However interested you might have been in woman suffrage and all the other subjects concerning the "cause," you felt that in comparison with this grand woman you hardly knew the alphabet. She judged everything from the standpoint, "How is this going to affect women?" I remember her indignation at being overlooked with the other two women of the Faculty by President Raymond in his demand for a list of what the members had published. "We may not have done so much as some of the men, but we all have done something." It took a good deal of apology on his part to soothe her wounded feeling and restore her natural good humor. [Illustration: MARIA MITCHELL 1865] Every woman speaker of note in that day,--Julia Ward Howe, Anna Dickinson, Mary Livermore, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Ednah D. Cheney, were personal friends of Miss Mitchell, and at various times her guests at the observatory. Sometimes one would be invited to speak before the whole college, as when Mrs. Howe recited there her Battle Hymn of the Republic and Mrs. Livermore told the story of her war experiences in a hospital. But the observatory was chiefly the place of meeting, with spirited talk and free discussion. What delightful evenings were there when a favored few were asked to meet distinguished guests! What personal anecdote and reminiscence! And what good coffee at the end! She avoided irritating discussion and heated argument. Two friends of hers had cause of dispute, and as it happened one day in her presence the pros and cons of the case were being gone over pretty vigorously. Suddenly she interfered,--"This subject is never to be alluded to again--pause--twinkle--unless I bring it up myself." The earliest reports of departments were read in detail at Board meetings, and Miss Mitchell had a satisfaction that her labor in making out statistics had not been wasted--seeming, then, to count in significance and importance. In later years, this proceeding was no longer practicable. Entering the President's office one morning she inquired a little aggressively,--"Into the oblivion of whose hands do I consign this paper?" "Mine," came the meek reply, disarming her completely. I came upon her one day comparing with vexed expression her watch with the lodge clock:--"Better no clock there at all than one always a little wrong." "But why do you mind? You are not to blame--have nothing to do with it." She turned quickly, her eyes flashing,--"How would you like to hear bad English used persistently in your class all the time in spite of yourself? This clock affects me the same way!" Once as her associate teacher left the room where we were sitting in the observatory, Miss Mitchell looked after her lovingly,--"Mary Whitney is perfection, but she has one fault. She doesn't always shut the door behind her."