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
"A rumbling and tumbling and foaming was now heard in the chimney--the
bricks opened, and He-cat and She-cat and all the rest of them went up.
And I knew that my supper would be first-rate."
The time came when some of the other officers of the Town and Country
Club felt unable to keep the pace set by her. She would still press
forward, but they hung back, feeling the burden of the advancing years
which sat so lightly on her shoulders. The Club was disbanded; its fund
of one thousand dollars, so honorably earned, was given to the Redwood
Library, one of the old institutions of Newport.
The Town and Country Club was succeeded by the Papéterie, a smaller club
of ladies only, more intimate in its character. The exchange of "paper
novels" furnished its name and its _raison d'être_. The members were
expected to describe the books taken home from the previous meeting.
"What have you to tell us of the novel you have been reading?" the
president would demand. Then followed a report, serious or comic, as the
character of the volume or the mood of the meeting suggested. A series
of abbreviated criticisms was made and a glossary prepared: for
example,--
"B. P.--By the pound.
M. A. S.--May amuse somebody.
P. B.--Pot-boiler.
F. W. B.--For waste-basket.
U. I.--Uplifting influence.
W. D.--Wholly delightful.
U. T.--Utter trash."
The officers consisted of the Glossarian, the Penologist, whose duty it
was to invent penalties for delinquents, the Cor. Sec. and the Rec. Sec.
(corresponding and recording secretaries) and the Archivist, who had
charge of the archives. During its early years a novel was written by
the Club, each member writing one chapter. It still exists, and part of
the initiation of a new member consists in reading the manuscript. The
"delicious fooling" that marked the first year of the Town and Country
Club's existence was the animating spirit of the Papéterie. A friend
christened it "Mrs. Howe's Vaudeville." Merrymaking was her
safety-valve. Brain fag and nervous prostration were practically unknown
to her. When she had worked to the point of exhaustion, she turned to
play. Fun and frolic went along with labor and prayer; the power of
combining these kept her steadily at her task till the end of her life.
The last time she left her house, six days before her death, it was to
preside at the Papéterie, where she was as usual the life of the
meeting! The Club still lives, and, like the New England Woman's Club,
seems still pervaded by her spirit.
The Clubs did not have all the fun. The Newport "Evening Express" of
September 2, 1881, says: "Mrs. Julia Ward Howe has astonished Newport by
her acting in 'False Colors.' But she always was a surprising woman."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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