FO RE S H A D O WE D
W AY
BY
MRS H E LE N A LD R ICH
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f
o
“
A Pla c e in Thy M emo ry ,
F
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!
RT
E
K R OYFT
h e S to ry
TE NNYSON NEE LY CO
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f Lint!
o
TO TH E M E M OR Y
f
O
COMM OD OR E
Wa sh ing ton
,
v o lume
Th is
is
e
mos t
w ll kno w ing th a t
so
S H UBRICK ,
D C
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,
fiec tiona tc ly
a
i t go
o ut
in to th e w o rld
ma ntlecl m the fa u lt-c ov ering g a rb of
t he
s
mile
s he
w on , a ll
m
c r itic is
will b e powerless to h arm
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PR E F A CE
2
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s t o ry of a b oo k must h a v e b een poo rly t ol d in
d eed w h en a pr efac e can add much to its interest ; but
a lo n g the pages of thi s v ol u m e there are so m an y refer
en c es to a p h en o men a l e x perience that it seems o n l y
fi tt ing t o prefa c e the b oo k with a n accou nt of t he phe
n o meno n i t s elf
O n a h ill in t h e t o w n o f L ima, a l ittle sou th of
R oches t er s t ands a Seminary ; a n d in the summer of
1 8 4 3 toward the close o f my last t erm t h ere a t th e
h our o f elev en, between the s t roke of th e b ell tha t
c alled me to cl a ss and the entrance of my roommate
from h ers three or five seconds the prese nt s o to speak
droppe d out a n d with every sense barred to the outer
world the soul in me w a s caught away into the future
—
and made t o look on myself fir st robed in wh ite ; then
i n d eepest black with a group o f others als o in black
st a n d ing with bowed heads , the su n blazing do wn u pon
them and water roll ing up almost to the ir feet T hen
a s b y a t ur n of th o ugh t
I became that other self in
black a n d s t ood o v e r whelmed w ith the world arou n d
me a s black as night ; the n came the consc iousn es s o f
i
n
o
ng
or
rather
of
bei
g
borne
o
r
wafted
along
t
h
roug
h
g
the darkness ; t hen a pause a s it seemed whe n 10 !
ou t in th e di st ance the d a rkness began to t ak e o n a
sh ape an d r ise u p before me—a s h ape o f its o wn
as
a par t from the darkn ess t ha t e nv eloped me—an all
s ee in g thou sand eyed shape t hat fill ed me wit h a n in
desc ribab l e fea r ; yet a s by th e double a tt rac tio n o f my
TH
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PR E F A CE
yi
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an d th e s h ape to draw I s t eadily approac h ed
the forbidd ing prese n ce on ly t o find i ts surface pressed
full of t iny c irclets o f gold whose creased edges were
b arely more t ha n v isible
Stil l timid and fearful I
b ega n to p ick the m ou t with my right hand and dro p
th em into my left a n d wh en my left han d was nearly
“
”
full wit h th e though t ! W hy ! this is money came the
reco lle c tion of the one t hing in the world that I had
mo s t des ired to h a v e done ; when a s I wen t to drop
a n other into my hand I di sco v ered that what I th o ugh t
o f h ad bor n e the others aw ay
T hen on o n through
what seemed weary ages o f going going I s aw myself
ga t hering t h ose tiny c ircles picking them o u t w it h
o n e h and and droppi n g them int o the other, only t o
see them spirited away by that o n e absorbing thought
unt il suddenly all the gold disappea red on the side
of t h e gloomy o ld presence toward me—no t a shining
speck w as t h ere ; but while I looked and wondered
quantities of a dark green material rose up in its stead
n o t at all filling th e space the gol d had left but s t acked
lying all loose in lump s rolls or bunches
u p in it
a n d seemingly worthless B ut taki ng them in my h ands
I s aw that possess ion made all their edges flash golden ;
and despite the roughness of the way that followed and
th e sounds of alarm filling t h e ai r o n on I wandered
e v erywhere inten t u pon gathering the dark green stu ff
bu t n e v er reta ining it i t seeming merely to pass through
m y h a n ds the s a me a s the gold h ad done ; until at last
w h e n wear iness had we ighed do w n e v ery thought and
all at
en dless h ad long since echoed in ev ery tread
o n c e th e d ark green stu fi also disappeared and th e
sam e vacuum as before lay spread o u t before me the
ground only o r t he base whence had sprung the dark
rth er in t o w ar d
T
ree
n
h
e
n
fa
uff r em a ining gree n
s
t
g
w ill t o go
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PR E F A CE
v
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ii
the
h eart o f t he gl o omy o ld pre se n c e I saw c o unt les s
olden
s
q
uares
or
thin
shee
s
standi
n
g
on
th
e
r
edges
t
i
g
an d so tightly wedged together that one would t hi nk
T h e surface t oo o f
it impossible e v er to move them
t he edges seemed covered o ver w ith s omething t h at
n eeded to be brushed away which wh ile I looked d is
appeared T hen u p at the right hand end of the long
line of shining s quares some gre w loose and one after
another came out to me myself seem i n g to draw or
take them a s by a kind o f right I stacked them in my
arm under my arm, t h en in t he other arm ; then I
walked away with something like the pride of possess io n
warm ing in my thoughts saying to myself
“
W hy ! this is wealth—I can go now and h a v e w h at
”
e ver I wish the gloomy old pillar l ike prese n ce that
h ad so long o v erawed me with its gloom n o longer
keeping pace T h e way w a s more open I mo v ed faster
and then o n
c rossed water
an d in a new direction
u n t il all u n conscious h o w I h a d reached it I turned t o
loo k back and saw t ha t I w a s st a n d ing upo n a v ery
great he ight
”
“
“
W hy I sa id wh a t a lo ng cl imb ing w ay I h a ve
”
T hen t urn ing a s if to go o n su c h a sea
bee n coming
o f dis t ance spread ou t before me a s t h e min d in its
n a t ural s t at e c a n n e ver grasp w he n su ddenly in th e
great dome of n ig h t t hat ben t ab o v e an d a ro u n d me
there came jus t abo v e th e h oriz o n a far o fi little b reak
t h rough whic h rushed as I fi rs t th oug ht foamin g
waters ; bu t as it c ame r ollin g t oward me gro wing
larger and larger a n d I saw the c louds fl ee ing a n d th e
d arkness melti n g aw ay a s it broke o v e r me I s h ou t ed
“
O t h e l ight the l igh t
th rough wh ose da zz l ing
beams one form on ly met my ga z e a n d th e n in a
t win kl ing all w a s th e same to me a s b e fore
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My ro o mma t e, wh o
a t t he th res hold wh e n I
started to rise h ad o n ly reached the table to lay dow n
h er books ; and turnin g to her w ith all t his weight of
years upo n my soul I sa id
”
“
W here have you been ?
W hy ! I ve been t o class where do yo u thin k I v e
”
bee n ?
“
”
B u t where have you bee n s ince ?
Why I ve been coming W hat do yo u me an—w hy
—
don t you go to your class do n t yo u h e a r t he bell
Surely the bell that h ad d ismissed her clas s and
called mine was ringing in the air yet
I t ripped
down the stairs and entered t he rec itatio n roo m just
a s Professor Wh itlo c ke was t aking th e c h alk fro m the
table t o draw a fi g u re upon the board ; and a s I looked
at him and the faces ar o und him it seemed really a
t housand years since I saw them las t
O nly a second gone and yet in t h a t fl as h of t ime
I h ad waded through the shadow of all th a t w a s d es
t in e d t o be lengthened o v er th e years o f my life
an d hence the t it le
“
T h e F ores h a do w ed Way
w as
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TH E F OR E S H A D OW E D
CH A PT E R
S CE NE
S IX
I
S
WA Y
.
.
.
N ew Y o r k
S ep tem b er
,
,
1 8 49
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mere pol iteness require that we sometimes wr ite
to those who have been kind to us how constantly and
forever sho uld I be launching remembrances to thee
my good S a ma r ita n a who came to love and bless when
even the stars had deserted and all the world had passed
away
A t ruce t h oug h t o the past when e v ery thought in
my soul is burdened with the present a s I know yours
will be when I tell you that right here this day the
si x th scene foresh a dowed in that vision at L
has
a s literally transpired as is possible fo r a real thing
to follow its shadow Y o u remember how it began !
the bell struck and I was starting for class when the
present dropped o u t and the future o r wha t was to
be my future opened to my v iew
S c a rcely twice twelve moons had rounded upon the
worl d after that fateful v ision when 10 ! behold me
standing in a summer parlor with the carpet ev en
covered with white my betrothed pillowed amid snowy
draperies and myself in snow white holding o u t my
hand to h im in marriage not knowing whether his
fall from the carriage was to leave him yet many days
one day or one hour even It w a s the a ppointed time
for our wedding that in four little hours more death
woul d h ave pre v ented
T h e n mark ! two days and away ou t t here by the
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O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
TH E F
12
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lake in a bla z ing July sun with t h e wa ve s w ashi ng up
almos t to the feet o f the dead myself in deep black
wit h a group o f some twenty others standing with
bowed hea d s ar o und his grave—and tell m e was ever
anyt hing more lit er al than that for the first two scenes ?
And yet so overwhelm ed was I by the reality that I did
n ot see it N o and when not quite a month later the
third scene the d a rk n ess stole upon my life and I
awoke but to find the world changed to night it w a s
s o many times mo r e ove rwh elming tha t I failed to
recognize that also until some days after a lady in the
house to whom I had repeated the v is io n came to my
room and whispered
“
D on t you see—the darkness o f your v is io n has come
”
to pass ?
T h en I could no t only see in the darkness the third
scene but reco g nized the first t w o als o an d wondered
how I could ha v e passed through those three succes
sive scene s o f white black and darkness wi t hout rec
W hen the next or fourth scene though
o gn iz in g them
the being borne o r carried along thro ugh the darkness
came t o me in my j ourney from R ochester t o this B lind
Institute first by cars and then by s t e a mer the sensa
tion was n o t so n ew o r strange nor so overwhelming
either but that rocking down the river in my berth
at night I recognized it and said to myself
“
Ah ! this i s that long dark way of being borne o r
carried along just as it was in the visio n
B ut now after three years of imprisonmen t within
these gloomy walls hearken wh ile I tell you of th e
fifth scene the scene wherein I myself was dra w n
nearer and nearer t o the dark o l d presence ris ing up
before me a n d fillin g me with such an indescribab le
fear Y o u will be astonished when I tell you that ev e ry
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SCE NE S
S IX
13
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s h udder of th at fear I have li v ed th rough righ t here
in New Y ork j ust a s literally as with this pencil and
creased lines I am describing it to you L etting music
go I seized upon the ide a o f making a v olume of my
own letters ; but no publisher could be found willing
to undertake my w o rk without being secured for at least
half o f the firs t edition which drove me to the necessity
o f seeking subscribers enough to bring the little book
—
u
stereot
ped
and
paid
in
advance
far
too
great
o t
y
an enterpri se yo u may believe for o n e to embark in
alone here in New Y ork without some days and not
a few nights o f very serious reflection as the walks
about these grounds and the walls of the o ld parlor
yonder would bear me witness
Ah ! when the world is still and all are sleeping h ow
easy it is t o be courageous majest ic even and gran d
t reading bravely o n W hen th e world has awakened
though and all her enginery o f life is astir then
cowards flee while only heroes abide to take part in the
great strife o f life ; and I came at last to pray the
L ord to make me as cour a geous amid the noise and stir
o f the day as I was in the stillness o f the night
At
last o n e bright May morning I awoke with all fear
o f the world departed ; no t a touch o f cowardice re
mained in my soul and straightway sei z ing my card o f
slanted ridges I wrote fo r myself the briefest prospectus
possible then dressed and hurried down to the super
in ten d en t s o ffice to seek h is opin ion when he s h ould
come o u t from breakfast
“
“
Will yo u read this Mr Chamberlai n I said and
”
tell me exactly what yo u think of it ?
”
Certainly he replied And with the paper hardly
more than in his h and taking it all in seemingly a t
a g lance h e e x cla imed !
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TH E
14
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
F
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Perfect just perfec t ! and let me tell yo u n o ma n
with half a heart in him will ever read this without
subscribing fo r your book T h e trouble though will
”
be to get him to read it
“
O h ! then the battle is half fought
I said laugh
ing ; for since I have persuaded Mr Chamberlain so
easily to run his eyes down o v er its crooked lines I
am sure when printed o n the inside cover to a set o f
lovely little blanks ruled for name place and money
”
i
a
d
no
o
n
will
refuse
to
read
it
e
p
“
But you haven t it p rinted yet he said
“
No
I answered
and with your permission that
i s what I am going to ask you to g et done for me and
have the kindnes s to trust me fo r it until the first
dozen subscribers have written their names and marked
them all
paid — for as the prosp ectus specifies
you see they are to pay in advance and trust me to
”
bring them the book before Christmas
T hen f o lding the paper an d putting it into his p o cket
laughing the while a t— I hardly kne w what—h e said
repeating and emphasizing my directions !
“
Y es yo u shall h a ve the twelve copies e x actly as
v o u wish twelve copies printed lined and figured and
to be delivere d precisely at o n e o clock W ednesday
”
“
next asking teasingly
W ould one over make any
particular difference o r a half hour more or less in an y
”
way affect the enterprise ?
”
“
“
I said
Mr Chamberlain the weal o f the
Y es
whole thing m ay jus t h ang upon a h alf h our of tha t
day f
Y o u see E li z a the B oard of M anagers of t h e I nst i
tute comprising some twenty o r thirty of t he bes t
citizens o f New Y ork was t o meet that afternoon and
I h ad pl ann ed t o w a it upon t hem to h ead th e list with
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szx
S CE NE S
15
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th e ir h onored names wri tten down toge th er T h e
surely and the little pros
a ngels do help sometimes
came
e
x
actly
at
the
appointed
time
beautifully
u
s
e
s
e
t
c
p
do n e and boun d in bright covers T aking one of the m
in my hand I said
“
No w Mr Chamberlain my l itt le enterprise wants
o
u
ust
one
more
hallowing
from
y
j
”
“
What is that ? he asked
”
Why I said chokingly the directors you know
mee t this afternoon ; they are all up there now in their
room and I want you to g o up with me an d introduce
me to them reminding them in the few words you will
have t o say that I came here c ommended to their
kindness by Senator B ackus o f R ochester leaving me
t hen to plead my o wn case wit h th e v e n erable body a s
”
best I may
“
I will do it was h is quick response ; and giving me
his arm we climbed the long winding stairs—and I
only wish you could have he a rd h is graceful announce
ment o f me there Suffice it t o say though his e v e ry
word w a s like a prelude t o the petit ion I had come t o
present Indeed I had scarcely mor e than named it
a s it seemed when t he president arose took the little
prospec t us from my hand and passed it over to the
secretary to read ; which done the president said
“
E xcuse us please madam an d we will act upon t hi s
”
in your absence
W hen moments enough had elapsed fo r the soul i n
me to l ive out a thousand years o f its own the s ecre
t ary c o v ered o v er with smiles, a s though he and h is
compeers had been doing the loveliest thing in the
w orld c ame out to me b earing in his hand n o t only
the little prospectus w ith all their names written down
”
a id
o f bills also,
bu
t
a
roll
ea c h marked,
p
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TH E F O R E S H A D OWE D
’
16
’
WA Y
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t wenty four in n umber It w a s th e goo d director who
since Mr D ean s res ign at ion has been my best friend
here but all I c oul d s ay t o him was
“
O h ! Mr W ood how surely th e gr ea ter one is the
”
more indulgen t always t o little t h ings
B ut let me tell yo u E liza what it cost me to go up
th ere and wa it upon that formidable body o f directors
and ask t hem to head my little enterprise for me you
c an possibly imagine ; but when with a young girl
escort I came to literally approach the dark old thou
sand eyed world everywhere bending abo v e and around
me only O ne in heaven can possibly paint what the
Suffocating with fear
enduran c e o f it was to my soul
and dread often often I h ave paused with my hand
o n the k n ob to a door pray ing fo r courage to go in
S trange to say though many many days had passed
“
b efore it flashed upo n my thoughts !
W hy ! thi s is
What the being drawn into closer an d closer contac t
w ith the dark o ld o v eraw ing presen c e mea n t i n th e
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S o n ow ha v ing fully reached the fifth s c ene you are
w ondering when an d how followed the ne x t—that of
th e golden specks or tiny circles B u t wait ! After a n
absence of some weeks in the country driven thither by
t he alarm o f cholera I retu rned ; and beginning e x actly
where I left off the v ery fi rst o n e I waited upon pa id
me in th e t iniest l ittle speck o f a gold doll ar possible to
imagine
D o you see — during my absence from the
city the Go v ernment coined millions o f tiny gol d dol
lars and scat t ered them o v er the land A n d what the n
is getting subscribers here now b u t li terally p ic kin g
th e s hin in g li tt le s p ec ks fr o m th e tim e w o r n su r fa c e o f
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th e d a r k
o ld o v er a w in g
Stran ge t o
r es en c e a r o u n d
p
thou
h
I
d
n
o
t
d
i
g ,
y
sa
,
me?
s ee
in
th o se shin
,
s zx s c a rve s
17
.
ing l it tle
spe c ks o f gold dollars that I had really entered
upon the si x th scene o f the v isi o n so stealthily this
like the fi ve sc enes preceding it has been translated
into stern reality ; an d I might not hav e thought o f it
e v e n now but fo r a little touch o f circu m stance that
like a magic key to day unlocked it all plain to my
T h e papers have com m e n c ed a n n o uncing my
V i ew !
forthcom ing litt l e b o ok with qu o ta ti o n s from the let
ters already published ; and coming this morning to a
large insurance o r b a nking house wh ere a dear o ld
! uaker gentleman is the president I had to stand an d
wait fo r him a little a s the clerk said he was engaged
with a meeting of the board W h en he fi n ally came
”
“
“
Ah ! he said I hav e seen a notice o f thy little
book that i s to be and I shall be v ery h a ppy to sub
”
H e turned away to write his name
s cribe for a copy
and brought back with him a littl e gold dollar which
“
he dropped into my hand saying !
I f thee will let
me take thy little prospectus inside I thin k I can get
”
thee se v eral more names
H ar dl y a moment had passed as it seemed when h e
return ed w ith five more gold dollars to drop int o my
h and ; then a little lot mor e o f seven until my palm
w a s nearly fi lled with them and I was say i ng to my
self
H o w easy it is go ing t o be t o sell the little books
w h en they are o u t and d o all that I should h a ve done
”
fo r those de a r ones in that cottage home when quicker
than a thought could repeat it I myself was looking
o n myself again e x actly as five summers ago
I stoo d
o v ershadowed in the v is i o n with all the little rounded
bits o f gold in my hand being spirited away as it
s eemed by those same thoughts shut up in my heart
A s yo u c an imag i n e, th e sudde n t rans la tio n int o real
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TH E
18
F
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
life of t h at s c ene o n ce so mystic a n d u nimaginabl e
was overwhelming ; and when the d ea r o ld gentlema n
came back bringing the little prospectu s with him and
three more of the tiny circles I was tryi n g t o hide my
tears I could not prevent his seeing them t hough ;
and supposing me o f course weeping over my mis
fortu ne he said kindly
“
A great sorrow has come to thee in thy young life
”
‘
but as thy day so may thy strength be my chi ld !
My tears tho u gh were all tears o f j o y over this one
more proo f that a s the sixth scene o f the v is io n i s
surely passing so the rem a ining four must one follow
the othe r even to the last, and the light break agai n
over my way
,
'
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To
Miss E liza H a milto n
G en eva N Y
,
,
.
.
TH E
20
F
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
no words for Indeed I had n o t learn ed t o whisper
it even to my self wi t hout blushi ng o r s huddering with
fear and how name it then t o a very queen rust ling
along in her silks and talking o f her prou d and beauti
ful home where sh e says to o n e !
‘
‘
Go and he goet h ; and to another come and he
cometh
Y es h o w tell you t h en, sweet o n e t hat I had fash
io n ed in my heart the plan o f publishing a little book
th e better to buy glo v es and shoes and the much o r
th e little th at o n e needs ? Success, tho u gh makes o n e
bold ; and now tha t it is so nearly done I must ex
plain to yo u that in the spring when yo u were going
to the mountains t o attend tournaments and fe a sts
pace those gay halls and sip from sparkling cups with
a little prospectus in my hand I came down the long
steps of the Institution o u t int o the da rk worl d to
solicit subscribers fo r a little book that I myself as
i
T
h
to
publish
angel
s
were
with
me
thoug
h
r
e
d
e
p
and one touch of their white w ings melted the coldes t
heart to kindness In the hurry and bustle o f busines s
and amidst problems half solved gentlemen paused
read my brief prospectus wrote their names paid the ir
money and often escort e d me t o the door and saw me
safely d own the stairs perchance directing my gentl e
uide
where
to
find
others
as
kind
a
s
themselves
g
No w dear Mrs H ardy I write you to please gather
up all the m issives I have troubled yo u with from time
to time and send them back t o me My little book is
to be a collection of my letters ; it lacks yet a few and
possibly you may have o n e o r more in your keeping
that you will allow me to give a place in it Y o u a r e
surprised I know but yo u dear o n e I had to do
s o methin g and a s e v er so faint an effor t sa v ors som e
.
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Vo zc es F R O M A F A R
2 1
.
wh at of v irt ue better fail trying than never to have
tried T h e world alas ! is n o t so high that like H eaven
“
it takes the will fo r the deed ; but nevertheless A
”
book is a book and mine will at least be something
fo r me to smite the h ea r t r o c ks of the World with along
my wilderness way !
O h ! yo u can never never imagine the imprisonmen t
these gloomy w alls have become to my soul o r conceive
how I long to get o u t into the wide wide world B e
sides a s a German philosopher says T h e way to st udy
”
human nature is th r ough the k eyhole and although
I may never more read books I may yet study mankind
even better than those who see E nveloped in these
clouds myself will be a sort o f probe to each heart
while I go o n measuring sou l s weighing thought and
feeling o r judging spirits by their voices as some
writer says t h e wise angels do O h ! yes let me go let
me go ! Misfortune is its o wn protection and with
G o d and the angels above and a little friend to guide
the way I may learn the lessons that I may never more
read an d perhaps liv e the book that I could never
write But alas ! my volume must first pass the ordeal
o f editors
and wait their praise o r criticism to pro
nounce it v erily a book
Ah ! the world ! W hat terror is wrapped in that word
and h o w I have besought the L ord night and day to
take the fear o f it from my soul But why so fear the
world ? Its pride i s short lived and its pomp but a
name As the m o rning sc o r c h eth up its beauties so
t h e worl d feeds upon its o wn gl orie s and is gone T h e
world h ath death in its memory tomb s in its heart
and is full o f wailings T h e world loveth not God ; the
world seeks no heaven and has no altar wher e to weep
A h ! then why n o t rather pity than fear t he w orld ?
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TH E F O R E SH A DOWE
22
D WA Y
.
Indeed my gentle friend necessity makes sla ves or
heroe s o f us all ; an d what though negl ect or sc o rn rob
one s cup a little of its sweetness the draught I ween
is not the less healthful
D ear dear Mrs H a rdy tha t long prom ised month at
your home is still in the dis t ance but like all shadows
its reality must be somewhere ; and if my book prove a
su fficient success to warrant t h e c ourse I have planned
for myself I shall ere long t he more assuredly come
to you
It is hard t o put some th ings in t o words musical
enough for delicate ears and I mus t leave you my
friend for the present at least to your own sweet con
u
r
a
o
as
to
the
plan
tha
I
have
pl
nned
ec
t
es
f
t
r myself
j
L ife tho u gh is a broken thing to me and what is
there left but t o gather up the pieces and band them to
—
gether as best I may n o t to set it up though with t he
best side in view as if to fain cheat myself or the
world that it is the same thing as new ! No no but to
bear it on o n giving thanks that n o v ess el is so homely
and no life so broke n o r so overcast but it may still
hol d the blessings a n d the mercies o f G o d ; and so
mine he made t o run over ever so l ittle with good to
others learn to ask n o more
Alas ! when o n e has digged a gra v e so deep as to
hol d the sun the moon and the stars all tha t is left
one c a sts in easily And here I begin existence anew ;
no mor e past no more pride and no more anything
but to henceforth h earken fo r the voices from afar and
w at c h th e wh ite hands in t h e clouds that be c kon the
way
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f
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To
Mr s E
.
.
M H a r dy
No rfo lk Va
.
,
,
.
,
WID E
TH E
WO R LD
FREE
,
C H AP T E R
TH E
W I DE ,
III
F RE E
23
.
.
W O R LD
.
N ew Y o r k Ja n u ary 1 8 5 0
OH !
.
,
,
—
—
!
success h ow beautiful and victory h o w proud
when perched o n banners so long trailing in the dust
o r drooping with fear !
“
A Place in T hy Memory has at
T h e little book
last a n ame and a plac e in the world W hen it went
to the publishers my heart stood still with fear and I
hardly dared to kneel and pray lest I should be asking
Im a gine
o f H ea v en something more than it could give
my j oy then when it came forth so covered with bless
ing that pens set only to criticism turned all their
lines into praise R eading a p a rt o f it though pity
may hav e so blinded their eyes with tears that they
could not see the faults in the rest B esides being dedi
dear Mrs N ott was o f itself enough to
o s ted to yo u
shi eld it from everything but praise
Anyway the
little book has so far escaped all those terrible c r iti
cism e whose prerogative it is to slay and leave o n e yet
alive
T h e Co u r ier a n d I n q u ir er made the first notice
”
“
T h e H er a ld and the E x
called it a gem o f a book
r
Mr W est o f the
p ess announcements I failed to get
Co mm er c ia l A dv er tis er
said
W e bespeak for
t his charm ing little v olume a universal circulation
an d end s his long beautiful notice by complimen t ing
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TH E
24
F
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
“
the authoress almost more than he had praised the
little book
W ishing to speak with the author o f Americ a n
”
Poets I took a copy to him myself H e h a d a lr ea dy
received o n e though f r om the publish er and writte n
a review every line o f w hic h is a s g r a teful t o my soul
as must have been a so n g o f their native l a n d to the
”
“
captives o f Israel H e ca lls it a heart book applauds
the quaint tend erne s s o f its style m a rv el s at its chaste
Anglo S axon and finally clos es with that passage
from the prefac e with which nearly all th e oth ers
“
begin— I n o n e short month a brid e a widow and
blind
T h e T r ib u n e accords to t h e little bo o k a style o f its
”
quotes from it even and th en s ends it o u t into
o wn
the world covered all ov er with p r aise like the follow
“
ing !
T hese int eresti n g l etters breathe throughout a
spirit o f che erfuln ess w hich is equalle d in fascination
only by t h e exce edi n g beauty o f the language in which
the entire volum e is clothed
T h e M ir r o r though met t h e shades o f mel a nchol y
“
where the T r ib u n e found only t h e spirit o f ch eerful
”
ness doubtless because editors r ead through such dif
“
—
fer en t glasses
T hese lett er s a r e n o t inappropriat ely
‘
numbered with tho se plaintive voic es o f the night
which make up the still sad music o f humanity
T h e J o u r n a l o f Co m m er c e e ditor embodied so much
in his first sentence that he might well have ended there
“
and said no more !
T his book i n dicates a high degree
”
o f refinement o f feeling and o f cult ivation o f mind
Mrs Buckley clipp ed the followi n g from a Boston paper
sent h er by M r Willi a m R D eane !
