recruits for his troop of horse; and accordingly went to Mrs. Jane
White, who had several hardy sons, and made known his wants. She was a
true patriot, like her husband, who was an active "liberty man" in the
war of '76: hence she was ready and anxious to further the Major's
plans. Her sons being at work in the field, excepting the youngest, she
called the lad, and ordered him, in her broad Scotch-Irish dialect, to
"rin awa' ta the fiel' an' tell his brithers ta cum in an' gang an'
fight for their counthry, like their father afore them."[98]
[98] Mrs. Ellet.
* * * * *
Among the fine sentiments quaintly uttered by the old dramatic poet,
Webster, are these:
The chiefest action of a man of spirit
Is, never to be out of action; we should think
The soul was never to be put into the body,
Which has so many rare and curious pieces
Of mathematical motion, to stand still.
Virtue is ever sowing of her seeds.
One of the models in activity and virtue, and one who doubtless secured
thereby the prize of healthy and extreme old age, was Mrs. Lydia Gustin,
a native of Lyme, Connecticut. She had five children, all of whom were
at home to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of her birth day. She
died in New Hampshire, on the twentieth of July, 1847, in the hundred
and second year of her age. A part of the labor performed during her
hundredth year, was the knitting of twenty-four pairs of stockings.
* * * * *
Mrs. Elizabeth Ferguson, who resided near Philadelphia, was one of the
number who assisted the American prisoners taken at the battle of
Germantown. She spun linen and sent it into the city, with orders that
it be made into shirts. She was noted for humanity and benevolence.
Learning, one time, while visiting her friends in Philadelphia, that a
reduced merchant had been imprisoned for debt, and was suffering from
destitution, she sent him a bed and other articles of comfort, and,
though far from wealthy, put twenty dollars in money into his hands. She
refused to give him her name, but was at length identified by a
description of her person.
* * * * *
At the battle of the Cowpens, Colonel Washington wounded Colonel
Tarleton; and when the latter afterwards, in conversation with Mrs.
Wiley Jones, observed to her: "You appear to think very highly of
Colonel Washington; and yet I have been told that he is so ignorant a
fellow that he can hardly write his own name;" she replied, "It may be
the case, but no man better than yourself, Colonel, can testify that he
knows how to make his mark."
PHILANTHROPY OF AMERICAN WOMEN: MISS DIX.
To the blind, the deaf, the lame,
To the ignorant and vile,
Stranger, captive, slave he came,
With a welcome and a smile.
Help to all he did dispense,
Gold, instruction, raiment, food;
Like the gifts of Providence,
To the evil and the good.
MONTGOMERY.
It requires the enlightening and expanding influence of Christianity to
show the full extent of fraternal obligation, and to make one _feel_ the
wants of his brother's threefold nature. We must, therefore, look for
large hearts, whose antennae stretch through the domain of man's mental
and moral, as well as his physical necessities, among a Christian
people: there such hearts abound, and the strongest are among the female
sex. Nor is this strange: the feelings of woman are more delicate, her
constitution is less hardy, than man's. Physically more frail, she feels
more sensibly the need of a helper and protector; and, being the greater
sufferer, she thinks more of the sufferings of others, and consequently
more fully develops the sisterly and sympathetic feelings of her
nature.
It is not, therefore, surprising, that in all the humanitary movements
of the age, American women are interested; but it _is_ surprising to see
with what masculine energy, heroic courage and sublime zeal they often
prosecute their philanthropic labors. They lead in the distribution of
the poor fund; are untiring in their efforts to sustain Sabbath schools
in by-places; form and nobly sustain temperance organizations among
themselves; establish and conduct infant schools on their own
responsibility; manage orphan asylums; pray, and plead, and labor for
the comfort of the insane, and for the education of the deaf, dumb and
blind; and, with the religious tract in one hand and the Bible in the
other, plunge into the darkest dens of vice, and, nerved by divine
power, sow the good seed of truth in the most corrupt soil, with courage
that seems to palsy the giant arm of Infamy.
Heroines in the philanthropic movements which so beautify the present
age, are found in most of the villages and in every city in the land.
Isabella Graham, Sarah Hoffman, Margaret Prior, and others whose names
are recorded in this work, are representatives of a class whose number
is annually increasing and whose philanthropic exertions are manifest
wherever human suffering abounds or the current of moral turpitude is
strong and appalling. With the delicacy and fragility inherent in their
sex, they possess the bravery and perseverance of the ambitious leader
in the military campaign, and shrink from no task, however formidable or
disheartening.
They visit the abode of sickness, and the pillow is softened and the
pain allayed; they enter the hut of penury, and the cry for bread is
hushed, they pour the tide of united and sanctified effort through the
Augean stables of iniquity, and the cleansing process is astonishing.
Such is the work of philanthropic women; they are the "salt" of the
community.
A lady is now living in the city of Buffalo, whose benevolent exertions,
in her restricted sphere, would compare favorably with those of the
celebrated Quakeress whose mission at Newgate justified, for once, at
least, the use of angel as an adjective qualifying woman. The person to
whom we refer--who would blush to see her name in print--is foremost in
all the humane and charitable operations of the day, and has, for years,
been in the habit of visiting the jail regularly and usually alone on
the Sabbath, to instruct its inmates from the word of God and to lecture
before them on all that pertains to human duty. She is married, and has
a family--her children being adopted orphans,--hence her opportunities
for public usefulness are measurably limited: but her life-long actions
seem to say,
"Give me leave
To speak my mind, and I will through and through
Cleanse the foul body of the infected world,
If they will patiently receive my medicine."
