THE WIDER OUTLOOK
1865; _aet._ 46
THE WORD
Had I one of thy words, my Master,
With a spirit and tone of thine,
I would run to the farthest Indies
To scatter the joy divine.
I would waken the frozen ocean
With a billowy burst of joy:
Stir the ships at their grim ice-moorings
The summer passes by.
I would enter court and hovel,
Forgetful of mien or dress,
With a treasure that all should ask for,
An errand that all should bless.
I seek for thy words, my Master,
With a spelling vexed and slow:
With scanty illuminations
In an alphabet of woe.
But while I am searching, scanning
A lesson none ask to hear,
My life writeth out thy sentence
Divinely just and dear.
J. W. H.
The war was nearly over, and all hearts were with Grant and Lee in their
long duel before Richmond. Patriotism and philosophy together ruled our
mother's life in these days; the former more apparent in her daily walk
among us, the latter in the quiet hours with her Journal.
The Journal for 1865 is much fuller than that of 1864; the record of
events is more regular, and we find more and more reflection,
meditation, and speculation. The influence of Kant is apparent; the
entries become largely notes of study, to take final shape in lectures
and essays.
"A morning visit received in study hours is a sickness from which the
day does not recover. I can neither afford to be idle, nor to have
friends who are so."
"Man is impelled by inward force, regulated by outward circumstance. He
is inspired from within, moralized from without.... A man may be devout
in himself, but he can be moral only in his relation with other men...."
"Early to Mary Dorr's, to consult about the Charade. Read Kant and wrote
as usual. Spent the afternoon in getting up my costumes for the Charade.
The word was Au-thor-ship.... Authorship was expressed by my appearing
as a great composer, Jerry Abbott performing my Oratorio--a very comical
thing, indeed. The whole was a success."
No one who saw the "Oratorio" can forget it. Mr. Abbott, our neighbor in
Chestnut Street, was a comedian who would have adorned any stage. The
"book" of the Oratorio was a simple rhyme of Boston authorship.
"Abigail Lord,
Of her own accord,
Went down to see her sister,
When Jason Lee,
As brisk as a flea,
He hopped right up and kissed her."
With these words, an umbrella, and a chair held before him like a
violoncello, Mr. Abbott gave a truly Handelian performance. Fugue and
counterpoint, first violin and bass tuba, solo and full chorus, all were
rendered with a _verve_ and spirit which sent the audience into
convulsions of laughter.--This was one of the "carryings-on" of the
Brain Club. After another such occasion our mother writes:--
"Very weary and aching a little. I must keep out of these tomfooleries,
though they have their uses. They are much better than some other social
entertainments, as after all they present some æsthetic points of
interest. They are better than scandal, gluttony, or wild dancing. But
the artists and I have still better things to do."
"_January 23._ It is always legitimate to wish to rise above one's self,
never above others. In this, however, as in other things, we must
remember the maxim: '_Natura nil facit per saltum_.' All true rising
must be gradual and laborious, in such wise that the men of to-morrow
shall look down almost imperceptibly upon the men of to-day. All sudden
elevations are either imaginary or factitious. If you had not a kingly
mind before your coronation, no crown will make a king of you. The true
king is somewhere, starving or hiding, very like. For the true value
which the counterfeit represents exists somewhere. The world has much
dodging about to produce the real value and escape the false one."
Throughout the Journal, we find a revelation of the conflict in this
strangely dual nature. Her study was, she thought, her true home; yet no
one who saw her in society would have dreamed that she was making an
effort: _nor was she_! She gave herself up entirely to the work or the
play of the hour. She was a many-sided crystal: every aspect of life met
its answering flash. The glow of human intercourse kindled her to flame;
but when the flame had cooled, the need of solitude and study lay on her
with twofold poignancy. She went through life in double harness, thought
and feeling abreast; though often torn between the two, in the main she
gave free rein to both, trusting the issue to God.
