Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 204, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 August 1912 — WERE NOT AT ALL DIVERTING [ARTICLE]

WERE NOT AT ALL DIVERTING

|B«iou*-Mindid 'Quaker Saw Nothing to 6milo at In the Lighter Poem* *■ of Whittier. ...» , The late Gertrude Whittier Cart* aand, cousin of Whittier, the Quaker poet, presented an ideal picture of the saintly aged Quakeress. Her eweet serene face framed In its tight little bonnet, seemed to shine with clear, spiritual radiance; to hear her recite, in a voice of tranquil music, the hymns and graver poems of her famous relative was always' delight* ful. But she did not have her cousin's lively sense of humor; and It was hard to tell whether this lack lessened or Increased the effect, when in exactly the same grave, even tones, she occasionally read aloud some of the verse that he wrote, not for publication, but for the pleasure of his Intimate circle. That was always light, frequently gay, sometimes fairly rollicking. Her admiration for the writer made her try very hard to appreciate his fun; 'and she thought she did so; yet mirth seemed always as alien to her tongue as a red rosette pinned upon her dove-gray shoulder-shawl' would have been to her costume. This incongruity was felt, doubtless, by another Friend, of even more serious mind than she, who once said to her reprovingly: “The verses are harmless, and I perceive they are intended to be diverting; but they do not divert me, Gertrude, and. I do not think they really divert thee. Be honest with thyself; if thee read them and did not know thy cousin . Greenleaf wrote them, would thee not consider them extremely silly 7 Thee knows I mean po affront, and greatly admire thy cousin Greenleaf. Surely he If #' great poet; but a great poet may sometimes write such silly stuff. And surely this time thy cousin has done It jßeflect and thee will agree with me.” | She reflected—on the necessity of care In selecting an audience for a joke.—Youth’s Companion.