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Thesis {er the Degrséof Ph. D,‘
MECHIGANJS'IFATE ‘UNWERSITYZ ‘ w
Sisfer Thomas ‘Cafherifie‘Brennan, QP
1953 ' ' ’

 

THOMAS sz'rwomH HIGGHNSGN:
REFGRMER AND} MAN 05 LETTERS

Thesis for the Déjgree of Ph. D .7
MECHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
Sister Thomas Catherine Brennan, 0 P.
1958 ‘

 

 

 

This is to certify that the

thesis entitled

THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON:
REEORIER AND MAN OF LETTERS

presented by

Sister Thomas Catherine Brennan

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

M.— degree mm

1 (4-4 M. 721.44.;

Major professor

Date November 19, 1958

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THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON:
REFORMER AND MAN OF LETTERS

By
SISTER THOMAS CATHERINE BRENNAN, o. P.

A THESIS
Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of Michigan
State University of Agriculture and Applied Science

in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of English
1958

 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Prefaceoo........oo.........o.....

WAFER I INTRODU CTI ON 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0

CHAPTER II HIE MINISI‘ER AND THE SLAVES
A. Political Views and Anti-Slavery Activities.

B. Biographies and Essays . . . . . . . o . . .

CHAPTER III THE SOLDIER AND HIS REGJMENT
A. Civil War and Army Life in a Black Regiment.

Bo Writings 12913th to the CiV'il War. 0 o o o 0

CHAPTER IV THE COLONEL AND THE LADIES
A. Woman Suffrage Activities. . . . . . . . . .
B.SocialTheory................
C. Advice to Young Contributors . . . . . . . .

D. Biographies, Essays, and Fiction . . . . . .
mmMER v CONEUSION. O O . O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

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119

128
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Minor mbject:

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VITA

Sister Thomas Catherine Brennan, 0. P.
candidate for the degree of
Doctor of PhilosoPhy

Final Ruminations :

Dissertation: Ihomas Wentworth Higginson: Reformer and Han
. ‘ of Letters . .

mtline of Studies:
Major Subject: American Literature
Minor atbject: English Literature
Biographical Items:
Born, October 16, 1920, Detroit, Michigan

Undergraduate Studies, Bachelor of Philoso by, Siena
Heights College, Adrian, Michigan, 19 0-19h6.

Graduate Studies, Master of Arts in English Literature,
Catholic University of America, _Washing.ton, D. C. ,
l9h6—19h8.

Experience: Elementary school teacher in Illinois
parochial schools. High school teacher of English
at Dominican High School, Detroit; St. Alphonsus
High School, Dearborn; Resurrection High School,
Lansing. Instmctor of English, summer sessions,
Siena Heights College, Adrian, Michigan.

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nuns WENIWORTH HIGGINSON:
REFOMER AND HAN OF LETIEIB

By
Sister Times Catherine Brennan, 0. P.

AN ABSTRACT

Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of Michigan
State University of Agriculture and Applied Science
in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree or

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of English

Year 1958

Approved ngmgé 77) _ flung,“

 

 

 

 

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THOMAS WENIWORI‘H HIGGINSON: REFOMER AND MAN OF LETTERS

This thesis is limited to homes Wentworth Higginson's career
as a non of letters and as a reformer in the anti-slavery and woman
suffrage movements. Divided into five chapters with a preface and
bibliography, the study includes Higginson's political views, his
anti-slavery activities, his service in the Civil War, his woman
suffrage activities, and his writings on these subjects.

Chapter I, the “Introduction" indicates the approach used in
this study by stressing the integral relationship which existed If
between Higginson‘s life as a reformer and his life as a man of
letters.

Chapter II, "The Minister and the Slaves,“ discusses Higgin-
son's political views as a Republican and as an ardent abolitionist,
his anti-slavery activities connected with the fugitive slave res-
cues, the Kansas emigration, the John Brown affair, and his liberal
views as expressed in speeches and sermons published in the Liberator.
The chapter concludes with Higginson's change of heart toward disunion

after the secession of the south and the attack on Fort Sumter.

 

Chapter III, "The Soldier and His Regiment," recounts Higginson's
military career as colonel of a regiment of Negro freed men in South
Carolina. His Civil War memoir, Aggy 1.333 33 _a_ £1.33}; Regiment depict:
his impressions of the Negroes and his opinion of the status of the
freed slaves. This book and his work as State historian of Massachu-
setts, together with several essays related to this period are the
subject of this chapter.

 

Chapter IV, 'fll
activities at “I I
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Investigation oi
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Chapter IV, ”The Colonel and the ladies," describes Higginson's
activities at women suffrage conventions, his social theory of Ameri-
can democracy as expressed in the women's magazines, Woman's Journal
and Beggar's £5355, his literary criticism of the new school of local
color writers among whom were several women, his assistance as literary
adviser of Harriet Prescott, Helen Hunt Jackson, and Baily Dickinson,
his biographies of Lydia Maria Child, Una Hawthorne, Margaret Fuller,
and Julia Ward Howe. His fiction, Malbone and a few short stories,
portray feminine types, and his essays for the Atlantic M15, set
up an ideal of womanhood and suggestions for reform in dress and the
health habits of women.

Investigation of these phases of Higginson's career has borne
out the reputation he holds as a writer of high literary quality and

as a reformer of high romantic idealism.

 

 

,——

 

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PREFACE

My first acknowledgment is to Mother Mary Gerald Barry, O.P. ,
Prioress General of the Sisters of the Third Order of Saint Dominic,
Adrian, Michigan. Because of Mother Gerald I have had this oppora- ’
tunity of pursuing graduate study at Michigan State University and
of investigating this dissertation topic. ‘
Next, Iwould like to express my special indebtedness to Dr. H
Claude M. Newlin, the head of my committee and my major professor.
Dr. Newlin suggestedthis topic and has directed it with his charac-
teristic kindness, personal consideration, and constructive criti-
Cism. It has been both a pleasureand a privilege to have studied
under in». Newlin. and to have shared in the breadth and depth of
his scholarship.
I am also grateful to Dr. David C. Head for his valuable
criticisms of my manuscript and for his kindly interest in this

subject. I wish also to thank Dr. Iawrence Babb and Dr. William

 

Heist, the other members of my comittegand Dr. Russel B. Nye,
Head of the English Department.

I am Very grateful to Dr. Benjamin B. Hickok, of the Communi-
cation Skills Department at Michigan State University, for so
generously pennittingme to use his microfilm of the correspondence
concerning John Brown in the Higginson Collection in the Boston
Public Library.

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A particular and large measure of my gratitude belongs to Sister ‘
Matthew Ann and the Sisters at Resurrection Convent for their encourage-
ment and countless acts of kindness which have assisted me in bringing
this work to completion.

Finally, I would like to thank the library staff at Michigan

State University for placing materials at my disposal.

 

 

 

 

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CHAPTER I
mmmc TION

Thomas Ventvorth Higginson use born of Puritan stock in Cambridge,
lhssachusetts, December 22, 1823. He graduated from Harvard in 18131,
was schoolmaster for two years, then decided to enter the ministry.

He attended Harvard Divinity School and was strongly inclined toward
the most liberal wing of Unitarianism. He accepted the pastorate of
the First Religious Society (Unitarian) of Newburyport, Massachusetts,
and inodiately devoted himself to reform measures in an ultra-conser-
vative parish. His ardent abolitionist views cost him his pulpit in
18118. With his wife, Mary Channing Higginson, he moved to Worcester,
Massachusetts, to take charge of a secularized Free Church. Here he
found himself in the midst of seething reform activities. In the
meantime, he wrote poetry, essays, and biographical sketches of such
literary quality that he achieved, early in life, the reputation of

a man of letters. The attraction of reform and literature were so
strong that in 1861, after fifteen years of service as a minister,

he resigned to devote himself to a profession of writing and lecturing.

Circumstances, however, and his on active temperament forced him
to take part in the Civil War. He was offered and accepted the
colonelcy of a regiment of Negro freed men in 1862 which he commended
for two years until an injury caused him to retire from military ser-
vice in 1861:.

 

 

    
 

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Hereturned to civilian life and lived at Newport, Bhode Island,
where his wife, an arthritic invalid, had moved during his absence.
His literary life at Newport was stimulated by his contact with li-
terary figures and reform leaders with whom be associated.

His wife died in 1877 and he went abroad for a few mantra. In
1878 he returned to Cambridge and in 1879 married Mary Thacher. They
had two children, one of whom died in infancy. For the remainder of
his life, Higginson earned his living by writing and lecturing. He
died in 1911.

This brief factual biography of Higginson tells very little of
the spirit of the man who wrote in 1816,

A pure earnest aim is not enough. Intellectual as

well as moral armor must be bright for I know I shall have

to sustain a warfare. . . . An aesthetic life--how beauti- '

ful-but the life of a Reformer, a People's Guide, 'bat-

tling for right'v-glorious, but on, how hard.'1
Although such idealism may be unquestionably attributed to youth, ne-
vertheless, the strong attraction of the life of a reformer and of a
littérateur set a high goal which demanded much by way of idealism,
optimism, and courage.

is a reformer, Higginson played a minor role in the great issues
pressing upon the turbulent nineteenth century. Always a liberal in
his convictions, he followed the inaugurators of refonns and assisted
than materially by assuming local leadership in the cities where he
lived. His influence, however, should not be underestimated, for in
new instances, especially in the woman suffrage movement, he was a

pioneer whose signature and presence gave the weight of respectability

 

lfiary Thacher Higginson,_____ Thomas Wentworthflggin so : the Story
of _H_i__a _L_i___fe (Boston, 1911;), p. 71.

 

 

    
   
   
   
   
 
 

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to sthenuiee‘ 1'radica’l" measures.

Is a reformer it was impossible for Higginson to limit himself
to one or two moVements. A whole network of social problems, which
seemed to hinge upon one another, opened before him, and as be inter-
ested himself in one he found himself smashed in the others. As a
result he became involved in most of the issues. He supported Horace
Hahn's public school system and was, most of his life, on one or an-
other board of education. His lyceun lectures, as part of adult edu-
cation, were popular and stimulating. He advocated public libraries
and was instrumental in setting up local libraries where he lived,
even contributing a collection of almost a thousand books to the Bos-
fon Public Library. He was among the early supporters of physical
education and gymnasiums for both young men and women. He often at-
tributed his long and healthy life to the fact that he took regular
physical exercise when a young man. He advocated labor unions and
improved working conditions for men and women. He was one of the
leaders in the temperance movement, frequently holding office and lec-
turing at conventions. He insisted that his return to health after
his injury in the Civil War was due to the fact that he never indulged
in strong drink.

He was also averse to tobacco. He was an early apostle of prison
reform and a helper of the social outcast, the discharged prisoner.

He was among the strongest supporters of the Free Church movement-cone
of the radical outgrowths of Unitarianism, and he became interested in
spiritualism through his membership in the Radical Club. These many
interests indicate a very full life and one can readily understand

Higginson's remark that he never knew a moment of boredom.

 

 

   
   
    
 
   
    

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'Jhe two reforms, however, which occupied the largest portion of
his life were abolition and woman suffrage. The appeal of the former
which smote his conscience and his heart very early in life was simple. ~ ‘
is he said» many times, once grant that one man cannot hold another man I 1
as property and the argument is won. The appeal went far deeper however. | i i

Higgnson came to know personally and to revere several Negro leaders,

 

among whom were fugitives from the South and freed men from the North,
such as Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. ,His position as a colonel
of a Negro regiment of freed slaves was one of the greatest joys of his
life. His enthusiasm and pride in these men was genuine and in many
respects almost paternal. This is evident in his best work, gm E2
in a M Ream ent.

The women's rights movement he accepted as a challenge to Ameri-

 

can democracyr For sixty years he spent himself, gallantly fighting

on the lecture platform and in his writings for "the other half of the
population." His advocacy of women's rights, however, was not limited

to woman suffrage only. He expected that with the right to vote, woman‘s
sphere would be broadened socially, educationally, industrially, and "‘
politically. Although he did not live to see the fulfillment of the
woman suffrage movement in the passage of the nineteenth amendment, he
frequently prophesied its coming for he recognized that the status of
women in American society had long passed its "Chrysalis" stage. For
this reason he encouraged the rising group of authoresses, and brought
before the public the achievements of women, however great or small.
And, as a man of letters, he found at hand ample source material both

Propagandistic and artistic in these two movements.

 

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Two phases of Bigginson's literary career have been thoroughly in-
vestigated in earlier dissertations. One by Howard Hintz2 is a general
survey of Higginson‘s life and work in the light of Emersonian idealism.
Hints points out that Higginson's optimism and noble aims were largely
inspired in his youth by the older transcendentalists, especially Ener-
son, and that Higginson represented these qualities, although in some-
what diluted form with the pas sing of years, well into the twentieth
century. Higginson's position as a literary critic has also been dis-

cussed in a more recent study.3

It is the purpose of this thesis, however, to examine the rela-
tionship between Higginson‘s reform activities in the anti-slavery
and woman suffrage movements and his literary career. Although much
of his writing is necessarily of a propagandistic nature, a considerable
amount of it is of real literary value. The study has been eminently
revealing and rewarding, for behind the facade of Higginson's graceful
and genteel style is a man of action. The mildness of his manner and
of his writing is deceiving. Even Cheerful Yesterdays, his autobiography,
is so self-effacing that it does not bring to the fore emphatically
enougl the natural vigor and vitality of the man. It is hoped the
following discussion will rectify this impression, for Higginson‘s
life was stinmlating in its courage, fearlessness, and nobility of

purpose .

 

2Howard w. Hintz, Thomas Wentworth Hi ginson: Disciple of 3133
Newness (Unpublished doctoral dissertation: New York University,

3Edgar Lindsley McCormick, Thomas Wentworth Hi ' son 3.3. a
Litera Critic (Unpublished doctoral dissertation: éniversity of
Michigan, 0 .

 

 

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It must also be kept in mind, while examining his writings, that
Higginson did not regard a literary career as the highest aim in life.
His passionate fondness for literature and for writing was second to
his hmniterianism. It is with this idea that he concluded his auto-

MOSI‘IPWO

'lho high-water mark of earthly endeavor is not to be
found in the pure love of science or art or literature, since
these do not, at their utmost, include all the interests of
man, . . . but it lies in aims so far-reaching tl'nt they ex-
clude all petty personalities-min aims such as are expressed
in George Eliot's 'choir invisible,’ or in the sublime prayer
of the French iconoclast, Proufihon, 'Let my memory perish,
if only humanity may be free.‘

is a man of'letters, therefore, Higginson's life was inextrica-

bly bound up with his times. The ephemeral content of his work is

 

perhaps one reason for the sudden decline of his reputation immediate-
ly after his death in 1911. Another reason is that, like most overly- ‘{
active men, Higginson scattered his energies. He spoke of this as a

fault in Theodore Parker and quoted from Goethe, "Strive constantly

to concentrate thyself, never dissipate your powers; incessant acti-

vity, of whatever kind, leads to bankruptcy."5 Although neither

Parker nor Higginson could be accused of bankruptcy, nevertheless

Higginson today is considered second rate as a writer. Perhaps con-‘

centration in one or two fields might have given him a lasting name.

Higginson himself realized this, for he says of his activities in his

autobiograptn', "Such versatility makes life very enjoyable, but. per-

haps not so really useful or successful as a career like that of my

 

bThomes Wentworth Higginson, Cheerful Yesterda s, I, The Works
of Thomas Wentworth Higginson (Boston, I, p. 53%.

5"Theodore Parker," Contem oraries II, The Works of Thomas
Wentwarth Higginson (Boston, T900), Po 1°

 

 

 

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eontomporsry, Francis Parkmn, 1'----a. specialist before the days of
specialism.6 He did not, however, regret his course.
To adopt a different method, as I did, is to put one's

self too much in the position of a. celebrated horse once .

owned by a friend of mine,--a horse which had never won a.

race, but which was prized as having gained a second place

in more races than any other horse in America.

Neither did Higginaon have the happy faculty, as Bliss Perry
points out, "like Julia Ward Howe, to win fame by one ecstatic lyric,
or, like Wesson and Ellery Charming to be remembered by one famous
line."8 Yet he achieved a. high excellence in his prose and constantly
maintained it at a level which neither improved nor declined with the
passage of years. His style was graceful and flowing, and he pos-
sessed the ability to touch delicately and lightly the finest aspects
of life. Charles F. Thwing states that Higginson‘s style possessed
two qualities--fineness and fire.

These two elements are characteristic. It is, how-

ever, rather fineness than fire that dondnates. . . .

Fineness of thinking, fineness of feeling, fineness of

appreciation eVer seem to me to belong to hm, and there-

fore to form, or to give at least atmosphere to his writing.
. . . Fire belongs more to his understanding of movements.

 

Both these elements are obvious in his contributions to the {it
£833.39 Monthly. It will be noticed in the course of this study that
web of his best work was published in the Atlantic Monthly during
the first ten years of its existence, although his bibliography re-
veals that he wrote for nearly seventy journals during his prolific

career. It will also be noticed that many of his early contributions

 

6Cheerful. Yesterdays, p. 183-
71bid.

8Bliss Perry, "The Colonel‘s Quality," _'1;h_e_ Praise of Folly and
Other Papers (Boston, 1923), 13-7750 » _

9Charles Franklin Thwing, "Thomas Wentworth Higginson,“ Friends
52 Mi’! (New York, 1933), Po 123-

 

 

 

 

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literary figures °f :
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coooerate in Underwc
and cordial response
was disappointed in
the fall of 1853.

As limrary ad'
tareated them in hi
Wendi, Lowell,
ii“: in 1857, the g

The relation 0

, The conte
Chlefly litsra

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u 0M. A *
i719), p. N‘DWOlf

to the Atlantic Mbnthly are roformatory in content. A glance at the
background of the magazine will perhaps explain Higginson's policy.

Higginson began publishing poetry, sermons and lectures as early
as 18h3. These, together with his personal acquaintanceship with the
literary figures of Boston and Concord, gave him, by 1852, an assured
literary prestige. When Francis H. Underwood, in 1853, looked for
superior writers as contributors to his new literary project, a "literary
and anti-slavery" magazine, Higginson was invited to contribute articles.
Underwood had succeeded in persuading J. P. Jewett & Co. to stand be-
hind him in establishing the new magazine which would unite “the strongest
forces of expression in the joined causes of letters and reform."10
J. P. Jewett & Co. had proved that they were unafraid of alienating their
Southern customers by publishing Eagle 2221i Eabin and they agreed to
cooperate in Underwood's project. After having obtained an immediate
and cordial response from the outstanding New England writers, Underwood
was disappointed in the sudden financial failure of the Jewett firm in
the fall of 1853.

As literary adviser for Phillips, Sampson & Co., Underwood in-
terested them in his project and with his former correspondents (Emerson,
Longfellow, Lowell, Holmes, Cabot, and Motley) as his counsel, he be-
gen, in 1857, the Atlantic Monthly with Lowell as editor-in-chief.

The relation of the Atlantic gggthly to the reform movements of
the day would be an interesting study in itself. Louis J. Budd states:

The contents of the early Atlantic were, of course,
chiefly literary. Still, from its birth, aligned with
K.-

10M. A. DeWolfe Howe, The Atlantic Monthly 33g _i_t_s_ Makers (Boston,
1919), p. 16. _

 

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of his conservative
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1861); "Nat hmer':
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the rising Republican party through both editors and owners,
it devoted substantial attention to contemporary affairs 3
James Mason Lowell, the first editor, penned political
polemics for this new organ of 'Literature, Art, and Poli-
tics. ' During the 1860's James T. Fields, moving with the
main trend, further widened the periodical's coverage, and
after the Civil War had enshrined the Republican party in
the hearts of the New England intelligentsia. The Atlantic
favored openly the triumphant antislavery legions 0

Lincoln, Grant, and Charles Sumner.11

 

Higginson's pa rt in the early policies of the magazine could
also be the subject for a separate study, for Higginson was inti-
mate with both Lowell and Fields. Lowell himself has been des-
cribed as "so true and spirited a patriot that no fear of conse-
quences withheld him from open identification with the heterodox

 

cause of an1'.i-s1avery,"12 although Higginson found him reticent

about publishing his "Ought Women to Learn the Alphabet?" because

of his conservative attitude toward women suffrage. Within Lowell's
editorship, (1857-1861), however, Higginson published his essays on
plwsical education: "Saints and their Bodies," (March, 1858); "Gym-
nastics," (March, 1861); on slavery: "Marooneof Jamaica ," (February,
1350); "Haroons of Surinam" (May, 1860); "Dennark Vesey," (June,
1861): "Nat Turner's Insurrection," (August, 1861); on education:
“Murder of the Innocents," (September, 1859). During Field's edi-
torship (1861-1871), he published essays on physical education:
”Health of Our Girls ," (June, 1862); on smoking: "A New Counterblsst,"

(December, 1861), and his Civil War papers discussed below.

M

quuis J. Budd, "Howells, the Atlantic Monthly and Republi-
canism," American Literaturg, XXIV (Hay, 1:952 , p. 8.

1211mm, 92. 2}}: p. 28.

 

 

 

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Fields was editor of the Atlantic throughout the Civil War, and

 

in accepting and publishing Higginson's war essays, he carried on the
definite anti-slavery character of the magazine. Higginson says of
his friendship with Fields, "I happened to be one of his favorites,
. . .‘and [he] was the only editor I have ever encountered whose judg-

ment I could move for an instant by any cajoling; editors being, as a

 

rule, a race made of adamant, as they should be. "13 James Austin says
of Higginson's contributions during Fields's management:

Higginson's part in the Atlantic is not to be passed
over lightly. Though he is often overshadowed by the il—
lustrious poets and essayists who were his colleagues, he
had more to do with the serious prose style that was a
chief characteristic of the magazine than any other writer
between the resignation of Lowell and the appointment of
Howells. This included the war period, wherein Higginson's
matter oi well as manner was authoritative Atlantic Monthly 8|
policy.1

 

The literary prestige of the journal from its beginnings and the
fact that Higginson could boast that he ”wrote more largely for the
first twenty volunes of the magazine than any other contributor except
Lowell and Holmes,"15 indicates the stature of his reputation at this
time. The fact that most of his contributions dealt with timely sub-
Jects shows that the reform element played a large part in his literary
career. This is not to imply, however, that his work for the Mg
219332: was limited to reform topics or that his articles on reform

were not sent to other leading journals. A glance at the bibliography
—--—-———

13Cheerful Yesterdazg, p. 186»
anmes 0. Austin, Fields 9; the Atlantic Monthl , (San Merino,

——--—————

1
1953), p. 2h8. -
lsCheerful Yesterda , p. 186.

 

 

 

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-11

“Yo

Higginson's exact and methodical habits have made this study easier
than was at first anticipated. He collected all his signed articles inu-
to book form, sometimes reprinting the same article in tw0 or three
Volumes. Frequently articles by him appeared in different magazines
within a year or two of one another, saying substantially the same
thing, for he had. the public speaker's habit of repeating himself
without apparently diminishing the interest of his audience in the man-
ner or matter of his. topics. He also preserved carefully all letters
which he received .from' great or minor figures. of his day with an un-
canny foresight as to their historical and antiquarian value. And he
took a certainamountofawell-deserved satisfaction in reprinting in
facsimile some of these letters in his volumes and in displaying his
knowledge of the personal habits and eccentricities of notables by
Writing interesting and amusing reminiscences of them. It has been in-
teresting to meet these men and women through the eyes of a contempor-
81‘5’, for Higginson is said to have known "everyone."

fimong these contemporaries were his friends, Emerson, Holmes, Long-
fellow, and Lowell, who exerted a strong influence on him and whose
finest essence his own life emphasized. He drew from them an idealism
and optimism which pervades his writings and is evident in such titles
as Cheerful Iesterdazs and. "The Sunny Side of the Transcendental Period.n
But for this optimism, Hellman asserts,

this American faith in moulding the liVing material of his own

day into the finer forms inherent in his country's institutions,

Emerson, the most influential of our essayists would have had a

lesser hold on the minds of his fellow citizens; and the value
04'- Higginson. comes from a similar happy endowment.

N

16390130 5. Hellman, I'Later Essayists,” Cambridge History 91 Ameri-
91‘ My: (New York, 1931), III, Part II, p. 118.

 

 

 

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CHAPTERII

mm MINISTER AND THE sums
n Rnuulflflswdhfiéhwnawhuhsu&}m&)

is a young men of twenty in 18,43, Thomas Wentworth Higginson I'hae
got the excitement of the great Abolition conventions"1 which he attended
several times. Shortly after, he understood "the runof slavery argu-
mentation" and could |‘talk abolitionism pretty well. "2 Within the year,
Higginson decided that.he wasdestined to live an earnest, independent

life, and wrote to his fiance’e.,.Mary Charming)“ his decision to be a

 

reformer. ”Setting out, as I do, with an entire resolution never to

be intimidated into shutting either my eyes or my mouth, it is proper

to consider thechance of my falling out with the world. “3 He knew

that reformers such as Enerson, Alcott, and Mrs. lydia Maria Child were
considered fanatics and branded as unsafe by conservatives. By 18116,

he recorded that he had enrolled himself in the ranks of the American
Non-Jurors or Disunion Abolitionists. He was determined "not only not
to vote for any officer who must take the oath to support the U. 3.
Constitution, but also to use whatever means may lie in my power to pro-

note the Dissolution of the Union. ”)4

 

1% Wentworth Higginson, p. 60.
2M. , p. 61.
3.193;" p. 68.
kw. p. 78.

 

he

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13

Biaificantly, the title of his graduation oration from Harvard
Divinity School in 181:? was “Relation of the Clergy to Baton-5 let
his ordination in Hewburyport, James Freeman Clarke aexhorted his young
brother to speak scathing words of rebuke against the sin of slavery,"6
advice which he readily followed. At Newburyport, however, he found
himself in one of the most conservative and anti-abolitionist of parishes.
By profession, Higginson says, he found himself associated with all that
was met reputable in the town; but, by temperament, he was inclined
toward that which was most radicalutoward the 'Come-Outers“ and those
who belonged to the "Sisterhood of Reformed” He spoke at anti-slavery
and temperance meetings and, in 18148, accepted the nomination of the
Free Soil Party for Congress. He was defeated and lost his parish be-
cause of his anti-slavery views.

For 13% years Higginson remained in Newburyport without a pa rish

and entered into politics. One of his attempts, as he wrote to his
friend, Samuel Longfellow, was "to bring back the Free-Soil party to
self-control and consistency from the more fascinating paths of coali-
tion and conquest'm-at which he failed. The other was "to induce Massa-
chusetts to follow the example of Maine and either have laws that can do
something, or none at all, in the way of checking liquor traffic. "8
Hanan suffrage also came in for an early share of his activities. But
his growing interest was the slavery reform. During his stay at Newbury-

port, he began to meet the older abolitionists, Charles Sunner, Lucy Stone,

 

51bid.
6mm, p. 85.
7Cheerful Yesterda , p. 119.

8% Wentworth HigginsonI pp. 90-91.

 

 

 

 

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Whittier, Thoreau, and Emerson.

When the Fugitive Slave Law broke upon the nation in 1850, Higginson
indignantly took up ems in earnest and entered into the slavery reform
as a moral crusader. He had to wait, however, for an opportunity to act
and followed approvingly the newspaper account of the drama tic rescue of

the fugitive, 'Shadrach," who was literally whisked away from the court

 

by a group of negroes and rushed to Canada and freedom by white sympa-
thizers.

‘lb enter more fully into such activities, Higginson joined Theodore
Parker's Vigilance Committee in Boston. The opportunity for excitement
cametin April, 1851, when he received word to report to the office of

 

the Liberator for a meeting regarding the kidnapping of the Negro youth,
Thomas Sims. The members of the Vigilance Committee, Higginson says, ‘
though personally admirable, were, on the whole, "unfit to undertake any
positive action in the direction of forcible resistance to authorities."9
Half of them were non-resistants like their leader Garrison; the other
half were I'political Abolitionists," or Free-Soilers who were opposed to
any violation of the law. The only ones to be relied upon were a few, 1..
like himself, "whose temperament prevailed over the restrictions of non-
resistance on the one side, and of politics on the other.“10

Thomas Sims was held in the court House in Boston under trumped-up
charges and a heavy guard. Higginson tried to assist him by consulting
Ellis Gray Luring, an abolitionist lawyer, about the wild scheme of
£11ch the official record of the Southern court which was lying in-

vitingly among the lawyers' papers. He also wrote to an old classmate,

 

9Cheerful Yesterda , p. 139-

loIbid. , p. 11.0.

15
fiber-lea Devens, then United States marsha , imploring him to resign
rather than to be the instrument of sending a man into bondage. in

; excerpt from his letter illustrates his sincerity.

For myself there is something in the thought of assisting
to retum to slavery a man guilty of no crime but a colored
skin [it which] every thought of my nature rebels in . . . hort-
ror. I think not now of the escaped slave, though he has all
sympathies, but of the free men and women who are destined to
suffer for this act. And I almost feel as if the nation of
which we have boasted were sunk in dust forever, now that jus-
tice and humanity are gone, and as if the nineteenth century
were the darkest of all ages.

‘ Devens, however, replied courteously that he reserved his decision.

Higginson also made a vigorous speech in Tremont Temple urging in-
stant action which excited the crowd "to the verge of revolution,"12
but was effectively opposed by a lawyer, Charles Mayo Ellis, who pro-
tested againet its tone. 13

Finally, Higginson, with about four or five others, formed a des-
perate plan of rescue. Sims was confined in the Court House in a third
floor room without grating at the window. A Negro clergyman of Boston,
Hr. Grimes, agreed to visit Sims and arrange to have him jump from a
window to mattresses placed below and thence to escape in a carriage
waiting for him. As Higginson and a friend walked through the Court
Square the evening of the proposed rescue, they were dismayed to find
men busily fitting iron bars across the window. Their plan was frus.
trated.

A hurried meeting was held in Theodore Parker's study, where plans

were discussed for pirating the boat on which Sims was to be placed.

 

n’l‘hunas Wentworth Higginson, pp. 111-112.
12Uheeru‘iul Yesterdays, p. 1&2.
13mm. , p. 11.3.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

16
The uncertainty of the project, however, caused the would-be rescuers
to abandon the idea.

Thauas Sims was returned to Savannah and publicly
whipped.

The abolitionists, especially Higginson, were left with the strong
impression of the great want of preparation, on their part, for this
revolutionary workblh By their defiance of the law in their attempt to
rescue Sims they were also left with the strange feeling of being out-

side the pale of established institutions. In formulating plans, Hig-

ginson said of those days, one was "obliged to lower one’s voice and
conceal one's purposes; to see law and order, police and military, on
the wrong side, and find good citizenship a sin and bad citizenship a
duiwd'ls

Higginson's part in the Sims incident gave him enough publicity
to bring him to the notice of the Abolition element in Worcester, Massa-
chusetts. He was invited to take charge of the Worcester Free Church,

an organization which had sprung up under the influence of Theodore

Parker's Boston Society--its prototype. This organization suited Hig-

giuson because of its secular nature, with no church membership or com-

munion service. It resembled, he says, “the ethical societies of the

present day, with a shade more of specifically religious aspect. "16
He wrote to a friend that his motives in accepting the Worcester parish
were that the radicalism was like that of Lynn, 3 strongly abolitionist

town, but "more varied, more cultivated, and more balanced by an opposing

 

1“:b1d., p. rut.
1517031., p. 1&5.
161b1d., p. 131.

 

 

17 '|

fora." Furthermore, the free church movement was very strong there, \ 1
and Higginson felt a duty toward it because, he says, he saw the need
and possibility “of infusing more reverence £93 p_i_e_tz into the £93-
outarim of New England, to which I belong by nature. "17 Worcester,
therefore, offered an opportunity for complete dedication to the slav-
ery reform, for it was at tint time a l'seething centre of all reforms,
and I found myself almost in fashion, at least with the unfashionable. '18
Higginson and his Free Church became an important factor in strong-
thening the Underground bilroad in Worcester. He was stockholder of

a yacht the Flirt which cruised the coast to assist fugitives or harass

 

boats carrying slaves. Higginson himself took fugitives by night to
the suburban home of Stephen Foster, one of the steps of the Underground
Railroad. As a member of the Boston Anti-Slavery Society he received
fugitives into his home and at one time was even moved with the desire
to adopt the white child of a fugitive slave to supply the want of
children in his home.
During this period (1853-1858) Higginson had a number of speeches
and sermons printed in the Liberator. In these he expressed his Disunion ..

views boldly and had the courage of his convictions to follow them through.

 

Slavery was a moral issue with him because it involved transgression upon
the rights of men and was completely antagonistic to the natural law.

In the early days of 1853: he believed Massachusetts to be too lethargic
in its attitude toward the slavery question. It was his ambition to be

an agitator and to arouse his fellow man to the injustices and atrocities

 

1’7 'lhomas Wenhaorth Hi inson, p. 115.

m

18Cheerful Iggtgrdag, p. 131.

 

 

 

 

 

18

of the slavery system. With the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law and ‘
the failure of the abolitionists of Boston to keep Themes Sims in the
lorth, more agitation was necessary than ever before.
Daniel Webster said at Sales, in that memorable trial,

'There is no escape from confession but suicide, and suicide

is confession. ' So I say now, that in this anti-slavery

cause or in any moral cause, there is no refuge from agita-

tion by chains and dungeons, and chains and dungeons £33

agitation.1
Slavery, he pointed out, was brought to the doorstep of Massachusetts
by escaped Negroes, such as Thomas Sims. Norther-hers must now be made
to realise its moral and political implications. The enemy "now sits

enthroned in State Street, and we have it at am's length. '20 It

 

must be fought first by battling "with the money powers of the city,
and the conservative power of the State. '21 Political parties, how-
ever, were not the answer to the problem. "What difference is it to
the anti-slavery movement whether the Whig and Democratic parties
take this or that position on the subject? What idle folly for the
Slave Power to hope anything by going there: It should have gone
West, to a different National Convention. "22

Within the year, Higginson saw the Thomas Sims incident repeated

 

on a larger scale in the case of Anthony Bums, for this tine the

city authorities had to call out the militia to preserve their authori-
ty. On Thursday, May 25, 1851:, Rev. Samuel May, secretary of the Bos-
ton Anti-Slavery Society, sent word to Higginson that a slave, Anthony

 

l _
9"Speech at the Anti-Slavery Convention,” 3h: Liberator, February
11, 1853. -

”mm.
21mm.
22mm

 

 

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. ' ' 19
Bums, had been arresfid. The case was to be heard on Saturday morning.
mgginson sent word to Martin Stowall (a friend who had experienced a
slave rescue in Syracuse, New York) and went to meet the Vigilance Com-
nittee in Boston. The committee was "not essentially different fm
those which had proved so disappointing three years befom."23 Samuel
Gridley Howe gave some good and spirited advice, and twa things were
resolved uponuto list the names of those willing to act, and to have
a definite leader. One leader could not be agreed upon, so an execu-
tive comittee of six was formed: Wendell Phillips, Theodore Parker,
Samuel G. Howe, Kemp (an energetic Irishnan), Captain Bearse (Captain
of the Flirt), and Higginson. 2’4 Stowall was added at Higginson's re-
quest and arrived that evening. At Stowall's suggestion a plan for
the rescue of Anthony Bums was adopted. A meeting was to be held at

 

Fameull Hall Saturday night. At the height of the program a loud

voice from the gallery was to announce that a mob of Negroes were at-

tacking the Court House where Burns was imprisoned. One of the speakers

was to be warned of the signal in advance-Wendell Phillips, if possible--

and he, in turn, was to send the mob running to the Court House to a..
support the committee of six who were to act as leaders to bring the

slave out of the prison. Higginson heartily endorsed the scheme and

prepared for action. A box of axes was bought and the comittee

agreed to meet before the general assembly in the Hall on Saturday.

 

The crowd in Faneuil Hall was larger than any one anticipated.

The comittee found it impossible to get together for a meeting, so

 

23Cheerful Yesterdajg, p. it?
21‘Ibid. p. 1148.

 

 

 

 

 

20

word was sent haphazardly to each member. Samuel G. Howe and Theodore
Parker, the speakers, only half comprehended the message, as it after-
wards proved. Wendell Phillips could not be reached at all. It was
believed, however, that enough information had been given about the
scheme to have it run smoothly. Stowall, Kemp, and Higginson were
each to provide five men to head the attack on the court house, and
Lewis Hayden, a Negro leader, agreed to supply ten Negroes.

The audience at Faneuil Hall, however, was too large; the plat-
form could not be reached by a private entrance, and John L. Swift,
who was chosen to give the signal, was not believed when he called
out the message until too late.

Higginson met his group at the Court times and waited for the
crowd at the Hall to come to ther support. After the signal was
given, a few idlers came running by, but the real leaders of the meet-
ing, Howe, Parker, Phillips, and William Francis Charming, were clogged
in the Hall and could not get out quickly enough to be of any use. In
the meantime, a few of Higginson‘s group came up with a wooden beam.
Higginson found himself at the head of it, with a stalwart Negro op-
posite him. They battered down the southwest door to the Court House
and ran in, the Negro leading and Higginson right behind him, to find
themselves faced with policenen who forced them back. Higginson re-
ceived a cut on the chin which later left a permanent scar. A man,
Batchelder, inside the Court House, was shot and killed. Of this in-
cident, Higginson wrote: "There had been other fugitive slave rescues
in different parts of the country, but this was the first drop of blood
aetually shed. . . .The killing of Batchelder was the first act of

Violence."25 The source of the shot was never finally determined.

 

2
SE20, p. lSSe

 

 

' “‘1

 

21

Iewspaper iteus give conflicting stories. 26 Martin Stowal'l and several
others were arrested. Higginson remained outside hoping that reinforce-
manta would appear. Instead, two companies of artillery came from Fort
Warren and two companies of marines from the Charlestown Navy Yard to
put down the insurrection and to guard the Court House. Higginson re-
tired to have his chin tended to.

Within a few weeks, on June 10, 18514, Higginson was arrested. He
reported to Boston for examination, but was never required to appear
at the trial about which Theodore Parker later wrote his elaborate
defense. Of this Higginson said, “The indictment was ultimately quashed
as imperfect, and we all got out of the affair, as it were, by the side-
door."27

anthony Bums was returned to his master on what was later known
as "Bad Friday." The following Sunday, Higginson preached a semen,
"Massachusetts in Mourning,” in which he said,

The strokes on the door of that Court-House that night

. . . went echoing from town to town . . . and each rever-

berating throb was a blow upon the door of every slave prison

of this guilty republic.2

Later that year he referred to Anthony Burns and pointed out that
America was no lorger free.

We claim to be free; and yet, while Massachusetts still
retains, and has multiplied a hundred-fold its old prosperity,

the only step that is claimed in the direction of freedom is,
that whereas it once cost twonty-five dollars to send a slave

 

26Boston Slave Riot and Trial of Anthony Burns (Boston, 1851;).
This volume contains reprints of the newspaper articles which appeared
at the time. Several accounts assert that Bachelder was stabbed, not
shot.

27Cheerful Yesterdays, p. 162.
28Thomas Wentworth Hi inson , p. 1146.

._

 

 

 

 

F”. '

22

into bondage, it costs thousands of dollars now. But renuber,
it “only because Hassachusette is rich and luxurious now,

and she can afford to pay for the costly luxury of still obeying
the Constitution, as she construes it, by sending e use into
'hufle 29

Il'he Fugitive Slave Law, he said, passed under the Constitution,

. presented the best of arguients for civil disobedience. It denied
habeas corpus and trial by jury; it invested subordinate officers with
Judicial power who could be bribed with five dollars to decide cases
unjustly. The evil, however, was not that certain points of the Fugi-
tive Slave Law were unconstitutional, "but because it is internal:

. . . The evil is the object itself."30 A man's conscience must force

him to choose sides. Higginson, for one, signed the first petition

 

of the Legislature asking that Massachusetts take steps for the peace-
able dissolution of the Union. He was voting again, he said, Free-
Soiler that he was, for the same measure. At this time he felt that
political action could remedy the situation.

Nothing is clearer than that political action must
tend to the building up of a Northern Union, a Northern
Democracy-4 Democracy that no longer apologizes and
cringes when the Constitution and the Union are mentioned, .
but which says clearly to the South-“We have Justice and "
right, the truth of God, and the sympathies of all good
men on our side; you have only a Constitution and a Union.’
let this issue he tried between them.31

 

 

 

The Constitution does not require that Congress should pass laws
regarding slavery, he said. It should be the responsibility of the
States to make a Fugitive Slave Law. With the Federal Government out
of the picture, nullification could take place as a sectional issue,

 

29'3peech at the Celebration of the West India Busncipation at
“11181201!” 399. Liberator (August 11, 1851:).

”an

311bid.

 

 

23

and Higginson for one would be in favor of dissolving the Union.

The necessity for disunion was made more urgent by the dangers of
the pending Kansas-Nebraska Bill in 185!» In February he preached a
musing semen against its principles. Giving a brief history of the
comprmises, he pointed out that the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, proposed by
Stephen Douglas was the direct result of Douglas's recent visit to Rus-
sia; that Russia's policy was to have the United States so absorbed in
internal conflict that it could not take part in the coming death-
struggle of despotism in Europe. "When this administration suddenly

suffers a contest to be reopened, which it had solemnly pledged it-

 

self to keep closed forever, we must look further for the explanation
than the politics of one continent only. '32

Higginson believed that the Nebraska Bill would pass, but he did
not believe that slavery would necessarily be extended. His reasons
were, first, that slavery was economically unsound; second, that emi-
grants hated its third, that the rising agitation against slavev pre-
dicted freedom even without the action of law. He was caustic in his
outline of the consistent weaknesses of politicians in making the com-
Promises which led from one to another, so that even the great Webster,
after sincerely pledging in 181:8 that he would never consent to the ad-
mission of another slave State into the Union was supporting the Nebra-
ska Law. Politicians could no longer connnand respect. “In what has
"his Anti-Slavery principle shown itself better than Democratic Anti-

Shvel'y principle, that it should claim our greater confidence new?”
h—-l——
32"The Nebraska Bill: A Semen," _'I'_h_e' Liberator (February 17,

0

”ma.

 

2h

Higginson proposed the renew of curing agitation by agitation--
so as ”to hasten the time when agitation will be unnecessary.“ Senator
Douglas, through this bill, Higginson maintained, was unconsciously
starting an impulse toward agitation "that may help the whole nation to
I a healtlw state again."3h It did no good to try to dismiss the topic
of slavery from the Senate hall, for slavery was its own worst enemy.
Anus-slavery discussion proceeded from principles deep in the human
soul whichwauld endure. l"i‘here are but two powerful things upon this
continent, Slavery and Anti-Slavery:«politics and religion and con-

science are the submissive servants of one or the other of these. ”35

 

The Nebraska Bill, he added in a fiery peroration, was "not a new Com-
promise to save the Union; it was the repeal of an old one, which was
made to save it before." Higginson had no respect for compromises and
asked acridly, "But if this nation attaches no more importance to its
conpranises than it does to its principles, what have we left to trust
to?“

‘ Higginson urged further anti-slavery agitation. Even though the
Wilmot Prouso failed, he said, the agitation it called forth did not
1311: for it prevented slavery from going into California. God wanted
Nebrashe for freedom, and it behooved men to give to liberty what thou-
sands give to slavery-Jour lives and our fortunes;--and to add, what

slavery is just now in danger of forgetting, 'our sacred honor. "'36

 

25

Higginson's republican sympathies were never more strongly expressed
than in his series of articles for the New York Tribune which he wrote
as a correspondent for Horace Greeley on his trip into Kansas territory
in 1856. The articles ran serially from September 12, 1856, to October
20, and, like those written for similar Republican newspapers (St. Louis

Deuocret and the Chicago Tribune) they capitalized on real or imaginary

 

atrocities and injustices of the pro-slavery element in the territory,
and pointed up the pro-slavery bias of the government. A brief review
of the situation in Kansas will clarify Higginson's attitude toward the
government as seen in this series and his activities in the Ennigrant
Aid Society.

Hith the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of May, 1851;, which
repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1850, Kansas territory was opened
to settlers from the north and the south who were told that they should
decide by vote whether to exclude or countenance slavery. luvalry im-
mediately broke out in an effort to decide which group would be stronger.
Missouri settlers along the border naturally moved into Kansas to preempt
land, and it was generally assumed that Missourians would make Kansas a
slave territory.

Northern anti-slavery men, however, set themselves the task of
preventing the extension of slavery into Kansas. Eli Thayer of Worces-
ter, Massachusetts, saw in the Kansas-Nebraska Bill a chance to make
money and at the same time extend human freedom. With Amos :1. Lawrence,
his treasurer, he formed the New England Enigrant Aid Society which sent
Zmups to Kansas to form the anti-slavery town of Lawrence and to plot

new villages such as Osawatomie, Manhattan, and 1bpeks.37

 

37
1955) Jay Monaghan, Civilian! on the Western Border, 18511-1865 (Boston,
a P0 10

 

u‘l‘ ‘111 “w H II- II II ‘ I v I

   

 

 

 

26

In an effort to defend their stakes against the sudden influx of
nortbemers, the Missourians- held a series of meetings during the smer
of 1851; which denounced the migrant Aid Company and called upon the
people of Xissouri to rally to the support of their institutions. 38

In the meantime, Senator David R. itchison of Missouri saw an
opportunity ready-made for him to displace Thomas Hart Benton as Demo-
cratic boss of Missouri. He played upon the fears of the slaveholding
counties, and reused them to defend their interests against the in—
coming Easterners. By doing so, Atchison expected to bring the slave-
holding portion of the Whigs to his side and win the coming election
in January. With his lieutenants, the Stringfellow brothers, Atchison
cloaked his political ambitions behind his pretended zeal for slavery.

When, however, in January, the Missouri legislature was unable to
make a choice of senator, Atohison redoubled his efforts on the Kan-
sas border by rousing further animosity toward Northern settlersas
each group arrived.

Governor Reader, sent by President Pierce, spent the winter of
1851:4855 studying the situation. He ordered an election for a terri- w
torial legislature on March 30, 1855. In an effort to prevant fraud,
he had a census taken to estimate the approximate number of legitimate
Voters. By March, Atchison had exhorted enough Missourians and Souther-
ners to migrate for the election to succeed in stuffing the ballot boxes
with approximately eighty percent spurious votes of the 6207 cast.39

One free-state man was elected; the others, of course, were pro-slavery

 

38Samuel A. 'Johnson, "The Emigrant Aid Company in the Kansas Con-
flict," Kansas Historical Quarterl , VI (February, 1937), p. 23.

39Monaghan, 32. £13., p. 20.

 

a \
candidates. Au legislature was set up and reluctantly supported by
ficvemor Reader.

The Free-State settlers, were, naturally embittered by the elec-
tion and began to denounce the Missourians as “Border Ruffiane.‘ The
results of the election, however, served as a unifying factor to the
hoe-Soil group. Under the leadership of Dr. Charles A. Robinson,
one of the Enigrant Aid Company agents, the Free-State men joined in
gathering ems and forces for a revolution.

In August, 1855, Wilson Shannon of Ohio replaced Reader as
governor. He immediately accepted the pro-slavery groupes "the
people of Kansas.” His work in the territory, therefore, can be

 

summarized in the resolutions of the “new and Order Party" or "States'
Rights Party‘ which he assanbled at Leavenworth. Shannon's year of
governorship was one of growing bitterness between the pro-slavery and
free-soil camps. His position, however, was a difficult one. He had
toface the hostility of the free-soil men and the frictions within
the pro-slavery groups. During his term as governor, petty maraudings,
murders, and miscellaneous acts of depredation on both sides occurred =4
throughout the Territory. On May 214, 1856, the notorious Pottowa tcmie
massacre by John Brown took place. Within the same week, Captain Hen-
17 Clay Pete and his territorial militia surrendered to John Brown at
the "Battle of Black Jack." Shannon was able to avert open warfare on
Bull Creek in June only through the issuance of a proclamation ordering
all anned bands to disperse.

In the meantime, the Free-State leaders sent to Eli Thayer asking
for Sharps' rifles and urged the fame tion of a Free-State constitution.

At Lawrence, now the stronghold of the Free-State group, Robinson began

 

 

 

 

 

28

a sense of seven conventions out of which, in February, 1856, was fi-
nally drawn up the Topeka Constitution. Free-Soil officials were in-
stalled under the constitution and Kansas was now split into two rival
cements.

Feeling grew tense and skimishes continued between pro-slavery
and Free-Soil settlers. The climax came on May 21, 1856, when Law-
rence, the center of the Free—Soil settlers, was sacked by itchison
and pro-slavery fighters. For the next three months Kansas was plunged
into civil war. I

During the war the settlers of both parties suffered severe hard-
ships and poverty. The migrant Aid Compam' began to combine with its
pleas for stock subscriptions an appeal for funds to relieve destitute
Free-State settlers. Thousands of dollars were raised and sent to Kan-
see to supply food and clothing to men who had abandoned their claims
to take up arms in the Free-State cause. During June, Kansas aid com-
nittees sprang up in nearly all the free states and in July a National
Kansas Comittee was formed. These new organizations now took up much
of the burden, so far borne by the Enigrant Aid Company, of arousing
moral and political support for the Free-State cause, recruiting set-
tlers, furnishing arms, and relieving the needy. By this time "Bleeding
Kansas” had become a national issue.

During the first six months of 1856, parties were organized under
the auspices of these aid companies and assisted by the Enigrant Aid
Company which supplied tickets at a reduced rate in several instances.

Higginson, distressed at the lassitude of the North at this time
of crisis in a letter to his mother wrote,

I'm thousand dollars, withbur remittance, and our two
parties of emigrants (which would not have gone by this time

 

 

 

 

 

 

allo '

bloc'n
Nehru

set 0:

hum

50m:

 

 

29

if I had not gone to work on it the first night I cams) are
absolutely ALL that has yet been done by New England for Kan—
sas, in this time of imminent need. This I say to show you
how ill-prepared we are for such emergencies. The busy give
no time and the leisurely no energy, and there is no organi-
zation. I should except the Committee here, which has done
admirably, and that in Concord, Massachusetts, and Dr. Howe,
Sam Cabot, Charles Higginson, and a few others in BostothO
Higgmson became an officer of one of the county committees and urged
Worcester citizens and any others he could contact to join the emigrant
trains to fight, if necessary, for freedom in Kansas. He was success-
ful in sending off two parties, one led by Martin Stowall and a second
by Dr. Calvin Cutter}l
When Dr. Cutter's party was turned back from the Missouri river
by the border ruffians, Higginson went to St. Louis to meet it, car-
rying "funds to provide for the necessities of this body. " He was
also “to report on the practicability of either breaking the river
blockade or flanking it."h2 The party was re-routed through Iowa and
Nebraska. Stowall‘s party had made its "rendezvous" in Worcester and
set out on June 25.
On the same day, the delegates from Kansas leagues and local
Kansas committees in various Massachusetts towns met in convention in
Boston and formed the Massachusetts State Kansas Committee, with George

L. Steams as chairman and Patrick T. Jackson as treasurer.h3 Higgin-

son became an agent of this State committee "which," he wrote to his

 

hOMaIy Thacher Higginson (ed.), Letters 5153 Journals 2;: Thomas
Wentworth Higg'nson, 18b6-l906:(Boston, 1921), p. 138.

”1110101., p. 137.
MCheerful Yesterdays, p. 197.

b3Samuel A. Johnson, The. Battle 95;: 31: Freedom: The New Engand
Migrant il‘l Cogany 3.2 the Kansas Crusade (Lawrence, WAX—p. 203.

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

30

mother on June 26, "was appointed . . . chiefly on my urging. "M4

an August 29, he wrote again to his mother that l‘our menfiare nicely
settled in the northern part of Kansas, which is more peaceful. Colonel
Toplii‘f, who has just come from Lawrence, speaks quite encouragingly and
thinks they can resist invasion.“45 In the same letter he hinted that
he might have to go West, "to the Nebraska border, and perhaps some way
inside.” '

Two days later matters were decided and he sent word home that he
would leave for Chicago the next day, go to Nebraska City and probably
into the Territory. "I allow six weeks, but it may be only a month,
and hope to write a good deal to you and Mary and the 'Tribune,‘ though

letters may be intercepted. Letters for me to be directed to James L.

 

Armstrong, Topeka, Kansas.“6
While Higginson and his party were on their way to Kansas, events
were occurring in the Territory which it has taken later historians to
interpret. On August 21, Governor Shannon resigned and left the terri-
tory. That same day, notice of his removal was received from Washington.
With Simon's departure, bedlam broke loose. On August 25, Acting "
Governor Woodson issued a proclamation declaring "the said Territory
to be in a state of open insurrection and rebellion."h7
On September 2, 1856, John W. Geary was appointed Governor of the
Kansas Territory. When Geary entered Kansas, he had orders from Presi-

dent Pierce to secure peace at any price.

 

MLetters and Journals 3:; Thomas Wentworth Higginson, p. 137.

 

hSIbid., p. 139.
1161mm, p. 11.0.

mJohnson, The Battle 9g 2g Freedom, p. 203.

31 3

 

Geary arrived at Lecompton on September 12. The next morning he
issued two proclmations: I'one ordering all armed forces, including
the existing territorial militia, to disband, and the other ordering
all adult male citizens to enroll themselves for military duty.“48
He went to Lawrence to assure the people that they would be protected.
He captured James Lane‘s and Colonel Harvey's free-state force (although
Lane escaped) after their attacks at Oaawkee and Hickory Point. He
dispersed Atohison’s ”Grand Azmy,‘t numbering 2700, who were camped at
Franklin planning another major assault on Lawrence.

.Higginson arrived at Nebraska City, Iowa, September 12, the same
day Geary took office at Lecompton. His first article for the Tribune
under the name, I'Worcester," (later reprinted as .3. 35:22 Throggh m)
gives a picture of a frontier town. Nebraska City he describes as a
handful of one-story cabins set on a bluff overlooking the muddy His-
souri River. The village was comprised of three or four land offices
and a tavern. The principal occupation of the inhabitants seemed to
be to sit on the doorsteps and wait for real estate to rise. The emi-
grants had to come in through Iowa because the river had been closed -"
by the border ruffians. ”Migrants," Higginson says, "must toil week
after week, beneath a burning sun, over a parched and endless prairie
sometimes seeing no house in a day or two together, camping often with.
out wood, and sometimes without water, and obliged to carry with them
eVery eatsble they use.“ It was no wonder that many fell sick on the
way, for, he adds, “I can only wonder at the patience and fortitude

which the present emigrants have shown. . . . There is plenty of genuine

 

halbid. , p. 231.

 

 

 

 

 

32

mgedy. . . . I converse daily with men who have sacrificed all their
property in the service, and are ready to add their lives."‘9 The last
mark be made to rebuke Eastern millionaires who thought themselves
generous to give fifty dollars to the Kansas cause.

Reports, he said, fran Topeka and Iawrance were vague and confused.
hwrence was holdim its own, however, even though its people were an-
tirely out of flour- and lead. The Missourians between Nebraska City
and lame were so few that emigrant trains were molested. There
was reason to believe, however, that General Richardson (United States
military leader) had been drawn off for a time, to re-enter at a time

 

agreed upon-Jprobably when their spies report that our emigrant train
is ready to set fortlu'so

Higginson constantly drew attention to the good conduct of the

 

enigrant trains, of the Massachusetts and Maine men on their way to
Little Nemaha, and of his own group of about one-hundred-forty who
were resting at Nebraska City and purchasing supplies.
The first article of this series is made up of rumored reports
or hearsay, none of which had any foundation or authority. They were -'
asserted with an assurance that was probably meant to create uneasi-
neww among readers. The article is interesting as a reflection of the
Kansas atmosphere rather than of any actual happening. Some of the
more were that the Missourians expected to rule Iowa and Nebraska
as well as Kansas, that the new steam ferry intended for emigrants was

threatened, that hbor, Iowa, an anti-slavery town, was expecting an
attack.

 

F'1

1‘9; .1133 mm (Anti-Slavery Tract, No. 20, 1856), p. 2.

50
Ibid. ’ Pp. 2-30

 

33

With these dangers on their minds, the party moved through Plymouth
and Mutton prepared for an attack by pro-slavery groups. Higginaon
was a little disappointed that no danger arose and that he had no oppor-
mity to point his gun at anything more formidable than a hawk which
he brought down. Pro-slavery spies, Higginson said, mingled with the
uigraut train, but, because the group was well-armed and determined,
outbreaks or attacks were prevented. 51

Higginson' s unfavorable opinion of Governor Geary was formed on
his way into Kansas. He met James 3. Lane who had recently escaped af-
ter his attack on Hickory Point and brought news of Geary's disarma-
ment proclamation. Lane had retreated northward to open up the road
where General Richardson was preventing immigrants from coming along
the 'Iane Trail" which Higginson and his party were following. Several
discouraged returning parties also met Higginson's group with stories
of gross injustices, tyrannies, and arrests by pro-slavery men.

The bravest young men of Lawrence were put under arrest,
charged with treason, murder, arson, robbery, and what not;

while not a Pro-Slavery man was seized. This was the penalty

they had to pay for defending themselves vigorously at last,

and clearing their own soil from the invading Missourians.

'Tha worst enuny Kansas has ever had' they pronounced Governor

Geary to be; and they were going to Iowa to wait for better

times. 'Will you give up Kansas‘f' I asked. 'Nevert' was the

reply from bronzed and hes rded lips, stern and terrible as

the weapons that hung to the saddle-bow. 'We are scattered

starved, hunted, half-naked, but we are not conquered yet. $2
The report falls into the general pattern of Tribune propaganda which
Greeley probabh considered good copy.

Higginson's personal encounter with Governor Geary, which he wrote

about on September 28, continued his pro-conceived opinion of the man.

A‘

fi—

SlIbid. , p. 6.
52mm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3’:

Gary had been warned of a large armed force entering Kansas by way of
lebrasha. He sent Colonel Walker and Colonel Preston with soldiers to
prevent any such group from entering the Territory. Higginson's party
was stopped for investigation, Colonel Preston placixg Higginson, Red-
peth, and 'Governor' Robinson under arrest to be brought before Gover-
nor Geary. The mistake was recognized immediately and the group was
dismissed.53 Higginson's description of Geary is caustic in the ex-
treme and shows his complete lack of understanding of Geary'e trouble-
some position. The governor's eyes, he says, look at you I’with a very
intensified nothing in them. . . . He appears to have energy of will,
without real energy of cmracter; can do single acts of decision . . .
but has neither the mental ability to understand the condition of Kan-
sas, nor the moral power to carry out any systematic plan for its benefit."
He plays on the fears and hatred: of both pro-slavery and free-soil par-
ties and pits these forces against one another. He acts without law or
precedent. He is disliked by both groups. Higginson concludes his
tirade with: "I give this description of the new Governor of Kansas,
because there is no public man in the United States whose blunders or
errors may be more destructive. . . L He has undertaken a position so
inconsistent and difficult that the wisest man would not fill it; and he

is a great way from being the wisest."5h

 

53Colonel P. St. George Cook reported on September 28, 1856, from

a camp near Iecompton:
I have received no report from Colonel Johnston, but the

Deputy Marshall has returned with Redpath, and reports that the

large party met near Topeka are real imigrants. No definite in-

formation has been received of the approach of the large armed

body, but the Colonel will probably be instructed to remain near

the northern boundary until after the election on the 6th proximo.
Transactions of the Kansas Historical Societ , 1886-1888, F. G. Adams
0 3 Fakz—l , pa e

5&5 Ride Through Kansas, p. 9.