Aside from our female missionaries, whose heroism is elsewhere partially
illustrated in this work, the finest example of a living American
philanthropist is Miss D. L. Dix, of Massachusetts. Her extreme
modesty, learned through her New England friends, with whom we have
corresponded, withholds all facts touching her early and private
history, and leaves us a paucity of materials out of which to frame even
an outline of her public career.
We first hear of her as a teacher in the city of Boston, in which
vocation she was faithful and honored. At the same time, she was
connected, as instructor, with a Sabbath school--belonging we believe,
to Dr. Channing's society--and while searching in by-places for poor
children to enlarge her class, she necessarily came in contact with many
destitute persons, and saw much suffering. Ere long she became
interested more especially in the condition and wants of poor seamen,
and endeavored to enlist the sympathies of others in their behalf. As
opportunities presented themselves, she visited the hospital and other
benevolent institutions in and near Boston, together with the State
Prison. Anon we find her in the possession of a small legacy left by her
deceased grand-mother; and, having resigned the office of teacher, she
is traveling through the state. Having visited all the counties and most
if not all the towns in Massachusetts, hunting up the insane and
acquainting herself with their condition, visiting the inmates of the
poor-houses and jails, and learning the state of things among all the
unfortunate and suffering, she went to the Legislature, made a report,
and petitioned for reforms where she thought they were needed.
Having thoroughly canvassed one state, feeling her benevolent heart
expand, she entered another, and went through the same routine of
labors--visiting, reporting, pleading for reforms. She has traveled
through all the states but three or four, and has extended her humane
mission to Canada.
She overlooks no almshouse; never fails of seeing and learning the
history of an insane person; goes through every jail and prison; and
usually, if not invariably, has a private interview with each inmate,
imparting such counsel as wisdom and Christian sympathy dictate. She has
lately petitioned Congress--as yet unsuccessfully--for a large
appropriation of the public lands for the benefit of the insane.
Her petitions are usually presented in a very quiet and modest manner.
In her travels, she acquaints herself with the leading minds, and among
them the state and national legislators; and when the law-making bodies
are in session, she obtains an interview with members in the retirement
of the parlor or the small social gathering; communicates the facts she
has collected; and secures their cooperation in her plans and their aid
in effecting her purposes.
She who began the work of reform as a teacher in a Sabbath school, has
advanced, step by step, until her capacious heart has embraced the
Union, throughout which the benign influence of her philanthropic labors
is sensibly felt. Some one has truthfully remarked that "the blessings
of thousands, ready to perish, have come down upon her head," and that
the institutions which she has caused to be erected or modified in the
several states "are monuments more honorable, if not more enduring than
the pyramids."
While Miss Dix has brought about important reforms, she has accomplished
her labors by great hardship and the most rigid economy. She had not a
princely fortune, like Mrs. Fry, to expend in benevolent causes; she
could not ride from place to place in her own private and splendid
carriage, saying to this servant, do this, and to another, do that; she
has been obliged to travel by public, haphazard conveyances--often in
most uncomfortable vehicles in the most uncomfortable weather. A part of
her early labors in the state of New York were performed in the winter,
and when in the north-eastern and coldest part, she was under the
necessity, on one occasion, of traveling all night in the severest part
of the season in an open carriage. To show her economy, which has been
hinted at, it is necessary merely to say that she purchases the
materials for most of her garments in the places which she visits, and
makes them up with her own hands, while traveling on steamboats, waiting
for stages at public houses, and such odd intervals of leisure.[99]
[99] For the two last mentioned facts, and some others in regard to Miss
Dix, we are indebted to the Rev. G. W. Hosmer, pastor of the Unitarian
church, Buffalo.
The character of Miss Dix is both pleasant and profitable to
contemplate. Every thing connected with her public career is noble and
worthy to be imitated. Would that the world were full of such
characters: they are needed. Although she has done a great work, much is
yet to do. Our country is wide, and enlarging almost every year; the
field of benevolence is white to harvest, and where are the reapers,
who, like Miss Dix, will make their "lives sublime?"
* * * * *
Transcriber's note:
Minor punctuation errors have been changed without notice. Printer errors
have been changed and are listed here. All other inconsistencies are as
in the original including unmatched quotation marks.
p. viii: "Scoharie" changed to "Schoharie".
p. ix: "Spaulding" changed to "Spalding".
p. x: "McKenney" changed to "McKenny".
p. xxii: "updraiding" changed to "upbraiding".
p. 54: "inconveniencies" changes to "inconveniences".
p. 59: "generaly" changed to "generally".
p. 62: "horid" changed to "horrid".
p. 77: "succesfully" changed to "successfully".
p. 161: "Mrs. Mary Dixon" changed to "Mrs. Mary Nixon".
p. 163: "appartments" changed to "apartments".
p. Footnote 165: "seventeeen" changed to "seventeen".
p. 179: "silence by exclaming" changed to "silence by exclaiming".
p. 194: "delivered Green's verbal" changed to "delivered Greene's
verbal".
p. 216: "industrions" changed to "industrious".
p. 251: "Westminister" changed to "Westminster".
p. 261: "rebuked then" changed to "rebuked them".
p. 293: "see the again" changed to "see thee again".
p. 325: "rode side" changed to "road side".
P. Footnote 351: "beseiged" changed to "besieged".
p. 389: "appropiately" changed to "appropriately".
p. 402: "Buts stoops" changed to "But stoops".