The winter of 1864-65 was an arduous one. She was writing new
philosophical essays, and reading them before various circles of
friends. The larger audience which she craved was not for the moment
attainable. She was studying deeply, reading Latin by way of relaxation,
going somewhat into society (Julia and Florence being now of the dancing
age), and entertaining a good deal in a quiet way. In February she
writes: "Much tormented by interruptions. Could not get five quiet
minutes at a time. Everybody torments me with every smallest errand. And
I am trying to study philosophy!"
Probably we were troublesome children and made more noise than we
should. Her accurate ear for music was often a source of distress to
her, as one of us can witness, an indolent child who neglected her
practising. As this child drummed over her scales, the door of the
upstairs study would open, and a clear voice come ringing down, "_B
flat_, dear, _not_ B natural!"
It seemed to the child a miracle; she, with the book before her, could
not get it right: "Mamma," studying Kant upstairs behind closed doors,
knew what the note should be.
"Few of us consider the wide and laborious significance of the simplest
formulas we employ. 'I love you!' opens out a long vista of labor and
endeavor; otherwise it means: 'I love myself and need you.'..."
"Played all last evening for Laura's company to dance. My heart flutters
to-day. It is a feeling unknown to me until lately."
Now, Laura would have gone barefoot in snow to save her mother pain or
fatigue; yet she has no recollection of ever questioning the
inevitability of "Mamma's" playing for all youthful dancing. Grown-up
parties were different; for them there were hired musicians, who made
inferior music; but for the frolics of the early 'teens, who _should_
play except "Mamma"?
On March 10, she writes: "I have now been too long in my study. I must
break out into real life, and learn some more of its lessons."
Two days later a lesson began: "I stay from church to-day to take care
of Maud, who is quite unwell. This is a sacrifice, although I am bound
and glad to make it. But I shall miss the church all the week."
The child became so ill that "all pursuits had to be given up in the
care of her." The Journal gives a minute account of this illness, and of
the remedies used, among them "long-continued and gentle friction with
the hand." The words bring back the touch of her hand, which was like no
other. There were no trained nurses in our nursery, rarely any doctor
save "Papa," but "Mamma" rubbed us, and that was a whole
pharmacopoeia in itself.
At this time she gave her first public lecture before the Parker
Fraternity. This was an important event to her; she had earnestly
desired yet greatly dreaded it. She found the hall pleasant, the
audience attentive. "When I came to read the lecture," she says, "I felt
that it had a value."
"All these things in my mind point one way, viz.: towards the adoption
of a profession of Ethical exposition, after my sort."
She had been asked to give a lecture at Tufts College, and says of this:
"The difficulties are great, the question is to me one of simple duty.
If I am sent for, and have the word to say, I should say it."
And again: "I determine that I can only be good in fulfilling my highest
function--all else implies waste of power, leading to demoralization."
She declined the invitation, "feeling unable to decide in favor of
accepting it."
"But I was sorry," she says, "and I remembered the words: 'He that hath
put his hand to the plough and looketh back is not fit for the kingdom
of heaven.' God keep me from so looking back!"
The Journal of this spring is largely devoted to philosophic
speculations and commentaries on Kant, whose theories she finds more and
more luminous and convincing; now and then comes a note of her own:--
"'I am God!' says the fool. 'I see God!' says the wise man. For while
you are your own supreme, you are your own God, and self-worship is true
atheism."
"It is better to use a bad man by his better side than a good man by his
worse side."
"Christ said that he was older than Abraham. I think that he used this
expression as a measure of value. His thoughts were further back in the
primal Ideal necessity. He did not speak of any personal life antedating
his own existence.... In his own sense, Christ was also newer than we
are, for his doctrine is still beyond the attainment of all and the
appreciation of most of us."
"There is no essential religious element in negation."
"Saw Booth in 'Hamlet'--still first-rate, I think, although he has
played it one hundred nights in New York. 'Hamlet' is an æsthetic
Evangel. I know of no direct ethical work which contains such powerful
moral illustration and instruction."
