Julia Ward Howe, 1819-1910Richards, Laura Elizabeth Howe
History
Julia Ward Howe, 1819-1910
Richards, Laura Elizabeth Howe
Authors, American -- 19th century -- Biography; Feminists -- United States -- Biography; Howe, Julia Ward, 1819-1910
Here life circled ever faster and faster, fuller and fuller. Our father,
though beginning to feel the weight of years, had not yet begun to "take
in sail," but continued to pile labor on labor, adding the new while
never abandoning the old. For our mother clubs, societies, studies were
multiplying, while for both family cares and interests were becoming
more and more complicated. The children were now mostly grown. To the
mother's constant thought and anxiety about their teeth, their hair,
their eyes, their music, their dancing--to say nothing of the weightier
matters of the law--was added the consideration of their ball dresses,
their party slippers, their partners. She went with the daughters to
ball and assembly; if they danced, she was happy; if not, there was
grief behind the cheerful smile, and a sigh was confided to the Journal
next day.
Romance hovered over No. 32 Mount Vernon Street. The Greek lessons
which were to mean so much to Julia and Laura were brought to a sudden
end by the engagement of Julia to the Greek teacher, Michael Anagnos.
Florence (who was now housekeeper, lightening our mother's cares
greatly) was already engaged to David Prescott Hall; while Laura's
engagement to Henry Richards was announced shortly after Julia's.
The three marriages followed at intervals of a few months. Meantime
Harry, whose youthful pranks had been the terror of both parents, had
graduated from Harvard, and was now, after two years[69] at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, beginning his chosen work as a
metallurgist.
[69] 1869-1871. He took the course of geology and mining engineering,
graduating at the head of his class.
She wrote of this beloved son:--
God gave my son a palace,
And a kingdom to control;
The palace of his body,
The kingdom of his soul.
In childhood and boyhood this "palace" was inhabited by a tricksy
sprite. At two years Harry was pulling the tails of the little dogs on
the Roman Pincio; at eighteen he was filling the breasts of the college
authorities with the same emotions inspired by his father in the
previous generation.
"Howe," said the old President of Brown University, when the Chevalier
called to pay his respects on his return from Greece, "I am afraid of
you now! There may be a fire-cracker under my chair at this moment!"
Once out of college, it fared with the son as with the father. The
current of restless energy hitherto devoted to "monkey shines" (as the
Doctor called them) was now turned into another channel. Work, hardly
less arduous and unremitting than his father's, became the habit of his
life. Science claimed him, and her he served with the same singleness of
purpose, the same intensity of devotion with which his parents served
the causes that claimed them. He married, in 1874, Fannie, daughter of
Willard Gay, of Troy, New York.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account