Memories and Anecdotes

Hanover-A "Beacon Light" and a Master of Synonyms-A Day with Bryant in his Country Home-A Wedding T

e been so fortunate as to know an unusual number of distinguished me

my grandmother, Mrs. Ezekiel Webster, to a sister at Concord,

11, 1839, 4.30 A.M., a fine

t under Vesuvius-which may account for my occasional eruptions of temper and life-long interest in "Old Time Wall-papers." Later our hou

ng," asking questions, making queer remarks, or allowing free play to a vivid imagination, which my parents thought it wise to

n assembled family downstairs, "Muzzer, Muzzer, I dess I dot a fezer," or "Muzzer, come up, I'se dot a headache in my stomach." I certainl

t-and don't kitikize." And one evening about seven, my usual bedtime, I announced, "I'm going to sit up till eight tonight, and don't you 'spute." I know of many children who have the same habit of questions and sharp retorts. One of my pets, after plying her

he various Newtons, near Boston. At last the limit. "Ma, why do they call this West Newton?" "Oh, I

t years-my first book

in chickens, and dosed

dy

very

him red

n he wa

r bees around the sawdust, and my craze

s, which he had not read since early youth. He had no intention of allowing my memory t

authors, wh

ges that str

rhaps you ma

n at anoth

tented wit

down in bla

ect is wi

ther's thoug

e poetry or prose and on Sunday a hymn, some of w

ut a wint

ey to t

description

ling like a

heavens to

yet and yet

h Trump that w

nt sentence or paragraph." Next, I took lessons from Professor Mark Bailey of Yale College; and then in Boston in the classes of Professor Lewis B. Monroe,-a most interesting, practical teacher of distinctness, expression, and the way to direct one's voice to this or that part of a hall. I was given the opportunity also of hearing an occasional

dinner party at Edgewood, "For God's sake, Kate, don't quote the

n twice at 'High Low Jack' by Ben the learned pig. I always wondered why two pipes in liquid measure were called a hogshead; now I know

t Asa D. Smith of Dartmouth came to hear two of them, and after I had given the whole series from Chaucer to Burns, he too

d-for opinion by

hope is having a wide circulation as it deserves. Its analysis of character and estimate of literary merit strike me as in the main correct. Its racy, col

ttle further on girls were taking singing lessons, while a noisy little clock-ette on my bureau zigzagged out the rapid ticks. At the evening meal I was expected to be agreeable, also after the lecture to meet and entertain a few friends. When I at last retired that blatant clock made me so nervous that I placed it at first in the bureau drawer, where it sounded if possible louder than ever. Then I rose and put it way back in a

e at the Insane Asylum at Concord, New Hampshire, invited by Dr. Bancroft. After giving my "newspaper wits" a former governor of Vermont came up to shake hands with me, saying frankly, "Miss Sanborn, your lecture was just about right for us lunatics." A forme

other things that were not applauded. Farmers seemed to know nothing of the advantages of co-operation, and that they were as much slaves (to the middlemen) as ever were the negroes in the South. They even tried to escape from me at the noise of a

en fire. The light was dim and the effect was very weird. His wig hung on one bedpost, he had lost one eye, and the patch worn over the empty eye socket had been left on the bureau. My anxiety was great lest he should slip from the chai

o nights, but the remark of her sister, as I left utterly worn out, "Some folks se

for my friends among the Hanover children-forty-five s

wn there." Next moment I was at the head of the stairs; saw a man whom I did not recognize on the last step but one. I struck a heavy blow on his chest, saying, "Go down, sir," and down he tumbled all the way, his boots clanking along by themselves. Then the door opened, my burglar disappeared, and I went down and locked the back door as I had promised father I would. I felt less proud of my physical prowess and real courage when my attention was called to a full account of my assault in the college pa

bout which place Professor Edward J. Phelps, afterwards Minister to England, wrote a fierce rhyme to rel

hell his so

nvented Ess

the station contained the bodies of many weary ones who

airvoyant powers, she rose and begged the audience not to disperse, as she could distinctly see me pacing nervously up and down the platform at the Junction in a

dict of the Bible to cut off his right hand as it had "offended him." But lacking surgical facilit

tic. With all her woe she was quick at repartee. A man once asked her, "S

h his difficulti

fe on Sunday afternoons for a preliminary soak. The mini

go to if you so constantly

t on doing laundry

about smallpox, was asked if he had e

r religious meetings were held. Roguish lads to test him sprinkled red pepper, a lot of it, on the red hot stove