“
T hi s work is n o fic ti o n from the flood o f literature
n ow upon us but a true and p eculiar phase of real life ;
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TH E
WID E
WO R LD
FRE E
,
25
.
and we feel t hat we hazard nothing w he n we pre di c t
t hat
“
‘
A s lon g
A s lo n g
as
as
th e h ea r t h a s passio ns,
lif e h as w o es,
’
t his v olume o f letters and the name o f its unfortuna te
”
and heroic authoress will have a place in the world
And so they have gone o n o n, breaking praises upo n
my o n e little ewe lamb o f a book that I thought the
worl d woul d hardly condescend to notice at all B ut
the drollest comment was from a Scotch gentlema n
who subscribed for a copy and said when I met him
“
—
Y e write like a bag o f snakes c o ilin c o ilin an one
”
n ever knows where ye re comin oot
“
Another from an E lmir a editor is a j ewel !
In
‘
A Place in T h y Memory Mrs D e K ro yft has g iv en
expression t o some o f the finest conceptions in the E n g
”
lish language
And now in addition t o all the res t, I hav e a let t er
from you h ere dear Mrs Nott not only co v ering the
li ttle b o ok all over with praise fro m your pen but
hiding all its faults under a line o f benediction from
W ould more o f my early le tters
the good D octor e ven
sent from this Institution could have been returned in
time ; but I shall h a ve them fo r some future editio n
M r R aymond said in hi s notice wha t has become t o
my heart verily an apple o f g o ld in a pic t ure of
”
s ilve r
W hoever purchases this book will not only
receive the full value o f his money
“
”
T h e full value o f his money
Ah ! that has a r l n g
—
o f q u id p r o gu o in it
D o you see
c c m u c h fo r s o
mu c h
It is an oracle which unbars the gates to this I n
s titu tio n and opens up befor e me th e wi de, free w orld
.
,
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!
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TH E
26
F
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
Altogether this fi rst month o f the New Y ear has bee n
a glad happy moon to me and I just rise up and kneel
down whispering th anks thanks No heart has a right
to stay always in the grave with its love d and its lost
and mine has done weeping by the empty sepulchre
from which the heavy stone has been rolled away an d
the angel risen and gone ! All true souls to o should
have enough o f G o d in them t o li v e in the light albeit
the sun hides himself behind the hills and the day no
more breaks upon the world T h e L ord an d my soul
and I have at last settled it all about the darkness in
these eyes ; and h o w I bless H im fo r that wondrou s
“
—
W hatsoever thy hand fin deth to d o do
c o mm a n d z
”
“
it with thy might
Indeed the little word wh a tso
”
eve r seems to h a ve been inserted expressly for me
as much as t o say
“
Stand not idle thou w o u ld b e w o r ker in my vine
yard waiting for something more worthy o r more deli
cate o r more pleasing to d o but w h a ts o ev er thy hand
”
fin deth to d o th a t do with thy might
O h ! I could just spread o u t m y a r ms and give thank s
for the fullness o f this day even a s did S olomon of old
o v er t he completion of his temple And pray wha t is
th a t to me but a temple wherein all my beref t being
takes refuge and I find n o t only something to d o bu t
the courage to rise up an d go forth t o do it ?
T h e p ublishers opposed my taking the little b ook
“
from t h e t rade as it i s having a fine run they say ;
but thanks to the providence that drove me to seeking
subs c ribers fo r bringing it out no o n e now can say
me n ag ; and I am going o u t int o the great dark world
with something shut up in my he a rt to do with it
almos t more beautiful than it would be even t o see
a ga in After settling up with the engra v er s t ereo
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TH E
28
F
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
k n ow h o w t o s h ut down th e eyes of my soul t hen and
pray and t r ust an d smile when my heart is bleeding
I ha v e do n e t h at here in New Y ork already thousands
and t h ousand s o f t imes o v er, a n d come out all t he
s t ro nger and wiser and b ett er
,
.
.
To
Mr s D r N o t t
.
.
,
Un io n Co lleg e
,
S c h en ec ta dy
,
S O ME WH E R E
OR
S O ME H OW
C H AP T E R I V
S O M E WH
E RE
29
.
.
SO ME H
OR
OW
.
N ew Y o r k Ja n u ar y 1 8 5 0
,
.
,
is a sort o f Pass o ver n igh t with me Mary my
last within the wall s o f this glo o my Institution and as
if to give me the pleasure o f sharing an hour o f it
with you some pitying angel brought me your address
to day
It seems h a rdly possible that nearly two thousand
miles o f valley hill and prairie have widened between
us since the F at es seized the c a r s to the barques o f o u r
lives and drift ed them asund er—yours far o u t to an
U topia of balmy ski es and flowery fi elds whil e mine
headed adverse came quick upon a m a elstrom o f night
T h e engagement with Madam T
four recita
tions daily and o n e fo r mys elf i n whatever l anguage
o r o n whatever instrument I might choos e proved all
that it promised ; and l est my Italian should some
where encounter a criticism like unto tha t from the
”—
“
Pr in c e o f Co m o !
and s u c h Italian
fo r the autumn
term I joined the class o f Pr o fesso r M
then d is
covering in the library an entire set o f R ollin in their
b elle o r igi n a le I devoted the long winter ev en in g s t o
the ancients until tiring o f their grave doings and
graver non d o ings I took up music again that always
“
n eglected part o f my ed u cation
S o having the char iot
”
w heel employme n t four hours of each day and filling
TH IS
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F
TH E
30
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
’
.
up the interims with alt ern ate practice and study the
moons went o n waning and coming until rosy June
warmed onc e m o r e upon the worl d and wreathed and
fe s toon ed it with flow ers T h en my W illiam having
b ec o m e a verit a ble M D a n d b een some ti me pr a c
ticing pr o p o se d fo r o u r w edd ing a day in Ju ly Judas
month o f t h e y ear T h e day dawned though as fair
but when the time d r ew near th a t was to
a s need be
w a tch o u r two lives blended int o o n e instead o f being
led to t h e a ltar l ea nin g upon the strongest dearest
arm in the world robed in snow white I met my b e
tr o th ed pill o wed upon his couch wi th more o f the light
A fall
o f heav en b eaming in his eye s than o f eart h
f r o m a carri a ge had brought him so low ; but wh en the
h o ur and th e mo m ent h a d arrived for the fulfi llment o f
o u r vows with go o d Mr Seager to o ffic ia te we pledged
o u r liv es an d our souls to e a ch othe r
A l l Ma ry t hi nk wh a t your W illiam was t o you the
d a y he ca m e to claim yo u for his bride and yo u will
n o t be su r pri s ed that with my h a nd and my heart I
p ledg ed m y life a lso to one long day of w a iti n g wait
in g waiti n g
And how little a t h ng too tha t seem ed
fc r me t o give t o him then compared to the j oy o f his
“
whisp er t o my hear t j u st once !
My bride my wife
”
my H eien !
Alas ! t h e sun that was never to rise upon o u r wedd ed
life was forbidden t o go down upon it also ; and a s the
day went o u t the lips that first set my name around
w i th love w ere still in d eath and the eyes in whose
smile my life was to ha v e rounded like a dream o f j o y
wer e closed upon the world f o re ver W hat passed in
my soul th a t day Mary only God can know ; and all the
d a ys aft er until at last when my p o or baffl ed h eart had
spe n t it sel f and l ike a sob b in g child, I lay sl ee pin g with
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S O M E WH E R E
OR s o ME E o w
31
the hot t ears s till burni n g o n my c h eeks the angel
of destiny came and stole away the light from my eyes
and I a woke n o no call not that w a kin g which brings
S ay rather that
with it no morning and no day
th e I o r th e m e th a t w as di ed th en an d another I
or m e stood forth in this new strange e x istence shrouded
in perpetual night
But to go back still farther M a ry D o you rem ember
the evening in the L ima S eminary when after pr ay er s
I coa x e d my roommate Ca r rie to g o and sl eep with
Libbie an d let yo u c o m e and p a s s t h e night with me ;
and after lo okin g the door a n d d r a wi n g do w n the cur
tains I crept up close beside you and t o ld yo u all about
a s tr an g e visio n o f da r kn ess that had swept b efore my
spirit eyes that day jus t an hour b efo r e noon ; and al
though only a second in p ass ing h a d left upon my
mind the weight o f cen turi es ? Y o u reme mb er it I
know ; an d let me tell yo u
T w o years aft er wh en my W illiam had be en but a
month gone and I was t o l eave R och est er early th e n ext
morning bidding the ladie s in who se hous e h e died and
with whom I h a d b een steppin g go o d night and good
bye som ething o n e o f th em s a id brought th at gl o o my
v isi o n all back to me lik e a flash
I spok e o f it and
then yiel ding t o th eir en trea ti es I sat down a n d r e
ea
a
ll
t
e
d
ar
e
e
it
m
v
lling
as
I
w
nt
at
the
acc
r
cy
a
o
n
u
p
with which my memory had tr easu r ed its min ut est
phase T hen I w ent to my r oom a n d afte r ru n ning
my eyes over a copy o f W illiam s obituary which a
friend o f his had brough t me that evenin g p r int ed o n
white satin my lamp g o ing o u t I turn ed b a ck the
blind s and sat d o wn by the win dow w hile th e s o l emn
bells r an g o fi the hours ! elev en tw elve a n d o n e T hen
I lay down but soo n rose again fancying th a t I heard
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O R E SH A D OWE D WA Y
TH E F
82
.
the rumblings o f distant thunder B ut the sky w a s
still clear promising naught but bri ghtness o n the
Meantime the bell tolled slow and solemn
m orro w
t w o ; a n d then folding my shawl c loser a bout me I
la y down agai n lea v ing the curtain drawn and the
S o I slept and awoke as I ha v e told you
w indow up
only t o go forth and wade through o r live
a b ov e
t h r ough all the gloomy scenes foreshadowe d t o me in
that fat ed v ision
My father h a d n o longer the lands and the home that
grandfather left him H e had become poor and coul d
I g o b a c k an d add o n e more to the nine already d e
p ending upon his care and dear sweet moth er besides ?
D octor Backus o f R ochester was then State S enator
and through his kind int ercession I gained admittance
t o this institution thinki n g in time to become an
o r g a nist But to my j oy I found among the inventions
fo r the blind a very available means o f writing and
straightway b egan to write my soul o u t in letters which
were n o t long finding their way n o t only int o the
papers and p eriodicals o f this country but some o f them
w ere copied into the papers of E ngland also And now
w ith this I send you a little book of them Mary which
“
i s just being announced t o t he world entitled
A
”
Pl a ce in T h y Memory
I used to tell yo u that I ought ne v er to marry bu t
go and help my dear father educate all my younger
sisters But love made me too selfish for that I went
my o w n w a y and yo u see how I came o u t N o w
though I am going to d o wh a t I sh o uld have done in
the first place ! live as far as in me l ies to make their
lives b eautiful ; live to plant step stones whereon they
m a y climb to th e purple clusters that o n ce I tho u g h t
o nly t o gather fo r my self and I lea v e t o morr ow for
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S O ME
WH E R E
OR
S O ME H OW
33
.
W ash ington T h e editors o f New Y ork ha v e already
introduced me and the little book to th e editors there
I have a precious package of letters t o o—o n e t o Sen
ator H oust o n, o f T e x as ; o n e to o u r Senator from New
Y ork ; o n e to the chaplain o f the Senate and besides
one wort h all the rest to o u r grand old R oman o f
Kentucky H enry Clay a s well as several to distin
i
d
i
u
la
es
So
with
the
l
ttle
books
a
sweet
attend
s
h
e
di
g
ant M innie and the angels to lead I a m actually going
forth t o the wanderings foreshadowed in the vis io n in
which yo u remember wh at I wandered to gather o r
gathered a s I wandered changed three times F irst
—
came the sh ining specks o r bits o f gold and wha t
were they but the little gold dollars being issued by t h e
?
Government now
D o yo u see
if the last two scenes
o f the v is io n prove as real a s so far si x o f them cer
t a in ly have then somewhere or somehow before I die
I am to be both very rich an d see agai n Pu t that do wn
in your heart Mary a n d never ce a se praying fo r me
u n til so me d ay in my wande r ings the goo d angels set
me d own by your far away prairie home
I go first to W as hingt on then on to Ch arlest o n an d
then away W est away Nort h and away everywhere
“
Something like Paul s strait o f necessity is laid upo n
”
me and I must go I ndeed, I co ul d not s t ay if I
woul d
T h e swee t Minn ie wh o h as e n g ag ed to s h are my
wan derings for a year is sleeping here in my long
w hit e sli m bed crawled away at one side expecting me
t o c ome and lie down beside her B ut ha v ing your ear
t o n ight Mary I mus t make a sort of wrestling angel
of you nor let yo u go u ntil th e morning breaks and I
h a v e t old yo u a ll a b o u t i t
H ark ! it i s m orn ing already—th e nigh t is end ed
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E OR E s E A D OWE D
TH E
34
wa r
.
so ere long th e long night that h a s swallowed
up my young life mus t end also Meantime I go wan
d ering up an d dow n the world linking about my soul
lessons from God s great open book o f human life ; go
to turn its immortal leaves alternate damp with tears
glittering with j oys and blott ed with woes ; go to read
with shut eyes pausing to con over its li v ing breath
in g and ever varying characters as o n e finds them smil
ing in palaces pining in garrets, and waiting by the
corners o f the stre et s
Alas ! th a t do leful b el l th a t has so often awakened
me from dreams o f the beautiful bygone rings now
w hile the gates to all the p ast are closing heavily b e
hind me ; and with this early dawn sweet Minnie th e
little books the L ord the angel s and my soul and I
are going forth t o re t ur n to these gloomy walls no
more nevermore
Oh !
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To
Mrs
.
Wm Weld
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,
I llin ois
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,
F
TH E
36
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
is o u r misfo rtune that we c a nnot accomm o date all w h o
”
“
—
come But please be seated he said and giv e your
selves n o uneasiness I make it a point to send o u t
and find place s for ladies who com e t o me un a c c o m
an ied by gentlemen
whe
unable
accommodate
t
o
n
p
”
them myself
T hinking now that much migh t do
p end upon his favor I said
“
In place o f an introduction to yo u sir pleas e le t
me show yo u at least the names o f those to whom I
”
have the honor o f bearing letters —
a t the same time
taking from the pocket o f my mantle that blessed littl e
package from you Mr D ean ! th e first to Mr Clay ;
then Chaplain to the Sen a te ; Mrs Commodore A
and so o n and s o o n H e glanc ed at them and smiling
handed them back to me saying quickly
“
T hese are all right ; some o f them residents o f the
N ational I see and I shall try to find yo u a place as
”
near here as possible
So h e left but was hardly
o u t o f the room before Minnie pres s ing my arm w h is
pered !
“
W hy h o w did you know to d o that ? W hy that
was just the thing Y o u should have seen h o w smiling
and pleased he looked when he handed them back W e
”
shall have a nice place n o w you s ee !
T wenty minutes had hardly elapsed when the clerk
entered and coming over to us the first said
“
L adies I have found a very pleasant room for yo u
at the U nited State s wh ere are st eppin g some twenty
southern Sen a tors and their families this winter and
t aking the s atchel from Minnie he led the way
W e were presented to the proprietor Mr F uller and
shown up to o u r room at once wh ich the mai d was
h astening to put in order After her dep a rture the
fireman st ill lingered brushing ra ttling abou t tak in g
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TH E
F IR
ST
o a r o ur
7
.
the blower and putting it on m eantime gi v ing us a
r unning account o f all the people in the house
“
”
“
W hy miss he said I tell yo u d o trufe D e Na
tio n a l hab all d o fl o a t in an trash like ; but d o re al
e ss a m
N
de
Senate
an
de
avy
an
de
pr
a st o c r a c
o
b
y
in dis yere house a s dey allus does W hy
st o p p in
dars fo go v n o r s yere an dere fa m lies ; an dars Mr
H eiss— he s de editor o b o n e o f d e grandest p a p ers in
—
de city de G lo b e aw R ep u b lic dunno W t h An
r e M o o re an
d
i
d
right
y
re
Commodo
e
r
o
n
e
fl
o
e
w
s
y
his lady ; dey is from T exas ; an G o v n o r Moreh ead o b
de Senate h e s from Kentucky
F inally imagini n
that it was a fee o u r man w a s laboring for Minnie gave
him something and we were left alone to cong r atulat e
ourselves upon finding o u r lines so delightfully cast
”
“
“
Such a pl easant room
Minnie excl a im ed
tw o
large front win d ows inside blinds and lace curt ains
even W e are right in the center o f the city t o o so
”
convenient to every place and so n ear t h e N ati o nal
“
T h e good angels have surely cared for us beautifully
”
”
“
I replied
T h e good angels !
she s a id I
s o far
am gl a d you believe in them fo r they have been my
My father died wh en I was only
friends all my life
W e were living near t w o dear o ld Swiss
six years o l d
people T h e gentleman had been a professor in a col
lege and they promised to educat e me beautifully ; so
mamma left me wi th them while she went away house
keeping until an uncle go t rich in the W est and bought
her the place where she lives now
“
T hen that is the way yo u came to speak F rench so
”
lovely I rejoined
“
Y es
she said and the way to o that I came to
believe in the angels T h e dear Madame used to tell
me whe n sh e pu t me t o bed t ha t a black one and a wh i t e
o ff
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TH E
38
F
OR E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
one were always st at ioned by my pillow until I went to
sleep the white o n e waiting t o see if I woul d repent
and be sorry fo r all the naughty things I had said an d
done during the day and if he s a w that I was sorry
he blotted o u t all the account hehad made o f t hem an d
smiled and went a way t o report only good o f me ; while
the bl a ck one grew mor e black and went aw a y t o o
”
leaving me al o ne to the sweet g uardians o f the night
S o Minnie was chatti n g o n when the baggage cam e
up
just in time t o dress fo r the four o clock dinner
D escending the stairs to the dining room we met the
landlord at the door who escorted u s in a n d after seeing
u s seated
Minnie although busy looking over the bill
o f f a re
obse r ved that he went over and spoke to o n e
and another of the ladies l ingering longest with o n e o f
the most elderly
“
H e is telling her doubtless that I do n o t see
I said
”
“
Y es
Minnie whispered
that is it and sh e i s
rai sing her gl a ss to us already
She looks kindly
though and I like her fo r all she is so proud and not
pretty at all
Minnie s sweet eyes have the happy trick o f seeing
wh ile seeming n o t to see an d not a face was turned
toward us it seemed that escaped her nicely discrim
in atin g glance ; and aided by h er runn ng undertone
comments adde d t o what I was able t o rea d from the
v o ices laughs themes o f conversation and so forth
the dinner w as hardly half over before all that cho k ing
res t rain t w ith which I entered h a d melted aw ay
L eav ing the dining room seeing th e ladies all mo v
ing toward the parlors M innie sugge sted that we go
there too After a little s h e left me and went up t o
write a line to her mother as she had promis ed to do
t h e moment we s h oul d arri v e As the ladies o n e after
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F IR
TH E
ST
D A Y OUT
39
.
ano t her c o n t inued t o enter Mrs Sen ator B ell o f T en
I felt that she was
n essee walked straight over to me
com i ng knew too that she was the one who raise d her
glass and a s sh e dr ew quite near I instinctively arose
and put o u t my hand to her
“
she excl a imed taking my hand i n hers
Why
”
Mr F ull er just tol d me that yo u d o n o t see
“
“
W hich is very true I said except the sh a dows
that env elop me
”
“
W hy h o w strange ! she replied and your m a nn er
”
is so graceful a n d easy
“
Y o u a r e v ery kind t o think so
I said as we sa t
down togeth er o n the sofa
“
Ne not a t all ; but some way my heart is always
d r a w n to th e blind a n d I h a d a gre a t deal to do with
m aking the St a te o f T enness ee build an institution for
”
th em she was saying when Mrs Senator D awson o f
G eorgia c a me over and j oined u s —
a sweet timid loving
little la dy w h o se em ed t o bear in her smiling presence
all the sun shine o f her State Presently Mr D awso n
ente r ed
“
Come here my de a r his little wife called Mrs
Bell introduced him and w hile he was drawing up an
armchair fo r himself Mrs Bell left and returned with
Senator and Mrs Morton o f F lori d a ; then came Mrs
W illey and Mrs Je ff erson D avis o f Mississippi Mrs
Moreh ead o f Kentucky and s o o n and so on unt il
bef o re Minnie came do w n again I had not o nly been
presented to many o f the ladies o f the house but to
several o f the gentlemen and h ad a group o f them
sitting around engaged in animate d conversation the
theme being chiefly o f course the dark life and h o w
o n e so young a n d thrust into it s o suddenly as I w a s
h ad learned to bear it so well
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TH E
40
F
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
See said M r s B ell what a rebuke this lady s
cheerfulness is to us all
”
“
Y es
said Senator D awson and she shows us to o
h o w p erf ectly mind is abl e t o t r iumph over th e material
by making h er o th er p o w ers d o the work o f t h e lo st
on e
It is doubtl ess by t h e d el ic a cy o f h er h earing
that sh e i s en a bled to tu rn h er eyes s o exactly to the
o n e who speaks to her o r whom sh e address es
S o the conv ersatio n w ent o n until the gong was
sounded and M r s B el l g a v e m e h er arm t o th e tea
room
“
I am g o ing to t a k e yo u ov er to my corner she
“
said
My husband is at t h e C a pitol and will n o t be
h ere T hey have a night ses sion and at this me al I
allow the children to sit ar o und with their friends
wher ever they like s o we will hav e a cup o f tea quite
”
by ourselves
W e were hardly s eat ed wh en she said
“
I am glad yo u have come to W ashin g ton Indeed
I have m et no o n e this winter whose acquaint a nce it
has afforded me more p leasure t o make if only o n ao
count o f o u r institution in N ashville which I h ave been
so much inter es t ed in and am tryi n g t o d o so much fo r
and against such immense opposition t o o all seeming
to say ! It w ill d o n o g o o d ; it will do no good N o w
u w ere e duc a ted b efo r e the loss o f your sight a n d yo u
o
y
have since h a d exp eri ence e n ough in the New Y ork
Institution t o know exactly what the blind a r e able to
a ttain t o
and wh a t shoul d be done to assist th em to
”
r each the utmo st o f th eir abilities
“
”
“
Ah ! that is it M r s B ell I said exactly what
s h o u ld be done t o en a b le th em t o att a in to t h e utmost
o f their abilities t h e utmost o f their abilities being in
my opinion n o thing l ess than the acme o f all that man
o r woman h a s ever achi eved
intellectually
I ndeed
’
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F IR
TH E
ST
D A Y OUT
41
.
being forced t o live wholly mental li v es why should
not the greatest scholars and sages o f the world arise
fro m their midst so only their advant a ges were o f the
”
?
right kind o r wholly a dequate to their needs
”
“
“
she said
I beli ev e every word o f tha t ;
E xactly
and henc e it is yo u see why I am so glad yo u are come
to W ashington ; yo u w ill do so much toward creating
a fresh i n ter est in your cl a ss and I shall be proud to
introduce you to a ll my fri ends I know nearly every
body connected with the G o v ernment, fro m the Presi
”
dent and h is Cabin et down
“
T h a t is very very generous and very v ery kind o f
“
you I said but I fear all the distinguished people you
speak of will t ake v ery little interest in me I ndeed
I did not come to W ashi n gt on expecting to be in vited
across any o f its brilliant thresholds socially
”
“
“
O h ! she said
then yo u have some petitio n per
haps to present to Congress ; if so I can serve you there
as well if n o t better than almost anyb o dy in W ashing
”
ton fo r I know nearly every Senator and Member
”
“
“
No n o
I replied laughing
Y o u are mis t ake n
”
aga in
“
W ell just see h ere t hen she said laying h er h a nd
“
fi rmly on my arm I resolved long ago never t o die
o f curiosity ; just t ell me—wha t did
o u come to W as h
y
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in g to n fo r ?
”
“
told her all about the l itt le book A Place
”
in T h y Memory to whom I had letters and what the
editors h a d promised ; and more still that five hundre d
o f the little books were already l n the city
”
“
“
Good ! she exclaimed I c an sell that number fo r
”
—
?
you myself but hold ! is i t Abol it ion
T hen I
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“
N
Politics
F
TH E
42
No,
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
’
.
“
said the little book is largely my own life
only w ritten in what they call poet ic letters instead o f
chapters
“
”
“
Ah ! well then sh e said it mus t be swee t and
lovely like yourself I wil l take twenty numbers to
begin with and I know twenty more in thi s h ous e who
will do t h e same
T hen sitting back in her chair
as if surv eying m e o r looking the matter over
“
”
she ejaculated
U pon my word tha t is splendid
“
as if talking to herself
No w w e have an opposition
t o G a d sb y s
Mrs W illard o f T roy has been stopping
th ere this winter introducing her new book o n physiol
o gy and giving a course o f lectures to the ladies
I
subscribed fo r the course and went once ; but it was
drier than politics to me and I doub t if she has a
dozen hearers by thi s time After each lecture she has
the boo ks fo r sale I bought one t he day I went but
”
ha v e hardly looked into it since
Just then her son came in whom she introduced and
we left ; she to dress for a S aturday night dinner
part y and I to con over in my ro o m the events of the
d ay an d evening with Minnie
W ell and s o this is W ashington I said ; and b e
fore delivering a letter we have intro duced oursel v e s
”
almost to the President
”
“
Y es
Minnie said coming and throwing her arms
“
and isn t it too lovely fo r anything !
a round my n eck
O h ! you should j u st see how smiling a n d pleas a nt they
all are to us
T h e gentlemen b o w to yo u just as
though yo u could see I return it and they ne ver see m
to know the di fference
“
“
But n o w my dear one I said it was the l ittle
boo ks we came to W ashin gt on to introduce as well as
Y o u h eard Mr s B ell s swee t o ffer t o t ake
our sel v es
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TH E
“
A
O R E SH A D OWE D WA Y
F
CH
AP TE R
P E
C
S
I A L
VI
E
D
.
.
CT
I
Was h in g to n
,
.
Ja n ua ry 1 8 5 0
.
,
W H E N we awoke th e next morning the winds were
blowing a tornado and pelting the windows with hail
stones in a w a y that was frightful t o he a r
“
O h ! it does not seem like Sunday at all to have it
”
storm so Minnie exclaimed, as she parted the curtains
to look ou t
W e were among t he first d o wn to breakfast and wh en
Mr s Bell cam e in with h er two d a ughters son and hus
“
ba n d Minnie whisper ed
She h a s the little book
under her a rm T hinks i t c overed but her mant illa
is caught up with it behind She looked o v er at yo u,
”
an d bowed and smiled
In my heart I sa id
“
A h ! she h a s been reading the little book a n d is
pleas ed with it o r sh e woul d ne ver ha v e brought i t
with her to the table
Presently Minnie leaning over t o add ano th er lump
o f sugar t o my coffee whispered !
“
T h e gentlemen all have the i r paper s and e v ery l it t le
while o n e puts his finger o n a place and passes it along
”
to another ; he reads it and then looks over at us
T his made me feel very unc o mfortable a s o f c o urse
I coul d not imagine w h at it mig ht be
“
”
“
See w h at p a pers they ha v e if you can I sa id and
”
wh en we go up w e will rin g a n d sen d for them
My
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“
A
SPE CIA L
D I CT
”
’
E
45
.
breakfast had lost its relish and hurrying away we
came up to o u r room and ord ered the lat est p a pers
”
and o h ! wh a t a lovely littl e sp ecial ed 1 c t the I n tel
lig en c er h a d copied from the Co m m er c ia l A d v er tis er
o f New Y o r k
”
“
O h ! Minnie excl a imed clapping her little hands
what a wreath o f pra 1 se ! And o h ! here is o n e in an
other paper a long o n e T hese are what th ey w ere all
”
reading and l o o k in g so pleas ed about
S o we were r e
i
when
th
r e c a me such a h eavy knock at the
i
n
e
o
c
g
j
d o or Minnie opened it and there stood a great stal
w art darky bowing nearly to the floor
”
“
S cuse me ladies he s a id my missus Mrs Bell
h as sent me to tell yo u a s it storms powerful t o day an
nobody 11 go to church she wants twenty o b yer little
books to str ib u t e round among st em to re a d S h e likes
de o n e she has p o werful well ; was readin it till purty
nigh
Minnie counted h im o u t the twenty and away he
went with th em in his arms I n about ten minut es
little N anny Bell came saying
“
Mamm a wants five more o f your Places in My
”
M emory and she wants to know t he price o f them
Minnie wrote on a card for me !
