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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:34:04 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:34:04 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/10202-0.txt b/10202-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..852dae7 --- /dev/null +++ b/10202-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8714 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10202 *** + +[Illustration: Maria Mitchell] + + + + +MARIA MITCHELL + + +LIFE, LETTERS, AND JOURNALS + + + + +Compiled By + +PHEBE MITCHELL KENDALL + + + + +Illustrated + + +1896 + + + + +CONTENTS + + + + +CHAPTER I + +The parents--Home life--Education, teachers, books--Astronomical +instruments--Solar eclipse of 1831--Teaching--Appointment as librarian +of Nantucket Atheneum--Friendships for young people--Extracts from +diary, 1855--Music--The piano--Society--Story-telling--Housework--Extract +from diary, 1854 + + +CHAPTER II + +"Sweeping" the heavens--Discovery of the comet, 1847--Frederick VI. and +the comet--Letters from G. P. Bond and Hon. Edward Everett--Admiral +Smyth--American Academy--American Association for the Advancement of +Science--Extract from diary, 1855--Dorothea Dix--Esther--Divers extracts +from diary, 1853, 1854--Comet of 1854--Computations for comet--Visit to +Cape Cod--Sandwich and Plymouth--Pilgrim Hall--Rev. James Freeman +Clarke--Accidents in observing + + +CHAPTER III + +Wires in the transit instrument--Deacon Greele--Smithsonian +fund--"Doing"--Rachel in "Phèdre" and "Adrienne"--Emerson--The hard +winter + + +CHAPTER IV + +Southern tour--Chicago--St. Louis--Scientific Academy of St. Louis--Dr. +Pope--Dr. Seyffarth--Mississippi river--Sand-bars--Cherry +blossoms--Eclipse of sun--Natchez--New Orleans--Slave market--Negro +church--The "peculiar institution"--Bible--Judge Smith--Travelling +without escort--Savannah--Rice plantations--Negro children--Miss +Murray--Charleston--Drive--Condition of slaves--Old buildings--Miss +Rutledge--Mr. Capers--Class meeting--Hospitality--Mrs. Holbrook--Miss +Pinckney--Manners--Portraits--Miss Pinckney's father--George +Washington--Augusta--Nashville--Mrs. Fogg--Mrs. Polk--Charles +Sumner--Mammoth cave--Chattanooga + + +CHAPTER V + +First European tour--Liverpool--London--Rev. James Martineau--Mr. John +Taylor--Mr. Lassell--Liverpool observatory--The Hawthornes--Shop-keepers +and waiters--Greenwich observatory--Sir George Airy--Visits to +Greenwich--Herr Struvé's mission to England--Dinner party--General +Sabine--Westminster Abbey--Newton's monument--British museum--Four +great men--St. Paul's--Dr. Johnson--Opera--Aylesbury--Admiral Smyth's +family--Amateur astronomers--Hartwell house--Dr. Lee + + +CHAPTER VI + +Cambridge--Dr. Whewell--Table conversation--Professor Challis--Professor +Adams--Customs--Professor Sedgwick--Caste--King's Chapel--Fellows-- +Ambleside--Coniston waters--The lakes--Miss Southey--Collingwood--Letter +to her father--Herschels--London rout--Professor Stokes--Dr. +Arnott--Edinboro'--Observatory--Glasgow observatory--Professor +Nichol--Dungeon Ghyll--English language--English and Americans--Boys and +beggars + + +CHAPTER VII + +Adams and Leverrier--The discovery of the planet Neptune--Extract from +papers--Professor Bond, of Cambridge, Mass.--Paris--Imperial +observatory--Mons. and Mme. Leverrier--Reception at Leverrier's--Rooms +in observatory--Rome--Impressions--Apartments in Rome and +Paris--Customs--Holy week--Vespers at St. Peter's--Women--Frederika +Bremer--Paul Akers--Harriet Hosmer--Collegio Romano--Father +Secchi--Galileo--Visit to the Roman observatory--Permission from +Cardinal Antonelli--Spectroscope + + +CHAPTER VIII + +Mrs. Somerville--Berlin--Humboldt--Mrs. Mitchell's illness and +death--Removal to Lynn, Mass.--Telescope presented to Miss Mitchell by +Elizabeth Peabody and others--Letters from Admiral Smyth--Colors of +stars--Extract from letter to a friend--San Marino medal--Other extracts + + +CHAPTER IX + +Life at Vassar College--Anxious mammas--Faculty meetings--President +Hill--Professor Peirce--Burlington, Ia., and solar eclipse--Classes at +Vassar--Professor Mitchell and her pupils--Extracts from diary--Aids +--Scholarships--Address to her students--Imagination in science--"I am +but a woman"--Maria Mitchell endowment fund--Emperor of +Brazil--President Raymond's death--Dome parties--Comet, 1881--The +apple-tree--"Honor girls"--Mr. Matthew Arnold + + +CHAPTER X + +Second visit to Europe--Russia--Extracts from diary and +letters--Custom-house peculiarities--Russian railways--Domes--Russian +thermometers and calendars--The drosky and drivers--Observatory at +Pulkova--Herr Struvé--Scientific position of Russia--Language-- +Religion--Democracy of the Church--Government--A Russian +family--London, 1873--Frances Power Cobbe--Bookstores in London--Glasgow +College for Girls + + +CHAPTER XI + +Papers--Science--Eclipse of 1878, Denver, Colorado--Colors of stars + + +CHAPTER XII + +Religious matters--President Taylor's remarks--Sermons--George +MacDonald--Rev. Dr. Peabody--Dr. Lyman Abbott--Professor Henry--Meeting +of the American Scientific Association at Saratoga--Professor Peirce-- +Concord School of Philosophy--Emerson--Miss Peabody--Dr. Harris--Easter +flowers--Whittier--Rich days--Cooking schools--Anecdotes + + +CHAPTER XIII + +Letter-writing--Woman suffrage--Membership in various societies.--Women's +Congress at Syracuse, N.Y.--Picnic at Medfield, Mass.--Degrees from +different colleges--Published papers.--Failure in health--Resigns her +position at Vassar College--Letters from various persons--Death--Conclusion + + +APPENDIX + +Introductory note by Hon. Edward Everett + +Correspondence relative to the Danish medal + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +1818-1846 + +BIRTH--PARENTS--HOME SURROUNDINGS AND EARLY LIFE + +Maria Mitchell was born on the island of Nantucket, Mass., Aug. 1, 1818. +She was the third child of William and Lydia [Coleman] Mitchell. + +Her ancestors, on both sides, were Quakers for many generations; and it +was in consequence of the intolerance of the early Puritans that these +ancestors had been obliged to flee from the State of Massachusetts, and +to settle upon this island, which, at that time, belonged to the State +of New York. + +For many years the Quakers, or Friends, as they called themselves, +formed much the larger part of the inhabitants of Nantucket, and thus +were enabled to crystallize, as it were, their own ideas of what family +and social life should be; and although in course of time many "world's +people" swooped down and helped to swell the number of islanders, they +still continued to hold their own methods, and to bring up their +children in accordance with their own conceptions of "Divine light." + +Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell were married during the war of 1812; the former +lacking one week of being twenty-one years old, and the latter being a +few months over twenty. + +The people of Nantucket by their situation endured many hardships during +this period; their ships were upon the sea a prey to privateers, and +communication with the mainland was exposed to the same danger, so that +it was difficult to obtain such necessaries of life as the island could +not furnish. There were still to be seen, a few years ago, the marks +left on the moors, where fields of corn and potatoes had been planted in +that trying time. + +So the young couple began their housekeeping in a very simple way. Mr. +Mitchell used to describe it as being very delightful; it was noticed +that Mrs. Mitchell never expressed herself on the subject,--it was she, +probably, who had the planning to do, to make a little money go a great +way, and to have everything smooth and serene when her husband came +home. + +Mrs. Mitchell was a woman of strong character, very dignified, honest +almost to an extreme, and perfectly self-controlled where control was +necessary. She possessed very strong affections, but her self-control +was such that she was undemonstrative. + +She kept a close watch over her children, was clearheaded, knew their +every fault and every merit, and was an indefatigable worker. It was she +who looked out for the education of the children and saw what their +capacities were. + +Mr. Mitchell was a man of great suavity and gentleness; if left to +himself he would never have denied a single request made to him by one +of his children. His first impulse was to gratify every desire of their +hearts, and if it had not been for the clear head of the mother, who +took care that the household should be managed wisely and economically, +the results might have been disastrous. The father had wisdom enough to +perceive this, and when a child came to him, and in a very pathetic and +winning way proffered some request for an unusual indulgence, he +generally replied, "Yes, if mother thinks best." + +Mr. Mitchell was very fond of bright colors; as they were excluded from +the dress of Friends, he indulged himself wherever it was possible. If +he were buying books, and there was a variety of binding, he always +chose the copies with red covers. Even the wooden framework of the +reflecting telescope which he used was painted a brilliant red. He liked +a gay carpet on the floor, and the walls of the family sitting-room in +the house on Vestal street were covered with paper resplendent with +bunches of pink roses. Suspended by a cord from the ceiling in the +centre of this room was a glass ball, filled with water, used by Mr. +Mitchell in his experiments on polarization of light, flashing its +dancing rainbows about the room. + +At the back of this house was a little garden, full of gay flowers: so +that if the garb of the young Mitchells was rather sombre, the setting +was bright and cheerful, and the life in the home was healthy and +wide-awake. When the hilarity became excessive the mother would put in +her little check, from time to time, and the father would try to look as +he ought to, but he evidently enjoyed the whole. + +As Mr. Mitchell was kind and indulgent to his children, so he was the +sympathetic friend and counsellor of many in trouble who came to him for +help or advice. As he took his daily walk to the little farm about a +mile out of town, where, for an hour or two he enjoyed being a farmer, +the people would come to their doors to speak to him as he passed, and +the little children would run up to him to be patted on the head. + +He treated animals in the same way. He generally kept a horse. His +children complained that although the horse was good when it was bought, +yet as Mr. Mitchell never allowed it to be struck with a whip, nor urged +to go at other than a very gentle trot, the horse became thoroughly +demoralized, and was no more fit to drive than an old cow! + +There was everything in the home which could amuse and instruct +children. The eldest daughter was very handy at all sorts of +entertaining occupations; she had a delicate sense of the artistic, and +was quite skilful with her pencil. + +The present kindergarten system in its practice is almost identical with +the home as it appeared in the first half of this century, among +enlightened people. There is hardly any kind of handiwork done in the +kindergarten that was not done in the Mitchell family, and in other +families of their acquaintance. The girls learned to sew and cook, just +as they learned to read,--as a matter of habit rather than of +instruction. They learned how to make their own clothes, by making their +dolls' clothes,--and the dolls themselves were frequently home-made, the +eldest sister painting the faces much more prettily than those obtained +at the shops; and there was a great delight in gratifying the fancy, by +dressing the dolls, not in Quaker garb, but in all of the most brilliant +colors and stylish shapes worn by the ultra-fashionable. + +There were always plenty of books, and besides those in the house there +was the Atheneum Library, which, although not a free library, was very +inexpensive to the shareholders. + +There was another very striking difference between that epoch and the +present. The children of that day were taught to value a book and to +take excellent care of it; as an instance it may be mentioned that one +copy of Colburn's "Algebra" was used by eight children in the Mitchell +family, one after the other. The eldest daughter's name was written on +the inside of the cover; seven more names followed in the order of their +ages, as the book descended. + +With regard to their reading, the mother examined every book that came +into the house. Of course there were not so many books published then as +now, and the same books were read over and over. Miss Edgeworth's +stories became part of their very lives, and Young's "Night Thoughts," +and the poems of Cowper and Bloomfield were conspicuous objects on the +bookshelves of most houses in those days. Mr. Mitchell was very apt, +while observing the heavens in the evening, to quote from one or the +other of these poets, or from the Bible. "An undevout astronomer is mad" +was one of his favorite quotations. + +Among the poems which Maria learned in her childhood, and which was +repeatedly upon her lips all through her life, was, "The spacious +firmament on high." In her latter years if she had a sudden fright which +threatened to take away her senses she would test her mental condition +by repeating that poem; it is needless to say that she always remembered +it, and her nerves instantly relapsed into their natural condition. + +The lives of Maria Mitchell and her numerous brothers and sisters were +passed in simplicity and with an entire absence of anything exciting or +abnormal. + +The education of their children is enjoined upon the parents by the +"Discipline," and in those days at least the parents did not give up all +the responsibility in that line to the teachers. In Maria Mitchell's +childhood the children of a family sat around the table in the evenings +and studied their lessons for the next day,--the parents or the older +children assisting the younger if the lessons were too difficult. The +children attended school five days in the week,--six hours in the +day,--and their only vacation was four weeks in the summer, generally in +August. + +The idea that children over-studied and injured their health was never +promulgated in that family, nor indeed in that community; it seems to be +a notion of the present half-century. + +Maria's first teacher was a lady for whom she always felt the warmest +affection, and in her diary, written in her later years, occurs this +allusion to her: + +"I count in my life, outside of family relatives, three aids given me on +my journey; they are prominent to me: the woman who first made the +study-book charming; the man who sent me the first hundred dollars I +ever saw, to buy books with; and another noble woman, through whose +efforts I became the owner of a telescope; and of these, the first was +the greatest." + +As a little girl, Maria was not a brilliant scholar; she was shy and +slow; but later, under her father's tuition, she developed very rapidly. + +After the close of the war of 1812, when business was resumed and the +town restored to its normal prosperity, Mr. Mitchell taught school,--at +first as master of a public school, and afterwards in a private school +of his own. Maria attended both of these schools. + +Mr. Mitchell's pupils speak of him as a most inspiring teacher, and he +always spoke of his experiences in that capacity as very happy. + +When her father gave up teaching, Maria was put under the instruction of +Mr. Cyrus Peirce, afterwards principal of the first normal school +started in the United States. + +Mr. Peirce took a great interest in Maria, especially in developing her +taste for mathematical study, for which she early showed a remarkable +talent. + +The books which she studied at the age of seventeen, as we know by the +date of the notes, were Bridge's "Conic Sections," Hutton's +"Mathematics," and Bowditch's "Navigator." At that time Prof. Benjamin +Peirce had not published his "Explanations of the Navigator and +Almanac," so that Maria was obliged to consult many scientific books and +reports before she could herself construct the astronomical tables. + +Mr. Mitchell, on relinquishing school-teaching, was appointed cashier of +the Pacific Bank; but although he gave up teaching, he by no means gave +up studying his favorite science, astronomy, and Maria was his willing +helper at all times. + +Mr. Mitchell from his early youth was an enthusiastic student of +astronomy, at a time, too, when very little attention was given to that +study in this country. His evenings, when pleasant, were spent in +observing the heavens, and to the children, accustomed to seeing such +observations going on, the important study in the world seemed to be +astronomy. One by one, as they became old enough, they were drafted into +the service of counting seconds by the chronometer, during the +observations. + +Some of them took an interest in the thing itself, and others considered +it rather stupid work, but they all drank in so much of this atmosphere, +that if any one had asked a little child in this family, "Who was the +greatest man that ever lived?" the answer would have come promptly, +"Herschel." + +Maria very early learned the use of the sextant. The chronometers of all +the whale ships were brought to Mr. Mitchell, on their return from a +voyage, to be "rated," as it was called. For this purpose he used the +sextant, and the observations were made in the little back yard of the +Vestal-street home. + +There was also a clumsy reflecting telescope made on the Herschelian +plan, but of very great simplicity, which was put up on fine nights in +the same back yard, when the neighbors used to flock in to look at the +moon. Afterwards Mr. Mitchell bought a small Dolland telescope, which +thereafter, as long as she lived, his daughter used for "sweeping" +purposes. + +After their removal to the bank building there were added to these an +"altitude and azimuth circle," loaned to Mr. Mitchell by West Point +Academy, and two transit instruments. A little observatory for the use +of the first was placed on the roof of the bank building, and two small +buildings were erected in the yard for the transits. There was also a +much larger and finer telescope loaned by the Coast Survey, for which +service Mr. Mitchell made observations. + +At the time when Maria Mitchell showed a decided taste for the study of +astronomy there was no school in the world where she could be taught +higher mathematics and astronomy. Harvard College, at that time, had no +telescope better than the one which her father was using, and no +observatory except the little octagonal projection to the old mansion in +Cambridge occupied by the late Dr. A.P. Peabody. + +However, every one will admit that no school nor institution is better +for a child than the home, with an enthusiastic parent for a teacher. + +At the time of the annular eclipse of the sun in 1831 the totality was +central at Nantucket. The window was taken out of the parlor on Vestal +street, the telescope, the little Dolland, mounted in front of it, and +with Maria by his side counting the seconds the father observed the +eclipse. Maria was then twelve years old. + +At sixteen Miss Mitchell left Mr. Peirce's school as a pupil, but was +retained as assistant teacher; she soon relinquished that position and +opened a private school on Traders' Lane. This school too she gave up +for the position of librarian of the Nantucket Atheneum, which office +she held for nearly twenty years. + +This library was open only in the afternoon, and on Saturday evening. +The visitors were comparatively few in the afternoon, so that Miss +Mitchell had ample leisure for study,--an opportunity of which she made +the most. Her visitors in the afternoon were elderly men of leisure, who +enjoyed talking with so bright a girl on their favorite hobbies. When +they talked Miss Mitchell closed her book and took up her knitting, for +she was never idle. With some of these visitors the friendship was kept +up for years. + +It was in this library that she found La Place's "Mécanique Céleste," +translated by her father's friend, Dr. Bowditch; she also read the +"Theoria Motus," of Gauss, in its original Latin form. In her capacity +as librarian Miss Mitchell to a large extent controlled the reading of +the young people in the town. Many of them on arriving at mature years +have expressed their gratitude for the direction in which their reading +was turned by her advice. + +Miss Mitchell always had a special friendship for young girls and boys. +Many of these intimacies grew out of the acquaintance made at the +library,--the young girls made her their confidante and went to her for +sympathy and advice. The boys, as they grew up, and went away to sea, +perhaps, always remembered her, and made a point, when they returned in +their vacations, of coming to tell their experiences to such a +sympathetic listener. + +"April 18, 1855. A young sailor boy came to see me to-day. It pleases me +to have these lads seek me on their return from their first voyage, and +tell me how much they have learned about navigation. They always say, +with pride, 'I can take a lunar, Miss Mitchell, and work it up!' + +"This boy I had known only as a boy, but he has suddenly become a man +and seems to be full of intelligence. He will go once more as a sailor, +he says, and then try for the position of second mate. He looked as if +he had been a good boy and would make a good man. + +"He said that he had been ill so much that he had been kept out of +temptation; but that the forecastle of a ship was no place for +improvement of mind or morals. He said the captain with whom he came +home asked him if he knew me, because he had heard of me. I was glad to +find that the captain was a man of intelligence and had been kind to the +boy." + +Miss Mitchell was an inveterate reader. She devoured books on all +subjects. If she saw that boys were eagerly reading a certain book she +immediately read it; if it were harmless she encouraged them to read it; +if otherwise, she had a convenient way of _losing_ the book. In +November, when the trustees made their annual examination, the book +appeared upon the shelf, but the next day after it was again lost. At +this time Nantucket was a thriving, busy town. The whale-fishery was a +very profitable business, and the town was one of the wealthiest in the +State. There was a good deal of social and literary life. In a Friend's +family neither music nor dancing was allowed. + +Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell were by no means narrow sectarians, but they +believed it to be best to conform to the rules of Friends as laid down +in the "Discipline." George Fox himself, the founder of the society, had +blown a blast against music, and especially instrumental music in +churches. It will be remembered that the Methodists have but recently +yielded to the popular demand in this respect, and have especially +favored congregational singing. + +It is most likely that George Fox had no ear for music himself, and thus +entailed upon his followers an obligation from which they are but now +freeing themselves. + +There was plenty of singing in the Mitchell family, and the parents +liked it, especially the father, who, when he sat down in the evening +with the children, would say, "Now sing something." But there could be +no instruction in singing; the children sang the songs that they picked +up from their playmates. + +However, one of the daughters bought a piano, and Maria's purse opened +to help that cause along. It would not have been proper for Mr. Mitchell +to help pay for it, but he took a great interest in it, nevertheless. So +indeed did the mother, but she took care not to express herself +outwardly. + +The piano was kept in a neighboring building not too far off to be heard +from the house. Maria had no ear for music herself, but she was always +to be depended upon to take the lead in an emergency, so the sisters put +their heads together and decided that the piano must be brought into the +house. When they had made all the preparations the father and mother +were invited to take tea with their married daughter, who lived in +another part of the town and had been let into the secret. + +The piano was duly removed and placed in an upper room called the +"hall," where Mr. Mitchell kept the chronometers, where the family +sewing was done, and where the larger part of the books were kept,--a +beautiful room, overlooking "the square," and a great gathering-place +for all their young friends. When the piano was put in place, the +sisters awaited the coming of the parents. Maria stationed herself at +the foot of the stairs, ready to meet them as they entered the front +door; another, half-way between, was to give the signal to a third, who +was seated at the piano. The footsteps were heard at the door, the +signal was given; a lively tune was started, and Maria confronted the +parents as they entered. + +"What's that?" was the exclamation. + +"Well," said Maria, soothingly, "we've had the piano brought over." + +"Why, of all things!" exclaimed the mother. + +The father laid down his hat, walked immediately upstairs, entered the +hall, and said, "Come, daughter, play something lively!" + +So that was all. + +But that was not all for Mr. Mitchell; he had broken the rules accepted +by the Friends, and it was necessary for some notice to be taken of it, +so a dear old Friend and neighbor came to deal with him. Now, to be +"under dealings," as it is called, was a very serious matter,--to be +spoken of only under the breath, in a half whisper. + +"I hear that thee has a piano in thy house," said the old Friend. + +"Yes, my daughters have," was the reply. + +"But it is in thy house," pursued the Friend. + +"Yes; but my home is my children's home as well as mine," said Mr. +Mitchell, "and I propose that they shall not be obliged to go away from +home for their pleasures. I don't play on the piano." + +It so happened that Mr. Mitchell held the property of the "monthly +meeting" in his hands at the time, and it was a very improper thing for +the accredited agent of the society to be "under dealings," as Mr. +Mitchell gently suggested. + +This the Friend had not thought of, and so he said, "Well, William, +perhaps we'd better say no more about it." + +When the father came home after this interview he could not keep it to +himself. If it had been the mother who was interviewed she would have +kept it a profound secret,--because she would not have liked to have her +children get any fun out of the proceedings of the old Friend. But Mr. +Mitchell told the story in his quiet way, the daughters enjoyed it, and +declared that the piano was placed upon a firm foothold by this +proceeding. The news spread abroad, and several other young Quaker girls +eagerly seized the occasion to gratify their musical longings in the +same direction. [Footnote: It is pleasant to note that this objection to +music among Friends is a thing of the past, and that the Friends' School +at Providence, R.I., which is under the control of the "New England +Yearly Meeting of Friends," has music in its regular curriculum.] + +Few women with scientific tastes had the advantages which surrounded +Miss Mitchell in her own home. Her father was acquainted with the most +prominent scientific men in the country, and in his hospitable home at +Nantucket she met many persons of distinction in literature and science. + +She cared but little for general society, and had always to be coaxed to +go into company. Later in life, however, she was much more socially +inclined, and took pleasure in making and receiving visits. She could +neither dance nor sing, but in all amusements which require quickness +and a ready wit she was very happy. She was very fond of children, and +knew how to amuse them and to take care of them. As she had half a dozen +younger brothers and sisters, she had ample opportunity to make herself +useful. + +She was a capital story-teller, and always had a story on hand to divert +a wayward child, or to soothe the little sister who was lying awake, and +afraid of the dark. She wrote a great many little stories, printed them +with a pen, and bound them in pretty covers. Most of them were destroyed +long ago. + +Maria took her part in all the household work. She knew how to do +everything that has to be done in a large family where but one servant +is kept, and she did everything thoroughly. If she swept a room it +became clean. She might not rearrange the different articles of +furniture in the most artistic manner, but everything would be clean, +and there would be nothing left crooked. If a chair was to be placed, it +would be parallel to something; she was exceedingly sensitive to a line +out of the perpendicular, and could detect the slightest deviation from +that rule. She had also a sensitive eye in the matter of color, and felt +any lack of harmony in the colors worn by those about her. + +Maria was always ready to "bear the brunt," and could at any time be +coaxed by the younger children to do the things which they found +difficult or disagreeable. + +The two youngest children in the family were delicate, and the special +care of the youngest sister devolved upon Maria, who knew how to be a +good nurse as well as a good playfellow. She was especially careful of a +timid child; she herself was timid, and, throughout her life, could +never witness a thunder-storm with any calmness. + +On one of those occasions so common in an American household, when the +one servant suddenly takes her leave, or is summarily dismissed, Miss +Mitchell describes her part of the family duties: + +"Oct. 21, 1854. This morning I arose at six, having been half asleep +only for some hours, fearing that I might not be up in time to get +breakfast, a task which I had volunteered to do the preceding evening. +It was but half light, and I made a hasty toilet. I made a fire very +quickly, prepared the coffee, baked the graham bread, toasted white +bread, trimmed the solar lamp, and made another fire in the dining-room +before seven o'clock. + +"I always thought that servant-girls had an easy time of it, and I still +think so. I really found an hour too long for all this, and when I rang +the bell at seven for breakfast I had been waiting fifteen minutes for +the clock to strike. + +"I went to the Atheneum at 9.30, and having decided that I would take +the Newark and Cambridge places of the comet, and work them up, I did +so, getting to the three equations before I went home to dinner at +12.30. I omitted the corrections of parallax and aberrations, not +intending to get more than a rough approximation. I find to my sorrow +that they do not agree with those from my own observations. I shall look +over them again next week. + +"At noon I ran around and did up several errands, dined, and was back +again at my post by 1.30. Then I looked over my morning's work,--I can +find no mistake. I have worn myself thin trying to find out about this +comet, and I know very little now in the matter. + +"I saw, in looking over Cooper, elements of a comet of 1825 which +resemble what I get out for this, from my own observations, but I cannot +rely upon my own. + +"I saw also, to-day, in the 'Monthly Notices,' a plan for measuring the +light of stars by degrees of illumination,--an idea which had occurred +to me long ago, but which I have not practised. + +"October 23. Yesterday I was again reminded of the remark which Mrs. +Stowe makes about the variety of occupations which an American woman +pursues. + +"She says it is this, added to the cares and anxieties, which keeps them +so much behind the daughters of England in personal beauty. + +"And to-day I was amused at reading that one of her party objected to +the introduction of waxed floors into American housekeeping, because she +could seem to see herself down on her knees doing the waxing. + +"But of yesterday. I was up before six, made the fire in the kitchen, +and made coffee. Then I set the table in the dining-room, and made the +fire there. Toasted bread and trimmed lamps. Rang the breakfast bell at +seven. After breakfast, made my bed, and 'put up' the room. Then I came +down to the Atheneum and looked over my comet computations till noon. +Before dinner I did some tatting, and made seven button-holes for K. I +dressed and then dined. Came back again to the Atheneum at 1.30, and +looked over another set of computations, which took me until four +o'clock. I was pretty tired by that time, and rested by reading +'Cosmos.' Lizzie E. came in, and I gossiped for half an hour. I went +home to tea, and that over, I made a loaf of bread. Then I went up to my +room and read through (partly writing) two exercises in German, which +took me thirty-five minutes. + +"It was stormy, and I had no observing to do, so I sat down to my +tatting. Lizzie E. came in and I took a new lesson in tatting, so as to +make the pearl-edged. I made about half a yard during the evening. At a +little after nine I went home with Lizzie, and carried a letter to the +post-office. I had kept steadily at work for sixteen hours when I went +to bed." + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +1847-1854 + +MISS MITCHELL'S COMET--EXTRACTS FROM DIARY--THE COMET + +Miss Mitchell spent every clear evening on the house-top "sweeping" the +heavens. + +No matter how many guests there might be in the parlor, Miss Mitchell +would slip out, don her regimentals as she called them, and, lantern in +hand, mount to the roof. + +On the evening of Oct. 1, 1847, there was a party of invited guests at +the Mitchell home. As usual, Maria slipped out, ran up to the telescope, +and soon returned to the parlor and told her father that she thought she +saw a comet. Mr. Mitchell hurried upstairs, stationed himself at the +telescope, and as soon as he looked at the object pointed out by his +daughter declared it to be a comet. Miss Mitchell, with her usual +caution, advised him to say nothing about it until they had observed it +long enough to be tolerably sure. But Mr. Mitchell immediately wrote to +Professor Bond, at Cambridge, announcing the discovery. On account of +stormy weather, the mails did not leave Nantucket until October 3. + +Frederick VI., King of Denmark, had offered, Dec. 17, 1831, a gold medal +of the value of twenty ducats to the first discoverer of a telescopic +comet. The regulations, as revised and amended, were republished, in +April, 1840, in the "Astronomische Nachrichten." + +When this comet was discovered, the king who had offered the medal was +dead. The son, Frederick VII., who had succeeded him, had not the +interest in science which belonged to his father, but he was prevailed +upon to carry out his father's designs in this particular case. + +The same comet had been seen by Father de Vico at Rome, on October 3, at +7.30 P.M., and this fact was immediately communicated by him to +Professor Schumacher, at Altona. On the 7th of October, at 9.20 P.M., +the comet was observed by Mr. W.R. Dawes, at Kent, England, and on the +11th it was seen by Madame Rümker, the wife of the director of the +observatory at Hamburg. + +The following letter from the younger Bond will show the cordial +relations existing between the observatory at Cambridge and the smaller +station at Nantucket: + + CAMBRIDGE, Oct. 20, 1847. + + DEAR MARIA: There! I think that is a very amiable beginning, + considering the way in which I have been treated by you! If you + are going to find any more comets, can you not wait till they + are announced by the proper authorities? At least, don't kidnap + another such as this last was. + + If my object were to make you fear and tremble, I should tell + you that on the evening of the 30th I was sweeping within a few + degrees of your prize. I merely throw out the hint for what it + is worth. + + It has been very interesting to watch the motion of this comet + among the stars with the great refractor; we could almost see it + move. + + An account of its passage over the star mentioned by your father + when he was here, would make an interesting notice for one of + the foreign journals, which we would readily forward.... [Here + follow Mr. Bond's observations.] + + Respectfully, + + Your obedient servant, + + G. P. BOND. + +Hon. Edward Everett, who at that time was president of Harvard College, +took a great interest in the matter, and immediately opened a +correspondence with the proper authorities, and sent a notice of the +discovery to the "Astronomische Nachrichten." + +The priority of Miss Mitchell's discovery was immediately admitted +throughout Europe. + +The King of Denmark very promptly referred the matter to Professor +Schumacher, who reported in favor of granting the medal to Miss +Mitchell, and the medal was duly struck off and forwarded to Mr. +Everett. + +Among European astronomers who urged Miss Mitchell's claim was Admiral +Smyth, whom she knew through his "Celestial Cycle," and who later, on +her visit to England, became a warm personal friend. Madame Rümker, +also, sent congratulations. + +Mr. Everett announced the receipt of the medal to Miss Mitchell in the +following letter: + + CAMBRIDGE, March 29, 1849. + + MY DEAR MISS MITCHELL: I have the pleasure to inform you that + your medal arrived by the last steamer; it reached me by mail, + yesterday afternoon. + + I went to Boston this morning, hoping to find you at the Adams + House, to put it into your own hand. + + As your return to Nantucket prevented this, I, of course, retain + it, subject to your orders, not liking to take the risk again of + its transmission by mail. + + Having it in this way in my hand, I have taken the liberty to + show it to some friends, such as W.C. Bond, Professor Peirce, + the editors of the "Transcript," and the members of my + family,--which I hope you will pardon. + + I remain, my dear Miss Mitchell, with great regard, + + Very faithfully yours, + + EDWARD EVERETT.[Footnote: See Appendix.] + +In 1848 Miss Mitchell was elected to membership by the "American Academy +of Arts and Sciences," unanimously; she was the first and only woman +ever admitted. In the diploma the printed word "Fellow" is erased, and +the words "Honorary Member" inserted by Dr. Asa Gray, who signed the +document as secretary. Some years later, however, her name is found in +the list of Fellows of this Academy, also of the American Institute and +of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. For many +years she attended the annual conventions of this last-mentioned +association, in which she took great interest. + +The extract below refers to one of these meetings, probably that of +1855: + +"August 23. It is really amusing to find one's self lionized in a city +where one has visited quietly for years; to see the doors of fashionable +mansions open wide to receive you, which never opened before. I suspect +that the whole corps of science laughs in its sleeves at the farce. + +"The leaders make it pay pretty well. My friend Professor Bache makes +the occasions the opportunities for working sundry little wheels, +pulleys, and levers; the result of all which is that he gets his +enormous appropriations of $400,000 out of Congress, every winter, for +the maintenance of the United States Coast Survey. + +"For a few days Science reigns supreme,--we are fêted and complimented +to the top of our bent, and although complimenters and complimented must +feel that it is only a sort of theatrical performance, for a few days +and over, one does enjoy acting the part of greatness for a while! I was +tired after three days of it, and glad to take the cars and run away. + +"The descent into a commoner was rather sudden. I went alone to Boston, +and when I reached out my free pass, the conductor read it through and +handed it back, saying in a gruff voice, 'It's worth nothing; a dollar +and a quarter to Boston.' Think what a downfall! the night before, and + + 'One blast upon my bugle horn + Were worth a hundred men!' + +Now one man alone was my dependence, and that man looked very much +inclined to put me out of the car for attempting to pass a ticket that +in his eyes was valueless. Of course I took it quietly, and paid the +money, merely remarking, 'You will pass a hundred persons on this road +in a few days on these same tickets.' + +"When I look back on the paper read at this meeting by Mr. J---- in his +uncouth manner, I think when a man is thoroughly in earnest, how +careless he is of mere _words!_" + +In 1849 Miss Mitchell was asked by the late Admiral Davis, who had just +taken charge of the American Nautical Almanac, to act as computer for +that work,--a proposition to which she gladly assented, and for nineteen +years she held that position in addition to her other duties. This, of +course, made a very desirable increase to her income, but not +necessarily to her expenses. The tables of the planet Venus were +assigned to her. In this year, too, she was employed by Professor Bache, +of the United States Coast Survey, in the work of an astronomical party +at Mount Independence, Maine. + +"1853. I was told that Miss Dix wished to see me, and I called upon her. +It was dusk, and I did not at once see her; her voice was low, not +particularly sweet, but very gentle. She told me that she had heard +Professor Henry speak of me, and that Professor Henry was one of her +best friends, the truest man she knew. When the lights were brought in I +looked at her. She must be past fifty, she is rather small, dresses +indifferently, has good features in general, but indifferent eyes. She +does not brighten up in countenance in conversing. She is so successful +that I suppose there must be a hidden fire somewhere, for heat is a +motive power, and her cold manners could never move Legislatures. I saw +some outburst of fire when Mrs. Hale's book was spoken of. It seems Mrs. +Hale wrote to her for permission to publish a notice of her, and was +decidedly refused; another letter met with the same answer, yet she +wrote a 'Life' which Miss Dix says is utterly false. + +"In her general sympathy for suffering humanity, Miss Dix seems +neglectful of the individual interest. She has no family connection but +a brother, has never had sisters, and she seemed to take little interest +in the persons whom she met. I was surprised at her feeling any desire +to see me. She is not strikingly interesting in conversation, because +she is so grave, so cold, and so quiet. I asked her if she did not +become at times weary and discouraged; and she said, wearied, but not +discouraged, for she had met with nothing but success. There is +evidently a strong will which carries all before it, not like the sweep +of the hurricane, but like the slow, steady, and powerful march of the +molten lava. + +"It is sad to see a woman sacrificing the ties of the affections even to +do good. I have no doubt Miss Dix does much good, but a woman needs a +home and the love of other women at least, if she lives without that of +man." + +The following entry was made many years after:-- + +"August, 1871. I have just seen Miss Dix again, having met her only once +for a few minutes in all the eighteen years. She listened to a story of +mine about some girls in need, and then astonished me by an offer she +made me." + +"Feb. 15, 1853. I think Dr. Hall [in his 'Life of Mary Ware'] does wrong +when he attempts to encourage the use of the _needle_. It seems to me +that the needle is the chain of woman, and has fettered her more than +the laws of the country. + +"Once emancipate her from the 'stitch, stitch, stitch," the industry of +which would be commendable if it served any purpose except the +gratification of her vanity, and she would have time for studies which +would engross as the needle never can. I would as soon put a girl alone +into a closet to meditate as give her only the society of her needle. +The art of sewing, so far as men learn it, is well enough; that is, to +enable a person to _take the stitches_, and, if necessary, to make her +own garments in a strong manner; but the dressmaker should no more be a +universal character than the carpenter. Suppose every man should feel it +is his duty to do his own mechanical work of _all_ kinds, would society +be benefited? would the work be well done? Yet a woman is expected to +know how to do all kinds of sewing, all kinds of cooking, all kinds of +any _woman's_ work, and the consequence is that life is passed in +learning these only, while the universe of truth beyond remains +unentered. + +"May 11, 1853. I could not help thinking of Esther [a much-loved cousin +who had recently died] a few evenings since when I was observing. A +meteor flashed upon me suddenly, very bright, very short-lived; it +seemed to me that it was sent for me especially, for it greeted me +almost the first instant I looked up, and was gone in a second,--it was +as fleeting and as beautiful as the smile upon Esther's face the last +time I saw her. I thought when I talked with her about death that, +though she could not come to me visibly, she might be able to influence +my feelings; but it cannot be, for my faith has been weaker than ever +since she died, and my fears have been greater." + +A few pages farther on in the diary appears this poem: + + "ESTHER + + "Living, the hearts of all around + Sought hers as slaves a throne; + Dying, the reason first we found-- + The fulness of her own. + + "She gave unconsciously the while + A wealth we all might share-- + To me the memory of the smile + That last I saw her wear. + + "Earth lost from out its meagre store + A bright and precious stone; + Heaven could not be so rich before, + But it has richer grown." + +"Sept. 19, 1853. I am surprised to find the verse which I picked up +somewhere and have always admired-- + + "'Oh, reader, had you in your mind + Such stores as silent thought can bring, + Oh, gentle reader, you would find + A tale in everything'-- + +belonging to Wordsworth and to one of Wordsworth's simple, I am almost +ready to say _silly_, poems. I am in doubt what to think of Wordsworth. +I should be ashamed of some of his poems if I had written them myself, +and yet there are points of great beauty, and lines which once in the +mind will not leave it. + +"Oct. 31, 1853. People have to learn sometimes not only how much the +heart, but how much the head, can bear. My letter came from Cambridge +[the Harvard Observatory], and I had some work to do over. It was a +wearyful job, but by dint of shutting myself up all day I did manage to +get through with it. The good of my travelling showed itself then, when +I was too tired to read, to listen, or to talk; for the beautiful +scenery of the West was with me in the evening, instead of the tedious +columns of logarithms. It is a blessed thing that these pictures keep in +the mind and come out at the needful hour. I did not call them, but they +seemed to come forth as a regulator for my tired brain, as if they had +been set sentinel-like to watch a proper time to appear. + +"November, 1853. There is said to be no up or down in creation, but I +think the _world_ must be _low_, for people who keep themselves +constantly before it do a great deal of stooping! + +"Dec. 8, 1853. Last night we had the first meeting of the class in +elocution. It was very pleasant, but my deficiency of ear was never more +apparent to myself. We had exercises in the ascending scale, and I +practised after I came home, with the family as audience. H. says my ear +is competent only to vulgar hearing, and I cannot appreciate nice +distinctions.... I am sure that I shall never say that if I had been +properly educated I should have made a singer, a dancer, or a painter--I +should have failed less, perhaps, in the last. ... Coloring I might have +been good in, for I do think my eyes are better than those of any one I +know. + +"Feb. 18, 1854. If I should make out a calendar by my feelings of +fatigue, I should say there were six Saturdays in the week and one +Sunday. + +"Mr. ---- somewhat ridicules my plan of reading Milton with a view to +his astronomy, but I have found it very pleasant, and have certainly a +juster idea of Milton's variety of greatness than I had before. I have +filled several sheets with my annotations on the 'Paradise Lost,' which +I may find useful if I should ever be obliged to teach, either as a +schoolma'am or a lecturer. [Footnote: This paper has been printed since +Miss Mitchell's death in "Poet-lore," June-July, 1894.] + +"March 2, 1854. I 'swept' last night two hours, by three periods. It was +a grand night--not a breath of air, not a fringe of a cloud, all clear, +all beautiful. I really enjoy that kind of work, but my back soon +becomes tired, long before the cold chills me. I saw two nebulae in Leo +with which I was not familiar, and that repaid me for the time. I am +always the better for open-air breathing, and was certainly meant for +the wandering life of the Indian. + +"Sept. 12, 1854. I am just through with a summer, and a summer is to me +always a trying ordeal. I have determined not to spend so much time at +the Atheneum another season, but to put some one in my place who shall +see the strange faces and hear the strange talk. + +"How much talk there is about religion! Giles [Footnote: Rev. Henry +Giles.] I like the best, for he seems, like myself, to have no settled +views, and to be religious only in feeling. He says he has no piety, but +a great sense of infinity. + +"Yesterday I had a Shaker visitor, and to-day a Catholic; and the more I +see and hear, the less do I care about church doctrines. The Catholic, a +priest, I have known as an Atheneum visitor for some time. He talked +to-day, on my asking him some questions, and talked better than I +expected. He is plainly full of intelligence, full of enthusiasm for his +religion, and, I suspect, full of bigotry. I do not believe he will die +a Catholic priest. A young man of his temperament must find it hard to +live without family ties, and I shall expect to hear, if I ever hear of +him again, that some good little Irish girl has made him forget his +vows. + +"My visitors, in other respects, have been of the average sort. Four +women have been delighted to make my acquaintance--three men have +thought themselves in the presence of a superior being; one offered me +twenty-five cents because I reached him the key of the museum. One woman +has opened a correspondence with me, and several have told me that they +knew friends of mine; two have spoken of me in small letters to small +newspapers; one said he didn't see me, and one said he did! I have +become hardened to all; neither compliment nor quarter-dollar rouses any +emotion. My fit of humility, which has troubled me all summer, is +shaken, however, by the first cool breeze of autumn and the first walk +taken without perspiration. + +"Sept. 22, 1854. On the evening of the 18th, while 'sweeping,' there +came into the field the two nebulae in Ursa Major, which I have known +for many a year, but which to my surprise now appeared to be three. The +upper one, as seen from an inverting telescope, appeared double-headed, +like one near the Dolphin, but much more decided than that, the space +between the two heads being very plainly discernible and subtending a +decided angle. The bright part of this object was clearly the old +nebula--but what was the appendage? Had the nebula suddenly changed? Was +it a comet, or was it merely a very fine night? Father decided at once +for the comet; I hesitated, with my usual cowardice, and forbade his +giving it a notice in the newspaper. + +"I watched it from 8.30 to 11.30 almost without cessation, and was quite +sure at 11.30 that its position had changed with regard to the +neighboring stars. I counted its distance from the known nebula several +times, but the whole affair was difficult, for there were flying clouds, +and sometimes the nebula and comet were too indistinct to be definitely +seen. + +"The 19th was cloudy and the 20th the same, with the variety of +occasional breaks, through which I saw the nebula, but not the comet. + +"On the 21st came a circular, and behold Mr. Van Arsdale had seen it on +the 13th, but had not been sure of it until the 15th, on account of the +clouds. + +"I was too well pleased with having really made the discovery to care +because I was not first. + +"Let the Dutchman have the reward of his sturdier frame and steadier +nerves! + +"Especially could I be a Christian because the 13th was cloudy, and more +especially because I dreaded the responsibility of making the +computations, _nolens volens_, which I must have done to be able to call +it mine.... + +"I made observations for three hours last night, and am almost ill +to-day from fatigue; still I have worked all day, trying to reduce the +places, and mean to work hard again to-night. + +"Sept. 25, 1854. I began to recompute for the comet, with observations +of Cambridge and Washington, to-day. I have had a fit of despondency in +consequence of being obliged to renounce my own observations as too +rough for use. The best that can be said of my life so far is that it +has been industrious, and the best that can be said of me is that I have +not pretended to what I was not. + +"October 10. As soon as I had run through the computations roughly for +the comet, so as to make up my mind that by my own observations (which +were very wrong) the Perihelion was passed, and nothing more to be hoped +for from observations, I seized upon a pleasant day and went to the Cape +for an excursion. We went to Yarmouth, Sandwich, and Plymouth, enjoying +the novelty of the new car-route. It really seemed like railway +travelling on our own island, so much sand and so flat a country. + +"The little towns, too, seemed quaint and odd, and the old gray cottages +looked as if they belonged to the last century, and were waked from a +long nap by the railway whistle. + +"I thought Sandwich a beautiful, and Plymouth an interesting, town. I +would fain have gone off into some poetical quotation, such as 'The +breaking waves dashed high' or 'The Pilgrim fathers, where are they?' +but K., who had been there before, desired me not to be absurd, but to +step quietly on to the half-buried rock and quietly off. Younger sisters +know a deal, so I did as I was bidden to do, and it was just as well not +to make myself hoarse without an appreciative audience. + +"I liked the picture by Sargent in Pilgrim Hall, but seeing Plymouth on +a mild, sunny day, with everything looking bright and pleasant, it was +difficult to conceive of the landing of the Pilgrims as an event, or +that the settling of such a charming spot required any heroism. + +"The picture, of course, represents the dreariness of winter, and my +feelings were moved by the chilled appearance of the little children, +and the pathetic countenance of little Peregrine White, who, considering +that he was born in the harbor, is wonderfully grown up before they are +welcomed by Samoset. According to history little Peregrine was born +about December 6 and Samoset met them about March 16; so he was three +months old, but he is plainly a forward child, for he looks up very +knowingly. Such a child had immortality thrust upon him from his birth. +It must have had a deadening influence upon him to know that he was a +marked man whether he did anything worthy of mark or not. He does not +seem to have made any figure after his entrance into the world, though +he must have created a great sensation when he came. + +"October 17. I have just gone over my comet computations again, and it +is humiliating to perceive how very little more I know than I did seven +years ago when I first did this kind of work. To be sure, I have only +once in the time computed a parabolic