----------------------------------------
------------                            
,,by ,,john ,,coleman ,,adams           
,,nature ,,studies ,,in ,,berkshire     
,photogravure ,edition1 with #af        
illustrations                           
in photogravure4 #h                #d4ej
                                        
,popular ,edition1 illustrated          
#b4ej                                   
,,william ,,hamilton ,,gibson           
,,artist--,,naturalist--,,author        
#h4 ,fully illustrated4 7,by mail #b4ae7
 net1 #b4jj                             
,g4 ,p4 ,,putnam',s ,,sons              
,,new ,,york ,,and ,,london             
----------------------------------------
------------                            
,illustration3 ,frontispiece            
,w4 ,hamilton ,gibson                   
,illustration3 ,william ,hamilton       
,gibson1 ,age #da     7,the autograph   
was always written without lifting the  
pen1 beginning      with the last half  
of the 8,h0 and ending with the first   

half7                                   
,william ,hamilton ,gibson              
,artist--,naturalist--,author           
,by                            ,john    
,coleman ,adams               ,author of
 8,nature ,studies in ,berkshire10 etc4 
,illustrated                            
,illustration                           
,g4 ,p4 ,putnam's ,sons                 
,new ,york and ,london                  
,the ,knickerbocker ,press              
#aija                                   
,,copyright1 #aija                      
,,by                            ,g4 ,p4 
,,putnam',s ,,sons                      
,the ,knickerbocker ,press1 ,new ,york  
,dedicated                              
to                             ,emma ,l4
 ,b4 ,gibson                            
and                                 ,her
 ,sons          ,,the ,,motive          
,three men have done more than any      
others to inspire our generation with   
the love of nature4 ,they are ,henry ,d4
 ,thoreau1 ,john ,burroughs1 and        

,william ,hamilton ,gibson4 ,thoreau1   
when the generation was young1          
challenged it to come out of doors1 live
 in a shanty1 and see as much of  the   
world as he saw4 ,john ,burroughs1 in   
later years1 has acted as guide  to a   
multitude of minds1 eager to be         
8personally conducted0 to field and     
forest4 ,william ,hamilton ,gibson1     
besides winning many feet into those    
8highways and byways0 whose charms he   
taught us to feel1 was fortunate  in his
 exceptional power to bring nature to   
the very eyes of men in the  works of   
his pencil1 with which he made          
luminous--literally  8illustrated0--his 
pages4 ,this alone would be a           
justification of some  account of his   
life and work4    ,but in addition to   
this claim on the interest of the       
public1 those who  knew him are aware of
 others2--a personality of singular     
charm and  forcefulness2 a career quite 
marvelous in its swift and sure         
achievements2 a genius as rare as it was

 versatile2 a devotion to art  and to   
study which fairly wore him out in its  
exactions on his energy2  an ideal which
 instructs while it shames our          
sordidness and  materialism4 ,his       
personality will surely grow upon the   
,american people  as time gives a true  
perspective to his life and work4       
,already we can  see something of his   
conspicuousness and his right to a place
 in the  foremost group of our          
nature-prophets4 ,in that great trio1   
,thoreau is  the philosopher1 ,burroughs
 the poet and man of letters1 ,gibson   
the  artist-naturalist4 ,in these days  
when so many are entering into the      
inheritance which ,gibson helped to     
secure1 it is fitting that              
nature-lovers should hear the story of  
his fruitful life4          ,,contents  
,,chapter                               
,,page       ,i4 ,a ,,fortunate         
,,boyhood                               
#a      ,,ii4 ,,calling ,,and ,,election
                                        

#bd     ,,iii4 ,a ,,quick ,,success     
#di      ,,iv4 ,,with ,,pencil ,,and    
,,brush                                 
#ha       ,v4 ,,the ,,open ,,eye        
#ajh      ,,vi4 ,,the ,,accident ,,of   
,,authorship                            
#aci     ,,vii4 ,,the ,,workman ,,and   
,,his ,,work                            
#aff    ,,viii4 ,,the ,,personal ,,side 
#bjj      ,,ix4 ,,afterglow             
#bcg          ,,list ,,of               
,,illustrations         ,,william       
,,hamilton ,,gibson                     
,frontispiece               ,age1 #da   
,,to ,,face ,,page       ,,the ,,gunnery
                                        
#f               ,washington1           
,connecticut       ,,william ,,hamilton 
,,gibson                                
#ah               ,age1 #ac             
,,william ,,hamilton ,,gibson           
#bh               ,age1 #ag    ,a,,the  
,,road ,,to ,,hide-,,and-,,seek ,,town  
#cf               ,first ,composition1  
#ahgc       ,,william ,,hamilton        

,,gibson                                
#db               ,age1 #bc    ,a8,,the 
,,peacock',s ,,feather0 78,,the         
,,peerless       ,,plume07              
#dh               78,highways and       
,byways07               ,copyright1     
#ahhb1 by ,harper ,brothers             
,a,,god',s ,,miracle                    
#eh               ,by permission of ,the
 ,curtis ,publishing ,company           
,,the ,,sumacs                          
#hj    ,a,,pen-,,and-,,ink ,,sketch     
#hb               ,from a ,letter       
,,at ,,the ,,easel                      
#ij               ,brooklyn ,studio     
,a,,the ,,struggle ,,for ,,life         
#ih               ,first ,watercolor    
,a8,,cypripedium ,,acaule0              
#ajh               78,my ,studio        
,neighbors07               ,copyright1  
#ahig1 by ,harper ,brothers             
,a,,upland ,,meadows                    
#abj               ,from a ,painting    
,a8,,the ,,bobolink ,,at ,,home0        
#acj               78,strolls by        

,starlight07               ,copyright1  
#ahij1 by ,harper ,brothers       ,,the 
,,writing ,,desk                        
#ach               ,brooklyn ,studio    
,a,a ,,winter ,,hunt                    
#add    ,a,,springtime                  
#aed               ,from a ,painting    
,a,,lake ,,waramaug                     
#afb               ,from a ,painting    
,a8,,wide-,,awake ,,day-,,dozers0       
#agh               78,strolls by        
,starlight and ,sunshine07              
,copyright1 #ahij1 by ,harper ,brothers 
,a,,the ,,roxbury ,,road                
#ahh    ,a,,late ,,october              
#bbb               ,from a ,painting    
,a,,the ,,edge ,,of ,,the ,,woods       
#bcd               ,from a ,painting    
,,the ,,village ,,green                 
#bdj               ,washington1         
,connecticut       ,,gibson',s ,,grave  
#bdh               ,washington ,cemetery
       ,,the ,,bronze ,,memorial        
#bff     ,a ,from a drawing by ,william 
,hamilton ,gibson                       

,,william ,,hamilton ,,gibbon           
,,chapter ,i    ,a ,,fortunate ,,boyhood
      ,to be well-born is half of the   
battle of life2 and to have an          
environment which helps the life of the 
child and the youth is a good  fraction 
of the other half4 ,so that the man     
whose parentage and whose  education are
 good is fortunate above his fellows1   
and well-assured of a  successful issue 
to his life4 ,heredity and early        
environment--these are  what the        
scientists call them--are as the        
building and the rigging of  the ship4  
,the best sailing-master can do little  
with an ill-built1  ill-rigged vessel4  
,there is much in the stock from which  
,william  ,hamilton ,gibson came1 much  
in his education and early association1 
which  explains his life and the way in 
which he lived it4 ,he was born in      
,sandy  ,hook1 ,newtown1 ,connecticut1  
in a region where the lower ,berkshire  
mountain-ranges break into irregular and
 crowded hills1 green1  picturesque1 and

 restful4 ,he has himself left a        
charming description of  the old home   
and its immediate surroundings1 in the  
chapter called  8,summer0 in 8,pastoral 
,days40    8,hometown 7,sandy ,hook71   
owing to some early faction1 is divided 
into two  sections1 forming two distinct
 towns4 ,one ,newborough 7,newtown71 a  
hilltop hamlet1 with its picturesque    
long street1 a hundred feet in  width1  
and shaded with great weeping elms that 
almost meet overhead2 and  the other1   
,hometown proper 7,sandy ,hook71 a      
picturesque little village in  the      
valley1 cuddling close around the foot  
of a precipitous bluff1 known  as ,mt4  
,pisgah4 ,a mile's distance separates   
the two centers4 ,the old  homestead is 
situated in the heart of ,hometown1     
fronting on the main  street4 ,the house
 itself is a series of after-thoughts1  
wing after wing1  gable after gable     
having clustered around the old nucleus 
as the growth  of new generations       
necessitated new accommodation4 ,its    

outward aspect is  rather modern1 but   
the interior with its broad open        
fireplace and  accessories in the shape 
of crane and firedogs1 is rich with all 
the  features of typical ,new ,england2 
and the two gables of the main roof     
enclose the dearest old garret          
imaginable4444 ,looking through the     
dingy  window between the maple-boughs1 
my eye extends over lawns and           
shrubberies three acres in extent1--a   
little park1 overrun with paths in      
every direction1 through ancient orchard
 and embowered dells1 while far  beyond 
are glimpses of the wooded knolls1 the  
winding brook1 and meadows  dotted with 
waving willows1 and farther still1 the  
undulating farm40    ,in such a spot    
,gibson was born ,october the fifth1    
#ahej4 ,his father was  originally a    
,boston man1 who finally removed to     
,brooklyn1 though  maintaining the home 
in the country1 at ,newtown4    ,the    
,gibson ancestry is one of no little    
interest1 embracing as it does1  in     

various branches1 some of the most      
distinguished names in ,eastern         
,massachusetts4 ,the first ,american    
bearer of the name was ,john ,gibson of 
,cambridge1 whose coming to this country
 was at least as early as #afcd1  and   
who died in ,cambridge in #afid at the  
age of ninety-three years4 ,his         
descendants remained for the most part  
in ,massachusetts for several           
generations4 ,thomas ,gibson of         
,townsend1 ,massachusetts1 the          
grandfather  of ,william ,hamilton1 by  
marriage with ,frances ,maria ,hastings 
brought  into the family line the famous
 ,dana family1 a connection of which his
  descendants were justly proud4 ,the   
original ,dana ancestor was also a      
,cambridge settler1 ,richard by name1   
who married ,anne ,bullard4 ,his        
grandson1 by his son ,daniel 7who       
married ,naomi ,crosswell71 was ,mr4    
,justice ,richard ,dana1 whose death in 
#aggb deprived the patriots of those    
stormy days of one of their foremost and

 ablest leaders4 ,justice ,dana  was    
unquestionably at the head of the       
,massachusetts bar1 an authority on  the
 precedents in ,american cases more     
quoted by ,story than any other  pleader
 of his time4 ,he is one of the figures 
in ,hawthorne's sketch1  given in his   
8,grandfather's ,chair10 of the episode 
in the drama of  pre-,revolutionary     
agitation1 when ,andrew ,oliver made    
oath to take no  measures to enforce the
 ,stamp ,act4 ,one of his brothers was  
,francis ,dana1  ,chief ,justice of     
,massachusetts1 and ambassador to       
,russia1 whose wife was  ,elizabeth     
,ellery1 and whose son ,richard ,henry  
left a name always  honorable in the    
history of ,american letters4 ,richard  
,dana's daughter  ,lydia married ,john  
,hastings1 a descendant of both the     
famous ,john  ,cottons of ,boston       
renown4 ,their daughter ,frances ,m41   
married to ,thomas  ,gibson1 was the    
mother of ,edmund ,trowbridge ,hastings 
,gibson1 and  grandmother of ,william   

,hamilton ,gibson4 ,it is no wonder that
 the latter  should write to an         
inquiring friend3    8,you ask whether  
,i am a ,new ,englander4 ,let me set    
your heart at rest by  telling you that 
,i am a way-back ,puritan4 ,the race has
 been petering out  from old ,john      
,cotton down through a long list of     
historical men whom ,i  am glad to own  
as ancestors4 7,i don't count some of   
the earlier ,lords  and ,ladies to whom 
,i trace my lineage--they are a pretty  
bad lot to my  thinking47 ,i honor the  
humble names of several of my           
progenitors who  lived and died in the  
love and respect of their fellow men1   
and have  some reason to feel a little  
pride in being able to allude to        
,justice  ,richard ,dana1 of            
,massachusetts1 as my                   
great-great-grandfather1 and a  lineage 
which embraces the names of ,washington 
,allston1 ,ellery ,channing1  and others
 equally noble and worthy2 and now it   
has come down to me in  this branch of  

the family4 ,yes1 ,i am ,new ,england to
 the core4 ,no other  place on earth    
will ever be so near and dear or carry  
me to loftier  mountain tops40    ,from 
the old country home and its            
surroundings the lad of ten years went  
to a school which was probably as       
well-adapted to his temper and tastes   
as any which could have been selected4  
,at any rate it was a school to  which  
he became profoundly attached1 and whose
 master he was to count  among the      
dearest and closest friends of a        
lifetime4 ,the 8,gunn ,school10  or the 
8,gunnery10 as it came to be called1 was
 one of the famous  institutions of this
 country1 a school which left its       
indelible mark  upon many a boy whose   
maturity was to be eminent and useful in
 the  national life4 ,it was a school   
unique in its theory and without rivals 
in its practice4 ,its founder and head  
was ,frederick ,w4 ,gunn1 a native of   
,washington1 ,connecticut1 where he     
spent his life1 did his great and good  

work1 and died in a ripe old age4 ,he   
was a man of rare character and  gifts4 
,large-hearted and large-minded1 with a 
religious and ethical  nature of the    
most positive kind1 he was a man        
predestined to influence  others1 and   
mold the lives of youth4 ,though he was 
an 8abolitionist0 in  days when that    
term carried with it intensest odium and
 social  proscription1 and a dissenter  
from conventional orthodoxy in a time   
when to differ from established         
standards was to write one's self down  
an 8infidel10 he was a successful       
teacher1 and made and maintained a      
series of schools1 which finally grew   
into the noble 8,gunnery10 a term  at   
first used by the boys facetiously1 but 
so apt and so happy as to be  officially
 adopted as the title of the school4    
,one of his old pupils1  writing of the 
character of the institution1 says3     
8,when ,mr4 ,gunn called the school     
which his genius had established #8a    
home for boys' he stated the simple and 

exact truth4444 ,mr4 and ,mrs4  ,gunn   
both had the parental instinct so strong
 that they really took to  their hearts 
each individual boy1 and brooded over   
him as if he were  their own flesh and  
blood40    ,this home-school and        
school-home in one was conducted as a   
miniature  republic2 its aim was        
all-round1 symmetrical character2 its   
method grew  out of the hearty1         
wholesome1 honest1 and loving nature of 
its head2 its  spirit was justice and   
love4 ,perhaps it was not a school where
 8marks0  counted for a great deal2 and 
the drill in books may not have been as 
severe and systematic as in some        
institutions4 ,but the boy who went to  
the 8,gunnery0 was pretty sure to imbibe
 some notions of honor1 justice1        
kindliness1 and obedience which he never
 forgot4 ,as one of the old  pupils     
writes3    8,we recall an era of        
uncurbed freedom in a spot              
,illustration3 ,the ,gunnery            
,washington1 ,connecticut    hallowed by

 home affections without home           
effeminacies2 where every bad  trait of 
a boy was systematically assailed and   
every good trait  strengthened1 so far  
as might be1 so as to take its final    
place in an  enduring character and     
robust manhood40    ,gibson himself has 
given a tender and vivid picture of the 
school which  played so large a part in 
his life1 in the pages of 8,pastoral    
,days03    8,how lightly did ,i         
appreciate the fortunate journey when1  
twenty summers  ago1 ,i followed this   
road for the first time1 when a boy of  
ten years1  on my way to an unknown     
village1 ,i looked across the landscape 
to the  little spires on that distant   
hill6 ,little did ,i dream of the six   
years  of unmixed happiness and precious
 experience that awaited me in that     
little ,judea6 ,i only knew that ,i was 
sadly quitting a happy home on my  way  
to #8boarding-school'--a school called  
the ,snuggery1 taught by a ,mr4  ,snug1 
in a little village named ,snug ,hamlet1

 about twenty miles from  ,hometown4    
8,there are some experiences in the life
 of every one which1 however  truthful1 
cannot be told but to elicit the        
doubtful nod or the warning  finger of  
incredulity4 ,they were such experiences
 as these1 however1  that made up the   
sum of my early life in that happy      
refuge called in  modern parlance a     
#8boarding-school'--a name as empty1 a  
word as weak and  tame in its           
significance1 as poverty itself2 no     
doubt abundantly  expressive in its     
ordinary application1 but here it is a  
mockery and a  satire4 ,this is not a   
#8boarding-school'2 it is a household1  
whose  memories moisten the eye and stir
 the soul2 to which its scattered       
members through the fleeting years look 
back as to a neglected home1  with      
father and mother dear1 whom they long  
once more to meet as in the  tenderness 
of boyhood days2 a cherished remembrance
 which1 like the  #8house upon a hill1  
cannot be hid1' but sends abroad its    

light unto many  hearts who in those    
early days sought the loving shelter2 a 
bright star  in the horizon of the past1
 a glow that ne'er grows dim1 but only  
kindles and brightens with the flood of 
years4 ,yes1 yes2 ,i know it  sounds    
like a dash of sentiment1 but words of  
mine are feeble and  impotent indeed    
when sought for the expression of an    
attachment so fond1  of a love so deep40
    ,most delightfully1 too1 does he    
blend an account1 in the same chapter1  
of a return to the old school1 in later 
years1 and a picture of the             
characteristic life of that school as it
 lies in the memories of many           
successive generations of boys who      
passed through its scenes3    8,it is   
eight o'clock1 and the ,snuggery is     
hushed in the quiet of the  study hour1 
and as we look through the windows we   
see the little groups  of studious lads 
bending over their books4 ,turning a    
corner on the  piazza1 we are confronted
 with a tall hexagonal structure at its 

farther end4 ,this is the ,tower1 the   
lower room of which is consecrated  to  
the cozy retirement of ,mr4 and ,mrs4   
,snug4 ,the door leading to the  porch  
is open1 and1 as if awakening from a nap
 in which the past fifteen  years have  
been a dream1 ,i listen to the same dear
 voice4 ,i approach  nearer4 ,under the 
glow of a student's lamp ,i look upon   
the beloved face1  the flowing hair and 
beard now silvered with the lapse of    
years--a face  of unusual firmness1 but 
whose every line marks the expression of
 a  tender1 loving nature1 and of a     
large and noble heart4 ,near him another
  sits--a helpmeet kind and true1       
cherished companion in a happy1 useful  
life4 ,into her lap a nestling lad has  
climbed2 and as she strokes the  curly  
head and looks into the chubby face1 ,i 
see the same expression as  of old1 the 
same motherly tenderness and love       
beaming from the large  gray eyes4      
8,mr4 ,snug is leaning back in his      
easy-chair1 and two boys are standing   

up before him2 one of them is speaking1 
evidently in answer to a  question4     
#8,i called him a galoot1 sir4'         
#8,you called ,george a galoot1 and then
 he threw the base-ball club at  you--is
 that it8'    #8,yes1 sir1' interrupted 
,george2 #8but ,i was only playing1     
sir4'    #8,yes1' resumed the voice of  
,mr4 ,snug1 #8but that club went with   
considerable force1 and landed over the 
fence1 and made havoc in ,deacon        
,farish's onion-bed2 and that reminds me
 that the deacon's onion-bed is  overrun
 with weeds4 ,now1 ,willie1' continued  
,mr4 ,snug1 after a moment's            
hesitation1 with eyes closed1 and head  
thrown back against the chair1          
#8,saturday morning--to-morrow1 that    
is--directly after breakfast1 you go    
out into the grove and call names to the
 big rock for half an hour4  ,don't stop
 to take breath2 and don't call the same
 name twice4 ,your  vocabulary will     
easily stand the drain4 ,you            
understand8'    #8,yes1 sir4'    #8,and1

 ,george1' continued ,mr4 ,snug1 with   
deliberate1 easy intonation1            
#8to-morrow morning1 at the same time1  
you present yourself politely to        
,deacon ,farish1 tell him that ,i sent  
you1 and ask him to escort you to  his  
onion-bed4 ,after which you will go     
carefully to work and pull out  all the 
weeds4 ,you understand1 sir8'    #8,yes1
 sir4'    #8,and then you will both     
report to me as usual4' ,and with a     
pleasant  smile1 which was reflected in 
both their faces1 the erring youngsters 
were dismissed4 ,before the door has    
closed behind them we are standing  in  
the doorway4 ,here ,i draw the curtain2 
for who but one of its own  household   
could understand a welcome at the       
,snuggery80    ,no feature of the       
8,gunnery0 life is more interesting to  
the old scholar  or to outsiders than   
the ingenious and effective punishments 
invented by  ,mr4 ,gunn for the less    
serious and still important offenses    
inevitable  in such a community4 ,he    

made early application of the principles
 so  earnestly defended in ,herbert     
,spencer's 8,education0 and contrived to
  8make the punishment fit the crime0 in
 a manner worthy of ,w4 ,s4  ,gilbert's 
famous 8,mikado40 ,his memorialist1     
enlarging on this phase of  the         
8,gunnery0 life1 thus enumerates 8the   
grotesque punishments which ,mr4  ,gunn 
visited on petty offenses in his school 
and family03    8,a boy of uncommon     
diffidence might be sent to call on some
 village  spinster or1 worse yet for the
 blushing youngster1 on some comely     
village lass4 ,a youth too boisterous   
would be dismissed for a four-mile      
walk1 ordered to hold a chip in his     
mouth for an hour1 or to run a dozen    
times around the church on the ,green1  
sounding the tin dinner-horn at  each   
corner in rotation4 ,two small boys     
caught fighting were often  ordered to  
sit1 one in the other's lap1 taking     
turns thus for an hour or  two4         
,pounding a log with a heavy club was a 

favorite panacea for  superfluous energy
 in the family sitting-room4 ,once a    
mischievous  youngster was seen         
sprinkling a dog's face with water at   
the tank behind  the ,gunnery4 ,the     
master1 who had a tender spot in his    
heart for animals1  stole up behind the 
offender and ducked him liberally1 to   
give him1 as  he said afterward1 an     
inkling of the feelings of the dog4 ,at 
the ,gunnery  it used to be a custom to 
allow a boy to take the anniversary of  
his  birth as a holiday1 and a too      
clever lad was detected by ,mr4 ,gunn   
celebrating thus his third birthday     
within a single year4 ,the next  genuine
 anniversary of the boy's birth came on 
a ,saturday1 which the  recusant        
celebrated by hugging a tree for several
 hours while his  schoolmates enjoyed   
the regular school holiday4 ,a resident 
of ,washington  tells how1 years ago1 he
 found at the fork of two roads and     
hugging a  sign-post in anything but    
sentimental fashion a youth whose only  

reply  to questions was1 #8,i'm a poor  
miserable sinner1' that being the       
formula  of penance which the master had
 prescribed4 ,a dozen lads some twenty  
years ago were caught raiding the       
bough-apple trees of the neighbors4     
,mr4 ,gunn made them draw up a formal   
address of apology1 bear it in          
procession to each of the amazed owners 
of the trees1 read it on their  knees1  
and pray forgiveness4 ,a single truant  
once caught committing the  same offense
 in the orchard of a poor widow was sent
 to work all day  picking up stones in  
one of her fields4    8,actual          
wickedness was severely punished by ,mr4
 ,gunn1 sometimes in the  good1         
old-fashioned way2 but his motive in    
inflicting for minor faults  the odd    
penalties here alluded to seemed to be  
to take cognizance of the  error in a   
manner that would sufficiently incommode
 the culprit without  hurting his       
self-respect or leaving an angry smart4 
,the boy appreciated  the fact that #8he

 stood corrected'2 but he also          
appreciated the  humorous side of the   
penalty4 ,those who revisited           
,washington after  leaving school sought
 no familiar haunt with more interest   
than the  shrines to which they had made
 penitential pilgrimages under          
orders--,kirby ,corners1 a gentle jog   
around the square2 the old sawmill  in  
the hollow1 which1 visited at night1 was
 weird and ghostly enough to  sober the 
wildest urchin2 ,moody ,barn1 as        
redolent of pleasant memories  as of    
new-mown hay2 and1 for more serious     
faults1 distant #8,judd's  ,bridge4'    
99       99       99       99       99  
8,he insisted on neatness and order1 and
 often a family meeting was  called and 
made a court of inquiry over a bit of   
paper found on the  lawn1 or a          
peanut-shuck on the stairs4 ,once there 
was a question as to  the history of    
several pieces of orange-peel in the    
grass in front of  the house4 ,the forty
 boys were summoned and made to stand in

 a row on  the long piazza4 ,mr4 ,gunn  
called upon each one to state what he   
knew  about the orange-peel1 and at the 
end of the investigation he formed the  
dozen or more culprits into file1 the   
tallest at the head1 and made them      
march in solemn procession about the    
yard until they had picked up all  the  
offending scraps1 and then to the       
pig-sty to deposit them in their  proper
 place40    ,there is a delightful      
paragraph in a letter which ,gibson     
wrote home to  his brothers1 in which he
 tells in a boy's quaint way of one of  
these  ingenious penalties which was    
visited on himself4    8,one day ,i and 
two other boys eat some walnuts in      
church in the meeting  time4 ,mr4 ,gunn 
found it out4 ,he made us three boys    
take the rest of our  walnuts up to the 
minister4 ,we did so and the minister   
gave us his  thanks for the walnuts1 and
 asked us if we would not have some     
supper1  for it was supper time4 ,we    
refused and left4 ,he told us not to eat

 any  more40    ,but ,mr4 ,gunn could   
administer as sharp reprimands to       
parents and older  folk as he could to  
the boys who were his pupils4 ,there is 
a plaintive  letter from ,gibson to his 
father1 growing yellow now1 with age1 in
 which  the heart of the little boy is  
uncovered1 and his longing for letters  
from home is touchingly revealed4 ,and  
the fatherly1 warm-hearted teacher  had 
evidently read it1 and his soul burned  
within him4 ,so he wrote upon  the back 
page of the little note the following   
admonitory words1 which  must have      
elicited a letter by return mail3       
8,,my ,,dear ,,sir3 ,it seems to me if  
,i had such a dear little son as ,willie
  ,gibson1 sent away from home to a     
boarding school1 and thrown upon the    
cold charities of the world1 so         
proverbially heartless and selfish as   
the ministers say it is1 ,i would       
require one of the clerks to write to   
him once or twice a quarter4 ,willie is 
happy in his present relations1  but    

somewhat anxious about the friends he   
left behind him4 ,he presumes  his      
parents are well1 not having seen their 
names in the papers1 but  would feel    
more sure if he heard from them4 ,willie
 is a dear little  fellow1 just as good 
as he can be4 ,should you think it best 
to write to  him1 direct care of ,f4 ,w4
 ,gunn1 ,washington1 ,conn406    ,these 
are words like rifle bullets6    ,of    
course the students of child psychology 
will be interested to learn  whatever is
 worth knowing concerning the           
appearance1 in embryo1 of the  man      
,gibson in the boy of this period4      
,there is satisfaction for such         
investigators and there is              
disappointment as well4 ,there are many 
intimations1 at this period1 of the man 
that is to be4 ,there are traces  of    
peculiarities which wholly disappeared  
with the years4 ,there were  aptitudes  
and tastes appearing in the school-days 
at the ,gunnery1 which  no reprimands   
and no discouragements could subdue2 and

 there were  shortcomings and faults    
which the years were destined utterly to
 efface4  ,it certainly seems strange to
 find ,mr4 ,gunn writing to the boy's   
mother1  8,willie has not yet learned to
 be spontaneously industrious4 ,i know  
he  will come to it4 ,he improves02 and 
again to his father1 8,willie insists   
that he is getting along finely in his  
studies1 that he studies very  hard1 and
 is doing well4 ,but you must accept    
this with some grains of  allowance for 
a boy's favorable judgment of himself4  
,he does not learn  as fast as ,i wish  
to have him4 ,i think his tendency to   
take on fat  hinders his power of       
industrious1 persevering application2 he
 is  getting to be quite a big fellow1  
and ,i urge him a good deal40 ,when one 
remembers that the most marked of all   
his traits as a man was the fierce  and 
enthusiastic zeal with which he worked1 
consuming the powers of a  robust       
physique in his zest for toil1 one is   
moved to be very patient  with the      

unpromising side of a child's nature4   
,it may take a great while  to become   
8spontaneously industrious02 but        
,gibson's experience shows how  needless
 it is to be despondent because a boy   
does not work with a man's  spirit4     
,sufficient unto the age are the traits 
thereof4    ,but in other ways1 the     
schoolboy was forecasting the traits of 
the  mature man4 ,there is a mournful   
letter preserved out of these years1 in 
which the little fellow writes his      
father after receiving a reprimand  for 
illustrating his letters with           
pen-and-ink pictures4 ,his inborn       
faculty would exhibit itself1 and the   
home letters were filled with  funny and
 interesting sketches4 ,but that did not
 seem to the parental  mind a wise use  
of writing materials4 ,so the embryo    
artist was warned to  curb his passion  
for illustration4 ,he wrote a few       
penitent lines in  response4 8,next     
comes about the writing4 ,i own that ,i 
am very foolish in  putting those       

pictures in my letters1 and ,i won't do 
it any more4 ,i  never put them in only 
to the letters home40 ,vain promise6 ,it
 was one  more attempt to drive out     
nature with a pitchfork2 and was as     
unsuccessful--as it deserved to be4 ,the
 artist-impulse was straining  and      
struggling within him already and was   
bound to assert itself more  and more   
vigorously till it should triumph in his
 life-work4    ,so1 too1 there appeared 
in these early days the passionate love 
of  nature which was to be a controlling
 element in his later years4 ,botany    
was one of the studies which he insisted
 upon taking up under ,mr4 ,gunn's      
teaching4 ,there was a little family    
controversy over the matter1 growing    
out of the mother's fear that the really
 practical things would be  neglected in
 this passion for nature-study4 ,it     
sounds strange enough1 at  this distance
 in time1 with all the light of the     
boy's later life1 to  read the mother's 
anxious words3    8,we wish ,mr4 ,gunn  

to judge and direct in all these things1
 but ,i was  afraid your own wish and   
the way ,i spoke to you about the       
delight of  studying ,botany1 might have
 led you to speak so positively in      
choosing  it1 that he would suppose it  
was by our direction4 ,if you really do 
take  up ,botany you must expect to find
 that it is not all play either4 ,there 
are hard things to remember1 and you    
must make up your mind to work at  them 
bravely and perseveringly if you are    
determined to make them  yours40    ,a  
little sentence later in the same letter
 shows the bent of the boy4  ,his       
mother1 referring to a recent visit of  
his father to the school1  remarks3     
8,i was afraid when your father told me 
how he found you in the calamus  swamp1 
that you would be sick40    ,that tells 
an interesting story of boyish passion  
for plants4 ,and so do  the little      
fellow's letters home4 ,very early in   
his life at the ,gunnery  he wrote to   
his father3    8,i get along in my      

studies in ,botany very well indeed1 and
 he has  described two or three plants1 
one of which was ,marsh-marigold or the 
,cowslip4 ,he has analyzed the cherry   
blossom02 and ,mr4 ,gunn wrote a        
footnote to the same letter saying3 8,he
 seems delighted with ,botany and  makes
 close observations40 ,this quality of  
his mind1 cropping out in its  earliest 
essays1 appears again and again in these
 juvenile letters4 ,they  are well worth
 quoting1 as early witnesses to the     
attentive eye1 the  retentive memory1   
the descriptive power which were part of
 his natural  and congenital outfit for 
his life-work4 ,one of them divides its 
pages  between art and natural history3 
8,my paints have given me a great deal  
of fun4 ,i bought a blank book and      
copied several pictures in it out of my 
#8,harris's ,insects1' and ,i also      
painted them1 some from the description 
and some from the plates4 ,i have  one  
page of beetles1 another page of        
butterflies1 etc41 etc4 ,i guess  when  

,i get it done it will be #8betterish   
nische4' ,everybody comes to  me lately 
to have    ,illustration3 ,william      
,hamilton ,gibson    ,age1 #ac    me    
draw and paint them a valentine1 which  
of course ,i do for some of  them4 ,i   
wish that in your next letter you would 
send me a couple of  paint brushes1 for 
the hairs of mine keep coming out all   
the while4    8,that same feeling has   
come over me that ,i used to have last  
summer when  ,i was after bugs and      
butterflies4 ,the other day1 it came    
very strong and  ,i went out to look for
 cocoons1 and ,i looked and looked1 but 
saw  nothing1 and gave it up entirely1  
but as ,i was coming on my way into the 
house ,i saw some small pear-trees and  
,i thought that ,i would look on  them  
and ,i did1 and saw a bunch of leaves4  
,i looked and saw there was a  ,cecropia
 cocoon done up in them which made me   
feel like an eagle darting  at her prey4
 ,i grabbed the prize and kept it and   
have got it yet4 ,we  have got a new    

minister which ,i told you about4 ,i    
showed it to him and  he told me to call
 and see him and bring it to him and he 
then asked me  if any boy had a         
microscope4 ,i told him yes 7for        
,commodore has got a  ,craig's          
,microscope7 and the next evening       
,commodore and ,i took my  #8,harris's  
,insects' and showed it to him4 ,he was 
much pleased with it and  is going to   
get one4 ,we did not make a very long   
call1 but it was a nice  one40          
,another letter to his mother enlists   
her help in his entomological           
interests3    8,i have just found an    
,imperial moth worm on a maple-tree4    
,will you  please look on one of the    
small apple-trees in the orchard near   
the  place where the arbor used to be1  
and on that row of small apple-trees1   
there is a tree on which ,i put a       
,cecropia worm for myself1 which may be 
found by its effects under the tree4 ,i 
think a great deal of it or ,i  wouldn't
 write about it4 ,have you found any    

worms yet8 ,i wish that ,i was  there to
 look about for them1 or ,i wish that   
there was somebody there  who would look
 after them for me1 for it is such a    
splendid place for  them4 ,the boys are 
leaving from here1 very fast1 and we all
 will leave  in #ac days more4444       
8,p4 ,s4 ,that worm that ,i told you    
about on the apple-tree1 if very large1 
must be taken off and put into a box    
with fresh apple leaves every day2  if  
small1 do the same40    ,a letter which 
he wrote in #ahfe bears witness to the  
trait which his  teacher had already    
noted--his careful observation4 ,he made
 pen-and-ink  drawings to make clear    
what flower he was trying to identify1  
which was  plainly the false foxglove4  
8,i have been out in several places and 
have stuck in as much as ten  stakes in 
different places where those beautiful  
scarlet or crimson  lilies grow and when
 the stalk has gone ,i will take them   
up4 ,saturday ,i  intend to go out in   
search of some more4 ,there are plenty  

of them1 and  sometimes ,i see them two 
or three on one stalk4    8,do you know 
what the large trumpet-creeper is that  
has very large  flowers of a red color8 
,one used to grow at the east end of the
 back  piazza up against the side of the
 house4 ,well1 there is a flower of the 
same shape and kind of a beautiful      
yellow color1 but it grows like a       
primrose2 on one stalk there are over   
#bj flowers of about an inch and a  half
 in length4 ,the tops of the buds seem  
to be lapped over each other1  and when 
there are blossoms they look very       
pretty4 ,i am going to try and  get it  
for you1 but ,i don't know whether it   
has seed or not4 ,i suppose  not4       
,nevertheless1 ,i'll try and get it for 
you1 for it is very pretty4    8,in a   
garden up here there is a kind of       
#8,columbine1' very large1 of two       
kinds1 purple and white and very large4 
,i am welcome to all the seed  that ,i  
want4 ,i don't know whether you want any
 or not1 but nevertheless  ,i'll get you

 a lot4    8,here ,i must stop4 ,i      
remain    8,your aff4 son ,,willie40    
,the boy was fortunate in his mother1   
whose fine nature1 trained tastes1  and 
,christian spirit moved and moulded the 
best there was in him4 ,her  letters to 
the little pupil are models of maternal 
sympathy1 and reflect  very vividly the 
boy's strong passion for living things  
and the study of  them4 ,one of her     
characteristic messages went to him in  
#ahfb1 and  reveals her own interest in 
the pursuits which were delighting her  
children and which were destined to mean
 so much to the boy she was  writing to3
    8,how are your friends and dear     
companions1 the worms8 ,i missed them   
very  much after you had gone1 and often
 found myself stepping carefully and    
looking down to the right and the left  
in crossing the upper hall1  expecting  
to see some green or brown thing        
crawling about4 ,the great  drawer ,i   
gave you1 we call #8the worm drawer'    
yet1 and ,i don't know as ,i  shall ever

 open it comfortably again4 ,the        
peaceable and innocent rolls  of linen  
and sewing lie in it now1 just as they  
used before you had it1  but sometimes  
,i forget and open the one under it     
cautiously1 expecting  to see some of   
your treasures dropped through again1 on
 my things4 ,henry  and ,julie are      
making collections now also1 and ,cottie
 brought home1 the  other day1 the      
finest1 largest specimen ,i ever saw1 of
 the sort you  called #8,polyphemus'8   
,it was of immense size1 and a very     
bright healthy  color1 both in its body 
and in those little tufts that stud it  
all over4  ,he laid it away very        
carefully1 and left it in peace a few   
days1 and  yesterday1 behold it had spun
 a cocoon in its box as large as a      
butternut1 and as strong as linen1 of a 
beautiful reddish brown4 ,we  shall     
expect the moth with great interest4    
,the children are too  impatient to     
hurry up business with their worms4     
,they are forever  opening the boxes1   

and lifting and handling the creatures1 
so that ,i  should think the poor things
 would despair of ever getting a chance 
to  set their houses in order1 at all40 
,his relations with his mother were     
always close and sympathetic4 ,she was  
a rare nature1 refined and cultivated1  
with a strong literary bent and  deep   
religious feeling4 ,she wrote not a     
little1 contributing to the  pages of   
8,the ,christian ,union0 and other      
publications4 ,she scrupulously  kept   
all the boy's letters from his          
schooldays forward through the  years4  
,one of the cherished mementos of her   
life was a little manuscript  volume1   
which bears the inscription3 8,i leave  
this book to my son  ,william40 ,it is a
 record of her study of the ,bible1 her 
grapple with the  great problems of     
ethical and theological thought1 prayers
 in which she  has uttered the          
aspirations of a reverent spirit        
insistently seeking  light through all  
the confusion and shadow of modern      

speculation1  comment upon the great    
books which were stirring ,christendom  
and  sounding the note of the new       
thought about ,christ and ,christianity4
 ,to  read them is to discover the      
sources of the son's deep reverence and 
broad1 unconventional religious life4   
,it is to feel anew the unconscious     
power of motherhood in shaping the      
ductile spirit of childhood1 and to  be 
certain that the light of such a spirit 
was a very pillar of fire to  the soul  
of her son4          ,,chapter ,,ii     
,,calling ,,and ,,election      ,it was 
between the years #ahff and #ahfh that  
the great crisis of young  ,gibson's    
life occurred2 and a series of          
influences and incidents befell1  which 
were decisive in settling the great     
questions of his life-work and  of the  
spirit in which he would undertake it4  
,the latter of the two was the first to 
be decided4 ,it was at this period  of  
his life that the boy experienced one of
 those changes in  disposition1 which   

was like the awakening or the sudden    
unfolding of the  real self1 hitherto   
hidden under apparently opposite traits4
 ,while he  was at the ,gunnery1 ,gibson
 had troubled the soul of his teacher1  
as we  have seen1 because he had not1 as
 ,mr4 ,gunn put it1 8learned to be      
spontaneously industrious40 ,but during 
the years immediately following1  while 
he was yet at the ,polytechnic1 he 8came
 to himself40 ,he had been  an          
easy-going boy1 rather indolent in      
habit1 or at least deficient in  the    
power of industrious1 persevering       
application4 ,but now he began to  show 
a love of work1 to love it for its own  
sake1 to plan it1 and to  seek it of his
 own volition4 ,he took a vigorous hold 
upon his studies at  the ,polytechnic4  
,he found a new delight1 as well as a   
sustained1  deep-seated interest in his 
drawing4 ,he took up a new pursuit1 to  
which  he devoted his spare hours to    
such good purpose that he mastered it in
  astonishingly little time1 and carried

 it to a high point of skill4  ,chancing
 to see some wax-flowers made by an     
expert of his time in  ,brooklyn1 he    
promptly decided that the art was one   
which he could  master4 ,after some     
essays of his own1 he put himself under 
the  instruction of this teacher1 who   
soon told the boy that he could teach   
him no more4 ,there are some wonderful  
stories floating down from those  days  
concerning the work he did in this      
medium1 so fine in its imitative        
perfection as to deceive the very elect4
 ,one1 in particular1 is to the  effect 
that a cluster of blossoms which he had 
modeled and carried1 as a  gift1 to ,mr4
 ,beecher's home1 stood upon a table in 
a little vase when  ,mrs4 ,beecher saw  
it for the first time4 ,she took up the 
vase1 and1  raising it to inhale the    
fragrance which it promised1 had crushed
 the  delicate work before she          
discovered the illusion4 ,apocryphal or 
not1 the  story shows the impression his
 work made upon his early admirers4     

,but the time had come which was to put 
his earnestness and force to the  test4 
,his father's death in #ahfh had made it
 necessary that he should  hasten to    
choose a career and begin his           
self-support4 ,few young men are        
8called0 to any special work in life2   
fewer still 8elect10 of their own  free 
will1 the thing they will do because it 
is the thing they must do1  beyond a    
doubt4 ,and ,gibson began by showing    
himself no different from  other youth2 
he was to discover his distinction      
later4 ,for no particular  reason1 save 
that it was suggested to him by a       
business friend and  adviser of whom he 
sought counsel1 he took up              
life-insurance1 and became  an agent for
 a leading company of his time4 ,it     
gives one a strange  feeling of         
incongruity to read the little business 
card1 bearing the  title of the 8,home  
,life ,insurance ,company10 announcing  
8,wm4 ,h4 ,gibson1  ,general ,agent1    
#ajc ,fulton ,street1 ,brooklyn10 with  

8,office hours1 #i to  #aj40 ,one thinks
 of ,nathaniel ,hawthorne in the        
custom-house at ,salem2 of  ,charles    
,lamb at his clerk's desk in ,east      
,india ,house2 and experiences a  deep  
sense of relief that this new genius had
 the grace and the strength  to escape  
from an uncongenial pursuit and follow  
the urgings of his own  spirit4 ,the    
business had no attractions for the boy4
 ,he wanted to draw4  ,he was yearning  
after open fields and wide horizons4    
,there was a craving  in his nature     
which was at once an outcry for a life  
of self-utterance  by the means and     
methods of art1 and a protest against a 
life spent in  what is called1 with cool
 disparagement of other pursuits1       
8business40  ,the young man felt that   
the one career would mean               
self-expression1 with  all its joy1 its 
power1 its peace2 while the other would 
be a  self-repression1 continual1       
galling1 paralyzing4 ,he was born to be 
a  student of nature and to tell her    

story to the men and women who had not  
his endowment4 ,the hour had come in    
which he was to decide whether he  could
 heed his call1 believe in himself1     
choose the path which invited  him to   
labors that fitted his nature1 and dare 
all its difficulties for  the sake of   
being true to his own soul4 ,the        
situation was not new4 ,it is  no       
unusual thing for young men to waver    
between such rival purposes4 ,but  the  
interest of such a crisis never wanes4  
,it is always a trial of the  real stuff
 and fiber of the individual4 ,it is an 
experience which the  youth must bear   
alone4 ,but the gain belongs to all men 
when the decision  is made which seals a
 life to devotion to its own highest    
ideal4    ,there is nothing to record   
the inward struggle of those days1 save 
the  quick resolve which he made1 and   
the abrupt turn in his purpose4 ,in the 
course of his calls to solicit business 
he chanced upon an acquaintance  who was
 a draughtsman1 and found him engaged in

 drawing upon the block4  ,gibson       
watched him a while1 and forgot his     
errand in the sight of this  congenial  
work4 ,as he told a friend1 years       
afterward3 8,after looking on  for a few
 moments1 ,i decided that ,i could do   
such work as well as he4 ,i  learned    
where the blocks could be bought and    
went off immediately to  invest in a    
quantity of the material4 ,from that    
moment ,i abandoned  everything else1   
and set to work at drawing40 ,this was  
in truth the  ,rubicon of his life4 ,in 
the decision it marks1 young ,gibson    
yielded to  his own most honorable      
ambitions4 ,he elected what was probably
 the  harder way1 if we count           
discouragements of one sort and another1
 the  dampening predictions of the      
critical and experienced1 the warnings  
and  dissuasions of his best friends4   
,even in a financial way1 it meant      
straitened circumstances1 hard work for 
small pay1 and years of the most        
strenuous effort1 before he could obtain

 the recognition which meant a  market  
for his wares4 ,by so much the more must
 we esteem his courage1  his faith in   
himself1 his willingness to pay the high
 price of toil and  patient waiting for 
the success which came at last4    ,one 
hardly does justice to the boldness of  
the young man's resolve until  he       
remembers that ,gibson was proposing to 
begin his career as an artist  with     
nothing but his native genius as a      
warrant of success4 ,he was  wholly     
lacking in training1 as later days would
 understand it4 ,he had  studied art in 
no school4 ,he had received the teaching
 of no  master-artist4 ,all that he     
could do was what he had worked out for 
himself4 ,it would seem almost          
audacious1 even reckless1 for a young   
man  to rush into the field of          
illustration with no more preparation   
either  to fit him to do intelligent    
work or to discover to himself whether  
he  really possessed abilities which    
would make his venture worth while4     

,untaught and unpractised1 save in the  
desultory    ,illustration3 ,william    
,hamilton ,gibson    ,age1 #ag    way of
 a boy's attempts to express his own    
ideas with the pencil1 he  made up his  
mind that he could and that he would do 
as good artistic  work as anybody4 ,the 
intrepidity of youth is either          
ridiculous or it is  sublime4 ,perhaps  
we must let events decide which it is4  
,in this case the  years made ,gibson's 
daring spirit seem the truest courage4  
,yet one holds  his breath as he thinks 
of this boy boldly walking into the     
offices of  the ,harper ,brothers1 with 
his drawings on wood1 to offer them for 
sale4    ,it is small wonder that they  
did not find acceptance in this exacting
  quarter4 ,gibson1 armed with a letter 
of introduction to the ,harpers1 had    
gone to one of the firm1 who turned him 
over to ,charles ,parsons1 the  head of 
the art department4 ,it was arranged    
that he should have two  weeks' trial1  
to test his capacity4 ,at the end of    

that time ,mr4 ,parsons  said to him1 in
 substance1 8,i do not see that you will
 ever succeed in  an artistic career4 ,i
 advise you to drop it at once1 and go  
into some  other pursuit4 ,i do not feel
 justified in recommending you to go    
on40  ,this judgment was as kindly in   
intention as it was candid in tone4 ,it 
was the verdict of a cool-headed critic 
as well as an honest friend4 ,it  ought 
to have put an end to ,gibson's         
aspirations4 ,it is the joy of all  his 
friends to remember how he met this     
rebuff4 ,he insisted that he  should go 
on2 he knew what he could do1 and he    
meant to show other  people4 ,nothing   
could deter1 nothing could discourage   
him4 8,very well10  said ,mr4 ,parsons1 
8whatever you do1 do your best2 and show
 me your work  from time to time40      
,so ,gibson turned from the doors which 
afterward opened to him so  eagerly1 and
 traveled on in search of appreciation  
and a market4 ,he  found both at the    
hands of ,john ,g4 ,shea1 then of ,frank