e got such a red face. "Cider apple sass." The same patron said, "You have served me pretty

lady sent back her bonnet twice on the ground that it was not

avedigger, manager in ge

iscopal Church of St. Luke, the beloved physician. She asked Jason if he liked

ho ventured to make a few sugg

met in our "graveyard" and pointin

ng ago." He cared personally for about thirty oil lamps each day, trimmed the wicks with his fingers, and then wiped them on his trousers. Also did the carving standing at the table and cleaning the dull knife on the sam

testify how many students were engaged in a noisy night frolic

y amusing statements. "By the way I look in these ragged clothes,

, "I will buy two guns, go to Concord, kill Judge Stanton with one, and shoot myself with the other, or else wa

w in her pasture; pleaded guilty, but add

picking lettuce or parsley in the gardens of the professo

from him with a kiss. Grandmother evaded this attention by stating her age, and so was unmolested. The names of his family were arranged in alph

he fall. On the Lord's Day some children were not allowed to read the Youth's Companion, or pluck a flower in the garden. But one old work

ra-la-laing along the streets. What a surprise when one glorious moonlight night which showed up the magnificent elms then arching the street before our house-the air was full of fragrance

sound of lu

e across

ld not quite catch, and the

till is the c

or Sanborn

as and each wi

t girl on Ha

Sanborn'

he las

sun whose

from heave

tin pan ne

the blaz

y's ears box

h he hadn

still is th

or Sanborn'

orus as

ld have gone out too. They had gone, but the blissful memory! I leaned on the window sill, and the moon with its bounteous mellow radiance filled my room. But listen, hark! Onl

this caterwauling in the middle of the night

xe, Wendell Phillips, Charles Dudley Warner, and Dr. Holmes, whom I knew in his Boston study, overlooking the water and the gulls. By the way, h

. He appeared on the platform wearing a flannel shirt, square-cut neck, disclosing a hirsute covering that would ha

lar publisher, poet, author, lecturer, friend, and inim

ing before they were to arrive, sweeping, dusting, polishing silver, and especially brightening the large, brass andirons in father's library. I usually scoured with rotten st

d my shabby carryall! But the train was snorting for a stop, and the two guests soon came easily to my vehicle, and Mr. Fields seemed to know me. Both shook hands most cordially and were soon in the back seat, full of pleasant chat and the first exciting ordeal was over. At tea table Mr. and Mrs. Fields sat on either side of father, and the stories told were different from any I had ever heard. I found when the meal was over I had not taken a mouthful. Next we all went to the College Church for the lecture, and on coming home we had an evening lunch. Al

him, as they happened to be passing Mr. Fields's residence on the Massachusetts coast. The

ponse, "he ain't Go

he query, "What is the most popular pill just now?" And the quick an

est lecture for the benefit

of the house demurred; she had "got pretty tired of boarders," but at last capitulated with, "Well,

oden chairs, the man said: "I got those chairs for piazzary purposes," and enlarged on the trouble of getting good help in haying time: "Why, my neighbour, Jake Stebbins, had a boy in his gang nam

by Mr. Fields and I intend to give o

dear Tom Hood, after his memorials were written by his son and daughter. And before many weeks came a box of his newest books fo

rine; she was the perfect hostess and housekeeper, the ever-busy philanthropist, a classic poet, a strong writer of prose when eager to aid some needed reform. Never before had I seen such a rare combination of the esthetic and practical, and she shone wherever placed. Once when she was with us, I went up to her room to see if I could help her as she w

f with no mercy shown to his flattened, broken nose. A lady said to him: "There is only one thing about you I could never get over, your nose." "No wond

e a great name for himself in New York City as a surgeon, and also as a brilliant after-dinner speaker. Doctor Cr

s he left early next morning on the top of the stage-coach, he interviewed the driver, who seemed not an

e well enough satisfi

who expressed

stranger; there wasn't muc

you to let me know. Who criticized it, and wh

not say much one way or other. But I'll

was his

ones he said, said he, he t

ng about (as Warner said to me, "Young love in the country is a solemn thing"); the booths for sale of gingerbread, peanuts, cider, candies, and popcorn; the marshal of the day dashing here and there on his prancing steed. All was excitement, great crowds, and the blare of the band. Suddenly an aged

ature. Sometimes he would call on us representing another acquaintance, who had just left, so perf

