Bunyan and Spenser probably fostered his love of the allegorical
method of presenting truth, a method that is in evidence in the bulk of
Hawthorne's work. He even called his daughter Una, after one of Spenser's
allegorical heroines, and, following the suggestion in the _Faerie Queene_,
gave the name of "Lion" to the large cat that came to her as a playmate.
At the age of seventeen, Hawthorne went to Bowdoin College, Maine, where he
met such students as Longfellow, Franklin Pierce, and Horatio Bridge, in
after years a naval officer, who published in 1893 a delightful volume
called _Personal Reminiscences of Nathaniel Hawthorne_. These friends
changed the course of Hawthorne's life. In his dedication of _The Snow
Image_ to Bridge in 1850, Hawthorne says, "If anybody is responsible for my
being at this day an author, it is yourself."
LITERARY APPRENTICESHIP.--After leaving college, Milton spent nearly six
years in studious retirement; but Hawthorne after graduating at Bowdoin, in
1825, passed in seclusion at Salem a period twice as long. Here he lived
the life of a recluse, frequently postponing his walks until after dark. He
was busy serving his apprenticeship as an author.
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