even then, you can see how broad-m March considers herself, to perm quasi-oratory; and Amy does not disguise the fact that she admires chiefly for its artistic quality. Yet it to remember that, in Miss Alcott's were reading, without so much as o salt, the confessions of "escaped" nu novels of Mrs. Julia McNair W that Elsie Dinsmore developed when her father threatened to sen convent school. Perhaps Mrs. M right to flatter herself. Again, as are documents. There are many other straws to way the wind blows. Would any or Alcott, for example, have allowed heroine to marry a Professor Bhae ern child ever quite recovers from of it. But we must remember the Alcott's time, German metaphysi not without honor in Concord. Th reform, too, is hot upon the pages ance"-remember Charlie's unluck [ 193] e youths are patriotic with a fervid, liar patriotism, which touches, at its urce, emotions that to us are almost more oric than historic. he minds of Miss Alcott's world, there a lively distrust of the British. They are o oppress their colonies, and they cheat quet. Indeed, Miss Alcott's characters little askance at all foreigners-except in professors. There is no prophecy of ltic Revival in their condescending charpoor Irishwomen. The only people, not lves, whom they wholly respect, are the s. The rich men are nearly all East merchants, and their money goes eventto endow educational institutions. The heroes have a precocious antipathy to ng wealth for its own sake. Demi would he says, sweep door-mats in a publishuse than go into business, like "Stuffy" s kind. "I would rather be a door-keeper house of the Lord"-it would hardly nphasize Demi's so typical feeling for nctity of the printed page; for the utter with a fervid, touches, at its re almost mort 's world, there -itish. They are igners except o prophecy of escending char aly people, not espect, are the early all East ey goes event titutions. The s antipathy to c. Demi would s in a publish like "Stuffy" a door-keeper would hardly al feeling for for the utter be public, or, if it is private, i thwarted. There is a good deal of sion for philanthropy, for educ what-not-in the books, after all. T private passion at all: though the with sentiment, Miss Alcott writes had never loved. It would be diffic anywhere, stories so full of love-mal empty of emotion. Straws show which way the w and these straws are all borne in direction. Is not this the New E which, if not in which, we were all b Any honest New Englander a lander of the villages, I mean-will the New English are singularly un social life and manners. We susp long ago, when we first read Miss we happened to turn, after Littl to any one of Mrs. Ewing's or M worth's stories. Imagine Jo dressed Molesworth's heroines all were, Crane! The real "old-fashioned gir Polly Milton, but Griselda, in T ou can match now only in the Middle We all know that bigoted scholarliness, bination, precisely, with nasal and unatical speech, which there is no special n flattering with the term "idiomatic." r two of Mr. Churchill's novels have ved to us instances of it. We are forif we have come off quite free of the ition, so prevalent through the March that a book "any old" book-is We scoff heartily at the parvenu whose are bound without first being printed; m not sure that any pure-bred villager not rather have sham books than no at all. We cannot help it. No other furseems to us quite so good. have all been brought up, too, to be moral New England mothers must often be put find purely moral grounds for discrimiagainst some of the playmates their n would ignorantly bring home. They ften yearn to say, without indirection, not wish you to play with the butcher's rl, and her being in your Sunday-school in the Middle ed scholarliness nasal and unre is no special m "idiomatic." I's novels have . We are for ite free of the gh the March ld" book-is parvenu whose being printed; e-bred villager books than no No other fur po, to be moral st often be put s for discrimi aymates their - home. They ut indirection the butcher's Sunday-school as if they had been recorded by investigators of the Eugenics S lack of religion, some one may ob thing but typically New English. hundred years ago, it would not And we have not, to be sure, bee dental with impunity: we have the Unitarian. But the average New E science has always had a more natu ethics than for pure piety. Childr Alcott's books were brought up lik to obey their parents. It was Elsie on her Southern plantation, who ( byterian St. Rose of Lima) defied for religion's sake. Of course we read about Elsie surreptitiously. W without asking. There was a go plain thinking, as well as of high our and Miss Alcott's world. As worldliness: we have come a long Miss Alcott; yet I verily believe now, almost any bounder can take poses as a philosopher. So many ha I have not done more than in [197] |