 

 

35

To his credit, 'Higginaon wrote of Governor Geary new years later:
I formed that day a very unfavorable impression of Governor
Geary, and a favorable one of Governor Robinson, and lived to
modify both opinions. The former, though vacillating in Kansas,
did himself great credit afterwards in the Civil War; while the

latter did himself very little credit in Kansas politics, whose
bitter hos lities and narrow vindictiveness he was the first

to foster.5

He also stated that “in view of the fact that certain rifles which
we had brought, and which had been left at Tabor, Iowa, for future en-
ergencies, were the same weapons which ultimately armed John Brown and
his men at Harper's Ferry, it is plain that neither Governor Geary's
solicitude nor the military expedition of Colonel Preston was at all
misplaced."56

In sharp contrast, however, to his dislike for Governor Gear-y
is Higginson's high opinion of the enigmatic James H. Lane. His
feeling about Lane is understandable, however, when considered in the
light of Higginson's own temperament and his strong abolitionist senti-
ments. Lane, to him, was the ”Marion" of Kansas. He was Higginson's
concept of the man of action who saw wrongs to be righted and was wil-
11118 to correct them at his own risk. Higginson either did not know
of Lane's unjust. incursions on pro-slavery groups or believed that in
such cases Lane was in the right. It is true that Lane had taken
Kansas and its Free-State people to his heart. He had appeared in
Congress with the Topeka Constitution which was rejected on grounds
of illegality. He had stmnped the Northern states, and with his
natural gift of flamboyant oratory had aroused the North to the necessity
of settling Kansas as a Free-Soil state. As the wagons of his

 

55Cheerful renew, p. 207.
“me, p . 206.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

36

 

migrants moved westward, the Missourians were terrified at more of
the purported mothers of *hane's Army from the North.’ When he fore.
saw the closing of the Missouri River, he is said to have made the so-
called 'lane's Trail' through Iowa and Nebraska by erecting heaps of
stones to mark out the way, known as I'Iaane's Chimneys'57 In Septem-
ber, he left Kansas temporarily, after Governor Geary's proclamation,

 

to assist emigrant groups to enter the Tbrritory. While Higginson
and his party were resting in Nebraska City, Lane and his men rode
into town.

The leader was a thin man of middle age, in a gray
woolen shirt, with keen eyes, smooth tongue, and a sug-
gestion of courteous and even fascinating manners; a
sort of Prince Rupert of humbler grade. This was the
then celebrated Jim Lane, afterwards Senator James H.
Lens, of the United States Congress; at this time cal-
ling himself only ‘Hajobgeneral commanding the Free
State Forces of Kansas.'5

lane remained in Nebraska City two days and Higginson "did something
towards renewing the clothing of his band.“ He spoke to the citizens
of the town with his usual fiery eloquence, impressing Higginson to

 

such an extent that he sent a report of the speech to "some Boston

 

paper." Lane gave "capital suggestions” to Higginson as to their
march through the Territory, and "ended by handing me a bit of crunp- i
led paper, appointing me a member of his staff and the rank of briga-

dier-general. '59 As Higginson rode out of Nebraska City with Samuel F.

 

”Wendell Holmes Ste
phensen, Political Career of General James 31.
Lane; III, Publication of the Kansas State {E's-tonsil Society (Topeka,

, D. 72s
”Cheerful res terdazs, p. 203.
59mm. , 13. 20h.

 

:| 37

fappan the correspondent for the 3...! York Times and Boston Journal, he
learned that Tappan also had a similar bit of paper in his possession.
hosed, he wrote:

lie tins found out that the Kansas guerilla leader
carried out the habit of partisan chiefs in all history,
who have usually made up in titles and honors what they
could not bestow in actual emoluments. After this dis-
covery Tappan and I rode on in conscious inward importance,

8 sort of dignity a deux, yet not knowing but that at any

moment some third Brigadiehgeneral might cross our pa th.6O

After the battle at Hickory Point from which Lane had escaped,
a group of 105 prisoners were held at Ieccmpton, the pro-slavery head-
quarters. Higginson went to visit them and found they were kept on
charges of murder while pro-slavery prisoners under the same charge
had been released. Higginson emphasized the wretched conditions an-
der which they were kept. They had no heat or bedding, and very
little food. In fact, he made an itmized list of the rations for a
week which had been given the prisoners. This he followed by a few
remarks regarding the goverxment.

All these arrests have been made by the United States
troops, whom it is the present policy of the people not to
resist. But this patience cannot last forever; and I only ..
repeat, what I have every day asserted, when I say that the
election of Fremont is the only thing that can avert a
bloodier conflict than has ever yet stained this soil. For
myself, I do not believe that even that will do it. When
not a single Pro-Slavery man is arrested, how can men help
seeing that the power of the Union is sustaining Missouri. 61
it Lawrence, the first week of October, Higginson learned of the

recent preparations for defense of the Free—Soil men against itchison's
intended attack. Somewhat overwhelmed by the idea of two hundred

courageous free-state defenders facing 2800 agreesors of the pro-

 

6°Ibid. , pp. zen-205.
61; Ride Through Kansas, p. 12.

 

 

 

 

 

T'_——' ,3

slavery perv, Higginson extolled their efforts.

- I was assured by Governor Robinson and a dozen others
that among this devoted handful the highest spirits pre-
vailed; they were laughing and Joking as usual, and only
intent on selling their lives as dearly as possible.
They had no regular commander, any more than at Bunker
Hill; but the famous "Old Captain Brown' moved anong than,
saying, 'Fire, low, boys; be sure to bring your eye to the
hinder sight of your rifle, and aim at the feet rather than
at the head.'52
Although Gesry was called upon, Higginson says, he did not come until
evening, 'thus allowing time for the destruction of everything." In

reality, there 'had been no attack. Geary had prevented it in a par-
ley with itchison.

Higginson's estimate of Iawrence, the Free-State town, was
highly favorable. Food shortage and lack of ammunition were causing
great hardship, but were bringing out the best qualities of the people.
Ever since the Anthemr Burns affai - Higginson wrote:

I have been looking for 3132.. I have found them in

Kansas. The virtue of courage, . . . has not died out

of the Anglo-American race. . . . It needs only circum-

stances to bring it out. A single day in Kansas makes

the American Revolution more intelligible than all
Sparks or Hildreth can do. 63

To these frontier heroes, Higginson preached on Sunday, choosing
as his text the one deployed by Rev. John Martin the Sunday after-he
fought at Bunker Hill, "Be not ye afraid of them; remember the Lord,
which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons
and your daughters, your wives and your houses. "6’4

On October 5, he left for Leavenworth, the pro-slavery town, to
observe a Border Ruffian election which turned out to be a quiet

 

621b1ds ’ p. 150

631b1de, p. 1b.
6thid., 1.). 17.

 

 

 

I _ 39

affair. 'Ee described the election:

Is for the voting, nothim can be more free and easy.
Strangers are pressed to take a share in it, as if it were
something to drink. Nothing seems necessary except to
hand in a ticket at a small office window and announce one's
name; no questions appeared to be asked. I was urged to do
this by bystanders, in spite of any assurances that I was
merely a trave or, not a resident; they assured me it made

no difference.
is an added element of personal interest, Higginson said some of the

 

Hissouri son were looking for a preacher who 'has his text and preaches
religion; then he drops that and pitches into politics, and then he
drops that too, and begins about the sufferin' niggers. '66 Since Hig-
ginson left town that night and headed for St. Louis by ferry, he was
not discovered, but the thrill of being important enough to be searched

for by the enemy delighted him.
On the “Cataract” bound for St. Louis, Higginson observed with

displeasure some of the Southerners whom Atohison had recruited to en-
ter Kansas to vote. Most of them were without money and grmhled at

the fact that they had not been supported for a year, not given the

 

fifty dollars bonus promised them by Atehison. Host of them spoke

openly of selling their slaves for board and liquor, while Higginson

lost himself in Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery novel, 9525!.
Upon his return to Worcester, Higginson sent to the Tribune

the last of his articles which sounded an alarm to the country. He

entitled it "in Attempt at Prophecy," and itemized nine opinions he

had fanned from his experiences in Kansas.

M
6
SIbide, p. 190
66
Ibid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

. wwwWfl

 

 

 

l. be real question at issue is, not the invasions of His-
socrisns nor the blockading of the river, but the enfor-
cing of the bogus laws. The laws will exist, the Courts
are still controlled by Missouri, and this is the real
root of the difficulty, over which neither Governor
Gesry nor any one else (except Congress) has any legiti-
mate control. . . .

2. “More is not the slightest increase of lemony between
the parties, but the contrary. Both sides expect to
see the contest renewed. . . .

3. Both sides are making actual preparations for a renewal.
The settlers are collecting arms, amunition and fresh
men. The Missourians are doing the same. . . .

1:. Neither party desires peace, under the present auspices.

S. [The Missourians are7 better armed and better drilled
than amr previous invading force; and all agreed that
at the battle of Hickory Point the Missourians showed
more courage than ever before.

6. The whole tendency of Governor Geazy's policy is to
exasperate both sides, and, indeed, actually to streng-
than that. e e e

7. The reason why the strife is postponed, by tacit agree-
ment, is easily told. The Missourians are waiting, in
stronger and stronger hopes of Geary. The Free-State
men suhuit to his aggressions, any because the election
is coming. That, and that only, gives than patience;

. . . Take away the dream of Fremont, and no power could
make these injured men endure a week longer the combined
oppression of the Administration and of Missouri. . . .

8. The trial of the Iecompton prisoners will furnish fuel
to the flames and perhaps the final explosion. Host of
them will, no doubt, be acquitted. But the Pro-Slavery
men will not submit to the liberation of all, nor the
Anti-Slavery men to the execution of any.

9. Look out, therefore, for trouble in Kansas, in Novmnber.
Elect Fremont, and there will be a last desperate effort
of Missouri to obtain possession of Kansas. In this
they will rely on the aid of the United States Courts
and troops, and will have it, whatever Governor Geary
says. The policy of the Administration will be unchanged.

In case of Buchanan's election, the whole power of
Missouri, backed by the whole power of the Administration,
will be directed upon Kansas. The two forces will be
identified. They will be brought to bear as one; and
thank God, resisted as one. . . .

Kansas may E crushed, but not without a final strug-
gle, more fearful than that of Hungary; a struggle which
will comvulse a continent before it is ended, and separate
forever those trio nations of North and South, which neither
Union nor Constitution has yet welded into one. 67

 

 

W

671b1d0’ p. 2b..

 

 

hl

Higgimon correctly put his finger on the some of the trouble
affecting Kansas and the nation. is a Free-State smathieer he sup-
ported Present but felt tint war was inevitable and that a split in
the country no iminent. Higginson saw Geary's ”Peace” to be only
tin quiet before the storm. Buchanan was elected over Frmont in
lovuber, 1856, and secession was postponed another four years.

Upon his return home, Higginson spoke on Kansas matters by re-
quest before the Massachusetts and Vemont legislatures and was
nominated by the Worcester Republicans for the state legislature on
the Kansas issue. He refused the latter offer, however, feeling that
his Free Church required his attention.68

In January, 1857, a ”State Disunion Convention" was called to
consider the separation between free and slave states. Higginson was
active in organising and carrying it through successfully. The Con-
vention met at Worcester, Massachusetts, on January 15, to consider
the expediency of dissolving the Union of the Free and Slave States.
The grounds of the Call were:

The result, &c, of the recent Presidential Election
to involve four years more of Pro-Slavery Government, and
a rapid increase in the hostility to be the offspring,
not of party excitement, but of fundamental differences in
education, habits and laws; believe the existing Union to
be a failure, as being a hopeless attempt to unite under
one Govermnent mo antagonistic systems of society, which
diverge more widely with every year; and believe it to be
the duty of intelligent and conggientious men to meet these
facts with wisdom and firmness.

 

68Cheerful Yesterdays, p. 215.

69New York Wee Tribune (January 21:, 1857). Officers were:
President: We 3 . Moe-Presidents: Thomas Earle, Wm. Lloyd
Garrison, Gen. E. M. Hosmer, Wm. Ashby, W. Boyston, Dr. C. C. Field,
Adam Ward, Daniel Mann; Secretaries: Alvin Ward, Charles Bingham, J.
H. Isrrington, S. D. Tourtellote; Business Committee: General Higgin-
son, Charles K. Whipple, E. Boyden, Wendell Phillips, Joel finith.

 

 

Higginson road a letter from Senator Henry Wilson who disagreed with
sees of the aims of the Convention. Wilson hoped that the Northerners
would leave threats against the Union to the South and "proclaim their
readiness to follow in the conflict of the future, the banner of Liber-
ty and Union,” which would eventually, under the authority of Congress,
”overthrow the Slave Power in the Na tional Government and prepare the
way for the peaceful emancipa tion of the bondnen by the consent of the
Slaveholding Sta tea."70

The platform laid before the Convention and adopted was based upon
the Anerlcan principle of Liberty as opposed "to the present prominent
fact-Slavery.“ The conflict between these principles, which had been
the histoxy of the nation for fifty years, only served to strengthen
both parties and prepare the way for a desperate struggle. Nothing
could be expected from the South, from the President, from the Senate

or House of Representatives, nor from any political action. The elec-

 

tion of Present had been the last hope of freedom, but now, "even

could the North cast a united vote in 1860, the South has before it

four years of annexation previous to tha t time. " The Disunion Conven-
tion did not seek merely disunion, “but the more perfect union of the
Free States by the expulsion of the Slave States from the Confederation,
in which they have ever been an element of discord, danger and disgrace.“
Lastly, the realization of the existence of the Union is the chief
guaranty of Slavery, the slaves of the whole world have everything to
hope from its destruction. The "sooner the separation takes place,

the more peaceful it will be; but that peace or war is a seconds}:

M

w

70mm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

to

consideration, in view of our present perils. Slavery must be conquered,
'peaoeably if we can, forcibly if we nust."71

Eigginson was satisfied with the Convention as he wrote to his
mother.

The Disunion Convention was very successful and comanded
general respect, whatever the newspapers may say. I am sorry,
dearest mother, you differ from me about it, but I never was
more sure of being right. It is written in the laws of na-
ture that two antagonistic nations cannot remain together;
every year is dividing us more and more , and the sooner we
see it, the better we can prepare for a peaceful and digni-
fied policy.72
In July, a National Convention was called by Wendell Phillips,

William Lloyd Garrison, Higginson and 61:00 others.73 This convention,

however, was never held.
Early in the same year, he spoke before the Massachusetts Anti-
Slavery Society more openly than ever before against the partisanship

and corruption of the Danocra tic government. The Dred Scott Decision

 

was «the consummation of wickedness.“ The evils of Franklin Pierce's
administration and the election of Buchanan were due to Democratic
machinery. The Democrats identified themselves deliberately with the
Pro-Slavery side because at the moment the South had the power in the
nation. They were not interested in keeping the Northern States in the
Union, because. they expected the North to steel back into the Democratic
Party again when it saw that the South was the true power.”4 Higginson
looked forward to a Republican victory in 1860, because he believed

 

71mm.
72m as 2.2992113 23. 3.1m: W__°m.__°rth_. But man, p. 77..
albums Wentworth Higginson, p. 18].

71‘"Speech at the Tuanty-Fifth Anniversary of the Massachusetts
Anti-Slavery Society," 322 Liberator (January 16, 1857 ).

 

 

 

M,

with Senator Wilson "that if the Republican party failed in the'Presi-

 

dential election, . : . it would fail forever."75 The only hope for

“ this “dark and troubled night" was Disunion. The conflict over slavery
in Kansas should take place in the streets of Massachusetts, he said.
Man from Massachusetts were being lulled into a sense of temporary

security by the Personal Liberty Bill. The bill, Higginson insisted,

 

was not strong enough to prevent a slave from being returned to his
master. And Massachusetts must protect the slave, “not because he was

a slave, but because he was a MAN!" With rousing eloquence, he added,
"But, powerless as we may be to save, we have at least the power for
this: we will make the streets of Boston bristle with her own bayonats,
before you touch a hair of his head." His final plea again was Disunion.
"If we want to meet the demands of the age, and pass on to the next

age as worth remembering, we have got to be more than politicians,

more than Republicans. We have got to come to the actual facts of our

 

nation's existence, and look Disunion in the face."76
In1858, he saw signs of war. Although a new attitude seemed to
have grown up in the North and the South, he said, in favor of the o
Negro, and a current of opinion was in progress to perhaps settle the
question of slavery on the soil where it existed, nevertheless, Higgin-
son asked, "Is it destined, as it began in blood, so to end? Seriously
and solemnly, I say, it seems as if it were."77 Within the next year

the Harper’s Ferry incident brought the question of slavery to its

 

75lbid.
761bid.

77"Speech at the Fifth Anniversary of the New York Anti-Slavery
Society," 1113 Liberator (May 28, 1858)-

 

15

highest point by the. fanatic, John Brovm. Higginson had heard of Brown
in Kansas and mentioned him in one of his articles for the Tribune. Af-

 

ter meeting him at Boston, Higginson and several other abolitionists
were completely won over to his side.

is an abolitionist's stand against the United States government,
Higginsou's part in the John Brown episode, though minor, was the logi-
cal outgrowth of his disunion policy and a kind of climax to his aboli-

tion activities.

In Cheerful footage Higginson wrote that he was not certain
when he first not John Brown. It may have been on his trip through
Iowa toward Kansas, for he remembered seeing a fugitive slave freed by
Brown at that time. If, by chance, the two men had met before 1857,
the event was not an outstanding one to Higginson.

Early in 1857, John Brown travelled through the East in order to
raise funds to further the Abolitionist cause in Kansas. Villard78
points out that there was at this time no communication by Brown to
his Eastern friends of the Harper‘s Ferry attack. His aim, apparent-
ly, was to defend Kansas by raiding Missouri or by attacking slavery
Iran some other vulnerable spot. On January 5, 1857, shortly after
Brown's arrival in Boston, Higginson received an invitation from
Frank Sanborn to meet Brown in Boston. There is no evidence that
Higginson attended this meeting. it Ssnborn's urging, however, he

did raise money for Brown, thinking of him perhaps as a new force

 

78Oswald Garrison Villard, John Brown: _A_ Biogrspg Fifty Yes
After (Boston, 1910), p. 271.. "

b

 

 

 

 

 

 

in the anti-slavery novseent.

During his stay in the East, Brown was successful in obtaining
nosey, munition, and supplies from the Massachusetts State hip-ant
Cunittee, then under the chairmanship of Wrge L. Steams. Steams,
Frank Sanborn of Concord, Gerrit Smith of Peterboro, New York, Theo-v
dore Parker, Samuel Gridley Howe of Boston, and Higginson, as members
of the Massachusetts State Cmittee, took a special interest in
Brown, keeping him in supplies and money. The National Kansas Com-
mittee, however, refused him money and ammunition, but sent him sup-
plies for his men. He also received financial help personally from
the wealthy philanthropist, Gerrit Smith, mentioned above. Higgineon,
beaver, was unable to give much assistance at this time, and the Wor-
cester meeting held for Brown on the 23rd and 25th of March produced
very slim financial returns. Brown's impatience to begin his work '
in Kansas, the lack of sufficient funds to begin operations in spite
of his own efforts and that of his friends, disheartened him. He
complained to Higginson, "My anxiety to secure a 51933 935.3%: and
to go off at once, is becoming extremely oppressive, and my heart
grows sad in the fear of a failure of the enterprise."79

Late in Ha rch, Brown had met and enlisted the services of Hugh
Forbes, a suave adventurer who had served in Italy under Garibaldi
in the unsuccessful revolution of lBhB-h9. Forbes was hired to
train groups of "voluntary-regulars” to operate first in Kansas and
later in Virginia. Unfortunately, Brown confided his Harper’s Ferry

 

79Springfield, Massachusetts, April 1, 1857 (Higginson Collection
in the Boston Public Library). I am indebted to Dr. Benjamin B. Hickok
for the use of his microfilmed reproduction of this valuable collection.

 

1:?

plans to” Forbes long before any of Brown's benefactors in the East were
aware of such a project. The next year, the threats of Forbes to re-
veal Brown's plans publicly were alarming enough to cause a postpone-
ment of activities for a whole year.

Brown finally set out for Kansas after many delays, and reached
Tabor, Iowa, with his supplies and ammunition on August 7. His alleged
purpose for this trip and his subsequent entrance into Kansas was to
defend the Free Soil interests in Kansas against subversive attack
fran pro-slavery parties. However, by this time (1857), Kansas 'Derri-
tory had passed through its “bleeding“ phase and was now comparatively
peaceful. A. Free State election held on August 9, two days after
Brown's arrival at labor, indicated the growing strength of Free State
power over the pro-slavery party. Kansans were settling their dif-
ferences at the polls rather than on the battlefield. To all ap-
pearances, Brown and his ”volunteers-regulars“ were unnecessary.

For unknown reasons, Brown delayed at Tabor much longer than
his Eastern friends thought necessary. Higginson, impatient with
waiting for action, wrote to Sanborn about it, and received a letter
defending Brown and asking for more funds. As an added incentive to
Higginson, Sanborn wrote, "I believe he is the best Disunion champion
you can find, and with his hundred men, when he is put where he can
raise them, and drill them (for he has an expert drill officer with
him) will do more to split the Union than a list of 50,000 names for

your Convention, good as that is."80

 

80Quoted by Villard, o . 32].}, 9o 303, from The Thomas Went-
worth Higginson Papers of he Kansas Historical Sociew.

 

 

e—e
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flan} {b 4

at, V1

hm:

 

They n
2h,
mined
left 1
hub

to ope
M: m
but 1::

 

 

I 118

It was not, however, until love-her that Join Brown entered Kansas.
I. was in Lawrence on Hovuber 5,81 mining there but a short tins.

 

Suddenly, wintever the cause, Brown lost interest in the Kansas situa-
tion and turned his efforts to his Virginia plan, the wild echoes which

during the following year absorbed such of the time, energy, and money

of his Eastern friends. The most important result of this visit to Kan-

sas, Villard states, was his recruiting his first man for the Harper's
Ferry raid.82

During December, Brown moved his group of men to Springdale, Iowa,
during which time the details of the Virginia venture were discussed.
They reached the home of the friendly Quaker, John H. Painter, on the
29th, then moved to the farmhouse of William Maison, where they re-

 

nained to train for the Virginia raid. 33 On January 15, 1858, Brown

left for another visit to the East, reaching the home of Frederick

Douglass at Rochester, New York, on the 28th. It was from here tint

Brown wrote to Higginson that he was in hiding and desired Higginson

to operate at Worcester for funds. He hoped to talk things over with

him confidentially at a later date.“ Higginson'e reply was cordial

but not enthusiastic. He was “always ready to invest money in treason

but at present have none to invest.'85 He had other fugitives to look

 

81Villard, 22. 53}, 1). 30b.

82113111., p. 308. His party at this time consisted of Owen Brown,
A. B. Stzvens, Charles Moffett, C. P. Tidd, Richard Richardson, Richard
Realf, LF. Parsons, W. M. Ieanan, John E. Cook, and John H. Kagi.

83mm, p. 312.

“February 2, 1858 (Higginson Collection). Also in Cheerful
Yes terdaE, pp. 216-217.

8silorcester, February 8, 1858 (Higginson Collection).

 

 

-r.———————————~. . 1,9 _ f F

oftor, and had Just undertaken to raise funds for the Underg'sand Rail-

 

road in Kansas. Ho profisod, however, to try to do something.

Bron was mucus to hold a meeting at the home of Gerrit Slith

I in Poterbore, New York, and wrote to Higginson to Join him. Higgin-

son did not attend the meeting even though Sanborn urged him to do
so.” Nor did George L. Steams. Villard points out that Brown's
letters at this time failed to interest them becanse of their inde-
finiteneos.” At the meeting in an upper room of the Smith mansion
(according to Frank samborn)88 Brown laid his plan for a campaign
somewhere in slave territory east of the Alleghanies.

Almost a month later, Higginson received another invitation
from Brown to meet him, this time at the American House, Hanover

 

 

. Street, Boston.89 He accepted the invitation, as did Theodore Par-

ter, 8. G. Howe, F. B. Sanborn, and G. L. Steams. The magnetic

personality of Brown, his apparent forthrigitness and sincerity at-
tracted Higginson to such an extent that from the time of this meeting
to the end of his life, Higginson was one of Brown's most ardent sup-

porters and defenders.
At the meeting it was decided that $1000 would be the sum

raised for Brown's project and that each of those present would be

assessed $.00. Inunediately after the meeting, Brown left for Phila-

delphia under the alias of Nelson Hawkins "to prepare agencies for

 

8600ncord, February 19, 1858 (Higginson Collection).

87Villard, 22o iii-Es, pt 3200

33F. B. Sanbern, Recolzeqféflfta 2.17. 59_"E_._nt‘J. Xfflfi (BOS’WI: 3-909):
I: P0 1,450

8930315011, March 1,, 1858 (Higginson Collection).

50 E

his business near where he will begin operations. '90

Another meeting was held at Dr.) Howe's home on the 20th to which
Higginson was invited. Because Higginson was unable to attend, Sanborn
sent him an account by letter, telling him of the financial status of
the group and concluding, "The enterprise still looks very hopeful to
speculative peoplc--and I hope continues to please you. '91

George Steams reported to Higginson on April 1, that 8375 had

been collected thus far. By April 20, Higginson had his assessment,

but was urged by Sanbom to do more if he could because ”Ihwkins"
had left Canada for the West on business with his enterprise. "He
has found in Canada several good men for shepherds, and if not em-

barrassed by want of means expects to turn his flock loose about the

15th of May.'92
Sanborn kept Higginson informed of Brown's movements, telling

him on May let, that "115me will be at Chatham, Canada West,

some day next week with a company of 12 to 20 shepherds and would

like to meet some friends from this quarter. Can you make it conven-
I.

ient to see him thererfl93
None of the Boston group attended the meetings held in Canada by

Brown, which he called ”Conventions." It was at these meetings that

a plan of organization entitled, "Provisional Constitution and Ordi-

nances for the People of the United States" was drawn up and adopted.

 

908aan to Higginson, Concord, March 8, 1858 (Higginson Col-
lection).

91March 21, 1858 (Higginson Collection).
”Concord, April 20, 1858 (Higginson Collection).

”May 1, 1858 (HigginSon Collection).

 

 

 

 

?“j—' 51'

”The Preamble, voided by Brown, defined slavery as ‘35; of one portion

 

of its: citizens upon another portion.‘ The word ‘war' Villard points
out, was the keynote to Brown's philosopm, 'and explains better than
anything else why it was consistent with his devout religious charac-
ter for him to kill, and to plunder supplies in Kansas, and to take

up was against slavery itself. “91‘

 

Before the Conventions met in Canada, Hugh Forbes, like the vil-
lain in a plot, began to write to the New England group and to Senator
Wilson in Washington, threatening to expose Brown's plans publicly.
Sanborn, in the same letter quoted above, wrote to Higginson concerning .
Forbes's action: '. . . the other day I got a letter from Hugh Forbes
which looked equally interesting that our friends speculation should
not-go on. Whether Forbes hows where H. is or what he is doing I
can't say, but it would be a bad thing to have the N. Y. Herald
giving statistics, quoting prices, etc., while we are hoping to steal
a march on buyers and sellers."95 on May 5, Sanborn's letter to Hige

 

ginson suggested that with the new aspect of affairs presented by
Forbes's letter the project might have to be postponed for the present, ...

for Forbes knew the details of the place and the names of those helping

Brown. 96
Sanborn's letter alarmed Higginson, and his indignation at the

idea of delay is felt in this note to John Brown.

Brattleboro, Vt.

Dear Friend
Sanborn writes an alarming letter of a certain H. F.

who wishes to veto our veteran friend's project entirely.

 

“Willard, 32. 3i}, p. 3314.
951!” l, 1858 (Higginson Collection).
9600ncord, May 5, 1858 (Higginson Collection).

 

 
 

 

 

 

T—1
52

he the nan is I in. no conception-abut I-oprotest against
any postponement. If the thing is Eosmned, it 22. 22st-
ned forever-for H. roan do as much harm next year as
% a. s malice must be in some way put down or outwittedu-
and after the move is once he , his plots will be of
little importance. I move %t we have gone too far
to go back without certain failure, and I believe our
friend the veteran will think so too.
Cordially
'1'. w. Higginson97

 

 

The problem presented by Forbes's threats was a source of con-
atarnation to the others of the New England group. By May 11, they
had agreed (except Higginaon and Howe) that Brown's project should
be deferred for a year, during which time Forbes could be sent to
Europe where he would be far from Brown's affairs. Concerning
Higginson's attitude, Sanbom wrote, "I am glad you stand so strong
for the other side-for the matter will thus be fairly argued-abut
I think when H. comes to see F's letters and knows how minute his
informs tion-«he will attach more importance to his opposition than
he did on the 5th of May when he wrote men-saying that he would go on

 

it supplies did not fail him."98 Higginson remained firm in his
decision.

Brown returned to Boston on May 31 and held a meeting. Hig-
ginson was absent. The decision of a year's postponement of plane
was announced to Brown who later held a conversation with Higginson
concerning it. Higginson recorded the conversation in a carefully
Preserved memorandum. He found that Brown agreed with him and "con-
sidered delay very discouraging to his 13 men and to those in Canada."

Brown believed that the others of the Boston group were not men of

 

:7(Higginson Collection). Also quoted by Villard. 93. 22.9.
P- 33 .

”Concord, May 11, 1858 (Higginson Collection).

 

 

 

 

?i—
. 53

acflon, but were intimidated by Senator Wilson's letter and overrated

 

the obstacles.”
' Since Higginson had no voice at the meeting but had protested

sufficiently to the other members of the group for them to understand

his views, nothing further could be done by him about the decision.
Therefore, he

 

Neither did he have the financial means to help Brown.
had to yield to the others as Brown had yielded.

'nie postponement was not the only precautionary measure insis-
ted upon by the "secret six“ (as the group was later known). Brown
was to return to Kansas principally to deceive Forbes. But after
his arrival in Kansas, his future plans were to remain unknown to
the New England group. They would assist him with money and sup-
plies, but did not wish to assume the responsibility which knowledge
would give them and which might later incriminate them. Higginson's

attitude on this point is not clear, but it can be ascertained to a

 

certain degree from his later writings and from his correspondence

that he was totally ignorant of Brown's plans for the attack at

Harper's Ferry. He wrote in Cheerful Yesterdays:

Brown's plan was simply to penetrate Virginia with
a few comrades, to keep utterly clear of all attempts to
create slave insurrection, but to ge+ together h-mds mi
families of” fugitive slaves, and than ‘09- ;jzicirrl by siren-ts.
If he could establish them permanently in those fastnesses,
like the Haroons of Jamaica and Surinam, so much the bet-
ter; if not, he could make a break from time to time,
and take parties to Canada, by paths already familiar to
him. All this he explained to me and others, plainly and
calmly, and there was nothing in it that we considered

either objectionable or impracticable. 100

 

S’9June l, 1858 (Higginson Collection).
looCheerfnl Yesterda , pp. 220-221.

 

 

 

 

5b

In his biography of John Brown, Higginson wrote, "Host of his
friends in the Eastern states knew nothing more of his movement until
it was announced that he had taken possession of the United States ar-

senal at Harper's Ferry.'101
1'1” Ham”! Ferry attack began during the night of October 16,

1859. At dawn on October 18, Brown, A. D. Stevens, two Negroes, and

Edwin Coppoc were captured. Seven men escaped to Canada and the ne-

nainder of the party of twenty-two were killed in the skimish.
Higginson described his reaction to the news in his Cheerful

tester-days:

I went into a newspaper shop in Worcester one morning,
and heard some one remark casually, 'Cld Osawatomie Brown
has got himself into a tight place at last.‘ I grasped
eagerly at the morning paper, and read the whole story.
Naturally, my first feeling was one of remorse, that the
men who had given him money and arms should not actually
have been by his side. In my own case, however, the
Justification was perfectly clear. Repeated postpone-
ments had taken the edge off from expectation, and the
whole enterprise had grown rather vague and dubious in
w mind. I certainly had not that degree of faith in it
which would have led me to abandon all else, and wait
nearly a year and a half for the opportunity of fulfill-
ment; and indeed it became obvious at last that this
longer postponement had somewhat disturbed the delicate
balance of the zealot's mind, and had made him, at the
very outset, defy the whole power of the United States
govermnent, and that within easy reach of Washington.
Nothing of this kind was included in his original plans.102

Higginson's comment on Brown's state of mind as being "somewhat dis-
turbed" (written in 1900) is different from that of his biography of
Brown (written in 1888). Here he quotes Governor Wise of Virginia

as saying:

 

101mm“ WentHorth Higginson, ”John Brown," 529191-0113 C 10_
33222 9; American Biograpg, I (1888). £—

lozcmerfUI Yeaterdayfi, p. 2230

 

 

 

55

'They are mistaken who take Brown to be a madman. He
is a bundle of the best nerves I ever saw; cut and thrust
and bleeding and in bonds. He is a man of clear head, of
courage, fortitude, and simple ingenuousness. He is cool,
collected, indomitable; and it is but just to him to say
that he was hmnane to his prisoners, and he inspired me
with great truSt in his integrity as a man of truth.'

This opinion, [Higginson adds] coming from the man whose
immediate duty it was to see him tried and executed as

a felon, may be regarded as a final and trustwortl'y
estimate.1°

Perhaps it is safe to say that his remarks in Cheerful Yesterdays

is actually his final estimate.

 

The other five men of the Boston group reacted variously to
the news and to the trial and investigation. Frank Sanborn, who
had so strongly urged Higginson to aid John Brown, suddenly de-
sided to 'try change of air for my old complaint,"th and disap-
peared into Canada. When the Mason Investigating Committee
spread a dragnet over the North for Brown's accomplices, Sanborn
declared several times in letters to Higginson that he was deter-
mined not to appear before the Committee in Washington, even
though he was promised protection from bodily harm by Mason. If
he had to appear, he would appeal for a hearing in l‘lassaclmsetts.10S
George Steams and Samuel Gridley Howe also went to Canada. It
was from there that Howe published a "card“ in the New York Tribune, *
November 16, 1859, which implied that he was innocent of any compli-

City with John Brown. Higginson was indignant at Howe's evasiveness.
J(2'93“.16hn Brown," Appleton's Cyclogaedifi, I, p. 1407.
loh]’ortland, October 21, 1859 (Higginson Collection).

105Fer a complete narrative of Sanborn's actions, see Benjamin

B. Hickok's The Political and Literary Careers 35 E. g. Sanborn
(Unpublished doctoral dissertation: Michigan State University, 1953),

Pp. 126-266.

 

 

“1

lie wrote to Howe,
I know how skilfully that letter is written. Since

language was first invented to conceal thought there has

been no more skilful combination of words. But the uni-

vernal interpretation of all intelligent readers, not

previously enlightened, must be--that you disclaim all

knowledge not merely of the precise time and place . . .

of John lggown's great drama--but of the entemise

Ell—3.1101
- Howe replied three months later that he had not intended to
create a false impression by his words. Villard states that when
Dr. Howe appeared before the Mason Calumittee‘ he made every effort
to baffle his enquirers,107 whose questions were so unskilfully
framed, Sanborn said, that witnesses could, "without literal false-
hood, answer as they did. "108 Sanborn'a defense of Howe brougnt
forth the taunt from Higgisson, "Is there no such thing as honor
amongpconfederates?"lo9 As Villnrd points out, "Making all due
allowances for the heat of the moment as expressed in Colonel Hig-
ginson's letter, it does not seem even at this date that his rea-
soning was far wrong. "110

Gerrit Suith's reaction to the Harper's Ferry raid was even
more lamentable than Rowe's. On November 10, Higginson learned that
Gerrit Smith was consigned to the Utica Asylum for the Insane under

the care of Dr. Gray.lll 0n the 15th of November, he received a

 

”Worcester, November 15, 1859 (Higginson Collection).
1°7vmard, 32. 311., p. 532.
1°8Recollections o__f Seventy" Years, p. 230.

lO9Worcester, November 17, 1859, a first draft (Higginson
Collection).

noVillard, 92. c__i__t., p. 533.

111E. B. Clarke to Higginson, New Bedford, Massachusetts,
"I see by the morning's paper that Gerrit finith is insane." (Higginson
Collection).

 

 

 

 

57

letter are! diaries D. miller, mth's son-in-lav, to the sane effect.

he correspondence preserved by'Higginson contains only a for
reference; to Gerrit Mth alter Bl-osnfs sentence. Among then is
meant: remark to Hone in the letter quoted above, “but Gsrrit
ath' s insanity-rand your letter-are to me the only the bad results
of.- this whole affair.”n2 Smith's fear for his social prestige and

 

political position charged him e; break down. He remained in the
Utica Asylum only until December 29, long enough to escape ques-
tioning by the Mason Investigating Comdttee. When he returned to
his home, be destroyed all papers connected with his part in the
affair and denied openly any complicity with John Brown, a stand he
maintained until his death. ’ '

Stearns returned from Canada to testify before the Mason Com-

 

mittee in Washington , February 211, 1860. Unafraid, he defended
Brown as the "representative man of the century, as Washington was
of the lasto'll3

Theodore Parker had been in Europe before the Harper' s Ferry
raid, in a vain effort to recover his health. Parker with Higginson
were the only two of the Boston mp willing to take the consequences
of their actions.

Bigginson remained in Worcester "laying out a new bed of crocuses
and tulips for the spring," he wrote to his nother.11h He believed

-

 

nzFirst draft of a letter to Here, November 17, 1859 (Higginson
Collection).

113moted by Villard from the Mason Report, p. 2u2.
nhLetters 351.9. Journals 23 homes Wentworth Riga! son, p. 85.

 

 

 

 

 

58

flat he would not. be molested if.he stood his ground.
Hasondoesnotwi-shtohave JohnBrownheartflyde-
fended before the committee 8: the .co‘mtry-mor does he

wish to cause an mute, either in Massachusetts or
Washington. He wIiEFs—sinply to say that he tried Ber

evidence 8: it. was refused him. If his witnesses go to

Cmda or..Europe, he is freed from all responsibility.n5
He further. reasoned, ”It rather looked as if, having befriended Brown' a
plane so far as we understood them, it was our duty to stand our. '
ground and. give himour moral support, at least on the witness stand."l'3-6
For his praiseworthy attitude Higginson has since been celebrated by F
Stephen Vincent Benet in his i213 Brown’s 933.117

Higginson' s '.moral support" of Brown took several forms. Judging
by a letter to'him from Charles-W. Elliottue of New Haven, Higginson
tried to find a competent lawyer to defend Brown during his trial. he
man recomended'to him by his correspondent was William Curtis Noyes
who was willing to undertake the task. Higginson, however, was not the
only one who sou'glt counsel for Brmm. John W. LeBarnes, of Boston,
engaged, at his own expense, the young lawyer, George H. Hoyt, both as
a lawyer for Brown and a spy for Brown's Boston friends. To this

 

11531 on to Sanborn, Worcester, February 3, 1860 (Higginson
Collection . Villard says this letter was never sent.

116Cheerful Yesterdays, p. 2214.

117 In the anxious North,
The anxious Dr. Howemost anxiously
Denied all godly connection with the raid,
And Gerrit auith conveniently went mad
For longenough to sponge his mind of all
Memory of such an unsuccessfixl deed.
Only the tough, swart-minded Higginson
Kept a gin decency, would not deny.

Euphen gincent Benet, John Brown's E (New York, 19141): Po 56:
. 9-2 . _ . . _

118October 2 5, 1859 (Higginson Collection).

 

 

 

 

 

59____

effect, Higginson wrote to his mother, October 27.

We have done what we could for him by sending counsel
and in other ways that must be nameless. By we I mean Dr.
Howe, W. Phillips, J. A. Andrew, and myself. If the trial
lasts into next week, it is possible to make some further
arrangements for his legal protection. But beyond this
no way seems open for anything; there is (as far as one
can say such a thing) no chance for forcible assistance,
and next to none for sfiatagem. . . . Had I been a lawyer,
however, I should probably have gone on at once, to act
at least temporarily as his counsel. A young man from
Boston named Hoyt has gone on for this, and probably
Montgomery Blair, of Washington, will be there to-day,
to conduct the case.

Hoyt, on his arrival in Maryland, was at first looked upon with
suspicion, but he succeeded in acquainting Brown with the primary pur—
pose of his arrival--a plan of "forcible assistance ," as Higginson
put it, to rescue Brown from prison. Brown immediately and vehement-
ly opposed the idea. His Northern friends120 vainly hoped that he
would change his mind, and even a second and more emphatic warning
failed to deter them. Higginson believed that bringing Mrs. Brown
down from the North would be the strongest inducement that could be
used to secure Brown's consent to their plans. He went to North
Elba, New York, and personally escorted Mrs. Brown as far as Boston
where she was received with open-hearted sympathy and kindness. This
trip he described in an essay, "A Visit to John Brown's Household,"
which first appeared in Redpath‘s life 9_f_ Captain io_h_r_1 212113.121

From Boston, Mrs. Brown was taken to Baltimore by J. Miller

Mem, 3. leading Philadelphia abolitionist. On November 5, Higginaon

 

119Letters and Journals of Thomas Wentworth Higginson, pp. 85-86.
l"ZOJ. W. LeBarnes, F. B. Sanborn, James Redpath, R. J. Hinton,
and Higginson, ibid., p. 85.

121% Visit to John Brown's Household," Contemporaries, II,
pp. 219-2h3.

 

 

 

mummmmmw unseen unredeemed

 

60

received a telegram from Brown telling him not to send Hrs. men to
him. Mrs. Brown received the telegram on November 8, Just as, she was
boarding the train for Harper's Ferry. Higginson was disappointed and
wrote to Hoyt who replied from Boston, "I know nothing about Mr.
Brown's motives for refusing to see Mrs. 13. I 33.5 yr. conjectures
are probably correct."122 Higginson later believed that Brown re-

 

fused to see his wife'possibly distrusting his own firmess, or
wishing to put it above all possibility of peril."123

In the meantime, Higginson had distributed {circular to raise
money‘for Brown's defense, which was signed by himself, S. E. Sewall,
s. e. Howe, anth. w. snereen. The circular together with notices in

the newspaper, brought in sums of money from various sources. They

 

also excited southern readers who sent him insulting letters which
probably added fuel to Higginson's zeal for Brown‘s welfare.

By November 11;, Higginson, in another effortfito save Brown's
life ,7 had joined a group headed by Lysander Spooner who formed the
audacious plan of capturing Governor Wise and holding him as a
hostage. J. W. LeBarnes, writing to Higginson on November 1h, as-
sured him that the deed could be dene.12h By November 20, LeBarnes
had found a man to act as pilot of a boat for the Richmond expedi-
tion, "if necessary money can be had."125 He believed his agent
could bring a big into Richmond under—the pretense of selling it

without exciting remark since vessels were being sold there. he

 

122November 7, 1859 (Higginson Collection).

123Gheerfll1 Yesterdays, p. 228.
lZl‘hkchange Street, Boston (Higginson Collection).

leHigginson Collection.

 

- 61
expeation, however, would cost $0,000 or flS.000-~$10,000 to start

with. By this time, LeBarnes did not think well enough of the scheme
to go himself, and would not wish any of their men to be led into it.

 

The others in the scheme were in favor of it, but not too enthusiastic.
lfter a second thought, it was decided, that since the judge, not the
Governor, had passed sentence on John Brown, what good would come of
the kidnapping? .LeBarnes did not ' see that Brown could be saved through
such action. He was willing to continue as. originally planned, if
Higginson could supply the money. The plan was short-lived, since the
money was not forthcoming. '

The plan was dropped, however, in favor of one no less daring--

to attack the prison and rescue Brown forcibly. Some German revolu-

 

tionists in New York, known to LeBarnes, were willing to make the at-

 

tack. In a short time, LeBarnes said, a hundred or more men could be

 

ready to go as a reinforcement to a group of men in Ohio, who, led by
John Brown, Jr. , were supposedly planning to move on to Charlestown
for the same purpose. If the Ohioans were not prepared, LeBarnes
knew of from fifteen to . twenty or twenty-five men who would follow him,
Richard J. Hinton, and other Kansas leaders}:26

Frank Sanborn also had a part in the scheme. On November 21;, he
left a note for Higginson urging him to include Redpath in the Ohio
group.127

Within another three days, the plans of the attackers were rough-
1y formulated. "Their plan of escape would probably be to seize the

horses of the cavalry companies. The attack to be made after either

—_‘

126LeBarnes to Higginson, New York, November 27, 1859 (Higginson
Collection).

127Worcester, 1; p.111. , (no signature). (Higginson Collection).

 

62

Yednesday night, or Egg-4t the 2913' [Lou the day of Brown's
emeeutiey. The men were confident of success but demanded a hundred,
dollars each and assurance that survivors woum be provided a place
of refuge and the families of the others would be taken care of. The
weight of responsibility fell upon the shoulders of Higginson, can'-
born, and the other Boston men. "It is from you in Boston to say
'go' or 'stay‘," wrote LeBarnes in'the same letter. fifteen hundred
or ; thousandldollars was the sum needed by Tuesday, the 29th, and
five hundred or a thousand dollars the day after. LeBarnes wanted a
I definite answer on the following day.128 >
Bedpath, who had been requested to go to Ohio to see how matters
stood with the party of John Brown, Jr., delayed leaving the East un-
til too late. George H. >Hoyt', returning from the Western ReserVe
brought word to Sanborn that "nothing is doing in 0hio."129 Sanborn
then gave up the enterprise, telegraphed LeBarnes to return, because
"nothing could be done.“ LeBarnes, in turn, telegraphed to Higginson,
GObject abandoned."l3O
. The desperatevefforts of these men to assist John Brown were
sincerely appreciated by Brown and his family. Higginson‘s own per-
sonal interest in the family dates from his first visit to North Elba,
after which he kept them informed of events by letter, newspapers and
Clippings. The gratitude of the family was expressed by Annie Brown

when she wrote:

 

128New York, November 27, 1895 (Higginson Collection).
129Boston, November 28, 1859 (Higginson Collection).
130November 28, 1859 (Higginson Collection).

 

 

 

 

 

63

Before you came, all looked dark and dreary to us,
we had not received one word of comfort from any source.
I had hardly seen a sndle on the faces of any of our
fauly for more than a week, but you could not have
failed to notice how happy we all seemed, and it was
real heartfelt happiness. How mch sunshine you bran t
into our desolate home is left only for 113 to tell.1

John Brown also felt the sympathy extended by Higginson toward
himself and his family, and wrote to him two weeks before his death
thanflng him for being "a friend in need."132 ‘

John Brown was executed on December §, 1859, in spite of Northern
sentiment which regarded him as a martyr and symbol of freedom. Of his
last moments on the scaffold, his admirable calmness and courage, High
ginson wrote later: 9

His career is remarkable for its dramatic quality,
for the important part he played in events preliminary
to the goat civil war, and for the strong and heroic
traits shown in his life and death. He belongs to a
class of men whose permanent fame is out of all propor-
tion to their importance or contemporary following; and
indeed he represents a type more akin to that seen among
the Scottish coventers of two centuries age than to any-
thing familiar in our day.133

Brown's execution did not close this episode of activities.
Two of Brown's men, A.D. Stevens and A. Hazlett, were still imprisoned
uniting sentence which was passed on February 11;, 1860, in spite of
Northern sentiment, which ran high in their favor. Higginson readily
agreed to a plan to reams the prisoners by force. He began (with
Mrs. Brown's permission)13h by giving three hundred dollars to

 

131North Elba, Essex 00., New York, November 1h, 1859 (Higginson
601100151011).

moherienom, Jefferson 00., Virginia, November 22, 1859 (Hig.
cinson Collection).

133Apploton's gyclopaedia 23 American BioEaphz, p. h06.

13“Annie Brown to '1‘. W. Higginson, North Elba, January 11, 1860
(Higginson Collection).

 

 

 

 

‘HM‘LW W "MN m M. ”Mam .m w.» I“ H. N ha a. re

 

 

6h

3. J. Hinton to pay Einton's expenses to Kansas where he was to enlist
the personal services of Captain James Montgomery of Kansas. Montgomery
hesitated to leave Kansas at the ties, believing that his services were
needed there‘.135 He finally decided to join the rescuers in Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania, where all were to meet, and by February 10, was able to
telegraph Bigginson that he had "eight machines finely" and that he was
intending to leave st. Joseph on’the 13th.136 To this news Higginson
replied, strangely enough, “Too late-"send back‘machines and come here
yourself.“137 ‘Lho message must not have reached Montgomery, for five
days later, a telegram from R. J. Hinton [alias J. H. Reed] in Pitts-
burg announced the arrival thereof eight "machines". awaiting transfer.138
The men reached Harrisburg in the guise of cattle men looking for bar-
gains.

On February 19th, Higginson wrote to his wife from Harrisburg
(where he had assumed the name of Charles P. Carter) that if the
ground continued to be covered with snow, or if another snowfall oc-
curred, "the whole must be abandoned even were all else favorable."139
Captain hontgomery was to spend part of the week reconnoitering. -

Montgomery and Soule' went to Charleston to examine the region.
Soulé, playing the role of an intoxicated Irishman, was locked in the

 

1351‘1lound City, Sim 00., Kansas Territory, February 1, 1860 (Big.
ginson Collection.)

136Leavenworth, February 10, 1860 (Higginson Collection).
137worceeter, January 13, 1860 (Higginson Collection).
133January 18, 1860 (Higginson Collection).

139Higginson Collection.

 

 

llflwwwmmrmmm mumbli. I

 

 

 

65
sane Jail with Stevens and Hazlett. He informed the men of the plan
for their rescue which they tbeusst impossible homes of the heavy
guard and the regard they had for the life of their kind Jailer, Cap-
tain Avian-ho After his discharge, Soule' returned to Harrisburg to
relay the messages given him by Stevens and Hazlett. hontgomery, in
the meantime, had found the countryside on the alert and the contimed
heavy mews became an impassable barrier to the success of the venture .
The obstacles to be overcome, Higgnson listed on a sheet of paper
which be preserved and later printed in part in Cheerful Yesterdays.

This is what involved-«-

1. Traverse mountainms country miles at 10 miles a
niglt, carrying arms ammunition & blankets 8: provisions
for a week-ewith certain necessity of turning round and
retreating the instant of discovery, 8: of such discovery
causing death to our friends: and this in a country daily
traversed by hunters. Also the certainty of retreat or
detection in case of a tracking snow wh. may come
time. Being out 5 nights at mildest, possibly 10.2%!»-
clud'g crossing Potomac, a rapid stream where there may

be no ford or boats.
2. Charge on a build'g defended by 2 sentinels out-

side & 25 men inside a wall 124 ft. high. Several men
inside prison besides, 8c 3 determined jailer. Certainty
of rousing town and impossiblity of having more than 15

1116313. Retreat with prisoners lfilwounded probably after

dayliQt-«dc No. l. repeated.
With these considerations in mind, Montgomery advised the abandonment
of the project. With great reluctance on the part of all who had come
to help, Stevens and Hazlett were left to their fate . Higginson wrote
later, "I was not at the time quite satisfied with this opinion, but

it was impossible to overrule our leader; and on visiting that region

 

lhoCheerful Yestergys, pp. 233-2314-

mfiiggmson Collection. Reprinted in full by Villard o . 333.,
PP. 576-577. Also in Cheerful Yesterdays, p. 232.

 

 

 

 

and the Jail itself, mam years later, I was forced to believe him
'vholly rightd'u‘z '

Within the next two years, anti-slavery agitation in New Eig-
land produced a rash of mob scenes incited by Northerners whose eco-
nomic security was affected by the secession of the southern states.
Wendell Phillips, the then acknowledged leader of the abolitionists,
who gave Sunday lectures at the Boston Music Hall during 1860, was
the target of much abuse. The abolitionists found that they had to
band together to save Phillips from being bodily attacked and their
meetings disbanded. Higginson assumed the task of supervising a
group of Germans and Americans to guard the hall while the meetings
were in order. He found this an exasperating work, for the undis-
ciplined Americans, while on duty, would seat themselves comfortably
in the back of the hall to applaud the speaker, while the irascible
Gsmans would inevitably be led away by the police for disturbing the
peace over political arguments.

Just what Higginson's attitude toward Lincoln was in the days
that immediately preceded and followed the election is not clear.

He omits cement in his autobiography, saying evasively, "It was
doubtless well that the march of events proved too strong‘for us, and
that the union feeling itself was finally aroused to do a work which

the anti-slavery purpose alone could not have accomplished; yet we

acted at the time according to our light.“1h3 Because of his close
contact with vende11 Phillips during the years 1860 and 1861, however,
one may be led to believe that he probably shared Phillips's sentiments.

 

lmCheerful Yesterdays, p. 23h.
1h3Ibid., p. 239.

 

 

 

 

.67

In his. Sunday lectures millips had expressed a decided distrust of
lincoln, whose Unionist views were opposed to the growing dislnionv p
sentiment of the North fostered by the agitation of the abolitionists
and the compromise bills. When the South took matters into its own
hands, and one state after another seceded, Phillips at first re-
joiced, bidding them good riddance. With a few months, however, he '
retracted his statements, and declared, with Lincoln, that the Southern
states had no constitutional right to secede. Higginson, too, after
his fiery Disunion speeches of the 1850' s, changed rapidly to a belief
in the preservation of the‘Unionuwith the abolition of slavery.

When the attack on Fort almter awakened the North to the pre-
carious position of the Capitol at Washington, Higginson impetuously
went to several leading men in Worcester who gave him a letter of
recommendation to Governor Andrew to ask for an appropriation of
money in order to send Captain Montgomery and his men from Kansas in-
to the mountains of Virginia (a plan similar to John Brown's), and,
Higginson with them, to "kindle a back fire of alarm and draw any
rebel force away from Washington.“1m‘ Governor Andrew approved of
the project but had no money. Samuel Gridley Howe and S. G. Ward
took Higginson to State Street where they raised two thousand dol-
lars in pledges. Higginson then went in person to Harrisburg, Penn.
sylvania, to see Governor mrtin. A letter from Governor Andrew to
Governor Wrtin says of Higginson:

He is a man capable of facing great perils, of
gallant and ardent Spirit, and one whose plans I would

 

1Mtibia, p. 2h6.

 

 

 

68

not endorse in blank or in advance. You may find on

enquiry t t he proposes some scheme not only courageous,

but .1830 4
Governor Curtin considered the plan, but thought that Higginson's
scheme would precipitate border warfare and that if Higginson should
enter western Virginia with troops “it would not only destroy the
loyal sentiment of that part of the‘ State, but would influence the
people of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missourci.."1h6 The project was
therefore abandoned. . '

Higginson's valor, however, obtained for him a certain amount
of prestige at’Worcester, and upon his return, he was offered a posi-
tion as major of the Fourth Battalion of Infantry. He refused the
offer, he says, for three reasons: ’ ‘

First, that I doubted nw competency; secondly, that

my wife, always an invalid, was just at thattlme especially

dependent upon me; and lastly, that it was then wholly un-

certain whether the government would take the anti-slavery

attitude, without which a military commission would have

been for me intolerable.lh7

Higginson's sense of duty to his country, however, grow stronger
toward the end- of 1861. He reflected: ”It seems to me of the greatest
importance that men of Anti-Slavery principle take their mu share
in this war, . . . A great many Anti-maven men, all over the state,

are holding aloof, and can only be brought in by leaders, in whom

 

they have confidence."lh8 It was a great temptation to organize a

troop of enlisted men from among his associates at the athletic

 

15% Wentworth Higw‘ on, p. 201;.
1%, p. 205.

M7Gheeri‘ul Yesterdays, p. 2M.
mam Wentworth Higggson, p. 209.

 

 

 

 

69

anddrill clubs who were telling him, for some time, that they would
enlist under him and nehecs else.1’19

In the autunm of 1861, Higginson resigned his pastorate at the
Free Gmrch to have more time for a literary career. He felt that
he had now ”come back to the one thing which I always thorougly en-
Joyed, a quiet life with literature and nature. It has cost me all
these years to dire; to do this.“150

filese dreams of peace, however, were not to last. Within a few
weeks, “when the anti-slavery position of the government became
c1earer,"151 Higginson entered upon his army career, which became a
wellspring of source material for the literary career he longed to
begin. Recollections of anti-slavery days also provided much ma-
terial for later essays and biographies. Higginson comemorated the
lives of a few of the abolitionists in short biographical essays,
(which will be considered below) saying that they were the men
whose love of freedom made Lincoln at last turn the “316.151

W

1h9Ibid.
15°Ibid., p. 210.

15lcheerfhll Yesterdays, p. 239.

 

 

 

70

B. magi-armies and Essays

For several years after the Civil War, as one by one the most
fame of the abolitionists died, Higginson wrote their memorials,
and in doing so, set these leaders- against the America of the se-
cond half of the nineteenth century with its turbulent agitations
and often violent unre st. Among these men were William Lloyd Gar-
rison, John Greenleaf Whittier, Wendell Phillips , Charles Samar,
meodore Parker, and Samel Gridley Howe, whose lives were shaped
iiy their times and whose time, in m, were shaped by their acti-
vities. Higginson was a contemporary of these men, and in some
cases intimately shared their anti-slavery experiences and aboli-
tion views. Althoufi all of them did not see eye to eye on the
means to achieve the end, they all shared l'the root of the matter,"
as Garrison expressed it, and fought for immediate emancipation.

The biographies, on the whole, are candid and generous. Eig-
ginson maintains a dust balance by discussing the obvious faults of
his subjects together with their merits, and leaves the reader with
pictures of men who were essentially human. In so doing, he achieved
that with which he credited Wendell Phillips: ”He moreover showed
real literary power and an exquisite felicity in the delineation of
character, through his memorial tributes to some of his friends."1

Higginson had always personally admired William Lloyd Garrison.
In 18146 he had written a youthful poem to him. In 1857 he wrote

—.—

l'Wendell PhiJlips,"‘ Contemoraries, p. 265.

 

of him in a letter: “or all the heroes of ancient or modern days

that man stands more firmly on‘his feet. If he knew that at his next
word of truth, the whole solar system would be annihflated, his voice,
in saying it, would not tremble."2 And again within the same year he
said, flGardner: is the only solid moral roality I have ever seen incar-
nate,"the only man 3'29. would do to tie to, as they say out West."3

Garrison's influence on the younger abolitionists (such as hig-
glnson) was strong. Higginson points this out when he wrote , A

- 'me Garrisonians were generally non-resistants, but
thoseswho believed in the physical rescue of fugitive

slaves were nevertheless their pupils. The Garrisonians

eschewed voting, yet many who voted drew. strength freon

them. The Garrisonians took little part in raising

troops for war, but the traflition of their influence

did much to impel the arnw.