 ,leslie's house1  who bought his       
drawings for 8,the ,chimney ,corner0 and
 8,the ,boys' and  ,girls' ,weekly40 8,i
 began to pay my way10 said ,gibson in a
 newspaper  interview1 8as soon as ,i   
met him4 ,it was he who first suggested 
to me  that ,i might furnish text with  
my drawings2 and then ,i received double
  pay40 ,soon after this he began to    
furnish botanical drawings for 8,the    
,american ,agriculturist40 ,his work was
 so acceptable that he was invited  to  
take a desk in the offices of the       
publication1 and he here became         
acquainted with ,j4 ,c4 ,beard1 ,jr41   
with whom he had a life-long            
friendship4 ,an opportunity occurring to
 furnish drawings for botanical         
articles in ,appleton's 8,encyclopdia10 
,gibson undertook the task2 and  when   
this led to a disagreement with the     
manager of the 8,agriculturist10  he and
 ,beard left the paper and took a room  
by themselves1 in ,john  ,street4 ,here 
the orders began to come in1 besides    

what they were doing  for ,leslie and   
,appleton1 from various lithographers4  
,the young men led a  happy life1 full  
of hard work1 good fellowship1 ambitious
 plans4 ,gibson  was absorbed in his    
pursuits4 ,he shrank from nothing       
because it was  hard or because it was  
humble4 ,he turned his pencil to        
whatever would  afford him training and 
whatever would bring him honest returns4
 ,he was  ready to do all sorts of 8odds
 and ends0 of illustration4 ,he had     
great  facility in producing puzzles of 
every description1 especially those     
depending on illustration4 ,one entire  
notebook is filled with  suggestions for
 riddles1 puzzles1 rebuses1 anagrams1   
which he worked out  or had in reserve4 
,the days were full of hope and         
determination4 ,he had no doubts about  
his  ultimate success4 ,he was a firm   
believer in himself4 ,and he knew he had
  found the work he loved and into which
 he could throw his whole  abounding    
life4 ,it is a fine picture of a brave  

young fellow facing a  difficult career 
with the buoyant hopes of youth and the 
confidence of a  really strong nature4  
,he was only nineteen when he wrote to  
the young  girl to whom he had already  
given his heart3 8,this work perfectly  
fascinates me4 ,it has always been my   
choice2 it always will be4 ,i shall     
never be happy if ,i have to abandon it4
 ,i look forward to it with  delight and
 enthusiasm4444 ,i do not allow myself  
to be too sanguine4 ,i  expect          
difficulties1 trials1 disappointments4  
,i am willing to work1 use  all my      
energy1 brave all manner of             
disappointments if in the end that      
future which we so often picture to one 
another can be realized40    ,another   
letter1 a few months later1 tells the   
story of hard work and  increasing care1
 in apology for delay in writing to his 
mother4 ,it also  introduces the matter 
of one of his largest commissions up to 
this time1  and shows how certainly he  
was making his way3    8,mother1 ,i     

think of you just as much as ever1 but  
,i am so busy that when  evening comes  
my natural dislike to letter writing is 
increased tenfold  by fatigue4 ,i wish  
,i could give some correct idea of the  
amount of work  that ,i do1 and of how  
continually ,i am occupied4 ,i am       
dreadfully busy1  and last week and week
 before ,i worked at the office evening 
after  evening until nearly eight1 very 
seldom leaving before seven4 ,you may   
perhaps form some idea when ,i tell you 
that ,i have got work on hand now  7all 
in a hurry1 as fast as ,i can do it7    
amounting to over #a1jjj4jj  7one       
thousand dollars74 ,it is all from      
,appleton  ,co4 and #hdj4jj of it  is in
 one commission4 ,it consists of twelve 
drawings on stone1 each  stone measuring
 nearly four feet by three1 and weighing
 about four  hundred pounds4 ,i agreed  
to do the drawings on each stone for    
#gj4jj  which amounts as above4 ,i have 
commenced and finished one stone        
satisfactorily1 and commenced another   

to-day4 ,it takes five men to bring  the
 stone to my office and it is the       
largest size that can be used on a      
power press4 ,a #8tremendous job' people
 call it1 and don't see #8how on  earth 
,i manage to get at all these things4'  
,i believe ,i told you  something about 
it4 ,you remember that ,i heard of the  
intention of the  ,appletons to publish 
some mammoth botanical charts1 and as it
 was rather  in my line ,i went and saw 
,mr4 ,appleton about it4 ,he asked me if
 ,i could  draw on stone4 ,i told him   
#8yes1' as if ,i had done it all my     
life1 and  gave him my estimate4 ,it was
 an estimate calculated to pay me well1 
and  ,i felt sure by previous inquiry   
that it was as low as he could get it   
done elsewhere4 ,it resulted as ,i      
expected and the entire job was turned  
over to me40    ,the sequel to that     
story is given in one of his frank1     
confidential  letters to his mother1    
meant only for her eye1 and therefore   
full of  such a self-expression as he   

would have made to no one else4 ,it     
answers  still further the question as  
to how he came to get this particular   
commission in a way which reveals again 
his boldness and faith in  undertaking  
new and untried work3    8,n4 ,y41 ,jan4
 #bb1 #ahgb4    8,,my ,,dear ,,mother3  
8,i have stopped short in my work for   
the purpose of writing a few       lines
 to you1 as more time has already       
elapsed since you last heard       from 
me than ,i had expected to allow4       
,everything goes on as       smoothly as
 ,i could desire2 of course there are   
ripples       occasionally but they only
 tend to make the intervening success   
and       prosperity more serene by     
contrast4         8,i still continue as 
busy as ever only more so4 ,the stone   
work is       the principal employment1 
at present1 and ,i have given from the  
start immense satisfaction4 ,you        
remember that in my last #8long         
letter' ,i spoke of commencing on the   
second stone the following       day4   

,well ,i did so and finished on the next
 day after1 not spending       quite two
 days on it4 ,that week ,i realized     
#agj4jj for work which ,i       did all 
myself4 ,the ,appletons were surprised  
more than ,i can tell       you when ,i 
informed them of the completion of the  
second stone1 and       would scarcely  
believe that ,i had done it myself4     
,when they came to       see the proof  
they were even more pleased than they   
were with the       first4 ,the third   
stone was then sent to my office on the 
next       ,saturday afternoon4 ,monday 
morning following it had not a mark on  
it and before ,i left for home that very
 evening it was completely              
finished1 thus making #gj in one day4   
,on the next morning ,i went up       to
 the ,appletons' and notified ,mr4 ,a4  
that his third stone for the            
charts was finished and in a playful way
 that ,i wished he would       please   
send for it and let me have the next4   
#8,why1' said he1 #8,i       told them  

to take it to you last ,saturday        
afternoon4' #8,well1' said       ,i1    
they did bring me one last ,saturday    
afternoon and that is the       one that
 ,i have finished and wish you to take  
away4' ,i wish you       could have seen
 the expression of mingled surprise and 
incredulity       which covered his     
face4 #8,why1' said he1 #8have you done 
it       yourself8' #8,yes1' ,i         
returned1 #8,i commenced it and finished
 it       yesterday4' ,he received the  
intelligence rather with hesitation at  
first and finally as ,i had expected1   
took the course of questioning          
whether there was really #gj4jj worth of
 work on them4 ,he was very       coy in
 his manner of doing it but ,i saw well 
enough through it all4       ,he put    
such questions as these1 #8,well1 you   
are doing them much       quicker than  
you expected aren't you8 ,there is not  
quite so much       work on them as you 
expected1 is there8 ,you thought at     
first that       there would be a week's

 time on each stone you remember8' ,you 
see       the style of query he used4   
,to all these ,i admitted that they had 
become much more easy for me than ,i had
 expected1 that ,i was       hurrying   
them up because ,i knew that they were  
in a great hurry for       the work4 ,i 
reminded them that my estimate was the  
lowest that they       could obtain in  
the city and said if ,i had the faculty 
of working       fast that ,i ought to  
be remunerated for it1 etc4 #8,but1'    
said he1       #8there is quite a wide  
difference between a week and a day and 
it       seems that you did the last one
 in a day4' #8,well1' said ,i1 #8so ,i  
did1 but ,i will spend a week at them   
hereafter4' ,this made him       laugh  
heartily1 and he drew me a check for    
#gj4jj on the spot and       told me    
that he was glad ,i was doing them so   
fast and that the firm       were more  
than pleased1 thinking my work far ahead
 of the original1       etc4 ,the fourth
 stone ,i finished this ,monday having  

commenced it on       ,saturday last4   
,it has been taken away this morning2   
the fifth one       is now on my desk   
ready for me to proceed4 ,it is a       
beautiful       surface to draw upon1   
and ,i enjoy the work very much4 ,i     
certainly       have the faculty of     
drawing very fast4 ,several artists have
 seen my       drawings on the stone and
 several lithographers also1 and they   
all       tell me frankly 7after they   
have been really convinced that ,i have 
drawn one in a day or even two days7    
that there is not another man       in  
the city that could do it and no one    
that could do it better4       ,the most
 reasonable time which the ,appletons   
could find elsewhere       was a week   
and this amongst lithographers who had  
drawn upon stone       all their lives4 
,the printers of my lithographic work   
say that they       never printed neater
 work in their lives and that my        
drawings all       print very brightly40
    ,it was about these days that he    

made his first original work1 a little  
composition now treasured and carefully 
preserved4 ,he wrote about it to  his   
mother3         8,week before last ,i   
took to ,mr4 ,bunce a little bit of     
sunset effect       in the form of a    
sketch which ,i did in fifteen minutes1 
in ,india       ink and white4 ,beard   
admired it ever so much1 and just for   
fun ,i       took it to ,bunce as a sort
 of specimen of #8original design4' ,to 
my       surprise he admired it so much 
that he gave me a block1 and told me    
to put it on the wood by all means1 for 
the #8,journal4' ,it is very            
simple in composition1 being drawn in a 
circle with the foreground              
,illustration3 ,the ,road to            
,hide-and-,seek ,town    ,first         
,composition1 #ahgc         open4 ,on   
the right is a hillside with a few tall 
trees2 on the left       another slope1 
more distant4 ,the extreme distance is  
composed of a       village with        
church-spire1 trees1 etc41 standing out 

against a       brilliant sunset sky    
which shows through the trees4 ,in the  
extreme       foreground is a traveler1 
or farmer1 wending his way homeward2 his
       figure is almost a silhouette and
 his shadow is cast upon the road4      
,it is my first attempt at a design4 ,my
 head is #8chuck full of       them1'   
but ,i cannot get a chance to use them  
,i am so busy40    ,other letters       
covering this period are full of        
interest4 ,they show the  heart of the  
young fellow1 his frank delight in his  
own success1 and in  the approval which 
his work begins to receive4 ,he was much
 elated over  the success of an         
engraving he made for the 8,aldine03    
8,,new ,,york1 ,feb4 #b1 #ahgb4         
8,,dear ,,mother3         8,i have just 
a few moments' spare time which ,i will 
improve by       writing a short letter 
or note to you4         8,concerning my 
picture1 all the artists of the         
establishment       admired the effect  
and recognized the #8excellent copy' of 

,inness'       style and handling4 ,they
 all seem to think that the picture is  
rather unnatural in its intensity but   
that the effect is wonderful4           
,well1 it was yesterday that ,i brought 
it over4 ,i had cut it out of       the 
paper on which ,i drew it and pasted it 
neatly on a large piece       of white  
stiff photograph board4 ,its appearance 
was thus greatly       improved1 as it  
had a margin of nearly six inches all   
around it4 ,at       noon time ,i took  
the sketch down to the #8,aldine4' ,i   
saw ,mr4 ,sutton1       the proprietor4 
,he held the sketch off from him1 looked
 at it       through his hand1 and      
pronounced it magnificent4 ,i of course 
told       him that it was a copy4 ,he  
asked me if he had not met me before4 ,i
       told him #8yes'2 that one year   
ago ,i came to him with my first        
drawings on wood1 and that he did a     
great deal to encourage me at       the 
time4 ,he remembered me1 remembered my  
little drawings and       described both

 of them to me--told me that ,i had a   
tremendous eye       for color1 and he  
had noticed it when ,i first went to    
him4 ,he said1       #8,when you were   
here a year ago ,i told you to come to  
me when you       began to do original  
work1 did ,i not8' ,i answered yes and  
told him       a little of my experience
 since that time4 ,well we had a nice   
little talk and it ended in his giving  
me a large full page block       with   
the order to put it on wood and he said 
that ,i must bring him       some more  
sketches4 ,i am to correct ,inness'     
unfinished style and       make a more  
finished picture than the original is1  
as a painting4       ,when it is done ,i
 will probably receive from #ej to #fj  
dollars for       it4         8,i begin 
it next week and as ,i cannot give      
,roberts' time to it and       will have
 to work evenings1 will probably not    
finish it for two       weeks or so40   
,in the fall of this year he had a      
commission from the ,appletons to  visit

 ,rhode ,island on a sketching tour4 ,it
 was his first attempt at  anything of  
just this sort1 and he was evidently    
nervous over his  responsibilities4 ,but
 his unfailing courage served him once  
more1 and  his nave account of the trip 
and of the reception of its fruits is   
preserved in a letter to his mother3    
8,,brooklyn1 ,n4 ,y41 ,sept4 #bc_/gb4   
8,,my ,,dear ,,mother3         8,i      
returned from my trip on ,thursday1 but 
did not wish to write you               
immediately as ,i hoped to be able to   
send you more encouraging news       by 
waiting a day or so4 ,many were the     
disadvantages which ,i labored          
under during all the time while ,i was  
away1 being almost sick                 
constantly4 ,nevertheless ,i worked     
through it all1 hard and                
faithfully1 and the result is #8a       
perfect success1' far exceeding my      
greatest anticipations4 ,it was a very  
important period in my       business   
career1 and ,i felt the necessity of    

working hard1 and1       truth to say1  
,i was confident of success1 but not to 
any such       degree as that with which
 ,i have met4         8,my commission   
included ,providence and ,suburbs3      
,pawtucket2       ,providence ,bay2     
,narragansett ,bay2 ,rocky ,point and   
,narragansett       ,pier1 all of which 
,i visited and sketched4 ,during the    
first week ,i       remained at the     
,central ,hotel1 ,providence1 where ,i  
had quite a       pleasant room4 ,it    
being the first time of my being sent   
upon work       of this kind ,i was     
ignorant as to what would be expected of
 me and       of course was much worried
 and anxious1 and the one thing which   
troubled me most has been the one of all
 others which has made me       so      
successful4 ,each day1 7with my camp    
seat1 umbrella and       materials17 ,i 
would start out either on foot or in the
 cars1       traveling nearly until     
evening and in no case did ,i bring home
 with       me more than three sketches1

 and this number only once4 ,it was this
       scarcity in my number of sketches
 that caused me to worry1 but ,i        
still felt that what ,i had got were    
good2 all through the day would       ,i
 pass by little bits of landscape that  
,i thought would compose       rather   
prettily1 but nevertheless ,i made up my
 mind 7as ,i was not       to be gone   
long7 to sketch only such bits as ,i    
knew would be       particularly        
attractive1 and of course it would take 
nearly the       whole day before ,i    
could find and sketch more than two4 ,i 
imagined       that this was a very     
small number1 but did not see how ,i    
could do       much better1 as it took a
 great deal of time to walk about and   
select the prettiest views4 ,well1 ,i   
worked on in this way for the           
whole week1 and at the end of it ,i     
never realized more happily the         
fact that #8seven times two made        
fourteen' and ,i thought that if ,i     
could go home with twenty-eight sketches

 it would be certainly well       enough
 as far as the number was concerned4    
,but1 again ,i was very       much in   
doubt as to the merit of my sketches and
 as the other       cause of anxiety was
 now partially removed1 this took its   
place and       troubled me4 ,the next  
circumstance took the spirits right out 
of me       and made me about sick4 ,it 
commenced to rain and kept it up        
constantly until ,i left1 and it was the
 meanest1 wetest1 rain that       ,i    
ever knew of1 and when it didn't        
actually rain it #8fogged' and          
drizzled which was nastier yet4 ,the    
blank sheet of my drawing paper         
would have been the best sketch of      
landscape during those days1 as       ,i
 could see scarcely more than this would
 represent4 ,even in the       rain ,i  
went out and made a few sketches of     
places already decided       upon and   
finally left ,providence in disgust1 on 
my way home down       ,narragansett    
,bay4 ,i stopped over night at ,rocky   

,point where ,i made       two sketches1
 leaving for ,newport on the following  
day 7,tuesday74       ,on ,wednesday ,i 
went to ,narragansett ,pier when ,i also
 made two or       three sketches1      
thence homeward4         8,i came home  
with about twenty-two sketches4 ,all    
here at the house       thought them    
beautiful4 ,mr4 ,beard was perfectly    
surprised at their       beauty and ,mr4
 ,bunce at ,appleton's pronounced them  
one of the #8best       lots of sketches
 he has yet had' and complimented me on 
my #8perfect       success4' ,he was    
very much pleased indeed1 and admired   
them all1       and gave vent to his    
admiration with loud praise2 he called  
old and       young ,appleton and       
several other gentlemen to see them1 all
 of whom       pronounced them #8very   
fine4' ,i expected then that he would   
look       them over and select about   
five of the prettiest for me to put on  
the wood4 ,this was the most that ,i    
thought he would select4 ,mr4           

,beard1 when ,i asked him1 said that he 
thought they would select       about   
five1 as in other cases they had only   
taken about that number       out of an 
equivalent stock of sketches4 ,judge of 
my complete       surprise to see him   
select and count fifteen of them saying 
that he       would have them all drawn 
for the #8,picturesque ,america4' ,this 
left       only about six of the lot    
which he did not want1 and he           
complimented me on the choice of my     
selections1 saying #8,generally a       
lot of sketches will come in1 and ,i    
will look them over and reject       two
 thirds of them1 on account of the      
subjects not being       interesting1   
the artists sketching whatever they come
 across that       looks 8pretty0 and   
not hunting for the most interesting    
alone4'       ,this is the amount of    
what he said to me and finished it up by
       telling me that all of mine were 
of interest and composed well1          
which was the very thing ,i studied for 

and which most troubled me       on     
account of the time it took and the     
consequent small number of       my     
sketches4 ,mr4 ,bunce was perfectly     
delighted1 and if ,i please him       as
 well in my drawings on the wood1 he    
will probably wish to send       me off 
again1 when ,i will in all probability  
receive #8#dj4jj per       week and     
expenses4' ,he gave me four large blocks
 nearly #8full page'       to start on  
and the rest    ,illustration3 ,william 
,hamilton ,gibson    ,age1 #bc          
will come along as fast as ,i want them2
 and will amount to about       #djj    
worth of work4 ,besides this ,i have    
plenty of work from ,filmer1       in a 
hurry1 another very large job from      
,appleton 7on stone71 stacks       of   
work for ,leslie and plenty else        
besides1 scarcely knowing where       to
 begin4 ,my bill to ,d4 ,app4  ,co4 for 
my trip was considerably       over     
#ajj1 which they paid without a word not
 even wishing an item4         8,it does

 seem rather strange to me that whatever
 ,i undertake to do1       always ends  
in success1 and in unexpected success4  
,to be sure it       is done by hard    
work and ,i do not see why any one      
cannot succeed       who will put their 
shoulder to the wheel1 be ambitious and 
full of       resolution to surmount all
 difficulties4 ,so far ,i have not made 
a       failure1 and one reason has been
 that ,i have not attempted a thing     
to which ,i did not feel equal4 ,i am   
thankful that ,i do succeed1 and        
,i recognize1 through all my experience 
in business1 and in my       efforts to 
advance1 the ever present help and      
guidance of a good       and kind       
,providence40    ,on the #bith of       
,october1 #ahgc1 he was married to ,miss
 ,emma ,l4 ,blanchard  of ,brooklyn4    
,the occasion was made the more         
interesting by the marriage  of his     
sister ,juliet1 and the double service  
was performed by ,mr4  ,beecher4 ,in the
 following spring he made a sketching   

trip to ,washington1  ,d4 ,c41 making   
pictures for 8,picturesque ,america40   
,he was now doing good  work and        
receiving constant employment4 ,he says 
of the ,washington  sketches1 especially
 having in mind a 8combination0 which   
included many  of the public buildings3 
8,,brooklyn1 ,apr4 #ai1 #ahgd4    8,,my 
,,dear ,,mother3         8,i am only    
going to write you a few lines to-night 
7which by the       way has generally   
been my expressed intention every time  
,i have       written7 and for fear that
 ,i may possibly overstep that intention
 ,i       have selected a larger sheet  
of paper than usual1 and expect at      
least to confine the limits of my letter
 therein4         8,mr4 ,bunce was very 
much pleased with my rendering of a     
difficult       subject1 and one which  
had worried him considerably4 ,i took   
him the       drawing yesterday1 and    
received another commission from him1   
more       work for the #8,picturesque  
,america4' ,my drawings will already    

appear       under three heads1 viz43   
#8,providence and ,suburbs1'            
#8,connecticut       ,shore1' and       
#8,washington and ,mt4 ,vernon1' and now
 there is still       another to be     
added4 ,i am to proceed immediately with
 ,brooklyn and       ,prospect ,park1   
and expect to begin my sketching        
to-morrow1 of       course being paid as
 ,i am usually1 for my time4 ,the series
 will not       be very extensive1      
probably a combination or two with a few
 small       separate pictures4 ,i hope 
that this new work will not interfere   
with my intended visit with you during  
arbutus season4 ,i will try       and   
manage so as to bring my work up there  
for ,i hope to spend       three or four
 days with you4 ,be sure and let us know
 when the       arbutus is in bloom40   
,in the fall of #ahgf ,gibson published 
through ,james ,miller a book for  boys1
 of which a fuller word will be said    
later in these pages4 ,it bore  the     
title1 alluring to any boy1 8,the       

,complete ,american ,trapper2 or the    
,tricks of ,trapping and ,trap-,making40
 ,it was republished by two other       
firms1 and still has a market4    ,these
 were the years of apprenticeship and   
study4 ,the young man's art  class was  
his own studio4 ,his course of study was
 determined by the  business needs of   
those who employed him4 ,his chief      
instructor was  himself4 ,the years went
 quickly by4 ,a trip to the ,adirondacks
 in #ahge1  another to ,philadelphia to 
sketch the ,centennial ,exhibition of   
#ahgf were  the chief incidents of the  
next two years4 ,the ,philadelphia      
enterprise  was under the patronage of  
,harper ,brothers4 ,for at last he had  
secured  the approval he had coveted so 
much1 and was able to win his way into  
the publications of this house on his   
own merits4 ,from time to time he  had  
shown his work to ,mr4 ,parsons1 who    
admitted his progress and  acknowledged 
his growing promise4 ,at last he        
received an order to  illustrate an     

article in conjunction with his friend  
,beard4 ,other work  followed1 and he   
was a recognized contributor to the     
,harpers'  publications4    ,but the    
work which probably made his 8calling   
and election sure0 was his  masterly    
illustration of an article written by   
,mrs4 ,helen ,s4 ,conant1  entitled     
8,birds and ,plumage40 ,gibson had      
suggested the article1  furnishing the  
idea and proposing as a title 8,the     
,plumage of ,fashion40  ,he did not     
secure the commission to write the text3
 his abilities as a  writer had not been
 demonstrated1 and he himself was       
diffident about  them4 ,but he received 
the order for sixteen illustrations1    
into which we  may well believe he threw
 his whole strength4 ,the initial design
  attracted marked attention and drew   
out unstinted praise4 ,it was a         
full-page picture of a peacock's        
feather4 ,it gave the article instant   
success4 ,the press was enthusiastic in 
commending it4 ,the ,august number  of  

8,harper's ,magazine0 for #ahgh may be  
said to have marked a new epoch  in     
,american illustration2 and young       
,gibson's work led all the rest4 ,the   
reserved and refrigerated criticism of  
the 8,nation0 was relaxed almost  to the
 point of enthusiasm3 8,the remarkable  
series of birds drawn on the  block by  
,mr4 ,william ,h4 ,gibson is more       
obviously than the imitations  just     
mentioned the result of the engraver's  
skill and unwearied  patience4 ,the cut 
of the peacock feather1 for instance1   
which introduces  the paper on #8,birds 
and ,plumage1' must impress even the    
uninitiated with  its rare and costly   
character1 whether regarded as a design 
or as an  engraving4 ,mr4 ,gibson has   
evidently studied his subjects with     
great care  and succeeded in portraying 
them1 both in action and in repose1 in a
  graceful and life-like manner1 with   
instructive accessories40 ,the          
8,christian ,union10 always careful and 
conservative1 said3 8,upon this         

article1 which has been a long time in  
preparation1 the publishers have1  it is
 understood1 laid out an unprecedentedly
 large sum of money4  ,certainly ,mr4   
,gibson's graceful pencil has given them
 the worth of it4  ,no better work1 it  
is safe to say1 has ever appeared in the
 pages of the  magazine40    ,but best  
and most conclusive of all the words of 
praise which this  drawing elicited1    
were those of ,mr4 ,charles ,eliot      
,norton1 in a personal  letter to the   
young artist3    8,,cambridge1 ,nov4 #h1
 #ahgh4         8,,dear ,,sir3 ,i am    
much obliged to you for your note1 for  
it gives me       an opportunity which  
,i have desired1 to express to you my   
admiration of the skill and beauty of   
the design of the peacock's             
feather1 so excellently cut on wood by  
,mr4 ,king4 ,it is not merely           
subtle and refined execution which is   
shown in the piece1 but a       poetic  
feeling for the quality and charm of the
 feather itself and       for its value 

in composition4 ,your feather ought to  
be as well       known as ,rembrandt's  
shell or ,hollar's furs4 ,for you and   
,mr4 ,king       in your joint work have
 succeeded in suggesting the splendor1  
the       play1 the concentration of    
color1 the bewildering multiplicity of  
interlacing curves1 the elastic spring  
and vitality of every fiber1       and  
have given the immortality of art to one
 of the purely       decorative         
productions of nature4 ,i shall look for
 your new work       with great         
interest4         8,i am very desirous  
to see a proof of your feathers on soft 
,india       paper4 ,if ,i can find some
 proper paper here ,i shall be tempted  
to       send it to you4 ,but paper     
suitable for such work is not easily    
found40    ,all this was said of the    
youth who six years before had been     
pronounced  without even the promise of 
ability6 ,surely he had a right to be   
proud  of his triumph4 ,he had fairly   
won his spurs4 ,henceforth there was no 

doubt of his standing as one of the     
first of ,american illustrators4        
,illustration3 0,the ,peacock's         
,feather0 78,the ,peerless ,plume07     
78,highways and ,byways07    ,copyright1
 #ahhb1 by ,harper  ,brothers           
,,chapter ,,iii    ,a ,,quick ,,success 
,from this time forward1 ,gibson's      
success as an artist was assured4 ,and  
not very long after1 he was induced to  
try his hand at authorship1 with        
results quite as convincing4 ,during the
 summer of #ahgh he spent his  vacation1
 in company with his wife1 in the old   
homes at ,newtown and at  ,washington1  
,connecticut4 ,returning to the city in 
the autumn1 and  recounting his         
delightful experiences to ,mr4 ,alden1  
the editor of  8,harper's ,magazine10   
the latter insisted that ,gibson should 
put them  into an article which he      
should also illustrate4 ,but even with  
the  practice which he had given        
himself1 in the brief articles he had   
furnished with many of his drawings1 he 

distrusted his own capacity for         
literary work4 ,he had no such innate   
sense of power to write as made him  so 
confident with his pencil4 ,he demurred 
at the proposition2 but ,mr4  ,alden was
 firm and persistent4 8,write it just as
 you have told it to  me10 was his      
encouraging word4 ,his suggestion was   
followed1 and in the  ,august number of 
the monthly appeared an affectionate    
sketch of the old  boyhood homes1 under 
the title1 which was but a thin         
disguise1  8,hometown and ,snug         
,hamlet40 ,it proved an instant success4
 ,the note  struck was genuine and      
pleasing4 ,the illustrations won the    
public eye4  ,the canny editor suggested
 a similar article which should cover   
the  winter phases of country life in   
the same vein4 ,it was prepared1 and    
appeared in the number for ,march1      
#ahhj2 and had a reception as           
enthusiastic as his former venture4 ,the
 idea of completing the cycle of  the   
seasons was inevitable1 and in ,june    

there followed the article on           
8,spring-,time10 which was pronounced   
8the most attractive paper0 of this     
number of the magazine1 whose 8rhythmic 
prose0 was not less highly  commended   
than its illustrations1 which another   
critic called 8almost as  good as spring
 itself40 ,in ,november the series was  
rounded out with 8,an  ,autumn          
,pastoral10 which led a reviewer to say 
8,mr4 ,gibson is a great  artist1 and   
has a great future before him40    ,in  
#ahgi he furnished illustrations for ,e4
 ,p4 ,roe's 8,success with ,small       
,fruits10 which appeared serially in    
8,scribner's ,magazine10 and which      
opened the way to an intimate friendship
 with the author4 ,he made the  designs 
for the poems of the ,goodale sisters1  
8,in ,berkshire with the                
,wild-flowers40 ,but these were mere    
incidents in the work he was turning    
off1 for half the firms in ,new ,york   
,city1 and on all sorts of subjects     
having to do with nature1 with animal   

life1 with flowers1 and with  fruits4   
,in the spring he made a visit to       
8,roeland0 to sketch1 and he  divided   
his ,august vacation between            
,connecticut and the ,white  ,mountains1
 where he gathered material for a year's
 hard work4 ,he busied  himself1 too1   
with work in water color1 steadily      
keeping his ideals in  mind1 and his own
 art-training in hand4    ,in the fall  
of #ahhj1 the four papers which had     
appeared in 8,harper's  ,magazine0 were 
collected and published in a sumptuous  
volume1 entitled  8,pastoral ,days40 ,it
 was a book which yesterday would have  
been called  8epoch-making02 to-day it  
would only be called 8record-breaking40 
,the  simple truth about it is that it  
really touched the high-water mark in   
the history of nature-illustration by   
means of wood-engraving4 ,it was        
everywhere hailed as exhibiting the very
 best work of its kind ever  achieved4  
,the praise which fell to ,gibson       
himself was twofold2 for it  was an     

enthusiastic recognition of his talent  
both as author and as  artist4 ,his     
engravers were applauded for the skill  
and spirit with which  they interpreted 
his designs4 ,his publishers were       
commended for the  unstinted generosity 
which had balked at no pains or cost4   
,even the  printer received a           
curtain-call4 ,for the 8,evening ,post0 
with great  discrimination insisted that
 much of the success of the work was due
 to  8another artist1 whose name is     
nowhere given4 ,that artist's name is   
,david ,lewis and he passes his days in 
the press-room of ,harper ,brothers1    
amid the clatter of the                 
printing-machines1 engaged in the grimy 
work of  his office40 ,the 8,evening    
,mail0 expressed the unanimous verdict  
of art  circles when it declared3       
8,writers on art spoke of the days of   
,bewick  with a sort of despair1 as     
though no one like him might ever be    
expected  again4 ,it has been reserved  
for the ,united ,states to show that    

wood has1  for the purposes of          
engraving1 capacities of which ,bewick  
never dreamed1  and to produce a school 
of artists who in treating landscape1 at
 least  upon wood1 have surpassed       
everything on the other side of the     
ocean4 ,in  the first rank of these     
artists stands ,mr4 ,william ,hamilton  
,gibson40 ,the  ,london 8,times0 in a   
long notice spoke of his having 8the    
rare gift of  feeling for the           
exquisitely graceful forms of plant life
 and the fine  touch of an expert       
draughtsman which enable him to select  
and to draw  with a refinement which few
 artists in this direction have ever    
shown40  ,even the 8,saturday ,review0  
in a notice a column and a half in      
length1  confessing its ignorance of    
,mr4 ,gibson and his work1 declared that
 his  drawings were so full of delicate 
fancy and feeling1 and his writing so   
skilful and graceful1 that it hoped 8to 
hear more of him soon1 in either        
function or both40 ,in hardly more than 

two years from the time of his  first   
illustrations ,gibson had made his way  
to the very front rank of  the world's  
illustrators4 ,his position was truly of
 his own achieving2  and he never fell  
back from the eminence he had so fairly 
won4 ,his  friend ,mr4 ,charles ,n4     
,hurd of the ,boston 8,transcript0 does 
the  situation no more than simple      
justice in a letter written upon reading
  the 8,saturday ,review0 article3      
8,,transcript ,,office1                 
8#cbd ,,washington ,,street1 ,,cor4     
,,milk ,,street1                        
8,,boston1 ,may #ah1 #ahha4    8,,my    
,,dear ,,gibson3         8,i            
congratulate you from the very bottom of
 my heart on the       magnificent      
article on #8,pastoral ,days' in the    
,saturday ,review1       which1 you will
 see by the papers ,i send1 ,i have     
copied into the       ,transcript4      
,nothing could have been more gracefully
 done1 and then1       in the ,saturday 
,review1 one of the very hardest to     

please of all       the ,british        
journals6 ,why1 my dear fellow1 they    
never said half so       much before of 
any literary ,american1 living or dead4 
,and there       isn't an #8if' in the  
whole article6 ,i feel as rejoiced about
 it as       if ,i had some personal    
share in the glory4 ,if you haven't a   
right       now to carry your chin high 
on ,broadway then nobody in ,new ,york  
has4 ,i tell you1 it's a great thing to 
be appreciated2 to get       praise     
where you feel that it rests wholly and 
altogether upon the       merits of your
 work1 and has in it no spark of        
flattery4 ,i can       imagine how long 
the way home seemed that night1 and how 
happy you       two were in reading over
 what the two-thousand-mile-away critic 
had       written4 ,it is worth a good  
many years' hard pulling to have one    
such day40    ,one great and decisive   
reason why he moved on so steadily was  
his  constant ambition to improve upon  
what he had done4 ,one might easily be  

misled by the tone of his confidential  
letters to his mother and others  into  
thinking him overconfident in himself1  
and a little puffed up by  his quick and
 overwhelming success4 ,but the thought 
would be absolutely  unfair4 ,he was not
 vain2 he was never self-satisfied2 he  
never rested in  what he had achieved4  
,after the rousing reception of         
8,pastoral ,days10 he  could write to   
,colonel ,gibson in quiet ,fryeburg3 8,i
 have just finished  the last of my     
,white ,mountain illustrations--four    
months' work--and am  beginning a new   
series of original articles which shall 
#8knock spots'  out of all past work4   
,you ask in a previous letter1 #8,can   
you beat  8,pastoral ,days0'8 ,good     
gracious6 ,the book is so full of       
shortcomings to  me that ,i wonder at   
the astonishing appreciation of it4     
,there are a few  illustrations in it   
that ,i hardly expect to improve very   
much upon2 but  as to the average       
excellence ,i can #8see it' and #8go a  

hundred better4'  ,perhaps the result   
will not be as popular4 ,can't tell4    
,but ,i can do  better work40 ,that was 
the key-note of his life4 ,to do        
something better  next time was the rule
 of his endeavor4 ,to do something      
different each  time1 to turn some new  
page1 follow some new trail1 record some
 new  traits of his favorite world1 was 
another characteristic of his  purposes4
 ,and it kept him from becoming         
repetitious and tiresome1 as he         
repeatedly piqued curiosity with his    
novel enterprises in nature-study4      
,in the late summer of #ahhj he spent   
six weeks in sketching among the  ,white
 ,mountains1 whence he went to          
,williamstown1 ,massachusetts1 for      
another six weeks of rest4 ,he came home
 laden with sketches and with           
photographs1 which were at once utilized
 in making the illustrations for        
,drake's 8,heart of the ,white          
,mountains40 ,he worked at these with   
diligence1 as we have seen1 never a day1

 apparently1 passing without its        
picture2 but it was far into the        
following spring before the series was  
finished4 ,the volume was issued in     
#ahha1 but before its appearance he  was
 well along with the text and the       
illustrations for the new articles  in  
the magazine1 in the same vein as       
8,pastoral ,days40 ,in expanded form    
they were published in the fall of #ahhb
 under the title 8,highways and         
,byways40 ,it would have seemed         
improbable that the reception given to  
his  first volume could be repeated4    
,novelty does so much with ,americans to
  arouse enthusiasm1 and they are so    
quick to compare the later with the     
former effort1 that it might have been  
predicted that a second volume  striking
 the same note as ,gibson's first       
success would not be so warmly  praised4
 ,but the public liked the note1 and it 
pronounced the new book  better than the
 old4 ,the press notices of '#hb and    
'#hc are in the same  strain of         

unaffected admiration and delight as    
those of two years  before4 ,perhaps he 
had most reason to be proud of the      
approval the new  book won from the     
staid ,london 8,academy0 and from ,mr4  
,philip ,gilbert  ,hamerton's           
8,portfolio40 ,the former1 though a     
little late in discovering  him was     
ingenious in its sweeping approval4     
8,fancy to yourself0 said the           
8,academy10 8a ,thoreau who has read    
both ,darwin and ,ruskin1 and who has   
learned to use the pencil of ,birket    
,foster4 ,to this add the finest        
workmanship of the ,american school of  
wood-engraving1 and all the luxury  of  
the richest paper and the clearest type1
 and you may form some idea  of the     
handsome book now before us4 ,at first  
it attracted only by the  rare delicacy 
of its drawings1 which reproduce with   
unrivaled truth the  exquisite tracery  
of vegetation1 and the #8ebon and ivory'
 of ,nature's  shadows4 ,but when we    
discovered that the artist is also the  

author1 we  began to read2 and we found 
ourselves unable to stop till we got to 
the  end40 8,we feel that we have here  
far more than in most ,american books1 a
  genuine product of the soil40 ,mr4    
,hamerton credits the new book with 8a  
love of nature that is ,wordsworthian in
 its reverence1 the close and  patient  
observation of an artist1 the peculiar  
humor of a genial  ,american in the     
study of men and things40 ,to such      
expressions as these1  ,mr4 ,george     
,william ,curtis1 voicing the sentiment 
of his own countrymen1  said of him3    
8,mr4 ,william ,hamilton ,gibson's      
reputation as one of the  first of      
modern artists for wood-engraving1 is   
established and secure40  8,it is hard  
to believe that the blended softness1   
vigor1 and  individuality of the art    
could go further than in the            
illustrations of  this choice volume40  
,he had found time during the year for  
no little study and work in             
water-color1 and even began to essay    

painting in oils4 ,despite a long       
illness of eight months he contributed  
to several exhibitions and  finished a  
number of new pictures4 ,his goal was   
always to be a painter4  ,in all the    
heat of his endeavor and the            
intoxication of his success he  never   
forgot his ideals1 never slackened his  
march toward the highest  art in the    
most approved forms and mediums4    ,in 
,may1 #ahhc1 his first child was born1  
and he was soon writing to 8,dear       
,mother ,gunn10 in answer to her        
importunate inquiries1 all about the    
new-comer4 8,hamilton ,gibson then is   
his name ,i understand1 though not a    
gift from me1 but simply because ,i have
 not the heart to refuse anything  to my
 precious wife just now4 ,so she has    
christened him as above in  spite of    
much foreboding on my part1 as to the   
probable curtailment of  his cognomen   
among the contemporaneous specimens of  
his genus in the  days which will soon  
be upon us4 ,i have waited so long for  

this little  angel to come1 that ,i     
hardly dare realize to the full the     
happiness  which has befallen me lest ,i
 awake in bitterness to find it all a   
tantalizing dream4444 ,but ere long ,i  
suppose the reality will be brought     
home to me more effectually1--a few     
hours' perambulating in the #8wee  sma' 
hours' every night for a week or two    
would dispel all doubts or  fears1 and  
place the experience on the basis of    
solid prosaic reality4  ,at present     
writing1 however1 ,i can truthfully say1
 as every antecedent  pa has done1 that 
he is the best baby alive1 quiet1       
absorbent1 and  somnolent to a degree of
 perfection which leaves nothing to be  
desired4  ,only last night1 after taking
 his meal1 7at least that is what ,i    
understand they feed him on7 he was     
placed upon his pillow at ten  o'clock  
and slept like a chrysalis till         
half-past five this morning4  ,during   
the day to be sure he is not quiescent  
for quite so long a  period1 as then    

nature seems to #8abhor the vacuum' more
 than ever40    ,the year #ahhc was     
devoted to the illustration of ,e4 ,p4  
,roe's 8,nature's  ,serial ,story10 a   
work into which he entered with         
heartiness and  sympathy4 ,much time1   
too1 was given to the preparation of the
 8,memorial0  of ,mr4 ,gunn1 a volume   
issued under the direction of an        
association of  his old pupils1         
commemorative of his striking           
personality and of the old  days in the 
school at ,washington4 ,this book was   
finely illustrated by  the hand of his  
loving pupil1 who also wrote the        
introduction which was  to have been    
written by ,mr4 ,beecher1 whose death   
occurred while the    ,illustration3    
,god's ,miracle    ,by permission of the
 ,curtis ,publishing ,company    work   
was in progress4 ,the summer vacation   
was spent1 as usual1 in hard  work1 the 
scene of his labors being in the ,white 
,mountains1 at ,lake  ,george1 ending   
with two weeks in ,washington1 where he 

took many  photographs and made many    
sketches for the 8,memorial40 ,there was
 much  painting in water-color for      
exhibitions here and there1 with many   
sales  at good prices4 ,from time to    
time in #ahhe and #ahhf he furnished    
more of  the charming articles which the
 public had learned to look for and to  
love4 8,harper's ,magazine0 for         
,october1 #ahhf1 contained a surprise   
and a  new delight to his readers in the
 shape of the famous 8,back-,yard       
,studies10 in which he challenged the   
belief of the average man1 and even     
astonished himself with the story of the
 variety of wild-flowers which  he found
 growing in his city yard4 ,a friend had
 expressed a longing to  study wild     
flowers1 but felt that there was no hope
 of gratifying  herself as long as she  
lived in the city4 ,gibson advised her  
to utilize  her back-yard1 and ventured 
the guess that he could gather          
twenty-five  different species of plants
 in his grass-patch1 as the harvest of  

the  seed sown by the breezes1 the      
insects1 and occasional birds4 ,the next
  morning he made a count1 and was      
himself surprised to see his 8finds0    
running up to a total of sixty-four     
different species4 ,the description  of 
his wild garden in these sordid and     
unromantic surroundings made him  new   
friends and strengthened his old ones in
 the assurance that he  would never fail
 them in nature-wisdom or originality of
 vein4 ,for he  showed1 as he himself   
maintained1 how the back-yard 8may      
become a means  of grace1 and with its  
welcome1 peaceful symbols of the        
woodside and the  hay-field1 the        
wood-path1 pasture1 and the farmyard1   
serve to reawaken  and console the      
latent yearnings of our unfortunate     
metropolitan exile40  ,in the fall of   
#ahhf the new volume appeared1 to greet 
a larger public  than ever1 enthusiastic
 in its praise and appreciation4 ,one of
 his  reviewers linked his name most    
happily with some of the favorites of an

  earlier day4 8,at the ,christmas      
season of the last generation there was 
a  general anticipation of a new holiday
 book from ,dickens and ,thackeray1  and
 the expectation was rewarded year after
 year4 ,we are coming to  cherish the   
same hope of a ,christmas book from     
,william ,hamilton ,gibson40  ,with     
equal fitness this writer assigned him  
that place which the popular  consensus 
had now begun to allot him1 saying1     
8,mr4 ,gibson must take his  place1 as  
an acute and delightful observer of     
nature1 with ,gilbert  ,white1 and      
,henry ,thoreau1 and ,john ,burroughs40 
,his niche was secure1 his  right to it 
now unquestioned2 and all qualified     
judges saw that he had  in himself a    
quality quite his own1 a temperament1 a 
gift1 a  qualification to sound his own 
note and deliver a fresh message4       
,the next months ensuing ,gibson spent  
in working up material for the          
illustration of a series of papers      
prepared by ,mr4 ,charles ,dudley       

,warner and ,mrs4 ,rebecca ,harding     
,davis1 descriptive of life and nature  
in  the ,south4 ,in ,march1 #ahhf1 he   
had left ,new ,york to join ,mr4 ,warner
 in  ,new ,orleans4 ,they made a tour1  
two months in length1 covering ,georgia1
  ,alabama1 and ,louisiana1 in which he 
took over five hundred photographs  and 
accumulated much material in notes and  
sketches4 ,a bright and  picturesque    
letter to his wife gives a fine         
reminiscence of this  delightful trip4  
8,,new ,,iberia1 ,,la4    8,may #ab_/hf4
    8,,my ,,dear ,,wife3--         8,i  
have just returned from a trip in the   
outlying country to find       your two 
letters awaiting me4 ,since leaving ,new
 ,orleans ,i have been       gadding    
about the country north1 east1 south and
 west1 and am not       yet done4 ,the  
,tche country is mightily interesting if
 one can only       live through it4    
,the days come and go and are filled    
with       enjoyment1 but as to the     
night no man knoweth what may be in     

store       for him4 ,my hotel          
experiences would interest you1 but ,i  
cannot       write them4 ,i left ,new   
,orleans with a ,mr4 ,william ,king as a
       companion1 a young man who knows 
the country thoroughly and whose        
company ,mr4 ,warner recommended ,i     
should request1 as ,warner was          
obliged to leave for the north4 ,by the 
time we reach ,new ,orleans       again 
about five days hence1 we shall have    
traveled together over       one        
thousand miles of the ,tche and other   
,louisiana territory4 ,the       weather
 has been charming1 no hot weather which
 has not been       deliciously tempered
 by the never failing breeze from the   
gulf4       ,cool breezy nights4        
8,we have driven for a whole day over a 
prairie peopled with all       sorts of 
wild things in the way of birds4 ,meadow
 larks1 plover1       snipe1 white and  
blue herons1 buzzards1 egrets1 many     
birds so tame       that they could     
easily be killed by a cut of my whip4   

,we drove       through acres and acres 
of blue flag in blossom1 and for miles  
pursued the shaded roads through dense  
woods draped in the       ever-present  
festoons of moss--in this country seen  
in its fullest       perfection1 every  
tree being laden with it1 hanging like  
heavy       trailing curtains1 sometimes
 twenty feet in length4 ,the effect in a
       breeze is indescribably          
beautiful4 ,the ,tche ,country is the   
paradise of ,louisiana1 and comes as a  
welcome contrast to the filth       and 
squalor of the city of ,new ,orleans    
with which ,i was so       nauseated4   
,to-night we leave for the ,averys'4 ,we
 shall arrive there       to-night and  
,i anticipate a fine time visiting      
,jefferson's ,island       and making   
trips up the various bayous4 ,we shall  
try to get away       from there ,friday
 evening in time to get the steamer     
#8,iberia' here       by which we shall 
return1 through a sail of about #cjj    
miles by       lake1 bayou1 and         

,mississippi ,river to ,new ,orleans4   
,thereat ,i shall       spend about     
three days and then start for the       
homeward trip1       stopping over at   
,mobile for a day or so4 ,i will be home
 about ,june       #a as ,i originally  
approximated4         8,of course you   
know that ,i am anxious to be at home   
again4 ,the only       way that ,i can  
keep my spirits is to throw my mind into
 the work       and interest myself with
 my surroundings4 ,in the main my health
 has       been good1 in fact1          
excellent1 in spite of starvation       
cookery and       ,god-forsaken         
hostelries which anywhere else under    
heaven would be       considered good   
material for bonfires and their         
proprietors hung4         8,a beautiful 
country and full of interest1 if1       
forsooth1 one might       exist without 
a stomach4 ,everything is               
,creole--,creole cows1 ,creole          
milk1 ,creole eggs--even the #8niggers' 
are ,creoles1 and all speak             

,french4 ,my limited vocabulary of pure 
,parisian ,french has stood a           
heavy drain and has occasionally        
precipitated upon my hearers            
consequences which ,i feared would prove
 serious2--item--,night       before    
last we stopped in a hamlet of shanties 
and at last found       the #8,hotel1'  
kept by a talkative1 voluble ,french    
idiot and his       wife4 ,the only     
guest bed in the shebang ,i occupied1   
and ,mr4 ,king       slept on a mattress
 on the floor in another room4 ,i was   
tired and       suffering from an attack
 of nervous dyspepsia1 from the greasy  
grub       which ,i had been forced to  
eat in the face of starvation           
7everything here even a boiled egg is   
taught to swim in hot fat1       and is 
only rescued therefrom by the famished  
boarder1 who       sometimes is obliged 
to bolt it after scraping off the       
congealed       lard74 ,it was with     
difficulty that ,i could get to sleep on
 the       night in question1 owing to  

my indisposition1 together with a       
certain nervous apprehension as to the  
census of my immediate                  
surroundings4 ,i had barely dropped off 
into a snooze when ,i was       startled
 by the movement of the window shutter  
near my bed1 when       looking1 ,i     
observed a mule who was making a meal of
 a table-cloth       near my bed4 ,once 
more after lying awake an hour ,i had   
begun to       congratulate myself on   
prospects of slumber1 when a shrill     
piercing       note of a mocking-bird   
struck up its piccolo in the dead of    
night1       another and another joined 
in the chorus1 and kept this up for an  
hour before it dawned upon me that the  
birds were in cages on the       farther
 side of the very partition of my room4 
,on which discovery       you may       
perhaps imagine how the limited ,french 
vocabulary at my       command was      
exhausted and reinforced1 but to no     
purpose4 ,i raved       and swore in    
,dutch1 ,french1 and ,pidgeon ,english  

and was at length       compelled to    
yell my colored servant 7driver1        
servant1 and       interpreter7 from his
 slumbers and make him translate a short
       address to the ,french idiot 7who
 snorted in blissful sleep in           
concert with his spouse in another      
quarter of the shanty7 to the           
effect that the offending birds be      
immediately chucked out of       doors1 
beheaded1 or strangled4 ,the shrieking  
trio was finally       removed to the   
rear but my sleep was ruined for that   
night4 ,only       toward morning after 
dawn had just begun to lighten the east 
did ,i       begin to feel drowsy1 but  
at this point the #8moqueurs' were again
       restored to their original places
 and ,i was compelled to have them      
again removed1 and by this time         
,monsieur and ,madame were up and       
about preparing our morning #8grease'   
which they seemed to be doing       by  
sheer force of lungs and belaboring of  
pans and kettles4         8,at breakfast

