Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-10-25


one that serveth."
| Mrs. Richards own delightful per-
sonality is apparent throughout the
| book, in the Illuminating passages
which connect the letters. and in many
references to family incidents. Es-
pecially is the ardent love of a bril-
| liant daughter expressed in the ex-
| quisitely detailed chapter descriptive
| of their life at Green Peace" the
home in South Boston The whole
| family relation is clearly but most del
icately sketchcd. One much regrets,
however, that few of the letters from
DIR. Howe. written during his various
| absences from home on his pilgrimagcs
OF good works, have been used. In
| the second volume the most valuable
| series of letters are those addressed
| to Charles Sumner. They cover wide
ranges of topic and thought. some
| times personal, sometimes political,
again on questions of public welfare,
ard ways and means of attaining it.;
but there is not letter without in
| terest q revelation of the manly vigor
and keen insight of the writer. one
| of the most vigorous attacks is upon
| the methods and workingS,-Or rather,
retardincs,- the men in Washington
| The letter is dated April &c. 1876, and
vet. we fear might be written today
| with equal force and truth. Letters
of an almost equal interest are those
addressed to Horace Mann, Theodore
Parker and others of the group OF
kindred souls who wrought shoulder
to shoulder for the universal good A
,x,t, rt letter
sent by DR.. Howe 10 Francis w. Bro
at the death of his son reveals the
great, sorrowing heart of man
Howe had himself known the loss or
a son, and the bereaved cries aloud 10
the other in his anguish.
OF all the personal relations formed
and carried through the years, the
one most remarkable beyond his I'M
mediate family, was his friendship
with Laura Bridgman. The extracts
from the Reports given in this volume
which concerned her case. her first in
tellectual response to the doctors
teaching, her gradual development TO
a gracious and intelligent womanhood,
and finally Mrs. Richards account OF
her behavior when parting with the
unconscious form of her benefactor
lust before his death, read like
noble romance. Their mutual depend
ance was one of the highest tributes
to DR.. HoWes faithful devotion to an
unfortunate child.
The varied industries,-fOr they were
too large to be designated interests
only.-of this tireless servant of ne
elected and suffering humanity are
oh irl cd NV IO1lln1p
pioneer work in teaching the blind and
feeble minded, the lettering of the
care and condition of the insane, and
finally his mastery instrumentallty in
directing the State Board of Charities
for Massachusetts, a work which has
developed into an almost universal
standard of organized work, are pre-
scented by his own words in extracts
from reports, from journals from pri-
vate documents, and from letters.
The Reports are invaluable to those
who have followed in DR.. HoWe's foot
steps, but to those who do not, or care
not to, read them in their entirety,
this volume will be of value, including
as it does many Of the more practical
passages His championship of politi-
cal questions, his work on the Sanitary
Commission, his hearty reception of
the cause of the Hungarian patriots
in the person of Kossuth, his personal
and executive aid to the Cretians in
their imprisoned rebellion against the
infamous Turkish rule. and his at
tempt to assist SantO Domingo to free
dom and annexation are often told IN
his own words.
The second volume now under no.
tice has a general chronological ar
rangement, though few of the docu-
ments except those in connection
with the blind, antedate his marriage
1S4S, when his age was forty. This is
no mere collection of letters. Many
notes are needed to place or explain
the contents of the letter which follows,
ard both Mrs. Richards and Mr.. San
| born are to be recognized in their wise
selection and Illuminating comments.
| Best of all there is the warm heart of
| the man, as he writes himself out to
| his friends. Dr. Howe had the su-
preme gift of attracting to himself not
only high spirits but what was noblest
| in those spirits and the pulse qulckens
| as we read the hearty congratulation,
| the frank rebuke, the vigorous attack,
| the tribute OF loving regard or SYM
| rathy to this man or another. Worthy
companions they were. Mann, Parker,
Sumner Hale, Bird, and Sanborn. who
! much younger than his peers, has sur
| vived them.
We have brief but suggestive
| glimpses of the noble woman who was
DR.. Howe's companion Of the way.
| Her tale is not yet told, and her place
in the forefront of world progress is
happily yet filled. Among the more
personal tributes to the "brave Chev-
alier,'' contained in the book are her
own lines, which we venture to give
] in full:
"a great grieved heart, an iron Will,
| AS fearless blood as ever ran;
A form elate with nervous strength
And fibrous vigor,-all a man.
"a gallant rein, a restless spur.
| The hand to WELD a biting scourge'
Small patience for the tasks of time,
lUnmeasured power to speed and urge.
| "He rides the errands of the hour,
| But sends no errands on his ways
The world would thank the service done,
He cannot stay for gold or praise