‘l'nis mutual inspiration had not always existed, however, as
Higginson points out in his discussion of the historic quarrel which
split the abolitionists in 18140 into "Old Organization" and "Now Or-
ganization.“ The principal issue wasfiover Garrison's persistent sup-
port of a network of reforms in £h_e_ Liberator which scattered his
energies to such an extent that slavery, which had been the main
work of the abolitionists, now seemed to rank with any and every
reform. The quarrel ended in the creation of two rival camps, "with
almost all the anti-slavery clergy and voting abolitionists on one

side, while Garrison and his Spartan band» held the other."5 Gerri:-

 

2l‘ncunas Wentworth Page! son, p. 202.
3Letters 393 Journals o_i‘ mamas Wentworth 315g son, p. 93.
hWiJliam Lloyd Garrison,‘ Comte oraries, pp. 2h6-2h7. -

5mm” p. 2h8.

 

 

 

72

son was bitter toward his opposition, and caustic toward the Liberty
Party which came of it. In later years, Higginsen says, he senses,
and was even cooperative with the bee Sailors, saying that they
“were. going in the same. direction.”
Within his own ranks, Higginson asserts, Garrison was accused
or being arrogant and domineering. Those outside his band criticised
him for his excessive harshness of language, and his uncompromising
rejection of slavery and slaveholders. Higginson agreed that this
point of view in Garrison was narrow, and Garrison's statement that
slaveholders were “without excuse" showed no understanding of the
social and economic mesh that bound Southerners to the slavery system.
Nevertheless, in spite of his faults, Higginson maintained that
Garrison "kept far higher laws than he broke. He did the work of a
man of iron in an iron age, so that even those who recognized his
faults migit well join, as they did, in the chorus of affectionate
congratulation that marked his closing days."6
This iron strength of character, Higgihson says, was visible in
‘ (hrrison's face. No other "could be compared to it in respect to moral
strength—and force; he seemed the visible embodiment of something deeper
and more controlling than mere intellect."7
Describing Garrison’s speeches, Higginson says: ‘
His reason marched like an armr without banners, his

invective was scathing, but as it were—mt always mainly

scriptiral, it did not carry an impression of personal
anger, but gimply seemed like a new discovered chapter

of Ezekiel.

 

%id.’ p. 256.
7mm. p. 225.
81bid., p. 22.6.

 

73 I:

Inn-inch had the Jwrnalist's love for newspaper clippings, which
he used unflinching]: upon his audience to entrench his arguments.

 

higglnson, rocflling some of those lectures says, "For one, I cannot
honestly say that I ever positively enjoyed one of—his speeches, or
that I ever failed to listen with a sense of deference and of moral
leadership."9

this short biography of Garrison is objective and to a large
extent, impersonal. It places Garrison's personality in the per-
spective of his times and shows a strong man whose influence was
comanding if not always appreciated. As a younger abolitionist,
Higgnson saw Garrison when his reputation was well established and

recognized him as his leader, althougi he differed from his views
From the point of view of such a contemporary,

 

in many respects.
the biography is valuable as source material (admittedly sketchy)

 

 

for later historians. And it is interesting to note that Higginson's

estimate of Garrison is not materially different from those of more

recent biographers.10

Higginson linked together the names of John Greenleaf Whittier
and Hillier Lloyd Garrison in his biog'aphy or Whittier for the Eng-
lish Men of Letters Seriesn and in two short articles for the

9;b__id.

lORalph Korngold, Two Friends of Man: The Story of William

Ll d Garrison and Kendall-33313: s —afiTTheirRe .Lon
r maid—(Fasten, I9 5538 .Nye, mtg—a“; 110 d
Mame Humanitarian Refer-mere (Boston, 1955).

“homes Wentworth HiggLnson, John Greenleaf Whittier (New
1011911902).

 

 

 

r—1 ”at
' ' ' 7h

 

M which appeared in 1905 and 1907.12 he articles were
Amity a rehash at the larger biography which appeared in 1902.

or the thirteen chapters which cornprise the book, Higginson
allotted five chapters to mittier' s political reforn career and
two to his literary career. he proportion is perhaps Justified
by a statement which Whittier had printed in the New York my}.
regarding the positien which poetry and practicfl reform held in
his life . i

The simple fact is, that I cannot be sufficiently
thankful to the Divine \Pro‘vidence that so early called .
my attention to the great intere sts of humanity, saving
me from the poor ambitions and miserable iealousies of
a selfish pursuit of literary reputation. 3

This is the viewpoint that Higginson assumes, which is not
surprising, for Whittier had also been an influence on Higginson

 

in his early days at Newburyport when Higginson was the young

pastor of the Free Church there. In his autobiography, Higginson

says, "Nothing did more to strengthen m anti-slavery zeal, about

18h8, than the frequent intercourse with Whittier and his house-

hold, made possible by their nearne ss to Newburyport."1h "’
It was also through Whittier' s influence the same year that

Higginson was nominated for Congress by the new Free Soil Party,

 

 

' 12" (hrrison and Whittier ," Inde ndent (December, 1905) and
I'John Greenleaf Whittier, " Indepen en camber, 1907) . Two other
articles which appeared during these years were "Whittier as Comba-
tant in the Days of the Abolitionists , " Book News Month]. , XXVI
(December, 1907), and "The Place of Whittier Bong Poets,“ The
Reader's Ma zine (February, 1905). A smeary of these is Efien

son s teyoraries under the title , "J ohn Greenleai‘
Whittier.u . .

13John Qreenleaf Whittier, p. 82.
11‘Cheeri‘ul Iesterfls, p. 132.

 

 

 

 

 

 

h l ' ‘ 7S

and mm the district' though in a hopeless minoritséfl whittisr '3
had wanted Higginson partly to stave on his own nomination by the
Free Soil Paris“. Higginson, as he expected, lost the election.

In the book-length biography, Higginson discusses Garrison‘s

 

discovery of Hhittier when the titentyoone-year-old Garrison had en-
berked on a weekly newspaper, __‘rh_e_ :53. m at Newburyport. . Whit-
tierfs sister. had- sent sane of his youthful verses to Garrison, who,
-1lpreeeed..by then, went to visit the shy and reticent author. It was
Garrison who encouragedflhittier's gift tor writing and urged Whit-
tier'e isthorto give him. better educational advantages. It was,
Garrison also who. assisted whittisr to obtain the position or editor
. otthe Bostonhnericsn Hanutacturer. later, flhittier edited the
-.nsrorhili (m, the gel gland m, and the Pennsylvania

Freeman.

 

In the early days of their friendship, Whittier's admiration
1o:- Garzieon use very strong. At one of the first anti-slavery con-
ventions he recorded the. high-water mark of his feeling in a poem,
"To, U. I. G." Higginsonsleo had burst into a poetic effusion in "‘
l8h6 in whathelster. called-"e crude verse" to William Ileyd Gar-
risen.16 This. admire tion was prompted not only by Garrison's per-

eonality, but also toe certain degreeby the courageous manner

 

with which he. had faced the. persecution of a mob in 1835. He was
taken to jaili’or. satety where Whittier visited him. Although

15mm. , p. 128

16"Sonnet to William Lloyd Garrison,” W Bell (181:6).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

76

mttier himself escaped the violence or the mob scenes which took
place frequently during the 1830' s, Higanson says that his courage
was tested on several occasions. ‘ In- 1838 Whittier was editing the
Minnie. fleemen in Philadelphia. He had written a long poem
against slavery and requested that it be read at the anti-slavery
meeting to he held in the hall where his printing office was loca-
ted. ihe poem, among other things, aroused the wrath of the crowd
to mach an extent that the meeting ended in the complete denolition
of the building, including newspaper office, anti-slavery bookstore,
and hell. .

During this period, Higginson maintains, there were striking
parallels between Garrison and Hhittier. Both had fine personal ap-
pearance; both were lumbly borngu both began literary life as editors;
both supported ”Henry Clay and the American System" and both were
finally detached from Clay because they could not support a slave-
holder for office.17

After the period of violence, however, Whittier and Garrison

differed in opinion over Disunion and political parties . Garrison
clung to his disunion and non-re sistent views. Whittier joined the
newly-tomed Liberty Party, and later the Free-Boilers which grew
out of it. he Liberty Party did not favor disunion and on this
point was antipathetic to Garrison. Whittier, however, retained his
non-resistant attitude, more as a Quaker, Higginson asserts, than as
a Chrrisenian. Whittier, Samuel E. Sewa‘Ll, and other leaders of the
Liberty Party, however, had no gift of platform eloquence, but were .
good organizers and conciliators. They were also often embarrassed

 

17"Gerrison and Whittier," p. 1312.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

77

by entanglements with politicims such as Clay and Van Buren, who did
not, strictly Speaking, belong to their group. (hrrison, oh the other
hand, possessed a strength, Higginson says, which was expressed in his
fearless and clear-cut marine (*1 will not equivocate; I will not
apologise; I will not retreat {single inch, and I will-be heardw)
Hhittier's lay in his tact and skill of management. "
Higginson points out that Hhittier's desires in youth were almost

emmmmmmMmmmumfimtmmwmnmmm
of representative to Cong-ass when he was twenty-four by means which,
Higginson.says, ”were based on the very methods from which we have
been trying of late years to get free-«the appeal to mutual self-in-
terest in securing posts of honor. "18 This stigma, however, his later
impeccable life completely eradicated. He was also intensely interested
' in the downfall of the old Whig Party in. Massachusetts and in the
Coalition of the Free Soil and Democratic parties which put Charles
Gamer in the United States Senate. Higgnson himself had taken some
part in this and spoke at Free Soil meetings which Whittier attended.
Higginson says that Whittier once sent him an encouraging note to
*go on and prosper."19 In 1851; Whittier was invited by Ralph waldo
thereon and others to attend a meeting of the friends of ireedom in
Boston, to form a new party organization which later became the Re-
publican party. Whittier's politics, all this time, Higginson asserts,
leaned toward the party which was in sympathy with abolition. This is
seen in his reply to Emerson which Higginson quoted.

 

18John Greenleaf Whittier, p. 113.
19133541., p. uh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

78

I care nothing for names; I have no prejudices

against Whig or Democrat; show me a party cutting it-

self loose from slavery, repudiating its treacherous

professed allies of the South, and making the p52-

Mfi # Egbwmglogged, and I am ready

go , s . . .

ilthougl abolition was foremost among Whittier-3 s reform acti-
vities, he was also interested in other movements. “The elevation
of. the laboring classes was a matter dear to hisheart, because he
wast all the poets of this period, Higgnson says, closest to
the laborer. He was also interested in the temperance and peace
movements, and became an early advocate of woman suffrage.

After considering Whittier' s reform activities, personal
(malities and religious views, Iligginson discusses Whittier as a
poet. He emphasizes his place as the poet of famfliar home life.
"More than amr other he reaches the actual existence of the people,
up to the time of his death."21 Longfellow, Holmes, and Lowell,
compared with Whittier, seem-the poets of a class; Whittier alone
is near the people. Higgimson compares his verse to that of Whit-
tier‘ s literary master, Robert Burns, of whom Whittier had written,
“He lives, next to Shakespeare, in the heart of humanity.”22
M Higginson reverts again to Whittier' s anti-slavery work by
pointing out that he was the leading bard of the anti-slavery move-
ment, and, in this type of poetry, he was always simple and free
from excessive or elaborate metaphors. He did not equal Lowell,

Higginson believed, in the ability to condense a vigorous thought

 

201mm, p. M.
21mm, p. 151.
221b1d0’ p. 1609

 

 

 

79

into. general maxims, and his other faults were obvious: his poems were
too long and too laden'with superfluous morals. But Whittier gained,

Higginson believed, in many ways from the strong tonic of reform agi-

tation.

"this gave a training in directness, simplicity, genuine-
ness;.it taught him to shorten his sword and to produce strong
effects by common means. It made him permanently high—minded
also, and placed him, as he himself always said aboye the
perils and temptations of a merely literary career. 3

Higginson's emphasis in this biography, as has been said, is on
Whittier-'5 anti-slavery career. Perhaps the close affinity of interests,
and Higginson's personal acquaintance with Whittier accounts for this.
Though not profound or deeply perceptive, the biography gives a picture
of Whittier the man as Higginson, his contemporary, saw him. It also
throws some light on Whittier the post by illustrating his affection
for the common man and for the oppressed. Higginson as a reformer and
a man of letters could appreciate this combination, and its influence
on his own life is comemorated in the following short poem.

To John Greenleaf Whittier

At dawn of manhood came a voice to me
mat said to startled conscience, "Sleep no more!"
Like some loud cry that peals from door to door ,.
It roused a generation; and I see,
Nowlooking back through years of memory,
That all of school or college, all the lore
0f worldly maxims, all the statesman's store,
Were naught beside that voice’s mastery.
Ifanygoodtome orfromme came
Through life, and if no influence less divine
Has quite usurped the place of duty's flame;
If aught rose worthy in this heart of mine,
Aught that, viewed backward, wears'no shade of shame,--
Bless thee, old friend! for that high call was tlélline.
, - Cambridge, Dec. 17, 1887

‘M
23Ibid., p. 160
{abdutdoor Studies, The Works of Thomas Wentworth Higginson,

VI (Boston, 305773—359.

 

 

 

80

In contrast to Garrison's and Whittier's humble origins, Wendell
Phillips, Garrison's eta-partner in the anti;s1avery crusade was a man
of aristocratic birth and education. In a short biographical sketch
Higginsen pays him a tribute which is sincere and cordial. Higginson
praises the singular personal. qualities of the mam-his wealthy Bos-
tonian and Brshnin backgmund, his attractive personal appearance, and

 

his heroic renunciation of a promising legal or political career for

a reformer's life. Higgnson dwells at length upon Phillips's gifted
eloquence ,Rhis conversational rather than "spread-eagle“ style. Phil-
lips had the ability, Higginson says, to turn the most hostile audience
to his way of thinking, and began his anti-slavery career in 1837 by
doing Just that. Smrtly after the death of Elija P. Lovejoy, who

was mrdered by a pro-slavery mob while defending his printing press,

Phillips delivered a classic extemporaneous oration in protest. "From

 

this time,“ Higginscn maintains, "and while slavery remained, he see

first and chiefly an abolitionist} all other reforms were subordinate

to this, and this was his life."25 Phillips was encouraged by his in-

valid wife, Ann T. Greene, who was also responsible for converting him "‘
to abolition. Sic regarded his lyceum lecture tours as important mis-

sions, “for even if he only spoke on 'The Lost Arts“ or 'Street Life

in Europe,' it gave him a personal hold upon each community he visited,

and the neit time, perhaps, an anti-slavery lecture would he demanded,

or one on temperance or woman's rights."26 In this respect, Phillips

did more than any other lecturer, David Mead asserts, to change the

 

25"Wendell millips," Contemporaries, p. 260.
26mm, p. 261.

 

 

 

81

lyceun'fron a place of cultural instructim to a place for agitation.”
Wendell Phillips, Higgins»: maintains, was, like {nicodore Parker,
3 connecting link between the non-resistant Garrisonians and the
younger-school of abolitionists who believed in physical. opposition
to the slave power. Althougl he was not a member of associations for
the rescue of fugitive slaves, "he was ready with sympathy and money.“28
And, as has already been seen, he would have been first in the rescue-
or Anthony Barns had he understood the arrangements. "It is doubtful
whether he was, in his very fibre, a man of action," Higginson believed,
"but he never discouraged those who were such, nor had he the slightest
objection to violating law where human freedom was at steke."29 In
this respect he was unlike Garrison. Phillips, however, thorougmy
accepted Garrison's non-voting view, and was ready to speak at any
time in opposition to abolitionists who were trying to prove the United
States Constimtion an anti-slavery document. Like Garrison he was
also a Dimnionist and among the leaders who signed the Call issued
for a “State Disunion Convention, " in January and July of 1857.
when the South began to secede from the Union, the abolitionists
were accused of fostering an evil which was destroying mob of the
trade of the North. Mob scenes led by merchants and business men
again ocazrred, and, in 1860, Phillips had to have a heavy personal
bodyguard to protect him at home and at abolition meetings. Higginson

 

271411115961310 ence in the }_ii____ddle W__e___st: The Ohio Rooms, 1850-
1evo<m mafig'm,p.n—2‘- n2. _ f—m—o “"-

28“Wendell Phillips," Conteyoraries, p. 262.
29ibid., p. 263.

 

 

. )lWHlYI

82

helped to organize this guard.” During this tineofdanger, Higginson
WI: there I'was something peculiarly striking and characteristic in
his demeanor. ... . He seemed like some English Jacobite nobleman on
a. scaffold, carelessly taking snuff, and kissing his hand to the crowd,
before laying his head upon the block.“31

Although an aristocrat by birth and by nature, Phillips was wil-
ling to identify himself with arm social class, especially the Negro,
for whom he continuously spoke, and the Irish for whom he often gave
his lecture on Daniel O'Connell. Yet, fiigginson asserts, "in these
and all cases his democratic habit had the good-namred air of some
kindly young prince; he never was qiite the equal associate that he
seemed."32 His appearance justified this cement, for 1Wendel]. Phil-
lips and Edmund Quincey were pointed out to George Ticknor by an nig-
lish visitor as being "the only men I have seen in your country who
look like gentleman”;3 d

Having advocated Disunion for so long, Phillips, at first, we].-
comed» the secession of the South. Early in the year of 1860, he had
said: "We do not want the Border States. Let them go, be welcome to
the forts, take the capital with them." In April of the same year,
however, he retracted that statement in a famous speech in which he

 

3°Jamiary, 1861, Higginson wrote: "We had sixty men armed and
organized, under my direction, to protect the platform and Wendell
Phillips." In February he said: “A thousand people or so waited
on Winter. Street to see binniriends, fees, and idlersnwhile we
quietly walked him out by the Bumstead Place entrance.“ Thomas

Wentworth Higflson, p. 203.
Blwnmraries, p. 271.

321nm.
331nm.

 

 

 

‘ . 83
said that the South had ‘.no Constimtional right to secede. . . . Rather
tassel-render the Capital, cover every square foot of it with a living
body; crovdit with a million men, and empty every bank vault at the
North to, pay the cost."3’4 his was what probably sent Higginson on an
impetsose' wild-goose chase that month in an effort to save the capitol

when it was in danger.35

Phillips supported the North during the War and favored the recon-
struction of the Union with the abolishment of slavery as its major
factor. Higginson, however, did not sanction the war until it took on
a geminely anti-slavery character.

Phillips distrusted Lincoln before the War, a distrust which Hig—
ginson must have shared, for it was at the time of the mob scenes in
1860 that Higginson and others guarded Phillips who was at that time
lashing out at Lincoln's deliberation concerning the slavery question.36
Both of them rejoicedyhowever, when Lincoln remained steadfast to his
party's platform."

After the War, Phillips went at other reforms with the same vehe-
mence with which he had attacked slavery. The situation was very dif-
ferent, Higginson says. he slavery issue was so logomy simple:

"(hoe grant that man could not rightfully hold property in man, and
the intellectual part of the debate was settled; only the moral appeal
remained, and there Phillips was master, and could speak as one having
authority.“3‘7 The other reforms, Higginson points; out, were complex

 

31thorngold, 32. 3133., p. 290.
35Thomas Wentworth Higgson, pp. 203—201;.
36Korngelo, 22. 3531., pp. 269-270..

37 Conteggoraries , p. 276.

 

 

 

 

1
i
i
l
x

 

 

 

8h
problems, smd Phillips "sent on, for the reminder of his life, preaching
made: on these dimcalt problems, which he gave no sigh of ever
having profuse; candied-33 He' later fraternized with General Martin
F. mtler, and spent the last years of his life in cl 0. so cooperation
with one whose life and motives were totally unlike his own-Jindeed,
the nest unscrupulous soldier of fortune who ever posed as a Mend of
the People on this side of the Atlantic. '39
his sketch of the life and work offlondell Phillips is a sympa-
thotic appraisal and tribute to a man with when Higginson had worked
side by side for the anti-slavery reform. He had often heard the
'golden-nmthed" eloquence of Wendell Phillips and had supported his
political views ~ of disunion and immediate emancipation. As a contem-

porary source the biography is of value for future biographers of both
Wendell Phillips and Thomas Wentworth Higginscn.ho

Besides the biographies of non-political abolitionists , like Gar-
rison and Phillips, Higginson included a short character delineation of
Senator Charles Sumner in his tolume about his contemporaries. Higgin-
son had known Sumner from the time of his junior year at college. He
was first introduced to him by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow when the young
Higginson stopped in Philadelphia ‘on his way to Virginia for a vacation.
After Bigginson settled in Newburyport, as minister, he often enter-
tained distinguished guests who lectured at the school for young'men and

331nm. ,

39lhid., p. 278.

 

ho'lhis sketch which first appeared in the Nation (February 7, 18314)
and again in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1899, was used extensively by
Korngold, 22. at.

 

 

 

 

 

8S

' and women of the town. Hrs. Higginson described Summer in rather un-
flattering terms: . _
Friday night fi8h§7 that enormous Charles Sumner

stretched his ponderous form of seven feet in length

under our roof. He has not very good mammary-he al-

ways sits in the rocking chair, gapes almost constant-

ly without any attempt at concealment. . . . Bu he

is a true moral reformer which is a good thing.
Three years later, imediately after the passage of the Fugitive Slave
law, Charles Sumner was elected to the Senate by Free-Sailors and anti-
slavery Democrats. His first move was for the repeal of the Bill.
After the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill and the bloody fiasco
in the territories, Sumner gave his famous "lhe Crime against Kansasu
speech in the Senate, May 19 and 20, 1856--amasterly tirade against-
the slave power in Kansas and a vituperation against the aged Senator
Butler of South Carolina. Two days after the offensive Kansas speech,
Preston S. Brooks, representative from South Carolina and relative of

Butler, caned Summer with a gutta-percha walking stick as Sumner was

 

sitting at his desk in the Senate chamber. How badly he was injured
will never be known.

Higginson went to see Sumner at Boston in January, 185?. He said
in a letter: ‘

He seemed at first very well, looked as usual, while ‘
seated, and spoke as easily and in as firm a voice as ever. ‘
But finally I proposed to him to go up and see Page's Venus ‘
in the upper hall, of which I had the key, and whenhe rose
I saw the change. He rose slowly, . . . holding both hands
upon his back, and walked with a cane and quite feebly, in-
stead of his peculiarly vigorousstride. He thinks of go-
ing to Washington this month, but I suspect he will be per-
suaded not to do it till the end of the session, if at all.

He is obviously unfit to deliver his mture speech. . . .
But I do notthink he will ever be, physically speaking,
what he was.h2

 

mThcmas Wentworth Higginson, p. 97.

 

 

 

 

86

he assault, Eigginson says, “was the legitimate result of the

 

general spirit of violence than prevailing, North and South. Theodore
Parker said that the acorn from which Brookst bludgeon grew was none
other than the Acorn, that brig owned in Boston and chartered by the
united States government to take Sims into s1every.nh3

Higginson's biog'aphical sketch, written after~Sumner39 death in
1871:, pointed up the striking change. in Boston‘s attitude to this man
who twenty years before had been sent to Congress to work out his own
course. He had no party and no firm following. Abolitionists, Higgin-
says, watched him with hope, but with distrust. "Boston did not hold '
him.up; but Massachusetts so sustained him that he held up Boston,
until it had learned to sustain him in return. "“4

Perhaps this lack of trust was due to Smuner's personality. He
did not possess poetic imagination, philosophical discrimination,
military or administrative genius; nor did he have statesmanlike
geniusn"that which solves the problem and gives the key." He was,

 

in relation to Garrison, a learner, who never claimed to possess an

original mind. However, he possessed the gift of throwing out catch— ..
phrases which were half battles-much as "Freedom national, slavery

sectional;" “The Crime Against Kansas,” "The barbarian of slavery."l‘5

Sumner had, Iiigginson maintains, the very highest type of secondary

 

mind which should be judged by the quantity of its intellectual acti-

vity rather than by its quality. In this respect Sumner was "unequaled

 

h3"0harles Sumner," Conteggoraries, p. 283.
MIbid” p. 281. h
h51bid., p. 286.

 

 

 

 

 

, 87
among the .Amricans of his generad;:i.on."h6
His life, like those of several other abolitionists when Hig-
ginson respected, was one of moral courage and absolute rectitude of
purpose. His moral standard, Higginson asserts, did not merely aim
at ends, but extended to means. also, unlike mam anti-slavery men the
had noble aims, but whose low choice of means identified them with
corrupt and debased practices.
Sumner, however, lacked the personality and magnetism of other
politicians, such as Henry Clay. ”He convinced, persuaded, commanded,
was respected and loved," but he did not have a sense of humor, and
was given to exaggeration and egotism, all of which Higginson found
excusable, but not comnendable.
This essay was intended as a eulogy, as certain references to
Sumner's death indicate. As such, allowances should be made for
whatevdr might be considered excessive praise, for, as a politician
and public figure, Sumner faced a barrage of criticisms both from his
contemporaries and from later historians, neither of whom have been
as kind to his reputation as this tribute of Higginson' s. "'

Higginson's character sketch of Theodore Parker, written shortly
after Parker's’death in 1860 and published in the Atlantic Monthl ,
is, like his—other biographies, a tribute to a man who was-snore than
any of the leaders, except Emerson, a personal influence on his life.
As a young man, undecided as to his career, Higginson resolved on the

liberal ministry through the potent influence of Theodore Parker and

1.6%,,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

88

Jones Freeman clerks.“ Higginson entered Harvard Divinity School in
an atmosphere of liberal thouglt which, I"under Emerson and Parker,
was submerglng old [religimsI landmarks.“8 Like Theodore Parker,
Higginson insisted on being ordained by his congegation in his
first parish at Newbm'yport. The worcester Free omrch which he took
over four years later, was to his liking because it was the first of
several such organizations that had sprung up under the influence of
Parker's Boston Society.h9

Besides speaking on the same platforms with Parker, Higginson
belonged to the Boston Vigilance Committee, which, with Parker also
as one of its members, took an active part in the Thom“ Sims inci-
dent in 1851 and the Anthony Burns affair of 1851;. As a member of the
”secret six" (it will be remembered that the others were Sannlel Gridley
hows, FrankASanborn, George Steams, and Gerldt Smith) Higginson and
Parker aided John Brown. Both were unwilling to deny their complicity
when the Harper's Ferry attack became a national scandal. Parker, how-
ever, died in Europe the following year, where he had been vainly try—
ing to regain his health.

All of these associations with Theodore Parker place Higginson
in a competent position to write a biographical sketch of his friend.

Higginson does not dwell on Parker's religious doctrines or his
influence on liberal thought here. These he discussed in the preface

to one of Parker's works and in an article for the Radical in 1871.50

 

MCheerful Yesterdays, p. 98.

”31mm, p. 100.

h91bid., p. 131.

50‘Jheodore Parker Discourse of Matters Pertaining to Bali on
, 9

Preface E Higginson, i957, and “(131355335971 Le ters rom- eodore
Parker,a Radical (May, 1871). —

 

 

 

 

 

w 89

i . The biogaphy, however, dwells on. the personal character of the man.
s. speaks at Parker's diristian charity which prompted him to help

those in need (”notAa mere wholesale reformer, he were out his life {
by retailing its great influences to the poorest comer.")5l He nan- ‘
tions his willingless to forgive, should his enerw show—the least

sip of contrifion. He discusses Parker's omnivorous appetite for

 

lmowledge and his umsually retentive memory. Higginson believed
that Parker's intense love for study, his work as a Sunday preacher,
lyceun lecturer, radical leader, and practical philanthropist hrongit
about his early death. His whole endeavor, Higginson says, was to

 

nultiply his channels of activity, and he exhausted his life in the 1.,
effort to do all man's work. "He was a hard man to relieve, to help,

or to cooperate with." Nothing could be named, "but he had been

planning just that for years" and would eventually get around to it.

his left very little for others to do, because, "not from any petty

egotism, but simply from inordinate activity, he stood ready to take

all the parts."52 His unusual range of learning would lead one to

believe that it must be superficial, but Higginson maintained that a.
others besides himself had found that Parker's knowledge was deep as

well as broad. Higginson had the eicperience’of going to Parker, after

futilely enquiring of professional lawyers, for a bit of information

on the feudal codes of the Middle Ages, and of being directed by Par.

 

ker to the exact shelf and volume of an old unused German treatise

that Parker had read years before.

 

5lml‘l'leodore Parker," Conteygoraries, p. 36.

52ibid., p. 1.1.

 

 

90

His learning, Higginson says, gave his speeches vigor, brilliance
and oopiousnesl. But the speeches themselves, were not‘graceful. In-
stead they ware loose, diffuse, panoramic, without the finer touches
or delicate gradations of the polished speaker. This was due probably
to the fact that Parker was in a perpetual hurry; He had no time to
select, discriminate, omit, or nature anything. when he should have
ooncmtrated himself, he was compelled by his nature and his position
to lead a profuse and miscellaneous 1519.53 1111s sane lack of fine
discrimination is seen, Higginson maintains, in Parker's delineations
of public. figures. His pictures were pure white or black, he seldom
saw. the shades of pay in between. his was also true of his inter-
pretation of current events. He stated broad truths without fear,
but may times passed over the finer aspects.

However, Parker was a strong influence on his times. This in-
flnence, Higginson believed, was due to the fact that Parker was a
popularizer of new ideas. Not an original thinker, in the same sense
that hereon was, "he translated for tens of thousands that which Emer-
son spoke to hunks“ only.”5h His influence was also due to his to
thorough American training and sympathy. He always remained at heart
theiefing’ton farmer's boy whose "harvest was indigenous, not enotic."55
His pulpit became one of the greatest forces of the nation because he.
"plunged into the current of hearty national life around him, loved it,
trusted it, believed in it; and the combination of this vital faith

with such tremendous criticism of public and private sins formed an

 

53Ihid., p. 52.
5km, p. 16.
55%., Po 118.

 

o
a M _......-.__..-4

 

 

 

 

 

 

91

imdstible power.."56 His force came from being able to condm
unseat crushing, and to" denounce while saving rm despair.
'Bhis essay is a finely drawn shady of Parker' s personality.
siggnecn shows a perceptive understanding of Par-her! a character
and Judiciously balances his ranlts against his merits. In Par-
ker' s case he found that new of his limitations were the very
reasons for his immense popularity and strong influence . These
limitations were understandable, Higginson adds, because Parker
was Parker, not Emerson his colleague, and "a man must comprise
a great deal before we complain of him for not comprising every-
1,111,133?
nDr Howe' s Anti-Slavery Career" precisely indicates the con-
tents of another short biographical sketch. Unlike the character
analysis of Theodore Parker, it is simply a chronological outline

of Dr. Rowe's work as an abolitionist. As a famous teacher of the

 

blind, and as a friend of Greek liberty, Samlel Gridley Howe as-

sumed his work in the anti-slavery reform, Higginson says, about -.o
the time of the first fugitive slave case in 18h6. He accepted

his role in the spirit or "a natural crusader or paladin; a man

in when every call to dutyOtook a certain chivalrous aspect."58

Howe was chairman of a meeting called in Faneuil Hall, in

13116, which propo sed the formation of the Boston Vigilance Com-
mittee which Higginson later joined. Howe became (like Higgnson

_

561bid., Po ’49.

57Ibid., p. 58.
58upr, Howe’s Anti-mavery Career," Contemporaries , p. 291;.

 

r'r——— ’fififi’r

‘ 9-2 i
an abolitionist who was willingto rescue escaped slaves by force if f
necessary. This was true of the Thomas Sims affair in which both were

active. It was Howe the complimented Higginscn after his fiery speech

I in bailout temple before the attempted. rescue of Thomas Sims, swing,
rather enggeratedly, that after the speech flthe country was at the
verge of a revolution... Howe was also incidentally instrmnenthl in
the attempted Anthony Burns rescue.

is one of the original corporators of the Emigrant Aid Society,
Howe did much to encourage Northerners to settle in Kansas. lhe State
Kansas Comdttee, Higginson thouglt, was organized at the Blind Asylum
Office on Bromfield Street, Howe's headquarters. No other Eastern man,

except George S'tearns, Higgihson maintains, did more to save Kansas
for freedom than Howe. '

Howe' a connection with John Brown and the Harper‘ s Eerry incident,
Higginsonpreviews quickly, saying: '

Dr. Howe left the United States for a short time ,--
needlessly, as he afterward thought-and was later exa-
mined at Washington before a congressional committee, but
with no result. There was some difference of opinion
among John Brown's friends as to their duty after his
death; but Dr. Howe was never much troubled by the noose-
sity of satisfying the consciences of others, if he
could only satisfy his own.59

 

Needless to say, the se cements were a generous interpretation.
without condemning Rowe's attitude, Higginson neither praises nor
excuses; he simply glosses over the whole affair quickly.

Howe was also with Higgnson as a guard of Wendell Phillips
when the latter was in danger of being attacked by a mob. He too

Joined Higginson's plan to form a guerrilla party in Virginia to

5'9.'L'bid., pp. 299-300.

 

 

93

saveflashington when it was in danger of attack. is can be seen from
this brief survey,_Higginson's and Hope's anti-slavery careers were
parallel in many respects, and one csxmot help recognizing how much
one of Higginson's sentences about Howe is a self-portrait.
I His anti-slavery life was '. . . that of a man of
chivalrous nature, with a constitutional love for free-
dom and for daring enterprises, taking more interest in

action than in mere agitation, and having, moreove
other fields of usefulness which divided his zeal.

Higginson summed up the days of the abolition agitation and the
principal characters of the movement in an article which appeared as
late as 1898.61 He looked back with pleasure to the stimulating
Garrisonians whose meetings he attended. "There was no monotony of
opinion, because there were many speakers rho-Aike Theodore Parker,
Henry Wilson, Francis W. Bird, and latterly myself-Jeers voters in
theory and practice and yet sougnt the society of these non-voters
as more stimlating than atw other."62 He pointed out again, the
leadership of Garrison, WendellPhillips, and Edzmmd Quincy. In the
aftennath of the war, Phillips turned to other reforms and contixmed
his public services; Quincy became a brilliant and delightful ”flaneur,"
resuming the life of a cultivated Bostonian described so aptlyvby ‘
Howells in A Ernie—m Instance.

Higginson also described the I*types" of men and women who took

part in the campaign There were combatantsulike the fiery non-voters,

 

60Ibid., p. 301.

h61“Anti-Slavezy Days," The Outlook, LX (September 3 , 1898),
pp. 7’57. _ *

62Rido, p. is

 

 

u .I ..|.|J...l II. llll . lill. ill

 

 

91-:

Stephen and Abby Kelley Foster and the indomitable Parker Pillsbury
with (in Iowa-11's. phrase) "a crater in each eye." other: on the luna-
tic fringe, Higginson humorously describes in another essay63 in which
he mentions the white-robed, white-haired Father Lamson; Abby Folsom,
described by Emerson as the ”flea of conventions;;' Charles Burleigh,
whose long curls and board had a distinctly Christ-like look; Henry
G. Wright whose occasional and imperious "Now, Chairman“ instead of
"Mr. Chairman" gave him "a weight of mamer which his matter did not
see. ccnrlrtngfléh and Nathaniel Peabody Rogers who out-Garrisoned
Garrison in advocating extreme abolitionist measures. The Hutchinson
family was another element which added interest to the anti-slavery
meetings. Consisting of several brothers and one sister, they "put
immense fire and fury into ‘The Car Emancipation." Frequently one
of the brothers would solemnly throw all. the moneyicollected at the
door into the laps of the astonished audience, while the others looked
on "in the reverence of untaught persons to the acts of the insane.“65

h In spite of the fanatics who clung to this reform, Higginson ..
maintains that, in general, the reformers of that day were, in his
estimation, of a really superior type.

With admirable individuals among all these, yet the

collective tone has never seemed to be pitched quite so

high. . . . I can only explain it by remembering that the

anti-slavery reform was . . . the most absolutely disin-

terested, with the largest proporggon of sacrifice and
the smallest of personal benefit.

 

53"The Eccentflcities of Reformers," Contegggoraries.
61*Ib___i__d., p. 332.

6&1... p. 335.
66*Anti-aavery Days,” p. 55.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

95

surely Eigginson’s appraisals of the principal leaders dismissed above
corroborate that’statement. To a certain extent, these biographical
sketches further clarify Bigginson's position as an abolitionist «ring
the pro-oar period, for he differed somewhat from the older abolitionists
whose work he commemorated. Garrison was a non-resistant, non-political
dimnionist. Phillips was a non-political disunionist, but not a non-
resistant. Whittier was a pacifist on religious grounds, but supported
the Union, joining the Liberty Party and later the h‘eeSoilers. Hig-
ginson was closest to Theodore Parker and Ssmel Ch'idley Howe with
whom he was a co-worker in the Thomas Sims, Anthem Burns, and John
Brown affairs. As a Disunionist Free Soiler, and, later, Remblican,
he supported Charles Sumner as the representative of his views. He
advocated physical resistance, if necessary, to incursions on human
rights, and believed that political action in the government could
bring action to bear on the slavery issue more readily than verbal
objection on pacifist, moral grounds.

Later, however, in his essay, “Anti-Slavery Days," he wrote,

Technically, as a policy, Idisunion undoubtedly failed.
It must always be remembered that it was not advocated

merely as an abstract point of moral consistency, irres-
pective of con equences, but as a legitimate working policy

to be pursued.
Early in 1861, Wendell Phillips had argued for disunion as the best
method of abolishing slavery. Had his advice been followed, Higgin-
son says, it is very probable that slavery would still be estting
or it would have been abolished by a war severer than the Civil War.
1119 principles of the Garrisonian abolitionists triumphed, Higginson
maintains, "yet this was in respect over the ruins of the precise

 

67Ibid., p. 57.

 

 

 

 

 

96

policy they advocated, the destruction of the Union."68 Higginsom's
final stand on the subject was in agreement with Carl Somme, I"that
while they [fiisunionists and Unionists] were right both in principle
and motive, and while Webster, in motive at least, may have been fi-
nally wrong, yet it took Webster's influence also to establish, through
love of the Union, the final success of the principle he seemed to

 

sacrifice.“69

Between the time of John Brown's attempted insurrection and the
CiviI‘War, Higginson wrote several historical essays for the Atlantic
m from a definitely anti-slavery viewpoint. Each had to do with
insm‘rectionists against slavery and their methods of revolt.

'me first group were the Maroons of Jamaica who rebelled against
the English as early as 1655 and refused to be taken as slaves under

the domination of England. Penning guerilla bands, they held fast-

 

nesses, “cockpits,” in the mountains where they were totally inacces-

sible to‘the white-men. From here they poured volleys of arrows into

the forces of soldiers sent to oust them. The high military authori- "‘
ties of that period admitted that the subjugation of the Maroons was

more difficult to obtain than a victory over any army in Europe.

These people, Higginson emphasizes, "were fighting for their liberty,

with which aim no form of warfare seemed to them unjustifiable.'70

They spread a reign of terror over the white inhabitants for a lumber

 

681bid.
59mm.

70"1'he Maroons of Jamaica," Travelers and Outlaws (Boston, 1888) ,
P. 123.. - .

 

 

 

 

-A-a

97

or years until a treaty was made at last in which guaranty of eentimaed
independence was an essential part of the bargain. This was soon vice
lated by the colonial govermnent on the grounds that the Maroons had

not entirely complied with the terms of their treaty. About six-hundred
of the blacks surrendered to the government and were shipped to Halifax
in 1796 where they constructed the "Maroon Bastion"--their only visible

 

memorial. The race eventually declined in their new environment where
they were supposedly supported by the govemments first of Jamaica and
then of Nova Scotia. Finally, in 1800, their sactLy reduced'population
was transferred to Sierra Leone where they have disappeared from his-
tory. Those who remained in the Jamaica mmmtain fastnesses, continued
to retain a qualified independence and flourished.
Although this essay is somewhat academic, it is quite evident

that Higginson's purpose was to build up public sentiment in favor of
all men who clung to their freedom in spite of serious obstacles. Elhe

 

record of the Maroons of Jamaica, Higginson maintained, "still retains
its interest . . . as that of one of the heroic races of‘the world; and
all the more, because it is with their kindred that the American nation "’
has to deal, in solving one of the most momentous problems of its
future.”71
“The Maroons of Surinam" is a companion essay describing the Negroes
of the Guiana forest. The English government again made a treaty with
the blacks in 1719, but did nothing to stop the cruel treatment of those
of their number who remained slaves of the white man. The Haroons had
told some very plain truths to the white ambassadors about the condi-

tions of the Negro, but the planters did nothing to mend their ways.

 

711b1do, 13. 1’49.

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

98

By 1772 insurrections, which had been sporadic since the treaty,
reached their highest point. A Captain Stechnan, also the historian
of these people whose history Higginson followed in his narrative,
was sent with a force of soldiers to quell the uprising. But the
tropical rains, insects, and attacks of the Maroons killed off most
of his man before they could really begin to fight. The guerillas
were brutal in their tactics. This they learned from. their batters,
Higginson maintained. If they were not brutal, “it would have demon—
strated the absurd paradox, that slavery educates higher virtues than
freedom. It bewilders all the relations of human responsibility, if
we expect the insurrectionary slave to commit no outrages; if slavery
has not depraved him, it has done him little harm."72

Re two forces, however, faced about equal odds. The white sol-
diers did not know the territory and could not become acclimated.
'me Maroons had very few modern weapons and had to depend entirely
upon their knowledge of the country and their skill at maldmg sur-
prise attacks. By 1777, the English government had spent forty
thousand-pounds a year for about five years, and left both parties
essentially as when it began.73 Recent expeditions, visiting Oliana,
had found the Maroons of Surinam still enjoying their wild freedom
and mltiplying rapidly. The essay closes with a final thrust at
slavery:

Their life does not yield, indeed, the very higlest

results of spiri'lmal culture; its mental and moral results
may not come up to the level of civilization, but they rise

 

72"The Maroons of Sirinam," ibid., p. 167.

73lbid., p. 182.

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

99"

far above the level of slavery. In the changes of

time, the Maroons may yet elevatethemselves into the

one, but they will never relapse into the other.7

Similar in theme, but more interesting in presentation, are three
essays describing the insurrectionary warfare of American Negro leaders,
Gabriel, Denmark Vesey, and Nat Turner.

In 1800, in Virginia, a plot was reported by a few loyal slaves
to their master that Gabriel, a Negro slave of Thomas Presser, had
prepared an uprising among the slaves of several plantations. Gabriel
was reputed to be "a fellow of courage and intellect above his rank in
life," to be about’twenty-five years of age, and to be "guiltless of
the alphabet.“75 Gabriel, of course, was arrested before he could go
into action, and was finally convicted and executed.

The proposed insurrection took on a decidedly political coloring
in the newspapers of the day. The plot was ascribed by the Federalists
to the Jeffersonian Democrats and their "French babble of the natural
equality of mu." The Democrats could find no better repartee than to
consider the whole matter a Federalist attempt to renew commercial
intercourse with San Domingo.

Regardless of alleged political implications, the thought of an
uprising of the slaves struck terror into the hearts of the whites.
The Southern papers suppressed the news. Higginson says that, in his
research on the topic, he could find no Southern newspapers of the
period in public libraries. He had to gather his material of Southern

reports from reprints in Northern papers. The matter was kept so quiet

 

7thid., p. 18h.
75"Gabriel's Defeat,” ibid., p. 190.

 

 

 

 

 

100

that'even meetings of the "Virginiaulaegisla—mre took place behind closed
doors. It is interesting to note, Bigginson asserts, that in these
mysterious sessions lay the germs of. the American Colonization Society.
It was not until 1817, however, that the first formal meeting of. the
colonization Society took place.

, The revolt of Denmark Veaey took place in Charleston, South Gare-
line, m.1822.m A self-appointed Negro prophet, Dennark Vesey, believed
that he was called by God to..£ree the slaves. Although he was a free
man himselt, he saw. that his mission was to release his brethren from
bondage no matter. howruthless the manner. He had an awe-inspiring
power over the Negroes andorgenized several bands at various points
of the city on the appointed day of his planned insurrection. The
plot was discovered before it ,could' take place and Denmark Vesey with
his conspirators were tried, sentenced, and hanged. The discovery of.
the plot revealed that most of. theslaves were ready to unite, and
that the plans were known at least within a forty-mile radius from
Charleston. The proposed. insurrection threw the slavery question
Open— to the public. The Missouri Compromise and other political
measures were held responsible for causing. the uprising. Restric-
tions after that time, .Higginson says, were placed upon the education
of slavas, and the accounts in newspapers which recounted this inci-
dent had become extremely rare.76

I“ Turner's insurrection, which created such a reign of terror
throughout the South, resulted in one. instance in a mob scene in Bel-

timl‘e, Maryland, where William Lloyd Garrison was run through the

M

76"1'Jen'mark Vessy,’ 11214:: PP' 215-250.

 

 

 

 

streetsoi’ the town tied with a rope because it was believed that ;
copies of his Liberator had incited the revolt.

Nat Tumor, like Gabriel, felt that he was destined for some
great work. he "fasted, prayed, preached, read the Bible, heard
voices when he walked behind his plough, and communicated his reve-
lations to the awe-struck slaves."77 He was a slave of Joseph Travis,
and was considered upright and highly gifted.

the Sunday afternoon, in September, 1831, with six other Negroes,
he discussed his plan for an uprising against the whites, a plan he
had been plotting for almost four years. {he uprising was to begin
that night. The blacks were to massacre etery white person they met.
Daring the neict forty-eight hours terror swept along the southeastern
border of Virginia. in Southampton County as more than fifty people
were murdered. The Negro forces swelled with recruits as it passed
from plantation to plantation.

Turner made a fatal mistake , however. On his way to the town
of Jerusalem, some of his men stopped at a plantation to enlist their
friends. Nat Turner waited at the gate, then, leaving his six or
eight companions, he walked the half-mile to the house to hasten those
who had gone in. During his absence 3 party of eiglteen white men came
uP suddenly, broke up the guard at the gate and rode up to the house.
The blacks, coming out of the house, broke into disorder, retreated,
and scattered.

BY this time the entire country was alarmed. Armed forces were
sent by the government to quell the revolt. Nat Turner became a.
hunted man and the whites in retaliation killed on the average of a

 

77"Nat Turner's Insurrection, " ibid., p. 280.

 

 

(TI——
i ' 102

hundred and twenty Negroes a day. Atrocities occurred day and night on

the part of the whites amid protests from the press. Every Southern

state seemed to have caught the insurrectionary fever and perpetuated

it by mner uprisings in several directions at the same time. From

September 15, until October 30, Nat Turner, the principal instigator

of therewllt, was hunted. Upon his-capture, he was tried, and on

November 11, he was executed.

It is obvious that these narratives are an expression of Higgin-
son's-sympathy for the oppressed. His moral is clear: all men have
an innate love of personal freedom for which no amount of indulgence
on the part of slaveholders can be substituted. In most cases, Hig-
ginsen points, the leaders of the uprisings were the slaves of kind
masters. In turning against them, they were not retaliating against
alleged cruelty, but they were fighting for a liberty they had never
known. '

While Higginson's historical facts are sketchy, he fills in the
background with details of human interest or ample excerpts from news-
Paper accounts which considerably expand the point he is making. The
essays are often discursive and sometimes rambling, but frequently
they sparkle with a. touch of humor which gives the most serious sub-
Ject a lightness of tone. Bliss Perry says of Higginson, that he
was fortunate in settling upon the assay as a form of literature pre-
cisely adapted to the instincts of his mind.

The flexibility of the essay form, its venturesomeness,

its perpetual sally and retreat, tempted his happy audacity.

. . . That style of his--light and flexible as a rod of

split bamboo--13 the style of many of the innnortal classics

and humanists; and it holds, when the bigger and coarser
s‘Wles warp and weaken.7

-

78km, 220 32-30: P0 799

 

 

 

103

_ Yet entwined in the usable style of these essays is an earnest
Maharishi” which is an expression of the idealism and Ilia: pur-
pose of the nineteenth rotor-ere or New madam, or when Higgnson

no one of the finest representatives.

 

 

 

CHAPTERIII

HE m AND HIS REEDENT
A. The Civil War he ME 23% Region
There was a young mate of Worcester
Who could have a command if he‘d choose ter,
But he said each recruit .
Must be blacker than soot,
Or else he‘d go preach where he used to.1

his amsing limerick about Higginson, while not entirely true
factually, came close to the spirit of his military career. After
Lincoln‘s call for the formation of troops, Higginson obtained an-
thorityhfrem Governor Andrew to raise a regiment of white soldiers
in the fall of 1861. Between October, 1861, and February, 1862,
when about half the necessary ten companies had been provided for
in different parts of the State, recmiting was suddenly stopped,
web to Higginson's disappointment.

By August, 1362, however, he "could keep out of the affair
no longer,"2 and obtained permission to open a recruiting office
in Worcester where he had little difficulty in getting the required
number of men for the nucleus of a company of which Higginson took
command. The drilling he found easier to teach than he expected.
Being older than most of the raw officers (he was thirty-eight at

 

1Cheerful Yesterfls, p. 251.
2Ibid., p. 2).;8.

10h

 

 
 

 

 

i ‘ ' 105

the), he says he did not have disciplinary problems with his own in-
mte consul, nor didhe findithardto obeyhis generslwho *was
by occupation a working mechanic, and uneducated except in wsr.'3

the general went hone at night, however, and the regiment became a
heterogenems'nass of men, as yet little trained either to comend or
to obey... After the regiment was given a permment colonel, discipline
was tightened, and "all went as it should." Higginson was with this
group for about a month, when he ‘receivod‘a letter, November 5, 1862,
tron Brigadier-General Rufus Sexton, Vmilitary contender of the Depart-
ment of the South, askingHigginson to become colonel of a reagent
of freed slaves which Sexton had received authority to organize. “It
was an offer that took nw breath away, and fulfilled the dream er’e
lifetime ,“Ifl Higglnson said of that moment. A first regiment of eman-

 

cipated slaves, as such, had never before been officially metered

 

into the United States Army principally because public opinion still
opposed such an attempt and because the government was reticent about
trying such an experiment. Obtaining a short furlough, Higginson
went to South Carolina to look over the situation. Satisfied that "’
General Sexton was in earnest, Higginson resigned his Massachusetts

commission and cast his lot with the Negro troops for two eventful

years. His accounts of this experience appeared as independent

essays in the Atlantic Monthly through 186A, 1865, and 1867.5 They

 

3Ibid., p. 250.
thid” p. 252.

51861;: "Regular and Volunteer Officers (September); “A Night
in the Water"- (October); "Leaves from an Officer‘s J carnal. (November,
Decanter). 1865: "Leavesfrom an Officer's Journal" (Jamary); "Up
the St. Mary's (April); "Up the St. John's" (September); "Our Future
Militia System (September). 1867: “0115-013 Picket (March) 3 "New
spirituous (June); "Up the Edisto (August).

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

106

were later collected in m-Eiis Ln 3 Egg-highest in 1870. Willie:
Dean Howells reviewed the book in 1869 before its publica men and dis-
cussed. it as “a series of carefully wrought studies of negro character

as a phase of. humanity, and of graphically recounted episodes of regi-
mental or personal adventure, all full of peculiar life and color of
Southern scenery [which] we might praise . . . as excellent and chamilg
literaturee'6 Later critics have given this book a higher place in the
scale of literary sccomplislment. In his treahnent of the civil war
Emoirs, George F. Whicher says, "Perhaps the palm of literary reporting

should go to Thomas Hennvorthhigginson for his AM Life _i_n_ a Black
Regiment. "7 Van Wyck Brooks also considered it Higginson's one book

of permanent interest,

a first-rate document of the Civil War. . . . In later
years, Higginson never rose again to the literary heights
of some of. these chapters. . . .He has written one of
those rare books that recall a passage of histgry as the
works of fennel historians cannot recall then.

Higginson. entered upon this experience with a sense of importance.

0n the steamer nearing Charleston,“ South Carolina, November 23, 1862,

he had written in a letter:

Here is . . . a position of great importance; as
many persons have said, the first man who organizes and
commands a successful black regiment will perform the
most important service in the history of the war.9

6William Dean Howells a review of A 1.11? -
, . E e in a Black Regiment
Atlantic Monthly, mv (November, 1869), pp. 3‘39“ . ._..__._ ’

7 .
George F. Whicher, "Literature and Conflict,” Literary Histo
33 the United States, Robert Spiller et al (eds. ), (fiew fol-1E,ng

p. 3715.

8Van flyck Brooks New Eglan : Indian Sumner l86§~l9
(New York, 191,0), p. 5.35:“ "" ' """""" S

91homas Wentworth ‘Higginson, p. 215.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

107

‘With a kind of quasi-missionaryhmilitary'purpose, Higginson set
about'his task of‘transforming freed men into able scldiers, all the
while having the thrill of knowing that this kind of work was punish-
able by death'under the Confederate government. The freed slaves, too,
knsw'that they were going into the war "with a rope round their necks."

During the time he was with the regiment, Higginson kept a diary
recording his impressions of the Negroes. He joined them.with the
idea that if they were treated like men, not slaves, the Negroes would
respond to military discipline favorably. He was not disappointed.
They learned drill routine quickly, their innate sense of rhythm.ac-
counting for this. They had less trouble learning their right hand from
their left; in this respect they were superior to their white brothers
with whom Higginson had drilled. .And they took pride in their duties,
making good sentinels. Higginson found this out to his chagrin one
rainy night when he was not permitted to pass until he gave the correct
countersign. He believed, however, that the Southern freed slaves were
more fitted for offensive operations and partisan warfare than for more
garrison duty. The only drawback, he believed, was that they were sub-
ject to "pulmonary diseases." There were many cases of pneumonia and
Pleurisy, and severe coughs were a common complaint. Other than that,
everything about his five hundred men pleased him. He found them.more
nmmageable than white soldiers,'with fewer vices. They were eager,
active, pliant, and child—like. He wrote after three days with his
company:

They are simple, docile, and affectionate almost to
the point of absurdity. The same men Who stood fire in

the open field with perfect coolness, on the late expedi-
tion, have come to me blubbering in the most irresistibly

 

 

 

 

 

108

ludicrous manner on being transferred from one company
to the regiment of another. 0

Instead of considering the Negro as a martyr or hero, as Howells
pointed out in his review, Higginson portrayed the human side er the ‘
Negro character. He found that their needs were few; sugar, home and
tobacco would satisfy them. 1'heir pleasures were simple, "Give these
people their tongues, their feet, and their leisure, and they are
happy."11 Their vices were infrequent, "A simple and lovable people,
whose graces seem to come by nature, and‘whose vices by training.“12

fume diary records the Christmas and New Year's of 1862 which”
were spent in limited festivity. Christmas day was celebrated by
omitting the curfew and pendtting the soldiers to sit up and burn
their fires, and have their little prayer-meetings. Of this Higgin-

 

son wrote :

All night, as I waked at intervals, I could hear
them praying and ‘shouting' and clattering with hands
and heels. It seemed to make them very happy, and ap-
peared to be at least an innocent Christmas dissipation,
as compared with some of the convivialities of the
'superior race' hereabouts.1

 

in New Year‘s Day a barbeque of ten oxen was prepared for the "
company and the mam expected visitors who had been invited to a pro-
gram. The program began about eleven-thirty at which the President's
Proclamation was read and colors were presented to Higginson and his
officers. As he accepted the flag and waved it, he. was deeply in-
pressed by an unexpected incident. An elderly male voice from the

 

mloncamp mm,” Am Life a a Black Regent, III (Boston, 1900),
p. o _ A

llIbid., p. 29. ;
lzjbido, po 21‘.

13113164, I). ’47.

 

 

 

109

audience, joined in by a few women's voices, began singing "My Country
«is of thee.” The thrill of thet'mement is cauglt in Higginsoets des-

cription.

Firmly and irrespressibly the quavering voices sang
on, verse after verse; others of the colored people joined

in; . . . I never saw anything so electric; it made all
other words cheap; it seemed the choked voice of a race
at last unloosed. Nothing could be more wonderfully un-
conscious; art could not have dreamed of a tribute to
the day of jubilee that should be so affecting; history
will not believe it; and when I came to spelt}: of it,
after it was ended, tears wereeverywhere.

he remainder of the program went off successfully, but Higginson
was deeply moved by this spontaneous outburst of a people who had
never had a country, and who saw the first flag which promised them
axu’fihzlng- ,

Higginson was equally‘fascinated by the modes of entertainment
of his troop. Making the rounds of the camp at nigit, he would fre-
quently come upon a youp listening with intense pleasure to a drawn-
out tale of one of the soldiers describing with perfect mimicry his

escape from his master. other groups took part in the colorful “shout,"

rhythflcally clapping hands and dancing grotesquely in circles, while ‘
a few privately ”deaconed" out prayers from memory, or sang improvised
apirituals which-Higginson recorded as he heard them.

he spirituals he found to be an important factor in the religious
Higginscn believed this spirit gave his men
It also strengthened

spirit of the Negroes.
patience and resignation, especially in sickness.
them by giving them zeal, energy, and daring. "Their philosophizing

is often the highest fonn of mysticism; and our‘dear surgeon declares

 

mij-do, p. 550

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

110

 

that they are all natural transcendentalists.“15 These lelities were
inherent in their songs which he made it a prectiee to copy; Coming
upon a tire "round which the dusky figures moved in the rhythmical
barbaric moo negroes called a "shout," he would write down in the l
darkness, perhaps, with his handfiin his‘ pocket, the words or a song. I '
|'I have afterwards carried it to my tent, like some cade bird or

 

insect, and then, after examination put it by.“16 His interest in
Negro spirituals, Higginson says, was of long standing. He had heard
of them under the name “Negro spiri'hzals" and had listened to some

of his South Carolina friends sing a few. But Higginson learned that
among his on men the songs were as simple and as indigenous as those
of Scott's Border Minstrelsy, and ”more uniformly plaintive, almost
always more quaint, and often as essentially poetic.“17 Higginson‘s

 

article which resulted from this interest, was a pioneer one on the
subject18 and was both part of a movement and an influence.

Francis J. Child had- wakened interest in American and European
folklore at Harvard, and abolitionists were among the first to use
the Negro spiritual to establish a cultural heritage in the United
States for the Negro. Shortly after Higginson‘s article appeared in
the Atlantic Monthlz (1867), a few abolitionist: (Lucy McKim Garri-
son, Charles Pickard Ware, and William Francis Allen), published a

collection of songs under the title, Slave Songs 91‘ the United States.

 

15Ibid., p. 73.
16Ibid., p. 70.

___.——————_—._—

leHenry Nash Smith, fiihe Widening of Horizons," Liter mm,
at: 313; United States, p. 6118. _ A —-—II

 

 

 

if

111
ether ventures followed upon this: Fisk University student linger!
toured the North in 1871 for funds for their school, and Joel Chandler
Harris exploiud Negro folk tales with his Uncle Bonus stories in 1879.
Within the decade of the 1870's, therefore, Higginson's contribution
formed a part of the newly awakened interest in American folklore, and,
as a pioneer work on the subject, helped to create a cultural prestige
for the Negro.