 ,i drank the proprietor's health4      
8#8,monsieur1 votre sant6 ,votre        
hospitalit est magnifique6 ,votre       
table est bien gr6 ,votre moqueur--6    
,ah6 ,votre moqueur6 7a pause       with
 dramatic enthusiasm1 then continuing7  
vous procurez deux1       trois1 quatre 
plus moqueurs6 et votre htel est        
perfection6'         8,this eloquent    
outburst greatly amused the ,madame1 but
 the old man       seemed #8busting'    
with suppressed emotion1 which probably1
 had he       then been in pocket for   
his bill1 would have shown some outward 
token4         8,we left this place for 
the day and after settling the bill1 we 
told them that we would leave our       
satchels until we returned in the       
evening1 whereupon #8la madame' through 
my interpreter1 asked me if       she   
should prepare a meal for us for        
evening4 ,i asked her in reply       if 
she would cook anything ,i wished1 to   
order4 ,she replied #8,oui6             
anything ,i can get4' ,whereupon ,i     

ordered #8three moqueurs on             
toast6' much to her discomfiture1 and   
she grumbled to herself as       she    
left us1 which grumble being translated 
would signify1 #8,my ,god6       three  
mocking birds6 that feast would cost you
 thirty dollars6'0    ,the rest of the  
year was spent in working up the        
material thus gathered1  and much of the
 following winter and spring4 ,the      
summer of #ahhg was  passed in          
,washington1 ,connecticut1 where1 as a  
note in his journal tells  us1 he 8spent
 a very busy season4 ,made many drawings
 for two prospective  articles on       
#8,midnight ,rambles' and #8,insect     
,botanists1' besides many               
flower-studies and a number of          
water-colors4 ,very busy on the         
#8,memorial'  volume to ,mr4 ,gunn4     
,made a large number of drawings for    
botany40 ,the  last remark refers to a  
large scheme which now possessed his    
teeming  brain1 a plan to write an      
illustrated botany4 ,he never dropped   

his  purpose1--indeed1 abandoned plans  
were unknown in his life-history1--and  
before his death he had accumulated over
 #aejj drawings toward such a  work4    
,there have been many such undertakings 
put forth1 successful and  valuable4    
,but it is impossible to think without a
 pang of the wonderful  work he would   
have made out of his accurate knowledge 
and his matchless  art6    ,the         
8,memorial0 was published in #ahhg1 and 
he went on with the articles  and the   
water-colors1 busy all the time1 and    
always laying out work in  advance of   
his swiftest execution4 ,the spring of  
#ahhh brought the  opportunity for a    
trip to ,europe1 which included a tour  
in ,great  ,britain1 ,france1 ,holland1 
and ,switzerland1 with a fortnight in   
,london  and another in ,paris4 ,his    
camera and his pencil were both busy1   
but the  new experiences made only an   
episode in his busy life4 ,he was       
interested  in all the art he saw1 and  
the life of the people appealed to him  

there1  as it did at home4 ,a letter    
describing his impressions of ,holland  
shows  the spirit in which he traveled  
and the things he elected to see4       
8,since last writing you ,i have enjoyed
 a week 7or more ,i fear7 of rare       
incident and experience1 my days being  
so full and my evenings so tired  that  
,i have failed again in my good         
intentions as to frequency of  letters4 
8,i hurried your last letter into the   
mail and am somewhat in doubt  whether  
it reached the ,queenstown post in time4
 ,since that writing we  7which means a 
party of ,van ,ingen1 ,willis1 ,roberts1
 ,mc,grath1 ,dunthorne  and myself7 have
 visited successively ,flushing1        
,rotterdam1 ,the ,hague1  ,dordrecht1   
,scheveningen1 ,amsterdam and ,brussels4
 ,of course our visit has  been brief as
 the period of time represented has been
 but four days4 ,the  picture galleries 
have received most of our attention at  
these places1  but at ,dordrecht and    
,scheveningen we found the living       

pictures  unmatched by any in the       
respective art exhibitions4 ,dort is a  
perfect  treasure of a place1           
pictorially considered1 and ,i shall    
live in hopes  of revisiting it in the  
future more at my leisure and with an   
eye to  #8material4' ,you would have    
been charmed with the quaintness of this
 old  ,dutch village with its           
,venice-like canals1 its queer          
inhabitants1 its  hundreds of wind-mills
 and picturesque old boats4 ,we hired a 
boat and  guide and rowed for hours upon
 one of these meandering                
waterways--under  arched bridges beneath
 which we had to stoop2 beneath         
overhanging  balconies bright with      
flowering plants and with an occasional 
saucy or  coquettish face half disclosed
 between the ,venetian blinds at the    
windows1 occasionally with a giggle     
accompaniment or a handkerchief         
manuvered in a manner which would have  
done credit to a ,french or  ,spanish   
coquette4 ,the little ,dutch #8yongen'  

or ,deutscher #8pups' saluted  us with  
questionable slang or with stones or    
what-not1 at every private  quay or     
alley-way opening on the canal and      
altogether our turnout with  its noisy  
exclamatory cargo was a great center of 
attraction to  contiguous neighborhoods 
whose windows were usually filled with  
curious  spectators mostly on a broad   
grin of ,dutch proportions and typical  
comeliness1 and 'tis true occasionally  
relieved by a disclosure which  our     
,scotch friend ,roberts assured us was  
#8bonny' and which commentary ,i  was   
pleased to verify1 and which moreover   
was the signal of a chorus of  #8ah's'  
from our bateau that would have done    
credit to a ,west ,brighton  populace at
 the #8busting' of a rocket4 ,our trip  
was occasionally varied  by a landing at
 some quaint quay or alley1 and a       
rummaging visit to some  musty old      
bric-a-brac den or junk shop4 ,the      
streets were of the queerest  in        
architecture and life--queer old women  

with brass headgear and huge  sabots or 
wooden shoes1 and voices like a         
fog-horn1 peddling their green  goods1  
their eggs1 milk or whatever1 their     
treasures suspended from  yokes1 and    
borne with apparent pleasure4 ,i have   
bought one of their huge  brass milk    
cans and a few other of their           
distinguishing paraphernalia  for our   
front parlor over the mantel--7a part of
 the foregoing was  penned late last    
night but ,i was so utterly tired that  
,i had to quit in  the midst of a       
sentence which ,i presume you can detect
 by examination74  ,i am in the same    
condition to-night 7,friday1 ,may       
#beth71 having spent  seven mortal hours
 on my feet in the #8,louvre' to say    
nothing of the  exhaustion which the    
visit has brought to the other end of my
 person4  ,yesterday ,i was seven hours 
at the ,salon1 viewing the miles of     
pictures  and occasionally imagining    
myself in a harem or in a feminine      
quarter of  a ,turkish bath by mistake4 

,i shall go again to-morrow1 as ,i did  
not see  one half of the bathers        
yesterday and besides there are a few   
landscapes  that ,i want to get a peep  
at1 if the fleshly charmers will only   
give a  fellow half a chance4 #ejjj     
pictures666 to say nothing of about     
three  acres of statuary6    8,i shall  
spend a week here at ,paris and shall   
then leave for  ,switzerland1 including 
,chamounix1 ,interlaken1 ,rigi1         
,lucerne1 c41  returning after about a  
week's trip direct to ,london there to  
spend the  few days prior to my return4 
,i shall sail with ,van ,ingen on the   
#8,adriatic' ,june #acth and shall be   
most happy to be with my loved ones     
again4 ,how truly do we measure time by 
voluminousness of incident4 ,our        
,holland trip of #d days seemed like a  
month and it seems a half year  since ,i
 left you in ,new ,york4 ,in my         
hours--say rather moments--of repose  ,i
 am homesick and my tired feeling adds  
to the nostalgia4 ,mr4 ,van ,ingen  and 

,mc,grath left me in my tracks to-day1  
and the way ,i am dispensing my  hybrid 
,french to the natives hereabouts is a  
case of wilful persecution4  ,but ,i get
 along better than ,i would have        
supposed4 ,i have raked up my  old      
vocabulary and with a reinforcement of  
grins1 gesticulations and  shrugs1 it is
 surprising how quickly my victim       
succumbs4 ,once in a while  it is true  
,i chance upon an ass who don't catch   
on1 but as a rule ,i  manage to make my 
patient comprehend my intentions4       
,everything thus goes  well until he    
starts in1 and the average ,frenchman   
can pronounce three  words at once with 
most facile ease and evident delight4 ,i
 generally  wait until he has run       
through his dictionary from ,alfred to  
,omaha and  then inform him that ,i     
haven't understood a word that he has   
been  saying and beg of him to begin    
again and go slow4 ,when he comprehends 
that he is to be remunerated by time1   
and not by the job1 and turns  out words

 instead of mush1 his lingo is not half 
so overpowering or so  enigmatical4 ,i  
had the honor to compliment a waiter    
to-day upon his  excellent ,french when 
indulged in moderation1 bringing a      
touching  parable to my rescue1 likening
 his #8escargot' speech to my dish of   
small  isolated boiled potatoes and his 
#8chemin du fer' ,french to my          
#8haricot'  much to his delight and     
comprehension40    ,in #ahhh his second 
son was born1 and the happy father      
writes of the new  baby to ,colonel     
,gibson1 excusing himself for not having
 made him a  visit3 8,i have found that 
we cannot always bend circumstances to  
our  wills1 especially when those       
aforesaid circumstances are materialized
 in  the shape of bills payable1 taxes1 
insurance1 houses1 wives 7,i beg        
pardon1 wife71 and babies6 ,yes1 babies6
 ,for ,hamilton ,jr4 no longer  runs    
this establishment2 ,i enclose the      
counterfeit presentment of a  successor 
of his who makes us all toe the mark1   

and bosses the entire  household4 ,is it
 possible that his fame has not reached 
your latitude8  ,he has his own way     
hereabouts1 and we imagined that the    
limits of ,new  ,england had at least   
been brought within earshot of his      
lungs4 ,but he is  a darling1 if he does
 take after his daddy4 ,his name is     
,dana ,gibson2  7not ,charles ,a47 but  
old ,judge ,dana1 ,richard ,dana1 his   
ancestor40    ,the year #ahhi found him 
busy with the erection of a new story to
 his  ,brooklyn house and his instalment
 there in a studio which became a       
favorite theme for newspaper gossip and 
description4 ,in ,washington1 too1  he  
acquired another studio for his summer  
days1 in the shape of a little  old     
schoolhouse which was familiar to him in
 his boyhood4 ,in the autumn  of this   
year he recorded the idea of a          
8prospective work #8,eyes to the        
,blind' to be prepared with a view to   
book publication4 ,made proposition  to 
,harpers who requested me to run the    

same through the year in #8,young       
,people1' one page each1 with about #bjj
 drawings40 ,this1 is of course1  that  
favorite work which finally took the    
name of 8,sharp ,eyes0 and  attained    
such wide popularity4 ,writing of this  
new scheme to his friend  ,colonel      
,gibson1 in ,fryeburg1 ,maine1 he opens 
his mind and heart in his  own direct   
and exuberant way4 ,the letter was      
written in ,august1 #ahij4    8,this    
series will run through the year1 and   
you may like to know how it  all came   
about4 ,know then that my head gradually
 got so big with the  muchness of       
learning that ,i had to rig up a safety 
valve of some sort1  or bust6 ,this     
would have been an unpleasant denouement
 for myself and  especially tough on the
 immediate surroundings1 human or       
otherwise1 and  so ,i hit upon a plan to
 put all my goods in the show window and
 get  credit for a big reinforcement    
behind the counter6 ,great scheme6 eh6  
7that is if they only won't try to get a

 look inside67 ,my note-books1  visible 
and intangible1 have been multiplying   
from year to year with no  available    
opportunities of keeping pace with them 
in my accustomed  magazine facilities4  
,so ,i concluded to materialize my      
material in the  form of a dainty book1 
comprising the more interesting         
incidents of my  journal1 arranging the 
incidents or episodes chronologically--a
 timely  item or two for each week in   
the year1 so that the book might serve  
as a  sort of pictorial reference       
calendar for the saunterer1 affording   
him at  least some few hints of the rich
 store of wonders which surround him    
unheeded in every field and by every    
path4 ,i believe there is real true     
missionary possibility in such a book as
 that4 ,my plan completed and a  little 
material duly prepared ,i broached the  
matter to the ,harpers4 ,they  jumped at
 it at once1 and much to my astonishment
 made me the offer to  run it for the   
entire year of #eb weeks in the #8,young

 ,people1' an unheard  of thing6 and    
something which ,i had never dreamed of4
 ,by this  arrangement ,i not only      
received much more liberal compensation 
for the  large number of designs than   
would have been financially possible on 
the  first basis1 but in addition       
realized generously upon the letter     
press  which in the original plan would 
have been furnished gratis on the       
customary plan of books paying royalty4 
,in addition to this1 inasmuch  as the  
cost of the entire series would of      
course be charged to the #8,y4  ,p4' it 
gave me a bigger margin both in number  
and scope of the designs1  so that the  
book as now shaped will be more         
generously illustrated than  as first   
planned4 ,the series will end with the  
,xmas number and will then  begin to    
take its book form with numerous fresh  
additions of tail-pieces  and other     
morceaux1 comprising some #cjj          
illustrations4 ,it will not be  issued  
however until the ,christmas of #ahia as

 ,i have already on the  press a volume 
for the coming season4    8,the title of
 this--my fifth book--is #8,strolls by  
,starlight and  ,sunshine4' ,my two     
midnight articles taking the lead1 and  
followed by my  other magazine papers   
published during the last two years4    
#8,bird-,notes1'  7,harper's71          
#8,bird-,cradles1' 7,scribner's71       
#8,prehistoric ,botanists1'  7,century71
 and #8,wild ,garden1' 7,harper's71 this
 ,september 7now due74    8,you shall   
see the volume as soon as you are likely
 to desire it1 and  whether you take any
 stock in it or not you will1 ,i hope1  
give me credit  of being a well meaning 
fellow anyhow4    8,there6 that's about 
as big a dose as even your friendship   
can stand1  and so ,i'll come around to 
my autograph and give you a             
rest--,no--not yet  either6 ,i wonder if
 you can't do me a little favor1 just   
for the sake of  old times and in spite 
of my sins4 ,in addition to all my other
 work ,i  have been for years preparing 

a botany on a new plan1 and nearly all  
the  bloomin' things that grow in these 
parts have been victimized in my        
enthusiasm4    8,there is one plant1    
perhaps two1 which ,i remember to have  
seen and  gathered on the sand at       
,lovell's pond1 but which ,i never      
identified1  which perhaps you could now
 help me to secure4 ,a little low thing 
with a  few yellow 7or pink7 blossoms   
growing on its extremity1 and which ,i  
saw  in profusion the last time ,i      
visited the spot with you4 ,i am afraid 
that  the season is too late1 or will be
 when ,i could receive them from you1   
but if you can1 after about twelve days1
 or rather about the date of the  third 
of ,september gather the plants for me1 
enclose them in a tin spice  box1 no    
water1 and mail them to me here at      
,washington1 ,conn41 you will  earn my  
thanks anew4 ,plants enclosed in tin    
boxes1 with air-tight  covers1 will keep
 fresh for days--indeed for many days   
longer than the  same plant would keep  

in a vase of water4    8,and now1 my    
dear friend1 au revoir6 ,i sincerely    
wish that we might meet  again if only  
to clasp hands and exchange greeting1   
but until another  year at least it     
seems improbable4 ,to-morrow ,i leave to
 visit friends in  the ,adirondacks for 
two weeks returning here to keep my nose
 to the  grindstone until ,november when
 ,i return to ,brooklyn1    8,good bye1 
regards to all4 ,w4 ,h4 ,g40    ,in     
season for the holidays in #ahij        
8,strolls by ,starlight and ,sunshine0  
was ready2 and ,gibson had another      
surprise for the nature-lovers in the   
chapters on 8,a ,midnight ,ramble10 and 
8,night ,witchery40 ,all he had done    
was to take his lantern and wander among
 the grasses and the  wild-flowers as   
they slept1 and to tell the story of    
what he saw and  heard4 ,but when he had
 done with them1 his readers all felt1  
at  second-hand1 indeed1 but keenly     
enough1 as he himself had done1 8,we    
have  explored a new world--a realm     

which we can look in the face on the    
morrow1 with an exchange of recognition 
impossible yesterday40 ,edmund          
,clarence ,stedman1 suggesting possible 
choice of material for the  8,library of
 ,american ,literature10 said of this   
article10 ,i scarcely  believe that you 
or any one has of late written anything 
more novel or  more poetic than your    
espionage in the camp of the flowers at 
midnight40    ,all the next year was    
devoted to work upon 8,sharp ,eyes10    
which appeared  in the late autumn of   
#ahia4 ,the intent and scope of the book
 has been  told in the author's letter  
to his friend4 ,he puts his purpose     
succinctly in a paragraph of the        
introduction1 which he quaintly         
entitled 8,through ,my ,spectacles03    
8#8,sharp ,eyes1' then1 is1 in brief1 a 
cordial recommendation and invitation to
 walk the fields and woods with  me and 
reap the perpetual harvest of a quiet   
eye1 which ,nature  everywhere bestows2 
to witness with me the strange          

revelations of this  wild bal masqu1 to 
laugh1 to admire1 to study1 to ponder1  
to  philosophize1--between the          
lines1--to question1 and always to      
rejoice  and give thanks40    ,meantime1
 he was hard at work pushing the studies
 for his botany4 ,with  the sketches he 
was making for this purpose1 he was also
 making more  water-colors1 sending them
 to the various exhibitions1 and        
arranging  sales of his own4 ,he was at 
work on new articles for the 8,young    
,people0  continuing the unexhausted    
vein he had opened for these pages4 ,for
 older  readers he was beginning the    
articles on the cross-fertilization of  
flowers which foreshadowed the wonderful
 charts and lectures with which  he     
delighted and informed the whole        
country4 ,he had begun to lecture  too1 
and he notes in his journal1 ,july #bc1 
#ahia1 8,at ,mrs4 ,van ,ingen's         
suggestion1 ,i have concluded to give a 
series of ten familiar talks on         
,nature1 covering botany1 entomology1   

and ornithology1 two each week40  ,this 
was the beginning of successive series  
of lectures1 covering four  years4 ,from
 these home talks his work in this field
 grew and multiplied4  ,soon he was     
lecturing with these amazing charts     
before the clubs in ,new  ,york1 before 
colleges and schools1 and finally before
 popular audiences4  ,in the winter of  
#ahic-id1 he made the venture of a      
series of six  lectures in ,hardman     
,hall1 ,new ,york ,city1 which netted   
him the handsome  sum of eight hundred  
and fifty dollars1 and drew from the    
veteran  manager1 ,major ,pond1 an      
expression of wonder3 8,the news of your
 success  in ,hardman ,hall is          
phenomenal4 ,i can assure you that you  
are the only  man in the ,united ,states
 who could have done such a business40  
,then the calls began to come from all  
over the country4 ,the same energy1     
industry1 and genius which he had put   
into his painting and his writing  he   
threw with increasing intensity into    

this new work4 ,in #ahid he  lectured   
sixty-four times4 ,his success in the   
new field was instant and  complete4 ,it
 was as thoroughgoing with scientific   
folk as it was with  the children and   
the plain people4 ,the press had nothing
 but wonder and  commendations4 ,it was 
an epoch in the popular presentation of 
scientific  fact and research unequaled 
since the days of ,agassiz4    ,but     
somehow1 in the midst of this new       
interest and the engagements it         
brought1 he found the time to bring out 
still another book1 as novel and  as    
fascinating as any of its predecessors2 
and though it dealt with what  at first 
sight seemed an unlovely theme1 it was  
perhaps the most  beautiful of his      
volumes4 ,promptly on calendar time in  
#ahie came 8,our  ,edible ,mushrooms and
 ,toadstools10 destined to be the       
forerunner of a  fungus-literature      
growing with every year4 ,its accuracy  
satisfied the  scientific2 its          
information gratified the popular mind2 

its  illustrations were a joy to the    
mushroom-hunters4 ,and his originality  
in treatment gave a hint to the         
publishers which they have been quick to
  follow and which they will be sure to 
follow for many a year to come4    ,two 
more books were to be added to the list 
of his collected writings1  8,eye ,spy10
 and 8,my ,studio ,neighbors10 both     
volumes in the same vein as  8,sharp    
,eyes10 and made up of his magazine     
articles4 ,but before they were         
gathered between covers1 he had finished
 his brief career and had passed  on4   
,the last entry in his journal was made 
on ,june #ab1 #ahif1 to record1  as did 
all his brief notes1 nothing but a new  
item of work1--8,lecture1  ,holiday     
,house40 ,he was already in the grip of 
death4 ,the fierce fires of  a          
relentless industry had burned his      
forces to a cinder4 ,through the  summer
 days he languished and drooped1 yet    
would not wholly give over  work1 nor   
cease his planning4 ,on the #afth of    

,july1 among the hills of  ,washington1 
he suddenly died from apoplexy4 ,his    
overtaxed frame gave  way1 and1 at the  
early age of forty-six1 he slept the    
long sleep of the  body1 in the         
beautiful home he had reared for        
himself1 among those  dearest scenes4   
,perhaps there is no more fitting close 
to this hurried sketch of his  career   
than a reference to this beautiful home 
which he made for himself  out of the   
earnings of his toil1 and which seems to
 have embodied the  desires and the     
noble purposes of his whole life4 ,it   
was natural1  inevitable1 than he should
 choose ,washington as the site of this 
new  hearthstone4 ,he located it upon a 
hillside sloping to the river-valley1   
with a long and entrancing outlook to   
distant southern hills4 ,he left  the   
wild-flowers to grow undisturbed upon   
his lawns1 and the clumps of  low trees 
which bore their crimson cones in       
,august gave him the right to  call the 
new estate 8,the ,sumacs40 ,here he     

planted his house1 building  first of   
all a story of stones gathered from the 
fields and old walls  round-about4 ,then
 a 8story-and-a-half10 to use ,new      
,england phraseology1  a tasteful       
adaptation of old ,yankee architecture1 
with hip roof and low  studding4 ,broad 
piazzas surrounded it1 a great hall     
welcomed the guest1  and inviting rooms 
with enticing prospects through great   
windows gave a  sense of comfortable    
space within4 ,to complete the ideal of 
a home1 the  great fireplace stood ready
 for the winter backlog1 or bore a      
screen of  boughs in summer and in      
autumn4 ,how bitter the irony of life1  
in that as  soon as he had reared this  
shrine for his domestic affections1 amid
  scenes for which he had been yearning 
all his days1 imprisoned in the  city1  
among friends of his boyhood1 who loved 
him as few men are  loved--what a       
strange and baffling lot was his1 to be 
summoned from it  all1 and from the     
larger future which seemed opening      

before his eager  heart6                
,illustration3 ,the ,sumacs             
,,chapter ,,iv    ,,with ,,pencil ,,and 
,,brush      ,it is hard to say whether 
,gibson was first a naturalist and      
afterwards  an artist1 or first an      
artist and afterwards a naturalist4 ,art
 was his  mode of expression2 but his   
knowledge of nature furnished the       
material  of what he would express4 ,art
 was his speech1 but nature was his     
theme4  ,in point of time there was no  
difference in the development of these  
two  sides of his nature4 ,his boyhood  
passion seemed to divide between        
studying nature and drawing pictures4   
,he wrote of himself in 8,pastoral      
,days0 7p4 #ff73 8,insect-hunting had   
always been a passion with me4 ,large   
collections of moths and butterflies had
 many times accumulated under my  hands1
 only to meet destruction through boyish
 inexperience2 and even in  childhood   
the love for the insect and the passion 
for the pencil strove  hard for the     

ascendency1 and were only reconciled by 
a combination which  filled my          
sketch-book with studies of insect      
life40    ,his letters are equally full 
of the nature-subjects he is treating   
and  of the ways in which he is treating
 them4 ,but there is no question of  the
 strong1 irrepressible need of his      
spirit which drove him to               
self-expression by pencil and brush4 8,i
 am fairly crazy to get to  painting10  
he said to a friend at the beginning of 
the last summer of  his life4 8,my      
lecture course and other business       
matters have kept me  from using my     
brush lately1 and ,i long to get my     
colors and go to work40  ,that was a    
remark which reveals his whole life1 his
 constant mood4 ,not  only was he always
 anxious to be at work1 but he wanted to
 be at work  with his colors4 ,this     
urgency drove him to art as a           
profession4 ,it  lightened all his busy 
years4 ,it ranked him by divine right   
among the  best of ,american artists4   

,he was a thorough artist in his love of
 the technical side of his work4  ,he   
delighted in mastery of the materials of
 art4 ,he liked the problems  growing   
out of them4 ,he knew the tools of his  
craft1 and never was  hampered by any   
uncertainty as to what he could do with 
the means at his  command4 ,his use of  
pencil and brush began early1 and he    
soon knew the  possibilities of black   
and white and water-colors4 ,he was     
quick to learn  the special art of      
drawing upon wood1 for the engraver4 ,he
 had no  fastidious scruples against the
 camera1 but was swift to resort to it  
and learn its possibilities and make it 
into a tool to shape his  thought4 ,when
 he turned to color as a medium of      
expression1 he did so  with all the     
,illustration3 ,pen-and-,ink ,sketch    
,from a ,letter    enthusiam of a true  
believer in its power1 and a purpose to 
get at all  its resources4 ,although so 
much of his early work was translated to
 the  world by the wood-engraver1 yet   

when wood-engraving began to decline1   
and the publishers took to process-work1
 and the 8half-tone0 crowded out  the   
fine1 laborious work of the burin1      
,gibson was not in the least  dismayed4 
,he wasted no time or sentiment in      
mourning the decadent  methods1 but     
sought at once to learn the utmost what 
the new methods  would yield to a       
determined and artistic mind4 ,how      
successful he was is  well shown in that
 beautiful volume which won such instant
 favor with  his later constituency1    
8,sharp ,eyes40 ,its delicate half-tones
 vie with  the wood-engraving in        
expressiveness1 in delicacy1 and in     
poetic  feeling2 and they are a standing
 testimony to the artist's versatility  
and technical energy4 ,he was never at a
 loss for a means of expression4  ,the  
rudest tools were converted to delicate 
and sufficient implements in  his       
fingers4 ,there are letters from him    
describing some illustration of  his or 
some painting1 in which the pen and ink 

with which he wrote were  made to sketch
 his work so vividly that one is tempted
 to rate the  tour-de-force of the      
written page as fine a show of power as 
the  picture it illustrated4    ,his    
work1 moreover1 was strong not only in  
its mastery of the science of           
expression1 but by its fidelity to the  
facts of science in its  subject-matter4
 ,it was a flat refutation of the       
doctrine1 so dear to  shallow           
sentimentalists1 that the progress of   
science must weaken the  power and      
circumscribe the field of art4 ,there is
 much misleading talk  to the effect    
that science is filching from the realm 
of the  imagination1 the kingdom where  
art thrives1 and by its cold light is   
taking all the glow and loveliness out  
of the atmosphere in which the  fancy   
has been wont to see its fairest        
visions4 ,but almost any one of         
,gibson's illustrations of natural      
history1 of botanical subjects1 or of   
open-air life and scenery sufficiently  

refutes this theory4 ,here is a  mind at
 once faithful to the scientific method1
 and free in its artistic  spirit4 ,here
 is the accuracy of the scientist's eye 
and the artist's  creative imagination4 
,turning the pages of 8,sharp ,eyes10 or
 indeed  almost any of his books1 one   
knows not which to praise the more1 his 
close observation of fact or his easy   
translation of it into the dress  of    
fancy4 ,one of his critics said3 8,his  
pictures sometimes seem ideal1  they are
 wrought with such a light and          
painstaking touch4 ,yet close  analysis 
will show them to be almost photographic
 in their accuracy40  ,however freely   
his fancy deals with the facts1 he never
 violates their  logic1 nor             
misrepresents their substance4 ,mr4     
,roe1 in a letter to ,gibson  once told 
him3 8,you understand nature1 and are   
capable of seeing her as  she exists4   
,most other artists have conventional   
ideas of nature4 ,you  can take an      
actual scene and reproduce it1 while at 

the same time  idealizing it40 ,his     
methods are a triumphant example of the 
scientific  use of the imagination1 and 
of the imaginative presentation of      
science4  ,the most hardened ,gradgrinds
 of research could find no fault with   
his  facts1 but were astonished and put 
to confusion by his power to suffuse    
reality with the glow of a poetic fancy4
 ,one critic1 writing in the 8,new      
,york ,tribune10 did say of him1 in the 
tone of one pointing out a  limitation1 
8,nimble and agile as he was of         
intellect1 he did not possess  breadth  
and scope of judgment1 nor maintain a   
deliberate balance of  interests40 ,but 
even this farfetched comment did not    
deny his fidelity  to the facts1 but    
only claimed a tendency to give them    
wrong values2 and  moreover the critic  
was reckoning without a large knowledge 
of his mind4  ,he confuses ,gibson's    
business as an artist with what his     
business might  have been as a mere     
naturalist1 and in doing so makes the   

common mistake  of disparaging what is  
done by showing that it is not something
 which  was not attempted4    ,here1 for
 instance1 in a chapter on 8,ballooning 
,seeds10 ,gibson draws  across a page   
what he calls a 8fanciful eddy10 wafting
 up a swarm of  seeds1 which fly abroad 
on the autumn breeze4 ,every form in the
 airy  sketch is accurate enough for a  
text-book1 yet the whole is fit for the 
illustration of a poem4 ,again1 in 8,a  
,masquerade of ,stamens10 his pencil    
leads down the page out of a sunny      
meadow a long procession which1         
beginning in the grasses of the         
foreground1 develops into the exactly   
drawn forms of a score of curiously     
fashioned stamens4 ,the  illustrations  
for 8,queer ,fruits from the ,bee's     
,basket10 with its  decorated initial1  
showing just the right bee1             
investigating just the  right flower2   
the laden bees hastening from the clump 
of bushes in the  foreground to the     
distant hives behind the farmhouse2 and 

finally the  sketch at the close1 of a  
group of the odd forms of pollen-dust   
which  the microscope reveals2--these   
are all examples of a fancy which only  
serves to illumine1 throw light upon1   
the fact1 but never to distort it  or to
 pervert it4 ,in this phase of his work1
 ,gibson carries the office  of the     
illustrator to its highest possible     
point1 and shows all its  dignity and   
power4    ,he did all this in his own   
way4 ,no artist of our generation was   
more  thoroughly individual in his      
methods and in his aim4 ,he sought what 
his  own spirit loved and longed for4   
,he saw with no eyes but his own4 ,he   
drew and painted after his own fashion4 
,his originality was absolute4 ,he  had 
none of the mannerisms of any man or any
 school but his own4 ,he  asked no one  
to tell him the color of the grass1 or  
the fashion in which  he should paint   
the clouds4 ,what he did was his own    
work1 what he saw  was his own vision4  
,what men called his 8versatility0 in   

the choice of  8mediums0 was his quick  
sense of fitness and of adaptation4 ,his
 aim was  never loyalty to a school1    
adherence to a method1 repetition of a  
successful device of technique4 ,it was 
always1 rather1 fidelity to  nature1    
adaptation of the medium to the thing   
represented1 variety of  method to treat
 his various themes4 ,if his style      
became characteristic1  it was because  
he put his own strong mark on all his   
work4 ,it was as  much his own as his   
autograph4 ,it was ,william ,hamilton   
,gibson  transferred to paper or canvas4
    ,gibson's success as an artist was  
as good for the ,american people as it  
was for himself4 ,it was truly a        
8popular0 success4 ,the people1 and a   
great many of them1 secured it4 ,for he 
spoke to them1 and they made  approving 
answer4 ,it would be hard to name an    
artist of his generation  who appealed  
to a larger public1 whose work in the   
magazines was hailed  with a heartier   
delight1 whose name stood for a more    

definite pleasure  and appreciation than
 his4 ,the people liked his work1 and   
they knew why  they liked it4 ,one of   
his most discriminating critics said of 
him1 in  #ahhh3    8,mr4 ,gibson's work 
has been essentially democratic1 that   
is1 has reached  the many rather than   
the few1 presenting to them studies of  
nature which  stand for a great deal    
more than mere descriptive              
picturesqueness1  because1 as we have   
said before1 they are informed not only 
with the  feeling for the beautiful1 but
 also with the scientific spirit of     
inquiry and a love of exact truth40 ,to 
gain such universal approval  without   
the slightest swerving from his artistic
 integrity1 or any  lowering of his     
artistic standard1 was an immense       
triumph4 ,he realized  it1 and it gave  
him great joy4 ,his honest and ingenuous
 pride in the  reception accorded to his
 early work is well shown in two brief  
notes to  his mother1 one in ,may1 the  
other in ,july1 #ahgh3    8,the bird    

article is finished and the proofs are  
beginning to pour in4  ,one or two of   
them are so fine that their fame has    
spread over the city1  and ,i am        
besieged by engravers and artists to see
 them4 ,one1 a  full-sized peacock's    
feather which takes up a full page of   
the magazine1  is by far the most superb
 piece of wood-engraving that has ever  
been  accomplished4 ,it is spoken of in 
art-circles all over the city4 ,it is   
the opening picture1 and will create a  
sensation4 ,the illustrations  number   
sixteen in all1 and ,mr4 ,parsons told  
,mr4 ,beard and others that it  was the 
most beautiful and at the same time the 
most expensive article  the magazine had
 ever gotten up4 ,mr4 ,parsons told me  
that the drawings  not only pleased him1
 but that they exceeded his highest     
expectations1  and that he did not      
believe there was another man in this   
country or in  any other that could     
excel them40    ,in similar vein1 after 
the notices began to appear1 he wrote   

again3    8,,brooklyn1 ,july #bg1 #ahgh4
    8,,dear ,,mother3--         8,i send
 you to-day a copy of the #8,nation'    
containing notice of       ,harper's    
,magazine4 ,the #8,nation' is a high    
authority and has the       reputation  
of stating the truth4 ,it seldom goes   
into ecstasies over       anything1 and 
such a notice as it has given of my     
#8birds' is       considered by the     
,harpers as a magnificent compliment40  
,the qualities of his art in which the  
public delighted and which came to  be  
characteristic of all his work1 were    
refinement1 gracefulness1 and  truth4   
,he saw the finer qualities of nature1  
sought out her delicate  beauties1 loved
 her humbler moods1 objects1 episodes4  
,he vindicated his  own taste in the    
paragraph with which he prefaced the    
chapter on 8,sap  ,bewitched10 over the 
signature of 8,plinius ,secundus03      
8,we wonder at the mighty and monstrous 
shoulders of ,elephants1 we marvel  at  
the strong necks of bulls3 we keep a    

wondering at the ravening of  tigers1   
and the shag manes of ,lions3 and yet in
 comparison of insects  there is nothing
 wherein ,nature and her whole power is 
more seen1  neither sheweth she her     
might more than in these least creatures
 of  all40    ,in the spirit of those   
words he wrought at his art4 8,these    
least  creatures of all0 found in him a 
loving exponent4 ,he saw their charm1   
and he was not above interpreting it to 
others4 ,the web of a spider1 the  nest 
of a bird1 the down of the dandelion1   
the leaf of the jewel-weed1  the tangle 
of grasses in a fence-corner1 the       
vegetable contents of a  city           
back-yard1--,gibson found beauties in   
all these least things1 which  he did   
not disdain to celebrate4 ,he had       
learned from ,thoreau1 chief  among     
,american students and expositors of    
nature1 the meaning of the  proverb1    
8,natura maxima in minimis40 ,his       
devotion to the ,concord  recluse1 and  
to his methods1 appears in his studies4 

,that discipleship  affected his        
artistic life4 ,it inspired him in his  
choice of themes and  it drew his eyes  
still closer to the lesser objects and  
humbler  horizons4 ,he wrote to a friend
 in #ahhh3    8,there are few authors   
whom ,i love more than ,thoreau4444 ,i  
have read him  with love and reverence1 
and have visited his haunts as sacred   
ground1  and have pictured those haunts 
in projected compositions1 and yet hope 
to see them realized40    ,he had no    
apologies whatsoever for having elected 
the field of what men  call the minor   
forms of life4 ,he knew there was no    
such thing as major  and minor in the   
things of nature4 ,one may go in either 
direction and  find infinity4 ,a        
telescope is no more effective than a   
microscope2 and  it begins to look as if
 the atoms would be found as marvelous  
as the  universe4 ,gibson repeatedly    
preached this doctrine4 ,in one place he
  said3    8,there is often an almost   
inexhaustible field for botanic         

investigation  even on a single fallen  
tree4 ,my scientific friend already     
alluded to  recently informed me1 on his
 return from an exploring tour1 that he 
had  spent two days most delightfully   
and profitably in the study of the      
yield of a single dead    ,illustration3
 ,at the ,easel    ,brooklyn ,studio    
tree1 and had surprised himself by a    
discovery by actual count of over a     
hundred distinct species of plants      
congregated upon it4 ,plumy dicentra    
clustered along its length1 graceful    
sprays of the frost-flower1 with  its   
little spire of snow crystals1 rose up  
here and there1 scarlet  berries of the 
,indian turnip glowed among the leaves1 
and1 with the  crowding beds of         
lycopodiums and mosses1 its ferns and   
lichens1 and host  of fungous growths1  
it became an easy matter to extend the  
list of  species into the second        
hundred4 ,it is something worth         
remembering the  next time we go into   
the woods40    ,such study and such     

affection made him the guide of a great 
multitude of  people in ,america1       
teaching them of beauties and graces    
they had never  perceived for           
themselves4 ,to him thousands of men and
 women were under  the deepest          
obligation1 because he gave knowledge   
that in small areas  and in close       
quarters one may see great beauties and 
far-reaching powers  and forces4 ,he    
taught by his art the greatness of the  
little1 the  divinity of the familiar4  
,he revealed the wonders of the         
every-day  world1 the miracles of the   
commonplace4 ,he seemed to discern1 and 
had  the power to show others1 the whole
 of nature in her humblest parts4 ,he   
was the prophet of the unnoted and the  
unprized2 for when his  appreciative    
pencil had drawn them1 they straightway 
became noteworthy1  brilliant1          
extraordinary4 ,one feels all the power 
of this call of his  to be the apostle  
of the unconsidered in a bit of rhapsody
 over the  infinite pictures hung along 

any country roadside3    8,see how the  
cool gray rails are relieved against    
that rich dark  background of dense     
olive juniper1 how they hide among the  
prickly  foliage6 ,look at that         
low-hanging branch which so exquisitely 
conceals  the lowest rail as it emerges 
from its other side1 and spreads out    
among  the creeping briers that wreathe 
the ground with their shining leaves of 
crimson and deep bronze6 ,could any art 
more daringly concentrate a  rhapsody of
 color than nature has here done in     
bringing up that gorgeous  spray of     
scarlet sumach1 whose fern-like pinnate 
leaves are so richly  massed against    
that background of dark evergreens8 ,and
 even in that  single branch see the    
wondrous gradation of color1 from purest
 green to  purplish olive melting into  
crimson1 and then to scarlet1 and       
through  orange into yellow1 and all    
sustaining in its midst the clustered   
cone  of berries of rich maroon6        
,verily1 it were almost an affront to   

sit down  before such a shrine and      
attempt to match it in material pigment4
 ,a  passing sketch1 perhaps1 that shall
 serve to aid the memory in the         
retirement of the studio1 but a careful 
copy1 never6 until we can have  a       
tenfold lease of life1 and paint with   
sunbeams4 ,but there is more  still in  
this tantalizing ideal1 for a luxuriant 
wild grapevine1 that  shuts in the fence
 near by1 sends toward us an adventurous
 branch that  climbs the upright rail1  
and festoons itself from fence to tree1 
and  hangs its luminous canopy over the 
crest of the yielding juniper4 ,even    
from where we stand we can see the      
pendent clusters of tiny grapes  clearly
 shadowed against the translucent golden
 screen4 ,add to all this  the charm of 
life and motion1 with trembling leaves  
and branches bending  in the breeze1    
with here and there a flitting shadow   
playing across the  half hidden rails1  
and where can you find another such     
picture1 its  counterpart in            

beauty--where8 perhaps its very         
neighbor1 for all  roadside pictures are
 #8hung upon the line1' they are all by 
the same  great ,master1 and it is often
 difficult to choose40    ,two letters  
must serve as types of hundreds which he
 received1 from  every quarter of this  
country and from ,england--from         
,california and from  ,anticosti        
,island1 from ,minnesota and from       
,georgia4 ,the people loved his  work4  
,it expressed things they all had felt4 
,it revealed to them things  they had   
never seen4 ,it was at once             
interpretation and disclosure4 ,they    
did not know how good it was            
technically1 but they did realize that  
it  was good art in substance and in    
spirit1 and from grateful hearts and    
lives quickened and enriched by his     
genius they wrote him their letters  of 
gratitude and recognition4 ,this one is 
from a ,massachusetts town3    8,b----1 
,,mass41 ,aug4 #cj1 '#ij4    ,,dear     
,,mr4 ,,gibson3--         8,your        

exquisite drawings and no less          
delightful descriptions have       been 
a constant delight and inspiration to me
 for ten years4 ,i have       often     
wanted to tell you so1 but the fear that
 a letter of thanks       might seem    
intrusive has kept me silent4 ,you      
really must forgive me       for writing
 now1 however1 for your #8group of      
pyrolas' has a       fascination quite  
irresistible4         ,i resolutely     
close my ,harper only to open again for 
one more long       lingering look at   
their airy loveliness1 and then of      
course must       follow another peep at
 the lilies and the goodyera and the    
dainty       fern fronds which seem to  
spring up as spontaneously under your   
pencil's magic as they do in our        
fern-filled woods of ,b----4            
8,do you realize how much you have added
 to the joy of pastoral       days1 what
 an enchantment you have thrown around  
our highways and       byways8          
8,almost every favorite flower lives    

again for me in your                    
illustrations1 and many and many a time 
have ,i been lifted up and       out of 
weariness or discouragement by your pen 
or pencil1 for your       word pictures 
are as vivid as the others4             
8,let me thank you too for your         
suggestions4 #8,there is a spiritual    
body and there is a natural body1' and  
the atmosphere of the first       is    
always around your work1 always full of 
help for all who can       discern it4  
8,i am not an art connoisseur and should
 never dare express my       opinion    
#8as one having authority1' but ,i do   
love beauty1 and some       of your     
beautiful woodland scenes1 some ferns or
 mosses or flowers       or birds have  
power to give #8thoughts that do often  
lie too deep       for tears4' ,you     
reveal ,nature's very soul and as a most
 ardent       worshipper of ,nature and 
as a child of the ,heavenly ,father     
whose       thoughts you have so often  
interpreted1 ,i want to thank you4      