"James Freeman [Clarke] does not think much of Sam's book, probably not
as well as it deserves. But the knowledge of Sam's personality is the
light behind the transparency in all that he does."[52]
[52] _Lyrical Ventures_, by Samuel Ward.
These were the closing months of the Civil War. All hearts were lifted
up in thankfulness that the end was near. She speaks of it seldom, but
her few words are significant.
"_Monday, April 3...._ Richmond was taken this morning. _Laus Deo!_"
On April 10, after "Maud's boots, $3.00, Vegetables, .12, Bread, .04,"
we read, "Ribbons for victory, .40. To-day we have the news of Lee's
surrender with the whole remnant of his army. The city is alive with
people. All flags hung out--shop windows decorated--processions in the
street. All friends meet and shake hands. On the newspaper bulletins
such placards as '_Gloria in excelsis Deo_,' 'Thanks be to God!' We all
call it the greatest day of our lives.
"Apples, half-peck, .50."
That week was one of joy and thankfulness for all. Thursday was Fast
Day; she "went to church to fatigue Satan. Afterwards made a visit to
Mrs. ---- who did not seem to have tired her devil out."
The joy bells were soon to be silenced. Saturday, April 15, was
"A black day in history, though outwardly most fair. President Lincoln
was assassinated in his box at the theatre, last evening, by J. Wilkes
Booth. This atrocious act, which was consummated in a very theatrical
manner, is enough to ruin not the Booth family alone, but the theatrical
profession. Since my Sammy's death, nothing has happened that has given
me so much personal pain as this event. The city is paralyzed. But we
can only work on, and trust in God."
Our father's face of tragedy, the anguish in his voice, as he called us
down to hear the news, come vividly before us to-day, one of the
clearest impressions of our youth. Our mother went with him next day to
hear Governor Andrew's official announcement of the murder to the
Legislature, and heard with deep emotion his quotation from
"Macbeth":--
"Besides, this Duncan
Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been
So clear in his great office, that his virtues
Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against
The deep damnation of his taking-off," etc.
Wednesday, April 19, was:--
"The day of President Lincoln's funeral. A sad, disconnected day. I
could not work, but strolled around to see the houses, variously draped
in black and white. Went to Bartol's church, not knowing of a service at
our own. Bartol's remarks were tender and pathetic. I was pleased to
have heard them.
"Wrote some verses about the President--pretty good,
perhaps,--scratching the last nearly in the dark, just before bedtime."
This is the poem called "Parricide." It begins:--
O'er the warrior gauntlet grim
Late the silken glove we drew.
Bade the watch-fires slacken dim
In the dawn's auspicious hue.
Staid the armèd heel;
Still the clanging steel;
Joys unwonted thrilled the silence through.
On April 27 she "heard of Wilkes Booth's death--shot on refusing to give
himself up--the best thing that could have happened to himself and his
family"; and wrote a second poem entitled "Pardon," embodying her second
and permanent thought on the subject:
Pains the sharp sentence the heart in whose wrath it was uttered,
Now thou art cold;
Vengeance, the headlong, and Justice, with purpose close muttered,
Loosen their hold, etc.
Brief entries note the closing events of the war.
"_May 13._ Worked much on Essay.... In the evening said to Laura: 'Jeff
Davis will be taken to-morrow.' Was so strongly impressed with the
thought that I wanted to say it to Chev, but thought it was too silly."
"_May 14._ The first thing I heard in the morning was the news of the
capture of Jeff Davis. This made me think of my preluding the night
before...."
* * * * *
Other things beside essays demanded work in these days. The great
struggle was now over, and with it the long strain on heart and nerve,
culminating in the tragic emotion of the past weeks. The inevitable
reaction set in. Her whole nature cried out for play, and play meant
work.
