This is an age of biography. We have the two-volumed "Lives and
Letters," and the brief and popular biography, with many of varying
length and value between the two. And the contents of these two are
outlined for us, again and again, in magazines and newspaper sketches.
The histories of famous men and women are told and retold. It is the
public's own fault if there is not a more general interest in, and a
better knowledge of, the work of the notable characters of the century
than ever before. This implies, also, a certain familiarity with the
great movements of reform and philanthropy, and with the literature of
the time. Some, however, who had a large share in the noblest work of
this century, are less known, and less brought into notice, than we
should expect. Among such is Mrs. L. M. Child. Her letters, published in
1880, were prefaced by a brief memorial sketch by the poet Whittier, and
contained in an appendix the tribute of Wendell Phillips. An account of
her life-work, written by Susan Coolidge, appeared in the "Famous Women"
series. But her life, in many aspects, might profitably have the
attention of this younger generation, who know little either of her
antislavery work or of her literary attainments or fame. In both these
departments her work seems like that of a pioneer. She helped to clear
the way for the antislavery leaders,--Garrison and Higginson, Curtis and
Lowell and Whittier. And in a similar manner she led the way into those
paths where, for two or three decades, the woman-author has been so
conspicuously advancing,--where her success has been so brilliant and
varied. As to her literary genius, in the words of Whittier, "It is not
too much to say that half a century ago she was the most popular
literary woman in the United States." And again, "It is not
exaggeration to say that no man or woman of that period rendered
more substantial service to the cause of freedom, or made such a
doing it." And when we add that her benevolence and 'great renunciation'
in philanthropy--unobtrusive as they were--give her a valid claim to
lasting remembrance, that the originality, insight, and force of
character manifest in her letters, place them among the most valuable
and suggestive of the letters of women, and that her truth, beneficence,
and devotion would have made her life and character memorable if she had
not written a line, we have stated only the barest truth; yet reason
sufficient, why we of this generation should know more of her life and
genius.
Lydia Maria Francis, afterwards Mrs. Child, was born in Medford, Mass.,
1802. Her education was obtained in her native town, with the advantage
of only one term in a private seminary. Her first book, "Hobomok,"
appeared in 1821, followed in 1823 by another novel, "The Rebels." These
gave her a good degree of popularity. In 1827 she established "The
Juvenile Miscellany," "pioneer to a long line of children's magazines."
In 1828 she was married to David Lee Child, and they made their home in
Boston. Within a very few years she wrote and published "The Frugal
Housewife," "The Mother's Book," "The Girl's Own Book," "The History of
Women," and the "Biographies of Good Wives."
Then, while all around her were heard the murmurs of popular praise and
approval, and while in addition to the appreciation of countless humbler
readers, she was winning commendation from the highest literary
authorities,--in 1833 she "startled the country by the publication of
her noble 'Appeal in behalf of that class of Americans called
Africans.'" Mr. Whittier says: "It is quite impossible for any one of
the present generation to imagine the popular surprise and indignation
which the book called forth, or how entirely its author cut herself off
from the favor and sympathy of a large number of those who had
previously delighted to do her honor." And he continues: "Social and
literary circles, which had been proud of her presence, closed their
doors against her. The sale of her books, the subscriptions to her
magazine, fell off to a ruinous extent. She knew all she was hazarding,
and made the great sacrifice, prepared for all the consequences which
followed."
She said in the preface: "I am fully aware of the unpopularity of the
task I have undertaken, but though I expect ridicule and censure, I do
not fear them. A few years hence the opinion of the world will be a
matter in which I have not even the most transient interest, but this
book will be abroad on its mission of humanity, long after the hand that
wrote it is mingling with the dust. Should it be the means of
advancing, even one single hour, the inevitable progress of truth and
justice, I would not exchange the consciousness for all Rothschild's
wealth or Sir Walter's fame." "Thenceforward," says Mr. Whittier again,
"her life was a battle, a constant rowing hard against the stream of
popular prejudice and hatred. And through it all, pecuniary privations,
loss of friends and position, the painfulness of being suddenly thrust
from the still air of delightful studies into the bitterest and sternest
controversy of the age, she bore herself with patience, fortitude, and
unshaken reliance on the justice and ultimate triumph of the cause she
had espoused."
In a short time thereafter she had published four more antislavery books
or pamphlets. "Philothia," a romance whose scene is laid in ancient
Greece, appeared in 1836. For eight years, dating from 1844, Mr. and
Mrs. Childs were joint-editors of "The Anti-Slavery Standard," published
in New York. She had a room in the house of Isaac Hopper,--"a house
where disinterestedness and noble labor were as daily breath." It was
during this time that she wrote her "Letters from New York," under which
title her letters to "The Boston Courier" appeared in a volume having an
enormous sale. In 1852, having given up the editorship of "The
Standard," Mrs. Child said: "We made a humble home in Wayland, Mass.,
where we spent twenty-two pleasant years entirely alone, without any
domestic; mutually serving each other, and dependent on each other for
intellectual companionship."
During those years she was deeply and actively interested in the
progress of the Civil War. Its premonitions roused her. She warmly
defended the cause of John Brown, sending him a letter offering to go
nurse him in prison. Very soon she was deep in every sort of
undertaking,--collecting funds, collecting supplies, urging Whittier to
the writing of patriotic songs, sewing, knitting, quilting. Her intense
interest was manifested by generous contributions of money, how earned
or saved, she only knew. She said, "Nobles or princes cannot invent any
pleasure equal to earning with one hand and giving with the other."
Twenty dollars at one time, two hundred at another, and perhaps four
hundred at yet another, she gave. During these years, too, she was
writing and compiling other books,--"The Progress of Religious Ideas,"
"Looking towards Sunset," and "A Romance of the Republic." It was in the
last of these peaceful years that she wrote: "David and I are growing
old. He will be eighty in three weeks, and I was seventy-two last
February. But we keep young in our feelings. We are, in fact, like two
old children; as much interested as ever in the birds and wild flowers,
and with sympathies as lively as ever in all that concerns the welfare
of the world. Our habitual mood is serene and cheerful."
Only a few months after these words were written, her husband died, and
she left the place so full of memories of him to find a home elsewhere.
Of these later years it was said: "She lived among a singularly peaceful
and intelligent community as one of themselves, industrious, wise, and
happy; with a frugality whose motive of wide benevolence was in itself a
homily and a benediction." She died in 1880.