Re: Shay Mitchell Bliss Epub To 18
Latrina Cobbett
LOUISA MAY ALCOTT is universally recognizedas the greatest and most popularstory-teller for children in her generation. Shehas known the way to the hearts of young people,not only in her own class, or even country, but inevery condition of life, and in many foreign lands.Plato says, "Beware of those who teach fables tochildren;" and it is impossible to estimate the influencewhich the popular writer of fiction hasover the audience he wins to listen to his tales.The preacher, the teacher, the didactic writer findtheir audience in hours of strength, with criticalfaculties all alive, to question their propositions andrefute their arguments. The novelist comes to usin the intervals of recreation and relaxation, and byhis seductive powers of imagination and sentimenttakes possession of the fancy and the heart beforejudgment and reason are aroused to defend thecitadel. It well becomes us, then, who wouldivguard young minds from subtle temptations, tostudy the character of those works which charmand delight the children.
Of no author can it be more truly said thanof Louisa Alcott that her works are a revelationof herself. She rarely sought for the material ofher stories in old chronicles, or foreign adventures.Her capital was her own life and experiencesand those of others directly about her; andher own well-remembered girlish frolics and fancieswere sure to find responsive enjoyment in theminds of other girls.
It is therefore impossible to understand MissAlcott's works fully without a knowledge of herown life and experiences. By inheritance andeducation she had rich and peculiar gifts; and herlife was one of rare advantages, as well as of tryingdifficulties. Herself of the most true and franknature, she has given us the opportunity of knowingher without disguise; and it is thus that I shalltry to portray her, showing what influences actedupon her through life, and how faithfully and fullyshe performed whatever duties circumstances laidupon her. Fortunately I can let her speak mainlyfor herself.
Miss Alcott revised her journals at different timesduring her later life, striking out what was too personalfor other eyes than her own, and destroyinga great deal which would doubtless have provedvery interesting.v
The small number of letters given will undoubtedlybe a disappointment. Miss Alcott wished tohave most of her letters destroyed, and her sisterrespected her wishes. She was not a voluminouscorrespondent; she did not encourage many intimacies,and she seldom wrote letters except toher family, unless in reference to some purposeshe had strongly at heart. Writing was her constantoccupation, and she was not tempted to indulgein it as a recreation. Her letters are brief,and strictly to the point, but always characteristicin feeling and expression; and, even at the risk ofthe repetition of matter contained in her journalsor her books, I shall give copious extracts fromsuch as have come into my hands.
Thomas and George Alcocke were the first ofthe name among the settlers in New England.The name is frequently found in the records ofDorchester and Roxbury, and has passed throughsuccessive changes to its present form.
The name of Bronson came from Mr. Alcott'smaternal grandfather, the sturdy Capt. Amos Bronsonof Plymouth, Conn. "His ancestors on bothsides had been substantial people of respectableposition in England, and were connected with thefounders and governors of the chief New Englandcolonies. At the time of Mr. Alcott's birth theyhad become simple farmers, reaping a scanty livingfrom their small farms in Connecticut."
Amos Bronson Alcott, the father of Louisa, wasborn Nov. 29, 1799, at the foot of Spindle Hill, inthe region called New Connecticut. He has himselfgiven in simple verse the story of his quaintrustic life in his boyhood, and Louisa has reproducedit in her story of "Eli's Education" (in theSpinning-Wheel Stories), which gives a very trueaccount of his youthful life and adventures. Hederived his refined, gentle nature from his mother,who had faith in her son, and who lived to see himthe accomplished scholar he had vowed to becomein his boyhood. Although brought up in theserustic surroundings, his manners were always thoseof a true gentleman. The name of the little mountaintown afterward became Wolcott, and Louisa13records in her journal a pilgrimage made thither inafter years.[1]
Louisa Alcott's mother was a daughter of Col.Joseph May of Boston. This family is so wellknown that it is hardly necessary to repeat itsgenealogy here.[2] She was a sister of Samuel J.May, for many years pastor of the Unitarian churchat Syracuse, who was so tenderly beloved by menof all religious persuasions in his home, and sowidely known and respected for his courage andzeal in the Antislavery cause, as well as for hismany philanthropic labors.
Mrs. Alcott's mother was Dorothy Sewall, a descendantof that family already distinguished in theannals of the Massachusetts colony, and which haslost nothing of its reputation for ability and virtuein its latest representatives.[3]
Mrs. Alcott inherited in large measure the traitswhich distinguished her family. She was a womanof large stature, fine physique, and overflowing life.Her temper was as quick and warm as her affections,but she was full of broad unselfish generosity.Her untiring energies were constantly employed,not only for the benefit of her family, but for all14around her. She had a fine mind, and if she didnot have large opportunities for scholastic instruction,she always enjoyed the benefit of intellectualsociety and converse with noble minds. She lovedexpression in writing, and her letters are full of witand humor, keen criticism, and noble moral sentiments.Marriage with an idealist, who had nomeans of support, brought her many trials and privations.She bore them heroically, never waveringin affection for her husband or in devotion to herchildren. If the quick, impatient temper sometimesrelieved itself in hasty speech, the action wasalways large and unselfish.
