the perkins institution for the blind.—south boston in the ’fifties and ’sixties.—migratory habits of the howe family.—“cliff house” at newport.—george william curtis and the howe children.—a children’s party at the longfellow mansion.—professor “stubby” child plays with us in the hay.
“i remember, i remember, the house where i was born.” indeed, i can hardly do otherwise, for the perkins institution for the blind was one of the landmarks of boston in the nineteenth century. it was also, so to speak, the intermittent home of our family for many years. my father bought “green peace” and moved the family there soon after my birth, hence we lived at the institution only from time to time.
the “doctor’s” wing of the great building was always at his disposal. in the summer, when the family were at newport, he often stayed there. it was a refuge to us in time of trouble. did our city house catch fire, or other circumstances make a change desirable—presto! we departed, servants and all, for the institution! my brother-in-law, henry richards, complained mildly during his courtship that no notice was given of these intended hegiras. he would come to see sister laura one evening and bid her good-by, with every expectation of calling on her the following day. when, twenty-four hours later, he rang the door-bell, there was no response! the howe family had folded their tents, like the arabs, and silently moved over to the institution. it will be judged, from this story, that the doctor’s part was fully furnished, save that the halls, like all those in the building, had uncarpeted marble floors. for the perkins institution for the blind had originally been a hotel, the mount washington house.
the building, simple, massive, and dignified, stood on a hill commanding a lovely view of boston harbor with its many islands. just behind it rose dorchester heights. as children we played among the earthworks whence the cannon of washington’s army had forced the british to evacuate boston. we did not then know that col. richard gridley, one of our ancestors, had planned those fortifications and the defenses of bunker hill as well. he was a veteran of the french wars who had “won laurels as an accomplished engineer at louisburg.”[1]
1. frothingham’s siege of boston.
when the institution for the blind was moved to south boston, ward twelve was more highly esteemed as a place of residence than it is now. a peninsula connected with the mainland only by dorchester neck, it enjoys the full sweep of the famous boston east wind. hence it is cool in summer, and the extended shore gives opportunities for sea-bathing. one of the sad memories of my childhood is the booming of cannon fired in the hope of bringing to the surface the bodies of those who had been drowned while bathing.
south boston has so many natural advantages of climate and scenery that it was hoped the city would grow in that direction. but the situation has its drawbacks. in order to reach boston proper it is necessary either to take a long and circuitous route through dorchester, or else to cross one of the bridges which span the harbor. these were, when i can first remember, fitted with primitive wooden drawbridges through which vessels seemed always to be passing, if one were in a hurry. boston was at this time a seaport in reality as well as in name, the wharves filled with shipping. to a child it was alarming to see the solid floor of the bridge divide in two portions and rise slowly in the air, disclosing an open space of water. it diminished very much one’s feeling of security. to be sure, after the vessel had finally passed through, and the great wooden jaws had again snapped together, a large iron bolt restrained further vagaries on their part. but what was to prevent the draw from sinking down under the weight of the passing vehicles? then there were legends of adventurous and unfortunate little boys who had been caught between the descending jaws. if you and your driver were fair-minded persons, your carriage took its proper place in the line and patiently waited its turn to cross. despite the warning sign, “keep to the right as the law directs,” there were people so unfair as to try to form a second line and so cross ahead of earlier comers. these we regarded with righteous indignation.
the neighborhood of the bridges was occupied by tenement-houses, making the approach to south boston rather squalid. the house of correction and other public institutions then established there lessened the attractiveness of the peninsula. so when boston began to expand in earnest it took the usual course of cities and grew toward the west. the back bay was duly filled in, for the new part of boston is on made ground. my father considered this much less wholesome than the original soil.
in the days of my childhood, south boston, while not a fashionable suburb, counted many substantial and fairly well-to-do citizens among its inhabitants. toward the eastern end it was pleasantly open and still retained a rural air. at city point were semi-circles of granite, built for the cannon of the revolution. facing it, with a mile of water stretching between, was the grim gray outline of fort independence, not yet reduced to innocuous desuetude by the changes in methods of warfare.
as there was already a baby girl, it was hoped that i would be a boy. my father was much disappointed at my failure to fulfil this hope. he declared that the only way to console him would be to name me for florence nightingale, which was accordingly done. this was before the crimean war had made her famous. my parents, however, had spent some days at “embley,” the home of the nightingale family, while on their wedding-tour. florence, then a young woman of twenty-three, was already turning toward her life-work. she consulted my father, as a philanthropist of experience, about the propriety of her studying nursing and devoting her life to the care of the sick. he, of course, counseled her to do so. ever in advance of his own day and generation, he would have had small patience with the people who even now consider a nurse as a species of social pariah.