Higginson reproduced the words of the songs in the original dis-
lect as nearly as possible and tried to avoid what he considered
Lowell's only error in the ”Bigelow Papers," the extreme misspelling
which only confused the reader. Some of the songs were extremely popu-
lar camp songs, "Hold Your Light,” "Bound to Go," and “Room in There."

Others were songs belonging emphatically to the Church Militant, "Hail,

 

Mary," "My Army Cross Over," "hide, Kind Savior." Others counselled
religious resignation to suffering: "This World Almost Done ," "I Want
to Go Hana.” Still others were rhythnicsl best songs, "The Coming
Day," “One More River." A spiritual conflict was suggested in '0, The
Dying Lamb," "Down in the Valley," and "Cry Holy." The song Higginson

thought most poetic and closest to external nature was the one entitled,

“I Know Moon-Rise."

I know moon-rise, I know star-rise,
Lay dis body down.
I walk in do moonlight, I walk in de starlight,
To Stay dis body down.
I'll walk in de graveyard, I'll walk through do graveyard,
- To lay dis body down.
I'll lie in do grave and stretch out my arms;
Lay dis body down.
I go to do judgment in de evenin' of do day,
When I lay dis body down;
And my soul and your soul will meet in de day
When I lay dis body down.

 

l9"Negro Spirituals," M Life _i_n_ _a_ Black Regiment, pp. 283-2814.

 

 

 

 

112

at this poem, Higginson remarked, I'llever, it seems to me, since
nan first lived and suffered, was his infinite longing for peace uttered
more plaintively than in that line."20 ("1'11 lie in de grave and stretch
out my mm”) _ '— ’

In a11,AHiggi.nson published thirty-seven Negro folk-songs which
had never before appeared in print, as far as he knew. He says that
they were more than a source of relaxation to the men, l"they were a
stimlus to courage and perhaps even a tie to heavenum‘ He never
heard profane or secular songs while in camp, he maintains; neither
were minstrel ditties from the North nor hymns from books accepted
among the soldiers. The spirituals were more to their liking. "By
the aid of these they could sing themselves, as had their fathers be-
fore them, out of the contemplation of their own low estate, into the
sublime scenery of the Apocalypse."22

mring his days in camp, of course, Higginson's interest in the

 

songs of his soldiers was incidental to the main task of training and
warfare, and he was anxious to test them on the battlefield for he
knew that the country was watching his experiment.

He obtained permission, therefore, to go up the St. Mary‘s River
with three boats and about four hundred men to forage for lmnber with-
in the enenw territory. He landed a small advance force at night.
They found a. Negro just come from the Confederate camp who gave them

useful information. Setting out with a larger force, Higginson marched

 

201bid.
21Ibid., p. 299.
22mm.

 

 

 

 

113

with them into a pine woods about mdnight, met a troop of the enemy
in the dark, exchanged a few shots, then carried one dead and a few
wounded back to the boat. No one could see the munber of the. enemy
because of the darkness, nor could they tell how many they had in-
Jured. The experience proved to Higginson that his Negro soldiers
had the stamina and clear-headedness he expected of them. The next
morning they found themselves in possession of the enemy's headquarters,
for they learned later that they had killed the first lieutenant of
the cavalry and that the remainder of the company (which must have
been very small) retreated into the woods, not daring to return‘to
their camp. Higginson commanded the camp to be burned, not looted,
but succumbed to the temptation to confiscate a piano which he took
to a school for colored children in Fernandina, his next stop.

The expedition went further up the river. Higginson, in the
meantime, promised to hunt for bricks for Colonel Hawley at Fernan-
dina, and to obtain infomtion for Lieutenant Hughes about the
Confederate steamer, the Boreas. The boat ascended the river that
night, and Higginson felt the delicious excitement of this excursion
into strange enenw country.

Never shall I forget the mystery and excitement of

that night. I lmow nothing in life more fascinating than

the nocturnal ascent of an unknown river, leading far into

an enemy’s country, where one glides in the dim moonlight

between dark hills and meadows. . . . On such occasions

every nerve is strained to its utmost tension; all dreams

of romance appear to promise immediate fulfillment.23

The cruise involved a stop for the promised bricks which they
succeeded in obtaining. This was followed by a dangerous descent
down the St. Maryte River-on the return trip where the boats were

 

23mp the St. Mary's," ibid., p. 113.

 

 

 

 

 

 

attack!!! from the bluffs at three different points. (he of the Ian was
mica. ' _

mo flip up the St. John'sfiiver followed on orders tron General
me. to occupy Jacksonville, nor-ma. Higginm'o chief sin was to
get his men into action. hat of the Florida commissioners nos to get
than into Florida because in of the Negroes were Floridians and knew
the country. They thought it worthwhile to risk something in an effort
to hold ems, and perhaps bring it back into the Union.

Higginsen with one naval and one army gunboat (the remaining one
having foundered on the way) entered Jacksonville quietly and took
possession of the town without any resistance from the inhabitants.
he city was in good condition, occupied by about five hundred white
people and some Negroes-mono of them able-bodied enough to recruit.

 

Higginson, however, found his regiment too few in mmber to hold the
town against possible anew attack and also to make forays up the
river. He was soon reinforced by a white army contingent which caused
him some groundless apprehension. After a few minor skirmishes with
the snow, and a very short stay, the entire arm was recalled without

a reason. Unfortunately, upon evacuation, the white soldiers set fire

to a part of the town without orders. Higginson was grateful that the
New soldiers were never accused of the vandalism in which they had

no part.

A third cmiso, up the Edisto River, had as its objective the
destruction of a bridge of the Charleston and Savannah Railway. The
boats stopped at liiltoun Bluff and met a large poop of slaves who

had been working in the rice fields. Higginson describes their wretched

condition with sympathy and mentions their gratimde at the arrival of

 

 

 

 

 

 

115
the negro troops. » Taking two gunboats, one of which grounded frequently,
the army troop set on further up the river toward the proposed bridge.
Two miles from the bridge, the engine gave: out and Higginson‘s boat
Md in the mud. his second smaller boat went ahead, was attacked
as it rounded a bend in the river and retreated to be followed shortly
by Higginson's craft which was finally dislodged. The Confederates
bombarded the two boats as they passed downstream. 'Several men were
killed and Kiganson was wounded. However, the crafts successfully re-
turned to Wiltown Bluff, picked up the pickets and remgees and returned
to Beaufort, South Carolina.

After a month or two of convalescence in the North, following his
injury, Higginson returned to camp and settled down to an uncventflxl
arm life at Camp Slaw. Dzring this time Higginson saw his men mature.
"Sometimes it comes over me with a pang that they are growing more like
white men,—-less naive and less grotesque."2h

In February of 1861;, orders were again received to go into Florida.
Higginson describes the uncertainty of the wait for the troops who were
to relieve them at Camp Shaw, their arrival, the delay in waiting for
transportation for his own troops, and finally, the eager loading of
the boats--only to be countermended because of alleged smallpox cases
among the soldiers, which Higginson bdieved did not actually exist.
lhe soldiers were very disappointed until they learned that they were
te have taken part in the unfortunate Battle of Olustee.

The following day a boatload of dead and wounded arrived in camp

to be taken care of. Of this occasion Higginson wrote:

 

2hnn°rida Again," ibido’ p. 317o

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

116

ht for a fow trivial cases of varioloid, we should
certainly have been in that disastrous fight. We were
confidently expected for several days at J aoksonville ,
and the comanding general told Colonel Hallowell that
we, being the oldest colored regiment, would have the
right ofline. ThigSns oertainlytoniss dangerand
a.” m can.” o _

Higflnson and his regiment remained on picket duty at Camp Slaw
until. his medical discharge in October, 1862;. hiring this stay he had
time to enjoy the natural beauty of the South, and twa delightful essays,
"mt m Picket" and ”A Bigot in the Hater' are rich in descriptions of
his observations of peach-blossoms, yells; jasmine, fresh young ferns,
white bloodroet, and 'snowdrops. The mockingbird, cardinal grosheak,
Jay, sparrow and wren are all noticed. Because of his military posi-
tion, Higginson regretted that he could not botanize as was his wont

at home.

Nature seemed but a mirage, and not the close and
intimate associate I had known. I pressed no flowers,
collected no insects or birds's eggs, made no notes on

natural objects, reversing in,respects all previous
habits. let new, in retrospect, there seems to have

been infused into me through every pore the voluptuous
charm of the season and the place; and the slightest
corresponding sound or odor now calls back the memory

of these delicious days.2
One evening when he saw the "glinuering flames which at intervals

starred the opposite river-shore"27 he had an irresistible urge to
cross the river at dusk and see iwhether it were men or ghosts who
hovered round those dying embers." ‘Ihat nigit he slipped into the
water and swam across the river to spy into the enemy camp. He made

a few observations "on points of minor local detail and arrangement."28

25Ibid., p. 326.
26"ta on Picket,” ibid., p. 198.
275A Night in the‘Water,” ibid., p. 209.

28-
Ibid., p. 218.

 

 

 

 

 

 

117

and eaten back. The experience, performed with the matest secrecy / ‘
and caution, is skillfully told. No detail is omitted to prolong the x
. sensation of danger and suspense. the essay closes artfully with,

1'It seemed strange that the morning-had not yet dawned, after the un-

counted periods that not have 7 elapsed; but when [my] wardrobe arrived

I looked at my watch and found that nw night in the water had lasted

precisely one. hour."29

The accounts given by Higgnson of his forays up. the sluggish

esteem rivers and on picket duty amid the lush southern vegetation,

seem, indeed, like a "military picnic." Higginson's narrative of his

part in the War, entirely negligible in the eyes of historians, relates

the brighter side of a particularly unlovely era in American history.

He never sounds the depths of the human tragedy taking place around him.

finlike Whitman and Crane, he sees no pathos in the wounded or the (wing.

The greater misfortunes of the War impinge themselves from the outside

into the little world of Higginson's First South Carolina regiment;

they seldom enter into it. But one cannot help but be struck by Hig-

ginson’s optimistic approach to problems, of the directness and the ""
common;sense of the decisions made by this minister-litte’rateur sudden-

ly turned soldier. He faced the problems of managing unwieldy and in-
sufficient equipment, and of coping with the general inefficiency of

arnw heads in understanding military situations. However these realities

darkened his days as an officer, Higglnson glosses over them in his

 

boundless enthusiasm and love of action, in his joy over his discovery

of the achievements of the Negro, and in his delight in the beauty of

 

291mm, p. 227.

 

 

.-:r :—',:-,?—v if é-g ,~_A_.~ * w»;,—_——_ — owl.» m
118

South. His 933: Life 2 a Black Regent, therefore, unfolds as a /
highly readable account of one man's black regiment which proved itself.
I

Howells said of the tone of. this book:

A man who took command of the first negro regiment
fanned during the war, who led it throughout the struggle,
and who, having fought the Rebels, turned and fought the
more disgraceful government for the pay of its true and
faithful soldiers, might be expected to write in a spirit
of extravagance and even exaggeration; but there is nothing
of this kind in Colonel Higginson's record, and nothing is
more taking in him than his perfect temperance and reserve.30

 

 

30Howells, £0 2.1.1.1” Po 6’43.

 

 

:43... {all ,

 

 

 

__.J

119

l'
f
g
.'

'B.writingsfielatedtothowar

Fourteen years after the Civil .Uar Himson returned to Jackson-
ville, Florida, which he had left in flames. (he of his purposes was
to examine the conditions of the freed slaves. Their living garters
he found had improved considerablyuthey had tables and beds in their
homes. Host of then were wearing shoes and stockings. Some owned
several acres of land, raised their own crops and worked in nearby
mills, or in the newly discovered phosphate quarries, or in factories.

lhe racial problem Higginson looked at optimistically. The at-
titude of the white man toward the Negro he believed had changed con-

 

siderably. ”I am satisfied that it results from the changed feeling
created towards a race of freedmen and voters. “1 He saw a relaxation
in the laws of South Carolina which recently admitted colored lawyers I
to the bar.

Reconstruction was still going on, however, and the South was
poverty stricken, which Higginson considered the wildest punishment
ever inflicted upon a losing nation. It had changed the social status
of the wealthy Southerner from one who easily borrowed on his crops

or sold his slaves, to a "pay as you go" arrangement which was making

 

energy and industry fashionable. He advocated a local self-government
for each of the Southern states so that reconstmctien could take
Place without federal interference .

Higginson's article, in which he allowed for much more improve-
ment in the conditions of the freed slaves, is characteristically
Optimistic. He saw progress on all fronts, educational, social, and

 

1"Fourteen Years After,” W Life in 3 Black Reflent, Do 376-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

120

politiedl.l.dlthsugh.he admitted.that there were still.pdlitical and
social problems ,' he hoped they would eventually straiditen thelselves
out. Abuses of the Negroes he felt could be rigzted at the polls as
far as they had the strength or skill to assert their riglts. He

knew that the antagonim incited by the Ku Klnx Klan and the spolia-
tion of the Negro vote added fuel to the existing prejudice of Southern

 

whites. He advised Negroes in states where they were terrorized from
voting to. leave these states for others which would treat them better.

Of racial prejudice he said:

It is not in nature that the jealousy of race should
die out in this generation, but I trust they will not see
the fulfilment of Corporal Simon. Cnm’s prediction. Simon
was one of the shrewdest old follows in the regiment, and
he said to me once, as he was jogging out of Beaufort be-
hind me, on the Shell Road, 'I'se goin‘ to leave do Souf,
Gunnel, when do war is over.- .I'se made up w mind that
does yer Secesh will neber be cibilized in m time.‘2

 

Higynson could offer no solutions to the immense problems

 

facing the South, except to re commend confidence in the Republican

Party. Although the South has been afflicted since the Civil War

with racial prejudice, much propose has been made to somewhat con- m
firm Higginson's hopes, but in the perspective of almost a hundred

years, it must be admitted that Corporal Crum's remark is eurrl

partially Mid.

After Higginson returned from the War in 1861;, he settled in
Newport, Rhode Island, where his wife had moved for her health. Here
he took up civilian life again as a writer and a lecturer. Here he

met many of the eminent literary figures of the day who stayed at

 

2"Genelusion," ibid., p. 357-

 

 

v‘ I.“

 

 

 

 

121'-

Insert during the sinner. months. The whole “Atlantic force' were re-
portod in the current newspapers to be permanent residents of the place.
Hero Higginson and Julia Ward Hove began their "Town and Country Oluh'
which drew new celebrities to their light-hearted social and literary
gatherings.

It was during this time that Higginson began a translation of
biotetus, ”to keep my interest inslavery," he wrote to his old any
surgeon.3 Ila intended his two-ivolume work to supersede Elizabeth
Carter's version which he followed closely. He claimed as his reason
for the new. translation "the. advantage of writing more than a century
later, and hence with more side-lights and a more modern style."h
Van wyck Brooks, in his discussion of longfellew's translation of Dante
suggests that this inclination toward trsnsls tion of major classics on
-‘ the part of writers indicates the close of a literary epoch.5 This
was true of the post-war era in America which brought with it the
gradual close. of the romantic epoch. Higginson's translation of
Hictetus was only one of several such tasks going on at this time.
Others were Bryant's Hm, Crunch's Virgil, George Herbert Palmer's
Odyssey, and Bayard Taylor's £22.33 Higginson, of course, did not
think of his translation in this light. He found it simply as an
easy transition from camp life to civilian life. And in translating
the noble writingsof .Epictetus, he could “think with satisfaction
that he was trimself a slave, and was the favorite author of Tcussaint
L'ouverture, the black military leader."6

M

BThanaB wenowerth Higginson, p. 263.

hEpictetuxs (Boston, 1865), I, vi.
5Brooks, 32. 9335., p. 27.

 

6
91.01112. Yesterdays, p. 270.

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

_— w
' 1 12.2
flaring the salsa year he edited two volumes of malarial tributes
efflarvardmmateswhohaddiedinthewar. Oi'thenincty-i'ive
mhrials gathered in the two volunes, eleven were written by Him-
m. Among these, twa were shout his relatives, Stephen G. Pei-Ens
and Serial Storrow. me was of the younger brother of Margaret Fuller
Osuli, Arthur Fuller, acting chaplain of the Sixteenth Massachusetts
Infantry, who died at Fredericksburg.
the emphasis in each memoir is on the personal character of the
abject, rather than on the events of the war or the battle in which
they died. Econ these personal sketches Higginson said that two
things could be inferred. The first is "that there is no class of
non in this republic from when the response of patriotism comes
more promptly and surely than from its most highly educated class.“

The general idea that cultivated Americans lacked patriotism and ener-

 

 

gy is false. The lives of the Harvard graduates represent that class
which would elsewhere form an aristocracy. Yet it was this class of
men, Higginaon asserts, who threw themselves promptly and heartily '
into the war, guided by solid conviction and absolute law of conscience. "
The second inference is that college education in America mat be
healthy and sound when it sends forth a youp of young men who were
so eager to serve their country and preserve its institutions.

ihe sketches are short and well-mitten, but of concern today
only to those who have an antiquarian interest in Harvard or in the
family names which these memorials represent.

In 1892, Higginson prepared with Mrs. Florence W. Jaques, the

"List of Battles and Casualties of Massachusetts Regiments during the

 

7Harvard Memorial Biogaphies (Cartridge, 1861:), I, v.

 

 

' 123

War of the Rebellion," which was published in the FE! M Histor_i_cal
2g cancelogcal Roaster, January, 1892.

In 1889 Higginson was appointed Massachusetts State Historian
and worked on his methodical and penderous Lhasachusotts g 93 m
ad M m the. Via; 93 1861.-1865 for five years. His interpreta-
tion of the campaigns and leading personalities, Higginson says,
was based on the nomnental work, far. 23 31.3 Rebellion: Official

Records 3; 333 Union and confederate Armies. "He tried to be objective.

 

Speaking of his narrative in the preface, he said that he "was placed

in a position not to flatter or apologize, not to produce a perfectly
colorless tale, avoiding questions, but simply to tell the truth as

he could best ascertain it, and thus anticipate, so far as he could,

the dispassionate Judgnent of posterity. “8 ,

The succeeding chapters detail the various campaigns of Massa-

 

 

chusetts troops and naval forces. mesa are followed by lengthy lists
of arm and navy officers, with thebriefest of military records, their
highest rank, the date of death, and whether they died directly in the
line of battle, of wounds, or as prisoners. The volumes are a monument

to Higginson's methodical mind and his organizational ability.

After his experiences in the war, Higginson felt qualified to
offer a few suggestions in the event of a future disaster. He wrote
a short article for the Atlantic Monthly in which he pointed up the
general inefficiency of the officers of the Civil War who had had
little or no preparation for their responsibilities. He suggested
that military training be made compulsory in grade and high school

8Massachusetts in the LIE and Nagy during the War 23 18614865
(Boat-W, , I, xiv.

 

 

 

 

12h

for an hour a day or at least three days a week. his training would
then keep on reserve a supply of future soldiery which would require
very little basic training in the event of a war. The tim and money
saved in this trairaing would be tremendous. The English and the Swiss
had carried out this plan successfully, Higginson maintained, not only
for the good of the country but also for the discipline and good order
of their schools. He concluded his essay with four suggestions as to
the form which this future militia should take 0

1. here should be no exemption from personal service,

' except on the mound of age or physical infirmity. . . .

2. Whether the appointment of officers be elective or
gubernatorial, they should equally undergo a strict
exhumation.

3. The strictest military law should be enforced during
the masters or encampments.

b. There should be a national Inspector-General of
Militia appointed by the War Department, with Assis-
tant-Inspectors- General for the different States ,--
all to be Regular-Arm officers, if possible; thus
securing uniformity of drill and discipline.

 

Higginson commemorated the life of the outstanding military
figure of the Civil War when he wrote a memorial sketch of Ulysses
Sinipson (front, which he based on Grant's Memoirs rather than on his
own personal acquaintance. Grant's presidential adnlinistration is
entirely ignored in this study. instead, Higginson considers him as
a soldier and as a representative American. "As with Lincoln, so
with Grant, the reader [31‘ the Memoirs] hails -with deligit this exhibi-

bition of the resources of the Average American. "10

 

9"er moire Militia System, a Atlantic Monthly, XVI (September,
1865). pp. 377-378.

1°"(h'ant," Contemporarigg, p. 3014.

 

 

 

 

 

125

Bigginson thougit the providential character of Grant's life
unique, for Grant had had little inclination toward a military life
and a poor record at West Point. His early record, Higginson says,
was similar to that of the young Napoleon at the military school of
st. Oyr, where he was reported as "very heslthy.‘l (rant did not even
enjoy athletics which might have prepared him for his future command.
Neither did he show any leadership in the Mexican war. his experience
showed him, however, that his country was in the wrong and it gave
him the habit of simple and discriminating justice to his opponent.

Higginson liked'the quiet, massunfing manner with which Grant
narrated his part in the Civil War, and the apparently ilnperturbable
mamer with which he had not critical situations. More imperturba-
bility would be useless to a comander, however, as Higginson points
out, unless he were gifted with a military instinct. lhis Grant

 

exhibited under several trying circumstances.

The fact that Grant was the first great and conquering commander
lldeveloped by modern republican insti.tlltions"ll impressed Higginson. ‘
thant's description of his interview with General Lee, “in which was
settled the permanent destiny of the American nation, " is related
more quietly, he says, than the ordinary reporter would describe the
outcome of a college rowing-match.

Such a description, read in connection with Lincoln's

Gettysburg address, shows that simplicity stands first

among all literary gifts; that the greater the occasion,

the more apt men are to be simple; and suggests that no

time or place has ever surpassed, in this respect, the
examples left behind by these two modern American men.12

 

111bid., p. 311..
12Ihid., p. 315.

 

, 3.x .,\..nr Toni
341;. A

 

 

 

--_.

126

I
f
l
1*

mi: wk of simplicity, Higginson felt, belonged to Grant as a
typical American. Along with it he possessed a generous mt or
con-on sense which enabled him to make Judicious decisions. ind,
always he had in mind the idea that he was. dealing with his fellow
countrymen, both as friends and as foes, "a habit of mind generated
by a republic." his gave him a humane rather than mechanical out-
look on the results of the war. An example of this, Higginson says,
was Great' s recomendation that the defeated Confederate soldiers
keep their horses to help them bring in their crops. This, Higgin-
son believed, facilitated the whole process of reconstruction. It

 

was a consideration which one might expect of a republican general.

He kept in mind the instincts and habits of the people with whom he

was dealing. In this respect he was like Lincoln. "Lincoln with

sympathetic humor and Grant with strong sense kept always in mind

the difference between a peeple's war and a more contest of soldiers."13
me claims of (h'ant to permanent fame, Higginson believed could -

be based on four reasons: .

First in the fact that he comanded the largest
civilized armies the world ever saw; secondly, that
_ with these armies he saved the integrity of the Ameri-
can nation; thirdly, that he did all this by measures
of his own initiating . . .3 fourthly, that he did
all this for duty, not glory, and in the spirit of a

citizen, not the military spirit, persisting to the
last that he was . . . more of a farmer than a soldier.”

lho personal qualities which Higginson emphasizes in (h'ant's life
are closely allied to those one finds in his social theory of Anerican

democracy. his foot that America could produce a man of the caliber

L

13Ibid., p. 326.
Mlbid” p. 327.

 

 

 

127

of Grmt or of Lincoln was, to Higginson, a rewarding thouglt. It is
not necessary, Higginson maintains, for a republican govermnent to
keep great men on top all the time, because according to the democratic
theory, public matters can be guided by the comon sense of the com-
mnity. alt what we need to know is whether leaders will be forth-
conning for specific duties when needed; "and in this the Civil War
confirmed the popular faith, and indeed developed it almost into
£atalisn.”15

Higginson's abolitionist activities closed with the emancipa-
tion proclamation and the Civil War. As this review of his efforts
indicates, his life as an abolitionist was enriching, broadening,

and insuring.

M

1hlbid., p. 327.
151bid., p. 30h.

 

 

 

in... £le ‘ 4.

 

 

 

CHAPTERIY

THE COLONEL AND THE LADIES
A. Woman Suffrage Activities
Thomas Wentworth Higginson's interest in the cause of women's

rights can be dated as far backhas 1837 when he was about fifteen
years old. In an article1 written almost sixty years later, he
tells of the first awakening of his mind to the fact of the in-
equality of women. he incident recounted is the visit to his ‘
mother by a Mrs. Rufus King, a well-educated woman from Cincinnati,
Ohio, who had come to Cambridge in 1857 to direct the college

training of a younger brother, two sons, and a nephew.

 

As she was making some criticism at our house
upon the inequalities between the sexes, my mother ex-
claimed, in her ardent way, 'But only think, Mrs. King,
what an education you have obtained.‘ 'Yes,‘ was the
reply, 'but how did I obtain it?‘ Thenfollowed a tale
almost as pathetic as that told [in Mrs. Somerville's “
autobiography, of her own early stmggles for knowledge.

I cannot now recall what she said, but it sank into my
heart, at the age of fifteen or thereubouts, and if I
hava ever done one thing to secure to women better jus-
tice in any direction, the first impulse came from that
fortunate question and answer.

It is not surprising therefore to learn that Higginson approved
the woman suffrage movement from its earliest days and was one of
its most zealous supporters. Along with his other work, Higginson
assisted the women leaders who were spearheading the movement by

accepting offices in the suffrage associations, by lecturing and by

 

1"The Homan Who Most Influenced He," Women's Home C anion
(October, 1895), p. 8. Also in Cheerful. Iesfirdays, p. $3

128

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

129

writing for the mac. 1'. appreciate the part played by bin, it is
necessary to amna briefly the background of the mvenent.2

nae history of the “woman question" before the Civil War in the
United States is the story of the growth of increasingly vigorous
protests by women against their so-callsd subjection to men. Certain
women in Europe had set the pace and their names were frequently on
the lips of the agitators as examples of enterprise, intelligence,
and bravery. Among them were Mary Wollstonecraft (and her V__i_r_1_____dica-
Lion of them. m__ of Wome____n_, 1790), Harriet Martinem, George Sand,
Frederika Bremer, Charlotte Bronte , George Elliot, Elizabeth Barrett
Browning, Mary Somerville , and Florence Nightingale .

America, too, had produced a lengthy list of women "who did"--
from early Colonial times to 18,48 , the date noteworthy for the I'I)e--
claration of Sentiments, " the first formal woman suffrage protest .
Frances Wright in the 18am: propagated radical ideas on theology,
slavery and the social status of women and suffered the denunciation
of the press and the pulpit. Mrs. Emma Willard worked for the! higier
education of women. Elizabeth Blackmall, as late as 181:8, was the

first woman to pass successfully a medical course.

 

2mizabeth Cady Stanton, swoon B. Anthony, and Matilda Joslyn
Gage (eds.) Histo of Woman Suffra ,6 volumes (New York, I,
1881, II, 18827TTE1W VI, 1921) Volumes I?
V, VI were edited mainly by Ida Hosted Harper. Ida Harper states
in the introduction to Volume IV, "In not a library can the stu-
dent who wishes to trace this movement to its beginnings obtain
the necessary data except in these [first] three volmnes." (p. vii)
It is for this reason that I have relied so heavily on this work
for my information on Higginson‘s part in the pioneer days of the
movement , for the first three volume s contain newspaper clippings ,
letters, speeches, and minute reports of the early conventions in
which he was so active. Other sources I have consulted are Carrie
Chapman Catt and Nettie Rogers Shuler, Woman Suffra and Politics
(New York, 1923) and Mary R. Beard, WomaTK-s fife—E Histo
(Minneapolis, 19104): PP. 1211-162.

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

In 1832, midis. Maria Child published her Histog 31: Women which

is considered the first American storehouse of information upon the
guestion. In 1836, Ernestine 1.. Rose came to America from Poland to
lecture upon the science of government, and to advocate enfranchise-
mat of women. The Grimké sisters, Sarah and Angelina, came North
from South Carolina, to join the abolitionists and the suffragettes.
Margaret Fuller, in 1810, published an essay in the 213} entitled,
“'lhe Great Lawsuit, or Man Vs. Woman: Woman vs. Man,a in which she
demanded equality for woman in education, industry, and politics.
This, with her parlor conversations on art, science, religion, poli-
tics, philosophy, and social life, gave a new impulse to woman's
education as a thinker.

The women most active in the suffrage reform, however, were Mrs.
Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony, Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Antoinette
L. Brown, and Lucy Stone. As pioneers, they met with much opposition,
but they were also actively supported by several leaders of their day,
among whom were the men and women most prominent in the anti-slavery
movement. Although agitation over the rights of slaves grew to make ‘
slavery the burning issue of the day, before the Civil War public
Opinion was also mounting in regard to the civil rights of women.
Discussions of property rights of women and of their place in society
were carried on in the legislatures, in the press, and eventually in
the homes. Women's work in other reform movements gave an indirect
impetus to the suffrage cause, because they had first to establish
their right to speak publicly and to serve on committees of anti-
alavery or temperance societies. Opposition to these activities was

so strong among abolitionists in the early days of the anti-slavery

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

131

movement, that it brougit about a split in the American Anti-Slavery
Association in May, 181:0.

moses-1d! s Anti-maven Convention held in London in the same
year barred several American women who had come as representatives
and voters. Among these were Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia Mott, and
mabeth Cady Stanton who were most eloquent in their indignation.
After this experience, Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Stanton resolved
to hold a women' s rights convention of their--a resolution which they
acted upon eight years later. Lucretia Mott, with her sister Hrs.’
Martha C. Wright, Mrs.. Stanton, and Mrs. Ann Clintock, prepared and
held the historic Seneca Falls, New York, Convention in 18%. They

 

set down their purposes in a "Declaration of Sentiment s" modelled
on the Declaration of Independence which ambition sly demanded equal

rights in "the universities, in the trades and professions; the right

 

to vote; to share in all political offices, honors, and omolmnents;
to complete equality in marriage, to personal freedom, property,
wages, children; to make contracts; to sue, and to be sued; and to
testify in courts of justice."3 ‘Ihe Declaration was adopted and ’
signed by one hundred men and women. A two-day meeting of the con-
vention was so inadequate for the discussion of such an extensive
subject that another meeting was held in Rochester, New York, two
weeks later.
Almost coincident with these meetings, local suffrage societies
al-"I'eng up in all parts of the country, not so much because of the

Seneca Falls and Rochester Conventions as for the "ripeness of the

——___

 

3Bistog 2;: Woman Suffrage, I, p. .73.

 

 

' '17—

132

tile , and [with] no other connection with the original movers than the
announcements of the pressJ'h its movement rapidly solidified into an
organization of its own. In October, 1850, the first National women! s
Elfits Convention was held- in Worcester, Massachusetts. Higginson was
among the eighty-nine 'leading men and women of six States'5 who simed
the cm, thereby adding his name to the roster of abolitionist leaders
who lent their support to this cause.

As in the anti- slavery reform, Higginson' 3 contribution to the
womn suffrage movement was that of agitator; From 1850 until the end
of his life in 1911 he was active as officer or lecturer of the many
conventions ,6 and after the War, as co-editor of the suffrage organ,
.1199. Woman' s Journal.

I Besides his work on suffrage platforms, Higginson spoke before
the Comittee of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention in 185 3 ,

appealing for the ballot for women as a new measure to be added to

 

the proposed revision of the State Consitutien. After quoting por-
tions of the preamble of the Massachusetts Constitution, Higginson
emphasized the idea that women were individuals, a part of the people, ’

and citizens as defined by the Preamble. He said:

 

hCatt and Smler, 22. 22., p. 21.

Ssietog 2; women Suffrage, I, p. 222.

61851;, Vice-Pro sident of the Fifth National Convention, Phila-
delphia; 18 SS, Speaker at the Convention at Saratoga Springs, New York;
1856, Vice-President of the Seventh National Woman Rights Convention;
1858-1859, Speaker at the Ninth and Tenth National Conventions, New
York; 1859, Connnittee member to circulate a memorial to be sent to the
State Legislature .

After the War, he was a frequent speaker at the American Woman
Suffrage Association conventions and the New England Woman Suffrage

Association. The Histo 31; Woman Siffre contains the mimtes of
each of the se conventions and recormfg-gnson' s activities.

 

 

 

 

 

me people are not merely to have good laws, well ad-
ministered; but they must have an equitable mode of making
those laws. The reason of this is, that good laws are no
permanent security, unless enacted by equitable methods.
Your laws may be the best ever devised; yet still they are
only given as a temporary favor, not held as a right, -
less the whole people are concerned in their enactment.

He further developed the clause in Section 9 of the Massachusetts Bill
of Rights: l'All inhabitants . . . having such qualifications as they
shall establish by their form of government, have an equal right to
elect officers." "They," Higginson pointedgout, were the inhabitants
of Massachusetts. PYet in view of the great number of men who had mi-
grated to the West or were absent on long voyages, the majority of

the inhabitants of Massaclmsetts were women.

You disfranchise the majority then; the greater

part of 'the inhabitants' have no share in establishing

the former government, or assigning the qualificati no

of voters. What worse can you say of any oligarchy?

Higginson also wrote a caustic Open letter to the members of the
Constitutional Convention complimenting it on its selection of an
"honorable body." He wrote in a satirical vein:

_ And yet there are those to whom the daring thouglt

has occurred, that to convoke such ability and learning,

only to decide whether our Legislature shall be here-

after elected by towns or districts, is somewhat likeihe

course of Columbus in assembling the dignitariesof his

nation to decide whether an egg could be best passed upon

the larger or the smaller end. A question which was

necessarily settled, after all, by a compromise, as this
will be.

 

7History of Woman Suffrage, I, p. 250.
8Ibid., p. 251.

9Quoted from The Una, June, 1853, in Hieteg g E11132 film,
1: Po 253. —"' fl -

 

 

 

 

 

licensed by pointing out that as Columbus's discovery of half the world
was due to the statesmanship of Queen Isabella; “it is surely a noble
hope, that the future Isabellas of this Nation.may point the way for
their oppressed sisters of Europe to a suffrage truly universal, and a
political freedom bounded neither by station nor by sex."10

In spite of his speech and letter and the efforts of several

 

leaders such as Lucy stone, Wendell Phillips, and meodore Parker,
with whom he worked, the Committee of the Massachusetts Legislature
stated in its report that "it is inexpedient to act on the petition"
of several parties that women be permitted to vote.11 .
In an effort to put theory into practice, Higginson tried to
encourage the election of women as officers on comittees of other
reform platforms. At the World's Temperance Convention in 1853, a

business comnittee of one member from each state was appointed.

 

When a motion was made that Susan B. Anthony, Secretary of the Woman's
State Temperance Society, be appointed to this committee, immediate '
protest arose from all sides. Higginson, indignant at the hostile
attitude, asked to be excused from serving on the committee and moved
that Lucy Stone be substituted, a suggestion which caused more con-
sternation. Angry at the confusion and noise which followed, Higgin-
son invited all persons who wished to call a M world's temperance
convention to meet again that afternoon in another place. ‘Ihe attitude

0f the protesters caused comment in in}; Eng, and Horace Greeley in the

 

1°Ib1d.

llIbid., I, p. 25h.

 

 

 

135 *

 

New Iork Tribune trounced the offending parties.”

ifter the (uni war, the abolitionists nerged with the mmgsete
to form the Anerioan Equal RigIts Association to agitate for the ballot
for both women and the freed slaves. This amalgamation created un-
locked for but inevitable problems. me "Ne gro me stionn became more
pressing than the women's rights issue and the abolitionists insisted

 

that Negro enfranchisement come before that of woman suffrage. The
new Republican government, faced with the reinstatement of the Southern
states in the Union and the necessity of determining the legal status
of the Negro, put pressure on the States for the ratification of the
fourteenth and fifteenth amendments. Most of the abolitionists, like

Higginson, were Republicans and believed that the slavery question was

 

not settled until the Negro was given citizenship and the ballot. The
suffragettes such as Susan B. Anthony and Elisabeth Cady Stanton fought
for "universal" suffrage, but the Boston abolitionist wing of the Equal
Rights Association, represented by Wendell Phillips, William Lloyd
Garrison, Lucy Stone, Horace Greeley, George Curtis, Frederick Douglass,
and Higginson, believed this to be the "Negro's Hour" and in 1869 they
broke away to form the American Women Suffrage Association. Higginson
was instrumental in organizing this association, as his name appears

on the original 0311.13 He was chosen president of the first American
Women Suffrage convention and was made committee member for the per-
manent organization of the conventions.1h Susan B. Anthony and her

New York youp formed the National Woman Suffrage Association which soon

 

12These articles are quoted from The 9513 and the New York Tribune
(May 18, 1853) in Histog 9; Woman Suffra , I, pp'.~—502-50h. """"""'

13Other signers were Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe, Caroline Severance,
and George A. Vibbert. History of Woman Suffrage, I, p. 222.

lthid., II, p. 760

 

 

 

 

an.

 

 

 

136

tried to. merge with the American Woman Suffrage Association but was
refused admittance by a majority vote.

Higginson was also instrumental in founding the New England
suffrage Association in 1868, and was a member of the executive
committee.15 He urged Julia ward Howe to be president of the organi-
zation which was germinal in its activities and assisted in originating
the American and Massachusetts suffrage associations mentioned above,
and other local and county suffrage societies. It also set up the
woman's Journal as a suffrage organ.16

'Besides his work at the suffrage meetings, Higginson contributed
to The Egg, the first (though short-lived) woman suffrage paper in the
United States. He also published, with Lucy Stone, the woman's Eights
Almanac £25 l§§§ which contained carefully chosen quotations portraying
in three "pictures" 1) the degraded position of women under Hindoo Law
in 2000 B.C., 2) under Anglo-Saxon Law in 18h8 A. D., and 3) the rapid
progress made by women in society since the Seneca Falls Convention.

Higginson's speeches at the conventions urged women to throw off
the yoke of subjection imposed upon them for‘bentures and to assume the
rights which belonged to them. His arguments at the meetings were the
standard ones used by most of the suffragists. At the 1856 meeting
held at the Broadway Tabernacle in New York, he told women that they
needed to overcome three obstacles to their rights: 1) the obstacle
°f £011? in which they Were trained, falsely believing themselves to
be admired if they had no great principles (like the Woman's Right

movement) to appreciate; 2) the obstacle of fear created by those who

 

15Ibid., II, p. 266. ,

161bid., II, p. 268.

 

. .l f
. r4 . 1 J
an. “in Ill W

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

137

walld Join forces with the mufragists if they were not subject to
ridicule; 3) the obstacle of prejudice held by women who, as a conse- '
qnenoe, deprived themselves of their legal and social rights.” Re-
peatedly, he appealed to the women themselves for support of the ==
movement, for it was always a mystery to him why so many women did
not want suffrage.

In 1870 at the Massachusetts Convention held in New York City,
he tried to show that without suffrage, society in general was the
loser. .

Until woman take s a place with man in the legislation
of the world, and in the administration of justice, she will
suffer, and man through her will suffer; also, it is not be-
cause woman is so far above man that we claim her riglts in
this matter. It is because she is the other half of man
and society isinmerfect, and will remain so until she
takes her proper place in the labors of the world. If a
pair of scissors be broken in two, and you have it riveted
together, it is not because you concede angelic superiority
to either half but simply because it takes two halves to
make a whole .13

In the same year, at the first annual meeting of the American
Woman Suffrage Association held in Cleveland, Ohio , he spoke of the
"great, golden opportunity" for the advancement of women. Suffrage,
he said, was not the only object to be obtained. The purposes of
the American Woman Suffrage Association were very much broader in

scape. They were

to equalize the sexes in all the relations of life ;
to reduce the inequalities that now exist in matters of
education, in social life and in the professions-«to make
than equal in all respects, before the law, society, and
the world. . . . Suffrage for woman gained, and all else
will speedily follow.”

h__

l7Ibid., I, pp. 659-661.
13mm" II, p. 773.
19Ib1d., II, p. 803.

 

 

 

 

 

 

u‘

 

 

 

 

 

 

138

Suffrage, however, must come first, he believed, for, the woman of
modern times I'with every step she takes in higher education, finds
it harder to retain . . . self-respect while she is in a republican
government and yet not a member of it." file can study political
economy, but she cannot put her himfledge to practical use by the
simple process of dropping a piece of paper into a ballot-box. She
is also in need _ of self-protection. Improvements had been made in
laws regarding women, but only after a long hard fight which could
have been dispensed with had a single woman been inside the State
House, I'armed with the position of member of the Legislature and
representing a 38:: who had votes. "20

The ideas implicit in Higginson's speeches were given permanent
and eipanded form in his essays on the woman suffrage problem which
appeared in the Woman's Journal. ‘lhese, together with his colmm
on society in general, which appeared in Harper’ 3 SE23; for several
years, give not only his suffrage views, but the underlying social

theory which permeated and motivated his reform activities.

zoIbido, IV, pp. Mh’h—zgo

 

 

 

 

awn

139

e. hlggnecntc Social theory

homes Wentwerth Higginson‘ s first publication for the Woman
strange cause was an essay inscribed t. the Massachusetts Constitu-
tionsl Convention entitled Woman and Her Wishes.“ written originally
for 3113 233 in 1853, the article was reprinted in" pamphlet form in the
snitcd States and in London in 18514. The M m AM,
mentioned above, which Higginson had compiled with Mrs. Lucy Stone,
appeared in 1858. Both of these works were cooperative efforts on
Higginson‘ s part to- encourage and abet the work of the woman suffra-

A

gists.
In 1859 he wrote a lively and mildly satiric essay, "Ought

Women to Learn the Alphabet?" for the Atlantic Monthly1 which set

forth exalnples similar to the se found in the Almanac illustrating

 

woman' s subjection to man throughout history. It reviewed men and

 

women - reformers from the time of the Signora Moderate Fonts , the
Venetian whose little known work was published in 1592, to Mrs. H.
Mather Cracker who had published "Rights of Women" in 181:8 ; it re-
ferred to Cornelius Agrippa of 1569 fame and the contemporary Agissiz
and his nHens Feminae Viri Animo Superior." The entire problem of
woman's place in society revolved about the question, "Olght women to
learn’the alphabet?" which Higginson wove in and out of his discussion
of woman's struggletfor equality as well as his proposal for her en-
franchisement. With a foresight felt only by the pioneers of the

suffrage movement Higgnson wrote:

__

1Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Atlantic Monthl , III (February,
1859), pp. 582-595. Also published as a tract 15 Boston, 1870, and
in Manchester, England, 1873, and as Woman Suffrage Tract, No. 1;,
Boston, 1871. Ropublished in Woman and the Alphabet, The Works of
Thomas Wentworth Higginson, IV, pp. I352.

 

 

11m

Everybody sees that the times are altering the whole
material position-of woman; but most people do not appear
to see the inevitable social and floral changes which are
81” involved. 0 o 0

But in view of the rapid changes now going on, he is
a rash man who asserts the Woman Question. to be anything
but a more question of time. The fillcrum has been already
am in the alphabet, and we met simply watch, and see
whether the earth does not move.

There is the plain fact: woman not be either a
subject or an equal; there is no middle ground. Every
concession to the supposed principle only involve the
necessity of the next conce ssion for which that principle
calls. Once yield the alphabet, and we abandon the whole
long theory of subjection and coverturo. 2

In substance, "Woman and the Alphabet" contains the principal
points regarding the advancement of women which Higginson developed
over a period of many years in his mmerous essays on this topic.
he largest body of these essays were published in the Women's Journal
for which he contributed - monthly for almost ten years . F l

The Woman's Jell:r'1n;;a£ll was one of the many projects of the New

 

 

England Woman Suffrage Association. With an eye for efficiency, the
Association had purchased the Agitator in 1867, a publication in
Chicago conducted by the enterprising Mary A. Livermore "on condition
that she should come to Boston for one year, at a reasonable compen-
sation, to assist by her editorial labor and speaking at conventions."3
After three years, the magazine was conducted by Lucy Stone and her
husband, Henry B. Blackwall, and for more than twenty years identified
itself with the principles of the American Suffrage Association in
its effort to secure favorable action in the states.

The Woman‘s Journal was not a fly-hy-night enterprise as had

been Susan B. Anthony's Revolution. Instead, it was, as Katherine

 

Anthony points out ,

2W6man a_n§_ the Alphabet, pp. 27, 32.

 

3History of Woman §u_ffrag§, III, p. 271:.

_ Jaimie»

 
 

 

 

—1——g ---—vw- j-
11:1

a real business concern-conducted in the best Boston
tradition-ma tradition of trustee ships , enmity systems,
family trusts, and sound funding. . . . The Journal was
locally well insured against failure. Organized 5y fi-
nancial experts, the paper had every prospect to survive
not only its trial years but many long years afterward.
Besides its financial backing, a considerable body of ad- .
vanced women, such as, for instance, the newly organized
Sorosis in New York, were only waiting to support any
nice woman's paper that might come along.’4

Mrs. mizabeth Cady Stanton complained in 1873 that the Woman' s
Journal was not belligerent enough,5 but as Frank Luther Mott obf- ‘
served, "Among those who were less extreme the Woman's Journal won
many friends."6 The truth of these observations is borne out in
the essays of—Thomas Wentworth Higginson during his ten years as con-

tributor to the journal .

 

Higginson began writing for the Kgman's Journal in 1870, when its
editorship was assumed by Lucy Stone. He later collected and reprinted

one-Inmdred-five of his articles in book form.7 In 1900, for the de-

 

 

finitive edition of his works, he deleted twenty-two of the essays and
inserted "Ought Women to Learn the Alphabet?" described above. This

volume of his definitive edition (Volume II) was entitled Women and the

 

Alphabet, and (except for the omission and insertion mentioned) is a
reprint of Common Sense About Women.
Higginson's essays have a certain graceful forcefulness touched

With good-humored persuasion and clear logic. His style was that of the

 

hSusan B. Antho : Her Personal Histo and Her firg (New York,
19514), pp. QM- fl 19T7—tfie name of the Jiourmfias changed to

Woman Citizen, but later the older name was resumed until it ceased
pumicati on in' 1931 with the record of being the longest—lived suffrage
paper in America.

5Woman's Journal, IV (March 15, 1873), p. 85.

h 6A 1121815031r of American Magazine : l865—188§_ (Cambridge , 1938),
Po 9 o — w

7m Sense About Women (Boston, 1882).

   

 

I
.
‘ ..
7 I

‘

\

_. \

l 1

l
H‘
Y
I

   

 

IlIII|IIlIll-llllllllIIl-I-I-II——’_______—____________________________—"_
11:2

platfbrm.speaker, a method he advised prospective women.lecturers to use,
"As to your employment of language, the great aim is to be simple, and
in a measure, conversational. . . . For each point you make, provide at
least one good argument and one goodillustration.n8 This patternfihe
followed consistently for his feminine reading'public.' His essays fur-
nished food for thought not only on the topic of woman suffrage, but
also on the general status of the women of the 1870's whose improve-
ment he sought by trying to awaken them to their own needs. Upon
looking through the essays today and comparing their contents with the
speeches of other suffragists, one finds that the articles are only cap-
sule-size reproductions of the stock arguments for the woman.suffrage
campaign, made palatable by their pleasing style and simple, clear ex-
position. "Yet," Hellman writes, "so varied was Higginson's culture,
so easy flowing his style, so wide the fund of quotations on which he
loved to draw, and so pleasant his wit, that his essays, even when
Propagandist, are literature."9

However, behind the facade of Higginson‘s pleasantries, small
parable-like examples, and gentility, lies his serious social theory,

a theory'which places him in the camp of those who looked to America

 

with wide vision and saw the infinite possibilities of this vast

 

country. As a product of his times, Higginson shared the unbounded

Optimism of the reformers with whom he associated, an optimism which

 

he retained throughout his life, and which the experience and wisdom
of almost eightyanine years did not materially change.
It is the purpose of this chapter to trace Higginson's social

theory through the large body of essays he devoted to the "woman Question."

8"How to Speak in Public," ibid., pp. 270-271.

.9George s. Hellman, "Later Essayists," Cambridg History 93:
American.;iterature.(New York, 1931), III, Part II, p. 119.

   

 

 

 

 

“——

 

 

 

 

 

lh3

Higflnson considered woman suffrage an important factor in the

formation of America into a free republic. “The best preparation for

“10

freedom,fl he wrote, "is freedom, and that freedom lay in granting

the vote to women. For, “it seems obvious that the experiment of a
republican government will be more fairly tried when one-half the race
is no longer disfranchised.“ll

He criticized his country' s attitude toward woman suffrage, saying
that its thinking was in terms. of the Old World.

In all European monarchies it is the theory that the
mass of the people are children to be governed, not mature
beings to govern themselves; this is clearly stated and
consistently applied. In the United States we have formally
abandoned this theory for one half of the human race, while
for the other half it.flourishes with little change. What
Americans commonly criticise in English statesmen, namely
that they habitually evade all arguments based on natural
right; and defend every legal wrong on the ground that it
works well in practice, is the precise defect of our habi-
tual view of women.

‘With characteristic optimism, Higginson believed that the abuses
inherent in.America‘s government and way of life would eventually be
corrected, if one had patience and time enough to await the outcome.
He wrote:

For, in the first place, our institutions rest--

if they have any basis at all-~on this principle, that

good is stronger than evil, that the majority of men

really wish to vote rightly, and that only time and

patience are needed to get the worst abuses righted.

How can anyone doubt this, who watches the course of
our politics, I do not see.

10"The European Plan," Common Sense About Women, p. 18h.

 

11"Too much Prediction," ibid., p. 319.

h12"0ught women to Learn the Alphabet?" Women and the Alphabet,
p. 3 .

 

13"Dangerous Voters," Common Sense About WOmen, p. 386.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-.

M. ‘
fl.»

n.

 

 

 

 

 

1th

Asd.again, “the basis of'all representative government is in the assump-
tion that gtod is ultimately stronger than evil. If. we once abandon
this, our theory has gone to pieces.'1h' -

To offset the good of the country, however, each citizen, he be-
lieved, mould have the rigs; to express himself by ballot, no' matter
what his social position, wealth, race, or sex. only in this way
could abuses be corrected. For I'leg;l.slation is mainly for the pro-
tection of the weak against the strong, and for this reason the weak
mutt be directlyrepresented."15

The Revolutionary'war cry, "Taxation without representation is
tyranny,“ became a slogan which was considered as true of women in the
1870's as it was of the rebels of the 1770‘s. On this point Higginson
said, "The act of taxing those who are not represented deprives them
of their most essential rights as freeman. Virtual representation is
altogether a subtlety and illusion, wholly unfounded and absurd."16
In the same vein he wrote: "It is not in the nature of things, I take

it, that a class politically subject can obtain justice from the gover

ning class."l7

.Axioms from the Declaration of Independence were also strong sup-
ports for woman suffrage. Concerning them.Higginson noted, "Granted
that those who framed these provisions may not have understood the full

extent of the principles they announced. No matter: they gave us

L

llwsow Will It Result?" ibidu p? 350-
15"l'he Votes of Non-Combatants," ibid., p. 369.
1653mm Old-Fashioned Principles," ibid., p. 287-

l7iiHow Women Will Legislate,"'ibiit, p- 389.

 

 

 
 

 

 

’_———r '

lhs

those principles, and, having them, we must apply them."18 The very
words, We the people," echoed in many state constitutiens and ex-
pressed'again in Lincoln's "a government of the people, by the people,
and for the people ," had to-be clarified. That it applied to women

was a fundmntal, almost trite, idea, but one which Higginson and other
suffragists believed important among: to emphasize . That fiigginson
discussed the phrase in relation to women suffrage, though typical

of the reasoning of suffragists, illustrates further his concept of
American society.

His love for the principles of Jeffersonian democracy is further
borne out in his open admiration of Lincoln' s eloquent letter to the
Boston Republicans, April, 1859. Lincoln had written:

The principles of Jefferson are the definitions and
axioms of free society. And yet they are denied and evaded
with no small show of success. . . .

All honor to Jefferson!-~the man, who, in the concrete
pressure of a struggle for national independence by a single
people, had the coolness, forecast, and capacity to intro-
duce into a merely revolutionary document in abstract truth
a licable to all men and all times, and so to emBaE it
{Esra that today and in alrcoming days it shall be a re-
buke and a stumbling to the harbingers of reappearing
tyranny and oppression.

In his defense of the se principles, Higginson clashed with the

 

Federalists of his day and openly criticized Fiancis Parkman with whom

it is interesting to contrast him.

 

Higginson was asked to be one of five members of a symposium to
answer Francis Parkman‘s article, "The Woman Question," which had ap-
peered in the North American goggle, October, 1879. The other members

were Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Julia Ward Howe, Lucy Stone, and Wendell

18"We the People," ibid., p. 276.

19ouoted by Higginson in "Founded on a Rock," 33333., p. 289.

   

 

 

 

H.

 

 

1116

Phillips. ‘
Parkman exemlified the old Brahmin stock of New England who

shared the Federalist dislike for the growth of equalitarian govern-
ment and hamanitar'ian faith in the natural goodness of the masses.

In this dislike he was one with Longfellow, Cooper, Holmes, Motley,
fresco-ht, and Lowell in his later years. As serene puts it, “Park-
man himself might have joined Poe in his statement that tdemocracy is
the best government in the world-«for dogs!‘"20 He stated his poli-
tical opinion most clearly in a letter to the Abbe Gasg'ain, who had

reviewed The 9.39. 1335422 and had taken exception to many of its state-

ments, Parkman wrote 2

My political faith lies between two vicious ex-
tremes, democracy and absolute authority, each of
which I detest the more because it tends to react into
the other. I do not object to a good Constitutional
monarchy, but prefer a conservative republic, where
intelligence and character, and not numbers, hold the
reins of power. . . . I have always declared openly
my detestation of the unchecked rule of the masses.21

 

It was, no doubt, this detestation of the masses that led him to

speak out against woman suffrage which he felt would simply multiply

the ignorance already existing. "Women throughout history have not
had political experience. If they were suddenly granted the rigxt to
Vote they would bring to the task the ignorance which makes them to—
tally unprepared.”22

In his arguments, Parkman repeated the eighteenth century belief

in woman's mental and physical inferiority. "The physical make-up of

 

Zoifllbur L. Schramm, Francis Parkman (New York, 1938), p. XViii.

21Letter of May 9, 1875, quoted by Schramm, ibid., p. 1x1.

22mg.” Woman Question ,1: N01121: American Retire“) CCLXXV (October,

1879), p. 317.

 

 

a

 

 

1h?

nan and woman refutes the idea of suffrage; man is by ochre combative;
woman non-combative."23 Man's mind is governed by reason; woman's by
auction. He chargedTUsndell-Phillips with saying that rights and em-
ployments of women should be treated without regard to sex. The suffra-
gists, he wrote, imore the fundmntal quality in the power of men and

women which is founded, not on re semblances , but on differences of

satire and function. This difference, he feared, would manifest itself

in the future Delilahs ' who had already spread their anares for the Con-
mssional Sansone. Parkman was certain of a harvest of sensational
scandals occurring when "woman is fairly inside politics." For he

felt that the worst men had been drawn into politics. Those most fit
for it having least care to accept it. Since" politics were repulsive
to the best of men, he concluded they would be more so for the best
Women, furthermore, especially those in large cities, would

 

0f women.
easily fall prey to their own predilictions, "and they would support

their favorites. They were too impressionable, too easy for demagogues

and po.‘l.:i.t:l.c:i.ans."2)4
The remainder of his arguments were deftly summarized and refuted

by Elizabeth Cady Stanton:

1. women do not want to vote; the best would not , the worst would.

2. Women would debase politics rather than elevate it.

3. Woman suffrage would destroy the unity of the family.

1!. If women vote, they must do military duty.

5. Woman suffrage would strengthen the Roman Catholic Church.
6. woman suffrage based on taxation is opposed to the genius

of our Government. 2
7. Suffrage is not a natural right. 5

23Ibid., p. 30h.

21inch, p. 316.

25"1516 Other Side of the Woman Question," North American Review,
cm (November, 1879), p. 879. —

 

 

 

.1, rials?

.5

"

 

1&8

 

Hrs. Stanton rejected the first three arguments by pointing out
that women were already voting in sm'parts of the country and that
none of Parkmau's objections hold true.‘ Sue denied that active lili-
tary duty was a'requisite for voting—h point which Higginson also
developed and buttressed with statistics of an who were disqnlified
from the armed services but when no one considered thereby disqualified
from voting. In regard to the fifth point, Mrs. Stanton thought that
voting women would weaken rather than strengthen the authority of the
Catholic Church. On the idea of suffrage based on taxation as being
opposed to the genius of the American government, she simply asked,
"What about tantion without repre sentntion?n Suffrage , she claimed,
is a natural rigat. "To have self-govermnent, defend one's person

and preperty, secure life, liberty, and happiness, not a natural matte-26

 

Lucy Stone's arguments were based on the quotation which had be-
come, perhaps, an irrefutable cliché of the suffragists: "Governments
are instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent
of the governed." Sue pointed out the advantages already granted

women during the -past half century due to the agitation of suffragettes.
axe believed, however, that the cannon-law as proposed by William

Blackstone‘s Comnentarigg, had become fixed in the tradition, usage,

 

and habit of the country, and that, together with the dread of change,

they were responsible for the apposition to woman suffrage.27
Julia Ward Howe‘s article, among other things, refuted Parlanan' s

distrust of the multitudes. She wrote:

“—

26mm.
271mm, pp. has-1.27.

 

 

 

he danger oftrustingnankind atlargewith the care
of their own interests appears, and is, very great. he
wise among the men as among women, are few. Culture, .which
quadruples the mental power of either sex, is not possessed
by the majority in the known world. Ignorance may be de-
luded and misled, may even be bought and sold. Volumes of
arguments are written and spoken in this sense. And yet,
representative government in time always makes good its
position and right to exist. One reason of this is that
it not only founds itself upon popular education, but is
in itself an education. Under its dominion, men are ech-
cated to their duties by the exercise of their rights.
the greatest truths, moreover, in politics as in religion,
are often hidden from the wise and prudent and revealed to
the simple mltitude. It soon appears that the dangers
foreseen in the enlargement of representation are dangers
to the exceptional privileges of a class, not to the calamity}:8

his parag'aph could easily have come from Higginson' s pen for it

expressed the main principle of his social theory, that the masses could
be trusted to guide themselves. In the concluding paragraph of Higfln—

son's article he said:

It was said of the American Federalists that they
had too such of the wisdom of experience and too little
of the wisdom of hope. It is too common, I think for our
educated men to share this distrustful solicitude; and we
may well turn from it to the more manly hopefulness of
Frederick Douglass, born and bred a slave. 'I am willing,’
he said, 'to trust all the virtue of the community to take.
care of all the vice of the community; and its knowledge
to take care of all its ignorance. Therefore I am in
favor of universal suffrage, and therefore I am in favor
of extending that suffrage to women. '29 ' _

Higginson‘s essaymade an appeal to the common sense of the reader.