“
T ha n k s d ear Mrs Bell all the w ay t o the Better
”
—
L and
the little boo k i s o ne dollar
In le s s time
than it takes to te ll it Nanny was back again fo r ten
—
more this time th e maid with her
“
Mamma s ays that yo u must keep count o f them
sh e screamed as if talking to o n e who could n o t h ear
“
and she will s ee that it is all paid t o morrow Mr
H eis s is down there
H e says he has seen the notices
o f it in the New Y ork papers and he will h a v e o n e in
h is p aper t o mo rr o w Mrs H eiss to ok three on e fo r
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TH E
46
E o E E s E A E O WE E
WA Y
.
brother o n e fo r h erself and o n e fo r M r H e iss T h e
”
parlo r is full o f p eo pl e a n d t hey a r e all reading them
Going down to dinner we came L0 Mrs D awson s
parlor just as sh e and th e Se n ator were stepping out
i
and o n ly G eo rg i a h erself coul d have fash oned a greet
ing more c o r d i a l We p au sed to let them walk in a d
vance an d looking b a ck Mrs D awson s a id
“
My hu sba n d has b een r eading your little book this
morn in g and I sa w h im trying to hi de h is tears over
”
that letter to you r m o th er
”
“
“
O h ! I s a id
I should apologi z e t o the Senator for
”
having c a us ed h im to w eep
”
”
“
“
No i n d eed
s h e sai d ;
h e doe s n o t weep of te n !
”
“
D oubtles s n o t I v e n tured t o add ; having you t o
l o ve his ey es shoul d be indeed strangers to e v erythin g
”
but smiles !
”
T hat i s so ! the S enator exc la im e l laughing ; and
as they mo v ed a long I h eard him s ay to her lo w
“
”
T hen you like t o see me weep d o you little o n e ?
W itho u t a n swering back she stepped and to u ching my
arm whisp ered !
“
I a m c o m i n g t o see you in t h e morning
I want to
”
get fiv e o f tho se littl e b o o k s to s end to Georg ia
S o th e day p a ssed until l ea vi n g th e tea room Mrs
B ell j o i n ed m e and slipping my ha n d in her arm led
the w ay to her parlors In a few moments Senator B ell
came in with Senator B ut ler o f S outh C a rolina to
whom I had h a rdly b een introduced when Senato r
T oombs a n d G eneral W addy T hompson wer e announced
Minni e said a fterward that the Ge n eral to o k tea with
Mrs B ell and s h e s aw her pointing me o u t to him and
Af ter a few moments
t elling h im about th e little book
th o ugh Minnie and I left Parting with Mrs B ell at
the door
h er
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“
A s p E OI A L E
D I CT
”
47
.
Good bye you d ear o n e she s a id I am coming
to see you in th e morning and settle up my long stri ng
”
o f accounts
”
“
“
O h ! I said
no matter about the a ccoun ts o n ly I
shall be very pro ud and v ery h a ppy i n d eed to have
”
so much ligh t in my room !
Monday morning the skies were a s cl ea r a ga in as if
they had never rained anything but s u n shin e a n d t rue
to her promise right after bre a kf a st Mrs B ell was
tapping at my door ; then a s one bl es si n g is wont t o be
followed by another she wa s h a r d ly s ea ted wh en Mrs
D awson was announ c ed with a lovely bouquet in her
hand
—
Mrs B ell had fifty dollars to pay five from each
o f those senators that we wer e int r oduc e d to the even
ing before ; and in place o f five copies Mrs D awson
”
“
“
would take t en
F ive more
she s a id to send to
”—
a litt le p a vi n g o f the w ay
some frien d s in Charle ston
h
u
a
!
f
my
v
isit
there
And
Mr
D
an
you
o
s
e
o
r
e
e
y
sh o uld h ave h eard th e prais es they had t o shower upon
my o ne poor little ew e l a mb o f a book ! W hat this o n e
had s a id th a t o n e and th e other ; an d more tha n all
th at they were a ll going to have c o pi es
T hose t rite little words th a n k yo u my heart h a d
worn threadbare befo r e I had been in the d a rk a month ;
b u t had they been as new and unspok en as the las t
love whisper among the a ngels I sh o u ld have exhausted
them utterly in New Y ork Indeed lo n g b efore yo u had
t h e kindness to place th at little pack a g e o f letters in
my hand I had c o me to f eel such a p erf ect dearth o f
fitting phraseology fo r acknowle dgi n g kindnesse s r e
th at I stoo d b efore yo u with th em there like
ceive d
—
bereft
speech
aye and he a rin g t o o ; my heart
f
o
one
A t las t
s t ood s t ill an d I co u ld only think, th ink
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,
TE E F O R E SH A D O WE D W A r
’
.
“
though I believe I did stammer o u t ! M r D ean yo u
”
are the noblest best man who has ever lived !
At
least that i s what I have be en sayi n g ever since and
ought to have said it then whether I d id or n o t But
how find words now dear and sweet and beautiful
enough to thank the se stranger ladies in fo r their over
whelming ki n dness ? H o w tell them half how be a utiful
and generous it was o f them to have changed so many
o f the little books into gold dollars
literally crowding
my portemonnai e with them when as yet I had only
been in W ashington o n e stormy day and that all the
L ord s o w n ev en to t h e evening thereof ?
S o I was thinki n g wh en they rose to depart an d
hardly kno w ing whe r e I should come o u t I said
“
My visit to W ashington ladies has taught me ai
rea dy what it is to be bo r n where flowers are perennial
”
a n d summ ers l a st all th e ye a r round
”
Y es
said Mrs D awson in her sweet musical w ay
but we d o n o t gather such bouquets from our flowers
”
as this yo u have brought us fr om your north ern lands
“
”
Mrs Bell rej oined and I mean she
N o indeed
shall sell every copy she has brought here and as many
”
mor e if sh e can
Just th en Mrs eX Gov ernor D oty
and her daughter were announced who
o f W isconsin
“
had c o me also fo r the little book A Place in T h y M em
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o ry
”
.
And so they went o n coming comin g all the day long
when counting up Minnie found that
un til evening
o n e hundred of the little books h ad already been turn ed
into gold dollars
”
“
Ah ! I said exactly as i t was in the visio n pick
ing th e shining little pieces from the gloomy presence
”
T his is another feature
th at everywhere overawes me
n g on in
s
b
h
a
h
!
q
uite
as
litera
a
t
een
goi
W
l
o f it t o o
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“
A
SPE CIA L
E D ICT
”
’
49
.
my t h ough ts h as already borne the shining thi n gs f r om
my hand almost soo n er than I hav e gathered them T o
morrow I must get a draft for that smiling little troop
o f mine in the A llen S em i n a r y the j o y in whose heart s
when they he a r o f m y success in W ashin gton will be
enough to melt blessing s t o th e m from the hands o f the
angels th emsel v es
.
,
,
,
.
To
Mr Nic h o las D ean
.
,
N ew Y a r k
.
50
TH E F O R E
SH A DOWE D WA Y
CH A PT E R
DO UB T
NE VE R
VII
TH
.
A GA I N
Wa s h in g to n
.
.
F ebr u a ry 1 8 50
,
,
.
th ird morning after my arrival I waited upon all
t he editors o f the city with copies o f the little book and
was surprised to find their o ffi ces upon the first and
second floors instead of the fifth and t he s ix th as in New
Y ork
Mr Gales of the N a ti o na l I n telligen c er recog
n ize d me at once and h o w polite and beautiful he was !
W hen I rose to depart he said
“
”
W ait a moment went int o another room re turn ed
a n d insisted upon paying me for the book
“
”
“
E x cuse me Mr Gales
I said
if you will be
pleased t o n otice my work it will be a thousand times
”
paid for
“
“
Certainly no t he replied
I should be sorry in
deed if I could not pay for an interesting lady s b ook
and speak well o f it too when I am so sure o f its b eing
doubly deserved
I still declined ta k ing the money
“
“
B ut said he yo u mus t ! I have just been and bor
rowed this dollar o f a friend whom I h a ve n o t seen for
nineteen years till this hour when I left him to speak
”
with you
T o object further wa s impossible and I
said !
“
Ah ! t hen you sh a ll surely h ave the pleasure of
T hen he
s ca tt ering that golden r ay in my path
E
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TH E F
52
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
home by th e illness of h is family so you will h a ve n o
bother with him ; and as fo r Mr Clay just let me tell
you h ow to d o it At eleven he goes to the Senate and
you must be at the N ational prompt on ten o clock ; that
is his time to receive R ing the bell T h e porter will
show yo u to the ladies parlor and then bring Mr Clay s
body ser v ant to yo u who will take your letter and card
to his master and retur n with word when he will be
”
able to see you
T hat was a little programme for me yo u see a n d o n e
step seemed t o draw the other after it like a charm
T h e servant was hardly gone a moment when he came
back an d said !
Mr Clay w ill b e able to see yo u in
”
a bout fiv e minutes
D uring the interim I do not know what Minnie w a s
thinking about but every thought in my soul was wh is
pering to itself
“
O h ! if these clouds could only break away fo r j us t
one moment just long enough to catch a glimpse of
the great cha i r and the great stat esman in it t o whom
”
I was to have the life long honor o f being presented !
B ut just imagine m y surprise Mr D ean when Mr
Clay met me at the d oor himself an d slipped my hand
in his arm as gracefully as if he had been taking les
sons o f you o r the a n g els ; and crossing the ro o m
seated m e in the great arm chair that but a momen t
before I had been picturing him enthroned in looking
so formidable and proud ; t h e whil e the grace o f h is
manner and the easy flowing words from his lips made
me feel as perfectly com fortable as if se ating me he
had said drawing up a chair fam i liarly by my side
No w my child let us forget that we are strang ers
”
and h ave a little talk here all by oursel v es
F irst, your v ery good h ealt h wa s asked af t er ; th e n,
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NE V ER
DO UB T
A
GA IN
53
.
your good qualities enumerated which Mr Clay fin ally
put all into o n e little summary when he said !
“
O ne does n o t n eed many such friends as Nicholas
”
D ean
T hen in t h e most delicate way possibl e the
conversation turned upon the little enterprise that had
brought me to W ashington h o w I managed to write
how long my little book had be en o u t etc etc in no
other way however referri n g to my n o t seeing until I
spoke o f it mys elf in which he manifested th e deepest
interest and after a little said directly
“
B ut madam you retain so perfectly th e manners
o f a se eing person that I am as yet hardly able to per
”
suade myself that yo u d o not see
”
“
“
I said
T hank you Mr Clay
T hose words w ill
linger longer in my thoughts than anything you c o ul d
possibly have said to me I am so constantly in fear of
appearing awkward o r unpleasan t to those whom I
”
meet
T hen something like a tear moistened in my
eyes which Mr Clay must have seen for in an instant
I felt my hand presse d warmly in his
“
Y our young life has been greatly and strangely b e
”
“
reft he said but as my friend tells me here you
have talent and cultur e still left and I hope a very
brilliant future in store
and went on presenting my
dark privation in so many advantageous lights that I
almost felt it a blessi n g rather than a misfortune H e
spoke o f all the illustrious blind, and remarked that
the w o rl d seldom appreciates them while they live
probably from the great retirement o r seclusion in
which they necessarily pass their time T hen General
S cott and several others were announced and we rose
to take leave but not until he had charged me many
times to call again very s oo n and let him kno w h o w h e
c o ul d bes t serv e me
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TH E F O R E
54
SH A D OWE D WA Y
.
”
“
I seldom make c alls said he but I shall su rely
and t hen he said low to Mi n nie !
v i s it you
“
Please bring me a copy o f your friend s little book
And the n th e drollest thing ! he asked her if we had not
a prospectus o r something that we were
a little book
going t o take th e names i n
”
“
I sh ould do that, h e said
Now j u st listen to this Mr D ean and yo u will never
O n the way up
d o u b t t he angels being with us again
s eeing th a t we had left the hotel a little too soon I said
t o Minnie
“
W e will stop in o n e o f t h e book stores then select
”
back
W
hen
s o m e paper and call fo r it o n o u r w a
y
righ t at the door Minnie said
“
O h ! here are some lovely bound blank books such
”
a s you spoke o f getting to take all the nam es in
We
selected a very pretty o n e and not staying t o get the
stationery Minnie took it with her under her shawl ;
and when Mr Clay spoke o f taking the names reading
my approval from my looks she gave it t o him H e cut
th e string with hi s kn ife unwrapped it a n d wro t e h is
lofty name
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H
Clay of Ashl and
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,
th e fii st in o u r li st o f purchasers T hen h e folded t h e
paper a round and would have tied the string again
bu t Minnie said !
Never m ind Mr Clay and took it from his hand
T hen as we mo v ed along toward th e door I felt that
eloquent arm of his half a round my shoulder the while
h e repeated !
“
Be sure to come and see me again v ery soon and let
”
T h e s er v an t s h owed us
me kn o w h o w yo u get a long
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NE V ER D OUB T A G A IN
55
.
down to the door and we were hardly on the walk when
Minnie exclaimed !
“
”
W hy ! Mr Clay knows everything doesn t he ?
“
“
Y es in d e ed
I said
I should really think he had
been blind him self some day and s old his little book
too fo r a living el se how could he know about a pros
pectus and t a king the names and all that and how did
he know t o o to t a ke my hand and slip it into his arm
instead o f standing and offering it to me as half the
”
gentlem en do
”
“
Y es
Minnie added and look at me wondering
”
w h y yo u don t take it !
W e were going next to wait upon Mr P hoenix but
w hen almost there I said
“
N o I will tell you let u s go and wai t upo n the
President It will be just splendid to have h is name
”
But then I had chanced to hear a
n ext to Mr Clay s
gentleman say at the t a ble
“
T h e Cabinet meet t o day
so o f course the Presi
dent will be engaged W alking along though I de
cided it woul d be all th e better to go when he wou ld
be engaged as then I could leave a note for him ex
plaining briefly my errand and asking as the choicest
possible souvenir o f my visit to W ashington the pleas
ure o f h eari n g his v oice Minnie coincided with that
W e hurried back to o u r room, wrote the note and went
directly to the W hite H ouse O f course the keeper of
the door said
“
It i s Cabinet meeting and the President wi ll be en
”
g aged for some hours
”
But then can I not lea v e a l ine for him ? I asked
”
Certainly he replied and motioned us over to the
desk in the far end o f the room, where Minnie taking
i
i
n
o
t
e
an envelo e from t he table, sli ped m
n
o
t
t
p
p
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TH E
56
F
OR E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
B ut t he n c ame the trouble a s t o how to address it I
suggested o n e way and she another until finally we
s ettled upon
.
,
P R E S I DE N T T A Y L OR
E x ecutive Mansion
W ashington D C
,
,
,
.
.
h anded it to th e man and left
I n the note I appointed three o cloc k for call ing again
h a v ing learned that to be his usual hour fo r receiving
i n the afternoon
I thought then nothing would deter
me from being prompt to the moment ; but return ing
Minnie mistook one o f t he public buildings fo r the
W hite H ouse and going the wrong way it was after
four o clock before we re a ched it E ntering t h e grounds
a horse feeding there galloped away when o n e o f the
gentlemen walking behind us said to the other
“
T ha t i s o l d Wh i tey the President s o l d war horse
and he seems t o enj oy t he h onors o f h is new si t uation
qu ite as much as his master At first he was as g entl e
—
—
a
lamb
anybody
could
approach
him
but since so
as
m any ha v e pulled relics from his tail and his mane
at the bare s ight o f a stranger he takes to his heels
a s if all th e ghosts of the dead Mexicans were after
.
’
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h im
.
a t the door was all poli t eness
”
“
“
Why ! h e said, I am glad you ve come b ac k T h e
Pres ident sen t down directly to s ay that when you
”
c ame aga in h e would see you wha t ever he was doing
”
“
I re
T hat was v ery kind of the Presiden t surely
”
“
l
ed
bu
t
perhaps
engaged
a s we are so late he is
i
p
“
T he Pres ide nt is a t d in ner, madam, b u t I sh all
”
call him
T h e m an
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NE V ER D OUB T A GA IN
57
.
“
cer t a inly n o t wh ile he i s at dinner I v entured
“
to say ; I will wai t with ple a sure
“
T h e President must be obeyed madam and he said
he would see you when yo u came a gain whatever he w a s
”
doing
F eeling myself rebuked fo r daring to sugg est even the
shadow o f treason in the President s house I co n s ent ed
to be shown to the receiving parlor wh ere he seat ed
us and then seemingly moved every chair in the r o om ;
and when at last so far away that I thought he h a d
departed 10 ! back he came giving the bottom o f my
dress a jerk spreading it o u t around me o n the ca r p et
in a way that made me w ish it an elegant silk instead o f
a bombazine ; then folding my mantle back over my arm
and moving the chair next m e once more he left look
ing back over his shoulder Minn ie said until the door
closed after him
In less time than it takes to think it ev en the Pres i
dent entered
I arose and stood by my chair and
bowed H e took both o f my hands in his fo r a moment
turned bowed t o Minnie, an d then sat down O pposite
me I sa id !
“
I should apologi z e Mr President fo r having call ed
”
you away from your dinner
”
“
No t at all not at all he repe ated ; only from des
sert and it would be a goo d thing if we had somebo dy
”
—
to call us away from that every day h a ! ha !
Nothi ng breaks fear and dispels restrai n t like a
laugh
“
O n the contrary, Mr Pres ident o n e who has served
hi s country like General T aylor I should think wo uld
T hi s made
more fear never recei v ing his d es er t
him laugh again and turning the subj ect abruptly h e
Oh !
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TH E
58
F
O R E SH A D OWE D WA Y
.
blind people ha v e a way o f picturi n g everybody
—
to yourselves ; and n o w let me ask do yo u find me at
”
?
u
e
e
all such a person a s yo expected to m t
“
T hat cool exclamation o f yours
I replied
H ardly
‘
t o General B ragg in the roar o f battle A few more
grape ! made me picture you to myself a hero a ll w a r
Y ou
.
,
,
’
r io r
”
.
”
“
But now ? he asked
S o m any hav e questioned me that way since th e loss
of my sight that without the least hesitancy I gave him
for answer the first impression that had c o me to my
“
thoughts !
Why ! in stead I meet the voice and manner
o f a gentl eman n o t only g enial but kindly even to ten
”
derness
“
“
Ah ! mad am he said ; that is worth leav ing more
than o n e dinner fo r— but wai t ! I promised t o let my
daughters see v o u We have read your little book ; we
did n o t how ev er g et it after w e h eard that yo u were
coming A l a dy f r om your hotel s ent it to my daughter
Mrs Maj or B li s s ; and soldi er th a t I am s ome tears di d
tri c kle do wn my face over that first letter to your
“
mother
T h en
E xcuse me
he said and went to
the dining ro o m fo r his daughters returned with t hem
and introduc e d them hims elf ; also a friend who is
visiting them from New O rl eans—an honor Mrs B ell
says conf er r e d upon no other lady this winter
After the ladies entered we did n o t sit again but
e x changed a few words stan ding and I turned to leave
when in an instant the President was slipping my
hand in his arm and when w e reached the outer door
I thought surely he woul d lea v e me ; but no ; the servan t
opened the door and o u t he stepped upon the v eranda
H e had not his hat I was sure ; and I imagined the
c old w in ds blow in g t h rou gh h is thi n h a ir, and w o n dered
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TH E
60
Cer t a inly,
F
OR E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
“
er ta in ly h e r epl ie d ; I sh all b e o n ly
t oo proud to write my n ame next to tha t of H enry
Clay s anywhere and so yo u will send up that little
book of autographs I will write m ine for you w ith th e
”
rea
t
es
t
pleasure
Jus
t
then
one
came
for
the
Pres
i
g
dent and e x cusing h imself he said the last t hi ng part
c
,
'
’
,
,
.
,
,
,
i ng
I sh a ll lo ok fo r yo u cer t a inly a t my n e xt le vee and
u must come t o e v ery one of them a s long as you stay
o
y
S o we left T h e surprises and pleasant things o f t he
d a y t h ough were n o t t o end t h ere
Jus t as we were
leav ing our room t o go do w n to supper the serv an t
c ame up with three cards o n a tray that had been lef t
—
o n me he said that day
one from n o less a personage
than Mrs General H amilton L ook at th a t Mr D ea n !
Y o u will be still more surprised though when I ah
n ou n ce to you the next one Mrs ex President Madiso n
Can you belie v e it ? And the third but not least Mr s
Commodore Shubrick who has been to see me t wic e
since once to take me a long lovely drive ; and the best
o f all Minnie suggests each time her carriage has born e
away in the bottom o f it a package o f the little books
W hat she does w ith them I d o n o t know only that two
o f them have been sent to her th ee and th o u friends in
B alt imore ; and Mrs B ell says sh e was a lovely ! uaker
Pa rt
es s h erself before she married the Commodore
“
I wa n t you t o come w ith
in g w ith h er the day we rode
”
our
little
fr
i
en
d
and
di
n
e
w
i
t
h
me
ne
x
t
week
h
e
s
y
My looks must have revealed w h at I was t hink
s a id
in g—ca n I go c an I ?— for as if t o remo v e my fears
”
“
“
W e are a small family s h e said my daughter and
h er hu sba n d D r Clym er ; t h e Commodore is awa y
and I h a v e o nl y invit ed a few fr ien d s all o f wh om I
I will sen d my
know will b e del ight e d to me et yo u
,
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NE VE R
DO UB T
A GA IN
61
.
c arriage for yo u a n d brin g you h ome a s early as yo u
”
will like to return
S o the engagement was made
and to be my first dining out in W ashington
O h ! Mr D ean if I could only see ! If the angel s
wou l d only un veil these eyes just long enough fo r me
t o be nicely seated at the table and see all o f those who
are around m e ! B ut then seeing I should never have
be en here should never be there should nev er h av e
written the little book nor anything Ah ! ne v er mind
never mind I say to myself a thousand times a day
long dark ms t o n with its four more scenes will all ere
long be waded t hrough and then th e light again oh !
,
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th e lig h t !
To
Mr Nic h o la s D ea n
.
,
N ew Y o r h
'
.
TH E F
62
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
C H AP T E R VI I I
O N L
Y
T H E
CIC
Was hin g to n
.
E R O
,
.
.
F eb r u a r y
1 850
.
,
W H E N I promised to write you once a week Mr
D ean and tell you everything I had no idea that tell
in g you e v erything would amount t o o n e quarter wha t
it does
T h e ne x t morning after my v is it t o t he Pres ident
Mrs T aylor sent down for ten copies of the little book ;
and Mrs D aws on having offered me the use o f her
ser v ant whenever I should wish I sent him as bearer Of
t he o n e in which the President was t o write hi s name
alongside that o f Mr Clay W hen he came back Mr
D awson added his and proposed to take i t with him to
the Senat e and get all the names o f those senators who
h ad taken copies H e did so and brought it back at
n ight grace c with the names o f Jackson Mort on U S
S o f F lorida W addy T hompson Jeff D avis Seward
B ell Clinch and so o n over two pages of them ; then
all the ladies in the house who had taken copies added
th eirs making altogether such a beginning as th e
Chines s S o lo m o n mus t have been thinking o f when he
”
“
sa id ! T h e b eginning is half o f the whole
But alt h ou gh two hundred cop ies o f the li ttle book
had been disposed o f there were three hundred still
l eft
F ri ends calls compliments d in in gs out drive s
”
“
and a that and a tha t are pleasant t h ings to have
.
,
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O NL Y
OI OE R O
TH E
63
.
but
you see t o sell the li t tle books was wha t I came t o
W ashington fo r and the notices n o w being well o u t
and still all fresh in the minds o f the people wi th thi s
splendid beginning there was nothing lacking but cour
age to go o u t and wait upon the citizens of W ashington
just as I did to get the subscrib ers in New Y ork giving
the gentlemen o f c ourse the preference Accordingly
Minnie put fifty Oopies o f the book into the bag the
colored man took it and led the way to the State D e
here
I
a
k
d
to
speak
a
moment
with
the
a
m
T
s
e
r
t
en
t
p
Secretary o f State whi ch was granted ; and explaining
my errand to him in the fewest words possible he said
at once
“
W e will take six copies fo r the State L ibrary and
mo v ed away to write his name with the rest ; mean
t ime Minnie stepped back fo r them to the colored man
in the hall and pl a ced them upon his table T hank
ing him for his kindness I asked if there would be any
objection to my waiting upon the clerks and Officers
through hi s department
“
”
“
No t in the least he sa id and I only hope you may
”
fi nd them all prepared to t ake copies
So thanking
him again and apologi z ing as best I could fo r my homely
intrusion he bowed us out Minnie said as politely a s
if we had come to him with a message fr o m the Pres i
den t a s well as his signature T h en we went o n through
all the o ffices upon that floor and the o n e ab o v e whe n
every copy was gone ; and we returned h a ving been ah
sent from o u r room just three h o urs
After dinner meeting Mrs Bell in the parlor I ex
plained to her how I had pas sed the morning
“
”
W hat a her o in the strife o f life ! she exclaimed ;
and soon all the ladies were gathering around lauding
my courag e
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'
T H E F O R E SH A DOWE D
64
WA Y
.
“
Why ! t h at i s w h at I h a v e t o do I said and what
I shall doubtless ha v e to go o n doing until something
”
better brightens o v er my way
F inishing the S tate D epartment we went next to the
W ar D epartment and so o n t hrough all the Go v ernmen t
buildings of the capital
Th e morn ing before t h e fi rst Presi dent s levee tha t
I was to attend I waited upon Mr W ebster with a
little note to him from General W addy T hompson w h o
has come to be one o f the best friends I have in W ash
Mr W ebster w a s sitting fo r his portra it bu t
in gto n
down he came with the note in his hand
“
”
Pray madam h e said hurriedly can yo u give
me any idea of the contents of this note ? I can t read
‘
a word o f it but my name at the t o p and W addy
T hompson at the bottom and I doubt if the General
”
coul d make o u t a word more of it himself
S eeing tha t
h e w a s in a great hurry I sai d
“
T h e not e tells you I believe Mr W ebster that the
bearer o f it is blind and selling her own little work for
herself an d inv ites Mr W ebster to please become the
purchaser of a copy
”
“
Ah ! I shall do that with t he grea t est pleasure he
”
?
said but what is the price
I t ol d hi m and handing
“
the money to Minnie and taking the book T here that
”
”
“
he said good morn ing ! and before
is all right n o w
I could show him the book of names o r a sk him to write
h is he w a s mounting the sta irs again Minn ie said two
and three steps at a time
Mrs B ell ins i sted upon being my c h ap er on e t o t h e
fi rst levee T h e President having seen me only once
a n d then in winter wraps m eeting me now dressed and
h a v ing Mrs B ell s arm he did n o t recognize me un t il
by a little word s h e called h is a tt en t io n t o my not see ing
,
,
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’
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ONL Y TH E OI OE R O
65
.