miss nightingale corresponded with my parents before she had taken up her public work. the beautiful and devout spirit of her later years, as well as an intense interest in the movements in behalf of political and religious freedom, is manifest in these early letters. touches of fun remind us that she had a happy sense of humor. throughout the correspondence we see the great admiration of the young english gentlewoman for the man whose life was dedicated to the cause which she longed to take up.
she thus acknowledged the news of my birth and of the decision to name the new baby after her, foreshadowing, also, her own future career.
embley, december 26.
i cannot pretend to express, my dear kind friends, how touched and pleased i was by such a remembrance of me as that of your child’s name.... if i could live to justify your opinion of me, it would have been enough to have lived for, and such thoughts as that of your goodness are great thoughts, “strong to consume small troubles,” which should bear us up on the wings of the eagle, like guido’s ganymede, up to the feet of the god, there to take what work he has for us to do for him. i shall hope to see my little florence before long in this world, but, if not, i trust there is a tie formed between us which shall continue in eternity—if she is like you, i shall know her again there, without her body on, perhaps the better for not having known her here with it.
... good-by, my dearest friend, which word i am sure i never say to you without its good old meaning, god be with you. you never can tell me enough about yourself, or about dr. howe’s reforms.
i have no time to be ashamed of myself for writing you such a long and barren letter in return—i would write now, because, from the day after christmas day, for a month, i shall not have a moment to myself, except the solemn minute of the procession in to dinner, when everybody knows that each person may have the full and exclusive possession of his or her thoughts to him or herself, till the dogs are fairly feeding.
if i could live to see anything like a protestant sisterhood of charity in england “my eyes would indeed have seen his salvation,” but now i see nothing but a mist, and only hope, when the mist clears away, to see something else.
pray excuse me—i’m coming back—but only to say this time, what i never can express, how very earnestly i am ever your loving and grateful florence.
pray give our very kindest remembrances to dr. howe—and so fare you well, very well, my dear, dear friends.
in a later letter she writes of the two babies:
... i often think of your little couple, and imagine what they are like, and fancy the curious mixture there must be in them. i see them standing in the doorway, looking at me with irresolute eyes, and i sit quite still, that they may not go away—perhaps the only intercourse that will be permitted me with them on earth. it would be a curious speculation (if one’s acquaintance were but large enough to enable one to collect a sufficient number of facts to form a sort of experience) to find out what materials in the parents’ characters kneaded together into what sort of pate in the children’s—and the general laws of these admixtures. i wonder, in this diving and grubbing age, that people don’t make at least rough theories about it (there must be some laws, if we could but find them out)—beginning with genesis, where we see that the “sons of god” which, i suppose, only means the men great in wisdom and virtue and piety, who led these antediluvian females to the hymeneal altar, who, i am afraid, were pagans or at the least something very bad by their being called the “daughters of men,” we see that their offspring, poor things! were strong and violent and restive and whatever else we may suppose symbolized under the character of “giants.” n. b.—this, upon second thoughts, looks like an uncivil apologue, and, as i remember, poor mrs. fowler got into a scrape by sealing a letter once with a wafer on which were two donkeys with the motto “when shall we three meet again?” of course implying that the receiver of the letter was the third donkey (though preserve me from putting you into the same category of souls as mrs. fowler’s correspondent!), yet i must beg to assure you that the above is no parable.
the downfall from the heavens has been so prodigious these last three weeks, that the river has been the driest place, and standing in it up to one’s shoulders the best shelter from the rain. archbishop whately is practising mesmerism at dublin with a catholic priest. miss martineau’s last books are stupid—if the revelations of the laws of nature, which were made to her in a state of mesmerism, have found their incarnation in her recent game-law tales in sea-green covers, i wish her “toutes sortes de prospérités et un peu plus de go?t.” the laws of nature are uncommon dry ones—but i have come to the end of my paper, and with all our kindest remembrances to dr. howe, believe me, dearest julia,
yours till doomsday i’ th’ afternoon,
florence.
florence nightingale did not content herself with sending loving messages to her godchild. her christening-gift—a beautiful edition of knight’s shakespeare—is one of my most treasured possessions. i still have also the remains of a bracelet made of her hair, with a little golden heart at the clasp.
in my mother’s correspondence with her sisters the “babies” are important figures. maternal affection represents us in a glorified aspect; nevertheless, it is pleasant to have our early virtues and talents recorded by her loving hand. a few extracts from her letters are given below.
new york, oct., 1845.
to mrs. thomas crawford.
