Mary M. Chase and her writings

Front matter

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HER WRITINGS.

Contents

SKETCH OF THE LIFE.

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I. INTRODUCTORY xiil

Chapter I. Introductory

From the many appreciative friends of Mary M. Chase, the earnest request has come to the home where her writings are treasured, that those who have no opportunity of reading her manuscripts, might participate in the enjoyment of her legacy, as they shared in her affections, and cherish her memoiy. It has been also urged, that her writings were fitted to effect much good beyond the circle of friendship by their inspiring influence towards Truth and Goodness, and by the radiating of genuine happiness, which converse with their free, glad nature and genial sympathies might diffuse through the Home Circle ; thus serving to lighten the burden of household cares, freshen the monotony of daily toil, animate the strong by a bright example, and encourage the weak by a noble emulation.

Her Letters, it was also suggested, should be presented to young women, as models of epistolary style,

XIV SKETCH OF THE LIFE

in their out-spoken integrity, their winning unreserve, their conversational grace, and their investment of the every-day experiences of Home, with the true color and expression that pictures warm vitality, while possessing the happy combination of Pathos and Humor which truly represents real life, with its alternating tears and smiles, partings and meetings, griefs and gladnesses.

It was also felt that the Aged might find in her writings some light for their closing days, and the Afflicted some consolation for their sorrowing hearts.

To meet this expressed want, a selection has been made from her Writings, which it was deemed best to accompany with a brief Sketch, presenting a distinct and reliable outline of her Life and Character.

An extended Biography is less essential, because her life consisted much in the workings of her mind, which the writings reveal with peculiar openness, as well in its rare beauties as in its necessitated imperfections ; while eulogy would be dissonant with the directness and simplicity of her nature.

It is proposed to devote whatever profits may accrue from the sale of this work to some educational or charitable purpose, fitted to enlist the co-operation of all her friends ; and, by reference to Letter XL VI. on 1 Greenwood,' it will be seen that this plan harmonizes happily with her own sentiment.

OF MARY M. CHASE. XV

Chapter II. Two Possible Errors Of The Reader Womanly

ADAPTATION SELF-SACRIFICE.

Faithful as is the transcript of the c inner life ' of Mary Chase, penned by herself in the Poems and Letters, two points exist in which a stranger would probably be led astray. In the first place, some of her poems are pervaded with a sentiment of dark discouragement or unrest, not rightly representing her. 4 Indian Summer ' and ' The Weary Heart ' are examples. So far from this being the case, her character was free from that vague sensibility, which creates out of the grim facts of actual life only huge, distorted apparitions to scare the soul. There was no yielding of the heart to morbid sentiment and despairing tears. Her spirit was strong, and upright, and brave. She met duties, trials, vexations, with a vigor which forthwith conquered or scattered them. She held the helm on the voyage of life with so firm a hand and so sure a hope, that the whirling eddies and the counter currents served rather as excitement than discouragement. I dare not say that she experienced no states of mind in which c the darkness may be felt.' She may have adopted them for some present purpose with the facility of genius, in order justly to represent them as existing

XVI SKETCH OF THE LIFE in others ; and at times they may have been developed from within, as in all strong and passionate natures who see with such penetrating insight and feel with such absorbing intensity : yet it was so far from a prevailing element in her nature, that intimacy alone detected it. On the contrary, her natural spirits were unconquerable, her vivacity exuberant, her vitality inexhaustible, and her humor gushing and sparkling day by day, without drought or stagnation, like the overflowing waters of a living spring, whose source lies where neither storm nor heat can vary its continuous outwelling.

