Julia Ward Howe Part 65

CHAPTER VIII

"DIVERS GOOD CAUSES"

1890-1896; _aet._ 71-77

A DREAM OF THE HEARTHSTONE

A figure by my fireside stayed, Plain was her garb, and veiled her face; A presence mystical she made, Nor changed her att.i.tude, nor place.

Did I neglect my household ways For pleasure, wrought of pen or book?

She sighed a murmur of dispraise, At which, methought, the rafters shook.

"Now, who art thou that didst not smile When I my maddest jest devised?

Who art thou, stark and grim the while That men my time and measure prized?"

Without her pilgrim staff she rose, Her weeds of darkness cast aside; More dazzling than Olympian snows The beauty that those weeds did hide.

Most like a solemn symphony That lifts the heart from lowly things, The voice with which she spake to me Did loose contrition at its springs.

"Oh, Duty! Visitor Divine, Take all the wealth my house affords, But make thy holy methods mine; Speak to me thy surpa.s.sing words!

"Neglected once and undiscerned, I pour my homage at thy feet.

Till I thy sacred law have learned Nor joy, nor life can be complete."

J. W. H.

In the closing decade of the nineteenth century a new growth of "causes"

claimed her time and sympathy. The year 1891 saw the birth of the Society of American Friends of Russian Freedom; modelled on a similar society which, with "Free Russia" as its organ, was doing good work in England.

The object of the American society was "to aid by all moral and legal means the Russian patriots in their efforts to obtain for their country political freedom and self-government." Its circular was signed by Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Julia Ward Howe, John Greenleaf Whittier, James Russell Lowell, George Kennan, William Lloyd Garrison, Henry I.

Bowditch, F. W. Bird, Alice Freeman Palmer, Charles G. Ames, Edward L.

Pierce, Frank B. Sanborn, Annie Fields, E. Benjamin Andrews, Lillie B.

Chace Wyman, Samuel L. Clemens, and Joseph H. Twitch.e.l.l.

James Russell Lowell, writing to Francis J. Garrison in 1891, says: "Between mote and beam, I think _this_ time Russia has the latter in her eye, though G.o.d knows we have motes enough in ours. So you may take my name even if it be in vain, as I think it will be."

It was through this society that she made the acquaintance of Mme.

Breschkovskaya,[118] the Russian patriot whose sufferings and sacrifices have endeared her to all lovers of freedom. The two women felt instant sympathy with each other. Mme. Breschkovskaya came to 241 Beacon Street more than once, and they had much talk together. On one of these occasions our mother was asked to play some of her own compositions. Her fingers strayed from one thing to another; finally, on a sudden impulse, she struck the opening chords of the Russian National Hymn.

Mme. Breschkovskaya started forward. "Ah, madame!" she cried, "do not play that! You cannot know what that air means to us Russians!"

[118] Now (1915) a political prisoner in Siberia: she escaped, but was recaptured and later removed to a more remote place of imprisonment.

At a great meeting in Faneuil Hall the two spoke, in English and Russian respectively, while other addresses were in Yiddish and Polish. All were frantically applauded by the polyglot audience which filled the hall to overflowing. William Dudley Foulke presided at this meeting. Speaking with our mother several years later, he reminded her of the occasion, which he thought might have been of a somewhat anarchistic tendency. He was not sure, he said, that they had not made fools of themselves. "One can afford," she replied, "to make a very great fool of one's self in such a cause as that of Russian liberty!"

The year 1891 saw the birth of another society in which she was deeply interested, the Women's Rest Tour a.s.sociation, whose object was "simply to make it easier for women who need a trip abroad to take one."

It was proved "that the sum of $250 was sufficient to enable a woman of simple tastes to enjoy a summer's vacation in Europe"; a travelling fund was established from which women could borrow, or--in certain cases--receive gifts; a handbook was issued, etc., etc.

In an un.o.btrusive way, the Women's Rest Tour a.s.sociation did and continues to do much good. She was its president to the close of her life, and in silent and lovely tribute to her memory the office has since then remained vacant.

In the early nineties all Christendom was aroused by the outrages committed by the Turks in Armenia. From almost every Christian country rose a cry of horror: indignation meetings were called; protest, denunciation, and appeal were the order of the day. In Boston a meeting was held at Faneuil Hall (November 26, 1894), called together by the Boston Armenian Relief Committee. She was on the platform, and spoke from her heart.

"I could not," she says, "stay away from this meeting. My heart was here, and I came, not so much to speak, as to hear what is to be done about this dreadful trouble. For something must be done. I have to pray G.o.d night and morning that He would find some way to stay this terrible tide of slaughter....