“
”
“
”
h e e x cla imed thi s is my arch complimenter l
at which Mrs Bell laughed and we passed on to mee t
his daught ers both of whom were receiving that even
ing After a little we chanced upon a young North
Carol inian widower w h o is stoppi n g at o u r hotel a n d I
heard him say to Mrs B ell
“
Allow me the pleasure madam o f play ing escort to
your friend a little while
and ha v ing his arm I
s eemingly ha d no need of eyes ; he saw everything kne w
ev e rything
and described everything and everybody
B y some strange fatality three times during the evenin g
I was intro duced to Mr W ebster and twice t o Mr Clay
“
wh o sai d the firs t time !
I have not been to see yo u
t
madam
but
I
am
surely
com
i
ng
e
y
T hrough General W addy T hompson I had previously
ao
assed
an
evening
a
t
t
he
N
a
t
ional
where
I
made
the
p
quaint ance o f Mrs General Ashley who is to the fash
io n ab le society here what Madame R ecamier was to
t he Court of N apoleon H aving her sweet favor was
i ndeed a passport to a t least the pol ite attentions o f
many others and it w a s when with her and a group of
the friends to whom she had introduced me that the
Preside nt c ame and spoke t o me I reco gnized h is
v oice at once which seemed to grat ify him Just then
Mr s B ell Mrs D awson and Mrs Mort on came up and
sev eral gentlemen T oward the close of the evening
I had the arm o f Mr Y eatman a son o f Mrs Bell by
h er first marriage ; who after escorting me o ver all the
m ansion as it seemed conser v atory etc was telling
me about a strange ol d painting that we were standing
before when the Presiden t p as se d agai n and sto pped
to ask h ow mu c h longer I woul d stay in W ashington
in vi ted me t o c ome to his n e xt le vee, an d b o wm g p assed
a way
Oh !
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F OR E
TH E
66
SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
ne x t day returning from one of the D epartments
having a few copies o f the book left I said to Minnie
“
W hen we come to some of those nice O ld Virginia
residenc es we will stop and perhap s get ri d o f these
”
before we reach home
T h e servan t man, who was
walking behind heard me, a n d turn ing the c orner h e
called !
“
D ar miss right over dar is de r es den c e O b Lieu
tenant H unter o b de N avy D ey is powerful rich an
ef he s dar yer won t bring none o b dese books away
”
I reckon
W e stopped T h e colo red man rang and
then wait ed outsi d e Minnie had one o f the little books
and the book o f names in h er hand with a little shawl
that covered them
Mrs H unter received u s as if we h a d come in state
“
”
while a dear Aun t S ally there who had lost her in
tended ih the war o f 1 8 1 2 and had read the little book
t o ok me into her heart of heart s at once T h e L ieu ten
ant sat down close by me because as he said
I am a little deaf from a fall I once had
T hey
T he
insisted upon o u r stayin g to d ine with them
L i eutenant woul d not be den ie d, so Minnie dismissed
the man we laid o ff our hat s and took seats with them ;
and when we came away the carriage was at the door
T h e L ieutenant handing u s in placed a l ittle paper in
Minnie s hand which conta ined t h e pay for not only
a s many books as t he man h ad carried away in th e
sa t chel but fo r five more
T h e next Sabbat h after c hurc h they called an d in
s isted upon our leaving th e hotel and mak ing the res t
o f o u r s t a v in W a sh ington with them
F eel ing t h a t it
w ould b e d o u b ly awkward to be goin g ou t every day
with the little books from their elegant mansion I pro
i
se
to
compromise
by
promis
i
ng
t
o
pass
a
week
w
t
h
d
o
p
The
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,
TH E
63
F
OR E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
Very indeed thank yo u I replied
B arring the
r eg ret I feel at not bein g able to see all t he dist in guish ed
people I meet the days bring me nothi ng but pleasure
“
“
”
Ah ! that is v e ry charming sh e said
I have
heard several of t he ladie s at your hotel speak of yo u
a s quite the most cheerful
entertain ing person am o ng
”
them
“
“
One s gaiety though I replied is not always an
inde x to the looks o n e would wear were one privileged
”
to speak and to act a s o n e feels
“
“
No
she said ; and but that e v e n o u r great es t so r
rows come back to u s softened by memo ry and made
more bearable to us by time we could never smile I
”
sometimes think
T hen seeing that Minnie s sweet
eyes were attracted to o n e and another o f the qua int o h
h
e
t
upon
a
table
n
t
center
f
the
room
rose
s
s
c
i
e
o
e
h
j
and placed in my hands a cup and saucer from w hic h
she said General W ashingt on had often sippe d hi s
co ffee with her husban d and other o f h is generals aro u n d
her table
“
T h e c h a ir t o o that you have I ha v e often seen hi m
reclinin g in a s well as many others o f tha t time wh o
”
ha v e long s ince passe d away
T here wer e m any
rel ic s of the R e v olution upon the table all o f which
sh e po in t ed ou t t o M i n n ie a n d e x pla ine d t o me v ery
k in dly
’
I t was her and h er daughte r s reception day and
th anking her fo r the honor and the pleasure of h er
card which I t old h er would b e ch erished ever a s one
o f the c h o w est souvenir s o f my visit to W ash ington
we left to call o n Mrs e x President Mad iso n but found
h er just descending the stairs with a lady o n e ith er
s ide helping her down to go out for h er morni ng dri v e
S h e stopped a mome nt th oug h at th e parlo r d o o r, ex
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O NL Y
CICE R O
TH E
’
69
.
chan ged a few words and making me promi se to be
sure and call again they h elped her slowly down the
st eps ; after wh i ch we descended a n d en t er ed o u r c a r
I told
r ia ge which being faced the s ame way as hers
the driver a s he closed th e door n ot to lea v e until hers
had dri v en away
T rue t o h is promise Mr Clay c alle d the second day
after I met him at the Presid ent s levee W e were
descending the stairs to go o u t when the waiter handed
me his card F irst I thought t o go back and lay o ff
my wraps ; but being where he could s ee us Mr Clay
c ame quickly o u t and taking my arm walked me rig h t
along into the parlor wh ere we had just the briefest
choice st lo v eliest little visit in the wo r ld I tol d h im
t h a t I w a s going on to Charleston soon
“
T hen I must give yo u a letter to o n e o f my friends
“
”
”
t h ere he said
But how have you succeeded here ?
he asked T hinking o f no better way of answering I
showe d him the book o f names with the Presiden t s
name next t o h is, and all the res t tha t followed I t
would ha v e done yo u good Mr D ean t o watch him
reading them down smiling Minnie said as though
he saw each man in his name I told him t hat I had
been to the S enate Chambe r t o h ear h im speak four
times
“
”
Ah ! he said with so muc h surprise that I v entured
to say !
“
Indeed half the pleasure I anticipa t ed in coming
to W ashington was to hear America s three greatest
”
orators Clay W ebster and Calhoun
“
”
And have yo u heard u s all ? he asked laughing
“
”
O nl y the Cicero
I replied
”
?
And n o t the H ercules
“
“
No, I s aid ; each time Mr W ebster h a s either j us t
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TH E F
70
OR E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
finished speaking o r i s not there ; and Mr Calhoun is
”
ill they say
”
“
he replied and so very ill that some have
Y es
ev e n expressed doubts o f his ever appearing in the
”
S enate again and h e aros e to d epart giving o n e hand
No w be sure to come and
to Minnie and o n e t o m e
”
s ee me before
o u l eav e
he
s
id
and
with
the
kind
a
;
y
liest g o o d m o r n in g pos sibl e he was gone
Ah ! what an infring em ent upon the laws o f polite
society— yo u are saying to yours elf— selling her little
book days and attending the President s levee evenings ;
calls t o o receptions breaking bread even with the
greatest and the b est Sometimes I stop and wonder
if some good angel doe s n o t come along and so veil the
eyes o f all whom I me et that s eeing me they s ee not
me a t all , but a somebody instead mantled o er and o er
w ith the sweet gra ces o f their o w n beautiful indulgence
T h e first time though Mr W ebster was introduced to
me at the President s l ev ee talking a moment with Mrs
Ashley whose je w ell ed arm I had Minnie amused her
sweet s elf divini n g the funny sort o f twinkle in the
corners o f his eyes which I interpret t o say
Alas ! what incongruiti es o n e stumble s upon in this
—
o
f
conglomerate s ci ety o ours o u t with h er little book
in the morni n g and at evening presented to me arm in
arm with th e protecting angel at the very gate of fash
io n a b le soci et y
Ah ! Mr D ean there is no way of accounti n g fo r some
things save that th e u n s een have to do with them T h e
hand that five su mm ers a go trailed that mystic visio n
of darkness before my spirit ey es is meeting me n o w
h ere at every turn in the way In d eed as I look back
I seem to have been treading upon enchan t ed ground
fro m th e v ery fi rs t day th is d arkness stole u po n m
y
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ONL Y TH E
OI GE R O
71
.
it th e v ery world it self h a s
l ife a s
o f hea v en where in
t urned into a
walking linke d
hands w it h the angels, I find all gates aj ar
,
,
.
Mr Nic h o las D ean
.
,
N ew Y o r k
.
72
TH E
F
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
C H AP T E R IX
TH E
B E NE
DI C T I O N
OF
.
.
NA ME
H IS
.
Was hin g to n M a r c h 1 8 5 0
A F T E R ne a rly two weeks with the delightful H unters
I returned to the hotel yesterday both to make re a dy for
o u r departure o n the morrow
and to g o with Mrs
B ell in her carriage to thi s afternoon reception at the
W hite H ouse
Mrs T aylor is rarely seen Mrs Maj or Bliss the
younger daughter does the honors and listening t o her
conversations this afternoon with o n e and another o f
the ladies as they came and went I said t o myself
“
She lacks nothing while from me has b een taken
Y et believe m e I did
away even that which I had
not feel to murmur n o r much t o envy although th e con
trast yo u will admit w a s har dl y a thing to smile
upon !
T aking leave o f the President I mentioned inad
ver ten tly my departure for Charleston o n the morrow
“
But w h o o f your friends here have given you
letters
he inquired
“
O h ! all those to whom I brought them
I replied
besides several v ery flattering ones from Mr and Mrs
H unter some from my friends at the N ational quite
a number from the ladies o f my own hotel and a
”
lovely little packet from Mr Clay
“
T hen yo u will n o t go t o th e City o f Palme tt oe s un
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TH E
BE NE D I CTI O N OF H I S NA ME
73
.
announced he said and I only hope all Charlesto n
”
may come o u t to receive you
“
”
“
Ah ! I replied if they do n o t go the other way I
shall be only too thankful
“
he said ; Charleston is o n e o f
N o dang er o f that
the most hospitable as well as o n e o f the most beautiful
”
cities in all t h e S outh
T hen after I had thanked him as best I could fo r all
his kindnesses during my stay in W ashington he gave
me his hand with a very f ervent good bye as Mrs Bell
moved along to make her adieux She lingered though
quite a littl e and at the close o f their con v ersation I
heard the President say almost mournfully
“
And we shall be glad whe n we are in o u r camp
”
again
T hen we dro v e away Mrs B ell seemingly t oo much
occupied with her o wn thoughts to conv erse and I the
while busy replacing the fast fading anxieties o f my
v isit to W ashington with those o f a much longer j ourney
already stretching o u t before me
But n o w listen, Mr D ean If you should live a thou
sand years yo u will never hear a thing so astonishing
H ardly an hour had elapsed when the Preside n t s body
servant came t o me with the most beautiful letter o f
introduction from the President himself that t h e world
h a s ever seen introducing me to the City O f Charleston
and to all his friend s in the whole South j oined by
”
“
hi s family with best wishes for a pleasant j ourney !
O h Mr D ean Mr D ean ! W hen Minnie read the
“
”
starry name o f Z T aylor upon the en v elOpe I could
hardly believe my senses I felt as though a thousand
rainbows had been suddenly bent above my heart all
telling o f promise assurance and h Ope ! W hy ! through
all my w ilderness w ay throu gh all th e wa n derings of
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74
TH E
F
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
the lonely v isio n through all th at I have to live through
and live o u t this precious lett er will be t o me even a s
”
“
a cloud by day and a pillar o f fire by night
”
“
”
“
But the letter yo u say the letter !
,
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,
,
WA S H
S
H
.
I N GT O N,
March
1 9, 1 8 5 0
D E K R OY F T ,
MA D A M z— U nderstanding that yo u are about
D
to leave for Charleston I take this opportunity to ex
pr ess the deep sympathy which y our case has elicited
and to invoke in your behalf a kind reception among
my friends in the S outh Y o u are recommended to
them by every circumstance which can add interest to
misfortune and I gladly bespeak fo r yo u the friendly
O ffices o f the proverbially generous and hospitable c o m
munity which you propose to visit
“
T h e members o f my family j oin me in best Wishes
fo r a pleasant j ourney and I remain dear madam
“
Very sincerely yr friend
“
Z T A YL O R
E AR
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Dean and I ca n almost
see the great tears melting in your kindly eyes O h
it is t o o b eautiful for anything and would I could set
a like star in his way whose light should never go o u t !
But ah ! the name O f Zachary T aylor is itself a wreath
shini n g de eds are stars th a t
a n d his o w n
o f fame
will light his brave h eart ev en through the Vall ey a n d
the Shadow o f D eath and b r ighten immortal beyond t h e
gr ave S o a ll I can d o is to pray kind heaven to crowd
his life with length o f years sw ell his minutes t o hou r s
even as
a n d link them all with su n s hine and flowers
he has linked my name fo r ever with his
T hink n o t though t hat I on e moment forge t th e
No w you ha v e rea d it , Mr
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76
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
F
TH E
C H AP T E R X
L I GH T I N G N E
W
.
.
L I GH T S
.
Ch a r les to n A pri l 1 8 5 0
,
,
.
W ashington fo r Charleston Minnie was
jus t counting o u t th e mon eys for o u r j ourney, tickets
wh en a ca r d cam e something like the one yo u gave
etc
me o nce from New Y ork to R ochester only signed
LE A V I N G
,
,
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,
,
B
.
H
un t er
U
,
.
S N
.
.
let me tell yo u Mr D ean i f i t had been a parch
ment from the T urki sh Sult an co v ered over wi th all
the insignia o f ori ental royalty it could n o t have ih
sured swe et Minnie and me a more lov ely smoothing
o f the way
W hy ! at s ight o f it even th e baggage
mast er turn ed kn ightly and s hoved along a ll th e trunks
w ithou t o n e word a b o ut ex tr a b a gga g e
W hat the L ieu
tena n t has t o do w ith the r oad o r wha t s way he holds
ov er it is more than I know—o n ly this ! H e shou ld
“
”
have an highway cast up expres sly for him the world
through an d no lion o f c h arge e v er allowed t o go up
thereon eith er
But d ea r M r D ean you will hardly belie v e thi s it
i s t o o b eautifully t o o be a utifully true !
Since o u r a r
rival he r e four hundred copies o f the lit t le book h ave
been ch an g ed t o gol d dollars and swee t Minn ie say s
they h a v e of t e n paid h er fiv e and te n dollars fo r a single
an d
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LI G H T IN G NE
W
GH T S
LI
77
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copy O ne hundred and fifty were taken from the book
stores in a day and a half the book merchants refusing
anything fo r their trouble and seeming almost offended
when I spoke o f it merely from re a ding the news
paper notices o f the book and o f the l etters I brought
which perhaps I should have let the editors copy as
they wished to do o n e insisting that they presupposed
publication especially the o n e from the President
O h ! what a worry t o o that letter has been to me
Mr D ean n o t knowing wh ethe r I should let it be pub
It was address ed to me yo u
lish ed o r r eply to it even
s ee and it seem ed only polite to acknowledge s o gra
c io u s a f a vor ; but re p lying what to say and h o w to say
it was the trouble B ut at last quoting somebody to m y
“
self who says E rrors are only half errors that lean t o
”
v irtue s side I v entured to write to him thus
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C H A R LE S T O N S C April 7 th 1 85 0
MA J O R G E N E R A L ZA C H A R Y T A Y L O R
Pr es i d en t o f th e Un it ed S ta tes o f A m er ic a
M O S T K I N D A N D MO S T E S T E E M E D S I R —
W hile I beg
t h e p r ivil ege o f r eplying t o your distinguished favor
1 8 5 0 I can but regret my
o f W ashington March 1 9th
inability w orthily to acknowledge its most gracious c o n
tents and thank yo u for the g r ea t honor it does me
H e is indeed the father o f his people who thus stoop s
t o bless even the humblest o f his care
“
E v er S ince o u r ar r ival in Charleston both carriages
and servants have been at my command while hardly
a day has passed without invitations to dine at one place
and pass the evening with a party o f the learned and th e
good at another H undreds o f the little books have
been taken the while the editors have never ceased say
ing th e ni c es t t hi ngs edi t o r s c an s ay bot h fo r th e l ittle
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78
TH E
F
OR E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
book and its unfort unate author ; and to a ll o f whic h,
as well as t o every other good that has c Om e to me in this
land o f song and flowers thos e few lines with that im
‘
mortal name Z T aylor at their margin have bee n
the spirit prompter O h ! for this o n e good deed dear
Mr President yo u should live a thousand years Y o u
have bent a bow o f protection and honor above my dark
life and set a light along its way that will never go
,
’
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,
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o ut
this little work I hope ere long to realize fo r
myself a hom e and when that i s done never never will
my lips cease to breathe blessings o n the heart and life
and memory o f h im who with dauntless heroism h a s
served his country and with parental kindness blest even
me
“
D esiring to be remembered to the members o f your
most excellent and your most esteemed family in all
grateful love and all high regard
I remain forever
Y O U R M O S T O B L I GE D F R I E N D A N D S E R V A N T
F rom
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.
D o tell me Mr D ean did I say too much to the Presi
dent o r should I not have written him at all ?
Y esterday at a special dinner given in honor of some
my name came up it seems in con
o n e at thi s hotel
n ec tio n
with the President s letter Mr Clay s Mr
H ouston s and others which they had all read about ;
and before rising from the table Mr Marquand of
Brooklyn proposed that they S hould o n e and all repair
to the drawing room ask t o see the lady and treat
“
themselves to copies of her little work A Place in
”
T h y Memory
N early all the lad ies and many gentle
men o f the house were in the drawing-room when they
o
v
er
en ter ed ; a n d Mr M ixer, th e la n dlord comin
r
e
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p
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LI GH TI NG NE H
“
LI GB Ts
79
.
sented to me a perfect stranger as I supposed but who
proved t o be the v eritable Mr Marquand whom I had
the pleasure O f me eting at Mrs A S Barnes New
Y ear s reception a ye a r a g o a n d s p o k en o f in my l ett er
“
”
o f that day as
the po li shed Marquand then just home
from E urope and n o w putting o u t his hand so beauti
fully to me here O ther presentations followed then
Mr Mixer s aid
“
T hese gentlem en Mrs D e K r o yft have read o f
your little work and are desirous every o n e o f becomin g
the happy owner o f a copy
Minnie ran up to o u r room fo r them and as it hap
pened found Mrs W al ter s c o lored b o y waiting at t h e
door with her card and bouquet who came down with
the little books in his arms Minnie had the book o f
names headed by Mr Clay the President Senators
and so forth in w hich every o n e wa s pleased to add his
autograph It took Mr Mixer and Mr Marquand a ll
the tim e to make change whil e the colored b o y wen t
flying up and down the stairs for th e books until the
—
last o n e was gone o n e hundred in less than an hour
T h e ladies all j oined in took copies and wrote their
n ames like the rest ; and Minnie said that they laugh ed
a ll around their faces an d th ey all seemed s o happy too
A Baltimore gentleman who had r ead the little book
a n d rememberi n g what I s a y in it about a cottage fo r
myself some day among the trees said to me low
“
Y our cottage i s g o ing up rapidly now madam
”
“
I r eplied th e ang els th ems elves have
Y es indeed
taken it in hand which he r ep eat ed much t o t h e amu se
ment of the others L ove though is swi ft winged a n d
even there Mr D ean whil e this stranger was sp ea kin g
my thoughts were busy lighting n ew lights in a fa r
n its stead a l a rger and
co
tt
a
e
t
ha
t
I
saw
s
i
i
a wa
y
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'
TH E F OR E S ZI A D OWE D WA Y
90
’
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worthier home rising for the sweet mother and t h e
d ear father to welcome back their ab sent ones from
school in Verily what is to be we have a tendency t o ;
and here again you see as everywhere even whil e the
hand wa s b eing filled from the great dark u n s een th e
thoughts like invisible m ess engers came to b ear it away
—exactly a s it w a s in the v is io n forev er gath ering
gathering but nev er possessing
After it was all ev er going up t o my room Mrs
Captain Anderson o f F lorida ov ertook me and pa n s
ing at the t o p o f the stairs she u n cla sped a beautiful
mourning brac el et from h er sw eet a r m a n d fast ened it
tenderly upon mine charging me to wear it a ke epsake
from her dear self S o even from the rising o f the
morning until the stars appear Charleston i s just SO
lovely and beautiful and good It seems that the sun
can never set among these palmettoes and they must
have day always so much o f heaven is here Music
music eve rywhere ! Music when you go t o Sleep ; music
the first thing in the morning and then come love and
smiles and kisses all the day ; and flowers flow ers so
full of odors that they se em a lmost to breathe ! T h is
m orning Mrs Andrew T urnbull came with her car
r ia g e and took us six o r eight miles into the country
Minnie clapped her little hands all the way at sight
o f the immense tree s so beautifully festooned with
moss and garlanded with the Cherokee rose which runs
through the forests here like a cord o f love binding the
trees all int o a beautiful brotherhood and wreathing
them o er and o er with white and yellow blossoms
Before leaving W ashington Mrs Shubrick whispered
“
T h e Commodore has be en writing his friend s in
Charleston in a way to secure you a very cordial recep
”
tion among them I think
And o h ! Mr D ean, the
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LI
G H T IN G
W
NE
LI
GH TS
31
.
v ery fi rs t day after my arr ival a S erv ant brought up
to my room a little tr ay o f cards wi th all these beauti
ful names upon them F irst Colonel Is a ac H ayne Mrs
H ayne and th eir daughter Miss H atti e ; Captain Shu
brick and lady ; Miss T r ap ier S ister to Mrs H ayne an d
her brother R everend Paul T rapier a very F en elo n i n
s pirit
O ne h a s said that an E piscopalian a lways carries th e
creed in his v oice ; then a minister might be exp ected to
have the litany also At a ll events th ere was no mi s
taking R everend Paul T r a pier for other than an E pisc o
pal clergyman ; and seeing no better way o f interestin g
him I asked about his parish o r the location o f h is
church expecting him to name St Pet er s S t Paul s or
some other of the most aristocratic of the city T hen
imagine my surprise when he replied
“
Mine i s only a Mission Church madam devote d
exclusively to the colored people o f Charleston
”
“
“
Y es
exclaimed Miss H attie and uncle built it
all himself and he teaches t h e people there every Sun
day from early morning until night and auntie help s
”
him t o o in the Sunday S chool
“
”
And Miss H attie also in the singing does she no t ?
the uncle rej oined
”
“
B ut I thought the negroe s were not allowed to read !
I said
“
“
Mr T r a pier answered they are not It all
N0
”
has to be taught them o r ally
R ising to leav e Mrs H ayne and the Colonel arranged
that we were to pass a n evening with them the coming
week when Mrs H ayne said
“
W e sh a ll try to have the pleasure o f introducing you
to all o f U ncle S h u b r ic k s relatives for Charleston is
”
the Commodore s dear o l d h ome
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TH E
3 53
O ur
o u el
F
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
number i s not quite
L egio n
a
,
.
dded the Col
.
“
Nevertheless
a host in them s elves Colonel H ayne
”
w ill allow me to t hi nk
I said
“
“
”
H a ! ha ! laughed Captain Shubrick
we do surely
”
represent the Army the Church and the Navy
Miss T r a pier taking my hand said
“
If you would like to attend brother s church next
Sunday I shall b e v ery h a ppy to call for you and your
”
little friend
And o h ! Mr D ean not to have heard
those sable Af r ic a ns go through all the Service the
chants and all d epe n ding upon no book is never t o
know o n e half how b ea utiful and how heart mending
the E piscopal Service may be ; just as never t o have
din e d and passed an evening at the home of Colonel
Isaac H ayne is never to know how lovely t he people of
Charleston can entertain
Among my l etters from W ashington one was to
D octor an d Mrs Gilman who lost no time calling ; and
having read everything Mrs Gilm an had published up
to the time o f losing my eyes as you can ima gine it
was like an o ld acquaintance revived meeting her here
T h e first time they called a gentleman came with them
w h o was at the President s the evening I had the pleas
ure o f accompanying Mrs Moore and the Commodore ;
and almost the first thing he said t o me was !
E xcuse me but when I met you last madam you
had the arm o f the most beautiful lady at the capital
”
this winter—Mrs Commodore Moore
“
”
“
Ah ! I replied no wonder you t h ough t so see in g
her ladyship playi n g angel so beautifully to me tha t
”
e v ening
But hardly waiting fo r my last word t urn
in g to the D octor he exclaimed
U po n my h o n or, D o c t or th e h ea d dre ss Mrs Mo ore
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TH E F O R E SH A D OWE D
WA Y
.
If yo u could see Miss Bremer n o w you would thin k
her really beautiful
T hen I imagin ed those N orland
ey es o f hers all ablaze with the high thought she was
expressing the subj ect o f conversation being the noble
H ypati a and the scholarship accessibl e to the women of
h er time
Mrs H owlan d and her daughters it seem s were tra v
elling in N orway and S w eden n o t long since and their
m eeting Miss B r emer there resulted in h er visit to
America a n d our pleasant int er v ie w with her that
.
,
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,
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,
d ay
.
“
“
we are led remarked Mrs H owland a n d I
only hope we may at last make a circle in the beauti
”
ful home ab o ve t o which Miss B remer replied in h er
positive w ay !
“
N0 ; yo u may all ha v e da t mingled heaven v a t yo u
s o much desire but I mus t have v o n little star all by
myself Sometimes I vill give invitations and—v a t
i
l
es f—and den I must be ret ire d
o
u
i
n
c
call
pick
t
y
”
again
“
T hat is fa ir
I repl ied and we w ill pe t itio n for
‘
the author of T h e Neighbors the brightes t star in all
the heavenly borders only so S h e continue to write books
there fo r her sister spirits in other lands the same as
”
now which elicited a general laugh ; and making it
the signal for r ising Miss Bremer gave me her arm
to the draw ing room where dropping down by my s ide
sh e asked
“
‘
H ave yo u ever read Ki n g R é n e S D aughter madam ?
T h e young pr incess was blind
I forget her name bu t
”
it is o n e o f the finest dramas in the world
D e a r Mr D ean if tryi n g to t ell v o u everyt h ing as
was your very emphatic c h arg e I weary yo u it i s b e
c ause so much h as been crowded i nt o these few little
So
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LI G H TI NG NE W LI GH Ts
35
.
wee ks,
all too beautiful to lea v e o u t ; and ye t I h a v e no t
seemingly told yo u the half
T o morro w I turn back North and af t er the long
promised visit with my friend Mrs H ardy at Norfolk
I make a little stop in W ashington and then o n to
New Y ork whence before commencing another tour
“
”
with the little books I go to Stone Cottage fo r a
visit with my parents and the S ix absent ones wh o w ill
be home then from their first half year away a t sch ool
After which peradventure I go W est or farther Nort h
until autumn winds blow and the birds take wing ; the n
I come again South over all of whose sunny lands the
way has been s o beautifully set along wit h ligh t s and
friends and fl owers by the President s let t er
.
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ax
e
To
Mr Nic h o las D ea n
.