In a second respect, more serious, Mary Chase's poetry inaccurately represents her. It does injustice to her genius. She has written nothing, I venture to say, fully equal to her highest power. She had never taxed herself to the utmost on any one composition, nor wrought upon one poem to its greatest capacity of polish. She felt this herself. She was conscious of power in reserve. I know that the world judge by the fruits, and by these alone ; yet it is due to her to say that the reaper, Death, came by ere the kernel of the wheat was full and the stalk golden. In my free access to her papers, I have found a large quantity of manuscript essays, tales and poems, many of the last written in pencil on fragments of paper, evidently first drafts, laid aside for future revision. But this labor was never accomplished, and ■ there is no work in the grave.' I would say, in hope of the good it may sug-

OF MARY M. CHASE. XV11

gest, that it was a wrong to herself and to others that she wrote much instead of perfecting little. She might have done this. Her mental powers had reached full vigor, and needed but the discipline of thorough, unwavering effort. But she did not do it, for several reasons.

In the first place, because only a few of her many poems did she esteem of sufficient value to deserve revising labor ; they were dotted down in haste for some special purpose, or to satisfy some impulse from within. A felt disparity between what she had written and what she had the power to write, made her shrink from publication, which would have necessitated revision ; while the poet's inspiration was ever impelling her to fresh productions. And secondly, she yielded to the persuasive influence of a large circle of friends, who, perhaps not directly, but through the responsive force of her own outgoing sympathies, claimed many gifts of her poetiy. She wrote a score of pieces in the time that should have been devoted to one. In that way, doubtless, she dispensed pleasure to as many homes, but prodigality to others was injustice to herself.

Moreover, she allowed much time to be absorbed by Society, which belonged to her own study. It should not be inferred that she frequented parties. She was averse to them in town, and had little opportunity in the country. But her father's house was rarely free from guests, and often overflowing, and claims were b

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made upon her for entertainment which seemed at the time right and inevitable. The Ahasuerus of society ' commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels ' from the temple of her Genius, and though consecrated to a higher purpose, they were brought and used.

Much of her time, also, was consumed by household duties, and in the use of the needle, both for herself and in the multiplication of ingenious gifts for friends. In every department of housewifery, she executed with rare skill and rapidity. There seemed to be nothing within the scope of female ingenuity that she could not compass, and easy success stimulated to more endeavors. Adaptation to time, place, and circumstance, not by quiet passiveness, but in the more difficult art of active participation, was a characteristic. Moreover, her father's house was ever open to the incoming of the invalid, and she spent many days and nights, of years, in the care of the sick, who preferred no claim except that of a common Humanity. This was most praiseworthy, but not in the path of her peculiar, and, as I cannot but esteem, highest vocation. By no means should she have isolated herself for the sake of poetry ; but with less profusion should she have lavished her time and energies on the many who claimed sympathy and care. And sad it is to know that these multiplied claims of friends, accumulated and concentrated at the last, wore away the vigor of her constitution, and the ' golden bowl ' lay broken, while yet the costliest wine of life stood untasted.

OF MARY M. CHASE. XIX

Chapter III. Rapidity In Composition Consciousness Of

POWER.

Mary Chase composed in poetical measure, as well as in prose, with remarkable facility. She attained well nigh to improvisation. She could write at anytime and in any place, surrounded either by chat or quiet. She wrote responsive to incidents, and replied at the moment in poetry to the voices of Nature, or to the warm words or gifts of friends. Her words formed themselves into verse with such easy naturalness as almost irresistibly to persuade from prose. The best of her simple lays, and indeed of the more highly wrought poetiy, were penned in the brief interludes of busy housewifery, and many were written to friends as the appendage to rapid letters. The poem entitled ' Woman ' was composed in less than three days, for a special occasion, and more remarkable instances even than this might be mentioned.

It will be observed from her letters that she was aware of her mental power. The soul's strength made itself felt to her self-consciousness, as I am confident it does sooner or later to all gifted ones ; and I regard with no questioning, rather with respect, the unfettered

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way in which she writes of herself, so far removed from all the littleness of assumed humility. Yet this self-knowledge did not produce pride or vanity. Indeed, she was too true a woman to regard intellectual ability as the highest ambition. Affection was more precious to her than admiration. The letter, in which she reproaches a friend for having spoken of her as a genius, in a mingled strain of raillery and of almost passionate appeal, beautifully reveals her ' femininity.'