"I recall the first action of Florence Nightingale when she went to take care of the sick and wounded in the Crimean War. She found many things wanting for the comfort of the soldiers in the hospitals, but she could not get at them. Some seal or mandate was waited for. 'The men are suffering,' Florence Nightingale said. 'Break in the doors--open the boxes--give me the blankets and medicines. I must have them!'--and so she did. Now, the fleets of the Western nations are waiting for some diplomatic development which shall open the way for action. I think that we, the United States of America, are now called upon to play the part of Florence Nightingale; to take our stand and insist upon it that the slaughter shall cease. Oh! let us give money, let us give life, but let us stand by our principles of civil and religious liberty. I am sure that if we do so, we shall have behind us, and with us, that great spirit which has been in the world for nineteen centuries past, with ever-increasing power. Let us set up in these distant lands the shelter of the blessed Cross, and of all that it stands for, and let us make it availing once and forever."

Soon after this the Friends of Armenia organized as a society, she being its president. Among its members were William Lloyd Garrison, Henry Blackwell and his devoted daughter Alice, and M. H. Gulesian. Singly or in company they went about, through Ma.s.sachusetts, holding meetings, rousing the people to aid in the protest of Christendom against heathendom, of mercy against cruelty. "Spoke for Armenia," is a frequent entry in the Journal of these days.

In one of these addresses she said:--

"It may be asked, where is the good of our a.s.sembling here? what can a handful of us effect against this wicked and remorseless power, so far beyond our reach, so entrenched in the selfishness of European nations who are the creditors of the bankrupt state, and who keep her alive in the hope of recovering the debt which she owes them? The walls of this old hall should answer this question. They saw the dawn of our own larger liberties. They heard the first indignant plea of Wendell Phillips when, in the splendor of his youth, he took the field for the emanc.i.p.ation of a despised race which had no friends. So, on this sacred arena, I throw down the glove which challenges the Turkish Government to its dread account. What have we for us in this contest? The spirit of civilization, the sense of Christendom, the heart of humanity. All of these plead for justice, all cry out against barbarous warfare of which the victims are helpless men, tender women and children. We invoke here the higher powers of humanity against the rude instincts in which the brute element survives and rules.

"Aid us, paper, aid us, pen, Aid us, hearts of n.o.ble men!

"Aid us, shades of champions who have led the world's progress! Aid us, thou who hast made royal the scourge and crown of thorns!"

After hearing these words, Frederick Greenhalge, then Governor of Ma.s.sachusetts, said to her, "Ah, Mrs. Howe, you have given us a prose Battle Hymn!"

The Friends of Armenia did active and zealous service through a number of years, laboring not only for the saving of life, but for the support and education of the thousands of women and orphans left desolate.

Schools and hospitals were established in Armenia, and many children were placed in American homes, where they grew up happily, to citizenship.

Nearly ten years later, a new outbreak of Turkish ferocity roused the "Friends" to new fervor, and once again her voice was lifted up in protest and appeal. She wrote to President Roosevelt, imploring him to send some one from some neighboring American consulate to investigate conditions. He did so, and his action prevented an impending ma.s.sacre.

In 1909, fresh persecutions brought the organization once more together. The Armenians of Boston reminded her of the help she had given before, and asked her to write to President Taft. This she promptly did.

Briefly, this cause with so many others was to be relinquished only with life itself.

On the fly-leaf of the Journal for 1894 is written: "I take possession of the New Year in the name of Faith, Hope, and Charity. J. W. Howe."

"Head bewildered with correspondence, bills, etc. Must get out of this or die."

"A threatening head, and a week before me full of functions. I feel weak in mind and dazed with confusions, but will trust in G.o.d and keep my powder dry."

"Hearing on Suffrage, Green Room, 10 A.M. My mind was unusually clear for this speaking. I determined to speak of the two sorts of people, those who naturally wish to keep the best things for themselves, and those whose appreciation of these things is such that they cannot refrain from spreading them abroad, giving freely as they have received.

I was able to follow and apply this tolerably in my ten-minute speech...."

"Annual meeting of Rest Tour a.s.sociation; a delightful meeting, full of good suggestions. I made one concerning pilgrimages in groups.... I had a sudden glimpse to-day of the unfailing goodness of G.o.d. This and not our merits brings the pardon of our sins."

"To hear Irving in 'Louis XI'; a strong play and a good part for him.

Left after Act Fourth to attend Mrs. Gardner's musicale, at which Busoni pounded fearfully. I said, 'He ought to play with his boots on his hands.' He played two curious compositions of Liszt's: St. Francis's Sermon to the Birds and to the Fishes--much roaring as of old ocean in the second."

"_Boston._ Attended Mrs. Mary Hemenway's funeral in the morning.... A great loss she is, but her life has been a great gain. Would that more rich men had such daughters! That more rich women had such a heart!..."

"C. G. A. preached a funeral sermon on Mrs. Hemenway. As he opened his lips, I said to myself, 'What can he teach us that her life has not taught us?' The sermon, however, was most instructive. Such a life makes an epoch, and should establish a precedent. If one woman can be so disinterested and so wise, others can emulate her example. I, for one, feel that I shall not forget this forcible presentation of the aspect of such a character, of such a history. G.o.d send that her mantle may fall upon this whole community, stimulating each to do what he or she can for humanity."