Julia Ward Howe Part 25

"_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 const.i.tuted 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 superst.i.tion. 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 p.r.o.nunciation. 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 pa.s.sivity, which seems inc.u.mbent 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] G.o.d grant it may be for the best. Determine to have cla.s.ses 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 pa.s.sed since the appearance of "Words for the Hour,"

and our mother had a great acc.u.mulation of poems, the arrangement of which proved a heavy task.

"The labor of looking over the ma.n.u.script 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 hara.s.sed with correcting proofs and furnis.h.i.+ng 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 pa.s.sed in this house. G.o.d be thanked for the same!"

CHAPTER XI

NO. 19 BOYLSTON PLACE: "LATER LYRICS"

1866; _aet._ 47

IN MY VALLEY

From the hurried city fleeing, From the dusty men and ways, In my golden sheltered valley, Count I yet some sunny days.

Golden, for the ripened Autumn Kindles there its yellow blaze; And the fiery suns.h.i.+ne haunts it Like a ghost of summer days.

Walking where the running water Twines its silvery caprice, Treading soft the leaf-spread carpet, I encounter thoughts like these:--

"Keep but heart, and healthful courage, Keep the s.h.i.+p against the sea, Thou shalt pa.s.s the dangerous quicksands That ensnare Futurity;

"Thou shalt live for song and story, For the service of the pen; Shalt survive till children's children Bring thee mother-joys again.

"Thou hast many years to gather; And these falling years shall bring The benignant fruits of Autumn, Answering to the hopes of Spring.

"Pa.s.sing where the shades that darken Grow transfigured to thy mind, Thou shalt go with soul untroubled To the mysteries behind;

"Pa.s.s unmoved the silent portal Where beat.i.tude begins, With an equal balance bearing Thy misfortunes and thy sins."

Treading soft the leaf-spread carpet, Thus the Spirits talked with me; And I left my valley, musing On their gracious prophecy.

To my fiery youth's ambition Such a boon were scarcely dear; "Thou shalt live to be a grandame, Work and die, devoid of fear."