,
N ew Y o r k
.
ar
e
a!
WA Y
TH E F O R E S H A D OWE D
36
CH
H OM E
TH E
AP T E R X I
.
“
E V A N G E LI N E
OF
.
B o s to n
”
.
Oc to b er, 1 8 5 0
,
.
a w ord to you dear Mrs Not t si n ce my
fi rst day out from New Y ork with the little books H av
in g a package o f letters from Mr D ean to h is friends i n
W ashingt on his charge to write h im e v erything t ha t
t ranspired to me there seemed imperative B esides no
day in all my j ourney South w a s ever lo n g e n ough
for the half I had to do And n ow it is just so h ere
T h e little books themselves are w a n ds that e v oke de
mands incessant T hen add to that the little army o f
le tters I h a d to deliver every o n e o f which has brought
—
me a friend and some a dozen or more ten of them
from D r B ellows o f New Y ork to distinguished clergy
men in and around Bo ston —
Gannett Peabody B arto ll
W aterston H untington and others whose v ery shado ws
h a v e proven honors that have lighte d all t he days e ven
a s their k indnesses have paved with bless ing every s t ep
o f t h e way
D r Parkman one o f them h as just been
in for fi v e Oopies more of the little b o ok
I t ried to
h a v e h im let Josey take them t o his place
”
“
“
No no he said I have use for them o n the way
Meantime the editors in Boston ha v e been do ing for
th e little book and its author exactly wh at the editor s
did in W ashin gton Charleston and New Y ork Some
i
h
i
o
f
t e Presi
of th em h a ve a dde d t o th ei r no t ce s a c opy
H A R DLY
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H OM E
TH E
OF
“
G
E V A N E L I NE
”
87
.
“
dent s beautiful letter with the immort al Z T aylor a t
its margin I withheld it from publication from sheer
fear o f making to o familiar with H is E xcellency s favor
until r eaching New Y ork my editor friend o f the Co m
m er c ia l A d v er tis er argued that it was hardly polite to
the kindness o f the President not to use his letter ; and
the next morning it appeared with a very graceful
preface from hi m self
Ah ! coming dow n the s teps o f the Blind Institute
that bleak winter morning with Minnie s little hand o n
my arm going o u t into the wide world everywhere to
introduce my o w n work h o w little I dreamed that ere
I should leave the first place W ashin gton Maj or Gen
eral T aylor President o f the U nited States would put
his brave hand as from o u t the clouds and invoke in
my behalf the kindly offices o f all his friends in the
stranger land I had hardly the courage to enter T rue
I had a little package o f letters including o n e to Mr
Clay leading almost up to the head o f the Capitol
T h e most I hoped from them though was peradventure
to find in each a purchaser o f the little book But dear
Mrs N ott the L ord H imself is in it all and H is angel s
began a long way back to mark o u t the lines my step s
have been falling in
Mr Sargent to whom I brought a letter from t he
Co mm er c ia l A d v er tis er never tires saying pleasant
things in his paper more avoiding than referring t o the
bereavement o f my wedding day and the loss o f my
eyes as if he kn ew how painful it must be for me to
be h earing it over and over
T h e letter I had to D r Newell o f Cambridge sec ured
me a visit with Mr L ongfellow the poet at his vener
able mansion so dear from its ass oci at io ns o f th e
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TH E
88
F
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
W e found the great poet in o n e o f those illusory moods
which disposes o n e to be pleased with almost every
thing Meeting u s a t the door he gave me his arm to
the library a l a rge pleasant room W e were hardly
seated when he said
“
H ere I am wont to r ec eive m y c h o ic e S p ir i ts
I th anked him for th e compliment and r emarked
that I was exceedingly happy t o meet the author of that
”
“
holy thing T h e Psalm o f L ife although I had n o t
the pleasure o f se eing him
”
“
E xcuse me m y fri end he replied
but in o n e sense
I imagine that yo u see far more cl early for not seeing
At least I am conscious here o f anoth er spirit looking
”—
in upon mine very searchingly
which he said r e
minded him o f an Italian o fficer w h o lost his eyes in
battle and when old and infirm conceived the idea that
he could not die without seeing Petrarch whose poems
had done so much to warm his heart and fringe with
light the wing s to his fanc ies through all his d a r k
years S o persuading his son to accompany him th ey
se t off for Naples ; but behold ! when th e o ld man and
his so n arrived there Petrarch had gone to R o m e
H owever they j ourneyed o n long weary days but wh en
reaching R ome found that Petrarch had be en crown ed
poet laureate and gone into the country T h e o ld man s
disappointment was then indeed sore ; but the so n a s
sured him that they had now gone t o o far ever to re ?
turn and they might as well wand er o n
And so at last they came into the presence o f Pe
t r a r eh and when the o l d man had felt his face over and
passed his hands down over his shoulders he knelt a t
h is feet and lifted up his vo ice in thanks that he had
lived to s ee the man who h a d given li ght t o h is thoughts
s o man
h
dark
ear
e b standers lau hed a t h is
s
T
y
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TH E
H
O ME
OF
“
E VA N
GE L INE
”
89
.
thanking G o d fo r s eein g Petrarch when he had no eyes
at all ! T hen the worshipful old pilgrim cried aloud !
“
”
Petrarch I leave it t o yo u ! D o I not s ee yo u ?
Move d to t ears and resting his hand tenderly upon the
bald head o f th e o ld man, P etrarch with trembling
voice exclaimed
“
Sire no other m a n has ever s een Petrarch b u t yo u !
”
“
No indeed
he added we do n o t need o u r eyes
to appreciat e the excell ences and attractions o f others
but like beautiful visions th ey often come to us best
”
with o u r eyes clos ed
Mr L ongf ellow conv ers es quite as lovely as he writes
and yo u listen to him with the more pleasure because
whatever he sa ys hims elf h e always s o happily leaves
something fo r yo u to say
T aking it fo r granted that he had seen at least some
o f the notices o f mys elf and the little book in the papers
some quoting the Presid ent s l ett er others copying from
the New Y ork papers and others making new ones I
talk ed with him the more freely referring to persons
and the ir places as they occurred until suddenly he
asked !
“
D oes visiting different places give yo u pleasure
”
now ?
“
Certainly I replied a n ew locality n o w is as much
”
a new world to me as when I saw
“
”
I should imagine so he replied
But excuse me
do yo u make visiting di fferent place s o f no other in
t er es t to yo u than merely a new loc a lity ? I have con
”
c ei v ed the idea that you write
b y wh ich I saw that
he had no idea o f the purport o f my visit to Bost on
and I answer ed frankly
“
Y es Mr L o n gf ellow as D r Y oung says E mploy
m en t is th e c har i o t wheel o f th e s oul, and ai ded by th e
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O R E SH A DOWE D W A Y
F
TH E
90
.
insp iration that comes o f necessity I have written o n e
little volume and engaged personall y in the sale o f it
In other words ! I give the world a copy o f it and
”
the world gives me a dollar instead
I was wondering
what he was thinking when covering my hand kindly
with his he said
“
God bless yo u my child ! I understand it perfectly ;
and I see plainly enough t o o that the mind which has
written that o n e little volume should write many v ol
umes and certainly you must allow me to have a copy
”
of this first o n e
“
O h ! no Mr L ongfellow
I said ; to your great
world feeding mind my o n e little ewe lamb o f a book
”
would be hardly more than a primer
B esides
I
“
added rising to depart I am thinking h o w sadly o u t
o f place the poor thing woul d find itself here in the
‘
‘
home o f E vangeline and the H yperion to say nothing
o f t h eir thousand
an d o n e illustrious companions
H owever I promised to send him a copy o f A Place
”
in T hy Memory if only fo r the little petition couched
in it s title ; and a few days after had the pleasure o f
rece iving from his lyric pen a note with the promise o f a
call T h e note was full o f praise and I shall keep it
ever ; but when he came to make the call I w a s o u t a s
I seem always destined t o be when any starry t h ing seeks
me
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To
Mrs D r No tt
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Un io n Co lleg e
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S c h en ec ta dy N Y
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TH E
92
F
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
and n ow I must tell you abou t my v isit to her as I
promised H er suite o f rooms extend s to within a few
doors o f mine H er little Swede page brought me her
pretty card which yo u may be sure I was very proud to
receive when every d ay so many hundreds are obliged to
h
e pleasur e o f even beholding her
away
without
t
o
g
swe et face She receiv ed me at the door, and with that
dear hand o f h ers that has dispensed good to so many
”
“
led m e to her chair o f country as she first called it
”
“
th en quick ! N 0 my chair o f state
It w a s mad e h ere
in expr ess compliment to the ! ueen o f Song a bower o f
satin and roses rich enough for Victori a herself D ear
Jenny dropped down beside m e and laying her soft hand
“
upon mine said lo w !
Come dear t ell me all about
—
?
Vat made the light
it h o w did yo u lose your sight
leave your eyes ? It seems that you should see—yo u
”
lo o k so yo u do
“
I do n o t kno w I r eplied I had wept perhaps t o o
long and when at last I sl ept and awoke the day was
n o more
”
“
O h F ather o f L ight !
she e x claimed lifting up her
white hands in pity and amazement T hen she contin
“
ued ! I have seen yo u pass through the hall many tim es
—
u
o
u
and I v ish ed t o talk vith yo
look so cheerful
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a lv ays
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I smiled saying ! T hat is because I am always r e
”
m em b er in g your song !
”
“
Ah ! she exclaimed then you ha v e heard me s ing ?
”
S o yo u like music ?
“
”
E xceedingly
I replied
Mus ic i s my morn ing
and I have n ever been quite so near heaven as when I
‘
went up o n the wing o f your Bird Song at your first
concert in New Y ork O ne note h igh er an d I should
”
h a v e gone in !
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UE E N
!
“
H
OF s o NG
93
.
”
!
T hen you shall hear me
h a ! she laughed
sing so long as I sing in America I vill send you and
your little friend tickets and my secretary shall bring
you and take yo u home in my carriag e if yo u please
”
wherever I shall be
“
O h ! thank yo u thank yo u dear Jenny L ind
I
”
replied
I could never have imagined such a favor !
“
O h ! it is nothing at all— but excuse me o n e mo
ment she said running to meet some people who were
entering T hey were a mixed company o n e Italian
two G ermans and an E nglish gentleman and lady She
conversed with them all in their separate tongues wit h
perfect ease T hen a party o f F rench people were
announced with whom she was als o perfectly at home
using their language as if it were her o w n T hen a
S wedish servant girl entered
“
”
O h ! excuse me again
said Jenny there com es
and in a moment Jenny w a s
o n e from my own country ;
kissing her a n d talking to her so earn estly She d es ir ed
her to remain but the girl excus ed herself s a ying th a t
her mistress would be expecting her at four o clock
“
T hen you shall get excused to morrow and come a n d
spend the day vith me and I vill t a k e yo u to my con
cert to morrow evening
T h e gi r l c o u ld n o t sp ea k but
Annie says she looked as though sh e h a d b een i n vit ed
to he a ven I rose several tim es to l ea v e but th e d ea r
queen laid her hand o n my should er so a f ec tio n a tel x
”
“
saying ! No n o ! I vish to talk vith you more
At las t a benign o ld gentleman a doctor from n ear
Boston came and oh ! h o w beautifully he introduced
himself to Jenny L ind telling her that he had come to
interest her if possible in a little lame orphan girl
whose musical powers a stonish all w h o hear her
“
”
“
Y o u are v ery kind said Jenny but I have so many
a
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TH E
94
F
OR E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
and suc h constant d emands that I cannot possibly a t
tend to them all I give so much to m
secretary
to
y
distribute and so much to the Mayor o f every city and
”
that is all I can d o
”
“
Cert a inly said the good doctor but a little saved
from them and dropped into th e lap o f this little girl
”
might giv e to the world a n o th er J en n y L in d
“
But I cannot give all a v ay Y o u do n o t give all
I must keep
a v a y—yo u keep something for yourself
”
something fo r mys elf
“
”
W ell then said the gentleman this little girl will
have to go o n playing with her kitten and mocking the
”
birds
“
No n o
said dear Jenny a s if her whole mind had
“
—
changed in a moment to morrow say nine o clock
you shall bring the little girl and I vill hear her sing
and then I t ell you vat I d o
”
“
“
E nough ! said th e good doctor
God bless you ! I
will n o t detain yo u another moment
Jenny L ind kiss ed m e good bye saying
”—
“
I am coming to see yo u
the angel ! and to night
Annie i s crazy with delight
w e are to h ear h er si n g
but o h ! my d a rlings woul d I could s eat yo u all in my
place Y o u sh a ll hear her next summ er though when
she come s t o R ochester
T h e names o n the tru n k s tell which ones they are for
T h e conte n ts also are labelled fo r each and ev ery one
the drab and blue fo r t h e h eads o f gold and the eyes
o f blue while the darker eyes will doubtless be e qually
well pleased
Ah ! here comes a letter in six parts each si gned by a
n ame so dear that it i s almost a letter o f itself ; even
little broth er has added his precious li n e at t h e margin
No w th e sk ies may w ear all t he ir s t ars the ear t h wreathe
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! UEE N OF s o zva
95
.
i n fl owers and I have in t hi s letter lo v e bright er
O h ! but for these dear let
an d sweeter than they all
t ers from far away I had no hope no light no love ; but
in them I find dear embraces soft white arms around my
neck j oyous gree t ings and tearful kisses O h ! they are
pictures of home dear sweet home where father and
mother smile and a ll hope and lo v e and pray
”
“
H o w that name turns e v en this
Stone Cottage !
o w mean all its grandeurs
alace
hotel
to
gloom
H
!
p
grow comp a red with that love ligh t ed and lo ve hal
lowed home !
F ather writes tha t since o ld M r A
is gone t he
s o n threatens to raise th e rent o n the house and the m ill ;
b u t I tell him that is perhap s the way the angels are
t a king to make him pull up h is stakes and like Abra
h am go to pitc h his tent amid larger and greener fi elds
and poss ibly hav e t here a mill of his o w n
h erself
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a!
'
A llen
S emin ary
,
R o c h es ter, N Y
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.
a!
TH E F
96
O R E SH A D OWE D WA Y
CH
AP T E R X III
I MM O R T A L S
A LL
B
.
.
.
Oc to b er
o s to n ,
,
1 85 0
.
place o f clou d and threatening rain the sun should
ha v e been shining even brighter than his wont o n that
glad morning when so many bright faces were qui tting
”
“
Stone Cottage again for school
Contradiction
though runs in the v eins of all things T h e angels
e v en smile wh ile they weep and doubtless sweet
’
mother s kisses were all de wy with tears and father s
smile as he lifted o n e after another into the o ld stage
told a s much o f regret as o f blessing and go o d bye But
the sixteen miles ride to the city ending with the greet
ings of teachers books pianos easels and so o n and so
o n were doubtless enough to drown a ll from your young
hearts save study st udy study
O ne of my letters from D r B ellows was to Mrs
”
“
George M L ee the lady w h o wrote T h e O ld Painters
that I send yo u Josey a little lad o f fourteen that I
brought from New Y ork deli v ered the letter with my
card and the same afternoon Mrs L ee and her daughter
called I was out but tw o day s after she sent the sweet
est little note in the world inviting me to pass t h e
e v ening at her residence and bring my t wo little esco rt s
Annie and Josey Mrs L ee recei v ed me very a ffectio n
a t ely pressed my hand and kissed me I thought with
a t ear on h er c h eek L o o king me full in th e face she sa id !
IN
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A LL
I MM O R T A L S
97
.
are much you n ger than I supposed
H er
sister Mrs Schuyler o f New Y ork Mrs Bigelow and
many other ladies and gentl emen were presented ; then
Mrs L ee gave me her arm to a tete a téte o n the opposite
side o f the room
“
“
C o me over here with me she said I am going to
have yo u all to myself awhile T here ! yo u sit that side
”
my left ear is the bes t !
Mrs L ee is a tall large lady quite deaf but exceed
in gly cheerful and at tim es buoy a nt more like a lady
o f thirty than sixty
After a little she said to me !
“
Y o u ha v e Amin Bey the T urkish Ambassador stop
”
at your hotel ?
i
n
g
p
“
Y es
I replied and he i s qui t e the star he is so
”
c h iv alrous especially to the unmarried ladies
”
“
“
the sly d o g ! I am coming
H a ! ha ! she laughed
t o call o n his Ambassadorship and make him give m e the
names of all his wives D o you know how many he
has ?
“
No
I repli ed though rumor says s ize; but t h e
little Armenian his int erpreter a ffirms that he h a s
only one and he loves her so v ery d early tha t if every
ship d oes n o t bring him a l etter he is moody fo r a
week
O bserving Annie and Josey sitting quiet she ran
to them saying !
“
Come here my little friends T his is my cabinet
u
o
see where yo u will find curiositi es enough to
y
amuse yo u longer than o n e evening fo r it has taken a
pretty good long lifetime to gath er th em
Mrs S chuyler and Mrs Bigelow j oined me F eeling
how little I had to entertain them with I sought to
mainta in the part o f listener wh ich is though by n o
means al wa ys the easiest part for they who t alk are
Y ou
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TH E
98
O R E SH A DOWE D W A Y
F
.
at liberty to introduce whatever topics they please
when listeni n g intellig ently b ec omes much like allowing
others to select your mu sic exp ecting yo u to play what
ev er they are pleased t o place before yo u It is better
then to talk at least one s o w n share o f the time if only
to keep the subj ects within t h e range o f one s o w n ac
quaintance
A large supper table was spr ead at which all were
seated Mrs L ee s lov ely d a ught er Mrs Bryant at my
right and an elderly g en tl em an at my left whose quaint
remarks kept all around him laughing Indeed the
whol e party seem ed more like a company o f F rench peo
ple than s o b er B o s t o n ia n s ! All t a lked and all laughed
till it was impossible to sa y w h o was gayest o r most
brilliant Mrs L ee undertook to t ell me who were
poets who were orators and who w ere a uthors until
“
finally she said ! I may as well dub th em all i m m o r ta ls
and let th em g o — to which the g entleman at my left
a dded the story o f an Irishman who wh en told that the
t w o busts before him were o f Sir Isaac Newton a n d L a
place replied
“
O ch ! sure and myself was after toking them for
”
n o r r that !
Y
reater
men
can
imagine
laugh
o
u
h
t
e
g
After supper Mrs Lee took me to pass a l ittle time
with her relics which sh e handl ed and praised as if they
were gifts o f cherished fri ends
“
T hey are all d o ubtless set around with many pleas
”
ant associations to yo u ? I said
”
“
“
O h ! yes
she exclaimed ; I gathered most o f them
while a broad y ears a go — some from the ruins o f E truria
”
and anci ent R ome
She th en p la c ed in m y h a nd a little
cup carv e d from the wood o f a tre e which T as so planted
and another from a tree that grew o n O livet
“
T h e days fly swi ftly i n this R e v ere H ouse c row de d
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TH E
1 30
F
O R E SH A D OWE D WA Y
.
Bigelow and two o f the City Co u nc il who had been up to
call o n Jenny L ind and de sired to be presented t o the
blind authoress about whom and her little b o o k the
p a pers were saying so much
W ith this I send you a bo x of books addresse d t o
Julia but the books are to yo u all j ointly L o v e them
my dear sisters for my sake and read them fo r your
o wn
T heir beauties no time can fade and their treas
ures no hand can steal L ock them away then in your
pure minds where like d iamonds they will shine in their
o w n light and like p e arls shed sweet lustre o v er all your
lives
T h e largest and perhaps the most impor t ant v olume
”
“
is the H istory o f R om e which like a good g en ie will
transport yo u to its ancient streets wh ere your eye s may
”
“
look o n that wonder o f the world St Peter s with
its memories o f c enturies whose very pa v emen t is a
study and every pillar and statue a marble poem ; in
whose spacious dome t o o fifteen hundred feet abo v e
the ground the State H ouse o f B os t on with its corners
a littl e lopped o ff might be twirled around as a boy roll s
a n apple in his hat !
T hink o f that my dear ones and
u
o
will
not
wonder
at
the
t
ra
v
eller
who
pronoun
ce
s
i
t
y
” —
the embodiment of all t h at man can do
and the
Coliseum t o o which yo u might think the heart o f some
r e at mountain with it s dirt washed away by the rains
g
a d it s rocky sides worn smooth by the hand o f time
I n de ed this g en ie b o o k will play the Co r in n e t o yo u so
d elightfully tha t li k e Moore you will be almost unabl e
t
d i stinguish those places you have read about from
t h s e that yo u h ave really visited
On e p art I know w ill
“
—
i terest yo u
the T housand Galleries
Bu t R ome i s
a lt o ether a feast
a mighty banquet which the gen ius
a n d power of man ha v e been thousands o f years p r e
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A LL I MM O R T A L S
1 01
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paring and n o w this book invites yo u to its millio n
courses o f beauty and grandeur by S preading before yo u
it s ne v er ending varieties o f art a n d learned device
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s
M y S is ters
,
A llen S emina r y
,
R o c h es ter, N
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Y
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a!
a!
TH E F
1 02
OR E SH A DOWE D WA Y
CH
AP T E R X I V
MY
BE T T E R D A Y S
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S a lem N o v emb er 1 8 5 0
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Y OU
begge d me t o share with you whatever should
“
afford me ple a sure during my soj ourn in T h e Athens of
”
America as I did your father from the South ; but
chink the moments as I would there was only time in
B oston fo r Boston and the little books over three thou
san d copi es O f which lie scattered among her beautiful
h omes T here I made my first deposit in th e bank o f
three hundred dollars a corn er stone to my cottage
unless some good angel come by night to dig it up,
see ing it better that I should wander o n o n o n eve n
as foreshado w ed in tha t v is io n n o w se v en summers
agone
W e have just arrived at this little lonely hotel Ann ie
h a s been t elling me h o w the setting sun i s glowing upo n
th e h ills yonder, and now sh e is pe eping about our n ew
r oom
“
”
O h ! co tt on s h eets ! sh e e x claims
with the nam e
hotel State and town all o n just like a line o f wor ds in
a spelling book W h a t a closet too— de ep a s your ha n d
—
and such a little w a shstand with only t w o bits of
—
towels ! O h ! h o w dreary it i s I wish the fire would
‘
burn And just listen to this bell card ! Y erk it o n c e
gently and if not answered immediately yerk it agin !
”
No schoolmas t ers in this place surely !
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F
TH E
1 04
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
does n o t know ! half h o w u n selfi s h yo u are T hat is
known only t o thos e who liv e by yo u a n d d ay by day
watch your self sa c r ific es and your efforts to turn glad
ness into the hearts O f oth ers and scatter comforts in
their way T h e blood O f your noble ancestor Sir W il
liam D ean must have struck an O bstacle when it reached
your toes and flowed backward fi lling all your soul with
the purple tides O f thought and feeling
Mr W illiam R and Mr Nicholas D ean are unlike
and yet they are alike and I am not surprised at their
friendship for e ach other At his last call he desired to
be remembere d to your d ear s elf and the D u ke o f Y o r k
a s he is wont to style your nobl e fath er At his last
v isit too he left with me a packag e O f letters which I
a m to have the pleasure O f d elivering here and fro m
which you shall hear my dear o n e anon
Now ten days have elapsed since the above
O ne O f
your friend s letters was to the R ev D r T hompson
who seem ed to know at once a thousand ways in which
he could ser v e me
”
“
F irst
he said I must go and s ee the editors T hey
must notice your book beautifully and to be sure that
”
they do so I shall write the notices m v self— h a ! ha !
T hen seizing a pen he wrote the names o f all the prin
principal places etc dir ecting
c ip a l personages here
Annie twenty times over where to find them ; th en ra n g
the bell and ord ered the directory and by its help g a v e
us seemingly a key to the whole town and everybody
in it And when h e had estimat ed a bout how ma n y
”
“
copies O f A P lace in T h y M emory would be taken here
he positively rubbed his hands with delight at the bare
i dea o f so many dollars lyi n g snugly away in my purse
A h ! D r and Mrs T hompson are such friends as o n e
D r and Mrs Prince,
likes to me et in a s trange place
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DA Y S
M Y B E T TE R
1 05
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too ha v e been lo v ely ; but O h ! the ladies o f Salem are
all fully as pleasant as the gentlemen o f Boston F o r
many o f them there is n o word but elega n t ! Some have
been abroad but intelligence and refinement make the
light O f a ll their homes Annie says they are beautiful
too
Among them though Mrs Mayor W ebb has be en my
good angel T hanksgiving eve she called and with her
invitation to dine the next day with her and the Mayor
and a few O f their friends she placed in my hands a
beautiful pearl portemonnaie containing five gold eagles
”
“
“
Ah ! I exclaimed
have my better days indeed
come like Job s when every o n e gave him also a piece
And when I
o f money and an earring o f gold ?
would have kissed her and thanked her she said
“
O h ! no not me
It is from my dear cousin Mr s
”—
R obinson
whom I had n o t then so much as me t
O h ! just think o f it ! F ifty dollars all a presen t
from o n e lady ! W ould I could hang some new light in
h er sky and bend over her h ea rt some promise o f brighter
j oys ! B ut the memory O f such a deed is itself a light a
lamp in the soul s temple that goeth not o u t L ike
mine her heart has been bereft She has a lovely little
son left to her though her bright eyes and fort une
beside
S a lem must have come from the oriental S aluta t io n
”
Salaam s a f ety o r p ea c e; and that it is so is perhaps
owing t o its being so largely a woman s city the m en
nearly all doing business in Boston and at home o nl y a t
morn and at eve
In Bo ston I only called upon a few O f the l a dies o n e of
t hem a d ear Mrs O tis After we ca me in Ann ie co ul d
not make the moneys answer to the number of books we
had t aken o u t until at last she e x claimed !
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TH E
1 06
F
OR E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
I know— that dear Mrs O tis paid four quart ers
for hers and I thought the edges o f the m did not look all
—
alike ; and d o you see
O ne o f those four quarters w a s
this gold piece that I cannot account fo r
”
“
“
O h ! then
I said yo u must go back with it— it was
”
a mistak e
“
She knew what she was doing the swe et
N0 no
thing ; and I wondered then at the dr Oll smile o n her
face when she saw me shut the portemonnaie ; and I
wondered too that she put them so deep down in instead
O f dropping them But now I can s ee It was all t o
”
k eep me from knowing what she was doing
“
Oh !
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as
To
M r s A u gu s ta D ea n B u c kley
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D u n kir k
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N
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Y
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OR E SH A D OWE D WA Y
TH E F
1 08
is n o more ! W ashington must be desolate, indeed
with his departure echoing through all her borders
T h e last time I had the pleasure o f speaking with H is
E xcellency it was to thank him for all the honors and
kindnesses he had shown me during my stay in W ash
i n gt o n
a n d ah ! who that kne w Z a chary T aylor had
not something to thank him for ?