orbit; but it seems to me that I +know no more in general. I think I am a little better thinker, that I +take things less upon trust, but at the same time I trust myself much +less. The world of learning is so broad, and the human soul is so +limited in power! We reach forth and strain every nerve, but we seize +only a bit of the curtain that hides the infinite from us. + +"Will it really unroll to us at some future time? Aside from the +gratification of the affections in another world, that of the intellect +must be great if it is enlarged and its desires are the same. + +"Nov. 24, 1854. Yesterday James Freeman Clarke, the biographer of +Margaret Fuller, came into the Atheneum. It was plain that he came to +see me and not the institution.... He rushed into talk at once, mostly +on people, and asked me about my astronomical labors. As it was a kind +of flattery, I repaid it in kind by asking him about Margaret Fuller. He +said she did not strike any one as a person of intellect or as a +student, for all her faculties were kept so much abreast that none had +prominence. I wanted to ask if she was a lovable person, but I did not +think he would be an unbiassed judge, she was so much attached to him. + +"Dec. 5, 1854. The love of one's own sex is precious, for it is neither +provoked by vanity nor retained by flattery; it is genuine and sincere. +I am grateful that I have had much of this in my life. + +"The comet looked in upon us on the 29th. It made a twilight call, +looking sunny and bright, as if it had just warmed itself in the +equinoctial rays. A boy on the street called my attention to it, but I +found on hurrying home that father had already seen it, and had ranged +it behind buildings so as to get a rough position. + +"It was piping cold, but we went to work in good earnest that night, and +the next night on which we could see it, which was not until April. + +"I was dreadfully busy, and a host of little annoyances crowded upon me. +I had a good star near it in the field of my comet-seeker, but _what_ +star? + +"On that rested everything, and I could not be sure even from the +catalogue, for the comet and the star were so much in the twilight that +I could get no good neighboring stars. We called it Arietes, or 707. + +"Then came a waxing moon, and we waxed weary in trying to trace the +fainter and fainter comet in the mists of twilight and the glare of +moonlight. + +"Next I broke a screw of my instrument, and found that no screw of that +description could be bought in the town. + +"I started off to find a man who could make one, and engaged him to do +so the next day. The next day was Fast Day; all the world fasted, at +least from labor. + +"However, the screw was made, and it fitted nicely. The clouds cleared, +and we were likely to have a good night. I put up my instrument, but +scarcely had the screw-driver touched the new screw than out it flew +from its socket, rolled along the floor of the 'walk,' dropped quietly +through a crack into the gutter of the house-roof. I heard it click, and +felt very much like using language unbecoming to a woman's mouth. + +"I put my eye down to the crack, but could not see it. There was but one +thing to be done,--the floor-boards must come up. I got a hatchet, but +could do nothing. I called father; he brought a crowbar and pried up the +board, then crawled under it and found the screw. I took good care not +to lose it a second time. + +"The instrument was fairly mounted when the clouds mounted to keep it +company, and the comet and I again parted. + +"In all observations, the blowing out of a light by a gust of wind is a +very common and very annoying accident; but I once met with a much worse +one, for I dropped a chronometer, and it rolled out of its box on to the +ground. We picked it up in a great panic, but it had not even altered +its rate, as we found by later observations. + +"The glaring eyes of the cat, who nightly visited me, were at one time +very annoying, and a man who climbed up a fence and spoke to me, in the +stillness of the small hours, fairly shook not only my equanimity, but +the pencil which I held in my hand. He was quite innocent of any +intention to do me harm, but he gave me a great fright. + +"The spiders and bugs which swarm in my observing-houses I have rather +an attachment for, but they must not crawl over my recording-paper. Rats +are my abhorrence, and I learned with pleasure that some poison had been +placed under the transit-house. + +"One gets attached (if the term may be used) to certain midnight +apparitions. The Aurora Borealis is always a pleasant companion; a +meteor seems to come like a messenger from departed spirits; and the +blossoming of trees in the moonlight becomes a sight looked for with +pleasure. + +"Aside from the study of astronomy, there is the same enjoyment in a +night upon the housetop, with the stars, as in the midst of other grand +scenery; there is the same subdued quiet and grateful seriousness; a +calm to the troubled spirit, and a hope to the desponding. + +"Even astronomers who are as well cared for as are those of Cambridge +have their annoyances, and even men as skilled as they are make +blunders. + +"I have known one of the Bonds,[Footnote: Of the Harvard College +Observatory.] with great effort, turn that huge telescope down to the +horizon to make an observation upon a blazing comet seen there, and when +he had found it in his glass, find also that it was not a comet, but the +nebula of Andromeda, a cluster of stars on which he had spent much time, +and which he had made a special object of study. + +"Dec. 26, 1854. They were wonderful men, the early astronomers. That was +a great conception, which now seems to us so simple, that the earth +turns upon its axis, and a still greater one that it revolves about the +sun (to show this last was worth a man's lifetime, and it really almost +cost the life of Galileo). Somehow we are ready to think that they had a +wider field than we for speculation, that truth being all unknown it was +easier to take the first step in its paths. But is the region of truth +limited? Is it not infinite?... We know a few things which were once +hidden, and being known they seem easy; but there are the flashings of +the Northern Lights--'Across the lift they start and shift;' there is +the conical zodiacal beam seen so beautifully in the early evenings of +spring and the early mornings of autumn; there are the startling comets, +whose use is all unknown; there are the brightening and flickering +variable stars, whose cause is all unknown; and the meteoric +showers--and for all of these the reasons are as clear as for the +succession of day and night; they lie just beyond the daily mist of our +minds, but our eyes have not yet pierced through it." + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +1855-1857 + +EXTRACTS FROM DIARY--RACHEL--EMERSON--A HARD WINTER + +"Jan. 1, 1855. I put some wires into my little transit this morning. I +dreaded it so much, when I found yesterday that it must be done, that it +disturbed my sleep. It was much easier than I expected. I took out the +little collimating screws first, then I drew out the tube, and in that I +found a brass plate screwed on the diaphragm which contained the lines. +I was at first a little puzzled to know which screws held this diaphragm +in its place, and, as I was very anxious not to unscrew the wrong ones, +I took time to consider and found I need turn only two. Then out slipped +the little plate with its three wires where five should have been, two +having been broken. As I did not know how to manage a spider's web, I +took the hairs from my own head, taking care to pick out white ones +because I have no black ones to spare. I put in the two, after first +stretching them over pasteboard, by sticking them with sealing-wax +dissolved in alcohol into the little grooved lines which I found. When I +had, with great labor, adjusted these, as I thought, firmly, I perceived +that some of the wax was on the hairs and would make them yet coarser, +and they were already too coarse; so I washed my little camel's-hair +brush which I had been using, and began to wash them with clear alcohol. +Almost at once I washed out another wire and soon another and another. I +went to work patiently and put in the five perpendicular ones besides +the horizontal one, which, like the others, had frizzled up and appeared +to melt away. With another hour's labor I got in the five, when a rude +motion raised them all again and I began over. Just at one o'clock I had +got them all in again. I attempted then to put the diaphragm back into +its place. The sealing-wax was not dry, and with a little jar I sent the +wires all agog. This time they did not come out of the little grooved +lines into which they were put, and I hastened to take out the brass +plate and set them in parallel lines. I gave up then for the day, but, +as they looked well and were certainly in firmly, I did not consider +that I had made an entire failure. I thought it nice ladylike work to +manage such slight threads and turn such delicate screws; but fine as +are the hairs of one's head, I shall seek something finer, for I can see +how clumsy they will appear when I get on the eyepiece and magnify their +imperfections. They look parallel now to the eye, but with a magnifying +power a very little crook will seem a billowy wave, and a faint star +will hide itself in one of the yawning abysses. + +"January 15. Finding the hairs which I had put into my instrument not +only too coarse, but variable and disposed to curl themselves up at a +change of weather, I wrote to George Bond to ask him how I should +procure spider lines. He replied that the web from cocoons should be +used, and that I should find it difficult at this time of year to get at +them. I remembered at once that I had seen two in the library room of +the Atheneum, which I had carefully refrained from disturbing. I found +them perfect, and unrolled them.... Fearing that I might not succeed in +managing them, I procured some hairs from C.'s head. C. being not quite +a year old, his hair is remarkably fine and sufficiently long.... I made +the perpendicular wires of the spider's webs, breaking them and doing +the work over again a great many times.... I at length got all in, +crossing the five perpendicular ones with a horizontal one from C.'s +spinning-wheel.... After twenty-four hours' exposure to the weather, I +looked at them. The spider-webs had not changed, they were plainly used +to a chill and made to endure changes of temperature; but C.'s hair, +which had never felt a cold greater than that of the nursery, nor a +change more decided than from his mother's arms to his father's, had +knotted up into a decided curl!--N.B. C. may expect ringlets. + +"January 22. Horace Greeley, in an article in a recent number of the +'Tribune,' says that the fund left by Smithson is spent by the regents +of that institution in publishing books which no publisher would +undertake and which do no good to anybody. Now in our little town of +Nantucket, with our little Atheneum, these volumes are in constant +demand.... + +"I do not suppose that such works as those issued by the Smithsonian +regents are appreciated by all who turn them over, but the ignorant +learn that such things exist; they perceive that a higher cultivation +than theirs is in the world, and they are stimulated to strive after +greater excellence. So I steadily advocate, in purchasing books for the +Atheneum, the lifting of the people. 'Let us buy, not such books as the +people want, but books just above their wants, and they will reach up to +take what is put out for them.' + +"Sept. 10, 1855. To know what one ought to do is certainly the hardest +thing in life. 'Doing' is comparatively easy; but there are no laws for +your individual case--yours is one of a myriad. + +"There are laws of right and wrong in general, but they do not seem to +bear upon any particular case. + +"In chess-playing you can refer to rules of movement, for the chess-men +are few, and the positions in which they may be placed, numerous as they +are, have a limit. + +"But is there any limit to the different positions of human beings +around you? Is there any limit to the peculiarities of circumstances? + +"Here a man, however much of a copyist he may be by nature, comes down +to simple originality, unless he blindly follows the advice of some +friend; for there is no precedent in anything exactly like his case; he +must decide for himself, and must take the step alone; and fearfully, +cautiously, and distrustingly must we all take many of our steps, for we +see but a little way at best, and we can foresee nothing at all. + +"September 13. I read this morning an article in 'Putnam's Magazine,' on +Rachel. I have been much interested in this woman as a genius, though I +am pained by the accounts of her career in point of morals, and I am +wearied with the glitter of her jewelry. Night puts on a jewelled robe +which few admire, compared with the admiration for marketable jewelry. +The New York 'Tribune' descends to the rating of the value of those worn +by her, and it is the prominent point, or rather it makes the multitude +of prominent points, when she is spoken of. + +"The writer in 'Putnam' does not go into these small matters, but he +attempts a criticism on acting, to which I am not entirely a convert. He +maintains that if an actor should really show a character in such light +that we could not tell the impersonation from the reality, the stage +would lose its interest. I do not think so. We should draw back, of +course, from physical suffering; but yet we should be charmed to suppose +anything real, which we had desired to see. If we felt that we really +met Cardinal Wolsey or Henry VIII. in his days of glory, would it not be +a lifelong memory to us, very different from the effect of the stage, +and if for a few moments we really _felt_ that we had met them, would it +not lift us into a new kind of being? + +"What would we not give to see Julius Caesar and the soothsayer, just as +they stood in Rome as Shakspere represents them? Why, we travel hundreds +of miles to see the places noted for the doings of these old Romans; and +if we could be made to believe that we met one of the smaller men, even, +of that day, our ecstasy would be unbounded. 'A tin pan so painted as to +deceive is atrocious,' says this writer. Of course, for we are not +interested in a tin pan; but give us a portrait of Shakspere or Milton +so that we shall feel that we have met them, and I see no atrocity in +the matter. We honor the homes of these men, and we joy in the hope of +seeing them. What would be beyond seeing them in life? + +"October 31. I saw Rachel in 'Phèdre' and in 'Adrienne.' I had +previously asked a friend if I, in my ignorance of acting, and in my +inability to tell good from poor, should really perceive a marked +difference between Rachel and her aids. She thought I should. I did +indeed! In 'Phèdre,' which I first saw, she was not aided at all by her +troupe; they were evidently ill at ease in the Greek dress and in Greek +manners; while she had assimilated herself to the whole. It is founded +on the play of Euripides, and even to Rachel the passion which she +represents as Phèdre must have been too strange to be natural. +Hippolytus refuses the love which Phèdre offers after a long struggle +with herself, and this gives cause for the violent bursts in which +Rachel shows her power. It was an outburst of passion of which I have no +conception, and I felt as if I saw a new order of being; not a woman, +but a personified passion. The vehemence and strength were wonderful. It +was in parts very touching. There was as fine an opportunity for Aricia +to show some power as for Phèdre, but the automaton who represented +Aricia had no power to show. Oenon, whom I took to be the sister Sarah, +was something of an actress, but her part was so hateful that no one +could applaud her. I felt in reading 'Phèdre,' and in hearing it, that +it was a play of high order, and that I learned some little philosophy +from some of its sentiments; but for 'Adrienne' I have a contempt. The +play was written by Scribe specially for Rachel, and the French acting +was better done by the other performers than the Greek. I have always +disliked to see death represented on the stage. Rachel's representation +was awful! I could not take my eyes from the scene, and I held my breath +in horror; the death was so much to the life. It is said that she +changes color. I do not know that she does, but it looked like a ghastly +hue that came over her pale face. + +"I was displeased at the constant standing. Neither as Greeks nor as +Frenchmen did they sit at all; only when dying did Rachel need a chair. +They made love standing, they told long stories standing, they took +snuff in that position, hat in hand, and Rachel fainted upon the breast +of some friend from the same fatiguing attitude. + +"The audience to hear 'Adrienne' was very fine. The Unitarian clergymen +and the divinity students seemed to have turned out. + +"Most of the two thousand listeners followed with the book, and when the +last word was uttered on the French page, over turned the two thousand +leaves, sounding like a shower of rain. The applause was never very +great; it is said that Rachel feels this as a Boston peculiarity, but +she ought also to feel the compliment of so large an audience in a city +where foreigners are so few and the population so small compared to that +of New York. + +"Nov. 14, 1855. Last night I heard Emerson give a lecture. I pity the +reporter who attempts to give it to the world. I began to listen with a +determination to remember it in order, but it was without method, or +order, or system. It was like a beam of light moving in the undulatory +waves, meeting with occasional meteors in its path; it was exceedingly +captivating. It surprised me that there was not only no commonplace +thought, but there was no commonplace expression. If he quoted, he +quoted from what we had not read; if he told an anecdote, it was one +that had not reached us. At the outset he was very severe upon the +science of the age. He said that inventors and discoverers helped +themselves very much, but they did not help the rest of the world; that +a great man was felt to the centre of the Copernican system; that a +botanist dried his plants, but the plants had their revenge and dried +the botanist; that a naturalist bottled up reptiles, but in return the +man was bottled up. + +"There was a pitiful truth in all this, but there are glorious +exceptions. Professor Peirce is anything but a formula, though he deals +in formulae. + +"The lecture turned at length upon beauty, and it was evident that +personal beauty had made Emerson its slave many a time, and I suppose +every heart in the house admitted the truth of his words.... + +"It was evident that Mr. Emerson was not at ease, for he declared that +good manners were more than beauty of face, and good expression better +than good features. He mentioned that Sir Philip Sydney was not +handsome, though the boast of English society; and he spoke of the +astonishing beauty of the Duchess of Hamilton, to see whom hundreds +collected when she took a ride. I think in these cases there is +something besides beauty; there was rank in that of the Duchess, in the +case of Sydney there was no need of beauty at all. + +"Dec. 16, 1855. All along this year I have felt that it was a hard +year--the hardest of my life. And I have kept enumerating to myself my +many trials; to-day it suddenly occurred to me that my blessings were +much more numerous. If mother's illness was a sore affliction, her +recovery is a great blessing; and even the illness itself has its bright +side, for we have joyed in showing her how much we prize her continued +life. If I have lost some friends by death, I have not lost all. If I +have worked harder than I felt that I could bear, how much better is +that than not to have as much work as I wanted to do. I have earned more +money than in any preceding year; I have studied less, but have observed +more, than I did last year. I have saved more money than ever before, +hoping for Europe in 1856." ... + +Miss Mitchell from her earliest childhood had had a great desire to +travel in Europe. She received a very small salary for her services in +the Atheneum, but small as it was she laid by a little every year. + +She dressed very simply and spent as little as possible on +herself--which was also true of her later years. She took a little +journey every year, and could always have little presents ready for the +birthdays and Christmas days, and for the necessary books which could +not be found in the Atheneum library, and which she felt that she ought +to own herself,--all this on a salary which an ordinary school-girl in +these days would think too meagre to supply her with dress alone. + +In this family the children were not ashamed to say, "I can't afford +it," and were taught that nothing was cheap that they could not pay +for--a lesson that has been valuable to them all their lives. + +".... 1855. Deacon Greeley, of Boston, urged my going to Boston and +giving some lectures to get money. I told him I could not think of it +just now, as I wanted to go to Europe. 'On what money?' said he. 'What I +have earned,' I replied. 'Bless me!' said he; 'am I talking to a +capitalist? What a mistake I have made.'" + +During the time of the prosperity of the town, the winters were very +sociable and lively; but when the inhabitants began to leave for more +favorable opportunities for getting a livelihood, the change was felt +very seriously, especially in the case of an exceptionally stormy +winter. Here is an extract showing how Miss Mitchell and her family +lived during one of these winters: + +"Jan. 22, 1857. Hard winters are becoming the order of things. Winter +before last was hard, last winter was harder, and this surpasses all +winters known before. + +"We have been frozen into our island now since the 6th. No one cared +much about it for the first two or three days; the sleighing was good, +and all the world was out trying their horses on Main street--the +racecourse of the world. Day after day passed, and the thermometer sank +to a lower point, and the winds rose to a higher, and sleighing became +uncomfortable; and even the dullest man longs for the cheer of a +newspaper. The 'Nantucket Inquirer' came out for awhile, but at length +it had nothing to tell and nothing to inquire about, and so kept its +peace. + +"After about a week a vessel was seen off Siasconset, and boarded by a +pilot. Her captain said he would go anywhere and take anybody, as all he +wanted was a harbor. Two men whose business would suffer if they +remained at home took passage in her, and with the pilot, Patterson, she +left in good weather and was seen off Chatham at night. It was hoped +that Patterson would return and bring at least a few newspapers, but no +more is known of them. Our postmaster thought he was not allowed to send +the mails by such a conveyance. + +"Yesterday we got up quite an excitement because a large steamship was +seen near the Haul-over. She set a flag for a pilot, and was boarded. It +was found that she was out of course, twenty days from Glasgow, bound to +New York. What the European news is we do not yet know, but it is plain +that we are nearer to Europe than to Hyannis. Christians as we are, I am +afraid we were all sorry that she did not come ashore. We women revelled +in the idea of the rich silks she would probably throw upon the beach, +and the men thought a good job would be made by steamboat companies and +wreck agents. + +"Last night the weather was so mild that a plan was made for cutting out +the steamboat; all the Irishmen in town were ordered to be on the harbor +with axes, shovels, and saws at seven this morning. The poor fellows +were exulting in the prospect of a job, but they are sadly balked, for +this morning at seven a hard storm was raging--snow and a good +north-west wind. What has become of the English steamer no one knows, +but the wind blows off shore, so she will not come any nearer to us. + +"Inside of the house we amuse ourselves in various ways. F.'s family and +ours form a club meeting three times a week, and writing 'machine +poetry' in great quantities. Occasionally something very droll puts us +in a roar of laughter. F., E., and K. are, I think, rather the smartest, +though Mr. M. has written rather the best of all. At the next meeting, +each of us is to produce a sonnet on a subject which we draw by lot. I +have written mine and tried to be droll. K. has written hers and is +serious. + +"I am sadly tried by this state of things. I cannot hear from Cambridge +(the Nautical Almanac office), and am out of work; it is cloudy most of +the time, and I cannot observe; and I had fixed upon just this time for +taking a journey. My trunk has been half packed for a month. + +"January 23. Foreseeing that the thermometer would show a very low point +last night, we sat up until near midnight, when it stood one and +one-half below zero. The stars shone brightly, and the wind blew freshly +from west north-west. + +"This morning the wind is the same, and the mercury stood at six and +one-half below zero at seven o'clock, and now at ten A.M. is not above +zero. The Coffin School dismissed its scholars. Miss F. suffered much +from the exposure on her way to school. + +"The 'Inquirer' came out this morning, giving the news from Europe +brought by the steamer which lies off 'Sconset. No coal has yet been +carried to the steamer, the carts which started for 'Sconset being +obliged to return. + +"There are about seven hundred barrels of flour in town; it is admitted +that fresh meat is getting scarce; the streets are almost impassable +from the snow-drifts. + +"K. and I have hit upon a plan for killing time. We are learning +poetry--she takes twenty lines of Goldsmith's 'Traveller,' and I twenty +lines of the 'Deserted Village.' It will take us twenty days to learn +the whole, and we hope to be stopped in our course by the opening of the +harbor. Considering that K. has a fiancé from whom she cannot hear a +word, she carries herself very amicably towards mankind. She is making +herself a pair of shoes, which look very well; I have made myself a +morning-dress since we were closed in. + +"Last night I took my first lesson in whist-playing. I learned in one +evening to know the king, queen, and jack apart, and to understand what +my partner meant when she winked at me. + +"The worst of this condition of things is that we shall bear the marks +of it all our lives. We are now sixteen daily papers behind the rest of +the world, and in those sixteen papers are items known to all the people +in all the cities, which will never be known to us. How prices have +fluctuated in that time we shall not know--what houses have burned down, +what robberies have been committed. When the papers do come, each of us +will rush for the latest dates; the news of two weeks ago is now +history, and no one reads history, especially the history of one's own +country. + +"I bought a copy of 'Aurora Leigh' just before the freezing up, and I +have been careful, as it is the only copy on the island, to circulate it +freely. It must have been a pleasant visitor in the four or five +households which it has entered. We have had Dr. Kane's book and now +have the 'Japan Expedition.' + +"The intellectual suffering will, I think, be all. I have no fear of +scarcity of provisions or fuel. There are old houses enough to burn. +Fresh meat is rather scarce because the English steamer required so much +victualling. We have a barrel of pork and a barrel of flour in the +house, and father has chickens enough to keep us a good while. + +"There are said to be some families who are in a good deal of suffering, +for whom the Howard Society is on the lookout. Mother gives very freely +to Bridget, who has four children to support with only the labor of her +hands. + +"The Coffin School has been suspended one day on account of the heaviest +storm, and the Unitarian church has had but one service. No great damage +has been done by the gales. My observing-seat came thundering down the +roof one evening, about ten o'clock, but all the world understood its +cry of 'Stand from under,' and no one was hurt. Several windows were +blown in at midnight, and houses shook so that vases fell from the +mantelpieces. + +"The last snow drifted so that the sleighing was difficult, and at +present the storm is so smothering that few are out. A. has been out to +school every day, and I have not failed to go out into the air once a +day to take a short walk. + +"January 24. We left the mercury one below zero when we went to bed last +night, and it was at zero when we rose this morning. But it rises +rapidly, and now, at eleven A.M., it is as high as fifteen. The weather +is still and beautiful; the English steamer is still safe at her +moorings. + +"Our little club met last night, each with a sonnet. I did the best I +could with a very bad subject. K. and E. rather carried the honors away, +but Mr. J. M.'s was very taking. Our 'crambo' playing was rather dull, +all of us having exhausted ourselves on the sonnets. We seem to have +settled ourselves quietly into a tone of resignation in regard to the +weather; we know that we cannot 'get out,' any more than Sterne's +Starling, and we know that it is best not to fret. + +"The subject which I have drawn for the next poem is 'Sunrise,' about +which I know very little. K. and I continue to learn twenty lines of +poetry a day, and I do not find it unpleasant, though the 'Deserted +Village' is rather monotonous. + +"We hear of no suffering in town for fuel or provisions, and I think we +could stand a three months' siege without much inconvenience as far as +the physicals are concerned. + +"January 26. The ice continues, and the cold. The weather is beautiful, +and with the thermometer at fourteen I swept with the telescope an hour +and a half last night, comfortably. The English steamer will get off +to-morrow. It is said that they burned their cabin doors last night to +keep their water hot. Many people go out to see her; she lies off +'Sconset, about half a mile from shore. We have sent letters by her +which, I hope, may relieve anxiety. + +"K. bought a backgammon board to-day. Clifford [the little nephew] came +in and spent the morning. + +"January 29. We have had now two days of warm weather, but there is yet +no hope of getting our steamboat off. Day before yesterday we went to +'Sconset to see the English steamer. She lay so near the shore that we +could hear the orders given, and see the people on board. When we went +down the bank the boats were just pushing from the shore, with bags of +coal. They could not go directly to the ship, but rowed some distance +along shore to the north, and then falling into the ice drifted with it +back to the ship. When they reached her a rope was thrown to them, and +they made fast and the coal was raised. We watched them through a glass, +and saw a woman leaning over the side of the ship. The steamer left at +five o'clock that day. + +"It was worth the trouble of a ride to 'Sconset to see the masses of +snow on the road. The road had been cleared for the coal-carts, and we +drove through a narrow path, cut in deep snow-banks far above our heads, +sometimes for the length of three or four sleighs. We could not, of +course, turn out for other sleighs, and there was much waiting on this +account. Then, too, the road was much gullied, and we rocked in the +sleigh as we would on shipboard, with the bounding over hillocks of snow +and ice. + +"Now, all is changed: the roads are slushy, and the water stands in deep +pools all over the streets. There is a dense fog, very little wind, and +that from the east. The thermometer above thirty-six. + +"[Mails arrived February 3, and our steamboat left February 5.]" + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +1857 + +SOUTHERN TOUR + +In 1857 Miss Mitchell made a tour in the South, having under her charge +the young daughter of a Western banker. + +"March 2, 1857. I left Meadville this morning at six o'clock, in a +stage-coach for Erie. I had, early in life, a love for staging, but it +is fast dying out. Nine hours over a rough road are enough to root out +the most passionate love of that kind. + +"Our stage was well filled, but in spite of the solid base we +occasionally found ourselves bumping up against the roof or falling +forward upon our opposite neighbors. + +"Stage-coaches are, I believe, always the arena for political debate. +To-day we were all on one side, all Buchanan men, and yet all +anti-slavery. It seemed reasonable, as they said, that the South should +cease to push the slave question in regard to Kansas, now that it has +elected its President. + +"When I took the stage out to Meadville on the 'mud-road,' it was filled +with Fremont men, and they seemed to me more able men, though they were +no younger and no more cultivated. + +"March 5. I believe any one might travel from Maine to Georgia and be +perfectly ignorant of the route, and yet be well taken care of, mainly +from the good-nature in every one. + +"I found from Nantucket to Chicago more attention than I desired. I had +a short seat in one of the cars, through the night. I did not think it +large enough for two, and so coiled myself up and went to sleep. There +were men standing all around. Once one of them came along and said +something about there being room for him on my seat. Another man said, +'She's asleep, don't disturb her.' I was too selfish to offer the half +of a short seat, and too tired to reason about the man's being, +possibly, more tired than I. + +"I was invariably offered the seat near the window that I might lean +against the side of the car, and one gentleman threw his shawl across my +knees to keep me warm (I was suffering with heat at the time!). Another, +seeing me going to Chicago alone, warned me to beware of the impositions +of hack-drivers; telling me that I must pay two dollars if I did not +make a bargain beforehand. I found it true, for I paid one dollar for +going a few steps only. + +"One peculiarity in travelling from East to West is, that you lose the +old men. In the cars in New England you see white-headed men, and I kept +one in the train up to New York, and one of grayish-tinted hair as far +as Erie; but after Cleveland, no man was over forty years old. + +"For hundreds of miles the prairie land stretches on the Illinois +Central Railroad between Chicago and St. Louis. It may be pleasant in +summer, but it is a dreary waste in winter. The space is too broad and +too uniform to have beauty. The girdle of trees would be pretty, +doubtless, if seen near, but in the distance and in winter it is only a +black border to a brown plain. + +"The State of Illinois must be capitally adapted to railroads on account +of this level, and but little danger can threaten a train from running +off of the track, as it might run on the soil nearly as well as on the +rails. + +"Our engine was uncoupled, and had gone on for nearly half a mile +without the cars before the conductor perceived it. + +"The time from Chicago to St. Louis is called fifteen hours and a +quarter; we made it twenty-three. + +"If the prairie land is good farming-land, Illinois is destined to be a +great State. If its people will think less of the dollar and more of the +refinements of social life and the culture of the mind, it may become +the great State of the Union yet. + +"March 12. Planter's Hotel, St. Louis. We visited Mercantile Hall and +the Library. The lecture-room is very spacious and very pretty. No +gallery hides the frescoed walls, and no painful economy has been made +of the space on the floor. + +"13th. I begin to perceive the commerce of St. Louis. We went upon the +levee this morning, and for miles the edge was bordered with the pipes +of steamboats, standing like a picket-fence. Then we came to the +wholesale streets, and saw the immense stores for dry-goods and +crockery. + +"To-day I have heard of a scientific association called the 'Scientific +Academy of St. Louis,' which is about a year old, and which is about to +publish a volume of transactions, containing an account of an artesian +well, and of some inscriptions just sent home from Nineveh, which Mr. +Gust. Seyffarth has deciphered. + +"Mr. Seyffarth must be a remarkable man; he has translated a great many +inscriptions, and is said to surpass Champollion. He has published a +work on Egyptian astronomy, but no copy is in this country. + +"Dr. Pope, who called on me, and with whom I was much pleased, told me +of all these things. Western men are so proud of their cities that they +spare no pains to make a person from the Eastern States understand the +resources, and hopes, and plans of their part of the land. + +"Rev. Dr. Eliot I have not seen. He is about to establish a university +here, for which he has already $100,000, and the academic part is +already in a state of activity. + +"Rev. Mr. Staples tells me that Dr. Eliot puts his hands into the +pockets of his parishioners, who are rich, up to the elbows. + +"Altogether, St. Louis is a growing place, and the West has a large hand +and a strong grasp. + +"Doctor Seyffarth is a man of more than sixty years, gray-haired, +healthy-looking, and pleasant in manners. He has spent long years of +labor in deciphering the inscriptions found upon ancient pillars, +Egyptian and Arabic, dating five thousand years before Christ. I asked +him if he found the observations continuous, and he said that he did +not, but that they seem to be astrological pictures of the configuration +of the planets, and to have been made at the birth of princes. + +"He has just been reading the slabs sent from Nineveh by Mr. Marsh; +their date is only about five hundred years B.C. + +"Mr. Seyffarth's published works amount to seventy, and he was surprised +to find a whole set of them in the Astor Library in New York. + +"March 19. We came on board of the steamer 'Magnolia,' this morning, in +great spirits. We were a little late, and Miss S. rushed on board as if +she had only New Orleans in view. I followed a little more slowly, and +the brigadier-general came after, in a sober and dignified manner. + +"We were scarcely on board when the plank was pulled in, and a few +minutes passed and we were afloat on the Mississippi river. Miss S. and +myself were the only lady passengers; we had, therefore, the whole range +of staterooms from which to choose. Each could have a stateroom to +herself, and we talked in admiration of the pleasant times we should +have, watching the scenery from the stateroom windows, or from the +saloon, reading, etc. + +"We started off finely. I, who had been used only to the rough waters of +the Atlantic coast, was surprised at the steady gliding of the boat. I +saw nothing of the mingling of the waters of the Missouri and the +Mississippi of which I had been told. Perhaps I needed somebody to point +out the difference. + +"The two banks of the river were at first much alike, but after a few +hours the left bank became more hilly, and at intervals presented bluffs +and rocks, rude and irregular in shape, which we imagined to be ruins of +some old castle. + +"At intervals, too, we passed steamers going up to St. Louis, all laden +with passengers. We exulted in our majestic march over the waters. I +thought it the very perfection of travelling, and wished that all my +family and all my friends were on board. + +"I wondered at the stupidity of the rest of the world, and thought that +they ought all to leave the marts of business, to step from the desk, +the counting-room, and the workshop on board the 'Magnolia,' and go down +the length of the 'Father of Waters.' + +"And so they would, I suppose, but for sand-bars. Here we are five hours +out, and fast aground! We were just at dinner, the captain making +himself agreeable, the dinner showing itself to be good, when a peculiar +motion of the boat made the captain heave a sigh--he had been heaving +the lead all the morning. 'Ah,' he said, 'just what I feared; we've got +to one of those bad places, and we are rubbing the bottom.' + +"I asked very innocently if we must wait for the tide, and was informed +that there was no tide felt on this part of the river. Miss S. turned a +little pale, and showed a loss of appetite. I was a little bit moved, +but kept it to myself and ate on. + +"As soon as dinner was over, we went out to look at the prospect of +affairs. We were close into the land, and could be put on shore any +minute; the captain had sent round a little boat to sound the waters, +and the report brought back was of shallow water just ahead of us, but +more on the right and left. + +"While we stood on deck a small boat passed, and a sailor very gleefully +called out the soundings as he threw the lead, 'Eight and a half-nine.' + +"But we are still high and dry now at two o'clock P.M. They are shaking +the steamer, and making efforts to move her. They say if she gets over +this, there is no worse place for her to meet. + +"I asked the captain of what the bottom is composed, and he says, 'Of +mud, rocks, snags, and everything.' + +"He is now moving very cautiously, and the boat has an unpleasant +tremulous motion. + +"March 20. Latitude about thirty-eight degrees. We are just where we +stopped at noon yesterday--there is no change, and of course no event. +One of our crew killed a 'possum yesterday, and another boat stopped +near us this morning, and seems likely to lie as long as we do on the +sand-bar. + +"We read Shakspere this morning after breakfast, and then betook +ourselves to the wheel-house to look at the scenery again. While there a +little colored boy came to us bearing a waiter of oranges, and telling +us that the captain sent them with his compliments. We ate them +greedily, because we had nothing else to do. + +"21st. Still the sand-bar. No hope of getting off. We heard the pilot +hail a steamboat which was going up to St. Louis, and tell them to send +on a lighter, and I suppose we must wait for that.... It is my private +opinion that this great boat will not get off at all, but will lie here +until she petrifies.... + +"March 24. We left the 'Magnolia' after four days and four hours upon +the sand-bar near Turkey island, upon seeing the 'Woodruff' approach. We +left in a little rowboat, and it seemed at first as if we could not +overtake the steamer; but the captain saw us and slackened his speed. + +"Miss S. and I clutched hands in a little terror as our small boat +seemed likely to run under the great steamer, but our oarsmen knew their +duty and we were safely put on board of the 'Woodruff.' + +"March 25. We stopped at Cairo at eight o'clock this morning. Mr. S. +went on shore and brought newspapers on board. The Cairo paper I do not +think of high order. I saw no mention in it of the detention of the +'Magnolia'! + +"March 26. Yesterday we count as a day of events. It began to look sunny +on the banks, especially on the Kentucky side, and Miss S. and I saw +cherry-blossoms. We remembered the eclipse, and Mr. S. having brought +with him a piece of broken glass from one of the windows of the +'Magnolia,' I smoked it over a piece of candle which I had brought from +Room No. 22 of the Planter's House at St. Louis, and we prepared to see +the eclipse. + +"I expected to see the moon on at five o'clock and twenty minutes, but +as I had no time I could not tell when to look for it. + +"It was not on at that time by my watch, but in ten minutes after was so +far on that I think my time cannot be much wrong. + +"It was a little cloudy, so that we saw the sun only 'all flecked with +bars,' and caught sight of the phenomenon at intervals. + +"We were at a coal-landing at the time, and not far from Madrid. The +boat stopped so long to take in an immense pile of corn-bags that our +passengers went on shore--such of them as could climb the slippery bank. + +"When we saw them coming back laden with peach-blossoms, and saw the +little children dressing their hats with them, we were seized with a +longing for them, and Mr. S. offered to go and get us some; we begged to +go too, but he objected. + +"We were really envious of his good luck when we saw him jump into a +country wagon, drawn by oxen which trotted off like horses, and, waving +his handkerchief to us, ride off in great glee. He came back with an +armful of peach-tree branches. Whose orchard he robbed at our +instigation I cannot say. A little girl, the daughter of the captain, +pulled some blossoms open, and showed us that the fruit germs were not +dead, but would have become peaches if we had not coveted them. + +"The 25th was also our first night steam-boating. After passing Cairo +the river is considered safe for night travel, and the boat started on +her way at 8.30 P.M. We had been out about half an hour when a lady who +was playing cards threw down her cards and rushed with a shriek to her +stateroom. I perceived then that there had been a peculiar motion to the +boat and that it suddenly stopped. We found that one of the +paddle-wheels was caught in a snag, but there was no harm done. It made +us a little nervous, but we slept well enough after it. + +"When I look out upon the river, I wonder that boats are not continually +snagged. Little trees are sticking up on all sides, and sometimes we +seem to be going over a meadow and pushing among rushes. + +"A yawl, which was sent out yesterday to sound, was snagged by a stump +which was high out of water; probably they were carried on to it by a +current. The little boat whirled round and round, and the men were +plainly frightened, for they dropped their oars and clutched the sides +of the boat. They got control, however, in a few minutes, and had the +jeers of the men left on the steamer for their pains. + +"March 30. We stopped at Natchez before breakfast this morning, and, +having half an hour, we took a carriage and drove through the city. It +was like driving through a succession of gardens: roses were hanging +over the fences in the richest profusion, and the arbor-vitae was +ornamenting every little nook, and adorning every cottage. + +"Natchez stands on a high bluff, very romantic in appearance; jagged and +rugged, as if volcanoes had been at work in a time long past, for tall +trees grew in the ravines. + +"Most of our lady passengers are, like ourselves, on a tour of pleasure; +six of them go with us to the St. Charles Hotel. Some are from Keokuk, +Ia., and I think I like these the best. One young lady goes ashore to +spend some time on a plantation, as a governess. She looks feeble, and +we all pity her. + +"To-day we pass among plantations on both sides of the river. We begin +to see the live-oak--a noble tree. The foliage is so thick and dark that +I have learned to know it by its color. The magnolia trees, too, are +becoming fragrant. + +"March 31. We are at length in New Orleans, and up three flights at the +St. Charles, in a dark room. + +"The peculiarities of the city dawn upon me very slowly. I first noticed +the showy dress of the children, then the turbaned heads of the black +women in the streets, and next the bouquet-selling boys with their +French phrases. + +"April 3. This morning we went to a slave market. It looked on first +entrance like an intelligence office. Men, women, and children were +seated on long benches parallel with each other. All rose at our +entrance, and continued standing while we were there. We were told by +the traders to walk up and down the passage between them, and talk with +them as we liked. As Mr. S. passed the men, several lifted their hands +and said, 'Here's the boy that will suit you; I can do any kind of +work.' Some advertised themselves with a good deal of tact. One woman +pulled at my shawl and asked me to buy her. I told her that I was not a +housekeeper. 'Not married?' she asked.--'No.'--'Well, then, get married +and buy me and my husband.' + +"There was a girl among them whiter than I, who roused my sympathies +very much. I could not speak to her, for the past and the future were +too plainly told in her face. I spoke to another, a bright-looking girl +of twelve. 'Where were you raised?'--'In Kentucky.'--'And why are you to +be sold?'--'The trader came to Kentucky, bought me, and brought me +here.' I thought what right had I to be homesick, when that poor girl +had left all her kindred for life without her consent. + +"I could hold my tongue and look around without much outward show of +disgust, but to talk pleasantly to the trader I could not consent. He +told me that he had been brought up in the business, but he thought it a +pity. + +"No buyers were present, so there was no examination that was painful to +look upon. + +"The slaves were intelligent-looking, and very healthy and neat in +appearance. Those who belonged to one owner were dressed alike--some in +striped pink and white dresses, others in plaid, all a little showy. The +men were in thick trousers and coarse dark-blue jackets. + +"April 5. We have been this morning to a negro church. We found it a +miserable-looking house, mostly unpainted and unplastered, but well +filled with the swarthy faces. They were singing when we entered; we +were pointed to a good seat. + +"There may have been fifty persons present, all well dressed; the women +in the fanciful checkered headdresses so much favored by the negro race, +the men in clean collars, nankin trousers, and dark coats. All showed +that they were well kept and well fed. + +"The audience was increased by new comers frequently, and these, +whatever the exercise might be, shook hands with those around them as +they seated themselves, and joined immediately in the services. The +singing was by the whole congregation, the minister lining out the hymns +as in the early times in New England. + +"Several persons carried on the exercises from the pulpit, and in the +prayers and sermon the audience took an active part, responding in +groans, 'Oh, yes,' or 'Amen,' sometimes performing a kind of chant to +accompany the words.... A negro minister said in his prayer, 'O God, we +are not for much talking.' I was delighted at the prospect of a short +discourse, but I found his 'not much talking' exactly corresponded to 'a +good deal' in my use of words. He talked for a full hour. + +"There was something pleasing in the earnestness of the preacher and the +sympathetic feeling of the audience, but their peculiar condition was +not alluded to, and probably was not felt. + +"The discourse was almost ludicrous at times, and at times was pathetic. +I saved up a few specimens: + +"'O God, you have said that where one or two are gathered together in +your name, there will you be; if anything stands between us that you +can't come, put it aside.' + +"'God wants a kingdom upon earth with which he can coin-cide, and that +kingdom are your heart.' + +"'God is near you when you are at the wash-tub or the ironing-table.' + +"'Brethren, I thought last Sabbath I wouldn't live to this; a man gets +such a notion sometimes.' + +"April 9, Alabama River. Some lessons we of the North might learn from +the South, and one is a greater regard for human life. I asked the +captain of our boat if they had any accidents in these waters. He said, +'We don't kill people at the South, we gave that up some years ago; we +leave it to the North, and the North seems to be capable of doing it.' + +"The reason for this is, that they are in no hurry. The Southern +character is opposed to haste. Safety is of more worth than speed, and +there is no hurry. + +"Every one at the South introduces its 'peculiar institution' into +conversation. + +"They talk as I expected Southern people of intelligence to talk; they +lament the evil, and say, 'It is upon us, what can we do? To give them +freedom would be cruel.' + +"Southerners fall back upon the Bible at once; there is more of the +old-fashioned religion at the South than at the North; that is, they are +not intellectual religionists. They are shocked by the irreligion of +Massachusetts, and by Theodore Parker. They read the Bible, and can +quote it; they are ready with it as an argument at every turn. I am of +course not used to the warfare, and so withdraw from the fight. + +"One argument which three persons have brought up to me is the superior +condition of the blacks now, to what it would have been had their +parents remained in Africa, and they been children of the soil. I make +no answer to this, for if this is an argument, it would be our duty to +enslave the heathen, instead of attempting to enlighten them. + +"We hear some anecdotes which are amusing. A Judge Smith, of South +Carolina, moved to Alabama, and became a prominent man there. He was +sent to the Senate. He was violently opposed by a young man who said +that but for his gray hair he would challenge him. Judge Smith said, +'You are not the first coward who has taken shelter beneath my gray +hairs.' + +"The same Judge Smith, when a proposition came before the Senate to +build a State penitentiary, said, 'Wall in the city of Mobile; you will +have your penitentiary and its inmates.' + +"So far I have found it easier to travel without an escort South and +West than at the North; that is, I have more care taken of me. Every one +is courteous, too, in speech. I know that they cannot love +Massachusetts, but they are careful not to wound my feelings. They +acknowledge it to be the great State in education; they point to a +pretty village and say, 'Almost as neat as a New England village.' + +"Savannah, April 15.... To-day we left town at ten o'clock for a drive +in any direction that we liked. Mr. F. and I went in a buggy, and Miss +S. cantered behind us on her horse. + +"The road that we took led to some rice plantations ten miles out of the +city. Our path was ornamented by the live-oaks, cedar trees, the +dogwood, and occasionally the mistletoe, and enlivened sometimes by the +whistle of the mocking-bird. Down low by the wheels grew the wild azalea +and the jessamine. Above our heads the Spanish moss hung from the trees +in beautiful drapery. + +"By mistake we drove into the plantation grounds of Mr. Gibbons, a man +of wealth, who is seldom on his lands, and where the avenues are +therefore a little wild, and the roads a little rough. + +"We came afterwards upon a road leading under the most magnificent oaks +that I ever saw. I felt as if I were under the arched roof of some +ancient cathedral. + +"The trees were irregularly grouped and of immense size, throwing their +hundreds of arms far upon the background of heaven, and bearing the +drapery of the Spanish moss fold upon fold, as if they sought to keep +their raiment from touching the earth. I was perfectly delighted, and +think it the finest picture I have yet seen. + +"Retracing our steps, we sought the plantation of Mr. Potter--a very +different one from that of Mr. Gibbons, as all was finish and neatness; +a fine mansion well stored with books, and some fine oaks, some of which +Mr. Potter had planted himself. + +"Mr. Potter walked through the fields with us, and, stopping among the +negro huts, he said to a little boy, 'Call the children and give us some +singing.' The little boy ran off, shouting, 'Come and sing for massa;' +and in a few minutes the little darkies might be seen running through +the fields and tumbling over the fences in their anxiety to get to us, +to the number of eighteen. + +"They sat upon the ground around us and began their song. The boy who +led sang 'Early in the Morning,' and the other seventeen brought in a +chorus of 'Let us think of Jesus.' Then the leader set up something +about 'God Almicha,' to which the others brought in another chorus. + +"They were a dirty and shabby looking set, but as usual fat, even to the +little babies, whom the larger boys were tending. One little girl as she +passed Mr. Potter carelessly put her hand in his and said, 'Good +morning, massa.' + +"Mrs. G. tells me an anecdote which shows the Southern sentiment on the +one subject. The ladies of Charleston were much pleased with Miss +Murray, and got up for her what they called a Murray testimonial, a +collection of divers pretty things made by their own hands. The large +box was ready to be sent to England, but alas for Miss Murray! While +they were debating in what way it should be sent to ensure its reaching +her without cost to herself, in an unwise moment she sent twenty-five +dollars to 'Bleeding Kansas,' and the fit of good feeling towards her +ebbed; the 'testimonial' remains unsent. + +"April 23, Charleston. This place is somewhat like Boston in its narrow +streets, but unlike Boston in being quiet; as is all the South. Quiet +and moderation seem to be the attributes of Southern cities. You need +not hurry to a boat for fear it will leave at the hour appointed; it +never does. + +"We took a carriage and drove along the Battery. The snuff of salt air +did me good. + +"Then we went on to a garden of roses, owned and cultivated by a colored +woman. She has some twenty acres devoted to flowers and vegetables, and +she owns twenty 'niggers.' The universal term for slaves is 'niggers.' +'Nigger, bring that horse,' 'Nigger, get out of the way,' will be said +by the finest gentleman, and 'My niggers' is said by every one. + +"I do not believe that the slaves are badly treated; there may be cases +of it, but I have seen them only sleek, fat, and lazy. + +"The old buildings of Charleston please me exceedingly. The houses are +built of brick, standing end to the street, three stories in height, +with piazza above piazza at the side; with flower gardens around, and +magnolias at the gates; the winding steps to the mansions festooned with +roses. + +"I have just called on Miss Rutledge, who lives in the second oldest +house in the city; herself a fine specimen of antiquity, in her +double-ruffled cap and plaided black dress; she chatted away like a +young person, using the good old English. + +"April 26. To-day Mr. Capers called on me. I was pleased with the +account he gave me of his college life, and of a meeting held by his +class thirty years after they graduated. Some thirty of them assembled +at the Revere House in Boston; they spread a table with viands from all +sections of the country. Mr. Capers sent watermelons, and another +gentleman from Kentucky sent the wines of his State. + +"They sat late at table; they renewed the old friendships and talked +over college scenes, and when it was near midnight some one proposed +that each should give a sketch of his life, so they went through in +alphabetical order. + +"Adams was the first. He said, 'You all remember how I waited upon table +in commons. You know that I afterwards went through college, but you do +not know that to this man [and he pointed to a classmate] I was indebted +for the money that paid for my college course.' + +"Anderson was the second, and he told of his two wives: of the first, +much; of the second, little. Bowditch came next, and he said he would +tell of Anderson's second wife, who was a Miss Lockworth, of Lexington, +Ky. + +"Anderson, a widower, and his brother went to Lexington, carrying with +them a letter of introduction to the father of the young lady. + +"While the brother was making an elaborate toilet, Anderson strolled +out, and came, in his walk, upon a beautiful residence, and saw, within +the enclosure, some inviting grounds. He stopped and spoke to the +porter, and found it was Mr. Lockworth's. He told the porter that he had +letters to Mr. Lockworth, and was intending to call upon him. The porter +was very communicative, and told him a good deal. Anderson asked if +there were not a pretty daughter. The porter asked him to walk around. +As he entered the gate he reached a dollar to the man, and, being much +pleased, when he came out he reached the porter another dollar. + +"Anderson went back to the hotel, told his brother about it, and they +set out together to deliver the letter. The brother knew Mr. Lockworth, +and as they met him in the parlor, he walked up, shook hands with him, +and asked to present his brother, Lars Anderson. 