His
conscience is too fine and high to permit him to be arbitrary. His will
is strong, but not to govern others. He is so simple, so transparent, so
just, so tender, so magnanimous, that my highest instinct could only
correspond to his will. I never knew such delicacy of nature."
This is a classic gem, and nothing could be added to it. The character
of Hilda in "The Marble Faun," is simply Mrs. Hawthorne at the age of
twenty-two. She was a pure-hearted, unselfish person, but not
self-reliant or over wise. There is a golden edge or rainbow hue to his
description of the old manse which distinguishes it from his other
writings and betrays the deeply penetrating happiness he felt there. It
is like a morning landscape painted while the dew is on the grass. One
notices especially his delight in the great yellow squash-blossoms and
the way in which he idealizes them. This, and the three years he spent
in Europe after the expiration of his consulate, were the holidays of
his life and the reward of all the rest.
With the exception of William Ellery Channing, he made no friends in
Concord, though he speaks kindly of Thoreau, and compares Channing to
him. It is to be suspected that this was largely on account of his
political principles--or the lack of them. He had held office under a
democratic administration and felt that his interests were connected
with that party.
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