Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-05-09
ANNA DICKINSON.
A Sad Commentary on the Availability of
 Earthly Things.
Especial Correspondence.

Earthly Things.
 Especial Correspondence.l
 SCRANTON, Pa, May 7.-It is sad to witness tho decline of Q great intellect, a noble life or lofty purpose. If ''thc set ting of great hopc Is like the setting of the sun, !" surely the change of a destiny from the highest pinnacle of fame to the pitiful makeshift that might fill up the measure of the most commonplace exist ence is like the eternal darkness that shuts in n once bright day on which no morrow's sun will shine. To picture the woman who at 17 was termed the 'glori Ous girl, " the woman of the century, and the new Joan of Arc" as she was seen during the progress of the recent trial in which she has appeared as plaintiff, would be to show a strong earnest face, where in domitable will and imperiOus tempcrament could be read ns over it fitted swift exproS- sions of annoyance, sarcastic amusement and furious rejection of certain points in the testimony. There was the same clear cut profile of 80 years ago; the same proud upper lip and firm chin were there, but the black curls that used to cluster about the girlish neck and white brow were closely clipped, and only thick crop of iron gray hair was to be seen beneath tho little brown hat. But tho brilliant flashing eyes were there, and the glow leaped into them as of old when the handsome lawyer of the opposition brought out some point relating to her alleged insanity. She made that young man exceedingly unhappy one day when she was supposed to be on the rack of cross examination. It was really the lawyer who was racked, for the darts of her matchleSS sarcasm played about him in most unpleasant fashion, and the eli max of his discomfort was reached when at ono time she regarded him with an ex pression of SuperciliouS cOmmiSeration and coolly remarked, But of course you arc too young to judge of such matters!" Her bitter attack upon him in the closing | scenes of tho case when she accused him of having also been in a madhousc, madc a dramatic situation not soon to be forgot | ten by those present.
 At all periods of tho trial she was still Anna Dickinson, cratic, to bc sure but | whenever she took the stand hush fell over the crowded courtroom and over tho baillCtl thrnngS at the outer doors that had been Nainly drmanding ndmittancr such | as stilled tu silence the mighty audiences l that listened to her impaSSiOnCd uttcranCcs | in wartime. Whatever may havc bccn her l condition in 1891, she was surely not in sanc in April. 1895, when in rich, musical tones ahctnld a story of tho l.lut which sho dcclard had been Laid la deprive her of liberty and destroy her rCputati0n so that | never again could she occupy the proud place of tho past.
 It was easy to see tho plaintiffs power l over the jury. They were not interested | in the pathetic story of the gifted sister | Susan F.. Dickinson, whose work as poet and writer is 50 well known. Sho is a tiny l crcaturr and in the witness stand the | small. worn face borc traces of her tOil- some life. believed by many to havc been l largely spent in n sCH!CS of scrvitudo 10 her sister. But Susan DickinSon's tale of sacrifice and of danger and her Sad little | figure in its somhrr garb did not touch tho gentlemen of the jury, who only reused up when the hcll-liLr notes of Anna $ voice rang uU:. When snhs chuked her uttcraucc in rccourting her wrongs, the | jury blinkcd its 24 eyes and began to has tily tumble for handkerchiefS, When her fierce and bitter SarCasm scored her sister | and the friends who carried her to the in- | sane asylum, the jury smiled significantly. | If the plaintiff seemed to fail in her dra- | matic ventures, thCr0 can be no denying that in the drama which has just closed she has been the star of tho cast, and the force of her acting, if acting It was, might be envicd in its effect upon the house by |
 | Many people can recall the days when as | girl she was fctcd and laudcd and blessed as almost the savior of her land. It is only necessary to look over the press notices of the early sixties to be astonished at the in
 fuence she wrought upon those troublou. times. In New York, in Boston and Phil adClphia it was difficult to find words rich enough to tell of her successes. Speaking in the house of representatives at Washing
 ton, with such men as Schuyler Colfax and Hannibal Hamlin to introduce her, witf such men as John sherman, Thaddeu. Stevens, Charles Summer, James A. Gar
 field and many others of illustriouS mem
 ory to wclco-;c her, and with Abraham
 Lincoln to admire and applaud in her au
 dicrcc. she created the maddcSt cnthusi
 aSm while in the most critical period o
 the war it was openly admitted that hcl
 marvellous eloqucncc saved many state
 for tho Union cause.
 HARRIET CLAY PENNAN.