"Working all day for the Girls' Party, to-morrow evening. Got only a
very short reading of Kant, and of Tyndall. Tea with the Bartols. Talk
with [E. P.] Whipple, who furiously attacked Tacitus. Bartol and I, who
know a good deal more about him, made a strong fight in his behalf."
"Working all day for the Party. The lists of men and women accepting and
declining were balanced by my daughter F. with amusing anxiety.... The
two sexes are now neck and neck. Dear little Maud was in high glee over
every male acceptance. Out of all this hubbub got a precious forty-five
minutes with Kant...."
The party proved "very gay and pleasant."
Now came a more important event: the Musical Festival celebrating the
close of the war, which was given by the Handel and Haydn Society, at
its semi-centennial, in May, 1865. Our mother sang alto in the chorus.
The Journal records daily, sometimes semi-daily, rehearsals and
performances, Kant squeezed to the wall, and getting with difficulty his
daily hour or half-hour. Mendelssohn's "Hymn of Praise" and "Elijah";
Haydn's "Creation," Handel's "Messiah" and "Israel in Egypt"; she sang
in them all.
Here is a sample Festival day:--
"Attended morning rehearsal, afternoon concert, and sang in the evening.
We gave 'Israel in Egypt' and Mendelssohn's 'Hymn of Praise.' I got a
short reading of Kant, which helped me through the day. But so much
music is more than human nerves can respond to with pleasure. This
confirms my belief in the limited power of our sensibilities in the
direction of pure enjoyment. The singing in the choruses fatigues me
less than hearing so many things."
After describing the glorious final performance of the "Messiah," she
writes:--
"So farewell, delightful Festival! I little thought what a week of youth
was in store for me. For these things carried me back to my early years,
and their passion for music. I remembered the wholeness with which I
used to give myself up to the concerts and oratorios in New York, and
the intense reaction of melancholy which always followed these
occasions."
And the next day:--
"Still mourning the Festival a little. If I had kept up my music as I
intended, in my early youth, I should never have done what I have
done--should never have studied philosophy, nor written what I have
written. My life would have been more natural and passionate, but I
think less valuable. Yet I cannot but regret the privation of this
element in which I have lived for years. But I do believe that music is
the most expensive of the fine arts. It uses up the whole man more than
the other arts do, and builds him up less. It is more passional, less
intellectual, than the other arts. Its mastery is simple and absolute,
while that of the other arts is so complex as to involve a larger sphere
of thought and reflection. I have observed the faces of this orchestra
just disbanded. Their average is considerably above the ordinary one.
But they have probably more talent than thought."
On May 31 we find a significant entry. The evening before she had
attended the Unitarian Convention, and "heard much tolerable speaking,
but nothing of any special value or importance." She now writes:--
"I really suffered last evening from the crowd of things which I wished
to say, and which, at one word of command, would have flashed into life
and, I think, into eloquence. It is by a fine use of natural logic that
the Quaker denomination allows women to speak, under the pressure of
religious conviction. 'In Christ Jesus there is neither male nor
female,' is a good sentence. Paul did not carry this out in his church
discipline, yet, one sees, he felt it in his religious contemplation. I
feel that a woman's whole moral responsibility is lowered by the fact
that she must never obey a transcendent command of conscience. Man can
give her nothing to take the place of this. It is the _divine_ right of
the human soul."
The fatigue and excitement of the Festival had to be paid for: the
inevitable reaction set in.
"_June 3._ Decidedly I have spleen in these days. Throughout my whole
body, I feel a mingled restlessness and feebleness, as if the nerves
were irritated, and the muscles powerless. I feel puzzled, too, about
the worth of what I have been doing for nearly three years past. There
is no one to help me in these matters. I determine still to work on and
hope on. Much of the work of every life is done in the dark."
Again: "Spleen to-day, and utter discouragement. The wind is east, and
this gives me the strange feeling, described before, of restlessness and
powerlessness. My literary affairs are in a very confused state. I have
no market. This troubles me.... God keep me from falling away from my
purpose, to do only what seems to me necessary and called for in my
vocation, and not to produce for money, praise, or amusement."