E n route from Charlest on I went t o make t he long
promised visit O f a month with the H ardys at their
lovely place o n the James opposite N orfolk T hree weeks
passed in such a whirl o f pleasure as to almost turn
my night into day T hen Mrs H ardy would have
the publisher telegraphed for o n e hundred and fifty
“
copies o f A Place in T hy Memory
and o n e morn
in g ordering o n e hundred o f them placed in the
c a rriage and taking sweet Minnie her littl e Missy
and myself in and telling the coachman where to stop we
crossed the river to o n e o f the finest streets O f residences
in the city
Stopping a s ordered the footman came t o
the carriage door
”
“
“
H ere
she said take this with Missus card ring
t h e bell and hand it in and say that Missus will be back
in about an hour fo r the little book o r the pay o n e
”
T hen the next and the next some followi n g
dollar
the boy right b a ck taking two three o r five until fifty
o f the books were gone ; and then crossing the street and
coming down o n the opposite side did the same until
fifty more were gone
“
T here n o w
she said we will begin to collec t ;
and crossing back to where we left the first o n e t h e
footman had hardly rung wh en the lady O pened th e
door and came down to the carri a ge herself with
the money in her hand Nothing would do though
but we mus t g o u p an d have r efreshmen t s, a s many o f
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A L O NG
WA Y
YE T
1 99
.
the o thers h ad invited us t o do Cake coffee and wine
were served and what a cheery bright l i ttle visit we had
ending with her promise to come with her husband and
“
dine and pass the next evening at R iverside
So on
we went n o t o n e handing back the book in place o f the
money until the whole hundred dollars had been c o l
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lec ted
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At the residence o f o n e dear O l d lady who is very deaf
we all alighted Mrs H ardy having promised to bring
me there E ntering the large parlor adj oining h er
b o u d o ir Mrs H ardy was leading me over to a seat near
the bow window when she exclaimed
“
A h ! there is your little book now lying o n the dear
”
T aking it up and turning th e l eaves
Old lady s table
s h e adde d
“
Well this is a tribute indeed ! H ardly a page th a t
is not marke d and lined over and over ! If Cowp er
thought it fame to find a worn copy O f his po ems in a
cotter s window what would he think O f this and from
o n e too whose education was not only finished in E urope
but who has sin c e solaced a long lif e with the best litera
”
ture Of three languages beside her o w n ?
No one knows the faults Of that little v olume better
th an I do and I was wondering what such a mind could
possibly ha v e found in it to admire when the heavy doors
rolled back and the Madam entered supported by the
willing slave who after travelling with her mistress
over many lands returned and has since been ears to her
through many years and now at last a staff to the feet
t hat move too slowly T urning to approach h er M r s
H ardy said low
“
”
O h ! the majes ty Of that white head and I do wish
T h e Madam s cordial welcome stayed the rest while her
first word gav e me no t only the di re c tion o f h er face
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TH E F
110
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
her h eight also which so relieved the awkwardnes s
t after pre ssing
Of being present ed without the eyes th a
a kiss warm and loving upon my lip s and dr a wing me
down beside her up o n the sofa she said !
“
W hy with what marvelous ease you carry your blind
n ess
“
T hat is all owing to my queenly escort I replied r e
“
ferring to Mrs H ardy
O ver shadowed by her wing o n e
”
could hardly help moving with ease
”
“
“
—
Ah ! she said as if she h a d understood me
and
you have put such loveliness too into the lips O f mis
f o r t une and made sorrow beautiful by clothing it in the
”
light of anoth er world
”
“
T hat is so
Mrs H ardy responded leaning n ear
and taught the world h o w to su ffer while giving pleas
”
ure to others
“
“
Y es indeed
Madam said and a s no one else has
—
e v er done I think naming tears even bitter tears
‘
the impearle d dews o f feeling gathered around a sor
rowed heart
And a gain ! D ews o f the night are dia
monds at morn so the te ars we weep here may be pearls
”
in heaven
My niece in W ashington she continued
“
sent me your little work last winter and it has been
my constant c ompanion until I nearly know it by
”
heart
S O talking along suddenly she stoppe d and
laying her hand o n my arm she said feelingl y !
“
W hile I would give the world to listen I do all the
talking mysel f as my dear Mrs H ardy here knows
just to save you the trouble o f screaming t o my deaf
”
T hen pressing my lips close to the ear ne xt me
ears
I said n o t o v er loud but dist inctly
“
It is n o t so h a rd I fancy to ha v e the walls t o the
h ou se one li v es in grow thi ck as t o ha v e all th e windows
”
to it darke n ed
but
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TH E
112
F OR E
SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
with embraces cordial and words beautiful to remember
we parted D escending the steps I was repeating thi s
from her lips !
“
T h e stay has been long but o n e in heaven is always
”
awaiting my coming and yo u hav e that comfort al s o
I was r epeati n g it in my thoughts but as if to explai n
Mrs H ardy said
“
U p these very st eps long years ago in the prime O f
his life her husband was borne a corpse killed in a
”
duel
T h e next morning taking the remaining fifty minus
the ten Mrs H a rdy would keep fo r h erself we did the
same as with the hundr ed only driving to residences
more scatt ering o r more remote ju st w herever Mrs
H ardy s circle o f friends chanced to extend whic h as I
told her s eem ed to embrace the whole city
Ah ! h o w like yo u dear Mrs Shubrick all that was
always taki n g away with yo u in the bottom o f your car
r ia ge a p a ckage of the little books
Pray what did you
do wi th th em o r may none but yo u an d the angels ever
k n ow ? And h o w lovely O f yo u n o w e v ery time you
drive to be looking for a little home for me somewhere
in o r around W ashington T O be so near yo u were
happiness indeed but I have a long lo n g way yet to
wander and very very much to achie v e ere they w h o
watch in heaven will see it good for me to settle do wn
to so much O f rest and so much O f pleasure
I am sorr y to hear that your dear eyes trouble you
but n o w that the goo d Commodore has come home from
far over the sea and you have ceased watching and wait
in g they will doubtless mend as the heart does when
bathed in the smiles o f those whom we lo v e
Y o u di d not come to S aratoga this summer a s you
tho u gh t I wen t t o sip fro m its Mohega n wells for a
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A LO NG
’
WA Y
YE T
113
week,
and it would ha v e islanded all my clouds with
light to have found yo u and the goo d Commodore there
D r and Mrs Clymer and their d ear litt le May
T h e morning befo r e I l eft New Y ork the Co m m er
c ia l A d ver tis er had in i t a lovely notice o f my j ourn ey
S outh ending with the President s letter ; and that even
ing when I went o n board the st eamer the captain
recognized me and my little party at once Giving me
hi s arm to the ladies cabin I announced to him wher e
I was going and introduced to him my tw o little escorts
Annie in the place O f Minnie w h o had left me for a
time and the lad Josey who f earing lest his O ffice had
not been fully understood by the Captain said for him
self
I look after the baggage sir and ru n th e err and s
”
“
H a ! ha ! the Captain laughed ;
then you are t h e
”
little courier ! Very soon we received tickets fo r state
room meals etc with th e most gallant commands o f
Captain T urrey t o fear nothing make o u rselves perfectly
at home
In the morning at T roy we wen t up to the hotel and
how its worthy pr o prietor came to know me is more th a n
I can imagine unless by the paper the same as the Cap
tain ; but when we had all breakfa sted he came and
“
asked if I were not the authoress o f A Place in T h y
Memory and begged the favor O f a copy complaini n g
that he had n o t been a ble to find it in the book stores
“
“
NO
I said I took it from th e trade soon after
it appeared the better to introduce it myself
I prom
ised to send him o n e fo r which he readily gave me the
“
money and the address r ea ding it himself !
M r f COle
”
man proprietor O f th e house addi n g very modestly !
“
Y our bill madam is all settled a n d we shall be mos t
h appy t o s ee yo u h ere wh ene v er yo u will b e please d to
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1 14
TH E F
OR E S H A DOWE D WA Y
’
come this way
If o n e ha v e n o t honors t o bestow n o r
favors to impart the ne x t best thing is t o be their
grateful recipient ; and what could I d o but thank him
since as I once heard a sweet ! uakeress say
“
Kindness kindly bestowed is the L ord s blessing
”
and no one can affo r d t o turn it away
In the parlor D r Guy o f Brooklyn introduced him
self and lady took us under his escort to the depot
Where he asked to be excused a mom ent ran up to the
Superintendent s O ffice and returned with a Co mp li
m en ta r y fo r mys elf and little party t o Saratoga and
back again In th e car he arranged the seats so that
Annie and I sat O pposite them a n d lost in conversation
the two hours sped like a dream pl easant to remember
T hey have a cottage at Saratoga to which their carriage
had preceded th em and it m eeting them at the d epOt
the D octor would have us all g et in I stoppe d a t U nion
H all whose proprietor yo u remember not long ago fell
dead while preparing for church T oward evening I
sent fo r Mrs Putnam the landlady and introducing
myself to her engaged my room and J o sey s little o n e
O ff fo r a week
Af ter t ea in the dra w ing room she
presented me to many Of the ladies and very soon I came
to know them all and m a ny O f the gentlemen
O ne evening Mr Mann o f New Y ork made me a c
u a in t ed with his friend Colonel W alworth of Arkansas ;
q
and Oh ! imagine my surprise when d ropping his hand
“
tenderly upon my shoulder he exclaimed !
I t o o my
child am fore v er in the dark T h e long gloomy way
that yo u have just entered upon I have been tra v ell ing
more years than yo u have lived even
And how I
pitied him ! Meeti n g Mr Mann again though he sa id !
“
My friend the Colonel is not only one Of the ric h es t
”
men in all the S out h bu t o n e of th e sa ddes t
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TH E F O R E SH A DOWE D
116
CH AP T E R
H IS
XV I
Va
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H E AD
V E NE R A BL E
R ic h m o n d,
WA Y
.
F ebru ary
,
1 85 1
.
more c ity has bee n b e sieged and taken In
O ne more c ity h a s turned back her
o th er words !
s author pass in !
ates
to
the
little
book
and
l
i
t
t
e
g
B ut a thousand more will have done the same and
many long long years O f wanderings have been lived
t hrough ere my heart lose its memory of Mrs Ge n
eral Ashley and all the brill iant scenes to which h er
“
”
j ewelled hand has be en to me the Op en S esame
I ndeed since that evening at the National wh e n
your star first shone upon my darkness I ha v e been
s o blessed by your love and your friendship tha t it
seems I should have been most unfortunate but for my
misfo rtunes Please let me thank yo u here also dear
M rs Ashley fo r that very kind introduction to th e
!
H o n Mr H olmes o f South Carolina, who did so mu ch
to make that last evening o f min e in W ashingt on
leasant
Captain
Graham
t
o
o
was
v
ery
a
tt
e
nt
v
e
i
p
,
and the H o n Mr Schenck Colonel May etc , etc
T oward the close o f the evening I had a li t tle prome
n ade with General Scott, and referring to hi s visit
t o the Institutio n in New Y ork he sa id
“
S o in your book yo u have pu t me do wn t o the
‘
New W orld what Saul was to the old ! H ead an d
sho ulder s ab o v e all ot h er me n
h a ! h a ! The u nkind
ONE
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H E AD
H I S V E NE R A BLE
117
.
cu t of all though was to turn all our soldierly
‘
thanks into ridicule by quoting at us ! G o d takes n o
H e introduced me to his d a ugh
th anks fo r murder
t er and spoke o f calling ; but h o w sorry I was to tel l
h im that I w a s to leave in the morning for R ichmo n d
I n the refreshment room Governor H ouston as
sured me that he should certainly sit up two hours
after he returned home writing letters for me to h is
—
friends in Charleston New O rleans and T e x as as he
did and the secretary brought them in the morning
W ith her sweet goo d night dear Mrs Paine tran s
ferred from her bosom to mine by Mr Clay s reques t
a beautiful cross o f his hair he having all o wed her to
clip from his v enerable head the gray threads for an
o t her ; and as you c an imagine I was sorry no t to see
him again before leaving W ashington and more es
i
ally too as he expressed a w ish to c harge me w it h
ec
p
a letter to h is friend Mr D own s of New O rlean s
H e t ried s ev
Colonel Paine accompanied me h ome
eral times to make h is way t hrough th e crowd that I
migh t ha v e the sad pleasure o f bidding you my dear
friend good night and good bye but finally said he
wo ul d embrace th e earliest opportuni ty of doing s o
for me and presen t also my warmes t thanks for the
f
reat
pleasure
o
the
e
v
ening
g
O f all the sweet letters t o your R ichm ond frie n d s
I del iv ered the o n e to Mrs Colonel Payton first, an d
h ad t he pleasure o f a call from her and her daughter
th a t v ery afternoon T o dear Mrs Mason though I
a m most largely indebted fo r hospital ity
H er first
ood
office
was
an
invitation
f
o
r
myself
and
my
little
g
Annie t o h er party given in honor of the members o f
th e State Convention o f wh ich you kno w the Judge
is Preside nt Miss E lle n S c o tt w as o n e o f th e brilliant
est
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TH E F
118
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
company and to say how much I o w e her were to s ay
h ow much I am indebted to the fri end wh ose letter
gaine d me her acquaintance Mr and Mrs Gallaher
also ha v e been more devout and beautiful in their a t
t ention s than I ha ve words to t ell you—v isits parties
and help s in e v ery way
Th e honorable gentleme n of t h e Cap itol have been
—
x
ceedingly
gr
a
cious
th e Members and Senators all
e
O n e day when a distinguished
s ubscribed for copies
s peaker o f th e L egisla t u re h ad the fl oor Mr Imboden
who had ga t hered all their names came over to where
Ann ie and I were sitting with some ladies from the
h o t el and suggested that it woul d be a good time to de
li v er the books as they were all present Annie wen t
o u t and sent the hotel porter to the express Office for
the books wh o stopped with them in the hall by the
door T hen Mr Imboden gave a page the list and he
wen t around lea v ing o n e on each desk
I n a few
moments every honorable gentleman presen t h ad a
red g ilt book in his han d reading while t he c ompla
c en t speaker still in the height of his argument wit h
the perspirat ion rolling down h is face looked ac ros s
a t h is worthy colleague Mr I mboden th en down a t
th e little book on hi s own desk smiled and w e nt o n
w it h his speec h
L ook at t h at dear M r s A shley ! W as e v er forbear
ance s o beautiful ? W hy ! it w a s enough to immortali z e
’
t h e speaker s ora t ion whatever i t was and make old
Virginia herself giddy w ith pride for hav ing giv en to
th e world such a company o f gentlemen
T h e ne x t morn ing though Judge Mason Presi den t
of the State Con v en t ion crowne d all with his loft y
indulgence—called the H ouse to order introduced the
l itt le b o ok, b reaking o v er it and t he au thor much
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TH E
12 0
F
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
C H AP T E R XV I I
A N A BSE NT
STA R
.
.
.
A u gu s ta, Gd
,
A p r il 1 8 5 1
,
.
A F T E R h av ing illumin ed all B oston for me with your
beautiful letter s and done not a little to light up
Philadelphia B altimore and W ashington with them
it seems fitting that I write you dear Mr Bellows if
only to tell you what particular stars have burned and
blazed brightest in my way B ut first let me explai n
h o w it is that my letter comes t o yo u this morning i n
ink instea d of with creased paper and pencil as here
tofore W h ile in B oston I met Mr Prescott the his
torian ; and describing to him the card with whic h
I had written my first little work he told me tha t no t
seeing sufficiently to guide his hand he had inven t ed
a case of wires fo r keeping the lines straight and used
the manifold writing paper and an agate point in place
of pen and ink Afterward I was at his house and
seated in h is chair before the desk by which he had
writ t en all his great works I found tha t I could write
w ith his case readily but never dreamed o f possessing
such a cunning little classic dev ice Imagine my sur
prise then when among the brightes t Christmas things
Santa Claus brought me w as a case e x actly like his
inked paper agate point and all S O if your much
used eyes find thi s letter more legible than my last i t is
to Mr Pres c o tt th a t yo u are in deb t e d ins tead of t o me
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A N A B SE NT
S TA R
12 1
.
I n the th ee and th o u city the edi t ors seemed t o h a v e
had their notices all prepared before my coming so
quickly they were o u t T hen one v ery cold day call ing
a long F ro n t Street I came to the counting room of a
gentl eman with the frost o f many winters on his head
but the warmth o f many summers in his heart H e
took o n e o f the little books just then o u t in Christ
mas attire and wrote his name for it so kindly that it
seemed a little rivulet o f light across the page T h e
next day evening brought the venerable gentleman and
—
his two lovely daughters to see me and h o w kindly
!
he held my hand and praised th e little book
“
W e have all moistened o u r eyes over it he sa i d
and I must have twenty copies fo r my friends
T hen twenty other copies were called for then twenty
others T hen while at Baltimore I received an order
for o n e hundred Oopies and at Charleston an order
each made the
fo r one hundred more which at
pretty sum o f $ 3 9 0 fo r which I am here in receipt of
a little bank book to that amount In answer to my
entreaties to know what he could possibly be doing
with so many o f the little books when i t seemed that
ev erybody th ere had taken o n e O f me
“
”
“
W hy my child he wro te I make e very gen tle
man who calls a t my o ffice take o n e away with him and
every friend whom I shake hands with o n the street
I make do the same ; and tha t is what I am doing with
”
them
“
Ah ! Mr B ellows how impossible ever t o repay
such a love labor as that ! H o w write it too how de
scribe it and more than all h o w receive it ? Indeed
t he name o f D r George H Burgin o f Philadelphia
s eems to me e v ermore a m ark on th e w o rl d t o follo w
oodnes
s b
g
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TH E F
12 2
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
But I must tell you o f my second v isit to W ashing
ton All the friends to whom I had le tters had called
and o n e morning having been o u t sometime returning
them coming in I found General D u ff Greene and
After a little the General said
d aughter waiting
“
Y o u would like to go to the Presi
L et us see !
dent s levee to night and a s that is o n e o f the pl ace s
where a gentleman is indispensable my son Colone l
Ben must be your escort H owever yo u must come
”
and take tea with us and we will arrange it then
N otwithstanding the father and sister were so posi
ti v e O f Colonel Ben s willingness to see me to the
President s levee it was n o t without some misgivings
as to his pleasure in the matter that I dressed and went
to the tea Aside from the idea O f escorting a lady
with v eiled eyes to such an assembly having been on
’
General T aylor s staff through all the Mexican cam
n e of the many who helped to bear him
i
and
a
n
o
p g
away I feared lest the Colonel might feel some r epu g
nance at so soon going there to attend his successor s
levee Still when at the table Miss L izzie introduced
it again and the proud mother had bent an approving
smile upon her so n turning to me he said cordially !
“
Certainly madam If only to imitate the least o f
‘
those friendly Offic es that my gallant ol d leader b e
spoke for yo u among his friends in the South I shall
claim the honor O f presenting yo u to the Presiden t
”
this evening
Accordingly about nine we were set dow n at the
As I had no maid hoods wraps
E xecutive Mansion
e t c were trusted to the mercy o f the crowd as is th e
way W e entered the B lue R oom where we stoo d
awhile Colonel B en s ketching the passers in and th e
assers Oii t
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F
TH E
1 2 4;
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
Indeed a t e v ery turn I am reminded o f h is graciou s
”
auspices an d es pecially here
N ext we met your fri ends Senator and Mrs Grin
nell and Mis s Anna C Lynch who happens to be no
less a favorite with my c a v a ler o c h a p er o n than with yo u
“
Miss Lynch i n troduced me to H oward Payne author
Sw eet H ome
o f the world s
”
“
“
Y es
he repli ed sadly but who has nev er yet had
”
a home o f his o w n
W hile we were talking Mr St ev en s the traveller
came up
”
“
“
O h ! here yo u a r e Payne ! he exclaim ed
I ha v e
”
been looking fo r yo u this half hour
t o which t h e
poet made answer
“
T hen you should be all the more glad to see me
”
“
As doubtless Mr Stevens was I s aid when at
last h e discovered th e capital o f Guat emala
“
”
H a ! ha ! he laugh ed a s though in the ins t ant
he had liv ed over again all th e long search he
describ es
L ater in the evening we met Mrs Commodore A u lic k
t o whom I had alr eady presented my letter an d passed
a delightful evening at her house T h e Commodore
was to sail the next day and a party o f his o fficer
friends and their ladies w ere at the dinner T his even
in g Mrs A u lic k was accompanied by her s o n who w a s
t he first surveyor Of the river Jordan Colonel Ben
s ays and made all those beautiful drawings o f the H oly
“
”
L and in T h e D ead S ea E xpedition
A day o r two after the levee by special inv it a t io n
I had the pleasure o f a little visit with Mrs F i llmore
a n d her d aughter 1 11 the i r pri v ate parlor ; and almost
t h e first thing Mrs F illmore sa i d was !
“
O h ! th a t pre c iou s l itt le v olu me th a t you se nt the
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A N A B SE NT
S TA R
12 5
.
Presiden t I h a v e h ad the m isfortune t o h ave t ake n
from my table I laid it down to answer a card and
when I came back it was gone
”
“
“
Ah ! I said then I may hope to ha v e t he pleasure
”
o f presenting Mrs F illmore another !
“
”
“
N O no
she repli ed
I want a do z en O f them
to send to my friends in w estern New Y ork a n d
”
O hi o
Before leaving W ashington I attended an afternoon
informal reception at the W hite H ouse a n d meet ing
the President a gain I said
“
E xcuse o n e shadow please if only for contrast to
”
all your splendors
‘
Wait
he r eplied still retaining my hand
NO
picture is perfect without its shadows ; and all artists
a gree I believe in pronouncing them the most difficul t
”
part to paint !
Ah ! Mr B ellows were you e v er overwhelmed like
that with nothing in the world t o say but th a n ks ?
It was an informal reception as I have said and Mrs
F illmore would have me seated by her ; and while at
her side Mad a m Callib r a n d and L ady Bulwer entered
whom I h a d previously met at their receptions Part
ing L ady Bulwer said to me lo w !
“
If yo u will call ag a in Sir H enry will giv e you a
letter to the British Consul in Charleston
T h e morning I waited upon their highnesses wit h
your letter Sir H enry asked if I had ever tried m es
Said he
m er is m o r animal magnetism fo r my eyes
knew a person in E ngland who h a d been restored by it
after be ing without sight many years
Charleston I believe is always delightful and I left
it this time with even more regret than before Among
the supremest O f its pleasures Mrs Colo n el I saa c H ayn e
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TH E
12 6
F
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
called one morning an d invited me to pass t he coming
evening at her house
“
O nly a few will be there, she said but suggested
that I wear the same dress as at Mrs Gadsden s party
cr epe and lisse ruches At an early hour the carriage
came fo r us with her nephew for escort Mrs H ayne
j oin ed me in the r eception chamber and gave me
h er arm to the drawing room
O n the way she said
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lo w
“
I have invited H is E xcellency Governor Means and
”
his lady t o meet yo u this evening
”
“
O h ! thank yo u Mrs H ayne
I replied
T hat is
”
?
beautiful o f yo u but why did yo u not tell me
“
L e st you might put yourself to s ome extra e x pense
”
she answered half laughing T hen in a
o r trouble
few words she described Mrs Means general appear
ance her dress etc At the entra nce without stopping
she whispered !
“
Mrs Means and sister are in th e corner yonder and
”
we will j oin them there
Mrs Means ex pressed herself delighted to see me
and I replied !
It gives me great pleasure to meet Mrs Means and
I should regret the more n o t being able to see her b a d
T his
I n o t just heard her described so beautifully
caused a little rustling laugh and turned all eyes to
Mrs H ayne who took a seat by me while her sister a n d
Mrs Means resumed their conversation which I soon
saw was about Secession
“
T h e Governor and the Colonel are t alk ing in t he
“
”
other p a rlor M r s H ayne said and they will come
”
here soon
Meantime I was wondering what to say
when pre s ent ed T hen I heard their v o ices r ise an d
knew that they were com ing
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F
TH E
12 8
OR E SH A D OWE D WA Y
.
Bish o p Gadsden and one other minister t o whom I
had letters from D r T urner Of New Y ork were present
but I s aw far less o f them than O f the Governor who
was talking with me when wine s were brought in
Speaking of the negro population generally b e r e
m arked !
“
I believe them the best fed the best clothed and in
eve ry respect the best cared fo r and the happiest peas
”—
autry in the world
and judging from his account o f
his own plant a tion I should think they might be O ne
little instance he rel a ted amused me exceedingly ! E ight
o r ten negroes were engaged ditching a piece o f ground
and o n e evening the Govern o r coming along and seeing
how little they had done said to them rather r epr o v
in gly that he coul d get a white man to come there and
dig who would accomplish more in a day than the whole
o f them together
“
O h well Massa replied o n e dis make de di ffer nce
—
h e hab to work fo r his liv in
Govern o r Means is very popular with his people al
though s o democratic that his aides complain at his
not having a private room with them on review days in
stead of sitting at the public table
South Carolina is verily the Italy o f America and
Charleston her R ome minus ruins stained altars and
rivers running with blood Secession th o ugh they say
is talked o f all over the State a double tax ordered
manufactories going up magazines placed in t he citadel
square the Governor examining the arsenal s and r e
v iewing his military forces ; and who shall s ay but our
constellation may yet be left like the beautiful Plei
ades to mourn evermore an absent star ?
Augusta seems th e entrance c ity to some beautiful
orient—s o unlike anythi ng we ha v e in t he North B road
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S
S TA R
A N A B E NT
12 9
.
Street has t wo rows of large t rees throug h t h e ce nt er,
the branches forming an arch over a grassy walk with
a road on either side wide enough fo r two carriages to
dri v e abreast ; and beside that a broad shaded walk o n
each side O f the street
If possible the editors here have been more lavish in
“
t heir praise o f the little book and the heroism o f th e
”
author than in any other city T h e second day aft e r
recei v ing a copy their notices all came out each an
“
n o u n c in
that
the
author
gives
the
gentlemen
the
pref
g
erence in her c an v assa to ry calls
T h e n e x t day—h o w
it rained ! And the ne x t and the ne xt T he n t hey all
had a notice again each with something n ew as if to
keep up the int erest a little until the rain sh oul d ceas e
Still it rained and rained every day as if a new fl oo d
might ha v e set in and each day some new no t ice ap
d
e
ar
e
e
e
som
tim
s
quoting
from
the
lit
t
le
book
or
fro
m
p
the New Y ork Boston or Charleston editors
At last the su n rose a s bright and clear as if all th e
predictions o f the late dear Mrs D awson for me in h er
own sunny State were coming to pass I had brought
only ninety copies o f th e little book to Augusta judging
by the size of it that would suffice T h e landlady le t
me ha v e a bright mulatto boy to c arry th em and begin
ning at a bank the President headed the list for three
copies an d with the other officers se v en more were t ake n
—
there ten in all T h e ne xt place was a large store an d
before w e left it seemed that all t he gentleme n i n th e
block had congregated there coming an d going an d
e v ery one Of them took copies T h e o wn er of th e st ore
led Off with fi v e an d passing th e pen to t he o th ers they
all wr o te their name s —some for o n e some for t wo t h re e
and even fiv e copies And if you belie v e i t we h ad only
st opped at a do z en o r s o more pla c es wh e n th e w h ol e
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TH E F
1 30
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
ninety books were gone and we were back a t the h otel
again before noon
D ear Mr Bellows d o the angels help or does t h e L ord
indeed put out H is blessed H and to lead and prosper the
way
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To
R ev D r B ello ws
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N ew Y o r k
.
TH E F
1 32
OR E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
ladies to o came fo r them o r sent their ser v ant s wit h
“
”
Missus c ard
O ften before we w ere dressed o u r
room being on the ground floor a tray with a bouquet
and some little delicacy w a s passed in at the window
O ftenest from one dear Mrs O sborn e th ere, whose angel
mother we met in Georgia
Creeping northward we stopped ne xt at W ilmington
D el a charming little city a n d nothing but pleas
ant things came to us there— fir st a dear editor whom
we found turning his printing press by hand a n d so
literally grinding o u t his we ekly paper e v ery letter o f
the type to which he had set up himself H e was o n e
of General Scott s aides either in the Indian o r Mexican
war ; but when his notice o f the little book came out it
w a s classic and beautiful enough I told him to have
been written by Addis o n for T h e S p ec ta to r
W e were indebted to him and his wife also for calls
a pleasant entertai n ment at their house and a long
lovely drive by F ed er a l H ill which he said missed
being the site o f the Nation s Capital in place o f W ash
ingt on only by a single vote
T h e ne xt pleasant thing was the way the little books
w ere taken there day by dav until o n e evening Annie
was forced to e x claim !
