FROM THE LIBRARY OF REV. LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON. D. D. BEQUEATHED BY HIM TO THE LIBRARY OF PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY Division JULIA WARD HOWE 1819-1910 IN TWO VOLUMES VOLUME II JULIA RD HOWE FLOREN< With 1 \xr JULIA WARD HOWE 1819-1910 BY LAURA E. RICHARDS and MAUD HOWE ELLIOTT ASSISTED BY FLORENCE HOWE HALL With Portraits and other Illustrations VOLUME II BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY OEtie ftitoeitfibe p>rc#s Cambridge 1916 COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY LAURA E. RICHARDS AND MAUD HOWE ELLIOTT ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Published March igit) CONTENTS I. EUROPE REVISITED. 1877 3 II. A ROMAN WINTER. 1878-1879 28 III. NEWPORT. 1879-1882 46 IV. 241 BEACON STREET: THE NEW ORLEANS EXPOSITION. 1883-1885 80 V. MORE CHANGES. 1886-1888 115 VI. SEVENTY YEARS YOUNG. 1889-1890 143 VII. A SUMMER ABROAD. 1892-1893 164 VIII. "DIVERS GOOD CAUSES." 1890-1896 186 IX. IN THE HOUSE OF LABOR. 1896-1897 214 X. THE LAST ROMAN WINTER. 1897-1898 237 XL EIGHTY YEARS. 1899-1900 258 XII. STEPPING WESTWARD. 1901-1902 282 XIII. LOOKING TOWARD SUNSET. 1903-1905 308 XIV. "THE SUNDOWN SPLENDID AND SERENE." > 1906-1907 342 XV. "MINE EYES HAVE SEEN THE GLORY OF THE COMING OF THE LORD." 1908-1910 369 INDEX 415 ILLUSTRATIONS Mrs. Howe, 1895 (Photogravure) Frontispiece From a photograph taken at Newport, R.I., July 25, 1895, by Alman & Co. Hall Four Generations: Mrs. Howe, Mrs. Hall, Henry Marion Hall, Julia Ward Howe Hall 46 From a photograph, 1903 Mrs. Howe's Boston House, 241 Beacon Street 80 Interior, 241 Beacon Street 96 Julia Romana Anagnos 116 Snapshot in the Oak Glen Parlor 198 Taken by Major Dudley Mills The Six Richards Grandchildren 222 From a photograph by R. H. Richards Mrs. Howe at Oak Glen, 1900 276 From a photograph by John Elliott Richards Four Generations: Mrs. Howe, Mrs. Richards, Mrs. Shaw, Henry Shaw 298 From a photograph by C. A. Shaw, 1907 Mrs. Howe, 1905 330 From a photograph by Underwood and Underwood Mrs. Howe, 1908 376 From a painting by John Elliott JULIA WARD HOWE JULIA WARD HOWE CHAPTER I EUROPE REVISITED 1877; aet. 58 A MOMENT'S MEDITATION IN COLOGNE CATHEDRAL Enter Life's high cathedral With reverential heart, Its lofty oppositions Matched with divinest art. Thought with its other climbing To meet and blend on high; Man's mortal and immortal Wed for eternity. When noon's high mass is over, Muse in the silent aisles; Wait for the coming vespers In which new promise smiles. When from the dome height echoes An " Ite, missa est" Whisper thy last thanksgiving, Depart, and take thy rest. J. W. H. From the time of the Doctor's death till her marriage in 1887, the youngest daughter was her mother's com- panion and yoke-fellow. In all records of travel, of cheer, of merriment, she can say thankfully: "Et ego in Arcadia vixi." The spring of 1877 found the elder comrade weary with much lecturing and presiding, the younger some- what out of health. Change of air and scene was pre- 4 JULIA WARD HOWE scribed, and the two sailed for Europe early in May. Throughout the journeyings which followed, our mother had two objects in view: to see her own kind of people, the seekers, the students, the reformers, and their works; and to give Maud the most vivid first im- pression of all that would be interesting and valuable to her. These objects were not always easy to combine. After a few days at Chester (where she laments the "restoration" of the fine old oak of the cathedral, "now shining like new, after a boiling in potash") and a glimpse of Hawarden and Warwick, they proceeded to London and took lodgings in Bloomsbury (a quarter of high fashion when she first knew London, now given over to lodgings). Once settled, she lost no time in establishing relations with friends old and new. The Unitarian Association was holding its annual con- ference; one of the first entries in the Journal tells of her attending the Unitarian breakfast where she spoke about "the poor children and the Sunday schools." Among her earliest visitors was Charles Stewart Parnell, of whom she says: — "Mrs. Delia Stewart Parnell, whom I had known in America, had given me a letter of introduction to her son, Charles, who was already conspicuous as an ad- vocate of Home Rule for Ireland. He called upon me and appointed a day when I should go with him to the House of Commons. He came in his brougham and saw me safely deposited in the ladies' gallery. He was then at the outset of his stormy career, and his sister Fanny