It must be recognized, he wrote, that times have changed. What was

reasonable and just in the days of Scott's Ivanhoe cannot stand today.

With Boswell} s Johnson we met admit that "As manners make laws, man-

here likewise repeal them." The position of woman in America warrants

a consideration of her legal and political equality with man. "The

-__..

28Ibido’ pp. [LI-3-1‘l)‘.

29Ibid., p. 1.25.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7— . . 150

strength of the woman suffrage movement in the United States of America

lies in this, that every axiom, every position, claimed originally as
applicable to American men, proves on reflection to be applicable to

women also."30 he political philosophy behind this idea lies in the
principle upon which all American institutions rest. ' He asserted:

It is that of the right of every adult person,
not laboring under special natural disqualifications, to
take part in the government of the country. How valuable
or influential a part the individual will take may depend
on a thousand things-wflcation, wealth, energy, industry,
worth; but no constitution can discriminate as to these
things, and the effort to create inequality‘of rights on
account of them has, when attempted on an;r considerable
scale, always led to practical injustice. Nor has this
injustice ever been more obvious than in the cruel laws
in respect to women, now being gradually swept from the
statute-books of our American States, but never seriously
modified until, within less than fifty years, women them-
selves took up the d:i.scussion.3l

Higginson also criticized Parkman in his articles for the woman's
Journal. He referred to Parkman's statement in which it was proposed
that the real issue of the controversy was that the object of govern-
ment was the good of the governed.32 On this point both suffragists
and anti-suffragists were in agreement, Higginson admitted. But the
crux of the matter, Higginson believed, lay in the approach to this
theory. Using De Tocqueville's Democracy in America as a guide,
Higginson pointed out: ”

A monarchy organizes better, does its work better,
cleans its streets better. Nevertheless De Tocqueville,

a monarchist, sees this advantage in a republic, that

when all this is done by the people for themselves, al-
though the work done my be less perfect, yet the people

 

3OIbid., p. h21.
311bid.

32"The Good of the Governed, " Common Sense About Women, p. 292.

 

 

themselves are more enlightened, better satisfied, and,

in the end, their good is better served. . . . 'The end

of good gevernment [fie Tbcqueville had writteg7-is to

insure the welfare of a.people, and not to establish or-

der and regularity in the midst of its misery and distress.'33

The two paragraphs in which Higginson insisted on the value of
democracy-1n this case, fur the advantage of women-~are worth quoting
in full.

One class of thinkers, of whom Froude is the most con-
picuous, holds that the 'good of the people' means good
laws and good administration, and that, if these are only
provided, it makes no sort of difference whether they
themselves make the laws, or whether some Caesar,,or'
Louis Napoleon provides them. All the traditions of the
early and later Federalists point this way. But it has
seemed to me a theory of government essentially'incom-
patible with American institutions. If we could once
get our people saturated with it, they would soon be at
the mercy of some Louis Napoleon of their own.

When President Lincoln claimed, following Theodore
Parker, that ours was not merely a government for the
people, but of the people and by the people as well, he
recognized the other side of the matter,--that it is not
only important what laws we have, but who makes the laws;
and that 'the end of the good government is to insure
the welfare of the people,‘ in this far wider sense.

That advantage which the French writer admits in democracy,
that it develops force, energy, and self-respect, is as
essentially a part of 'the good of the governed,’ as is
any perfection in the details of government. And it is
precisely these advantages which we expect that women,
sooner or later, are to share. For them, as for men,

'the good of the governed' is not genuine unless it 13h
that kind of good which belongs to the self-governed.

Furthermore, Higginson believed that government would have more
internal peace where its people have the right to vote. "Enfranchised
'masses' which have a legitimate outlet for their political opinions,
are far less dangerous than disfranchised masses, which must rely on

mobs and strikes.'35 And elsewhere he wrete: "Just in proportion

 

33Ibid., p. 293. Quoted from Reeve‘s translation, I (London,
1838), p. 97.

3thid. , pp. 2914.295.

35"Drawing the Line," ibid., p. 307.

 

as the masses are enfranchised, statutes execute themselves withmt
creasing bayonets."35

His trust in the masses (and in women as an integral part of them)
was based on his concept of history. The world, Higginson believed,
was in a constant state of evolutionary progress. In former times, the
nRob Roy" theory was necessary for preservation of both life and law.

a- .-

The good old rule
Bufficeth him, the. simple plan
That they should take who have the power,
And they should keep who can.37

Modern times had progressed to such an extent that "the basis of civi-
lized society is not physical force, but, on the contrary, brains."38
Power is no longer in brute strength but in intellect. -

In our country, without class distinctions, the same truth

can be easily shown. Physical power lies mainly in the hands

of the masses; wherever a class or profession possesses more

than its numerical share of power, it has usually less than

its proportion of physical vigor. . . . The truth is that

as civilization advances the world is governed more and more

unequivocally by brains; and whether those brains are de-

posited in a strong body or a weak one becomes a matter of
less and less importance.3

Ebcclusion of woman from the ballot, Higginson maintained, was in
line with the "Rob Roy" tradition. Women, according to this theory
were inferior because physically weaker. The "Rob Roy" idea, although
abandoned in theory, was still being practiced .. as far as women were
concerned.

I do not see how any one can read history without
seeing, all around us, in society, education, politics,

 

36"'1he Votes of Non-Combatants," 321.51. , p. 369.
37*The Rob Roy Theory," 2933., p. 363.

38%.

395351., p. 366.

 

 

 

 

 

the tradition of inferiority. Many laws and. usages

which in themsele might not strike all women as in-

trinsically worth striving for--as the exclusion of

women from colleges or from the ballot-box—assume

great importance to a woman's self-respect, when she

sees in these the plain survival oi the same contempt

that once took much grosser forms. 0

Enfranchisement of women, therefore, would be a forward step in
the progress of society and would provide women with two necessary
qualities of citizenship: self-respect and self-protection. The pro-
gress made thus far'by women was encouragingfor future development.
"When we see the chrysalis open, and the butterfly come half out of
it, we know that sooner or later it must spread wings, and fly. . . .
Woman is the butterfly. Sooner or later she will be wholly out“:-

A certain prediction of woman's use of the ballot was that she
would surely use the right to protect herself. Even though woman
would probably vote as men do on important issues, like slavery and

temperance , she needed her/own vote on all that concerned her own

intere StSe

Would a woman vote to sustain a law by which a Massa-
chusetts chief justice bade the police take those crying
children from their mother's side in the Boston court-room
a few years ago, and hand them over to a comparative stran-
ger, because that mother had married again? You might as
well ask whethefi the colored vote would sustain the Dred
Scott decision. 2

In a later essay Higginson admitted that this extreme case had
led he an alteration of the law of Massachusetts, but he added

wamingly, "The same thing might yet happen in some states of the

 

ho"Inferior to Man, and Near to Angels," ibid., p. 31:1.

hliwbman in the Chrysalis," ibid., p. 105.

 

hZfiFor Self—Protection," ibid., p. 311.

 

 

 

 

 

151. ‘-

Uhion. The possibility of a single such occurrence shows that there is

still a fundamental wrong in the legal position of women.'h3
’Higginson's defense of women in his many articles on women suffrage

exhibits a respect for the masses only because the masses were made up

of individuals. 'A republic like ours does not profess to deal with

 

classes, but with individuals; since 'the whole people covenants with
each citizen, and each citizen with the whole people, for the comnon
good."hh And again, "The individual ranks first in our sympathy:

we do not wait to take the census of the 'clsss.'“h5 With an Emeru

sonian touch, he also wrote:

If there is only one woman in the nation who claims
the right to vote, she ought to have it. . . . Ehsncipa-
tion swept this all away [laws for certain classes], in
most cases: classes ceased to exist before the law, as
far as men at least were concerned; there were only in-
dividuals. The more progress, the less class in legis-
lation. Wb claim the spplicst on of this principle as
rapidly as possible in women.

 

Higginson retained a respect for the masses throughout his life,
but his zeal for the woman suffrage movement seems to have diminished
a little by the end of the 1880's.

In 1887, Higginson wrote an essay for E2535 which displays a
conservatism unusual for him. In it he presented a few possible
"unsolved problems" which he expected to arise with women suffrage.

Against such speculation he had warned his readers in the woman's

 

Journal, and in the case of this article, one wishes he had followed

 

“3": Have All the Rights I Want," ibid., p. 35h.
bh"Individuals vs. Classes,” ibid., p. 398.
“5223.. p. 399.

hélbflo. p. 397.

 

 

u.

 

 

 

his own advice. In regard to women as voters he said:

It is also to be remembered that the controlling
constituency thus created is not merely new, untried,
and politically undisciplined, but is separated by
impassable gulfs of temperament and experience from
that which it replaces. It is farther to be observed
that it will be in the curious and hitherto unexam-
pled position of governing by moral power only; since
the new constituency can only make the laws, and
must enforce them by the secular arm of the old con-
stituency. All this forms . . . no valid objection
to the adoption of‘Woman Suffrage, the general argu-
ments in favor of which he does not here propose to
discuss. But it certainly furnishes good reason
for more careful weighing of probable results than
has been usual on either side.h7

 

To the question "How large a number of women yet wish to vote?"
Higginson believed that since the question of voting is not a natural
right in the same sense that liberty is, and since enfranchisement
had to be limited in some way by a voting age, or financial basis,
or educational qualification, in order to secure a sound government,
women should be consulted in the matter and "enfranchisement should
not very greatly precede their probable wish, or at least willingness."
This view was directly opposite that advocated in some of his woman's ‘
Journal papers, and indicates a more cautious and discreet approach.
In the earlier essays he favored immediate enfranchisement of all
women without consideration of restricting qualifications, even if the
privilege were desired by a few.

Another unsolved problem over which Higginson pondered and which,
in a way, lined him up with his adversary Parkman and other anti-suf-
fragists was: How many women will be likely to vote? And among these
voters, how many will be from among the ignorant or the vicious? Fur-

thermore, how great will be the danger of the increased presence of

 

h7"Unsolved Problems in woman Suffrage," Forum, II (January, 1887),
Po 0. _

 

 

   

 

   

156

ignorant voters? In the Woman's Journal essays he had almost scoffed
at these maestions. He had admitted that women were as fallible as
men, but that, as a group, they would not be any more vicious than -
men. In this article, however, Higginson did swing back to his usual
optimism when he wrote:
I think it is best that we should freely concede .

that if anarchy and socialism are looming up as serious

prospective dangers, as exhibited among men~which I,

for one, do not think--they are no less serious as

seen among women. Believing as I do, that these terrors

are very superficial, and that, in the fine words of

Broderick Douglass, 'We can trust all the knowledge of

the community to take care of all its vice ,3 I have no

fears as to the result. It is very likely that we may

have, on the way, some of the same obstacles from ig-

norant and unscrupulous voting on the part of women

that we now experienceon the part of men. It is

the price we pay for self-government}l
Even though Higginson reverted to his usual faith in the masses, it is

symptomatic of his later conservatism that he should have broug1t up
the problem at all.

Another point regarding woman suffrage which he felt would work
itself out was the fact that women voters would be likely to be more
influenced by persons than by measures. This, he believed, would
lead to the reform urged by Gamaliel Bradford, "that more power should
be put into the hands of mayors and governors, ‘in order that they may
be distinct and responsible figures before the people, instead of dis-
tributing it among a multitude of minor officials, hardly known even
by name to those who vote for them."h9

The most important problem, he thought, related to the moral effect

of suffrage upon the community. Here again his fear was similar to

 

ӣ11239: 10- has.
h9.I_bi_do, p. M6.

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

157

Parkman“ worry over the snares of political Delilahs and Congressional

Sansone. '

Who that remembers the Woodhall and Claflin period
of our social history, or the Beecher-Tilton controversy,
can lhok without some anxiety to the utterly unrestricted
mingling of men and women, in periods of great excitement,
and under the strongest inducements to use whatever means
of influence may prove most potent in dealing with one
another? Want, for the sake of argument, that the per-
sons immediately concerned in public life, under the new
order, are likely to be utterly above all personal danger
in this close intercourse, what is to guard them against
the evil of suspicion? There will be no point so vul-
nerable, no mode of attack so promising, as those growing
out of the question of personal chastity, in these un-
tried relations. To all the present opportunities for
scandal there will be added a new one; and this, in the
hands of an unscrupulous antagonist, will be worth all
the rest put together. Woman Suffrage, it may be urged,
may improve the wisdom and justice of legislation, es-
pecially as regards women themselves, but it will hardly
promote, at first, the purity and decency of political,

campaigns}

Higginson’s solution to this peculiar problem is rather ab-
surd, and, happily, has not been adopted. He believed the Quakers
had the answer in their policy of having separate bodies of men and
women whose joint action must be secured for all measures. "Such
twin legislatures might well enough replace the cumbrous Senate and
House of Representatives of our State governments."51

On the whole, this article, while advocating woman suffrage,
proposes prudential measures which indicated the growing conserva-
tism of Higginson’s later years. After this article he published
two leaflets on the woman suffrage topic: "For Self-Respect and
Self-Protection," a speech given at the anrmal meeting of the Ameri-

can Woman Suffrage Association in Philadelphia, November 1, 1887,

 

5°Ib1d., p. 1m.
511bid., p. the.

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

H.

 

 

 

 

F-
. . 158

and "Straight Lines or Oblique Lines," 39.95 Suffrag Leaflet, Novem-
ber, ' 1892. He also continued "new for and about women, besides
keeping up a. voluminous output of history, biography, and literary
criticism.

In many of Higginson's essays for the Woman's Journal and, later,
for Hg. er's E233, he o'mtimed to champion the rights of the masses,
and to criticize certain phases of society in America and Europe which
seemed to violate his idea of democracy. One group which appeared

to be the only remnant of class distinction in America was the so-

 

called fashionable "society." This group he analyzed gently but

critically. They were the "foam" of society whose influence was very

limited. "The utmost social prestige in America is local, provincial,

a matter of the square inch.”52 In this respect, fashionable Anerican

society differed from Women society whose influence control led not

only fashion, but government. It ruled in the country as well as in

the city. “But in America the social prestige of the cities is nothing

in the country; it is a matter of the pavement, of a three-mile radius."53
Higgnson could see only one purpose for such a class--the preser-

vation of good manners and social refinements. "But,“ he adds, "as

 

soon as it steps beyond this, and attempts to elem so special weight

 

outside the sphere of good manners, it shows its weakness, and must
yield to stronger forces.“5h The existence of such groups throughout

the country, Higginson felt, created petty and taxing activities, such

 

52"Foam and Current ," Common Songs About Women, p. 151.

 

53zoom, p. 152.
Sham seeiety, I! ibid., PO 1569

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

159

as the ridiwlous practice of sending calling cards, 55 and the waste of
physical energy entailed in making undesired social calls for the sake
of shadowy prestige. Besides this, woman in society were the victims
of burdensome social obligations which they had to fulfill as women did
in mops , but without the trained help usually found. there. With a
mild contempt, he pitied thank-tho most overworked women in America. 56

We mode of life, Higginson maintained, was artificial and imi-
tative. He thought it “idle to attempt to transport into American
life the social traditions and delusions which require monarchy and
primogeni‘hire , and a standing army, to keep them upa-a‘nd which cannot
always hold their own in England, even with the aid of these!“57
"Society," he felt, did not represent American life, for it had no
direct influence upon its growth or movements. Even though some
women in society had contributed to the anti-slavery bazaars and
woman-suffrage festivals, nevertheless, the majority of them gave
only a moderate amount of sanction to these movements.

American society, Higginson wrote, was broad in its scope.
Conventional position and family tradition did not exert an influence
comparable to that secured by education, energy, and character.

No merely fashionable woman in New York, for instance,

has a position sufficiently important to be called influ-

ential compared with that of a woman who can speak in public

so as to comand hearers, or can write so as to secure

readers. To be at the head of a normal school, or to be a

professor in a college where co-education prevails, is to

have a sway over the destinies of America which reduces all

more ‘social position' to a matter of cards and compliments

and page's buttons.53.

55"The Battle of the Cards," ibid., p. 159.

56"Some Working-Women," ibid., p. 163.

57"Foam and Current," ibid., p. 153.

58"In Society," ibid., pp. 155-156.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:I’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

160

. In spite of his repudiation of fashionable society, Higginson was
concerned about maintaining a standard of courtesy and morality in
America. He despised the class whose whole aim was to keep in existence
a set of social amenities. But he was also chagrined by the vulgarity
of which Americans were accused by Rtropeane.

. It is interesting, therefore, to turn from Higginson‘s prepa-
gandistic essays published principally for the woman suffrage cause
to his essays for an” M which dealt somewhat with this problem.

3.32.11! Bazar, begun in 1867, under the editorship of Mary L.

 

Booth, "was a ladies' Harper' s Heekl ," as Frank Luther Mott describes

it,
with the same type of English serials, double-page pictures,
miscellany, and tumor, and with fashions and patterns taking

the place of politics and public affairs. The art work was
excellent witg9cartoons by Nest and engravings by the great

Weekly group.

For some years George William Curtis, over the signature, "An
Old Bachelor ," had written a column, "Manners, Upon the Rattad,’l which
dealt with American social life. On Curtis's resignation, Higginson
continued this department, beginning his work in 1885. The editors
wished him to contribute a series of papers "treating of the higher
interest of women, social, moral, and historical," but to omit any
references to the controversial woman suffrage topic.60 Higginson
agreed to do so and wrote a series of articles which conformed to

the policy of the Bazar. The sixty essays were later published in

_._

59Hott, 32. 933., III, p. 389.

60Letter from Miss Booth, November, 1881;, quoted in J. Henry
Harper, :1}: House of 11.35233 (New York, 1912), p. 250.

 

 

 

U.

 

 

161

book form.61 A similar collection of Higginson's essays was also pub-
lished by Harpers in 1892.62 In these two collections of about ninety
articles, Higginson dealt with topics of interest to women suggested
to him by the times. Upon examination of them, one finds that Higgin-
son's basic ideas of democracy stand out as clearly in his treatment
of American courtesy and morality as they did in his defense of woman
suffrage. Although he harbored a strong dislike for fashionable
society and its preservation of social amenities, he was sincerely
concerned about the lack of refinement of some Americans. He be-
lieved that a happy medium could be established between the two
extremes: "We need to keep always balanced between the influences
of refined culture and natural force."63

The cultivation of good manners ,“he asserted, began in the home.
"The first ingredient of good manners is self-respect; the second,
that unselfish consideration for others which is best to be learned
in a refined and kindly home. All social graces are merely the imi-
tation or elaboration of these high qua‘l.:i.t:i.es."6h In another place
he wrote: -

The basis of all manners lies in the gentleness,

the self-control, the unselfishness, which a. good mother

teaches her children, if she can, in a log-cabin or a

mining camp; the uprightness, the conscientiousness, the

self-respect, which can face queen or clown without being
overcome by either. . . . The foundation of manners lies

61Women and .MEE (New York, 1888).
6200ncerning g 2; E (New York, 1892)

63“Are Women Natural Aristocrats?" Cormon Sense About Women,
p' 1170

6’4"Processes," Concerning All of E3, p. 116.

 

   

 

 

 

”film-4.5.

._-..._'-..-Ii\ 1!;
..'.x' 1..

': u'r -,._

 

 

 

 

 

162

in character, and those who have not this foundation may
at any moment be thrown off t6?" balance, and reveal
themselves as boors or bores.

lateral gentility, however, even though based upon an uprigIt,
well-trained character, was not enough, Higginson asserted. The
customs and habits of society should also be learned, for '.they are
to a great extent what might be called funded or accumulated good
feeling; they are largely the product of long years of experience,
which have brouglt to perfection the art of avoiding awkwardness
and simplifying all procedure."66 Although this kind of courtesy
had a Hanklin-like utility in‘benefiting the one possessing it,
nevertheless, its influence was also carried into a spiritual realm.

Manners come next to morals, not alone because
they help us to make the world pleasanter, and thus
render life easier all around us, but also because
they afford the key to those greater successes and
usefulnesses for which all generous persons long.
And their domain goes beyond this world; for if the
utmost saint makes himself personally repulsive, he
so far diminishes our desire to meet him in any land
of pure delights. Miss Edgeworth says in 'Helen'
that anyone who makes goodness disagreeable commits
high-treason against virtue; and I remember how ele-
vated a doctrine it seemed to me when I heard one of
W ignorant black sergeants say, in a prayer I acci-
dentally overheard, *Let me so live dat when I die
I may hab manners, dat I may know what—to say when I

Eo'é'iy‘fiéamord . '57
The question of American manners, as far as Higginson was con-
cerned, was directly related to American democracy. The gradual

emergence of women from a state of subjection (allowing for its un~

questionably good results), had brought about an evil which he

____

651b1d., p. 115.
66"The Enpire of Manners," Women and 31129., p. 77.

67Ibido', p. 79.

 

 

 

 

 

163

facetieusly labeled 'girlstereusness,’ the feminine counterpart of

boisterousness. It was the loudness among-women, young ones in parti-

cular, which gave the impression of rudeness and ill-breeding. Hig-
ginson pointed out that an accusation of this fault was frequently
directed,not to the rural districts or the lower ten thousand, but to

 

the wealthy who could afford a trip to Europe, to those whose ”whole
aim in life might seem to be the cultivation of its elegances.“68
In Europe, this form of vulgarity was "described broadly as 'Ameri-
canismfl and, so surely as any peculiarly shrill group is heard
coming through a European picture-gallery, it is straightway classed
by all observers as belonging to the great Rspublic."69
In a later essay he excused this fault in American women, saying:
In reality, that of which they complain is only the
inevitable confusion resulting from the new-born assertion
by women that they have a place in the world as individuals;
not merely in the mass, or, as it were, in bulk. An oc-
casional excess of self-assertion is very pardonable in

those who have only just awakened to their riglt of asserting
themselves at all. 0

Besides Higginson's commentary on American manners, he directed
many remarks toward English social standards, which, by contrast, high-
light his concept of American democracy. He could speak of English
social life from his readings and from his limited observations as a
tourist. He had visited England twice in the 1870's, once in 1872

and again in 1878.71 Already in middle age on his first trip (he was
——————

68"Chmlstemoumuess," Common Sense About Women, p. 173.
69Ibid.
70"Voices," Women and 343:}, p. 167.

71Cheerful Yesterdays, p. 272.

 

 

 

ex" 1 ‘.

 

 

16h

forty-eight) , he was quite unlike the younger generation of Boston of

when Van Wyck Brooks speaks. He did not look across the see like them,
ldespairing of a nation that had passed their powers of comprehension.I
ior was there a hankering in his breast for ”the ancient homeland, as F
if three generations of'history had gone for'nothing.”2 He visited
England to see the literary giants whom.he admired. He enjoyed the ex-
perience and was intrigued by the human qualities of'the personalities
whom.he met. His comments about them.are generous and kindly. But
for England's social system, he expressed caustic criticism in.his
essays. It was a caste system, he believed, which was a direct con,
trast to his own ideal of American democratic social equality. Several
of its practices he found repugnant to his democratic theory.

Perhaps the most disagreeable standard to Higginson was England's
"cast-iron etiquette" based upon heredity and rank. In England the ‘
man of genius or of character had to defer to another who held a title
or a fortune. This state of affairs Higginson scorned as being arti-
ficial and unrealistic. The individual, under these circumstances,
was sacrificed; real worth was subordinated to meaningless titles.

A cast-iron etiquette like this puts ceremony

above the man; a descent above a character; and above

all a social rule above that instinct of hospitality

which bids even the Bedouin Arab and the American

Indian give the guest the place of honor at his board.

. . . It is character that should be exalted, not

station; and the more the character counts for, the
less important is the station. '

His opinion of royalty was equally as disdainful. The position
of monarchs he considered outmoded, a plaything suited only for children

who love to pretend. "The very name and associations of royalty are

 

72BI‘OOkS, £2. 93303 P0 1140'

73"Exalted Stations," Women 329.EE§’ p. 127.

 

 

 

 

 

 

165

stung to belong to the childish domain Just as distinctly as Puss-in-
Boots or Jack and the Bean Stalk.“ As a final thrust at the nonarchial

system, he wrote:

Recent discoveries in Egypt have shown that the person

of a king may be kept in tolerably good preservation for
several thousand years. But the pictured result seems to

indicate that for royal munmers, as for the institution
they commemorate, it is easy to survive not only usefulness,

but even good looks.7
In another essay Higginson sumarized his attitude toward England' a

society in Matthew Arnold‘s words: ”The English aristocratic society _
materializes the upper classes, vulgarizes the middle classes, and

brutalizes the lower classes."76

Higginson also considered the differences between American and
English temperaments. He spake of the I'added drop of nervous fluid"
which characterized the American man or woman and was noticeable in
the French-like qualities of quickness, flexibility and power of
adaptation. This "added drop" Higginson believed had an influence
in two directions. "It wears out on one side, and yet sustains and
builds up on the other. Impairing something of the vital forces, it
yet extracts more work out of what is left.n77 Evidence of its bene-
ficial power is seen in the contrast between the health of well-lmown
personages in England and America. Intellectuals such as Hanunerton,
Synonds, Stevenson, Henley, and Kipling had to resort to the climates

 

7h~rhe Toy of Royalty,” ibid., p. 107.

75Ib1d., p. 109.
76% House of Cards," ibid., p. 189.
77"English and American Health," Concerning 5Q 2523, p. 119.

 

 

   

 

 

 

166

of other. countries for the sake of their health. But men like Whittier
and Holmes, in their declining years, lived serene and wholesome lives.
Florence men-angels was wholly invalided for many years, while Clara
Barton, whose ordeal during the Civil War, if not as intense as that

of Florence Nightingale, was more prolonged, was still in active vigor

until late in life.78

These qualities of temperament, Higginson maintained, were "pro-
bably the result partly of climate, partly of institutions."79 The
American type as portrayed by Archibald C. Gunter's extravaganzas,
stands out in greater contrast when compared with-the English type
represented by Rudyard Kipling‘s works. .

For a steady advancehto certain death it is difficult

to surpass Kipling‘s Englishman, but for the rescue of dis-

tressed damsels, for the recapture of a captured fort, or

for the blowing up of a gunboat and saving one's self by
swiming, the American in fiction certainly takes the lead

nine times out of ten. 0

However, on balancing the worth of the two types, Higginson be-
lieved, "It matters not which is the higher type, or whether either
is to be viewed as a high one; the point is that each is a distinctive
type by itself, and so worth considering. "81

Another characteristic found in Americans was cosmopolitanism.

This is precisely what pleases the American; he would
like to pass for an Englishman in England, a German in

Germany, a Frenchman in France. His adaptiveness takes that
form, and this readily distinguishes him from these two other

 

78%., p. 118.
79"A New National Temperament," M” p. 135.
801_b_:l._g., p. 136.
811_bi_d., p. 135.

 

 

 

 

 

 

nations. It is not that he is ashamed of his nationality;

he is vindicating the cosmopolitan aspect of that nationality.

He has a vague feeling, which may, after all, turn out to be

the correct instinct, that the latest national type should

not exclude, but sum up, its predecessors; should so include

their traits that it 83.1: freely borrow from them, and even

adapt itself to them. ?

this direction taken by the American type, therefore, was some-
what different from that of other nations. In regard to this Higgin-
son said, “Nothing can prevent the American race from developing in
its own way and furnishing its own type."83 And it is not surprising
to find among Higginson's efforts to mold public opinion toward a
greater appreciation of'American democracy this remark: "What we
desire, or should desire, is to have the American type the best type
that the world has ever seen. Nothing short of this is an aim worthy

the effort.“8h

Hating lived during the period of the utopian experiments of the
Transcendentalists, Owenites, and Fourierists, Higginson watched with
interest the Bellamy Nationalist movement with which he was sympathetic
but not active. His somewhat guarded approval of other Christian
Socialists is evidenced by his recommendation of their works to the
young readers of £113 w E9339 Journal.85 Here he listed Edward
Bellamy's Looking Backward, W. D. Howell's Traveller £129 Altruria,

R. T. Ely's Socialism fig Social ReformpHenry George's Progress

and Povert , Lawrence Gronlund's [he Co-operative Comonwealth, and
W V ,
821mm, p. 137.

83Ibid., p. 138.
8h"Paroch.1‘.alism," Women go} .1422: p. 225.

85"The Young Girl‘s Library," _T_h_e_ Ladies Home Journal, XII,
no. 2; XIII, no. 1 (November, 1895’), p. 4. "' '

 

 

 

 

 

 

168

N. s. Sumer's M £221.49 Classes gw_e_ 33 93.: Another.

In a few of his brief discussions on property, Higginson com-
mented mperficiany on Edward Bellamy and Henry George and their
relation to property and labor problems. lhe points he brings up
in his articles for women's magazines are very minor in comparison
with the all-over labor-capital issues of the turn of the century.
He discussed, for example , the problem of ownership of farm property
by city dwellers who vacationod during the summer in deteriorated or
abandoned farm houses. Large estates of a thousand acres or more
were owned by non-residents and sometimes small villages were held
by absentee owners. Higginson was concerned with such questions as ,
"Who will then be the legal citizens of the town? who will vote in
its town meetings? who will decide its politics? who will represent

it in the Legislature?"86 The solutions proposed by Edward Bellamy

 

or by Henry George, Higginson felt were inadequate for solving this

peculiar problem.

 

The property thus taken is not wrested away from
the poor, for if it were offered as a gift in small I
holdings it would not commonly be taken. It is pre- ‘
cisely the poor who cannot afford to take it under
existing conditions; it is only available as a toy
for the rich man or as a play-place for his children. '
Surely it is a changing period for any region where a
systematic and organized effort is made to bring in
strangers for a nominal ocmpancy. No new theory of
property, as of Mr. Bellamy or Mr. George, can essen-
tially affect this situation, for, granting that the
land really belongs to the whole community, this is
the way gr]: which the whole commity now wishes it to

be “Bade

Higgineon did not propose a remedy. He merely pointed out the circum-

stances which were, after all, more details in the economic chaos of

 

86"The Future of Shall Country Towns," Concerning All 3f is, p. 73.

87Ibid., p. 72.

 

; n ; n n ‘ unflinlxwifillaj

t

 

:I.

 

 

 

169

the 1890's.
In another essay Higginson touched upon a phase of labor of con-

corn to his women readers: the dislike of Americans to become domes-

tic servants, a disinclination 'which he attributed to the American

way or lites

The reasons given for preferring other work are
always the same--the greater personal freedom after the
work is over, and the dislike of a menial position. Un— -
luckily both of these preferences are so directly in the
line of American life—-that is, of what we all instinc-
tively feel-mas to render it quite unlikely that they
will be soon overcome. Practically these two points
are One , since the restriction of libergg is but an
indirect result of the menial position.

Although he could give no solution to this particular problem, Hig-

ginson upheld the dignity of labor as being essential to the integrity

of the country. Regarding this he wrote:

Fourier thought there might be a 'sacred phalanx'
by which the more repulsive duties in society might be
joyfully undertaken. Mr. Bellamy, on the other hand,
thinks that in the period of general enlightenment
people will render these services to each other, and
will scorn to take what they would not give. He also
suggests that all the more arduous or unattractive
labors will be equalized with those more attractive
by shorter hours of labor. These are speculations
for the future. The main thing to be recognized is
that our republic must stand or fall by the essential
dignity of labor, and that all arrangements whéch
seem to deny this must be gradually remoulded. 9

Besides this fine point of the labor problem, Higginson toyed
with the idea of private monopoly in an essay deploring the European
custom of enclosing private property behind high walls, such as he

had found in the region of Killarney where all the property of that

 

88"Domestic Service in the Mflllenium," ibid., p. 86.

39Ibid., p. 87.

 

 

   

 

 

H.

 

 

fi’
170
area belonged to two men. "It certainly set one thinking," he wrote,
'as to whether the human race, as such, had any rights in the planet,

and one could easily understand how the teachings of Henry George, for

instance, would find such a community quite ready to listen. '95
With Henry George, Higginson believed that the abundance of natural

 

resources belonged to all men; but with the law he saw the Justice of
the rigat of eminent domain which gave to the state, as the voice of
the people, the power to appropriate the land and the water supply of
private individuals for the general good-mgranting a Just compensation
to the owner. Higginson, however, did not advocate any control mea-
sures beyond those recognized in this principle of "eminent domain."

He was too conscious of tradition and of the limitations of human

nature. This is obvious in the following paragraph:

The real restriction lies in the essential conserva-
tism of a self-governing people, in all that relates to
property; Nething but some very great and flagrant wrong
will ever excite an.American community, even temporarily,
to any but a very slow and gradual modification of an
existing tenure. This being the case, it is rather a
satisfaction to recognize, on an authority so high as
Professor Dwight's, that the basis of our institution:
is the principle-that, in a general way, the earth be-
longs to man. Apparently it is parcelled out into sepa-
rate holdings simply because the race has found this to
be, thus far, the best way of securing the general good.
The right of individual property, thus recognized, rests
on a surer basis than any stoneawalls can give.

 

In addition to his expression of this traditional view of private
_ Preperty, Higginson wrote about American wealth in terms which he did
not materially change over a rmmber of years in spite of the growing

alarm of economists over the unequal distribution of money. In the

90"The‘Walls Down,” ibid., po 193.

91ib1d., p. 195.

 

 

 

1890‘s he wrote:

The whole matter of money, indeed, instead of

being regarded more seriously in America than in Europe,

is really taken far more lightly, because it is here so

much more readily made and lost. An American business

man may easily have moreups and downs in a year than

his steady-going English compeer in a lifetime. . . .

The simple truth is that while the admiration for'

more wealth is as old as the world, it is seen at its

utmost in an aristocratic, not a democratic, community.92
A few years later, rather unrealistically, he wrote that the American
republic was a failure when "considered as a means of vindicating the
supremacy of wealth."93 Looking at wealth from the point of view of
its social advantages, he asserted that only heredity, such as one
finds in England, could give it a pennanent hold.

It can never obtain great and permanent prizes in

America, because there are no such prizes, at least none

that are bought with money. . . . To buy possessions that

are sure and permanent, wealth must take passage for E g-

land and invest itself in nothing short of a peerage.

Judged by the meager references quoted above, it is evident that
Higginson's attitude toward certain social problems which arose toward
the close—of the century was superficial and vague. Although he was
an idealist, Higginson was not utopian in his views of society. He
spoke of America in terms of a classless society, it is true, but in
the spirit of a reformer, not a revolutionist. He must have been
aware of the class distinctions created by wealth, but his idealism
forced him to cling to the theory that in a republican government
Which promised equality before the law, it was inevitable that social

equality should follow, and was, in fact, already in effect.

 

92mm the Transplantation of Wealth, " ibid., p. 78.

93"English and American Plutocracy," Independent, LIV (July, 1902),
Do 1753.

9th1d.

 

 

 

 

 

172

By the turn of the century, as he was approaching his eightieth
year, Higginson saw the need for a better understanding of socialism
and proposed its study by university students. In 1905 he protested
to gfler’s Weekly for labeling him a Socialist because of this sug-
gestion. 'By this time the term Socialist had taken on opprobrious
connotations since the formation of the Socialist Party of Eugene
V. Debs in 1901 which championed the opportunistic Marxian brand of
socialism. As a vindication of his proposal, Higg’nson wrote to
H_a12er's Weekly that his approval of the formation of an l'Inter-
collegiate Socialist School" did not mean that he desired'the minds .5
of the rising generation to be imbued with socialistic doctrines.
"The movement does not aim to produce socialists," he explained,
"but to create students of socialism. "9 5

Three years later he noted in his diary, "Foolish and exaggerated
papervon me in Boston 'Post,‘ announcing me a Socialist.”6 That
same year he wrote to a friend:

I have for many years had some leaning toward

Socialism, I suppose, but the thing for which I joined

The College Association was because I thought it very

undesirable that colleges should ignore the very word

as they almost uniformly did then; Harvard being EI-

most the only one which allowed it even to be mentioned.

. . . As for the name 'Socialist,‘ I never either

claimed or disclaimed it, regarding it as a mere feeler

in the right direction and refusing any prominent place

in the movement. I remember that Dr. Edward Hale and I

both took this same position in a similar organization
formed by Edward Bellamy in his time.”

 

95Harper's Weekly, Correspondence Section, XIIX (July 29, 1905),
P0 1091;. .

95Thomas Wentworth Higginson, p. 398.
97Ibid.

 

 

 

 

173 '

Althougl Higginson felt that Socialism was ”a feeler in the riat
direction,‘ his position on the matter is conservative and somewhat
hazy. He had always held a respect for the masses, but he was equally
concerned about the rights of the individual as his work for the woman
suffrage movement indicates. He could be called a socialist only in-
sofar as the term applied in the early stages of the movement (as
Dombrowski asserts) to l'anyome who granted the validity of some
measure of interdependence and mutual obligation among men."98 But
by the turn of the century Higginson's liberalism became increasingly
diluted and his mind grew less and less able to comprehend or come H
to grips with the basic factors underlying the social disturbances of I
later years. For, as Hints notes,

In the Slavery and Women's Rights questions he was

on solid and familiar ground, .facing squarely and courageously

issues which the romantic idealism of his high period was

adequate to cope with effectively. It is likely, therefore,

that his most solid achievement and his soundest thinking
in the way of social reform was done in these two fields.”

98James Dombrowski, _‘.I_h_g Early Days of Christian Socialism :L_n.
America (New York, 1936), p. 23.

”Howard W. Hintz, Thomas Wentworth Hi ‘nson: Disciple of 212
Newness (Unpublished deer—Tera Mose a lo‘iE‘Ja—n, Dep . of E33335: new

York finivereity, 1937), p. 56h.

   

   

 

17h

 

0. Advice to Young Contributors

“In one of his short essays entitled u1"arachialismn higginson
discusses the problem of_a literary center in America, and asks Judi-
oiously, What can be less profitable than all this talk about a_
literary centre, this foolish struggle between rival cities?"1 It is
a significant question for a Brahmin by birth and education to ask,
for the question reflects a broad-minded view of the literary trend
of the post-war era and indicates the fact that Higginson kept his
finger on the pulse of the literary world. The era of Emerson‘s
idealism was passing, and with it Boston's and Concord’s literary
dictatorship. Their prestige was shifting to New York'and to the
cities of the West and the South. Furthermore, the voices heard

from were no longer those of the college-bred who spoke with the

 

culture and refinement so evident in all of Higginson' s work. The
new poets and fiction writers were speaking the language of the
common people-«in their provincial dialects--and, by attempting to
narrate life as it was actually lived, they accelerated the tendency
toward literary realism.

It is characteristic of Higginson that he should have looked
upon these changes optimistically and regarded them as steps forward
in the development of the country. A literary center smacked of
English aristocratic tradition, one of Higginson‘ 5 pet antipathies.
To him the center was not the important thing; it was the literature

that mattered. He pointed this out clearly when he wrote:

 

1"Parochialism," Women and 2433, p. 225. This tepic is also dis-
cussedin "Do We Need a Eiterary Centre?" Studies in History and
Letters, The Works of Thomas Wentwcrth Higwginson, films onTT9oo),

pp. 565-271;.

 

   

 

 

 

 

175

that we need is to produce good books; this once done,
it makes no more difference in what part of the country they
are. produced than in what part of a man's farm-~the north-
east or south-west corner-«he raises those fine apples.
. . . We are all enriched when Miss mirfree suddenly reveals
to us a new literary centre in Tennessee, or Miss Edith
Thomas in (hie, or Hubert Bancroft in San Francisco. . . .
What we need is the development of a high literary life
throne: a number of different fountain-heads.2

The literary class, he believed, "had now come more in sympathy
with the popular heart."3 Among this class which was so vital to the
mwth of an “Americanism" were a munber of women poets, novelists,
and short story writers. host of them lacked the training essential
to high literary production. But, as Pattee points out ,

The quality of the feminine product was high enough

to find place in the most exclusive monthlies, and the

quantity published was surprising. The Atlantic Monthly,

for instance, during the decade from 1870 published 108

poems by Longfellow, Whittier, Holmes, Lowell, and Aldricfi,
and 150 other poems, and of the latter 201 were by women.

 

For the most part, however, the poets were imitative and senti-

 

 

mental. Their thin volumes, bound in creamy vellum and daintily
tinted cloth were filled with comonplaces in rhyme. Yet they were
popular enough to fill the book tables in homes and plentiful enough
to cause critics to consider them in groups of ten or twelve each
month.5

Against the mediocrity of women fiction writers, Higginson spoke
out frankly. In an essay "More Thorough Work Visible," he showed how
college education had advanced women in the fields of science, economics,

mathematics, and astronomy. But in literature, he felt that the

 

 

2Women; and._I§e_n_,- pp. .225—226.

3"Americanism in Literature," Studies 3.3 History and Letters,
p- 235.

[Hired deis Pat-bee, .4 History 3;; American Literature Since 1870
(New York, 1916), p. 335.

5’Ibid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

in, a.

 

 

 

176

colleges had not as yet trained women to produce anything permanent.
That women had engaged in journalism and with much success he admitted,
but, ”it'must be remembered that journalism is not literature, though
it belongs to the same genus and may be quite as important."6 He
cautioned women contributors to American magazines, uthat journalism

itself is hardly more ephemeral than all poetry or fiction short of

 

the highest; and our rapid American life has already created and for-
gotten several generations of such short-lived celebrities."7 He
threw out a challenge for literary work of a more solid and thoughtful
nature, demanding both scholarship and a trained power of expression.8 ;
To assist women writers overcome some of the difficulties inherent
in writing and publishing, Higginson wrote two essays, "The Search
After a Publisher,"9 and "A Letter to a Young Contributor."10 In both
essays he points out that "influence" with editors is not a requisite
for success. The editors know what the public desires and ntheir own
interpretation of this is a matter of life and death to them, and they
stand by it."11 An editor, moreover, is constantly looking out for
new names; "he hungers and thirsts after the genius of the future."12
Higginson further advises the young aspirant to train for her pro-
fession as physicians or watch-makers train for theirs. There are

grades of merit, he says:

 

éfléflsfl E22 TEE: P? 288'
2;§ig., p. 289.
§£22§., p. 290.
91bid., p. 151.

lQAtlantic monthly, 1x (April, 1862), pp. hOl—hll. Reprinted in
Hints on Writm mg and Speech Making (Boston, 1887).

11"The Search After a Publisher," women and hen, p. 152.

l2Ibid., p. 153.

 

 

 

 

 

 

177

It is merit to produce a work of genius; but there is

also a great, though lower, merit in studying the taste of

your time, watching its tendencies, and thereby producing

just the work that is currently demanded-~just what readers

want and children cry for. This also needs labor and

special preparation. . . . 'First produce something so good

that no publisher can afford to do without it.'13

In his ”Letter to a Young Contributor ," Higginson paternally
counselled the neophyte to see that her paper was neat, clean, and
in such shape that it would not need the slightest literary revision.
As to style, it should be charged with life, and "Such being the
majesty of the art you seek to practice, you can at least take time
and deliberation before dishonoring it, "11‘ a sentence which attracted
Emily Dickinson's attention. Labor to make your thought clear, he
insisted, as if—your life depended upon it. "Be neither too lax
nor too precise in your use of language: thelone fault ends in
stiffness, the other in slang. "15

While avoiding slang, he exhorted, do not avoid Americanisms.
In this bit of advice he set down briefly a principle basic to his
literary theory. He believed that older traditions and associations
should be maintained and followed, but Janus—like, he was looking to
what was new in America that could be incorporated into its language
and literature without cheapening. He was willing, even anxious,

to accept the increase in vocabulary resulting from industry and mm.

gration. Both sources, he felt, enriched the language. However, he

 

13Ib1d., p. 155.
thints fl Writing 3.92 @eech Making, p. 19.

15Ibid., p. 30.

 

 

 

 

did not believe that everything in America was subject matter for

literature. While he welcomed the local color writers, he was not
completely convinced that they were producing literature of permanent

value. He spoke of this when he said:

As a rule, . . . it is the less educated classes
which are more easily drawn, though not necessarily or
always the most worth drawing. Hence we are acquiring
a gallery of rustic groups spread over the continent,
while the traditions of polish and refinement are
ignored either for want of personal experience or skill.16

He set up a standard which he believed to be a challenge to the
writer of American fiction. James Fenimore Cooper and Harriet Beecher
Stowe, he said, introduced a daring Amsricanism of subject, first the
Indian and then the Negro. Such successes were not to be repeated

because they were based on temporary situations.

But they prepare the way for higher triumphs to be
won by a profounder treatment, --the introduction into
literature, not of new tribes alone, but of the American
spirit. To analyze combinations of character that only
our national life produces, to portray dramatic situa-
tions that belong to a clearer social atmosphere ,--this~
is the higher Americanism.”

 

This is a recurring theme in Higginson's essays on American
literature as they were in his essays on American society. A demo-
cratic society "enriches and does not impoverish human life, and
gives more, not-less material for literary art.“18 The reason for
this, he believed, is that culture is distributed through all classes,

which diminishes class distinction and develops individuality. And

 

l6“Local Fiction," Book 393 Heart (New York, 1897), p. 6h.

17'umerioanism in-Literature," Studies £9. Hietog and Letters,
p. 2’41. ,

13Ibid. , p. 239.

 

   

 

 

 

 

179 '

as be emphasized the digity of the individual in his social theory,
he laid stress on it again in his critical essays when he wrote,
I‘delllocracy has just as distinct a place in society, and, above all,
in the realm of literaimre . . . . The distinctive attitude of the
American press must lie, if anywhere, in its recogiition of this
individual importance and worth. "19 By doing away with the social
castes found in English novels, such as Scott's, writers in America
could and should I'freely seek the Cannon."20 . The new movement in
American letters, .Higginson believed, waspan outgrowth of the
teachings of the early idealists, especially of Emerson and the
Transcendentalists. Now that that early idealism had passed away,
“the far wider movement which is establishing American fiction, not
in one locality alone, but on a field broad as the continent, un-

consciously recognizes this one principle,--the essential dignity

 

and worth of man."21

In the portrayal of life in America by Howells (whose later
work he commends) and some of the local color writers, Higginson
noted the absence of the "moral tag" which had been so prominent
in the poetry and fictionof the previous generation.22 He be-
lieved this to be a quality of true art which found recent prece-

dents in Madame 133M and Tolstoi' s Anna Karenina. The moral in

l9"T'he New World and the New Book," ibid., p. 246.
zoibido, p0 2147. -

211bid., p. 250.
22"Discontinuance of the Guide-Board," Book and Heart, p. 9.

 

 
 

H.

 

 

 

180

both of these books, he maintained, was implicit in the merciless

fates of the characters. at this point he says,

Realism must hold the field so long as it has a right
to do it, and it can only be asked to fulfill the condition
of its being. If we excuse it, as we plainly rust, from
the perpetuation of the guide-board, we can only ask that
it shall go on and do its work so well that no such aid
shall be needed; that its moral, where there is one, shall
be reasonably plain; that is, so clearly put as to produce
a minimum of misunderstanding.

Realistic fiction should also fulfill a reasonable condition.
Set free from the "guide-board,n it should be a law unto itself and
stop short of undesirable materials. It should "obey that high and
significant maxim of the Roman augurs--never let the sacred entrails
be displayed outside the solemnity of the temple,"2h Higginson's only

objection to Zola.

Thus, during the period between Emerson‘s idealism and Dreiser's

 

realism, Higginson moved as a transitional figure who saw in the fu;

ture of American letters an ideal of American literature which he

himself tried to achieve and to encourage in others. Among those

whom he most encouraged were certain women whose paths in life

crossed his and to whom he literally reached a helping hand. Some

of the names of these women have since found their way into antho-

logies as representative of this or that movement. Others are unknown

today. For purposes of study, these writers have been grouped in
the following manner: 1) Higginson's personal acquaintances; 2) women

Whose writings influenced his career; 3) his literary protegees; and

h) Julia ward Howe, his associate.

 

23Ibid., p. 11.

2hIhid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Besides commenting upon or aiding these women, Higginson wrote

a few noteworthy essays about women which appeared in the Atlantic
Monthly. His novel Malbone,thoug1 less successful, can also be
classified among these literary ventures, for in this work he drew
a group of feminine characters which demand a brief study. He also
included two short stories among his collected works whose women

characters are of interest.

 

 
 

 

_.'_'_

 

182

D.' Biographies, Essays, and Fiction

While Higginson was living in Newport, Rhode Island, he first
met Una Hawthorne who was engaged for a time to his nephew. Although
the engagement was later broken off, Higginson valued the friendship
of Una Hawthorne, not only for herself, but also for the associations
she gave him with her father’ s memory, Hawthorne having died in 1861;.

In 1861; he visited Una at Concord and described the visit in a

letter to his sisters. The simplicity of the furnishings and the i

 

plainness of the house made Higginson wish to give the family "a Frank- I;

 

lin and a tract of woodland."1 After dinner, Una and Higginson took
a walk "through groves and up orchards and toward Walden Pond, past
Tnoreauis cellar with a pine tree of ten years' growth in the middle,
and up ever some cliffs he also described."2 lhey visited the Old
Manse and met Elizabeth Ripley, who "seemed as if she might have
lived there since the Revolution."3 "Higginson was thrilled to read
an inscription on the window-pane 'which he quoted in his letter from
memory, "Una Hawthorne, aged ten months, was held up at that window
to see the falling golden leaves, and how she enjoyed them. "11 He was
equally delighted to look over some of Hawthorne's note-books and to
remain for the night in a lower room of Hawthorne's tower. The fol-

lowing year Una took Higginson through Sleepy Hollow to visit her

father' s grave .

 

lLetters and Journals of Thomas Wentworth Higginson, p. 238.

21bid.

 

3Ibid., p. 239.

hibid.

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

—: _H:

183

Higginson included a biographical sketch of Una Hawthorne in one
of his later volumes of collected essays.5 lhis sketch is made up
principally of letters, one written by Hawthorne describing Una' s .
personality as a child. A few letters by Mrs. Hawthorne picture
little intimate scenes of Hawthorne' 9 domestic life--ice-skating on
a nearby pond, an evening st home by his fireside with his family.
Another includes descriptions of nature as seen in Brattleboro, Ver-
mont, where Una visited Higginson's sister one spring. This letter
shows a love of nature which Higginson shared with her. He des- I

cribed Una's letter to him as being

 

 

like a clump of sod from the woods with all the spring
flowers in it and dank with moisture and fragant with
rich earth. It has transported me there and made me
think it a kind of insanity of conscience which made
me think I must go to meetings in New York and Boston

instead.

In 1869 and 1870, Una wrote to Higginson from Dresden, Germany,
where she was lonely and discontented. Higginson was planning a trip
to Europe which he made in 1870, but was unable to visit Una, who had
invited him several times. Una was later engaged to be married to
Albert Webster, who died in 1876 on his way to Honolulu for his health.
Una died the next year in England apparently of a broken heart.

Higginson thought Una "one of the rarest types of character" he
had ever known, "a woman of-unsurpassed truthfulness and penetration."7
Besides her personal attractiveness, Higginson was drawn to her and to
Mrs. Hawthorne because of their intimate relations to Hawthorne whose

work he admired immensely. The tidbits he offers in his recollections

 

5Psrt 33 3 Man's Life (Boston, 1905).
6Letters and Journals of Thomas Wentworth Higginson, p. 2h0.

 

7Part or: 3 Man's Life, p. 269.

 

 
 

 

 

 

18b,

of Una and Mrs. Hawthorne in another short essay, "An Evening with
Mrs. Hawthorne, " are interesting from a biographical rather than from
a critical point of view.

At the time of his visit with Una and the walk to the Old Manse,
Higginson spent the evening with Mrs. Hawthorne who showed him some
of her husband's diaries. It was then that Hawthorne won Higginson's
respect when a'passage in one of the diaries, "I am more an Aboli- ‘
tionist in feeling than in principle," caught Higginson's eye. Mrs.
Hawthorne also told Higginson of an incident that took place regarding

Eng Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne was in the habit of reading his manu-

 

scripts aloud to her in the evening.

He [Hawthorng read a second evening, and the con-
centrated excitement had grown so great that she could
scarcely bear it. At last it grew unendurable; and in
the midst of the scene, near the end of the book, where
Arthur Dimmesdale meets Hester and her child in the
forest, Mrs. Hawthorne sank from her low stool upon the
floor, pressed her hands upon her ears, and said that
she could hear no more.

Hawthorne put down the manuscript and looked at her
in perfect amazement. 'Do you really feel it s8 much?‘
he said. 'Then there must be something in it.‘

 

Higginson wrote'that he hesitated repeating the incident told to him
privately, but added that he believed "everything which illustrates the
creation of a great literary work belongs to the world."9

Both of these biographical sketches are important insofar as they
relate a few incidents in the personal life of Hawthorne. Neither Mrs.
Hawthorne nor Una achieved the degree of renown accorded Hawthorne‘s

son Julian or his younger sister Rose whom Higginson mentions in passing.

—_¥

8Ibid., p. 107.

91bid.

 

 

 

 

 

185

To Higginson the lack of fame was negligible. Mrs. Hawthorne and Una
were revered by him, not only as personal friends, but because of their

close association with Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Lydia Maria Child, the subject of one of Higginson's early bio-
graphical sketcheslo was one of the women whom Higginson credits with
being a formative influence in his life. Twenty years his senior,
Mrs. Child was a minor figure who belonged to George Ripley's circle
and attended Margaret Fuller's "Conversations." She was familiar
enough with the social, literary, and transcendental theories of the 3
times to be able to quote Fourier and Swedenborg. She knew the Brook
Fhrm residents and their inquiries into life and the evils of society.

Alike many later women correspondents, Mrs. Child wrote a series
of articles relating her impressions of a visit to New York. She
told of its prison conditions, its poor, and its Swedenborgian meetings.

These she sent as articles to the §2E322 Courier and finally republished
them as Letters £52m Egg £255. Higginson says that her Letters did
much to promote an already existing tendency toward an "inquiry into
the foundations of social science."11 The Letters, he says, were
"eagerly read by us young Transcendentalists."12

“ In his own private life, Higginson believed that Mrs. Child‘s

Letters was a work, which, among other influences, assisted him in

 

lO"Lydia Maria Child," first appeared in Eminent Women of the Age
(1868). It was reprinted with a few changes in Contemporarie .

llcontemporaries, p. 128.
l2Cheerful Yesterdays, p. 102.

 

 

 
 

an.

 

 

 

186

choosing the liberal and "radical" side of many controversial social
problems. In the early forties, with his future still undecided, Hig-
ginson says that he "longed anew, under the influence of George Sand
and of Mrs. Child's iLetters from New York' to put myself on more
equal terms with that vast army of handworkers who were ignorant of
much that I knew, yet could do so much that I could not."13 The
earnestness of these aspirations is reflected in his notes: ,
What destiny is intended for me, I cannot tell-«not

to go in the beaten track I am sure. I cannot express how

strongly I long to come out and obtain. a working place

among men. How my ability will second my wishes I know

not, but some things are in every one‘s power--to live a

true, sincere, earnest, independent life. Of this I

think daily and henssul
These aspirations were directed, in part, toward the reform move-

ments by the Letters from New York.

As a consequence of his enthusiasm for Mrs. Child‘s Letters,

 

the young ‘Higginson sat down one evening and wrote a review which he
completed about midnight. His biographer states: "His satisfaction
was great, for it seemed to him that he now saw the way to gratify
his '1onging to do something for the world,‘ and wrote, ‘I feel as
if a—new world were opening before me and my work were now beginning."15
This review proved to be Higgdmson's first prose publication which was
printed in the Present, November 15, 18h3.

About this same time, he read Mrs. Child's "Appeal for that Class

of Americans Called Africans," which, he says, "had more formative

 

13Ibid., p. 77.
lh’fhomas Wentworth Higason, pp. 63-614.

15Ibid., p. 66.

 

 

 

 

 

 

187

influence on my mind in that direction than any other, although of
course the eloquence of public meetings was a more exciting stimulus."15
It was not only the work, but the courageOus example of Mrs. Child -
who faced the persecution heaped upon her, which inspired him to adopt
the principle of going against public opinion for the sake of righteous—
ness. Higginson wrote to his fiancee, Mary Charming, at a time when
he was seriously considering following in the footsteps of Emerson,
Garrison, Mrs. Child and other "radicals." Here he expresses a
mature understanding of the possible dangers of such a choice.
I have been worrying a great deal lately as to what
is to be done for this preposterous world. . . . I
The peat reason why the real apostles of truth

don'tmake any more impression is this—-the moment any

person among us begflus to breach any ‘new views‘ and in-

timate that all things aren't exactly.right, the conser-

vatives lose no time in holding up their fingers and

branding him as an unsafe person-«fanatic, visionary,

insane and all the rest of it--this has been the case

with all reforms great and small and moreover there is

often some ground for it because it is the enthusiastic

(i.e., half cracked people) who begin all reform. Mrs.

Child you know has long been proscribed as an entirely

unsafe person and as for Mr. Emerson and Mr. Alcott, it

doesn't do for a sober person even to think of them.17

Higginson sized up Mrs. Child's character, reputation, and influence
briefly when he said, "She seemed always to be talking radicalism in
a greenhouse; and there were many good people who held her all the more
dangerous for her perfumes. There were young men and maidens, also,
who looked to her as a teacher, and were influenced for life, perhaps,

by what she wrote."18 It is evident that Higginson classed himself

 

16f.‘.ontemporaries, p. 123.
l75!.‘homas Wentworth HiggE' son, p. 68.

18Contemporaries , p. 128 .

 

 

 

 

 

 

188

among these young people.

Until her retirement from public life (about 1868), Mrs. Child
and her husband David Lee Child, were staunch abolitionists. Higgin-
son joined them on many anti-slavery platforms as lecturer. As edi-
tors of the Anti-Slavery Standard, which they conducted for eight
years, Mr. and Mrs. Child, with their cultivated taste, made the
Standard and its policies "attractive to many who were not attracted
by the plainer fare of the Liberator."19 Higginson added his bit to
their weekly by contributing, in 18h6, a youthful poem entitled,

"A Word of Hope." H

Higginson highly commends the generosity and boldness of this
pair, especially Mrs. Child's kind but unusual offer to nurseJohn
Brown after the Harper‘s Ferry incident. Since Higginson himself
had taken active measures to assist John Brown and had tried an un—
successful scheme to rescue him and his companions, he felt a strong
kinship of spirit with Mrs. Child. Her letters and those of her
correspondents, Governor Wise and the irascible Southerner, Mrs.

M. J. C. Mason, which were exchanged at this time, found their way
into print. Of them Higginson says,
The great excitement of that period, and the general

loss of temper that prevailed, may plead a little in vin-

dication of Mrs. Mason's vehemence, and must certainly

enhance the dignity of.Mrs. Child's reply. It is one of

the best things she ever wrote.

Like many of the New England reformers, Mrs. Child thought of

herself more as an author than as a reformer. Higginson dispassionately

19Ibid., p. 126.

201bid., p. 135.