She never wrote for fame, or personal aggrandizement. She regarded her powers as ' lent on usury for Heaven ; ' and the truth, ' For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required,' often pressed with almost crushing weight upon her heart. She combined, in happy union, a sincere humility with a sense of power, which gave her a self-possession, a courage, a feeling of equality to any achievement and of superiority to every emergency, imparting decision to her plans and firmness to her purposes. Yet her standard was kept far above her accomplishment, and tearful sorrow for short-comings was more habitual than satisfaction in success. I have ventured to publish a letter, which unveils the secret working of her mind with regard to itself, in the confidence that it will meet a response in many an appreciative mind. This and the letter referred to above appear at the close of the Series.

OF MARY M. CHASE. XXI

Chapter IV. Humor Conversation Practical Christianity

Mary's letters better represent her gift of humor than her poetry, yet not fully, for one is apt to suspect premeditation on paper ; but in her conversation no one could entertain an idea of preparation. She was regarded by all as unsurpassed in the variety, the enlivenment, the alternating light and shade of her fireside conversings. The little things of every-day life, unnoticeable by the ordinary eye, served as the occasions of the daintiest descriptions and the happiest hits, yet without exaggeration or distortion. Her memory received like wax and retained like iron, and thus the anecdotes and facts she had heard came to the surface at the right moment with charming readiness, to serve for illustration or instruction. Past conversations were to her like stereotyped pages, which she could re-produce at any time, and she retained the idiosyncracies of another's language and intonation with extraordinary accuracy. She could repeat every poem she ever wrote, and much of what she had read of others' productions, and thus her quotations and allusions were frequent and happy.

She allowed no unkind sarcasms on misfortune ; but

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to assumption, or vanity, or sham of any kind, she was merciless. Yet she knew ' that honorable stop, not to outsport discretion.' Indeed, her mind inclined naturally to the Earnest in life. She recognised the True everywhere, and adopted it, while all that was fraudulent in society, or unsound in character, or affected in manner, was offensive to her.

This union of humor with seriousness is by some esteemed rare ; by some, impossible ; and by others, inconsistent ; yet a careful analysis and observation will show each of these notions to be incorrect. The universal fact will appear, that in those strong religious characters, whose moral power controls the circle in which they move, whether compressed within a neighborhood, or embracing a continent, the appreciation of humor, and oftentimes the genius for it, is exquisite. Indeed, a foundation of earnestness seems essential to the development of the highest form of humor, as the most delicate carving can be wrought out of only the solidest wood. The character is not complete in which either department exists alone or in undue proportion ; and hence care has been taken, in the selection of Maiy Chase's letters for publication, to show the happy balance of her character in this respect. Rightly regarded, the mirth-provoking portions, instead of being incongruous with the deep religious tone of others, are an evidence of its genuineness, as fruit-bearing trees alone produce gay blossoms.

In the social circle it was a necessity imposed, which

OF MARY M. CHASE. XX111

she bore gracefully, to fill a large space in conversation. Others seemed ready to listen when she was speaking. Yet her talk did not discourage, but rather developed latent ideas in the minds of others. Her light resembled in effect that of the moon upon the diamond to elicit light, rather than on surrounding stars to pale their lustre ; and yet the lead of conversation was her prerogative, which, adopting without asserting, with self-possessed animation, she would stand in the party or sit by the fireside, surrounded by a group of listeners wrought up to the happiest excitement.

It was the use of this prerogative which may have prevented some from being at first favorably impressed. They may have esteemed her frank and brilliant, too soon after introduction ; and reflecting that it is 4 not yet the third hour of the day ' of our acquaintanceship, and ' we hear every one in his own tongue,' ascribed it to the ' new wine ' of unfeminine assurance. But I think this impression, if ever made, was never abiding. Longer acquaintance showed that her manner sprung from the inspiration of a true, trusting, sympathetic nature, too thoughtful of imparting happiness to be suspicious of criticism.

