"They had expected to have it in the undertaker's rooms," said the Reverend Florence Buck, of Wisconsin, "but we had it in my own church. It was packed with people of all sorts, who had been interested in him; and the Bartenders' Union were there in a body.... It was an opportunity that I would not have given up to preach to the President and Senate of the United States. Next day ... they said, 'We expected she'd wallop us to hell; but she talked to us like a mother!'" Then she turned to the president, and said, "The woman minister is often lonely. I want to thank Mrs. Howe, who welcomed me at the beginning of my ministry. Her hand-clasp has stayed with me ever since." Our mother was never ordained: it is doubtful whether she ever contemplated such a step; but she felt herself consecrated to the work; wherever she was asked to preach, she went as if on wings, feeling this call more sacred than any other. She preached in all parts of the country, from Maine to California, from Minnesota to Louisiana; but the pulpit in which she felt most truly at home was that of the Church of the Disciples. Mr. Clarke had first welcomed her there: his successor, Charles Gordon Ames, became in turn her valued friend and pastor. The congregation were all her friends. On Sundays they gathered round her after service, with greetings and kind words. She was ready enough to respond. "Congregationing," as she called this little function, was her delight; after listening devoutly to the sermon, there was always a reaction to her gayest mood. Her spirit came to church with folded hands of prayer, but departed on dancing feet. Sometimes she reproached herself with over-friskiness; but mostly she was too wise for this, and let the sun shine when and where it would. She preached many times in the Church of the Disciples. The white-clad figure, the clasped hands, the upturned face shining with the inner light, will be remembered by some who read these pages. END OF VOLUME I JULIA WARD HOWE 1819-1910 VOLUME II CONTENTS VOLUME II I. EUROPE REVISITED. 1877 3 II. A ROMAN WINTER. 1878-1879 28 III. NEWPORT. 1879-1882 46 IV. 241 BEACON STREET: THE NEW ORLEANS EXPOSITION. 1882-1885 80 V. MORE CHANGES. 1886-1888 115 VI. SEVENTY YEARS YOUNG. 1889-1890 143 VII. A SUMMER ABROAD. 1892-1893 164 VIII. "DIVERS GOOD CAUSES." 1890-1896 186 IX. IN THE HOUSE OF LABOR. 1896-1897 214 X. THE LAST ROMAN WINTER. 1897-1898 237 XI. EIGHTY YEARS. 1899-1900 258 XII. STEPPING WESTWARD. 1901-1902 282 XIII. LOOKING TOWARD SUNSET. 1903-1905 308