Charlevoix county herald., 1911-06-10

attack on his own paper, and his sis
ter found him one day making bull
lets in the kitchen. She asked what
he was making them for.
ITO kill men WITH" he answered
grirnly, and Mrs Stowe, telling her
son about it years later, said. II
never saw Henry look so terrible.
did not like it, for l feared he was
growing bloodthirsty."
Professor Stowe helped at times the
underground railroad. He it was who
took the original of Eliza and Little
Harry" to the house of the old Quaker
when the master was pursuing the
fugitives. 1t was not long after this
that she wrote she felt kecnly the
need of an intermediate party which
would oppose slavery without the vio-
lence Of abolitionists. But, she said,
if no such party was formed many
people would be forced to join the
abolitionists "in spite of their ex-
cesses."
In 1850 the Stoves left Cincinnati
for Brunswick, Me. 1t was there that
her great resolve was taken that she
would use lher pen to fight slavery.
Already she was a successful author
and deeply interested in the cause Of
the slave. Her brother wrote and put
the proposition to her squarely: why
did she not write about the subject
nearest her heart and make people
understand? 1t was in the little parlor
of her Brunswick home. She read
the letter aloud. AS she finished the
appeal she rose from her chair, crush
ing the letter in her hand and said:
God helping me, l will write"
The material for Uncle Toms
Cabin" came from various sources,
but she verified them all. The Ken
lucky plantation she already knew
The slaves whom she had known in
Cincinnati had talked freely, giving
the light as well as the tragedy Of
their lot.
Uncle Tom seems to have been
drawn from Joshua Hoosen, a black
man of great sweetness and piety, who
told her appalling stories Of life as
he had seen it.
The book, then, was published, with
many misgivings, but none among
them was that the south would fail
to understand the friendliness Of her
spirit. Then she found herself the
most famous and the most abused
woman in the world
Mrs. Stowe had that exaltation Of
character which lifts soul above
praise or blame. In the midst Of the
trip to England in the interest of
the cause 1t is typical of her in
genuousness that she was much sur
prised to find herself welcomed and
feted on the other side of the ocean.
Where she had expected TO rest and
see nobody, she discovered she was
the talk of the country.
When the war broke out Mrs.
Stoves son was among the first to 60.
She wrote afterwards: 1T was the will
of God that the slave mothers
whose tears nobody regarded should
have with them great company of
weepers, north and south-Rachels
weeping for their children and refus-
ing to be comforted."
After the war Mrs. Stowe went
south and lived for time in Florida.
The scheme was to raise cotton with
free labor, but it failed disastrously.
In other ways the stay in the south
was a success, and everywhere Mrs.
Stowe appears to have been treated
with consideration. The era of abuse
was over.
After cotton they tried to raise
oranges, but a frost spoiled that plan.
Mrs. Stowe lost $4,000 in this way,
and then she founded the Christian
Union with her brother, Henry Ward
Beecher. and lost most of the rest of
her money. She kept writing, not be-
cause ner fame tempted her, but be-
cause the money was needed. Uncle
Toms Cabin" which made SO many
fortunes, never yielded her more than
n few hundred dollars.