“
W hy ! they go here like the rustling o f new ribbons
”
don t they ?
S ome time ago I had the pl easure O f meeting at Mrs
N ott s Mr E C D elevan O f Ballstown N Y ; and o n e
m orning among the letters while at W ilmington was o n e
from him containing the money fo r ten copies of th e
l ittle book and also a lovely invitation from Mrs D ele
v an and himself to pay them a visit
Another day brought an order from Mr A S B arn e s
of New Y ork for t wenty five cop i es s en t for by a far o ff
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H OW s o y
1 33
Mrs R ogers preceptress o f a seminary in H untsvi lle
Ala and a g a in an order fo r twenty fiv e from Mr Wl ll
iam Appleton o f New Y ork to go to a book m erchant
also in Alabama
S O in every place the good angels find new ways O f
h elping o n the work th ey l o n g a g o trail ed b efo r e my
spirit eyes T hen just before leaving the last pleasant
thi n g was a note from d ea r M r s S h u brick b eckon i ng
m e fo r a stay a mong the breezes O f Newport where she
had taken rooms fo r the summ er expecting the Co m
m o d o r e to come to her soon
W e stopped at the same
“
”
h otel with her T h e B elle v ue and the next morning
coming o u t from breakfast she left me in o n e o f the
parlors talking with a lovely Miss T aylo e who had come
with her from W ashington In a few moments she r e
turned with this sweet whisper o n her lips
“
I have been to see the l andlord fo r you and you are
to pay o nly $ 1 8 a week fo r yourself and Miss Annie and
”
keep the lovely room that yo u have
”
“
“
Ah ! I said that is not only having an angel to
t rouble the waters for one but an angel to stay and lead
”
o n e in also
I had seen by t he papers that Mrs F illmore with her
son and daughter was stopping there and what a sur
prise it was to hear that only the day before descending
the stairs she made a misstep sprained her ankle and
was even then sitting up in her parlor with her pretty
foot pillowed in a chair and the gloomy pro spect before
her o f not being able to press it to the floor again in
months
I first thought o f going to see her immediately
then reflected that it might seem t o o presuming T hat
afternoon though her maid c ame with her card inviting
me to p ay h er a li t tle vis it
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TH E F
1 34
”
“
OR E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
“
n ow
Ah ! sh e said
I am under the shadows and you
”
w ill ha v e to come and comfort me
“
“
H o w so
I asked since yo u still ha v e the light an d
t he day and all aroun d you that is bright and beau t iful
”
to look upo n ?
”
“
More than t hat ! the daughter added
S he h as
books and brother and I ha v e just com e in from order
”
ing a new stack of them for her
T hen that e v ening after the steamer arri v ed from New
Y ork the maid came to my room again and this time
—
the daughter Miss Abby behind her and wha t do you
think ? B efore lea ving the city Mrs F illmore had o r
dered for herself a lovely black camel s hair bathing suit
It had just come and seeing it o f no use to her sh e had
sent it to me ; the maid had the b o x containing it in her
arms and Miss Abby had come along to soften a li ttle
the presentation
”
“
“
W hy ! I e x cl aimed tha t will be enough t o make the
wa v es and the fishes e v en receive me right royally to
s ay nothing o f the thousand and o n e bathers there
”
“
“
H a ! ha ! she laughed
And the sharks migh t t oo
”
if this were Cape Island—o r C ape May
I had no thought o f doing anything with the book
while at N ewport but Mrs Shubrick and Mrs F illmore
w h om all the ladies were going to see introduced it ;
and I doubt if after t hat a do z en ladies left the hotel
without a copy O ne perhaps more wealthy than the
re st came for ten— said she was going to pre sent them
t o the Sunday School L ibrary O f her church in New
—
Y ork and what a long lovely vi sit I had with h er
ending with her charge to be sure and send her my a d
d ress when I should come aga in to the city
A few mornings before o u r stay ended the President
a rriv ed d rawn by four w h ite h orses an d a c c ompani e d
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F OR E S H A D OYVE D
TH E
1 36
WA Y
.
”
not at all ! I said
Poets and novelists are e x
t
e
d
i
t
to
be
l
e
c
h
p
fg y
“
And O ften to th eir o w n inconvenience as well as thei r
”
friends was his laughing rej oinder
In the room seve r al p er s ons were waiting but again
he left th em to th e mother and the daughter T h e son
devot ed hims elf to Annie while w e had a lov ely f a miliar
little talk Altogether his warm cordiality surprised
me quite as much as he expressed himself pleased ; and
com ing away he said
“
I must have a copy of the little work that my friend
writ es m e ab o ut he r e glancing again at the letter the
name to which it seemed that he had hardly had t i me to
l o o k at Annie promised to bring him o n e
Aft er rising we h a d a little time with Mrs James and
the daughter while Mr James excused himself again
fo r a mom ent
T h e la dies are v ery pleasant and Annie
thinks th e s o n fully a s eleg ant a s the father who woul d
come down to the outsid e door with us and kept hi s
arm around me all the w s v l est I should fall I said
“
Y our heroes are prov erbi a lly the most gallant men
in the world and I am n o t su r p rised since they have
”
Mr G P R James fo r t h eir m a st er
“
H O ! ho ! and do you r ef er t o tho s e O ld fellows O f
”
“
mine he inquired w h o they say always make their
”
a ppear a nce o n hors eback ?
”
Certainly I s a id and as all great heroes must
ha ve o n th em t h e weight o f y ea rs it is doubtless from
consideration fo r their comfort that yo u present them
o n h ors eback
“
No t at a ll not at all
he said but with sole refer
”
ence to their a pp earance the clu m sy O ld fellow s !
R eachi n g th e p a rlor floor I begged him n o t t o come
do w n any farther
O h,
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H OW s o r
1 37
“
I ndeed I must he r eplied and I shall not t hink
t h e way long until I turn to go back
Ah ! not more surely is goodness the chiefer part o f
greatness than th a t the mor e culture and the more r e
fin em en t o n e h a s always th e m ore gracious and the mor e
be a utiful o n e is S O we took leave o f the author o f the se
three volum es that I send yo u o n e o f which I read long
a g o with my o w n eyes
and the other two we finished
while at Newport
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S is ters
A llen S emin a r y
,
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R o c h es ter N Y
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TH E
1 38
F
O R E S H A DOWE D WA Y
C H AP T E R XIX
I N
S
M
O
E
F A R
T I
.
M
Pr o vi d en c e R I
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,
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,
E
Oc to b er 1 8 5 1
,
.
S T O NE CO T T A GE then is really a thing of the past
a n d dear father has pitched his tent in the little city
I was sorry to hear
a mong the hills o f the Canasera g a !
that the old fashioned house with th e big chimn eys and
overshadowed with elms could n o t be secured F ather
w rites though that he has the promise o f it in the
”
“
spring It will n o t be Aldrich H ill with all its sunny
l opes but still so far like it as to brighten a little I
w een the smiles in s weet mother s face
L ovely new
furnishings for it t o o , ha v e been selected and prized
ar
if the books continue to go as they have done for
th e last week Providence alone , sweet mother s birth
place will leave little unprovided for T h e piano must
h av e reached you ere this and is doubtless already
adding greatl y to your progress I love to think o f you
a ll in the new h o m e
making the air vocal with your
so n gs dimpling the carpets with your tread and bright
en in g your eyes at sight o f your o w n paintings o n the
w alls !
It seems t o o much to hope to o much to look
for but it can b e and will b e my dear ones only so you
a r e industrious enough to win fo r yourselves what the
angels are plainly holding in store S chooldays are no t
a circle never to end but long and tedious as they may
so metimes seem the last will come far to o s o o n
Be
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TH E
1 40
F
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
resembled nothing but a dark gr een substance in rolls
o r bunches o f which in the v is io n I gathered the sam e
a s of the gold gathered a s I wandered and with the same
i ndifference to p o s s ession until finally that too dis
a ppeared and farther in toward the heart o f the gloomy
the
o l d presence from which I had gathered so long
ol
d
shone
out
again
but
in
tablets
squares
too
o
r
g
large to hold in my hands and I folde d them in my
T heir edges a s I look back at them were
a rms
c reased up and down instead o f across like t h e circlets ;
n o t exactly square a shade long er t han wide thin and
s hining like gold
U nlike all th a t I h a d gathered b e
fore they stay ed with me I wa lked away w ith them
a n d as I w a lked something like t h e pri d e o f p o ssession
warmed in my thoughts ; the gl o omy o l d pres ence too
that had borne me c o m pa n v through all the long wan
dering years seemed now no long er keeping pace I
move d more rapidly t o o than before seeming almost
to fl y until at last I stopped turned about and saw
that the long weary way had been all a long climbing
way
T hen I turned t o go on but saw far o u t in
t he distance the light breaking through all the clouds
O h ! the light had come to me again the light ! the
light ! the light ! And just so in some far time th e
light will come again
Some o f yo u heard the v isio n w h en I t old it there
t o dear father and mo t her a little time after I had los t
my eyes D oubtless it made little impression upon you
then No w though when n o t only so many more scenes
of it have come to pas s but the wan derings o f it eve n
a re far o n th e way you will understand it be tt er and
be on the watch as I am always for the n ex t scene which
i s ere long surely to come ; and the next and the next
an d t h e n e xt—four more only— and t hen y o ur lo nely
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IN
S O ME
F A R TI M E
1 41
.
wander ing s ister with v eiled eyes may re t urn with the
light and the day shining
in
way
it is shining
yours
.
S is ters
A llen S emin a r y
,
,
R o c h es ter N Y
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.
.
TH E
1 42
F
OR E SH A DOWE D WA Y
C H AP T E R XX
A BRE A K
.
C LO U DS
IN TH E
.
.
N ew Y o r k N o v emb er
,
1 852
,
.
B angor by steamer for B oston we arrived
”
“
R evere H ouse fully an hour aft er midnight ;
a t th e
a n d hardly were o u r heads pressing the pillow and the
borders o f the dreamland drifti n g into vi ew when
a heavy knock at the door announced a letter fo r me
bearing the President s stamp and seal fr 3m W ashing
!
ton D C And thus it was d ea r d ear l rs F illmore
that your favor as gr a cious a s b eautiful and as beauti
—
e
ful a s kind had at last overtak n me so slowly are
a ll bright things wont t o march when once upon my
way P erchance th ey in heaven feare d lest the sweet
beckoning in it might bring me all t oo soon t o the
light and the day
I had heard of D r T urnbull s wonderful cures r e
s t or ing Prince George Of Cambr idge and others t o
sight but never dreamed o f his coming to America ;
and I dec ided at once to profit by your kind su gges
tion and leave in the morning for New Y ork where
a n hour after my arriva l
I waited upon th e D o cto r
at his hotel I n d efer ence to the la dy President Mr s
F illmore whose pleasant m ention o f me had n o t been
at all obliter a ted from hi s memory hardly had my c a r d
been glanced at ere I heard him saying to the usher !
“
”
—
Show the lady in I will see her at o nce
After
ro ll ing h is po w erful m agn ifier s over my e es and dis
y
LE A V I N G
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SH A DOWE D WA Y
TH E F O R E
1 44
.
thoughts to weave their o w n reading, my heart to coi n
its own feelings ; an d so only I have light enough to
u ide my own steps
and
peradventure
watch
the
stars
g
—
when they rise and the sky when the sun is l o w in
a word so I be no longer barred from th e bright gre en
earth that I left so l o ng long a g o how sh a ll I ever fin d
words to thank yo u in fo r writing me d ear Mrs F ill
more ? Indeed i f I had all t h e bl es s in g s th e white
handed angels bring I could nev er nev er never repay
you
I was very sorry to miss th e pl easure o f meeting
u
u w er e l a s t in New Y ork ;
o
and
Miss
Abby
wh
n
e
o
y
y
but if I go to New O rl eans wh er e the D octor talks of
passing the winter I shall return by way o f W ashing
ton ; and ah ! then h o w sweet to look upon yo u my dear
dear friend with these eyes which your kindness h a s
W oul d they could gather up all the
s o much blessed
smiles in the world and set them circling around your
heart
L ast evening favored with cards from Mrs General
Ashley fo r myself and the little sister I have with me
I attended a reception at the Metropolitan I could
d istinguish easily all the gra c eful gliding forms o f the
ladies and recognize m a ny o f them by their dresses
E verybody is rej oicing at my prospect o f seeing again
but I sometimes w eep from f ear l est th e sudden effect
O f the subtle vapor s the D octor is using upon my eye s
Ind eed h e s a ys I must go t o
m ay not cannot last
N ew O rleans for continued treatment o r they will lose
all they have gained ; and as yo u can imagine I am
making every possible exertion to d o so
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a!
T o M r s Pr es iden t F illm o r e
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Was h ingto n
,
D
.
C
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a!
CA S T
UP O N
WA TE R S
TH E
C H AP T E R XXI
CA ST
.
WA T E R S
U PO N T H E
N ew Or lea n s La
,
AH !
1 45
.
.
.
A p r il
,
1 85 8
,
.
you have he a rd rightly I d o in d eed see again
at least well enough to know the morning from the
evening and the noon sun from the moon coquetting
through her watery v eils S ometimes to o when th e
night is clear the stars come twinkling softly down t o
my eyes as the smiles o f friends com e stealing faintly
in upon my heart But since the publication of my
letter to Mrs F illmore that yo u sa w heralding not
“
”
only !
I see again ! I see again ! but recounting a
score o r so more o f the D octor s wonderful cures peo
ple have been crowding to him from every part o f th e
country—b y steamer by land by every m eans poss ible
that people can travel they have come ; and naturally
les s time has been found for treating my eyes and a c
c o r d in g ly their improvement more slow
Some little
gain though waits upon every loss and my little gai n
in this case was no further charge for the treatments
I shoul d receive Still o n e cannot even stay in thi s
pleasure loving pleasure giving city without money
and coming to the last o n e as it seemed o f those w h o
“
would have A Place in T h y Memory I w as seein g
no alternative but to leave the D octor and ta ke up my
line o f march again wi th the little books But t hat
evening in th e drawing r o om, as th o u gh so me go o d
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WA Y
TH E F O R E SH A D OWE D
1 46
.
angel had been explaining to him what Mo z art calle d
”
“
all about it a stranger accosted me with !
“
Y our pardon Madame but a year ago my wife
an d my s elf came across
A Place in T h y M emory
which so beguiled a day for us in a dreary hotel that
at evening we each d eclared that we would not take
ten dollars for what we had profited and promised
shoul d we ever meet the author to hold ourselves that
”
much in her debt
I thanked him cordially as you
may imagine and w a s made very happy by an intro
duction to his little bl a ck eye d wife T h e next morn
“
ing I received m y stranger friends card S W ann
”
and L ady o f B elfast Ir eland announcing that t h em
selves a n d three o f th eir party desired copies O f my little
work a ll a t th e sa m e p r ic e with the four twenties
—
smiling in the envelope a touch o f Job s better days
you s ee as w ell as some Of hi s brighter ones Great
wise Jo b ! H e must have been blind else h e never
could have said
“
Behold ! mine eyes are dim with sorrow and the
”
L ord hath set darkness in a ll my paths
But you are wondering how I found word s golden
enough o r beautiful enough to thank those four pur
chasers in those four friends from over the sea W hy !
all I coul d say to them was
W arm hearted E rin gave thee thy blood and thy
”
name
W here o n e really wills though to make r e
turn soo ner o r later there comes an openin g I believe
in the turn o f things for at least the semblance of it
T hey were a gay party en route to the W est Indies and
would return in time fo r th e Carnival o r the great
masquerad e at th e St L ou is ; a n d wh en the tickets were
gi v en o u t to each lady g uest I bethou g ht me to keep
enough o f th ose accorded t o my l itt le sis ter and mys el f
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TH E F
1 48
O R E S H A DOWE D WA Y
.
that h as so long hung Ov er the windows o f my soul h as
seemed hardly more than a mist of floating particles ;
then again it thickens back like the coming on o f night
when louder and louder grows the assurance in my heart
tha t howe v er potent D r T urnbull s cuppings and v apor s
may be for thinning the clouds they may n ever lift
them from my sky until the l a st scene of tha t dark fore
shadowe d way has been w andered through
S ocially the winter here has been o n e of rare pro fit ;
while seeing a littl e and daily hourly expecting to see
more h a s made the world almo st as glad a s new
T hrough Mrs Guy Johnson o f Petersburg I once e x
changed a few letters with Madam W alton Le Vert, o f
Mob ile ; and here at the opening o f the St Charles
while her daughter and the little sister I ha v e with
me were dancing their curls straight we chanced t o
mee t and since have e x changed calls Y esterday r e
ferring t o my pro spect o f seeing again I was su r
prised t o hear h er say that she was once nine mon th s
con fi ned t o her room without the light and the day
nine mo o ns and in that time mastere d a language an d
learn ed to play the guitar
“
T h e friend who presented us named her t he Madame
”
de St ael o f America ; and l istening to her brilliant
con versation o n e readily accords to her that meed of
prais e if not more
T o morrow s steamer will lea v e me at the li ttle c it y
where a dear Mrs Og
o f N atchez o n the Mississippi
den who has been some time here with her daughter
a patient h a s invited me for a stay at her place just
o u t of the city
T hen at M emphis a box of the little
books will be waiting ; also at L ouisville Cincinnati
T hence I wind down into th e
Cle v eland and B u ffalo
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WA TE R S
CA S T UPO N TH E
Ca n aseraga Valley for
a
v isit
to
1 49
.
my parent s
in
their
new home
W hen this new l ight firs t c ame and w a s brightest I
went to them for a night and a day and as th r o u g h
a glass darkly could retrace the smiles on their fac e
My elder sisters I could readily distinguish the o n e
fro m the other T h e younger ones though seven y ea r s
had grown beyond the possibility o f recall T here i s a
portrait there t o o that yo u know o f whose eyes w o r e 1 1
look o f reproach however clos e pres s ed o r how ev er
turned peradventure to capture some glimpse Of th ei r
meaning
T houghts are swift w inged and yours are a l r ea dy
poising over a day in a summer gone wh en o n e w e n t
away with his palms written ov er with my p r o m i s es a n d
my tears But friend o f t he long ag o as all music is
o n e s o all love is o n e only voiced in the h ea r t to d i ffer
ent keys and run g through different chords T h e o n e
in heaven wooed and w o n lo v e and bequ eath ed to m v
h eart a memory majestic and beautiful to ke ep ; while
another half a world away whose letter I have h ere
to day telling o f naught but loss and disaster mak es
n ot loving impossible and forgetting—treason agai n st
all that the heart o f woman was fashioned to admire
T hen why say we lo v e twice o r thrice as the case m ay
be when the song i s o n e and the harp the same the
tone s only varying a s b e n ea th th e touch o f a less o r a
more mast erly h a n d !
.
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O
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I
To
M rs G eo
.
.
W
.
F is h er
,
R o c h es ter, N Y
.
.
TH E F O R E SH A D OWE D
1 50
CH
A L L
A PT E R XX II
S
T H E
YE
E
WA Y
.
A R
S t J o s ep h M o
.
,
.
S
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,
.
Ju ly 1 85 9
,
.
T H I S is
o n e of t hose e x clusi v e rainy days that banish
the worl d and house in all swee t t h ought and feeling ;
and from up o u t the distance and the long ago I ha v e
evoked my friend Mary W eld and bade her enter and
s it down by me h ere while o u r souls trade whisper s
that go lingering through the heart like bo x ed mus ic
W hy have I not written you since that long las t
night in the I ns t itution ask me why ? T h e F ate s
are v ery nice friends but vastly bad enemies O n c e
on a time they fell o u t with me a n d from that day t o
t his a ll bright things are as surely turned from my
path a s the beams from the sun a r e though shot straight
down from heaven W hat wond er then that no letter
O f thi ne through all these ye a rs has b een able to reach
me until this thy last came rustling in fresh and wel
come as t h e green leaf in the beak o f the dove It w a s
a day v isi t ant white w inged but far into the night
my thoughts were busying themselves with the broken
dreams o f the past a n d alongsi d e your love stars now
I placed mine long since gone out leaving
s o b right
the world as cold and empty to me a s a bell without a
tongue and as charmless as a harp without a string
”
“
Y o u say as o f yore !
A h ! th a t
Y our W ill iam
litt le w ord u p out Of th e s ilence, th a t whi sper ac ross
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TH E
1 52
F
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
dear ones in school the rent day fo r the larg er home
t h at was needed the mill and its ever r ecurring r epair s
you have that other mystic phase o f th e v is io n ! th e
disapp earance o f the go ld en circles fr o m my h a nd a i
m o s t fa s ter th a n I w as a b le t o ga th er th em
T his pouring rain r emin ds me o f th e lat e floo d that
swept through the v all ey be a ri n g down all b efore it
save the dam to the mill O ver that th ey say the mad
d en ed waters roll ed doing no harm a s though the L ord
“
had said t o H is mightiest angel ! Go h o ld it thou with
thy two hands th a t n o t a pebble be lifted —an d all
for the sake o f the dear gray coated gray b atted whit e
handed smiling o ld miller there in whose thought
as in h is heart the song o f D avid is a song o f his o w n !
”
“
B less the L ord ! praise the L ord ! O m y soul
B ut Mary this sixth scene o f the v is io n with the
”
“
gathering o f the gold en sp ecks h a s lasted t o o long ;
a n d as o n e goes to study the chart o f a country he is
to travel through my weary thoughts are forever look
ing back into that strange foreshadowing for what came
nex t and then o u t over the slow turn ing years p er a d
venture to fin d in the times some s ign o f approach t o
the seventh scene But even with th a t passed two sc en es
more will r emain t o be w a ited fo r and watch ed for er e
the end with the light and the d a y ; and judging by
the ages that have lengthened their shadows over my
heart since the coming o f the sixth scene I shall be
t o o o ld t o o worn t o o near the cold river to more than
shout
“
—
O h ! the light the light
and then as Jo b says
o
g the way wh ence I shall not return
Alas ! not till dreams are p an o r am a ed sighs a r e
p a int ed and fanci es blushed into form ; not till hopes
are chi seled bead ed bub bles snatc h ed fro m the wa ves,
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A LL T H E
SE
YE A R S
fi sh ed up f r om th e s ea s may I hope to p a ss
ag a in in thi s wor ld o n e such mill en n ium o f brightnes s
as yo u l o o k o n o r liv e t h r ough ev er y day O h ! woul d
t h en I w er e s o lifted up in all th a t is exalted and
cha n g el es s t h a t a lth o u gh in d arkn ess I would be stars
unt o my self my th o u ght s s ilv eri n g o u t th ei r o w n ligh t ;
a n d im a g i n a t io n i n st ea d o f s o m b er i n g t h e co m i n g y ear s
wit h d r ea d i llum i n i n g t h em w i th h o p e light s th e whi le
deeds cl u st er in my m em o r y w o r t h y o f o n e fo r whose
s a ke pityi n g H eav en s t o o p ed s o l o w a s to n o t only fore
shadow the w a v but to s et it along with that never
f a iling guid a n c e t h a t P a ul mu st hav e b een claiming
fo r him self wh en h e a sk ed !
”
“
?
Be they n o t all mi n i st ering spirits
H o w hard it is t o re a liz e that d ear Mrs Seager is
d ead It is going t o b e hard er still though I imagine
to find o n e a dequ a t e to th e ta sk o f gathering up her
r ich sayings and doi n gs and pre s enting them properly
S o o n a ft er th e light left my ey es sh e
t o the world
c a m e a n d captur ed a bundle o f my school day effu
sio n s a n d we n t a w a y d et ermin ed to make a little volume
S h e r eturn e d the n ext
o f th em fo r my s p eci a l b en efit
m orning howev er so rrowing th a t sh e had lost th em all
I t o ld h er that some good
b ef o r e sh e r ea ch ed h o m e
angel kn owi n g h o w m o r tifi ed t h e a u th o r woul d be
must have followed her a n d stolen th e roll from under
And s o n o w I sh o uld f a ncy h er spirit follow
h er arm
ing aft er the one appointed to make a volume o f her
productio n s
S o fa r and n o t a word about o r to yo u r Wi llia m
Please divid e with him though as large a portion o f
my love as will make at least a rose leaf upon his a l
r ea dy brimming cup
S tr angers m ay intere s t an d new fri ends fas cinate
an d
m o on s
1 53
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TH E
1 54
F
O R E SH A DOWE D W A Y
.
our o l d friends who relight the waning fi re s
upon the heart s worn hearthstones ; an d do you think
I have n o pleasure in the thought o f soon being with
o u will be enough to
u ?
W
hy
!
my
j
oy
at
meeting
o
y
y
shake every lintel to your prairie home ; and would I
coul d come with so much o f sight as you saw described
in my letter to Mrs F illmore some years a go But
alas ! it was a little sunny O pening in the wildernes s
merely t o o b r igh t to tarry long and I must wait for
a nother like i t till the closing scene of the v is io n th a t
like a glittering m irage seems forever distanc ing itself
from my v iew
b u t it is
’
.
.
,
,
,
,
,
.
To
Mrs Wm
.
.
Weld
,
I llin o is
.
TH E
1 56
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
F
'
—
doub ting
th eir
cause
recall
o
u
see
i
f
e
v
er
a
day
y
could come when n o t a vestige o f them would remain
”
“
o n the side o f the world toward me
It seemed impossible then but look at it n o w when
n o t only the tiny gol d dollars but all the gold and all
the silv er even has been gathered up and sent to other
lands fo r the n ecessities and ammunitions o f a civil
war whil e just a s lit erally quantities o f a dark green
“
”
material in lumps rolls o r bunches have risen up
in their stead— quantities o f a dark green material in
stamps o f three cents five cents ten cents twenty five
cents fifty cents ; and wh en a dollar o f it is made u p
what have you but a stack o f
o r an hundr ed dollar s
”
“
dark gr een stu ff that looking o n o n e instinctively
“
pronounce s w o r th less the edges only flashing golden
forty cents o n a dollar
I h a d reached Gr eensburg and been there about a
we ek when havi n g a draft o f $ 2 5 0 00 o f it made up fo r
my publisher a little cousin I have with me undertook
T h e mass of wads rolls and bunches were
t o count it
in the hat box to my t r unk E mptying it all o n the
bed she first undertook t o count it by making up o n e
dollar at a time from dimes and fives and twenty fiv es ;
but confu sed o r the stack getting t o o high and toppling
over I proposed to make stacks o f five dollars each
laying th em along o n the b ed in rows W hen she had
perhaps a dozen lines running up and down th e counter
pane the landlord s daughter came for her to go and
play a duet in th e parlor ; and as it was n ear noon I
told her to pu sh it all up u nder the pillow and leave it
till aft er d in n er But instead o f putting it under the
pillow she m erely stack ed it up again st it and as I
threw myself down fo r a few mo m en ts rest my hand
went so deep into the papery stuff I was start led
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S E V E NT H
TH E
S CE NE
1 57
.
