The Land of Poetry and Peace

“The fragrance of the pines, the sighing of the wind through the canopy above, all were soothing to the senses; and yet, in a dreamy way, they stirred the imagination,” Mitchell muses in The Pines of Lory, “This was fairy land—the enchanted forest—the land of poetry and peace—of calm content, far away from common things.”

The language Mitchell uses to describe the natural landscape of the novel is as alluring as the picture he paints of the Pines of Lory, depicting the simultaneous ease and uncertainty of Elinor and Pats’ life together in the woods. There is an ethereal quality about the pines, an otherworldliness that elevates what might be at stake for the characters, heightening the intensity of Elinor’s story when she recounts the events that lead her to believe Pats has drowned in the river, and the moment when they are reunited. A 1902 review of The Pines of Lory from the American Journal of Nursing from a section of the journal’s book reviews titled, “Books to be read to patients,” concludes, “Even the fairy godmother is accepted, and if the story leaves us rather breathless and not wholly convinced, at least we are immensely entertained and distinctly wish he would ‘do it again.’” The “godmother” they are referring to, of course, being the French princess whose father the house belonged to, who unexpectedly appears in the final chapter of the novel and returns Elinor and Pats back to the world they believed they had lost.

Around the same time that John Ames Mitchell was writing about the powers of nature’s “calm content,” he was working to make “the land of poetry and peace” more accessible to New York’s needy children. In an article in The New York Tribune, Robbie Jack discusses the The Tribune Fresh Air Fund, the former name of The Fresh Air Fund, and names the so-called “godmothers” and “godfathers” that hosted poor children from the city for a few weeks during their summer vacations at their homes in the country. Articles about the organization, and a frequently updated list of its contributors, appeared often in its namesake periodical, The New York Tribune. This article, archived by the Library of Congress, discusses the visit of Fred Stone, a famous actor and Vaudeville performer to Camp Bethany, near Amityville, New York, where 150 girls were staying, “who was performing, it was Fred Stone in the flesh—cowboy suit, lariat, and all.” As the story continues, Jack says, “The fairy godmothers, led by Mrs. R. G. McMahon and Mrs. Daniel Whittlesey, have organized a motor transport corps to carry the little cripples and other guests of Bethany to and from the railroad station on their arrival and departure.”

The language of the article might seem problematic to a twenty first century audience, however, the mission that was at the heart of the organization, to give New York’s most disenfranchised youth an opportunity to see more of the world than their neighborhoods, to experience the contentment of a place “far away from common things,” is inarguably a cause worth fighting for. Over 140 years after its organization was founded, The Fresh Air Fund’s website reads, “The simplicity of our program is its strength. Looking back to 1877, we can reflect on how much has changed, and how much has stayed the same. The Fund began with a small group of youngsters heading for the country and went on to benefit more than 1.8 million needy children.” Mitchell’s successful endeavors in philanthropy and creativity were two sides of the same coin, and the things that he deemed beautiful enough to write about were things he thought were meant to be had by all.