Mary was blest in the power of adaptation to the mental grade and scope of those with whom she conversed, and she used it without encroaching upon her own individuality or integrity. It was this facility,

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coupled with appreciative sympathy, of which it was perhaps the fruit, that made her the welcome presence in all the farm-houses scattered among the hills about her home.

The happiness and the good of those with whom she was associated or surrounded were ever superior in her view to personal comfort, and she sometimes sacrificed health in her devotion to friends. Wherever suffering and degradation existed, she turned unhesitatingly with means of relief. And not only did she minister to bodily necessities, but she was at the same time watchful of the needs of the spirit. She was in the habit of seeking and supplying the destitute with Bibles and religious books ; also striving, by unobtrusive yet timely counsel, to sow some seed of divine truth.

When those words of blessed assurance shall be spoken by the King, ' For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink ; I was a stranger, and ye took me in ; naked, and ye clothed me ; I was sick, and ye visited me ; I was in prison, and ye came unto me ; ' then will rise up those of each suffering class, who will bear witness to her christian care, — yes, and the prisoner, too, will be there, with fast-falling tears, to tell the story of his temptation, his first crime, his desertion by friends, his despair ; when she alone sought him out with medicine for the body, and healing words, yet more precious, for the prostrate soul, and by her faithfulness he was healed and saved.

OF MARY M. CHASE. XXV

Chapter V Combination Of Intellectual And Practical Genius

The reader, by this time, can hardly fail to have noted the feature of Mary Chase's character, or rather the characterizing form in which it was moulded, which constituted its marked excellence. I mean the rare union of the executive and the practical with the sensitive and the poetical. Her writings illustrate the latter; the c daily beauty in her life ' evidenced the former. While so literary in taste and habit, she was as far removed from pedantry as any rosy-cheeked child. She was practical without being matter-of-fact, and poetical without being sentimental. She did not dwell in cloud-land or in dream-land, above or apart from the sympathies and duties of e very-day life. The pinion of her genius was strong, and at any time of choice, when the external might not claim attention, she could rise to the pure ether of thought and feeling. But the Real was not sacrificed to the Ideal ; indeed, as we have seen, it asserted an undue claim. But this was the result of circumstances beyond her control, and to which she yielded, not only with the apparent resigna-

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tion which would satisfy the standard of most, but with the gladness of a hearty zeal.

And these two distinct elements were not separated in daily doings. She was not wholly practical in the morning and exclusively poetical in the afternoon. She clothed work with such a cheerful light by her conversation, when employed with others, or by her own rich musings, when alone, that it was, so to speak, 4 transfigured.' Could not much be done by all women thus to make the household yoke rest more lightly, and transform what is now a drudgery into a source of happiness ?

It was this combination of two elements generally esteemed incompatible, which forms the most noteworthy point of her character and life, more remarkable than either her poetical or practical genius regarded separately. Hence it resulted that her scope of objects and interests was unusually wide, and her sources of enjoyment and occupation were ever accumulated far beyond the power even of her rapid industry to exhaust. When prostrated by sickness, while teaching in Brooklyn, her spirit drooped somewhat under the iron chain of bodily inactivity ; but it was not long ere the great lesson of submission was learnt, and it rose again with a buoyancy that disease could not wither.

OF MARY M. CHASE. XXV11

Chapter VI. Biography

A brief biographical record of Mary Chase will not be inappropriate, although many incidents are portrayed in her letters with an accuracy and vigor which another could not attain.

She was born at her father's house in Chatham, Columbia County, New York, on the twelfth of August, 1822. Most of her early life was passed at home until she entered an advanced class in the Albany Female Academy in September, 1843, where she spent one year, and was graduated with the honor of the gold medal for Composition.

