New-York tribune., 1911-11-11
JULIA WARD HOWE
A Woman Young in Extreme
Old Age.
THE ELEVENTH HOUR N THE LIFE
OF JULIA WARD HOWE. BY Mauu
Howe With portrait. l6mc, pr. n.
Ijttle Brown & Co


How, in an age and a country dedi-
Gated to youth, shall a woman live "t1
ninety year and remain useful, beloved,
vigorous and brilliant in intellect to the
very end? The author of this mono
graph shows how, in the case OF Julia
Ward Howe. that rare and beautiful
achievement; was brought about. Her
wonderful vitality was the result OF 4
lifetime of disciplined exercise Of mind
and body, of will and spirit adjusted TO
high ideals of duty. to unselfsh en-
deavor Her daughter says that she
never thought of herself as old She had
an unending JOY in work. In the use OF
all her rich faculties. First and last
and all the time" writes Mrs. Elliott.
"she worked and worked and worked
steadily as nature works. without rest.
without haste. she was never idle; she
was never in a hurry. Though she
played, too earnestly, enthusiastically,
X was never idle play; there was al
ways a dash of poetry in her pastime'
~hether it was making charade for
the Brain Club or composing a nursery
rhyme for her grandchildren
The activity Of mind which kept her
whole being in tune was her birthright
but il was also carefully trained. From
her childhood she had the habit of study
of concentration. She early handled the
precious tools of foreign languages
French, Italian, German-opened new
worlds of literature to her. and with
them she acquired Latin. When she was
fifty years old she learned to read Greek
huently, and so ranged upon new field
of happiness. Her daughter remembers
hearing her say on one occasion to a
pretty girl of a studi0us turn: Study
Greek, my dear; it's better than a dia-
mond necklace" The voice that had
been carefully trained in her youth she
always cherished, practising her scales
regularly all her life; nor did she ever
fail to keep up her piano practice. We
are told that her fingers never lost their
flexbility nor her beautiful hands their
shape The daily life Of a very old per-
son whose health was perfect and her
spirits so buoyant that they called her
the family champagne is surely worth
describing. Her lughter tells us that
she slept about eight hours and rose at
Z o'clock to take invariably tepid bath
and a merry breakfast. She ate moder-
ately. whatever she liked - things
generally considered rich and unwhole
scme-but she had a perfect digestion
Like most we'll trained women of her
generation she clung TO straight
backed chair and never lounged; but in
| her later years consented to take nap
or two in the daytime. This was the
| routine of her days:
She always read the letters and the
newspapers (history in the making imme-
diatey after breakfast. Then came the
morning walk, a bout Of calisthenlcs or
game of ball: after this she settled 10 the
real serious business OF the day; 10 CLOCK
saw her at her desk. She began the morn
| ing with study. took up the hardest read
| ing she had on hand. In her youth She
read Goethe: I'm her middle life, when she
was deep in the study of German phlloso-
| ply. Kant. Fichtc or llegel
After the morning plunge into Greek OF
German philosophy, ito tone up her minG,
she took up whatever literary task she
was at work upon. put the IRON ON the an, an,
viii" as her phrase was, 'and hammered
at Il til luncheon She was "A most careful
and conscientious writer, writing, rewriting
! and polishing her work with lneXhaustlbie
patience. In the afternoon she was
at the desk again unless there was some
| outside enga cement answering letters,
reading books in a lighter vein, Italian
poetry. Spanish play t,aoS book OIo, OF travels
She never in my memory took up any
work after dark. Unless she was called
abroad by some festivity or meeting. the
evening was our playume. she invariably
! dressed for dinner, which was followed by
! talk, whist, music and reading aloud. she
rarely used the precious daylight for read
| ing English novels, so at night she was
ready TO listen to some "rattling good
story" recommended by one OF the grand
children. The younger people among
the listeners often envied her enthusiasm
Her imagination was so Keen her power
! of making believe the story was real 50
| tantalizng. infectious, too. that ii carried
| us through many book that would have
| been dull without il.
One of her gifts was an extraordinary
memory; the delightful volume Of remi-
! niscences which was one OF her last
labors. was written without reference TO
| the diary which she kept all her life. y
keen pleasure to her was the committing
to memory an ode Of Horace. Many of
the 3des she treasured thus-she was
learning line by line the thirtieth of the
number when death came 20 her.
! Concerning Mrs HoWes generous and
wholesouled service to mankind and her
country few Americans are ignorant.
Even those who have not agreed with
| her theories in all the causes she advo-
Gated have felt q hearty respect for her
character and her intentions. Much of
her work for the public good has been
emincntly practical, wise and effective.
! and Will long survive her. If ever there
| lived a woman who was a Good Citizen
il was she. Service was 10 her a thank
offering for blessings received. Witness
her own words: 81, for one, feel that
indebtedness grows with my years.
| And il occurred to me the other day
that when / should depart from this
earthly scene. Gods Poor Debtor might
be the fttest inscription for my grave
stone, if should have one. So much
have | received from the great Givcr, so
little lave | been able to return"
|
TIE GREAT PRAGWATlST
A Fragment from His Philosoph-