It will be apparent from Louisa's life that sheinherited the traits of both her parents, and thatthe uncommon powers of mind and heart that distinguishedher were not accidental, but the accumulatedresult of the lives of generations of strongand noble men and women.
I have a dear little pet in Mrs. Alcott's little Louisa.It is the prettiest, best little thing in the world. Youwill wonder to hear me call anything so young pretty,but it is really so in an uncommon degree; it has a faircomplexion, dark bright eyes, long dark hair, a high forehead,and altogether a countenance of more than usualintelligence.
The mother is such a delightful woman that it is acordial to my heart whenever I go to see her. I wentin to see her for a few moments the evening we receivedyour letter, and I think I never saw her in better spirits;and truly, if goodness and integrity can insure felicity,she deserves to be happy.
The family removed to Boston in 1834, andMr. Alcott opened his famous school in MasonicTemple. Louisa was too young to attend theschool except as an occasional visitor; but shefound plenty of interest and amusement for herselfin playing on the Common, making friendswith every child she met, and on one occasion18falling into the Frog Pond. She has given a verylively picture of this period of her life in "Poppy'sPranks," that vivacious young person being a pictureof herself, not at all exaggerated.
The family lived successively in Front Street,Cottage Place, and Beach Street during the sixsucceeding years in Boston. They occasionallypassed some weeks at Scituate during the summer,which the children heartily enjoyed.
Mrs. Hawthorne gives a little anecdote whichshows how the child's heart was blossoming in thisfamily sunshine: "One morning in Front Street,at the breakfast table, Louisa suddenly brokesilence, with a sunny smile saying, 'I love everybodyin dis whole world.'"
When Louisa was about seven years old shemade a visit to friends in Providence. Miss C.writes of her: "She is a beautiful little girl to lookupon, and I love her affectionate manners. I thinkshe is more like her mother than either of theothers." As is usually the case, Louisa's journal,which she began at this early age, speaks morefully of her struggles and difficulties than of thebright, sunny moods which made her attractive. A19little letter carefully printed and sent home duringthis visit is preserved. In it she says she is nothappy; and she did have one trying experiencethere, to which she refers in "My Boys." Seeingsome poor children who she thought were hungry,she took food from the house without asking permission,and carried it to them, and was afterwardvery much astonished and grieved at being reprimandedinstead of praised for the deed. MissC. says: "She has had several spells of feelingsad; but a walk or a talk soon dispels all gloom.She was half moody when she wrote her letter;but now she is gay as a lark. She loves toplay out of doors, and sometimes she is not inclinedto stay in when it is unpleasant." In hersketches of "My Boys" she describes two of hercompanions here, not forgetting the kindness ofthe one and the mischievousness of the other.
Although the family were quite comfortable duringthe time of Mr. Alcott's teaching in Boston, yetthe children wearied of their extremely simple dietof plain boiled rice without sugar, and grahammeal without butter or molasses. An old friendwho could not eat the bountiful rations providedfor her at the United States Hotel, used to saveher piece of pie or cake for the Alcott children.Louisa often took it home to the others in a bandboxwhich she brought for the purpose.
This friend was absent in Europe many years,and returned to find the name of Louisa Alcottfamous. When she met the authoress on the streetshe was eagerly greeted. "Why, I did not thinkyou would remember me!" said the old lady.20"Do you think I shall ever forget that bandbox?"was the instant reply.
In 1840, Mr. Alcott's school having proved unsuccessful,the family removed to Concord, Mass.,and took a cottage which is described in "LittleWomen" as "Meg's first home," although Annanever lived there after her marriage. It was apleasant house, with a garden full of trees, andbest of all a large barn, in which the childrencould have free range and act out all the playswith which their little heads were teeming. Ofcourse it was a delightful change from the city forthe children, and here they passed two very happyyears, for they were too young to understand thecares which pressed upon the hearts of their parents.Life was full of interest. One cold morningthey found in the garden a little half-starvedbird; and having warmed and fed it, Louisa wasinspired to write a pretty poem to "The Robin."The fond mother was so delighted that she said toher, "You will grow up a Shakspeare!" From thelessons of her father she had formed the habit ofwriting freely, but this is the first recorded instanceof her attempting to express her feelings in verse.
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