told me that he had in Parliament but one sup- porter of his views, 'a man named Biggar.' He cer- EUROPE REVISITED 5 tainly had admirers elsewhere, for I remember having met a disciple of his, O'Connor by name, at a 'rout' given by Mrs. Justin McCarthy. I asked this lady if her husband agreed with Mr. Parnell. She replied with warmth, 'Of course; we are all Home Rulers here.'" "May 26. To Floral Hall concert, where heard Patti — and many others — a good concert. In the evening to Lord Houghton's, where made acquaint- ance of Augustus Hare, author of 'Memorials of a Quiet Life,' etc., with Mrs. Proctor, Mrs. Singleton [Violet Fane], Dr. and Mrs. Schliemann, and others, among them Edmund Yates. Lord Houghton was most polite and attentive. Robert Browning was there." Whistler was of the party that evening. His hair was then quite black, and the curious white forelock which he wore combed high like a feather, together with his striking dress, made him one of the most conspicuous figures in the London of that day. Henry Irving came in late: "A rather awkward man, whose performance of 'Hamlet' was much talked of at that time." She met the Schliemanns often, and heard Mrs. Schliemann speak before the Royal Geographical Society, where she made a plea for the modern pronunciation of Greek. In order to help her husband in his work, Mrs. Schlie- mann told her, she had committed to memory long passages from Homer which proved of great use to him in his researches at Mycenae and Tiryns. "May 27. Met Mr. and Mrs. Wood — he has excavated the ruins at Ephesus, and has found the site 6 JULIA WARD HOWE of the Temple of Diana. His wife has helped him in his work, and having some practical experience in the use of remedies, she gave much relief to the sick men and women of the country." "June 2. Westminster Abbey at 2 p.m. ... I en- joyed the service, Mendelssohn's 'Hymn of Praise,* Dean Stanley's sermon, and so on, very unusually. Edward Twisleton seemed to come back to me, and so did dear Chev, and a spiritual host of blessed ones who ." have passed within the veil. "June H. Breakfast with Mr. Gladstone. Grosve- nor Gallery with the Seeleys. Prayer meeting at Lady Gainsborough's. "We were a little early, for Mrs. Gladstone com- plained that the flowers ordered from her country seat had but just arrived. A daughter of the house pro- ceeded to arrange them. Breakfast was served at two round tables, exactly alike. "I was glad to find myself seated between the great man and the Greek minister, John Gennadius. The talk ran a good deal upon Hellenics, and I spoke of the influence of the Greek in the formation of the Italian language, to which Mr. Gladstone did not agree. I know that scholars differ on the point, but I still retain the opinion I expressed. I ventured a timid remark regarding the number of Greek derivatives used in our common English speech. Mr. Gladstone said very abruptly, 'How? What? English words derived from Greek?' and almost " ' Frightened Miss Muffet away.' "He is said to be habitually disputatious, and I EUROPE REVISITED 7 thought that this must certainly be the case; for he surely knew better than most people how largely and familiarly we incorporate the words of Plato, Aristotle, and Xenophon in our everyday talk." * Mr. Gladstone was still playing the first role on the stage of London life. Our mother notes hearing him open the discussion that followed Mrs. Schliemann's address before the Royal Geographical Society. Lord Rosebery, who was at that time Mr. Gladstone's pri- vate secretary, talked much of his chief, for whom he expressed impassioned devotion. Rosebery, though he must have been a man past thirty at the time, looked a mere boy. His affection for " Uncle Sam " Ward was as loyal as that for his chief, and it was on his account that he paid our mother some attention when she was in London. She always remembered this visit as one of the most interesting of the many she made to the "province in brick." She was driving three horses abreast, — her own life, Maud's life, the life of London. She often spoke of the great interest of seeing so many different circles of London society; likening it to a layer cake, which a fortunate stranger is able to cut through, en- joying a little of each. Her modest Bloomsbury lodg- ings were often crowded by the leaders of the world of letters, philanthropy, and art, and some even of the world of fashion. The little lodging-house "slavey" was often awed by the titles on the cards she in- variably presented between a work-worn thumb and 1 Reminiscences, pp.