Clutchi n g
a handful o f it I drew it o v er my face to
the other hand and w as wadding it up and thinking
what worthless rags it is when the sun shining o n it
from the window revealed to the little light in my
eyes its shade o f green L ike a flash the recollection
”
o f the
dark green stu ff o f the v isio n came to me
L ook at it and then say as I am saying over and over
“
L o ! the seventh scen e o f the v is io n with the sounds
o f alarm e ven that filled the air and the rougher ways
that it brought
Sounds o f alarm ind eed ! H ardly
were we o u t o f place after place through southern Penn
sylvania before the approach o f Mo r gan s band Jack
son s host o r the armies o f L ee set the p eople to flying in
every direction In Columbia the stillness of a Sunday
“
morning w a s suddenly br o ken with the cry
T he
”
rebels ! T h e rebels ! while their shells were falli n g
into the river right in front o f o u r windows In an
instant it seemed the streets were thronged with th e
flying people the b o y soldiers from the fort o n th e
other side of the river came rattling their c annon over
the bridge that some o n e stupidly fir ed before half their
comrades wer e over T hen flames and shouts and yell s
“
filled the air while the whisper rose in my heart ! E x
and now even every
a c tly as it was in the v is io n ;
hour l n the day come telegrams o f b a ttles lost o r w o n
hundreds o r thousands slain and the country rocked to
its very center w ith doubt and fear In the v is io n
though yo u remember finally all grew calm again a n d
as Vicksburg and Port H udson have fallen and
Morris Island is fast lo sing ground so the L ord ma v
continue to help and ere long all indeed grow calm
again
At all events as fourteen years o f the wandering wan
dering ga th ering the tiny gol d dollars have passed so
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TH E
1 58
F
OR E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
the seemi ng a ges o f g athering the dark gree n stuff are
surely t o be lengthen ed over my way And how long
think you will it last— h o w long ere that too d isap
pear an d those thin g o lden slat es shine o u t ?
F ar back that my f a ther should be no more tortured
with the rent day fo r the mill I pledged the pay
ments for it and o n e draft more is still to be sent b e
f o re that a n d the grounds adjoining where my cot
t a ge was to hav e been will be paid fo r Besides during
these l o ng years my parents have been living in a plac e
n o t their o w n
T h e rent though has always been paid
by o n e so far away that they have lost the day o f it
and all there have nearly forgotten but that the home
is indeed their o w n Meantime the daughters return
ing from school have hun g th e walls around with their
paintings and one af ter another been married there
F ive wedding s ha v e hallowed the o l d place ; and goings
and comi n gs and tears o f parting and j oys of meet
in g until the heads o f the dear o ld people have whit
ened with the snows o f years W hat wonder then that
when I have told them o f my cott age among the trees
wherein they were to pass their last days their pleas
ure seemed not t o keep pac e with my o w n I have
thought sometimes they doubt ed my ever being abl e
to accomplish it and wondered at it too after having
surrounded them wi th so many surprises But this is
it ! they love the o ld place amo n g the elms
It is dearer
to them as h o m e than any other place coul d ever be
Y et it is now t o be sold and— do yo u see
they mus t
not go out o f their paradis e we eping
After my visit to Boston I wrote you o f the deposit
I had left there towa r d my cott a ge among the trees
‘
adding I think ! unless some angel come by night to
d ig it u p
T h ere came a n o c c a sion th ough for bo th
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TH E
16 l
’
F
O R E SH A D OWE D WA Y
’
.
As the war has raised the price o f everyt h ing else
Ah ! that
s o the price o f the little books has risen also
little book that has everywhere proven passport spen d
in g mo n ey profit and aroun d whose name the worl d
All through
s eems n ever weary wreathing i t s praise !
D elaw a r e the success o f it was beautiful
I had no
l etters o f introduction and the price o f it being changed
l eft n o t even the advantage o f former lists o f names
to begin with Still we went to D over first T h e
Governor was n o t there but toward evening he and
his staff very unexpectedly arrived just to pass the
night T h e landlord had heard me inquire for H is
E xcellency and brought him up directly
I introduced
myself and the cause o f the little book to him as best I
could ; and it would have done your heart good a s it
did all in heaven to see how benignly and beautifully
he took the pen from Co u z ie s hand and as an example
t o a ll D elaware headed the list with his own right loyal
n a me
W illiam Cannon
Paid
T h e next morning the Secretary o f State followed
the then Sp eaker o f the Senate and the Speaker of the
H ouse and then a long line o f the Members o f the
—
L egislature and then all the town
see
tha t
D o yo u
was the commencement and we wen t o n just that way
ll over the little State hearing the rustling o f wings
e very step o f the way
0 success ! thou bright winged g en ie t o human a m
bitio u thou sweet rewarder o f toil ! W hat is there that
success does n o t make beautiful ? Wh at drudgery so
homely o r hardship so sad that victory does not turn
it all to rejoicing and pour brimming cups o f thanks
giving for every b itt e r the soul may have tasted
F ro m Newcastle we cros sed the river to Salem N J ,
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SE VE NTH S CE NE
TH E
.
w here
1 61
.
your gifted friend Miss Maylin w a s the first to
come o u t to m eet m e ; and w h a t with her the sweet Mi s s
“
Abby Paul and the three copi es o f A Place in T h y
”
M emory that long ago found their way into th a t sc r a p
o f E d en
the who le town was speedily turn ed i nto a
l i ttle city o f friends m a ny wi t h a c a pit a l F a n d some
W th a little o n e
I can never tell yo u th e h a lf that fo l
lowed
“
I shall come
T hee must ride with us to morrow
”
for thee and thy little cousin second d a y evening
“
”
”
“
—
third day
fourth day
seventh day and all th e
days Nearly a hun d r ed subscribed fo r th e little books
before they came Mr Clement Acton let a d ear Mi ss
T hompson have his horse and carriage and we p a s s ed
“
”
seventh day among her friends in the country
one
and returned with fourteen added names for the little
u see planted a big corner stone
book Mr A
o
y
while Miss T
with her t w o white hands ran a
little row along th e walls o f my cottage that then was to
—
b e but alas ! it was only a dream that was even then
fading away
L ike her distinguishe d cousin D r Bowring Miss
M a ylin s learn ing is really v a st
In d eed h er li n es of
reading seemingly run from o n e en d o f tim e t o the
other touching all the high places o f th o ught a n d s p a n
ning the bro a dest seas o f poesy H er library th a t was
largely h er father s occupi es th e entire mansa r d t o an
o ld mansion
I passed much time with her there and
“
finally named it the lighthou se o f Sal em
But I
should fail to give yo u a just idea o f your long ago
friend coul d I n o t tell yo u that in a thousand ways she
reminds me o f yo u She talks like yo u reads like you
comes in and goes o u t like yo u smiling everywh ere and
blessing as she g oes
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F
TH E
1 62
O R E SH A DOWE D W A Y
.
Mrs Sharp whose husband is editor o f T h e S ta n dar d
and o n e of the Government collectors o f this blessed
little State i s a Marylander Southern all over and al
most loyal ; and among her other attentions I o w e her
for a visit to the quaint o l d lace maker whom I went
to see partly from curiosity and partly to make a little
pilgrimage to a place where your st eps had fallen T h e
her lineage
o ld lady entertained us with her bobbins
from Cowper s lace makers down stories of John New
t o n W atts and t h en s a ng and played fo r us one o f each
“
God Moves in a Mysteriou s
o f their hymns— Cowper s
”
W ay
D uring the process o f struggling through the
three hymn s eight een verses in all the little cousin I
h ave with me and Mrs S
found it di fficult to main
tain their gravity ; but dear o l d lady my heart trie d
to hear it all sw eet and b eautiful as the souls of the ir
pious author s d o ubtless would hav e done
“
”
Ah ! it is w ell an d very w ell as Alice Cary says
that there are not too many Sal ems along my wilder
ne ss way I should grow t o o fond o f sweet attentions
and too accustomed to ease E ven now I am sitting
here with the half fainting child H ope o n my l a p won
d ering if ever ever ever the seeming ages between th e
seventh and eighth sc enes o f th e v is io n will be length
ened over my way and with the golden squares o f the
—
—
b
ninth whatever they are to e folded in my arms I
come again to behold the light and the day
.
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e
ar
To
Mrs A u gus ta D ea n B u c kley
.
,
D u n kir k N Y
,
.
.
F
TH E
1 64
OR E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
some bubbles o f gladness always so sure to break
while one lifts them ? O r forego one step o f the climb
ing have the way one touch smoother o r the spring s
to drink from in the least robbed of their bitter when
the goal to be reached would needs be set just s o much
—
o
f
?
N
farther down in the scale
being
o no
a thousand
times no
I t i s far easier though to put hopeful
thoughts like these on pape r than to li v e them spe a k
them smile them up through the storm and the cloud ;
far easier to talk about coming o u t all the safer by the
pearly gates than to tread low down the covert way that
H owever since the disappearance
leads up to them
“
”
circles o r specks and the coming on o f
o f the golden
”
“
t h e dark green stuff in lumps rolls or bunches s ix
teen long wandering years have rolled away with the
gathering gathering and never possessing as literally
reali z e d a s the dawn and close o f th e days No w
though by the resumption o f specie payment the dura
tion of the dark green stuff is limited ; and as the
fragmentary part o f it is already beginn ing to d is ap
pear my long foreshadowed way does n o t look so
dense as it did glimpses of the end seem breaking
throu gh sometimes and it i s far easier to keep hope
o n the wing
Y o u marvel that I should n o t have found a resource
in my voice ; but when at the Institution I came to a s
cend the scale for the o ld Professor expecting to as
tonish him with the high compass o f my soprano 10 !
instead o f concert A my voice stopped short at F ; and
after three times trying the choke in my heart brought
tears to my eyes Seeing me standing there in deep
black and knowing of the recent loss o f my si ght the
Profes sor exclaimed
“
I t is your grea t sorrow my ch ild t ha t has lowered
fo r
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GL I MPSE S
E ND
OF TH E
1 65
.
your v o ice to contralto In my o w n coun t ry I knew
”
Y o u may overcome it
a n instance o f that
Meantim e
though another way was opening the predestined way
wherein n o t only voice but every other power accorded
to me was called into play H e w h o forecasts the lines
wherein o u r steps are to fall stands also dispenser at
the fount o f gifts and apportions to each and e v ery
o n e I believe according as the day o f hi s need may be
If we could stand at H is elbow though each o n e would
no doubt presume to sugge st this o r that o r the other
as better fo r himself At least I once persuaded m y
self that oratory should n o t have been omitted from the
gifts accorded to me and straightway committed such
an o ffense against the proprieties as to lecture—if in
deed the delivery o f a poetic oration could be called
lecturing Kame says no motive i s single and my
“
”
reasons fo r such a step were as varied o r mixed as
any moti v e could possibly be Paramount to all others
though I thought I saw in it a milder easier way of
smiting the heart rocks along the rema inder o f my wil
derness way Besides it was at a time when every per
so n o f any literary attainment whatever seemed turn
ing h is o r her attention to the rostrum as the one
direct means of making talent serve it s possessor ; a n d
chanc i ng to hear an author say that a discourse o f a
month s labor had resulted in more to h im pecuniarily
than all the works he had published I began to reason
with myself that an audience o f many persons should
be no more formidable to me than an audience o f o n e ;
a n d the lecture was given first at Steinway H all , New
Y ork
I w o n columns of praise in di fferent places was
“
”
calle d a lady Cicero even T hen scores o f invita
tions followed but mostly in churches o r fo r churches
—
u
b rned o r in debt one from a society of ladies in
.
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TH E
1 66
OR E SH A DOWE D WA Y
F
.
S chen ectady o f which Mrs D r Nott was president
Th e proceeds of the lecture were to g o for a benevolent
purpose which made the interest in it so general that
the churches with their ministers the college the pro
fesso r president and all helped to compose the audi
ence
D r D arling made the pr esentation and w a s
thought to ha v e written the review for th e paper tha t
closed with
“
T here w a s a beauty o f e x pression a power of di s
crimination and a reach o f fancy in this lecture as it
w andered through the peopled reg i ons of imagination
that was a s wonderful to us as any curiosity we h a v e
seen in many a d ay T h e force o f the most delicately
conceived analysis o f the inner workings o f the m ind
and heart traced with a precision an d skill equal to
that o f him who follows closely the thin courses o f life
with the keen edge o f the surgeon s knife was seen in
”
e v ery part o f her wonderful discourse
T h e next day the president o f the college D r N ott
Potter gave a dinner at his house in h onor o f D r
Clark o f Albany after his Prayer D ay sermon fo r t he
college to which many of the clergymen o f the city were
inv ited Mrs D r N ott grandmother o f the president
was invited to preside in place o f Mrs Potter who w a s
absent ; and being Mrs N ott s guest the invitation in
cluded me also D r Clark o f course occupied the se at
at the president s right while I had the honor of s it
ting a t his left with a v ery entertaining reverend at
”
“
my left who when grace had been said and the car v
ing commenced announced his attendance on my lecture
the evening before with
“
I did not know madam whic h of th e many fine
points to your lecture most to admire
Bu t
o u would onl
a
i
h
a
v
e
t
o
cl
i
th
e
l
i
n
es
l
tt
le
t
h
e
t
o
y
p
y
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TH E
1 68
F
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
AP T E R XXV
CH
WA I T I N G
.
S a n F ra n c is c o Ca l Ju n e 1 8 8 5
,
.
,
,
.
D E A R wa t cher upon the tower of my night can yo u
believe that like Boaz o f o ld F ather T ime h a s said once
“
L et fall n o w a sheaf in the way
a gain to the reapers !
o f yonder gleaner whose head has whitened through
—
forty years of waiting waiting a sheaf o f prophecy
merely a little o n e foretelling the rich harvest that ere
”
long she is to gather
Al l up and down this Pacific
“
”
coast or literally on th e side o f the world toward me
”
n ot a v estige of the dark green stuff o r the green
back currency is to be seen In a bank to day aski n g
fo r a piece of it in e x change fo r silver
“
”
W e do n o t handle it madam ! was the curt reply
T hen it flashed upon me that from the Missouri to th e
Pacific hardly a scrap of it had been taken in return
for the little books—eve rywhere gold silver o r th e
n ew silver certificate
W hen the darkness of the third scene had fallen in
sa ble curtains down around my life I read from it th e
sure following o f all that had been p an o r a m a ed to my
spir it eyes in those fleeting seconds ; and now when b e
n ign an t F ate stands recording the aeons o f waiting b e
“
tween the coming and the disappearance o f the dark
”
f
f
e
r
e
n
stu
so nearly passed h o w easy to see that ere
g
long the banks all over the land will be saying !
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WA ! TI Na
1 69
.
”
W e do no t h andle i t madam !
D oes that look any more impossible to you now than
”
looked the golden specks o r tiny gold dollars the day
five years before they were thought o f ?
o f the v is io n
Any more impossible than their sudden disappearance ;
“
any more impossible than the coming o f the dark green
”
in their stead that only o u r Civil W ar thrust
s tuff
upon the world ; any more impossible its disappearance
than would have looked its issue a quarter of a cen
“
”
tury ago ? T h e absence o f the dark green stuff here
on the side o f the world where I chance to be marks
the approach of its utter disappearance so plainly that
a handwritin g upon the wall could scarcely make it
plainer
No imagination though may be w inged enoug h to
foresee o r in the least forestall the putt ing ou t of
God s hand ; yet somewhere within the confines of H is
eternal providence the two remaining scenes lie hidden
T h e experience that there has never seemed any nam e
for but a vis io n was a veritable unfolding o f the future
to the eyes o f my soul while all consciousness of th e
outer worl d was held a s in the abeyance of deat h
W hate v er then w a s pan o r a m a ed to my gaze wi thin the
scope o f its duration could have been trailed o nl y by
the hand of O ne who knoweth to still the senses of the
body while the soul for a second free overlooks the
sombered ages o f its o w n destiny no t ing the while each
varying scene each shadowy footprin t a s landmarks to
memory when in aftertime they come to be retraced
in ste m reality
H o w then eliminate any one scene
and write over it I mp o s sib le when eight that were trailed
within the same scope ha v e been al ready transla t ed in t o
real life ? No I will believe I must bel ieve t ha t some
wh ere o r someho w before the sunse t o f my l ife h as
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TH E
1 70
F
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
fallen to o low I shall n o t only stand with t hose golde n
leaves o r squares folded in my arms but behol d the
dawn that overwhelmed my soul in the v is io n breaking
again its beams upon these eyes of mine so weary in
their wait ing a n d so h ea v y in the ir longing for t he
,
,
To
M r s M ary
.
Weld
,
R o c kfo r d I llin ois
,
.
F
TH E
1 72
OR E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
ing it out but the nex t t o the last the scene of the
shining squares that yo u remember I had folded in
my arms when I walk ed away fro m the dark o ld pres
“
ence saying to myself !
W hy this is wealth
B ut
do n o t say
“
I hope to live t o read it but I am afraid yo u will
”
T h e years have been many and it is n o t
not let me
surprising that yo u should be sometimes in doubt a s
to whether your step s are falling without or within the
v eil ; but dear Mrs Nott if o nl y fo r the sake o f o n e
who has so long turned to the little city o f your house
for love and light do yo u hearken less to the angels
when they call turn your sweet face away nor watch
t heir white hands when they beckon ; and above all do
n ot linger t o o long o ve r those ancient papers lest their
d us t choke the river bet ween to a fording and the ir b e
lo ved au t hor come to entice yo u away
H a s the last o n e then of all those who were o n t he
hill when yo u c a me to it in 4 2 folded down his ten t
and gone ? F ive o f my classmates at L ima entered the
”
“
c o llege that autumn and if I co ve t ed the shew bread
t hey were to gather from it s altars I envied them no t
less t h e tim es they woul d meet the distinguished bride
o f the president
whose beauty and rare atta inments
had been e x tolled until t o the aspirant I then was it
see med worth a j ourney to S chenectady if only once t o
look o n her radiance and in that o n e glance o f con
“
”
t ras t gain answer t o the query !
What lack I yet ?
H eaven borr ows O ftenest of those w h o li v e neares t
and do I wonder that dear Mrs Nott has come at last
to fi nd a feeling o f loneliness creeping over her ? No
no I wonder not but am pl eased rather t o h ear h er
e x press it t o hear her complain a l it tl e—it makes h er
seem so mo r e human, and e v er so l itt l e mo re l ike me,
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A N A F T E R ! P IE CE
1 73
.
with nothing left but the o ld hom e among the elms
whose windows had been gladdened by the light o f
se v en weddings when the golden wedding came ; since
the cr epe o f two funerals has sombered its doors an d
the o ld place is standing empty and alone
T h e question as to th e result o f my long j ourney
West brings me in part to bear witness against myself
so little was gained thereby F rom New Y ork to S an
F rancisco with the little books and n o t a corner eve n
o f that pretty mort gage o f mine lifted all the way o n e
place so nearly consuming the other And now t o hav e
the o ld fields o v er again I must needs have a n ew book ;
and o f my two small ones I have chosen M o r ta r a a
name your lips first pronounced to me now almost
forty years agone
T hat most beni g n o f critics D r J G H olland said
“
If yo u have other things that yo u can publish and
leave M o r ta r a un til yo u are dead and gone it woul d
”
“
make a splendid after piece
Although gone v erily
”
”
“
“
gone I am not dead and the little book is fast
going into type If n o t a miss io n er a s you say it goes
to fill a need ; and who knows but the ninth scene o f
the vis io n lies folded within its leaves ? L et it go
forth then e v en a s it was lived every line lengthened
with the footprints o f my wanderings and every word
pulsing with a h eart beat of mi ne own
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a
a
To
Mrs D r N o tt
.
.
,
Un io n Co llege S c h en ec tady, N Y
,
.
.
1 74
TH E F
CH
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
AP T E R XXV II
TH E
N INT H
S C E NE
G r een s b u rg Pa
,
.
.
.
.
,
Oc to b er 1 900
.
,
D O human s gra vi t ate t o places as they do to one an
?
o ther
After thirty eight years without planning
without seeking without a though t ne a rly I find m y
—
i
n
self again
Greensburg might say the winds ble w
my barque this way Arriving I looked boarding
places until the sun threatened to lea v e the sky ; then
no altern ativ e must take t o an hotel— o n e t o o awfully
”
“
e x pensiv e o n e littl e eyes did not like the entrance ;
—
o nly o n e left
c ame t o it terms acceptable shown to
my room and fou nd myself within five feet of the
—
room I had here thirty eight years ago the little room
“
w herein the discovery o f the
dark green stuff of th e
vis io n was mad e— the seventh scene fulfilled
whereby
I knew that G o d had neither forgo t ten nor forsaken
and the end with the light the ligh t would come yet
N o t long after I went to visit my friend Mrs D r
No tt at S chenectady to whom I had told the v isio n
at the L ong I sland W at er Cu re in the summer of 1 8 4 8
since when sh e had watched three scenes o f it t ranspire
“
”
come to pass as she expressed it in her Bible w a y
or
Y o u and I were in the library where hung t he por t rai t
of the fifty year president of the college and were
n oting the elevations on his venerable head thereby
“
the
ac c oun t ing for the t i t l e t he w orld had given him
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TH E F O R E
1 76
SH A D O WE D WA Y
.
moon had fully waned a night settled down around my
life whose blackness swallowed up the sun the moo n
and the stars
I did not die ; I did no t pray to die but lay there
like o n e slain o f great heart wounds slain and yet alive
D ays passed long night days days so dark that only
G o d had light to count them by T hen a morning came
when slowly and very tentatively I b egan to feel my
way o u t into the world ; and before the first step was
taken the soul in me r eeled and I settled back groan
ing the great groan of soul that reaches heaven D i d
I hear it or does an utterance from o u t the u n s een so
fall upon o u r inner being as to t ouch all our senses
?
and we call it feeling Say then I more felt than heard
“
”
the whisper !
I will guide thee with mine eye
No t
knowing that I had ever heard or seen the words before
I seized upon their promise of an hea v enly guidance
as addressed expressly to me and from H im who had
not only foreshadowed my lot but had set my feet t o
treading down it s darkened way O ver and over I re
”
e
a
d
the
words
I
will
guide
thee
with
mine
eye
t
e
p
each repetition seeming to bring me nearer to the D ivi n e
and nearer to the smile that was to be as a lamp to my
feet T hen with the gladness o f great tears one by one
I lifted the precious words and bound them about my
heart Around and around I wound them until braced
and healed by them I stoo d up and with bowed head
making no murmur faced toward the ne x t scene
the being borne or carried along through the darkness
which materialized in my j ourney from R ochester t o
the New Y ork Blind Institute fo r a lapse o f three
—
years just long enough yo u see fo r writing the little
”
“
book that was to be the open sesame to the remaini n g
s c enes of th e vision b eginn ing with th e o n e as impo ssi
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TH E NI NT H
S CE NE
.
bl e to words a s to lift shadows from water the scene
wherein the darkness itself began to loom up before m e
with an overawing presence that while it filled me with
fear drew me steadily n earer and n ea r er to it until I
discovered its surface specked all o v er with tiny circles
o f gold
As I say the little book was written but the pub
li eb er who would n o t und ertake it without being firs t
secured fo r half o f the first edition o r the sale o f a
thousand copies had a part to play in the fulfillment o f
that unimaginable scene by driving me to the necessity
o f seeking a thousand subscrib ers fo r the little book in
the great overawing city o f New Y o r k ju st aft er the
Go v ernment issue o f gold dollars in 1 8 4 9 In th e v is io n
picking those golden specks o u t w ith one hand and drop
ping them into the other when the palm was nea r ly
full I disco v ered them to be money and said to myself !
“
Ah ! I can make these do all that I should do fo r the
”
h
dear ones in that cottage home and
and
marry
o
t
e
g
tall doctor whom I loved I was going to say ; but in
stead my though t turned to pick o u t another o f t h e
little gold pieces and when I went to drop it into the
hand 10 ! all the others were gone as though wha t I
had been thinking to do with them had spirit ed th em
“
—
away D o you see
I was g o in g to say marry the
tall doctor but I did not finish th e words H e w h o
was trailing the v isio n before my spirit eyes could r ead
the future and knew that wh en I sh o uld co m e to lit er
ally pick those gold dollars o u t o f t h e dark o ld world
around me and use them fo r the de a r o n es th e t all
doctor would be in his grave and I l ef t to gather those
tiny circles and watch them disappear from my hand
almost faster tha n I c oul d ga th er t hem, e x ac tly as w a s
fores ha dowed
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1 78
TH E F
'
O R E SH A DOWE D WA Y
.
W hat in t he visio n I could find no name fo r bu t
m o v in g o n or go in g h as materialized in over a half
—
century o f wanderings with the little books wander
ings that if put in line would more than circumvent the
globe Indeed between the two g ulfs at the head and
foot o f the continent as between the two oc eans that
border it there i s hardly a town large enough to have
a mayor along whose ways my shadow has n o t fallen
while o v er it all has hung so closely bent the promise
“
”
I will guide thee with mine eye that ne v er the j os tle
o f a footfall n o r the straying o f a step
After fourteen years o f the wanderings the war ban
iehed the little gold dollars and intro duced in their ste ad
“
”
the dark green stuff that in yonder chamb er thirty
eight years ago I discovered to be the seventh scene of
the v is io n fulfilled And now look at it my friend
right o n the eve o f another scene the ninth I am here
again T h e greenback currency long since disappeared
the eighth scene ; the greenback itself is withdrawn to a
flattened mound o ff at the left just as it was in the
v is io n
while right over behind the place where th e
”
“
stack of the dark green stu ff has be en is shining o u t
”
“
the long line o f golden squares standing on their edges
in the form o f gold certificates
W hat are they think
ou
o
f
but
the
long
self
lengthening
line
golden
y
squares o r lea v es o f the v is io n up toward whose righ t
hand end a few grew loose and came o u t to me ? H o w
few they seemed compared to the long line tha t re
mained ! W hen that feature transpires as it surely
will I shall turn directly away from the dark o l d pres
ence and aft er a little say to myself in real life as I did
in the foreshadowin g one
“
W hy ! this is wealth I can go now and ha v e wha t
”
e v er I wish
A t that poin t in the vis io n for t he fi rst
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TH E F
1 80
O R E SH A D OWE D WA Y
.
a break in these clouds lest bearing aw ay with me
only memories o f gloom I somber even the s teps o f
the angels sent to guide me away
T h e manner o f its coming too w a s so like being r e
stored to sight by treatment—fir st a little break com
ing toward me in eddies as it did now almost out o f
sight and then larger and larger growing S cience
holds in her hands many secrets and o n e may be in
reserv e just for that closing scene o f the v isio n B ut
”
“
“
b e that break in the clouds o n this side o r o n the
”
other the j oy of it to my long imprisoned soul will
be enough to ring a new chord upo n e v ery harp in
hea v en if indeed the hea venly arches t hemsel v es do
“
n o t ring with the gl a dness of my so u l s c r !
!
O
h
y
”
the l igh t th e l ight !
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-
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’
,
T o th e
H
on
.
W
.
A
.
Po tter,
New Y o r k
.
CONT E NTS
.
S Ix
V
O ICE S
OM
FR
W IDE
TH E
S O ME W H E
,
FRE
RE
W OR LD
E
.
OR
T H E F IR S T D A Y
“
A S PE C I A L E DIC T
NE V E R D O U B T
ONL Y
TH
TH E
B E NE
E
H IS NA ME
D I OTI ON O F
.
LI G H T IN G NE W LIG H T S
TH E H
O ME
“
OF
E
V A NG E L INE
M Y B E T TE R
A L O NG
H
IS
V E NE
R A BLE
H EAD
A N A B SE N T
H OW
I N S OME F A R T IME
A
BR E
CA S T
AK
CL O U DS
IN T H E
U P ON
TH E
A LL T H E SE
T H E S E V E NT H S C E NE
G L IM P S E S
AN A
OF
E ND
TH E
F T E R ' PI E CE
O
0
T H E NINT H S C E NE
0
0
.
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0 0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
t
o
A l!
l
co
mmunicatio ns
fo r
th e
auth o r
m ay
M as H E LE N A D B K no w-T ,
A ldric h Plac e, D ans ville, N Y
b e a d d res s ed
.
.
.
.