... you complain that no one tells you about florence. oh! she is a perfect angel! the little creature lies in my arms all night, and makes me too happy. she is the image of our dear father—is not that strange? she has his eyes, his brow, almost his smile. so strong is the likeness that even lizzie hogg cried out: “oh! she is like dear mr. ward!” this endears her to me very, very much. she was christened in our little study at south boston. no one was present but sumner, [doctor] fisher, wightie, and laura. the good mr. burton christened her, and made the service even more touching and beautiful than did our friend parker. i had had a very nice cake made at home, iced over and adorned with sugar-plum letters.... the child has a heavenly disposition, and is much more robust than julia was at her age....
may 30, ’46.
to mrs. crawford.
... for this summer my great themes of interest are annie’s[2] marriage and fofo’s teeth. flossy, as julia calls her, is as healthy a child as one can see. she creeps on the floor all day, and can pull herself up by a chair, and stand for a long time, though she is just nine months old.... i confess my spirits have risen wonderfully since i left the institution. my little corner is so green and pretty, so quiet and hidden from all. i have not those dreadful stairs to go up and down, all the rooms are so near together. i need not lose sight of the children at any time....
2. my aunt, anne eliza ward, who married adolphe mailliard.
june 17, 1847.
... i stay at home pretty much all day, and generally all the evening, too. i write stories and verses, and when my eyes are tired i paste pictures in the nursery scrap-book, which is in great demand. in another year i shall have a governess for julia, who is getting too big to be left with a servant. she and flossy come on well with their french....
nov. 31, ’47.
... yesterday i incautiously used the word devil, and julia said, “mamma, that is not a pretty word; you had better say villain.” they are both as lovely as children can be. the little one is passionately attached to her sister and cries whenever they are separated....
my father hired a house in mount vernon street, in the years 1847–50, and of this i have still some recollections. the most interesting is that of a day in february, 1850, when my father carried all his three children down-stairs on his back, in a single load, to see our new little sister. she was later named laura, after my father’s noted pupil, laura bridgman, and elizabeth, after his sister. as mrs. laura e. richards, author of many nursery rhymes and juvenile books, she has since been beloved by several generations of little folk.
our brother, henry marion howe, was not quite two years old when he came down on his father’s back to welcome sister laura into this bustling world. although, on one occasion, when he plunged her into the horse-trough, he nearly helped her out of it, they were throughout their childhood inseparable friends and companions.
other memories of those years, 1847–50, relate to my earliest school-days. we went to a private school near by, kept by a miss watson, paper dolls, made or contributed by the older girls, and peach leather loom large in these recollections of school attendance. the latter delicious article of food was a species of stiff marmalade prepared in a sheet about half an inch thick. this was rolled up tightly, and a piece, which was literally a jelly roll, was cut off the end. you could not only eat this, but you could first, happy thought, uncoil it. in old southern cook-books the receipt for making peach leather can be found. ours came from professor and mrs. lieber, the former being at that time connected with columbia college in south carolina. he has been gratefully remembered, during the present war, as one of the freedom-loving germans of earlier days.
somehow or other i learned to read, for i can remember being conversant with my reader before i was five years old—according to the custom of that day.
in the early summer of 1850 our parents, with the younger children, harry and laura, sailed for europe. as became a child of new england, i was extremely reserved, and it was thought a pleasant sign when, as the family were about to depart, i wept. alas! investigation revealed that my tears were really connected with the little greek almonds—doubtless too few had been allotted to me. in justice to myself i must say that on the return, eighteen months later, of my mother, brother and sister, i found tears of joy in my eyes.
my eldest sister and i were left in the custody of our faithful nurse, lizzie, and in the care of friends. we spent the summer happily at concord, massachusetts. hearing the bells toll one day, we asked the reason, and were told that general taylor (then president of the united states) was dead.
one happy autumn day there was a cry of, “papa! papa!” and we rushed down the street into his arms. he could not remain away longer from america, owing to his many cares. we were now installed in the delightful home “green peace,” with an efficient housekeeper, mrs. stanwood, to care for us.
