I have read a fiery gospel, writ in burnished rows of steel: brings out more clearly the image of the long lines of bayonets as they glittered in her sight on that autumn afternoon. In the fourth verse the second line was somewhat vague in the first draft, He has waked the earth’s dull bosom with a high ecstatic beat, The allusion was probably to the marching feet of the armed multitude. The new version, He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment-seat: is more direct and simple, hence accords better with the deeply religious tone of the poem. In the last stanza, In the whiteness of the lilies he was born across the sea, now reads, In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, A number of people have asked the meaning of this line. The allusion is evidently to the lilies carried by the angel, in pictures of the annunciation to the Virgin, these flowers being the emblem of purity. The original version of the second line read, With a glory in his bosom that shines out on you and me, The present words, Transfigures you and me, give us a clearer and more beautiful image. The passion of the poem seems, indeed, to lift on high and glorify our poor humanity. It is interesting to note that my mother associated with her husband the line, _He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat_; Not long before her death, new buildings were erected at Watertown, Massachusetts, for the Perkins Institution for the Blind, founded and administered for more than forty years by Dr. Howe. His son-in-law, Michael Anagnos, ably continued the work during thirty more years. When we were talking about a suitable inscription in memory of the latter, I suggested to my mother the use of this line. The answer was, “_No, that is for your father._” The original draft of the “Battle Hymn” is dated November, 1861; it was published in the _Atlantic Monthly_ for February, 1862. The verses were printed on the first page, being thus given the place of honor. According to the custom of that day, no name was signed to them. James T. Fields was then editor of the magazine. My mother consulted him with regard to a name for the poem. It was he, as I think, who christened it “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” The price paid for it was five dollars. But the true price of it was a very different thing, not to be computed in terms of money. It brought its author name and fame throughout the civilized world, in addition to the love and honor of her countrymen. As she grew older and the spiritual beauty of her life and thought shone out more and more clearly, the affection in which she was held deepened into something akin to veneration.