 

 

 

a. , y. as that; “63%!!th

 

 

 

 

 

189

appraises her literary efforts by discussing their historical signifie
cance. Her faults were many, Higginson admits, but she was a pioneer
in many fields, and, although hers was not a creative genius, "She
wrote better than most of her contemporaries, and well enough for her
public."21

In this sketch, as in most of his short biographies, Higginson
overlays the bare facts of his subject's life with personal reminis-
canoes and anecdotes which give an added charm to his writing. Al-
though at first glance, he seems to be placing undue importance on
such a minor figure as Lydia Maria Child, it must be remembered that
Higginson was expressing contemporary opinion, as Lowell's tribute
in his "Fable for critics" attests.22 '

The essay is significant also, not only as a tribute to a woman
leader, but as a reflection of Higginson's own character. He ex-
presses admiration and reverence for a person' of high moral courage
whose writings and life expressed an ideal, which, though part of the
times, had a definite formative influence on his career. And it
seems that in summing up Mrs. Child's life, he was also summing up
his own character: ’

She was one of those prominent instances in our
literature of persons born for the pursuits of pure in-
tellect, whose intellects were yet balanced by their

hearts, both being absorbed in the great moral agita-
tions of the age. 3

 

 

211bid., p. 1&1.

 

22Referring to Lowell‘s tribute to Mrs. Child, Higginson says that
Lowell "gave himself up to one impulse of pure poetry" in describing her.
Ib—i__do , p. 128.

231bid., p. 1&0.

 

   

   

   

 

 

190

Besides Lydia Maria Child's influence on Higginson's early life,
Margaret Fuller left her stamp'on him because of her association with
mnerson and other Transcendentalists. Although thirteen years younger
than Margaret Fuller, Higginson had the added advantage as her bio-
grapher, of a personal, though not close, acquaintance. Both Margaret
Fuller and Higginson were born and reared in Cambridge. Margaret had
been a friend of Higginson's older sisters, while Higginson had been
a playmate of her younger brothers. Margaret's sister, Ellen Fuller,
had married Higginson's brother-in-law, Elleryr Charming, and for a
short period of separation from her husband, Ellen and her children
had lived under the Higginsons‘ roof.

Although Higginson felt a'kinship to Margaret Fuller through
these domestic ties, it was principally through her writing that she
exerted upon him "a more immediate intellectual influence than any-
one except Emerson, and possibly Parker,"2h and was partially respon-
sible for his liberal social and political views.

Higginson would have been an admirer of Margaret Fuller even had
he not had personal connection with her. In 181111, she had written
Mn in 213 Nineteenth Century, the only precedent on this topic
being Mary Wollstonecraft's Vindication o_f 212 m _o__f flames pub—
lished fifty years before. Many of her progressive theories concerning
women were those which Higginson expounded from 1850 to the end of his
life. Among a few of her ideas which became popular throng: Higginson's
writing and lecturing (as well as through the efforts of other feminists),
were her advocacy of a wider range of occupations for women to give them

opportunities to use their talents, of higher education to perfect their

 

ZL‘Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Margaret Fuller Ossoli (Boston, 1881;),
American Men of Letters Series, p. .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

191

intellects, and of the right to equal political power with men. Al—
though these ideas are commonplaces in.our day, they were startling
and daring in the early nineteenth century, particularly because they
came from the pen of a woman. Margaret's book, Woman _i_n £12 Nineteenth
M, was an inspiration to the early organizers of the Seneca Falls
Convention of 18118 and the woman' s rights conventions of the early '50' 6.
Katherine Anthony asserts: '
Women told on the platform of how they had read her book
and, as they learned for the first time that there were other
women with the same feelings as themselves, their 'incarcerated
souls' had been liberated. We have the story of how‘ Susan B.
Anthony went out to Mount Auburn one Saturday morning in 18 55
and wandered about trying to find Margaret Fuller's monument
but had to come away without finding it, --'which she regretted.‘
Margaret was a vivid presence in those early years of the woman.
movement.
Since Higginson was among the first to sign the Call of the 1850
Convention, it is evident that Margaret Fuller' s spirit and breadth
of view were handed down to him through this reform movement as it
was in the intellectual world of literature. Although Higginson gives
the book only passing notice in the biography and speaks of it as
"full of thoughts and suggestions, . . . yet discursive and unmethodi-

cal," one may judge his admiration for its contents by the fact that

he made use of excerpts from it in his essays on woman suffrage.26

 

25Katharine Anthony, Margaret Fuller: A Psychological Biography
(New York, 1920), p. 81.

26"'Earth Waits for her Queen' was a favorite motto of Margaret
Fuller Ossoli" he wrote in Woman and the Alphabet while speaking of
woman's readiness now to step out of her Cinderella state in order to
assume the privileges and responsibilities which were rightfully hers.
Woman and the Alphabet, p. 26.

“In anBTfier essay, he spoke of woman's influence in affairs of
state. Formerly women were forbidden to rule the throne but through
mischief or malice, their power was felt at "second-hand." Higginson
here quotes Margaret Fuller as saying, "Any woman can have influence,
in some way. She need only to be a good cook or a good scold, to se-
cure that." Woman should not merely have a share in the power of man,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

. 192

In 1881;, Higginson published a biography of Margaret Fuller, which,
for years, has been a standard reference. In general the book is a
defense of Margaret Fuller's life against the caricature of her as a
'seeress’i’ which stands outfiin her Memoirs. Higginson depended upon A
unpublished manuscripts which he rightly believed gave a picture of
Margaret Fuller as a human being with high aspirations and which showed

 

her as a person faced with almost insurmountable obstacles of poor
health, poverty, domestic trials, jealousy of critics, lack of formal
.education, and her own shortcomings; At each step in her life, she
was censored by critical public opinion, and because she lacked grace- E
ful tactfulness, she made many enemies, while at the same she was
capable of forming lasting friendships. A brief discussion of Higgin-
son‘s treatment of some of the controversial phases of her life will
illustrate his contribution to a better understanding of her character.
Margaret Fuller's first attempt, Higginson maintains, to influence
others as well as to'perfect and clarify her thouglts was through her
"Conversations“ with women disciples. Under Carlyle's and Emerson‘s
influence, shephad been reading the German poets andphilosophers and
consequently brought down upon herself the opprobrious imputation of
being "Gennan" at a time when Inmarmel Kant, Higginson says, was thought

to be more dangerous than any French novelist27 and Goethe was believed

 

to be her model. Higginson, in defense of her work, shows the extent

of German influence by pointing out a passage in one of her matmacripts

 

"for of that omnipotent Nature will not suffer her to be defrauded, -—
but it should be a chartered power, too fully recognized to be abused."
Woman 3‘19 _t_h_e Alphabet, p. 2 7 -

27Margaret Fuller Ossoli, p. 283.

 

H.

 

 

in which she wrote, "As to Goethe . . . I do not go to him as a

guide or friend, but as a great thinker who makes me think."28 Hig-
ginson believed, however, that Emerson, not Goethe, came nearer to
being her intellectual master. However that may be, Margaret Fuller
carried her thoughts on the German philosophers and Platonic mysti—
cism into her "Conversations" with the women who joined her for that
purpose. Higginson believed that, instead of being indicative of
the vanity and presumption with which she has since been charged, the
conversations were a preparation for a deeper intellectual as well
as social life. Margaret Fuller wished to do her part in the world,
but (before the Qial period) felt herself too immature to write, and,
therefore, believed that talking would be the easiest form of intel-
lectual action, as this exercise would assist her in clarifying her
thoughts. Actually, it gave her a discursive and unsystematic habit
of mind which Higginson believed to be one of her major literary
faults.

Higginson points out that Harriet Marineau, Margaret Fuller's

English contemporary, had unjustly criticized Margaret when she wrote

that while Margaret Fuller and her adult pupils sat gorgeously dressed,

"talking about Mars and venue, Plato and Goethe, and fancying them-

selves the elect of the earth in intellect and refinement, the liber-

ties of the republic were running out as fast as they could go, at
the breach which another sort of elect persons were devoting them-

selves to repair.“29 The statement, Higginson says, was not only

 

281bid.

 

29Ibid., pp. 126—127.

 

 

   

   

 

 

19h

unjust but untrue. He points out that the conversations were not as
unrealistic as Harriet Martineau believed. Many of the women who met
with Margaret Fuller were later among the most ardent supporters of
the abolitionists. Although Margaret Fuller entered into the aboli~
tion reform tardily, her conversations "served as a moral-even more
than a mental—~tonic, “30 a quality most—evident among the New England
abolitionists and which she seems to have been instrumental in fos-
tering among her followers.

Because his biography of Margaret Fuller was part of the Ameri-
can Men of Letters Series, Higginson dwells at length on Margaret
Fuller‘s editorship of the Rial, speaking of her rather extravagant-
ly as the "elembic into which they linemen, Parker, Thoreau, Alcott]
were all distilled and the priestess who superintended this intellectual
chemic process."31 He discusses her troubles as editor in handling
the unique individualities of Enerson, Ripley, Alcott, Hedge, and
Parker. One of her major editorial difficulties was to steer a
middle course between such disparate personalities as the idealistic
flcott and the headstrong, practical Parker.32

The purpose of the 213$, it must be remembered, was to furnish
a medium for free expression, and for the discussion of principles

rather than for the promotion of measures.33 Higginson says that

 

3clbid., p. 129.

311bid., p. 130.

32Parker wished a Dial with a "beard“ and later began his Massa-
chusetts Quarterl Review which, as_Higginson facetiously puts it, was
"fie Bear m. on the Dial.“ Ibid., p. 161.

33Ibid., p. 152.

 

 

 

it.

 

 

 

 

195

Margaret Euler maintained this ideal by frankly, but kindly, criti-
cizing her contributors-avian Emerson, as a letter quoted by Higginson
testifies. That her criticisms were accepted and acted upon indicates
the respect for her opinion shared by the leading minds of the day.
Although she had to resign the Dial to Emerson‘s editorship after twa
years because of poor health, her work was important, Higginson be-
lieved, for without her the Dial would never have become a reality.
Nor could it have been kept afloat financially if Margaret had not
invested most of her earnings into it and frequently, in desperation
at the procrastination of contributors, had she not written much of
the copy--in one issue this meant eighty-five of the one-hundred—
thirty-six pages.3h

Higginson's discussion of the Dial, while factual and super-
ficial, has the added interest of being a commentary by one who was
himself a younger disciple of the movement. By his om life Higgin-
son endorsed the ideals and principles of the Transcendentalists in
a practical way. 0f the Dial he wrote:

When one considers the part since played by those

whose youthful enthusiasm created this periodical, it

is needless to say that their words ldndled much life in

the hearts of those still younger. It is a sufficient

proof of the advantage of this potent influence that it

worked itself clear, at last; and those who were reared

on the *Dial' felt the impulse of its thought without

borrowing its alleged vagueness.3

In his chapter on Brook Farm, Higginson refutes the myth con—

cerning Margaret Fuller created by Hawthorne's Blithedale Romance.

 

3hlbid., p. 161;.

351bid., p. 172.

 

 

 

 

 

 

196

He says of her that she "had neither the superb beauty of Zenobia, nor
her physical amplitude, nor her large fortune, nor her mysterious hus-
band, nor her inclination to suicide, nor, in fine, was she a member

of Brook Farm commnity at all.“36 Higginson cites letters to the ef-
fect that Margaret Fuller was considered by George Ripley a potential
resident of Brook Farm, as were also Emerson, Parker, and S. D. Robbins.
Margaret Fuller, however, seems to have been most reticent about joining
the project until she could see something substantial being accomplished
by its members. Her only active association with the group, Higginson
says, was attendance at an occasional festivity and a "retreat“ there
each New Year's Eve. Higginson himself was not enthusiastic about
Brook Farm although he was inspired by the ideals which motivated it.

. Margaret Fuller‘s ambition for an active life was partially ful-
fi’lled, Higginson maintains, by her philanthropic work in New York
where she lived for a time with Mr. and Mrs. Horace Greeley and con-
tributed to the Tribune. The excerpts quoted by Higginson from
Greeley's Recollections point up Margaret Fuller's interest in the Irish
immigrants, prison reform, capital punishment, New York slums, prosti-
tutes, and the blind. ,These social problems were the subject of many

of her Tribune articles.

The Tribune, as had the .D_ia_l_, also gave her an outlet for literary

criticismwhich, Higginson believes, exerted a wider influence than did
her articles on social questions. He considers her to have been "the

best literary critic that America has yet seen."37 Her paper on Goethe

 

36Ib1do ’ P. 173..

37Ibid., p. 290.

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

in the Dial and her perceptive criticism of Wordsworth he believed

were classic examples. That she could also go against public opinion
and err in judgment is seen in her comments on Longfellow and Lowell.
flue remarked that Lowell was "absolutely wanting in the true spirit
and tone of poesy," a remark for which Lowell unkindly retaliated by
satirizing her as Miranda in his “Fable for Critics."38 She spoke

of Longfellow's poems as being too highly praised by-his contemporaries,
and. that one of Longfellow's photographs resembled a “dandy Pindar."
ale had reluctantly reviewed Longfellow's book of poems when asked ‘
to do so by Greeley, and in her outspoken manner stated her honest
opinion. szception was taken to her review by everyone but the mild
author himself. Although her criticisms were forthright and sometimes
harsh, Higginson agreed with Horace Greeley that her intellectual
honesty was the noble quality which covered a multitude of faults

and gained for her many admirers as well as many critics.

Her later life in Italy and her tragic death were described by
friends who had been with Margaret Fuller at the time. Higginson
stresses Margaret's life of action, which he admired, by quoting
from a letter written by Lewis Cass, Jr., American Charge d' affairs

at Rome, who had befriended her when the French attacked that city.

 

38Higgh'lson could not quite forgive Lowell for his treatment
of Margaret Fuller in this poem. 'nlat Lowell should have struck
out the reference to Professor Francis Bowen and left the references
to Margaret Fuller untouched even after her noble life and pathetic
death, he could not condone. He says in the biography, "at the
moment when Lowell was satirizing her in his ‘F‘able for Critics,‘
she was leading such a life as no American woman had led in this-
century before. During our own Civil War many women afterwards
led it, and found out for themselves what it was.“ lbid. , p. 5.

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

198

Margaret saw the uprising against Austria and became entangled in the
Italian revolution. living her whole sympathy to the progressive
party, she stood beside Mazzini upon his return after a seventeen-
year exile. She saw the Italian republic established, and she saw

it fall. In April of 18239, Rome was beseiged by the bench. fine

is reported by Case to have been heroic in her care for the wounded
during her stay there.

As for her marriage to Marquis Ossoli, Higginson relies on the
correspondence and narrative of Mrs. William. W. Story, an intimate
friend of Margaret's, who was in Europe at the same time. Althougn . '
many of the letters concerning this affair had been published in the
Memoirs, Higginson lays stress on certain passages which had been
omitted. . If the marriage had seemed irregular to her American friends,
Higginson tries to clear the air by emphasizing the fact that Mar-
garet had at first refused Ossoli as a lover because of the difference
in their ages. When she finally consented to marry him, as a letter
from Mrs. William Story states, the marriage was kept secret because
of expected difficuties with the Ossoli. family. Mrs. Story asserted
that Margaret showed her the marriage certificate and the baptismal
certificate of their son, but both have since been lost. Although
later biographers have questioned the existence of such a certificate
and refer to the marriage as a "Fourieristic vmion," Higginson accepts
the word of Mrs. Story which is—the only evidence on this question,
and has, perhaps, as much, if not more, authority than those who
presume otherwise with no evidence to substantiate their opinion.

Higginson makes no personal comment about the marriage of Margaret

and Ossoli. However, he does quote their touching correspondence

 

 

 

 

written during the period of their separation while Ossoli was on

military duty; lhe letters express their love and also their fear
for their own safety and that of their child. The decision to take
passage for America for the publication of Margaret's history of the
Roman Republic as well as for protection was follwed immediately by
Margaret's premonition of disaster. As is well known, she, her
husband, and son were lost in a shipwreck which occurred within
sight of New York harbor. Even her death, however, had to be vin-
dicated. The commanding officer had stated that Margaret lost her
life because she refused to be separated from her husband and son.
The evidence, Higginson shows, is inadequate, and the fact that the
child's body was washed ashore in the arms of a sailor argues against
the accusation of the mate who had himself left the ship before it
was abandoned by the passengers or crew. Katharine Anthony says that
Margaret assumed an unnatural pagan stoicism and resignation of her
fate when she could have taken action and saved herself. The entire
incident is not clear in written or verbal reports and Higginson be-
lieves the matter should be closed with due honor to the dead, while
Katharine Anthony explains it as a strange mental paralysis and
passivity with which Margaret had been stricken at various times in
her lire.39

In the final chapters of the book, Higginson appraises Margaret
Fuller's literary achievements and personality. He finds that she
shared the faults of her contemporaries, Emerson and Thoreau. If
they were discursive, unsystematic, with too much reliance on intui-

tion and imagination, it was natural, he maintains, that she should

 

”Anthony, 22. _c_i_t_., p. 207.

 

 

 

200

have shared their fault. Her I'Cbnversations" also gave her a habit of
rambling. Higginson believed she corrected this to some extent through
her training on.the Tribune, fer journalism made her.more capable of
precise concentration. ‘Iet,her obscurity (such as it was) was never
"wanton or'whimsical, but is rather that kind which, as Cdleridge
has said, is a compliment to the reader."h0

Higginson gives a fairly objective picture of’Margaret Fuller in
this biography. Although in many places his discussion is clearly
apologetic, he is never so eulogistic as to ignore the faults in.her
personality or her work. He depended largely upon heretofore unpub-

lished.manuscripts and, in this attempt at a more accurate portrait

 

of'Margaret Fuller, he contributed a work of scholarship which has
been relied'upon by subsequent biographers.hl As to her personality,
Higginson said, "She was not one of those charming, helpless, incon-
sequent creatures" whom.Howells depicts. Rather, "she demanded a
great deal from.life, but generally knew what she wanted, stated it
effectively, and at last obtained it."h2 Although she was a thinker,
her aim.was not self-culture, as Higginson painstakingly repeats.

She expected her thought to fructify itself in action for her fellows.
This was actualized by her writings for humanitarian causes in the
New'York Tribune and by her espousal of the revolutionary party in

Italy. Higginson probably did not understand fully the implications

 

hQngpgeret Fuller Ossoli, p. 285.

h1Notab1y mar aret Fuller by Katharine.Anthony quoted above and
Margaret Fuller ans Goethe by . A. Braun (New York, 1910).

thargaret Fuller Ossoli, p. 312.

 

   

 

H.

 

 

 

 

 

201 ' '3

of her sympathy for Mazzini and his revolutionists, for his emphasis
was wholly on Margaret's physical and mental suffering during the war
and her active attendance on hospital duty with the wounded soldiers .
In a way, this emphasis on her active life, while rectifying
mistaken theories of early biographers, also reflects somewhat Hig-
ginson‘s own views of the man or woman of letters whose lot was not
to remain in an ivory tower theorizing about the conditions of the
world, but to set out and do for mankind what needs to be accomplished
within the limits of his own powers. . lhis was exemplified time and
again by Higginson in his own life, and it is not surprising that he
should point up this characteristic in Margaret Fuller, whom he
ardently admired and whom he credits with being the inspiration of

his own reform activities.

 

Among Higginson‘s protegees who achieved a degree of success
during her lifetime ,-was Harriet Prescott Spofford. She had attended
the Putnam Free School, Newburyport, which she entered in 18119. Part
of the literary training of the students of this school consisted in
having the pupils take part in amateur declamations, contribute to
the school paper, and listen to visiting lecturers. Interest in
original composition was aroused by prize-giving, and this by persons
not immediately connected with the school.h3

Higginson came to Newburyport in 18247 as pastor of the First
Religious Church and Society. Through his efforts and aided by

Prafessor Alpheus Crosby, he established a series of prizes for the

 

b3Elizabeth K. Halbeisen, Harriet Prescott Spofford: A Romantic
Suwival (Philadelphia, 1935), P HO.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

?

202

best poetry and.prose written.by these young people. Harriet Prescott
won first place-with an.essay on Hamlet, and for a time, Higginson
took a personal interest in her literary growth. She says of him,
“Coming into the humdrum life of the town, he was like some one from
another star.uhh
Higginson was obliged to resign.his pastorate in 18h9,'but re-

mained in.Newburyport fer two years more, making himself "as accep-
table a citizen.of the town as could be reasonably expected of one
who had preached himself.out of'his pulpit."h5 In.1852 he accepted
a call to the Free Church of wercester, where he remained'until the
Civil war. He kept in contact with Harriet Prescott during these
years--inviting her to his Free Church in 18st,h6 and describing to

her Charlotte Cushman the actress.117 He also guided her reading--

 

 

advising her first to "live _1_r_1_ Nature ,"ha and to read Thoreau, whose
"Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers ," is fascinating "beyond
compare to anyone who knows Nature .“h9 The authors he was chiefly
anxious she should read "earnestly and appreciatively" were Shakes-
peare and Emsrson. 0f Emerson he said:
I know of no author whose writings seem.to me so
densely crowded with absolute truth, and so graceful
in beauty; though there is never any artistic whole-
ness in his Essays; they are a series of exquisite
sentences; and yet more than this I value for you that
m‘lhomas Wentworth Higginson, p. 96.
hSCheerful Yesterdays, p. 130.
héThomas Wentworth Higginson, p. 122.
h?Ibid., pp. 130-131.
hdLettere and Journals of Thomas wentworth Higginson, p. 103.

h91b1d., p. 105.

 

203

noble calmees, gentleness, courage and freedom; and
that pure air and unflinching were]. herein which ache
him the very strongest teacher for the moral nature
that this generation has given. I km! s by its
traits, in swself and sy contemporaries.

 

The effusiveuoss of this recounendatiou, written about 1859, is strong
evidence of Higginsou‘s personal enthusiasm for hereon and of his '
sincere love for nature. It was at this time that he was writing his .

 

fine nature study essays for the Atlantic m. He had already
contributed Water Lilies" (1858), ”April Days” (1861), and as Out-
door Stew“ 21861),- which‘were to be followed by others is the en-
suing years. He wrote to Miss Prescott in 1861 that he had received
new congratulatory letters about "April Days" from all classes of
people, and was then finidaing 'Hy mtdoor Study,“ which was based
on a description of the lake where he frequently went boating.51

 

How much these nature studies meant to him is evidenced in the
closing paragraphs of the same letter.
These essays on Nature delight me so infinitely that
all other themes seem tiresome beside them; I am sure that
I have never come so near to Nature as during the last year,
and therefore never so truly and deeply lived; and some-
times I feel so Exalted in this nearness that it seems as
if I never could sorrow any more.
Harriet Prescott must have shared this femr, for Higginson compli-
ments her by quoting a few remarks of herein another essay, 'l'he
Procession of Flowers.” (1862). H

Harriet Prescott mfford says that some souls
are like the Water-Lilies, fixed, yet floating. But

 

5°Ibid., pp. 105—106.
immune Wentworth Higflsou, p. 157.
521b1d., pp. 157-158.

 

 

' j . . 201;.

others are like this graceful purple blossom [haddemrt],
fleeting unlined, kept in place only by its fellows around
it, until perhaps a breeze cones, and, Streaking the acoi- ,
dental cohesion, sweeps then all away.3 I;
Inserted a "me Life or the Birds" (1862) 1e an excerpttm a letter '
which colorthlly describes ..‘ oriolefland a mason-c1511
niggiuon was delighted with Harriet Prescott's entrance into
‘ the Atlantic sentry with her short story, "In a eons-.- He spoke
or the story in a letter to his nether (186i) as being “brilliant
and shows mch an extraordinary intimacy with mopeds life that the

editors seriously suspected it of being a translation tron sons

 

first-class henchmen, as Balzac or muss, and I had to be called in
to satisfy them that a denure little Yankee girl could have written

 

13355

~ filortly after this, Higginson visited her in Newbnrypert, was
charmed by her modesty (she felt it was a chest to take $1.05 for a
m), and attended a nesting of the Reading Ghb where the story
was read in her presence. With a kind of self-satisfactim, Big-
zinson concluded his letter to his mother, ”One of the first things
she did with the price or the story was to get a bouquet of flowers
for Mary (firs. Higgnsog, which was a pleasant thing. fine is al-
ways mu of gratitude to me, for the little I have done for her.‘56
31an later escorted her to one of the famous “Atlantic“ dinners
and tried to put her at ease in the presence of Harriet Beecher Stowe

 

53mtdoor Studies, me Works of homes Ventworth Higginson,VI

(Boston, 1355}, p. H.
5hIhid., p. 139.
55Letters and Journals of moms: Wentworth Eigflson, p. 103.

56Ibido , p0 1011.

   

 

   

 

 

 

205

(for she- the diner vagina), Belles, Whittier, tonsil, Weller,
and others.” I

argue: mum nerrtet preeeett sparrow a «veneerm games”
me is inclined, however, to believe that he was note impressed 11th ..
her personality and literary prom-e than with her eettel ' ettmt.
It is to his credit, however, that he recogised her talent and that
his encouragement was responsible for opening a career which resulted
in o prolific output of fiction and poetry between the years 1859

and 1921.

Higgnaon' s acquaintance with Helen Hunt began in 1866 in Rupert
where. she had retired, gt'iefoetricken, after the death of her five
children and her husband, Major Edward B. Hunt. Ste lived at Hrs.

Hannah Dame's boarding house where Higgins“ and his wife had re-

aided since “mggtneony e diedxarge from military service. Keepert at
that time we. a rewrite watering resort where the wealthy pron-enacted
and dnove their four-1n-handa to the moment of the native reeidentee
It had alao become a favorite mar haunt for the literary liona of
the day to such an extent that Higginson and Julia Hard Howe were able
to form a. Town and Gantry Club ”to remind their more frivolms frieede
or the duties of culture, «59 as ten wyek Brooke says. the meetings

of this club attracted may writers who lived in tom or were visiting
Among them were George Bancroft, James Parton, hie wife “Fanny

there 0

”cheerful Yeatemg, p. 179.
58Lettere _a_:_t__d Journal: 95 moms Henfiorth Riggs», p. 103.

5930015., 220 £433., p. 700-

‘—

 

 

 

 

 

w’—______,, 1::—

Ian," 30?. “he 1. Brooke, Katherine P. m, m. B. i. Belle,
harlette same, homes 6. Appleton, fiat-lee 0. Female, W
lees-ts, John LnFarge, and ole-rem King 50 Helen aunt soon Joined
this literary I'center" and because a special protegée or Higglnm'e.

'

He noted her arrival in February, 1866.

hereieanewboarderherevithtwodaintyroens
upstairs arranged by herself-4km. (Major) Hunt, 9. young
'1”. e e o aleisindeepnoumngforhusbmdand
child, and I fancy has private depression to correspond
with her high spirits in the fauly, which are so far
invariable. She seas very bright and sociable and may
prove an accession.

With new friends in Newport and with fiigginson's kind encourage-
ment,“n‘elee that entered upon a writing career. She began, Higginson
says, to 'stuw literary style and methods; she interchanged criti-
cise withothers, and welcomed it as applied to her own attempts;
she soon ventured to publish more poems, and then to try herself in

 

pro” .‘62
For the next few yearsuuntil Helen Hunt moved to Colorado

Springs-£13m”): was her literary- nentor. She trustee completely
in his filament of her work. he success which she not throng: her
poetry, revlers, and prose pieces (hiring this time seems to have
Justified the confidence. Higgins», speaking of her eagerness to
learn, and of her aptitude duriu this period, says that she entered
upon her literary career with the enthusiam of a child. ale dis-
trusted herself, but was eager to try everything.

501mm

“Letters 91?. Journals 33 Thomas Wentworth W p. 2111;.
62W” Jackson ('H. H.')," Conflraries, pp. 11:,8-1h9.

_‘

 

 

29?

Irenenberthenrprisewithwhiohfiereoeivedthe
stien that no dmbt publishers would be happy to send

he‘rueboeksitshewouldonlyreviewtheug esdher dengt,
as in a new world, when she opened the first parcels.3
he sdnired the rapidity with which-she wrote, but adds, "the re-
nsrkable thing was that, with all this quickness, she was nlwsys reeds
to revise and correct, and was also it been and nimte critic of the
writings of others."6h I
It was Higginson who mintained that stereos had rated Hrs.
Jackson's poetry above the work of all Americans. the statement is
also hinted at in Mrs. Julia 0. R. Dorr's reminiscent article which
appeared in the w aster Helen's death.55 seen-son had visited
Julia Dorr one evening and spoke .e ~11. n." Pulling out a folded
paper from his pocket book he‘dlowed-a poem to Julie. who, in retro-
spect, believed that it was the sonnet, 'hmght.‘ Higginson men-
tions this incident in his essay on Helen'fiunt and also in his i135
W on {nirican 593355.56 He quotes hereon as answering,

 

when asked if he did not consider «a. H." the best woman poet in
America, that perhaps it night be well to out the word 19;...“~67
lhl'lm Odell, Helen Hunt' s biographer, shows that morsou' s opinion
at Helen Hunt was not suite so high as Higginson would lead one to
believe. that he admired her poems greatly there can be no doubt,

for she was one of the poets when Moreen specially mentioned by

name in his Preface to Parnassus. But he did not rate her first of

‘—.‘ .-

63Ibide, P0 1509
6th_i_d.

65mins c. a. Door, "morson's ndniretion of in. a." Critic,
(August 29, 1885), p. 111..

661‘honas wentscrth Higglnson, Lott §__bu_____dies 2;. American Authors
(Boston, 1880), 1). ill.

67mm.

 

 

 

 

 

1|.

 

 

 

26

en mum poets.“ Higgins), in his esgu'sess to shunted soles
snnteeepeet, couldfildnebetter credentisltheethe content:
MM.

hereon, according to the ease article of Julie Barr's, had
stated that Helen Hunt toned it impossible to sun admission to the
Atlantic w and had told hereon that her work had been rejected
by Fields. Higginsen denied this fact. As her personal Mead and
adviser he had repeatedly urged her, he maintained, to send some of
her work to the magazine. as reinsed, however,

saying that the editors were overduelned with peer poetry,

and that she would wait for semthing of which she felt

sure. it last she gave no her poem called 'Coronatien,'

[1862] with permission to show it to Mr. Fields. . . . .

Fields read it at once, and exclaimed, *It's a good peeing:

then read it again, and said, 'It's a devilish good poem,!

and accepted it without hesitation. 9
Ruth Odell proves by referring to a. letter of Helen Hunt to Fields
dated April 16, 1867, that Fields had rejected her "Zone of Calms"
almost two years before this.” ’ ‘

Rom November, 1868, to February, 1870, Helen Hunt was in Mops
sending back to her friends "encyclicals," a. series of month]: cir-
cular letters which recorded‘her journeys; 316 soon found that she
needed another series for her more intimate friends. These she sent
on the first of every month, addressed to Higginson, who circulated

them among her other friends."1

 

68mm Odell, 1132593 M Jackson (New York, 1939), p. 86.
69Oentemraries, pp. 1514152.

7OOdeZIl, 22. 323., p. 88.

71933., p. 90.

 

 

 

 

 

u.

 

 

 

. 209

munghuiourteenmthsinhrepe,fliw.nsonsefledashsr
advisersndliteraryhreker. mmthnherpeessssdtrmlhite'
withthersgesttosendthenentewhstewernegasdneernswspaper
he theaghtthenbest fitted ter.72 A glance at the hunter other
publications which appeared wring filese months shows the aunt of

work which tell to Business.”

. In 1870, with the encouragement or her friends, Helen aunt pub-
lished a volume or her collected poems entitled m. Althougo
Fields, Osgood, and Company were somewhat reluctant to undertake
the publication, the reception which followed was gratifying.- hth
Odell points out that thereon was so pleased with the poetry that he
later included three specimens in his Parnassus.” Higginson was
laudatory but restrained in his review of the volume. "mess ter-ass,“
he wrote, "give the impression of remarkable power, notfiyet natured,—
though installing," yet her freshness of imagination and intensity of
feeling, he believed, had been unsurpassed since Elizabeth Barrett
Brewing.” His estimate in the last paragraph of this review is
general enmgh to warrant its being said of any struggling post.

We should say of the Warden by 'H. 3.," as a whole, that they
show great wealth in the raw material of, poetry, and great occa-
sional power of expression, with a careful conscientious execution."

A

 

721b__i_d., p. 106.

73Ibid. , pp.2 2514-256. In 1869 thirty-eiglt pieces appeared in

the folIowzm'g magazines: New York Independent, Atlantic Mon
Nation, Hours 333 ,Home Hearth and Home, Our HM FHEs, flags

mQaze.
”Ibid., p. 117.

75ihomas wentworth Higginsen, "Verses," Atlantic}! they; xxvn
(Marci), 1871), p. too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

—_——“ w‘ ‘
' 23.0

I“, hflltthut It. WWII, “midlife!!!”

m. _
robe sure, herntters'see issetyet mite tree;
it iss little choked and resisted. as has resolutely
deemed up the stream here and there, to obtain a poster
head of water; and it is a goat thing to be thus se-
cured against shellewsess, though one lg sometime
miss the ripple or the unchecked brook.

me poems, however, seem sentimtel and flaccid Judged by present-
dsyliterary standards. Herwerkbecanenore udoringvhea she
turned to prose and sway iron Higginson's direct supervision.

Helen Hunt had never entered into any of the New England "aster-
hood"~ or rei'orns which so engaged Higginson. she did not believe in
abolition. ale had been content to have colored people about her as
servants, but was disposed to resent mthing like equality. file
could, however, show a generosity toward the individual News she
came to know. ale also professedly abhorred, Higginson says, the
idea of woman airfrage. Higgineon partially converted her by taking
her to a convention where she heard Lucy Stone speak. Althougl
Helen attended the nesting with the intention of writing a denuncia-

 

tory article against women reformers, Biggihson maintains that she
van completely captivated by the sweet voice of Lucy stone and said
to Higginson, ”.Do you suppose I ever could write against awthing
which that women wishes to have donor“?

On one occasion, however, mch em Higginson's better judg-

ment, she overcame her deep-seated aversion for women’lectnrers by

 

761cm.
"Contemporaries, p. 158.

 

 

 

4 211

enthusiastically sanctioning a lecture tour for he. Leenowens, the
mother or 5 we}! Governors g :25 m m. "aims en.-
tered into her plans reluctantly, even writing to his publishers in
behalf of Mrs. Leonowens, bit he questioned some of her statistics
and criticised parts oi the lecture on the score or good tnste.‘l8
Until 1871, Helen Hunt had written over the pseudoms, "3.3.,“

 

"Harah," and enip' Van we." Between 1871 and 1885;, she unused A
the pennants inane Hollie“ rer‘her first attempts at fiction. Eig-
ginsm read in namecript all the Same Hols s'l'm'ies79 whose author-
ship Helen Hunt persistently denied. Anong the stories was one
entitled "it Fair-Leased Clover” whose plot, involving a Prussian
sergeant ispfisoned in Libby Prison and horses Foote Beecher, the
granddaughter of Lyman Beecher, Helen related to Higginson, which
he considered moms enough to record.80
In 187 5 Helen Hunt married William Slarpless Jackson and moved
to Colorado springs~ where she lived for the remainder of her life,
making frequent trips to the East and the for West. By 187?, with
about four hundred published pieces of poetry and prose to her credit,
she could write to Higgnsen, I'He [her husbang7 blows how mch I owe
Fair-all my success as a writer-J81 I
In 1879 Higginson mte a critical evaluation of Helen Jackson‘s
work shich appeared in 1h: m m and was later included in”
his volume, 312:5. Studies 2; American M. Here Higginscn's

 

780dell, 32. 213., p. 120. .

79.312133 wentworth lumen, p. 258.

80Letters and Journals 3}: M Wentworth Higégson, p. 215.
81% wentworth Higgson, pp. 258-4259. .

 

 

 

 

212

enthusiasm for '3. fi."s work appears to have run any with his 3nd:-
nsnt. In contrast to‘hie restrained review of 1993.! in 1819, his
praise is in the superlative. file is the woman the cones nearest to
the genius of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, hessid, and she nakes
Christina Rosmtti and Jean Insoles appear but second-rate celebrities.
file has a grace sndsealth likelndrewusrvell's which "comes into
the very life of external nature, or link us to the heart of man.”32
Her homely poems are prelomrthy for the cheer and strength they‘
one to others. He also thong“; highly of her prose uorke.

the stories, fl Philbrick's Qto____i___oe and iii—J
m, he believed, had been done a great injustice by critics.
m m M had been called morbid and immoral, I'yet it
is as stem a tale of retrimtion as 'Madame Bovary' or "he Scarlet
Letter."83 Her Colorado sketches, he believed, give a tree pic-
ture otflthe Host which makes all other descriptions "crude, exag-
gerated, and therefore temporary.“h A

A third phase of Helen Jackson's life occurred as a result of

 

her Colorado enviromeht andher vieits to California. She had not
completely abandoned her dislike for "a woman with a hobby" until
she heard in 1879 the Indians, "Standing Bear" and "Bright Eyes,"
tell of the wrongs suffered by the Poncas. From then until her _
death, she was untiring in her efforts to obtain justice tram the
government for the Indians. Ste wrote to Higginson:

 

82Short Studies gt; American Authors, p. 1:3.
83Ihid., p. t8.
Bthido, p. 1:9.

   

_ . I'
I
1 l
I
i I I
I
I
u‘ '

 

 

'.. 'Ihavedounos,lbelieve,thelsstoi'thethings _ \
Ihadssidlneverwould'doglhavebecone shatIhase
said a thousand times was thenost odious thing in life," '3
'a noun with a hobby.‘ mt I comet help it. I think ¥
I feel as you rust have felt in the old abolition days.

I cannot think of mthing else fronniglxtto morning
Whammgtofldfie o o ermmmia
draflngnnr foraysatchsngeiaourpolicytmrd
the Indian. In one respects, it seems to me, he is
really worse off than the slaves; they did have in the
majority of. cases good houses, and they were not much
more arbitrarily controlled than the Indian is by the
agent on a reservation. He can orderra oorperal's
guardtofireonanlndianatauytimege seesfit. He
is 'dnly empowered by the government.‘8

norm-at achievement in this direction one A m 21; Diehonor
in which he incorporated all of the material she could gather after
an endlmstive study of the treatnent of the Indians. She worked day
and nigzt on it, until waisted and nervously depleted, she sailed
for Elgland and Scandinavia with some friends for a mob needed rest.
Higginson was left iith the task of proof-reading.86

Henoeforth, Higginson says, she subordinated literature, not to
an insider aim merely, rer that she had often done bercre, but to a

 

single coo-.37 while writing 1133 gem g; Dishonor, she said to bill
in a letter, "I shall never write a sentence, so long as I live, with-
out studying it over from the standpoint of whether you would think
it could be hotter-ed.n88 She also wrote a meter of articles on the
California missions which appeared in the gem Magazine. Higgin-
son seems to have been consulted regarding them. In a letter to

 

 

85mm” Wontwoflh Himson, pp. 258-259.
“Ibid., p. 159. '

”Chow, Po 156.
58.1.1143.

   

 

   

 

 

Hrs. James 1!. Fields asking “Hist law and Kiss Jewett to read two
papers on the fianciscan maidens, Helen wrote, 'I have read then to
colonel Woo, and he is moderately satisfied—sermons, however,
several changes."89 Because The game; Dishonor did not seen to
move the authorities or the public to action quickly enougl, she I
turned to fiction.

Higginson quotes the letter she wrote to him daring the creation
of m,” which was done in a white heat of inspiration. Published
serially in the Christian flog, 1881;, the novel was issued in book
form the same year. N

By the time m was completed, Helen Jackson's health had
failed considerably. Althongi forbidden by the doctor to write,
in her last days she wrote long and loving letters to her Eastern
friends, especially to Hiwnson. He quotes her last letter to him
in which she expressed her great concern for the Indians and felt
that her 931m _o_:-E_ Dishonor and m were the only things she had
done of which she was glad. ”The rest is of no moment."91 Her own
estinste of her works has prayed truer of her literary reputation
than that of her contemporaries.

Higmson was among Helen Hunt Jackson‘s most ardent champions.
As a personal friend and as her literary adriser his admiration was
genuine and sincere. Her poetry, he thought, ranked "above that of
any American woman, and [he added significantly] its rival would be

 

89111 Huntington Library, a letter dated January 5, 1883, quoted
by Ruth Odell, 92. 9—3510, pe 198.

65 ”Carlyle” Lang and other Sin-prises (Boston, 1909), pp. 363..
3 . - .

91Communion , p. 166.

 

 

 

 

215

round, curiously enough, in that of her early smoelnnte, Ely Diem-
son."92 Her prose writings, he believed, possessed "an even excellence
otdsmtinwhichisnotellnystobe tonndinherpoetry, udthith
is mrpessed by hardly any American writer.'93

msewhere, he praised her ability to write a novel oi adventure.
as had written in m, he believed, the host novel since George

Eliot died.

mat action is there! what notion! how entrainant

it is! It carries us along as if mounted on a

horse!s back from beginning to end; and it is only when

we return for a second reading that we can appreciate

the fine handling of characters, and especially the

Spanish mother, drawn with a stroke as keen and

as that which portrayed George miot' s Dorothea.

It is characteristic of Higginsmi that he should prerer the
novel . of adventure to the character delineations of Henry James and
William Dean Howells with when he contrasts Hrs. Jackson's novel.
It is also characteristic of him that he should use her sane as an
example of the force of a woman on American history. In his plea
for the higier education of women, he shows how Harriet Beecher
Stowe' s Uncle Tom’ 8 Cabin changed the whole relation between the
whitepsn'd Negro races and how the Indian situation was being in-
fluenced by Helen Jackson's 5 93m .95. Dishonor and Banana.

it her death, 'Higgihcon hastily wrote a sketch of her life
and work for the Egg York Evening feet, a second sumary for the

Nation, and a third for the Critic. These three he worked over

 

 

”Ibid., p. 162 .

93Ibid., p. 163.
9h‘I'l‘len's Novels and Women's Novels,” Weston and lien, p. 158.

 

 

 

 

 

 

216

intosrevisedserdentorthemmchhereprintedinhis
more.

Hdggineonwas alsoanongthenaqwhowrote tributesinverse
to'her memory.” His continents were those, not only or a persmal
friend, but of the reading public at large.

- Ruth Odell believes that Helen Jackson's sudden pawl-h as a
writer cane about upon her removal to Colorado, where she was sepa-
rated '£ron the immediate circle of dilettsntes who ted her ego and
overprsised her ontpit. . . . Praise from non like Higgins» and Gen--
way, and even Moreen, acceptance or her works by the foremost maga-
zines of the country, and a reputation of being the most promising of
the writers of her generation had urged her to conformity. '95

his parag'aph implies that her remval to Colorado and her tripe
to California out her off completely from her Eastern friends and the
plaudits of the leading magazines. As this brief examination of Hig-
gihschts role in her literary life indicates, she remained under his
influence and direction all her life. ‘lhat she wrote two books which

951116 following poem first appeared in (May, 1886)
and was later reprinted in Higginson's Outdoo $4,1ne p. 358
To the Memory of

esonloffirewithinawonan's clay!

Lifting with slender hands- a race! s wrong,

Whose mte appeal hushed all thine early song,

And taught thy passionate heart the loftier way,“
What shall thy place be in the realm of day?

that disembodied world can hold thee long,

Binding thy turbulent pulse with spell more strong?

Durell'st then, with wit and jest, where poets may, .
Or with ethereal women-chorus of air

And poet's dmams--dost live in ecstasy,

Teach new love-thoughts to makespeare' s Juliet fair,
New moods to Cleopatra? Then, set free, .

The woes of Shelley's Helen thou doest share,

0r weep with poor Rossetti's Hose Mary.

950dell, op. git” pp. 226-22}.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

217

sore roe-st niacin ngy eel-its are still being reed” was one, .
perhaps, not semchtoher deliverance fronthelewhglasd'dilet-
tastes“ as to 1m fact that, as Van Hyck hooks states, “die happened
upon {their that stirred her to the depths and electrified her talent

for a momenta"?8

Higginses presents an interesting focal point through wish to
canto-est the two women whose literary careers he was instrmtsl in
,fostering. Helen Hunt Jackson, who followed his advice inplidtl'y"
whose active, cheerinl temperament was akin to his own, ' enjoyed in-
tone pemlerity during her life. Bit today, except for her twa
books, m and A m g; Dishonor, she is hardly read. Mly
Dickinson, who went her independent way while asking Higginson‘ s ad-
vice, whose shy, elusive temperament Higginson never nnderstood, has
risen steadily in public esteem and ihlrilled the prophetic words she
wrote to Higginson, ”If fame belonged to me, I could not escape her."99

The story of the - unique friendship of Higgnson and Emily madn-
son, although told many times before,100 is pertinent to this study of
Higginson' s influence on women writers of his day. The friendship

ft

 

970arlos Baker, ”Delineation of Life and Glarecter, " Literary
Hinton of the United- States, Robert Spiller (ed.), p. 869.

933mm, 92. 333., p. 300.

”Mabel Leonie Todd (ed.), Letters 2; all Dickinson (New Icrh,
1931), P. 271‘s

loo‘ro mention but a few of the most recent comeentaries: George
F. Whicher, ibis Has a Poet (New York, 1938); Rebecca Patterson,
hie Riddle o ficfii'l'éon (Boston, 1951); 'nxeodora V. W. Ward,
chi-ism and Mamas Wentworth Higginson," Boston Public
Libr Bulletin, v (Jamary, 1953), pp. 3-18, 'monas . rm,
6 some of El Dickinson (Cambridge, 1955 and Baily Dickinson:

EWive Madge, 1955).

 

 

 

218

hegnhlasz, Ilium touched effhymwm.whis
Atlantic 1352: article, Imet-ter to a we ConhihntorJl-el sigm-
m about thirty-nine years old; my molds-u m thirty-cue. His
life isosctrssttehershedbeenectivelyespegedisthe-i-istry, in
the abolition, woman outrage, and te-peranoe newts. He had also
acquired distinction as a has of letters, having contributed to the
Atlantic may. no less than twenty-one articles since its beginnings
in 1857. W, on the other hand, after her schooling at Amherst
Academy and W Holyoke Female Sanitary, had retired to her father's
house. Her contact with Meade became more and more restricted. Often,
in her liter years, when she visited with them, they sat in the parlor

 

 

while she conversed with then in a nearby hallway. Blonds H. Johnson

 

says, “By the mid-seventies when her seclusion was nearly ehsolute,
her reihsel to see old friends was deterndned by the fact that the
nervous drain during such encounters had become exhausting beyond her
power to cope with then. "102

Although the evidence is only circnnstsntial, biographers believe
that during 1858 or 1859 Emily found her mse in Reverend Charles
Wadsworth, an Episcopal minister in Philadelphia. Her love for Wads-
worth (even though she saw him only three times in her life) metered
her emotionally as well as artistically and found expression in a pre-
lific poetic output. By 1862 the floodgates of her creativity were
opened to such an extent that she wrote almost three hundred poems and
for tire years more others continued floating at a rapid rate. It was

 

lo112eprinted in Hints 33 Writing and yegmshing, pp. 9—48.

5 102mm H. Johnson, mill Dickinson: A_t_l_ Interpretive W,
P0 3e

 

 

 

 

 

 

w—————1 219
shutthistinethstshehemtoorasiseherpeemsintossall
pretest-.103 when she turned to Him, thereiere, Johnsen Essys,1°h
she believed herself to be an accomplished poetess, net the neophyte
Bigglnm thoufit her. file felt the need of a competent Judge who
sound tell her if her verses were "alive.” One wonders, however, if
she were not seeking approval or corroboration of her opinion instead,
for , although she constantly pleaded for guidance, Higginson soon
realized she would not or could not accept it. it any rate, Higglneon

 

became her profeséional audience of one and advised her not to pub-
lish. To this she replied that to publish "being foreign to my
1311011618 as firmament to fin. ”195 Higginsongoffered, however, to he

a release for her poetic energies by consenting to hear her "recite" ;
but , more important ,- his kindly, almost paternal, interest helped her
to pass a psychological crisis which she faced at this time. For this
she later thanked him. "01‘ our greatest acts we are ignorant," she

wrote, “you were not aware that you saved my life."106

 

The letters to Higginson during the first year were concerned
solely with her poetry. From the very first she addressed him with a
naiveté not evident in her other letters to friends. She called him

her "master," her "dear friend, ” her "preceptor," and habitually

 

signed her letters, "You scholar," "leer pupil} "Imlr alone.” Hig-
ginson tried to direct her into smoother rhythms and rhymes, to guide

her along the conventional patterns of the day. He found, very soon,

 

1°3Ibid., p. 69.
lohlbid” p. 105.
IOSTOdd, 22. 22:30, p0 2713-9

106nm.

 

 

 

 

220 -.

that she calla not be persuaded to see the obvious faults that he
pointed out: she corrected spelling errors, but her ”gait" was
“spasmodic"; her verse uncontrolled. see wrote in reply to this
ienrgeny,-‘~Ioa say'I confess the little mistake, and omit the large.
fiecause 1"er see orthography; but the immce out of sigtt is w
preceptor’h charge. . . . I shall observe your precept, though I
don't understand it, always.”107 ' '

F It soon became evident to both of them that the preceptor-pupil
relationship was a game. My Dickinson could not alter her say or
writing to follow Itiggsisnaont s advice. Higginson says in his Atlantic
article: "It would seen first at first I tried a little-us very little-«-
to lead her. in the direction or rules and traditions; but I fear it
was only perfunctory, and that she interested me more in her, so to
speak, unregenerate condition. Still she recognizes the endeavor. "108

Although Enily continued to ask for advice, (”It I still entfiat
you to teach me, are you such displeased?") the following year the
friendship between them shifted to a personal rather than a professional
plane . Higginson, in the fall of 1862 , volunteered for military ser-
vice. a. conunanded a Negro regiment in South Carolina and was wounded,
September, 1863. Daring this year, the frequency of the letters lapsed
but was renewed 111-18614 when Enily wrote from Boston where she was
taking treatments for her eyes. The letters throughout the next
twenty years of their friendship show a tender concern on my s part
for Higgmson's welfare and that of his wife-4 concern that seems to

have. been mutual , for many of the letters treat of the sorrows and

 

1°7n1d., p. 277.

108nm mckinson' s Letters ," Atlantic Monthly, LX'VIII (October,
1891), p. 1:148. -

 

   

,.
' l
n
a
\
|
u
,
e
H.
u

v x.

c o

e n n

   

 

that 830 Wild not be persuaded to see the obvious faults that he :
pointed out: she corrected spelling errors: but her n 831.9! m I :
nspasmodic"; her verse uncontrolled. me wrote in reply to this
'fl'surgeryflg'fou say I confess the little mistake, and omit the large.
hecause Iacan see orthog'aphy; but the ignorance out of siglt is w
preceptor‘s charge. . . . I shall observe your precept, thong: I

don? t understand it, always. “10'!

It soon became evident to both of them that the preceptor-pupil
relationship was a cane. Mly Dickinson could not alter her say of
writing to follow Higginson‘ s advice. Higginson says in his Atlantic
article: ”It would seem that at first I tried a little-«a very little-«-
to lead he; in the direction of rules and traditions; but I fear it
was only perfunctory, and that she interested me more in her, so to
speak, unregenerate condition. Still she recoglizes the endeavor. "108

nthough holly continued to ask for advice, ("If I still entreat
you to teach me, are you such displeased”) the following year the
friendship between them daifted to a personal rather than a professional
plane. Higginson, in the fall of 1862 , volunteered for military ser-
vice. a. comnanded a Negro regiment in South Carolina and was wounded,
September, 1863. Bring this year, the frequency of the letters lapsed
but was renewed 111-186).: when Eknily wrote from Boston where she was
taking treatments for her eyes. The letters throughmlt the next
twenty years of their friendship show a tender concern on Badly' s part
for Higginson's welfare and that of his wife-ma concern that seems to

have- been mtual, for many of the letters treat of the sorrows and

 

1°71n1d., p. 277.

108” ”Emily Dickinson's Letters," AtlanticHo nthl,y LXVIII (October,
1891): Po M88.

 

 

 

221

I

Joys of both families. Besides having interest in his personal welfare,
my follmd Higginson's literary career and I'folt honor" for his, and
m gateral than as sent her copies or his pctiicatieaseaitlutic m,
I‘M W 33: _Anericsn Authors, and his sonnet __on Helen Hunt Jackson.

_ mar any invitationstfligginson finally visited grains in Augusta:
IMO, an experience he recorded in a letter to his wife. He was greeted

by M17:

a little ‘plain woman with two mooth bands of reddish hair
and a face a little like Belle Dove's, net plainer, with no
good feature. . . . ale came to me with two day lilies,

. which she put. in a sort of chilflihe way into nw hand and
said, *nlese'are 1w introduction,‘ . .'. and'added under
breath,. 'Forgive me if I am frightened; I never see stran-
gers "and hardly lmow what. I say' «but she talked soon and
thenceforward continuously-and. deferentially~sonetimes
stopping to ask ‘me to talk instead of her—~bnt readily
reconmencing.109

Higginson felt that she was

too enignstical a being to solve in an hour‘s interview,

and an instinct told me that the sligltc st attempt at

. direct cross-exam nation would make her withdraw into

her shell; I could only sit still and watch, as one

does in the woods; I met fine aw bird without a gun,

as recommended by Emerson. 0

The concluding paragraph of a letter to his wife expresses even
more forcibly his reaction to mily' s personality. I'I never was with
anyone who drained my nerve power so such. Without touching her she
drew from no. I an glad not to live near hex-ml“

nzree years later Higginson again visitedfiAmherst. He wrote to

his sisters:

 

109August 16, 1870, Todd, 32. cit, p. 285.
110"Emily Dickinson's Letters," p. 162.
llldngnst 1h, 1870,-Todd, 92. $3., p. 288.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

u.

 

 

 

 

 

222

I saw my eccentric poetess Esily Dickinson who never
goes outside her father' s grounds and sees only me and a
few others. ale says, “here is always one thing to be
grateful for, «that one.is one' s self and not somebody
else,' “but Mary /his wife] thinks this is singularly out
of place in Emily Dickinson"s case. file (E. D.)glided in,
in white , bearing a Daphne odors for me, and said, under
breath, 'How long are you going to stay” I am afraid
Mary's other renarfl ‘fll, why do the insane so cling to
you?! still holds. 2- _
. In spite of his facetious ,.rereronce to Ehily mcmson as his
“partially cracked poetess, "113 it is clear that Higginson sensed
her need for his help outside of her wish for literary criticism.
It was. in this capacity, more than as a literary adviser that he
filled his role. He wrote, ”Always glad to hear her recite, as
she called it, I soon abandoned all attempt to guide in the sligltest
degree this extraordinary nature, and simply accepted her confidences,
giving as much as I could of what might interest her in return.”11h
Johnson points cutithat Higginson's "willingness to play the game by' -
her rules, to give the help “she needed by simply replying as a
friend to her letters, is to Higginson's everlasting crodit."lls
Higginson, nevertheless, found her poems entertaining enough
to read at the Volume Club in Newport (1875) where they nexcited
mch interest.”1]-6 When Helen Hunt Jackson visited Emily Dickin-
son and urged her to publish some of her work, sadly fled to Big--
ginson for a refusal. Although Helen Jackson did receive one poem,

Higginson evidently satisfied Emily Dickinson' s plea for protection

 

nznecember 9, 1873, ibid., p. 291. Also qxoted in part in
Letters and Journals _o_i_‘ Thomas Wentworth Higflson, p. 268.

113To Anna Higginson, December 2, 1876, code, 92. 333., p. 306.
lithium Dickinson's Letters," p. 160-

115dohnson, M We is Interpretive m, p. 121.
11510 Arms Higginson, November 30, 1875.. Todd, 92. 31.3., p. 297.

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

223'

- r-
s

inthislstterbyagreeingvithherthatherpomverenet forpub-
lioetios. Today, the vantage points of the recently published de-
finitive editions of the gem and m of many Dickinson“ sell
as the perspective of sisty years of Dickinson scholarship have placed
Higginson in a somewhat unfavorable ligit. Haw of My monason's
biog-aphers consider bin obtuse in the extreme for not recognising -
M133 s genius and for advising her not to publidl her work. It not
be renemhered, however, that Higginson was representative or nineteenth
century literary standards. He was rooted in the theory, as HcOomok
asserts, that the writer should master torn, that literature should

be pleasing aesthetically. This was secured, he believed, by 'nerging
'logical structure' and 'artistic structure‘mideas and expressions.-
into a harmonious rhole.’ The node of expression should be charac-
terised by simplicity, freshness, appropriate choice of words , and

 

thoroughness of preparation and revision. “117

Daily Dickinson, to Higginson's rind, violated the edict on form
and logical structure to such an eartent that he advised her not to
publish, advice which she clung to all her life. Had Daily Dickinson
souglt the "preceptorship" or Samuel Bowles, editor of the m-
£1332 ReEblican and a close friend of the family, or of Dr. J. 0.
Holland, editor of Scribner'e Monthly, she undoubtedly would have
received the same direction, for, as Johnson also points, l"l'hey ad-
mired her originalities, but like Higginson they did not believe that

she really wrote poetry. "118

_—_
w

117Edgar Lindsley McCormick, mamas Wentsorth Hi ‘ n as a
Literfl Critic (Unpublished docto'iEI—JIsseFEE‘EIon, Ufiverlat'y’bf
gan, , p. 72.

118Jehsson, mil: Dickinson: .2433. interpretive m, p. 111.

 

   

   

 

22h

mggiuos, however, hit the superiority or her pecans, which he
believed truscended the tault er textual irregularities. But each
tiaehereadherpoetryhecslebscktotheproblen, 'Hhatplacesudlt
to be scanned in literature to what is so relsrkable, yet so elusive
of critioim'u9

is an experienced nan of letters, he was aware of the kind of
work acceptable to publishers, and of that “vast, usispassioaed, un-
conscious tribunal, . or public opinion.121 -Rightly, he spoke of
public opinion as "something more undying than senates, and more osmi-
potout than courts, something which rapidly cancels all transitory
reputations, and at last becomes the organ of eternal Justice, and

 

awards a pornmnous fame.”121 Little did he know in 1862 how true
would be this comment in the case of Emily Dickinson. let it was
through his efforts that posthumous fame finally came to her.
Higginson's position in the "literary debut" of Emily Dickinson
was that of consultant and sponsor rather than initiator. it was her
sister, Lavinia Dickinson, who decided to publish Emily‘s poems.
Without understanding the content or quality of mate work, he-
vinia, by her importinity finally won the reluctant consent of Mrs.
Mabel Leonie Todd and Higginson to examine the manuscripts.
Within a week after Emily’ s death in 1886, Lambda discovered
a box of peens which Emily had'net directed her to destroy. the im-
mediately took them to her sister-isl-law, Susan (Elbert Dickinson,

 

1191:3111: Dickinson'a Letters,“ pe 1:115.

120% Letter to a Young Contributor ," Hints on Vri ritggfl and
yeah-Making p. 230

121ma., p. 2b.