'No introduction is +necessary,' said Mr. Lockworth; and putting his hand into his pocket, +drawing out the two dollars, he added, 'I am already in your debt just +this sum!' The 'pretty daughter' was sitting upon the sofa. + +"Mr. Capers told me that their autobiographies drew smiles and tears +alternately; they continued till one o'clock; then one of the class +said, 'Brothers, do you know that not a wineglass has yet been turned +up, not a drop of wine drunk? And all were at once so impressed with the +conviction that they had all been lifted above the needs of the flesh +that they refused to drink, and one of the clergymen of the class +kneeling in prayer, they all knelt at once, even to some idle spectators +who were looking on. + +"April 28. Nothing can exceed the hospitality shown to us. We have +several invitations for each day, and calls without limit. + +"I had heard Mrs. Holbrook described as a wonder, and I found her a very +pleasing woman, all ready to talk, and talking with a richness of +expression which shows a full mind. Mrs. Holbrook was a Rutledge, and it +was amusing, after seeing her, to open Miss Bremer's 'Homes of the New +World,' and read her extravagant comments. Miss Bremer was certainly +made happy at Belmont. + +"April 29. To-day I have been to see Miss Pinckney. She is the last +representative of her name, is over eighty, and still retains the +animation of youth, though somewhat shaken in her physical strength by +age. I found her sitting in an armchair, her feet resting upon a +cushion, surrounded by some half-dozen callers. + +"She rose at once when I entered, and insisted upon my occupying her +seat, while she took a less comfortable one. + +"The walls of the room were ornamented with portraits of Major-General +Pinckney by Stuart, Stuart's Washington, one by Morris of General Thomas +Pinckney, and a portrait of Miss Pinckney's mother. + +"Miss Pinckney is a very plain woman, but much beloved for her +benevolence. + +"It is said that on looking over her diary which she keeps, recording +the reasons for her many gifts to her friends and to her slaves, such +entries as these will be found: + +"'$---- to Mary, because she is married.' + +"'$---- to Julia, because she has no husband.' + +"Miss Pinckney showed me among her centre-table ornaments a miniature of +Washington; one of her grandmother, of exceeding beauty; one of each of +the Pinckneys whose portraits are on the walls. + +"Charleston is full of ante-Revolution houses, and they please me. They +were built when there was no hurry; they were built to last, and they +have lasted, and will yet last for the children of their present +possessors. + +"Nothing can be happier in expression than the faces of the colored +children. They have what must be the ease of the lower classes in a +despotic country. The slaves have no care, no ambition; their place is a +fixed one--they know it, and take all the good they can get. The +children are fat, sleek, and, inheriting no nervous longings from their +parents, are on a constant grin--at play with loud laughs and high +leaps. + +"May 1. It does not follow because the slaves are sleek and fat and +really happy--for happy I believe they are--that slavery is not an evil; +and the great evil is, as I always supposed, in the effect upon the +whites. The few Southern gentlemen that I know interest me from their +courtesy, agreeable manners, and ready speech. They also strike me as +childlike and fussy. I catch myself feeling that I am the man and they +are women; and I see this even in the captain of a steamer. Then they +all like to talk sentiment--their religion is a feeling. + +"May 2. The negroes are remarkable for their courtesy of manner. Those +who belong to good families seem to pride themselves upon their dress +and style. + +"A lady walking in Charleston is never jostled by black or white man. +The white man steps out of her way, the black man does this and touches +his hat. The black woman bows--she is distinguished by her neat dress, +her clean plaid head-dress, and her upright carriage. It would be well +for some of our young ladies to carry burdens on their heads, even to +the risk of flattening the instep, if by that means they could get the +straight back of a slave. + +"Mrs. W., who takes us out to drive, comes with her black coachman and a +little boy. The coachman wears white gloves, and looks like a gentleman. +The little boy rings door-bells when we stop. + +"When it rained the other day, Mrs. W. dropped the window of the +carriage, and desired the two to put on their shawls, for fear they +would take cold. They are plainly a great care to their owners, for they +are like children and cannot take care of themselves; and yet in another +way the masters are like children, from the constant waiting upon that +they receive. One would think, where one class does all the thinking and +the other all the working, that masters would be active thinkers and +slaves ready workers; but neither result seems to happen--both are +listless and inactive. + +"May 3. I asked Miss Pinckney to-day if she remembered George +Washington. She and Mrs. Poinsett spoke at once. "'Oh, yes, we were +children,' said Mrs. Poinsett; 'but my father would have him come to see +us, and he took each of us in his arms and kissed us; and at another +time we went to Mt. Vernon and made him a visit.' + +"Never were more intelligent old ladies than Mrs. Poinsett and Miss +Pinckney. The latter stepped around like a young girl, and brought a +heavy book to show me the sketch of her sister, Marie Henrietta +Pinckney, who, in the nullification time of 1830, wrote a pamphlet in +defence of the State. + +"Miss Pinckney's father was the originator of the celebrated maxim, +'Millions for defence, but not one cent for tribute.' Their house was +the headquarters for the nullifiers, and they had serenades, she said, +without number. + +"It was pleasant to hear the old ladies chatter away, and it was +interesting to think of the distinguished men who had been under that +roof, and of the cultivated and beautiful women who had adorned the +mansion. + +"Miss Pinckney, when I left, followed me to the door, and put into my +hands an elegant little volume of poems, called 'Reliquiai.' + +"They seem to be simple effusions of some person who died early. + +"May 9. We left Charleston, its old houses and its good people, on +Monday, and reached Augusta the same day. + +"Augusta is prettily laid out, but the place is of little interest; and +for the hotel where we stayed, I can only give this advice to its +inmates: 'Don't examine a black spot upon your pillow-case; go to sleep +at once, and keep asleep if you can.' + +"When we were on the road from Augusta to Atlanta, the conductor said, +'If you are going on to Nashville, you will be on the road in the night; +people don't love to go on that road in the night. I don't know why.' + +"When we came to the Nashville road, I thought that I knew 'why.' The +road runs around the base of a mountain, while directly beneath it, at a +great depth, runs a river. A dash off the track on one side would be +against the mountain, on the other side would be into the river, while +the sharp turns seem to invite such a catastrophe. When we were somewhat +wrought up to a nervous excitement, the cars would plunge into the +darkness of a tunnel--darkness such as I almost felt. + +"It was a picturesque but weary ride, and we were tired and hungry when +we reached Nashville. + +"May 11. To-day we have been out for a two-hours' drive. It is warm, +cloudy, and looks like a tempest; we are too tired for much effort. + +"Mrs. Fogg, of Nashville, took us to call on the widow of President +Polk. We found her at home, though apparently just ready for a walk. She +is still in mourning, and tells me that she has not travelled fifty +miles from home in the last eight years. + +"She spoke to me of Governor Briggs (of Massachusetts), an old friend; +of Professor Hare; and said that among her cards, on her return from a +journey some years ago, she found Charles Sumner's; and forgetting at +the moment who he was, she asked the servant who he was. 'The +Abolitionist Senator from Massachusetts--I asked him in,' was the reply. + +"Mrs. Polk talks readily, is handsome, elegant in figure, and shows at +once that she is well read. She told me that she reads all the newspaper +reports of the progress of science. She lives simply, as any New England +woman would, though her house is larger than most private residences. + +"Mrs. Fogg told me many anecdotes of Dorothea Dix. That lady was, at one +time, travelling alone, and was obliged to stop at some little village +tavern. As she lay half asleep upon the sofa, the driver of the stage in +which she was to take passage came into the room, approached her, and +held a light to her closed eyes. She did not dare to move nor utter a +sound, but when he turned away she opened her eyes and watched him. He +went to the mail-bags, opened them, took out the letters, hastily broke +the seals, took out money enclosed, put it into his pocket, closed the +bags, and again approached her with his lamp. She shut her eyes and +pretended to sleep again; then at the proper time entered the stage and +pursued her journey. At the end of the journey she reported his conduct +to the proper authorities. + +"I was a little doubtful about the propriety of going to the Mammoth +Cave without a gentleman escort, but if two ladies travel alone they +must have the courage of men. So I called the landlord as soon as we +arrived at the Cave House, and asked if we could have Mat, who I had +been told was the best guide now that Stephen is ill. The landlord +promised Mat to me for two days. After dinner we made our first attempt. + +"The ground descends for some two hundred feet towards the mouth of the +cave; then you come to a low hill, and you descend through a small +aperture not at all imposing, in front of which trickles a little +stream. For some little while we needed no light, but soon the guide +lighted and gave to each of us a little lamp. Mat took the lead, I came +next, Miss S. followed, and an old slave brought up in the rear. + +"I confess that I shuddered as I came into the darkness. Our lamps, of +course, gave but feeble light; we barely saw at first where our feet +must step. + +"I looked up, trying in vain to find the ceiling or the walls. All was +darkness. In about an hour we saw more clearly. The chambers are, many +of them, elliptical in shape; the ceiling is of mixed dark and white +color, and looks much like the sky on a cloudy moonlight evening. + +"A friend of ours, who has been much in the cave, says, 'If the top were +lifted off, and the whole were exposed to view, no woman would ever +enter it again.' + +"We clambered over heaps of rocks, we descended ladders, wound through +narrow passages, passed along chambers so low that we crouched for the +whole length, entered upon lofty halls, ascended ladders, and crossed a +bridge over a yawning abyss. + +"Every nightmare scene that I had ever dreamed of seemed to be realized. +I shuddered several times, and was obliged to reason with myself to +assure me of safety. Occasionally we sat down and rested upon some flat +rock. + +"Miss S., who has a great taste for costuming, wound her plaid shawl +about her shoulders, turbaned her head with a green veil, swung her lamp +upon a stick which she rested upon her shoulder, and then threw herself +upon a rock in a most picturesque attitude. The guide took a lower seat, +and his dirty tin cup, swung across his breast, looked like an ornament +as the light struck it; his swarthy face was bright, and I wondered what +our friends at home would give for a picture. + +"One of these elliptical halls has its ceiling immensely far off, and of +the deepest black, until our feeble little lights strike upon +innumerable points, when it shines forth like a dark starlight night. +The stars are faint, but they look so exceedingly like the heavens that +one easily forgets that it is not reality. + +"The guide asked us to be seated, while he went behind down a descent +with the lights, to show us the creeping over of the shadows of the +rocks, as if a dark cloud passed over the starlit vault. The black cloud +crept on and on as the guide descended, until a fear came over us, and +we cried out together to him to come back, not to leave us in total +darkness. He begged that he might go still lower and show us entire +darkness, but we would not permit it. + +"Guin's Dome. What the name means I can't say. The guide tells you to +pause in your scrambling over loose stones and muddy soil,--which you +are always willing to do,--and to put your head through a circular +aperture, and to look up while he lights the Bengal light; you obey, and +look up upon columns of fluted, snowy whiteness; he tells you to look +down, and you follow the same pillars down--up to heights which the +light cannot climb, down to depths on which it cannot fall. + +"You shudder as you look up, and you shudder as you look down. Indeed, +the march of the cave is a series of shudders. Geologists may enjoy it, +a large party may be merry in it; but if the 'underground railroad' of +the slaves is of that kind, I should rather remain a slave than +undertake a runaway trip! + +"May 18. To-day we retraced our steps from Nashville to Chattanooga. It +had been raining nearly all night, and we found, when not far from the +latter place, that the streams were pouring down from the high lands +upon the car-track, so that we came through rivers. When we dashed into +the dark tunnel it was darker than ever from the darkness of the day, +and it seemed to me that the darkness pressed upon me. I am sure I +should keep my senses a very little while if I were confined in a dark +place. + +"As we came out of the tunnel, the water from the hill above dashed upon +the cars; and although it did not break the panes of glass, it forced +its way through and sprinkled us. + +"The route, with all its terrors, is beautiful, and the trees are now +much finer than they were ten days ago. + +"May 27. There is this great difference between Niagara and other +wonders of the world: that of it you get no idea from descriptions, or +even from paintings. Of the 'Mammoth Cave' you have a conception from +what you are told; of the Natural Bridge you get a really truthful +impression from a picture. But cave and bridge are in still life. +Niagara is all activity and change. No picture gives you the varying +form of the water or the change of color; no description conveys to your +mind the ceaseless roar. So, too, the ocean must be unrepresentable to +those who have not looked upon it. + +"The Natural Bridge stands out bold and high, just as you expect to see +it. You are agreeably disappointed, however, on finding that you can go +under the arch and be completely in the coolness of its shade while you +look up for two hundred feet to the rocky black and white ceiling above. + +"One of the prettiest peculiarities is the fringing above of the trees +which hang over the edge, and looking out past the arch the wooded banks +of the ravine are very pleasant. From above, one has the pain always +attendant to me upon looking down into an abyss, but at the same time +one obtains a better conception of the depth of the valley. It is well +worth seeing, partly for itself, partly because it can be reached only +by a ride among the hills of the Blue Ridge." + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +1857 + +FIRST EUROPEAN TOUR--LIVERPOOL--THE HAWTHORNES--LONDON--GREENWICH +OBSERVATORY--ADMIRAL SMYTH--DR. LEE + + +Shortly after her return from the South, Miss Mitchell started again for +a tour in Europe with the same young girl. + +Miss Mitchell carried letters from eminent scientific people in this +country to such persons as it would be desirable for her to know in +Europe; especially to astronomers and mathematicians. + +When Miss Mitchell went to Europe she took her Almanac work with her, +and what time she was not sight-seeing she was continuing that work. Her +wisdom in this respect was very soon apparent. She had not been in +England many weeks when a great financial crisis took place in the +United States, and the father of her young charge succumbed to the +general failure. The young lady was called home, but after considering +the matter seriously Miss Mitchell decided to remain herself, putting +the young lady into careful hands for the return passage from Liverpool. + +Miss Mitchell enjoyed the society of the scientific people whom she met +in England to her heart's content. She was very cordially received, and +the astronomers not only opened their observatories to her, but welcomed +her into their family life. + +On arriving at Liverpool, Miss Mitchell delivered the letters to the +astronomers living in or near that city, and visited their +observatories. + +"Aug. 3, 1857. I brought a letter from Professor Silliman to Mr. John +Taylor, cotton merchant and astronomer; and to-day I have taken tea with +him. He is an old man, nearly eighty I should think, but full of life, +and talks by the hour on heathen mythology. He was the principal agent +in the establishment of the Liverpool Observatory, but disclaims the +honor, because it was established on so small a scale, compared with his +own gigantic plan. Mr. Taylor has invented a little machine, for showing +the approximate position of a comet, having the elements. + +"He has also made additions to the globes made by De Morgan, so that +they can be used for any year and show the correct rising and setting of +the stars. + +"He struck me as being a man of taste, but of no great profundity. He +has a painting which he believes to be by Guido; it seemed to me too +fresh in its coloring for the sixteenth century. + +"August 4, 3 P.M. I put down my pen, because old Mr. Taylor called, and +while he was here Rev. James Martineau came. Mr. Martineau is one of the +handsomest men I ever saw. He cannot be more than thirty, or if he is he +has kept his dark hair remarkably. He has large, bluish-gray eyes, and +is tall and elegant in manner. He says he is just packed to move to +London. He gave me his London address and hoped he should see me there; +but I doubt if he does, for I did not like to tell him my address unless +he asked for it, for fear of seeming to be pushing. + +"August,... I have been to visit Mr. Lassell. He called yesterday and +asked me to dine with him to-day. He has a charming place, about four +miles out of Liverpool; a pretty house and grounds. + +"Mr. Lassell has constructed two telescopes, both on the Newtonian plan; +one of ten, the other of twenty, feet in length. Each has its separate +building, and in the smaller building is a transit instrument. + +"Mr. Lassell must have been a most indefatigable worker as well as a +most ingenious man; for, besides constructing his own instruments, he +has found time to make discoveries. He is, besides, very genial and +pleasant, and told me some good anecdotes connected with astronomical +observations. + +"One story pleased me very much. Our Massachusetts astronomer, Alvan +Clark, has long been a correspondent of Mr. Dawes, but has never seen +him. Wishing to have an idea of his person, and being a portrait +painter, Mr. Clark sent to Mr. Dawes for his daguerreotype, and from +that painted a likeness, which he has sent out to Liverpool, and which +is said to be excellent. + +"Mr. Lassell looks in at the side of his reflecting telescopes by means +of a diagonal eye-piece; when the instrument is pointed at objects of +high altitude he hangs a ladder upon the dome and mounts; the ladder +moves around with the dome. Mr. Lassell works only for his own +amusement, and has been to Malta,--carrying his larger telescope with +him,--for the sake of clearer skies. Neither Mr. Lassell nor Mr. Hartnup +[Footnote: Of the Liverpool Observatory.] makes regular observations. + +"The Misses Lassell, four in number, seem to be very accomplished. They +take photographs of each other which are beautiful, make their own +picture-frames, and work in the same workshop with their father. One of +them told me that she made observations on my comet, supposing it to +belong to Mr. Dawes, who was a friend of hers. + +"They keep an album of the autographs of their scientific visitors, and +among them I saw those of Professor Young, of Dartmouth, and of +Professor Loomis. + +"August 4. I have just returned from a visit to the Liverpool +Observatory, under the direction of Mr. Hartnup. It is situated on +Waterloo dock, and the pier of the observatory rests upon the sandstone +of that region, The telescope is an equatorial; like many good +instruments in our country, it is almost unused. + +"Mr. Hartnup's observatory is for nautical purposes. I found him a very +gentlemanly person, and very willing to show me anything of interest +about the observatory; but they make no regular series of astronomical +observations, other than those required for the commerce of Liverpool. + +"Mr. Hartnup has a clock which by the application of an electric current +controls the action of other clocks, especially the town clock of +Liverpool--distant some miles. The current of electricity is not the +motive power, but a corrector. + +"Much attention is paid to meteorology. The pressure of the wind, the +horizontal motion, and the course are recorded upon sheets of paper +running upon cylinders and connected with the clock; the instrument +which obeys the voice of the wind being outside. + +"Aug. 5, 1857. I did not send my letter to Mr. Hawthorne until +yesterday, supposing that he was not in the city; but yesterday when +Rev. James Martineau called on me, he said that he had not yet left. Mr. +Martineau said that it would be a great loss to Liverpool when Mr. +Hawthorne went away. + +"I sent my letter at once; from all that I had heard of Mr. Hawthorne's +shyness, I thought it doubtful if he would call, and I was therefore +very much pleased when his card was sent in this morning. Mr. Hawthorne +was more chatty than I had expected, but not any more diffident. He +remained about five minutes, during which time he took his hat from the +table and put it back once a minute, brushing it each time. The +engravings in the books are much like him. He is not handsome, but looks +as the author of his books should look; a little strange and odd, as if +not of this earth. He has large, bluish-gray eyes; his hair stands out +on each side, so much so that one's thoughts naturally turn to combs and +hair-brushes and toilet ceremonies as one looks at him." + +Later, when Miss Mitchell was in Paris, alone, on her way to Rome, she +sent to the Hawthornes, who were also in Paris, asking for the privilege +of joining them, as they too were journeying in the same direction. She +says in her diary: + +"Mrs. Hawthorne was feeble, and she told me that she objected, but that +Mr. Hawthorne assured her that I was a person who would give no trouble; +therefore she consented. We were about ten days on the journey to Rome, +and three months in Rome; living, however, some streets asunder. I saw +them nearly every day. Like everybody else, I found Mr. Hawthorne very +taciturn. His few words were, however, very telling. When I talked +French, he told me it was capital: 'It came down like a sledge-hammer.' +His little satirical remarks were such as these: It was March and I took +a bunch of violets to Rosa; notched white paper was wound around them, +and Mr. Hawthorne said, 'They have on a cambric ruffle." + +"Generally he sat by an open fire, with his feet thrust into the coals, +and an open volume of Thackeray upon his knees. He said that Thackeray +was the greatest living novelist. I sometimes suspected that the volume +of Thackeray was kept as a foil, that he might not be talked to. He +shrank from society, but rode and walked." + +EXTRACT FROM A LETTER. + + ROME, Feb. 16, 1858. + + ... The Hawthornes are invaluable to me, because the little ones + come to my room every day and I go there when I like. Mrs. + Hawthorne sometimes walks with us, Mr. H. _never_. He has a + horror of sight-seeing and of emotions in general, but I like + him very much, and when I say I like _him_ it only means that I + like _her_ a little more. Julian, the boy, is in love with me. + When I was last there Mr. H. came home with me; as he put on his + coat he turned to Julian and said, "Julian, I should think with + your _tender interest_ in Miss Mitchell you wouldn't let me + escort her home." + +"We arrived in Rome in the evening. Mrs. H. was somewhat of an invalid, +and Mr. Hawthorne tried in vain to make the servant understand that she +must have a fire in her room. He spoke no word of French, German, or +Italian, but he said emphatically, 'Make a fire in Mrs. Hawthorne's +room.' Worn out with his efforts, he turned to me and said, 'Do, Miss +Mitchell, tell the servant what I want; your French is excellent! +Englishmen and Frenchmen understand it equally well.' So I said in +execrable French, 'Make a fire,' and pointed to the grate; of course the +gesture was understood. + +"Mr. Hawthorne was minutely and scrupulously honest; I should say that +he was a rigid temperance man. Once I heard Mrs. Hawthorne say to the +clerk, 'Send some brandy to Mr. Hawthorne at once.' We were six in the +party. When I paid my bill I heard Mr. Hawthorne say to Miss S., the +teacher, who took all the business cares, 'Don't let Miss Mitchell pay +for one-sixth of my brandy.' + +"So if we ordered tea for five, and six partook of it, he called the +waiter and said, 'Six have partaken of the tea, although there was no +tea added; to the amount.' + +"I told Mr. Hawthorne that a friend of mine, Miss W., desired very much +to see him, as she admired him very much. He said, 'Don't let her see +me, let her keep her little lamp burning.' + +"He was a sad man; I could never tell why. I never could get at anything +of his religious views. + +"He was wonderfully blest in his family. Mrs. Hawthorne almost +worshipped him. She was of a very serious and religious turn of mind. + +"I dined with them the day that Una was sixteen years old. We drank her +health in cold water. Mr. Hawthorne said, 'May you live happily, and be +ready to go when you must.' + +"He joined in the family talk very pleasantly. One evening we made up a +story. One said, 'A party was in Rome;' another said, 'It was a pleasant +day;' another said, 'They took a walk.' It came to Hawthorne's turn, and +he said, 'Do put in an incident;' so Rosa said, 'Then a bear jumped from +the top of St. Peter's!' The story went no further. + +"I was with the family when they first went to St. Peter's. Hawthorne +turned away saying, 'The St. Peter's of my imagination was better.' + +"I think he could not have been well, he was so very inactive. If he +walked out he took Rosa, then a child of six, with him. He once came +with her to my room, but he seemed tired from the ascent of the stairs. +I was on the fifth floor. + +"I have been surprised to see that he made severe personal remarks in +his journal, for in the three months that I knew him I never heard an +unkind word; he was always courteous, gentle, and retiring. Mrs. +Hawthorne said she took a wifely pride in his having no small vices. Mr. +Hawthorne said to Miss S., 'I have yet to find the first fault in Mrs. +Hawthorne.' + +"One day Mrs. Hawthorne came to my room, held up an inkstand, and said, +'The new book will be begun to-night.' + +"This was 'The Marble Faun.' She said, 'Mr. Hawthorne writes after every +one has gone to bed. I never see the manuscript until it is what he +calls _clothed_'.... Mrs. H. says he never knows when he is writing a +story how the characters will turn out; he waits for _them_ to influence +_him_. + +"I asked her if Zenobia was intended for Margaret Fuller, and she said, +'No;' but Mr. Hawthorne admitted that Margaret Fuller seemed to be +around him when he was writing it. + +"London, August. We went out for our first walk as soon as breakfast was +over, and we walked on Regent street for hours, looking in at the shop +windows. The first view of the street was beautiful, for it was a misty +morning, and we saw its length fade away as if it had no end. I like it +that in our first walk we came upon a crowd standing around 'Punch.' It +is a ridiculous affair, but as it is as much a 'peculiar institution' as +is Southern slavery, I stopped and listened, and after we came into the +house Miss S. threw out some pence for them. We rested after the shop +windows of Regent street, took dinner, and went out again, this time to +Piccadilly. + +"The servility of the shopkeepers is really a little offensive. 'What +shall I have the honor of showing you?' they say. + +"Our chambermaid, at our lodgings, thanks us every time we speak to her. + +"I feel ashamed to reach a four-penny piece to a stout coachman who +touches his hat and begs me to remember him. Sometimes I am ready to +say, 'How can I forget you, when you have hung around me so closely for +half an hour?' + +"Our waiter at the Adelphi Hotel, at Liverpool, was a very respectable +middle-aged man, with a white neck-cloth; he looked like a Methodist +parson. He waited upon us for five days with great gravity, and then +another waiter told us that we could give our waiter what we pleased. We +were charged £1 for 'attendance' in the bill, but I very innocently gave +half as much more, as fee to the 'parson,' + +"August 14. To-day we took a brougham and drove around for hours. Of +course we didn't _see_ London, and if we stay a month we shall still +know nothing of it, it is so immense. I keep thinking, as I go through +the streets, of 'The rats and the mice, they made such a strife, he had +to go to London,' etc., and especially 'The streets were so wide, and +the lanes were so narrow;' for I never saw such narrow streets, even in +Boston. + +"We have begun to send out letters, but as it is 'out of season' I am +afraid everybody will be at the watering-places. + +THE GREENWICH OBSERVATORY. "The observatory was founded by Charles II. +The king that 'never said a foolish thing and never did a wise one' was +yet sagacious enough to start an institution which has grown to be a +thing of might, and this, too, of his own will, and not from the +influence of courtiers. One of the hospital buildings of Greenwich, then +called the 'House of Delights,' was the residence of Henrietta Maria, +and the young prince probably played on the little hill now the site of +the observatory. + +"But Charles, though he started an observatory, did not know very well +what was needed. The first building consisted of a large, octagonal +room, with windows all around; it was considered sufficiently firm +without any foundation, and sufficiently open to the heavens with no +opening higher than windows. This room is now used as a place of deposit +for instruments, and busts and portraits of eminent men, and also as the +dancing-hall for the director's family. + +"Under Mr. Airy's [Footnote: The late Sir George Airy.] direction, the +walls of the observing-room have become pages of its history. The +transit instruments used by Halley, Bradley, and Pond hang side by side; +the zenith sector with which Bradley discovered the 'aberration of +light,' now moving rustily on its arc, is the ornament of another room; +while the shelves of the computing-room are filled with volumes of +unpublished observations of Flamstead and others. + +"The observatory stands in Greenwich Park, the prettiest park I have yet +seen; being a group of small hills. They point out oaks said to belong +to Elizabeth's time--noble oaks of any time. The observatory is one +hundred and fifty feet above the sea level. The view from it is, of +course, beautiful. On the north the river, the little Thames, big with +its fleet, is winding around the Isle of Dogs; on the left London, +always overhung with a cloud of smoke, through which St. Paul's and the +Houses of Parliament peep. + +"Mr. Airy was exceedingly kind to me, and seemed to take great interest +in showing me around. He appeared to be much gratified by my interest in +the history of the observatory. He is naturally a despot, and his +position increases this tendency. Sitting in his chair, the zero-point +of longitude for the world, he commands not only the little knot of +observers and computers around him, but when he says to London, 'It is +one o'clock,' London adopts that time, and her ships start for their +voyages around the globe, and continue to count their time from that +moment, wherever the English flag is borne. + +"It is singular what a quiet motive-power Science is, the breath of a +nation's progress. + +"Mr. Airy is not favorable to the multiplication of observatories. He +predicted the failure of that at Albany. He says that he would gladly +destroy one-half of the meridian instruments of the world, by way of +reform. I told him that my reform movement would be to bring together +the astronomers who had no instruments and the instruments which had no +astronomers. + +"Mr. Airy is exceedingly systematic. In leading me by narrow passages +and up steep staircases, from one room to another of the irregular +collection of rooms, he was continually cautioning me about my +footsteps, and in one place he seemed to have a kind of formula: 'Three +steps at this place, ten at this, eleven at this, and three again.' So, +in descending a ladder to the birthplace of the galvanic currents, he +said, 'Turn your back to the stairs, step down with the right foot, take +hold with the right hand; reverse the operation in ascending; do not, on +coming out, turn around at once, but step backwards one step first.' + +"Near the throne of the astronomical autocrat is another proof of his +system, in a case of portfolios. These contain the daily bills, letters, +and papers, as they come in and are answered in order. When a portfolio +is full, the papers are removed and are sewed together. Each year's +accumulation is bound, and the bound volumes of Mr. Airy's time nearly +cover one side of his private room. + +"Mr. Airy replies to all kinds of letters, with two exceptions: those +which ask for autographs, and those which request him to calculate +nativities. Both of these are very frequent. + +"In the drawing-room Mr. Airy is cheery; he loves to recite ballads and +knows by heart a mass of verses, from 'A, Apple Pie,' to the 'Lady of +the Lake.' + +"A lover of Nature and a close observer of her ways, as well in the +forest walk as in the vault of heaven, Mr. Airy has roamed among the +beautiful scenery of the Lake region until he is as good a mountain +guide as can be found. He has strolled beside Grassmere and ascended +Helvellyn. He knows the height of the mountain peaks, the shingles that +lie on their sides, the flowers that grow in the valleys, the mines +beneath the surface. + +"At one time the Government Survey planted what is called a 'Man' on the +top of one of the hills of the Lake region. In a dry season they built +up a stone monument, right upon the bed of a little pond. The country +people missed the little pond, which had seemed to them an eye of Nature +reflecting heaven's blue light. They begged for the removal of the +surveyor's pile, and Mr. Airy at once changed the station. + +"The established observatories of England do not step out of their +beaten path to make discoveries--these come from the amateurs. In this +respect they differ from America and Germany. The amateurs of England do +a great deal of work, they learn to know of what they and their +instruments are capable, and it is done. + +"The library of Greenwich Observatory is large. The transactions of +learned societies alone fill a small room; the whole impression of the +thirty volumes of printed observations fills a wall of another room, and +the unpublished papers of the early directors make of themselves a small +manuscript library. + +"October 22, 1857. We have just returned from our fourth visit to +Greenwich, like the others twenty-four hours in length. We go again +to-morrow to meet the Sabines. + +"Herr Struve, the director of the Pulkova Observatory, is at Greenwich, +with his son Karl. The old gentleman is a magnificent-looking fellow, +very large and well proportioned; his great head is covered with white +hair, his features are regular and handsome. When he is introduced to +any one he thrusts both hands into the pockets of his pantaloons, and +bows. I found that the son considered this position of the hands +particularly _English_. However, the old gentleman did me the honor to +shake hands with me, and when I told him that I brought a letter to him +from a friend in America, he said, 'It is quite unnecessary, I know you +without.' He speaks very good English. + +"Herr Struve's mission in England is to see if he can connect the +trigonometrical surveys of the two countries. It is quite singular that +he should visit England for this purpose, so soon after Russia and +England were at war. One of his sons was an army surgeon at the Crimea. + +"Five visitors remained all night at the observatory. I slept in a +little round room and Miss S. in another, at the top of a little +jutting-out, curved building. Mrs. Airy says, 'Mr. Airy got permission +of the Board of Visitors to fit up some of the rooms as lodging-rooms.' +Mr. Airy said, 'My dear love, I did as I always do: I fitted them up +first, and then I reported to the Board that I had done it.' + +"October 23. Another dinner-party at the observatory, consisting of the +Struves, General and Mrs. Sabine, Professor and Mrs. Powell, Mr. Main, +and ourselves; more guests coming to tea. + +"Mrs. Airy told me that she should arrange the order of the guests at +table to please herself; that properly all of the married ladies should +precede me, but that I was really to go first, with Mr. Airy. To effect +this, however, she must explain it to Mrs. Sabine, the lady of highest +rank. + +"So we went out, Professor Airy and myself, Professor Powell and Mrs. +Sabine, General Sabine and Mrs. Powell, Mr. Charles Struve and Miss S., +Mr. Main, Mrs. Airy, and Professor Struve. + +"General Sabine is a small man, gray haired and sharp featured, about +seventy years old. He smiles very readily, and is chatty and sociable at +once. He speaks with more quickness and ease than most of the Englishmen +I have met. Mrs. Sabine is very agreeable and not a bit of a +blue-stocking. + +"The chat at table was general and very interesting. Mr. Airy says, 'The +best of a good dinner is the amount of talk.' He talked of the great +'Leviathan' which he and Struve had just visited, then anecdotes were +told by others, then they went on to comic poetry. Mr. Airy repeated +'The Lost Heir,' by Hood. General Sabine told droll anecdotes, and the +point was often lost upon me, because of the local allusions. One of his +anecdotes was this: 'Archbishop Whately did not like a professor named +Robert Daly; he said the Irish were a very contented people, they were +satisfied with one _bob daily_.' I found that a 'bob' is a shilling. + +"When the dinner was over, the ladies left the room, and the gentlemen +remained over their wine; but not for long, for Mr. Airy does not like +it, and Struve hates it. + +"Then, before tea, others dropped in from the neighborhood, and the tea +was served in the drawing-room, handed round informally. + +"August 15. Westminster Abbey interested me more than I had expected. We +went into the chapels and admired the sculpture when the guide told us +we ought, and stopped with interest sometimes over some tomb which he +did not point out. + +"I stepped aside reverently when I found I was standing on the stone +which covers the remains of Dr. Johnson. It is cracked across the +middle. Garrick lies by the side of Johnson, and I thought at first that +Goldsmith lay near; but it is only a monument--the body is interred in +Temple churchyard. + +"You are continually misled in this way unless you refer at every minute +to your guide-book, and to go through Europe reading a guide-book which +you can read at home seems to be a waste of time. On the stone beneath +which Addison lies is engraved the verse from Tickell's ode: + + "'Ne'er to these chambers where the mighty rest,' etc. + +"The base of Newton's monument is of white marble, a solid mass large +enough to support a coffin; upon that a sarcophagus rests. The remains +are not enclosed within. As I stepped aside I found I had been standing +upon a slab marked 'Isaac Newton,' beneath which the great man's remains +lie. + +"On the side of the sarcophagus is a white marble slab, with figures in +bas-relief. One of these imaginary beings appears to be weighing the +planets on a steel-yard. They hang like peas! Another has a pair of +bellows and is blowing a fire. A third is tending a plant. + +"On this sarcophagus reclines a figure of Newton, of full size. He leans +his right arm upon four thick volumes, probably 'The Principia,' and he +points his left hand to a globe above his head on which the goddess +Urania sits; she leans upon another large book. + +"Newton's head is very fine, and is probably a portrait. The left hand, +which is raised, has lost two fingers. I thought at first that this had +been the work of some 'undevout astronomer,' but when I came to 'read +up' I found that at one time soldiers were quartered in the abbey, and +probably one of them wanted a finger with which to crowd the tobacco +into his pipe, and so broke off one. + +"August 17. To-day we have been to the far-famed British Museum. I +carried an 'open sesame' in the form of a letter given to me by +Professor Henry, asking for me special attention from all societies with +which the 'Smithsonian' at Washington is connected. + +"I gave the paper first to a police officer; a police officer is met at +every turn in London. He handed it to another official, who said, 'You'd +better go to the secretary.' + +"I walked in the direction towards which he pointed, a long way, until I +found the secretary. He called another man, and asked him to show me +whatever I wanted to see. + +"This man took me into another room, and consigned me to still another +man--the fifth to whom I had been referred. No. 5 was an intelligent and +polite person, and he began to talk about America at once. + +"I asked to see anything which had belonged to Newton, and he told me +they had one letter only,--from Newton to Leibnitz,--which he showed me. +It was written in Latin, with diagrams and formulae interspersed. The +reply of Leibnitz, copied by Newton, was also in their collection, and +an order from Newton written while he was director of the mint. + +"No. 5 also showed me the illuminated manuscripts of the collection; +they are kept locked in glass-topped cases, and a curtain protects them +from the light. We saw also the oldest copy of the Bible in the world. + +"The art of printing has brought incalculable blessings; but as I looked +at a neat manuscript book by Queen Elizabeth, copied from another as a +present to her father, I could not help thinking it was much better than +worsted work! + +"A much-worn prayer-book was shown me, said to be the one used by Lady +Jane Grey when on the scaffold. Nothing makes me more conscious that I +am on foreign soil than the constant recurrence of associations +connected with the executioner's block. We hung the Quakers and we +burned the witches, but we are careful not to remember the localities of +our barbarisms; we show instead the Plymouth Rock or the Washington Elm. + +"Among other things, we were shown the 'Magna Charta'--a few fragments +of worn-out paper on which some words could be traced; now carefully +preserved in a frame, beneath a glass. + +"Thus far England has impressed me seriously; I cannot imagine how it +has ever earned the name of 'Merrie England.' + +"August 19. There are four great men whose haunts I mean to seek, and on +whose footsteps I mean to stand: Newton, Shakspere, Milton, and Johnson. + +"To-day I told the driver to take me to St. Martin's, where the +guide-book says that Newton lived. He put me down at the Newton Hotel, +but I looked in vain to its top to see anything like an observatory. + +"I went into a wine-shop near, and asked a girl, who was pouring out a +dram, in which house Newton lived. She pointed, not to the hotel, but to +a house next to a church, and said, 'That's it--don't you see a place on +the top? That's where he used to study nights.' + +"It is a little, oblong-shaped observatory, built apparently of wood, +and blackened by age. The house is a good-looking one--it seems to be of +stone. The girl said the rooms were let for shops. + +"Next I told the driver to take me to Fleet street, to Gough square, and +to Bolt court, where Johnson lived and died. + +"Bolt court lies on Fleet street, and it is but few steps along a narrow +passage to the house, which is now a hotel, where Johnson died; but you +must walk on farther through the narrow passage, a little fearful to a +woman, to see the place where he wrote the dictionary. The house is so +completely within a court, in which nothing but brick walls could be +seen, that one wonders what the charm of London could be, to induce one +to live in that place. But a great city always draws to itself the great +minds, and there Johnson probably found his enjoyment. + +"August 27. We took St. Paul's Church to-day. We took tickets for the +vaults, the bell, the crypt, the whispering-gallery, the clock and all. +We did not know what was before us. It was a little tiresome as far as +the library and the room of Nelson's trophies, but to my surprise, when +the guide said, 'Go that way for the clock,' he did not take the lead, +but pointed up a staircase, and I found myself the pioneer in the +narrowest and darkest staircase I ever ascended. It was really perfect +darkness in some of the places, and we had to feel our way. We all took +a long breath when a gleam of light came in at some narrow windows +scattered along. At the top, in front of the clock works, stood a woman, +who began at once to tell us the statistics of the pendulum, to which +recital I did not choose to listen. She was not to go down with us, and, +panting with fatigue and trembling with fright, we groped our way down +again. + +"There was another long, but easy, ascent to the 'whispering-gallery,' +which is a fine place from which to look down upon the interior of the +church. The man in attendance looked like a respectable elderly +gentleman. He told us to go to the opposite side of the gallery, and he +would whisper to us. We went around, and, worn out with fatigue, dropped +upon a bench. + +"The man began to whisper, putting his mouth to an opening in the wall; +we heard noises, but could not tell what he said. + +"To my amazement, this very respectable-looking elderly gentleman, as we +passed him in going out, whispered again, and as this time he put his +mouth close to my ear, I understood! He said, 'If you will give anything +for the whisper, it will be gratefully received.' There are notices all +over the church forbidding fees, and I felt that the man was a beggar at +best--more properly a pickpocket. + +"A figure of Dr. Johnson stands in one of the aisles of the church. It +must be like him, for it is exceedingly ugly. + +"September 3. We have been three weeks in London 'out of season,' but +with plenty of letters. At present we have as many acquaintances as we +desire. Last night we were at the opera, to-night we go out to dine, and +to-morrow evening to a dance, the next day to Admiral Smyth's. + +"The opera fatigued me, as it always does. I tired my eyes and ears in +the vain effort to appreciate it. Mario was the great star of the +evening, but I knew no difference. + +"One little circumstance showed me how an American, with the best +intentions, may offend against good manners. American-like we had +secured very good seats, were in good season, and as comfortable as the +very narrow seats would permit us to be, before most of the audience +arrived. The house filled, and we sat at our ease, feeling our +importance, and quite unconscious that we were guilty of any +impropriety. While the curtain was down, I heard a voice behind me say +to the gentleman who was with us, 'Is the lady on your left with +you?'--'Yes,' said Mr. R.--'She wears a bonnet, which is not according +to rule.'--'Too late now,' said Mr. R.