The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1895-05-25
ANNA DICKINSON.
A Sad Commentary on the MutabiIity q
Earthly Things.


+ SCRANTON, Pa, May 23.-It is sad to
witness the decline Of a great intellect,
a noble life or a lofty purpose. If "the
setting of a great hope is like the set
ting of the sun, p" surely the change Of a
destiny from the highest pinnacle of
fame to the pitifu1 makeshift that might
fill up the measure of the most COM
monplace existence is like the eternal
darkness that shuts in a once bright day
on which no morrow s sun will shine.
To picture the woman who at II was
termed the GLORIOUS girl, - the "wom-
an of the century" and "the new Joan
of Arc'' as she was seen during the prog
ress of the recent trial in which she has
appeared as plaintiff would be to show
a strong, earnest face, where indomita-
BILE will and imperiOus temperament
could be read as over it fitted swift ex-
pressions of annoyance, sarcastic amuse-
ment and furious rejection of certain
points in the testimony. There was the
same clear cut profile of 30 years ago;
the same proud upper lip and firm chin
were there, but the black curls that used
to cluster about the girhsh neck and
white brow were closely clipped, and
only a thick crop of iron gray hair was
to be seen beneath the little brown hat.
But the 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 relat-
ing 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 play
ed about him in most unpleasant fash
ion.
At all periods of the trial she was
still Anna Dickinson, cratic, to be sure,
but whenever she took the stand a hush
fell over the crowded courtroom and
over the baffied throngs at the outer
doors that had been vainly demanding
admittance such as stilled to silence the
mighty audiences in wartime. Whatever
may have been her condition in 1891,
she was surely not insane in April,
1895, when in rich, musical tones she
told a story of the plot which she de-
clared had been laid to deprive her of
liberty and destroy her reputation, so
that never again could she occupy the
proud place Of the past.
er over the jury. They were not interest
ed in the pathetic story of the gifted sis
ter, Susan E. Dickinson, whose work as
poet and writer is so we'll known. She
is q tiny creature, and in the witness
stand the small, worn face bore traces
of her toilsome life, believed by many
to have been largely spent in a species
of servitude to her sister. But Susan
Dickinson s tale Of sacrifice and of dan
ger and her sad little figure in it's SOM
Der garb did not touch the gentlemen of
the jury, who only reused up when the
bell-ike notes of Anna s voice rang out.
When sobs choked her utterance in re-
counting her wrongs, the jury b1inzed
its "a eyes and began to hastily tumble
for handkerchiefs. When her fierce and
bitter sarcasm scored her sister and the
friends who carried her to the insane
asylum, the jury smiled significantly.
Many people can recall the days when
as a girl she was feted and Landed 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 influence she wrought
upon those troublous times. In New
York, in Boston and Philadelphia it was
difficult to find words rich enough to tell
of her successes. Speaking in the house
Of representatives at Washington, with
such men as Schuyler Colfax and Han
nibal Hamlin to introduce her, with such
men as John Sherman, Thaddeus Ste
vens, Charles Sumner, James A. Garfield
and many others of illustrious memory
to welcome her, and with Abraham Lin
coin to admire and applaud in her au-
dience, she created the maddest enthusi-
asm, while in the most critical period of
the war it was openly admitted that her
marvellous eloquence saved many states
| for the Union cause.
HARRIET CLAY PENMAN.