* * * * *
Joseph Lincoln was not only a novelist of wide reputation, but he was
also a public benefactor. His success had in it something heartening
and corrective. In the midst of work which appeals to the base and
cynical in human life (American city life) his clean, wholesome,
humorous stories of Cape Cod Sea Captains and their neighbors gave
evidence of the fact that there was a huge public for decent, homely
fiction. Just as the success of his play “Shavings” was evidence that
there was a paying audience for decent and homely drama.
Lincoln’s books could be read aloud in the family circle with joy
to all members of it. They made no pretense of being profound, or
new, or “smart.” They were filled with characters and the humor which
was once native to the Cape. Lincoln knew these Cape towns and their
inhabitants as Irving Bacheller, another writer of the times, knew
his men of the North Woods, for he was raised among them and lived in
their neighborhood several months of each year. Joe Lincoln looked like
one of them, like an old skipper, hearty, unassuming and kindly. The
task which he set for himself was one which called for a keen sense
of character, democracy of sentiment and a fancy which never--or very
seldom--lost its hold on the solid ground of experience. His plots were
sometimes negligible, but his characters, even when they seemed a bit
repetitious, were a joy to his readers. His prosperity was well earned.