 

 

 

225

sadsshedhertore-copytheaferpublicstiea. Afteratise, Susan
rater-athepem,vhichectiennvinisteektebeeremultede
thework. Laviniathentunedtonigglnsostoaskshetherhewsuld
be willing to have the poens published." Higginson replied that

he was extremely busy, and that the confused macripts
presented nearly insuperable obstacles to reading and
Judging such quantities of poems. hand: be admired the
singular talent of Emily Dickinson,.he hardly thougit
annual could be found to make an even uni-conventional
volume. He told her that if this tangle of literary
wheat and chaff could be put in easy shape for considera-
tion, he would be glad to go over it carefully. Other-
wise he could not give the necessary time.122

Hhen Lavinia found that Higginoa was not willing to accept
the responsibility and the work involved, she be gged her talented
neighbor, Hrs. lhbel Louis Todd,to begin the work, a task Hrs.
Todd unwillingly undertook. The work proved to be an editorial

ease with textual difficulties impossible for an amateur to un-
In her notes, Hrs. Tedd described the condition of the

 

““10

"volumes 0 I

ate [Lavinia] showed no the manuscripts and there were over
sixty. little 'volunes,‘ each composed of four or five sheets
of note paper.tied together with twine. In this box she dis-
covered eight or nine hundred poems tied up in this way.

They looked almost hopeless from a printer's point of view.
me handwriting consisted of styles of three periods, ah-
solutely different one from another. All were writtén in a
hand which to most persons is exceedingly difficult to

read, and many words were liable to be widely ndsconstn'led.
ills poems were written on both sides of the paper, inter-
lined, altered and the number of suggested changes was
bafflin . Almost every page had a mmber of crosses

[before mam of the words. Each cross referred to a choice
of several words at the bottom of the page which the author
had thonglt equally good, and quite as expressive of her
meaning as the word actually employed in the text. ‘Ihere
was nothing whatever to indicate which word was supposed to
fit into which place. the crosses were all alike. As there

122mlieent Todd Bingham, Ancestors! Brocades: The Liter-fl
Debut 3;; Emily Dickinson (New rem , , p. . ""

 

 

 

were frequently several sets of such changes on a page , as

guide to assist in choosing could be relied upon except a

sense of the working of the author's peculiar mind, by

which the most characteristic wordeshould bell-stained from

the choice of several which she had indicated.123

By 1889 Mrs. Todd had copied enough poems to show to Higginson
and was willing to accept his indolent regarding then.12h she visited
him at Cambridge to Slow him what she considered the most characteris-
tic of hily's poetry. On November 6, he returned the visit and asked
Hrs. Todd toficlassify the poems into three sections, A, B, and c.

' He suggested putting all the best enee, and nw own

favorites, into a class marked A--not only those of most

arianal thouglt, but expressed in the best form. The

next choice, B, those with striking ideas, but withtoo

may of her pewliarities of construction to be used

unaltered for the public, and 0, those I considered too

obscure or too irregular in form Star public use, how-

ever brilliant and suggestive.12
The poems were sent to him in their final form on November 18, 1889.
Higginson's enthusinm grew as he read through each section and re-
arranged about two hundred of the poems according to subject: life,
nature, time, death, and eternity.

He suggested sending them to Houghton Nifflin Company for pub-
lication as he was one of their readers at the time. Houghton Mif-
flin refused to publish poetry whose rhymes were "all wrong.”126
he poems were finally submitted to Mr. Thomas Niles, Jr., or Roberts

Brothers, because he had shown interest in Emily Diekinson's poetry on

 

123%., p. 17,
125w” p. 33..
”51%., pt 31,-,
1961,22” r.“ E‘.‘

 

 

22?

several occasions during her life. Mr. Niles sent the volume to Arlo
Bates, a post, for his criticism. Bates thought the poems showed re-
markable talent, but he. threw out some of the choicest pieces, which
lowered his: in Higginson's estimation)” ilhe first volume finally
included 115 of the poems.

Differences of opinion arose between Hrs. Todd and Higginson in
regard to the titles of some of the poems. In new cases, Mrs. Todd's
choices seem to indicate a better understanding. For example, ‘

He fliggnsog put the title 'A World Well Lost' to

a little poem beginning
I lost a world the other day.

Has embody found? I '
thereby to our [Eh-s. Todd's] mind entirely misrepresenting
the thought. He suggested 'it Home' as a title for
The bee is not afraid of me,
I know the butterfly,
whereas the gist of that poem lies in the last two lines,
which ”it Home' never touches.12
Objection was also raised to Latin titles such as "Astra Castro,"
"lhmen Lumen," and "Resurgam" which undoubtedly are heavy-footed—
when attachedto Baily Dickinson's game. The editors also took li-
berties with words in order to make lines rhyme. Such "creative
editing” both Higginson and Mrs. Todd felt was necessary to make the
poems palatable to the critics and reading public. An example is
recorded by Mrs. Todd, who would have like to preserve the quaintncss
of the article in‘the second line of

The grass so little has to do
I wish I were a hay,

Higginson, however, decided that the line could not go in as it was

 

127nm opinion of Mr. Bates has gone down goatly, for he cer-
tainly wished to leave out several of the best.” Letter to Mrs. Todd,
July 3, 1890, _i____hid., p. 55.

1281bid., p. 57.

 

 

 

u.

 

 

 

 

228
isthe menisci-1px;. 1*. . . everybodywould ssythatmis a cenectite
noun remixing the definite article. lebody can cm. it .9. test-129
Higginson won. . . l _

Ifiigginson wrote an article for the gentggzgnagazine, pert of'shich
was to be used.for the preface of the first volume of’poens. Because
the 23.1525: could not print it before the publication of the poems,
Higginson sent it to the (bristian 29335, September 25, 1890.

. m the day of the publication 'of the first volume, Higginson wrote
to Mrs. Todd expressing his astonishment at the remarkable quality of
the poems which he was discovering in the letters he had been permitted
to peruse. ‘Hhen.he finally saw the printed volume he wrote, "Books
Just arrived-«bound. I an astounded in looking through not could we
ever have doubted about than.“130 Throughout the work on this under-
taking there had been no hesitancy on.Mrs. ded's part, her daughter
‘maiutains, about the value of Emily'Dickinson's poetry. Bigginson‘s
reticence seems to have come from‘his fear of the incompetence of ‘
critics to recognize her genius. By the time he had finished the first
volume, however, he knew that he was reading the work of’an.artist.
Although his preface to the first volume was principally apologetic,
he shows sincere appreciation when.he says:

such verse must inevitably forfeit whatever advantage

lies in the discipline of’puhlic criticism.and the enfbrced

conformity to accepted.ways. 0n the other hand, it may often

gain something through the habit of freedom and the uncon-

ventional utterance of daring thoughts. . . .
But the main quality of these poems is that of extra-

 

129Ibid., p. 32.
130chember 12, 1890, ibid., p. 72.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

229

ordinary grasp and malt, uttered nth an uneven-vigor
flififimfitfinmfl’ W’ b“ "‘1’ “"'
My Dickinson's poetry ,was received by the press and the pub-
lic with mixed feelings which both deliglted and exasperated the
editors. what the critics had to say did not hinder the access of
the first volume, which reached a sixth edition within six months.
In the meantime, Lavinia had a second velnne under way with Mrs.
Todd's and Higginson's assistance. by April, 1891, Higgins» could
advise Hrs. Tedd, "Let us alter as little as possible, new that the
public car is opened."132 Many of the poems which they included in
this vol-one were those wily had sent him in her letters.
i 1°99}. by y Dickinson, Second Series, appeared in November,
1891. Mrs. Mabel Loomis Todd had written the Preface which Higgin-

 

son revised and approved. Hrs. Todd agreed to have Higginson's name
appear first on the title page of this volume (it appeared second in
the first volume), since she had written the preface. the reception
by the critics was about the same as that accorded the first. In
spite of favorable and unfavorable critical appraisals, the series
sold, going through several editions.

Higmson and Mrs. Todd helped to create an audience for My
Dicldnson's poetry throqu lectures and magazine articles. me most

 

Widely read of Higginson's article today (recently reprintedl33) is
his Atlantic Monthly papfi on the letters of My Dickinson. He

 

131mm Leonie Todd and ‘Ihomas Wentworth Higginson, Poems g;
31.11 Dickinson (Boston, 1915), pp. v, v1).

1323mm, 33. 535., April 21, 1891, p. 127.

1331mm Weeks and Emily Flint (eds.), Jubilee: 9_ne_ Hundred
Years of & Atlantic (Boston, 1957).

 

 

 

 

 

 

:1.

 

 

 

230

\

timed its appearance for the ferthceusg second volume of Leg and
neceeded in awakening interest, not only in her poetry, but in her
prose style, which gave an impetus to the utilisation of the first
volume of her letters.

in appraisal of Higginm's influence on My Diokiuon's life
and literary career is difficult becmse of it's obliqueness. no...
sing as her literary mentor, he became, instead, her "safest“ friend
who, without completely understanding her elusive nature, filled a
psychological rather than an advisory need.

is coneditor of her poems he soth out those which had "form"
and deliberately took liberties with others to give them conventional
rhythm and rhyme. lot, after further examination of a larger body
of her poetry, he remained an excellence present in her work which

 

he was the first to acclaim publicly, if somewhat apologetically.
By collaborating as editor of the first two volumes of her poetry,
he was instrumental in presenting a new genius to the world. He
seems to have been quite aware of this when he wrote exultingly to
Mrs. Todd: "Ion are the only person who can feel as I do about this
extraordinary thing we have done in recording this rare genius. I
feel as if we had climbed to a cloud, pulled it away, and revealed
a new star behind it."13l‘

 

 

However, one cannot but feel gateful that Higginson's prudence,
lack of interest, or obtuseness (whatever the cause) protested him to
advise Emily Dickinson to delay publication. By doing so , the poems
were kept in readiness until the world would accept them. For who

 

 

13Wheaties Hentworth Higgflson, p. 368.

 

   

 

   

 

 

231

newshuseenthefireeleyBioflsm's min-fiathavebees
entree out by the adverse critioi- of critics who, like new,
could nreurvedfly applaud the poetry of Helen Hunt Jackson, but
staid bewildered before the work 'of My Mckinson's genius.

Two years after Julia Ward Rowe's eigxty-eixth birthday, Higgin-
son' s pleasant biographical sketch appeared in 2935.135 For over
forty years, Eigglnson and lbs. Howe had been close friends. To-
gether they represented the period of the memes," the generation
of high ideals and strong faith in the perfectibflity of nan. mey
had fought amide: to shoulder in several reform movements and. had
sat side by side as president and vice-president of several clubs.136
Margaret Fuller and Lydia Maria Child had been his elders and his
teachers. Harriet spofferd, Helen Hunt Jackson, and My Dickinson,
while not much younger than he, were looked upon as his protegées,
his pupils. Hrs. Julia Hard Howe was his peer.

Limited to less than ten- pages which were half filled with il-
lustrations, Higginson could only highlight Hrs. Rowe's most striking
«politics in this article. Quaracteristically, he emphasises her
reform activities, but gives more attention to her work in the Woman
Mirage movement than to the anti-slavery activities, in which both

of then had been so active. He merely says of we abolition reform

 

168 135"Julia Ward Howe,” mtlook, LXXXV (Jamary 25, 1907), PP. 167-

136me Radical Club, the Town and Country Club, the Boston Authors'
Club, to name but a few.

 

 

 

 
 

u.

 

 

232_

that it gave her a liberal education. krona it she learned self-
control and ”the habit of speaking in public meetings or presiding
over them; these helped to array in her quick-mittens“ on the
side of tact and courtesy.'137

However, Higginsen praises the whole-hearted energy with which
she supported the woman suffrage newnent and the quality of leader-
ship do exhibited in the activities of the Women's Rights Associa-
tions, especially as president of the W' s depirtneet at the 1883
Vorld' s Fair at New orleans. A

ihlia ward Rowe's interest in world affairs began in her youth
when, because of the European prestige of her father's (Samel Ward)
banking firm, she had been accustomed to think internationally. After
her mrriage to Samuel Gridley Howe, the reformer, in 1810, she spent
a year abroad with her husband, making friendships with literary
people and leaders of thought in several countries. Througl her ner-
riage she also came into contact with the Boston enviromnent "of
wilosophers, poets, and Unitarian” practically all the prominent
Massachusetts intellectuals and reformers of that period became her
acmaintances. "138

It was at. Newport, Rhode Island, where Higginson lived for a
number of years after the war, that the companionship between the
Hoses and Higginson became most pleasurable. Although Hrs. Howe was

not the nucleus of a literary center in a strict sense, nevertheless,

 

137'Julia Ward Howe ," mtlo_____c_>_k, p. 172.

138mgarits 5. Gerry, “Julia Ward Howe, Dictio 2; American
W, mules Malone (ed.), II (New York, 193?), p. £51.

 

 

 

 

 

233 7

her hale atmcted such famies as "the We, the Variags, the
ran-tone, the Potters, the woieeyo, the mite, the Rogers; the Harts,
the We, the seed-inn, rate Field, and others besides, who were
readily breufit together for any intellectual eadeynente'139 '
It was at lswpert, also, that the Essa sad Country Club was
formed, of which Hrs. Howe was president and Higginson vice-president;
Hrs. Howe good-hurled]: referring to him as W dear Vice." me Iowa
and Country flab, in its earliest days became-“ outlet forfna and
frolic with Hrs. Howe its brilliant leader, whose Jokes were nwe met
remember, never absolutely out of tastee‘m‘o Higginson aves‘the
ridiculous program which was the theme of one of the meetings. Modeled
on a Harvard Oomencenent exercise, mock degrees were awarded to Mari-
anne hott and Anne Bigelow-n-the latter being Hrs. Rowe's little lamb,
whom she welcomed "to a long career at the ba«-a.."11‘1 lectures included
on the program were "German language and letters," by Charles 1‘. Brooks,
the foremost German translator; "How to Sacrifice‘an Irish Bull to a
Greek fineness,n Thomas Wentworthhigginson; “Social Shall Potatoes,
and how to enlarge their eyes," by George Waring; "fliesis Rhinosophica-u-
Our Roses, and What to do with-then," by Frames Parton (Fanny Earn);
"Hebrew Roots, with a plan of a new drubbarimn," William W. Goodwin;

 

 

a poor, "The Pacific Woman," by Francis Bret unite, and “he Ideal New
York Alderman" by James Parton. At the meeting, Higgnson says, "me
and I presided, dividing between us the two parts of Professor Goodwin's

 

139'Julia Ward Howe," Outlook, p. 170.
1h°ihid., p. 172. "

151nm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

23h

Mord mfermreffiedal odor-ennteedenthemtyottho
ecoadeno'u'z hat was in the 1860' s.

Higéassa naturally does not follow the vicissitudes of the with
which died out for a tine but was revived in 1871;.110 But a letter

te Hrs. Hews sneag Higginsoa's correspondence threwe added liat en
the cerdislity of their mend-hip. A balance of one moo was left
in the Town and Country treasury. Higginsoa tells Hrs. Howe:

As you were the creator, baptiser, and long-continued
curse of the club, I think that the disposal of the balance
left in the treasurer's hands should be decided by you,
whether you devote it-to your personal adornments which
naturer years justify, or to beneficiaries among ' the colored
race, or those Italians who write you such graceful odes on
your birthdays, . should be left to you. You have put far
from you those Vices of when I am one, but we no doubt
that they would all agree in their opinion.

- Higginson succeeded in having Hrs. Howe elected as first woman
member of the American Anthors' Club, on event which occurred shortly
after the publication of his oheteh for the mtlook. In his notiri-
cation to her, he wrote : '

Victory at last, and yet are the first women neubor
of the American Authors' Club. It was carried thrmigh
by the two editors of the 'Contury‘ and Mark Twain, with
maybe a little help from your humble servant, who would
not join the Club till the Constitutifig was so altered
as to admit women. The world moves!1 .

 

Higginson pointed out that Mrs. Howe was one of the first contri-

butors to the Atlantic Monthly. Of the "Battle Hyhm of the Republic"

he wrote:

 

11¢Ibid., p. 171.
ufiLetters and Journals 3; Thomas Wentworth Higgiflson, p. 230.

lwmctober, 1905, ibid., p. 231:.

1’45February S, 1907, ibid., P- 235°

 

 

 

 

H.

 

 

235

Hrs. Howe, like her friend Br. Holmes, has perhaps

had the disappointing experience of concentrating her sure

prospects of fans on a single poem. What the 'alambered

Nautilus' represents in his published volumes, .the ' Battle

Hymn of the Republic. represents for her. In each case -

the poet was happy enm@ to secfig, throufi influences

impenetrable, one golden moment. .
or hei- war songs he considered "Our Orders" the finest; 'Hanlet at
Boston“ as strong and noble; "his Last Bird" as having anflavor of
Bryant about it. He believed-that "Eros has Warning and "Eros Departs"
to be the profoundest. But he liked, next to the "Battle -Hym of the *
Republic," a poem entitled "Rouge Gagne.” Based upon the game "Rouge
et Nair" the theme of which; is that the red winsnred symbolizing for
Mrs. Howe, life, faith, blushes, roses, battles, love. Higglnson
played on the color theme in a poem he wrote in tribute to Mrs. Howe
for her eighty-sixth birthday. It was first printed in the Atlantic
Monflflllmand is included in his mtlook article.

Higginson speaks briefly about Mrs. Howe's proseuher Reminiscences

which, he says, suffers from excess of material, and her little volume

 

lh6nJu11a ward Howe," (mt'look, p. 17h.

11‘? La Couletu‘
“I. stake my life upon the red!"
With hair still golden on herhead,
Dam Julia of the .Valley said.

 

But time for her has plans not told,
And with her patient years unfold
They yield the white and not the gold.

Where Alpine smrmits leftiest lie,
The brown, the green, the red pass by,
And whitest top is next the sky.

And now with meeker garb bedight,

Dame Julia sings in loftier light,

"I stake ow 1:1 fe' upon the white”
"Mrs. Howe and her Commentator, " Atlantic Monthll, XCVIII (October,
1906), Po 57h.

 

 

 

 

 

u.

 

 

236

of addresses on 'Hodern Society,“ which oontains papers on Paris and
Greece full of anecdote, sympathy, and memory.

Mention is also made of Mrs. Rowe's domestic life and of her
illustrious children: her manure-Join, a poet and philosopher;
Florence, the writer of “Social Customs,“ and 'me Correct fixings"
Laura, author of Captain-m and other children's books; Hand,
author of books on art and literature; and her son, hem-y Marion,
an engineer and author of £13 Metallurg 93 fl.

It is (mite clear that Higginson's friendship with Mrs. flows,
as this essay illustrates, was one which expanded his horizon
socially and artistically. With her he came in contact with the
most brilliant minds of the day which broadened (if they did not
deepen) his perceptions and stimulated his public spirit and li-
terary talents. The essay was intended as a tribute to such a
friend. Without being sentimental, Higginson illustrates Hrs. Howe‘ s
ligzt-heartedness, wit, sympathy for the oppressed, and enduring '
friendship. He intended the essay to be a sketch, not a complete
memoir. As such it mlfills its purpose and possesses the added
enrichment of Higginson's personal recollections of this woman who
had lived through the "flowering" and the “Indian Stunner" of New

 

mgland, and whose eyes, like Higanson' s,‘had seen I"tlrhs’glory of
the coming of the Lord.” ' ‘

 

 

 

H.

 

 

237

Among Kim's earliest literary essays to appear in the
Atlan______t_i_c_ seam, Winona! s Gampaigs'm is remnant. for
tworeasons. The firstandlesserinimportanceisthetactthst
this essay was the first or Higginson's serious attempts at narrating
history. ll'he style is that which Higéinson developed successfully in
lauryeerelnhlemgmmm, whichhrouglthin
renown as a historian. He had the ability to enliven his characters,
to recreate their historical background, and to insert scholarly
citations without becoming pedantic.

he essay, however, is significant principally because it treats
of a woman. By 1858, Higgnson's energies and views were centered on
the "woman question,” to which he was giving active support. With
mmluoy Stone, he had compiled the propagandistic W m
Almanac for that year. He had also given an address in 1a.. York
entitled, "Woman in Christian Civilization, " later published in
Rename 522932.! 93 21.1.2 Ag. But "Mademoiselle’s Carspaigns” can
be considered propaganda only indirectly, for infithis essay fiigginson
aimed for literary quality which he sustained successfully througlout
this his longest article.

The heroine of the essay is the long-forgotten Anne Marie Louise
d'Orleans, better Imown to historians, Higginson says, as "La Grande
Mademoiselle." She was born in 1627, while the slow tide of events
was drawing Charles I toward his scaffold; while Sir John Eliot was
awaiting in the lower of London the summing of the Third Parliament;
while the troOps of Blckinglam lay dying, without an snow, upon the

 

Mamademoiselle's Campaigns," Atlantic Month). , II (July, 1858),

1128:8193-206. Also reprinted in StuWis g .93 Letters, pp.
3.

 

 

 

 

 

 

u.

 

 

 

 

238

Idle e: Ehe.1h9

la a sentence, mains» passes by the first twenty years of her
lite and with rapid strokes places her in the artificial, glittering
setting of adult court life. Higginson, with a verve and deliglt in
story-telling, permits the reader to catch the spangled glory of the
French court 01‘ Mademoiselle-Ate dangers, insincerity, and frivclity.

Before the entrance of Mademoiselle en the stage of his narra-
tive, Higginson deftly weaves into his background the asses of spirited
women who preceded her. Even thougl the mill battles over which they
exerted some influence were so miner that they were called "The wars
of the Ladies," their influence, Higanson shows, was nevertheless
very real. ”Educated far beyond the English women of their day,“ says
the suffragist, "they took a controlling share, sometimes igloble,
often noble, always powerful, in the affairs of time.“150

lhere was the Princess Palatine who "gave refugc'to Mme. de
Lcugueville in order to save her from sharing the imprisonment of her
brothers Cord; and Conti; then fled for her own life, by night, with
Rodlefeucald, "151 and Madame de alevreuse who fled from Richelieu,
organized the much oodles in Ehglend and Holland, and later formed
the faction of the Importsnts.152 Other names, equally unimportant,
but equally brave (nichesse dc Bouillon, Clemence de Maille, Anne of

Austria, Margaret of Lorraine), who literally sprang into action and

 

ths-budigs 33 Histog and Letters, p. bl.
1501h1d., p. 1.6.
1511b1d., p. he.

1521mm, p. ha.

 

 

 

 

 

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—' . ‘ fi 7 f H r —7

239

crestedall sorts otpolitiesl furorshyvdlichtheybecue tenses, are
citedas typical missuvemheodinh‘snceintherlthcentury.
hm Part II, "First domains," to Part IV, “The Goneludu,‘
Him tellers laoemieelle, this! potted whirlwind, with racy a...
criptiens that try to keep pace with her vivacious personality.
A gay,fear1ess, flattered girl, she simply shared
the fortunes of the court; laughed at the festivals in the
Mace, laughed at the ominous inurrections in the streets;
longed when the people cheered her, their pet princess;
and when the royal party fled from Paris, she adroitly

secured for herself the bags straw bed at St. Germain, and
laugled louder than ever.

me Mademoiselle had tote opportunities to save Orleans against
insurrectionists or ”Preludes.“ On the first "campaign“ she wrunz
from her weaning father a plenipotentiary power because "it was as
easy for her to be strong as for him to be weak."15h With his au-

thority, she coolly rode to Orleans before the royal am arrived,

 

had one of the city gates battered down and squeezed threugl the
bars. "Torn, splashed, and dishevelled generally, she made a de-
bonair entrance into the city, "155 where she was received with great
ovations and flattery by the inhabitants and recognized as head of
all affairs, political and military.

The second "campaign"--the battle of Porto St. Antoine-ass more
serions. one actually eat} bloodshed. This tine, with real courage,
she demanded the citizens be called to anus to relieve the Condo ,

 

and that his army be permitted free passage into the city of Paris,
demands she was politely refused. Higginson, undoubtedly, was

 

15322.30, Fe 520
15%” p. st.

155Ibid., p. 58.

 

 

 

 

 

 

n.

 

 

 

2m

.uqi-g himself as he described the seas-iron»: anger with the
obstinate officials. no quotes Golrart as writing in his Egg
that Hadansisolle said some strange things to those gentle-en:
|'as, for instance, that her attendants should throw then out of the
tinder; that she would pluck off the Marshal's heard; that he should
die by no hand but hers, and the like."156

The council naturally acquiesced to her conditions after this
outburst, and Mademoiselle, arriving at the point of the Condfi' s on-
trons despair, turned the tide of the battle in his favor by no...
the canons of the Bastille trained upon the enesw forces.

Lhdanoiselle later married a M. de lsuzon amid the snickers of
the court and spent ten years trying to have him released from prison
for an insult she had given the king. However, after his release,

 

she soon parted with her ungrateful husband and ended her days

 

querulously arguing over petty court protocol.

Although the treatment is a little theatrical and the subject
matter of "Hadamoiselle's Campaigns" hardly scene worthy of the space
and literary effort and skill that siggineon put into it, the essay,
nevertheless, gives an insiglt into a type of woman he admired. He
suppresses indulgent chuckles over her escapades when he writes:

what fascinates us in her is simply her daring,

that inborn fire of the blood to which danger is its own

exceeding great reward, a quality which always kindles
enthusiasm, and justly, which is a thing of temperament,
not necessarily joined with any other great qualities,
and worthless when it stands alone.157

 

 

156Ib1do, p. 6119
1571bido, p. 81o

 

 

 

213.1.

“meek baldness,n an Atlantic Infill essay which appeared in

1869,‘fl.1ustrates two facets} of Higfinsen's Im-sided interests:

his concern to: the elevation and M of um, and his sin-
cere fondness for classical literamre. He combines the two interests
by discovering in Greek literature and wthelog an ideal of manhood
which, he says, has not been reached, before or since this period or
cisiliaation. He praises the goddesses for their noble freedom from
restraint, their equality with the gods, and their digiity of bearing
exemplified in Greek statuary; Around them.he weaves an aura of‘love-
liness with utmost delicacy and almost feminine sensitivity. so do-
fends the reputations of the goddesses against the coarse mind which
later projected their own vulgarity into what, he claims, was essen-
tially pure and chaste. He was thus able to set up the goddesses as
models, not only for the (heck women of ancient times, but also for

the women of his own generation.

An imaginative Greek. girl [he wrote] had not an
epoch nor an instant that was not ennobled. Every act
of her existence was glorified in some temple; every
dream of her silent hours took garlands and singing
robes around it. In her yet childish freedom she was
Artemis; 'in maiden meditation, fancy free,‘ she was
Athena; when her life was bound in wedlock, she was
Hera; when enriched by motherhood, she became Demeter,
and she was thenceforth the Hestia of her own home, at
last. Her life was like a revolving urn, upon.which
she could always see one great symbolic image scul- 158
ptured, though each in its turn gave way to another.

The essay is definitely a thrust at the nineteenth century atti-
tude toward women. With a display of citations from the Greeks and Romans
that is flashy, Higginson points up Plato's remark that Greek women were

educated on a par with men and that Homer respected their intelligence

158"Greek Goddesses," smdies jg gist-0g gag Latte-Ego Po 150.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

21:2

and judgesnt, believing that every eminent sonan partook or the divine
nature. 1130 same regard for woman is found, Higmaon asserts, in the
Greek tragedies. 'lhe Alcestis and Antigone are world-ream delinea-
tione of noble and. tender womanhood, and there are many companion-
pic‘hires,"159 as in Sophocles and Euripides. The love poetry or the
Greeks he‘ cites as another proof of the delicate appreciation of
Wood.

The burden of Higginson's essay is that the ideal of womanhood
was reached when the world was young and it is new hard to reproduce
it. Today, Higginson maintained, as no sculptor can produce more
than a Greek profile, so no poet has yet produced more than a Greek
woman. Attacking his own generation, he wrote:

Modern life has not seemed to elevate the ideal,

but the average. Common intelligence spread more widely,

sweetness and purity protected, more respect for the

wimtwfl 25:11:33: ,fi; :slgsith in the sibyl and
, .

America, Higginson felt, had advanced in its sensitivity to
wrong and was more comprehensive in its sympathy for the oppressed.
Although cannon sense had been the gainer, as had common virtue, it
was "only the ideal that had grown tame."161 Optimistically he pro-
phesied a new type of virgin womanhood which would Join the unfor-
gotten visions of (heel: sublimity with the sleeker graces of Guristian

tradition, so that there would rise nobler forms, "that shall eclipse

 

159Ib1d., p. 157.
1601b1d., p. 161;.
161Ib1d., p. 166.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2&3

these 'iair mmitie‘s of old reliaon'; as, when classic architecture
had reached perfectien, there reee the. Gothic and made the Greek seen
001d 3162

This essay was probably written with Atlantic m readers in
nind, who, for the most part, were not as sympathetic to the "women
we stien' as the subscribers to the W M. Always a preacher
at heart; Higginson simply reversed the coin or his woman's rights
armnents and approached the same topic from a cultivated - and positive
point of view. In the 112392.12 m M he had compiled a pic-
ture of woman' s degradation in distant Persia and in more recent
England and Anerica of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In
this essay on Greek goddesses, however, Higginson richly illustrated
the qualities which an ancient civilization had possessed, and sound-
ly challenged his country to attain that ideal again and surpass it
in the future.

Because "Greek Goddesses" has such a propagandistic purpose,
it loses in comparison with fl‘Sapphofl' which is a much better essay.
”Sappho" which appeared in the Atlantic Month in 1871 may be con-
sideredfla literary critique, a biographical sketch, and an appeal
for the cultural elevation of women.

Higginson places Sappho in her milieu among the well-trained
women of Eresus, and later at Mitylene where she founded a school
(conlparable to Margaret Fuller's) and gathered around her intelligent
women who became renowned for their proficiency in the fine and prac-

tical arts. The most intellectual fact about Sappho's life, Higginson

 

1621mm, pp. 166.167.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2th

asserts, was her relation to her team Alcaeus with when due is
united in fame “as the Joint founders of the lyric poetry of Greece,
and therefore of the world.'163 As such, her influence extended to
Anacreon and Pindar and, five or six centuries later, to Horace and
Gatfllus.

mat her reputation has suffered at the hands of dramatists,
poets, and critics is due to two causes. First, as in the case of
the Greek goddesses, Higginson says, the fact can be traced to an
essential coarseness of mind in writers-dike that of Voltaire in
his treatment of Joan of Arc. Secondly, Sappho stood at a transi-
tion period in history, and, “in a contest beWeen two secial sys-
tems, represented an unsuccessful effort to combine the merits of
both.“16’* The Homeric period respected women 3 the advancing culture
of Athens excluded them. Only the Aeolian colonies, such as Lesbos
where Sappho lived, undertook to admit the culture and the women also.
"The attempt was premature, and the repatation of Lesbos was crushed
in the process.“165 Inevitably, Sappho' s reputation also suffered.

Higginsen examined the scholarship‘of Welcker and Fblton who
vindicated S'appho and placed her in historical perspective. He cri-
ticized More's hostility to Sappho and defended the poetess by com-
Daring her school of women to that of Socrates and his pupils. the
high intellectual standards of her academy, Higginson maintained, can
be judged by the framents of Verse which have been left. Higginson

 

163”8appho,” Studies in. History 93 Letters, p. 171:.

léthide, p. 178a
155nm.

 

 

-—.—

 

 

 

 

 

 

5/
it

 

I
l I
u.
I

”5..

 

 

 

 

 

then offers an original translatien or a few of these lines end or
the one complete poem of Sappho'e, mm to iphrodite,‘ all e: which
are creditable.16‘5 m essay clues with a reflection on the genius
and ideal of woman, and, as in the ndrool: Goddesses,” Higgins“ urges
modern nations "to create a civilization where the hidlest culture
shall be extended to woman also. It is not enough that we should
dream, with Plato, of a republic where man is! free and woman but a
sort. me aspirations of modern life allminate, like the greatest
of modern poems, in the elevation of womanhood.*167

Although the poetess Sappho is used to point out the level of
intellectual achievement woman can attain, Higginson nevertheless
places more emphasis on her poetry, her critics, and her historical

 

background, all of which are well integrated into an essay that is
scholarly, critical, and only incidentally propagandistic.

Higginson had also written much earlier (1862) a timely article
for the Atlantic Monthly entitled, "The Health of Our Girls" in which
he advocated sensible dress and physical exercise for youagtgirls.

In a similar article, "Saints and their Bodies,"168 Higginson had
strongly urged indoor exercise in formal classes and outdoor exer-
cises througl games for men and boys. Training in physical education,
he maintained, is essential to good health, but should be reasonably
limited in the case of girls. A physical exertion that could be

 

156Van Wyck Brooks points out in E2! En and: Indian Summer, p.
27, that the post-war years were an age of tranEIation. Wee
of the romantic period in America was marked by translations: Longe
fellow's and Norton's Dante, Bryant's Homer, Cranch's Ver , Higgin-
son's Epictctus, George IErbert Palmerr'fisiel and Ba Taylor‘s
Faust. - .

 

167”Sappho,“ Studies a History Lug Letters, p. 199.

168Atlantic Monthly, I (March, 1858), pp. 582-595.

 

 

 

2&6

enjoyed by boys and help strengthen their muscles, would be easufi to
ruin a servo health for life. Both I"has Health of mar curls! and
Isolate and. their Bedies' were written at a tine when physical educa-
tion in schools was cesing into vogue. Higginson added a note to the
letter essay in his collected works,169 saying that this article was
credited with having had, perhaps, some small flare is that movement,
which ( one niglt add) has taken on greater proportions than Higginson
could have anticipated.

A much larger literary venture which gave Higginson much plea-
sure and satisfaction was his only novel, Malbone , published serially
in the Atlantic Honth from January to June, 1869. After a few months
work on the book, he noted: ’

I do not think that anything except putting on

uniform and going into camp has ever given no such a

sense of new strange fascinating life, as the thouglt

that I can actually construct a novel. It is as if
I had learned to 11y,170

The setting of the story is Newport, a place Higginson know 111--

 

timately. It is here Aunt Jane lives surrounded by her nieces and
nephews, among whom are Hope, Harry, Emilia, their cousin Kate, and
Philip Malbone. Philip has 311 st returned from Elli-ope with Hope' 9
half-sister Emilia whom he rescued from an undesirable love affair
with a Swiss servant, by winning her affections for himself. The
handsome Malbone, who had "a refinement instead of principles, and

a heart instead of a oOlrwczielnoe,"171 had been betrothed to Hope for

169"Saints and their Bodies," Outdoor Studies, p. 28.

170Thomas Wentworth Higgiil' sons Po 279°

173-"Malbone," Studies 31. Romance, The Works of Thomas Wentworth
Higginson, V (Boston, [933), p. 11;.

 

 

 

 

2h?
for more than a year. After meeting kills, his love became divided
between Hope's wholesome loveliness and Builia's passionate, rich
nature. Complications set in when Emilia learns of Hslbone'e betro-
thal to Hope. In an impulsive spirit of sacrifice for'her sister
Hope, Emilia marries John Lambert a widowed millionaire. ‘Hithin a
ueekiEmilia realizes her mistake, meets Mhlbone, who takes her up

to his room by means of a secret staircase. The clandestine meetings
occur frequently during a period of time that‘Mr. Lambert is away on
business. One night Hope follows Philip up the dark stairs and finds
Emilia in a tranceulike cataleptic fit. Shocked and heartébroken, she
takes Emilia to her own room and sends her home. Emilia decides to
lease Mrt‘Lambert and prepares the house and.yacht for his return
from his business trip. The next day a terrible storm arises and it

is discovered that the Lambert yacht with Emilia on board is caught

 

in its fury. The boat is lost and Emilia dies. Shortly after, it
is found that Emilia was escaping with her Swiss lover, who Claimed
to have married her in Europe. Melbone leaves, a crushed man, whose
weakness caused, he believed, the death of Emilia and the broken
heart of Hope.

Although Emilia and Melbone take the center of the stage most
of the story, Hope is the character Higginson portrays most sympa-
thetically; The betrothed of Melbone, Hope is beautiful, loving,
trusting, and. refined. Ste resembles, somewhat, one of Higginson's
Greek goddesseso-an American Athena, and, one might add, she is
almost as statuesque. She is distinctly American-~healthy, athletic,
a lover of the out~doors. That she succumbs to a sunpstroke while

swimming across a half-mile lake was due only to the necessity of

 

 

 

 

1...... a

H.

 

2&8

 

the author to introduce a sailor to rescue her, who later tune out to
I be Mia's Swiss lover. Furthermore, Hope is a school teacher, having

attended a Normal school in order to earn her living. _ In this occupa-
tion, which Higginson highly respected, she becomes a Woman of Influ-
ence,“ joining that great army of women teachers which (he wrote years
laterj were

spreading their unseen and daily labors throng: every

school district from Cape God to the Golden Gate;

smoothing the waste places, equalizing all our civi-

lization, doing the most for the poorest. . . . Com-

pared with these lives, how petty seem the little

struggles for position and etiquette?172
Hope's practicality of mind seems to give her a nobility and firmcss
with-which she meets crises without swooning. In this respect, Hig-
ginson was closer to modern novelists than to the sentimental novelists

of the 1850‘s and 1860' s. Another touch of modernity is that the

 

author lease the fate - of Hope to the imagination of the readers,
asking, "Must all novels end with an earthly marriage. . . 7"173 How-
ever, to-salve his conscience for leaving her so, he assures u‘s-‘that the
happiness she could not attain on earth would be given her in heaven.
Deftly slipping in his belief in immortality, Higginson tells the
reader confidentially:
If, as I doubt not, there be another sphere, then
that which is unfulfilled in this must yet find comple-
tion, nothing omitted, nothing denied. And though a

thousand oracles should pronounce this thought fin idle
dream, neither Hope nor 1 would believe them.17

 

172Women of Influence ,“ Women and 1333, pp. 20-21.
173ha1bone," Studies 33 Romance, pp. 228-229.

17h1bid., p. 231.

 

 

 

 

 

2&9

In spite at Hope's disappointment in mm and hsr sorrow at a"...
We trade death, she never eenpletely cones alive. that she pes-
ssssos'in physical stamina and practicality, she loses in emotional
depth. .8 certain.Pnritan.prinness and stoicisn.tallow'hsr'nbichrwill not
perfltherto givewayto great sorrowforher sistererhatrsdoi‘llsl-
bane. In this respect she is a strong contrast to her halt-sister Elia.

Mic, with the I"gpsy taste," the beautiful eyes and the l'sillq
hair at darkest chestnut,n always wore a look that was irresistible-e
"a certain wild, entangled look she were, as or some untansd out-deer
thing, and a kind at pathetic lost sweetness in her voice."175 Taken
to France as a child, Emilia had been educated there and returned to
America, sixteen-years old, and already a lost soul. Althougs Higginson
does not explicitly blame her Fhropean education for Enilia' s character,

 

the resulting temperament seems to have justified an attackhe made in
one of his woman suffrage essays on the education of girls in Mops.
He wrote: .
No young girls are so poorly prepared for American

life as those whose years are passed in Europe. Some of

the worst impmdences, the most umnaidenly and offensive

actions, that I have ever heard of in decent society,

have been on the part of young women abroad, who have

launched into American life without its early training, ~-

have been treated as childgen until they suddenly awakened
to the freedom of women.”

Prompted by her passionate nature, Emilia comits the gravest of
imprudences when in a mood of impulsive self-sacrifice she marries the
millionaire John Lambert and then rushes off to her death with her Swiss

sailor. Her actions remain merely I'imprudences," however, for althougl

 

1751b1d., pp. 9-10.
1'76qu European Plan," Women and the Alphabet, p. 207.

 

 

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s .
U -\
_ .
.
On. I
.. ._
.l l . .
_
_
1 -
.. J x
J
t J
J
. a _

 

u.

 

 

250

Emilia faintly resembles Hawthorne” Zenobia and Hester Prynn, she lacks
both the deep despair of the one and the capacity for suffering of the

other. file dies, caugat in her not, it is true, but rather as a petulant

child who cannot have her way.

Perhaps one of “I‘milia‘s less serious imprudences had been her as-
sociation with a class of 'I'society" of which Mrs. Ingleside and her
daughter Blanche were repfisentatives. Higginson had particular con-
tempt for the "foam of society," as has been seen, and therefore draws
these very minor figures without mercy. Blanche is coarse, loud, and
cheapm-the social butterfly her mother has trained her to be, unsuc-
cessfully angling for a husband.

Kate, the cousin of Emilia and Hope, also belongs to the society
of Newport. Althougz she too represents to a certain extent the "foam,“
her gentility and lovable character save her from the mawkishness-of 0
Blanche and Mrs. Ingleside. Kate's Motion, besides that of being
Harry's betrothed, seems to be that of a contrasting figure to Blanche.
ale represents well-bred society at its best. Kate also acts as a
stimulant for Aunt Jane's witticisms. ‘

Higginson's first wife, Mary Charming, was the living model from
which Aunt Jane was drawn. Higginson says in his introduction that
"the bright-sayings of the lady . . . were the fn'it of a long habit
of jotting down her actual conversation."177 Although an inValid
most of her life, Mrs. Higginson had a clever tongue, for many of Hig-
ginson‘s letters to his family contain remarks about friends or ac-

quaintances which he genuinely enjoyed. In the novel, however, Aunt

 

177Studies in; Romance, p. iv.

   

 

 

 

251

Jane, also an invalid, is an eccentric old said. She reins fren an
easy chair, finds fault with her said, her relatives, and those who do
not pet her. fine is frankly outspoken in her dislike for halbone and
Mia, yet affectionate toward her other nieces and nephews who con-
fide in her. Her sprightly witticisns, however, are tiresome.
Although Halbone does not, strictly speaking, come under this
study, he cannot be entirely omitted since he is the central figure
of the novel. Higginson also drew Halbone from real life, He had
formed an intimate friendship in his youth with a brilliant fellow
student at Cambridge, W. H. Hurlbut. Ellie friendship ended in bitter
disappointment for Higginson, but he excused his friend by saying,
"And yet all his crime is an utter moral weakness, joined with gifts
too brilliant for anything but a strong moral nature to carry steadily. "178
Halbone possessed Hurlbut‘s gifts and personal attractiveness. .
He went to Europe for Emilia to save her from a marriage with a Swiss
servant, and found himself entangled inextricably in the affections
of the young girl. Neither he nor Philia had the moral courage to
break off the ties of affection which had grown between them. Only
after Mia's death did Malbone realize his spineleseness. His char-
acter, like huilia's remains static througzout the story. he author,
however, incidentally drops the remark that after this experience Mal-
bone spent " a man-hood of self-denying usefulness. . . to show that
even he could learn something of life's retribution. "179 How he did

this the reader is never told.

 

l78'1'homas Wentworth Higgnson, p. 127.
179Malbone, p. 229.

 

:
i
‘1
i

 

 

 

 

 

252

be novel falls short of being good literature. as characters
are stiff; the plot is melodramatic; and the coincidences too perfectly
timed. no chapters are strung together like a series of essays. Even
thong: they are related to one another, the chapters shift abruptly and
sometimes awkwardly. The descriptions of the sea-coast and of natural
scenery are vivid, however, and are the saving grace of the book. Eig-
ginson' s field of writing was the essay, history, and biography, not
action. He admitted in his preface to his collection of stories that
the faults were obvious and that “the recogition of then has kept the
author from again risking himselfflin the realm of fiction. "13°

He had however written a few short stories or tales. 'me of these
is a piece of fiction which is interesting because of its delineation
of a woman. "An Artist's Creation,“ first published under the title,
”An Artist' s broom," appeared in on. Atlantic m, 1867. It is
the story of a young man and his wife who exclude their little daughter
from their all-ab sorbing love for one another. Written from the point
of view of the author, a guest at their house, the story develops
around Marian the child, Laura, and Kenmnro, the artist husband, who
tries unsuccessfully to paint an exact likeness of his wife. After a
time, Laura dies and the husband discovers her likeness in their child.

Higginson describes Laura, the wife, as possessing a "torrent from
the tropics in her veins. "181 Sue was, unlike Enilia, the most equable
and sensible person he had ever seen. The author found her one evening
beside the bed of her child whom she had ignored all day. At that time,
he realized Laura‘s true love for the child, but also her unreasonable

 

1303mm“ 35 Romance, p. 17.
lslflin Artist's Creation," Studies 3 Romance, p. 339.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

H.

 

 

253

 

willingness to forage it for that of her husband. Higgins» throws a
portrait of these unnaturfl. parents which lacks probability. Lara
is ethereal rather than Imman, and, stifled by the possessive densnds
nade upon her time and energ by her husband, she succumbs and dies.

 

The child, Harlan, however, is well. drawn and reflects Higginson's own

fondness for children.
In another short story, Higginson tells '91:» the medal character,

Madame Delia,the snake charmer. Madame Delia owned a dirty, patched
tent and two equally dirty and patched little girls, Gertie and Anne,
the acrobats of her show. One day Gertie falls from a trapeze, is
lmrt, and is nursed back to health by two maker spinsters who wish

to adopt her, thinking she belongs to "quality. " Lonesome for the

show and Madame Delia, Gertie returns he come... that Anne is really
from the upper class in society. Anne grows up in the fashionable
house of the sisters. Gertie stays with Madame Delis who eventually
becomes a bunt-grandmother, "a glory that quite surpassed her ex-

pectations, ”182 whatever they were.

 

The story is an summing attempt at local color and dialect. The
slang and bad grsmuar of Madame Delia, Gertie, and other show peopie,
as well as the "thee" and "thou" of the refined Quaker ladies, thong:
stilted, give a'liveliness'to the characters, not found in Higginson's
more serious attempts at fiction. The plot, again, is improbable, but
Madame Delia with her snakes and Gertie on her trapeze are more lmman
than Aunt J one and Hope in Malbone.

To conclude this study, mention should be made of a plan Higginson

had in mind for the writing of his "mamm opus," a book entitled,

 

18?"Madame Delia's Ebcpectations," Atlantic Monthl , xxvn (January,
, 187.1), pp. hO-SO. Also reprinted in Oldport Daze ston, 1873}, p. 197.

 

;

 

   

 

 

 

 

25h

£13 Intellectual _B_i_g_to_lz 35 m. For its preparation he collected
all the books on the meect he could find for a number ef years, out
the task was never begun. In 1896 he gave the books, which amounted
to a collection of almost one thousand, to the Boston Public Library,
entitling it the I'(hlstea Collection ," a name suggested by the fable
Pygmalion and Gelatea. His biographer states that through a fund sup-
‘plied by Mr. Carnegie, Higginson continued adding to the collection for
a number of years afterward.183 According to Higginson's letter to
the library, he desired the collection to be kept together because he
believed it to be unlike any yet organised in the country. The listing
of the Boston Public Libraryl8h shows a wide selection of books on
new subjects and in several languages, and is indicative of the time,
money, and emery he devoted to the movement for the advancement of
women.

This devotion, as has been pointed out in this chapter, found

expression in several ways: through woman suffrage tracts and essays

 

183mm“ Wentworth Higgson, p. 281;.

lahMonthl Bulletin of the Books Added to the Boston Public Lib ,
III Memory, 1898}, pp. 33-155. The following-Ere the Heafigs c? fie
divisions: Biographies; Characteristics of Women; Delineations of women
in literature and art; History and condition of women; Education: domes-
tic education; ethical education; religious education; college education;
co—education; colleges for women; social ethics; health and hygiene;
health in education and occupation; physiology; diseases of women; per-
sonal beauty and dress; relations and comparisons of the sexes; love, mar-
riage; divorce, prostitution; rights of women; legal status of women;
laws concerning women; woman suffrage; work and influence of women;
women as Ministers; women as artists and msicians; women as physicians;
literature; bibliography; women as editors and translators; women as
authors and compilers; English prose: women as authors; English poetry;
women as authors; American prose; American poetry; French; Gennan; other
languages; periodical s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

255

fbr'the‘ihnanfianggugggl; through essays on society'thrgggspgriggggggg;
through.literury essays on various phases of“wonanhood;'and.through
fiction portraying certain types of‘women. Lastly, Higginson's perb
senal interest and encouragement were responsible for the immediate
recognition of Helen Hunt Jackson and Harriet Prescott Spefford and
the tardy acclaim of Emily Dickinson. It is understandable, therefore,
that a versifier should express admiration for this gallant reformer
in lines which summarize adequately the spirit with which Higginson
attacked-this problem of women's rights in.his day.

Ladies, Honor—to Your Knight
.. T. W. H.

Ladies all of high degree,

‘Who wears charms of’poesy,

0r romances fair indite,

Rise, and honor do your Imight;
Who so gallantly in field

Bears your token on his shield,
Championing your royal'worfih

In the full lists of the earth,
Caitiffs and false knights undoing,
Overriding and pursuing,

Pricking in his doughty heat

Many a bubble of conceit,

With a point as keen as fate,

To your honor dedicate;

And amid the babbling court

0f the world makes brave report,
Open-brewed and without shame,

0f the glory of your fans

In the inwiolate demesne

Where hearenly Sappho reigns the queen.

Never champion sound and hale,

Never errant pure and strong,
Searching earth fer Holy Grail,

Searching earth, redressing wrong,--
Galahad or Red~Cross Knight,--
Entered lists in ladies’ right,
Bearing truer blade than he,
Knight of modern chivalry!

 

 

 

—.~————__~—.

 

 

 

 

 

“-3

 

256

Ball for Sappho! garlands rind,

Honor him in cenclave fill,
Daughters of the courts of ,-
. Kingdoms intellectual]-

'

 

M

135 o. c. Auringer, £133 Critic, XX (February 13: 1892): PP° 101"”105'

   

 

   

u‘

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER V
CWGLUSKN

As an ardent abolitionist and reformer, Higginson was active
in his assistance of the fugitive slave and took a prominent part in
the moms Sims and Anthomr Burns affairs. He protested vigorously
against the Missouri Compromise, the Fugitive Slave Law and the Kan-
sas-Nebraska Act. He fought the Kansas Bill by encouraging emigrants
to enter Kansas and settle as anti-slavery citizens. He himself
accompanied a group and met Governor Geary and James B. Lane. He
took Lane to his heart as the "Marion“ of Kansas, but professed an
open dislike for Governor Geary, which was probably based upon the
fact that Geary supported President Pierce‘s pro-slavery administra-
tion. ’

Higginson was also strongly opposed to the Democrat government
and supported Fremont as presidential candidate of the 1856 election.
He was radically Disunionist, believing Disunion to be the only
answer to the slavery question. He was instrumental in assisting
John Brown in the Harper's Ferry incident and held that such “treason“
was preferable to acquiescence to a government which denied taxman rights.

By 1861 , the secession of the Southern States and the outbreak

of the War caused Higginson to change his views. He supported the

257

 

 

 

 

 

253

Northern states in their effort to preserve the Union and within
another year he entered military service as a colonel of a regimnt
of freed slaves.

His literary work pertaining to this early period includes his
essays on insurrectionists and the memorials of leading abolitionists,
among whom were William Lloyd Garrison, John Greeleaf Whittier, Wendell
mmips, Charles armor, and headers Parker.

Daring his two years of military service, Higginson kept a camp
diary of his adventures and of his impressions of his Negro soldiers.
These he later revamped into numerous essays for magazines which he
collected into his fl 1333 i___n a Ell-5.9.5 Ramon . The book is con-
sidered the finest of this genre. In it he relates the expeditions
into Confederate territory and the skirmishes involved. In one of
these he was wounded.

Upon his return to civilian life, he took up a literary career

as his profession. He edited the Harvard Memorial Biographies, trans-

 

lated Epitectus, and became State Historian of Massachusetts with the

five-year task of editing in two volumes, Massachusetts in the Arm

 

2'29. 153.12 in the Ear g_i_‘ 1861-1865.

In 1850 Higginson joined the ranks of the woman mffragists by
signing a "Call“ for a National Woman Rights Convention. For the
decade before the Civil War, he contributed to the short-lived suf-
frage organ, 1113 Egg, and acted as officer, chairmn, and lecturer
at the yearly conventions. In 1853 he spoke for Woman Suffrage be-
fore the Massachusetts Legislature and throngmut these years pub-

lished suffrage tracts and a woman suffrage Almanac.

 

 

   

 

 

 

259

.After'the Givil‘ihr the fer-er'abdlitionists Joined the suffragists
in advocating wom suffrage, but soon became entangled in the “New
qiestion" which eventually became the burning issue. he abolitionists,
including Higgins», gave Negro enfranchisenent precedence over woos:
suffrage which caused a split in the then active Equal Rights Association.

Higginson, with other Eastern suffragsts, disapproved of the
policies and associates of Susan B. Anthony and Mrs. Elizabeth Cody
Stanton, who were aided by George. Francis Train to launch the suffrage
paper, _'1'_h_g Revolution. Higginson's silence regarding Miss Anthony
and Mrs. Stanton is eloquent. Realizing that she could not depend
on her former friends to support her suffrage activities, Susan B.
Anthony, in desperation, formed a National Woman Suffrage Association
in New York. Soon after, the Eastern suffragists also formed an
association with the same name. Higginson supported this association,
which was later called the American Woman Suffrage Association, and
wrote for its organ, the'woman's Journal.

After the 1870's, Higginson appeared infrequently as speaker
for fairs, bazaars, -and conventions, but not in the capacity of officer.
His work: for the suffrage movement was recognized and honored in his
declining years by the National American Suffrage Association.

From.Bigginson‘s essays on.the "woman question? which deal with
the “other half of’the population," one may formulate his social
theory. The essays on woman suffrage, which appeared in.the'Woman's
Journal reveal his enthusiasm and zeal fer a movement'which would '
contribute to the advancement of women. In the so early articles, Hig-

ginson disregarded any restricting qualifications regarding suffrage

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

260

and wholeheartefly espoused imadiate enfranchisement for all women.
He opposed Francis Parkman's federalism which objected to increasing
the amber of ignorant voters. Instead, Higginson placed an idealis-
tic faith in the masses which he'believed could take care of the evils
of society and use the ballot for solf-prote ction and self-respect.
Later, he modified his views by expressing certain apprehensions over
the probable evils which would be likely to develop with the granting
of the ballot to women.

hiring the 1880's when Higginson began a column for nggr's
B_a_z_;a_r_, he was asked to avoid the controversial suffrage issues; He
therefore touched on the manners and morals of society and frequently
contrasted the ideal of American classless society with the petrified
caste system of aristocracy in Europe. He believed that the environ-
ment of the country and the institution of democracy was responsible
for the unique American temperament. He attributed the energy and .
vitality of the American to the fact that the American is able to
govern himself and has a sense of equality with others. Although he
feared that this freedom was letting slip the reins of good manners,
he defended the vulgarity of which Americans were accused by pointing
out that this fault is conunon in all countries.

At the turn of the century, when Socialism was breaking ground
among labor parties, Higginson felt that the movement was "a leaning
in the right direction, " but protested vigorously when he was accused
of being a Socialist. his few remarks on property and labor in which
he refers to Edward Bellamy's and Henry George's theories, are too

trivial in content to be tahen seriously. Rather, they indicate the

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

fact that he was interested in the events occurring about him, but

did not have a clear grasp of the movement or its implications, as

he had in fomer years of the major reform movements of the nineteenth
cenmry.

Closely connected with Higginson's advocacy of suffrage for women
was his belief that they should advance educationally, socially, and
politically. For this reason he assisted several women and brought
before the public the achievements of many more through his biographies.

In his efforts to assist women writers, Higginson set down some
advice in a few essays which attracted the attention of feminine nee-
phytes, especially Elnily Dickinson. He also frequently cemnented on
the new trend toward realism in which women figured. He believed that
the realistic movement was originally impelled by the emphasis of Trans-
cendentalists on the individual‘s worth. This emphasis had such to do
with theoretic American democracy from which was springing a new school
of local-color writers who were bringing to the fore the common, average
American in his local environment. Even though Higginson approved of
the use of dialect and colloquialisms so characteristic of this school,
he cautioned against writing about subjects which were essentially
worthless. He saw that modern writers did away with the "moral tag,"
which he applauded as an improvement in literature, but he warned
against the use of undesirable materials such as that used by the
rising school of naturalists.

Higgmson's interest in women as writers and reformers led him

to assist some of them materially. He was the literary adviser of

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

262

Harriet Prescott, Helen Hunt Jackson, and Emily Dickinson. He wrote
several biographi cal memorials of women who had been his contemporaries .
Among them were Lydia Maria Child and Julia Ward Howe . And he wrote

an admirable bookelength biography of'Margaret Fuller. .He also wrote

a few essays for the Atlantic Monthly extolling the audacity and bravery
of women in."Mademoiselle's Campaigns," and urged the practice of phy-
sical education and sensible dress in."Health of Our Girls." The ideal
of womanhood he portrayed in nGreek Goddesses" and “Seppho.” In.his
attempts at fiction he drew women characters who were essentially
wooden and uninteresting. But these women reflect the types he had

often discussed in his essays for the Woman's Journal and Hafler‘s

Bazar.

 

It is quite evident from this study that Higginson's life was
diverse and full and that his contribution to American society was not
small. It has seemed to this writer from the outset that Higginson was
prompted by high altruistic and humanitarian motives. A closer examina-
tion of his life and writings has well confirmed that impression.

Although Higginson is rightfully looked upon today as a minor
essayist, it must be remembered that the times in which he lived played
an important part in shaping his literary career. In summarizing that
career it may be truly said of him what a reviewer of the collected
edition of his works remarked, "Colonel Higginson is one of the most
venerable representatives of a type which is practically indigenous to

the United States--the man of letters who also plays a serious part in

public affairs."186

186"Man of Letters as Reformer,” Littell‘s Living Age, CCXXXIII
(May 10,.1902), p. 373.

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A. Works of Thomas Wentworth Higginson
311;; (Cambridge)
"A History." [PoemJ Christian Examiner, November. Signed H.
“Mrs. Child‘s Letters from New York." Present, November 15.

"La Madame di San Sisto." [Poem] Dresent, December 15. Def. VI.
Same. Our Book, A Salem Fair Publication, September, 1811,14.

Same. fdfigl'é'fiow, Estray, 18146.
18h; (Cambridge)
"Lay of the Humble." [Poem] New York Tribune, October 1.

"Tyrtaeus." [Poem] Harbinger, November 1.
Same.. Liberator, Nove er 7.

Articles. Christian World, January and February. Signed H.

l_8_L_;_§ (Cambridge)
Four hymns. Longfellow and Johnson, £9215 2.1: £1~y_1_nn_s_.
"The Railroad." [Poem] Harbinger, April 1;.
"Holiness unto the Lord." [Sonnet] Harbingr, June 20.
'lnynn of Hmnanity." Harbingr, June 27.
"Hebe." [PoemJ Harbinger, July A.
"A Word of Hope." [Poem] National Anti-Slavery fitandard, September 3.

 

"Sonnet to William Lloyd Garrison," Liberty Bell.

"A Cradle Song," translated from the German of Ruckert, Harbinger, July 1;.
Same. Entitled "Nature’s Cradle Song, " Def. VI.