Her intellectual tastes developed very early, and her abounding love of Nature seemed born with her. Her insight into the mysteries of that life of beauty, with which the Creator has surrounded us, was clear and deep, and the bond of union close and confiding. She had, what Carlyle styles as ' Nature's choicest gift, an open eye and heart.'

The education of her parents was calculated to develop her mind in these directions. Her father writes as follows in a letter to a friend : —

4 Having from early youth been a fervent admirer

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of the Holy Scriptures, as also of the glories and beauties of the material creation, I was always desirous that my children's minds should be imbued with the same feeling, as it has constituted one of the chief enjoyments of my life ; and for that purpose I embraced all the opportunities afforded me, from the pressing engagements of business, to point out these to them, and to impress on their minds the truth, that these were the works of an Almighty Power, whose glorious attributes they could in time more easily comprehend. As Mary was my youngest, I had more opportunity to take her out with me into the fields and woods, from whence she could see the widespread landscape stretching far away to the blue horizon, dotted with villages and farm-houses, cleared fields teeming with their cereal burden, lofty hills whose tops were crowned with waving forests, and streams silently wending their way through the grassy meadows, or dashing down in roaring torrents from some mountain height. From these two sources she caught that inspiration which afterwards flowed in such graceful numbers from her prolific pen, and from hence she drew much of that beautiful imagery and those noble conceptions with which her writings so abound. 1

Mary's mother was one of those women who, never favored with what some esteem the essential advantages of town culture and the range of libraries, seemed gifted, direct from the lavish hand of Nature, with the

01* MARY M. CHASE. XXIX

refined tastes, exquisite appreciations, and lofty aspirings which finished education in literature and art claims as its exclusive privilege.

She was a woman of beautiful expression and commanding presence, and of a manner uniting gentleness with dignity, which invested her with a serene attractiveness. Mary thus pictures her mother's love of flowers :

1 Sweet mother ! how precious to her were the commonest flowers ! One pleasant June morning I joined the family circle at breakfast, for the first time in months ; how had our invalid mother's hand decorated the table ! A branch of blossomed sweet-brier lay by each plate, gemmed with dew. She had plucked them herself, walking falteringly, and leaning on her staff*. Her love of flowers never left her. All the summer long you might see every day some fragrant pink, or rose, or lily, nestled among the snowy folds of her kerchief, and her table never lacked a glass filled with the fairest that the garden and grove produced. Oh ! sweet mother ! they tell us that in " the land which no mortal may know," all former envies and affections are forgotten, that " the maid thinks not of her lover there, or the mother of her child," but I long to know whether among all thy old beautiful loves, this one does not remain.'

The system of family education was somewhat peculiar. Punishment was rarely employed to secure obedience, yet a controlling influence was pervading

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like the air. Its principle was the power of love, untiring in its manifestations, and its appeals were to the conscience of the child ; while the love of Christ, and the all-seeing presence of God, were made living realities. Encouragement and approval for well-doing were preferred to reproof and blows for ill-doing. The training of Mary was culture, and its fostering influence developed individuality.

Mary's poetical genius was early manifested. When she was eight years old, her teacher, residing in the family, discovered one of her poems on 4 The Three Days' Revolution in France,' which he deemed extraordinary, and with a pardonable zeal sent it to a city newspaper. When a copy came back, she detected her production in the i poet's corner,' flushed deeply, and burst into tears. For years after it was impossible to get a sight at her compositions, although she wrote much ; and this early piece cannot be found.

The year at the Academy was a happy and profitable one. Her progress was striking, and her success even beyond the warm anticipations of her friends. During the years after graduation she spent much time with relatives in Albany, and through 1846 was pleasantly associated with a valued friend in the editing of the * Monthly Rose,' a periodical published in connection with the Academy, for which she wrote much and well. From this time onward she published occasional articles of prose and poetry in leading magazines, which won attention and much commendation.

OF MARY M. CHASE. XXXI

Her published and unpublished prose writings would form a large and attractive volume.

