEM, June 26, 1849.

MY DEAR SIR,--I have just received your note, in which you kindly
offer me your interest towards reinstating me in the office of
Surveyor.

I was perfectly in earnest in what I told Elizabeth, and should still
be very unwilling to have you enter into treaty with Mr. K., Mr. U.,
or other members of the local party, in my behalf. But, on returning
here, after an absence of two or three days, I found a state of things
rather different from what I expected, the general feeling being
strongly in my favor, and a disposition to make a compromise,
advantageous to me, on the part of some, at least, of those who had
acted against me. "The Essex Register," of yesterday, speaks of an
intention to offer me some better office than that of which I have
been deprived. Now, I do not think that I can, preserving my
self-respect, accept of any compromise. No other office can be offered
me that will not have been made vacant by the removal of a Democrat;
and, even if there were such an office, still, as charges have been
made against me, complete justice can be done only by placing me
exactly where I was before. This also would be the easiest thing for
the Administration to do, as they still hold my successor's commission
suspended. A compromise might indeed be made, not with me, but with
Captain Putnam, by giving him a place in this Custom House--which
would be of greater emolument than my office; and I have reason to
believe that the Collector would accede to such an arrangement.
Perhaps this idea might do something towards inducing Mr. Meredith to
make the reinstatement.

I did not intend to involve you in this business; nor, indeed, have I
desired any friend to take up my cause; but if, in view of the whole
matter, you should see fit to do as Mr. Mills advises, I shall feel
truly obliged. Of course, after consenting that you should use your
influence in my behalf, I should feel myself bound to accept the
reinstatement, if offered. I beg you to believe, also, that I would
not allow you to say a word for me, if I did not know that I have
within my power a complete refutation of any charges of official
misconduct that have been, or may be, brought against me.

Sophia and the children are well. The managers of the Lyceum desire to
know if you will deliver two lectures for them, before the session of
Congress.

Very truly yours,

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE.

SALEM, July 2, 1849.

MY DEAR SIR,--I am inclined to think, from various suspicious
indications that I have noticed or heard of, between the Whigs and one
or two of my subordinate officers, that they are concocting, or have
already concocted, a new set of charges against me. Would it not be a
judicious measure for you to write to the Department, requesting a
copy of these charges, that I may have an opportunity of answering
them? There can be nothing (setting aside the most direct false
testimony, if even that) which I shall not have it in my power either
to explain, defend, or disprove. I had some idea of calling for these
charges through the newspapers, but it would bring on a controversy
which might be interminable, and would only, however clearly I should
prove my innocence, make my reinstatement the more difficult; so that
I judge it best to meet the charges in this way--always provided that
there are any.

It grieves me to give you so much trouble; but you must recollect that
it was your own voluntary kindness, and not my importunity, that
involves you in it. Very truly yours,

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE.

The following letter is fragmentary, because of the demands of some
autograph-hunter.

. . . It occurred to me, after sending off those documents, yesterday,
that I ought to have given you some particulars as to the political
character and standing of the gentlemen who signed them. B. Barstow,
Esq., is Vice-President of the Hickory Club, and a member of the
Democratic Town Committee. William B. Pike is Chairman of the
Democratic County Committee. T. Burchmore, Jr., Esq., is Chairman of
the Democratic Congressional District Committee. Dr. B. E. Browne
signs in his own official character as a member of the Democratic
State Committee. They have all been active in our local politics, and
thoroughly acquainted with the political . . . [mutilated for
autograph signature].

As respects the letter from T. Burchmore, Jr., to myself, I wish to
say a few words. Mr. Burchmore has, for twenty-five years past,
occupied a situation in the Custom House; and for a long time past,
though nominally only head clerk, has been the actual head of the
establishment, owing to his great business talent and thorough
acquaintance with all matters connected with the revenue. He is an
upright and honorable . . . [mutilated] . . . in my behalf; and I would
wish, therefore, in communicating with the Department, that you would
use him as tenderly as possible. Of course, his letter may be sent
on, but it would be best not to advert to his being connected with the
Custom House; and as he holds his office from the Collector, it is
very probable that the Department may not know him in an official
character.

My successor's commission has not yet arrived.

The enemy is very quiet, and I know little or nothing about their
motions.

Mrs. Mann's letter to Sophia arrived this morning.

P. S. The gentlemen above mentioned have a high social standing, as
well as a political one. Mr. Barstow, for instance, you may recollect
as Vice-President of the Salem Lyceum, where he was introduced to you.

SALEM, August 8, 1849.

MY DEAR SIR,--My case is so simple, and the necessary evidence comes
from so few sources, and is so direct in its application, that I think
I cannot mistake my way through it; nor do I see how it can be
prejudiced by my remaining quiet, for the present. I will sketch it to
you as briefly as possible.

Mr. U. accuses me of suspending one or more inspectors for refusing to
pay party subscriptions, and avers that I sent them a letter of
suspension by a messenger, whom he names, and that--I suppose after
the payment of the subscription--I withdrew the suspension.

I shall prove that a question was referred to me--as chief executive
officer of the Custom House--from the Collector's office, as to what
action should be taken on a letter from the Treasury Department,
requiring the dismissal of our temporary inspectors. We had two
officers in that position. They were Democrats, men with large
families and no resources, and irreproachable as officers; and for
these reasons I was unwilling that they should lose their situations.
In order, therefore, to comply with the spirit of the Treasury order,
without ruining these two men, I projected a plan of suspending them
from office during the inactive season of the year, but without
removing them, and in such a manner that they might return to duty
when the state of business should justify it. I wrote an order (which
I still have in my possession) covering these objects, which, however,
was not intended to be acted on immediately, but for previous
consultation with the Deputy Collector and the head clerk. On
consulting the latter gentleman, he was of opinion, for various
reasons which he cited, that the two inspectors might be allowed to
remain undisturbed until further orders from the Treasury; to which,
as the responsibility was entirely with the Collector's Department, I
made no objection. And here, so far as I had any knowledge or concern,
the matter ended.

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