--'It is my fault,' said the +attendant; 'I ought not to have admitted her; I thought it was a hood.' + +"I was really in hopes that I should be ordered out, for I was +exceedingly fatigued and should have been glad of some fresh air. On +looking around, I saw that only the 'pit' wore bonnets. + +"September 6. We left London yesterday for Aylesbury. It is two hours by +railroad. Like all railroads in England, it runs seemingly through a +garden. In many cases flowers are cultivated by the roadside. + +"From Aylesbury to Stone, the residence of Admiral Smyth, it is two +miles of stage-coach riding. Stage-coaches are now very rare in England, +and I was delighted with the chance for a ride. + +"We found the stage-coach crowded. The driver asked me if we were for +St. John's Lodge, and on my replying in the affirmative gave me a note +which Mrs. Smyth had written to him, to ask for inside seats. The note +had reached him too late, and he said we must go on the outside. He +brought a ladder and we got up. For a minute I thought, 'What a height +to fall from!' but the afternoon was so lovely that I soon forgot the +danger and enjoyed the drive. There were six passengers on top. + +"Aylesbury is a small town, and Stone is a very small village. The +driver stopped at what seemed to be a cultivated field, and told me that +I was at my journey's end. On looking down I saw a wheelbarrow near the +fence, and I remembered that Mrs. Smyth had said that one would be +waiting for our luggage, and I soon saw Mrs. Smyth and her daughter +coming towards us. It was a walk of about an eighth of a mile to the +'Lodge'--a pleasant cottage surrounded by a beautiful garden. + +"Admiral Smyth's family go to a little church seven hundred years old, +standing in the midst of tombstones and surrounded by thatched cottages. +English scenery seems now (September) much like our Southern scenery in +April--rich and lovely, but wanting mountains and water. An English +village could never be mistaken for an American one: the outline against +the sky differs; a thatched cottage makes a very wavy line on the blue +above. + +"We find enough in St. John's Lodge, in the admiral's library, and in +the society of the cultivated members of his family to interest us for a +long time. + +"The admiral himself is upwards of sixty years of age, noble-looking, +loving a good joke, an antiquarian, and a good astronomer. I picked up +many an anecdote from him, and many curious bits of learning. + +"He tells a good story, illustrative of his enthusiasm when looking at a +crater in the moon. He says the night was remarkably fine, and he +applied higher and higher powers to his glass until he seemed to look +down into the abyss, and imagining himself standing on its verge he felt +himself falling in, and drew back with a shudder which lasted even after +the illusion was over. + +"In speaking of Stratford-upon-Avon, the admiral told me that the Lucy +family, one of whose ancestors drove Shakspere from his grounds, and who +is caricatured in Justice Shallow, still resides on the same spot as in +Shakspere's time. He says no family ever retained their characteristics +more decidedly. + +"Some years ago one of this family was invited to a Shakspere dinner. He +resented the well-meant invitation, saying they must surely have +forgotten how that _person_ treated his ancestor! + +"The amateur astronomers of England are numerous, but they are not like +those of America. + +"In America a poor schoolmaster, who has some bright boys who ask +questions, buys a glass and becomes a star-gazer, without time and +almost without instruments; or a watchmaker must know the time, and +therefore watches the stars as time-keepers. In almost all cases they +are hard-working men. + +"In England it is quite otherwise. A wealthy gentleman buys a telescope +as he would buy a library, as an ornament to his house. + +"Admiral Smyth says that no family is quite civilized unless it +possesses a copy of some encyclopaedia and a telescope. The English +gentleman uses both for amusement. If he is a man of philosophical mind +he soon becomes an astronomer, or if a benevolent man he perceives that +some friend in more limited circumstances might use it well, and he +offers the telescope to him, or if an ostentatious man he hires some +young astronomer of talent, who comes to his observatory and makes a +name for him. Then the queen confers the honor of knighthood, not upon +the young man, but upon the owner of the telescope. Sir James South was +knighted for this reason. + +"We have been visiting Hartwell House, an old baronial residence, now +the property of Dr. Lee, a whimsical old man. + +"This house was for years the residence of Louis XVIII., and his queen +died here. The drawing-room is still kept as in those days; the blue +damask on the walls has been changed by time to a brown. The rooms are +spacious and lofty, the chimney-pieces of richly carved marble. The +ceiling of one room has fine bas-relief allegorical figures. + +"Books of antiquarian value are all around--one whole floor is covered +with them. They are almost never opened. In some of the rooms paintings +are on the walls above the doors. + +"Dr. Lee's modern additions are mostly paintings of himself and a former +wife, and are in very bad taste. He has, however, two busts of Mrs. +Somerville, from which I received the impression that she is handsome, +but Mrs. Smyth tells me she is not so; certainly she is sculpturesque. + +"The royal family, on their retreat from Hartwell House, left their +prayer-book, and it still remains on its stand. The room of the ladies +of the bedchamber is papered, and the figure of a pheasant is the +prevailing characteristic of the paper. The room is called 'The Pheasant +Room.' One of the birds has been carefully cut out, and, it is said, was +carried away as a memento by one of the damsels. + +"Dr. Lee is second cousin to Sir George Lee, who died childless. He +inherits the estate, but not the title. The estate has belonged to the +Lees for four hundred years. As the doctor was a Lee only through his +mother, he was obliged to take her name on his accession to the +property. He applied to Parliament to be permitted to assume the title, +and, being refused, from a strong Tory he became a Liberal, and delights +in currying favor with the lowest classes; he has twice married below +his rank. Being remotely connected with the Hampdens, he claims John +Hampden as one of his family, and keeps a portrait of him in a +conspicuous place. + +"A summer-house on the grounds was erected by Lady Elizabeth Lee, and +some verses inscribed on its walls, written by her, show that the Lees +have not always been fools. + +"But Dr. Lee has his way of doing good. Being fond of astronomy, he has +bought an eight and a half feet equatorial telescope, and with a wisdom +which one could scarcely expect, he employed Admiral Smyth to construct +an observatory. He has also a fine transit instrument, and the admiral, +being his near neighbor, has the privilege of using the observatory as +his own. In the absence of the Lees he has a private key, with which he +admits himself and Mrs. Smyth. They make the observations (Mrs. Smyth is +a very clever astronomer), sleep in a room called 'The Admiral's Room,' +find breakfast prepared for them in the morning, and return to their own +house when they choose. + +"I saw in the observatory a timepiece with a double second-hand; one of +these could be stopped by a touch, and would, in that way, show an +observer the instant when he thought a phenomenon, as an occultation for +instance, had occurred, and yet permit him to go on with his count of +the seconds, and, if necessary, correct his first impression. + +"Admiral Smyth is a hard worker, but I suspect that many of the amateur +astronomers of England are Dr. Lees--rich men who, as a hobby, ride +astronomy and employ a good astronomer. Dr. Lee gives the use of a good +instrument to the curate; another to Mr. Payson, of Cambridge, who has +lately found a little planet. + +"I saw at Admiral Smyth's some excellent photographs of the moon, but in +England they have not yet photographed the stars." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +1857 + +FIRST EUROPEAN TOUR CONTINUED--CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY--AMBLESIDE--MISS +SOUTHEY---THE HERSCHELS--A LONDON ROUT--EDINBORO' AND GLASGOW +OBSERVATORIES--"REFLECTIONS AND MUTTERINGS" + +"If any one wishes to know the customs of centuries ago in England, let +him go to Cambridge. + +"Sitting at the window of the hotel, he will see the scholars, the +fellows, the masters of arts, and the masters of colleges passing along +the streets in their different gowns. Very unbecoming gowns they are, in +all cases; and much as the wearers must be accustomed to them, they seem +to step awkwardly, and to have an ungraceful feminine touch in their +motions. + +"Everything that you see speaks of the olden time. Even the images above +the arched entrance to the courts around which the buildings stand are +crumbling slowly, and the faces have an unearthly expression. + +"If the visitor is fortunate enough to have an introduction to one of +the college professors, he will be taken around the buildings, to the +libraries, the 'Combination' room to which the fellows retire to chat +over their wine, and perhaps even to the kitchen. + +"Our first knowledge of Cambridge was the entrance to Trinity College +and the Master's Lodge. + +"We arrived in Cambridge just about at lunch time--one o'clock. + +"Mrs. Airy said to me, 'Although we are invited to be guests of Dr. +Whewell, he is quite too mighty a man to come to meet us." Her sons, +however, met us, and we walked with them to Dr. Whewell's. + +"The Master's Lodge, where Dr. Whewell lives, is one of the buildings +composing the great pile of Trinity College. One of the rooms in the +lodge still remains nearly as in the time of Henry VIII. It is immense +in size, and has two oriel windows hung with red velvet. In this room +the queen holds her court when she is in Cambridge; for the lodge then +becomes a palace, and the 'master' retires to some other apartments, and +comes to dinner only when asked. + +"It is said that the present master does not much like to submit to this +position. + +"In this great room hang full-length portraits of Henry and Elizabeth. +On another wall is a portrait of Newton, and on a third the sweet face +of a young girl, Dr. Whewell's niece, of whom I heard him speak as +'Kate.' + +"Dr. Whewell received us in this room, standing on a rug before an open +fireplace; a wood fire was burning cheerily. Mrs. Airy's daughter, a +young girl, was with us. + +"Dr. Whewell shook hands with us, and we stood. I was very tired, but we +continued to stand. In an American gentleman's house I should have asked +if I might sit, and should have dropped upon a chair; here, of course, I +continued to stand. After, perhaps, fifteen minutes, Dr. Whewell said, +'Will you sit?' and the four of us dropped upon chairs as if shot! + +"The master is a man to be noted, even physically. He is much above +ordinary size, and, though now gray-haired, would be extraordinarily +handsome if it were not for an expression of ill-temper about the mouth. + +"An Englishmen is proud; a Cambridge man is the proudest of Englishmen; +and Dr. Whewell, the proudest of Cambridge men. + +"In the opinion of a Cambridge man, to be master of Trinity is to be +master of the world! + +"At lunch, to which we stayed, Dr. Whewell talked about American +writers, and was very severe upon them; some of them were friends of +mine, and it was not pleasant. But I was especially hurt by a remark +which he made afterwards. Americans are noted in England for their use +of slang. The English suppose that the language of Sam Slick or of Nasby +is the language used in cultivated society. They do not seem to +understand it, and I have no doubt to-day that Lowell's comic poems are +taken seriously. So at this table, Dr. Whewell, wishing to say that we +would do something in the way of sight-seeing very thoroughly, turning +to me, said, 'We'll go the whole hog, Miss Mitchell, as you say in +America.' + +"I turned to the young American girl who sat next to me, and said, 'Miss +S., did you ever hear that expression except on the street?' 'Never,' +she replied. + +"Afterwards he said to me, 'You in America think you know something +about the English language, and you get out your Webster's dictionary, +and your Worcester's dictionary, but we here in Cambridge think we know +rather more about English than you do.' + +"After lunch we went to the observatory. The Cambridge Observatory has +the usual number of meridian instruments, but it has besides a good +equatorial telescope of twenty feet in length, mounted in the English +style; for Mr. Airy was in Cambridge at the time of its establishment. +In this pretty observatory, overlooking the peaceful plains, with some +small hills in the distance, Mr. and Mrs. Airy passed the first year of +their married life. + +"Professor Challis, the director, is exceedingly short, thick-headed (in +appearance), and, like many of the English, thick-tongued. While I was +looking at the instruments, Mrs. Airy came into the equatorial house, +bringing Mr. Adams, the rival of Leverrier, [Footnote: See Chapter +VII.]--another short man, but bright-looking, with dark hair and eyes, +and again the thick voice, this time with a nasal twang. He is a fellow +of Pembroke College, and master of arts. If Mr. Adams had become a +fellow of his own college, St. John, he must have gone into holy orders, +as it is called; this he was not willing to do; he accepted a fellowship +from Pembroke. + +"Mr. Adams is a merry little man, loves games with children, and is a +favorite with young ladies. + +"At 6.30 we went again to the lodge to dine. We were a little late, and +the servant was in a great hurry to announce us; but I made him wait +until my gloves were on, though not buttoned. He announced us with a +loud voice, and Dr. Whewell came forward to receive us. Being announced +in this way, the other guests do not wait for an introduction. There was +a group of guests in the drawing-room, and those nearest me spoke to me +at once. + +"Dinner was announced immediately, and Dr. Whewell escorted me +downstairs, across an immense hall, to the dining-room, outside of which +stood the waiters, six in number, arranged in a straight line, in +livery, of course. One of them had a scarlet vest, short clothes, and +drab coat. + +"As I sat next to the master, I had a good deal of talk with him. He was +very severe upon Americans; he said that Emerson did not write good +English, and copied Carlyle! I thought his severity reached really to +discourtesy, and I think he perceived it when he asked me if I knew +Emerson personally, and I replied that I did, and that I valued my +acquaintance with him highly. + +"I got a little chance to retort, by telling him that we had outgrown +Mrs. Hemans in America, and that we now read Mrs. Browning more. He +laughed at it, and said that Mrs. Browning's poetry was so coarse that +he could not tolerate it, and he was amused to hear that any people had +got above Mrs. Hemans; and he asked me if we had outgrown Homer! To +which I replied that they were not similar cases. + +"Altogether, there was a tone of satire in Dr. Whewell's remarks which I +did not think amiable. + +"There were, as there are very commonly in English society, some dresses +too low for my taste; and the wine-drinking was universal, so that I had +to make a special point of getting a glass of water, and was afraid I +might drink all there was on the table! + +"Before the dessert came on, saucers were placed before each guest, and +a little rose-water dipped into them from a silver basin; then each +guest washed his face thoroughly, dipping his napkin into the saucer. +Professor Willis, who sat next to me, told me that this was a custom +peculiar to Cambridge, and dating from its earliest times. + +"The finger bowls came on afterwards, as usual. + +"It is customary for the lady of the house or the 'first lady' to turn +to her nearest neighbor at the close of dinner and say, 'Shall we retire +to the drawing-room?' Now, there was no lady of the house, and I was in +the position of first lady. They might have sat there for a thousand +years before I should have thought of it. I drew on my gloves when the +other ladies drew on theirs, and then we waited. Mrs. Airy saw the +dilemma, made the little speech, and the gentlemen escorted us to the +door, and then returned to their wine. + +"We went back to the drawing-room and had coffee; after coffee new +guests began to come, and we went into the magnificent room with the +oriel windows. + +"Professor Sedgwick came early--an old man of seventy-four, already a +little shattered and subject to giddiness. He is said to be very fond of +young ladies even now, and when younger made some heartaches; for he +could not give up his fellowship and leave Cambridge for a wife; which, +to me, is very unmanly. He is considered the greatest geologist in +England, and of course they would say 'in the world,' and is much loved +by all who know him. He came to Cambridge a young man, and the elms +which he saw planted are now sturdy trees. It is pleasant to hear him +talk of Cambridge and its growth; he points to the stately trees and +says, 'Those trees don't look as old as I, and they are not.' + +"I did not see Professor Adams at that time, but I spent the whole of +Monday morning walking about the college with him. I asked him to show +me the place where he made his computations for Neptune, and he was +evidently well pleased to do so. + +"We laughed over a roll, which we saw in the College library, containing +a list of the ancestors of Henry VIII.; among them was Jupiter. + +"Professor Adams tells me that in Wales genealogical charts go so far +back that about half-way between the beginning and the present day you +find this record: 'About this time the world was created'! + +"November 2. At lunch to-day Dr. Whewell was more interesting than I had +seen him before. He asked me about Laura Bridgman, and said that he knew +a similar case. He contended, in opposition to Mrs. Airy and myself, +that loss of vision was preferable to loss of hearing, because it shut +one out less from human companionship. + +"Dr. Whewell's self-respect and immense self-esteem led him to +imperiousness of manner which touches the border of discourtesy. He +loves a good joke, but his jests are serious. He writes verses that are +touchingly beautiful, but it is difficult to believe, in his presence, +that he writes them. Mrs. Airy said that Dr. Whewell and I _riled_ each +other! + +"I was at an evening party, and the Airy boys, young men of eighteen and +twenty, were present. They stood the whole time, occasionally leaning +against a table or the piano, in their blue silk gowns. I urged them to +sit. 'Of course not,' they said; 'no undergraduate sits in the master's +presence!' + +"I went to three services on 'Scarlet Sunday,' for the sake of seeing +all the sights. + +"The costumes of Cambridge and Oxford are very amusing, and show, more +than anything I have seen, the old-fogyism of English ways. Dr. Whewell +wore, on this occasion, a long gown reaching nearly to his feet, of rich +scarlet, and adorned with flowing ribands. The ribands did not match the +robe, but were more of a crimson. + +"I wondered that a strong-minded man like Dr. Whewell could tolerate +such trappings for a moment; but it is said that he is rather proud of +them, and loves all the etiquette of the olden time, as also, it is +said, does the queen. + +"In these robes Dr. Whewell escorted me to church--and of course we were +a great sight! + +"Before dinner, on this Scarlet Sunday, there was an interval when the +master was evidently tried to know what to do with me. At length he hit +upon an expedient. 'Boys,' he said to the young Airys, 'take Miss +Mitchell on a walk!' + +"I was a little surprised to find myself on a walk, 'nolens volens;' so +as soon as we were out of sight of the master of Trinity, I said, 'Now, +young gentlemen, as I do not want to go to walk, we won't go!' + +"It was hard for me to become accustomed to English ideas of caste. I +heard Professor Sedgwick say that Miss Herschel, the daughter of Sir +John and niece to Caroline, married a Gordon. 'Such a great match for +her!' he added; and when I asked what match could be great for a +daughter of the Herschels, I was told that she had married one of the +queen's household, and was asked to _sit_ in the presence of the queen! + +"When I hear a missionary tell that the pariah caste sit on the ground, +the peasant caste lift themselves by the thickness of a leaf, and the +next rank by the thickness of a stalk, it seems to me that the heathen +has reached a high state of civilization--precisely that which Victoria +has reached when she permits a Herschel to sit in her presence! + +"The University of Cambridge consists of sixteen colleges. I was told +that, of these, Trinity leads and St. John comes next. + +"Trinity has always led in mathematics; it boasts of Newton and Byron +among its graduates. Milton belonged to Christ Church College; the +mulberry tree which he planted still flourishes. + +"Even to-day, a young scholar of Trinity expressed his regret to me that +Milton did not belong to the college in which he himself studied. He +pointed out the rooms occupied by Newton, and showed us 'Newton's +Bridge,' 'which will surely fall when a greater man than he walks over +it'! + +"Milton first planned the great poem, 'Paradise Lost,' as a drama, and +this manuscript, kept within a glass case, is opened to the page on +which the _dramatis personae_ are planned and replanned. On the opposite +page is a part of 'Lycidas,' neatly written and with few corrections. + +"The most beautiful of the college buildings is King's Chapel. A +Cambridge man is sure to take you to one of the bridges spanning the +wretched little stream called the 'Silver Cam,' that you may see the +architectural beauties of this building. + +"It is well to attend service in one or the other of the chapels, to see +assembled the young men, who are almost all the sons of the nobility or +gentry. The propriety of their conduct struck me. + +"The fellows of the colleges are chosen from the 'scholars' who are most +distinguished, as the 'scholars' are chosen from the undergraduates. +They receive an income so long as they remain connected with the college +and unmarried. + +"They have also the use of rooms in the college; they dine in the same +hall with the undergraduates, but their tables are placed upon a raised +dais; they have also little garden-places given them. + +"'What are their duties?' I asked Mr. Airy. 'None at all; _they_ are the +college. It would not be a seat of learning without them.' + +"They say in Cambridge that Dr. Whewell's book, 'Plurality of Worlds,' +reasons to this end: The planets were created for this world; this world +for man; man for England; England for Cambridge; and Cambridge for Dr. +Whewell! + +"Ambleside, September 13. We have spent the Sunday in ascending a +mountain, I have a minute route marked out for me by Professor Airy, who +has rambled among the lakes and mountains of Cumberland and Westmoreland +for months, and says that no man lives who knows them better than he. + +"In accordance with these directions, I took a one-horse carriage this +morning for Coniston Waters, in order to ascend the 'Old Man.' The +waiter at the 'Salutation' at Ambleside, which we made headquarters, +told me that I could not make the ascent, as the day would not be fine; +but I have not travelled six months for nothing, and I knew he was +saying, 'You are fine American geese; you are not to leave my house +until you have been well plucked!'--which threat he will of course keep, +but I shall see all the 'Old Men' that I choose. So I borrowed the +waiter's umbrella, when he said it would rain, and off we went in an +open carriage, a drive of seven miles, up hill and down dale, among +mountains and around ponds (lakes _they_ called them), in the midst of +rich lands and pretty mansions, with occasionally a castle, and once a +ruin, to diversify the scenery. + +"Arrived at Coniston Hotel, the waiter said the same thing: 'It's too +cloudy to ascend the "Old Man;"' but as soon as it was found that if it +was too cloudy we did not intend to stay, it cleared off amazingly fast, +and the ponies were ordered. I thought at first of walking up, but, +having a value for my feet and not liking to misuse them, I mounted a +pony and walked him. + +"He was beautifully stupid, but I could not help thinking of Henry +Colman, the agriculturist, who, when in England, went on a fox-hunt. He +said, 'Think of my poor wife's old husband leaping a fence!' + +"But I soon forgot any fear, for the pony needed nothing from me or the +guide, but scrambled about any way he chose; and the scenery was +charming, for although the mountains are not very high, they are thrown +together very beautifully and remind me of those of the Hudson +Highlands. Then the little lakes were lovely, and occasionally we came +to a tarn or pond, and exceedingly small waterfalls were rushing about +everywhere, without any apparent object in view, but evidently looking +for something. And spite of the weatherwise head-waiter of the +'Salutation' and of him of Coniston Inn, the day was beautiful. We had +to give up the ponies when we were half a mile from the top, and clamber +up ourselves. The guide was very intelligent, and pointed out the lakes, +Windermere, Coniston; and the mountains, Helvellyn, Skiddaw, and +Saddleback; but at one time he spoke a name that I couldn't understand, +and forgetting that I was in England and not in America, I asked him to +_spell_ it. He replied, 'Theys call it so always.' He did not fail, +however, to ask questions like a Yankee, if he couldn't spell like one. +'Which way be ye coming?'--'From America.'--'Ye'll be going to Scotland +like?'--'Yes.'--'Ye'll be spending much money before ye are home again.' + +"When we were quite on top of the mountain I asked what the white +glimmering was in the distance, and he said it was, what I supposed, an +arm of the sea. + +"The shadows of the flying clouds were very pretty falling on the hills +around us, and the villages in the valleys beneath looked like white +dots on the green. + +"Sunday, Sept. 20, 1857. We have been to see Miss Southey to-day. I sent +the letter which Mrs. Airy gave me yesterday, and with it a note saying +that I would call to-day if convenient. + +"Miss Southey replied at once, saying that she should be happy to see +me. She lives in a straggling, irregular cottage, like most of the +cottages around Keswick, but beautifully situated, though far from the +lake. + +"Southey himself lived at Greta Hall, a much finer place, for many +years, but he never owned it, and the gentleman who bought it will +permit no one to see it. + +"Miss Southey's house is overgrown with climbing plants, has windows +opening to the ground, and is really a summer residence, not a good +winter home. + +"When Southey, in his decline, married a second wife, the family +scattered, and this daughter, the only unmarried one, left him. + +"We were shown into a pleasant parlor comfortably furnished, especially +with books and engravings, portraits of Southey, Wordsworth, and others. + +"Miss Southey soon came down; she is really pretty, having the fresh +English complexion and fair hair. She seems to be a very simple, +pleasant person; chatty, but not too much so. She is much engrossed by +the care of three of her brother's children, an old aunt, and a servant, +who, having been long in the family, has become a dependant. Miss +Southey spoke at once of the Americans whom she had known, Ticknor being +one. + +"The old aunt asked after a New York lady who had visited Southey at +Greta Hall, but her niece reminded her that it must have been before I +was born! + +"Miss Southey said that her father felt that he knew as many Americans +as Englishmen, and that she wanted very much to go to America. I told +her that she would be in danger of being 'lionized;' she said, 'Oh, I +should like that, for of course it is gratifying to know how much my +father was valued there." + +"I asked after the children, and Miss Southey said that the little boy +had called out to her, 'Oh! Aunt Katy, the Ameriky ladies have come! + +"The three children were called in; the boy, about six years old, of +course wouldn't speak to me. + +"The best portrait of Southey in his daughter's collection is a profile +in wax--a style that I have seen several times in England, and which I +think very pretty. + +"We went down to Lodore, the scene of the poem, 'How does the Water come +Down,' etc., and found it about as large as the other waterfalls around +here--a little dripping of water among the stones. + + COLLINGWOOD, Nov. 14, 1857. + + MY DEAR FATHER: This is Sir John Herschel's place. I came last + night just at dusk. + + According to English ways, I ought to have written a note, + naming the hour at which I should reach Etchingham, which is + four miles from Collingwood; but when I left Liverpool I went + directly on, and a letter would have arrived at the same time + that I did. I stopped in London one night only, changed my + lodging-house, that I might pay a pound a week only for letting + my trunk live in a room, instead of two pounds, and started off + again. + + I reached Etchingham at ten minutes past four, took a cab, and + set off for Sir John's. It is a large brick house, no way + handsome, but surrounded by fine grounds, with beautiful trees + and a very large pond. + + The family were at dinner, and I was shown into the + drawing-room. + + There was just the light of a coal fire, and as I stood before + it Sir John bustled in, an old man, much bent, with perfectly + white hair standing out every way. He reached both hands to me, + and said, "We had no letter and so did not expect you, but you + are always welcome in this house." Lady Herschel followed--very + noble looking; she does not look as old as I, but of course must + be; but English women, especially of her station, do not wear + out as we do, who are "Jacks at all trades." + + I found a fire in my room, and a cup of tea and crackers were + immediately sent up. + + The Herschels have several children; I have not seen Caroline, + Louise, William, and Alexander, but Belle, and Amelie, and + Marie, and Julie, and Rosa, and Francesca, and Constance, and + John are at home! + + The children are not handsome, but are good-looking, and well + brought up of course, and highly educated. The children all come + to table, which is not common in England. Think what a table + they must set when the whole twelve are at home! + + The first object that struck me in the house was Borden's map of + Massachusetts, hanging in the hall opposite the entrance. Over + the mantelpiece in the dining-room is a portrait of Sir William + Herschel. In the parlor is a portrait of Caroline Herschel, and + busts of Sir William, Sir John, and the eldest daughter. + + I spent the evening in looking at engravings, sipping tea, and + talking. Sir John is like the elder Mr. Bond, except that he + talks more readily; but he is womanly in his nature, not a + tyrant like Whewell. Sir John is a better listener than any man + I have met in England. He joins in all the chit-chat, is one of + the domestic circle, and tells funny little anecdotes. (So do + Whewell and Airy.) + + The Herschels know Abbot Lawrence and Edward Everett--and + everywhere these two have left a good impression. But I am + certainly mortified by anecdotes that I hear of "pushing" + Americans. Mrs. ---- sought an introduction to Sir John Herschel + to tell him about an abridgment of his Astronomy which she had + made, and she intimated to him that in consequence of her + abridgment his work was, or would be, much more widely known in + America. Lady Herschel told me of it, and she remarked, "I + believe Sir John was not much pleased, for he does not like + abridgments." I told her that I had never heard of the + abridgment. + + There are other guests in the house: a lady whose sister was + among those killed in India; and her husband, who is an officer + in the army. We have all been playing at "Spelling" this + evening, with the letters, as we did at home last winter. + + Sunday, 15th. I thought of going to London to-day, but was + easily persuaded to stay and go with Lady Herschel to-morrow. + All this afternoon I have spent listening to Sir John, who has + shown me his father's manuscript, his aunt's, beautifully neat, + and he told me about his Cape observations. + + The telescope used at the Cape of Good Hope lies in the barn + (the glass, of course, taken care of) unused; and Sir John now + occupies himself with writing only. He made many drawings at the + Cape, which he showed me, and very good ones they are. Lady + Herschel offers me a letter to Mrs. Somerville, who is godmother + to one of her children. I am afraid I shall have no letter to + Leverrier, for every one seems to dislike him. Lady Herschel + says he is one of the few persons whom she ever asked for an + autograph; he was her guest, and he refused! + + Just as I was coming away, Sir John bustled up to me with a + sheet of paper, saying that he thought I would like some of his + aunt's handwriting and he would give it to me. He had before + given me one of his own calculations; he says if there were no + "war, pestilence, or famine," and one pair of human beings had + been put upon the globe at the time of Cheops, they would not + only now fill the earth, but if they stood upon each other's + heads, they would reach a hundred times the distance to + Neptune! + + I turned over their scrap-books, and Sir John's poetry is much + better than many of the specimens they had carefully kept, by + Sir William Hamilton. Sir William Hamilton's sister had some + specimens in the book, and also Lady Herschel and her brother. + + Lady Herschel is the head of the house--so is Mrs. Airy--so, I + suspect, is the wife in all well-ordered households! I perceived + that Sir John did not take a cup of tea until his wife said, + "You can have some, my dear." + + Mr. Airy waits and waits, and then says, "My dear, I shall lose + all my flesh if I don't have something to eat and drink." + + I am hoping to get to Paris next week, about the 23d. I have had + just what I wanted in England, as to society. + +"November 26. A few days ago I received a card, 'Mrs. Baden Powell, at +home November 25.' Of course I did not know if it was a tea party or a +wedding reception. So I appealed to Mrs. Airy. She said, 'It is a London +rout. I never went to one, but you'll find a crowd and a good many +interesting people.' + +"I took a cab, and went at nine o'clock. The servant who opened the door +passed me to another who showed me the cloak-room. The girl who took my +shawl numbered it and gave me a ticket, as they would at a public +exhibition. Then she pointed to the other end of the room, and there I +saw a table with tea and coffee. I took a cup of coffee, and then the +servant asked my name, _yelled_ it up the stairs to another, and he +announced it at the drawing-room door just as I entered. + +"Mrs. Powell and the professor were of course standing near, and Mrs. +Admiral Smyth just behind. To my delight, I met four English persons +whom I knew, and also Prof. Henry B. Rogers, who is a great society man. + +"People kept coming until the room was quite full. I was very glad to be +introduced to Professor Stokes, who is called the best mathematician in +England, and is a friend of Adams. He is very handsome--almost all +Englishmen are handsome, because they look healthy; but Professor Stokes +has fine black eyes and dark hair and good features. He looks very young +and innocent. Stokes is connected with Cambridge, but lives in London, +just as Professor Powell is connected with Oxford, but also lives in +London. Several gentlemen spoke to me without a special +introduction--one told me his name was Dr. Townby [Qy., Toynbie], and he +was a great admirer of Emerson--the first case of the sort I have met. + +"Dr. Townby is a young man not over thirty, full of enthusiasm and +progress, like an American. He really seemed to me all alive, and is +either a genius or crazy--the shade between is so delicate that I can't +always tell to which a person belongs! I asked him if Babbage was in the +room, and he said, 'Not yet,' so I hoped he would come. + +"He told me that a fine-looking, white-headed, good-featured old man was +Roget, of the 'Thesaurus;' and another old man in the corner was Dr. +Arnott, of the 'Elements of Physics.' I had supposed he was dead long +ago. Afterwards I was introduced to him. He is an old man, but not much +over sixty; his hair is white, but he is full of vigor, short and stout, +like almost all Englishmen and Englishwomen. I have met only two women +taller than myself, and most of them are very much shorter. Dr. Arnott +told me he was only now finishing the 'Elements,' which he first +published in 1827. He intends now to publish the more mathematical +portions with the other volumes. He was very sociable, and I told him he +had twenty years ago a great many readers in America. He said he +supposed he had more there than in England, and that he believed he had +made young men study science in many instances. + +"I asked him if Babbage was in the room, and he too said, 'Not yet.' Dr. +Arnott asked me if I wore as many stockings when I was observing as the +Herschels--he said Sir William put on twelve pairs and Caroline +fourteen! + +"I stayed until eleven o'clock, then I said 'Good-by,' and just as I +stepped upon the threshold of the drawing-room to go out, a broad old +man stepped upon it, and the servant announced 'Mr. Babbage,' and of +course that glimpse was all I shall ever have! + +"Edinboro', September 30. The people of Edinboro', having a passion for +Grecian architecture, and being very proud of the Athenian character of +their city, seek to increase the resemblance by imitations of ancient +buildings. + +"Grecian pillars are seen on Calton Hill in great numbers, and the +observatory would delight an old Greek; its four fronts are adorned by +Grecian pillars, and it is indeed beautiful as a structure; but the +Greeks did not build their temples for astronomical observations; they +probably adapted their architecture to their needs. + +"This beautiful building was erected by an association of gentlemen, who +raised a good deal of money, but, of course, not enough. They built the +Grecian temple, but they could not supply it with priests. + +"About a hundred years ago Colin Maclaurin had laid the foundation of an +observatory, and the curious Gothic building, which still stands, is the +first germ. We laugh now at the narrow ideas of those days, which seemed +to consider an observatory a lookout only; but the first step in a work +is a great step--the others are easily taken. There was added to the +building of Maclaurin a very small transit room, and then the present +edifice followed. + +"When the builders of the observatory found that they could not support +it, they presented it to the British government; so that it is now a +government child, but it is not petted, like the first-born of +Greenwich. + +"There are three instruments; an excellent transit instrument of six and +a half inches' aperture, resting on its y's of solid granite. The +corrections of the errors of the instrument by means of little screws +are given up, and the errors which are known to exist are corrected in +the computations. + +"Professor Smyth finds that although the two pillars upon which the +instrument rests were cut from the same quarry, they are unequally +affected by changes of temperature; so that the variation of the azimuth +error, though slight, is irregular. + +"The collimation plate they correct with the micrometer, so that they +consider some position-reading of the micrometer-head the zero point, +and correct that for the error, which they determine by reflection in a +trough of mercury. With this instrument they observe on certain stars of +the British Catalogue, whose places are not very well determined, and +with a mural circle of smaller power they determine declinations. + +"The observatory possesses an equatorial telescope, but it is of mixed +composition. The object glass was given by Dr. Lee, the eye-pieces by +some one else, and the two are put together in a case, and used by +Professor Smyth for looking at the craters in the moon; of these he has +made fine drawings, and has published them in color prints. + +"The whole staff of the observatory consists of Professor Smyth, Mr. +Wallace, an old man, and Mr. Williamson, a young man. + +"The city of Edinboro' has no amateur astronomers, and there are two +only, of note, in Scotland: Sir William Bisbane and Sir William Keith +Murray. + +"From the observatory, the view of Edinboro' is lovely. 'Auld Reekie,' +as the Scotch call it, always looks her best through a mist, and a +Scotch mist is not a rare event--so we saw the city under its most +becoming veil. + +"October, 1857. I stopped in Glasgow a few hours, and went to the +observatory, which is also the private residence of Professor Nichol. +Miss Nichol received me, and was a very pleasant, blue-eyed young lady. + +"I found that the observatory boasts of two good instruments: a meridian +circle, which must be good, from its appearance, and a Newtonian +telescope, differently mounted from any I had seen; cased in a +composition tube which is painted bright blue--rather a striking object. +The iron mounting seemed to me good. It was of the German kind, but +modified. It seemed to me that it could be used for observations far +from the meridian. The iron part was hollow, so that the clock was +inside, as was the azimuth circle, and thus space was saved. + +"They have a wind and rain self-register, and a self-registering +barometer, marking on a cylinder turned by a clock, the paper revolving +once an hour. + +"When I was at Dungeon Ghyll, a little ravine among the English lakes, +down which trickles an exceedingly small stream of water, but which is, +nevertheless, very picturesque,--as I followed the old man who shows it +for a sixpence, he asked if we had come a long way. 'From America,' I +replied. 'We have many Americans here,' said he; 'it is much easier to +understand their language than that of other foreigners; they speak very +good English, better than the French or Germans.' + +"I felt myself a little annoyed and a good deal amused. I supposed that +I spoke the language that Addison wrote, and here was a Westmoreland +guide, speaking a dialect which I translated into English before I could +understand it, complimenting me upon my ability to speak my own tongue. + +"I learned afterwards, as I journeyed on, to expect no appreciation of +my country or its people. The English are strangely deficient in +curiosity. I can scarcely imagine an Englishwoman a gossip. + +"I found among all classes a knowledge of the extent of America; by the +better classes its geography was understood, and its physical +peculiarities. One astronomer had bound the scientific papers from +America in green morocco, as typical of a country covered by forests. +Among the most intelligent men whom I met I found an appreciation of the +different characters of the States. Everywhere Massachusetts was +honored; everywhere I met the horror of the honest Englishman at the +slave system; but anything like a discriminating knowledge of our public +men I could not meet. Webster had been heard of everywhere. They assured +me that our _really great_ men were known, our really great deeds +appreciated; but this is not true. They make mistakes in their measure +of our men; second-rate men who have travelled are of course known to +the men whom they have met; these travellers have not perhaps thought it +necessary to mention that they represent a secondary class of people, +and they are considered our 'first men.' The English forget that all +Americans travel. + +"I was vexed when I saw some of our most miserable novels, bound in +showy yellow and red, exposed for sale. A friend told me that they had +copied from the cheap publications of America. It may be so, but they +have outdone us in the cheapness of the material and the showy covers. I +never saw yellow and red together on any American book. + +"The English are far beyond us in their highest scholarship, but why +should they be ignorant of our scholars? The Englishman is proud, and +not without reason; but he may well be proud of the American offshoot. +It is not strange that England produces fine scholars, when we consider +that her colleges confer fellowships on the best undergraduates. + +"England differs from America in the fact that it has a past. Well may +the great men of the present be proud of those who have gone before +them; it is scarcely to be hoped that the like can come after them; and +yet I suppose we must admit that even now the strong minds are born +across the water. + +"At the same time England has a class to which we have happily no +parallel in our country--a class to which even English gentlemen liken +the Sepoys, and who would, they admit, under like circumstances be +guilty of like enormities. But the true Englishman shuts his eyes for a +great part of the time to the steps in the social scale down which his +race descends, and looks only at the upper walks. He has therefore a +glance of patronizing kindness for the people of the United States, and +regards us of New England as we regard our rich brethren of the West. + +"I wondered what was to become of the English people! Their island is +already crowded with people, the large towns are numerous and are very +large. Suppose for an instant that her commerce is cut off, will they +starve? It is an illustration of moral power that, little island as that +of Great Britain is, its power is the great power of the world. + +"Crowded as the people are, they are healthy. I never saw, I thought, so +many ruddy faces as met me at once in Liverpool. Dirty children in the +street have red cheeks and good teeth. Nowhere did I see little children +whose minds had outgrown their bodies. They do not live in the +school-room, but in the streets. One continually meets little children +carrying smaller ones in their arms; little girls hand in hand walk the +streets of London all day. There are no free schools, and they have +nothing to do. Beggars are everywhere, and as importunate as in Italy. +For a well-behaved common people I should go to Paris; for clean +working-women I should look in Paris. + +"I saw a little boy in England tormenting a smaller one. He spat upon +his cap, and then declared that the little one did it. The little one +sobbed and said he didn't. I gave the little one a penny; he evidently +did not know the value of the coin, and appealed to the bigger boy. 'Is +it a penny?' he asked, with a look of amazement. 'Yes,' said the bigger. +Off ran the smaller one triumphant, and the bigger began to cry, which I +permitted him to do." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +1857-1858 + +FIRST EUROPEAN TOUR CONTINUED--LEVERRIER AND THE PARIS +OBSERVATORY--ROME--HARRIET HOSMER--OBSERVATORY OF THE COLLEGIO +ROMANO--SECCHI + +At this time, the feeling between astronomers of Great Britain and those +of the United States was not very cordial. It was the time when Adams +and Leverrier were contending to which of them belonged the honor of the +discovery of the planet Neptune, and each side had its strong partisans. + +Among Miss Mitchell's papers we find the following with reference to +this subject: + +"... Adams, a graduate of Cambridge, made the calculations which showed +how an unseen body must exist whose influences were felt by Uranus. It +was a problem of great difficulty, for he had some half-dozen quantities +touching Uranus which were not accurately known, and as many wholly +unknown concerning the unseen planet. We think it a difficult question +which involves three or four unknown quantities with too few +circumstances, but this problem involved twelve or thirteen, so that x, +y, z reached pretty high up into the alphabet. But Adams, having worked +the problem, carried his work to Airy, the Astronomer Royal of England, +and awaited his comments. A little later Leverrier, the French +astronomer, completed the same problem, and waiting for no authority +beyond his own, flung his discovery out to the world with the +self-confidence of a Frenchman.... + +"... When the news of the discovery of Neptune reached this country, I +happened to be visiting at the observatory in Cambridge, Mass. Professor +Bond (the elder) had looked for the planet the night before I arrived at +his house, and he looked again the evening that I came. + +"His observatory was then a small, round building, and in it was a small +telescope; he had drawn a map of a group of stars, one of which he +supposed was not a star, but the planet. He set the telescope to this +group, and asking his son to count the seconds, he allowed the stars to +pass by the motion of the earth across the field. If they kept the +relative distance of the night before, they were all stars; if any one +had approached or receded from the others, it was a planet; and when the +father looked at his son's record he said, 'One of those has moved, and +it is the one which I thought last night was the planet.' He looked +again at the group, and the son said, 'Father, do give me a look at the +new planet--you are the only man in America that can do it!' And then we +both looked; it looked precisely like a small star, and George and I +both asked, 'What made you think last night that it was the new planet?' +Mr. Bond could only say, 'I don't know, it looked different from the +others.' + +"It is always so--you cannot get a man of genius to explain steps, he +leaps. + +"After the discovery of this planet, Professor Peirce, in our own +country, declared that it was not the planet of the theory, and +therefore its discovery was a happy accident. But it seemed to me that +it was the planet of the theory, just as much if it varied a good deal +from its prescribed place as if it varied a little. So you might have +said that Uranus was not the Uranus of the theory. + +"Sir John Herschel said, 'Its movements have been felt trembling along +the far-reaching line of our analysis, with a certainty hardly inferior +to ocular demonstration.' I consider it was superior to ocular +demonstration, as the action of the mind is above that of the senses. +Adams, in his study at Cambridge, England, and Leverrier in his closet +at Paris, poring over their logarithms, knew better the locus of that +outside planet than all the practical astronomers of the world put +together.... + +"Of course in Paris I went to the Imperial Observatory, to visit +Leverrier. I carried letters from Professor Airy, who also sent a letter +in advance by post. Leverrier called at my hotel, and left cards; then +came a note, and I went to tea. + +"Leverrier had succeeded Arago. Arago had been a member of the +Provisional Government, and had died. Leverrier took exactly opposite +ground, politically, to that of Arago; he stood high with the emperor. + +"He took me all over the observatory. He had a large room for a +ballroom, because in the ballroom science and politics were discussed; +for where a press is not free, salons must give the tone to public +opinion. + +"Both Leverrier and Madame Leverrier said hard things about the English, +and the English said hard things about Leverrier. + +"The Astronomical Observatory of Paris was founded on the establishment +of the Academy of Sciences, in the reign of Louis XIV. The building was +begun in 1667 and finished in 1672; like other observatories of that +time, it was quite unfit for use. + +"John Dominie Cassini came to it before it was finished, saw its +defects, and made alterations; but the whole building was afterwards +abandoned. M. Leverrier showed me the transit instrument and the mural +circle. He has, like Mr. Airy, made the transit instrument incapable of +mechanical change for its corrections of error, so that it depends for +accuracy upon its faults being known and corrected in the computations. + +"All the early observatories of Europe seem to have been built as +temples to Urania, and not as working-chambers of science. The Royal +Observatory at Greenwich, the Imperial Observatory of Paris, and the +beautiful structure on Calton Hill, Edinboro', were at first wholly +useless as observatories. That of Greenwich had no steadiness, while +every pillar in the astronomical temple of Edinboro', though it may tell +of the enlightenment of Greece, hides the light of the stars from the +Scottish observer. Well might Struve say that 'An observatory should be +simply a box to hold instruments.' + +"The Leverriers speak English about as well as I do French, and we had a +very awkward time of it. M. Leverrier talked with me a little, and then +talked wholly to one of the gentlemen present. Madame was very chatty. + +"Leverrier is very fine-looking; he is fair-haired full-faced, +altogether very healthy-looking. His wife is really handsome, the +children beautiful. I was glad that I could understand when Leverrier +said to the children, 'If you make any more noise you go to bed.' + +"While I was there, a woman as old as I rushed in, in bonnet and shawl, +and flew around the room, kissed madame, jumped the children about, and +shook hands with monsieur; and there was a great amount of screaming and +laughing, and all talked at once. As I could not understand a word, it +seemed to me like a theatre. + +"I asked monsieur when I could see the observatory, and he answered, +'Whenever it suits your convenience.' + +"December 15. I went to Leverrier's again last evening by special +invitation. Four gentlemen and three ladies received me, all standing +and bowing without speaking. Monsieur was, however, more sociable than +before, and shrieked out to me in French as though I were deaf. + +"The ladies were in blue dresses; a good deal of crinoline, deep +flounces, high necks, very short, flowing sleeves, and short +undersleeves; the dresses were brocade and the flounces much trimmed, +madame's with white plush. + +"The room was cold, of course, having no carpet, and a wood fire in a +very small fireplace. + +"The gentlemen continued standing or promenading, and taking snuff. + +"Except Leverrier, no one of them spoke to me. The ladies all did, and +all spoke French. The two children were present again--the little girl +five years old played on the piano, and the boy of nine played and sang +like a public performer. He promenaded about the room with his hands in +his pockets, like a man. I think his manners were about equal to +-----'s, as occasionally he yelled and was told to be quiet. + +"About ten o'clock M. Leverrier asked me to go into the observatory, +which connects with the dwelling. They are building immense additional +rooms, and are having a great telescope, twenty-seven feet in focal +length, constructed. + +"With Leverrier's bad English and my bad French we talked but little, +but he showed me the transit instrument, the mural circle, the +computing-room, and the private office. He put on his cloak and cap, and +said, 'Voila le directeur!' + +"One room, he told me, had been Arago's, and Arago had his bed on one +side. M. Leverrier said, 'I do not wish to have it for my room.' He is +said to be much opposed to Arago, and to be merciless towards his +family. + +"He showed me another room, intended for a reception-room, and explained +to me that in France one had to make science come into social life, for +the government must be reached in order to get money. + +"There were huge globes in one room that belonged to Cassini. If what he +showed me is not surpassed in the other rooms, I don't think much of +their instruments. + +"M. Leverrier said he had asked M. Chacornac to meet me, but he was not +there. I felt that we got on a little better, but not much, and it was +evident that he did not expect me to understand an observatory. We did +not ascend to the domes. + +"Leverrier has telegraphic communication with all Europe except Great +Britain. + +"It was quite singular that they made such different remarks to me. +Leverrier said that they had to make science popular. + +"Airy said, 'In England there is no astronomical public, and we do not +need to make science popular.' + +"Jan. 24, 1858. I am in Rome! I have been here four days, and already I +feel that I would rather have that four days in Rome than all the other +days of my travels! I have been uncomfortable, cold, tired, and +subjected to all the evils of travelling; but for all that, I would not +have missed the sort of realization that I have of the existence of the +past of great glory, if I must have a thousand times the discomfort. I +went alone yesterday to St. Peter's and the Vatican, and today, taking +Murray, I went alone to the Roman Forum, and stood beside the ruined +porticos and the broken columns of the Temple. Then I pushed on to the +Coliseum, and walked around its whole circumference. I could scarcely +believe that I really stood among the ruins, and was not dreaming! I +really think I had more enjoyment for going alone and finding out for +myself. Afterwards the Hawthornes called, and I took Mrs. H. to the same +spot.... + +"I really feel the impressiveness of Rome. All Europe has been serious +to me; Rome is even sad in its seriousness. You cannot help feeling, in +the Coliseum, some little of the influence of the scenes that have been +enacted there, even if you know little about them; you must remember +that the vast numbers of people who have been within its walls for ages +have not been common minds, whether they were Christian martyrs or +travelling artists.... + +"I think if I had never heard before of the reputation of the pictures +and statues of the Vatican, I should have perceived their superiority. +There is more idea of _action_ conveyed by the statuary than I ever +received before--they do not seem to be _dead_. + +"January 25. I have finer rooms than I had in Paris, but the letting of +apartments is better managed in Paris. There you always find a +_concierge_, who tells you all you want to know, and who speaks several +languages. In Rome you enter a narrow, dark passage, and look in vain +for a door. Then you go up a flight of stairs, and see a door with a +string; you pull the string, and a woman puts her mouth to a square +hole, covered with tin punctured with holes, and asks what you want. You +tell her, and she tells you to go up higher; you repeat the process, and +at last reach the rooms. The higher up the better, because you get some +sun, and one learns the value of sunlight. I saw