"Was melancholy and Godless all day, having taken my volume of Kant back
to the Athenæum for the yearly rearrangement. Could not interest myself
in anything.... Visited old Mrs. Sumner,[53] whose chariot and horses
are nearly ready."
[53] The mother of Charles Sumner.
At this time there was some question of selling Lawton's Valley for
economic reasons. The exigency passed, but the following words show the
depth of her feeling on the subject: "If I have any true philosophy, any
sincere religion, these must support me under the privation of the
Valley. I feel this, and resolve to do well, but nature will suffer.
That place has been my confidante,--my bosom friend,--intimate to me as
no human being ever will be--dear and comforting also to my
children...."
"_June 11...._ Thought of a good text for a sermon, 'In the world ye
shall have tribulation,' the scope being to show that our tribulation,
if we try to do well, is in the world, our refuge and comfort in the
church. Thought of starting a society in Newport for the practice of
sacred music, availing ourselves of the summer musicians and the
possible aid of such ladies as Miss Reed, etc., for solos. Such an
enterprise would be humanizing, and would supply a better object than
the empty reunions of fashion...."
"_Wednesday, June 21._ Attended the meeting at Faneuil Hall, for the
consideration of reconstruction of the Southern States. Dana made a
statement to the effect that voting was a civic, not a natural, right,
and built up the propriety of negro suffrage on the basis first of
military right, then of duty to the negro, this being the only mode of
enabling him to protect himself against his late master. His treatment
was intended to be exhaustive, and was able, though cold and conceited.
Beecher tumbled up on the platform immediately after, not having heard
him, knocked the whole question to pieces with his great democratic
power, his humor, his passion, and his magnetism. It was Nature after
Art, and his nature is much greater than Dana's art."
A few days after this she writes: "... Sumner in the evening--a long
and pleasant visit. He is a very sweet-hearted man, and does not grow
old."
The Musical Festival had not yet exacted full arrears of payment; she
was too weary even to enjoy the Valley at first; but after a few days of
its beloved seclusion she shook off fatigue and was herself again,
reading Kant and Livy, teaching the children, and gathering mussels on
the beach.
She flits up to town to see the new statue of Horace Mann, "in order to
criticise it for Chev's pamphlet";[54] meets William Hunt, who praises
its simplicity and parental character; and Charles Sumner, who tells her
it looks better on a nearer view.
[54] Dr. Howe raised the money for this statue.
The day after--"we abode in the Valley, when three detachments of
company tumbled in upon us, to wit, Colonel Higginson and Mrs. McKay,
the Tweedys and John Field, and the Gulstons. All were friendly. Only on
my speaking of the rudeness occasionally shown me by a certain lady,
Mrs. Tweedy said: 'But that was in the presence of your superiors, was
it not?' I replied: 'I do not know that I was ever in Mrs. X.'s company
under those circumstances!' After which we all laughed."
She was at this time sitting to Miss Margaret Foley for a portrait
medallion and was writing philosophy and poetry. Family and household
matters also claimed their share of attention.
"Finished reading over 'Polarity' [her essay]. Reading to the children,
'Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man
hath not where to lay his head'--my little Maud's eyes filled with
tears."
"Much worried by want of preparedness for today's picnic. Managed to get
up three chickens killed on short notice, a pan of excellent
gingerbread, two cans of peaches, and a little bread and butter. Went in
the express wagon.... At the picnic I repeated my Cambridge poem, ...
and read 'Amanda's Inventory' and my long poem on Lincoln's death....
Duty depends on an objective, happiness upon a subjective, sense. The
first is capable of a general and particular definition, the second is
not."
"In the afternoon mended Harry's shirt, finished Maud's skirt, read Livy
and Tyndall, and played croquet, which made me very cross."
"Exhumed my French story and began its termination. Mended a sheet badly
torn."