8,may you have many long years to       
continue making the world happier1      
and may you receive as much sunshine in 
your own life as you have       given   
others4    8,yours most sincerely1      
8,,mary ,,sawyer40        ,the other    
letter is from his pastor3           99 
99       99       99       99           
8,to me you are an interpreter of a word
 of ,god which is both older       and  
newer than the one to the interpretation
 of which ,i have given       my life4  
,you have enabled a vaster congregation 
than any minister       ever speaks to1 
to see in it a meaning before unseen1 if
 not       unsuspected4 ,i am one of    
your congregation and ,i am your debtor 
for       lessons1 not merely of beauty1
 but of truth and purity1 which         
cannot be put into words4 ,in           
interpreting ,nature you bring us       
nearer to ,god and the eternal beauty   
and goodness4 ,for this1 no       less  
than for the autograph which hangs on   
our walls ,mrs4 ,abbott       and ,i    

heartily thank you4    8,yours          
sincerely1  ,,lyman ,,abbott4    8#gj   
,,columbia ,,heights1  #g ,april1       
#ahhh40        ,gibson was a warm       
partisan of water-color as a medium of  
artistic  expression4 ,he believed      
thoroughly in the possibilities of that 
mode of  painting1 which1 it will be    
noted1 was by no means understood or    
well-developed in this country when he  
was beginning to paint4 ,his views  in  
reference to it are well set forth in a 
letter to his mother1  describing his   
first picture for the ,water ,color     
,society's exhibition1  written in the  
winter of #ahgd4 ,he says3    8,i am at 
present busily engaged on my water-color
 painting for the  coming ,spring       
exhibition4 ,it is only just under way1 
but all who have  seen it express much  
pleasure and enthusiasm at it and       
particularly  admire my selection of a  
subject4 ,it would be difficult to find 
a  subject calculated to create such    
popular favor1 and you know that a  good

 selection in this particular is #8half 
the battle4' ,the idea is  this3        
,subject1 a #8,struggle for ,life4' ,it 
is indicated by an old1 old  tree 7an   
oak if you please7 growing under all    
possible disadvantages1  and besieged   
with a host of parasitic growths which  
threaten to sap its  vitality and hasten
 its death4 ,the trunk and main portion 
of a few  branches only are shown and   
but one or two of them are possessed of 
any  leafage4 ,the near portion is      
devoid of bark and the exposed wood1 by 
the  action of the weather without and  
decay within1 has become stained and    
broken4 ,the interior is hollow1 and the
 rich brown debris of its  decomposing  
wood falls through a large irregular    
opening at the base of  the trunk1 and  
then spreading itself on a moss and     
lichen covered rock  becomes the prey to
 brilliantly colored fungi and mother to
 many ferns4  ,the tree is supposed to  
have started life near a rock and in the
 course  of time its roots have grown   

over its surface and again by the action
 of  time and other causes are now bare 
of bark and some of them dead4 ,higher  
in the tree1 an unsightly gaping hollow 
presents itself1 left after the  fall of
 some dead and useless limb and this1   
collecting the rain water  from each    
successive shower1 has caused the       
gradual undermining of the  tree and    
hurried it to its approaching death4    
,close beneath this  opening1 true to   
nature1 sapping what little life blood  
still circulates  in the part clings a  
luxuriant clump of the deadly agaric    
7touch wood7  which may so often be seen
 on trees that have passed their better 
days4  ,these are not all the burdens   
under which this aged subject is        
struggling4 ,the mistletoe has fastened 
itself upon its only living  branch1 and
 parasitic vines innumerable clamber up 
and surround the  trunk in their        
#8deadly embrace4' ,a brightly colored  
woodpecker has just  alighted on the    
dying tree and finds food in plenty in  

the substance of  decay4 ,the whole     
picture is intended to suggest the idea 
of a struggle1  and ,i know that ,i can 
make it so plain that anyone will       
realize my  intention4 ,a little pool of
 rain water lies at the foot of the rock
 and  touching the roots which will give
 an additional effect of reflection1    
and what with this1 the warm coloring of
 dried fallen leaves relieved by  a     
group of delicate ferns1 and other like 
growths1 together with a  strong play of
 sunlight on the whole1 ,i see no reason
 why the picture  should not be a good  
success and feel equal to rendering all 
that my  imagination suggests and       
pictures4 ,i have only just commenced1  
but  enough is even now suggested to    
insure an at least attractive result4 ,i
  have selected the medium of           
water-color because ,i believe that more
 can  be done with that than most people
 are aware4 ,i can work faster with     
water-color and secure just as brilliant
 effect as ,i could in oils4  ,people in

 general do not know how much can be    
done with water-color1 and  ,i hope that
 ,i may live to show them40    ,six     
years later1 coming back to the same    
subject in a letter to ,colonel         
,gibson1 he defends water-color as a    
medium in the following hearty  fashion3
    8,concerning the #8water-color'     
subject1 on which you say #8,of course  
water-color painting is not or cannot be
 high art1 because it concerns  itself  
too much with detail' 7not verbatim but 
embodying your    ,illustration3 ,the   
,struggle for ,life    ,first           
,watercolor    expressed idea71 ,i      
regret that a man in your position      
should decline  from the standard to    
which his namesake had elevated him1 and
 come down  to such a statement as that4
 ,color is color1 whether it is mixed   
with  water or oil1 and you can make a  
broad flat tint in oil-color or         
water-color just as you choose4 ,there  
is no reason why one should use         
#8one-hair brushes' in water-color      

painting either4 ,neither is there any  
reason why he should paint more detail  
in the one than in the other4 ,you      
should have had one glimpse of the last 
,w4 ,c4 ,ex4 ,it would have made you    
open your eyes4 ,i never saw stronger or
 broader pictures in oil than  some that
 were in that exhibit4 ,neither does the
 medium make a snap of  difference1     
excepting so far as it cramps the hand  
that wields it4 ,the  talk about #8body 
color' is a #8hobby horse' for art      
critics to ride on  when they get #8run 
out' of their vocabulary4 ,i use both1  
so do several  others1 some to such an  
excess as to abuse it and spoil the     
result4 ,it  should not be used to tell 
as paint1 but to express texture or     
relief in  an object where such         
qualities are important requisites40    
,his own work in this medium showed the 
same steady and constant  improvement as
 his work with the pencil4 ,he toiled   
incessantly1 and with  his toil his     
power and facility grew4 ,remembering   

that he was  self-taught in all his     
art-work2 that he wholly lacked the     
training of  the schools2 that all his  
studies had to be made in the rush and  
under  the pressure of his intensely    
busy life2 yet that all of these studies
  were good enough to have a market     
value1 and to take rank as works of     
art1 his professional career is indeed a
 marvelous one4 ,it was soon  apparent  
that he was to take his place among the 
leading workers in  color1 and in an    
astonishingly short time he was         
recognized as one of  the first         
water-colorists in ,america4 ,he brought
 the same dash and  fervor and sincerity
 to the color-box that he bestowed upon 
monotone4 ,he  was as ambitious to excel
 in this field as in his earlier one4   
,he  overcame heavy odds1 chief among   
which was a popular prejudice that a    
man who does one thing well cannot do   
anything else4 ,the public had come  to 
rank him as a master in illustration4   
,it was not readily converted to  the   

notion that he might take as good a     
position in color-work4 ,the  critics   
talked1 as critics will1 in much this   
strain4 8,he is not a  colorist10 said  
one4 8,his best work is in monotone10   
said another4 8,he  has won more        
admirers by his black-and-white work    
than he ever will win  as a             
water-colorist10 wrote a third4 ,they   
evidently had not heard the  tale of his
 early attempts1 and had not the fear of
 his caricatures  before them4 ,gibson  
lived to confute their judgment and to  
prove his  power as a colorist4 ,that he
 had the root of the matter in him1 and 
that  he was qualified by temperament to
 see and feel the power of nature's     
glowing hues he shows in a few lines of 
revelation1 written out of his  inmost  
spirit4    8,how many beautiful pictures
 have ,i seen emerge from a cloud of    
dust  upon a country road6 ,how many of 
those pictures have again been half     
obliterated by the dust of after-years1 
only to be recalled to life by  even so 

trivial a thing as the bleating of a    
lamb1 the ring of a boyish  laugh1 or   
the homely music of the falling pasture 
bars6    8,pity for him whose heart     
knows no such sensitive and latent chord
 of  sympathy to yield its harmony along
 the way1 lending an inspiration to  the
 present1 while sanctifying the past1   
and drawing from its better  memories a 
renewed delight in living6 ,there is no 
walk in life1 however  dull or prosaic1 
no circumstance so commonplace1 that    
they can stifle  this ever-present      
melody4 ,it sings in unison with nature 
in a thousand  different keys--in a     
falling leaf or a cricket's song4 ,the  
rain-drops of  to-day but repeat the    
old-time patter on the garret-roof4 ,the
 noisy  katydid1 whenever heard1 is that
 same untiring nightly visitant outside 
your window to whose perpetual whim you 
loved to listen1 and in fancy  tantalize
 until you dropped off to sleep upon    
your pillow4 ,this skimming  swallow    
sailing near will never cross your path 

but so surely will he  fly to those same
 old nests beneath the barn-yard eaves4 
,if there is  ever a blessed mood #8most
 musical1 most melancholy1' it may be   
found  beneath the refining influence of
 just such reminiscences2 for whether   
or not there are added elements of home 
association1 there are always a  legion 
of indelible memories that love to      
linger along the country road  and      
lane--highways and byways beloved of    
fancy--paths of recollection  filled    
with footprints which not even the      
tempest can obliterate40    ,one rarely 
finds a profounder analysis of the true 
mean between breadth  and detail1       
between effect and incident1 nor a truer
 affirmation of one  of the neglected   
sources of power in translating the     
larger aspects of  the world than in the
 following3    8#8,there is as much     
finish in the right concealment of      
things as in the  right exhibition of   
them4'    8,here is a key to the very   
heart of nature1 if one will only use   

it4 ,and  ,i would but add my faint echo
 in an entreaty for a deeper sense of   
the  infinity of nature's living tone   
and palpitating color--a plea for the   
more intelligent recognition of the     
elements that yield the tint which  we  
vainly strive to imitate upon the       
canvas4 ,such knowledge will give a     
voice to every pigment on the palette1  
and to the brush an answering           
consciousness2 for1 whether disciple of 
a school or not1 whether artist1  poet1 
or layman1 who can deny that such an    
attitude toward nature shall  yield a   
harvest of deeper knowledge1 and        
increased delight1 not merely  in the   
contemplation of the footprint1 but even
 as truly in the study of  the limitless
 panorama8    8,is there not to me an   
added charm in the pink flush that      
mantles the  side of yonder             
mountain-spur when ,i know so well that 
it is shed by the  myriads of blossoms  
in an acre of glowing fire-weed8 ,and as
 my eye  follows the cool cloud-shadow  

as it glides down upon the              
mountain-slope1  among the varied       
patchwork of its fields and farms1 is   
there not a  deepened significance      
imparted to every separate tint that    
tells me  something of its being8       
8,if in the faint yellow checkered forms
 ,i see fields of billowing wheat  and  
barley1 and recall a hundred of their   
associations1 or if from that           
quaintly-dotted patch there comes a     
whiff from a sweet-scented field1  with 
its cocks of new-mown hay1 its skimming 
swallows and ringing  scythes1 with here
 a luminous gray of sandy meadow fresh  
from the plough  or harrow1 and there a 
weed-grown copse lit up with golden-rod2
 if that  kaleidoscopic medley of grays 
and olives and browns tells me of its   
pastures1 with their tinkling bells1 of 
its fragrant beds of  everlasting1      
ferns1 and hardhack1 its trailing       
junipers and its  moss-flecked bowlders1
 and each of these in turn draws me     
still closer1  and whispers something of

 itself--the everlasting with its       
pendent  jewel1 the orchis with its     
little confidant and nursling1 the      
gentian  with its close-kept secret and 
its never-opened eye2 if yonder bluish  
bloom means a field of blueberries to   
me1 and that snowy sweep brings  visions
 of the blossoming buckwheat field1 with
 its symphony of humming  bees--tell me1
 have ,i not only seen the              
mountain-slope1 but have ,i not  also   
heard its voice8    ,such a man could   
not keep out of the field of color4 ,the
 feeling in him  had to express itself4 
,he must interpret on the canvas what he
 saw upon  the hillside4 ,it was        
inevitable that he should soon win as   
hearty praise  for his color as he had  
for his drawing4 ,of course1 the        
reputation could  not be as wide as that
 he had achieved as illustrator in black
 and  white4 ,fewer eyes could see his  
paintings than had been regaled with his
  illustrations4 ,but when he laid down 
his brush1 to paint no more1 he had     

made a name for himself as one of the   
foremost ,american water-colorists4     
,it is but fair to say that his later   
experiences taught him a larger  respect
 for 8oil0 as a medium of artistic      
expression4 ,he was so eager to  enlarge
 his field of work that he could not but
 venture upon experiments  which brought
 to him a new sense of power and a      
knowledge of resources  hitherto        
untouched4 ,a few brief entries in his  
journal show his state of  mind1 and his
 prompt surrender of former prejudices4 
,in ,march1 #ahha1 he  wrote3           
8,painting for three weeks on           
oil-pictures for ,academy ,exhibition4  
,first  attempts in oil for exhibition4 
,trouble with medium4 ,final triumph of 
mind over matter4 ,painted a week or    
more on large autumn study commenced  at
 ,williamstown4 ,grew frantic and in a  
moment of frenzy took a piece of        
pasteboard and palette-knife and        
produced strongest picture ,i ever      
painted1 in less than fifteen           

minutes1--a revelation which gave me    
confidence4 ,a victorious fight with an 
oil-tube which had threatened to  get   
the better of me40    ,a few days later 
he tried a similar study1 with which he 
was even more  satisfied4 ,in another   
entry he says of this attempt3    8,much
 pleased with effect of sky ,i carried  
picture to a finish by four  o'clock4   
,went out and ordered frame for it4 ,a  
,diaz effect1--quite  strong4 ,what a   
revelation to me who1 ten days ago1 was 
disgusted with  oil-color as a medium6  
,i am all aglow with enthusiasm at      
finding another  medium for the         
expression of my thoughts and feelings40
    ,from this time forward he knew that
 there were still greater  possibilities
 before him than he had realized1 and   
with the knowledge  came a fresh        
ambition1 a stronger challenge to his   
artistic nature4    ,the                
8smoke-pictures0 which he executed were 
one more example of his  versatility and
 delight in new and daring methods4 ,he 

did a great many  of them1 and they     
attracted much attention4 ,they were1   
briefly1  black-and-white pictures made 
by a gas flame upon a cardboard or paper
  ground4 ,in his first experiments he  
held the paper before a horizontal      
flame and by passing one part after     
another across the flame1 secured       
masses of lamp-black1 which he found he 
could manipulate to great  advantage4   
,landscape1 cloud-effects1 deep shadows 
of night or storm were  easily within   
reach4 ,afterward he attached a rubber  
tube to his  gas-fixture1 and with a    
suitable nozzle was able to sit at his  
easel and  manipulate the pipe as he    
would a brush4 ,after the paper was well
 coated  with varying shades of gray and
 black1 he would work up the picture    
with  brush or finger or palette-knife1 
deepening the tones1 when desirable1  by
 more smoke1 lightening them by scraping
 and rubbing4 ,the total effect  was    
broad1 yet marked by gradations so fine 
as to be almost beyond the  reach of    

ordinary methods of black-and-white     
work2 while the rich1  velvety textures 
were of a depth quite remarkable4       
,though he never  devised any method of 
8fixing0 the smoke1 yet after the lapse 
of a dozen  years1 these pictures1 when 
preserved under glass1 have kept all    
their  original brilliancy and force4   
,but all that ,gibson had done in his   
artistic career was to him only an      
apprenticeship4 ,he meant more than he  
achieved4 ,he was on the way to  better 
things1 when death stayed his feet4     
,with all his tremendous  intensity1 his
 restless industry1 his fulness of      
conception and scheme1  he was yet a man
 of undreamed-of patience4 ,he saw far  
ahead of what he  had reached1 and      
planned for it1 and meant to attain it4 
,he himself  regarded all that he had   
done in black and white1 in water-color1
 even  his beginnings in oil1 as only   
the preparation for a larger1 stronger  
art1 in which he should interpret the   
spiritual side of ,nature4 ,there  was  

always before his mind a dream of the   
subtler phases of natural  beauty1 the  
deeper meaning she conveys to the       
listening soul4 ,he was  feeling1 with  
more and more force every day that he   
lived1 the spell of        8,the light  
that never was on sea or land1          
,the consecration and the poet's dream10
    and the passion grew within him to  
paint1 in the most permanent and        
adequate medium1 the things he was      
coming to feel and to see4 ,art was     
really his goal4 ,painting was his      
crowning ambition4 ,his own view of his 
life was that he had but just fitted    
himself for a worthier task1 that  he   
was just ready to begin the work to     
which he was called4          ,,chapter 
,v    ,,the ,,open ,,eye      ,we have  
seen how the passion for the study of   
nature was born with  ,gibson1 and grew 
with his growth4 ,he was a naturalist by
 nature2 and all  his training          
strengthened in him the passion which   
made the young boy1  with a 8,cecropia0 

in sight1 8feel like an eagle darting at
 her prey40  ,the natural world was to  
him a perpetual attraction1 a land to be
  explored1 a mystery to be searched1 a 
delight to be enjoyed4 ,the             
frontispiece to his chapter 8,across    
,lots0 in 8,highways and ,byways0       
represents an upland shrubby pasture1   
beyond whose limits gleam the  waters of
 a pond1 backed by a round-topped hill4 
,in the foreground  stretches a rail    
fence1 with a gateway whose bars are    
dropped2 and this  open pathway to the  
wild fields and waters he has           
suggestively entitled  8,an             
,invitation40 ,that invitation was      
continually pressing upon him4 ,he      
always felt it1 outweighing all other   
calls1 summoning him from every  other  
career1 bidding him take to the fields  
and the woods and the  hills1 to listen1
 to see1 to learn1 and to impart4 ,in   
#ahfg1 when he was  a boy of seventeen1 
convalescing from a severe illness1 he  
wrote to a  dear friend3                

,illustration3 8,cypripedium ,acaule0   
78,my ,studio ,neighbors07 ,copyright1  
#ahig1 by ,harper  ,brothers    8,you   
ask me what ,i do all day4 ,this        
question is very easily answered4 ,it   
is the same thing over and over again   
day after day4 ,the great part of  the  
time ,i spend in the woods1 alone4 ,i   
start off about ten o'clock in  the     
morning and ramble through the woods and
 thickets4 ,there is one spot  in       
particular which ,i frequent the most1  
because there are two  wood-thrushes    
which invariably come and sing to me4   
,this spot is a  singular little dell4  
,it is situated in front of a precipice 
two hundred  feet high1 in among ferns  
and large rocks which are shaded by     
hemlock  trees4 ,it is on these trees   
that the wood-thrushes sit and chant    
their  songs by the hour4 ,oh1 ,i do not
 believe ,i could be happy if this      
pleasure were taken away from me4 ,i am 
always happy alone in the woods4  ,i    
dare say ,i am destined to spend half my

 life in just such places4 ,this  is the
 daily program of the way ,i spend my   
time4 ,silly isn't it8 ,but ,i  can't   
help it4 ,it is my nature to enjoy      
nature1 and ,i mean to do it at  every  
opportunity40 ,that outburst struck the 
keynote of ,gibson's life  and spirit4  
,but his love of nature1 like his       
knowledge of it1 was broad and          
catholic4 ,he was not a specialist in   
any narrow or pedantic sense4 ,he  was  
botanist1 ornithologist1 entomologist1  
biologist1 all in one4 ,a  butterfly had
 as much interest for him as an         
evening-primrose1 a  chipmunk as a      
nuthatch4 ,everything was grist that    
came to his mill4  ,nothing could better
 illustrate this universal love of all  
living  things1 than a note which he    
left1 on which he intended evidently to 
base a sketch4 ,imperfect as it is1 it  
is an admirable illustration of  his    
method and of his broad sympathy and    
interest4 ,he begins with  several      
experiments at a title1 and then        

outlines his plan2 after which  he      
enumerates the 8available episodes10 as 
he calls them1 to fill the  outline3    
8#8,a ,rare ,day with the ,speckled     
,trout4 ,speckled ,beauties4 ,a ,rare   
,day's  ,trouting4' ,see ,burroughs's   
#8,speckled ,trout1' ,prime's #8,i go   
a-,fishing1'  ,isaak ,walton4           
8,begin3 ,it was the #bith of ,june4 ,a 
glimpse of a large platter of  speckled 
trout1 a one day's catch displayed with 
pride by a neighbor1  revived my        
old-time zeal and reminded me that there
 was but one day left  in which to beat 
the record4 ,i consequently start off   
fully equipped1  and meet with an       
interesting train of episodes1 and an   
accumulation of a  basket of            
specimens1--plants1 insects1 bird's     
nests4 ,following the  course of the    
stream1 the incidents are such as are   
perfectly  appropriate to this setting  
and the season4 ,a trout occasionally   
alluded  to1 as an accessory1 jumping1  
etc4    8,or begin with quotation about 

#8,not even a minister is to be trusted 
on  the subject of fish4' ,fish stories4
 ,i have one to tell which however it   
may compare with others has at least the
 merit of truth4 ,it is true that  ,i   
once caught forty-nine trout1 within an 
hour2 but that was not a  circumstance  
to the fortune which has often since    
befallen me4 ,my last  is a fair sample 
of these lucky days4    8,end something 
in this vein1--after an enumeration of  
natural beauties3  ,and1 by the way1 the
 trout8 ,there in the rippling pools2   
for ,i left them  all there6 ,and yet   
there are those who would have followed 
my trail1 and  have brought home nothing
 but a basketful of dead fish4 ,finish  
with some  apt quotation or quaint      
proverb1 of how one went and brought    
back chaff1  and another fetched the    
kernel40    ,it is plain that such a man
 as this did not love ,nature for the   
sake of  the contribution she made to   
his particular sport or his favorite    
study4  ,he was one of that class whom  

,professor ,john ,van ,dyke has in mind1
 in  entitling a certain book of his    
8,nature for ,its ,own ,sake40 ,he was  
out  after anything that mother ,nature 
vouchsafed to put in his way1 and he    
gathered up reverently whatever he      
found1 as something good for him        
because it came from her4 ,witness a    
single incident in which he modestly    
attributes to fortune what was quite as 
much due to his own habitual  alertness4
    8,by a fortunate train of weather   
conditions ,i was once favored with a   
phenomenon by which almost the entire   
vegetable bill of fare of the  winter   
birds1 at least in the way of seeds1 was
 spread out before  me--brought to my   
feet1 as it were4    8,walking upon the 
firm and polished snow-crust1 picking my
 way along a  rail-fence at the foot of 
a steep1 sloping pasture1 ,i suddenly   
aroused  into flight a flock of small   
birds from behind the bulwark of drifts 
with which the fence was hemmed in and  
partially buried4 ,so loud was the      

united flutter of their wings that it at
 first suggested the whir of a          
partridge1 until ,i saw it dissipated in
 the flock of smaller fry above  the    
edge of the drift4 ,they proved to be1  
as ,i remember1 mostly  snowbirds1 white
 buntings1 and goldfinches1 though      
doubtless the  cedar-birds1             
winter-wrens1 tree-sparrows1 pine and   
purple finches1 were  also among them4  
,their noisy flight was the signal for a
 general alarm  all along the line1     
following the fence for several hundred 
feet1 each  zigzag corner sending up its
 winged bevy to perch and twitter upon  
the  upper rails4 ,almost every         
projecting beam showed its chirruping   
sentinel4    8,interested to discover   
the secret of such a great feathery     
convocation1  ,i crept up to the edge of
 the slippery drift and looked over4    
,beyond the  fence rose the steep1      
white1 glistening slope of the pasture1 
a distance  of a furlong or more1 its   
surface mottled with its brown withered 

vegetation4 ,following the rambling     
rails on either side were drifts of  the
 most fantastic form1 now and then      
almost peering above the fence  riders1 
and between them ran a winding valley1  
in which the old fence  seemed to be    
walking knee-deep in snow4 ,it needed   
only a second glance  into this hollow1 
whence the startled flocks had flown1 to
 understand  its attractiveness for the 
birds4 ,its depths were fairly littered 
with  the choicest kind of allurement4  
,the very cream of the pasture had      
flowed into this trough4 ,it was the    
hopper which had received the entire    
wind-blown tribute of the weedy upland  
that looked down upon it1 and of  the   
overhanging woods far up the slope4     
,here were wind-rows of various  seeds  
which had been dislodged from the weeds 
and trees and blown along  the glassy   
snow to be caught in this convenient    
bin4 ,the small  goblet-shaped hollows  
around the projecting grass-stems were  
full to the  brim with their good cheer1

 and the deeper vales and gullies were  
marked  out everywhere by their brown   
meandering lines of intermingled chaff  
and  seeds1 often to the depth of two   
inches or more4 ,a happy valley and a   
land of plenty1 surely6    8,a single   
handful of this grist taken up at random
 presented a  surprising variety of     
elements1 offering a wide choice for the
 most  fastidious bird appetite4        
,curious to test this question further1 
,i  followed the fence for a long       
distance1 occasionally sampling the     
meadow  crumbs1 and continually         
discovering some new ingredient of fruit
 or  seed4    8,even the powdery chaff  
which ,i blew away in order to better   
reveal the  larger morsels1 proved to be
 the fine seed of various grasses and   
sedges2 while among the more conspicuous
 which remained ,i noted the  following 
considerable list1 not to mention others
 which were then  beyond my limited     
botanical knowledge4 ,the seeds of the  
alder1 birch1  hemlock1 ragweed1        

bur-marigold1 and wild-carrot1 were1    
perhaps1 the most  numerous and general4
 ,there was an exclusive colony of dried
 grapes  assembled in one particular    
corner1 doubtless laying their plans for
 a  future arborescent monopoly of the  
rails in their vicinity4 ,i found1      
also1 numbers of larch seeds1 both with 
and without their wings4                
,stag-horn-sumach1 poison-ivy1 ash1 and 
hop-hornbeam representatives were       
frequent1 and one chaffy handful1 downy 
with goldenrod and aster seeds  was lit 
up with a bright scarlet berry of black 
alder1 like a tiny live  coal in a bed  
of ashes4 ,there was an occasional      
withered poke-berry to  be met with1    
also fruits of sheep-berry1 ampelopsis1 
juniper1 and  hawthorn4 ,another sample 
challenged my audacious familiarity with
 the  fangs of a ,cenchrus bur--the     
spiny fruit of the hedgehog grass1 and  
still another was pretty well doctored  
with the poisonous seeds of  stramonium1
 or jimson-weed1 a line of which        

followed along the base of a  drift like
 an open trail fuse of blasting powder  
leading up to a drill  hole well calked 
with chaff4 ,i recall also a few samaras
 of the  tulip-tree1 some hazel-nuts1   
oats1 foxtail-grass seed1 as well as    
several other queer diminutive forms    
which were unknown to me at the  time1  
and which ,i cannot now identify from   
memory40    ,if we were to name the     
quality most characteristic of his work 
as a  naturalist1 it would be his habit 
of close and accurate observation4 ,he  
saw more of the objects and incidents of
 the natural world in a square  rod1    
than most men1 even fairly observant1   
would see in a square mile4  ,his books 
are a mass of evidence of the minuteness
 and the accuracy of  his observations2 
and his note-books tell with still      
greater force the  story of his patience
 and industry in preparing himself to   
report what  he had seen4 ,they show    
that he looked and saw for himself1 and 
that his  stories of plant and insect   

life are genuine studies1 at first hand4
 ,a  fine instance of the personal      
observation and actual experience which 
lay behind his work is afforded in the  
case of the chapter upon the            
8,bombardier-,beetle0 in 8,sharp ,eyes40
 ,it is but a brief sketch1 and  reports
 only a curious performance on the part 
of a rather rare insect4  ,but the      
observed facts on which it is based are 
set down in a record  almost as long as 
the sketch itself1 and in a manner to   
show the  foundation of close attention 
and scrutiny to which he was continually
  subjecting the face of the earth4 ,he 
writes under date of ,september  #bhth1 
at ,williamstown1 ,massachusetts4 ,the  
note begins with a memorandum  to the   
effect that he carried his camera1 with 
four plates1 and that he  observed      
tumble-bugs1 ichneumon flies1 and dung  
beetles4 8,in turning  over a large     
stone1 as is my habit in my walks1 ,i   
discerned beneath it a  little beetle   
which ,i at first supposed to be the    

common species1 so  closely resembling  
the ,bombardier beetle of ,europe4 ,i   
had no special  desire to capture it1   
and as it escaped beneath the grass and 
debris1 my  attention was arrested by a 
series of queer detonations1 which made 
me  suspect that some kind of a toad lay
 concealed near by4 ,as ,i rummaged     
among the leaves ,i heard the queer     
report right at my fingers' ends1 and   
at the same time noticed a tiny cloud of
 smoke emerging from the same  quarter4 
,the fact then dawned upon me that      
perhaps ,i had discovered a  genuine    
,bombardier4 ,a moment's search revealed
 the little fellow1 and he  discharged  
his battery six times or so4 ,i captured
 him4 ,i have not yet  read of this     
species having been discovered in       
,america4 ,and certainly  the allied    
species of this country possess no such 
detonating power4  ,before the          
detonation the body of the beetle would 
swell considerably4 ,i  kept the beetle 
and several of its allied species in a  

box some weeks  afterward1 and observed 
the explosion several times4 ,mrs4      
,gibson also  heard it once and         
distinctly saw the small cloud of smoke 
of the  volatile fluid4 ,about two days 
after the capture of the ,bombardier1 ,i
  espied a beetle crawling on the floor 
of my room1 and thinking that my  pet   
had escaped ,i captured the insect4 ,it 
proved to be another of the  same       
species1 but evidently of the other sex1
 and it was undoubtedly  seeking for its
 imprisoned mate4 ,there are numerous   
parallel instances  in my own           
experience1 but in this instance it is  
especially remarkable  that ,i should   
find a second individual of a species so
 rare in ,america  that ,i had never    
been able to find one before2 and       
although ,i overturned  at least a      
thousand stones during my stay in       
,williamstown1 ,i was never  able to    
discover another specimen40    ,a few   
weeks earlier in the same summer1 he    
recorded another incident  which shows  

his alertness of eye and the success    
with which it was  constantly rewarded4 
,he was on a trip to ,south ,amboy1 to  
study orchids  in a conservatory there4 
,he wrote3    8,in a ramble near the    
station ,i found 7as usual7 exactly what
 ,i had  started out to hunt for1 a     
large patch of milkweed4 ,this luck is  
an  every day experience with me and has
 long since ceased to be a surprise4    
,once let my vision be set on the       
qui-vive for any given object1 and ,i am
  led to it as by some irresistible     
intuition4 ,no matter whether the       
object sought be a four-leaved clover1 a
 certain flower1 a rare  caterpillar1 a 
gold-bug or a #8walking-stick1' ,i am   
soon rewarded4 ,i was  desirous of      
discovering a specimen of an insect     
laden with pollen of  milkweed4 ,in less
 than ten minutes ,i found a large tract
 of pollen1 in  full bloom4 ,in an      
instant more ,i detected a beautiful    
,cetonia beetle1  nestling in a tuft of 
blossoms4 ,soon there came a small      

yellow hornet1  which ,i captured4 ,its 
legs were fringed with the              
pollen-masses4 ,so were  the toes of the
 beetle40    ,probably ,gibson explains 
his own success in a sentence or two in 
one of  his own chapters3 8,anticipation
 is an equipment1 the surest talisman to
  discovery1 and anticipation may be    
quickened1 either by pictorial hint  or 
previous experience4 ,the retina must be
 on the alert40 ,that certainly  was    
true of his own eye1 and the fact that  
he was such an enthusiastic  seeker     
accounts in large measure for the fact  
that he was such a  successful finder4  
,his notebooks show the broad scope of  
his observations and of his  studies4   
,they cover every corner of natural     
life4 ,one day he would go  out and     
bring back material for pages of        
memoranda concerning the chase  of what 
he believed to be a hermit thrush4 ,on  
another day he makes an  entry of       
fourteen varieties of golden-rod        
analyzed1 six kinds of aster1  and1 as  

he adds1 8many others40 ,one page of his
 notes gives the results  of careful    
experiments with three dozen dandelion  
blossoms1 to determine  how long the    
flower requires to pass from bud to the 
state when it  floats away in silvery   
down4 ,another passage records in a     
minute  description his first           
observation of the snapping of the      
witch-hazel  seeds1 to which he adds a  
list of a dozen subjects for            
illustration4 ,he  counts the number of 
different plants he finds in his city   
back-yard4  ,he sets down the things    
seen in a walk through the ,park with a 
lantern1  from nine o'clock to eleven at
 night4 ,he notes that on a certain     
,june  #bith1 in the midst of a heavy   
thunder storm he heard the song of the  
,wilson thrush in the woods near his    
house4 ,he makes liberal memoranda of   
the things most touching his attention  
after a fresh snow-fall4 ,he sets  down 
a list of more than a score of birds    
whose song he heard 8in a  continuous   

roundel10 while sitting on his porch on 
a quiet ,sunday4  ,thoreau in his hermit
 haunts at ,walden was not more minute  
and attentive  in his observations than 
this eager three-fold worker1 hurrying  
from  city to country and back to city  
again1 equally busy at sketching1 and   
writing1 and observing4 ,there are pages
 upon pages of his notes which  read    
like the 8,natural ,history of          
,selborne0 in their detailed and        
leisurely narrative of things seen and  
heard in the fields and beside  the     
brooks4 ,in these records of his        
intermittent life in the country one    
never hears the faintest echo of the    
bustling round of the dweller in        
cities4 ,he drops all that when he locks
 the door of his town-house  behind him4
 ,once in the open air he is again the  
free and buoyant youth1  preoccupied    
only by the purposes and the pursuits   
which belong to the  open air1 the      
meadow1 and the wood4 ,indeed it seems  
as if his early  training and           

experiences1 those school-days at the   
8,gunnery10 the  passions there born1   
the habits there fostered and confirmed1
 lay at  the basis of all his life      
afield4 ,he himself somewhere said3 8,to
 the  average observer1 if the eye is   
ever thus to be a means of grace1 it    
must store up its harvest while hearts  
are light and life is new1 when  eyes   
are bright and undimmed4 ,how many a    
prisoner caged in city walls is  living 
on the harvest stored in free1          
unburdened youth1 which has never  been 
replenished40 ,perhaps that was true of 
this observer so much above  the        
8average10 and caught for half his time 
in the city's durance4    ,but even     
there he proved again the truth of      
,lovelace's lines3        8,stone walls 
do not a prison make       ,nor iron    
bars a cage40    ,he made the city      
rural1 and told others his secret3      
8,how little do we appreciate our       
opportunities for natural observation6  
,even under the most apparently         

discouraging and commonplace            
environment1  what a neglected harvest6 
,a back-yard city grass-plot1 forsooth1 
what an  invitation6 ,yet there is one  
interrogation to which the local        
naturalist  is continually called to    
respond4 ,if perchance he dwells in     
,connecticut1  how repeatedly is he     
asked1 #8,don't you find your particular
 locality in  ,connecticut a specially  
rich field for natural observation8'    
,the  botanist of ,new ,jersey or the   
ornithologist of ,esopus-on-,hudson is  
expected to give an affirmative reply to
 similar questions    ,illustration3    
,upland ,meadows    ,from a ,painting   
concerning his chosen hunting-grounds1  
if1 indeed1 he does not avail  himself  
of that happy aphorism with which       
,gilbert ,white was wont to  instruct   
his questioners concerning the          
natural-history harvest of his  beloved 
,selborne3 #8,that locality is always   
richest which is most  observed4'       
8,with the possession of a back-yard1   

then1 there is still hope for the  most 
case-hardened cit4 ,let the quickened   
sod have its freedom of  expression1 and
 the grasses and weeds a respite from   
the sickle4 ,give  the cold shoulder to 
the gardener1 or1 if need be1 confine   
his arts to  the fence border1 and if   
you would repeat my experience1 let the 
chrysanthemum claim the chief part of   
his attention4 ,twenty-five  varieties  
of this plant bloomed in my borders last
 season1 and they won  my admiration1   
not less because of their beautiful     
display of color1  which more than once 
relieved itself against a background of 
snow1 than  for the sterling wisdom they
 had displayed in biding their time     
until  the rival wildlings of my        
grass-plot had seen their day4    8,next
 summer my square of turf shall again   
contribute to my enjoyment1  yea1 though
 ,i seed the whole community with       
thistles1 tares1 and  fleabane1 and run 
the gauntlet of the city ordinances40   
,gibson was mindful of the exhortation1 

8,to do good and to communicate1  forget
 not40 ,he could not contain himself1   
when he knew so many  interesting       
things4 ,he was a born teacher1 a       
communicator and medium of  knowledge4  
,his studies all had a real if          
unconscious aim4 ,he could not  content 
himself with making them simply as a    
contribution to the field  of facts1 nor
 to the formation of theories4 ,he      
wanted them to go farther  and furnish  
information to other men4 ,he craved an 
audience4 ,he needed  pupils1 or at     
least auditors4 ,it was not for the sake
 of being heard by  others1 or of       
hearing himself1 either2 he wanted      
others to know and to  enjoy the great  
store of wonderful and fascinating      
things which mother  ,nature keeps in   
store for those who love her4 ,he was a 
genuine  missionary of science1 an      
apostle of art1 a herald of the wonders 
and  beauties of the world4 ,his social 
nature1 eager for companionships1       
sought associates in knowledge4 ,he     

loved to share what he had received4    
,and he took others into his confidence 
as soon as he had unearthed a new       
secret of the world around us4 ,he had  
the same spirit in scientific  knowledge
 that sends men and women to preach the 
gospel to the ignorant  and misguided4  
,indeed1 in one of his letters1         
outlining the idea of his  8,sharp      
,eyes10 he uses the word 8missionary10  
which he repeats in the  introduction to
 that volume4 ,the whole paragraph in   
which it occurs  shows ,gibson's feeling
 toward those who1 8having eyes1 see    
not30    8,recognizing too the evident  
hunger for information concerning       
every-day objects in ,nature1 and that  
where one individual would write  for   
enlightenment one hundred would wonder  
in silence and ten thousand  would dwell
 in heedless ignorance1 ,i realized that
 such a book might  also go forth as a  
missionary to open the eyes of the      
blind1 or at least  to quicken a desire 
for fuller comprehension of the         

omnipresent marvel  and beauty of the   
commonplace40 ,one can realize how to   
such a nature1  with such a sense of    
responsibility to others1 a letter like 
the  following would appeal1 written by 
a friend of his who had given much of   
her time and strength to thought and    
labor for the interest of working       
girls3    8,it has come to me through my
 association with these working girls   
that  the meagerness of their lives does
 not so much mean the lack of things  as
 the lack of thoughts1 and ,i have been 
planning these talks which  have been   
running through the winter in answer to 
the question #8,what  shall we think    
about8' ,i have asked every one to make 
the talk simple  and plain and ,i have  
tried to impress upon them that it is to
 be only  a talk1 not a lecture4 ,i have
 also sought for simple themes1 so that 
they need not be so far above the       
comprehension of the untrained minds    
that it would find no answering chord in
 their desires4 ,if we can take  the    

every-day things which you and ,i know  
are full of a wonderful  interest1 if   
one but know how to see them1 and open  
their eyes to their  wonders1 ,i have   
believed that one would be opening doors
 into an  undreamed-of fairy land to    
them4 ,so you see why ,i come to you4   
,you are  one of the door-keepers into  
that fairy land4 ,will you open it for  
us80    ,this desire to inform others   
kept him wholly free from anything like 
pedantry4 ,he had none of the           
self-importance of men who try to make a
  little knowledge go a great way4 ,nor 
was he forgetful of the  difficulties of
 less instructed minds4 ,his style in   
picture and in  speech was simple and   
direct4 ,he had no passion for long     
words4 ,he did  not find it necessary to
 befog others with the technical speech 
of the  specialists4 ,he was the friend 
of children and simple country folk and 
the unlearned everywhere2 and they will 
owe him a debt of gratitude that  he    
spoke in their language and made them   

understand him4 8,i wonder10 he  once   
said1 8if the time will ever come when a
 man may read a botanical  work without 
understanding ,latin40 ,it was one of   
his ambitions to write  such a book2 he 
meant to make a botany in ,english1 and 
illustrate it  himself4 ,over fifteen   
hundred drawings1 as we have seen1 are  
in  existence which he had accumulated  
with this work in view1--one more of    
the many schemes that fertile mind was  
projecting1 never1 alas6 to be  carried 
out4    ,of all the great nature        
students of our time1 ,richard ,jeffries
 ranks as  the one most closely in touch
 with the sub-human world1 the earth and
  all the life it bears in and on its   
bosom4 ,his whole soul seems            
exquisitely in tune with the cosmos4 ,he
 breathes with the respirations  of the 
earth2 he sighs with the breath of the  
winds2 his senses and his  thoughts sway
 with the bending of the grain and the  
waving of the  tree-tops4 8,to know     
him10 says his eulogist1 ,mr4           

,ellwanger1 8is to  approach nearer the 
heart of the flower1 the mystic concave 
of the sky1  and the elusive verge of   
the horizon40 ,but in this respect he   
has a peer  in ,william ,hamilton       
,gibson4 ,no man ever lived on          
friendlier terms with  nature4 ,as      
close1 as accurate1 as patient in his   
observation as any of  the classic      
characters in nature love1 he has a     
distinction all his own1  a peculiar    
personal attitude toward all extra-human
 life4 ,he feels and  he expresses a    
sort of fellowship with life in other   
than human form4 ,he  accepts the lesser
 things as little brothers and sisters  
of the human4  ,he gives the right hand 
of fellowship to whatever has life4 ,he 
humanizes1 if one may so term it1 the   
life which lies below man's in the      
vital scale4 ,what writer since the days
 of the primeval fairy tales ever       
brought the worlds of human life and    
other life so near each other8 ,he      
seems a modern ,siegfried1 into whose   

ears the birds talk1 and the grass      
whispers as it grows4 ,when he comes    
back from an exploration into the       
insect realm close to his own doorstep1 
he reports what he has seen and  heard  
precisely as if he were recounting the  
talk and doings of his own  kind4 ,he   
translates this life of beetle and      
spider and bee and ant and  bird into   
the terms of human life and activity4   
,he makes all life seem  related to our 
lives1 all being to appear of one       
substance1 all to be  worthy of         
interest1 sympathy1 love1 and reverence4
 ,more than any other  mind of his      
generation he leads us to feel that     
kinship of all life  which ,drummond has
 asserted in 8,the ,ascent of ,life10   
and which ,professor  ,shaler has       
condensed into a phrase in calling it   
8,the ,bond of the  ,generations40 ,that
 was a shrewd and sagacious disclosure  
of character1  as well as a bit of fun1 
which led his mother to write1 in the   
letter  already quoted1 8,how are your  

friends and dear companions1 the worms80
  ,he was on terms of friendship with   
all living things4 ,but to any mind at  
all sensitive to the real and deeper    
meaning of nature1 to its spiritual     
origin1 its profound unity1 this        
underlying affinity of all its forms of 
life1 there was a bit of true philosophy
 in the mother's comment4 ,it was       
certainly truer and wiser than the      
criticism once made upon his            
intellectual temperament in the columns 
of the 8,tribune40 8,so  thoroughly10   
said this reviewer1 8was he absorbed in 
the life of the  humbler animals and    
plants that one suspects he was quite   
out of his  element elsewhere4 ,he was  
incapable of assigning them a relative  
place4  ,to him they were always        
supreme4 ,and because they were supreme 
they were  colored and transformed by   
his humanizing and anthropomorphizing   
whimseys4 ,he was always reading into   
them his own charming qualities of  mind
 and heart1 at the same time that he was

 imitating their own  quickness and     
alertness4 ,indeed1 natural life always 
appealed not so  much to his imagination
 as to his fancy4 ,he was absorbed in   
nature as a  child is absorbed in its   
playthings4 ,with all his minuteness of 
knowledge1 he never fully and           
unqualifiedly faced the two great facts 
of  the natural world1 the struggle for 
existence1 and the survival of the      
fittest4 ,he exaggerated and            
instinctively transformed the natural   
world1  and to the using of it as the   
source and stimulus of his own acute    
poetic ingenuity1 devoted all his       
energies and interest40 ,the criticism  
is brilliant1 but superficial2 and its  
kindly temper does not atone for  its   
total injustice and perversion of       
values4 ,it is pure assumption1 in  the 
first place1 to call the 8struggle for  
existence1 and the survival  of the     
fittest0 8the two great facts of the    
natural world40 ,who  authorizes the    
ranking of those facts as prime or      

principal8 ,why not  assign the highest 
place to the continuity of life1 and the
 conservation  of advantages1 and the   
advance of types8 ,these are quite as   
impressive  facts as those others4 ,and 
if they are suggestive of quite other   
inferences neither ,gibson nor any      
nature lover need be disparaged for     
choosing to dwell upon those inferences4
 ,if he1 like a growing company  of     
later students and observers1 was       
impressed with the fraternity of  all   
lives1 great and small1 with the        
analogies between the human and the     
dumb creation1 and felt the kinship of  
even insects and birds1 with  their     
later and more favored human            
cousins1--if we may not use a closer    
term1--why should this keener insight be
 called a 8whimsey10 and this  deeper   
divination a 8fancy08 ,and because he   
had a nature which thrilled  and fired  
with the delight of knowledge and all   
the mental activity  which it sets in   
motion1 why should he be accused of     

using his growing  store of that        
knowledge as a wine to warm his fancy   
and a spur to the  making of similes8   
,the fact is1 ,gibson not only saw and  
faced the law of  struggle and of       
survival1 but he saw a great deal more4 
,and if he did  not dwell upon these    
facts with the lugubrious emphasis which
  characterized so many of his          
contemporaries in science1 it was not   
because he saw them out of relation1 but
 in truer and clearer  perspective4     
,there has been too little sympathy1 too
 little of the  8humanizing and         
anthropomorphizing0 spirit in scientific
 research4  ,gibson was a prophet1 in   
advance of his day4 ,what he was doing  
is fast  becoming the dominant spirit of
 investigators4 ,and many more laws and 
principles will be laid bare when men   
come to realize that all living  things 
are of one blood1 than are to be        
discerned through the cold and          
unsympathetic gaze of old-fashioned     
science4 ,gibson's habit1 moreover1  was

 not a 8humanizing0 of animal and plant 
life1 in the sense of trying  to force  
our life upon theirs1 attributing human 
thoughts and aims and  feelings to the  
lower creation4 ,it was rather an effort
 to link their  life to ours1 by        
insight1 sympathy1 and study4 ,he simply
 made men feel  the kinship of all      
living things4 ,in that he was fully in 
the spirit of  the most advanced        
science4 ,he believed thoroughly in the 
truth contained  in a sentence which he 
quoted from 8the rapt philosopher of    
,walden03  8,man cannot afford to be a  
naturalist and look at nature directly4 
,he  must look through and beyond her4  
,to look at her is as fatal as to look  
at the head of ,medusa4 ,it turns the   
man of science to stone40    ,how       
thoroughly he grasped the spirit of the 
8new botany0 which traces  the links    
between the animal and insect worlds one
 passage will suffice  to show4         
8,what startling disclosures are        
revealed to the inward eye within the   

hearts of all these strange orchidaceous
 flowers6 ,blossoms whose  functions1   
through long eras of adaptation1 have   
gradually shaped  themselves to the     
forms of certain chosen insect sponsors2
 blossoms  whose chalices are literally 
fashioned to bees or butterflies2       
blossoms  whose slender1 prolonged      
nectaries invite and reward the         
murmuring  sphinx-moth alone1 the floral
 throat closely embracing his head while
 it  attaches its pollen masses to the  
bulging eyes1 or perchance to the       
capillary tongue6 ,and thus in endless  
modifications1 evidences all of  the    
same deep vital purpose4    8,let us    
then content ourselves no longer with   
being mere  #8botanists'--historians of 
structural facts4 ,the flowers are not  
mere  comely or curious vegetable       
creations1 with colors1 odors1 petals1  
stamens1 and innumerable technical      
attributes4 ,the wonted insight alike   
of scientist1 philosopher1 theologian1  
and dreamer is now repudiated in  the   

new revelation4 ,beauty is not #8its own
 excuse for being1' nor was  fragrance  
ever #8wasted on the desert air4' ,the  
seer has at last heard  and interpreted 
the voice in the wilderness4 ,the flower
 is no longer a  simple passive victim  
in the busy bee's sweet pillage1 but    
rather a  conscious being1 with hopes1  
aspirations1 and companionships4 ,the   
insect  is its counterpart4 ,its        
fragrance is but a perfumed whisper of  
welcome1  its color is as the wooing    
blush and rosy lip1 its portals are     
decked  for his coming1 and its sweet   
hospitalities humored to his tarrying2  
and  as it finally speeds its parting   
affinity rests content that its life's  
consummation has been fulfilled40       
,how closely he observed and how much he
 read 8between the lines0 appears  in   
his account of his introduction to the  
study of entomology1 the first          
awakening of his real interest in what  
became the object of a consuming        
passion4    8,it was a day in early     

,june1 and nature was bursting with     
exuberance4  ,the very earth was teeming
 with awakening germs--here an acorn1   
with its  biformed hungry germ--parody  
on the dual mission of mortal life--one 
seeking earth1 the other heaven2 here   
,illustration3 8,the ,bobolink at ,home0
    78,strolls by ,starlight07          
,copyright1 #ahij1 by ,harper  ,brothers
    an odd little elf of maple1 with his
 winged cap still clinging as he  danced
 upon his slender stem2 while numerous  
nameless green things clove  the sod and
 matted leaves1 and slender coils of    
ferns unrolled in eager  grasp from     
their woolly winter nest4    8,but dear 
to my heart as were these familiar      
tokens1 how quickly were  they all      
forgotten in my contemplation simply of 
a little stone that lay  upon a patch of
 mold directly at my elbow1 and my      
wandering eyes were  riveted upon it1   
for it seemed as though in the universal
 quickening  even this also had taken   
life4    8,i can see it this moment4 ,it

 moves again1 and yet again1 until now1 
with a final effort1 it is lifted from  
its setting and rolled away1  while in  
its place there protrudes from the      
ground a chrysalis risen  from its      
sepulcher4 ,filled with wonder1 ,i sit  
and watch as though in a  dream1        
awaiting the revelation from this       
mysterious earthly messenger1  when     
suddenly the encasement swells and      
breaks1 the cerements are burst1  and   
the strange shape gives birth to the    
form of a beautiful moth--a  tender1    
trembling thing1 which emerges from the 
empty shell and creeps  quivering upon  
an overhanging spray4    8,now followed 
that beautiful and wonderous unfolding  
of the winged  life--the softly-falling 
crumpled folds1 the quivering pulsations
 of the  new-born wings eager for their 
flight1 until at length their glory     
shone in purity and perfection--a trial 
flutter1 and the perfect being  took    
wing and flew away6    8,thus did ,i    
become a votary to that science known as

 #8entomology4' ,what  wonder1 then1    
that it should yield to me in after life
 a winged  significance1 a spirit of    
unrest that bursts the shell of mere    
terminology1 and enjoys a realm of      
resource not found in books1 except1    
indeed1 between the lines8 ,for the     
entomology which ,i would seek is not   
yet written1 and it is beyond my        
conception that any one among its       
votaries could witness unmoved by its   
deeper impress a spectacle such as      
this1 or could find through the retina  
of science alone an ample  insight40    
,it is a curious feature of his         
experience that even the birds and the  
beasts seemed to feel this sympathy of  
his1 and permitted him to take  such    
liberties with them as they seldom      
grant4 ,so many stories of his  power   
and its exercise have gone out1 that it 
seems best to let him give  his own     
version of it4 ,the first instances are 
narrated in a letter  written from the  
,thorn ,mountain ,house1 ,jackson1 ,new 

,hampshire1 in  ,september1 #ahhc3      
8,among other things that ,mrs4 ,farr   
has confided to a few of her newly  made
 friends at the ,intervale1 is my       
remarkable power over animals and       
birds1 by which ,i take them in my hand 
alive in the woods1 and tame  them4 ,but
 while this idea of hers originally     
started in a joke1 ,i am  gradually     
becoming convinced that ,i have the     
power she attributes to  me1 but fail to
 develop or utilize it4 ,on the very day
 she first spread  the rumor1 ,i walked 
with herself and husband in ,cathedral  
,woods4 ,he  espied a squirrel jumping  
along the pine needles with a cone in   
his  mouth4 ,i suddenly conceived the   
notion to capture him4 ,i followed him  
for a few paces and finally succeeded in
 placing my hand over him and  catching 
him1 holding him in my hand for several 
minutes afterward1 as  my fingers still 
bear witness from the network of        
scratches they  exhibit4 ,on the        
following day ,i almost caught a        

chick-a-dee1 and to cap  the climax1 of 
all things1 to-day1 after dinner1 while 
sitting on the  porch ,i observed what  
,i supposed to be a day-sphinx hovering 
over a bed  of flowers across the lawn4 
,i approached and soon discovered it to 
be a  humming-bird1 and was about to    
turn back when the thought suggested    
itself to try and catch the little      
fellow4 ,accordingly ,i approached and  
watched him closely for a moment or two1
 drawing nearer and nearer the  while4  
,he soon seemed to get accustomed to my 
presence and came to sip  the honey from
 some verbenas at my feet4 ,i lowered my
 hand slowly1 and  closed it about his  
tiny body with perfect ease and he      
seemed to make no  effort to release    
himself4 ,i took him to my room and     
closing the windows  gave him wing4 ,i  
played with him for nearly an hour and  
he at length  became so tame that he    
would alight upon my finger and jump    
from one  finger to another placed in   
front of him1 and even preen his        

feathers4  ,he was a dear little        
creature and ,i almost wanted to keep   
him4 ,he would  alight upon the window  
shutter1 and when ,i held my finger an  
inch or so  in front of him he would    
jump on it and fluff out his feathers4  
,i could  pick him up at any moment and 
lay him on his back in my hand1 where he
  would remain perfectly quiet1 with his
 bright black eyes moving all  about as 
alive as could be4 ,at length ,i        
concluded to give him his  freedom1 but 
in order first to allow the guests of   
the house an  opportunity to see my     
diminutive captive1 ,i tied a long piece
 of cotton  twine loosely in one knot   
about one of his tiny feet and thus     
exhibited  him4 ,the twine was so heavy 
that it eased his occasional flight and 
the  softness of it prevented injury to 
his foot4 ,when all had seen him ,i cut 
the string close to his leg and away he 
went like the wind1 no doubt  taking his
 first opportunity to pick off the loose
 fold of string still  dangling to his  

leg4 ,once before ,i almost picked a    
humming-bird from a  flower1 and ,i     
believe ,i can do it again and again    
with a few trials4 ,so  ,i feel less    
than ever like disabusing the mind of   
,mrs4 ,farr of what at  first seemed so 
incredible and improbable40    ,in the  
chapter on 8,woodnotes0 in 8,happy      
,hunting ,grounds0 ,gibson  describes   
the incident which was mentioned by ,dr4
 ,raymond at his  funeral4 ,he was once 
standing in line with many others at the
 polls in  a voting-place in ,brooklyn1 
when a dove flew down and into the room1
 and  came straight to him1 alighting   
upon his shoulder4 ,no one in the place 
knew anything about the bird1 or had    
ever seen it before4 ,no one could  see 
why it should have chosen him over all  
others in the group of  voters4         
,possibly ,mr4 ,gibson's own explanation
 will have to answer4 ,in  his note of  
the incident he says1 8,i remarked to   
the bystanders1 #8,that  bird knows a   
good ,republican when he sees one4'0    