a sad memory comes back to me out of this distant past. on a certain summer day the blind pupils and their teachers made an excursion to the seaside, sister julia and i going with them. nurse lizzie allowed us to go in bathing, but cautioned us to hold tightly to a rock whose head rose above the water.
with childish bravado, i let go, calling on the others to look at me. suddenly a great wave dashed over me, but not more quickly than lizzie, who rushed in and dragged me out, all dressed as she was. she never recovered from the cold taken that day, dying of consumption not long afterward. i must have been five or six years old at the time of the funeral. i remember seeing the face of the devoted nurse lying white and still beneath the glass of the coffin. i remember, too, that all knelt on the earth around the grave, the service being according to the roman catholic ritual.
while “green peace” remained our home for many years, its situation on the southerly slope of a hill made it warm in summer. accordingly, in 1852 my father and the poet longfellow hired a house on the cliffs at newport, with the understanding that no other boarders should be received except those of whom they approved. the company that assembled beneath the roof of this early “cliff house” was of a literary turn of mind. count gurowski nicknamed it “h?tel rambouillet.” a daguerreotype is still in existence showing mr. and mrs. longfellow, my mother, mrs. freeman (wife of the artist), and mr. thomas gold appleton, the noted wit. a broad smile pervades the group, doubtless due to the fact that in those early days of photography the victims were obliged to sit some twenty minutes before the camera.
george william curtis was among the favored few who spent that summer at the “cliff house.” he was then a handsome young bachelor who went to balls and parties. alas! near his room was the howe nursery, and the children, who took no part in the social gaieties of newport, arose at an early hour. our noise and that of our portable tin bath-tub sadly disturbed the morning slumbers of the “howadji.”
i was a little girl of an independent turn of mind and objected decidedly to being kissed. some of the gentlemen thought this very amusing in a child of barely seven, and delighted in teasing me. to enter or leave the house was a feat of daring, for the enemy might be lurking in the shadow of the hall, ready to catch me. once, at least, i was seized and held up in the air by a mr. g——. “now i’ve got you!” he exclaimed. he was soon glad to put down a very irate and struggling little girl. the foolish custom of kissing children indiscriminately has happily gone out of fashion.
another sad memory of that summer rises before me. i see on the lawn of “cliff house” my silver mug, with a deep wound in its side. one of the gentlemen, espying it in the grass, took it for a pewter vessel and obligingly discharged his pistol at it.
the longfellow boys, charles and ernest, who were of nearly the same age as sister julia and i, were our pleasant playfellows. speculating on their father’s height, they declared that he ought to be called mr. shortfellow rather than mr. longfellow. i do not so well recall his appearance at the “cliff house,” but a year or so later he emerges from my childish recollections as an alert, slender and rather short man, with a cheerful expression of countenance and remarkably bright blue eyes. my uncle, samuel ward, declared they were like blue water-lilies. his hair was then sandy, with a dash of gray, and his sensitive mouth was not concealed by either beard or mustache, for he wore only side-whiskers.
in those early days he did not, to my thinking, look as poetical as in later years. it was customary in boston to speak of him as professor longfellow, as he then filled the harvard chair of belles-lettres. his predecessor, george l. ticknor, author of a history of spanish literature, was not well pleased at giving up his office. instead of bequeathing his spanish library to harvard college, he left it to the boston public library, with strict injunctions that the books should not be allowed to circulate, lest they should fall into the hands of the cambridge professors. a more amiable postulate is that he feared the books might be lost. dr. joseph greene cogswell, the first astor librarian, administered that foundation on the same principle.
with mr. longfellow himself mr. ticknor maintained pleasant and friendly relations, as we see by the poet’s letters.
i remember very well a charming children’s party given in the pleasant grounds adjoining the old “craigie house.”
the mansion is colonial in style, and with its wide verandas, has an ample front of more than eighty feet. as a child, the interior, with its spacious halls and rooms, impressed me more than the exterior. the former had an aspect of comfort and of a certain elegance which bespoke the refined and scholarly tastes of its owner. this was not so common at that time as it is now, when interior decoration is so much studied.
great clumps of sweet-flowered shrubs grew about the dear old house, as if longing to shield it from the dust and traffic of the wayside. here blossomed the sweetest of old-fashioned spring flowers, the lilac, and the starry syringas which were so much more fragrant than the modern more showy variety of the same flower.