no sun in Paris in my +room, and here I have it half of the day, and it seems very pleasant. + +"All the customs of the people differ from those of Paris.... + +"A little of Italian art enters into the ornaments of rooms and +furniture, but anything like mechanical skill seems to be unheard of; +and I dare say the pretty stamp used on the butter I have, which +represents some antique picture, was cut by some northern hand. I could +make a better cart than those that I see on the streets, and I could +_almost_ make as good horses as those that draw them!... + +"It is Holy Week. I have spent seven hours at a time at St. Peter's, in +terrible crowds, for ten days, and now I go no more. The ladies are +seated, but as the ceremonies are in different parts of the immense +building, they rush wildly from one to the other; with their black veils +they look like furies let loose! I stayed five hours to-day to see the +Pope wash feet, which was very silly; for I saw mother wash them much +more effectually twenty years ago! + +"The crowd is better worth seeing than the ceremony, if one could only +see it without being in it. I shall not try to hear the 'Miserere'--I +have given up the study of music! Since I failed to appreciate Mario, I +sha'n't try any more! + +"I go to the Storys' on Sunday evening to look at St. Peter's lighting +up. + +"March 21. I have been to vespers at St. Peter's. They begin an hour +before sunset. When my work is done for the day, I walk to St. Peter's. +This is Sunday, and the floor was full of kneeling worshippers, but that +makes no difference. I walk about among them. + +"I was there an hour to-day before I saw a person that I knew; then I +met the Nicholses and went with them into a side chapel to hear vespers. +Then I saw next the Waterstons, then Miss Lander; but I was unusually +short of friends, I generally meet so many more. + +"There were kneeling women to-day with babies in their arms. The babies +of the lower classes have their legs so wrapped up that they cannot move +them; they look like small pillows even when they are six months old. I +think it must dwarf them. We Americans are a tall people. I am a very +tall woman here. I think that P.'s height would cause a sensation in the +streets. My servant admires my height very much. + +"March 22. I called on Miss Bremer to-day, having heard that she desired +to see me. She is a 'little woman in black,' but not so plain; her face +is a little red, but her complexion is fair and the expression very +pleasing. She chatted away a good deal; asked me about astronomy, and +how I came to study it. I told her that my father put me to it, and she +said she was just writing a story on the affection of father and +daughter. She told me I had good eyes. It is a long time now since any +one has told me that! + +"Miss Bremer and Mrs. W. met in my room and remained an hour. Miss +Bremer is quiet and unpretending. Mrs. W. is flashy and brilliant, and, +as I usually say when I don't understand a person, a little insane; she +had the floor all the time after she came in. She gave a sketch of her +life from her birth up, mentioning incidentally that she had been a +belle, surrounded with beaux, the pride of her parents, with a +reputation for intellect, etc. + +"I had been urging Miss Bremer into an interesting talk before Mrs. W. +appeared, and I felt what a pity it was that she hadn't the same +propensity to talk that the latter had. She talked very pleasantly, +however, and I thought what a pity it was that I shall not see her +again; for I leave Rome in three days for Florence. + +"I was in Rome for a winter, an idler by necessity for six weeks. It is +the very place of all the world for an idler. + +"On the pleasant days there are the ruins to visit, the Campagna to +stroll over, the villas and their grounds to gather flowers in, the +Forum to muse in, the Pincian Hill or the Capitoline for a gossiping +walk with some friend. + +"On rainy days it is all art. There are the cathedrals, the galleries, +and the studios of the thousand artists; for every winter there are a +thousand artists in Rome. + +"A rainy day found me in the studio of Paul Akers. As I was looking at +some of his models, the studio door opened and a pretty little girl, +wearing a jaunty hat and a short jacket, into the pockets of which her +hands were thrust, rushed into the room, seemingly unconscious of the +presence of a stranger, began a rattling, all-alive talk with Mr. Akers, +of which I caught enough to know that a ride over the Campagna was +planned, as I heard Mr. Akers say, 'Oh, I won't ride with you--I'm +afraid to!' after which he turned to me and introduced Harriet Hosmer. + +"I was just from old conservative England, and I had been among its most +conservative people. I had caught something of its old musty-parchment +ideas, and the cricket-like manners of Harriet Hosmer rather troubled +me. It took some weeks for me to get over the impression of her madcap +ways; they seemed childish. + +"I went to her studio and saw 'Puck,' a statue all fun and frolic, and I +imagined all was fun to the core of her heart. + +"As a general rule, people disappoint you as you know them. To know them +better and better is to know more and more weaknesses. Harriet Hosmer +parades her weaknesses with the conscious power of one who knows her +strength, and who knows you will find her out if you are worthy of her +acquaintance. She makes poor jokes--she's a little rude--a good deal +eccentric; but she is always _true_. + +"In the town where she used to live in Massachusetts they will tell you +a thousand anecdotes of her vagaries--but they are proud of her. + +"She does not start on a false scent; she knows the royal character of +the game before she hunts. + +"A lady who is a great rider said to me a few days since: 'Of course I +do not ride like Harriet Hosmer, but, if you will notice, there is +method in Harriet Hosmer's madness. She does not mount a horse until she +has examined him carefully.' + +"At the time when I saw her, she was thinking of her statue of Zenobia. +She was studying the history of Palmyra, reading up on the manners and +customs of its people, and examining Eastern relics and costumes. + +"If she heard that in the sacristy of a certain cathedral, hundreds of +miles away, were lying robes of Eastern queens, she mounted her horse +and rode to the spot, for the sake of learning the lesson they could +teach. + +"Day after day alone in her studio, she studied the subject. Think what +knowledge of the country, of the history of the people, must be +gathered, must be moulded, to bring into the face and bearing of its +queen the expression of the race! Think what familiar acquaintance with +the human form, to represent a lifelike figure at all! + +"For years after I came home I read the newspapers to see if I could +find any notice of the statue of Zenobia; and I did at length see this +announcement: 'The statue of Zenobia, by Miss Hosmer, is on exhibition +at Childs & Jenks'.' + +"It was after five years. All through those five years, Miss Hosmer had +kept her projects steadily turned in this direction. + +"Whatever may be the criticism of art upon her work, no one can deny +that she is above the average artist. + +"But she is herself, as a woman, very much above herself in art. If +there came to any struggling artist in Rome the need of a friend,--and +of the thousand artists in Rome very few are successful,--Harriet Hosmer +was that friend. + +"I knew her to stretch out a helping hand to an unfortunate artist, a +poor, uneducated, unattractive American, against whom the other +Americans in Rome shut their houses and their hearts. When the other +Americans turned from the unsuccessful artist, Harriet Hosmer reached +forth the helping hand. + +"When Harriet Hosmer knew herself to be a sculptor, she knew also that +in all America was no school for her. She must leave home, she must live +where art could live. She might model her busts in the clay of her own +soil, but who should follow out in marble the delicate thought which the +clay expressed? The workmen of Massachusetts tended the looms, built the +railroads, and read the newspapers. The hard-handed men of Italy worked +in marble from the designs put before them; one copied the leaves which +the sculptor threw into the wreaths around the brows of his heroes; +another turned with his tool the folds of the drapery; another wrought +up the delicate tissues of the flesh; none of them dreamed of ideas: +they were copyists,--the very hand-work that her head needed. + +"And to Italy she went. For her school she sought the studio of +Gibson--the greatest sculptor of the time. + +"She resolved 'To scorn delights and live laborious days;' and there she +has lived and worked for years. + +"She fashions the clay to her ideal--every little touch of her fingers +in the clay is a thought; she thinks in clay. + +"The model finished and cast in the dull, hard, inexpressive plaster, +she stands by the workmen while they put it into the marble. She must +watch them, for a touch of the tool in the wrong place might alter the +whole expression of the face, as a wrong accent in the reader will spoil +a line of poetry. + +"COLLEGIO ROMANO; SECCHI. There was another observatory which had a +reputation and was known in America. It was the observatory of the +Collegio Romano, and was in the monastery behind the Church of St. +Ignasio. Its director was the Father Secchi who had visited the United +States, and was well known to the scientists of this country. + +"I said to myself, 'This is the land of Galileo, and this is the city in +which he was tried. I knew of no sadder picture in the history of +science than that of the old man, Galileo, worn by a long life of +scientific research, weak and feeble, trembling before that tribunal +whose frown was torture, and declaring that to be false which he knew to +be true. And I know of no picture in the history of religion more weakly +pitiable than that of the Holy Church trembling before Galileo, and +denouncing him because he found in the Book of Nature truths not stated +in their own Book of God--forgetting that the Book of Nature is also a +Book of God. + +"It seems to be difficult for any one to take in the idea that two +truths cannot conflict. + +"Galileo was the first to see the four moons of Jupiter; and when he +announced the fact that four such moons existed, of course he was met by +various objections from established authority. One writer declared that +as astrologers had got along very well without these planets, there +could be no reason for their starting into existence. + +"But his greatest heresy was this: He was tried, condemned, and punished +for declaring that the sun was the centre of the system, and that the +earth moved around it; also, that the earth turned on its axis. + +"For teaching this, Galileo was called before the assembled cardinals of +Rome, and, clad in black cloth, was compelled to kneel, and to promise +never again to teach that the earth moved. It is said that when he arose +he whispered, 'It does move!' + +"He was tried at the Hall of Sopre Minerva. In fewer than two hundred +years from that time the Church of St. Ignasio was built, and the +monastery on whose walls the instruments of the modern observatory +stand. + +"It is a very singular fact, but one which seems to show that even in +science 'the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church,' that the +spot where Galileo was tried is very near the site of the present +observatory, to which the pope was very liberal. + +"From the Hall of Sopre Minerva you make but two turns through short +streets to the Fontenelle de Borghese, in the rear of which stands the +present observatory. + +"Indeed, if a cardinal should, at the Hall of Sopre Minerva, call out to +Secchi, 'Watchman, what of the night?' Secchi could hear the question; +and no bolder views emanate from any observatory than those which Secchi +sends out. + +"I sent a card to Secchi, and awaited a call, well satisfied to have a +little more time for listless strolling among ruins and into the +studios. And so we spent many an hour: picking up land shells from the +top of the Coliseum, gathering violets in the upper chambers of the +Palace of the Caesars,--for the overgrown walls made climbing very +easy,--or, resting upon some broken statue on the Forum, we admired the +arches of the Temple of Peace, thrown upon the rich blue of the sunny +skies. + +"Returning one day from a drive, I met two priests descending one of the +upper flights of stairs in the house where I lived. As my rooms had been +blessed once, and holy water sprinkled upon them, I thought perhaps +another process of that kind had just been gone through, and was about +to pass them, when one of them, accosting me, asked if I were the +Signorine Mitchell,--changing his Italian to good English as he saw that +I was, and introducing himself as Father Secchi. He told me that the +younger man was a young _religieux_, and the two turned and went back +with me. + +"I recalled, as I saw Father Secchi, an anecdote I had heard, no way to +his credit,--except for ingenious trickery. It was said that coming to +America he brought with him the object-glass of a telescope, at a time +when scientific apparatus paid a high duty. Being asked by some official +what the article was, he replied, 'My looking-glass,' and in that way +passed it off as personal wardrobe, so escaped the duty. (It may have +been De Vico.) + +"Father Secchi had brought with him, to show me, negatives of the planet +Saturn,--the rings showing beautifully, although the image was not more +than half an inch in size. + +"I was ignorant enough of the ways of papal institutions, and, indeed, +of all Italy, to ask if I might visit the Roman Observatory. I +remembered that the days of Galileo were days of two centuries since. I +did not know that my heretic feet must not enter the sanctuary,--that my +woman's robe must not brush the seats of learning. + +"The Father's refusal was seen in his face at once, and I felt that I +had done something highly improper. The Father said that he would have +been most happy to have me visit him, but he had not the power--it was a +religious institution--he had already applied to his superior, who was +not willing to grant permission--the power lay with the Holy Father or +one of his cardinals. I was told that Mrs. Somerville, the most learned +woman in all Europe, had been denied admission; that the daughter of Sir +John Herschel, in spite of English rank, and the higher stamp of +Nature's nobility, was at that time in Rome, and could not enter an +observatory which was at the same time a monastery. + +"If I had before been mildly desirous of visiting the observatory, I was +now intensely anxious to do so. Father Secchi suggested that I should +see Cardinal Antonelli in person, with a written application in my hand. +This was not to be thought of--to ask an interview with the wily +cardinal! + + FROM A LETTER TO HER FATHER. + + ... I am working to get admitted to see the observatory, but it + cannot be done without special permission from the pope, and I + don't like to be "presented." If I can get permission without + the humbug of putting on a black veil and receiving a blessing + from Pius, I shall; but I shrink from the formality of + presentation. I know thou'd say "Be presented." + +"Our minister at that time had the reputation of being very careless of +the needs and wishes of his countrymen, and I was not surprised to find +a long delay. + +"In the course of my waiting, I had told my story to a young Italian +gentleman, the nephew of a monseigneur; a monseigneur being next in rank +to a cardinal. He assured me that permission would never be obtained by +our minister. + +"After a fortnight's waiting I received a permit, written on parchment, +and signed by Cardinal Antonelli. + +"When the young Italian next called, I held the parchment up in triumph, +and boasted that Minister ---- had at length moved in the matter. The +young man coolly replied, 'Yes, I spoke to my uncle last evening, and +asked him to urge the matter with Cardinal Antonelli; but for that it +would never have come!' There had been 'red tape,' and I had not seen +it. + +"At the same time that the formal missive was sent to me, a similar one +was sent to Father Secchi, authorizing him to receive me. The Father +called at once to make the arrangements for my visit. I made the most +natural mistake! I supposed that the doors which opened to one woman, +opened to all, and I asked to take with me my Italian servant, a +quick-witted and bright-eyed woman, who had escorted me to and from +social parties in the evening, and who had learned in these walks the +names of the stars, receiving them from me in English, and giving back +to me the sweet Italian words; and who had come to think herself quite +an astronomer. Father Secchi refused at once. He said I was to meet him +at the Church of St. Ignasio at one and a half hours before Ave Marie, +and he would conduct me through the church into the observatory. My +servant might come into the church with me. The Ave Marie bell rings +half an hour after sunset. + +"At the appointed time, the next fine day,--and all days seem to be +fine,--we set out on our mission. + +"When we entered the church we saw, far in the distance, Father Secchi, +standing just behind a pillar. He slipped out a little way, as much as +to say, 'I await you,' but did not come forward to meet us; so the woman +and I passed along through the rows of kneeling worshippers, by the +strolling students, and past the lounging tourists--who, guide-book in +hand, are seen in every foreign church--until we came to the standpoint +from which the Father had been watching us. + +"Then the Italian woman put up a petition, not one word of which I could +understand, but the gestures and the pointing showed that she begged to +go on and enter the monastery and see the observatory. Father Secchi +said, 'No, the Holy Father gave permission to one only,' and alone I +entered the monastery walls. + +"Through long halls, up winding staircases, occasionally stopped by some +priest who touched his broad hat and asked 'Parlate Italiano?' +occasionally passed by students, often stopped by pictures on the +walls,--once to be introduced to a professor; then through the library +of the monastery, full of manuscripts on which monks had worked away +their lives; then through the astronomical library, where young +astronomers were working away theirs, we reached at length the dome and +the telescope. + +"One observatory is so much like another that it does not seem worth +while to describe Father Secchi's. This observatory has a telescope +about the size of that at Washington (about twelve inches). Secchi had +no staff, and no prescribed duties. The base of the observatory was the +solid foundation of the old Roman building. The church was built in +1650, and the monastery in part at that time, certainly the dome of the +room in which was the meridian instrument. + +"The staircase is cut out of the old Roman walls, which no roll of +carriage, except that of the earthquake chariot, can shake. + +"Having no prescribed duties, Secchi could follow his fancies--he could +pick up comets as he picked up bits of Mosaic upon the Roman forum. He +learns what himself and his instruments can do, and he keeps to that +narrow path. + +"He was at that time much interested in celestial photography. + +"Italy must be the very paradise of astronomers; certainly I never saw +objects so well before; the purity of the air must be very superior to +ours. We looked at Venus with a power of 150, but it was not good. +Jupiter was beautiful, and in broad daylight the belts were plainly +seen. With low powers the moon was charming, but the air would not bear +high ones. + +"Father Secchi said he had used a power of 2,000, but that 600 was more +common. I have rarely used 400. Saturn was exquisite; the rings were +separated all around; the dusky ring could be seen, and, of course, the +shadow of the ball upon the ring. + +"The spectroscopic method of observing starlight was used by Secchi as +early as by any astronomer. By this method the starlight is analyzed, +and the sunlight is analyzed, and the two compared. If it does not +disclose absolutely what are the peculiarities of starlight and +sunlight, relatively, it traces the relationship. + +"In order to be successful in this kind of observation, the telescope +must keep very accurately the motion of the earth in its axis; and so +the papal government furnishes nice machinery to keep up with this +motion,--the same motion for declaring whose existence Galileo suffered! +The two hundred years had done their work. + +"I should have been glad to stay until dark to look at nebulae, but the +Father kindly informed me that my permission did not extend beyond the +daylight, which was fast leaving us, and conducting me to the door he +informed me that I must make my way home alone, adding, 'But we live in +a civilized country.' + +"I did not express to him the doubt that rose to my thoughts! The Ave +Marie bell rings half an hour after sunset, and before that time I must +be out of the observatory and at my own house." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +1858-1865 + +FIRST EUROPEAN TOUR CONCLUDED--MRS. SOMERVILLE--HUMBOLDT--MRS. +MITCHELL'S DEATH--REMOVAL TO LYNN, MASS.--PRESENT OF AN EQUATORIAL +TELESCOPE-EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS + +"I had no hope, when I went to Europe, of knowing Mrs. Somerville. +American men of science did not know her, and there had been unpleasant +passages between the savants of Europe and those of the United States +which made my friends a little reluctant about giving me letters. + +"Professor Henry offered to send me letters, and said that among them +should be one to Mrs. Somerville; but when his package came, no such +letter appeared, and I did not like to press the matter,--indeed, after +I had been in England I was not surprised at any amount of reluctance. +They rarely asked to know my friends, and yet, if they were made known +to them, they did their utmost. + +"So I went to Europe with no letter to Mrs. Somerville, and no letter to +the Herschels. + +"I was very soon domesticated with the Airys, and really felt my +importance when I came to sleep in one of the round rooms of the Royal +Observatory. I dared give no hint to the Airys that I wanted to know the +Herschels, although they were intimate friends. 'What was I that I +should love them, save for feeling of the pain?' But one fine day a +letter came to Mrs. Airy from Lady Herschel, and she asked, 'Would not +Miss Mitchell like to visit us?' Of course Miss Mitchell jumped at the +chance! Mrs. Airy replied, and probably hinted that Miss Mitchell 'could +be induced,' etc. + +"If the Airys were old friends of Mrs. Somerville, the Herschels were +older. The Airys were just and kind to me; the Herschels were lavish, +and they offered me a letter to Mrs. Somerville. + +"So, provided with this open sesame to Mrs. Somerville's heart, I called +at her residence in Florence, in the spring of 1858. + +"I sent in the letter and a card, and waited in the large Florentine +parlor. In the open fireplace blazed a wood fire very suggestive of +American comfort--very deceitful in the suggestion, for there is little +of home comfort in Italy. + +"After some little delay I heard a footstep come shuffling along the +outer room, and an exceedingly tall and very old man entered the room, +in the singular head-dress of a red bandanna turban, approached me, and +introduced himself as Dr. Somerville, the husband. + +"He was very proud of his wife, and very desirous of talking about her, +a weakness quite pardonable in the judgment of one who is desirous to +know. He began at once on the subject. Mrs. Somerville, he said, took +great interest in the Americans, for she claimed connection with the +family of George Washington. + +"Washington's half-brother, Lawrence, married Anne Fairfax, who was one +of the Scotch family. When Lieutenant Fairfax was ordered to America, +Washington wrote to him as a family relative, and asked him to make him +a visit. Lieutenant Fairfax applied to his commanding officer for +permission to accept, and it was refused. They never met, and much to +the regret of the Fairfax family the letter of Washington was lost. The +Fairfaxes of Virginia are of the same family, and occasionally some +member of the American branch returns to see his Scotch cousins. + +"While Dr. Somerville was eagerly talking of these things, Mrs. +Somerville came tripping into the room, speaking at once with the +vivacity of a young person. She was seventy-seven years old, but +appeared twenty years younger. She was not handsome, but her face was +pleasing; the forehead low and broad; the eyes blue; the features so +regular, that in the marble bust by Chantrey, which I had seen, I had +considered her handsome. + +"Neither bust nor picture, however, gives a correct idea of her, except +in the outline of the head and shoulders. + +"She spoke with a strong Scotch accent, and was slightly affected with +deafness, an infirmity so common in England and Scotland. + +"While Mrs. Somerville talked, the old gentleman, seated by the fire, +busied himself in toasting a slice of bread on a fork, which he kept at +a slow-toasting distance from the coals. An English lady was present, +learned in art, who, with a volubility worthy of an American, rushed +into every little opening of Mrs. Somerville's more measured sentences +with her remarks upon recent discoveries in _her_ specialty. Whenever +this occurred, the old man grew fidgety, moved the slice of bread +backwards and forwards as if the fire were at fault, and when, at +length, the English lady had fairly conquered the ground, and was +started on a long sentence, he could bear the eclipse of his idol no +longer, but, coming to the sofa where we sat, he testily said, 'Mrs. +Somerville would rather talk on science than on art.' + +"Mrs. Somerville's conversation was marked by great simplicity; it was +rather of the familiar and chatty order, with no tendency to the essay +style. She touched upon the recent discoveries in chemistry or the +discovery of gold in California, of the nebulae, more and more of which +she thought might be resolved, and yet that there might exist nebulous +matters, such as compose the tails of comets, of the satellites, of the +planets, the last of which she thought had other uses than as +subordinates. She spoke with disapprobation of Dr. Whewell's attempt to +prove that our planet was the only one inhabited by reasoning beings; +she believed that a higher order of beings than ourselves might people +them. + +"On subsequent visits there were many questions from Mrs. Somerville in +regard to the progress of science in America. She regretted, she said, +that she knew so little of what was done in our country. + +"From Lieutenant Maury, alone, she received scientific papers. She spoke +of the late Dr. (Nathaniel) Bowditch with great interest, and said she +had corresponded with one of his sons. She asked after Professor Peirce, +whom she considered a great mathematician, and of the Bonds, of +Cambridge. She was much interested in their photography of the stars, +and said it had never been done in Europe. At that time photography was +but just applied to the stars. I had carried to the Royal Astronomical +Society the first successful photograph of a star. It was that of Mizar +and Alcor, in the Great Bear. (Since that time all these things have +improved.) + +"The last time I saw Mrs. Somerville, she took me into her garden to +show me her rose-bushes, in which she took great pride. Mrs. Somerville +was not a mathematician only, she spoke Italian fluently, and was in +early life a good musician. + +"I could but admire Mrs. Somerville as a woman. The ascent of the steep +and rugged path of science had not unfitted her for the drawing-room +circle; the hours of devotion to close study have not been incompatible +with the duties of wife and mother; the mind that has turned to rigid +demonstration has not thereby lost its faith in those truths which +figures will not prove. 'I have no doubt,' said she, in speaking of the +heavenly bodies, 'that in another state of existence we shall know more +about these things.' + +"Mrs. Somerville, at the age of seventy-seven, was interested in every +new improvement, hopeful, cheery, and happy. Her society was sought by +the most cultivated people in the world. [She died at ninety-two.] + +"Berlin, May 7, 1858. Humboldt had replied to my letter of introduction +by a note, saying that he should be happy to see me at 2 P.M., May 7. Of +course I was punctual. Humboldt is one of several residents in a very +ordinary-looking house on Oranienberge strasse. + +"All along up the flight of stairs to his room were printed notices +telling persons where to leave packages and letters for Alexander +Humboldt. + +"The servant showed me at first into a sort of anteroom, hung with +deers' horns and carpeted with tigers' skins, then into the study, and +asked me to take a seat on the sofa. The room was very warm; comfort was +evidently carefully considered, for cushions were all around; the sofa +was handsomely covered with worsted embroidery. A long study-table was +full of books and papers. + +"I had waited but a few moments when Humboldt came in; he was a smaller +man than I had expected to see. He was neater, more 'trig,' than the +pictures represent him; in looking at the pictures you feel that his +head is too large,--out of proportion to the body,--but you do not +perceive this when you see him. + +"He bowed in a most courtly manner, and told me he was much obliged to +me for coming to see him, then shook hands, and asked me to sit, and +took a chair near me. + +"There was a clock in sight, and I stayed but half an hour. He talked +every minute, and on all kinds of subjects: of Dr. Bache, who was then +at the head of the U.S. Coast Survey; of Dr. Gould, who had recently +returned from long years in South America; of the Washington Observatory +and its director, Lieutenant Maury; of the Dudley Observatory, at +Albany; of Sir George Airy, of the Greenwich Observatory; of Professor +Enke's comet reputation; of Argelander, who was there observing variable +stars; of Mrs. Somerville and Goldschmidt, and of his brother. + +"It was the period when the subject of admitting Kansas as a slave State +was discussed--he touched upon that; it was during the administration of +President Buchanan, and he talked about that. + +"Having been nearly a year in Europe, I had not kept up my reading of +American newspapers, but Humboldt could tell me the latest news, +scientifically and politically. To my ludicrous mortification, he told +me of the change of position of some scientific professor in New York +State, and when I showed that I didn't know the location of the town, +which was Clinton, he told me if I would look at the map, which lay upon +the table, I should find the town somewhere between Albany and Buffalo. + +"Humboldt was always considered a good-tempered, kindly-natured man, but +his talk was a little fault-finding. + +"He said: 'Lieutenant Maury has been useful, but for the director of an +observatory he has put forth some strange statements in the 'Geography +of the Sea.' + +"He asked me if Mrs. Somerville was now occupied with pure mathematics. +He said: 'There she is strong. I never saw her but once. She must be +over sixty years old.' In reality she was seventy-seven. He spoke with +admiration of Mrs. Somerville's 'Physical Geography,'--said it was +excellent because so concise. 'A German woman would have used more +words.' + +"Humboldt asked me if they could apply photography to the small +stars--to the eighth or ninth magnitude. I had asked the same question +of Professor Bond, of Cambridge, and he had replied, 'Give me $500,000, +and we can do it; but it is very expensive.' + +"Humboldt spoke of the fifty-three small planets, and gave his opinion +that they could not be grouped together; that there was no apparent +connection. + +"Having lost all his teeth, Humboldt's articulation was indistinct--he +talked very rapidly. His hair was thin and very white, his eyes very +blue, his nose too broad and too flat; yet he was a handsome man. He +wore a white necktie, a black dress-coat, buttoned up, but not so much +so that it hid a figured dark-blue and white waistcoat. He was a little +deaf. He told me that he was eighty-nine years old, and that he and +Bonpland, alone, were living of those who in early life were on +expeditions together; that Bonpland was eighty-five, and much the more +vigorous of the two. + +"He said that we had gone backwards, morally, in America since he was +there,--that then there were strong men there: Jefferson, and Hamilton, +and Madison; that the three months he spent in America were spent almost +wholly with Jefferson. + +"In the course of conversation he told me that the fifth volume of +'Cosmos' was in preparation. He urged me to go to see Argelander on my +way to London; he followed me out, still urging me to do this, and at +the same time assured me that Kansas would go all right. + +"It was singular that Humboldt should advise me to use the sextant; it +was the first instrument that I ever used, and it is a very difficult +one. No young aspirant in science ever left Humboldt's presence +uncheered, and no petty animosities come out in his record. You never +heard of Humboldt's complaining that any one had stolen his thunder,--he +knew that no one could lift his bolts. + +"When I came away, he thanked me again for the visit, followed me into +the anteroom, and made a low bow." + +In 1855 Mrs. Mitchell was taken suddenly ill, and although partial +recovery followed, her illness lasted for six years, during which time +Maria was her constant nurse. For most of the six years her mother's +condition was such that merely a general care was needed, but it used to +be said that Maria's eyes were always upon her. When the opportunity to +go to Europe came, an older sister came with her family to take Maria's +place in the home; and when Miss Mitchell returned she found her mother +so nearly in the state in which she had left her, that she felt +justified in having taken the journey. + +Mrs. Mitchell died in 1861, and a few months after her death Mr. +Mitchell and his daughter removed to Lynn, Mass.--Miss Mitchell having +purchased a small house in that city, in the rear of which she erected +the little observatory brought from Nantucket. She was very much +depressed by her mother's death, and absorbed herself as much as +possible in her observations and in her work for the Nautical Almanac. + +Soon after her return from Europe she had been presented with an +equatorial telescope, the gift of American women, through Miss Elizabeth +Peabody. The following letter refers to this instrument: + + LETTER FROM ADMIRAL SMYTH. + + ST. JOHN'S LODGE, NEAR AYLESBURY, 25-7-'59. + + MY DEAR MISS MITCHELL: ... We are much pleased to hear of your + acquisition of an equatorial instrument under a revolving roof, + for it is a true scientific luxury as well as an efficient + implement. The aperture of your object-glass is sufficient for + doing much useful work, but, if I may hazard an opinion to you, + do not attempt too much, for it is quality rather than quantity + which is now desirable. I would therefore leave the + multiplication of objects to the larger order of telescopes, and + to those who are given to sweep and ransack the heavens, of whom + there is a goodly corps. Now, for your purpose, I would + recommend a batch of neat, but not over-close, binary systems, + selected so as to have always one or the other on hand. + + I, however, have been bestirring myself to put amateurs upon a + more convenient and, I think, a better mode of examining double + stars than by the wire micrometer, with its faults of + illumination, fiddling, jumps, and dirty lamps. This is by the + beautiful method of rock-crystal prisms, not the Rochon method + of double-image, but by thin wedges cut to given angles. I have + told Mr. Alvan Clark my "experiences." and I hope he will apply + his excellent mind to the scheme. I am insisting upon this point + in some astronomical twaddle which I am now printing, and of + which I shall soon have to request your acceptance of a copy. + + There is a very important department which calls for a zealous + amateur or two, namely, the colors of double stars, for these + have usually been noted after the eye has been fatigued with + observing in illuminated fields. The volume I hope to + forward--_en hommage_--will contain all the pros and cons of + this branch. + + There is, for ultimate utility, nothing like forming a plan and + then steadily following it. Those who profess they will attend + to everything often fall short of the mark. The division of + labor leads to beneficial conclusions as well in astronomy as in + mechanics and arts. + + Mrs. Smyth and my daughter unite with me in wishing you all + happiness and success; and believe me + + My dear Miss Mitchell, + + Yours very faithfully, + + W. H. SMYTH. + +In regard to the colors of stars, Miss Mitchell had already begun their +study, as these extracts from her diary show: + +"Feb. 19, 1853. I am just learning to notice the different colors of the +stars, and already begin to have a new enjoyment. Betelgeuse is +strikingly red, while Rigel is yellow. There is something of the same +pleasure in noticing the hues that there is in looking at a collection +of precious stones, or at a flower-garden in autumn. Blue stars I do not +yet see, and but little lilac except through the telescope. + +"Feb. 12, 1855.... I swept around for comets about an hour, and then I +amused myself with noticing the varieties of color. I wonder that I have +so long been insensible to this charm in the skies, the tints of the +different stars are so delicate in their variety. ... What a pity that +some of our manufacturers shouldn't be able to steal the secret of +dyestuffs from the stars, and astonish the feminine taste by new +brilliancy in fashion. [Footnote: See Chapter XI.] + + [NANTUCKET], April [1860]. + + MY DEAR: Your father just gave me a great fright by "tapping at + my window" (I believe Poe's was a door, wasn't it?) and holding + up your note. I was busy examining some star notices just + received from Russia or Germany,--I never knew where Dorpat + is.--and just thinking that my work was as good as theirs. I + always noticed that when school-teachers took a holiday in order + to visit other institutions they came home and quietly said, "No + school is better or as good as mine." And then I read your note, + and perceive your reading is as good as Mrs. Kemble's. Now, + being _modest_, I always felt afraid the reason I thought you + such a good reader was because I didn't know any better, but if + all the world is equally ignorant, it makes it all right.... + + I've been intensely busy. I have been looking for the little + inferior planet to cross the sun, which it hasn't done, and I + got an article ready for the paper and then hadn't the courage + to publish--not for fear of the readers, but for fear that I + should change my own ideas by the time 'twas in print. + + I am hoping, however, to have something by the meeting of the + Scientific Association in August,--some paper,--not to get + reputation for myself,--my reputation is so much beyond me that + as policy I should keep quiet,--but in order that my telescope + may show that it is at work. I am embarrassed by the amount of + work it might do--as you do not know which of Mrs. Browning's + poems to read, there are so many beauties. + +The little republic of San Marino presented Miss Mitchell, in 1859, with +a bronze medal of merit, together with the _Ribbon_ and _Letters Patent_ +signed by the two captains regent. This medal she prized as highly as +the gold one from Denmark. + +"Nantucket, May 12, 18[60].... I send you a notice of an occultation; +the last sentence and the last figures are mine. You and I can never +occult, for have we not always helped one another to shine? Do you have +Worcester's Dictionary? I read it continually. Did you feast on 'The +Marble Faun'? I have a charming letter from Una Hawthorne, herself a +poet by nature, all about 'papa's book.' Ought not Mr. Hawthorne to be +the happiest man alive? He isn't, though! Do save all the anecdotes you +possibly can, piquant or not; starved people are not over-nice. + + LYNN, Jan. 5 [1864]. + + ... I very rarely see the B----s; they go to a different church, + and you know with that class of people "not to be with us is to + be against us." Indeed, I know very little of Lynn people. If I + can get at Mr. J., when you come to see me I'll ask him to tea. + He has called several times, but he's in such demand that he + must be engaged some weeks in advance! Would you, if you lived + in Lynn, want to fall into such a mass of idolaters? + + I was wretchedly busy up to December 31, but have got into quiet + seas again. I have had a great deal of company--not a person + that I did not want to see, but I can't make the days more than + twenty-four hours long, with all my economy of time. This week + Professor Crosby, of Salem, comes up with his graduating class + and his corps of teachers for an evening. + +They remained in Lynn until Miss Mitchell was called to Vassar College, +in 1865, as professor of astronomy and director of the observatory. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +1865-1885 + +LIFE AT VASSAR COLLEGE + +In her life at Vassar College there was a great deal for Miss Mitchell +to get accustomed to; if her duties had been merely as director of the +observatory, it would have been simply a continuation of her previous +work. But she was expected, of course, to teach astronomy; she was by no +means sure that she could succeed as a teacher, and with this new work +on hand she could not confine herself to original investigation--that +which had been her great aim in life. + +But she was so much interested in the movement for the higher education +of women, an interest which deepened as her work went on, that she gave +up, in a great measure, her scientific life, and threw herself heart and +soul into this work. + +For some years after she went to Vassar, she still continued the work +for the Nautical Almanac; but after a while she relinquished that, and +confined herself wholly to the work in the college. + +"1866. Vassar College brought together a mass of heterogeneous material, +out of which it was expected that a harmonious whole would +evolve--pupils from all parts of the country, of different habits, +different training, different views; teachers, mostly from New England, +differing also; professors, largely from Massachusetts, yet differing +much. And yet, after a year, we can say that there has been no very +noisy jarring of the discordant elements; small jostling has been felt, +but the president has oiled the rough places, and we have slid over +them. + +"... Miss ---- is a bigot, but a very sincere one. She is the most +conservative person I ever met. I think her a very good woman, a woman +of great energy.... She is very kind to me, but had we lived in the +colonial days of Massachusetts, and had she been a power, she would have +burned me at the stake for heresy! + +"Yesterday the rush began. Miss Lyman [the lady principal] had set the +twenty teachers all around in different places, and I was put into the +parlor to talk to 'anxious mothers.' + +"Miss Lyman had a hoarse cold, but she received about two hundred +students, and had all their rooms assigned to them. + +"While she had one anxious mamma, I took two or three, and kept them +waiting until she could attend to them. Several teachers were with me. I +made a rush at the visitors as they entered, and sometimes I was asked +if I were lady principal, and sometimes if I were the matron. This +morning Miss Lyman's voice was gone. She must have seen five hundred +people yesterday. + +"Among others there was one Miss Mitchell, and, of course, that anxious +mother put that girl under my special care, and she is very bright. Then +there were two who were sent with letters to me, and several others +whose mothers took to me because they were frightened by Miss Lyman's +_style_. + +"One lady, who seemed to be a bright woman, got me by the button and +held me a long time--she wanted this, that, and the other impracticable +thing for the girl, and told me how honest her daughter was; then with a +flood of tears she said, 'But she is not a Christian. I know I put her +into good hands when I put her here.' (Then I was strongly tempted to +avow my Unitarianism.) Miss W., who was standing by, said, 'Miss Lyman +will be an excellent spiritual adviser,' and we both looked very +serious; when the mother wiped her weeping eyes and said, 'And, Miss +Mitchell, will you ask Miss Lyman to insist that my daughter shall curl +her hair? She looks very graceful when her hair is curled, and I want it +insisted upon,' I made a note of it with my pencil, and as I happened to +glance at Miss W. the corners of her mouth were twitching, upon which I +broke down and laughed. The mother bore it very good-naturedly, but went +on. She wanted to know who would work some buttonholes in her daughter's +dress that was not quite finished, etc., and it all ended in her +inviting me to make her a visit. + +"Oct. 31, 1866. Our faculty meetings always try me in this respect: we +do things that other colleges have done before. We wait and ask for +precedent. If the earth had waited for a precedent, it never would have +turned on its axis! + +"Sept. 22, 1868. I have written to-day to give up the Nautical Almanac +work. I do not feel sure that it will be for the best, but I am sure +that I could not hold the almanac and the college, and father is happy +here. + +"I tell Miss Lyman that my father is so much pleased with everything +here that I am afraid he will be immersed!" [Footnote: Vassar College, +though professedly unsectarian, was mainly under Baptist control.] Only +those who knew Vassar College in its earlier days can tell of the life +that the father and daughter led there for four years. + +Mr. Mitchell died in 1869. + +[Illustration: THE FATHER AND DAUGHTER] + +"Jan. 3, 1868. Meeting Dr. Hill at a private party, I asked him if +Harvard College would admit girls in fifty years. He said one of the +most conservative members of the faculty had said, within sixteen days, +that it would come about in twenty years. I asked him if I could go into +one of Professor Peirce's recitations. He said there was nothing to keep +me out, and that he would let me know when they came. + +"At eleven A.M., the next Friday, I stood at Professor Peirce's door. As +the professor came in I went towards him, and asked him if I might +attend his lecture. He said 'Yes.' I said 'Can you not say "I shall be +happy to have you"?' and he said 'I shall be happy to have you,' but he +didn't look happy! + +"It was with some little embarrassment that Mrs. K. and I seated +ourselves. Sixteen young men came into the room; after the first glance +at us there was not another look, and the lecture went on. Professor +Peirce had filled the blackboard with formulae, and went on developing +them. He walked backwards and forwards all the time, thinking it out as +he went. The students at first all took notes, but gradually they +dropped off until perhaps only half continued. When he made simple +mistakes they received it in silence; only one, that one his son (a +tutor in college), remarked that he was wrong. The steps of his lesson +were all easy, but of course it was impossible to tell whence he came or +whither he was going.... + +"The recitation-room was very common-looking--we could not tolerate such +at Vassar. The forms and benches of the recitation-room were better for +taking notes than ours are. + +"The professor was polite enough to ask us into the senior class, but I +had an engagement. I asked him if a young lady presented herself at the +door he _could_ keep her out, and he said 'No, and I shouldn't.' I told +him I would send some of my girls. + +"Oct. 15, 1868. Resolved, in case of my outliving father and being in +good health, to give my efforts to the intellectual culture of women, +without regard to salary; if possible, connect myself with liberal +Christian institutions, believing, as I do, that happiness and growth in +this life are best promoted by them, and that what is good in this life +is good in any life." + +In August, 1869, Miss Mitchell, with several of her Vassar students, +went to Burlington, Ia., to observe the total eclipse of the sun. She +wrote a popular account of her observations, which was printed in "Hours +at Home" for September, 1869. Her records were published in Professor +Coffin's report, as she was a member of his party. + +"Sept. 26, 1871. My classes came in to-day for the first time; +twenty-five students--more than ever before; fine, splendid-looking +girls. I felt almost frightened at the responsibility which came into my +hands--of the possible _twist_ which I might give them. + +"1871. I never look upon the mass of girls going into our dining-room or +chapel without feeling their nobility, the sovereignty of their pure +spirit." + +The following letter from Miss Mitchell, though written at a later date, +gives an idea of the practical observing done by her classes: + + MY DEAR MISS ----: I reply to your questions concerning the + observatory which you propose to establish. And, first, let me + congratulate you that you begin _small_. A large telescope is a + great luxury, but it is an enormous expense, and not at all + necessary for teaching.... My beginning class uses only a small + portable equatorial. It stands out-doors from 7 A.M. to 9 P.M. + The girls are encouraged to use it: they are expected to + determine the rotation of the sun on its axis by watching the + spots--the same for the planet Jupiter; they determine the + revolution of Titan by watching its motions, the retrograde and + direct motion of the planets among the stars, the position of + the sun with reference to its setting in winter and summer, the + phases of Venus. All their book learning in astronomy should be + mathematical. The astronomy which is not mathematical is what is + so ludicrously called "Geography of the Heavens"--is not + astronomy at all. + + My senior class, generally small, say six, is received as a + class, but in practical astronomy each girl is taught + separately. I believe in _small_ classes. I instruct them + separately, first in the use of the meridian instrument, and + next in that of the equatorial. They obtain the time for the + college by meridian passage of stars; they use the equatorial + just as far as they can do with very insufficient mechanism. We + work wholly on planets, and they are taught to find a planet at + any hour of the day, to make drawings of what they see, and to + determine positions of planets and satellites. With the clock + and chronograph they determine difference of right ascension of + objects by the electric mode of recording. They make, sometimes, + very accurate drawings, and they learn to know the satellites of + Saturn (Titan, Rhea, etc.) by their different physiognomy, as + they would persons. They have sometimes measured diameters. + + If you add to your observatory a meridian instrument, I should + advise a small one. _Size_ is not so important as people + generally suppose. Nicety and accuracy are what is needed in all + scientific work; startling effects by large telescopes and high + powers are too suggestive of sensational advertisement. + +The relation between herself and her pupils was quite remarkable--it was +very cordial and intimate; she spoke of them always as her "girls," but +at the same time she required their very best work, and was intolerant +of shirking, or of an ambition to do what nature never intended the girl +in question to do. + +One of her pupils writes thus: "If it were only possible to tell you of +what Professor Mitchell did for one of her girls! 'Her girls!' It meant +so much to come into daily contact with such a woman! There is no need +of speaking of her ability; the world knows what that was. But as her +class-room was unique, having something of home in its belongings, so +its atmosphere differed from that of all others. Anxiety and nervous +strain were left outside of the door. Perhaps one clue to her influence +may be found in her remark to the senior class in astronomy when '76 +entered upon its last year: 'We are women studying together.' + +"Occasionally it happened that work requiring two hours or more to +prepare called for little time in the class. Then would come one of +those treats which she bestowed so freely upon her girls, and which +seemed to put them in touch with the great outside world. Letters from +astronomers in Europe or America, or from members of their families, +giving delightful glimpses of home life; stories of her travels and of +visits to famous people; accounts of scientific conventions and of large +gatherings of women,--not so common then as now,--gave her listeners a +wider outlook and new interests. + +"Professor Mitchell was chairman of a standing committee of the American +Association for the Advancement of Women,--that on women's work in +science,--and some of her students did their first work for women's +organizations in gathering statistics and filling out blanks which she +distributed among them. + +"The benefits derived from my college course were manifold, but time and +money would have been well spent had there been no return but that of +two years' intercourse with Maria Mitchell." + +Another pupil, and later her successor at Vassar College, Miss Mary W. +Whitney, has said of her method of teaching: "As a teacher, Miss +Mitchell's gift was that of stimulus, not that of drill. She could not +drill; she would not drive. But no honest student could escape the +pressure of her strong will and earnest intent. The marking system she +held in contempt, and wished to have nothing to do with it. 