,others also recall the incident of ,dr4
 ,abbott's visit to ,washington1  when  
,mr4 ,gibson pointed out a bird in a    
near-by tree and began to  describe its 
peculiar markings4 ,soon he rose        
impulsively1 went up to the  tree1      
reached out for the bird1 and took the  
little creature in his  hand1 without   
its appearing in the least alarmed or   
hurt4 ,then1 when he  had finished his  
description and thus illustrated it from
 life1 he  replaced his specimen in the 
tree1 whence it flew away4 ,he certainly
  seemed to have that about him which   
made even the birds feel that he  loved 
them and meant them no harm4    ,his    
crowning work as a naturalist was done  
in the lectures upon the                
cross-fertilization of plants which     
fascinated so many audiences with  the  
novel story of one of nature's most     
amazing manifestations of  adaptation   
and of resource4 ,for years he had been 
a careful student of  ,sprengel1        
,darwin1 and ,mller1 whose experiments  

and studies he  supplemented with       
careful observations of his own1 upon   
the relations of  plant-and insect-life4
 ,he accumulated a mass of studies and  
of notes4 ,he  brooded over this theme  
for years4 ,and at last1 driven to      
utterance1 he  prepared himself1 as few 
men are able to1 for a series of        
lectures1  illustrated with charts of   
his own invention and his own making4   
,the  machinery of these lectures was a 
superb test of his triple powers as     
naturalist1 as artist1 as writer4 ,they 
were based on a solid and  accurate     
knowledge of natural history4 ,they were
 illustrated by a master  hand in       
mechanical technique1 reinforced by an  
artist's skill in drawing  and in color4
 ,they were set forth in a text which   
was clear1 vivacious1  and forceful4    
,they constituted one of the most       
delightful and popular  courses ever    
given before the ,american public4 ,his 
own account of the  origin of these     
lectures is most interesting4 ,he had   

been in the habit  of giving informal   
talks and lectures upon natural history 
in his summer  home at ,washington1     
illustrating them by rapid sketches on  
the  blackboard4 8,when ,i came10 he    
said1 8to touch upon the topic of       
inter-association and inter-communion of
 insects and flowers1 especially  the   
mechanism of flowers1 their movements   
and forms1 ,i found that ,i was         
handicapped1 as many other scientists   
had been1 by the difficulty of          
expressing motion by fixed drawings and 
descriptions4 ,it occurred to me  to    
make a drawing of the sage-blossom with 
its tilted stamen fastened on           
separately to show the movement4 ,this  
,i did4 ,it proved to be a  revelation  
to myself and ,i made several other     
sectional charts of  flowers and of     
insects that same summer4 ,they served  
to demonstrate  ocularly and simply1    
without the slightest effort on the part
 of my  audience1 what had heretofore   
been presented only in difficult        

technical  descriptions4 ,there really  
seemed to be a new field for work1 and  
,i  accepted the indications and        
concentrated my thought upon the theme40
 ,a  writer who had been an attendant at
 these lectures gives this  description 
of them3    8,the lecture describes some
 general principles about a group of    
flowers  and their associated           
insect-visitors1 and while the listener 
is  endeavoring to induce his           
imagination to form some picture of the 
process1 ,mr4 ,gibson steps to a screen1
 hangs up and unfolds a  beautifully    
executed sketch of the flower1 and gives
 an ocular  demonstration of the thing  
he has just described4 ,one sees the bee
 crawl  into the sage-blossom1 tilt the 
pivoted stamens1 and come out with the  
pollen upon his back1 which burden he is
 now ready to carry to another  blossom1
 upon whose pistil he partly unloads it4
 ,the same busy bee  creeps into the    
pogonia and straightway two powdery     
anthers are clasped  to his side1       

leaving their visible deposit of yellow 
dust4 ,the orchids  are made to clap    
sticking-plasters upon their visitors1  
or to hurl  bombshells of pollen on     
their heads4 ,there is no room for      
failure to  understand4 ,the whole      
process is demonstrated before the      
sight1 by a  mechanism which works to a 
charm1 a visible and artistic unfolding 
of  the most subtle operations of the   
plant and insect world40    ,an instant 
and complete success awaited this new   
venture4 ,everywhere  there was a demand
 for the lectures1 and they were        
received with a  popular interest rather
 surprising when one considers how      
thoroughly  scientific they were4 ,the  
farmers of his own neighborhood2 the    
members  of sedate city clubs2          
school-children and society-women1--all 
classes  and types of people with any   
appetite for knowledge1 or any sense of 
the  wonderful in nature1 joined in the 
applause which greeted ,gibson's        
appearance as a lecturer upon natural   

history4 ,he repeated upon the  platform
 the success he had won as a writer and 
an artist4 ,he  established his         
reputation as a master in scientific    
demonstration4 ,it  was truly said of   
him that the field he entered in these  
lectures 8had  not since the days of    
,agassiz been cultivated with such      
success as by  ,mr4 ,gibson40 ,as a     
popular teacher of scientific fact no   
man in this  country since ,agassiz     
gained such a hold or did such a work as
 he4 ,there  is no doubt that if he had 
lived he would have won an international
  renown in this field as well as that  
of art4    ,illustration3 ,the ,writing 
,desk    ,brooklyn ,studio              
,,chapter ,,vi    ,,the ,,accident ,,of 
,,authorship      ,it was written deep  
in the constitution of his spirit that  
,william  ,hamilton ,gibson was to be a 
naturalist and an artist4 ,by endowment 
and  by desire he was marked for that   
career which made him at once the       
observer of nature and her illustrator  

by pencil and by brush4 ,but the        
predestination does not seem so clear in
 the case of his authorship4 ,it  does  
not appear to have been so plainly      
provided in his nature that he  was     
called to be a writer of books4 ,here   
the prophecy could not have  been so    
surely made--beforehand4 ,gibson himself
 used to declare that he  drifted into  
authorship2 that his writing was not    
premeditated but  accidental4 ,he was   
not impelled to this mode of expression 
as he was to  his drawing and his       
painting and his lecturing4 ,he         
described to a friend  the manner in    
which he began to write1 and his first  
attempt at such  work as afterward gave 
him standing as an author3    8,the way 
in which ,i drifted into literary work  
was quite natural1 and in  a way this   
work became imperative if ,i was to gain
 a livelihood4 ,i had  my sketch-book   
and portfolio full of drawings from     
nature4 ,as a  beginner ,i could not    
illustrate1 ,i could only show these    

specimens1  which would not sell alone  
by themselves4 ,but there were certain  
things  in natural history which my     
sketches did illustrate4 ,this fact     
suggested  to me the possibility of     
writing up matter to go with my         
sketches4 ,in  this way ,i found        
entrance into the illustrated           
publications1 and  eventually secured a 
good hold for myself4 ,but ,i had never 
yet had the  remotest idea of becoming a
 writer4 ,the way in which ,i happened  
to take  up more serious writing was    
through a suggestion of ,mr4 ,henry ,m4 
,alden1  the editor of ,harper's        
,magazine4 ,i returned one summer from a
 vacation  spent in ,washington1        
,connecticut1 and was describing to him 
my  school-life1 telling him little     
episodes which had been recalled by my  
visit to ,mr4 ,gunn4 ,mr4 ,alden seemed 
interested1 and when ,i was done1  said 
to me1 #8,i want you to write that out  
for the magazine4' ,this  suggestion led
 to an article called #8,snug ,hamlet1' 

which to my surprise  and gratification 
was received when it appeared1 with a   
good deal of  favor4 ,then ,mr4 ,alden  
suggested that ,i prepare an article to 
go with it1  which1 as this had to do   
with summer1 should treat of winter4    
,this1 too1  was written1 #8,the ,winter
 ,idyl4' ,then followed others upon     
spring and  autumn4 ,with these four    
sketches ,i had enough for a book2 and  
#8,pastoral  ,days' was the result1     
which proved a great success40    ,such 
was his introduction to literature4 ,he 
always regarded it as a  pendant to his 
other work1 something to introduce his  
sketches1 to help  along his art4 ,he   
never became confused by his various    
aptitudes1 nor  lost sight of his great 
passion and purpose4 ,he kept the       
essential  spirit of his life and work  
quite clear of any entanglement with    
what  was accidental4 ,he had never     
expected1 never intended to be a writer2
  and his success at literary work was a
 surprise to him1 as it was to his      

friends4 ,they apparently had never     
thought of him as a possible author1    
and scarcely knew how to take his       
achievement4    ,when the press-notices 
of 8,pastoral ,days0 began to come in1  
they were  almost unanimous in according
 to the newly fledged author unstinted  
praise for the literary portion of his  
work4 ,the chorus of appreciation  is   
almost unbroken2 and one feels1 through 
all the perfunctory  graciousness of the
 reviewers1 so hard-pressed at          
,christmas-tide1 a note  of sincerity   
and real pleasure in the new writer's   
production4 ,when one  considers that   
,gibson the writer was an unknown       
aspirant for favor1 and  that he was    
competing with ,gibson the artist1 the  
reigning favorite  among ,american      
illustrators1 the success of his        
literary venture is  really amazing4    
,repeatedly the book is called 8a       
prose-poem40 8,although  there be no    
poetry in it1 the book in its totality  
is a most exquisite  poem40 8,there is a

 smooth and tender rhythmic flow in the 
phrasing1 an  affluence of diction which
 constitute one of the indispensable    
elements  of poetry1 and almost entitle 
the sketches to be named among the poems
  of the language40 ,one of the most    
competent critics1 in a journal of the  
first rank1 wrote of his prose3         
8,william ,blake is the most noted      
poet-artist of this century1 but not in 
his work is to be found such unity and  
harmony between what he does as         
pictorial and literary artist1 as exists
 in #8,pastoral ,days4' ,we have  used  
the words poet-artist advisedly in      
connection with ,mr4 ,gibson4 ,he  is   
above all a poet-artist4 ,not a poet    
alone1 nor an artist alone1 but  the two
 together1 a combination as rare as it  
is charming40    ,even the 8,evening    
,post0 calls them 8,mr4 ,gibson's four  
sympathetic1  appreciative1 poetically  
interpretative essays upon the seasons40
 ,and it  puts the question to its      
readers1 8,need we say that this        

author-artist  is a poet although he    
writes in prose1 or that his text and   
his pictures  are essentially a poem of 
the ,new ,england year80 ,but two of his
  reviewers--one in the 8,utica ,morning
 ,herald10 and another in the 8,boston  
,literary ,world0--actually cite the    
same passage in his prose which  8reads 
with the movement and rhythm of blank   
verse40 ,the latter of these  says3     
8,mr4 ,gibson writes with a curious     
study of rhythmic effect2 his whole     
book1 in fact1 might easily have been   
converted into blank verse1--as  witness
 this extract from pp4 #abg-h1 which1 to
 help the illusion1 we  print in that   
form3        ,silently like thoughts    
that come and go1      ,the snowflakes  
fall each one a gem1      ,the whitened 
air conceals all earthly trace1         
,and leaves to memory the space to fill4
      ,i look upon a blank whereon my   
fancy paints1      ,as could no hand of 
mine1 the pictures and the poems        
of a boyhood life3      ,and even as the

 undertone of a painting1 be it warm or 
cool1      ,shall modify or change the  
color laid upon it1      ,so this cold  
and frosty background1 through the      
window1      ,transfigures all my       
thoughts1 and forms them into winter    
memories1 legion like the snow4         
,oh1 that ,i could translate for other  
eyes1 the winter         idyl painted   
there6      ,i see a living past6       
8,all this1 understand1 and the rest of 
a hundred and fifty and more  pages like
 it1 is sober prose2 but it makes one   
think of  eighteenth-century poetry like
 ,graham's1 which is very good          
descriptive  poetry by the way40        
,says one enthusiastic critic1 speaking 
first of the make-up of the  volume3    
8,it is almost too beautiful to read2   
but with a determination to see  what   
lay beyond this vision of the beautiful1
 we commenced to read1 and  found the   
author to be a high-priest of nature4   
,we were led along by the  charming     
simplicity of the writer1 till at last1 

in midsummer we seemed  to be surrounded
 by scenes so familiar that we almost   
suspected that by  some strange mishap  
the author had misspelled the name of   
the school of  early days1 and had      
written #8,snuggery' for #8,gunnery4'   
,how is this8444    8,the letter-press  
of such books is usually a make-weight  
for the  illustrations2 but in this case
 it is hard to decide which of the two  
merits the palm40    ,another speaks of 
the text of the book1 saying3    8,here 
quite as strikingly as in the designs   
for illustration is shown  that loving  
familiarity with all the infinite       
variations in nature's  moods and works4
 ,without the pictures altogether1 these
 sketches would  compel admiration as   
very notable specimens of               
word-painting40    ,it will be news to  
many of his admirers to know that       
,gibson's first book  was published in  
#ahgf4 ,it was entitled1 8,the ,complete
 ,american ,trapper10  and was published
 by ,james ,miller1 of ,new ,york4 ,the 

book was republished  in #ahgh by       
,bradley  ,co41 and again in #ahhj by   
,harper ,brothers under the  title1     
8,camp-,life in the ,woods2 and the     
,tricks of ,trapping and                
,trap-,making40 ,it was written out of  
the joyous and ample memories of his    
youth1 supplemented by his reading and  
intercourse with hunters and  woodsmen4 
,he refers in the preface to his own    
boyish days1 and to 8one  autumn in     
particular which shines out above all   
the rest2 and that was  when his traps  
were first set1 and were the chief      
source of his  amusement4 ,the          
adventurous excitement which sped him on
 in those daily  tramps through the     
woods1 and the    ,illustration3 ,a     
,winter ,hunt    buoyant1 exhilarating  
effect of the exercise1 can be realized 
only by  those who have had the same    
experience40 ,this little book1 which   
still  appeals to the juvenile mind1--a 
new edition was put out as lately as    
#ahii1--;has had a singular charm1 not  

only for boys1 but for those grown  men 
who never quite lose the heart of       
boyhood4 ,gibson himself brought it  to 
the notice of ,charles ,a4 ,dana1 of the
 8,new ,york ,sun10 and handed him  a   
copy to read4 ,the result of that chance
 courtesy was not a perfunctory  review 
by a subordinate of the staff4 ,the     
8chief0 himself read it and  wrote an   
enthusiastic notice of over two columns'
 length4 ,the young  author--he was only
 twenty-six--went to ,mr4 ,beecher for a
 notice1 at the  time he first changed  
publishers4 ,he wrote this account of   
the call to  his mother3    8,,new      
,,york1 ,july #bb1 _/#gh4    8,,dear    
,,mother3--         8,i sent you the day
 ,i wrote this letter1 four papers and a
       magazine4 ,the magazine is quite 
well printed and the bird article       
has created a regular #8sensation4' ,i  
hear of it on all sides1 hear           
people talking about it on the          
ferry-boats and in restaurants1 and     
have received many enthusiastic         

congratulations4 ,the press 7those      
which have yet spoken7 are appreciative1
 as you see1 and there will       be    
doubtless many more equally commendatory
 notices4 ,it is a       pleasure       
unspeakable4         8,i have got a     
little bit of news which ,i think will  
please you4 ,you       remember ,i told 
you that ,i thought of getting a line   
from ,mr4       ,beecher on my book to  
be used on a circular4 ,well1 ,i called 
upon       him and took my bird proofs  
with me4 ,he was delighted1 even        
excited1 over them1 and manifested the  
keenest interest in all       pertaining
 to them1 particularly as regarded ,mr4 
,parsons4 ,i told       him all about   
the thing and he ended up by saying     
#8,well1 ,will1 your       progress is  
simply stupendous4 ,i'm proud of you4'  
,i then told him       about the change 
in my book1 and he was again delighted  
at the       mention of ,mr4 ,bradley's 
name4 ,he said that ,i might travel the 
world over and would not find a nobler  

man than ,bradley1 and the              
business push of the firm was second to 
no other in this or any       other     
country--that it was a #8feather in my  
cap' to secure such men       as my     
publishers4 ,i broached the subject of  
the #8opinion' from him1       asking   
him if he could conscientiously give me 
about #8ten words4'       ,he turned    
about after a minute's thought1 and     
penned two pages of       note paper1   
and such a two pages6 ,the following is 
a copy3         8#8,why was ,i born so  
early8 ,why did not the messenger angel 
sent       with me defer his visit to   
earth until the #8,complete ,american   
,trapper' had been published8 ,i even   
mourn to think of what ,i was           
deprived of in my youth4 ,i can't       
imagine a country boy1 a real           
,american boy1 who would not go without 
his dinner for months if in       this  
way only he could obtain this wonderful 
boy's book6 ,and that       parent is   
hard-hearted1 and may even be in dread  

of ,i ,timothy #e2h1       who will not 
buy this book for his boys2 and for that
 matter1 a man       is a boy until he  
is fifty years old4 ,i am all the more  
interested       in the book because    
,mr4 ,gibson is one of my boys1 brought 
up under       my eyes in old ,plymouth1
 and by good hard work has deserved     
success4    8#8,,henry ,,ward           
,,beecher4'        8,on the morning     
after receiving the above ,i found a    
letter from ,bradley   ,co41 in which   
they remarked that they hoped ,i would  
succeed in getting  a word from ,mr4    
,beecher4 ,i sent the notice to them and
 would like you to  see the letter ,i   
got from them in acknowledgment40       
,dr4 ,j4 ,g4 ,holland was another friend
 to whom he looked for a word of        
approval4 ,he was not quite so sure of  
his own mind1 and wrote in a much  more 
guarded way4 ,his humane heart was a    
little troubled about the  effect of the
 book4 ,in truth1 ,gibson himself       
became1 in later years1  quite uneasy   

about it4 ,his own sympathy with animals
 increased1 and his  love for them1 as  
little brothers and sisters of the wood2
 and he grew  more and more averse to   
whatever gave them pain4 ,but he rested 
in the  intent of his book as he        
describes it explicitly in the preface3 
8,if the  poor victims are to serve no  
use after their capture1 either as food1
  or in the furnishing of their plumage 
or skins for useful purposes1 the  sport
 becomes heartless cruelty1 and we do   
not wish to be understood as            
encouraging it under any circumstances40
 ,he would probably have  strengthened  
that utterance at a later day1 and      
possibly have written  another preface4 
,dr4 ,holland's letter runs thus3       
8,,new ,,york1 ,nov4 #g1 #ahgh4         
8,,dear ,,mr4 ,,gibson3         8,i have
 been looking over your book with an    
interest mingled of       dread and     
delight4 ,it is so easy to pervert all  
these traps of       yours into         
instruments of cruelty that the book    

seems almost a       dangerous one4     
,but1 after all1 what good thing is     
there that is not       liable to be    
perverted8 ,the capture of animals for  
food is entirely       legitimate4 ,the 
capture of the fur-bearing animals is   
quite as       proper1 while the        
destruction of those that are dangerous 
to the       life of men and domestic   
animals cannot be objected to on any    
ground4         8,these purposes cover  
your field1 or nearly cover it1 and you 
certainly have met them with a book     
which1 so far as ,i know1 has no        
equal4 ,it is a good book to put in the 
hands of every boy who is       not so  
cruel as to deserve to be caught in a   
trap himself4         8,yours truly1    
8,j4 ,g4 ,,holland40    ,it should not  
be supposed that ,gibson was so         
confident of himself and  his own       
resources that he disdained the work and
 experience and  knowledge of others4   
,he was a good reader and a hard        
student4 ,the pages  of his books are   

crowded with passages out of his        
favorite poets1 and  his note-books show
 the careful husbanding of the fruits of
 his reading  on all the themes nearest 
to his heart4 ,wordsworth1 ,shelley1    
,keats1 and  ,browning1 in all that they
 have seen and sung of nature1 were his 
authorities often cited1 and annotated1 
and winnowed into his  note-books4 ,the 
,new ,england poets he knew and loved1  
and shared all  their honest preference 
for those home products which so many   
count  homely and call commonplace      
because they happen to be common4       
,thoreau he  knew thoroughly and loved  
as a master in the great profession of  
nature-study2 and his references to him 
are always those of a modest  disciple1 
his bearing and attitude that of        
deference and respect4  ,hawthorne1 too1
 was one whose subtle and spiritual     
genius found a  sympathetic and ready   
interpreter in his own imagination4     
,darwin he  knew1 and all his works     
which bore upon cross-fertilization had 

mastered4 ,when he gave the wonderful   
talks on flowers and their insect       
allies to the townspeople and farmers of
 ,washington1 an old 8native0  came to  
him1 and in the dialect of old ,new     
,england said3 8,mr4 ,gibson1 do  you   
mean to tell me thet thet's whut        
,darwin's been tellin' 'baout80  8,yes10
 was the reply1 8that is one of the     
things he has been talking  about40     
8,wal10 was the rejoinder1 8,i never    
took no stock in ,darwin  afore1 but ,i 
sh'll think a heap on him naow40        
,indeed1 there was1 in all  his         
lectures1 the frankest acknowledgment of
 his indebtedness--of the  common debt  
of all of us--to those pioneers in this 
fallow field of  knowledge4 ,he stinted 
no praise1 no honor to their names1 and 
used their  work with hearty            
acknowledgment4 ,he knew ,sprengel1     
,darwin1 ,mller1 well  and1 following   
their lead into the enchanted and       
enchanting country of  new knowledge1   
soon made himself a student at first    

hand of the things  he had been taught  
by these great masters4    ,gibson was  
by no means an 8easy0 writer4 ,his page1
 as it stands1 revised  and corrected1  
hardly gives a sign of the pains taken  
to bring it into  smooth and fluent     
shape4 ,it seems to be a natural1       
spontaneous  running-on of a mind as    
sure of its expressions as it is of its 
impressions4 ,but the effect was        
purchased only by the hardest and most  
conscientious labor4 ,his 8first drafts0
 show all the experiments he made  in   
words1 phrases1 expressions1 and        
construction4 ,many times the text is   
hardly legible1 it is so crossed1       
recrossed1 cut1 interlined1 and         
rewritten altogether4 ,if ,sheridan's   
judgment is to be accepted1 that  8easy 
writing's curst hard reading10 ,gibson  
comes honestly by his  pleasing style4  
,the patient work of the author has     
smoothed the way for  the reader4 ,he   
had both the qualifications which ,pope 
declares  constitute the secret of good 

writing1--8to know thoroughly what one  
writes about1 and not to be affected40  
,and to these he added a third2 he  took
 pains4    ,in a letter written to ,mr4 
,gunn in #ahhj1 ,gibson pours out his   
heart1 as  he always did to his old     
teacher1 and reveals incidentally the   
spirit in  which he took his literary   
work1 as well as the honest and         
conscientious  purpose behind it all4   
8#adj ,,nassau ,,st41 ,n4 ,y4    8,june 
#g_/hj4    8,,dear ,,mr4 ,,gunn3        
8,if you only knew how much happiness   
your letters always give me       you   
would never feel it necessary to        
accompany them with any       apology   
whose need exists only in your          
imagination4 ,there are a       hundred 
reasons why ,i value a letter from you  
more than that of any       other friend
 in the world1 even though it should be 
all that you       seem to think1 in    
#8tameness4' ,i like your so-called tame
 letters4 ,i       don't care how you   
write1 so long as you write when you    

feel like       it4 ,your appreciation  
of my #8,springtime' gratifies me more  
than all       the #8press' encomiums   
put together1 for you combine all the   
qualifications for the most perfect     
criticism1 both as regards the          
question of truthfulness and style4 ,i  
appreciate your praise1 more       than 
,i can tell1 albeit ,i may inwardly feel
 that it is not       deserved4 ,when ,i
 write on the subject of nature1 there  
seems to be       an unseen impulse that
 guides my hand and fairly overwhelms me
 with       memories4 ,it is difficult  
for me to select from the enormous mass 
of reminiscences and vivid pictures that
 crowd upon me4 ,dates and       figures
 ,i cannot remember1 but verily it does 
seem that every bit       of animate or 
inanimate nature1 whether in the form of
 insect or of       flower1 whether     
subtle tint of bark or lichen1 crumpled 
leaf or       dried and broken twig     
among the herbage1 every one comes up   
before       me as though by magic      

spell1 and ,i thank my happy life at the
       ,gunnery for the inspiration that
 led to the thoughtful study of the     
infinite beauties of nature4 ,how       
thankful ,i am that they are            
infinite1 that so long as ,i live ,i    
shall always find fresh food for        
contemplation4 ,i am now in my element  
and as happy a man as walks       the   
earth at this moment4 ,my future is     
without a sign of       disappointment1 
and so long as ,i keep convinced of a   
present lack       of fulfilment of the 
powers within me1 so long am ,i sure of 
progress and happiness as far as my work
 is concerned4 ,my work is       so full
 of faults to me1 that ,i am amazed that
 others do not see       them4 ,so long 
as ,i improve ,i am satisfied and ,i am 
greatly       gratified that you        
consider my latest an improvement on the
 former       efforts4         8,i have 
just finished a set of drawings for an  
article to complete       the series4   
,it is an #8,autumn ,reverie1' to appear

 in ,october4 ,the       drawings are   
better ,i think than #8,springtime4'    
,the article is yet       unborn but    
exists in chaos in my brain1 an immense 
tangle in which       at present it     
seems impossible to find the loose end4 
,but ,i shall       get hold of it in a 
few days and it will reel off all right 
,i       suppose4 ,this literary work   
was a strange result of circumstances4  
,i can thank the ,gunnery for this also1
 for it was only after       narrating  
my happy experience at ,washington that 
,i was urged to       write it up4 ,the 
article was a success and of course     
another       followed and another1 each
 apparently an improvement1 until now ,i
       find my literary work at a       
premium4444         8,when it comes to  
extended landscapes ,i would rather     
paint them on       larger surfaces than
 a few inches4 ,don't count too much on 
my       #8climbing4' ,i have not       
written much yet4 ,you may yet have the 
chance1 but not if ,i know it4 ,i have  

been utterly amazed at the              
ignorance shown by the people 7who are  
supposed to be writing from       the   
#8inspiration of ,nature'7 both in their
 anachronisms and in       their wild   
ideas about our fauna4 ,thus in         
,september #8,harper's' will            
appear five large drawings by me        
illustrating a poem written by          
some fellow who you would imagine was   
fresh from ,england with his            
skylarks and fieldfares1 etc4 ,i called 
the attention of the editor       to it1
 but ,i suppose it will go in all the   
same4 ,my portfolios are       full of  
sketches and studies and notes thereon  
as to dates1 etc4       ,in writing     
haphazard ,i fall into many errors1 but 
,i let no       manuscript leave my     
hands carelessly prepared4 ,i have been 
criticised on my #8coltsfoot1' some     
thinking only ,tussilago       ,farfara1
 whereas ,i used the #8common' name in  
our section for the       ,asarum       
,canadense4 ,so also with my partridge1 

,i knew better2 but       should ,i have
 alluded to a #8ruffed grouse' in ,sandy
 ,hook1 they       would have thought ,i
 was talking ,latin60    ,there is an   
interesting letter1 much prized by      
,gibson1 in which his old  friend gave  
him such unstinted praise as seldom     
comes from so exacting a  critic in the 
field in which the young man was at     
work4 ,mr4 ,gunn wrote  him3            
8,,gunnery1 ,,washington1 ,,conn4       
8,sunday1 ,june #fth1 #aa ,p4,m4        
8,,my ,,dear ,,willie3         8,i have 
thought of you #g times every day1 ever 
since the       publication of your     
beautiful ,idyll of ,spring4 ,you       
expected me to       write2 but ,i      
cannot do that even now4 ,everything    
that ,i think and       much more       
everything that ,i think on paper1 seems
 so flat and       unworthy to be       
written4 ,other men seem content to     
write and say       little1 or little to
 the purpose4 ,the fact is1 ,willie1    
there are       few men who know the    

spring4 ,they know a little about it1 a 
few       flowers1 a few birds1 a few   
showers1 a few facts and phenomena--but 
,i don't know any artists1 poets1 or    
other men but you and ,john             
,burroughs that know it all4 ,i don't   
see how or when you    ,illustration3   
,springtime    ,from a ,painting        
learned it all4 ,i have never met a man 
that knew so much of the real  life of  
,nature as ,i know myself--and how did  
you come to see and hear it  all8 ,i    
remember it now that you recall it to   
me--,i even thought one  night in my    
bed1 that ,i had detected a slip in your
 chronology4 ,i  thought you had delayed
 the flower which you euphoniously      
denominate the  #8,swamp ,cabbage' till 
too late a day4 ,i looked in the morning
 in the  ,magazine and there it was     
promptly ready in the wild days of      
,march4 ,i  venture to say that no poet 
has before been so true to nature as you
  have been4 ,i thought no man except   
,john ,burroughs had seen or heard so   

much in the woods as ,i am wont to see2 
but lo6 one of my own boys has  seen    
with keener eyes1 has heard with more   
acute ears1 and has had  genius and     
taste to tell it all in words1 and to   
paint it all with a  magic brush4 ,other
 men don't know which most to admire in 
you1 the  artist or the naturalist4     
,well ,i don't2 but who before has      
described  spring without a blunder8    
,they draw a nightingale where ,i heard 
a  whippoorwill1 or they set ,venus to  
glow in the east on a summer evening4   
,i have not detected a slip4 ,and what  
an old fool ,i was to keep pencils  away
 from you1 when you were born with a    
whole magazine of them4 ,i  cannot      
write4 ,i ought not to have begun4 ,i   
think #8,spring' by far the  richer     
article of the two--full of the nicest  
touches both with pencil  and with      
pen--and you are a dear good fellow1 and
 so is your wife4 ,god  bless you both4 
,go and see ,abbie at #cf ,garden       
,place4    8,yours1    8,f4 ,w4 ,,gunn40

    ,to this ,gibson made speedy answer1
 giving full absolution and much more3  
8,do not chide yourself for keeping the 
pencils from me1 for it is not  true4   
,you never did--you tried1 but gave it  
up4 ,when you were wont to  say every   
few minutes in school #8,gibson1 what   
are you doing8' ,i used to  answer1     
withdrawing my eyes from the window     
#8,nothing1 sir4' ,you never  dreamed of
 the true amount of thinking that was   
going on within my  cranium4 ,lazy as ,i
 seemed to be1 ,i was never idle in my  
mind and ,i can  see now the flickering 
light and shade among the leaves of the 
old  school-house maples--see the       
squirming caterpillar dangling from his 
silken thread1 swinging in the summer   
breeze4    8,the white-faced wasp upon  
the window-sill is as distinct to me now
 as  if he crawled upon this paper4     
,these and a thousand more ,i recall1   
and  even the first glimpse of the first
 day of my happy life at ,washington    
comes up before me with a freshness in  

decided contrast to the memories  of the
 later years4 ,you well remember        
#8,amy's ,grotto' in the pasture lot4   
,you took me to see it and my eyes were 
wide open also in those early  days4    
,little thing1 as it was1 it has        
impressed itself upon my memory  as     
indelibly as anything in my entire life8
 ,i recall its every sprig of  green and
 hear the tuneful drops in the limpid   
pool4    8,where then did ,i learn it   
all1 except from your own dear self in  
the  happiest season of my life8 ,you it
 was who turned my thoughts towards     
nature1 and inspired the desire in me to
 follow up the study4 ,if ,i have  lived
 to see the day when you are #8proud of 
me' or when ,i can in any way           
contribute to your pleasure as a meagre 
return for the many years of  happiness 
you have given me1 ,i have not lived in 
vain1 for this very  desire has been a  
factor in the ends and aims of my       
ambition4    8,whew6 ,talk of letters6  
,don't you ever say another word about  

your  letters4 ,a page of your          
handwriting acts like a talisman that   
conjures  up a host of reminiscences1   
and sets my pen and thoughts going like 
a  saw mill2 and here it is six o'clock1
 and my wife told me to be home by  that
 time1 as we are both going to call upon
 ,mrs4 ,gunn this evening by            
appointment4 ,gracious6 and only to     
think that ,i haven't got a moment to   
spare to dot my i's and cross my t's1   
nor send it to the binders4 ,i hope  you
 will be able to make it all out4 ,i'll 
page it for you anyhow4                 
8,good bye1 with much love from         
8,your old boy                          
8,w4 ,,hamilton ,,gibson4    8,alias    
,,willie40    ,the chief sources of the 
interest of his literary work appear in 
those  lines4 ,he had something to say2 
and he said it in his own way4 ,there   
are  no better recipes than those for   
concocting a lasting success in         
literature4    ,his style was1 like all 
good style1 the outcome of his spirit4  

,he had a  marvelous power of telling   
because he had such exceptional power of
  seeing4 ,in the passage describing the
 night stroll in the woods1 he  fills   
the mind with the mystery of the outward
 scene1 and makes it seem1  without any 
sense of undue artifice1 just the       
setting for the mysterious  transaction 
which ensues between the primrose and   
the moth4    8,our misty primrose dell  
is fast lighting its pale lamps in the  
twilight4 ,one by one they flash out in 
the gloom as if obedient to the         
hovering touch of some ,ariel unseen--or
 is it the bright response to the       
firefly's flitting torch8 ,the sun has  
long sunk beneath the hill4 ,and  now1  
when the impenetrable dusk has deepened 
round about1 involving all1  where but a
 moment since all was visible1 this     
shadowy dell has  forgotten the sunset1 
and knows a twilight all its own1       
independent of  the fading glow of the  
sky4 ,it was a sleepy nook by day1 where
 it is now  all life and vigilance2 it  

was dark and still at noon1 where it is 
now  bright and murmurous4 ,the         
#8delicious secret' is now whispered    
abroad1  and where in all the mystic    
alchemy of odors or attars shall you    
find  such a witching fragrance as this 
which is here borne on the diaphanous   
tide of the jealous gliding mist1 and   
fills the air with its sweet            
enchantment--the stilly night's own     
spirit guised in perfume8 ,yonder       
bright cluster1 deep within the recess  
of the alders1 how it glows6  fanned by 
numerous feathery wings1 it glimmers in 
the dark like a  phosphorescent         
aureole--verily as though some merry    
will-o'-the-wisp1  tired of his dancing1
 had perched him there1 while other     
luminous spires  rise above the mist1 or
 here and there hover in lambent banks  
beyond1  or1 like those throbbing fires 
beneath the ocean surge1 illume the fog 
with half-smothered halo4 ,this lustrous
 tuft at our elbow6 ,let us turn  our   
lantern upon it4 ,its nightly whorl of  

lamps is already lit1 save one  or two  
that have escaped our fairy in his      
rounds1 but not for long1 for  the green
 veil of this sunset bud is now rent    
from base to tip4 ,the  confined folded 
petals are pressing hard for their      
release4 ,in a moment  more1 with an    
audible impulse1 the green apex bursts  
asunder1 and the  four freed sepals     
slowly reflex against the hollow tube of
 the flower1  while the lustrous corolla
 shakes out its folds1 saluting the air 
with  its virgin breath4    8,the       
slender stamens now explore the gloom1  
and hang their festoons of  webby pollen
 across their tips4 ,none too soon1 for 
even now a silvery  moth circles about  
the blossom1 and settles among the      
outstretched  filaments1 sipping the    
nectar in tremulous content4 ,but he    
carries a  precious token as he hies    
away1 a golden necklace1 perhaps1 and   
with it  a message to yonder blossom    
among the alders1 and thus until the    
dawn1  his rounds directed with a deep  

design of which he is an innocent       
instrument1 but which insures a         
perpetual paradise of primroses for     
future sippers like himself40    ,the   
reader feels the pure delight he takes  
in the beauty of bird-and  flower-forms2
 and there is no stinting of phrases in 
his determination  to convey some sense 
of them to those who1 8having eyes1 see 
not40 ,he is  as accurate as ,audubon   
and as poetic as ,lowell in his         
description of the  rose-breasted       
grosbeak and his rich song4    8,hark1  
from the apple-tree in the field below1 
that note so full and  ripe and mellow6 
#8,a robin1' say you8 ,no2 nor an       
oriole4 ,there is a  distinct           
individuality in that song1 which1 while
 suggesting both these  birds1 still    
differentiates it in many respects as   
the superior to  either1 as though from 
a fuller throat1 a more ample vocal     
source4 ,it is  one of the rarest1      
choicest voices among all our feathered 
songsters1 in  timbre and volume        

surpassing the thrush1 and in these     
qualities  unequaled1 ,i think1 by any  
of our birds4 ,listen to the overflowing
  measure of its melody6 ,how           
comparatively few the notes1 and yet how
  telling6--no single tone lost1 no     
superficial intricacies4 ,sensuous1 and 
suffused with color1 it is like a rich1 
pulpy1 luscious1 pink-cheeked  tropic   
fruit rendered into sound4 ,such would  
seem the irresistible  figure as ,i     
listen with closed eyes to the swelling 
notes--a figure  entirely independent   
of1 though certainly sustained in1 the  
ornithological form pictured in the     
song1 sitting quietly on an upper  twig1
 with full plump breast as              
carmine-cheeked as the autumn apples now
  promised in the swelling blossom      
calyxes among which it so quietly       
nestles4 ,i can see the jetty head1 and 
quills splashed with silvery  white1 and
 the intervals of song seem spanned with
 rosy light as pure as  the prism       
released from those upraised wings as   

the singer preens his  plumage with     
ivory bill4 ,this is the rose-breasted  
grosbeak1 with his  overflowing cup1 his
 pastoral cornucopia1 his musical horn  
of plenty40    ,there is something about
 the description of the piping of the   
frogs in  the distant marsh which brings
 tears to the eye of him who reads it   
with  a hundred boyhood memories to make
 it real4 ,this is the passage which    
excited the admiration of the critic in 
the 8,saturday ,review10 and led  him to
 say3 8,people must be strangely        
constituted who do not enjoy such  pages
 as ,mr4 ,gibson has presented to us    
here4 ,it is not merely that he  writes 
well1 though he possesses a style that  
is full of felicities1 but  the subject 
itself is irresistibly fascinating40    
8,a plaintive piping trill now breaks   
the impressive stillness4 ,again and    
again ,i hear the little lonely voice   
vibrating through the low-lying  mist4  
,it is only a little frog in some       
far-off marsh2 but what a sweet  sense  

of sadness is awakened by that lowly    
melody6 ,how its weird minor  key1 with 
its magic touch1 unlocks the treasures  
of the heart4 ,only the  peeping of a   
frog2 but where in all the varied voices
 of the night1  where1 even among the   
great chorus of nature's sweetest music1
 is there  another song so lulling in   
its dreamy melody1 so full of that      
emotive  charm which quickens the human 
heart8 ,how often in the vague spring   
twilight have ,i yielded to the strange1
 fascinating melancholy awakened  by the
 frog's low murmur at the water's edge6 
,how many times have ,i  lingered near  
some swampy roadside bog1 and let these 
little wizards  weave their mystic spell
 about my willing senses1 while the very
 air  seemed to quiver in the fulness of
 their song6 ,i remember the tangle of  
tall and withered rushes1 through whose 
mysterious depths the eye in  vain would
 strive to penetrate at the sound of    
some faint splash or  ripple1 or perhaps
 at the quaint1 high-keyed note of some 

little  isolated hermit1 piping in his  
somber solitude4 ,i recall the first    
glimpse of the rising moon1 as its great
 golden face peered out at me  from over
 the distant hill1 enclosing half the   
summit against its broad  and luminous  
surface4 ,slowly and steadily it seemed 
to steal into view1  until1 risen in all
 its fulness1 ,i caught its image in the
 trembling  ripples at the edge of the  
soggy pool1 where    ,illustration3     
,lake ,waramaug    ,from a ,painting    
the palpitating water responded to the  
frog's low1 tremulous monotone40    ,he 
loves a swamp1 and is repeatedly telling
 of its charm1 which he  celebrates in a
 brief paragraph that swings through the
 whole cycle of  the natural year1 and  
finds a new theme to celebrate for every
 month4    8,i know of no other place in
 which the progress of the year is so   
readily traced as in these swampy fallow
 lands4 ,they are a living  calendar1   
not merely of the seasons alone1 but of 
every month  successively2 and its      

record is almost unmistakably disclosed4
 ,it is  whispered in the fragrant      
breath of flowers1 and of the aromatic  
herbage  you crush beneath your feet4   
,it floats about on filmy wings of      
dragon-fly and butterfly1 or glistens in
 the air on silky seeds4 ,it  skips upon
 the surface of the water1 or swims     
among the weeds beneath2  and is noised 
about in myriads of telltale songs among
 the reeds and  sedges4 ,the swallows   
and the starlings proclaim it in their  
flight1 and  the very absence of these  
living features is as eloquent as life  
itself4  ,even in the simple story of   
the leaf1 the bud1 the blossom1 and the 
downy seed1 it is told as plainly as    
though written in prosaic words and     
strewn among the herbage4    8,in the   
early1 blustering days of ,march1 there 
is a stir beneath the  thawing ground1  
and the swamp cabbage-root sends up a   
well protected  scout to explore among  
the bogs2 but so dismal are the tidings 
which he  brings1 that for weeks no     

other venturing sprout dares lift its   
head4 ,he  braves alone the stormy      
month--the solitary sign of spring1     
save1  perhaps1 the lengthening of the  
alder catkins that loosen in the wind4  
,april woos the yellow cowslips into    
bloom along the water's edge1 and  the  
golden willow twigs shake out their     
perfumed tassels4 ,in ,may the  prickly 
carex blossoms among the tussocks1 and  
the calamus buds burst  forth among     
their flat1 green blades4 ,june is      
heralded on right and left  by the      
unfurling of blue-flags1 and the        
eyebright blue winks and blinks  as it  
awakens in the dazzling ,july sun4      
8,then follows brimful ,august1 with the
 summer's consummation of  luxuriance   
and bloom2 with flowers in dense        
profusion in bouquets of  iron-weed and 
thoroughworts1 of cardinal flowers and  
fragrant clethra1  with their host of   
blossoming companions4 ,the milkweed    
pods fray out  their early floss upon   
,september breezes1 and the blue petals 

of the  gentian first unfold their      
fringes4 ,october overwhelms us with the
  friendly tokens of bur-marigolds and  
bidens2 while its thickets of           
black-alder lose their autumn verdure1  
and leave ,november with a  8burning    
bush0 of scarlet berries hitherto       
half-hidden in the leafage4  ,now1 too1 
the copses of witch-hazel bedeck        
themselves1 and are yellow  with their  
tiny ribbons4 ,december's name is       
written in wreaths of snow  upon the    
withered stalks of slender weeds and    
rushes1 which soon lie  bent and broken 
in the lap of ,january1 crushed beneath 
their winter  weight4 ,and in the       
fulfilment of the cycle1 ,february sees 
the swelling  buds of willow1 with their
 restless pussies eager for the spring1 
half  creeping from their winter cells40
          ,,chapter ,,vii    ,,the      
,,workman ,,and ,,his ,,work      ,mr4  
,gibson was characteristically ,american
 in his habits of work and in  his love 
of it4 ,he wrought with a zeal and a    

passion which are  characteristic of the
 race from which he came4 ,and the      
early1 abrupt1  and untimely close of   
his brilliant career must be charged    
almost wholly  to this fiery passion for
 work1 this ardor in doing4    ,one     
comes upon traces of this characteristic
 very early in his career4  ,his own    
letters as well as the letters of his   
friends written in his  youth show that1
 very soon after leaving 8,the ,gunnery0
 at any rate1 he  acquired the habit of 
continuous application1 and became an   
expert at  it4 ,no sooner had he made up
 his mind what he would do in life1 than
 he  began to do it with all his might4 
,he felt the pressure of need1 and      
responded to it promptly and vigorously4
 ,he lost no time1 he spared no  pains  
to train himself for his career4 ,he    
realized his lack of education  in art1 
and that he had to furnish out of       
himself both discipline and  knowledge4 
,there was in his mind evidently but one
 way to supply the  defects of technical

 education1 which to so many would have 
seemed  insuperable obstacles4 ,he could
 overcome everything by work4 ,he knew  
how to 8toil terribly40 ,he spared no   
time1 no trial1 no tasking of  himself4 
,after he had done a good day's work in 
the things he was under  contract to do 
for his employers1 he would turn to work
 again for  himself and upon schemes of 
his own1 and would spend hours more in  
the  most absorbing labor4 ,if any      
student of his work should wonder how   
his  swift success was won1 and how he  
so soon made good his defects of        
education and training1 they may find   
their answer in that one  word--work4   
,it was his talisman4 ,that he had      
gifts1 power1 genius1 he  believed most 
implicitly4 ,it was that which gave him 
courage2 but he  knew1 too1 that genius 
without work is an engine without steam4
 ,a letter  which he wrote to his mother
 during the progress of his first       
drawing  for the 8,aldine10 of the      
,inness landscape is his own confession 

of  excessive industry1 and gives a     
glimpse at the same time of the fiery   
zeal and undoubting courage which       
possessed him4    8,i had intended      
writing to you during the early part of 
the week1 as ,i  had a message to send  
you2 but ,i have been so excessively    
busy that ,i  could find no moment of   
time4444 ,i have worked very hard during
 the past  few weeks1 not only during   
the day1 but in the evenings also1 yea1 
even  until the morning on several      
occasions4 ,the object of my labors you 
of  course understand is the ,inness    
picture4 ,well1 it is finished and has  
been universally admired4 ,i have drawn 
nearly the whole of it in the           
night-time here at home1 as my days have
 been occupied by ,o4 ,j4  ,co4's  work4
 ,i have 7with reason7 been very anxious
 over this #8,aldine' picture  of mine4 
,everybody has told me that ,i was too  
headstrong to attempt such  a large     
drawing for my first start in landscape1
 and no one imagined  that ,i would     

succeed4 ,roberts told me that he knew  
,i would not succeed  and that ,i ought 
to have commenced on something smaller  
at first4 ,others  have said3 #8,it's a 
pretty big start to commence with a full
 page in the  finest ,american          
illustrated journal4' ,but ,i have      
commenced and my  drawing has been      
admired1 accepted and paid for by ,mr4  
,sutton1 and is to  appear in the       
#8,aldine' in the course of a few       
months4 ,i am going to  study very hard 
on landscape henceforth1 as ,i feel     
convinced of  success4444 ,i have       
received congratulations on all sides1  
for it is not  a small thing to get a   
drawing accepted in the #8,aldine4' ,i1 
of course1  am very much encouraged and 
am determined that my next drawing shall
 be  an improvement on my last40        
,while he was writing those lines his   
mother was writing to him1 in  warning  
and caution against his undue           
application3    8,i hope your picture   
will be done before long1 so that you   

will not have  to work at night4 ,depend
 upon it you will lose strength and     
eyesight by  unwise application4 ,i am  
uneasy to find that you are trying your 
strength to its utmost limit4 ,do be    
advised40    ,receiving the news of his 
success with his work1 she sends him her
  congratulations1 and renews her       
motherly--and timely--cautions4 ,it is  
all very interesting reading in the     
light of what followed2 for it is to  be
 remembered that all these letters were 
written in #ahgb1 when ,gibson  was but 
twenty-two1--a mere stripling just      
entering the lists6    8,,sandy ,,hook1 
,tuesday ,eve41 ,march #ab_/gb4    8,,my
 ,,dear ,,willie3         8,excuse this 
peculiar note-paper6 ,henry has gone out
 to spend the       evening1 and ,i     
cannot find the family supply without   
more hunting       round than is worth  
while for mere appearance's sake4 ,i was
       surprised and delighted at the   
good news in your welcome letter        
this noon6 ,certainly it was a great    

deal more than ,i expected1 and       ,i
 think your success1 in such an         
ambitious effort1 the first time1       
and with the #8,aldine1' is truly       
wonderful4 ,i can only account for      
it by the explanation1 that your talent 
in art is an intuition1 a       gift1 by
 which you are1 and will be1 enabled to 
surpass those who       would seem to be
 more likely to succeed than you1 on    
account of       greater practice and   
education in that particular4 ,but even 
if this       is the case1 that would   
not be enough of itself1 and you add to 
it       an industry1 a perseverance1   
and a courage which put you straight    
through4 ,i cannot see why1 if your     
health and strength are spared1         
yours should not yet become a prominent 
name among ,american       artists4 ,if 
you study1 work1 and continue to add to 
your knowledge       and skill1 you     
will1 by and by1 begin to compose1 and  
once well       started in that line1   
your future is made1 and your best      

ambition       satisfied4 ,i            
congratulate you most sincerely and     
lovingly1 and       thank ,god that he  
has endowed you with a rare and blessed 
gift4       ,now1 don't keep on working 
at night4 ,you must see that it is very 
unwise1 and that for the future you     
should not allow yourself to be         
tempted into it40         ,his early    
friend1 ,mr4 ,beard1 from whom the      
fortunes of business had       separated
 him1 wrote to him in the same warning  
strain4 ,would that       these friendly
 counsels had been heeded6 ,it was this 
burning of the       candle at both ends
 which forecast the early end of it all 
at       forty-six4 ,but who can think  
of this letter as addressed to the boy  
in whom ,mr4 ,gunn could awaken no      
spontaneous industry6         8,do you  
know1 ,i think that in many ways our    
divorce is a mistake4 ,i       am       
perhaps more prosperous1 but not so     
happy as in the old times       when we 
were together2 and had we waited a      

little while we would       have found  
ample space for both to swim without    
interfering with       each other4 ,the 
tide was rising4 ,it has risen very high
 for you at       least1 and ,i have    
been and now am heartily glad that it is
 so4         8,you need my laziness and 
carelessness to temper your consuming   
ambition4 ,you need to alternately get  
indignant1 and laugh1 and       argue1  
and double shuffle1 if you would avoid  
the horrors of an       early grave4 ,of
 course it is not becoming to your      
station and       position to do this1  
but to wear your dignity always is as   
bad as       being condemned to a dress 
suit and tight shoes without the        
possibility of a change4 ,forgive an old
 friend for speaking so       freely1   
but ,i have a real affection for you and
 ,i believe that you       need this    
admonition4 ,your work is killing you1  
because you are so       fierce at it1  
and don't let up at all4 ,i know        
,parsons thinks as ,i       do and in   

fact you must know it yourself40        
,seven years later1 in #ahgi1 his wife  
in a letter to his mother reveals  the  
same habit1 and prophesies1 alas6 too   
truthfully1 the inevitable  result4 ,she
 says3    8,will1 ,i believe1 will      
always be busy day and night until he   
breaks down  in health4 ,i think that   
would be the only thing 7except1        
perhaps1 a  fortune7 which would put a  
stop to his midnight work4 ,i certainly 
thought he would be ill after his last  
strain4 ,he was so weak after  remaining
 in the house so long1 and using his    
brain so continuously1  that when the   
last day came and he was copying his    
manuscript1 he nearly  fainted4 ,only a 
few more strains like that will be      
necessary to weaken  his constitution   
seriously40    ,but not only did he     
overdraw upon the hours he ought to have
 spent in  sleep4 ,he was always at it  
while he was awake4 ,he was not a fitful
  workman1 busy by turns1 but taking    
equal turns at idleness4 ,he could not  

be idle4 ,all times were work-times1 the
 odds-and-ends of the day1 the          
intervals between tasks1 the moments of 
interruption and of waiting1 he  turned 
to the most valuable account4 ,among the
 drawings which he made  for his        
projected botany he left a memorandum1  
which shows his incessant  watchfulness 
for subjects of study1 and the prompt   
industry which made  him always ready to
 secure his material4 ,he was always    
loaded for the  game that turned up4    
,and no scantiness of materials or of   
tools in the  least daunted or deterred 
him4 ,this is his memorandum as he wrote
 it3                                    
,botany4         8,drawings made in odd 
moments40         8,while waiting for   
train40         8,on back of mule40     
8,during delay on railroad40            
8,on envelopes1 bills1 letters1         
check-book1 on back of books1           
margins of newspapers1 inside of a      
lozenge-paper1 all that was             
available40         8,on top of         

stage-coach1 from overhanging bough     
while waiting40         8,on boats in   
water2 on back of mule40         8,while
 sketching2 strolls in park40           
8,on city fence while waiting for car1  
yard specimen40         8,from specimens
 dried to shreds40         8,from       
specimens collected in hat or under hat 
sweat-band40         8,on ferry-boat    
from specimens picked in city yards40   
8,flower reconstructed from dried       
specimens on fruity stems               
entangled in spider-web4 7,spider an    
ally470    8,leaf4 ,impression with soot
 at hotels everywhere2 intricate details
 in a  few seconds40    8,seeds from    
spider-webs and bird's-nests40    ,let  
indolence meditate this matter4    ,not 
even the working hours seem to have been
 sufficient for him4 ,he also  trenched 
upon the term sacred to sleep1 and in   
one instance1 at least1  did his        
planning in his dreams4 ,for a time     
before the publication of the  8,sharp  
,eyes0 articles was begun in ,harper's  