After a long list of purchases--
"Worked like a dog all day. Went in town, running about to pick up all
the articles above mentioned.... Came home--cut bread and butter and
spread sandwiches till just within time to slip off one dress and slip
on another. My company was most pleasant, and more numerous than I had
anticipated...."
"Legal right is the universal compulsion which secures universal
liberty."
"I feel quite disheartened when I compare this summer with the last. I
was so happy and hopeful in writing my three Essays and thought they
should open such a vista of usefulness to me, and of good to others. But
the opposition of my family has made it almost impossible for me to
make the use intended of them. My health has not allowed me to continue
to produce so much. I feel saddened and doubtful of the value of what I
have done or can do...."
"_August 23...._ Rights and duties are inseparable in human beings. God
has rights without duties. Men have rights and duties. If a slave have
not rights, he also has not duties...."
"With the girls to a matinée at Bellevue Hall. They danced and I was
happy."
"My croquet party kept me busy all day. It was pleasant enough...."
"... 'My peace I give unto you' is a wonderful saying. What peace have
most of us to give each other? But Christ has given peace to the world,
peace at least as an ideal object, to be ever sought, though never fully
attained."
"_September 10...._ Read Kant on state rights. According to him, wars of
conquest are allowable only in a state of nature, not in a state of
peace (which is not to be attained without a compact whose necessity is
supreme and whose obligations are sacred). So Napoleon's crusade against
the constituted authority of the European republic was without logical
justification,--which accounts for the speedy downfall of his empire.
What he accomplished had only the subjective justification of his genius
and his ambition. His work was of great indirect use in sweeping away
certain barriers of usage and of superstition. He drew a picture of
government on a large scale and thus set a pattern which inevitably
enlarged the procedures of his successors, who lost through him the
prestige of divine right and of absolute power. But the inadequacy of
his object showed itself through the affluence of his genius. The
universal dominion of the Napoleon family was not to be desired or
endured by the civilized world at large. The tortoise in the end
overtook the hare, and slow, plodding Justice, with her loyal hack,
distanced splendid Ambition mounted on first-rate ability, once and
forever...."
"To Zion church, to hear ---- preach. Text, 'Son, remember that thou in
thy lifetime receivedst thy good things.' Sermon as far removed from it
as possible, weak, sentimental, and illiterate. He left out the 'd' in
'receivedst,' and committed other errors in pronunciation. But to sit
with the two aunts[55] in the old church, so familiar to my childhood,
was touching and impressive. Hither my father was careful to bring us.
Imperfect as his doctrine now appears to me, he looks down upon me from
the height of a better life than mine, and still appears to me as my
superior."
[55] Mrs. Francis and Mrs. McAllister.
"A little nervous about my reading. Reached Mrs. [Richard] Hunt's at
twelve. Saw the sweet little boy. Mrs. Hunt very kind and cordial. At
one Mr. Hunt led me to the studio which I found well filled, my two
aunts in the front row, to my great surprise; Bancroft, too, quite near
me. I shortened the essay somewhat. It was well heard and received.
Afterwards I read my poem called 'Philosophy,' and was urged to recite
my 'Battle Hymn,' which I did. I was much gratified by the kind
reception I met with and the sight of many friends of my youth. A most
pleasant lunch afterwards at Mrs. Hunt's, with Tweedys, Tuckermans, and
Laura."
"I see no outlook before me. So many fields for activity, but for
passivity, which seems incumbent upon me, only uselessness, obscurity,
deterioration. Some effort I must make."
Many efforts were impending, though not precisely in the direction
contemplated. First, a new abode must be found for the winter, as the
owners of 13 Chestnut Street claimed it for themselves. She and the
Doctor added house-hunting to their other burdens, and found it a heavy
one. On October 6 she writes:--
"Much excited about plans and prospects. Chev has bought the house in
Boylston Place.[56] God grant it may be for the best. Determine to have
classes in philosophy, and to ask a reasonable price for my tickets....
[56] No. 19.