'You cannot +mark a human mind,' she said, 'because there is no intellectual unit;' +and upon taking up her duties as professor she stipulated that she +should not be held responsible for a strict application of the system." + +"July, 1887. My students used to say that my way of teaching was like +that of the man who said to his son, 'There are the letters of the +English alphabet--go into that corner and learn them.' + +"It is not exactly my way, but I do think, as a general rule, that +teachers talk too much! A book is a very good institution! To read a +book, to think it over, and to write out notes is a useful exercise; a +book which will not repay some hard thought is not worth publishing. The +fashion of lecturing is becoming a rage; the teacher shows herself off, +and she does not try enough to develop her pupils. + +"The greatest object in educating is to give a right habit of study.... + + * * * * * + +"... Not too much mechanical apparatus--let the imagination have some +play; a cube may be shown by a model, but let the drawing upon the +blackboard represent the cube; and if possible let Nature be the +blackboard; spread your triangles upon land and sky. + +"One of my pupils always threw her triangles on the celestial vault +above her head.... + +"A small apparatus well used will do wonders. A celebrated chemist +ordered his servant to bring in the laboratory--on a tray! Newton rolled +up the cover of a book; he put a small glass at one end, and a large +brain at the other--it was enough. + + * * * * * + +"When a student asks me, 'What specialty shall I follow?' I answer, +'Adopt some one, if none draws you, and wait.' I am confident that she +will find the specialty engrossing. + +"Feb. 10, 1887. When I came to Vassar, I regretted that Mr. Vassar did +not give full scholarships. By degrees, I learned to think his plan of +giving half scholarships better; and to-day I am ready to say, 'Give no +scholarships at all.' + +"I find a helping-hand lifts the girl as crutches do; she learns to like +the help which is not self-help. + +"If a girl has the public school, and wants enough to learn, she will +learn. It is hard, but she was born to hardness--she cannot dodge it. +Labor is her inheritance. + +"I was born, for instance, incapable of appreciating music. I mourn it. +Should I go to a music-school, therefore? No, avoid the music-school; it +is a very expensive branch of study. When the public school has taught +reading, writing, and arithmetic, the boy or girl has his or her tools; +let them use these tools, and get a few hours for study every day. + +"... Do not give educational aid to sickly young people. The old idea +that the feeble young man must be fitted for the ministry, because the +more sickly the more saintly, has gone out. Health of body is not only +an accompaniment of health of mind, but is the cause; the converse may +be true,--that health of mind causes health of body; but we all know +that intellectual cheer and vivacity act upon the mind. If the gymnastic +exercise helps the mind, the concert or the theatre improves the health +of the body. + +"Let the unfortunate young woman whose health is delicate take to the +culture of the woods and fields, or raise strawberries, and avoid +teaching. + +"Better give a young girl who is poor a common-school education, a +little lift, and tell her to work out her own career. If she have a +distaste to the homely routine of life, leave her the opportunity to try +any other career, but let her understand that she stands or falls by +herself. + +"... Not every girl should go to college. The over-burdened mother of a +large family has a right to be aided by her daughter's hands. I would +aid the mother and not the daughter. + +"I would not put the exceptionally smart girl from a _very_ poor family +into college, unless she is a genius; and a genius should wait some +years to _prove_ her genius. + +"Endow the already established institution with money. Endow the woman +who shows genius with _time_. + +"A case at Johns Hopkins University is an excellent one. A young woman +goes into the institution who is already a scholar; she shows what she +can do, and she takes a scholarship; she is not placed in a happy valley +of do nothing,--she is put into a workshop, where she can work. + +"... We are all apt to say, 'Could we have had the opportunity in life +that our neighbor had,'--and we leave the unfinished sentence to imply +that we should have been geniuses. + +"No one ever says, 'If I had not had such golden opportunities thrust +upon me, I might have developed by a struggle'! But why look back at +all? Why turn your eyes to your shadow, when, by looking upward, you see +your rainbow in the same direction? + +"But our want of opportunity was our opportunity--our privations were +our privileges--our needs were stimulants; we are what we are because we +had little and wanted much; and it is hard to tell which was the more +powerful factor.... + + * * * * * + +"Small aids to individuals, large aid to masses. + + * * * * * + +"The Russian Czar determined to found an observatory, and the first +thing he did was to take a million dollars from the government treasury. +He sends to America to order a thirty-five inch telescope from Alvan +Clark,--not to promote science, but to surpass other nations in the size +of his glass. 'To him that hath shall be given.' Read it, 'To him that +hath _should_ be given.' + + * * * * * + +"To give wisely is hard. I do not wonder that the millionaire founds a +new college--why should he not? Millionaires are few, and he is a man by +himself--he must have views, or he could not have earned a million. But +let the man or woman of ordinary wealth seek out the best institution +already started,--the best girl already in college,--and give the +endowment. + +"I knew a rich woman who wished to give aid to some girls' school, and +she travelled in order to find that institution which gave the most +solid learning with the least show. She found it where few would expect +it,--in Tennessee. It was worth while to travel. + +"The aid that comes need not be money; let it be a careful consideration +of the object, and an evident interest in the cause. + +"When you aid a teacher, you improve the education of your children. It +is a wonder that teachers work as well as they do. I never look at a +group of them without using, mentally, the expression, 'The noble army +of martyrs'! + +"The chemist should have had a laboratory, and the observatory should +have had an astronomer; but we are too apt to bestow money where there +is no man, and to find a man where there is no money. + + * * * * * + +"If every girl who is aided were a very high order of scholar, +scholarship would undoubtedly conquer poverty; but a large part of the +aided students are ordinary. They lack, at least, executive power, as +their ancestors probably did. Poverty is a misfortune; misfortunes are +often the result of blamable indiscretion, extravagance, etc. + +"It is one of the many blessings of poverty that one is not obliged to +'give wisely.'" + +1866. _To her students:_ "I cannot expect to make astronomers, but I do +expect that you will invigorate your minds by the effort at healthy +modes of thinking.... When we are chafed and fretted by small cares, a +look at the stars will show us the littleness of our own interests. + +"... But star-gazing is not science. The entrance to astronomy is +through mathematics. You must make up your mind to steady and earnest +work. You must be content to get on slowly if you only get on +thoroughly.... + +"The phrase 'popular science' has in itself a touch of absurdity. That +knowledge which is popular is not scientific. + +"The laws which govern the motions of the sun, the earth, planets, and +other bodies in the universe, cannot be understood and demonstrated +without a solid basis of mathematical learning. + + * * * * * + +"Every formula which expresses a law of nature is a hymn of praise to +God. + + * * * * * + +"You cannot study anything persistently for years without becoming +learned, and although I would not hold reputation up to you as a very +high object of ambition, it is a wayside flower which you are sure to +have catch at your skirts. + +"Whatever apology other women may have for loose, ill-finished work, or +work not finished at all, you will have none. + +"When you leave Vassar College, you leave it the _best educated women in +the world_. Living a little outside of the college, beyond the reach of +the little currents that go up and down the corridors, I think I am a +fairer judge of your advantages than you can be yourselves; and when I +say you will be the best educated women in the world, I do not mean the +education of text-books, and class-rooms, and apparatus, only, but that +broader education which you receive unconsciously, that higher teaching +which comes to you, all unknown to the givers, from daily association +with the noble-souled women who are around you." + +"1871. When astronomers compare observations made by different persons, +they cannot neglect the constitutional peculiarities of the individuals, +and there enters into these computations a quantity called 'personal +equation.' In common terms, it is that difference between two +individuals from which results a difference in the _time_ which they +require to receive and note an occurrence. If one sees a star at one +instant, and records it, the record of another, of the same thing, is +not the same. + +"It is true, also, that the same individual is not the same at all +times; so that between two individuals there is a mean or middle +individual, and each individual has a mean or middle self, which is not +the man of to-day, nor the man of yesterday, nor the man of to-morrow; +but a middle man among these different selves.... + + * * * * * + +"We especially need imagination in science. It is not all mathematics, +nor all logic, but it is somewhat beauty and poetry. + +"There will come with the greater love of science greater love to one +another. Living more nearly to Nature is living farther from the world +and from its follies, but nearer to the world's people; it is to be of +them, with them, and for them, and especially for their improvement. We +cannot see how impartially Nature gives of her riches to all, without +loving all, and helping all; and if we cannot learn through Nature's +laws the certainty of spiritual truths, we can at least learn to promote +spiritual growth while we are together, and live in a trusting hope of a +greater growth in the future. + +"... The great gain would be freedom of thought. Women, more than men, +are bound by tradition and authority. What the father, the brother, the +doctor, and the minister have said has been received undoubtingly. Until +women throw off this reverence for authority they will not develop. When +they do this, when they come to truth through their investigations, when +doubt leads them to discovery, the truth which they get will be theirs, +and their minds will work on and on unfettered. + +[1874.] "I am but a woman! + +"For women there are, undoubtedly, great difficulties in the path, but +so much the more to overcome. First, no woman should say, 'I am but a +woman!' But a woman! What more can you ask to be? + +"Born a woman--born with the average brain of humanity--born with more +than the average heart--if you are mortal, what higher destiny could you +have? No matter where you are nor what you are, you are a power--your +influence is incalculable; personal influence is always underrated by +the person. We are all centres of spheres--we see the portions of the +sphere above us, and we see how little we affect it. We forget the part +of the sphere around and before us--it extends just as far every way. + +"Another common saying, 'It isn't the way,' etc. Who settles the way? Is +there any one so forgetful of the sovereignty bestowed on her by God +that she accepts a leader--one who shall capture her mind? + +"There is this great danger in student life. Now, we rest all upon what +Socrates said, or what Copernicus taught; how can we dispute authority +which has come down to us, all established, for ages? + +"We must at least question it; we cannot accept anything as granted, +beyond the first mathematical formulae. Question everything else. + + "'The world is round, and like a ball + Seems swinging in the air.'[1] +[Footnote 1: From Peter Parley's Primary Geography.] + +"No such thing! the world is not round, it does not swing, and it +doesn't _seem_ to swing! + +"I know I shall be called heterodox, and that unseen lightning flashes +and unheard thunderbolts will be playing around my head, when I say that +women will never be profound students in any other department except +music while they give four hours a day to the _practice_ of music. I +should by all means encourage every woman who is born with musical gifts +to study music; but study it as a science and an art, and not as an +accomplishment; and to every woman who is not musical, I should say, +'Don't study it at all;' you cannot afford four hours a day, out of some +years of your life, just to be agreeable in company upon _possible_ +occasions. + +"If for four hours a day you studied, year after year, the science of +language, for instance, do you suppose you would not be a linguist? Do +you put the mere pleasing of some social party, and the reception of a +few compliments, against the mental development of four hours a day of +study of something for which you were born? + +"When I see that girls who are required by their parents to go through +with the irksome practising really become respectable performers, I +wonder what four hours a day at something which they loved, and for +which God designed them, would do for them. + +"I should think that to a real scientist in music there would be +something mortifying in this rush of all women into music; as there +would be to me if I saw every girl learning the constellations, and then +thinking she was an astronomer! + +"Jan. 8, 1876. At the meeting of graduates at the Deacon House, the +speeches that were made were mainly those of Dr. R. and Professor B. I +am sorry now that I did not at least say that the college is what it is +mainly because the early students pushed up the course to a collegiate +standard. + +"Jan. 25, 1876. It has become a serious question with me whether it is +not my duty to beg money for the observatory, while what I really long +for is a quiet life of scientific speculation. I want to sit down and +study on the observations made by myself and others." + +During her later years at Vassar, Miss Mitchell interested herself +personally in raising a fund to endow the chair of astronomy. In March, +1886, she wrote: "I have been in New York quite lately, and am quite +hopeful that Miss ---- will do something for Vassar. Mrs. C., of +Newburyport, is to ask Whittier, who is said to be rich, and ---- told +me to get anything I could out of her father. But after all I am a poor +beggar; my ideas are small!" + +Since Miss Mitchell's death, the fund has been completed by the alumnae, +and is known as the Maria Mitchell Endowment Fund. With $10,000 +appropriated by the trustees it amounts to $50,000. + +"June 18, 1876. I had imagined the Emperor of Brazil to be a dark, +swarthy, tall man, of forty-five years; that he would not really have a +crown upon his head, but that I should feel it was somewhere around, +handy-like, and that I should know I was in royal presence. But he turns +out to be a large, old man,--say, sixty-five,--broad-headed and +broad-shouldered, with a big white beard, and a very pleasant, even +chatty, manner. + +"Once inside of the dome, he seemed to feel at home; to my astonishment +he asked if Alvan Clark made the glass of the equatorial. As he stepped +into the meridian-room, and saw the instruments, he said, 'Collimators?' +I said, 'You have been in observatories before.' 'Oh, yes, Cambridge and +Washington,' he replied. He seemed much more interested in the +observatory than I could possibly expect. I asked him to go on top of +the roof, and he said he had not time; yet he stayed long enough to go +up several times. I am told that he follows out, remarkably, his own +ideas as to his movements." + +In 1878, Miss Mitchell went to Denver, Colorado, to observe the total +eclipse of the sun. She was accompanied by several of her former pupils. +She prepared an account of this eclipse, which will be found in Chapter +XI. + +"Aug. 20, 1878. Dr. Raymond [President of Vassar College] is dead. I +cannot quite take it in. I have never known the college without him, and +it will make all things different. + +"Personally, I have always been fond of him; he was very enjoyable +socially and intellectually. Officially he was, in his relations to the +students, perfect. He was cautious to a fault, and has probably been +very wise in his administration of college affairs. He was broad in his +religious views. He was not broad in his ideas of women, and was made to +broaden the education of women by the women around him. + +"June 18, 1881. The dome party to-day was sixty-two in number. It was +breakfast, and we opened the dome; we seated forty in the dome and +twenty in the meridian-room." + +This "dome party" requires a few words of explanation, because it was +unique among all the Vassar festivities. The week before commencement, +Miss Mitchell's pupils would be informed of the approaching gathering by +a notice like the following: + + CIRCULAR. + + The annual dome party will be held at the observatory on + Saturday, the 19th, at 6 P.M. You are cordially invited to be + present. + + M. M. + + [As this gathering is highly intellectual, you are invited to + bring poems.] + +It was, at first, held in the evening, but during the last years was a +breakfast party, its character in other respects remaining the same. +Little tables were spread under the dome, around the big telescope; the +flowers were roses from Miss Mitchell's own garden. The "poems" were +nonsense rhymes, in the writing of which Miss Mitchell was an adept. +Each student would have a few verses of a more or less personal +character, written by Miss Mitchell, and there were others written by +the girls themselves; some were impromptu; others were set to music, and +sung by a selected glee-club. + +"June 5, 1881. We have written what we call our dome poetry. Some nice +poems have come in to us. I think the Vassar girls, in the main, are +magnificent, they are so all-alive.... + +"May 20, 1882. Vassar is getting pretty. I gathered lilies of the valley +this morning. The young robins are out in a tree close by us, and the +phoebe has built, as usual, under the front steps. + +"I am rushing dome poetry, but so far show no alarming symptoms of +brilliancy." + +A former student writes as follows about the dome poetry: + +"At the time it was read, though it seemed mere merry nonsense, it +really served a more serious purpose in the work of one who did nothing +aimlessly. This apparent nonsense served as the vehicle to convey an +expression of approbation, affection, criticism, or disapproval in such +a merry mode that even the bitterest draught seemed sweet." + +"1881, July 5. We left Vassar, June 24, on the steamer 'Galatea,' from +New York to Providence. I looked out of my state-room window, and saw a +strange-looking body in the northern sky. My heart sank; I knew +instantly that it was a comet, and that I must return to the +observatory. Calling the young people around me, and pointing it out to +them, I had their assurance that it was a comet, and nothing but a +comet. + +"We went to bed at nine, and I arose at six in the morning. As soon as I +could get my nieces started for Providence, I started for +Stonington,--the most easy of the ways of getting to New York, as I +should avoid Point Judith. + +"I went to the boat at the Stonington wharf about noon, and remained on +board until morning--there were few passengers, it was very quiet, and I +slept well. + +"Arriving in New York, I took cars at 9 A.M. for Poughkeepsie, and +reached the college at dinner-time. I went to work the same evening. + +"As I could not tell at what time the comet would pass the meridian, I +stationed myself at the telescope in the meridian-room by 10 P.M., and +watched for the comet to cross. As it approached the meridian, I saw +that it would go behind a scraggy apple-tree. I sent for the watchman, +Mr. Crumb, to come with a saw, and cut off the upper limbs. He came back +with an axe, and chopped away vigorously; but as one limb after another +fell, and I said, 'I need more, cut away,' he said, 'I think I must cut +down the whole tree.' I said, 'Cut it down.' I felt the barbarism of it, +but I felt more that a bird might have a nest in it. + +"I found, when I went to breakfast the next morning, that the story had +preceded me, and I was called 'George Washington.' + +"But for all this, I got almost no observation; the fog came up, and I +had scarcely anything better than an estimation. I saw the comet blaze +out, just on the edge of the field, and I could read its declination +only. + +"On the 28th, 29th, and July 1st, I obtained good meridian passages, and +the R.A. must be very good. + +"Jan. 12, 1882. There is a strange sentence in the last paragraph of Dr. +Jacobi's article on the study of medicine by women, to the effect that +it would be better for the husband always to be superior to the wife. +Why? And if so, does not it condemn the ablest women to a single life? + +"March 13, 1882, 3 P.M. I start for faculty, and we probably shall elect +what are called the 'honor girls.' I dread the struggle that is pretty +certain to come. Each of us has some favorite whom she wishes to put +into the highest class, and whom she honestly believes to be of the +highest order of merit. I never have the whole ten to suit me, but I can +truly say that at this minute I do not care. I should be sorry not to +see S., and W., and P., and E., and G., and K. on the list of the ten, +but probably that is more than I ought to expect. The whole system is +demoralizing and foolish. Girls study for prizes, and not for learning, +when 'honors' are at the end. The unscholarly motive is wearing. If they +studied for sound learning, the cheer which would come with every day's +gain would be health-preserving. + +"... I have seven advanced students, and to-day, when I looked around to +see who should be called to help look out for meteors, I could consider +only _one_ of them not already overworked, and she was the +post-graduate, who took no honors, and never hurried, and has always +been an excellent student. + +"... We are sending home some girls already [November 14], and ---- is +among them. I am somewhat alarmed at the dropping down, but ---- does an +enormous amount of work, belongs to every club, and writes for every +club and for the 'Vassar Miscellany,' etc.; of course she has the +headache most of the time. + +"Sometimes I am distressed for fear Dr. Clarke [Footnote: Author of "Sex +in Education."] is not so far wrong; but I do not think it is the +study--it is the morbid conscientiousness of the girls, who think they +must work every minute. + +"April 26, 1882. Miss Herschel came to the college on the 11th, and +stayed three days. She is one of the little girls whom I saw, +twenty-three years since, playing on the lawn at Sir John Herschel's +place, Collingwood. + +"... Miss Herschel was just perfect as a guest; she fitted in +beautifully. The teachers gave a reception for her, ---- gave her his +poem, and Henry, the gardener, found out that the man in whose employ he +lost a finger was her brother-in-law, in Leeds! + +"Jan. 9, 1884. Mr. [Matthew] Arnold has been to the college, and has +given his lecture on Emerson. The audience was made up of three hundred +students, and three hundred guests from town. Never was a man listened +to with so much attention. Whether he is right in his judgment or not, +he held his audience by his manly way, his kindly dissection, and his +graceful English. Socially, he charmed us all. He chatted with every +one, he smiled on all. He said he was sorry to leave the college, and +that he felt he must come to America again. We have not had such an +awakening for years. It was like a new volume of old English poetry. + +"March 16, 1885. In February, 1831, I counted seconds for father, who +observed the annular eclipse at Nantucket. I was twelve and a half years +old. In 1885, fifty-four years later, I counted seconds for a class of +students at Vassar; it was the same eclipse, but the sun was only about +half-covered. Both days were perfectly clear and cold." + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +1873 + +SECOND EUROPEAN TOUR--RUSSIA--FRANCES POWER COBBE--"THE GLASGOW COLLEGE +FOR GIRLS" + +In 1873, Miss Mitchell spent the summer in Europe, and availed herself +of this opportunity to visit the government observatory at Pulkova, in +Russia. + +"Eydkuhnen, Wednesday, July 30, 1873. Certainly, I never in my life +expected to spend twenty-four hours in this small town, the frontier +town of Prussia. Here I remembered that our little bags would be +examined, and I asked the guard about it, but he said we need not +trouble ourselves; we should not be examined until we reached the first +Russian town of Wiersbelow. So, after a mile more of travel, we came to +Wiersbelow. Knowing that we should keep our little compartment until we +got to St. Petersburg, we had scattered our luggage about; gloves were +in one place, veil in another, shawl in another, parasol in another, and +books all around. + +"The train stopped. Imagine our consternation! Two officials entered the +carriage, tall Russians in full uniform, and seized everything--shawls, +books, gloves, bags; and then, looking around very carefully, espied W's +poor little ragged handkerchief, and seized that, too, as a contraband +article! We looked at one another, and said nothing. The tall Russian +said something to us; we looked at each other and sat still. The tall +Russians looked at one another, and there was almost an official smile +between them. + +"Then one turned to me, and said, very distinctly, 'Passy-port.' 'Oh,' I +said, 'the passports are all right; where are they?' and we produced +from our pockets the passports prepared at Washington, with the official +seal, and we delivered them with a sort of air as if we had said, +'You'll find that they do things all right at Washington.' + +"The tall Russians got out, and I was about to breathe freely, when they +returned, and said something else--not a word did I understand; they +exchanged a look of amusement, and W. and I, one of amazement; then one +of them made signs to us to get out. The sign was unmistakable, and we +got out, and followed them into an immense room, where were tables all +around covered with luggage, and about a hundred travellers standing by; +and our books, shawls, gloves, etc., were thrown in a heap upon one of +these tables, and we awoke to the disagreeable consciousness that we +were in a custom-house, and only two out of a hundred travellers, and +that we did not understand one word of Russian. + +"But, of course, it could be only a few minutes of delay, and if German +and French failed, there is always left the language of signs, and all +would be right. + +"After, perhaps, half an hour, two or three officials approached us, +and, holding the passports, began to talk to us. How did they know that +those two passports belonged to us? Out of two hundred persons, how +could they at once see that the woman whose age was given at more than +half a century, and the lad whose age was given at less than a score of +years, were the two fatigued and weary travellers who stood guarding a +small heap of gloves, books, handkerchiefs, and shawls? Two of the +officials held up the passports to us, pointed to the blank page, shook +their heads ominously; the third took the passports, put them into his +vest pocket, buttoned up his coat, and motioned to us to follow him. + +"We followed; he opened the door of an ordinary carriage, waved his hand +for us to get in, jumped in himself, and we found we were started back. +We could not cross the line between Germany and Russia. + +"We meekly asked where we were to go, and were relieved when we found +that we went back only to the nearest town, but that the passports must +be sent to Konigsberg, sixty miles away, to be endorsed by the Russian +ambassador--it might take some days. W. was very much inclined to refuse +to go back and to attempt a war of words, but it did not seem wise to me +to undertake a war against the Russian government; I know our country +does not lightly go into an 'unpleasantness' of that kind.... + +"So we went back to Eydkuhnen,--a little miserable German village. We +took rooms at the only hotel, and there we stayed twenty-four hours. +Before the end of that time, we had visited every shop in the village, +and aired our German to most of our fellow-travellers whom we met at the +hotel. + +"The landlord took our part, and declared it was hard enough on simple +travellers like ourselves to be stopped in such a way, and that Russia +was the only country in Europe which was rigid in that respect. Happily, +our passports were back in twenty-four hours, and we started again; our +trunks had been registered for St. Petersburg, and to St. Petersburg +they had gone, ahead of us; and of the small heap of things thrown down +promiscuously at the custom-house, the whole had not come back to us--it +was not very important. I learned how to wear one glove instead of two, +or to go without. + +"We had the ordeal of the custom-house to pass again; but once passed, +and told that we were free to go on, it was like going into a clear +atmosphere from a fog. We crossed the custom-house threshold into +another room, and we found ourselves in Russia, and in an excellent, +well-furnished, and cheery restaurant. We lost the German smoke and the +German beer; we found hot coffee and clean table-cloths. + +"We did not return to our dusty, red-velvet palace, but we entered a +clean, comfortable compartment, with easy sofas, for the night. We +started again for St. Petersburg; we were now four days from London. I +will omit the details of a break-down that night, and another change of +cars. We had some sleep, and awoke in the morning to enjoy Russia. + +"And, first, of Russian railroads. When the railroads of Russia were +planned, the Emperor Nicholas allowed a large sum of money for the +building. The engineer showed him his plan. The road wound by slight +curves from one town to another. This did not suit the emperor at all. +He took his ruler, put it down upon the table, and said: 'I choose to +have my roads run so.' Of course the engineer assented--he had his large +fund granted; a straight road was much cheaper to build than a curved +one. As a consequence, he built and furnished an excellent road. + +"At every 'verst,' which is not quite a mile, a small house is placed at +the roadside, on which, in very large figures, the number of versts from +St. Petersburg is told. The train runs very smoothly and very slowly; +twenty miles an hour is about the rate. Of course the journey seemed +long. For a large part of the way it was an uninhabited, level plain; so +green, however, that it seemed like travelling on prairies. Occasionally +we passed a dreary little village of small huts, and as we neared St. +Petersburg we passed larger and better built towns, which the dome of +some cathedral lighted up for miles. + +"The road was enlivened, too, by another peculiarity. The restaurants +were all adorned by flags of all colors, and festooned by vines. At one +place the green arches ran across the road, and we passed under a bower +of evergreens. I accepted this, at first, as a Russian peculiarity, and +was surprised that so much attention was paid to travellers; but I +learned that it was not for us at all. The Duke of Edinboro' had passed +over the road a few days before, on his way to St. Petersburg, for his +betrothal to the only daughter of the czar, and the decorations were for +him; and so we felt that we were of the party, although we had not been +asked. + +"We approached St. Petersburg just at night, and caught the play of the +sunlight on the domes. It is a city of domes--blue domes, green domes, +white domes, and, above all, the golden dome of the Cathedral of St. +Isaac's. + +"It is almost never a single dome. St. Isaac's central, gilded dome +looms up above its fellow domes, but four smaller ones surround it. + +"It was summer; the temperature was delightful, about like our October. +The showers were frequent, there was no dust and no sultry air. + +"There must be a great deal of nice mechanical work required in St. +Petersburg, for on the Nevsky Perspective, the principal street, there +were a great many shops in which graduating and measuring instruments of +very nice workmanship were for sale. Especially I noticed the excellence +of the thermometers, and I naturally stopped to read them. Figures are a +common language, but it was clear that I was in another planet; I could +not read the thermometers! I judged that the weather was warm enough for +the thermometer to be at 68. I read, say, 16. And then I remembered that +the Russians do not put their freezing point at 32, as we do, and I was +obliged to go through a troublesome calculation before I could tell how +warm it was. + +"But I came to a still stranger experience. I dated my letters August 3, +and went to my banker's, before I sealed them, to see if there were +letters for me. The banker's little calendar was hanging by his desk, +and the day of the month was on exhibition, in large figures. I read, +July 22! This was distressing! Was I like Alice in Wonderland? Did time +go backward? Surely, I had dated August 3. Could I be in error twelve +days? And then I perceived that twelve days was just the difference of +old and new calendars. + +"How many times I had taught students that the Russians still counted +their time by the 'old style,' but had never learned it myself! And so I +was obliged to teach myself new lessons in science. The earth turns on +its axis just the same in Russia as in Boston, but you don't get out of +the sunlight at the Boston sunset hour. + +"When the thermometer stands at 32 in St. Petersburg, it does not freeze +as it does in Boston. On the contrary, it is very warm in St. +Petersburg, for it means what 104 does in Boston. And if you leave +London on the 22d of July, and are five days on the way to St. +Petersburg, a week after you get there it is still the 22d of July! And +we complain that the day is too short! + +"Another peculiarity. We strolled over the city all day; we came back to +our hotel tired; we took our tea; we talked over the day; we wrote to +our friends; we planned for the next day; we were ready to retire. We +walked to the window--the sun was striking on all the chimney tops. It +doesn't seem to be right even for the lark to go to sleep while the sun +shines. We looked at our watches; but the watches said nine o'clock, and +we went off to our beds in daytime; and we awoke after the first nap to +perceive that the sun still shone into the room. + +"Like all careful aunts, I was unwilling that my nephew should be out +alone at night. He was desirous of doing the right thing, but urged that +at home, as a little boy, he was always allowed to be out until dark, +and he asked if he could stay out until dark! Alas for the poor lad! +There was no dark at all! I could not consent for him to be out all +night, and the twilight was not over. You may read and read that the +summer day at St. Petersburg is twenty hours long, but until you see +that the sun scarcely sets, you cannot take it in. + +"I wondered whether the laboring man worked eight or ten hours under my +window; it seemed to me that he was sawing wood the whole twenty-four! + +"W. came in one night after a stroll, and described a beautiful square +which he had come upon accidentally. I listened with great interest, and +said, 'I must go there in the morning; what is the name of it?'--'I +don't know,' he replied.--'Why didn't you read the sign?' I asked.--'I +can't read,' was the reply.--'Oh, no; but why didn't you ask some +one?'--'I can't speak,' he answered. Neither reading nor speaking, we +had to learn St. Petersburg by our observation, and it is the best way. +Most travellers read too much. + +"There are learned institutions in St. Petersburg: universities, +libraries, picture-galleries, and museums; but the first institution +with which I became acquainted was the drosky. The drosky is a very, +very small phaeton. It has the driver's seat in front, and a very narrow +seat behind him. One person can have room enough on this second seat, +but it usually carries two. Invariably the drosky is lined with +dark-blue cloth, and the drosky-driver wears a dark-blue wrapper, coming +to the feet, girded around the waist by a crimson sash. He also wears a +bell-shaped hat, turned up at the side. You are a little in doubt, if +you see him at first separated from his drosky, whether he is a +market-woman or a serving-man, the dress being very much like a morning +wrapper. But he is rarely six feet away from his carriage, and usually +he is upon it, sound asleep! + +"The trunks having gone to St. Petersburg in advance of ourselves, our +first duty was to get possession of them. They were at the custom-house, +across the city. My nephew and I jumped upon a drosky--we could not say +that we were really _in_ the drosky, for the seat was too short. The +drosky-driver started off his horse over the cobble-stones at a terrible +rate. I could not keep my seat, and I clung to W. He shouted, 'Don't +hold by me; I shall be out the next minute!' What could be done? I was +sure I shouldn't stay on half a minute. Blessings on the red sash of the +drosky-man--I caught at that! He drove faster and faster, and I clung +tighter and tighter, but alarmed at two immense dangers: first, that I +should stop his breath by dragging the girdle so tightly; and, next, +that when it became unendurable to him, he would loosen it in front. + +"I could not perceive that he was aware of my existence at all! He had +only one object in life,--to carry us across the city to our place of +destination, and to get his copecks in return. + +"In a few days I learned to like the jolly vehicles very much. They are +so numerous that you may pick one up on any street, whenever you are +tired of walking. + +"My principal object in visiting St. Petersburg was the astronomical +observatory at Pulkova, some twelve miles distant. + +"I had letters to the director, Otto von Struve, but our consul declared +that I must also have one from him, for Struve was a very great man. I, +of course, accepted it. + +"We made the journey by rail and coach, but it would be better to drive +the whole way. + +"Most observatories are temples of silence, and quiet reigns. As we +drove into the grounds at Pulkova, a small crowd of children of all +ages, and servants of all degrees, came out to meet us. They did not +come out to do us honor, but to gaze at us. I could not understand it +until I learned that the director of the observatory has a large number +of aids, and they, with all their families, live in large houses, +connected with the central building by covered ways. + +"All about the grounds, too, were small observatories,--little +temples,--in which young men were practising for observations on the +transit of Venus. These little buildings, I afterwards learned, were to +be taken down and transported, instruments and all, to the coast of +Asia. + +"The director of the observatory is Otto Struve--his father, Wilhelm +Struve, preceded him in this office. Properly, the director is Herr Von +Struve; but the old Russian custom is still in use, and the servants +call him Wilhelm-vitch; that is, 'the son of William.' + +"When I bought a photograph of the present emperor, Alexander, I saw +that he was called Nicholas-vitch. + +"Herr Struve received us courteously, and an assistant was called to +show us the instruments. All observatories are much alike; therefore I +will not describe this, except in its peculiarities. One of these was +the presence of small, light, portable rooms, i.e., baseless boxes, +which rolled over the instruments to protect them; two sides were of +wood, and two sides of green silk curtains, which could, of course, be +turned aside when the boxes, or little rooms, were rolled over the +apparatus. Being covered in this way, the heavy shutters can be left +open for weeks at a time. + +"Everything was on a large scale--the rooms were immense. + +"The director has three assistants who are called 'elder astronomers,' +and two who are called 'adjunct astronomers.' Each of these has a +servant devoted to him. I asked one of the elder astronomers if he had +rooms in the observatory, and he answered, 'Yes, my rooms are 94 ft. by +50.' + +"They seem to be amused at the size of their lodgings, for Mr. Struve, +when he told me of his apartments, gave me at once the dimensions,--200 +ft. by 100 ft. + +"The room in which we dined with the family of Herr Struve was immense. +I spoke of it, and he said, 'We cannot open our windows in the +winter,--the winters are so severe,--and so we must have good air +without it.' Their drawing-room was also very large; the chairs +(innumerable, it seemed to me) stood stiffly around the walls of the +room. The floor was painted and highly varnished, and flower-pots were +at the numerous windows on little stands. It was scrupulously neat +everywhere. + +"There was very little ceremony at dinner; we had the delicious wild +strawberries of the country in great profusion; and the talk, the best +part of the dinner, was in German, Russian, and English. + +"Madame Struve spoke German, Russian, and French, and complained that +she could not speak English. She said that she had spent three weeks +with an English lady, and that she must be very stupid not to speak +English. + +"I noticed that in one of the rooms, which was not so very immense, +there was a circular table, a small centre-carpet, and chairs around the +table; I have been told that 'in society' in Russia, the ladies sit in a +circle, and the gentlemen walk around and talk consecutively with the +ladies,--kindly giving to each a share of their attention. + +"They assured me that the winters were charming, the sleighing constant, +and the social gatherings cheery; but think of four hours, only, of +daylight in the depth of the winter. Their dread was the spring and the +autumn, when the mud is deep. + +"Everything in the observatory which could be was built of wood. They +have the fir, which is very indestructible; it is supposed to show no +mark of change in two hundred years. + +"Wood is so susceptible of ornamentation that the pretty villages of +Russia--and there are some that look like New England villages--struck +us very pleasantly, after the stone and brick villages of England. + +"I try, when I am abroad, to see in what they are superior to us,--not +in what they are inferior. + +"Our great idea is, of course, freedom and self-government; probably in +that we are ahead of the rest of the world, although we are certainly +not so much in advance as we suppose; but we are sufficiently inflated +with our own greatness to let that subject take care of itself when we +travel. We travel to learn; and I have never been in any country where +they did not do something better than we do it, think some thoughts +better than we think, catch some inspiration from heights above our +own--as in the art of Italy, the learning of England, and the philosophy +of Germany. + +"Let us take the scientific position of Russia. When, half a century +ago, John Quincy Adams proposed the establishment of an astronomical +observatory, at a cost of $100,000, it was ridiculed by the newspapers, +considered Utopian, and dismissed from the public mind. When our +government, a few years since, voted an appropriation of $50,000 for a +telescope for the National Observatory, it was considered magnificent. +Yet, a quarter of a century since (1838), Russia founded an astronomical +observatory. The government spent $200,000 on instruments, $1,500,000 on +buildings, and annually appropriated $38,000 for salaries of observers. +I naturally thought that a million and a half dollars, and Oriental +ideas, combined, would make the observatory a showy place; I expected +that the observatory would be surmounted by a gilded dome, and that +'pearly gates' would open as I approached. There is not even a dome! + +"The central observation-room is a cylinder, and its doors swing back on +hinges. Wherever it is possible, wood is used, instead of stone or +brick. I could not detect, in the whole structure, anything like +carving, gilding, or painting, for mere show. It was all for science; +and its ornamentations were adapted to its uses, and came at their +demand. + +"In our country, the man of science leads an isolated life. If he has +capabilities of administration, our government does not yet believe in +them. + +"The director of the observatory at Pulkova has the military rank of +general, and he is privy councillor to the czar. Every subordinate has +also his military position--he is a soldier. + +"What would you think of it, if the director of any observatory were one +of the President's cabinet at Washington, in virtue of his position? +Struve's position is that of a member of the President's cabinet. + +"Here is another difference: Ours is a democratic country. We recognize +no caste; we are born 'free and equal.' We honor labor; work is +ennobling. These expressions we are all accustomed to use. Do we live up +to them? Many a rich man, many a man in fine social position, has +married a school-teacher; but I never heard it spoken of as a source of +pride in the alliance until I went to despotic Russia. Struve told me, +as he would have told of any other honor which had been his, that his +wife, as a girl, had taught school in St. Petersburg. And then Madame +Struve joined in the conversation, and told me how much the subject of +woman's education still held her interest. + +"St. Petersburg is about the size of Philadelphia. Struve said, 'There +are thousands of women studying science in St. Petersburg.' How many +thousand women do you suppose are studying science in the whole State of +New York? I doubt if there are five hundred. + +"Then again, as to language. It is rare, even among the common people, +to meet one who speaks one language only. If you can speak no Russian, +try your poor French, your poor German, or your good English. You may be +sure that the shopkeeper will answer in one or another, and even the +drosky-driver picks up a little of some one of them. + +"Of late, the Russian government has founded a medical school for women, +giving them advantages which are given to men, and the same rank when +they graduate; the czar himself contributed largely to the fund. + +"One wonders, in a country so rich as ours, that so few men and women +gratify their tastes by founding scholarships and aids for the tuition +of girls--it must be such a pleasant way of spending money. + +"Then as regards religion. I am never in a country where the Catholic or +Greek church is dominant, but I see with admiration the zeal of its +followers. I may pity their delusions, but I must admire their devotion. +If you look around in one of our churches upon the congregation, +five-sixths are women, and in some towns nineteen-twentieths; and if you +form a judgment from that fact, you would suppose that religion was +entirely a 'woman's right.' In a Catholic church or Greek church, the +men are not only as numerous as the women, but they are as intense in +their worship. Well-dressed men, with good heads, will prostrate +themselves before the image of the Holy Virgin as many times, and as +devoutly, as the beggar-woman. + +"I think I saw a Russian gentleman at St. Isaac's touch his forehead to +the floor, rise and stand erect, touch the floor again, and rise again, +ten times in as many minutes; and we were one day forbidden entrance to +a church because the czar was about to say his prayers; we found he was +making the pilgrimage of some seventy churches, and praying in each one. + +"Christians who believe in public prayer, and who claim that we should +be instant in prayer, would consider it a severe tax upon their energies +to pray seventy times a day--they don't care to do it! + +"Then there is the _democracy_ of the church. There are no pews to be +sold to the highest bidder--no 'reserved seats;' the oneness and +equality before God are always recognized. A Russian gentleman, as he +prays, does not look around, and move away from the poor beggar next to +him. At St. Peter's the crowd stands or kneels--at St. Isaac's they +stand; and they stand literally on the same plane. + +"I noticed in the crowd at St. Isaac's, one festival day, young girls +who were having a friendly chat; but their religion was ever in their +thoughts, and they crossed themselves certainly once a minute. Their +religion is not an affair of Sunday, but of every day in the week. + +"The drosky-driver, certainly the most stupid class of my acquaintance +in Russia, never forgets his prayers; if his passenger is never so much +in a hurry, and the bribe never so high, the drosky-driver will check +his horse, and make the sign of the cross as he passes the little image +of the Virgin,--so small, perhaps, that you have not noticed it until +you wonder why he slackens his pace. + +"Then as to government. We boast of our national freedom, and we talk +about universal suffrage, the 'Home of the Free,' etc. Yet the serfs in +Russia were freed in March, 1861, just before our Civil war began. They +freed their serfs without any war, and each serf received some acres of +land. They freed twenty-three millions, and we freed four or five +millions of blacks; and all of us, who are old enough, remember that one +of the fears in freeing the slaves was the number of lawless and +ignorant blacks who, it was supposed, would come to the North. + +"We talk about _universal_ suffrage; a larger part of the antiquated +Russians vote than of Americans. Just as I came away from St. Petersburg +I met a Moscow family, travelling. We occupied the same compartment car. +It was a family consisting of a lady and her three daughters. When they +found where I had been, they asked me, in excellent English, what had +carried me to St. Petersburg, and then, why I was interested in Pulkova; +and so I must tell them about American girls, and so, of course, of +Vassar College. + +"They plied me with questions: 'Do you have women in your faculty? Do +men and women hold the same rank?' I returned the questions: 'Is there a +girl's college in Moscow?' 'No,' said the youngest sister, with a sigh, +'we are always _going_ to have one.' The eldest sister asked: 'Do women +vote in America?' 'No,' I said. 'Do women vote in Russia?' She said +'No;' but her mother interrupted her, and there was a spicy conversation +between them, in Russian, and then the mother, who had rarely spoken, +turned to me, and said: 'I vote, but I do not go to the polls myself. I +send somebody to represent me; my vote rests upon my property.' + +"Have you not read a story, of late, in the newspapers, about some +excellent women in a little town in Connecticut whose pet heifers were +taken by force and sold because they refused to pay the large taxes +levied upon them by their townsmen, they being the largest holders of +property in the town? That circumstance could not have happened in +barbarous Russia; there, the owner of property has a right to say how it +shall be used. + +"'Why do you ask me about our government?' I said to the Russian girls. +'Are you interested in questions of government?' They replied, 'All +Russian women are interested in questions of that sort.' How many +American women are interested in questions concerning government? + +"These young girls knew exactly what questions to ask about Vassar +College,--the course of study, the diploma, the number of graduates, +etc. The eldest said: 'We are at once excited when we hear of women +studying; we have longed for opportunities to study all our lives. Our +father was the engineer of the first Russian railroad, and he spent two +years in America." + +"I confess to a feeling of mortification when one of these girls asked +me, 'Did you ever read the translation of a Russian book?' and I was +obliged to answer 'No.' This girl had read American books in the +original. They were talking Russian, French, German, and English, and +yet mourning over their need of education; and in general education, +especially in that of women, I think we must be in advance of them. + +"One of these sisters, forgetting my ignorance, said something to me in +Russian. The other laughed. 'What did she say?' I asked. The eldest +replied, 'She asked you to take her back with you, and educate her.' +'But,' I said, 'you read and speak your languages--the learning of the +world is open to you--found your own college!' And the young girl leaned +back on the cushions, drew her mantle around her, and said, 'We have not +the energy of the American girl!' + +"The energy of the American girl! The rich inheritance which has come +down to her from men and women who sought, in the New World, a better +and higher life. + +"When the American girl carries her energy into the great questions of +humanity, into the practical problems of life; when she takes home to +her heart the interests of education, of government, and of religion, +what may we not hope for our country! + +London, 1873. "It was the 26th of August, and I had no hope that Miss +Cobbe could be at her town residence, but I felt bound to deliver Mrs. +Howe's letter, and I wished to give her a Vassar pamphlet; so I took a +cab and drove; it was at an enormous distance from my lodging--she told +me it was six miles. I was as much surprised as delighted when the girl +said she was at home, for the house had painters in it, the carpets were +up, and everything looked uninhabitable. The girl came back, after +taking my card, and asked me if I would go into the studio, and so took +me through a pretty garden into a small building of two rooms, the outer +one filled with pictures and books. I had never heard that Miss Cobbe +was an artist, and so I looked around, and was afraid that I had got the +wrong Miss Cobbe. But as I glanced at the table I saw the 'Contemporary +Review,' and I took up the first article and read it--by Herbert +Spencer. I had become somewhat interested in a pretty severe criticism +of the modes of reasoning of mathematical men, and had perceived that he +said the problems of concrete sciences were harder than any of the +physical sciences (which I admitted was all true), when a very white dog +came bounding in upon me, and I dropped the book, knowing that the dog's +mistress must be coming,--and Miss Cobbe entered. She looked just as I +expected, but even larger; but then her head is magnificent because so +large. She was very cordial at once, and told me that Miss Davies had +told her I was in London. She said the studio was that of her friend. I +could not refrain from thanking her for her books, and telling her how +much we valued them in America, and how much good I believed they had +done. She colored a very little, and said, 'Nothing could be more +gratifying to me.' + +"I had heard that she was not a women's rights woman, and she said, 'Who +could have told you that? I am remarkably so. I write suffrage articles +continually--I sign petitions.' + +"I was delighted to find that she had been an intimate friend of Mrs. +Somerville; had corresponded with her for years, and had a letter from +her after she was ninety-two years of age, when she was reading +Quaternions for amusement. She said that Mrs. Somerville would probably +have called herself a Unitarian, but that really she was a Theist, and +that it came out more in her later life. She said she was correcting +proof of the Life by the daughters; that the Life was intensely +interesting; that Mrs. Somerville mourned all her life that she had not +had the advantages of education. + +"I asked her how I could get a photograph of Mrs. Somerville, and she +said they could not be bought. She told me, without any hint from me, +that she would give Vassar College a plaster cast of the bust of Mrs. +Somerville. [Footnote: This bust always stood in Miss Mitchell's parlor +at the observatory.] She said, as women grew older, if they lived +independent lives, they were pretty sure to be 'women's rights women.' +She said the clergy--the broadest, who were in harmony with her--were +very courteous, and that since she had grown old (she's about +forty-five) all men were more tolerant of her and forgot the difference +of sex. + +"I felt drawn to her when she was most serious. I told her I had +suffered much from doubt, and asked her if she had; and she said yes, +when she was young; but that she had had, in her life, rare intervals +when she believed she held communion with God, and on those rare periods +she had rested in the long intermissions. She laughed, and the tears +came to her eyes, all together; she was _quick_, and all-alive, and so +courteous. When she gave me a book she said, 'May I write your whole +name? and may I say "from your friend"?' + +"Then she hurried on her bonnet, and walked to the station with me; and +her round face, with the blond hair and the light-blue eyes, seemed to +me to become beautiful as she talked. + +"In Edinburgh I asked for a photograph of Mary Somerville, and the young +man behind the counter replied, 'I don't know who it is.' + +"In London I asked at a bookstore, which the Murrays recommended, for a +photograph of Mrs. Somerville and of Sir George Airy, and the man said +if they could be had in London he would get them; and then he asked, +'Are they English?' and I informed him that Sir George Airy was the +astronomer royal! + + * * * * * + +"'The Glasgow College for Girls.' Seeing a sign of this sort, I rang the +door-bell of the house to which it was attached, entered, and was told +the lady was at home. As I waited for her, I took up the 'Prospectus,' +and it was enough,--'music, dancing, drawing, needlework, and English' +were the prominent features, and the pupils were children. All well +enough,--but why call it a college? + +"When the lady superintendent came in, I told her that I had supposed it +was for more advanced students, and she said, 'Oh, it is for girls up to +twenty; one supposes a girl is finished by twenty.' + +"I asked, as modestly as I could, 'Have you any pupils in Latin and +mathematics?' and she said, 'No, it's for girls, you know. Dr. M. hopes +we shall have some mathematics next year.' 