Joseph B. pulled. While he was at work, an old fellow-apprentice Morss. came in to greet him, and though, from the latter's indifference to the anti-slavery movement, there had been little sympathy and intercourse between them in the intervening half century, they now fraternized and found common ground in reminiscences of their boyhood days, and in unexpected sympathy of views on other topics. Very fitting, therefore, seemed the closing verses of the poem, when the veteran printer and agitator, turning once more to his task, put them in type: "Enough "That care and trial seem at last, "That all the jarring notes of life "And so the shadows fall apart, CHAPTER X. DEATH OF MRS. GARRISON.-FINAL VISIT TO ENGLAND. 1876, 1877. N January, 1876, the heaviest bereavement of his life CHAP. X. befell Mr. Garrison in the loss of his wife, who was 1876-77. taken from him, after a short and sharp attack of pneumonia, on the 25th of that month. It had been evident for several weeks that her health was seriously impaired, but the event, when it came, was unexpected, and Mr. Garrison, himself suffering from a severe cold and worn by care and watching, was so prostrated by it that grave anxiety was felt for a time as to his own recovery. During his weeks of convalescence he found solace in preparing a memorial sketch of Mrs. Garrison, which was printed, with the addresses at the funeral and many tributes from friends, in a small volume for private presentation.2 In June he visited Pennsylvania, and attended, for the last time, the Progressive Friends' Meetings at Longwood, with his usual active participation. He subsequently devoted several days to the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, but the resultant fatigue crippled him for 1 He was unable to be present at the funeral services, which were held at Rockledge, and conducted by the Rev. Samuel May, assisted by Wendell Phillips, Lucy Stone, and the Rev. George Putnam. Mr. Phillips's tribute was an exquisite portrayal of Mrs. Garrison's character. 2 Helen Eliza Garrison. A Memorial.' 1876. "While writing it, my head and heart were heavily oppressed, and in my enfeebled condition the task was as laborious as it was delicate. I hope it will not seem to indicate anything of mental weakness to those into whose hands it will be put" (MS. March 30, 1876, W. L. G. to W. P. G.). The volume contains an excellent photograph of Mrs. Garrison. 1876. 1876-77. den. CHAP. X. Weeks, and the summer, as a whole, was a quiet and sober one for him. "What a solitude is the house!" he wrote to his absent daughter, and his letters repeatedly reflected his sense of loneliness. Nevertheless, he wrote and read much, received and visited many friends, and contributed Hayes-Til two or three letters to the Presidential campaign. In June he received a note from Harriet Martineau, acknowledging the Memorial of Mrs. Garrison, and this was swiftly followed by the announcement of her own death, which it foreshadowed. He was deeply interested in the advance proofs of her Autobiography, which Mrs. Chapman sent him, and as to which she frequently conferred with him during that autumn. June 27, 1876. Maria W. Chapman. MS. Harriet Martineau to W. L. Garrison. AMBLESIDE, May 30, 1876. MY DEAR FRIEND: When you kindly sent me the memorial card announcing your precious wife's departure and burial, I asked our dear Mrs. Chapman to thank you on my behalf; and her latest letter brings me your response. With it comes the Memoir the picture of her beautiful life and death. I wish I could convey to you any idea of the emotion excited in my household by the reading of this narrative; but I have strength for no more than a bare acknowledgment of your valued gift, and assurance of sympathy under the pain of your bereavement. What a woman she was! I am thankful to have been Ante, 2:27, in Boston at the crisis which proved that she was worthy of the honor of being your wife. 28. MS. Harriet Martineau. I can say no more. My departure is evidently near, and I hold the pen with difficulty. Accept the sympathy and reverent blessing of your old friend, HARRIET MARTINEAU. W. L. Garrison to Maria W. Chapman. ROXBURY, Jan. 18, 1877. DEAR MRS. CHAPMAN: I have forwarded by the Weymouth Express, to-day, H. M.'s Autobiography and your supplemental volume, hoping I have not put you to any inconvenience by not returning them at an earlier date, and proffering you many thanks for so kindly allowing me to peruse them in advance of their publication. The result is a higher appreciation, if possible, of the intellectual strength, solid understanding, conscientious integrity, fearless independence of thought and expression, courageous "heretical" non-conformity, far-reaching humanity, intuitional grasp, varied knowledge, and literary fertility of that extraordinary woman. I was not aware of the extent of her writings, or the wide range of her investigations pertaining to political economy, statesmanship, government, mental and moral philosophy, psychology, history, biography, international law, philanthropy, well-founded reform, etc., etc. It is not doing any injustice to the eminent women of the world to place her at the head, in comprehensiveness of mind and devotion to the general welfare, working through numerous channels, and discussing with masterly ability questions and measures which for ages have been exclusively assigned to the male sex. Then, privately and socially, how admirable her characteristics!-But all this is superfluous to you. I had high expectations as to your portion of the forthcoming work, but these have been transcended by the manner in which you have discharged so delicate and responsible a task. Your appreciation of H. M. is in no instance exaggerated; and you evince excellent judgment, rare critical acumen, profound philosophic insight, united with personal and historical fidelity. It was fortunate for you that you had such a trust committed to you, and fortunate for H. M. that she selected you to complete that portion of her life not contained in her Autobiography. I congratulate you on the successful achievement of a most arduous performance. I am profoundly grateful to you for the kind and generous manner in which reference is made to myself and my anti-slavery labors in the closing volume. The thought has never come into my mind how I should or might be estimated in my own day or generation, or by those coming after me, if remembered at all; but it is none the less gratifying to me to be recognized by two such women as H. M. and M. W. C. as entitled to their esteem and approbation, and the favorable judgment of all true friends of liberty and equal rights. I am pleased to see my letter to Miss Jane Martineau printed with others, especially those from H. M.'s maid-servants, paying a just and sincere tribute to the memory of the deceased. CHAP. X. 1876-77. CHAP. X. 1876-77. May 11, 1877. Lucy Mc Kim Gar rison. May 17. F. J. G. Of course, that portion of the work which relates to H. M.'s views of theology and a future life will elicit more or less invective and traducement from a sectarian religious press; but the best answer to it all will be "For modes of faith let graceless zealots fight; His can't be wrong whose life is in the right." Judging by this test, H. M. is surely entitled to a conspicuous place in "the household of saints." Anyhow, "it is a small thing to be judged of man's judgment." Though, through much overworking and years of bodily prostration, I think she seemed to covet at last "the sleep that knows no waking," my faith is absolute that she "still lives," with all her faculties unimpaired, and there as here eager to know and serve the true and the right. With kindest regards to you all, WM. LLOYD GARRISON. The winter of 1876-77 was a very trying one to Mr. Garrison, and his health became so much impaired that he finally yielded to the urgent solicitation of his physician and children that he should try a transatlantic trip. His friends in England, who hailed with delight the prospect of another visit from him, were warned that public meetings and receptions were out of the question, and that they must permit him to move among them quietly and obtain all the rest possible. He was doubly afflicted, on the eve of his departure, by the death of a beloved daughter-in-law, who was to have accompanied him on his voyage, and, a few days later, by that of his dear friend, Edmund Quincy, whose funeral he was unable to attend, being already in New York and about to embark when the news reached him. His companion, as on his previous visit to England, was his youngest son. Leaving New York on the 23d of May, in the steamer Algeria, they arrived in Liverpool on the 3d of June, in good condition for the twelve weeks of delightful travel and social intercourse which followed, and of which it is difficult to give any adequate conception in this brief narrative. |