"The Sunday's devotion without the week's thought and use is a spire
without a meeting-house. It leaps upward, but crowns and covers nothing.
"I have too often set down the moral weight I have to carry, and frisked
around it. But the voice now tells me that I must bear it to the end, or
lose it forever."
The move to Boylston Place was in November. Early in the month a
"frisking" took place, with amusing results. Our mother went with
Governor and Mrs. Andrew and a gay party to Barnstable for the annual
festival and ball. The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company acted as
escort, and--according to custom--the band of the Company furnished the
music. For some reason--the townspeople thought because the pretty girls
were all engaged beforehand for the dance--the officer in command
stopped the music at twelve o'clock, to the great distress of the
Barnstable people who had ordered their carriages at two or later. The
party broke up in disorder far from "admired," and our mother
crystallized the general feeling in the following verses, which the
Barnstableites promptly printed in a "broadside," and sang to the then
popular tune of "Lanigan's Ball":--
THE BARNSTABLE BALL
A LYRIC
(_Appointed to be sung in all Social Meetings on the Cape_)
March away with your old artillery;
Don't come back till we give you a call.
Put your Colonel into the pillory;
He broke up the Barnstable Ball.
Country folks don't go a-pleasuring
Every day, as it doth befall;
They with deepest scorn are measuring
Him who broke up the Barnstable Ball.
He came down with his motley company,
Stalking round the 'cultural hall;
Couldn't find a partner to jump any,
So broke up the Barnstable Ball.
Warn't it enough with their smoking and thundering,
Sweeping about like leaves in a squall,
But they must take to theft and plundering,--
Steal the half of the Barnstable Ball?
Put the music into their pocket,
Order the figure-man not to bawl,
Twenty jigs were still on the docket,
When they adjourned the Barnstable Ball.
Gov'nor A. won't hang for homicide,
That's a point that bothers us all;
He must banish ever from his side
Such as murdered the Barnstable Ball.
When they're old and draw'd with rheumatiz,
Let them say to their grandbabes small,
"Deary me, what a shadow of gloom it is
To remember the Barnstable Ball!"
This autumn saw the preparation of a new volume of poems, "Later
Lyrics." Years had passed since the appearance of "Words for the Hour,"
and our mother had a great accumulation of poems, the arrangement of
which proved a heavy task.
"The labor of looking over the manuscript nearly made me ill.... Had a
new bad feeling of intense pressure in the right temple."
And again:--
"Nearly disabled by headaches.... Determine to push on with my volume."
"Almost distracted with work of various sorts--my book--the new
house--this one full of company, and a small party in the evening."
"All these days much hurried by proofs. Went in the evening to the
opening of the new wards in the Women's Hospital--read two short poems,
according to promise. These were kindly received...."
The next day she went with a party of friends to the Boys' Reform School
at Westboro. "In the yard where the boys were collected, the guests
were introduced. Quite a number crowded to see the Author of the 'Battle
Hymn.' Two or three said to me: 'Are you the woman that wrote that
"Battle Hymn"?' When I told them that I was, they seemed much pleased.
This I felt to be a great honor."
The next day again she is harassed with correcting proofs and furnishing
copy. "Ran to Bartol for a little help, which he gave me."
The Reverend C. A. Bartol was our next-door neighbor in Chestnut Street,
a most kind and friendly one. His venerable figure, wrapped in a wide
cloak, walking always in the middle of the road (we never knew why he
eschewed the sidewalk), is one of the pleasant memories of Chestnut
Street. We were now to leave that beloved street; a sorrowful flitting
it was.
"_Friday, November 3._ Moving all day. This is my last writing in this
dear house, No. 13 Chestnut Street, where I have had three years of good
work, social and family enjoyment. Here I enjoyed my dear Sammy for six
happy months--here I mourned long and bitterly for him. Here I read my
six lectures on Practical Ethics. Some of my best days have been passed
in this house. God be thanked for the same!"