Tho articles on licentiousness, Chronotype.

263

 

 

 

 

 

 

:10

 

 

 

26h

18h? (Cambridge, Newburyport)

"Hymn." Universit of Cambrid Exercises at the 'lhirt -first Annual
mire—7!. on 9_ th—e' fimrd meat-roman Wm . v1.

Ordination Exercises, September 15, with letter about ecclesiastical
councils. Pph.

18118 (Newburyport)

"Man shall not live by bread alone." Thanksgiving Sermon, Newburyport,
November 30. Pph.

"Fugitives' Hym." Liberg Bell.

1821.9 (Newburyport)

"The Twofold Being." [Poem] Peabody, Elizabeth P., (ed.) Aesthetic
Papers.

1850 (Newburyport)

"Address to the Voters of the Third Congressional District of Massachu-
setts." Pph.

 

"Birthday in Fairyland." Pph. Same. Phillips, Laurel Leaves for
Little Folks, 1903. "“" " "‘ '—

"The Tongue: Two Practical Sermons." Pph.
With C. Cushing and F. L. Dimmick. "Address to the Citizens in Behalf
of the Public Library [Newburyportjd' Broadside.
1851 (Newburyport)

"Merchants: A Sunday Evening Lecture." January. Pph.
Same. Hunt's Merchants‘ Magazine, October.

“Newbury School Committee Report, 1850—51." Pph.
"Newburyport Free Evening School Report, 1851.“ Pph.

"To a Young Convert." [Poem] Liberty Bell. Same. Afternnon Land-
scape. 1889. .

1852 (Newburypcrt, Worcester)
"Things New and Old." An Installation Sermon, September 5. Pph.

"Addre as for Freedom Club ,“ Worce ster . Broadside .

 

   

.. .. ' . . .
- u
.
n
. n
.
_ I
.
n P ‘ ‘
u
4 .-
fi ‘ I.
‘ II A .
u.
, ..
— I I n
. ..
~ I l ‘
. -
.- .
.. .

 

 

 

 

265
"Address to the Citizens of Worcester." (Young Men's Library Associa-
- tion.) Broadside. , . , _

"Elegy without Fiction." Sermon, October 31, suggested by the deaths
of Webster and Rantoul. Broadside.

"Man and Nature." Christian Examiner, July.
"Forward." [Poemj Translated from the German of Hoffman von
Fellersleben. Liberty Bell. Def. VI.
Same. Sword and gin, December 17.
1853 (Worcester),‘

Thalatta: A Book for the Seaside. Edited anonymously by Higginson
an Sazmel Long—fa ow. Contains three of Higginson‘s poems.

"Address on the Operation of the Anti-Liquor Law." Boston, January 21.
State Temperance Committee Report. Pph.

"Unitarian Autumnal Convention." Sermon. Pph.

"Remarks before the Committee of the Constitutional Convention on the
Qualifications of Voters." June 3. Broadside.

"Am I my Brother's Keeper?" Sermon. Liberty Bell.
"Vindication of the Lord's. Supper." Sermon. Pph.

"Conscience in the Counting-Room." Hunt's Merchants‘ Magazine, January.

 

"fibeech at Anti-Slavery Convention." Liberator, February 11.

"Woman and Her Wishes." An essay inscribed to the Massachusetts
Constitutional Convention. Several editions and reprinted in
London. Originally written for the [1313. Pph.

"November ," "December." [Foemm] Putnam‘ s Monthly Magazine, April.
- "December ," in Afternoon Landscape,l889.

"Moral Results of Slavery." Hunt‘s Merchants‘ Magazine, June.
"The Lovers." [Poem] Putnam‘ 3 Monthly Magazine, September.

"Odensee." Putnamt s Monthly Magazine, November.
Same. Longfellow, (ed.), Poems 9_f_ Places.

"A Day in Carter Notch.“ Putnam‘ s Monthly Magazine , December.

 

"Sermons to Children.“ Sunday School Gazette.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

266

"Speech at the Legislative Temperance Society. " Life Boat.
"Whole World' a Temperance Convention Report." ( ed.) Pph. '

1851; (Worcester)
"Does Slavery Christianize the Negro?" Anti-Slavery Tract, no. )4.

"Massachusetts in Mourning." A Semen preached in Worcester, June 1;.
Pph. . -

"Scripture Idolatry." l Discourse. Pph.
Same . Liberator, October 6. Reprinted in London.

Letter. Appendix, Hartford Bible Convention Proceeding .

"Sermon on the Nebraska Bill." Liberator, February 17.

"Speech at Abington, August 1. " Celebration of West Indian Emancipation.
Liberator, August 11.

. "African Proverbial Philosophy." Putnam‘ s Monthly Magazine, October.

1855 (Worcester, Winter in Fayal)
"Worcester School Committee Report," December 31 , 18 5h.
"Speech at New England Anti-Slavery Convention." Liberator, June 8.
"Anti-Slavery Colporteurage." Liberator, September 7. Signed H.
"Speech at Anniversary of Boston Mob Convention." Liberator, November 2.
At Fayal began a book, the Return of Faith, of which only one chapter

was afterwards publishmth'e' FEE-3.211 3f Religions, 1871.

1856; (Worcester, trip to Kansas)

"Speech at Anniversary of West Indian Convention." Liberator, August 8.

"Going to Mount Katahdin." Putnam' 3 Monthly Magazine, September.
Purporting to be written—by one oTthe ladies of the party.

"Portugal's Glory and Decay." North American Review, October.

Letters from Kansas to New York Tribune. Published later as an anti-
slavery tract (no. 20), under the title, A Ride Througt Kansas,
and also published independently.

18 57 (Worce ster)

Speech. January 15. State Disunion Convention Proceedings. Pph. and
broadside.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

267

 

speech at Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the Mass achus etts Anti-Slavery
Society. Idherator, January 16; and a broadside. _

Statement on spiritual Manifestations , April 15. Broadside.

"The New Revolution": a speech before the American Anti-Slavery
Society, May 12. Pph.

 

Circular letter, July 8 , calling for State Disunion Convention. leaflet.

Call for a Northern Convention at Cleveland, October 28-29. Leaflet.

1858 (Worcester) .

"Hanan in Christian Civilization": New York Address . Re ' 'ous
Aspects of the & by various authors .

"Saints and their Bodies." Atlantic Monthly, March. Def. VI.

Speech at Fifth Anniversary of the New York Anti-Slavery Society.
Liberator, May 28.

"Mademoiselle's Campaigns." Atlantic Monthly, July. Def. VII.

"Waterlilies." Atlantic Monthly, September. Def. VI.

 

"Physical Courage." Atlantic Monthly, November.
Same. Outdoor Papers, 1863.

"Romance of History." Liberty Bell.

Woman's Rigits Almanac for 1858. Comp. with Mrs. Lucy Stone.

1859 (Worcester)
"The Rationale of Spiritualism": a discourse, New York, March 6. Pph.

"Ought Woman to learn the Alphabet?" Atlantic Monthly, February.
Def. IV. Also published as a tract, Boston, 1 70, and Manchester,

England, 1873, and as Wanan’s Suffrage Tracts, No. LL, Boston, 1871.

 

"Letter to a Dyspeptic." Atlantic Monthly, April.
Same. Outdoor Papers, 1863.

"A Charge with Prince Rupert." Atlantic Monthly, June. Def. VII.

"Murder of the Innocents." Atlantic Monthly, September.
Same. Outdoor Papers,.1853.

 

1860 (Worcester)

"A Visit to John Brown's Household in 1859." Redpath, Public Life 2f
Captain John Brown. Def. II.

   

   

 

"Maroons of Jamaica. " Atlantic Monthly, February.
Same. Travellers and Outlaws, I88 . _

q ' 268 l
' i

"Maroons of Siam." Atlantic Monthl , May.
Same. Travellers Watts, 9.

"Theodore Parker." Atlantic Monthl , Ocotober, Def. II.

 

 

 

"Fayal and the Portuguese." Atlantic Monthly, November. Def. VI.

1861 (Worcester)

"Barbarian and Civilization." Atlantic Monthly, January.
Same. Outdoor Papers, 18 . .

"Gymnastics." Atlantic Monthl , March.
Same. mtdoor Papers, 1 3.

"April Days." Atlantic Monthly, April. Def. VI.

 

"Denmark Vesey." Atlantic Monthl , June.
Same. Travellers and Gitlaws, 1889.

"Ordeal by Battle." Atlantic Monthly, July.

"Nat Turner's Insurrection." Atlantic Monthly, August. Same.
Same. .Travellers and Outlaws, 1889.

"My Outdoor Study." Atlantic Monthly, September.
Same. Outdoor Papers, 1863.

"A New Counterblast." Atlantic Monthly, December.
Same. Outdoor Papers, 1863.
3.3163 (Worcester, enlisted in September)
IWorcester Public Library, Second Annual Report." Pph.
"Snow." Atlantic Monthly, February. Def. VI. '
matter to a Young Contributor. " Atlantic Monthly, April.

Same. Atlantic Essays, 1871.
Same. Hints on Writing and Speech-lhking, 1887.

 

 

"Health of Our Girls." Atlantic Monthly, June.

 

"Gabriel's Defeat." Atlantic Monthly, September.
Same. Travellers and thawg, 1889.

"Life of Birds." Atlantic Monthly, September. Def. VI.

 

"Procession of the Flowers." Atlantic Monthly, December. Def. VI.

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

_1_§§_3_ (War)

Outdoor Pm.

"The Puritan Minister." Atlantic Monthly, September.
Same. Atlantic Essayg, $71.

‘ 1861; (War, Neuport)
"Regular and Volunteer Officers." Atlantic Monthly, September.
"A Night in the Water." Atlantic Monthly, October. Def. III.

"leaves frcm an Officer's Journal." Atlantic Monthly, November and
- December. -

"Book Notices." Atlantic Monthly; Friend 9; Progress .

1825 (Newport)
"Ieaves from an Officer's Journal.” Atlantic Monti/LIZ, January.
"Bequest of Spiritualism." PIE-£92 g_f_‘_ Pro ress, February.
"Herbert Spencer." m 9_f_ Progress, Phrch.
"Up the St. Mary's." Atlantic Monthly, April. Def. III.
"Fair Play the Best Policy.” Atlantic Monthly, May.
"Frances Power Cobbe." m g; Progess, July.
"Up the St. John '3." Atlantic Monthly, September. Def. III.

"Our Future Militia System." Atlantic Monthly, September.

Works 3f Epictetus. (tr.)
Same. vised. 2 volumes, 1890. Same. Cambridge Classics.

"The Rhyme of the Master's Mate." Atlantic Monthly, XVI, 519.

Book notices and editorials . Atlantic Monthly, Commonwealth, Friend
_c_f_ Progress, Independent.

1866 (Neaport)
"Children’s Books of the Year." North American Review, January.

Harvard Memorial Biographies, 2 volumes, (ed.).

 

269

 

 

 

 

 

 

Same. Another edition. 2 volumes, 1867. Thirteen of these
biographies were written by Higginson.

Book notices and editoria 1s . Atlantic Monthly; Independent.

1867 (Newport)

"Newport Free Public library. " (Circular calling the attention of the
community to its history, needs, etc.) Pph.

"Nonsense of It." leaflet. Replies to arguments against women suffrage.

"A Plea for Culture . " Atlantic Montg, January.
Same. AtlanticEssazs, I871. .

"Charlotte P. Ewes." Radical, January.
"A Driftwood Fire." Atlantic Monthly, February. Def. v.
"Out on Picket." Atlantic Monthly, March. Def. III.

"The Haunted Window." Atlantic Monthly, April.
Same. Oldport Days, 1873.

"Oldport in Winter." Atlantic Monthly, May. Def. V.
"Negro SpiritualsJV Atlantic Monthly, June. Def. Ill.

51m Artist’s Dream." Atlantic Monthly, July. Def. iv, under the title
"An Artist's Creation."

"Up the Edisto." Atlantic Monthly, August. Def. III.
"Sunshine and Petrarch." Atlantic Monthly, Sept. Def. V.

"literature as an Art." Atlantic Monthly, December.
Same. Atlantic Essays, 1871.

Articles. Independent; Nation.

1868 (Neuport)
"Nealport Free Library, President's Report, 1867-68." Pph.

"Lydia Maria Child; " "Margaret Fuller Ossoli." Eninent Women of the
lge by various authors.

"Oldport Wharves." Atlantic Monthly, January. Def. V.
"The Pedigree of Liberalism." Radical, March.

"The American lecture System." Macmillan's Magazine, May.
Same. Littell's Living Age, June 6.

 

 

 

Child Pictures. from Dickens... Adapted.
The book notices include a

Book notices and editorials. Independen .
series, Live Americans, giving accounts. of Longfellow, Lowell, and

others.
1869 (Newport)
Malbone. Same, Atlantic Monthly, January-June.
ME Women. _T_g Vote?
"Memoir of Dr. Thaddeus William Harris." Pph. Def. II. Reprinted

from Harris '5 Entomoloa' cal Corresgondence.
Preface. Erchmann-Chatrian. Mme. Therese. Translated by C. L. Forten.
"Immortality." Address (Boston), February 21, 1869. Radical, March.
"Greek Goddesses.“ Atlantic Monthly, July. Def. VII. Translated

into French in the Revue Britanni ue, October, 1869, and also

into modern Greek.

"letters to Country Boys." Hearth E Home.

Book notices and editorials. Atlantic Monthg; Independent; New York
Tribune. .

1870 (Newport)
Same. translated into

 

 

Army Life ln 3 Black Regiment. Def. III.
French under the title 155 militaire dans up regiment noir. Paris,
1881;.

Broadside.
1901.

Decoration Day Address, Mount Auburn, May 30.
Same. Reed and others (eds.), Modern Eloguence, Vol. 8.
"Americanism in literature." Atlantic Monthly, January.
Same. Atlantic Essays, l 71.
"A Shadow." Atlantic Montgy, July. Def. VI.
"Footpaths." Atlantic Monthly, November. Def. VI.

"Our Menagerie." 91_1r_ Young Folks.

"Swimming . “ Atlantic Almanac .
Book notices and editorials. Atlantic Monthly; Independent; Index;
New York Tribune; Woman‘s Journa .

 

   

 

 

272
1871 (Newport)

WM.

"Madam Delia 's Expectations." Atlantic Montlly, January.
Same. Olgggrt Dgys, 1873.

"The Sympathy of Religions." Radical February. Def. VII.
Published as a pamphlet, Boston, 1871; reprinted, Iondon, 1872,
and Boston, enlarged, 1876; reprinted in Unily Church-Door Pulpit,
Chicago, June 16, 1885; reprinted in World's. Parliament gl
Religions, Vol. 1,. Uhicago, 1893; translated under the title,

"affinite des rellgions, by Mrs. Maria. E. MacKaye, Paris, 1898. '
"Plutarch's Morals ." Radical, March.
"Unpublished letters from Theodore Parker. " Radical, May.

"Buddhist Path of Virtue." Radical, June.

 

"Sapphofi' Atlantic Monthly, July. Def. VII.
"An Evening with Mrs. Hawthorne." Atlantic Montlly, October. Def. II.
I30h an Old Iatin Textbook." Atlantic Monthly, October. Def. VII.
Book notice of Verses, by "H.H." Atlantic Monthly, Recent Literature.
Editorials . Independent; Indelc; New York Tribune (including letters
from Newport and from Harvard Collegemn's Journal.
333 (Newport)
"A Day of Scottish Games." Scribner's Monthly, January.
"In a Wherry." Atlantic Monthly, February. Def. V.
"Character of Buddha." £39335, March 16.
"Hawthorne’s Last Bequest." Scribner’s Monthly, November.

Editorials . Index; Woman's Journal.

1873 (Newport)

Oldport Days .

 

"Are You a Christian?" Pph. Same. Index, January 25.

"Higher Education of Woman": A paper before the Social Science
Convention, May 1h. Pph.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

273

"Intercollegiate. Scholarships." Sgribner 's Monthly, January.

Editorials. Index; Wanan's Journal.

lglh (Newport)

"The Baby of the Regiment." Whittier (comp. ), Child Life in Prose.
Reprinted from My life lll 5 Black Regiment, 1870.

"How the American Revolution Opened." Oliver 'Qgtic's Ma azine.
Same. 3.92%. Folks' Histol'y 9_f_—the United States, 1875.

"Charles Dudley Warner." Scribner's Montlly, January.
"Decoration." (Poem) Scribner '5 Monthly, June. Def. VI.

"Old Dutch Times in New York." st. Nicholas, September.
Same. ._Y_c_n_l_rlg Folks.’_Histogy pl: the United States, 1875.

Editorials . Independent, Wman's Journal.

l_8_'_7_§_ (Newport)

Eglish Statesman. Brief Biographies of European Public Men Series.
Edited the three other. volumes in this series .

Young Folks' History of 1'22 United States. Translated into French
(two editionE), Paris, VI 7 fin—“(Etc man, Stuttgart, 1876;
into Italian, 1888.

Questions on Higginson's Young Folks' Histoyy 93 13113 United States.
For the use of teachers. Pph. -

"Life of Emerson." Johnson's Universal Cyclopedia.

"The Word Philanthropy." Free Religious Association, Freedom and
Fellowshlp' _i_n_ Religion. Def. VI.

Introductory Address . Free Religious Association. Pph.

“The Wasium and Gymnastics in Harvard College. Vaille and Clark

(canp.), Harvard Book, Vol. II.
1876 (Newport)

"History of the Public School System in Rhode Island." Histog; 9;;
fiblic Education i_n_ Rhode Island, 1636-18 76.

"A Moonglade." Laurel Leaves. Published by W. F. Gill. Def. V.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

27h

speech at memorial service for Dr. 3.8. New. Howe, Mrs. Julia
Nerd. Memoir 2; 35° Samel MidlEy Howe. Def. II.

With mamas H. marks. "A Sketch of the Public Schools in the City
of Newport." Histoly g; Blblic Education _i_n Rhode Island.

"(nuildhood's Fancies." Scribner's'flonthl , January.

"Lowell's Amen Books." Second Series. Scribnor's Montllly,
March. and Progress. _

"Story of the Siging. " [Declaration of Independence] Scribner' s
_ Monthly, July. -

 

1877 (Newport)

[Education 5.97 Rhode Island. Kiddle and Schem. Cyclopaedia of
Education.

 

"Intercollegiate Literary Association Report." Pph.

( Comp.) .4. Book 23 American Eglorers. Young Folks' Series.

Book notices and editorials. Nation, Woman's Journal.
A portion of the book notices In file Nation were called Poetry

of the Month, later entitled Recent Poe try. The reviews were
continued to Feb. , 1901;.

1878 (Cambridge - Trip to Europe)

"Speech at Conference of Liberal Thinkers," London, June 13. Pph.

"Letter on Physical and Intellectual Habits." Holbrook. Hyglene of
_t_h__e Brain Nerves. - 7"

"R. G. White." Atlantic Monthly, May. Contributorss Club.

"Some War Scenes Revisited." Atlantic Monthly, July.
Reprinted in Def. III under the title "Fourteen Years After."

 

Agaxe Holm's Botany." 51min Mgnthlj, July. Contributors‘ Club.
"An Irish Heart." Scribner's Monthly, December.

Editorial 8 . Women" a J ournal .

1879 (Cambridge, from this time)

Short Studies 22 American Authors. First published in Literally World.

"Intercollegiate literary Association: Its History, Aims, and Results."
Pph.

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

275

"Speech at Frothinghsm Festival, New York," April 22. Pph.
"Joseph Cook." Atlantic Monthly, March. Contributors' Club.
"New hgland Life." Atlantic Honing, June. Contributorst Club.

..

"Recent Essays." North Ameri_____9___an Review, July.

"Speech at Library Convention in Boston, June-July." Libra Journal,
September-October.

With others. "Other Side of the Woman Question." No___r_t__h American
Review, November.

 

Editorials. Woman's Journal.

1880 (In Legislature)

"Mom the Death of Winthrop to Philip's War." Winsor, ed. Memorial
Histom__ of Boston, vol. I. - .

"A Revolutionary Congressman on Horseback. " Scribner' 9 Monthly,
January. Same. Travellers and mtlaws, . -

"Dwelling-Places."(Poem.) Scribner‘s Monthly, March. Def. VI.
"The Reed Innnortal." (Poem) Atlantic Monthly, August. Def. VI.

"Two Anti-Slavery Leaders." [William Lloyd Garrison and Levi CoffinJ
International Review, August.

"Howells" s Undiscovered Country." Scribner" s Monthly, September.
in Search for the Pleiades." Atlantic Monthly, November. Def. v1.

Editorials. Harvard Roaster, Woman's Journal.

1881

Common Sense About Women. Reprinted in London, 1890, hth ed. , with
some omissions. T . into German from the English ed. under the

title Die Frauenfra an der £e_sunde Menschenverstand, by
Eigeninacobi, 1395 __

 

mg Folks' Histo?_ of the United States. 2d ed.
Printed in re sed —type by the Howe Memorial Press, Perkins Insti-

tution and Massachusettsy School for the Blind.

"French and Indian Wars." Winsor, ed. Memorial Histog 31‘ Boston,
vol. II.

"Address at the Celebration of the Battle of Cowpens, Spartanburg,
South Carolina," May 11. Pph.

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

276

Same. In Reed and others, eds. Modern me once, vol. 8. 1901.

"Gratin." Exercises in Celebratin the 250th Aerial-53y of the Settle-
ment-LW;—Decmr 53, 1330. — ‘—

"French Radical Eloquence." Reed, ed. Ihe Cl. and the Sea, with other
Cambridge Contributions in aid of the— esp tH—Fm.

"Memorial Ode [my my.- With Long‘s Oration. Pph. Def. v1. Also
printed separately. . _

"Notice of Benjamin Peirce." King, comp. Memorial Collection.

"Carlyle's Laugh." Atlantic Mon , October. Reprinted in Caz-glen
Jun 55.." Lb” We . -

"Seller's Roman Poets of the Republi ." Atlantic Monthly, October.
"flmrt March with the Guard." [vereeaJ Sword egg 335, December 9.

Book Notices and Editorials. Christian Reaster, Liteggy World,
Woman's Journal.

1882

Young Folks' Histog 91‘ the United States. New ed. , with additional
OWE-1:30

"Speech at Rev. Samuel Johnson‘s funeral." Sanmel Johnson: A
Memorial. Pphe , . .

With others. "Testimony on Charles River Railroad, Feb. 13." Pph.
"The Brook Farm Period." Demoreet' s Monthly, July.

"First Americans." Mayer's Monthly Magazine, August.
"Visit of the Vikings." Earp er's Monthly Magazine, September.

"Spanish Discoverers." Ha er's Monthl Ma azine, October.
— me last three articIes were p11 shed later in Higginson’s Largr

Histo ' of the United States (1885), and in Higginson andMac
matte-mama"? .31.. em. a States (1905).

"The Baby Sorceress." [Sonnetj 9.21.1993 Magazine, November. Def. VI.

Editorials and other articles. Index, Nation, Woman‘s Journal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

277

1883

Inedicatory Address at unveiling of the statue of John Ridge ," September
20, 1882. Cambridg Cit}: Document, 1883. ..

"Why do Glildren dislike History?" Methods 2; Imafia Histogz. Hall's
Pedagogical Library, vol. 10'. _

"Report on the Parker Library. " Boston Public Library. 23:93 531331
£222... pp...

"Old hglish Seamen." "£292.! Monthlz Mafline, January.

"French Voyageurs." “Homer's-Mental Ma zine, March.

"Negro Race in America." Atlantic Month-lg, April.

"Conway's neereen 33 £1323 933 m." Genmg Magazine, April.

"An English Nation." Hamr's Monthlz Maezine, April.

"The Hundred rears'nar." 1g germ Monthlz Ma zine, June.

"Second Generation of English in America." Hamr's Monthlz Magazine,

"The British Yoke." Hamer's Month'g Magazine, August.

"Dawning of Independence." Ha er's Monthly Magazine, October.
The foregoing articles 5 Earper's PE azine were published later
in Higginson's Ler r Hist—“cg 9_"?‘£._1__1_e‘%"T—m ed States (1885), and in
Higginson's and o no. d s Histogz _o_1_: the Unit-.53 States (1905).
"Lodge's Webster." Atlantic Monthlz, October.

Book notices and articles. Nation.

188h

[Life of] Margaret Puller Ossoli. American Men of Letters.

"Wendell Phillips." Pph. Def. II. Reprinted from" the Nation, February
7, 1.881;.

"Young Men' s Party. " Pph. Reprinted from the New York Evening Post,
October 1;, 1881;.

Palmer" 5 Odzssez." Atlantic Monthlg, October.

 

 

 

fi’

 

278

1885
Luger 31mg 3; 3133 United States.

"Oration." Memorial Services in theCi of Cambri 2 _;th_e_ D_az __1:
the MeTaIe 9.? Wtjumg.

"Julian Hawthorne ' s latheniel Hauthorne and His R e. " Atlantic
Monthly, February.

"American Flash Language in 1793." Science, May 8.

 

"Lowell in England." Literfl World, June 27.
in. H." Critic, August 22.
"Mrs. Melon Jackson, 'H. H.“ mm as ine, December. Def. II.

Mith others. "Is Boston losing its Literary Prestige?" Brooklyn
Magazine , -December. -

Began a series of articles, entitled Women and 3432’ Hamr's Bazar.

1886

"The Monarch of Dreams." Def. V.

A Osman translation of this story appeared in the New York
Freie Zeitun of August 18, 1889, the translator being Louis
WageIe and tie title Der Monarch seiner Traume. It is said
to have also appeared in French, but no paFti culars are known.

 

"William Lloyd Garrison." Atlantic Monthly, January. Def. II.
"Grant." Atlantic Monthly, March, September. Def. II.

"How I Was Educated." Forum, April.
Same. Pph. Repuin nah d in 1887 in a volume entitled flh___e_ Coll egg

and the Church.

"To the Memory of tn. H.” [sonnetJ Century Magazine, May. Def. v1.

 

"Reminiscences of Helen Jackson." New Princeton _R______eview, July.

"Old Salem Sea-Captains." Ranger's MonthlyMa gzin e, September.
Same. Travellers and On aws. I339.

 

."Whipple. Atlantic Monthly, September.
PSame. atort findIes of mean Authors.

"Mr. Hamerton on Literature in a Republic." Harvard Montlfly, December.

 

 

 

 

279

Articles. Mtic, Independent, Good (laser, m hear, Nation.

1887
an: 22 m an new-name.
women 339 3435. Reprinted from m 5335.
"For Self-Respect and Self-Protection; Speech at the Annual Heating

of the American Women Suffrage Association, " Hziladelphia, November 1.
Pph. and leaflet.

 

Prafsce. Stevens. Around the World 35 a Bigcle .

Speeches, letters, etc. , 1853-87. Stanton and others, eds. History _o__
Woman Suffrage. )4 vols. .

l'Unsolved Problems in Woman Siffrage. " Forum, January.
Reprinted later as a pamphlet. .

"Mr. Hanerton on Literature in a Ropublic." HamrdHo 11,1]; Jamary.
"Kayne, Paul Hamilton." Quantauquan, January.

"Ianier , Sidney." Chautauqua, April.

in Missent Letter." Strawbrid and Clothier's Quarterl , vol. 6, no.

_ 2. Summer no. m. Woman‘s—Jemgust 57.

"Sub Pondere Crescit." [SonnetJ 8922M Magzine, September. Def. VI.

"A June Migration." Appalachia, December.

Articles. Hflgr‘s Bazar, Independent.

1888
Short Studies a; American Authors. Rev. and enl.

 

"Address." Reunion 93 213 Ree-Soilsrs g; 18h8-1852, Boston, June 28.
PPho

"John Bram." Appletgns' Cyclopaedia of American Bio Eaphz.

"hglish Sources of American Dialect." American Antiquarian Society.
Proceedings. New series, vol. ’4.

 

"Howell's Modern Italian Poets." Nation, January 5.

"A Precursor of Hawthorne [William Austifl." Independent. March 29.

 

 

 

 

II.

 

 

 

 

280

"Speech." Protests stth__H:10ri§Re_fl?on the tend
e%sl_§fivem :- erence
on se cumen W,

Schoolino
We; nm’fiefisfiifi se a

"A Jar of Rose Leaves." [Poem] Scribner'slk flint» , lurch.
"The moving of the Pines." [Poem] Scribner'sMa zine , July.

1889
gt: Afternoon Landscapg t 3.92”: _a_n_<_i_ Translations.
Travellers 5y} Outlaws.
"three mtdoor Papers." Riverside Literature Series. Pph.
"Lowell in Cambridge." Critic, February 23.
"Vestis Angelica." p3...) Scribnsr's Magazine, March. Def. VI
"Nils's Garden." [I storyJ Mus zine, July.
"Ode to a Bitteri'ly." [PoemJ m Regains, November. Def. VI.

1890

_]_:_r_:_ a Fair Countgy: Essays from Outdoor Papers. Illustrated by Irene
erome.

"Cambridge Public Library: Plan reported to the Book Comfittee." Pph.

"Cambridge , Literature .n Hurd, comp. Hietog g; Middlesex County,
V010 Io -

"Opening Address." Browning Society of Boston. Memorial 153 Robert
W, January 28.

"A World Literature." Gentufl Magazine, January.

metter Relating to the Cambridge Public Library." Cambridge Tribune,
March 15. _

"Richard Henry Dana." CambridE Tribune, December 20.
Ed. with Mrs. Ellen H. Bigelow. American Sonnets. Preface by Higginson.

Ed. with Mrs. Mabel L. Todd. Poems, by Baily Dickinson. Preface by
Higginson.

"Do Americans Hate England?" North American Review, October.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

281

1891
"Life of fiancis Higginson." Makers of America.
«an the Steps of the Hall (university Hall, August 28, 1837)." Privately
printed. Leaflet.
Poem inscribed to the class of 18111, Harvard University.

"Address at the 100th Anniversary, Jamary 2h." Inseam-etts Histori-
cal Society. Proceedings. .

"Landmarks of Progress." Address at the hOth Anniversary of the Na-
tional Woman' s Rights Convention. bonan' s J surnal , February 1h.

"Rabiab's Defence." [Pout] Atlantic Monthl , September. Def. VI.
"Emily Dickinson" slettors." Atlantic Homily, October.

"this Two Lessons." [Sonnet.] w Maine, December. Def. VI.
"Glimpses of Authors." M, October 154mm 1, 1892.

so. with Mrs. Mabel L. Todd. m, 101 m Dickinson. 2d series.
Ed. in part. 313 @3592 we Leena-1:19 [City pibucetienJ
Articles. Ham. I er‘s Bazar, Independent.

1892
Concerning £1; 2; Hg.

"The New World and the New Book." An Address delivered before the Nine-
teenth Century Club of New York City, January 15, 1891, with
kindred essays.

"Literature in a Republic: A Lecture." Reed and others, eds. Modern
flogzence, vol. 5'. _ ""'"""’

"Tribute to Lowell." Massachusetts Conmmndery of the Loyal Legion.
In Memoriam. Pph. Same. Cambridge Tribune, February 20.

"Youth and Literary Life." Lectures to Young Egg, New York. Pph.

"English Ancestry of the Higginson Fondly." 233E England Historical
and Genealogical Roaster, April.

"An Emtian Banquet." [SonnetJ Scribner's Magzine, April. Def. VI.

"The Sleeping Car." [Poem] Centufl. Magazine, May. Def. VI.

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

————f ‘
282

"School, College, Library." Conga‘liten M, May.
in World Outs-ids of Science. n 32 World, December.
58“. Pph. ..
Sane. Book and Heart. 1897.

With Mrs. Florence M. Jaquos. "List of Battles and casualties of Massa-
clmsotts regiments during- the war of the Rebellion." Egg England
Historical and Genealog‘cal Roaster, January. .

Articles. Nation.

1893
"Cambridge Public Library Report." Pph.
"Straiglt Lines or Oblique Lines?" m Suffrage W: November.
With Mrs. Mary T. Higgnson. m as M 132‘ 332125.

with Edward (manning. English Histog for American Readers.

"Speech on the Turning-Point in the History of the Parliament of Re-
ligions." World's Parliament of ReliEons, vol. I.

"On Boston." Ԥ__t. Nicholas, January.

189h
"Cambridge Public Library Report." Pph.

"Note [to] Books and Reading, by Sir John Lubbock." Worm-1's Book,
vol. 2. _ _ __ -

 

"Introduction." Speeches and Addresses 93 William _E_:. Russell.
"How to Use a Public Library." Golden Rule, September 27.

"The Prospect Union and the Public Library." Progect Union Review,
October 2h.

"How to Read Magazines." Golden Rule, November 15.

1895
Massachusetts in. the Amy and Navy during 3113 flag 3_f_ 1861—65. Vol. 2.
"The Fairy Coursers." [Foamy] Cambridg Sketches, by Cambridge authors.

 

 

 

   

 

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o
a
1
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- s
n
\ .. 0
‘ _
I
. ~
x
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.
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A
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:I.
v.

 

 

283

"The Woman Who Most Influenced Me." Ladies" Home Journal, October.
"A Young Girl's Library." Ladiesi-Hene Journal, November.
Articles. Beaten Evening rrmecript, Hamr's Bazar, Nation.

1896
Massachusetts in the m and M m 213 Egg 2; 1861-65. Vol. I.
Prefatory Note. Aspinwall. m Stories £135 m m.
"The School of Jingoes." Essays from the ChaE-Book.
"Life in Cambridge Town." Gilman, ed. Cambridge 93 _1__8__9_§.
"Octavius Brooks Frothingluam." £135 m, March.

"A Keats Manuscript." Formn, June.
Same. Book and-Heart. 1897.

 

"The Romance of a Brown-Paper Parcel." Century Magazine, August.

"A Bookshelf in the Kitchen." ladieei Home Journal, November.

"Cheerful Yesterdays." Atlantic Monthly, November-December. Def. I.

"Early Free Churches." Free Church Record, April.

(Comp.) Rough list in manuscript of his Galatea collection of books,
in the Boston Public Library, relating to women. With newspaper
scraps, printed titles, and. a supplementary accessions catalogue.

A comment on. the Galatea collection may be found. in the Boston
Evening granscrifl, February 18 , 1896.

(Comp.) Scrapbook of periodical articles, newspaper cuttings, and
portraits relating to James Russell Lowell. Presented to the
Cambridge Public Library, 1896.

Articles. Boston Evening Transcript, Ha er's Bazar, Homer's Weelilz,
Indejgendent, Nation, .00 , outEEs Companion. m

1897

B0013 and Heart.

 

Procession of the Flowers, and kindred pagers. Def. VI.

 

"The Biography of Browning's Fame." Browning Society of Boston. Pagers.

 

 

   

- . .
a \
. _
_ . r
I o
1
I
-
. ' I
u
..
.-
- f
..
1
_, .
..
1
T .
e
o ..
.

 

 

28h

"Educational Conditions and.Problems." [speech at the.Annual meeting of
the Harvard Teachers' Association, March 6.] Educational Review,

May. . -
"Cheerful Yesterdays." Atlantic'Monthly, Januaryeflay. Def. I.
"Colored Troops under-Fire." 2933951 Magazine, June.

"Gottingen and Harvard Eighty Years Ago." Harvard GraduatesI Magazine,
September. .\ -

"Literary'London Twenty'lears Ago." .Atlantic Honggly, December.

"The Shaw Memorial and the Sculptor, St. Gaudens," Centggy Magazine,
June.

"Snob Stuff as Dreams are made of." [PoemQZ CentugylMaggzine, July.

1898

Cheerful Yesterdays. Def. I.

 

"Cambridge Public Library Report." Pph.

Tales of the Enchantgg_Islands‘g£ the Atlantic.

 

 

Wfith Edward Channing. English History for.Americans. New edition
of their English Histogy for American Readers. 1893.

"Harriet Beecher Stowe." [Prefaceg7 Stowe. Uncle Tom{§ Cabin. New
edition. . _

[SketChes og7 Brown, Cooper, and Thoreau." Carpenter, ed. American
Prose. .

"Literary Paris Twenty Years Ago." Atlantic Monthly, January.
"0n the Outskirts of Public Life." gtlggtgg Monthly, February.
"The First Black Regiment." .Outlook, July 2.

"Anti-Slavery Days." Outlook, September 3.

Articles. Nation, Outloog.

1899

Contemporaries. Def. II.
contents:
Ralph‘waldo Emerson.
Theodore Parker.

 

 

   

 

 

 

285

no: Mama.
Johnl'iGreenleai‘ Whittier.

Walt Whitman.

Sidney Laniero

An Evening with Mrs. Hawthorne.
Lydia Maria Child.

Helen.Hunt Jackson ("H. H.").
JOhn Homes.

Thaddeus William Harris.

A Visit to John Brown's Household in 1859.
William Lloyd Garrison.

Wendell Phillips.

Charles ammer.

Dr. Howe‘s Anti-Slavery Career.
Ulysses Simpson Grant.

The Eccentricities of Reformers.
The Road to England.

01d Cambrid .
"'- Contenés:
I. Old Cambridge.
II. Old Cambridge in Three Literary Epochs.
III. Holmes.
IV. Longfellow.
V. Lowell.

"Where Liberty is Not, there is My Country." Anti-Imperialist Leaflet,
no. 19. Repr'—t'ed from Hager's BLzar, August 12,1899.

With William Taggard Piper. "Cambridge Public Library Report." Pph.

"Wendell Phillips." Encyclopaedia Britannica.

 

"My Literary Neighbors." mtlook, February h.

"His Brother's Brother [fiohn Holmesf." Atlantic montngy, August.

 

 

"The Road to‘England." Atlantic Monthly, October.

Articles. Nation, Outlook.

1900

Writin s. Definitive edition, 7 volumes.
0 . . Cheerful Yesterdays. Chapters first printed in Atlantic Monthly.

 

 

 

 

2. Contemooraries. ‘Most of the sketches previously printed.

3. AKrmy Life in 3; Black Regiment. Previously printed.

h. __o_men and the Alphabet. Chiefly articles printed in Hafir's
Bazar. .

5. Mes _:°_._n_ Romance. Includes Malbone, The Monarch of Dreams,
93.34903 Days ZpaFE oi].

 

 

 

 

 

 

286

6. Outdoor Studies. Mostly previously printed essays and poems.

7. 5Edies _i;_1_ H1305: _a_n_d Letters. Most of these essays previously
Fri-115630

"The Alliance between Pilgrim and Puritan in Massachusetts." An Address
delivered before the Old Planters' Society, Salem, June 9, 1900.

Pph- -

"Reasons for Voting for Bryan." Leaflet. Reprinted from the Springfield
Daily Republican, September, 1900.

With W. L. Garrison and G. S. 'Boutwell. "How mould a Colored Man Vote
in 1900?" Leaflet. Reprinted from the Boston Herald, October 11,
1900.

"The Reocoupation of Jacksonville in 1893." Massachusetts Commandery
of the Loyal Legion. Civil W33 Pears, vol. 2.

"Addresses and Remarks." Frae Religious Association. Proceedings,
1867-1900.

 

"Octavius Brooks Frothingham." Pro ets 9_i_‘ Liberalism: Six Addresses
before the Free Religious Assoctilation 22 Herica. P155:

 

"Education and the Public Library." [Typewritten] Boston Public Li-
brary. Free Lectures, 1900. .

"Ehiglish and American Phrases." Independent, February 15,

 

an... nagland Type." mtlonk, March 17.

Articles . Independent, Outlook .

 

1901

"American Orators and Oratory: Being a Report of Lectures delivered
at Western. Reserve University."

With William J. Rolfe. "Cambridge Public Library Report." Pph.
"Childe Poland to the Dark Tower Came." Poet-Lore, April—June.

Articles. Boston Evening Transcript, Independent, Outlook.

 

 

3.902

[Life 032,7 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. American Men of Letters.

 

 

[Life of] John Greenleaf Whittier. English Men of Letters.

 

 

 

 

287

I'Horace misha Scudder: A Memorial." American Academy of Arts and
-_ Sciences. Proceedings. Pph. ~.

"Speech at'winchester, England, September 18,1901." Banker. King
Alfred's menasz.

"American Genius and Life." With others. The Most American Books,
Outlook, December 6. .

(Ed.) Ste without an End. By'F.'W. Carove; tr. by Sarah Austin.
Preface 5y Egg'fison.

(Ed.) Walks with Ellery Channing. [Extracts from manuscript diaries
of Ralph waldo Emersen_7' Introduction'by Higginson. Atlantic
Monthl , July. .

Reviewed Scudder's'LifeIgflLouell. Harvard Graduates' Magazine, march.

"America Through French Eyes." Independent, January 9.

"English and American Plutocracy." Independent, July 2h.

Articles. Independent, Outlook.

 

1903

"James Elliot Cabot: A memorial." American Academy of Arts and
. Sciences. Proceeding_. Pph.

 

‘With Mrs. Margaret Higginson Barney. [Papersg7 Heath Readers.

 

With Henry'walcott Boynton. Reader's History of.American Literature.
Based upon a course of lectures, mericsnjLiterature 1n
Nineteenth Century," given by Higginson at the Lowell Institute,
Boston, 1903. They;were reported in part in the Boston Evening
Transcript under the fellowing titles and dates: American
Literature, January 6; The Philadelphia Period, January 9; Irving
and Cooper, January 13; Boston Takes the Lead, January 16; Con-
cord Litterateurs, January 20; Influence of the South, January
233'Writers from the'west, January 27; Our Literary Obstacles,
January 30.

 

"Personality of Emerson." Outlook, May 23.

"Address." Centenarz of the Birth of Ralph.Waldo Emerson, Concord,
May 25. -—‘-—- '_-

 

 

(Tr.) Fifteen Sonnets of Petrarch.
The introducti.on is ”based essentially upon Sunshine and Petrarch
(1867), which originally included most of the sonnets 1n this
volume.

Articles. Christian Endeavor world, Independent, Outlook, Success.

 

 

 

 

 

 

288

l9oh

"Address on Decoration Day in Sanders Theatre [Cambridge] ," May 30.
Pph. - ‘

"The sunny Side of the Transcendental Period. " Atlantic Monthly,
l. January. . ' '

"English and American Cousins." . Atlantic Monthly, February.
"Books Unread." Atlantic Monthl , March.

"Aristocracy of the Dollar. 3 Atlantic Monthly, April.
"Intensely Human." Atlantic Monthly, May.

"Butterflies and Poetry." Atlantic Monthly, June.

"Child's Morning Lessons," Outlook, December 3.

Articles. Boston Evenin h Transcri t, Encyclopaedia Americana, Nation,
Outlook, The Rea er, Sunday figszine, [Wanamaker‘s7 Book News.

 

1905

Part of _a_ Man‘s Life.

 

 

"George Frisbie Hoar." American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 233-
ceedings. Pph. -

"Letter Relating to the Intercollegiate Socialist Society." Leaflet.
Reprinted from Harper's Weekly, July 111.

 

With William MacDonald. Histo? 9; the United States. Enlarged edition
of Higginson's Larger ls cry of the Uni ted States.

Introduction. Capen. Country Homes of Famous Americans.

 

Introduction. Sinclair. The Aftermath of Slavery.
"Amsrican Audiences." Atlantic Monthly, January.
"The Close of the Victorian Epoch.” Atlantic Monthly, March.

"English Literature in the Last Half of the Nineteenth Century," lectures
delivered at the Lowell Institute, Boston, 1905. .
Not published, but reported in part in the Boston Evenin Transcript
under the following titles and dates: A Few English Poe ,5, March 1;
Carlyle, Frmade, Ruskin, March 8 3 Darwin's Domesticity, March 15;
Lander and. Ms Class , March P23 Recent I‘lglish Letters, March 29;
Browning and Tennyson, April 5. "”

 

 

 

 

 

289

"Letters of Hark. " Atlantic Monty, April.
"Wordsworthshire . " Atlantic Monthly, July.
"William James Rolfe." Outlook, July 22.

"Literamre as a Pursuit," An Address before the Harvard Ethical Society,
Cambridge, Massachusetts, Critic, Auglst.

"History in Easy Lessons." Atlantic Monthly, September.

"‘Ihe Cowardice of Culture." Atlantic Monthl , October.

- 'nle above six papers in the Elan c onthly, together with the
six published in the same periodical ?or 1901; , form the volume
Part 2; a Man's Life.

 

"Garrison and Whittier." Independent, December.

"The Place of Whittier Among Poets." gig Reader‘s Magazine, February.

(Ed.) The Hawthorne Centena Celebration at the—Wayside, Concord,
ifs-sacfiusetts, duly 5-3;, 190h. _' _.... __

Contains Higginson‘s address, July It, as presiding officer of that
day. .

"How a Child Learns the Music of Words." Outlook, January 28.
"Americans at Oxford." .'_1‘_h_e_ 2131;, August '1.
Articles. Christian Endeavor W, m, Independent, W,
Outloo .
1.906
"Address delivered at the celebration of the 275th anniversary of the

founding of Cambridge." December 21, 1905. [i’amphleh reprinted
from the Proceedings of the Cambridge Historical Society, 1,]

 

Introduction. Braithwaite, ed. Book 2;: Elizabethan Verse.

"A Great Poet in her Prime: Elizabeth Barrett Browning." [Wanamakertgi
Book News, March. . .

"A Reunited Anglo—Saxondom." Critic, April.

"Gentlemen by Profession." Independent, April 12.

 

With Others. "The Creative Spirit in literature." Outlook, November 21;.

"Mrs. Howe and her Commentator." Contrimtors' Club, Atlantic Monthly,
OCtObere

 

   

 

 

290

"Cambridge malty Years Since." Proceeding! of the CambridE Historical
800193, vol. II. .. — —_

"Reflniscences of John Bartlett." Proceedings of the Gendarme Histori-
- galSociet, vol. I. . """"' """"""'

"History in Easy Lessons." Atlantic Monthly, September.

190'?
LEE and £133 93‘ Stephen Higginson.
"Massasoit." Massasoit Memorial. Pph.
"Julia WardHowe." Outlook, January 26.
"The Early Days of Longfellow." £92k Nags Monthl , February.

"The Youth of Longfellow." Independent, February 21.

 

"Literature (1857-1907)." Atlantic Monthly, November.
"John Greenleaf Whittier." Independent, December 19.

"Literature at on" Tide." With others. Literature or Life, Outlook,
November 23.

"Address at Longfellow Memorial Meeting." Proceedings 23 Cambridge
Historical Society, vol. II.

"Edward Atkinson." Proceedings 9; American Academy 93 Arts and Sciences,
vol. X'LII.

 

"Louis Agassiz." Proceedings 21‘ the Cambridge Historical Society,
V01. II. '

(Ed.) Discourse of Matters Pertaining to Religion. Theodore Parker.

Preface by Hi‘éginson.
Articles and addresses. Christian Endeavor World, Cambridge Tribune,
Boston Evening Transcript, Youth's Companion.
1908

Thinis Worth While. Art of Life Series, Griggs (ed.) Most of the
sketEhes previously printed.

 

"Religious Progress in the Last Two Generations." Pph.

"Address at the Fif‘tieth Anniversary of Cambridge Public Library."
History of the Cambridge Public Librag.

 

 

 

 

 

 

«serum Clarence steam.- IndeLendent, January 30.
We alumnae Stedman." Atlantic Many, March.
"Edward Everett Hale." £92.! 1933 Monthly, August.
"Remblican Aristocracy." figsr's Monthly, July.

"First Steps in Literature." leg-England Magazine, October.

"Enerson's ’Footnote Person moot?!" _P_u______tnam's Monthl z and The
- Reader, October.

"Charles Eliot Norton." Outlook, October 31.

1909

Carlyle" 3 Ian , and Other Mflses. Most of the sketches previously
P t8 0

Arnold.
"Old Newport Days." Outlook , April 17.

"The Future Life." Ha er's Bazar, May. Afterwards, 1910, in a
book (with others; as In—ATF ____e_r _I_)_az .

"Edward Everett Hale." Outlook, June 19.
(Ed.) "White Slaves in Africa." North American Re'view, July.

(Ed.) "A Poem of the Olden Time," by his Aunt Nancy. Note by Higginson.

Articles. Boston Evening Transcript.

1910
(With others.) I}; A3151: Egg: Thoughts on the M'Eg'
Introduction. Austin's 2332; Eng, the Missing Man.
"William J. Rolfe." Emerson College MaEzine, November.

(Ed.) Descendants 93 the Reverend Francis Higggfl' son. (Genealogy.)

Articles. Con egationalist Lnd Christian World, BostonEve hing
Transcrip.

 

— “II-H...-
.

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

292

1911 (posthumous publications)

"Dickens in Anerica." Outlook, May 20.
"Man from Parlock: An Author's Persecutione and Visitations." m

Weeg, February )4.
"Waiting for the Bugler."

ul-

Current Literature , July.

1221
"February Hush. " [PoemJ Nature Study Review, January.

.1221

"Autumn Leaves. " [Poem] Popular Education, November.

Manuscript

John Brown andH gi_g_inson Correspondence in the Higginson of the Boston
PuiEI chrary.

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

293

B. Books and Articles about Bigginson

Aurin r, o. 0. "Ladies, Honor to Your Knight," Critic, xx
February 13, 1892), pp. 1014-105. -

Grant, Robert. "Verses to Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginscn,"
Atlantic Monthly, XCIII (February, 1902:), p. 192.

Hellman, George S. "Later Essayists," Cambrid e Histo if American
Literature. Edited by William P. fient john sk 9, Stuart P.
Sherman, and Carl Van Doren. New York, 1931, III, pp. 119-120.

Higginson, Mary Thacher (ed. ) Letters and Journals of Thomas Wentworth
Bigglflson, _2_|.________8hé-l906. Boston, I921.

 

. Thomas WentworthHl gEnson: £13 Stog 2; gig Life.
Boston, 1915.

Hintz, Howard. _T_h______omss Wentworth Hi1nson: Disciple of the Newness.
Unpublished“— Doctoral Dissertation, New York Universit—y: 1937.

 

Howe, Julia Ward. "December Frost Will Gather," Crit_______i_._c, XXIII
(December 30,1893), p. 1430.

Howe, M. A. deWolfe. "Thomas Wentworth Higginson," Dictiom of
American Biogaphy. Edited by Dumas Malone. New York, 1932‘,
IX, Pp. 1 ‘1 o

Lang, Lillian. "Bibliography of Thomas Wentworth Higginson," Cambrid e
Histo of American Literature. Edited by William P. Trent, Johfi
Erskine,—§tuart P. Sherman, and Carl Van Doren. New York, 1931,
V, Pp" 67776780

 

McCormick, Edgar Lindsley. Thomas WentworthH ginson as a Liter Critic.
Unpublished Doctoral Disse'r‘Eation, nivers y of Michigan, 1 0.

Mather, Mrs. Winifred. A Bibliography 93 Thomas Wentworth HigE‘ son.
Cambridge, 1906.

 

Munsterberg, Margaret. "Letters by Thomas Wentworth Higginson," Mo___r__e
B_p___oks, m1 (February, 191:7), pp. 52—56.

Perry, Bliss. "The Colonel‘s Quality," _T_t_1__e Pr___a______ise of Fe ally. Boston,
1923, pp. 73-80.

Strachey, J .- W. "The Man of Letters as Reformer," Littell's Living
A e, CCXXZXIII (May 10, 1902), pp. 373-376.

"Thomai Wentworth Higginson," Ou___t____look, LXXVI (February 6, 1901;), pp. 338-
3 0.

 

 

 

   

 

 

29h

Thwiug, marles Francis. "names Wentworth Higginson: Soldier of
Humanity," Friends 95.3135. New York, 1933, pp. 111-132.

Ward, Theodora ' v. w. "Enily Dickinson and Thomas Wentwortb Higgdnoon, a
Boston Public Libragz Quarterly, V (January, 1953), pp. 3-18.

White, F. E. "Thomas Wentworth Hi son's Idea of Democracy,"
NeEo Historical Bulletin, VI December, l9h2), pp. 55, 71.

C. Other Works Consulted '
Books

Adams, F. 6.. (ed.) Transactions of the Kansas State Historical
Society, 1886-1888. TopeEfIBW

Anthony, Katherine. Margaret Funer: A Psychologcal Biography.
New York, 1920.

 

. Susan B. Anthony: Her Personal History and Era.
New York, I951].— __ .— “'—

Anthony, Susan B. , Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, and Gage, Hatilda (eds.)

The Histo of Woman Suffra . New York, 1881, 1882, 1885, 1902,
I92 . 6 volE-mes. Volumes 5 and VI were edited by Ida Husted
Harper.

Austin, James C. Fields 93 the Atlantic Monthly. California, 1953

Beard, Mary R. Woman _a__s_ Force in Histog. New York, 19116.
Benet, Stephen Vincent. John Brown's Body. New York, 19141.

Bingham, Millicent Todd. Ancestors.l Brocades: The Literary Debut
- g_i_‘_ Emily Dickinson. New York, 1 .

 

 

Boas, George (ed.) Romanticism in America: Papers Contributed to

 

 

a Sym osium Rolf-Tat Eh: Baltinore View 2;: Art, 19140. Belt-i-
mesejzmo: "“- """"‘" “”—

Braun, Frederick Augustus. Margaret Fuller inf} Goethe. New York,
1910. '

Brooks, Van Wyck. New Engand: Indian Sumner, 1865-1915. New
York, 1910.

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

295

Catt, Carrie Chapman, and antler, Nettie Rogers. WomanSui’ trek and
Politics. New York, 1923.

Commager, Henry Steele. Theodore Parker. Boston, 1936.

Craven, Avery. £1.12 Coming 2; 393 Civil Kg. Chicago, 1957.

Dombrowsld., James. The Early 92151 93 Christian Socialism in America.
New York, 1936.

Frothingham, 0. B. Transcendentalism _i_n_ £133 England: A Bistogy.
New York, 1876. _

Gerry, Margareta S. "Julia Ward Howe, " Dictio of American
M. Edited by Dumas Malone, 13. fiew York, 1935.

Goddard, Harold Clarke. Studies in New England Transcendentalism.
North Carolina, 1931. F W

Groves, Ernest. £113 American Woman. New York, 1911;.

Halbeisen, Elizabeth K. Harriet Prescott Sppffor : A Romantic
Survival. PhiladelpE‘a, 19 .

Hale, Edward Everett. James Freeman Clarke: Autobiogaphy, Piggy
and Correspondence. Boston, 18 1.

Harper, J. Henry. 2h: House pi: Harper. New York, 1912.

Hickok, Benjamin B. The Political and Litera Careers 2! F. B.

Sanborn. Unpub11§fied Doctoral-Bissertation, H1 chigan State
Wity, 1953.

Howe, M. A. deWolfe. The Atlantic Monthly and Its Makers. Boston,
1919. """ """

Johnson, Samel A. The Battle 0 o__:_£_‘ Freedom: The New En and
Emiggant Aid Company _1__n Lbs ansa sade _______.—1:awrence, 1;.

Johnson, Thomas H. Emily Dickinsop: Ag Interpretive 131m.
Cambridge, 1955.

3213 Poems pi: EmiLy Dickinson. Cambridge, 1955. 3

O

'Véfilme S e

Korngold, Ralph. Two Friends of Man: The Story of William];
Garrison and We‘fidell 51111155 and th‘e'ir He Iat-onsHI witho

Abraham Lincoln. Boston, 1 0.

 

 

 

 

 

Mead, David. Yankee Boga-once in the Middle West: _T_h_e_ Ohio LE. sum,
1850-1870“. "iEat Lansing, 1951—. ' "_ "" . "—

Monaghan, Jay. Civil War on the Western Border, 1891-1865. Boston,
1955. _— _ _ _ ___._..... — —._—

Mott, Frank, Luther. A Histo _o_f_ American Magazines, 1865—1885.
Cambridge, 1938. 3 vo umes.

Nevins, Allan. _TLh_e_ Energence 3; Lincoln. New York, 1950. 2 volumes.

Nye, R. B., and Morpurgo, J. E. _A_ Histogy g 311?. United States.
Baltimore, 1955. 2 volumes.

Nye, R. B. William Lloyd Garrison a_nd_ 2133 Humanitarian Reformers.
Boston, 1955.

Odell, Ruth. Helen Hunt Jackson. New York, 1939.

Pattee, Fred Lewis. A History 92 American Literature Since 1870.
New York, 1916.

Patterson, Rebecca. Eb: Riddle pg Emil: Dickinson. Boston, 19%..
Persons, Stow. Free Reliaon: All American Faith. New Haven, 19h7.
Redpath, James. Public Life 22' Captain John Brown. Boston, 1860.

Sanborn, F. B. (ed.) The Life 5251 Letters of John Brown, Liberator
2;: Kansas, fl Mar-Fir 2:; Virgin . Boa—ton, 1885.

 

Recollections of Seventy Years. Boston, 1909, 2

volume s .

Schramm, Wilber L. Francis Parkman. American Writers Series. New
York, 1938.

Spiller, Robert, et al. (ed.) Literag Histori 31: lbs United States.
New York, 1953.

Stephenson, Wendell Holmes. Political Career 21; General James H. Lane.
Publication of the Kansas State Historical Society, 111. Topeka,

1930.

 

Thayer, Eli. .T'_h_e_ Ne! Enéand Aid Compapy 399. Its Influence throu
the Kansas Contes upon Nmonal Histori._Worcester, 1887.

Todd, Mabel Loomis (ed.) Letters 33' Emily Dickinson. New York, 1931.

Tyler, Alice Felt. Freedom's Ferment. Minneapolis, 19%.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

297

Villard, Oswald Garrison. John Brown, 1800-1859: A_ Bio ap Fifi:
Years After. Boston, 1900.. -

Weeks, Edward and Flint, many. Jubilee: 93-; Hundred Years 93 3139.
Atlantic. Boston, 1957. .

Weiss, John. Life .aii Correspondence 2; Theodore Parker. New York,
1862;. 2 vqumes.

Whicher, George F. This [as _a_ Post. New York, 1938.

Articles

Budd, Louis J. "Howells, the Atlantic Monthl , and Republicanism,‘
American Literature,_XXIV (my, 19 , pp. 139-156. _

Dorr, Julia C. R. "Emerson's Admiration of 'H. H.m Critic, VII
(August 29, 1885), p. 102. ' - .

Hellman, G. S. (ed.) "The Letters of Howells to Higginson,"
Twentz-Seventh Annual Report of the Bibliophile Society,
01-1 0 0313011, :9 ’ ppoj7:%o
Johnson, Samuel A. "The Genesis of the New England Emigrant Aid
Company," E911 England Quarterly, III (1930), pp. 95—122.

. "The Emigrant Aid Company in the Kansas Conflict,"
Kansas Historical Quarterl , VI (February, 1937), PP. 21—55.

 

Monthly Bulletin 93 the Books Added _t_o the Boston Public: Libra ,
111 (January, 1898), pp. 68:112. Udfitains a Iisting of $19
Galatea Collection.

Parkman, Francis. "The Woman Question," North American Review,
CCLXIV (October, 1879) , pp. 301-321.

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

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