8,young ,folks10 ,gibson was  casting   
about for some new idea for a book1 some
 hint or inspiration or  theme which    
should serve to focalize his thoughts   
and materials4 ,one  morning he said to 
his wife3 8,i dreamed out a whole book  
last night4 ,i  never had such a vivid  
dream4 ,the whole scheme came to me1 and
 ,i know  just what ,i will do4 ,i am   
going over to ,harpers' to talk it over 
with  them40 ,this he immediately did1  
offering them fifty-two articles1 to    
serve as a sort of naturalist's almanac4
 ,the contract was agreed upon  and he  
began work immediately4 ,he often       
thereafter referred to his  8lucky      
dream40 ,it was1 perhaps1 the most      
popular of his books1 and1  whatever its
 origin1 was certainly in itself a very 
wide-awake volume4    ,his note-books   
are witnesses of the same character and 
tenor4 ,they show1  of course1 his      
thorough study of every project on which
 his mind was  engaged4 ,they show also 
how his brain teemed with new projects  

and  outlined new schemes1 before he was
 done with old ones4 ,his purposes  were
 always far outrunning his capacity to  
perform4 ,yet if ever a man  could do   
two or three things at a time1 he was   
the one4 ,at least his  motto might well
 have been that remorseless pledge to   
continual  industry1 8,nulla dies sine  
linea40 ,one of his note-books dates    
from  ,april1 #ahgg1 and runs to ,june  
#ab1 #ahif1 a month before he died1     
covering  thus a period of nineteen     
years4 ,in it is a record of every day's
 work  in all that time2 and if there   
was not a line drawn every day1 on some 
days he drew enough to fully make good  
the deficit and fulfil the very  letter 
of the proverb4 ,sometimes the entries  
record every item of his  work1 like the
 following1 taken at random3            
8,march #bi4 ,boston on business40      
8,april #i4 ,cover design for #8,sharp  
,eyes4'0      8  8   8  ,art ,artisans' 
,institute40      8  8  #ac4 ,all day on
 proof of #8,sharp ,eyes4'0      8  8   

#ad4  8   8   8   8   8   8   8      8  
8  #ae4 ,new ,york #a_/b day1 #a_/b on  
#8,sharp ,eyes4'0      8,april #af4     
#a_/b day on proof1 #8,sharp ,eyes4'0   
8   8   8   ,art ,artisans' #b hours1 #c
 hours in evening    on proofs40        
8,april #ag4  ,whole day on proofs40    
8   8  #ah4  #a_/b day on proof40      8
   8  #bj4  ,initial1 design1           
#8,shakespeare's ,country4'0            
8,april #bj4  ,initial1 design1         
illustration of apple-blossom40         
8,april #bj4  ,design for #8,sharp      
,eyes1' #8,bees4'0    ,so the pages run1
 by scores and by hundreds4 ,but        
elsewhere he condenses  the story of a  
season's continuous work into a few     
lines4 ,after the date  ,may #ah1 #ahhg1
 he wrote3    8,left for ,hilltop--     
8,a very busy summer4 ,made many        
drawings for two prospective articles on
  #8,midnight ,rambles1' and #8,insect  
,botanists1' beside many flower studies1
  and a number of water-colors4 ,very   
busy on the memorial volume of ,mr4     

,gunn4 ,made a large number of drawings 
for ,botany40    ,then follow pages of  
entries recording the sketches1 designs1
  water-colors1 illustrations1 which in 
part constituted the details of  that   
8busy summer40 ,the following year he   
made a similar condensation of  a       
,european trip4 ,it is but a note1 yet  
the single item which refers to  8three 
hundred photographs10 tells the story of
 his busy days3    8,trip to ,europe4   
,left ,new ,york in ,april1 returned in 
,june4 ,visited  ,england1 ,france1     
,holland1 ,switzerland1 including a     
fortnight each in  ,london and ,paris4  
,brought home over #cjj instantaneous   
photographs1 taken  under all conditions
 by my detective camera4 ,went direct to
 ,hilltop1 and  settled down to magazine
 work40    ,these note-books carry the  
evidence of his faithfulness to his     
various  aims and lines of interest4    
,while he was at work as the artist1 he 
never  hesitated to do something for    
himself as either naturalist or author4 

,he  was never so preoccupied with his  
sketching that his ear could not catch  
a new bird-note1 or his eye perceive an 
event in the insect-world4 ,his  color  
box often did duty as a botanist's case1
 or bore home a load of  cocoons and    
beetles4 ,and when he sat down to record
 his impressions or  outline his plans  
he revealed his triple interest in every
 line4 ,once he  began certain memoranda
 which he headed 8,night-,notes40 ,in   
the margin1 by  a dozen hasty lines with
 his pen he made a design for a         
title-page1--a  lighted candle with     
moths flying about it4 ,then he wrote   
into his text  ideas which should       
interest the future reader of some      
article1 upon the  scientific side1 in  
sentences which suggest at once the     
illustrations  and the text itself3     
8,moths creeping up screen outside      
window1 their presence marked only by   
their luminous eyes4 ,the lamp the      
center of a whirling maze of all  sorts 
of nocturnal insects4 ,a rare treat     

spread on the table before me4          
,exquisite hints for the colorist1      
decorator1 or illustrator4 ,here a      
dainty mite of a moth with the most     
delicate of sage-green1 flat-open       
wings1 crossed by bands of cream-color4 
,another with steeple-roofed  wings 7at 
rest7 glistening like satin1 decorated  
with faint contrast of  pale pink and   
faded olive40 ,and so on for pages      
together4    ,such passages as these    
from his own notes1 never meant for the 
public  eye1 and therefore absolutely   
conclusive of his sincerity and his real
  spirit1 show how truly he was an      
observer at first hand4 ,he saw things  
for himself4 ,there was not a trace of  
cant in what he had to say about        
original observation of nature1 her     
wonders and her beauties4 ,the thing  he
 tried to lead others to do he had      
already done himself4 ,a friend1 who  is
 himself a keen observer of nature1     
wrote of ,gibson1 at his death3    8,it 
was to the habit of observation more    

than to any endowment that he  owed the 
prosperity of his work1--for his life   
was a successful one4 ,it  enabled him  
to see clearly1 without a teacher1 what 
others find it hard  to see at all4 ,he 
acquired his art practically without    
instruction1 and  indeed against        
opposition1 simply taking his pencil and
 brush into the  field and drawing and  
painting what he saw there4 ,the        
greatest painters  are those who have   
pursued this method4 ,as a writer and   
lecturer he  showed the advantage of a  
good scholastic education2 yet his      
themes were  those he had chosen and    
worked out for himself4 ,he was as      
well-informed  on botany1 entomology1   
ornithology1 and allied studies as      
almost any  professors of these sciences
 that could be named2 yet it was in the 
woods and fields rather than in books   
that he acquired his knowledge40        
,gibson's own words1 in the preface to  
8,sharp ,eyes10 confirm his friend's    
reflection3 8,the facts in the following

 pages are almost entirely drawn  from  
individual experience1 largely gathered 
in boyhood1 the apparently  random      
selection being based upon a desire for 
the greatest variety  possible within a 
limited range of the minor flora and    
fauna4 ,the dates  are apportioned from 
careful notes verified through a record 
of many  years40    ,it was this close  
and personal observation of nature which
 gave him his  rare power in drawing and
 in composition4 ,he never wished to    
make his  pictures with the models1 the 
objects he was drawing1 before him4 ,he 
studied them in sketches1 and mastered  
every detail of their  construction and 
appearance4 ,this impression1 clear-cut1
 exact1  truthful1 he carried in his    
memory4 ,and when he wished to draw it1 
he  worked from memory1 refreshed1      
perhaps1 by the memorandum of the       
sketch2  but his picture would be       
suffused by the glow of his own         
imagination1  idealized                 
,illustration3    8,wide-,awake         

,day-,dozers0    78,strolls by          
,starlight and ,sunshine07              
,copyright1 #ahij1 by ,harper  ,brothers
    by that imperceptible increment     
which is merely the self1 the personal  
temperament of the artist1 lighting up  
his subject4 ,his memory furnished  the 
anatomy of his subject1 and his         
imagination infused it with life4 ,it   
was the thing as it was1 and something  
more4 ,because it was the thing as  he  
saw it4 ,his view of the function of the
 sketch1 and1 indeed1 his  theory of    
art1 condensed into small compass1 is   
well put by himself1 in  a paragraph    
from 8,the ,squirrel's ,highway03       
8,humility is the only attitude that    
wins the heart of nature4 ,it yields    
the glow that lights the vision of the  
#8inward eye1' beside which all  other  
eyes are blind4 ,audacity and           
impressionism have their importance  and
 place in art1 but they are not its     
pinnacle2 the one yields helpful        
courage for the encounter1 the other is 

the useful short-hand system  which     
often comes to the artist's rescue1 and 
without whose aid many of  nature's most
 rare and subtle expressions would elude
 him1 and be lost4  ,but its function is
 realized in the sketch or motive1 which
 is rarely a  picture1 but more often a 
rough draft1 a hieroglyph1 a            
stenographic  note1 which like others of
 its class is fully intelligible alone  
to its  author1 and whose only rational 
excuse for being is in its latent       
possibilities of ultimate translation   
and perfection40    ,that was the method
 of the artist2 and it grew naturally   
and logically  from the nature of the   
man4 ,he agreed at bottom with the      
impressionists1  because he painted and 
drew only what he saw4 ,his point of    
difference  with them was that he       
painted and drew far more than they     
would  sanction1 because he saw so much 
more4 ,if the canon of the              
impressionists is admitted1 they must be
 prepared frequently to see it          

apparently violated by some man who1    
while painting only what he  actually   
sees1 and getting 8broad effects0 and   
8values10 sees so much  more than the   
average observer1 and notes as 8values0 
so many things  which even the ordinary 
trained eye slips over as insignificant1
 that he  seems to be 8descending0 to   
details4 ,gibson could never have       
painted to  suit this class1 because he 
saw and felt so much more than they did4
 ,yet  he was as true as the most       
orthodox of them to the very method he  
seemed  to defy4 ,he had been speaking  
78,highways and ,byways10 p4 #fh7 of the
  seed-pods of the fireweed1 and their  
hidden floss1 8a warp of woven          
sunshine1 with a woof of ether10 and    
reasons thus about it3    8,it is always
 awe-inspiring and wonderful to me2 it  
is beautiful beyond  description2 and   
when ,i see those snowy forms take wing 
and fly  heavenward1 it is more than    
beautiful1 it is divine4 ,and yet it    
would  seem that there are those among  

her students who are above the influence
  of such a revelation as this in       
,nature4 ,disciples of a rampant        
superficial school of art1 who in       
seeking to portray ,nature #8in her     
breadth' would feel that they can put   
the straight jacket upon her and        
readily ignore so small and trivial a   
thing as this4 ,the landscape to  their 
half-blind and unsympathetic eyes       
resolves itself into a map1 a  relative 
opposition of so many #8masses' and     
#8values' of form and color4  ,in the   
mastery of these lies their end and aim 
while ,nature in her  #8detail' is      
worthy only of the scientist and #8has  
no place in art4'           99       99 
99       99       99    8,that ,nature's
 landscape does1 to those who seek      
therefor1 resolve  itself into so-called
 masses and values1 is an important     
truth2 but  equally and more deeply true
 are the infinity and spirit of her     
breadth4  ,the value of the broad gray  
mass of yonder sloping meadow will find 

its  truest interpreter 7assuming an    
equality of technical skill7 in him who 
knows by heart its elements of life and 
color1 who has seen its #8violet  by a  
mossy stone1' who has plucked its       
grasses from their purple maze  and     
knows the scent of those endless subtle 
variations of tender  russets1 greys1   
and greens1 and cloudy films of smoky   
color that spread  among its herbage4   
,the true significance and #8value' of  
that massive  bank of oaks will be most 
deeply felt and understood1 and         
therefore most  truly rendered1 by him  
who has learned the beauty of its vernal
 buds of  scarlet velvet1 its swinging  
catkins1 and the contour of its perfect 
leaf2 who has stood beside its boughs1  
and seen the blue of sky and gray  of   
passing cloud in turn reflected from the
 polished foliage4    8,the impress of  
that knowledge and the sympathy and     
companionship it  implies will send its 
impulse quivering to his brush-tip1 in a
  spontaneous enthusiasm that shall     

subdue the pigment to a medium for      
thought1 and shall hold it in its place 
as the means rather than the  end4 ,and 
while the misguided apostle of the new  
school who shows us  #8,nature in her   
breadth' shall revel in his values of   
turpentine1 and  paint and brush-marks1 
the transcript of his more humble       
brother-worker1  while not less broad1  
shall palpitate with life and feeling1  
and through  some secret intangible     
testimony of its own1 shall conjure up  
in the  beholder the heart-memories of  
,nature1 and shall breathe her spirit   
from  the canvas40    ,perhaps it is    
worth while just here to rescue from    
oblivion the  exceedingly funny account 
of some newspaper writer1 whose story of
 ,mr4  ,gibson's methods is widely at   
variance with that we are telling1 and  
what ,gibson himself told1 but which has
 a certain weird charm of its  own4     
,commenting upon the 8marvelous skill0  
ascribed to ,gibson1 he  proceeds to say
 that nothing could be simpler than his 

method4 8,when ,mr4  ,gibson sets out on
 a walk he always takes a camera with   
him1 and when an  especially interesting
 twig or fern attracts his attention1 he
 promptly  snaps at it4 ,on his return  
home the plates are sent to the nearest 
photographer to be developed and from   
the negatives thus obtained1  #8bleach  
prints' are made4 ,mr4 ,gibson then     
proceeds to draw very  carefully on     
these prints1 following of course the   
outline1 shading1  etc41 of the         
photograph4 ,after the drawings are     
finished1 all traces of  the photograph 
are quickly bleached out by immersing   
them in a simple  solution of chemicals1
 leaving only the drawings on white     
paper40 ,after  such a graphic and      
veracious account of the way in which   
the foremost  ,american illustrator made
 his pictures1 one is not surprised to  
have the  writer add the brave statement
 that 8it may be said without fear of   
contradiction that whatever excellence  
may exist in ,mr4 ,gibson's  published  

work1 is due to the careful work of the 
photographer and the  engraver40 ,such  
is the sort of stuff which some         
metropolitan newspapers  serve up as    
8art criticism40 ,the writer might      
indeed declare that he  spoke without   
fear of contradiction2 for nobody would 
take the trouble  to contradict an      
account so ridiculous4 ,how refreshing1 
after such a  tissue of absurdities1 to 
read the letter of ,henry ,marsh1       
foremost among  the wood-engravers of   
his day1 the estimate1 by a real artist1
 of  another artist3    8,,pomfret      
,,centre1 ,,conn41 ,march #hth4         
8,,dear ,,sir3         8,pressure of    
work has prevented me from answering    
yours of ,jan4       #ast4 ,i did not   
see an impression of the #8chick a dee  
dee' block and       was surprised to   
find it was in any degree successful4 ,i
 have never       even seen a drawing of
 yours till now and have never had any  
idea       of your artistic quality4    
,common printed impressions of course   

represent no one fairly1 but those      
artists lose the most who have       the
 most to lose1 and you are no exception 
to the rule1 as ,i should       never   
have guessed what your drawings looked  
like from anything ,i       ever have   
seen printed4 ,you will certainly be    
disappointed in my       rendering of   
your work1 for ,i have no patience and  
my hand is not       as firm or my line 
as delicate as your drawings require1   
but if you       send me a block ,i     
shall do it honestly after my fashion4  
,with       hearty sympathy in the      
troubles which you must always find in  
the       engraving of your most elegant
 and refined work1 ,i remain    8,yours 
truly1    8,,henry ,,marsh4             
,thackeray somewhere says that there are
 no people who so love their work  as   
the artists do1 unless it be the actors1
 who when they are not  playing         
themselves are always at the theater4   
,even the holiday of the  artist is     
generally devoted to work in a different

 locality from the  home studio2 so that
 it amounts to nothing more than a      
change of scene  without any abatement  
of business4 ,gibson himself was one of 
the worst  offenders in this way4 ,he   
never seemed to rest1 while in health1  
save in  and by a change in the place   
and character of his task4 ,in the pages
 of  8,pastoral ,days10 in which he     
describes--in the chapter upon          
8,summer0--his visit to 8,hometown and  
,snug-,hamlet10 he confesses his        
propensity for thus using his vacation4 
8,my wife and ,i have run away from the 
city for a month or so4 ,a vacation  we 
call it2 but to an artist such a thing  
is rarely known in its  ordinary sense1 
and often1 indeed1 it means an increase 
of labor1 rather  than a respite4 ,my   
first week1 however1 ,i had consecrated 
to luxurious  idleness4 ,together we    
wandered through the old familiar       
rambles1 where  as boy and girl in      
earlier days we had been so oft         
together40 ,but the  sort of thing which

 he calls idling comes out a few pages  
later1 when he  sums up the doings of   
that seven days of luxury4    8,for a   
week thus we idled1 now on the mountain1
 now in the meadow1 while  ,i with my   
sketch-book and collecting-box either   
whiled away the hours  with my pencil1  
or left the unfinished work to pursue   
the tantalizing  butterfly or search for
 unsuspecting caterpillars among the    
weeds and  bushes40 ,what a busy-body   
was this1 who knew no distinction       
between work  and play1 and to whom the 
sketch-book and collecting-box were the 
playthings of the idle hour as well as  
the tools of the most laborious  of     
professions6 ,well might the companion  
of that happy summer say in  after      
years1 8,he seemed never to spend an    
idle hour40 ,another member of  his     
household circle bears similar          
testimony4 8,if he were sitting at  the 
table1 chatting and joking with us1 as  
likely as not he would have  his pencil 
in his hand1 and before we knew it1     

would dash off on any  scrap of paper1  
some sketch of a beetle1 or a bird1 or a
 butterfly1 or  perhaps a caricature of 
somebody in the group40 ,with this      
nature1 steam  was always up1 and the   
fires hardly banked at all4 ,no wonder  
that the  machinery literally wore out  
prematurely4    ,there is one legacy of 
his busy life which seems to have a     
special  interest to those who loved his
 work and care to know how he did it4   
,for  many years he carried in his mind 
a plan for a new work1 which was        
characteristic of his genius1 and would 
have added a new delight to  those he   
had conferred4 ,he meant some day to    
write and to illustrate a  book which   
should describe the history of the      
endless movement of water1  from cloud  
to mountain-top1 from the heights to the
 valleys1 from the  valleys to the sea1 
and back to the clouds again4 ,he had   
made many notes  and references1 and the
 scheme was well worked out in its      
general  features4 ,the memoranda which 

he left are sufficiently full to convey 
a  clear idea of what he proposed2 and  
as one reads them they seem to  suggest 
all the graceful text and the graphic   
illustration with which  his matured    
skill would have filled them out4 ,while
 they raise the  keenest disappointment 
in the thought that they never were     
completed  and that ,american literature
 and nature-study have missed what they 
promised1 yet they are so full of hints1
 so stimulating to the  imagination1    
that they seem to belong to that public 
for which he  wrought1 and which prizes 
every thought of his fertile mind4      
,on the fly-leaf of the blank-book in   
which these notes are entered1 with     
long blanks for the material yet to be  
written in1 he has written the  words   
8,memoranda2 ,cycle of the ,raindrop40  
,on the next page follow a  number of   
tentative titles3    8,from the         
,fountain to the ,deep ,sea4    8,the   
,cycle of the ,raindrop4    8,from the  
,rain ,cloud to the ,sea4    8,a        

,mission of    8,a ,cycle of    8,the   
,emblematic ,cycle4 ,typical of human   
life4 ,soul from heaven4 ,earthly       
pilgrimage3 dross and impurity and final
 resurrection in mist40    8,an ,eternal
 ,pilgrimage    8,a---- ,pilgrimage     
8,the ,story without an ,end4    ,then  
follows a suggestion for a table of     
contents4 ,he heads it1    ,division of 
,subject    8#a4 ,the ,rain ,cloud and  
the ,fountain4 #8,story of a ,fountain4'
    8#b4 ,the ,mountain ,brook--7,trout 
,brook7 7,trout ,stream74    8#c4 ,the  
,mountain ,lake4 ,the ,swamp4    8#d4   
,the ,pastoral ,brook4 ,the ,pond8      
8#e4 ,the ,river4    8#f4 ,the ,delta   
and the ,deep ,sea40    ,this is the    
first and broadest sketch4 ,upon this   
ground plan he proceeds  to lay out the 
themes he would treat1 evidently having 
in mind both text  and illustrations4   
,sometimes the note means one1 sometimes
 the other4  ,and the closeness with    
which the two are associated in his mind
 is a  fine revelation of the manner in 

which his thought embraced both forms   
of production in a profound             
psychological unity4    #a4 ,the ,rain  
,cloud and ,spring    ,the birth of the 
spring2 from perpetual snow on mountain 
peaks2 dew2  mist and cloud2 storm      
cloud4    ,rain ,cloud dragging its veil
 on mountain-top4 7,see quotation from  
,ruskin  in note-book74 ,poetic simile  
of mountain 8,light of ,asia0 7#bbg74   
,storm on  mountain4    ,hovering ,mist 
and ,cloud4 ,lifting and creeping in    
fantastic forms1 above  the lake4 ,wild 
,mountain ,pass4 ,hermit's ,ravine4 ,see
 reference4 ,ruskin in  literary        
memorandum4 ,shelley's 8,cloud40        
,mountain ,veterans4 ,gnarled spruces4  
,mountain ,flowers4 ,the heath family1  
clothing the rugged mountains4          
,mountain ,fruits4 8,propitiating the   
,mountain-gods    ,illustration3 ,the   
,roxbury ,road    by a sacrifice of     
their fruits40 ,thoreau4 ,supper of     
blue-berries4  ,thoreau4    ,the        
,trickling ,mountain ,spring4 8,amy's   

,grotto40    ,a ,dewdrop on leaf        
7vignette-idea2 or tail-piece74         
,primeval ,elements4 ,indian ,legends1  
etc4 ,story of a ,fountain4 ,primeval   
spring and incident4 ,hawthorne4    ,a  
,trickling ,passage4 ,drops trickling   
down a spray of ,fumitory 7,adlumia7    
over rock4    ,a ,recluse4 ,a shy wood  
flower4    ,indian ,pipe--legend8       
,loiterings among mossy boulders and    
ferns4    ,the ,wood-bird's ,bath4      
,the ,harebell4    ,a ,fungus4 ,some    
beautiful specimen of ,hydnum ,agaricum 
or--    ,through the ,mossy ,groove     
7bole7--to the old ,trough4    ,water   
,trough4 ,this subject must come in     
book4 ,make view from above  conduit1   
and looking out through verdure upon    
road from back of trough4  ,see         
,hawthorne's 8,town ,pump40 8,david     
,swan40    ,waste ,water ,running along 
road and under4 ,plank ,bridge 7with    
roadside  ford7 bordered with tall      
,galingales1 ,cat-tails etc4    ,the    
,meadow ,stream 7place after            

mountain-lake87    ,the ,meadow ,rue    
7shadow or silhouette74    ,sensitive   
,fern 7one of the most antiquated forms 
of existing ferns74    ,cardinal        
,flower4    ,a ,border ,tangle4 ,galium4
 ,rue4    ,coils of ,gold4 ,the         
,jewel-weed 7or some other plant74      
,strangled by the  golden dodder4 ,the  
dodder is mentioned in ,lowell's        
8,threnodia0 as an  emblem of love4 ,it 
is a questionable sort of love that     
hangs on by the  teeth4 8,deadly gripe  
of gold0 7,hawthorne74    ,hemlock cones
 and ,chickadees4    ,an ,ambuscade4    
,leaf-nest of large ,arachnid4    ,the  
,alders4    ,gathering ,cowslip-greens  
7combine with picture of plant74    ,the
 ,trout ,brook    ,the ,angler4         
7,consult ,izaak ,walton4               
8,contemplative ,man's ,recreation407   
,beauties 7good subject for tail-piece74
    ,the ,water-mill4 ,children playing 
with toy-wheel4 ,see sketch made at     
,cumberland1 ,me4    ,a ,trickling      
,flume4 ,a mossy flume perched on tall  

beams1 embowered in  leafy branches and 
overgrown with weeds4 ,see photo and    
sketch of  8,haunted ,mill0 with mill in
 distance4    ,the ,sawmill 7combine    
cider-mill with same8 ,washington74     
8,highland ,stream tamed by human       
cunning40 ,hawthorne4    ,riding on     
,sawmill ,carry4 ,children riding out   
over abyss on the  log-carry4    ,under 
the ,mill 7old wheel1 etc474            
,sheepwashing4    ,life under the       
,water4 7,crawfish2 leopard-frog1 etc47 
,under the ,water4  ,battle of          
dragon-fly and lizard4 ,caddis-worms and
 nests4    ,the ,slender                
,foot-bridge--8,dangerous passage40     
,bubby fishing2 three or  four minnows  
on string4 ,lovers4    ,the ,witch      
,hazel4 7,several subjects4 ,see        
memoranda in 8,nature ,jottings407      
,unfurling banners and saluting coming  
snow4 ,the ,divining ,rod4 ,old ,witch4 
,witch hazel2 7see ,whittier's ,poem1   
,preface or dedication87 ,shrub over    
,brook4 ,peculiar ,quality of perfume4  

,horizontal ,foliage in ,wood4          
,reference in ,hawthorne4    ,into the  
,lake4 ,cascade over precipice into     
,lake4 ,boating and fishing4    ,the    
,camp4 7,adirondacks4 ,see sketch47     
,morning on the ,lake 7,water-color     
sketch1 deer drinking74    ,evening4    
,hunting with jack4 7,dudley ,warner's  
8,deer hunt407 8,the ,loon's  weird     
laughter1 far away40    ,the ,rise4     
,trout rising2 flash of sun on still    
water4 8,long ripple40  ,thoreau4       
,guide ,lore4    ,sand ,orchid4 ,secret 
of fertilization4 ,lovell's ,pond1      
several  varieties----    ,pond ,lilies8
 7or on brook87 ,yellow pond lilies4    
,hawthorne's simile4    ,the ,water     
,mussel4 ,beautiful pearl4 ,saranac     
lake4 ,wondrous tints brought  out by   
scouring with sand4    ,tiger-beetles on
 ,sand4 7,show nests47    ,heron's ,nest
 7see cut in ,harper's74 ,evening       
,subject4 ,weird ,effect4    ,the       
,plover4    ,evening ,mist4 ,mist       
rising4 ,returning skyward4 ,sun drawing

 water4    ,wild ,ducks4    ,the        
,bittern4 8,his precious legs40         
,thoreau4    ,water ,adder4             
7,winnepesaukee incident1 see note-book 
8,nature ,jottings407    ,the ,outlet4  
,a ,chasm4 8,ausable ,chasm40    ,the   
,brook 7,shepaug87    ,the ,water-fence4
    ,a ,hot ,day 7cows in water in      
shade74    ,under the ,water4 ,caddis   
,worms in nest4 7,life under ice4       
,thoreau47  ,dragon-fly larv4    ,battle
 under ,water4 8,no refuge e'en in      
water40 ,lizard and dragon-fly  larva4  
,aquarium incident4    ,scouring ,rush  
7grass7 gatherers4 ,see quotations4     
,the ,little ,sandpipers4    ,ephemera4 
7,the creatures of an hour4 ,the        
twilight flight47    ,the ,crossing     
,pole 7,newtown brook4 ,children over   
dark still current74    ,the ,swimming  
,hole4 7,bathers4 ,twilight effect4     
,interrupted ,bath47    ,the ,old       
,bridge4    ,on the ,muddy ,beam 7,phebe
 nest or other bird74    ,a ,gravel     
,island4 7,thoreau's sentiments on      

beholding an island47    ,a ,pebbly     
,beach4    ,a ,still ,nook in ,shore4   
,gnats emerging4 ,boats of ,eggs4    ,a 
,sungleam from the ,river bed4 ,minnow  
or ,sunfish turning4 ,combine same  with
 ,kingfisher1 if possible1 showing the  
incident of prey from the  fish's       
standpoint1 under water looking out     
above4 ,consult ,thoreau's  8,concord   
,river0 and his experiences in taming   
the fish4    ,the ,willows4 ,the ,closed
 ,gentian4 ,the ,button-bush4           
,sailing the ,boat4    ,the ,kingfisher 
7watching for the gleam74    ,a ,bit of 
,sentiment4 ,two figures by the brink2  
thoughts of brook1 etc4  ,similes4      
,the ,freshet4 ,broken ,dam4 ,ice       
,blockade4 ,ice piling and crushing     
against  mill4    ,a ,tumultuous        
,record4 ,water sculpture4 ,torrent     
making holes in rocks4  ,worn by        
boulders4 ,diana's ,baths1 ,shepaug     
,falls4 ,glassy ,ice on ,dripping       
,twigs4    ,the ,swamp    7,this section
 should be introduced here as a         

8loitering-place0 of the  saunterer as  
well as of the brook1--a rest in the    
journey of the waters  when they linger 
placidly in the old mill-pond1          
backing-up from the dam1  and flooding  
the lowlands4 ,although it might be     
brought in between the  mountain-lake   
and the brook47    ,consider the ,black 
,mountain ,swamp for example2 ,beaver   
dam1 ,lenox4 ,cotton  sedge2            
,sarracenia2 ,pond lilies2 ,sphagnum4   
,a ,quaint ,cradle4 ,nest of ,reed      
,warbler or other bird built among reeds
 or  rushes4    ,musk-rat ,huts4 ,a     
,musquash ,village4 ,muskrat's bubble   
under the ice1  driven away from its    
heath4 ,see 8,trapper02 also ,thoreau4  
,the provident  musk-rat4    ,scouts4   
,spring ,heralds4 ,skunk cabbage4       
,winter ,botany4 ,crystalline ,botany2  
,thoreau4 ,it is the anatomy which      
determines the marked character and     
distinct individuality of plants1  even 
of the same genus4 ,the winter phantoms 
present its most perfect and            

unencumbered articulation1 and render   
their forms against the snow  especially
 conspicuous4 ,thus have ,i counted1    
without effort1 eight  species of       
golden-rod1 growing in a tangle each as 
distinctly specific  as in its summer   
dress and ornament4    ,a ,frost        
,grotto4    ,will o' the ,wisp4 ,a      
fantasy with fairies1 nymphs1 or naiads4
    ,haunt of the ,hylas4    ,cranberry 
,culture4 ,the ,cranberry plant4        
,after ,bullfrogs4 ,spatter ,dock1      
turtles1 etc42 turtles on a projecting  
log or rock1 family group4 ,pollywogs4  
,duckweed4 ,specimen of similar  plant4 
,green shell-like1 nerve-like leaf1     
floating on surface and  sending        
downward a fringe of purplish black     
rootlets4 ,found at  ,washington1 spring
 of #ahhb4    ,a ,living ,opal4 ,a fairy
 creature of the marsh4 ,this is        
described in my  note-book about two    
years ago1 and ,i note that ,mr4 ,john  
,burroughs has  discovered the same     
creature and has written of it under    

title 8,a  ,fairy10 in ,scribner's1     
,january1 #ahhc4    ,pickerel ,weed and 
,pickerel4    ,vallisneria--,anacharsis2
 waterweed4    ,swamp plants for        
selection4 7,here follows a list of some
 twenty plants47    ,transformation of  
,neuroptera4    ,exquisite ,bivalves in 
the mud 7small pearly clams74    ,the   
,brook 7,continued7    ,the ,millpond4  
,the ,water adder 7see notes ,lake      
,winnepesaukee74    ,nymph2 maids of the
 pond 7nymphs floating in mist above the
 floating  lilies4 ,see ,john ,lafarge1 
portfolio proofs74    ,among the        
,pond-lilies4 ,the ,lotus-lily with cup 
capsule4 ,allied to  ,eastern lily4     
,suggestion of the ,nile4    ,mirror of 
the ,sunset4 7,reflections4 ,still pond4
 ,mill dam47    ,the ,heron4    ,winter 
,sports on the ,ice4 ,fishing4          
,harvesting the ,ice-crop4 ,waiting for 
a ,bite 7comic character74 7,see        
,wordsworth 8,to win a pittance from the
  cold1 unfeeling lake407    ,the       
,grist-,mill4 ,the ,miller4 7,a         

character from life2 ,standing at window
  of mill door4 8,the mills of the      
gods407    ,under the ,fall4 7,foam4    
,bubbles that reflect the glories of the
 world47    ,swallows4 7,skimming over  
water4 8,swallows skating on the air407 
,below the ,dam4 ,the ,ripples4 ,the    
marriage of the ,waters2 7see ,poem1    
,burns74 ,the ,camp4 ,shad-fishing4     
,the ,river    ,the ,osprey4 7,rising   
with fish4 ,tumult of water4 ,bald eagle
 and catfish1  incident1 ,cape ,cod47   
,see ,wolf's 8,wild ,animals40    ,the  
,canoe 7modern and ,indian74    ,the    
,toll ,bridge4 7,old covered bridge in  
spans47 ,bennett's ,bridge4  ,glimpse   
out from openings of bridge4    ,the    
,toll-man's daughter4 7,pathos4         
,dragging the ,river4 ,the white face   
among the lily-pads47    ,drifting4     
7,sentiment47    ,spearing ,fish by     
night4    ,drawing the ,seine4    ,the  
,rope ,ferry4 7,north ,hampton47        
,calling the ,ferry in 8ye olden tyme40 
7,the swarthy boatman4 ,the  ,ferryman's

 ,cottage4 ,interior of ,cottage47      
,cascade and ,factories4 7,moonlight47  
,through a ,large ,manufacturing ,town4 
,picturesque ,factories4    ,approach to
 ,salt ,water4 7,stooping from boat to  
drink from the  river1--brackish water6 
,this and the presence of the mallows   
which had  escaped our notice1 betoken  
the inroads of the sea47    ,rest this  
section herewith4    ,the ,delta and the
 ,deep ,sea    ,navigation4 7,scene on  
,hudson1 or ,connecticut1 or            
,mississippi4 ,barges4  ,twilight from  
ferry-boat2 7further on877    ,snipe    
,shooting4    ,wild ,ducks4 7,chesapeake
 ,bay4 ,clouds of duck1--and hunters47  
,salt ,marshes4 7,gathering ,salt hay4  
,see ,sound sketches4 8,picturesque     
,america407    ,crab-fishing4           
7,sheepshead ,bay47    ,low ,tide on    
,marsh4 7,fiddler crabs1 playing about  
holes47    ,from the edge of the ,boat4 
7,a natural aquarium4 ,hermit ,crabs1   
fishes1  mussels1 alg47    ,samphire    
gatherers4 7,see ,hawthorne4 ,footprints

 on ,seashore4 ,samphire  luncheon47    
,the ,prickly ,opuntia4 7,allude to the 
wondrous caress of the stamina4 ,a      
beautiful cactus1 common on our shores1 
yet quite unknown47    ,fisherman's     
,huts4 7,quaint houses made of          
canal-boats4 ,half canal-boat1  set up  
on end4 ,see studio prints47            
,gathering ,sea-weeds4    ,a ,nursling  
of the ,sea4 7,beautiful floating       
,laminaria47    ,the ,throng at the     
,surf4 7,coney ,island or ,rockaway47   
,oyster-dredging4 7,water in            
action--picturesque boat47    ,among the
 ,driftwood4 ,eggs of shark or skate4   
,wind-waves on ,sand4 7,original        
explanation47    ,sand ,yellow-,jackets 
digging caves in sand4    ,sand-spider4 
,gossamer tunnel4 ,fierce maternal      
solicitude4    ,fairy ,circles in ,sand 
7around bending grasses47    ,faint     
,columns of ,gnats in still twilight    
rising like streaks of smoke  from      
salt-marshes4    ,a ,marsh nest4        
,gulls4    ,tiger ,beetles and holes4   

,under the ,water4    ,rocky ,headland4 
7,mt4 ,desert1 ,nahant47    ,the        
,sporting ,shoal4 ,porpoises4    ,the   
,vasty ,deep4 ,limitless ,mid-ocean4    
,the ,return of the ,waters4            
,waterspout4 ,earth and ,heaven4 ,finis4
 ,a link  completing the cycle4         
,tailpiece4          ,,chapter ,,viii   
,,the ,,personal ,,side      ,there is a
 curious notice of ,gibson's work1      
written for a leading ,new  ,york       
publication in #ahhb1 which is          
calculated to fill the minds of his     
friends with wonder1 not unmingled with 
amusement4 ,the writer attempts a       
portrait of ,gibson's soul1 and does it1
 as the ,irishman made his              
chopping-block1 8out of his own head40  
8,in some way10 he 7or she7 says1  8,mr4
 ,gibson has never classed himself in   
our mind with the profession of         
illustrators1 but has seemed rather to  
stand apart1 to work in his own  ways1  
to avoid association1 to prefer lonely  
walks1 to follow his own  bent1 no      

matter where it leads1 and irrespective 
of any who come after  him4 ,these      
impressions have given a certain        
solitariness to his figure1  so that we 
fancy him wandering alone up and down   
the earth1 a man of  silence1 a man of  
keen and penetrating eye1 of ear attent1
 of swiftly  susceptible feelings1 who  
searches out nature in her recesses1 and
  coyest moods1 is on the friendliest   
terms with her1 to whose delicate  touch
 she lends herself with an indulgence   
which coarser lovers are  denied06 ,that
 extraordinary sketch of the personality
 of the man is a  most felicitous       
antithesis of the real ,gibson4 ,it     
happily describes  what he was not4 ,it 
is a capital portrait of somebody else4 
,just where  the writer got his         
materials for such a description1 it    
would be hard to  tell4 ,certainly not  
from personal contact with the subject4 
,it sounds  like a far-off account of   
,thoreau2 as if he had been taken as the
  likeliest type of a thoroughgoing     

nature lover1 and the lines drawn  after
 the similitude of his strange nature4  
,but it would be hard to find  two men  
in more total contrast than ,thoreau and
 ,gibson4 ,the former may  have loved   
8to stand apart1 to work in his own     
ways1 to avoid  association1 to prefer  
lonely walks40 ,but the latter loved to 
touch  elbows with his fellow-men2 to   
cultivate friendships and share the joys
  of society2 to walk with a company of 
congenial spirits1 from whom he  was    
always learning something1 unless they  
were those to whom he could  always     
teach something4 ,he was not the least  
bit of a recluse4 ,a  hermitage would   
have had no charms for him4 ,for he was1
 in the highest  sense1 8a man of the   
world10 who loved his kind1 and loved to
 live with  them4 ,there was no         
8solitariness0 about him4 ,he was       
eminently social4 ,so  far was he from  
8wandering alone up and down the world10
 that he always  drew a crowd about him1
 wherever he went4 ,he was no           

,mc,gregor1 to usurp  the head of the   
table2 but wherever ,gibson was1 there  
was the center of  the circle4 ,and1 far
 from being 8a man of silence10 he was  
the freest  and easiest of talkers1     
accessible1 communicative1 as genial as 
sunshine1 as fluent as a brook4    ,the 
nature which was in him began to express
 itself from the earliest  years4 ,in   
his school-days he was anything but the 
shy1 retiring child  which would be the 
father of such a man as our critic      
described2 and his  love and yearning   
for companionship and the expression of 
affection come  out in almost every one 
of his juvenile letters4 ,it is so      
seldom that a  boy's letters really     
express the boy's life that one does not
 feel that  they have any permanent     
interest4 ,but the boy ,gibson wrote    
letters which  deserve to be preserved4 
,they are as quaint as if they were     
fictitious4  ,they could not have been  
truer to life if they had been made out 
of  whole cloth4 ,it would be hard to   

match the following1 written when he    
was twelve years old1 from the          
8,gunnery02 its quaint and nave         
boyishness is delicious3                
8,,washington1 ,march #a1 #ahfc4        
8,,dear ,,mother3    8,i received your  
letter for the first in three weeks and 
was as happy as  a king and ,i am now4  
you may expect a letter from me every   
week4    8,only till the latter part of 
this month before the ,exhibition1 and  
then  comes vacation which ,i long for  
very much4 ,every ,friday the boys act a
  drama2 the last one was #8,love in    
'#gf1' and it was perfectly splendid    
and the one before that was #8,romance  
under ,difficulties1' and that was      
better than the last4 ,i wish you could 
send me up some small dramas  because ,i
 would like to read them4    8,the      
principal thing among the boys is       
catching mice with little box  traps1   
7like the one that ,grandpa made two or 
three summers ago7 which  we make       
ourselves4 ,one of the boys took some   

hoopskirt and made a cage  to keep his  
mice in and ,i made two and have got    
four traps4 ,the boy that  made the     
first trap made the first cage and he is
 a very ingenious boy  his name is      
,charley ,howard he is a nice boy and is
 liked throughout this  whole great     
institution as well as the other boys   
too4    8,it is a very unpleasant day   
first in the morning it snowed and next 
it  rained and now it is snowing again  
and looks as if it would snow a long    
while it is dark dismal and foggy4      
8,i am very sorry that ,cotty has so    
many boils1 because ,i can imagine how  
they feel but you must tell him he must 
try to be as patient as ,job if  he can4
 ,the other evening ,i touched the tip  
end of my nose to the stove  pipe the   
stove pipe being hot burnt the tip of my
 nose off so now  everywhere ,i go ,i am
 laughed at4 ,it don't hurt me any to be
 laughed at  if they leave my nose alone
 that is all ,i ask4    8,the other day 
,i was sliding out in the grove on the  

ice and ,i slipped  and fell and struck 
on my sore knee and now it cracks just  
like it did  first1 only it don't hurt  
me so much1 but ,i guess ,i will get    
over it  before long4 ,i am known in    
this school by the name of ,fatty and   
,pussy  and am so used to it that ,i    
take it as my own name4    8,please ask 
,julie and ,henry if they think that    
they are big enough to  read letters1   
and if they say yes tell them ,i will   
write to them you  tell me in your next 
letter4 ,in your answer let ,hubie write
 as he did in  one of your letters4     
8,and now as ,i have written you a long 
letter ,i will stop4 ,sending love  to  
you all and give them all a kiss for me4
    8,from your aff4 ,willie4           
8,p4 ,s4 ,excuse bad writing as ,i have 
a sore finger40         ,the same winter
 he wrote to his sister2 and surely     
nothing could be       more delightfully
 artless than the patronizing little    
moral       harangue with which the     
letter begins--a strain which ends in   

such       complacent satisfaction over 
his own success as a good boy6 ,it must 
have been mightily encouraging to the   
little girl4 ,but when he       drops   
into narrative and gives such a vivid   
account of his skating       adventures1
 one begins to feel the real boy's heart
 again3      8,,washington1 ,feb4 #bd1  
#ahfc4    8,,dear ,,julie3         8,i  
guess that you are getting to be a great
 big girl by this time       and ,i hope
 that you are trying to be a good girl  
too and that you       are trying to    
correct all your bad habits4 ,i am      
trying to do it and       succeed very  
well4         8,i will now tell you     
about my last skate2 we all started at  
half       past nine in the morning and 
went to a lake warramaug which is #e    
miles from ,mr4 ,gunn's house ,i walked 
up there and put on my skates       and 
off ,i went like a streak of blue       
greased lightning and the ice       was 
as smooth as glass and a foot thick     
after ,i skated about four       hours1 

something happened4 did the ice break1  
,no6 did my skate       break1 ,no6 ,my 
buckle1 ,,no6 the clouds broke and their
 contents were       spilled upon the   
earth and you had better believe that ,i
 got off my       skates and put for    
home with my legs in my boots4 ,it was a
 snow       storm4 ,on going home ,i    
summed up how many miles ,i had been    
that day       and found out that ,i had
 gone on my own legs no body else's you 
understand1 ,i had that day gone #bj    
miles4 the next day ,i was sick4        
,i soon got over it and was all right   
again4    8,i remain your aff4 ,brother 
8,willie4         8,give love to all    
write soon40    ,sometime during this   
same year he wrote in quite a different 
vein to his  mother4 ,he shows a spirit 
8strenuous0 enough to suit the most     
aggressive1 and as tender as strenuous4 
,there are two or three points of       
school ethics which appear with much    
force in his account of the  trouble3   
8,the other night a few of the boys     

7,henry and ,i included7 were           
playing #8blind man's buff' in the      
kitchen1 and ,i was it and one of       
the boys got a hand full of pepper and  
doused it in ,henry's eyes4       of    
course ,henry cried some1 but you       
couldn't get him to tell ,mr4           
,gunn and at last one of the boys       
,daniel ,b4 ,gunn told ,mr4 ,gunn and   
he called him in there and sent all the 
other boys to bed4 ,when ,i       was   
just getting in bed1 a knock came at my 
door and ,i opened it       and there   
stood #8,henry' with a handkerchief up  
to his face a crying       he kissed me 
good night and went in his room4 ,pretty
 soon after ,i       went in his room   
and he was still crying and told him not
 to mind       it but keep a wet        
handkerchief to it and it wouldn't ache 
much1 so       he did so and he felt    
quite comfortable4 ,i told ,ralph 7which
 was       the boy that did it7 if he   
ever did another thing of the kind to my
       brother1 ,i would knock him down1

 and ,i think ,i ought to4 ,if ,i had   
only seen ,ralph do it ,i would have    
knocked him down on the spot and        
teach him to mind his own business4     
8,according to ,mr4 ,gunn's rules       
#8,stick up for your ,brother' and ,i   
mean to do it4         8,with love to   
all1 ,i remain your aff4 son4           
8,,willie40        ,other letters       
written in these delightful school-days 
show him at the  time when the boy-mind 
begins to realize the importance of     
dress and of  personal adornment4 ,the  
episode of the diamond pin is told with 
characteristic frankness and vivacity4  
,but another paragraph from the  letter 
shows a most commendable fondness for   
his old hat--a marked  evidence of the  
genuine sentiment of the boy's nature4  
,the description  of the football field 
and its unfailing perils carries a      
contemporaneous  interest2 and a boy's  
account of his studies is always        
fascinating  reading4 ,the brief story  
of the prayer-meeting in 8,willie       

,beecher's0  room and his confidence in 
the leader who 8can explain about any   
passage  in the ,bible0 must close these
 glimpses into the real heart of an     
unspoiled and ingenuous boy4 ,they are a
 key to his nature1--its  frankness1    
heartiness1 enjoyment of simple things1 
a self-confidence  that was destined to 
help him touch the goal of a great      
success1  singularly combined with a    
humility which kept him always open to  
reproof1 correction1 and instruction in 
righteousness4 ,they show his  warm and 
affectionate nature1 which never changed
 but to deepen and  sweeten as he       
matured4 ,they reveal his earnestness   
and sincerity2 traits  which underlie   
all his qualities like the bedrock of   
the continent1 and  on which his fun and
 frolic grew as naturally as grass and  
foliage out  of the soil which masks and
 clothes the granite3    8,,washington1 
,,conn41 ,may #ba1 #ahfd4    8,,dear    
,,mother3         8,i arrived here      
safely4 ,meeting ,willie ,b4 and ,bertie