pyrotechnic climaxes could ever forget him or them. It was true that he made nine independent and distinct motions simultaneously in his most intense delivery. I once met him going back to his rooms at his hotel carrying a leather bag. He stopped, opened it, showing a bottle of Scotch whiskey, and explained "I am starting in on a lecture on Moses." There was a certain simplicity about the man. On

suers. "You shoo, and I'll catch," cried the kind host, but shrank back as the fowl came near, exclaiming: "Say, West, has a hen got teeth?" At last they conquered, plucked, and cooked her for a somewhat tardy meal, with some

rudite scholar, who made a permanent impression on all he met. While yet at college, his words were so unusual and his vocabulary so

t precisely 5.30 P.M., or as near as possible. His walk was peculiar, with knees stiffly bent out and elbows crooked as if to repel all feminine aggression, "a progressive porcupine" as someone described his gait. His hour for retirin

cheerful prattle." Fact was, he had monologued it in his most sesquipedalian phraseology. I had no chance to say one word. He had his own way of gaining magnetism; believed in associating with butchers. Did you ever know one that was an?mic, especially at slaughtering time? From them and the animals there and in stables, and the smell of the flowing blood, he felt that surely a radiant magnetism wa

ere from overwork. After his departure, uncle received a letter from him w

e scintillations of a brilliant intellect she hides a vigorous and analytic understanding, and when age shall have somewhat tempered her emotional

a Johnsonian epitaph

Mottoes hung on the wall such as "As thy days so shall thy strength be." I ventured to ask how he preserved such vitality, and he said, "I owe a great deal to daily air baths and the flesh brush, plenty of outdoor air and open fireplaces." What an impressive personality; erect, with white hair and long beard; his eyebrows looked as if sno

strikes you

will and mi

ngravings and paintings from the best American artists. He was too willing to be imposed upon by young authors and would-be poets. He said: "People expect too much of me, altogether too much." That Sunday was his last before his address on Mazzini in Central Park. He finished with the hot sun over his head, and walking across the park to t

ster and his second wife took their wedding trip i

periences at that time. My mother told me she knew of more than thirty proposals she had received after grandfather's death, but

week before a slide had come down by the side of the house and obstructed the road. Mr. Willey a

ps of the rocks, taking with it trees, boulders, and all in its way; the crashing and thundering were terrible. Three weeks

nt. He was walking leisurely, drawing a rattlesnake along by its tail. He had killed the creature and was taking it home as a trophy. He was a stalwart man, who had always lived among the mountains, and had become as familiar with the wild beasts as wi

otherwise the fare was meagre. When asked for mustard for the salt meat,

ted by Mr. Webster, with imperturbable gravity, either to kindly take it out or to bring its companion in, fo

two had been up, and he hoped never to see another trying it, for the last

and said she didn't think the bed would hurt anybody, for only two ministers from Boston had slept in it. We stayed some days and although it was the height of the season, we were the only guests. Nothing from t

me it used to hit the wheel when she looked out. And near it is her dark-brown "calash," a big bonnet with rattans stitch

ckgammon, or logomachy as a child. Her religion was the most beautiful part of her life, the same every day, self-forgetting, practical Christianity. She is not forgotten; her life is still a stimulus,

wn the pathwa

lm her blesse

for smiles, and

ood in life, an

us His servan

k to follow i

He is good, an

ecades of pur

be made sweet

m the seasons

eyes and add

aureole abo

Christmas gre

ions gathered

ttle child ha

oved beneath her

G THE SANBORN HOME

ister, Reverend Daniel Morton, who with his wife Lucretia Parsons, like so many other clergymen, was obliged to exist on a starvation salary, only six hundred dollars a year. Amon

Gibbs," whose skill at making even cheap suits look smart brought him a large patronage from the college students. Once a whole graduating class were supplied with dress suits from this artist. Mr. Morton had a most interesting store, sunny and scrupulously clean, with everything anyone could ask for, and few ever went out of it without buying something, even if they had entered simply from curiosity. The clerks were trained to be courteous without being persistent. Saturday was bargain day, and printed lists of what could be obtained on that day at an absurdly cheap rate were widely distributed through the neighbouring towns.

ising, cheery young man, invited him to dine each day at our house for nearly a year. They were great friends and had a happy influence upon each other. There were many jolly la

the father of Pierpont Morgan. It is everlastingly to Mr. Morton's honour that after he failed in business in New York he was able

h my father, but it is interesting to note the several steps in his career: Honorary Commissioner, Paris Exposition, 1878; Member 46th Congress, 187

home the ninety-first anniversary in a life full