In 1845 she was awarded two gold medals by the 'Association of the Alumnse ' of Albany Female Academy, for a prize ' Poem ' entitled ' The Visions of a Night,' and a prize ' Moral Tale,' entitled i Life in the Country.' In 1846 she received a gold medal from the same society for a prize ' Essay ' on 4 Flowers.'

During the summer of 1849 she made a collection of most of the flowers growing in this region, comprising some three hundred varieties, put up with skill and taste in three portfolios, and accompanied with descriptions of each, arranged in an essay of fifty pages. These were sent to the ' World's Exhibition,' at London, and returned with gratifying testimonials.

In May, 1846, she was prevailed upon to take charge of the Department of Composition in the Brooklyn Female Academy, under the direction of Mr. Crittenden, her former Principal at Albany. Before the close of the following winter, she was attacked with hemorrhage of the lungs, induced by over-exertion in teaching, which suddenly interrupted her labors. In early spring she was taken home, and the summer was spent in means of restoration, which happily proved successful. But she did not resume her labors in the Academy, except during the summer of 1851, when she supplied a temporary vacancy in the same Department.

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Chapter VII. The Teacher

Of Mary Chase as the teacher, I had no opportunity of personal judgment, but the earnest words of pupils and associates, lead to the conviction that she left a most happy and abiding impression. She engaged in her work with an artist's enthusiasm, which inspired a responsive glow in her classes. In devising methods to stimulate mind, and elicit individuality of thought, she was ingenious and successful, and the tasks imposed were original and varied. She gathered selections of English literature from reviews and books, as means of forming correct style ; repeated selections from old ballads ; wrote poetry to illustrate particular forms of the Art ; brought into full use her remarkable knowledge of history; and delivered a series of lectures, which contain excellent criticisms and practical directions for study and writing, combined with forcible appeals to the highest considerations, calculated to inspire effort and courage. The depth of her religious nature was fully manifested in her intercourse with her pupils. Her labors were never confined to their mere scholastic advancement ; a holier work was ever before

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her, as her heart went forth with strong affection to individuals of her charge ; it was her greatest joy to feel that she had been the means of leading more than one wanderer to Him who is the Light and the Life. Her pupils cannot read without emotion, the letter numbered XVI.

The following is a brief extract from one of the lectures : ' In your writings keep close to the realities of life. Truth is stronger than fiction, and infinitely more lovely. Imagination is a priceless gift, yet, like the fire-spirit, it is a good servant but a bad master. It is enough for fancy if she be allowed to catch and hold up to the sun the crystal droppings of the robe of her who hideth at the bottom of a well, — pure, holy

Truth ! It is not enough for you to place on

my table an exquisitely tender and graceful essay on the Beautiful. You must note down its bearings on the great business of Life, and tell me of what use is this fine perception of Beauty Have a visible aim in all your writings. You should think to the point, speak and act to the point, then write to the point When you go into the peaceful country, and lie on the lap of Mother Earth under the forest trees, reflect that the moss beneath you is in every fibre a marvel, and no one can tell whence comes its seed, and that the tree against which you lean is the perfection of architecture, but none have seen the hand that fashioned its shaft and spread the vaulted

arches of its boughs

c

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c But one day more, and we shall part for this session. During my absence, I shall not cease to exert myself for you. Whatever I have of physical and mental energies I give to this work. Life is so very short, and there is so much to do ! Let us imitate

those

Who came from Chaldea's land

A feeble few, To build with trembling hand

Their halls anew.

So with us should it be,

While striving here, 'Mid foes we cannot see,

Our shrine to rear.

Girt with a trusty sword,

Should we build on ; Faith in God's holy word

And His dear Son.'

It remains to speak of the last days of Mary's life. It will be a satisfaction to her friends to peruse the record of this deeply interesting summer in the words of her loved companion-brother. And I would embrace this opportunity of paying my heartfelt tribute to his devotion to a sister's idolized memory, manifested during these weeks of our companionship in the labor of revision and selection.