 ,b4  ,mary ,gunn       all at ,newtown 
in the cars4 ,we had a very pleasant    
time coming up        ,mrs4 ,gunn was   
delighted with the ,tulips4 ,everybody  
noticed my       diamond pin1  ,i tell  
you what6666 ,they praise it up1 saying 
asking me how much it cost8 and having  
me stand still1 so that they       might
 see it1 once in a while ,i do stand    
still  let them feast       their eyes  
on it4 ,some of them ask me if it is    
glass set round with       ,gutta       
,percha and brass4 ,i always tell them  
#8yes of course4' ,i tell       you     
what66 ,i'm proud of it and will keep it
  conform to your       rules4 ,i wear  
it whenever ,i go to school  put the    
guard on my       shirt1 so if the tie  
should fall off it would be held on4 ,i 
suppose       you remember the blue tie 
that you got me4 ,i wore it up from ,n4 
,y4       to here1  my rough coat       
rubbing against it made it look awful1  
bringing out all the shoddy1 and making 
it look like down all over       the    

tie4         8,when ,i got home ,i took 
every bit of the white stuff out  now   
all       the boys think it looks a     
great deal prettier4 ,dear ,mother ,i   
want       to tell you something about  
that hat4 ,it is one that ,i have had   
two       winters1 and ,i like it       
because it is so old4 ,i would rather   
have       this one than a new one1 and 
the other is not fit to wear and        
doesn't fit me1 so ,henry may have a new
 one4         8,mrs4 ,gunn thinks that  
,i ought to have my own old hat4 ,and   
she is       going to try and have the  
other one fixed up for ,henry4          
8,here ,i must stop1    ,i am your      
affectionate ,son1  8,,willie40         
,,right 8,,washington1 ,,conn41         
8,dec4 #f1 #ahfd4    8,,my ,,dear       
,,mother3         8,it is a very cold   
day1 and we have just come in from out  
doors4 ,we       all have been playing  
foot ball ,which is a very exciting     
game4       ,however ,i dont play much  
for the simple reason1 that ,i am too   

short       winded4 ,a great many of the
 boys get their shins kicked1 but ,i am 
very fortunate1 for ,i have never got   
mine kicked but once and       then ,i  
kicked it myself1 when ,i meant to have 
kicked the       foot-ball4 ,at all     
times of the recess you can look about  
the green       and see certain boys    
hopping about holding one leg up1 and   
crying4                99       99      
99       99       99         8,this year
 ,i study a great many lessons1 ,latin1 
,anatomy1       ,book-keeping1          
,spelling1  ,arithmetic4 ,in ,latin1 ,i 
get along nicely4       ,it seems a     
great deal easier this term than it ever
 has yet4 ,in       ,anatomy ,i get     
along perfectly splendid4 ,i know every 
bone in your       body and the latin   
7or ,scientific7 names of them all4 in  
book-keeping ,i get along nicely4 ,in   
,arithmetic ,i am in square root        
and ,i understand it perfectly4 ,i guess
 that if ,mr4 ,gunn writes to       you1
 he will say that ,i get along very well

 in my studies1 and you       can tell  
,father so too4         8,i suppose that
 he thinks that ,i idle away my time    
writing letters4       to be sure ,i do 
write a great many letters1 but ,i don't
 write       them until all my studies  
are learned4 now this is so4 ,and while 
a       person is away from home he     
wants to hear from his friends4 ,all the
       boys write a great many letters4 
8,please send me some postage stamps in 
your letter4         8,here ,i must stop
 with love to all4    8,i remain your   
aff4 ,son ,,willie40                    
8,,washington1 ,,conn41    8,jan4 #bb1  
#ahfe4    8,,my ,,dear ,,mother3        
8,are you getting better1 ,i hope so4 ,i
 am very anxious about you1  you  must  
not think that ,i forget you1 because ,i
 think of you all the time1  and pray   
for you every night4    8,willie        
,beecher has a prayer-meeting in his    
room every saturday night1   a great    
many boys attend4 ,i am one of them1 and
 ,i am liked more this  term than any   

yet4 ,willie is superintendent and he   
can explain1 about  any passage in the  
bible1 to us1 so that we can perfectly  
understand  it40    ,but the poor boy   
did not always keep his lofty and       
self-approving mood4  ,near the close of
 the same year he had occasion to       
realize how hard it  is to tread the    
right line of virtue4 ,his wrath at one 
of the boys and  his doings got the     
better of his good feeling1 and he      
vented himself in  some strong language 
written to one of the boys at home4     
,this1 being  brought to his mother's   
attention1 drew down a sharp reprimand1 
which  was quite effectual1--almost too 
effectual one feels1 on reading dear    
,mrs4 ,gunn's calm and wise view of it4 
,but the quick1 passionate grief of  the
 repentant boy shows his warm and       
wholesome heart3    8,,washington1 ,dec4
 #ith1 #ahfc4    8,,dear ,,mother3      
8,i received your letter and with       
repeated sobs heard ,mrs4 ,gunn read    
it to me4 ,i am very sorry for what ,i  

said in ,frank's letter and ,i          
sincerely promise that ,i never will    
commit such a wrong again4 ,and       do
 please forgive me this time and take me
 into your arms again4       ,tell ,mrs4
 ,howard if you see her that ,i am very 
sorry and will never       permit such a
 thing to come out of my mouth again4 ,i
 will write to       ,frank and         
apologize for it4 ,and ,i don't think   
you will ever reprove       me of such a
 wrong again4         8,with much love  
,i remain your affectionate ,son        
8,,willie4        8,he that calleth his 
brother a fool is in danger of hell     
fire4 ,i will  remember this40    ,when 
this letter went to his mother ,mrs4    
,gunn sent the following with  it4      
8,wednesday eve4    8,,my ,,dear ,,mrs4 
,,gibson3         8,willie was almost   
heartbroken1 when he heard your letter1 
which he       had given to me to read  
to him1 without a suspicion of its      
contents4 ,he went immediately1 without 
prompting from any one1 and       wrote 

this answer4 ,i am glad to see that he  
makes no attempt to       excuse        
himself1 and ,i rejoice that the        
#8expression' came so soon to       your
 knowledge4 ,he will never forget the   
lesson4 ,i know he is not       in the  
habit of using such expressions1 and    
cannot account for his       having     
written it4 ,i think he does not quarrel
 at all with ,henry4       ,you will    
think from ,henry's letter to ,juliet1  
that he is suffering       from         
homesickness1 but he seems perfectly    
happy4 ,his mother's       letter made  
him long to see you all and he wrote to 
,juliet       immediately4 ,he and      
,bertie are very happy together and he  
is       getting on nicely now with all 
the boys4 ,at first he used to get      
himself into trouble constantly by      
calling them names1 and treating        
them as ,i suppose he had been treated  
by village boys in ,newtown4 ,i         
presume it was that which made ,willie  
write of him as he did1 as he       was 

very much annoyed by it4 ,i have heard  
nothing of it for some       days past1 
and conclude that he has discovered the 
way to live       happily and pleasantly
 with the other boys4 ,he is a dear     
little       fellow and always good to  
us1 obedient and cheerful4    ,in haste1
 yours sincerely1    8,a4 ,j4 ,,gunn40  
,in a letter written a week later he    
comes back to the subject in the  same  
tone of grief and honest penitence2 and 
he gives another glimpse at  his real   
nature4 ,for when a boy tells you what  
he thinks about after he  has gone to   
bed at night1 he has taken you very much
 into his  confidence4    8,,washington1
 ,,conn41 ,dec4 #ae1 #ahfc4    8,,dear  
,,mother3    8,you can't realize how    
sorry ,i feel for that great misconduct 
that  happened about a week ago and ,i  
want to be forgiven4 ,will you forgive  
me  this time4    8,christmas is now    
near at hand and ,i have concluded to   
stay here and ,i  suppose you had rather
 have me to4 ,mrs4 ,gunn has just got   

through  reading #8,eric or little by   
little' and the boys were delighted with
 it  only they didn't like to have the  
#8hero' of the story die4 ,they expected
  to have it turn out that he would be a
 great man3 ,but it didn't4 ,you  know  
that he died on hearing that his ,mother
 was very sick and might  die4 ,it ended
 up very sad and scarcely a boy ceased  
to cry4 ,it is a  beautiful book and    
impressed several things on the hearts  
of some of our  boys and ,i realy       
believe it has done them some good and  
if it hasn't  done them any ,i think it 
has me4 ,often in bed ,i think of       
#8,eric' and hope  that ,i will never do
 some of the bad things he did2 but1 on 
the other  hand if ,i turn out to be as 
good a boy as he turned out to be ,i    
will be  satisfied and ,i guess you will
 to40    ,out of such a frank1 hearty1  
kindly boyhood1 there matured its       
natural  and necessary fruit4 ,the boy  
was father to the man4 ,the mature      
,gibson  was no disappointment to the   

hopes of those who had known him in     
youth4  ,he had all the charm of a      
perfectly natural and wholesome nature1 
developing along lines which            
strengthened constantly all that was    
noblest and most admirable in it4 ,he   
was able to express himself fully  in   
his work2 and his self-expression       
constantly broadened and deepened  his  
best qualities4    ,his exuberant nature
 continually overflowed in fun4 ,his    
seriousness was  tempered by an         
unfailing sense of humor1 and his       
tremendous energy was  stopped short of 
oppressiveness by his capacity for play4
 ,he had the  secret of perpetual youth4
 ,he always kept the heart of boyhood4  
,his  letters bubbled with mirth4 ,his  
talk was bright with it4 ,all his       
friends  have memories of this side of  
his life which form one of the most     
delightful legacies from that past4 ,but
 there is no preserving the             
effervescence of such a nature4 ,it is  
never the same on the memorial  page4   

,his own spirit was so much a part of it
 all that without his  personality      
behind the joke it would lose half its  
point4 ,but whether he  made sport for a
 company1 as in his droll stories at the
 club1 or raised  the laugh in the flow 
of personal talk1 his touch was sure1   
his humor  was contagious4    ,probably 
no trait in him thus throve and grew as 
did his enthusiasm1 his  zest in living1
 his love of what he did1 and what he   
saw1 and what he  contributed to other  
lives4 ,to all who knew him he was a    
fellow of  infinite zest4 ,he enjoyed   
life4 ,he enjoyed all lives1 both great 
and  small1 human and sub-human4 ,a     
friend used to say of him that ,gibson  
was  a man who thoroughly enjoyed       
himself4 ,no doubt he did4 ,for that is 
only another way of saying that he      
rejoiced in the things ,god had given   
him1 the powers which were at once      
endowment and working capital in his    
life4 ,no man ever took more keen       
delight in what is commonly counted the 

drudgery of toil4 ,he really did not    
seem to be conscious of the hardship  of
 hard work or the irksomeness of the set
 task4 ,he so thoroughly loved  the     
thing which he did1 that all labor was a
 labor of love4 ,that took  away the    
sense of bondage to his business1 and   
was one of the secrets of  his immense  
endurance1 his elasticity under heavy   
loads1 his exuberance  of spirits in    
situations when most men would have sunk
 overwhelmed4    ,he had the trait which
 marks all such natures1 a              
whole-heartedness in  all that he       
undertook1 which made him a difficult   
man to overcome1 to  put down1 or to    
defeat4 ,that was obvious in all his    
hard apprenticeship2  in his determined 
struggle for success2 in his loyalty to 
his own  ideals4 ,it came out in some   
other incidents of his life4 ,his       
vigorous  fight against the spirit of   
vandalism which threatened the natural  
beauties of ,prospect ,park1 at the     
hands of a dense and narrow             

officialism1 was a case in point4 ,in   
the spring of #ahhg1 ,mr4 ,gibson1 in   
the course of a stroll through the      
,park1 was filled with the              
consternation and wrath which are       
inevitable in a real nature-lover when  
he finds that ignorant and unsympathetic
 hands--and heads--have been  busy      
destroying the natural beauties which   
years of artificial culture  cannot make
 good4 ,as he wrote in a communication  
to one of the most  reputable journals  
of the day3 8,one of the wildest and    
most beautiful  sections of the ,park   
had been invaded by the butcherly ,goths
 and ,vandals  known as our ,park       
,commissioners4 ,chaos reigned on every 
side--beautiful  fresh trees by the     
score1 lying in piles of logs among seas
 of chips1  bonfires of brushwood on    
every hand1 and the beauty of the place 
otherwise hacked and slashed on all     
sides40 ,gibson at once sounded an      
emphatic and indignant warning through  
the columns of the ,brooklyn  8,eagle40 

,the ,park ,commissioners replied       
through an agent in contemptuous        
fashion1 and declared that all they had 
been doing was to cut down 8a  lot of   
ailanthus trees40 ,they did not know the
 caliber of their critic4  ,in a second 
letter ,gibson reiterated his charges   
and showed as the  result of actual     
count and careful identification1 that  
over two hundred  trees had been felled 
in one small acre1 and that these       
included large  and beautiful specimens 
of white birch1 black birch1 willow1    
elm1  poplar1 sweet-gum1 flowering      
dogwood1 hornbeam1 ,european alder1     
nettle-tree1 young maple1 and numerous  
other varieties of the minor  sylvae1   
comprising one of the most beautiful    
pieces of underwood to be  found in any 
park4 ,the ,park ,commissioners met this
 new charge with a  square denial4      
,gibson produced new and indisputable   
evidence to confute  them2 induced a    
committee of gentlemen of the highest   
standing and  intelligence to           

investigate the premises and the        
evidences of his  accuracy1--including  
,dr4 ,charles ,h4 ,hall1 ,dr4 ,charles  
,c4 ,hall1 ,dr4  ,truman ,j4 ,backus1   
and ,dr4 ,almon ,gunnison1--who over    
their own names  verified all his       
statements4 ,then the ,commissioners    
were forced to admit  his charges 7and  
thus1 indirectly1 their own             
untruthfulness71 but  claimed that what 
they had done was in the nature of the  
8improvement0  of the ,park4 ,then      
,gibson challenged the discomfited      
,commissioners to  refer their claim of 
8improvement0 to ,samuel ,parsons1 the  
,superintendent  of ,central ,park1     
requesting his expert decision whether  
this cutting was  or was not a          
justifiable artistic or skilful piece of
 landscape  gardening4 ,the challenge   
was not accepted4 ,there was no need    
that it  should be4 ,gibson had roused a
 vigorous public sentiment which forced 
the ,commissioners to call a halt in    
their reckless and stupid work2 and  his

 absolute honesty1 accuracy1 and        
readiness as an advocate had put his    
adversaries to shame and confusion4 ,the
 incident is well worth recalling  as an
 evidence of what one honest and        
vigorous citizen can do in the          
correction of a public evil4 ,it is even
 more interesting as an  illustration of
 the thoroughness and grasp of his mind 
on all subjects  of which he claimed any
 right to speak4    ,his encounters with
 his critics were often as amusing as   
they were  interesting1 on account of   
the completeness with which he would    
effect  their refutation and overthrow4 
,his very neat rejoinder to that        
redoubtable critic1 ,charles ,a4 ,dana1 
was a piquant instance of the care  with
 which he took a position1 as well as of
 the skill with which he  defended it4  
,mr4 ,dana had taken ,gibson to task in 
the columns of the  8,sun10 for using   
the form 8witch-hazel0 instead of       
8wych-hazel10 which  he held to be the  
correct and original form1--8wych0 being

 an old ,saxon  word which means        
8hanging10 and has been applied to      
foliage with pendent  stems4 ,gibson    
responded in a very brief letter showing
 that while both  forms of the word had 
sanction1 yet that the oldest and the   
latest  botanists used the form which he
 had adopted1 as well as the most       
reputable dictionaries of that date4    
,his summing-up1 in a letter to the     
8,new ,york ,tribune10 is too           
well-turned to be translated or         
abridged4    8,who then are my          
authorities8 ,the botanical scholars2   
,thoreau1 ,tennyson2  ,the ,imperial    
,dictionary1 ,stormonth's1 ,webster's1  
and ,worcester's  ,dictionaries2 and ,i 
might add1 last but by no means least1  
#8,the ,american  ,cyclopedia1' an able 
authority which presents conspicuously  
the  questioned form #8witch-hazel1' and
 upon whose title-page1 by the way1  the
 name of ,charles ,a4 ,dana appears     
significantly as editor40    ,well might
 an intimate friend write to him1 after 

such an effective  8counter03 8,against 
a literary shot like that1 which hits   
the bull's eye  squarely in the center1 
no #8literary sins' of a minor order can
 count  for much even when they are     
proved2 and no one who has the power to 
make  the shot need be over-modest about
 his literary ability--he has the       
essential thing40    ,quite as dramatic 
in its completeness was the refutation  
to which he  subjected a critic of his  
illustrations1 who had accused him of   
owing  much that there was of merit in  
his pictures to the skill of his        
engravers4 ,gibson's own letter tells   
the whole story and exposes his  critic 
in the fewest possible words4    ,this  
is the incident referred to in one of   
,mr4 ,roe's letters to ,gibson  which   
appears in his memoir 7p4 #ahi74        
8,the ,editor of the #8,tribune4'       
8,,dear ,,sir3         8,i observe this 
evening in the current number of the    
#8,critic1' an       art reference which
 calls for a slight correction4 ,in a   

review of       #8,nature's ,serial     
,story1' by ,e4 ,p4 ,roe1 after paying a
 delicate       compliment to the       
illustrations of the volume the reviewer
 goes on       to say that1 #8without   
detracting from the artist's meed of    
praise1       the most remarkable thing 
about these illustrations is the        
extraordinary skill displayed by the    
engravers4444 ,mr4 ,henry ,marsh1       
whose delicacy and precision of touch   
are marvelous1 shows the       still    
rarer power of taking up the theme      
submitted to him by the       artist and
 adding increment after increment of    
meaning to it until       it becomes    
almost wholly his own4 ,his engraving of
 8,a ,winter       ,thunder-,storm0 is  
the finest thing in the book4 ,we give  
the credit       to him because we know 
that ,mr4 ,gibson's forte is not in     
landscape4'         8,i yield to no one 
in my admiration of ,mr4 ,marsh not only
 as a       master and a poet in his    
art1 but equally as an esteemed personal

       friend4 ,indeed ,i love him too  
well1 and have too great a respect      
for his interpretative genius to see    
attributed to him a piece of       work 
which ,i am sure he would not care to   
claim1 although it is       #8the finest
 thing in the book' and fraught with    
#8increment after       increment of    
meaning' and which is nevertheless      
nothing but a       photo-engraved      
plate1 by a purely mechanical process4  
,of course the       #8,critic' 787 will
 hasten to make all due acknowledgments 
and place       the credit where it     
righteously belongs1 i4 e41 to the ,ives
       ,photo-,engraving ,company1      
,phila41 ,pa41 whose admirable process  
has       reproduced not only this1 but 
several others of the illustrations     
in which the aforesaid alleged marvelous
 #8increment' was       discovered4     
,such is fame6         8,shade of       
,albrecht ,drer6 ,who are our critics80 
,mr4 ,roe wrote under date of ,dec4 #bi1
 #ahhd3 8,you did indeed win a victory  

over the #8incrementitious' critic4 ,i  
should think he would wish to crawl     
into a small hole1 and pull the hole in 
after him4 ,i enjoyed your  triumph as  
much as if it had been my own4 ,it was  
the neatest thrust  under the fifth rib 
,i ever saw1 and ,i fear ,i shall never 
have enough of  ,christian meekness not 
to enjoy seeing a fellow receive his    
cong when  so well deserved4 ,dr4       
,abbott and ,i took part in the #8wake' 
up here40    ,another instance of his   
trapping the friendly critic is         
preserved in his  correspondence4       
,colonel ,gibson had objected to the    
8,old ,barnyard0 as  pictured in        
8,pastoral ,days40 8,the sloppy slush   
through which the man is  splashing0 he 
wrote1 8is almost too faithful4 ,but1 my
 dear fellow1--an  apple-tree in a      
cow-yard6--and loose fence-posts leaning
 on it6444 ,and  do you ever see trees  
or shrubs on the pond side of a mill80  
7referring  to the skating scene in the 
same paper74 ,to which ,gibson the      

artist made  answer as follows3    8,i  
have had considerable amusement over my 
large and most important work  at the   
last display1 viz43 #8,autumn at ,knoll 
,farm1' bought first day by  ,henry     
,ward ,beecher1 who says that #8the     
,colmans1 the ,giffords1 or the  ,smiths
 can't beat it4' ,he tells all his      
friends so1 and in his  appreciation of 
it only sounds the universal praise     
which it met with2  but1 mark you6 ,our 
most high-toned and modern art          
publication1 #8,the ,art  ,review1'     
which employs the finest staff of       
contributors the country  affords1      
contained in its last issue a criticism 
that #8did me proud' and  at the same   
time gave me a jolly laugh at the way ,i
 had #8fooled' one of  our most noted   
art critics4 ,he went on at the         
beginning of his  #8critique' to condemn
 lightly the body-color school1 claimed 
that it  took away from the atmosphere1 
#8made mud1' was always likely to hurt  
rather than improve a painting4 ,he     

hedged himself however in the  statement
 that #8a skilful hand could obtain a   
finer effect with #8body  color' than an
 unskilled hand with wash4' ,but he did 
not see the  necessity of using it at   
all4' #8,not even for the most bold     
subjects is  it necessary4' 444 #8,take 
for instance ,swain ,gifford's 7,i      
forget title1  but it was a very strong 
bit of color71 rich and full of         
strength1 or  even ,w4 ,h4 ,gibson's    
very strong 8,autumn10 all rocks and    
tree trunks and  weeds and admirable    
sky1 all done with pure blots4' ,mark   
you6 ,those  rocks and tree trunks and  
weeds were all put in thick with body   
color1  painted over4 ,the result was a 
rich full texture1 that could not have  
been got in wash without at least much  
more labor and ,i doubt even then4      
,others are deceived in the same way1   
and ,i repeat that the result           
sanctifies the means1 and ,i will       
guarantee to deceive any critic in the  
country on the question of body color4  

,i sold    ,illustration3 ,late ,october
    ,from a ,painting    three of my    
pictures and it looks as though the rest
 would go too4    8,i am glad you       
admired my #8,idyl' and especially so   
that you should have  thought to write  
me about it4 ,it is always pleasant to  
receive such  letters1 although         
unpleasant to think that you are obliged
 to send such  horrible scrawls in      
return4 ,but ,i believe you are good at 
#8puzzles' even  if it is a #ac4ae4ad4  
,but you slipped up in your overhauling 
of that barn  with its fence-posts      
leaning against an apple-tree1 and an   
#8apple-tree  in a barn-yard'6 ,know1 my
 friend1 that that apple-tree and barn1 
with  all their #8improbabilities' in   
the way of posts and apple-trees1 etc41 
were direct from a photograph which ,i  
made from nature with my little  camera1
 and all these things were there4 ,the  
old mill with its  #8pond-side trees'   
was also from nature1 and if you will   
take another  look at it1 consider these

 questions meanwhile3 ,what does the    
mill stand  on8 ,could not a tree grow  
from the ground at its other indefinite 
end  and spread toward you80    ,he was 
a man of many and warm friendships4 ,it 
was natural for him to  like and to love
 his fellow-men4 ,he opened his heart   
and his lips  readily to all who came to
 him in sincerity and in friendliness4  
,but he  had special places in his life 
and thoughts for those who stood nearest
  to him in sympathy and affinity4 ,the 
8old boys0 of the 8,gunnery0 were       
accorded a high place in his heart1 and 
so were those who later became  his     
neighbors in ,washington4 ,his affection
 for ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,gunn was  almost a 
sacred passion with him1 and never waned
 but rather grew  throughout his life4  
,very tender and beautiful were the     
expressions of  this affection which    
passed between himself and his old      
teacher4    ,no less genuine and tender 
was his devotion to ,henry ,ward        
,beecher1 his  pastor as a boy in       

,plymouth1 his friend and sympathizer   
always4 ,his  frank and open nature was 
one to which the warm heart of the great
  preacher would naturally be drawn2 and
 ,beecher's fervid1 enthusiastic        
personality would as inevitably attract 
and hold the appreciative1  impulsive   
heart of the young artist4 ,there was   
little danger of  misunderstanding      
between these two4 ,through all the     
great sorrow of ,mr4  ,beecher's life1  
young ,gibson was his enthusiastic      
champion1 his loyal  friend4 ,his own   
heart was heavy and hot by turns1 over  
the hounding of  ,mr4 ,beecher4 ,he     
wrote at the close of a letter to his   
wife3    8,mr4 ,d4 worked me up into a  
red-hot rage this evening1 by his       
insufferable and insulting remarks      
against ,mr4 ,beecher4 ,if he were a    
gentleman he would at least have manners
 enough not to insult ,mr4  ,beecher to 
my face1 knowing him to be my pastor and
 personal friend40    ,in a later letter
 of the same year1 he excuses himself   

for not writing  oftener1 by saying3    
8,my mind has been full of this trouble1
 not through anxiety about ,mr4         
,beecher's innocence or guilt1 but more 
through my belief in his  innocence and 
consequent pity and sorrow for him4 ,i  
love him almost as a  father4 ,he has   
done more than ,i can tell for my       
spiritual good1 and his  kindness and   
interest in me have drawn me close to   
him40    ,he poured his whole heart into
 a letter which he sent with the volume 
which he had dedicated to ,mr4 ,beecher3
    ,,authors ,,club    8#ai ,,west     
#bd,,th ,,street1 ,,new ,,york1    8,dec
 #bc1 '#hf4    8,,dear ,,mr4            
,,beecher3--         8,i send herewith  
the volume which ,i have taken the      
liberty of       inscribing to you4 ,if 
you shall find between these brief lines
 any       deeper sentiment than there  
appears1 any grateful acknowledgment of 
a friendship which ,i have been         
fortunate and proud to possess1         
which ,i have sought to deserve and     

which has been most fondly              
returned2 of thanks for many kindnesses 
on the threshold of my       struggle   
for recognition1 and of your continual  
helpful and welcome       encouragement2
 of sincere gratitude too toward my     
pastor1 who from       earliest youth   
has quickened my aspirations toward a   
high ideal of       character and a life
 of usefulness and integrity2--if you   
shall       discover these and thus     
learn how close a place you hold in my  
affections1 then you shall read truly   
the spirit of my dedication4            
8,with hopes that the coming ,christmas 
may be blest with peace and       joy to
 you and yours and that your helpful    
companionship may be       spared to all
 of us with health and happiness to     
yourself and with       continual       
beneficence to others for many years to 
come1    8,believe me1    8,yours       
affectionately1    8,w4 ,,hamilton      
,,gibson40        ,an interesting       
side-light is thrown on a now memorable 

event in ,plymouth  ,church in another  
letter1 written on the same day on which
 ,mr4 ,beecher  delivered his famous    
sermon in denunciation of ,calvinism1   
and made his  outspoken and unmistakable
 revolt against the stern dogmas of an  
older  day4 ,there is little doubt that 
,gibson was one of the quickest and     
heartiest in the applause which he      
describes3    8,mr4 ,beecher delivered1 
this morning1 to an immense audience the
 finest  sermon of his life1--the most  
eloquent effort1 without doubt1 that    
ever  escaped his lips4 ,he was heartily
 applauded throughout the house several 
times1 as he vehemently denounced the   
right of bishops and other              
ecclesiastical heads1 to usurp authority
 in the ,church4 ,true  ,christianity1  
he said1 implied liberty4 ,men should   
not turn their hearts  to ,christ       
through fear but through love4 ,the ,god
 that has been and is  still preached in
 the churches throughout the land1 is   
not a god but a  devil4 ,if he could    

picture a monster the most horrible and 
cruel  imaginable it would be the ,god  
which is preached in many of our        
churches  and to thousands of our       
people4 ,he maintained his utter        
independence1  and said that no man     
could say to him what he should do or   
what he  should not do1 he was          
responsible to ,god alone1 and if he was
 inspired  to preach the gospel to his  
people he would do it with all his heart
 and  all his soul and would give       
utterance to every thought he chose4    
#8,men  say ,i shall not1 ,i say ,i     
shall4' ,christianity1 he said1 had been
  trampled under foot by the spirit of  
ecclesiastical authority1 that the  time
 was approaching when liberty in the    
church was to rule triumphant  and until
 it did the world would suffer4    8,his
 voice rose very high and it was        
altogether the most eloquent effort  he 
has ever made in this pulpit1--and is so
 conceded by all whom ,i have  spoken   
with4 ,i never saw ,mr4 ,beecher when he

 appeared happier and  healthier than   
now4    8,it had been almost decided to 
send him away on a six months' vacation 
for rest1 but he to-day refused to take 
it1 saying that he did not need  it and 
would rather stay at home with his      
people as #8they needed his  preaching  
and he needed to preach4' ,i am going to
 call on him soon40    ,to attempt to   
enumerate the authors and the artists1  
the critics and the  clergymen1 the     
naturalists and the nature 8amateurs0   
with whom he was on  friendly and even  
intimate terms would be to make a long  
catalogue of  the most eminent men of   
his time4 ,it would include such names  
as ,stedman  and ,stoddard1 ,beard and  
,murphy1 ,abbott and ,ludlow1 ,burroughs
 and ,roe and  ,ellwanger1 ,parsons and 
,alden and the ,egglestons4 ,his        
correspondence  included men and women  
from all over the world4 ,his genius    
appealed to  men of all classes and     
pursuits--to all who had the simple     
heart of  childhood and its open eye4   

,and that genius was so full of the     
vitality  of the individual1 so warm    
with his own personality1 that to admire
 him  as artist or naturalist was to be 
drawn to him as a man4 ,he seemed to    
come to people as a friendly interpreter
 and as a helpful friend1  unlocking new
 gates outward into nature's life1      
disclosing new horizons1  telling new   
secrets of the ,cosmos4 ,the tone of the
 letters he received  from hundreds of  
unknown admirers shows that he was      
everywhere held as a  personal friend1 a
 teacher who won at once the attention1 
the  admiration1 and the love of his    
disciples4    ,two letters from         
correspondents curiously remote from    
each other are  types of the hundreds   
who were drawn by the human spirit of   
his writings  to ply him with questions1
 or overwhelm him with appreciation and 
gratitude4 ,from the confines of        
civilization on the north to the        
boundary of the nation on the south1 the
 friends whom he had made by his  pencil

 and his pen1 his art and his scientific
 knowledge1 appealed to  him with an    
instinctive feeling that he would       
understand them1 welcome  them1 help    
them if he could4 ,nor were they ever   
disappointed4 ,the first  letter is from
 bleak ,anticosti ,island3    8,,the    
,,lighthouse1    8,south ,west ,point1  
8#acth ,may1 #ahie4    8,,dear ,,mr4    
,,gibson3         8,we hesitated a long 
time before coming to you with this     
question4       ,we knew that so many   
must worry you in the same way1 and yet 
we       have come at last like the     
rest4 ,i can only hope you will forgive 
us4 ,we live on ,anticosti1 an island   
with a very bad name in the       ,gulf 
of ,st4 ,lawrence4 ,i know you never    
heard a good word of it4 ,i       must  
beg you1 though1 to believe that it is  
as much belied as the       toadstools  
you championed last year4 ,its woods and
 plains are full       of treasures and 
among them goodly stores of those same  
toadstools4       ,they were all under  

the ban1 though1 as in other places and 
we       dared only look at them        
regretfully4         8,you don't know   
how glad we were when you broke the     
spell in       #8,harper's' last summer4
 ,i don't think anybody else was so     
glad4 ,you       know we live alone here
 and try to make friends of #8all       
out-doors'       and anything like this 
means more to us than to most people4   
8,for a while then we were happy4 ,we   
knew you and we had faith       enough  
in ourselves to believe that we were    
able to understand       anything you   
wrote for everyday folks1 let alone     
something that led       them among     
deadly poisons4 ,but very soon we began 
to fret4 ,nearly       every toadstool  
we met near home was a ,russula and     
generally far       larger and more     
delicious-looking than anything else we 
could find       far or near4           
8,they went through every shade of      
redness and pinkness and                
pepperiness4 ,i should be afraid to say 

how often ,i vowed with       pricking  
lips that ,i would taste no more4 ,some 
#8were not so very       red or so very 
peppery' and then #8how very far ,mr4   
,gibson must be       keeping on the    
safe side for the sake of stupid        
people4' ,i tried       cooking some of 
them though ,i felt in my heart that    
they were the       same as the rest and
 found them very good4 ,but every one   
was1 and       very reasonably1 shy of  
them4         8,at this critical time we
 came across the article enclosed4      
8,here was another excitement4 ,but who 
was ,charles ,mc,ilvaine8 #8,he         
knows what he is talking about anyway1' 
,i said1 #8and ,i am going to       try 
the whole red tribe'2 and ,i did4       
8,they were all he said and after a     
while the others took courage       and 
we even gave some to a friend who had   
discovered the common       mushroom for
 us4         8,i felt misgivings all    
through the winter1 though1 about the   
coming season4 ,i did not want to risk  

unpleasantness and #8emeticus'       is 
such a very ominous name4 ,and who was  
,mc,ilvaine1 after all8       ,wasn't it
 rash to listen to him8         8,and lo
 and behold you talk now in the         
#8,bazar' of ,captain ,charles          
,mc,ilvaine the eminent mycologist6     
8,did you know that he said all that    
about the ,russula8 ,if we follow       
his advice what risk do we run of making
 people ill8 ,we don't mind       so    
much about ourselves but we must think a
 little more of our       guests4 ,they 
are rare enough without poisoning any of
 them4         8,please give us just a  
little word of advice1 anything you find
       time to say4 ,and please1 even if
 you cannot excuse this liberty and     
cannot say anything1 send me back the   
newspaper cutting4         8,i never    
intended to say all this when ,i began  
and feel quite       ashamed when ,i    
look back at the length of my letter4   
,hoping that       you will excuse it1  
believe me with warmest thanks and      

gratitude1    8,yours faithfully1       
8,,grace ,,pope4    ,,hang  8,w4        
,,hamilton ,,gibson1 ,esq41  8,,new     
,,york40        ,the second letter1 a   
few years before1 came from the extreme 
southwest3    8,,san ,,antonio1 ,,texas1
    8,jan'y #acth1 #ahib4      8,,my    
,,dear ,,mr4 ,,gibson3         8,will   
you pardon me1 an entire stranger1 and a
 ,texan writing to       you1 but ,i    
want to tell you how much ,i have       
enjoyed and profited by       reading   
your #8,sharp ,eyes4' ,a good friend    
sent it from ,denver as a       ,xmas   
remembrance and each night ,i read some 
portion because it is a       never     
failing delight to read of my many      
familiar friends in ,nature       you   
describe in such a clear and delightful 
manner4 ,knowing your       time is     
valuable and you are of human patience1 
though you have the       young lover of
 ,nature at heart1 ,i am tempted to ask 
you to solve       for me a problem that
 has been not only a mystery for several

 years       but an actual annoyance not
 to be able to find a satisfactory      
explanation4 ,it is this4 ,often in     
winter time we see flies and            
mosquitoes swollen almost to bursting   
attached to panes of glass1       their 
little bodies oftentimes striped like a 
yellow wasp's and       surrounding them
 and attached to the glass is a misty   
deposit of       some kind4 ,it is the  
cause and object of this misty deposit  
,i seek4       ,if you will enlighten me
 upon this subject by explanation or    
reference you will add only one more    
favor to a large number4         8,that 
you have been the means of adding       
greatly to the pleasure and             
instruction of the present generation1  
young and old1 ,i see from my           
limited field of observation4 ,that you 
may be spared many years to             
continue your good work and enjoy the   
pleasures of ,god's ,nature in          
this world and reap a rich reward in the
 ,life hereafter is the       earnest   

wish of    8,your sincere admirer1      
8,,archibald ,a4 ,,alexander40          
,one could add to these indefinitely4 ,a
 minister in the northwest1 a  lover of 
flowers and a true woodsman1 has a fine 
program for a canoeing  trip on         
,minnesota rivers and lakes2 a farmer's 
wife writes to ask  direction to some   
simple manual which will help her copy  
flowers in  color1 and encloses some    
examples of her simple work2 an admiring
 poet  sends some verses which will not 
scan1 and will be glad to have her      
adulations published1--and remuneration 
secured2 another admirer insists  that  
he is not an autograph fiend1--but he   
would like a letter in  reply to his    
praises2 an impecunious poet suggests an
 immediate loan of  ten dollars2 a      
mother in a western state sends some    
admirable sketches  done by her daughter
 and wishes his judgment upon their     
merits4 ,people  felt his kindly nature 
in his writings and in his pictures4 ,it
 was a  virtue that went out of him1 and

 drew like a loadstone4    ,nowhere1    
perhaps1 outside the charmed and        
privileged circle of the  8,gunnery0    
boys1--they were always 8boys0 and      
8girls0 to one  another6--was he more   
welcome or more warmly cherished than at
 the  ,authors ,club4 ,he counted it a  
great honor to be chosen into that      
favored circle1 and as he was one of its
 earliest members1 so he was one  of its
 most constant and loyal supporters4    
,whenever he could he joined  in its    
social conclaves and its decorous       
revels2 and his presence was  always a  
guarantee of good fellowship1           
unconstrained1 talkative1 and           
sparkling4 ,in the earliest home of the 
,club in ,east ,fifteenth ,st42 in  its 
rooms in ,west ,twenty-fourth ,st42     
later in the ,west ,twenty-third ,st4   
quarters2 and finally in the soaring    
apartments to which it attained1        
,gibson's was one of the familiar       
figures1 as it was one of those most    
commonly sought out of strangers4 ,but  

it was never a figure with 8a  certain  
solitariness10 as seen by his           
imaginative critic4 ,wherever  ,gibson  
sat or stood1 there was sure to be a    
group4 ,men gathered about  him as birds
 flock to the banks of a rippling       
stream4 ,nor was he any  slower in      
coming to the side of others4 ,he sought
 companionship as  frankly as he gave   
it4 ,he was always running over with    
bright1  attractive talk2 but he had a  
willing ear4 ,he was conscious of his   
power  to attract2 but it never bred in 
him the slightest condescension toward  
others4 ,he was passionately fond of    
wit1 and humor1 and all the honest  fun 
of life2 but he never showed a particle 
of coarseness1 and he never  confounded 
fun with foulness4 ,he was as much at   
home with the largest  minds and        
characters as he was with the simple    
farmers and rustics1 he  delighted to   
describe2 for he met all men on the     
ground of their common  brotherhood1    
,illustration3 ,the ,edge of the ,woods 

,from a ,painting    and had no absurd  
consciousness of external condition and 
accidental  differences to embarrass    
him4 ,his reverence and his             
religiousness were  profound elements of
 his nature4 ,he was no formalist4      
,probably he did  not set a very high   
value upon some of the externals of     
spiritual life  which seem so important 
to many men4 ,he was1 indeed1 a loyal   
supporter  of religious works and       
enterprises1 as he was a member of the  
visible  church2 and he paid the highest
 respect to all that pertained to what  
is  commonly demanded as a mark of      
,christian life and interest4 ,but he   
had a  life in the ,spirit which was    
larger and broader than all that4 ,he   
felt  and he loved the ,divine ,life in 
all that he saw1 and heard1 and studied1
  and tried to draw and paint1 in the   
world around him4 ,to his thinking it   
was all the expression of ,god2 as such 
he reverenced the creation4  ,through   
this world of nature he was always      

seeing and feeling the  ,father4 ,his   
letters breathe a note of honest        
devoutness which passes all             
lip-service4 ,and scattered through his 
pages are frequent expressions of  a    
spirituality deeper than any words or   
phrases which so easily become  cant4   
,there is a deep revelation of the heart
 of the man in a passage in             
8,woodnotes40 ,listen to his soul       
pouring itself out in these words3      
8,sitting alone in the woods ,i have    
sometimes known a moment of such        
supreme exaltation that ,i have almost  
questioned my sanity--a spirit and  an  
impulse which ,i would no more attempt  
to frame into words than ,i  should     
think to define the ,deity himself--#8,i
 am glad to the brink of  fear4' ,my own
 identity is a mystery4 ,the presence of
 the dearest friend  on earth would be  
an unwelcome intrusion4 ,the pulses of  
the woods beat  through me4 ,the joyous 
flight of bird brings buoyant memories1 
the  linnet's song now seems swelling in

 my own throat4 ,happy ,donatello in    
the garden of the ,borghese is no longer
 a myth1 though even he knew no  such   
joy as this4 ,at such times--and are    
they not vouchsafed to every  true      
#8,holy-,lander'8--,i am conscious of an
 unwonted sympathy in nature--a         
strange1 double1 paradoxical existence1 
which1 while lifting me to the  clouds1 
still holds me to the earth40    ,it was
 this inner soul of nature as it filled 
the inner soul of the man1  which he    
felt a growing power to express in art4 
,but before he could  speak his message 
he passed from our presence4            
,,chapter ,,ix    ,,afterglow      ,for 
many months preceding the summer of     
#ahif1 ,mr4 ,gibson had felt  himself   
failing in health4 ,the strain of his   
long lecture-tours told  seriously upon 
his strength1 and several times he      
suffered from fainting  attacks and     
vertigo1 sometimes in the very presence 
of his audiences4  ,when he withdrew    
from the city in the early summer1 it   

was with a  knowledge that his health   
was impaired1 and the hope1 as well1    
that in  ,washington1 at 8,the ,sumacs10
 he would find the quiet and the rest   
which  would restore the tone of his    
system and repair the wastes of         
excessive  work4 ,but this hope was not 
to be fulfilled4 ,he himself was        
depressed  and apprehensive1 and his    
friends shared his fears4 ,a slight     
improvement  seemed to come with        
midsummer1 but proved illusory4 ,on     
,thursday evening1  the #afth of ,july1 
he left his home to go after his mail at
 the village  post-office4 ,meeting a   
number of friends and acquaintances he  
sat down  outside the office for a chat 
with them4 ,he appeared to be in        
excellent  spirits1 and for an hour was 
quite himself4 ,then he turned to a     
gentleman beside him and asked if there 
was anything wrong about his  speech4   
,he said his voice seemed thick1 and    
that he could not  articulate plainly4  
,a book he held in his hand dropped to  

the floor  several times1 and he seemed 
unable to retain his hold of it4 ,being 
asked if he felt ill1 he said that he   
did1 and suggested that he should  walk 
to the residence of ,dr4 ,ford4 ,his    
friends prevailed upon him to  remain   
quiet1 and one of their number hurried  
for medical aid4 ,drs4 ,ford  and ,brown
 soon arrived1 and they did all in their
 power for their  patient4 ,a wagon was 
soon brought to the door1 and ,mr4      
,gibson was placed  in a chair in the   
wagon1 but before they had reached his  
beautiful home1  8,the ,sumacs10 he had 
ceased breathing1 and upon the friends  
who had  accompanied him was thrown the 
task of breaking the sad news to his    
wife  and children4    ,on ,sunday1 the 
#aith1 occurred the funeral services1 a 
tender and  sympathetic account of which
 was given in 8,plymouth ,chimes40      
8,the village of ,washington1           
,connecticut1 has been made famous by   
the  #8,gunnery' ,school1 and by ,mr4   
,gibson1 its illustrious pupil1 who     

received  within its walls the          
inspiration of his career4 ,the forests1
 thickets1  and hillsides of that       
picturesque region furnished the        
favorite subjects  of his pencil and    
pen2 and1 after he had achieved         
professional success1  he established at
 ,washington1 among the friends of his  
boyhood1 his  country home4 ,everybody  
there knew and loved him1 and was proud 
of him4  ,and when death suddenly came  
to him1 it was felt to be an element of 
mercy in the shock of sorrow1 that he   
was struck down in the midst of  happy  
intercourse with his neighbors4    8,the
 funeral service1 held on ,sunday       
afternoon1 ,july #aith1 at his          
residence1 #8,the ,sumacs1' was keyed   
throughout to triumph and  thanksgiving1
 rather than gloom4 ,the day was bright 
and cool2 birds sang  about the house2  
wild flowers and green branches filled  
all available  spaces2 and the crowd of 
neighbors sat in the pleasant rooms or  
out on  the porch beyond the open door4 

8,the ,scripture1 read by ,mr4 ,carter1 
the ,washington pastor1 comprised       
passages descriptive of the glory of    
,god in nature1 and of the triumph  and 
rest of the saints4 ,the prayer1 by ,mr4
 ,turner 7formerly pastor at            
,washington1 and now chaplain at the    
,hampton ,institute1 in ,virginia71 was 
similarly attuned to solemn exultation4 
,the hymns 7favorites of ,mr4  ,gibson7 
were #8,love ,divine1' #8,abide with    
,me1' and #8,upward ,where the ,stars   
are ,burning'--the last sung exquisitely
 as a solo2 the two others1 with        
scarcely less tender sweetness1 by the  
whole company4    8,the address1 by his 
life-long friend1 ,dr4 ,r4 ,w4 ,raymond1
 was1 from  beginning to end1 an        
expression of gratitude rather than     
grief4 ,it  enumerated the features of  
the victorious1 happy1 fruitful1        
sincere1  loving1 and devout life which 
had been sent as a blessing and         
inspiration among men4 ,several         
anecdotes were related1 illustrative of 