mr. longfellow was an extremely kind and indulgent father and his boys, like other boys whom we have all known, sometimes abused his kindness. across the pleasant memories of the “craigie house” party lies the shadow of our virtuous indignation at the conduct of the boys, who, as he thought, cheated us out of our fair share of candy. the calm reflection of later years suggests that the spirit of fun and adventure rather than mere rapacity may have influenced their conduct. the girls were too young to accept their defeat in the true sporting spirit.
the coveted bonbons were showered upon us from a scrabble-bag, to wit, a large, brown-paper bag filled with candy and hung above our heads. at some parties the scrabble-bag also contained raisins and popped corn, but at the “craigie house” i can remember only great showers of candy.
the children were in turn blindfolded, armed with a stick, then bidden to advance and bring down the contents of the bag with three blows. it was hung from the bough of a tree, the bonbons came down pellmell upon the grass and we all scrambled for them.
mr. longfellow, who must evidently have had assistants, was most active and energetic; i should be afraid to say how many brown-paper bags were hung up, a great number of them succumbing in turn to our childish onslaughts.
the boys established a sort of robbers’ den, or retreat, in one of the lofty trees of the dear old garden; here they would fly for protection when hard pressed by the enemy, returning to the attack when the sugar-plums were about to descend. it is but just to the longfellow boys to say that they were usually pleasant playfellows. my sister julia and i had many merry times with them before the dreadful catastrophe of mrs. longfellow’s death threw its dark shadow over the household.
it will be remembered that her thin summer dress caught fire while she was making seals to amuse her children. in those days of crinoline such an accident was almost certain to end fatally. the hoopskirt was a fire-trap of the most deadly sort.
for a long time after the tragic death of his wife the poet withdrew from all society.
we saw him occasionally in later years, when the gold of his hair had turned to silver. his beautiful snow-white hair and beard seemed almost like a halo surrounding his poetic face. the blue eyes retained their brightness, in spite of advancing years. it was always a red-letter day when he accepted an invitation to dine or spend an evening at our house, although he was, in the latter part of his life, rather a silent guest. but the charm of his presence was great, and what he said was, of course, well worth hearing.
our mother always remembered his description of my sister julia. in her beautiful young womanhood she was often tormented with the “howe shyness” which seemed to form a slight but impalpable barrier between her and the world, until she became so much interested in the conversation as to forget herself. mr. longfellow said of her, “julia is like a veiled lily.”
a curious myth prevailed at one time about a daughter of the poet. the artist who painted a portrait group of the three charming children placed one of them in such a position as to conceal both her arms. this picture was reproduced in an engraving which adorned the walls of many houses. hence the fable arose that one of mr. longfellow’s daughters had no arms. two ladies were lamenting this fact in a cambridge horse-car when a harvard professor overheard them. thinking they would be glad to be set right, he addressed them: “ladies, i know the longfellow family well, and i am happy to be able to tell you that all three of the little girls have the usual number of arms.”
rash is the man who thus seeks to overthrow a popular delusion! drawing herself up, one of the ladies replied, “sir, we have it on the best authority that one of mr. longfellow’s daughters has no arms!”
the children’s parties given at cambridge in the days of my childhood were certainly very delightful occasions. the old régime, under which distinguished men were chosen as professors at harvard college, still prevailed at that time. when president eliot took office he is said to have chosen men rather for their ability as instructors than for their claims to literary or scientific distinction. professor child, well known for his exhaustive collection of ballads, doubtless possessed both kinds of merit, since he was retained on the harvard faculty, as i think, throughout his life. generations of students remember him as the stern but humorous critic whose caustic comments stayed the noble current of their rage and withered many a youthful burst of eloquence with the unfeeling remark “spread-eagle.”
from this accustomed severity he would unbend on a midsummer afternoon, and frolic about with the children as if he had been one of them. full of jokes, fun and nonsense, he was the life and soul of a certain merry june day which rises before me out of the mist of childish recollections. as he tumbled about in the new-mown hay, among his little friends, or sat down on the grass while we gathered about to listen to his stories, he seemed to me a very funny man. and yet i wondered, with a certain gravity of imagination peculiar to early childhood, why he should bring himself down to our level. why, being a grown man, he should find it amusing to tumble in the hay. with his short figure, close-curling yellow hair, and decidedly retroussé nose, he certainly looked like the genius of comedy; but nothing about him seemed to me half so funny as a singular, light-colored felt hat which he wore. it was nearly as tall as that of the ordinary circus clown and had a rounded or dome-shaped crown. under the skilful and amusing manipulation of its owner it certainly afforded us a great deal of amusement on that festal day. alas! in later years he wore just an ordinary hat.