,mr4 ,gibson's sympathy with all living 
things1 and of the surprising way  in   
which it was recognized and             
reciprocated4    8,it was told1 for     
instance1 how he could take a wild bird 
from the  branch of a tree1 caress it1  
and return it unharmed and unfrightened2
  how strange birds would fly to him and
 light upon his shoulder2 and how  even 
butterflies seemed to be attracted to   
him4    8,the address closed with a     
beautiful poem1 written for the occasion
 by  ,dr4 ,raymond4    8,through shady  
roads the funeral procession of         
carriages and pedestrians  passed to the
 loveliest spot in ,washington1 the     
burial-ground1 which  occupies the side 
of a hill1 commanding a prospect of     
forest and meadow1  stream and mountain1
 full of peace and beauty4 ,the grave   
was lined with  green branches and      
fringed with goldenrod2 and after a hymn
 #8,the  ,home-land' and a prayer1 the  
casket was gently lowered into this     
bower  of rest4 ,and then1 under the    

benediction of the sunset1 the mortal   
body  of ,william ,hamilton ,gibson was 
left to its repose40    ,the fine word  
spoken by ,dr4 ,raymond on this occasion
 is one which should  have a lasting    
place among the memorials of his friend4
 ,it was in such  entire harmony with   
the spirit of the hour1 with the        
memories which were  uppermost1 with the
 sense of loss1 and the still deeper    
sense of life  enriched and             
,illustration3 ,the ,village ,green     
,washington1 ,connecticut    brightened 
by the earthly work which was ended1    
that it was instantly  recognized as at 
once synopsis and echo of ,gibson's     
career4 ,dr4 ,raymond  said3    8,i     
count it a great privilege to stand here
 this day1 and utter the love  and      
sorrow of so many souls4 ,words are but 
feeble expedients for such a  task2 yet 
there is1 in one respect1 a significant 
choice of words4 ,shall  we express     
grief or gratitude8 ,shall we measure   
our loss by the vacancy  it has left    

behind1 or count with joy the treasure  
we have had1 giving  ,god thanks that we
 had it so long and so abundantly8 ,for 
my part1 ,i  would not desecrate with   
the wailing of grief this sky of        
,sabbath peace1  or that face of serene 
triumph and repose4 ,let us measure our 
love and  our sorrow1 then1 in terms of 
gratitude4 ,thanks be to ,god for the   
unspeakable gift to us of a victorious1 
happy1 fruitful1 helpful1  sincere1     
loving1 devout1 inspired life1 which1   
once received among us1  we can never   
lose4 ,even the nearest and dearest and 
most bitterly  bereaved can comfort     
grief with gratitude4    8,i say it was 
a victorious life4 ,i knew ,william     
,hamilton ,gibson when he  was a boy2   
and ,i knew the struggle of his early   
life1 when1 impelled by  an irresistible
 impulse towards art1 and nature as its 
inspiration1 he  steadily pursued that  
ideal1 8not disobedient to the heavenly 
vision1'  until1 in spite of the        
warnings of the would-be wise1 and the  

carpings  of the would-be critical1 he  
won for himself a recognition of his    
genius and the love and thanks of       
multitudes whose lives he had enriched  
and exalted by his work4 ,he            
accomplished what he set out to do2 and 
,i  say his victorious life is in that  
respect a blessing to us1 as showing    
for our encouragement1 in these days of 
change and failure1 that a man  may     
still be lord of his circumstances1 and1
 as in the affairs of the  heart1 so    
also in the affairs of business1 may win
 and wear his first  love4    8,but some
 men gain their victories at heavy cost1
 and bear always the  scars of the      
conflict4 ,not so he4 ,his was a        
harmonious1 happy life1  attuned to love
 and beauty and peace1 and aflame with  
joy4 ,and for this  reason it was a     
fruitful and helpful life4 ,there was no
 power wasted in  friction or in blind  
resistance4 ,he breasted waves of       
difficulty like a  strong1 exultant     
swimmer cleaving his way through the    

opposing element4  ,like some gay knight
 of chivalry1 he went into battle with a
 song4 ,and  whithersoever he           
came--handsome1 eager1 sympathetic1     
debonair--he was  the bringer of        
gladness4    8,because he wrought in an 
atmosphere of joy1 his life was         
peculiarly  fruitful and helpful4 ,the  
record of what he accomplished is indeed
  amazing4 ,i do not hesitate to say    
that only a happy man could do so much  
so well4 ,and that same joyous spirit   
made him a welcome guest at every       
fireside and in every heart4 ,what a    
delightful companion he was6 ,how  many 
thousands who never saw his face have   
nevertheless found in his  pictures and 
his books that bright companionship6 ,is
 there anything  which the world needs  
so deeply or welcomes so heartily as    
such a  messenger of hope and cheer8    
8,in another respect this life was a    
boon to us4 ,it was a simple and        
sincere life1 frankly and fully         
expressive of character4 ,many good and 

dear people are so reserved or so       
disguised that their nearest friends  do
 not know them truly4 ,and when we meet 
them1 some day1 in the land  where we   
shall know as we are known1 we shall    
have to make acquaintance  with them    
anew1 on the basis of the revelation of 
their real selves4 ,but  some there are1
 whose lives express their souls4       
,heaven can only make  more radiant in  
them the features that we know already4 
,will ,gibson will  be #8,our ,will'    
forever1 as he is ours to-day1 though   
death has clothed  the dear face in the 
strange1 new #8light that never was on  
land or sea4'  ,god be thanked for a    
transparent life6    8,but transparent  
does not mean shallow4 ,this life was   
deep and strong1  because it was a life 
of all-embracing love and sympathy1 and 
carried  the volume and energy of that  
spirit1 receiving also in return1 to    
swell  its own current1 the tributary   
recognition of a wider realm than that  
of  the human race4 ,we indeed loved    

him1 as he loved us2 but there are many1
  thank ,god6 of whom so much can be    
said4 ,the same principle is exhibited  
by few in their relations to the        
non-human world of life2 and when we    
see its manifestations1 we are          
astonished or incredulous4 ,i could tell
  you many stories of the magnetic      
attraction which this true lover        
exerted over wild creatures4    8,i     
remember that once1 when ,dr4 ,lyman    
,abbott was visiting him here in        
,washington1 he pointed out a little    
brown bird in a tree1 just over his     
head1 and while he talked1 in his own   
charming enthusiastic way1 about  the   
markings of its plumage1 reached up into
 the tree1 took the bird  from the      
bough1 held it in his hand to illustrate
 his impromptu lecture1  and then       
replaced it1 unharmed and unaffrighted1 
upon its shady perch4    8,perhaps that 
bird1 dwelling near his home1 knew him  
already4 ,but there  could be no such   
explanation of the incident which       

occurred far from  here1 when ,mr4      
,gibson1 sitting with friends on a hotel
 piazza1 called  their attention to a   
humming-bird1 hovering over the flowers 
before  them1 and saying1 #8,would you  
like to see him nearer8' put out his    
hand1  and the little creature1 who     
would scarcely light on a blossom1      
rested  upon the finger of his new      
friend1 and submitted to the inspection 
of  human eyes4 ,mr4 ,gibson was himself
 amazed at this proof of spontaneous    
trust4    8,he used to tell1 with a sort
 of thankful awe1 how one day1 in       
,brooklyn1  he went through crowded1    
noisy streets to register his name as a 
voter1  in one of those barren1         
unattractive places which are ordinarily
 rented  by the ,state for this         
temporary purpose2 and how1 as he stood 
there in a  group of men1 waiting for   
his turn1 a white dove flew in from the 
street1 circled round the dingy room1   
alighted upon his shoulder1  received   
with murmuring delight his caresses1 and

 then flew out4 ,no one  knew whence it 
came or whither it went4    8,and he    
told also1 how once he went into the    
,brooklyn ,library1 to  examine a       
colored plate1 representing a certain   
butterfly1 which he  wished to reproduce
 in illustration of an article2 and how1
 as he stood  with the book open before 
him1 in the dim little corner-alcove    
which  used to be the office of his     
friend ,mr4 ,bardwell1 the librarian1 a 
butterfly of that very species fluttered
 around the great hall into the  alcove1
 and1 hovering above his head1 dropped  
at last upon the book1 and  folded its  
wings by the side of its own pictures4  
8,we smile at such coincidences2 but the
 fact that they happen over and  over   
again to one man suggests a coincidence 
beyond a mere accident--a  coincidence  
of life with life and love with         
answering love4 ,indeed1 what  do we    
know of these wild creatures that       
surround us1 and seem to be  drawn so   
easily to some of us8 ,what have we done

 to lead us to know  them8 ,we ignore   
them1 or we chase and trap and slay     
them1 or we imprison  them and play with
 them for our own amusement4 ,how would 
it be if we  truly and unselfishly loved
 them8    8,the apostle represents the  
whole creation as groaning and          
travailing in  pain1 waiting for some   
new manifestation of the human children 
of ,god4  ,and the last word of our     
,master bids us go into all the world   
and tell  the glad tidings1 not merely  
to every man1 but to #8every creature4' 
,is  there not1 then1 an evangel of joy 
for those humbler companions of         
mankind8 ,when men shall have advanced  
so far as to cease hating and           
oppressing one another1 may they not    
still advance to a true sympathy  with  
all living things8 ,and would not that  
make indeed a new heaven and  a new     
earth1 populous with friendships8 ,of   
such a joyous consummation1  men like   
our brother whose life we celebrate     
to-day are prophets and  forerunners4   

,thank ,god for them6    8,and they may 
also encourage us to stimulate a love of
 nature in our  growing children4 ,we1  
who have formed our habits of human     
exclusiveness1  cannot say to ourselves 
in momentary enthusiasm1 #8,let us be as
 ,will  ,gibson was6 ,let us begin at   
once to cultivate the acquaintance of   
all  living things6' ,we have outgrown  
the art4 ,we stand embarrassed in the   
presence of a squirrel or a bird1 and1  
far from knowing how to attract  it1 are
 fain to be satisfied if1 by doing      
nothing at all1 we avoid  scaring it4   
,but our children1 rightly encouraged1  
may develop  unsuspected powers of      
sympathy4 ,in the great blessing which  
,mr4  ,gibson's work conferred upon us  
all1 the dear old ,master of the        
,gunnery1  who cherished into flame the 
spark of his first inspiration1 lived1  
and  still lives1 to see the reward of  
his own loving labors4    8,but in      
another and yet higher aspect1 this life
 was a precious gift to  us by virtue of

 its strong support to our faith in     
immortality4 ,if all  men died in old   
age1 and by slow decay of strength and  
faculty1 it might  be hard to imagine   
the new birth and new beginning which   
should  rejuvenate them4 ,but when a    
vigorous1 full life is withdrawn from   
our  sight in the prime of its power1   
the very momentum of it carries our     
faith forward with it4 ,it is like an   
arrow1 shot towards the forest by a     
strong-armed archer4 ,has it ceased to  
move because1 in swift mid-flight1  it  
enters the shadow and we suddenly lose  
sight of it8    8#8,the avalanche that  
has slid a mile will not stop for a     
tombstone6'    8,still another hint of  
immortality--and a truer one--is given  
by the  character developed in earthly  
life4 ,science1 it is true1 affords us1 
as  yet1 no demonstration of a future   
life4 ,perhaps we shall always rest for 
that truth1 as we do to-day1 upon the   
word of our ,lord1 who went and  came so
 easily between the two chambers of the 

,father's house4 ,yet  science has done 
much in these later times to illuminate 
,his  declaration4 ,it has hinted to us 
a ,god1 patient and tender through the  
ages of ages1 carrying the world upon   
,his bosom and nursing its slow  growth1
 from stage to stage1 through crystal1  
cell1 and soul1 that ,he  might at last 
fill the spaces immeasurable with loving
 and beloved human  souls1 as dear      
companions of ,himself4 ,he cannot      
afford1 it seems to us1  to destroy     
perpetually the fairest fruits of this  
long preparation4 ,they  have lain upon 
,his heart and felt the pulse-beat of   
the ,universe4 ,he is  no ,arabian      
tyrant1 to slay them one by one1 every  
morning4 ,having loved  ,his own1 ,he   
loves them to the end1 and beyond the   
seeming end--for love  is immortality4  
,our brother1 who knew and loved every  
one of ,god's trees  on these hills of  
,washington1--shall he not have access  
to the ,trees of  ,life1 that grow by   
the ,river of ,life8 ,shall his spirit1 

attuned already  to the divine harmonies
 of earth1 be dumb amid the songs of    
heaven8 ,nay2  such completed souls     
declare the ,life ,eternal1 echoing to  
us the  ,master's word of hope3 #8,i    
live2 and because ,i live1 ye shall live
 also6'    8,for this life of his was   
already a life with ,god4 ,you will not 
misunderstand me1 if ,i say little of   
that part of his religious  experience  
which is common to all believers1 or of 
that part of his work  which we         
technically call ,christian work4 ,it is
 not because ,i undervalue  repentance1 
faith in ,jesus ,christ1 or communion   
and co-operation with  ,his visible     
church on earth4 ,still less is it      
because ,i need to make  out1 in        
,illustration3 ,gibson's ,grave         
,washington ,cemetery    behalf of one  
who found his religion in nature and    
science and art1 a  claim to be         
considered as religious in some         
exceptional and peculiar  way4 ,i could 
dwell on ,mr4 ,gibson's earnest labors  

as a member of our  ,plymouth ,church in
 ,brooklyn1 as an officer of one of our 
mission-schools1 as a leader of its     
prayer-meetings1 and as a hearty        
supporter of all its social and         
religious enterprises4    8,nor shall ,i
 speak of what he was to his dearest1 in
 the household4 ,some  of us are better 
at home than abroad2 some of us are less
 attractive to  those who know us best4 
,i can only say of him1 that his bright1
 warm1  transparent nature was the same 
inside his house as out of it2 only1    
they who knew him best received more    
radiance and inspiration than  others4  
,i bid them join in our thanksgiving    
most heartily1 who have been  most      
highly blest4 ,every stone in this      
beautiful dwelling1 every picture  on   
its walls1 every fairer picture seen    
through its windows1 bears  perpetual   
witness of his presence and influence4  
,and in more real and  immediate truth1 
his spirit abides and will abide here4  
,i know it was  said1 #8,the ,lord gave1

 and the ,lord hath taken away4' ,but   
that was said  in the old1 old days1    
before the light celestial had broken   
through the  valley of the shadow of    
death4 ,now we hear a ,voice1 saying1   
#8,not as the  world giveth1 give ,i4   
,what ,i give1 ,i take not away6'       
8,but turning from these views1 without 
underrating them1 ,i wish to  emphasize1
 in addition to his love and service in 
church and home1 ,mr4  ,gibson's        
peculiar communion with ,god in nature4 
8,years ago1 his studio here in         
,washington was in the same house with  
the  study of ,mr4 ,turner1 then pastor 
of the church4 ,it was a happy          
association for both1 and gave rise to  
many a mutual confidence4 ,and          
yesterday1 talking over with me the     
experience of those days1 ,mr4 ,turner  
spoke a deep1 true word when he said1   
#8,i always felt concerning ,mr4        
,gibson that he walked with ,god4'      
8,we are accustomed to think of those   
saints whose communion is close  with   

,god that they sit and meditate1 or     
kneel and pray1 or in some way  withdraw
 themselves from distracting sights and 
sounds1 in order to be  alone in the    
,divine presence4 ,perhaps we do not    
conceive of walking with  ,god as one   
would walk with the owner of a great    
estate1 and hear him  tell what he had  
done or meant to do with this field or  
that4 ,we forget1  perhaps1 that ,god is
 in ,his world1 and that whoso would    
keep company  with ,him must find ,him  
there4    8,it was of ,enoch that it was
 first said1 #8,he walked with ,god'2   
and in  the #8,book of ,enoch1' which   
was so popular a book in the time of    
,christ1  and is quoted in the ,new     
,testament1 the patriarch is in fact    
represented  as guided by ,god upon a   
journey through the universe4 ,it was   
thus that  our friend walked with ,god4 
8,he walked1 the friend of every life   
,in flower or insect1 beast or bird2    
,he knew their pleasure and their strife
      ,their sorrows shared1 their      

secrets heard4        8,bending their   
leafy diadems1      ,the trees to him a 
welcome breathed2      ,the blossoms on 
a thousand stems      ,to him their     
deepest hearts unsheathed4        8,the 
bright-eyed squirrel showed him where   
,its highway ran along the fence1       
,and1 inly glad to see him there1       
,fled1 not too far1 in shy pretence4    
8,the tilting songster on the bough1    
,the callow nestling in its place1      
,with quick perception learned to know  
,this lover of their hunted race4       
8,around him1 like an angel throng1     
,the countless host of gauzy things1    
,with airy flight and murmurous song    
,unfurled the glories of their wings4   
8,for the world's life within him       
thrilled2      ,and every earthly path  
he trod      ,to his responsive soul was
 filled      ,with works and ways and   
words of ,god4        8,then spake a    
dearer voice3 #8,my son1      ,a life   
yet wider shalt thou see2      ,leave   
these fair hills of ,washington         

,and walk on fairer hills with ,me6'    
8,amen6 ,so may we walk with ,god60     
99       99       99       99       99  
,other tributes were no less            
appreciative1 and may serve as          
side-lights  upon his inner and personal
 life4 ,they show how he impressed many 
men  and many minds1 in various and yet 
concurrent ways4 ,mr4 ,clarence         
,deming1 speaking to the friends and    
graduates of the 8,gunnery0 school1     
emphasized the traits in which he was a 
type of the best forces  inherited from 
his early training4    8,and so to-night
 it is not ,gibson the writer1 ,gibson  
the nature-lover  and nature-hunter1 and
 ,gibson the artist1 whom we should be  
recalling1  so much as ,gibson the man2 
and the thought persistently comes back 
to me  over and over again that he was  
our greatest ,gunnery boy1 not merely in
  reputation before the world1 not by   
virtue of pen and brush1 but by the     
fact that he was the perfect and        
consummate product of the old ,gunnery  

scheme of education1 and a kind of      
analogue of ,mr4 ,gunn himself4 ,if     
there was one thing sought by ,mr4 ,gunn
 most strenuously it was the  seeding in
 a boy of those qualities which in him1 
as man1 should fruit  into that grandest
 trait expressed in the ,english tongue 
by the word  character4 ,it is a subtle 
term1 hard to define and to expound4 ,i 
can1  perhaps1 call it the power in man 
compounded by nerve force1 habit1 and   
conscience which makes him fearlessly   
righteous and sets him among his        
fellow-men in organized society as a    
living and forceful influence1 ever     
active for things good4    8,now1 ,i    
repeat1 it is on that phase of ,gibson's
 personality and life  work that ,i love
 to think1 and to recall him as our     
loftiest incarnation  of ,gunnery       
character4 ,he1 perhaps1 lacked the     
initiative force of ,mr4  ,gunn1 but    
when it came to the test of principle   
not even our old master  surpassed the  
pupil4 ,do you remember how outspoken   

,gibson was when it  came to any        
question of wrong8 ,do you recall how no
 form of trickery or  meanness1 either  
in individual conduct or in public life1
 failed to meet  his contempt and his   
scorn8 ,what one of us1 in that life of 
his1 passed1  so much of it1 in this    
community1 can put the finger on one    
questionable  word or act8 ,when we can 
pay such tribute to a departed friend1  
,i care  not what his genius may have   
been1 how far and wide his fame may have
  blown1 or how long the mere work of   
hand and brain may endure1 he has       
builded a monument set firmer than      
granite or marble in the service of  his
 generation1 and of the generations to  
come4    8,that strong character of     
,gibson revealed itself to me in many   
ways4 ,in  politics1 for example1 his   
path and my own on national questions   
often  diverged4 ,yet in talks with him 
on that subject1 most impressive was the
  revelation of his bed-rock sincerity  
of conviction2 and never did that       

conviction fail to be enthused with the 
profoundest patriotism of  motive4 ,take
 a somewhat narrower civic question1    
that of municipal  reform1 a theme as to
 which by the nature of personal        
vocation ,i have  heard many men and met
 many and varied views4 ,but never have 
,i found a  man who discussed that topic
 more intelligently1 more broadly1 and  
more  often striking the keynote of     
progress than ,gibson1 whom the public  
and  not a few friends1 doubtless1 have 
associated only with the hunt for       
nature's secrets in the flower1 the     
leaf1 and the marvels of insect  life4  
8,or let us take one other outward      
expression of that strong public        
character of his4 ,it was a primal motif
 in such a man to love the              
simplicities1 and you will all remember 
as one vivid phase of it his  intense   
desire to preserve the sweet and        
unaffected community life which  has so 
long marked this village4 ,he had seen  
how the wave of fashion and  of         

assertive and ostentatious wealth had   
overcast those ,new ,england  towns for 
which nature had done most1 and how the 
supreme triumph of the  ,french modiste1
 the babble of the four-o'clock tea1 and
 the vanities of  so-called #8good'     
society had come to satirize the summer 
charms of  mountain and river and vale4 
,hence that aggressive desire of his1   
expressed alike in word and act1 to     
conserve in their old simplicity and    
freedom the customs which we as ,gunnery
 boys enjoyed in this gracious  village4
 ,though he be dead1 that example and   
precept of his yet appeal  to us4       
99       99       99       99       99  
8,many years ago it was my good fortune 
to be present in ,westminster  ,chapter 
,house at a meeting to open a fund for a
 memorial to ,dean  ,stanley4 ,among the
 speakers was ,james ,russell ,lowell1  
then our minister  at ,st4 ,james's1 and
 he referred to an epitaph in a ,boston 
churchyard as  descriptive of ,dean     
,stanley's character4 ,that epitaph was 

simply1 #8,he  was so pleasant4' ,many  
times have ,i reflected how well that   
idea  described one large side of       
,gibson's nature4 #8,he was so          
pleasant1' so  jocund1 so genial1 so    
appreciative of humor4 ,one outward     
token of the  trait familiar to us all  
was his quick grasp of the funny things 
to be  found in this rural ,new ,england
 of ours4 ,we know--and by #8we' ,i mean
  especially those of us in middle life 
or beyond--what a wealth of oddity  in  
phrase and habit our country ,new       
,englanders have amassed4 ,time was     
when each ,yankee village had its quaint
 and curious characters1 but now1  with 
education and contact with the world1   
they are dying away1 and the  next      
generation will see few or none save as 
they survive in literature4  ,in        
personal forms ,gibson rescued from     
oblivion many of those characters  who  
went into his books1 but the draft was  
small on his collection of  ,yankee     
epigram and oddity which never reached  

the types4 ,i can see him  in memory    
now1 with his rich gift of mimicry1     
repeating the bucolic  joke1 or1 may be1
 in smiling silence listening at the    
post-office as the  country sage        
expounds his original views from the    
bema of the  barrel-head4    8,of       
,gibson's sweet home life1 of his love  
of wife and family1 of his  kind        
hospitality1 of his sacred personal     
friendships1 it is not for me  to speak 
in detail here4 ,suffice it to say that 
they rounded out with  rare and         
beautiful symmetry that splendid life of
 his as artist1 writer1  prose-poet1    
investigator1 good citizen1 and man4 ,in
 this village of  his love1 so endeared 
to him as summer home1 and from which1  
as a  ,gunnery boy1 he drew so much of  
moral inspiration and strength1 no vain 
words of mine need voice him1 nor can   
language of tongue or pen measure  the  
void which he has left behind4          
,washington1 indeed1 is not the same    
with ,gibson gone1 and has but the sad  

boon of still clasping him1             
mother-like1 on the green slope which   
looks off to the valley of the  sunset  
shadows which he loved so well4 ,we     
miss1 yet meet him1 in every  nook1 in  
the waving tree-tops1 the swaying flower
 by the rippling  stream1 in the        
butterfly that flits by in the sunlight4
 ,how well with  trifling verbal change 
do those lines of ,whittier fit our     
loss3        8#8,but still we wait with 
ear and eye       ,for something gone   
which should be nigh1       ,a loss in  
all familiar things1       ,in flower   
that blooms and bird that sings4        
99       99       99       99       99  
,and while in life's late afternoon1    
,where cool and long the shadows grow1  
,we walk to meet the night that soon    
,shall shape and shadow overflow1       
,we cannot feel that thou art far1      
,since near at need the angels are2     
,and when the sunset gates unbar1       
,shall we not see thee waiting stand1   
,and1 white against the evening star1   

,the welcome of thy beckoning hand8'0   
,president ,almon ,gunnison1 of ,st4    
,lawrence ,university1 speaking out of a
  long and intimate acquaintance in     
,brooklyn1 wrote of him1 a few weeks    
after his death3    8,there have been   
few men of larger manhood than this     
poet-artist1 this  seer and interpreter 
of nature4 ,he was open-minded and      
trustful as a  child4 ,he loved         
everything that was manly1 and his sense
 of right was an  instinct and a        
passion4 ,he was tolerant in faith and  
scorned all  narrowness4 ,reverent1     
worshipful1 a lover of ,god and man4    
,not since  ,gilbert ,white of ,selborne
 died has there lived one who more      
minutely  discerned nature1 and never   
has there been one more dowried to      
interpret  her4 ,thoreau had equal skill
 of vision and perhaps larger grace of  
literary expression4 ,burroughs has the 
same order of discernment1 and a  like  
art to make nature interpret her lessons
 in her own words4 ,but  ,gibson was    

poet and artist too2 he could sing the  
song of the daisy with  almost the      
melody of ,burns1 and could with his    
deft pencil depict the  highway of the  
squirrel so cleverly that one could hear
 the echoes of  its steps1 and picture  
the hues of the flowers so that one     
could almost  smell the fragrance of    
their blossoms4 ,he was the most        
versatile of men4  ,he was a stranger to
 no form of art4 ,with pencil and with  
brush1 with  every form of pigment1 he  
was the master1 and with the candle's   
smoke he  made weird pictures which     
startled admiration4 ,he was skilled in 
every  mechanical device4 ,he had most  
curious charts with cunning             
contrivances1  strings and pulleys1 by  
which he illustrated the fertilization  
of  plants1 and would shoot the pollen  
and would have curious insects flying   
in the air1 to show how nature provided 
for the perpetuation of her  growths4   
,his studio was a museum of the         
mechanics of art1 and had he  chosen he 

could have excelled in many lines of    
inventive skill4 ,he loved  ,nature in  
all her variant moods and forms4 ,there 
was no flower that he  could not call by
 name1 and not a weed held the secret of
 its life  inviolate from him4 ,he could
 answer #8,yes' to the poet's question1 
#8,canst  thou name the birds without a 
gun8'2 he could go into the forest and  
the  birds would come at his caressing  
call2 he could see into the very heart  
of every flower1 and could write the    
flora of every ,state4 ,he loved        
,nature1 too1 in her larger forms4 ,the 
mountains awed and the sea  thrilled him
 with their immensities4 ,he could set  
the song of the brook  to music1 and    
write out the melody of rivers in his   
symphonies4 ,how well  do we remember   
his telling us of the book which he     
would sometime make1  but which1 alas6  
he never made4 ,it should be the        
biography of the water  drop1 and with  
pencil and with words he would tell the 
story of the  water in its passage from 

the clouds to the sea4    8,he would    
picture the clouds and the mists1 the   
mountain-tops arresting  the fogs and   
condensing them with its ledges2 the    
little springs which  run among the     
hills1 the river's cradle among the     
rocks1 the tiny brook  descending over  
the desolation of the heights1 the      
brooklet entering the  forest1 the mossy
 coverts1 the fern-covered banks1 the   
shadowing trees1  the twisting1 turning 
stream1 winding downward amidst tawny   
rocks1  jumping over cataracts and      
falls1 then emerging into the lower     
pasture  slopes1 with cattle drinking at
 its banks1 and then the meadows with   
great sweeping branches of overhanging  
trees1 the vexing wheels of  mills1 the 
larger and larger river1 and then the   
city with its grime1  and beyond1 the   
sea1 with its mighty ships sailing to   
far ,cathay4 ,and  how his wondrous     
eyes1 which had the luminousness but    
never the passion  of the flame1 used to
 glow as he talked of ,nature and of the

 secrets  that she told him and of the  
apostleship he held to make the great   
world  see and love ,nature with        
something of his idolatry4 ,he kept the 
gladness  of his youth and was never won
 away from the paths in which his boyish
  feet had strayed4 ,that wondrous      
picture-making period of boyhood ever   
held his soul in thrall4 ,he lived in   
the city1 for he was the busiest  worker
 among men1 but the roots of his heart  
were tangled with the  grasses of the   
sunlit pastures where his youth had     
been4 ,when the sun's  rays lengthened  
over the noisy city1 with the swiftness 
of the arrow's  flight from a ,tartar's 
bow he sought the old scenes1 and there 
at length  when favoring fortune came1  
he built his home1 and when death wanted
  him she sought him there1 and there   
she found him40    ,the minute prepared 
for the ,century ,club of ,new ,york    
,city was more than  a perfunctory      
record1 and witnesses to the high esteem
 in which the  members held him3        

8,,william ,,hamilton ,,gibson1         
distinguished alike as an artist1 an    
author1  and an illustrator1 had risen  
by unwonted industry1 native talent1 and
 a  tireless enthusiasm to a high place 
in the esteem of the lovers of  nature  
and the admirers of true art4 ,he was   
recognized as an artist with  the pen as
 well as with the pencil1 and entitled  
to a place among those  enthusiastic    
naturalists who have the skill in words 
to impart their  enthusiasm4 ,his       
#8,highways and ,byways1' #8,pastoral   
,days1' the #8,heart of  the ,white     
,mountains1' #8,nature's ,serial        
,story1' #8,camp ,life in the ,woods1'  
#8,trapping and ,trap ,making1' #8,happy
 ,hunting ,grounds1' and many other     
books1 all illustrated by himself1      
showed his scientific exactitude and    
his artistic quality4 ,his illustrated  
article in the last number of           
#8,harper's ,magazine' seems like a     
farewell message from him in another    
world4 ,he was also a noted             

water-colorist1 and1 in later years1 a  
popular lecturer on natural history4    
8,his facility of expression and        
ingenious illustration of his subject by
  his crayon and mechanical appliances  
instructed and entertained his          
audiences1 and no man had appeared in   
this field since ,agassiz with such     
success as met him4 ,there was a charm  
in his personality from the  earnestness
 and kindliness of his nature1 and the  
number of those who  mourn his early    
death is not confined to his personal   
friends alone4    8,pleasant and        
unfading memories mingle with our       
regrets at parting with  those whose    
names are recorded here4 ,they were men 
without exception  worthy1 true1 and of 
good report4 ,may we not say1 as their  
survivors1  and conscious of our        
failings--          8#8,our lives are   
albums written through1          ,with  
good or ill1 with false or true1        
,and as the blessed angels turn         
,the pages of our years1          ,god  

grant they read the good with smiles    
,and blot the ill with tears4'          
8,,henry ,e4 ,,howland1                 
0,secretary4        8,,century ,,club   
,,house1        8,,new ,,york1 ,january 
#ith1 #ahig40    ,other phases of his   
versatile spirit are noted by ,mr4      
,alexander ,black3    8,i first met ,mr4
 ,gibson at the ,authors ,club in the   
old rooms on  ,twenty-fourth ,street4   
,at that time he was a regular attendant
 at the  meetings1 and he remained among
 the faithful until his lectures began4 
,thereafter he came1 ,i fancy1 whenever 
he was free to come1 and found a        
stimulating enjoyment in meeting his    
fellow-craftsmen1 literary and          
artistic1 with whom at all times he had 
a hearty frankness of cordiality  that  
made him an always-welcome figure in    
this singularly democratic  group4 ,at  
times ,i found him pulling at a #8long  
,tom1' generally1 as he  put it1 #8in   
self-defense1' for we hovered in a deep 
fog of smoke4 ,after  ,i myself had been

 elected to the ,club 7in #ahhh7 we met 
regularly in this  literary aerie1 and  
endured in common the recurrent jest    
inflicted upon  those who1 at two       
,a4,m41 still had to make a homeward    
journey to  ,brooklyn1--an infliction   
which fell lightly upon me when ,i had  
his  company to the ,bridge1 and could  
hear him talk of the flowers and their  
insect visitors1 or the current         
movements of art4    8,i believe he     
always retained an affectionate feeling 
for the  ,twenty-fourth ,street quarters
 of the ,club1 where we smoked1 ate the 
,captain's salad1 told stories 7,gibson 
not a poor contributor71 seldom  talked 
shop1 and certainly never were literary2
 where we met ,lowell1  ,stedman1       
,boyesen1 ,eggleston1 ,grant ,white1    
,godwin1 ,stoddard1 ,conway1            
,jefferson1 ,riley1 ,kipling1 ,mitchell1
 ,hay1 ,st4 ,gaudens--it would be a     
long and an interesting list4 ,mr4      
,gibson's genius and personality alike  
attracted to him the attention of the   

choicest spirits in a gathering of  this
 kind4 ,he always had a fine fund of    
that quality which belongs to           
genius--which is in itself a genius--a  
quality of youthful enjoyment in  the   
simpler pleasures4 ,i remember the      
contagious gusto with which1 on a       
certain memorable ,watch ,night1 he told
 the company a ghost story that  came to
 its crisis in a materialized ghost of  
his own making which he  had concealed  
under his coat4 ,the hoax recalls some  
of his fun at  ,washington village1     
where his astonishing mummy with a      
message from the  past will long be a   
droll tradition1 and where there is a   
lively  recollection of his dashing     
horsemanship on a wonderful steed with a
  feather-duster tail6    8,i heard him 
lecture at ,washington village and      
shared in the delight of  an audience   
whose youngest members he held quite as 
closely as their  elders4 ,indeed1 ,i   
never have known in any department of   
science or of  art an enthusiast who    

could convey1 with an utter absence of  
academic  formality1 so rich and        
delightful a fund of information and    
suggestion4  ,to me he was always the   
ideal interpreter of nature4 ,there was 
no hint  of book covers between4 ,he did
 not turn to and from his theme at any  
time4 ,it was part of his life--and     
plainly a pleasant1 unstrenuous part  of
 it4 ,in the woods1 in his garden1 on   
the quiet porch overlooking the         
hillside sumac1 he spoke of a discovery 
in a petal or in the habits of a  beetle
 with that charming undidactic delight  
of one who assumes that all  must have a
 common pleasure in these phases of     
natural life4    8,as an artist he was  
quite as free from personal mannerisms  
or  eccentricities4 ,when ,i first      
visited his studio on ,montague street1 
,brooklyn1 he talked as he worked--the  
picture was an illustration to one  of  
his magazine papers1--and afterwards    
turned to his portfolio1 quite  without 
the effect of entertaining me1 but      

always with a companionly  frankness and
 simplicity that made him at all times  
the most attractive  of hosts4 ,i       
remember his house studio on ,lincoln   
,place by but two  visits1 and ,i had no
 greater acquaintance with the little   
crib at the  foot of the ,washington    
lawn4 ,i think ,i liked the dishevelled 
workshop at  ,washington best of all4   
8,mr4 ,gibson never permitted the very  
handsome things that were said of  his  
writings to disturb his relation to his 
artistic ideals4 #8,i am an  artist1' he
 said to me when this subject came up   
between us1 and  profound as was his    
affection for plant and insect life1 it 
was as an  artist that he looked across 
the leaping lines of this ,washington   
country2 it was as an artist that he    
labored to transmit with his brush  the 
flame colors of autumn or the lustrous  
prophecies of spring4 ,the  healthy     
ideals of his art and the hearty        
simplicity of his nature are to  be read
 in the unmannerish charm of his        

pictures4    8,once or twice we met on  
the trains in the course of our         
lecturing work4  ,he had stories to tell
 me of his own experiences--of hardship1
 of  accident1 of humorous incident4    
,once his voice left him so completely  
that he was obliged to make a momentary 
exit after a pantomimic apology  to the 
audience4 ,on the whole ,i think that he
 greatly enjoyed his  lectures4         
,certainly they were inspiringly        
memorable to those who were  privileged 
to hear them4    8,when ,i recall him in
 his own home and in mine1 ,i have      
before me a  splendidly strong head and 
figure4 ,i hear his strong healthy      
laugh4 ,i  see his broad shoulders      
turned to me as he sits at the piano    
playing the  #8,largo' with a full      
singing volume of tone4 ,his ear was so 
keen and  sympathetic that he could     
express without knowledge of notes even 
the  subtler harmonies of a fragment    
like the #8,largo1' and his playing     
always  had the fascination that is     

present in the interpretations of those 
who  truly love music1 and who find in  
an instrument a companion to whom they  
may go in any mood with certainty of    
response4    8,the news of his death    
brought to me a shock and a sense of    
bereavement  deeper and more lasting    
than any ,i had known for many years4   
,here1  surely1 was a fine spirit1 a    
lover of life and of art1 and an        
exponent  of all that is sanest and     
sweetest in both40    ,it was four years
 after his death that the ,alumni and   
friends of the  8,gunnery0 school       
completed a memorial of ,gibson which   
for fitness and  significance is one of 
the most successful in ,america4 ,on the
 left of  the road1 as one climbs the   
long hill from the railroad station to  
,washington ,green1 nearly at the top of
 the slope1 there stands a large        
boulder1 a little back from the highway4
 ,here it was determined to place  a    
bronze medallion in bas-relief1 which   
should aim to suggest the man  and      

commemorate his relation to the little  
town which he so loved and  which so    
loved him4    ,the report of ,mr4 ,e4   
,k4 ,rossiter1 made to the ,alumni      
,association1 tells  the interesting    
story of the inception and completion of
 this loving  task1 whose results will  
be an enduring memorial of this         
inspiring life4    8,you have           
undoubtedly all heard of that ideal     
committee composed of  three            
persons--one dead1 one in ,europe1 and  
one left at home to do as he  pleased4  
,but my parallel1 if ,i draw one at all1
 must soon end1 for  though ,mr4 ,van   
,ingen is to-day on the other side of   
the water1 the other  two members1 ,dr4 
,lyman ,abbott and ,dr4 ,ludlow1 are    
very much alive--as  proof of it1 ,i    
would refer you to the weekly issue of  
the #8,outlook' or  beg you to attend   
one of the good ,doctor's sermons at    
,orange4    8,we have acted1 it is true1
 at arm's length from each other and our
 work  has been accomplished1 strange as

 it may seem1 without so much as once   
meeting as a committee of the whole4 ,we
 have1 however1 been in frequent        
correspondence and from the beginning   
there has been nothing but a  unanimity 
of feeling4 ,it was ,dr4 ,ludlow1 ,i    
believe1 who first    ,illustration3    
,the ,bronze ,memorial    suggested that
 this ,memorial take the form of a      
bas-relief4 ,he keenly  appreciated the 
fact1 as did we all1 that ,gibson had   
conferred1 through  his work1 an unusual
 distinction upon our little town and   
having stood1  as he quoted from ,oliver
 ,wendell ,holmes1 next to ,thoreau in  
his  appreciative portrayal of nature it
 was not only fitting but incumbent     
upon us that he should be remembered in 
some enduring way--in some way  that    
would enable those coming after to know 
the manner of man he was to  us4        
,therefore when ,mrs4 ,van ,ingen       
pointed to a huge boulder at the lower  
end of the ,cemetery nestling among the 
trees he loved so well1 there  seemed   

nothing further to debate beyond        
securing a sculptor4    8,in this matter
 it was deemed essential that we should 
find one who knew  our friend4 ,for     
while an artistic success might readily 
be obtained by a  score of men1 we were 
aware that that indefinable             
something--that  quickening spirit      
animating a man's whole being and       
constituting his  personality--was      
likely to be in a measure lost without  
the immediate  contact which artists    
seek4 ,it was just here that our good   
fortune  became again manifest2 for our 
covetousness was rewarded by finding in 
,mr4 ,bush-,brown the sculptor of our   
search4 ,behind him stood the personal  
knowledge1 and1 what was equally        
fortunate1 a most excellent photograph  
by ,smales4 ,i cannot regard this       
snap-shot picture other than a portion  
of our rare good luck1 for it gives us  
,gibson as we knew him--in his          
out-of-door garb1 and in the very act1  
too1 of his devotion to nature4  ,it has

 enabled the modeler to produce a       
likeness1 which ,i believe future       
generations must instinctively feel as  
good--just as we of to-day  looking at  
the engraving of ,shakespeare in the    
original folio edition of  his works    
instinctively feel it is scarcely more  
than a travesty of the  poet1 that man  
of infinite fancy and wit4 ,but since   
,shakespeare's time1  the graphic arts  
of expression1 more particularly of     
engraving have  progressed to such a    
degree of perfection that it is quite   
possible now  to attain to the subtlest 
degree of an artist's thought4 ,likewise
 in  sculpture is this attainable--so   
much so that we shall to-day be able to 
read in the unveiled bronze the         
individual characteristics of the one   
whom we would portray4    8,i was       
pleased in looking at the ,medallion    
last week to discover a  butterfly      
hovering over the convolvulus vine so   
accurately preserved and  so gracefully 
worked into the composition--because as 

you will remember  this was the emblem  
of immortality with the ,greeks--a most 
appropriate  symbol1 too1 in this       
instance2 for when you come to think of 
it1 ,gibson  was in spirit a good deal  
of an old ,greek himself4 ,he was one in
 his  joyousness1 in his large and      
passionate appreciation of out-of-door  
life1 and more than all in his love of  
the beautiful4 ,beauty of form and      
color as he saw it in nature was a sort 
of visible divinity--a palpable         
happiness1 heaven come down to earth2 he
 viewed it in the conception of         
,gautier1 the ,french poet--as an       
all-pervading yet delicate mantle let   
down by ,god to cover the nakedness of  
the world for the delight of his        
children4 ,of this mantle he always     
found enough to clothe his pictures     
with poetic truth1 nay1 more1 for into  
the fine vesture of his thought  he     
frequently wove a scientific fact of    
such intrinsic value as to win  renown  
as a naturalist4    8,other boys will   

leave this ,gunnery and we hope win as  
distinguished  laurels as did ,gibson2  
for is it not1 as ,james ,russell       
,lowell has said  of ,harvard1 all but  
impossible to rub up against these walls
 without  taking away something that no 
other institution can give8 ,but be this
 as  it may1 it is not probable that    
there will soon be found among the      
,alumni a man of such rare versatility4 
,the combination of his gifts has  been 
recognized far beyond the confines of   
this little hamlet2 but  because it was 
here that he began his life's work1 here
 ended it1 here  that he made his home1 
and here that the mortal part of him    
lies near  us1 it seems particularly    
appropriate we should erect an enduring 
memorial to his worth4 ,for how few of  
us who have dipped into his books  or   
followed him in our walks but can repeat
 the words of the blind man  of old1 who
 in the ecstasy of a new vision cried   
#8,whereas ,i was blind  now ,i see4'0  
,,william ,,hamilton ,,gibson           

,who ,nature loves by ,nature is        
beloved4        ,she makes him gentle1  
and she keeps him fair2        ,by woods
 and waters where her treasures are     
,within his hand she lays a hand        
ungloved4      ,for him no stream is    
stopped1 no mountain moved1        ,no  
bird-song hushed1 nor any branch made   
bare2        ,useless the archer's      
shaft1 the fowler's snare2      ,nor for
 his feet is any pathway grooved4       
,so ,gibson lived and wrote1 and drew   
and dreamed1        ,whose sun too early
 dropped adown the west1      ,whose    
every day with purest visions teemed1   
,that gave another's day a fresher zest2
      ,and like dear ,nature's self he  
often seemed        ,to draw no lines   
twixt labor1 play and rest4             
,,rossiter ,,johnson4                   
,,bibliography    ,,of ,,the ,,writings 
,,of    ,,william ,,hamilton ,,gibson   
8,the ,complete ,american ,trapper40    
,new ,york4 ,james ,miller1 #ahgf4      
,republished in #ahgh by ,bradley  ,co4 

,republished in #ahhj by ,harper        
and ,brothers1 under the title1 8,camp  
,life in the ,woods1 and the            
,tricks of ,trapping and ,trap-,making40
         8,pastoral ,days2 or1 ,memories
 of a ,new ,england ,year40 ,new ,york4 
,harper and ,brothers1 #ahhj4           
8,highways and ,byways2 or1 ,saunterings
 in ,new ,england40 ,new ,york4         
,harper and ,brothers1 #ahhb4           
8,happy ,hunting ,grounds3 ,a ,tribute  
to the ,woods and ,fields40 ,new        
,york4 ,harper and ,brothers1 #ahhf4    
8,strolls by ,starlight and ,sunshine40 
,new ,york4 ,harper and ,brothers1      
#ahij4         8,sharp ,eyes3 ,a        
,rambler's ,calendar of ,fifty-two      
,weeks among ,insects1       ,birds and 
,flowers40 ,new ,york4 ,harper and      
,brothers1 #ahia4         8,our ,edible 
,mushrooms and ,toadstools and ,how to  
,distinguish ,them40       ,new ,york4  
,harper and ,brothers1 #ahie4           
8,eye ,spy3 ,afield with ,nature among  
,flowers and ,animate ,things40 ,new    

,york4 ,harper and ,brothers1 #ahig4    
8,my ,studio ,neighbors40 ,new ,york4   
,harper and ,brothers1 #ahig4           
,,note         ,it is impossible to     
trace or to enumerate the anonymous and 
fugitive articles scattered through the 
periodicals and other       publications
 from #ahgb4 ,the same is true of       
illustrations4 ,gibson's                
extraordinary productiveness and        
industry enabled him to furnish a       
vast amount of material to many         
publishers4 ,among the more             
important works which he illustrated1   
wholly or in part1 the       following  
may be named3    8,the ,american        
,agriculturist40    8,hearth and ,home40
    8,appleton's ,encyclopedia0         
7,botanical ,drawings74    8,picturesque
 ,america40    8,success with ,small    
,fruits10 ,e4 ,p4 ,roe4    8,in         
,berkshire with the ,wild ,flowers10    
,elaine and ,dora ,goodale4    ,the     
,heart of the ,white ,mountains10 ,s4   
,a4 ,drake4    8,the ,master of the     

,gunnery40    8,nature's ,serial        
,story10 ,e4 ,p4 ,roe4    8,the         
,pictorial ,longfellow40    8,sketches  
in the ,south10 ,charles ,dudley ,warner
 and ,rebecca ,harding  ,davis4         
99       99       99       99       99  
,books for the ,country      ,,nature   
,,studies ,,in ,,berkshire4 ,by ,,john  
,,coleman ,,adams4 ,with #af            
illustrations in photogravure from      
original photographs by ,,arthur        
,,scott4  #h1 gilt top1 #d4ej4 ,popular 
edition1 illustrated1 #h1 #b4ej4        
8,the book on the whole is a sane and   
sympathetic tribute to nature1 a        
tribute that is much enhanced by the    
accompanying beautiful                  
photographs40--,chicago ,tribune4       
,,landscape ,,gardening4 ,notes and     
,suggestions on ,lawns and              
,lawn-,planting1  ,laying out and       
,arrangement of ,country ,places1 ,large
 and ,small ,parks1  etc4 ,by ,,samuel  
,,parsons1 ,jr41 ,ex-,superintendent of 
,parks1 ,new ,york ,city4  ,with nearly 

#bjj illustrations4 ,large #h1 #c4ej4   
8,mr4 ,parsons proves himself a master  
of his art as a landscape gardener1  and
 this superb book should be studied by  
all who are concerned in the  making of 
parks in other cities10--,philadelphia  
,bulletin4    ,,lawns ,,and ,,gardens4  
,how to ,beautify the ,home ,lot1 the   
,pleasure ,ground1  and ,garden4 ,by ,n4
 ,j,,nsson-,,rose1 of the ,department of
 ,public ,parks1 ,new  ,york ,city4     
,with #agb plans and illustrations4     
,large #h1 gilt top1 #c4ej4    8,mr4    
,jnsson-,rose has prepared a treatise   
which will prove of genuine  value to   
the large and increasing number of those
 who take a personal  interest in their 
home grounds4 ,it does not aim above the
 intelligence  or sthetic sense of the  
ordinary ,american citizen who has never
 given  any thought to planting and to  
whom some of the profounder principles  
of  garden-art make no convincing       
appeal40--,garden and ,forest4          
,,ornamental ,,shrubs4 ,for ,garden1    

,lawn1 and ,park ,planting4 ,by ,,lucius
 ,d4  ,,davis4 ,with over #ajj          
illustrations4 #h1 #c4ej4    8,mr4      
,davis writes with authority upon his   
chosen theme4444 ,the book is  full of  
information upon the subject of which it
 treats1 and contains  many suggestions 
that will prove helpful40--,n4 ,y4      
,times4    ,,the ,,leaf ,,collector',s  
,,handbook ,,and ,,herbarium4 ,an aid in
 the preservation  and in the           
classification of specimen leaves of the
 trees of  ,northeastern ,america4 ,by  
,,charles ,s4 ,,newhall4 ,illustrated4  
#h1 #b4jj4    8,the idea of the book is 
so good and so simple as to recommend   
itself at  a glance to everybody who    
cares to know our trees or to make for  
any  purpose a collection of their      
leaves40--,n4 ,y4 ,critic4    ,,the     
,,wonders ,,of ,,plant ,,life4 ,by ,mrs4
 ,s4 ,b4 ,,herrick4 ,fully illustrated4 
#af1 #a4ej4    8,a dainty volume 444    
opens up a whole world of fascination   
444 full of  information40--,boston     

,advertiser4    ,,the ,,home ,,life ,,of
 ,,wild ,,birds4 ,a new method of the   
study and photography  of birds4 ,by    
,,francis ,h4 ,,herrick4 ,with #ada     
illustrations from life4 #d1  net1      
#b4ej4    ,mr4 ,herrick has perfected an
 invention that brings the birds beneath
 his  eye1 and beneath the eye of his   
camera1 in a way hitherto unheard of4   
,at  an actual distance of about #b feet
 from the nest1 the author and his      
camera stand4 ,from that point of       
vantage they watch and record every     
movement of the bird family4      ,,our 
,,insect ,,friends ,,and ,,foes4 ,how to
 ,collect1 ,preserve and ,study ,them4  
,by  ,,belle ,s4 ,,cragin4 ,with over   
#bej illustrations4 #h1 #a4ge           
8,although primarily intended for boys  
and girls1 it can hardly fail to  enlist
 the aid of the older members of the    
family2 and for the amateur  collector  
of all ages who has all the requisite   
enthusiasm but lacks a  practical       
knowledge of the art of preserving      

specimens1 it should  receive a warm    
welcome40--,commercial ,advertiser4     
,,among ,,the ,,moths ,,and             
,,butterflies4 ,by ,,julia ,p4          
,,ballard4 ,illustrated4 #h1  #a4ej4    
8,the book1 which is handsomely         
illustrated1 is designed for young      
readers1 relating some of the most      
curious facts of natural history in a   
singularly pleasant and instructive     
manner40--,n4 ,y4 ,tribune4    ,,bird   
,,studies4 ,an account of the ,land     
,birds of ,eastern ,north ,america4 ,by 
,,william ,e4,d4 ,,scott4 ,with #aff    
illustrations from original photographs4
  ,quarto1 leather back1 gilt top1 in a 
box1 net1 #e4jj4    8,a book of first   
class importance4444 ,mr4 ,scott has    
been a field  naturalist for upwards of 
thirty years1 and few persons have a    
more  intimate acquaintance than he with
 bird life4 ,his work will take  high   
rank for scientific accuracy and we     
trust it may prove                      
successful40--,london ,speaker4         

,,wild ,,flowers ,,of ,,the             
,,northeastern ,,states4 ,drawn and     
carefully described  from life1 without 
undue use of scientific nomenclature1 by
 ,,ellen ,,miller  and ,,margaret ,c4   
,,whiting4 ,with #cjh illustrations the 
size of life4 #h1  net1 #c4jj4          
8,anybody who can read ,english can use 
the work and make his  identifications1 
and1 in the case of some of the flowers1
 the drawings  alone furnish all that is
 necessary4444 ,the descriptions are as 
good of  their kind as the drawings are 
of theirs40--,n4 ,y4 ,times4    ,,the   
,,shrubs ,,of ,,northeastern ,,america4 
,by ,,charles ,s4 ,,newhall4 ,fully     
illustrated4 #h1 #a4ge4    8,this volume
 is beautifully printed on beautiful    
paper1 and has a list  of #aaf          
illustrations calculated to explain the 
text4 ,it has a mine of  precious       
information1 such as is seldom gathered 
within the covers of  such a            
volume40--,baltimore ,farmer4    ,,the  
,,vines ,,of ,,northeastern ,,america4  

,by ,,charles ,s4 ,,newhall4 ,fully     
illustrated4 #h1 #a4ge4    8,the work is
 that of the true scientist1            
artistically presented in a  popular    
form to an appreciative class of        
readers40--,the ,churchman4    ,,the    
,,trees ,,of ,,northeastern ,,america4  
,by ,,charles ,s4 ,,newhall4 ,with      
illustrations made from tracings of the 
leaves of the various trees4 #h1  #a4ge4
    8,we believe this is the most       
complete and handsome volume of its     
kind1  and on account of its            
completeness and the readiness with     
which it  imparts information that      
everybody needs and few possess1 it is  
invaluable40--,binghamton ,republican4  
,g4 ,p4 ,,putnam',s ,,sons1 #bg  #bi    
,west #bc;d ,st41 ,new ,york