'And,' I asked, 'some Latin?' +'Yes, Dr. M. hopes we shall have some Latin; but I confess I believe +Latin and mathematics all bosh; give them modern languages and +accomplishments. I suppose your school is for professional women.' + +"I told her no; that the daughters of our wealthiest people demand +learning; that it would scarcely be considered 'good society' when the +women had neither Latin nor mathematics. + +"'Oh, well,' she said, 'they get married here so soon.' + +"When I asked her if they had lady teachers, she said 'Oh, no [as if +that would ruin the institution]; nothing but first-class masters.' + +"It was clear that the women taught the needlework." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +PAPERS--SCIENCE [1874]--THE DENVER ECLIPSE [1878]--COLORS OF STARS + +"The dissemination of information in regard to science and to scientific +investigations relieves the scientist from the small annoyances of +extreme ignorance. + +"No one to-day will expect to receive a letter such as reached Sir John +Herschel some years ago, asking for the writer's horoscope to be cast; +or such as he received at another time, which asked, Shall I marry? and +Have I seen _her_? + +"Nor can it be long, if the whole population is somewhat educated, that +I shall be likely to receive, as I have done, applications for +information as to the recovery of stolen goods, or to tell fortunes. + +"When crossing the Atlantic, an Irish woman came to me and asked me if I +told fortunes; and when I replied in the negative, she asked me if I +were not an astronomer. I admitted that I made efforts in that +direction. She then asked me what I could tell, if not fortunes. I told +her that I could tell when the moon would rise, when the sun would rise, +etc. She said, 'Oh,' in a tone which plainly said, 'Is _that_ all?' + +"Only a few winters since, during a very mild winter, a young lad who +was driving a team called out to me on the street, and said he had a +question to ask me. + +"I stopped; and he asked, 'Shall we lose our ice-crop this winter?' + +"It was January, and it was New England. It took very little learning +and no alchemy to foretell that the month of February and the +neighborhood of Boston would give ice enough; and I told him that the +ice-crop would be abundant; but I was honest enough to explain to him +that my outlook into the future was no better than his. + +"One of the unfavorable results of the attempt to popularize science is +this: the reader of popular scientific books is very likely to think +that he understands the science itself, when he merely understands what +some writer says about science. + +"Take, for example, the method of determining the distance of the moon +from the earth--one of the easiest problems in physical astronomy. The +method can be told in a few sentences; yet it took a hundred years to +determine it with any degree of accuracy--and a hundred years, not of +the average work of mankind in science, but a hundred years during which +able minds were bent to the problem. + +"Still, with all the school-masters, and all the teaching, and all the +books, the ignorance of the unscientific world is enormous; they are +ignorant both ways--they underrate the scientific people and they +overrate them. There is, on the one hand, the Irish woman who is +disappointed because you cannot tell fortunes, and, on the other hand, +the cultivated woman who supposes that you must know _all_ science. + +"I have a friend who wonders that I do not take my astronomical clock to +pieces. She supposes that because I am an astronomer, I must be able to +be a clock-maker, while I do not handle a tool if I can help it! She did +not expect to take her piano to pieces because she was musical! She was +as careful not to tinker it as I was not to tinker the clock, which only +an expert in clock-making was prepared to handle. + +"... Only a few weeks since I received a letter from a lady who wished +to come to make me a visit, and to 'scan the heavens,' as she termed it. +Now, just as she wrote, the clock, which I was careful not to meddle +with, had been rapidly gaining time, and I was standing before it, +watching it from hour to hour, and slightly changing its rate by +dropping small weights upon its pendulum. Time is so important an +element with the astronomer, that all else is subordinate to it. + +"Then, too, the uneducated assume the unvarying exactness of +mathematical results; while, in reality, mathematical results are often +only approximations. We say the sun is 91,000,000 miles from the earth, +plus or minus a probable error; that is, we are right, probably, within, +say, 100,000 miles; or, the sun is 91,000,000 minus 100,000 miles, or it +is 91,000,000 plus 100,000 miles off; and this probable error is only a +probability. + +"If we make one more observation it cannot agree with any one of our +determinations, and it changes our probable error. + +[Illustration: BUST OF MARIA MITCHELL. + +_From Original made by Miss Emma F. Brigham in 1877_] + +"This ignorance of the masses leads to a misconception in two ways; the +little that a scientist can do, they do not understand,--they suppose +him to be godlike in his capacity, and they do not see results; they +overrate him and they underrate him--they underrate his work. + +"There is no observatory in this land, nor in any land, probably, of +which the question is not asked, 'Are they doing anything? Why don't we +hear from them? They should make discoveries, they should publish.' + +"The one observation made at Greenwich on the planet Neptune was not +published until after a century or more--it was recorded as a star. The +observation had to wait a hundred years, about, before the time had come +when that evening's work should bear fruit; but it was good, faithful +work, and its time came. + +"Kepler was years in passing from one of his laws to another, while the +school-boy, to-day, rattles off the three as if they were born of one +breath. + +"The scientist should be free to pursue his investigations. He cannot be +a scientist and a school-master. If he pursues his science in all his +intervals from his class-work, his classes suffer on account of his +engrossments; if he devotes himself to his students, science suffers; +and yet we all go on, year after year, trying to work the two fields +together, and they need different culture and different implements. + +"1878. In the eclipse of this year, the dark shadow fell first on the +United States thirty-eight degrees west of Washington, and moved towards +the south-east, a circle of darkness one hundred and sixteen miles in +diameter; circle overlapping circle of darkness until it could be mapped +down like a belt. + +"The mapping of the dark shadow, with its limitations of one hundred and +sixteen miles, lay across the country from Montana, through Colorado, +northern and eastern Texas, and entered the Gulf of Mexico between +Galveston and New Orleans. This was the region of total eclipse. Looking +along this dark strip on the map, each astronomer selected his bit of +darkness on which to locate the light of science. + +"But for the distance from the large cities of the country, Colorado +seemed to be a most favorable part of the shadow; it was little subject +to storms, and reputed to be enjoyable in climate and abundant in +hospitality. + +"My party chose Denver, Col. I had a friend who lived in Denver, and she +was visiting me. I sought her at once, and with fear and trembling +asked, 'Have you a bit of land behind your house in Denver where I could +put up a small telescope?' 'Six hundred miles,' was the laconic reply! + +"I felt that the hospitality of the Rocky mountains was at my feet. +Space and time are so unconnected! For an observation which would last +two minutes forty seconds, I was offered six hundred miles, after a +journey of thousands. + +"A journey from Boston to Denver makes one hopeful for the future of our +country. We had hour after hour and day after day of railroad travel, +over level, unbroken land on which cattle fed unprotected, summer and +winter, and which seemed to implore the traveller to stay and to accept +its richness. It must be centuries before the now unpeopled land of +western Kansas and Colorado can be crowded. + +"We started from Boston a party of two; at Cincinnati a third joined us; +at Kansas City we came upon a fourth who was ready to fall into our +ranks, and at Denver two more awaited us; so we were a party of +six--'All good women and true.' + +"All along the road it had been evident that the country was roused to a +knowledge of the coming eclipse; we overheard remarks about it; small +telescopes travelled with us, and our landlord at Kansas City, when I +asked him to take care of a chronometer, said he had taken care of fifty +of them in the previous fortnight. Our party had three telescopes and +one chronometer. + +"We had travelled so comfortably all along the Santa Fé road, from +Kansas City to Pueblo, that we had forgotten the possibility of other +railroad annoyances than those of heat and dust until we reached Pueblo. +At Pueblo all seemed to change. We left the Santa Fé road and entered +upon that of the Rio Grande. + +"Which road was to blame, it is not for me to say, but there was trouble +at once about our 'round-trip ticket.' That settled, we supposed all was +right. + +"In sending out telescopes so far as from Boston to Denver, I had +carefully taken out the glasses, and packed them in my trunks. I carried +the chronometer in my hand. + +"It was only five hours' travel from Pueblo to Denver, and we went on to +that city. The trunks, for some unexplained reason, or for no reason at +all, chose to remain at Pueblo. + +"One telescope-tube reached Denver when we did; but a telescope-tube is +of no value without glasses. We learned that there was a war between the +two railroads which unite at Pueblo, and war, no matter where or when it +occurs, means ignorance and stupidity. + +"The unit of measure of value which the railroad man believes in is +entirely different from that in which the scientist rests his faith. + +"A war between two railroads seemed very small compared with two minutes +forty seconds of observation of a total eclipse. One was terrestrial, +the other cosmic. + +"It was Wednesday when we reached Denver. The eclipse was to occur the +following Monday. + +"We haunted the telegraph-rooms, and sent imploring messages. We placed +ourselves at the station, and watched the trains as they tossed out +their freight; we listened to every express-wagon which passed our door +without stopping, and just as we were trying to find if a telescope +could be hired or bought in Denver, the glasses arrived. + +"It was now Friday; we must put up tents and telescopes, and test the +glasses. + +"It rained hard on Friday--nothing could be done. It rained harder on +Saturday. It rained hardest of all on Sunday, and hail mingled with the +rain. But Monday morning was clear and bright. It was strange enough to +find that we might camp anywhere around Denver. Our hostess suggested to +us to place ourselves on 'McCullough's Addition.' In New York or Boston, +if I were about to camp on private grounds I should certainly ask +permission. In the far West you choose your spot of ground, you dig +post-holes and you pitch tents, and you set up telescopes and inhabit +the land; and then the owner of the land comes to you, and asks if he +may not put up a fence for you, to keep off intruders, and the nearest +residents come to you and offer aid of any kind. + +"Our camping-place was near the house occupied by sisters of charity, +and the black-robed, sweet-faced women came out to offer us the +refreshing cup of tea and the new-made bread. + +"All that we needed was 'space,' and of that there was plenty. + +"Our tents being up and the telescopes mounted, we had time to look +around at the view. The space had the unlimitedness that we usually +connect with sea and sky. Our tents were on the slope of a hill, at the +foot of which we were about six thousand feet above the sea. The plain +was three times as high as the hills of the Hudson-river region, and +there arose on the south, almost from west to east, the peaks upon peaks +of the Rocky mountains. One needs to live upon such a plateau for weeks, +to take in the grandeur of the panorama. + +"It is always difficult to teach the man of the people that natural +phenomena belong as much to him as to scientific people. Camping parties +who put up telescopes are always supposed to be corporations with +particular privileges, and curious lookers-on gather around, and try to +enter what they consider a charmed circle. We were remarkably free from +specialists of this kind. Camping on the south-west slope of the hill, +we were hidden on the north and east, and another party which chose the +brow of the hill was much more attractive to the crowd. Our good +serving-man was told to send away the few strollers who approached; even +our friends from the city were asked to remove beyond the reach of +voice. + +"There is always some one to be found in every gathering who will not +submit to law. At the time of the total eclipse in Iowa, in 1869, there +passed in and out among our telescopes and observers an unknown, closely +veiled woman. The remembrance of that occasion never comes to my mind +without the accompaniment of a fluttering green veil. + +"This time it was a man. How he came among us and why he remained, no +one can say. Each one supposed that the others knew, and that there was +good reason for his presence. If I was under the tent, wiping glasses, +he stood beside me; if the photographer wished to make a picture of the +party, this man came to the front; and when I asked the servant to send +off the half-vagrant boys and girls who stood gazing at us, this man +came up and said to me in a confidential tone, 'They do not understand +the sacredness of the occasion, and the fineness of the conditions.' +There was something regal in his audacity, but he was none the less a +tramp. + +"Persons who observe an eclipse of the sun always try to do the +impossible. They seem to consider it a solemn duty to see the first +contact of sun and moon. The moon, when seen in the daytime, looks like +a small faint cloud; as it approaches the sun it becomes wholly unseen; +and an observer tries to see when this unseen object touches the glowing +disc of the sun. + +"When we look at any other object than the sun, we stimulate our vision. +A good observer will remain in the dark for a short time before he makes +a delicate observation on a faint star, and will then throw a cap over +his head to keep out strong lights. + +"When we look at the sun, we at once try to deaden its light. We protect +our eyes by dark glasses--the less of sunlight we can get the better. We +calculate exactly at what point the moon will touch the sun, and we +watch that point only. The exact second by the chronometer when the +figure of the moon touches that of the sun, is always noted. It is not +only valuable for the determination of longitude, but it is a check on +our knowledge of the moon's motions. Therefore, we try for the +impossible. + +"One of our party, a young lady from California, was placed at the +chronometer. She was to count aloud the seconds, to which the three +others were to listen. Two others, one a young woman from Missouri, who +brought with her a fine telescope, and another from Ohio, besides +myself, stood at the three telescopes. A fourth, from Illinois, was +stationed to watch general effects, and one special artist, pencil in +hand, to sketch views. + +"Absolute silence was imposed upon the whole party a few minutes before +each phenomenon. + +"Of course we began full a minute too soon, and the constrained position +was irksome enough, for even time is relative, and the minute of +suspense is longer than the hour of satisfaction. [Footnote: As the +computed time for the first contact drew near, the breath of the counter +grew short, and the seconds were almost gasped and threatened to become +inaudible, when Miss Mitchell, without moving her eye from the tube of +the telescope, took up the counting, and continued until the young lady +recovered herself, which she did immediately.] + +"The moon, so white in the sky, becomes densely black when it is closely +ranging with the sun, and it shows itself as a black notch on the +burning disc when the eclipse begins. + +"Each observer made her record in silence, and then we turned and faced +one another, with record in hand--we differed more than a second; it was +a large difference. + +"Between first contact and totality there was more than an hour, and we +had little to do but look at the beautiful scenery and watch the slow +motion of a few clouds, on a height which was cloud-land to dwellers by +the sea. + +"Our photographer begged us to keep our positions while he made a +picture of us. The only value to the picture is the record that it +preserves of the parallelism of the three telescopes. You would say it +was stiff and unnatural, did you not know that it was the ordering of +Nature herself--they all point to the centre of the solar system. + +"As totality approached, all again took their positions. The corona, +which is the 'glory' seen around the sun, was visible at least thirteen +minutes before totality; each of the party took a look at this, and then +all was silent, only the count, on and on, of the young woman at the +chronometer. When totality came, even that ceased. + +"How still it was! + +"As the last rays of sunlight disappeared, the corona burst out all +around the sun, so intensely bright near the sun that the eye could +scarcely bear it; extending less dazzlingly bright around the sun for +the space of about half the sun's diameter, and in some directions +sending off streamers for millions of miles. + +"It was now quick work. Each observer at the telescopes gave a furtive +glance at the un-sunlike sun, moved the dark eye-piece from the +instrument, replaced it by a more powerful white glass, and prepared to +see all that could be seen in two minutes forty seconds. They must note +the shape of the corona, its color, its seeming substance, and they must +look all around the sun for the 'interior planet.' + +"There was certainly not the beauty of the eclipse of 1869. Then immense +radiations shot out in all directions, and threw themselves over half +the sky. In 1869, the rosy prominences were so many, so brilliant, so +fantastic, so weirdly changing, that the eye must follow them; now, +scarcely a protuberance of color, only a roseate light around the sun as +the totality ended. But if streamers and prominences were absent, the +corona itself was a great glory. Our special artist, who made the sketch +for my party, could not bear the light. + +"When the two minutes forty seconds were over, each observer left her +instrument, turned in silence from the sun, and wrote down brief notes. +Happily, some one broke through all rules of order, and shouted out, +'The shadow! the shadow!' And looking toward the southeast we saw the +black band of shadow moving from us, a hundred and sixty miles over the +plain, and toward the Indian Territory. It was not the flitting of the +closer shadow over the hill and dale: it was a picture which the sun +threw at our feet of the dignified march of the moon in its orbit. + +"And now we looked around. What a strange orange light there was in the +north-east! what a spectral hue to the whole landscape! Was it really +the same old earth, and not another planet? + +"Great is the self-denial of those who follow science. They who look +through telescopes at the time of a total eclipse are martyrs; they +severely deny themselves. The persons who can say that they have seen a +total eclipse of the sun are those who rely upon their eyes. My aids, +who touched no glasses, had a season of rare enjoyment. They saw +Mercury, with its gleam of white light, and Mars, with its ruddy glow; +they saw Regulus come out of the darkening blue on one side of the sun, +Venus shimmer and Procyon twinkle near the horizon, and Arcturus shine +down from the zenith. + +"_We_ saw the giant shadow as it _left_ us and passed over the lands of +the untutored Indian; _they_ saw it as it approached from the distant +west, as it fell upon the peaks of the mountain-tops, and, in the +impressive stillness, moved directly for our camping-ground. + +"The savage, to whom it is the frowning of the Great Spirit, is +awe-struck and alarmed; the scholar, to whom it is a token of the +inviolability of law, is serious and reverent. + +"There is a dialogue in some of the old school-readers, and perhaps in +some of the new, between a tutor and his two pupils who had been out for +a walk. One pupil complained that the way was long, the road was dusty, +and the scenery uninteresting; the other was full of delight at the +beauties he had found in the same walk. One had walked with his eyes +intellectually closed; the other had opened his eyes wide to all the +charms of nature. In some respects we are all, at different times, like +each of these boys: we shut our eyes to the enjoyments of nature, or we +open them. But we are capable of improving ourselves, even in the use of +our eyes--we see most when we are most determined to see. The _will_ has +a wonderful effect upon the perceptive faculties. When we first look up +at the myriads of stars seen in a moonless evening, all is confusion to +us; we admire their brilliancy, but we scarcely recognize their +grouping. We do not feel the need of knowing much about them. + +"A traveller, lost on a desert plain, feels that the recognition of one +star, the Pole star, is of itself a great acquisition; and all persons +who, like mariners and soldiers, are left much with the companionship of +the stars, only learn to know the prominent clusters, even if they do +not know the names given to them in books. + +"The daily wants of the body do not require that we should say + + "'Give me the ways of wandering stars to know + The depths of heaven above and earth below.' + +But we have a hunger of the mind which asks for knowledge of all around +us, and the more we gain, the more is our desire; the more we see, the +more are we capable of seeing. + +"Besides learning to see, there is another art to be learned,--_not to +see_ what is not. + +"If we read in to-day's paper that a brilliant comet was seen last night +in New York, we are very likely to see it to-night in Boston; for we +take every long, fleecy cloud for a splendid comet. + +"When the comet of 1680 was expected, a few years ago, to reappear, some +young men in Cambridge told Professor Bond that they had seen it; but +Professor Bond did not see it. Continually are amateurs in astronomy +sending notes of new discoveries to Bond, or some other astronomers, +which are no discoveries at all! + +"Astronomers have long supposed the existence of a planet inferior to +Mercury; and M. Leverrier has, by mathematical calculation, demonstrated +that such a planet exists. He founded his calculations upon the supposed +discovery of M. Lesbarcault, who declares that it crossed the sun's +disc, and that he saw it and made drawings. The internal evidence, from +the man's account, is that he was an honest enthusiast. I have no doubt +that he followed the path of a solar spot, and as the sun turned on its +axis he mistook the motion for that of the dark spot; or perhaps the +spot changed and became extinct, and another spot closely resembling it +broke out and he was deceived; his wishes all the time being 'father to +the thought.' + +"The eye is as teachable as the hand. Every one knows the most prominent +constellations,--the Pleiades, the Great Bear, and Orion. Many persons +can draw the figures made by the most brilliant stars in these +constellations, and very many young people look for the 'lost Pleiad.' +But common observers know these stars only as bright objects; they do +not perceive that one star differs from another in glory; much less do +they perceive that they shine with differently colored rays. + +"Those who know Sirius and Betel do not at once perceive that one shines +with a brilliant white light and the other burns with a glowing red, as +different in their brilliancy as the precious stones on a lapidary's +table, perhaps for the same reason. And so there is an endless variety +of tints of paler colors. + +"We may turn our gaze as we turn a kaleidoscope, and the changes are +infinitely more startling, the combinations infinitely more beautiful; +no flower garden presents such a variety and such delicacy of shades. + +"But beautiful as this variety is, it is difficult to measure it; it has +a phantom-like intangibility--we seem not to be able to bring it under +the laws of science. + +"We call the stars garnet and sapphire; but these are, at best, vague +terms. Our language has not terms enough to signify the different +delicate shades; our factories have not the stuff whose hues might make +a chromatic scale for them. + +"In this dilemma, we might make a scale of colors from the stars +themselves. We might put at the head of the scale of crimson stars the +one known as Hind's, which is four degrees west of Rigel; we might make +a scale of orange stars, beginning with Betel as orange red; then we +should have + + Betelgeuze, + Aldebaran, + ß Ursae Minoris, + Altair and _a_ Canis, + _a_ Lyrae, + +the list gradually growing paler and paler, until we come to a Lyrae, +which might be the leader of a host of pale yellow stars, gradually +fading off into white. + +"Most of the stars seen with the naked eye are varieties of red, orange, +and yellow. The reds, when seen with a glass, reach to violet or dark +purple. With a glass, there come out other colors: very decided greens, +very delicate blues, browns, grays, and white. If these colors are +almost intangible at best, they are rendered more so by the variations +of the atmosphere, of the eye, and of the glass. But after these are all +accounted for, there is still a real difference. Two stars of the class +known as double stars, that is, so little separated that considerable +optical power is necessary to divide them, show these different tints +very nicely in the same field of the telescope. + +"Then there comes in the chance that the colors are complementary; that +the eye, fatigued by a brilliant red in the principal star, gives to the +companion the color which would make up white light. This happens +sometimes; but beyond this the reare innumerable cases of finely +contrasted colors which are not complementary, but which show a real +difference of light in the stars; resulting, perhaps, from +distance,--for some colors travel farther than others, and all colors +differ in their order of march,--perhaps from chemical differences. + +"Single blue or green stars are never seen; they are always given as the +smaller companion of a pair. + +"Out of several hundred observed by Mr. Bishop, forty-five have small +companions of a bluish, or greenish, or purplish color. Almost all of +these are stars of the eighth to tenth magnitude; only once are both +seen blue, and only in one case is the large one blue. In almost every +case the large star is yellow. The color most prevailing is yellow; but +the varieties of yellow are very great. + +"We may assume, then, that the blue stars are faint ones, and probably +distant ones. But as not all faint stars or distant ones are blue, it +shows that there is a real difference. In the star called 35 Piscium, +the small star shows a peculiar snuffy-brown tinge. + +"Of two stars in the constellation Ursa Minoris, not double stars, one +is orange and the other is green, both very vivid in color. + +"From age to age the colors of some prominent stars have certainly +changed. This would seem more likely to be from change of place than of +physical constitution. + +"Nothing comes out more clearly in astronomical observations than the +immense activity of the universe. 'All change, no loss, 'tis revolution +all.' + +"Observations of this kind are peculiarly adapted to women. Indeed, all +astronomical observing seems to be so fitted. The training of a girl +fits her for delicate work. The touch of her fingers upon the delicate +screws of an astronomical instrument might become wonderfully accurate +in results; a woman's eyes are trained to nicety of color. The eye that +directs a needle in the delicate meshes of embroidery will equally well +bisect a star with the spider web of the micrometer. Routine +observations, too, dull as they are, are less dull than the endless +repetition of the same pattern in crochet-work. + +"Professor Chauvenet enumerates among 'accidental errors in observing,' +those arising from imperfections in the senses, as 'the imperfection of +the eye in measuring small spaces; of the ear, in estimating small +intervals of time; of the touch, in the delicate handling of an +instrument.' + +"A girl's eye is trained from early childhood to be keen. The first +stitches of the sewing-work of a little child are about as good as those +of the mature man. The taking of small stitches, involving minute and +equable measurements of space, is a part of every girl's training; she +becomes skilled, before she is aware of it, in one of the nicest +peculiarities of astronomical observation. + +"The ear of a child is less trained, except in the case of a musical +education; but the touch is a delicate sense given in exquisite degree +to a girl, and her training comes in to its aid. She threads a needle +almost as soon as she speaks; she touches threads as delicate as the +spider-web of a micrometer. + +"Then comes in the girl's habit of patient and quiet work, peculiarly +fitted to routine observations. The girl who can stitch from morning to +night would find two or three hours in the observatory a relief." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +RELIGIOUS BELIEFS--COMMENTS ON SERMONS--CONCORD SCHOOL--WHITTIER--COOKING +SCHOOLS--ANECDOTES + + +Partly in consequence of her Quaker training, and partly from her own +indifference towards creeds and sects, Miss Mitchell was entirely +ignorant of the peculiar phrases and customs used by rigid sectarians; +so that she was apt to open her eyes in astonishment at some of the +remarks and sectarian prejudices which she met after her settlement at +Vassar College. She was a good learner, however, and after a while knew +how to receive in silence that which she did not understand. + +"Miss Mitchell," asked one good missionary, "what is your favorite +position in prayer?" "Flat upon my back!" the answer came, swift as +lightning. + +In 1854 she wrote in her diary: + +"There is a God, and he is good, I say to myself. I try to increase my +trust in this, my only article of creed." + +Miss Mitchell never joined any church, but for years before she left +Nantucket she attended the Unitarian church, and her sympathies, as long +as she lived, were with that denomination, especially with the more +liberally inclined portion. There were always a few of the teachers and' +some of the students who sympathized with her in her views; but she +usually attended the college services on Sunday. + +President Taylor, of Vassar College, in his remarks at her funeral, +stated that all her life Professor Mitchell had been seeking the +truth,--that she was not willing to accept any statement without +studying into the matter herself,--"And," he added, "I think she has +found the truth she was seeking." + +Miss Mitchell never obtruded her views upon others, nor did she oppose +their views. She bore in silence what she could not believe, but always +insisted upon the right of private judgment. + +Miss W., a teacher at Vassar, was fretting at being obliged to attend +chapel exercises twice a day when she needed the time for rest and +recreation, and applied to Miss Mitchell for help in getting away from +it. After some talk Miss Mitchell said: "Oh, well, do as _I_ do--sit +back folding your arms, and think of something pleasant!" + +"Sunday, Dec. 18, 1866. We heard two sermons: the first in the +afternoon, by Rev. Mr. A., Baptist, the second in the evening, by Rev. +Mr. B., Congregationalist. + +"Rev. Mr. A. took a text from Deuteronomy, about 'Moses;' Rev. Mr. B. +took a text from Exodus, about 'Moses;' and I am told that the sermon on +the preceding Sunday was about Moses. + +"It seems to me strange that since we have the history of Christ in the +New Testament, people continue to preach about Moses. + +"Rev. Mr. A. was a man of about forty years of age. He chanted rather +than read a hymn. He chanted a sermon. His description of the journey of +Moses towards Canaan had some interesting points, but his manner was +affected; he cried, or pretended to cry, at the pathetic points. I hope +he really cried, for a weakness is better than an affectation of +weakness. He said, 'The unbeliever is already condemned.' It seems to me +that if anything would make me an infidel, it would be the threats +lavished against unbelief. + +"Mr. B. is a self-made man, the son of a blacksmith. He brought the +anvil, the hammer, and bellows into the pulpit, and he pounded and blew, +for he was in earnest. I felt the more respect for him because he was in +earnest. But when he snapped his fingers and said, 'I don't care that +for the religion of a man which does not begin with prayer,' I was +provoked at his forgetfulness of the character of his audience. + +"1867. I am more and more disgusted with the preaching that I hear!... +Why cannot a man act himself, be himself, and think for himself? It +seems to me that naturalness alone is power; that a borrowed word is +weaker than our own weakness, however small we may be. If I reach a +girl's heart or head, I know I must reach it through my own, and not +from bigger hearts and heads than mine. + +"March, 1873. There was something so genuine and so sincere in George +Macdonald that he took those of us who were _emotional_ completely--not +by storm so much as by gentle breezes.... What he said wasn't profound +except as it reached the depths of the heart.... He gave us such broad +theological lessons! In his sermon he said, 'Don't trouble yourself +about what you _believe_, but _do_ the will of God.' His consciousness +of the existence of God and of his immediate supervision was felt every +minute by those who listened.... + +"He stayed several days at the college, and the girls will never get +over the good effects of those three days--the cheerier views of life +and death. + +"... Rev. Dr. Peabody preached for us yesterday, and was lovely. +Everyone was charmed in spite of his old-fashioned ways. His voice is +very bad, but it was such a simple, common-sense discourse! Mr. Vassar +said if that was Unitarianism, it was just the right thing. + +"Aug. 29, 1875. Went to a Baptist church, and heard Rev. Mr. F. 'Christ +the way, the only way.' The sermon was wholly without logic, and yet he +said, near its close, that those who had followed him must be convinced +that this was true. He said a traveller whom he met on the cars admitted +that we all desired heaven, but believed that there were as many ways to +it as to Boston. Mr. F. said that God had prepared but one way, just as +the government in those countries of the Old World whose cities were +upon almost inaccessible pinnacles had prepared one way of approach. (It +occurred to me that if those governments possessed godlike powers, they +would have made a great many ways.) + +"Mr. F. was very severe upon those who expect to be saved by their own +deserts. He said, 'You tender a farthing, when you owe a million.' I +could not see what they owed at all! At this point he might well have +given some attention to 'good works;' and if he must mention 'debt,' he +might well remind them that they sat in an unpaid-for church! + +"It was plain that he relied upon his anecdotes for the hold upon his +audience, and the anecdotes were attached to the main discourse by a +very slender thread of connection. I felt really sad to know that not a +listener would lead a better life for that sermon--no man or woman went +out cheered, or comforted, or stimulated. + +"On the whole, it is strange that people who go to church are no worse +than they are! + +"Sept. 26, 1880. A clergyman said, in his sermon, 'I do not say with the +Frenchman, if there were no God it would be well to invent one, but I +say, if there were no future state of rewards and punishments, it would +be better to believe in one.' Did he mean to say, 'Better to believe a +lie'? + +"March 27, 1881. Dr. Lyman Abbott preached. I was surprised to find how +liberal Congregational preaching had become, for he said he hoped and +expected to see women at the bar and in the pulpit, although he believed +they would always be exceptional cases. He preached mainly on the +motherhood of God, and his whole sermon was a tribute to womanhood.... I +rejoice at the ideal womanhood of purity which he put before the girls. +I wish some one would preach purity to young men. + +"July 1, 1883. I went to hear Rev. Mr. ---- at the Universalist church. +He enumerated some of the dangers that threaten us: one was 'The +doctrines of scientists,' and he named Tyndale, Huxley, and Spencer. I +was most surprised at his fear of these men. Can the study of truth do +harm? Does not every true scientist seek only to know the truth? And in +our deep ignorance of what is truth, shall we dread the search for it? + +"I hold the simple student of nature in holy reverence; and while there +live sensualists, despots, and men who are wholly self-seeking, I cannot +bear to have these sincere workers held up in the least degree to +reproach. And let us have truth, even if the truth be the awful denial +of the good God. We must face the light and not bury our heads in the +earth. I am hopeful that scientific investigation, pushed on and on, +will reveal new ways in which God works, and bring to us deeper +revelations of the wholly unknown. + +"The physical and the spiritual seem to be, at present, separated by an +impassable gulf; but at any moment that gulf may be overleaped--possibly +a new revelation may come.... + +"April, 1878. I called on Professor Henry at the Smithsonian Institute. +He must be in his eightieth year; he has been ill and seems feeble, but +he is still the majestic old man, unbent in figure and undimmed in eye. + +"I always remember, when I see him, the remark of Dorothy Dix, 'He is +the truest man that ever lived.' + +"We were left alone for a little while, and he introduced the subject of +his nearness to death. He said, 'The National Academy has raised +$40,000, the interest of which is for myself and family as long as any +of us live [he has daughters only], and in view of my death it is a +great comfort to me.' I ventured to ask him if he feared death at all. +He said, 'Not in the least; I have thought of it a great deal, and have +come to feel it a friend. I _cherish_ the belief in immortality; I have +suffered much, at times, in regard to that matter.' Scientifically +considered, only, he thought the probability was on the side of +continued existence, as we must believe that spirit existed independent +of matter. + +"He went to a desk and pulled out from a drawer an old copy of +'Gregory's Astronomy,' and said, 'That book changed my whole life--I +read it when I was sixteen years old; I had read, previously, works of +the imagination only, and at sixteen, being ill in bed, that book was +near me; I read it, and determined to study science.' I asked him if a +life of science was a good life, and he said that he felt that it was +so. + +"... When I was travelling with Miss S., who was near-sighted and kept +her eyes constantly half-shut, it seemed to me that every other young +lady I met had wide, staring eyes. Now, after two years sitting by a +person who never reasons, it strikes me that every other person whom I +meet has been thinking hard, and his logic stands out a prominent +characteristic. + +"Aug. 27, 1879. Scientific Association met at Saratoga. ... Professor +Peirce, now over seventy years old, was much the same as ever. He went +on in the cars with us, and was reading Mallock's 'Is Life Worth +Living?' and I asked, 'Is it?' to which Professor Peirce replied, 'Yes, +I think it is.' Then I asked, 'If there is no future state, is life +worth living?' He replied, 'Indeed it is not; life is a cruel tragedy if +there is no immortality.' I asked him if he conceived of the future life +as one of embodiment, and he said 'Yes; I believe with St Paul that +there is a spiritual body....' + +"Professor Peirce's paper was on the 'Heat of the Sun;' he considers the +sun fed not by impact of meteors, but by the compression of meteors. I +did not think it very sound. He said some good things: 'Where the truth +demands, accept; what the truth denies, reject.' + +"Concord, Mass., 1879. To establish a school of philosophy had been the +dream of Alcott's life; and there he sat as I entered the vestry of a +church on one of the hottest days in August. He looked full as young as +he did twenty years ago, when he gave us a 'conversation' in Lynn. +Elizabeth Peabody came into the room, and walked up to the seat of the +rulers; her white hair streamed over her shoulders in wild carelessness, +and she was as careless as ever about her whole attire, but it was +beautiful to see the attention shown to her by Mr. Alcott and Mr. +Sanborn. + +"Emerson entered,--pale, thin, almost ethereal in countenance,--followed +by his daughter, who sat beside him and watched every word that he +uttered. On the whole, it was the same Emerson--he stumbled at a +quotation as he always did; but his thoughts were such as only Emerson +could have thought, and the sentences had the Emersonian pithiness. He +made his frequent sentences very emphatic. It was impossible to see any +thread of connection; but it always was so--the oracular sentences made +the charm. The subject was Memory.' He said, 'We remember the +selfishness or the wrong act that we have committed for years. It is as +it should be--Memory is the police-officer of the universe.' 'Architects +say that the arch never rests, and so the past never rests.' (Was it, +never sleeps?) 'When I talk with my friend who is a genealogist, I feel +that I am talking with a ghost.' + +"The little vestry, fitted perhaps for a hundred people, was packed with +two hundred,--all people of an intellectual cast of face,--and the +attention was intense. The thermometer was ninety in the shade! + +"I did not speak to Mr. Emerson; I felt that I must not give him a bit +of extra fatigue. + +"July 12, 1880. The school of philosophy has built a shanty for its +meetings, but it is a shanty to be proud of, for it is exactly adapted +to its needs. It is a long but not low building, entirely without +finish, but water-tight. A porch for entrance, and a recess similar at +the opposite end, which makes the place for the speakers. There was a +small table upon the platform on which were pond lilies, some shelves +around, and a few busts--one of Socrates, I think. + +"I went in the evening to hear Dr. Harris on 'Philosophy.' The rain +began to come down soon after I entered, and my philosophy was not +sufficient to keep me from the knowledge that I had neither overshoes +nor umbrella; I remembered, too, that it was but a narrow foot-path +through the wet grass to the omnibus. But I listened to Dr. Harris, and +enjoyed it. He lauded Fichte as the most accurate philosopher following +Kant--he said not of the greatest _breadth_, but the most acute. + +"After Dr. Harris' address, Mr. Alcott made a few remarks that were +excellent, and said that when we had studied philosophy for fifteen +years, as the lecturer had done, we might know something; but as it was, +he had pulled us to pieces and then put us together again. + +"The audience numbered sixty persons. + +"May, 1880. I have just finished Miss Peabody's account of Channing. I +have been more interested in Miss Peabody than in Channing, and have +felt how valuable she must have been to him. How many of Channing's +sermons were instigated by her questions! ... Miss Peabody must have +been very remarkable as a young woman to ask the questions which she +asked at twenty. + +"April, 1881. The waste of flowers on Easter Sunday distressed me. +Something is due to the flowers themselves. They are massed together +like a bushel of corn, and look like red and white sugar-plums as seen +in a confectioner's window. + +"A pillow of flowers is a monstrosity. A calla lily in a vase is a +beautiful creation; so is a single rose. But when the rose is crushed by +a pink on each side of it, and daisies crush the pinks, and azaleas +surround the daisies, there is no beauty and no fitness. + +"The cathedral had no flowers. + +"Aug. 22, 1882. We visited Whittier; we found him at lunch, but he soon +came into the parlor. He was very chatty, and seemed glad to see us. +Mrs. L. was with me, and Whittier was very ready to write in the album +which she brought with her, belonging to her adopted son. We drifted +upon theological subjects, and I asked Mr. Whittier if he thought that +we fell from a state of innocence; he replied that he thought we were +better than Adam and Eve, and if they fell, they 'fell up.' + +"His faith seems to be unbounded in the goodness of God, and his belief +in moral accountability. He said, 'I am a good deal of a Quaker in my +conviction that a light comes to me to dictate to me what is right.' We +stayed about an hour, and we were afraid it would be too much for him; +but Miss Johnson, his cousin, who lives with him, assured us that it was +good for him; and he himself said that he was sorry to have us go. + +"One thing that he said, I noted: that his fancy was for farm-work, but +he was not strong enough; he had as a young man some literary ambition, +but never thought of attaining the reputation which had come to him. + +"July 31, 1883. I have had two or three rich days! On Friday last I went +to Holderness, N.H., to the Asquam House; I had been asked by Mrs. T. to +join her party. There were at this house Mr. Whittier, Mr. and Mrs. +Cartland, Professor and Mrs. Johnson, of Yale, Mr. Williams, the Chinese +scholar, his brother, an Episcopal clergyman, and several others. The +house seemed full of fine, cultivated people. We stayed two days and a +half. + +"And first of the scenery. The road up to the house is a steep hill, and +at the foot of the hill it winds and turns around two lakes. The +panorama is complete one hundred and eighty degrees. Beyond the lakes +lie the mountains. We do not see Mt. Washington. The house has a piazza +nearly all around it. We had a room on the first floor--large, and with +two windows opening to the floor. + +"The programme of the day's work was delightfully monotonous. For an +hour or so after breakfast we sat in the ladies' parlor, we sewed, and +we told anecdotes. Whittier talked beautifully, almost always on the +future state and his confidence in it. Occasionally he touched upon +persons. He seems to have loved Lydia Maria Child greatly. + +"When the cool of the morning was over, we went out upon the piazza, and +later on we went under the trees, where, it is said, Whittier spends +most of the time. + +"There was little of the old-time theology in his views; his faith has +been always very firm. Mr. Cartland asked me one day if I really felt +there was any doubt of the immortality of the soul. I told him that on +the whole I believed it more than I doubted it, but I could not say that +I felt no doubt. Whittier asked me if there were no immortality if I +should be distressed by it, and I told him that I should be exceedingly +distressed; that it was the only thing that I craved. He said that +'annihilation was better for the wicked than everlasting punishment,' +and to that I assented. He said that he thought there might be persons +so depraved as not to be worth saving. I asked him if God made such. +Nobody seemed ready to reply. Besides myself there was another of the +party to whom a dying friend had promised to return, if possible, but +had not come. + +"Whittier believed that they did sometimes come. He said that of all +whom he had lost, no one would be so welcome to him as Lydia Maria +Child. + +"We held a little service in the parlor of the hotel, and Mrs. C. read +the fourteenth chapter of John. Rev. Mr. W. read a sermon from 'The pure +in heart shall see God," written by Parkhurst, of New York. He thought +the child should be told that in heaven he should have his hobby-horse. +After the service, when we talked it over, I objected to telling the +child this. Whittier did not object; he said that Luther told his little +boy that he should have a little dog with a golden tail in heaven. + +"Aug. 26, 1886. I have been to see an exhibition of a cooking school. I +found sixteen girls in the basement of a school-house. They had long +tables, across which stretched a line of gas-stoves and jets of gas. +Some of the girls were using saucepans; they set them upon the stove, +and then sat down where they could see a clock while the boiling process +went on. + +"At one table a girl was cutting out doughnuts; at another a girl was +making a pudding--a layer of bits of bread followed by a layer of fruit. +Each girl had her rolling-pin, and moulding-board or saucepan. + +"The chief peculiarity of these processes was the cleanliness. The +rolling-pins were clean, the knives were clean, the aprons were clean, +the hands were clean. Not a drop was spilled, not a crumb was dropped. + +"If into the kitchen of the crowded mother there could come the +utensils, the commodities, the clean towels, the ample _time_, there +would come, without the lessons, a touch of the millennium. + +"I am always afraid of manual-labor schools. I am not afraid that these +girls could not read, for every American girl reads, and to read is much +more important than to cook; but I _am_ afraid that not all can +_write_--some of them were not more than twelve years old. + +"And what of the boys? Must a common cook always be a girl? and must a +boy not cook unless on the top of the ladder, with the pay of the +president of Harvard College? + +"I am jealous for the schools; I have heard a gentleman who stands high +in science declare that the cooking schools would eventually kill out +every literary college in the land--for women. But why not for men? If +the food for the body is more important than the food for the mind, let +us destroy the latter and accept the former, but let us not continue to +do what has been tried for fifteen hundred years,--to keep one half of +the world to the starvation of the mind, in order to feed better the +physical condition of the other half. + +"Let us have cooks; but let us leave it a matter of choice, as we leave +the dressmaking and the shoe-making, the millinery and the +carpentry,--free to be chosen! + +"There are cultivated and educated women who enjoy cooking; so there are +cultivated men who enjoy Kensington embroidery. Who objects? But take +care that some rousing of the intellect comes first,--that it may be an +enlightened choice,--and do not so fill the day with bread and butter +and stitches that no time is left for the appreciation of Whittier, +letting at least the simple songs of daily life and the influence of +rhythm beautify the dreary round of the three meals a day." + +Miss Mitchell had a stock of conundrums on hand, and was a good guesser. +She told her stories at all times when they happened to come into her +mind. She would arrive at her sister's house, just from Poughkeepsie on +a vacation, and after the threshold was crossed and she had said "Good +morning," in a clear voice to be heard by all within her sight, she +would, perhaps, say, "Well, I have a capital story which I must tell +before I take my bonnet off, or I shall forget it!" And there went with +her telling an action, voice, and manner which added greater point to +the story, but which cannot be described. One of her associates at +Vassar, in recalling some of her anecdotes, writes: "Professor Mitchell +was quite likely to stand and deliver herself of a bright little speech +before taking her seat at breakfast. It was as though the short walk +from the observatory had been an inspiration to thought." + +She was quick at repartee. On one occasion Charlotte Cushman and her +friend Miss Stebbins were visiting Miss Mitchell at Vassar. Miss +Mitchell took them out for a drive, and pointed out the different +objects of interest as they drove along the banks of the Hudson. "What +is that fine building on the hill?" asked Miss Cushman.--"That," said +Miss Mitchell, "was a boys' school, originally, but it is now used as a +hotel, where they charge five dollars a day!"--"Five dollars a day?" +exclaimed Miss Cushman; "Jupiter Ammon!"--"No," said Miss Stebbins, +"Jupiter Mammon!"--"Not at all," said Miss Mitchell, "Jupiter _gammon!_" + +"Farewell, Maria," said an old Friend, "I hope the Lord will be with +thee." + +"Good-by," she replied, "I _know_ he will be with you." + +A characteristic trait in Miss Mitchell was her aversion to receiving +unsolicited advice in regard to her private affairs. "A suggestion is an +impertinence," she would often say. The following anecdote shows how she +received such counsel: + +A literary man of more than national reputation said to one of her +admirers, "I, for one, cannot endure your Maria Mitchell." At her +solicitation he explained why; and his reason was, as she had +anticipated, founded on personal pique. It seems he had gone up from New +York to Poughkeepsie especially to call upon Professor Mitchell. During +the course of conversation, with that patronizing condescension which +some self-important men extend to all women indiscriminately, he +proceeded to inform her that her manner of living was not in accordance +with his ideas of expediency. "Now," he said, "instead of going for each +one of your meals all the way from your living-rooms in the observatory +over to the dining-hall in the college building, I should think it would +be far more convenient and sensible for you to get your breakfast, at +least, right in your own apartments. In the morning you could make a cup +of coffee and boil an egg with almost no trouble." At which Professor +Mitchell drew herself up with the air of a tragic queen, saying, "And is +my time worth no more than to boil eggs?" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +MISS MITCHELL'S LETTERS--WOMAN SUFFRAGE--MEMBERSHIP IN VARIOUS +SOCIETIES--PUBLISHED ARTICLES--DEATH--CONCLUSION + + +Miss Mitchell was a voluminous letter writer and an excellent +correspondent, but her letters are not essays, and not at all in the +approved style of the "Complete Letter Writer." If she had any +particular thing to communicate, she rushed into the subject in the +first line. In writing to her own family and intimate friends, she +rarely signed her full name; sometimes she left it out altogether, but +ordinarily "M.M." was appended abruptly when she had expressed all that +she had to say. She wrote as she talked, with directness and promptness. +No one, in watching her while she was writing a letter, ever saw her +pause to think what she should say next or how she should express the +thought. When she came to that point, the "M.M." was instantly added. +She had no secretiveness, and in looking over her letters it has been +almost impossible to find one which did not contain too much that was +personal, either about herself or others, to make it proper; especially +as she herself would be very unwilling to make the affairs of others +public. + +"Oct. 22, 1860. I have spent $100 on dress this year. I have a very +pretty new felt bonnet of the fashionable shape, trimmed with velvet; it +cost only $7, which, of course, was pitifully cheap for Broadway. If +thou thinks after $100 it wouldn't be extravagant for me to have a +waterproof cloak and a linsey-woolsey morning dress, please to send me +patterns of the latter material and a description of waterproofs of +various prices. They are so ugly, and I am so ditto, that I feel if a +few dollars, more or less, would make me look better, even in a storm, I +must not mind it." + +"My orthodoxy is settled beyond dispute, I trust, by the following +circumstance: The editor of a New York magazine has written to me to +furnish an article for the Christmas number on 'The Star in the East.' I +have ventured, in my note of declination, to mention that if I +investigated that subject I might decide that there was no star in the +case, and then what would become of me, and _where should I go_? Since +that he has not written, so I may have hung myself! + +"1879. April 25. I have 'done' New York very much as we did it thirty +years ago. On Saturday I went to Miss Booth's reception, and it was like +Miss Lynch's, only larger than Miss Lynch's was when I was there.... +Miss Booth and a friend live on Fifty-ninth street, and have lived +together for years. Miss Booth is a nice-looking woman. She says she has +often been told that she looked like me; she has gray hair and black +eyes, but is fair and well-cut in feature. I had a very nice time. + +"On Sunday I went to hear Frothingham, and he was at his very best. The +subject was 'Aspirations of Man,' and the sermon was rich in thought and +in word. + +... Frothingham's discourse was more cheery than usual; he talked about +the wonderful idea of personal immortality, and he said if it be a dream +of the imagination let us worship the imagination. He spoke of Mrs. +Child's book on 'Aspirations,' and I shall order it at once. The only +satire was such a sentence as this: on speaking of a piece of Egyptian +sculpture he said, 'The gates of heaven opened to the good, not to the +orthodox.' + +"To-day, Monday, I have been to a public school (a primary) and to +Stewart's mansion. I asked the majordomo to take us through the rooms on +the lower floor, which he did. I know of no palace which comes up to it. +The palaces always have a look as if at some point they needed +refurbishing up. I suppose that Mrs. Stewart uses that dining-room, but +it did not look as if it was made to eat in. I still like Gérôme's +'Chariot Race' better than anything else of his. The 'Horse Fair' was +too high up for me to enjoy it, and a little too mixed up. + +"1873. St. Petersburg is another planet, and, strange to say, is an +agreeable planet. Some of these Europeans are far ahead of us in many +things. I think we are in advance only in one universal democracy of +freedom. But then, that is everything. + +"Nov. 17, 1875. I think you are right to decide to make your home +pleasant at any sacrifice which involves _only_ silence. And you are so +all over a radical, that it won't hurt you to be toned down a little, +and in a few years, as the world moves, your family will have moved one +way and you the other a little, and you will suddenly find yourself on +the same plane. It is much the way that has been between Miss ---- and +myself. To-day she is more of a women's rights woman than I was when I +first knew her, while I begin to think that the girls would better dress +at tea-time, though I think on that subject we thought alike at first, +so I'll take another example. + +"I have learned to think that a _young_ girl would better not walk to +town alone, even in the daytime. When I came to Vassar I should have +allowed a child to do it. But I never knew _much_ of the world--never +shall--nor will you. And as we were both born a little deficient in +worldly caution and worldly policy, let us receive from others those, +lessons,--_do as well as we can_, and keep our _heart_ unworldly if our +manners take on something of those ways. + +"Oct. 25, 1875.... I have scarcely got over the _tire_ of the congress +[Footnote: The annual meeting of the Association for the Advancement of +Women, of which Miss Mitchell was president. It was held at Syracuse, +N.Y., in 1875.] yet, although it is a week since I returned. I feel as +if a great burden was lifted from my soul. You will see my 'speech' in +the 'Woman's Journal,' but in the last sentence it should be 'eastward' +and not '_earth_ward.' It was a grand affair, and babies came in arms. +School-boys stood close to the platform, and school-girls came, books in +hand. The hall was a beautiful opera-house, and could hold at least one +thousand seven hundred. It was packed and jammed, and rough men stood in +the aisles. When I had to speak to announce a paper I stood _very still_ +until they became quiet. Once, as I stood in that way, a man at the +extreme rear, before I had spoken a word, shouted out, 'Louder!' We all +burst into a laugh. Then, of course, I had to make them quiet again. I +lifted the little mallet, but I did not strike it, and they all became +still. I was surprised at the good breeding of such a crowd. In the +evening about half was made up of men. I could not have believed that +such a crowd would keep still when I asked them to. + +"They say I did well. Think of my developing as a president of a social +science society in my old age!" + +Miss Mitchell took no prominent part in the woman suffrage movement, but +she believed in it firmly, and its leaders were some of her most highly +valued friends. + +"Sept. 7, 1875. Went to a picnic for woman suffrage at a beautiful grove +at Medfield, Mass. It was a gathering of about seventy-five persons +(mostly from Needham), whose president seemed to be vigorous and +good-spirited. + +"The main purpose of the meeting was to try to affect public sentiment +to such an extent as to lead to the defeat of a man who, when the +subject of woman suffrage was before the Legislature, said that the +women had all they wanted now--that they could get anything with 'their +eyes as bright as the buttons on an angel's coat.' Lucy Stone, Mr. +Blackwell, Rev. Mr. Bush, Miss Eastman, and William Lloyd Garrison +spoke. + +"Garrison did not look a day older than when I first saw him, forty +years ago; he spoke well--they said with less fire than he used in his +younger days. Garrison said what every one says--that the struggle for +women was the old anti-slavery struggle over again; that as he looked +around at the audience beneath the trees, it seemed to be the same scene +that he had known before. + +"... We had a very good bit of missionary work done at our table (at +Vassar) to-day. A man whom we all despise began to talk against voting +by women. I felt almost inclined to pay him something for his remarks. + +"A group from the Washington Women Suffrage Association stopped here +to-day.... I liked Susan B. Anthony very much. She seemed much worn, but +was all alive. She is eighteen months younger than I, but seems much +more alert. I suppose brickbats are livelier than logarithms!" + +Miss Mitchell was a member of several learned societies. + +She was the first woman elected to membership of the American Academy of +Arts and Sciences, whose headquarters are at Boston. + +In 1869 she was chosen a member of the American Philosophical Society, a +society founded by Benjamin Franklin, in Philadelphia. + +The American Association for the Advancement of Science made her a +member in the early part of its existence. Miss Mitchell was one of the +earliest members of the American Association for the Advancement of +Women. At one period she was president of the association, and for many +years served as chairman of the committee on science. In this latter +capacity she reached, through circulars and letters, women studying +science in all parts of the country; and the reports, as shown from year +to year, show a wonderful increase in the number of such women. She was +a member, also, of the New England Women's Club, of Boston, and after +her annual visit at Christmas she entertained her students at Vassar +with descriptions of the receptions and meeting of that body. She was +also a member of the New York Sorosis. She received the degree of Ph.D. +from Rutgers Female College in 1870, her first degree of LL.D. from +Hanover College in 1832, and her last LL.D. from Columbia College in +1887. + +Miss Mitchell had no ambition to appear in print, and most of her +published articles were in response to applications from publishers. + +A paper entitled "Mary Somerville" appeared in the "Atlantic Monthly" +for May, 1860. There were several articles in "Silliman's +Journal,"--mostly results of observations on Jupiter and Saturn,--a few +popular science papers in "Hours at Home," and one on the "Herschels," +printed in "The Century" just after her death. + +Miss Mitchell also read a few lectures to small societies, and to one or +two girls' schools; but she never allowed such outside work to interfere +with her duties at Vassar College, to which she devoted herself heart +and soul. + +When the failure of her health became apparent to the members of her +family, it was with the utmost difficulty that Miss Mitchell could be +prevailed upon to resign her position. She had fondly hoped to remain at +Vassar until she should be seventy years old, of which she lacked about +six months. It was hoped that complete rest might lead to several years +more of happy life for her; but it was not to be so--she died in Lynn, +June 28, 1889. + +It was one of Miss Mitchell's boasts that she had earned a salary for +over fifty years, without any intermission. She also boasted that in +July, 1883, when she slipped and fell, spraining herself so that she was +obliged to remain in the house a day or two, it was the first time in +her memory when she had remained in the house a day. In fact, she made a +point of walking out every day, no matter what the weather might be. A +serious fall, during her illness in Lynn, stopped forever her daily +walks. + +She had resigned her position in January, 1888. The resignation was laid +on the table until the following June, at which time the trustees made +her Professor Emeritus, and offered her a home for life at the +observatory. This offer she did not accept, preferring to live with her +family in Lynn. The following extracts from letters which she received +at this time show with what reverence and love she was regarded by +faculty and students. + +"Jan. 9, 1888.... You may be sure that we shall be glad to do all we can +to honor one whose faithful service and honesty of heart and life have +been among the chief inspirations of Vassar College throughout its +history. Of public reputation you have doubtless had enough, but I am +sure you cannot have too much of the affection and esteem which we feel +toward you, who have had the privilege of working, with you." + +"Jan. 10, 1888. You will consent, you _must_ consent, to having your +home here, and letting the work go. It is not astronomy that is wanted +and needed, it is Maria Mitchell.... The richest part of my life here is +connected with you.... I cannot picture Vassar without you. There's +nothing to point to!" + +"May 5, 1889. In all the great wonder of life, you have given me more of +what I have wanted than any other creature ever gave me. I hoped I +should amount to something for your sake." + +Dr. Eliza M. Mosher, at one time resident physician at the college, said +of her: "She was quick to withdraw objections when she was convinced of +error in her judgment. I well remember her opposition to the ground I +took in my 'maiden speech' in faculty meeting, and how, at supper, she +stood, before sitting down, to say, 'You were right this afternoon. I +have thought the matter over, and, while I do not like to believe it, I +think it is true.'" + +Of her rooms at the observatory, Miss Grace Anna Lewis, who had been a +guest, wrote thus: "Her furniture was plain and simple, and there was a +frank simplicity corresponding therewith which made me believe she chose +to have it so. It looked natural for her. I think I should have been +disappointed had I found her rooms fitted up with undue elegance." + +"Professor Mitchell's position at Vassar gave astronomy a prominence +there that it has never had in any other college for women, and in but +few for men. I suppose it would have made no difference what she had +taught. Doubtless she never suspected how many students endured the +mathematical work of junior Astronomy in order to be within range of her +magnetic personality." (From "Wide Awake," September, 1889.) + +A graduate writes: "Her personality was so strong that it was felt all +over the college, even by those who were not in her department, and who +only admired her from a distance." + +Extract from a letter written after her death by a former pupil: "I +count Maria Mitchell's services to Vassar and her pupils infinitely +valuable, and her character and attainments great beyond anything that +has yet been told.... I was one of the pupils upon whom her freedom from +all the shams and self-deceptions made an impression that elevated my +whole standard, mental and moral.... The influence of her own personal +character sustains its supreme test in the evidence constantly +accumulating, that it strengthens rather than weakens with the lapse of +time. Her influence upon her pupils who were her daily companions has +been permanent, character-moulding, and unceasingly progressive." + +President Taylor, in his address at her funeral, said: "If I were to +select for comment the one most striking trait of her character, I +should name her _genuineness_. There was no false note in Maria +Mitchell's thinking or utterance.... + +"One who has known her kindness to little children, who has watched her +little evidences of thoughtful care for her associates and friends, who +has seen her put aside her own long-cherished rights that she might make +the way of a new and untried officer easier, cannot forget the tenderer +side of her character.... + +"But if would be vain for me to try to tell just what it was in Miss +Mitchell that attracted us who loved her. It was this combination of +great strength and independence, of deep affection and tenderness, +breathed through and through with the sentiment of a perfectly genuine +life, which has made for us one of the pilgrim-shrines of life the study +in the observatory of Vassar College where we have known her _at home_, +surrounded by the evidences of her honorable professional career. She +has been an impressive figure in our time, and one whose influence +lives." + + + + +INTRODUCTORY NOTE + + +On the 17th of December, 1831, a gold medal of the value of twenty +ducats was founded, at the suggestion of Professor Schumacher, of +Altona, by his Majesty Frederic VI., at that time king of Denmark, to be +awarded to any person who should first discover a telescopic comet. This +foundation and the conditions on which the medal would be awarded were +announced to the public in the "Astronomische Nachrichten" for the 20th +of March, 1832. The regulations underwent a revision after a few years, +and in April, 1840 ("Astronomische Nachrichten," No. 400), were +republished as follows: + +"1. The medal will be given to the first discoverer of any comet, which, +at the time of its discovery, is invisible to the naked eye, and whose +periodic time is unknown. + +"2. The discoverer, if a resident of any part of Europe except Great +Britain, is to make known his discovery to Mr. Schumacher at Altona. If +a resident in Great Britain, or any other quarter of the globe except +the continent of Europe, he is to make his discovery known directly to +Mr. Francis Baily, London. [Since Mr. Baily's decease, G.B. Airy, Esq., +Astronomer Royal, has been substituted in this and in the 7th and 8th +articles of the regulations.] + +"3. This communication must be made by the _first post_ after the +discovery. If there is no regular mail at the place of discovery, the +first opportunity of any other kind must be made use of, without waiting +for other observations. Exact compliance with this condition is +indispensable. If this condition is not complied with, and only one +person discovers the comet, no medal will be given for the discovery. +Otherwise, the medal will be assigned to the discoverer who earliest +complies with the condition. + +"4. The communication must not only state as exactly as possible the +time of the discovery, in order to settle the question between rival +claims, but also as near as may be the place of the comet, and the +direction in which it is moving, as far as these points can be +determined from the observations of one night. + +"5. If the observations of one night are not sufficient to settle these +points, the enunciation of the discovery must still be made, in +compliance with the third article. As soon as a second observation is +made, it must be communicated in like manner with the first, and with it +the longitude of the place where the discovery is made, unless it take +place at some known observatory. The expectation of obtaining a second +observation will never be received as a satisfactory reason for +postponing the communication of the first. + +"6. The medal will be assigned twelve months after the discovery of the +comet, and no claim will be admitted after that period. + +"7. Messrs. Baily and Schumacher are to decide if a discovery has been +made. If they differ, Mr. Gauss, of Göttingen, is to decide. + +"8. Messrs. Baily and Schumacher have agreed to communicate mutually to +each other every announcement of a discovery. + +"Altona, April, 1840." + +On the 1st of October, 1847, at half-past ten o'clock, P.M., a +telescopic comet was discovered by Miss Maria Mitchell, of Nantucket, +nearly vertical above Polaris about five degrees. The further progress +and history of the discovery will sufficiently appear from the following +correspondence. On the 3d of October the same comet was seen at +half-past seven, P.M., at Rome, by Father de Vico, and information of +the fact was immediately communicated by him to Professor Schumacher at +Altona. On the 7th of October, at twenty minutes past nine, P.M., it was +observed by Mr. W.R. Dawes, at Camden Lodge, Cranbrook, Kent, in +England, and on the 11th it was seen by Madame Rümker, the wife of the +director of the observatory at Hamburg. Mr. Schumacher, in announcing +this last discovery, observes: [Footnote: "Astronomische Nachrichten," +No. 616.] "Madame Rümker has for several years been on the lookout for +comets, and her persevering industry seemed at last about to be +rewarded, when a letter was received from Father de Vico, addressed to +the editor of this journal, from which it appeared that the same comet +had been observed by him on the 3d instant at Rome." + +Not deeming it probable that his daughter had anticipated the observers +of this country and Europe in the discovery of this comet, no steps were +taken by Mr. Mitchell with a view to obtaining the king of Denmark's +medal. Prompt information, however, of the discovery was transmitted by +Mr. Mitchell to his friend, William C. Bond, Esq., director of the +observatory at Cambridge. The observations of the Messrs. Bond upon the +comet commenced on the 7th of October; and on the 30th were transmitted +by me to Mr. Schumacher, for publication in the "Astronomische +Nachrichten." It was stated in the memorandum of the Messrs. Bond that +the comet was seen by Miss Mitchell on the 1st instant. This notice +appeared in the "Nachrichten" of Dec. 9, 1847, and the priority of Miss +Mitchell's discovery was immediately admitted throughout Europe. + +My attention had been drawn to the subject of the king of Denmark's +comet medal by some allusion to it in my correspondence with Professor +Schumacher, in reference to the discovery of telescopic comets by Mr. +George P. Bond, of the observatory at Cambridge. Having learned some +weeks after Miss Mitchell's discovery that no communication had been +made on her behalf to the trustees of the medal, and aware that the +regulations in this respect were enforced with strictness, I was +apprehensive that it might be too late to supply the omission. Still, +however, as the spirit of the regulations had been complied with by Mr. +Mitchell's letter to Mr. Bond of the 3d of October, it seemed worth +while at least to make the attempt to procure the medal for his +daughter. Although the attempt might be unsuccessful, it would at any +rate cause the priority of her discovery to be more authentically +established than it might otherwise have been. + +I accordingly wrote to Mr. Mitchell for information on the subject, and +applied for, and obtained from Mr. Bond, Mr. Mitchell's original letter +to him of the 3d of October, with the Nantucket postmark. These papers +were transmitted to Professor Schumacher, with a letter dated 15th and +24th January. + +On the 8th of February I wrote a letter to my much esteemed friend, +Captain W.H. Smyth, R.N., formerly president of the Astronomical Society +at London, requesting him to interest himself with Professor Schumacher +to obtain the medal for Miss Mitchell. Captain Smyth entered with great +readiness into the matter, and addressed a note on the subject to Mr. +Airy, the Astronomer Royal, at Greenwich. Mr. Airy kindly wrote to +Professor Schumacher without loss of time; but it was their united +opinion that a compliance with the condition relative to immediate +notice of a discovery was indispensable, and that it was consequently +out of their power to award the medal to Miss Mitchell. Mr. Schumacher +suggested, as the only means by which this difficulty could be overcome, +an application to the Danish government, through the American legation +at Copenhagen. + +Conceiving that the correspondence could be carried on more promptly +through the Danish legation at Washington, I addressed a letter on the +20th of April to Mr. Steene-Billé, Chargé d'Affaires of the king of +Denmark in this country, and sent with it copies of the documents which +had been forwarded to Professor Schumacher. Mr. Steene-Billé, however, +was of opinion that the application, if made at all, should be made +through the American legation at Copenhagen; but he expressed at the +same time a confident opinion that, owing to the condition and political +relations of Denmark, the application would necessarily prove +unavailing. + +It was at this time that the difficulties in Schleswig-Holstein were at +their height, and it seemed hopeless at such a moment, and in face of +the opinion of the official representative of the Danish government in +this country, to engage its attention to an affair of this kind. No +further attempt was accordingly made by me, for some weeks, to pursue +the matter. In fact, a report reached the United States that the medal +had actually been awarded to Father de Vico. Although this was believed +by me to be an unfounded rumor, the regulations allowing one year for +the presentation of claims, there was reason to apprehend that it +proceeded from some quarter well informed as to what would probably take +place at the expiration of the twelvemonth. + +On the 5th of August, Father de Vico, who had left Rome in the spring in +consequence of the troubles there, made a visit to Cambridge, in company +with the Right Rev. Bishop Fitzpatrick, of Boston, and on this occasion +informed me that he had received an intimation from Professor Schumacher +that the comet-medal would be awarded to Miss Mitchell. I was disposed +to think that Father de Vico labored under some misapprehension as to +the purport of Professor Schumacher's communications, as afterwards +appeared to be the case. I felt encouraged, however, by his statement +not only to renew my correspondence on the subject with Professor +Schumacher, but I determined, on the 8th of August, to address a letter +to R.P. Fleniken, Esq., Chargé d'Affaires of the United States at +Copenhagen. This letter was accompanied with copies of the original +papers. + +Mr. Fleniken entered with great zeal and interest into the subject. He +lost no time in bringing it before the Danish government by means of a +letter to the Count de Knuth, the Minister at that time for Foreign +Affairs, and of another to the king of Denmark himself. His Majesty, +with the most obliging promptness, ordered a reference of the case to +Professor Schumacher, with directions to report thereon without delay. +Mr. Schumacher had been for a long time in possession of the documents +establishing Miss Mitchell's priority, which was, indeed, admitted +throughout scientific Europe. Professor Schumacher immediately made his +report in favor of granting the medal to Miss Mitchell, and this report +was accepted by the king. The result was forthwith communicated by the +Count de Knuth to Mr. Fleniken, with the gratifying intelligence that +the king had ordered the medal to be awarded to Miss Mitchell, and that +it would be delivered to him for transmission as soon as it could be +struck off. This has since been done. + +It must be regarded as a striking proof of an enlightened interest for +the promotion of science, not less than of a kind regard for the rights +and feelings of the individual most concerned in this decision, that the +king of Denmark should have bestowed his attention upon this subject, at +a period of so much difficulty and alarm for Europe in general and his +own kingdom in particular. It would not have been possible to act more +promptly in a season of the profoundest tranquillity. His Majesty has on +this occasion shown that he is animated by the same generous zeal for +the encouragement of astronomical research which led his predecessor to +found the medal; while he has performed an act of gracious courtesy +toward a stranger in a distant land which must ever be warmly +appreciated by her friends and countrymen. + +Nor ought the obliging agency of the Count de Knuth, the Minister of +Foreign Affairs, to be passed without notice. The slightest indifference +on his part, even the usual delays of office, would have prevented the +application from reaching the king before the expiration of the +twelvemonth within which all claims must, by the regulations, be +presented. No one can reflect upon the pressure of business which must +have existed in the foreign office at Copenhagen during the past year, +without feeling that the Count de Knuth must largely share his +sovereign's zeal for science, as well as his love of justice. Nothing +else will account for the attention bestowed at such a political crisis +on an affair of this kind. The same attention appears to have been given +to the subject by his successor, Count Moltka. + +It was quite fortunate for the success of the application that the +office of chargé d'affaires of the United States at Copenhagen happened +to be filled by a gentleman disposed to give it his prompt and +persevering support. A matter of this kind, of course, lay without the +province of his official duties. But no subject officially committed to +him by the instructions of his government could have been more zealously +pursued. On the very day on which my communication of the 8th of August +reached him, Mr. Fleniken addressed his letters to the minister of +foreign affairs and to the king, and he continued to give his attention +to the subject till the object was happily effected, and the medal +placed in his hands. + +The event itself, however insignificant in the great world of politics +and business, is one of pleasing interest to the friends of American +science, and it has been thought proper that the following record of it +should be preserved in a permanent form. I have regretted the frequent +recurrence of my own name in the correspondence, and have suppressed +several letters of my own which could be spared, without rendering less +intelligible the communications of the other parties, to whom the +interest and merit of the transaction belong. + +EDWARD EVERETT. + +CAMBRIDGE, 1st February, 1849. + + + + +CORRESPONDENCE + + +HON. WILLIAM MITCHELL TO WILLIAM C. BOND, ESQ., CAMBRIDGE. + +"Nantucket, 10 mo. 3d, 1847. + +"MY DEAR FRIEND: I write now merely to say that Maria discovered a +telescopic comet at half-past ten on the evening of the first instant, +at that hour nearly vertical above Polaris five degrees. Last evening it +had advanced westwardly; this evening still further, and nearing the +pole. It does not bear illumination, but Maria has obtained its right +ascension and declination, and will not suffer me to announce it. Pray +tell me whether it is one of George's; if not, whether it has been seen +by anybody. Maria supposes it may be an old story. If quite convenient, +just drop a line to her; it will oblige me much. I expect to leave home +in a day or two, and shall be in Boston next week, and I would like to +have her hear from you before I can meet you. I hope it will not give +thee much trouble amidst thy close engagements. + +"Our regards are to all of you, most truly, + +"WILLIAM MITCHELL." + + * * * * * + +HON. EDWARD EVERETT TO HON. WILLIAM MITCHELL. + +"Cambridge, 10th January, 1848. + +"DEAR SIR: I take the liberty to inquire of you whether any steps have +been taken by you, on behalf of your daughter, by way of claiming the +medal of the king of Denmark for the first discovery of a telescopic +comet. The regulations require that information of the discovery should +be transmitted by the next mail to Mr. Airy, the Astronomer Royal, if +the discovery is made elsewhere than on the continent of Europe. If made +in the United States, I understand from Mr. Schumacher that information +may be sent to the Danish minister at Washington, who will forward it to +Mr. Airy,--but it must be sent by next mail. + +"In consequence of non-compliance with these regulations, Mr. George +Bond has on one occasion lost the medal. I trust this may not be the +case with Miss Mitchell. + +"I am, dear sir, with much respect, faithfully yours, + +"EDWARD EVERETT." + + * * * * * + +EXTRACT FROM A LETTER OF THE HON. WILLIAM MITCHELL TO HON. EDWARD +EVERETT. + +"Nantucket, 1st mo. 15th, 1848. + +"ESTEEMED FRIEND: Thy kind letter of the 10th instant reached me duly. +No steps were taken by my daughter in claim of the medal of the Danish +king. On the night of the discovery, I was fully satisfied that it was a +comet from its location, though its real motion at this time was so +nearly opposite to that of the earth (the two bodies approaching each +other) that its apparent motion was scarcely appreciable. I urged very +strongly that it should be published immediately, but she resisted it as +strongly, though she could but acknowledge her conviction that it was a +comet. She remarked to me, 'If it is a new comet, our friends, the +Bonds, have seen it. It may be an old one, so far as relates to the +discovery, and one which we have not followed.' She consented, however, +that I should write to William C. Bond, which I did by the first mail +that left the island after the discovery. This letter did not reach my +friend till the 6th or 7th, having been somewhat delayed here and also +in the post-office at Cambridge. + +"Referring to my journal I find these words: 'Maria will not consent to +have me announce it as an original discovery.' + +"The stipulations of His Majesty have, therefore, not been complied +with, and the peculiar circumstances of the case, her sex, and isolated +position, may not be sufficient to justify a suspension of the rules. +Nevertheless, it would gratify me that the generous monarch should know +that there is a love of science even in this to him remote corner of the +earth. "I am thine, my dear friend, most truly, + +"WILLIAM MITCHELL." + + * * * * * + +HON. EDWARD EVERETT TO PROFESSOR SCHUMACHER, AT ALTONA. + +"Cambridge, 15th January, 1848. + +"DEAR SIR: Your letter of the 27th October, accompanying the +'Planeten-Circulär,' reached me but a few days since. If you would be so +good as to forward to the care of John Miller, Esq., 26 Henrietta +street, Covent Garden, London, any letter you may do me the favor to +write to me, it would reach me promptly. + +"The regulations relative to the king of Denmark's medal have not +hitherto been understood in this country. I shall take care to give +publicity to them. Not only has Mr. Bond lost the medal to which you +think he would have been entitled, [Footnote: Mr. Schumacher had +remarked to me, in his letter of the 27th of October, that Mr. George P. +Bond would have received the medal for the comet first seen by him as a +nebulous object on the 18th of February, 1846, if his observation made +at that time had been communicated, according to the regulations, to the +trustees of the medal.] but I fear the same has happened to Miss +Mitchell, of Nantucket, who discovered the comet of last October on the +first day of that month. I think it was not seen in Europe till the +third. + +"I remain, dear sir, with great respect, faithfully yours, + +"EDWARD EVERETT." + + * * * * * + +HON. EDWARD EVERETT TO HON. WILLIAM MITCHELL. + +"Cambridge, 18th January, 1848. + +"DEAR SIR: I have your esteemed favor of the 15th, which reached me this +day. I am fearful that the rigor deemed necessary in enforcing the +regulations relative to the king of Denmark's prize may prevent your +daughter from receiving it. I learn from Mr. Schumacher's letter, that, +besides Mr. George Bond, Dr. Bremeker lost the medal because he allowed +a single post-day to pass before he announced his discovery. There +could, in his case, be no difficulty in establishing the fact of his +priority, nor any doubt of the good faith with which it was asserted. +But inasmuch as Miss Mitchell's discovery was actually made known to Mr. +Bond by the next mail which left your island, it is possible--barely +possible--that this may be considered as a substantial compliance with +the regulation. At any rate, it is worth trying; and if we can do no +more we can establish the lady's claim to all the credit of the prior +discovery. I shall therefore apply to Mr. Bond for the letter which you +wrote, and if it contains nothing improper to be seen by others we will +forward it to the Danish minister at Washington with a certified extract +from your journal. I will have a certified copy of all these papers +prepared and sent to Mr. Schumacher; and if any departure from the +letter of the regulations is admissible, this would seem to be a case +for it. I trust Miss Mitchell's retiring disposition will not lead her +to oppose the taking of these steps. + +"I am, dear sir, with great respect, faithfully yours, + +[Signed] "EDWARD EVERETT." + + * * * * * + +POSTSCRIPT TO MR. EVERETT'S LETTER TO PROFESSOR SCHUMACHER OF THE 15TH +JANUARY, 1848. + +"P.S.--The foregoing was written to go by the steamer of the 15th, but +was a few hours too late. I have since received some information in +reference to the comet of October which leads me to hope that you may +feel it in your power to award the medal to Miss Maria Mitchell. Miss +Mitchell saw the comet at half-past ten o'clock on the evening of +October 1st. Her father, a skilful astronomer, made an entry in his +journal to that effect. On the third day of October he wrote a letter to +Mr. Bond, the director of our observatory, announcing the discovery. +This letter was despatched the following day, being the first post-day +after the discovery of the comet. This letter I transmit to you, +together with letters from Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Bond to myself. +Nantucket, as you are probably aware, is a small, secluded island, lying +off the extreme point of the coast of Massachusetts. Mr. Mitchell is a +member of the executive council of Massachusetts and a most respectable +person. + +"As the claimant is a young lady of great diffidence, the place a +retired island, remote from all the high-roads of communication; as the +conditions have not been well understood in this country; and especially +as there was a substantial compliance with them--I hope His Majesty may +think Miss Maria Mitchell entitled to the medal. + +"Cambridge, 24th January, 1848. + + * * * * * + +EXTRACT FROM A LETTER FROM MR. EVERETT TO CAPTAIN W.H. SMYTH, R.N., LATE +PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, LONDON, DATED CAMBRIDGE, +8TH FEBRUARY, 1848. + +"I have lately been making interest with Mr. Schumacher to cause the +king of Denmark's medal to be given to Miss Mitchell for the discovery +of the comet to which her name has been given, if I mistake not, in the +journal of your society as well as in the 'Nachrichten.' She +unquestionably discovered it at half-past ten on the evening of the 1st +of October; it was not, I think, seen in Europe till the 3d. Her father, +on the 3d, wrote a letter to Mr. Bond, the director of our observatory, +informing him of this discovery; and this letter was sent by the first +mail that left the little out-of-the-way island (Nantucket) after the +discovery. The _spirit_ of the regulations was therefore complied with. +But as the _letter_ requires that the notice should be given either to +the Danish minister resident in the country or to Mr. Airy, if the +discovery is made elsewhere than on the continent of Europe, it is +possible that some demur may be made. The precise terms of the +regulations have not been sufficiently made known in this country. As +the claim in this case is really a just one, the claimant a lady, +industrious, vigilant, a good astronomer and mathematician, I cannot but +hope she will succeed; and if you have the influence with Schumacher +which you ought to have, I would take it kindly if you would use it in +her favor." + + + * * * * * + +CAPTAIN SMYTH TO MR. EVERETT. + +"3 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, 10th March, 1848. + +"MY DEAR SIR: On the receipt of your last letter, I forthwith wrote to +the astronomer royal, urging the claims of Miss Mitchell, of Nantucket, +and he immediately replied, saying that he would lose no time in +consulting his official colleague, Mr. Schumacher, on the subject. I +have just received the accompanying letter from Greenwich, by which you +will perceive how the matter stands at present; I say at present, +because, however the claim may be considered as to the technical form of +application, there is no doubt whatever of her fully meriting the award. + +"I am, my dear sir, very faithfully yours, + +[Signed] "W.H. SMYTH." + + * * * * * + +G.B. AIRY, ESQ., TO CAPTAIN SMYTH. + +"Royal Observatory, Greenwich, 10th March, 1848. + +"MY DEAR SIR: I have received Mr. Schumacher's answer in regard to Miss +Mitchell's supposed claims for the king of Denmark's medal. We agree, +without the smallest hesitation, that we cannot award the medal. We have +in all cases acted strictly in conformity with the published rules; and +I am convinced, and I believe that Mr. Schumacher is convinced, that it +is absolutely necessary that we do not depart from them. + +"Mr. Schumacher suggests, as the only way in which Miss Mitchell's claim +in equity could be urged, that application might be made on her part, +through the American legation, to the king of Denmark; and the king can, +if he pleases, make exception to the usual rules. + +"I am, my dear sir, yours most truly, + +[Signed] "G.B. AIRY." + + * * * * * + +HON. EDWARD EVERETT TO R.P. FLENIKEN. + +"Cambridge, Mass., 8th August, 1848. + +"DEAR SIR: Without the honor of your personal acquaintance, I take the +liberty of addressing you on a subject which I am confident will +interest you as a friend of American science. You are doubtless aware +that by the liberality of one of the kings of Denmark, the father, I +believe, of his late Majesty, a foundation was made for a gold medal to +be given to the first discoverer of a telescopic comet. Mr. Schumacher, +of Altona, and Mr. Baily, of London (and since his decease Mr. Airy, +Astronomer Royal at Greenwich), were made the trustees of this +foundation. Among the regulations established for awarding the medal was +this: that the discoverer should, by the first mail which leaves the +place of his residence after the discovery, give notice thereof to Mr. +Schumacher if the discovery is made on the continent of Europe, and to +Mr. Airy if made in any other part of the world; provided that, if the +discovery be made in America, the notice may be given to the Danish +minister at Washington. It has been deemed necessary to adhere with +great strictness to this regulation, in order to prevent fraudulent +claims. + +"On the first day of October last, at about half-past ten o'clock in the +evening, a telescopic comet was discovered, in the island of Nantucket, +by Miss Maria Mitchell, daughter of Hon. W. Mitchell, one of the +executive council of this State. Mr. Mitchell made an entry of the +discovery at the time in his journal. In consequence of Miss Mitchell's +diffidence, she would not allow any publicity to be given to her +discovery till its reality was ascertained. Her father, however, by the +first mail that left Nantucket for the mainland, addressed a letter to +Mr. W.C. Bond, director of the observatory in this place, acquainting +him with his daughter's discovery. A copy of this letter I herewith +transmit to you. The comet was not discovered in Europe till the 3d of +October, when it was seen by Father de Vico, the celebrated astronomer +at Rome. + +"You perceive from this statement that, if Mr. Mitchell had addressed +his letter to the Danish minister at Washington instead of Mr. Bond, his +daughter would have been entitled to the medal, under the strict terms +of the regulations. But these regulations have not been generally +understood in this country; and as the fact of Miss Mitchell's prior +discovery is undoubted, and recognized throughout Europe, it would be a +pity that she should lose the medal on a mere technical punctilio. The +comet is constantly called 'Miss Mitchell's comet' in the monthly +journal of the Royal Astronomical Society at London, and in the +'Astronomische Nachrichten,' the well-known astronomical journal, edited +by Mr. Schumacher himself, at Altona. Father de Vico (who, with his +brothers of the Society of Jesuits, has left Rome since the revolution +there) was at this place (Cambridge) three days ago, and spoke of Miss +Mitchell's priority as an undoubted fact. + +"Last winter I addressed a letter to Mr. Schumacher, acquainting him +with the foregoing facts relative to the discovery, and transmitting to +him the _original_ letter of Mr. Mitchell to Mr. Bond, dated 3d October, +bearing the original Nantucket postmark of the 4th. I also wrote to +Capt. W. H. Smyth, late president of the Royal Astronomical Society of +England, desiring him to speak to Mr. Airy on the subject. He did so, +and Mr. Airy wrote immediately to Mr. Schumacher. Mr. Schumacher in his +reply expressed the opinion, in which Mr. Airy concurs, that _under the +regulations_ it is not in their power to award the medal to Miss +Mitchell. They suggest, however, that an application should be made, +through the American legation at the Danish court, to His Majesty the +King of Denmark, for authority, under the present circumstances, to +dispense with the literal fulfilment of the conditions. + +"It is on this subject that I take the liberty to ask your good offices. +I accompany my letter with copies of a portion of the correspondence +which has been had on the subject, and I venture to request you to +address a note to the proper department of the Danish government, to the +end that authority should be given to Messrs. Schumacher and Airy to +award the medal to Miss Mitchell, _provided they are satisfied that she +first discovered the comet_. + +"I will only add that, should you succeed in effecting this object, you +will render a very acceptable service to all the friends of science in +America. + +"I remain, dear sir, with high consideration, your obedient, faithful +servant, + +[Signed] "EDWARD EVERETT. + +"To R. P. FLENIKEN, ESQ., Chargé d'Affaires of the United States of +America at Copenhagen." + + * * * * * + +R.P. FLENIKEN, ESQ., TO THE COUNT DE KNUTH. + + "Légation des Etats Unis d'Amérique,} + à Copenhague, le 6 Septembre, 1848. } + +"MONSIEUR LE MINISTRE: J'ai l'honneur de remettre sous ce pli à votre +Excellence une lettre que j'ai reçue d'un de mes concitoyens les plus +distingués, avec une correspondance touchant une matière à laquelle il +me semble que le Danemark ne soit guère moins intéressé que ne le sont +les Etats Unis; le premier y ayant contribué le digne motif, l'autre en + +ayant heureusement accompli l'objet. + +"Je recommande ces documents à l'examination attentive de votre +Excellence, sachant bien l'intérêt profond qu'elle ne manque jamais de +prendre à de tels sujets, et la réputation éminente de cultivateur des +sciences et de la littérature, dont elle jouit avec tant de justice. J'y +ai joint une lettre de moi-même, adressée à sa Majesté le Roi de +Danemark. + +"La matière dont il est question, Monsieur, sera d'autant plus +intéressante à votre Excellence, qu'on peut la regarder comme une voix +de réponse adressée à l'ancienne Scandinavie, proclaimant les prodiges +merveilleux de la science moderne, des bords mêmes du Vinland des +Vikinger hardis et entreprenants du dixième et de l'onzième siècles. + +"Je prie votre Excellence de vouloir bien soumettre tous les documents +ci-joints à l'oeil de sa Majesté, et dans le cas heureux ou vous seriez +d'avis que ma compatriote, Mlle. Mitchell, puisse avec justice +revendiquer la récompense génereuse instituée par le Roi Frédéric VI., +alors, Monsieur, je prie votre Excellence de vouloir bien appuyer de ses +propres estimables et puissantes recommandations l'application des amis +de la jeune demoiselle. + +"Je m'empresse à cette occasion, Monsieur, de renouveler à votre +Excellence l'assurance de ma considération très distinguée. + +"R.P. FLENIKEN. + +"A Son Excellence M. LE COMTE DE KNUTH, Ministre d'Etat, et Chef du +Département des Affaires Etrangères. + + +TRANSLATION. [Footnote: This and the other translations of the French +letters are printed as received in this country.] + +"Legation of the United States of America,} +City of Copenhagen, September 6th, 1848. } + +"Sir: I have the honor to communicate to you a letter from a +distinguished citizen of my own country, together with a correspondence +relating to a subject in which Denmark and the United States appear +somewhat equally interested, the former in furnishing a laudable motive, +and the latter as happily achieving the object. + +"I commend these papers to your careful examination, being well aware of +the deep interest you take in all such subjects, and of the eminent +reputation you so justly enjoy as a gentleman of science and of +literature. They are accompanied by a letter from myself addressed to +His Majesty the King of Denmark. + +"This subject will not be the less interesting to you, sir, as it would +appear to be a returning voice addressed to ancient Scandinavia, +speaking of the wonderful achievements of modern science, from the +'Vinland' of the hardy and enterprising 'Northmen' of the tenth and the +eleventh centuries. + +"I beg, therefore, that you will obligingly lay them all before His +Majesty, and should they happily impress you that my countrywoman, Miss +Mitchell, is fairly entitled to the generous offering of King Frederic +VI., be pleased, sir, to accompany the application of her friends in her +behalf by your own very valuable and potent recommendation. + +"I avail myself of this occasion to renew to your Excellency the +assurance of my most distinguished consideration. + +[Signed]. "R.P. FLENIKEN. + +"To His Excellency THE COUNT DE KNUTH, Minister of State and Chief of +the Department of Foreign Affairs. + + * * * * * + +R. P. FLENIKEN, ESQ., TO THE KING OF DENMARK. + +"Légation des Etats Unis d'Amérique,} +à Copenhague, le 6 Septembre, 1848. } + +"SIRE: Le soussigné a l'honneur, par l'intermédiaire de M. votre +ministre d'état et chef du département des affaires étrangères, de +soumettre à votre Majesté une lettre d'un citoyen très distingué des +Etats Unis, accompagnée de la copie d'une correspondance concernant une +matière a laquelle votre Majesté, souverain également distingué par la +libéralité généreuse qu'elle fait voir dans ses rapports sociaux et +politiques, et par l'admiration ardente qu'elle manifeste envers la +science et la littérature, ne peut manquer de prendre un vif intérêt. + +"Le soussigné se félicite beaucoup d'être l'intermédiaire par les mains +duquel ces documents arrivent sous l'oeil de votre Majesté, étant +persuadé que la lecture en fournira à votre Majesté l'occasion de +recourir avec une grande satisfaction patriotique, comme protecteur +éminent des sciences, à l'institution d'un de ses illustres +prédécesseurs; et ce souvenir de la haute position à laquelle le +Danemark s'est élevé dans les arts et les sciences, ne lui sera +peut-être pas moins doux quand elle songe que c'est justement sur cette +même côte, où déjà au dixième siècle l'intrépidité et l'esprit hardi de +ses ancêtres Scandinaves les avaient amenés à la découverte du grand +continent occidental et à la fondation d'une colonie, que vient de +s'accomplir cette conquête de la science, dont parlent les dits papiers. + +"Le soussigné ose donc espérer, qu'à la suite d'une examination +attentive des lettres ci-jointes, et desquelles il paraîtrait être +généralement reconnu qu'à Mlle. Mitchell des Etats Unis est dû l'honneur +d'avoir la première découvert la comète télescopique qui aujourd'hui +porte son nom, que votre Majesté ne trouvera point dans la réserve +louable qui empêcha cette jeune demoiselle de se précipiter à la +poursuite d'une renommée publique, une cause suffisante de lui refuser +le prix de sa brilliante découverte; mais qu'au contraire elle donnera +l'ordre de lui expédier la médaille, autant comme une récompense due à +ses éminents talents scientifiques, que pour témoigner combien votre +Majesté sait apprécier cette modestie charmante qui s'opposa à ce que +Mlle. Mitchell recherchât une célébrité publique et scientifique, avec +le seul but de remplir une forme tout-à -fait technique. + +"Le soussigné, chargé d'affaires des Etats Unis de l'Amérique, saisit +avec empressement cette occasion d'offrir à votre Majesté l'expression +de sa considération la plus haute et la plus distinguée. + +"R.P. FLENIKEN. + +"À Sa Majesté FREDERIC VII., Roi de Danemark, Duc de Slesvig et de +Holstein." + + * * * * * + +TRANSLATION. + +"Legation of the United States of America,} +City of Copenhagen, September 4th, 1848. } + +"SIRE: The undersigned has the honor, through your Majesty's minister of +state and chief of the department of foreign affairs, to communicate to +you a letter from a very distinguished citizen of the United States, +together with copies of a correspondence relating to a subject in which +your Majesty, alike distinguished for generous liberality in social and +political affairs as a sovereign, as well as an ardent admirer of +science and of literature, will doubtless feel a lively interest. + +"The undersigned is happy to be the medium through which those papers +reach the eye of your Majesty, feeling sensible that their perusal will +furnish occasion to your Majesty to recur with much national pleasure to +the act of one of your illustrious predecessors as a distinguished +patron of science; and this recurrence to the eminent position that +Denmark has attained in the arts and the sciences may perhaps not be the +less pleasurable from the fact that the trophy of science to which the +papers allude was achieved on the very coast where, as far back as the +tenth century, the intrepidity and enterprise of your Majesty's +Scandinavian ancestors first discovered and planted a colony upon the +great western continent. + +"The undersigned therefore hopes that, after a careful examination of +the accompanying papers, from which it would seem to be admitted that +Miss Mitchell, of the United States, is entitled to the honor of first +discovering the telescopic comet bearing her name, your Majesty will not +be able to perceive in that commendable delicacy which forbade her +hastily seeking public notoriety a sufficient motive for withholding +from her the reward of her eminent discovery; but, on the contrary, will +direct the medal to be awarded to her, not only as a suitable +encouragement to her distinguished scientific attainments, but also as +evincing your Majesty's appreciation of that beautiful virtue which +withheld her from rushing into public and scientific renown merely to +comply with a purely technical condition. + +"The undersigned, American chargé d'affaires, gladly improves this very +pleasant occasion to tender to your Majesty the expression of his high +and most distinguished consideration. + +[Signed] "R. P. FLENIKEN. + +"To his Majesty FREDERIC VII., King of Denmark, Duke of Schleswig and +Holstein." + + * * * * * + +THE COUNT DE KNUTH TO MR. FLENIKEN. + +"Copenhague, ce 6 Octobre, 1848. + +"MONSIEUR: J'ai eu l'honneur de recevoir votre office du 6 du passé, par +lequel vous avez exprimé le désir que la médaille instituée par feu le +Roi Frédéric VI., en récompense de la découverte de comètes +télescopiques, fût accordée à Mlle. Maria Mitchell, de Nantucket dans +les Etats Unis d'Amérique. + +"Après avoir examiné les pièces justificatives que vous avez bien voulu +me communiquer relativement à cette réclamation, je ne saurais que +partager votre avis, Monsieur, qu'il paraît hors de doute que la +découverte de la comète en question est effectivement dûe aux savantes +recherches de Mlle. Mitchell; et que ce n'est que faute de n'avoir pas +observé les formalités prescrites, qu'elle n'a point jusqu'ici reçu une +marque de distinction à laquelle elle paraît avoir de si justes titres. + +"Le savant astronome, le Professeur Schumacher, ayant également +recommandé Mlle. Mitchell à la faveur qu'elle sollicite maintenant, je +me suis empressé de référer cette question au roi, mon auguste maître, +en mettant en même temps sous les yeux de sa Majesté la lettre que vous +lui avez adressée à ce sujet; et c'est avec bien du plaisir que je me +vois aujourd'hui à même de vous faire part, Monsieur, que sa Majesté n'a +point hésité à satisfaire à votre demande, en accordant à Mlle. Mitchell +la médaille qu'elle ambitionne. + +"Aussitôt que cette médaille sera frappée, je m'empresserai de vous la +faire parvenir. + +"En attendant je saisis avec bien du plaisir cette occasion pour vous +renouveler, Monsieur, les assurances de ma considération très +distinguée. + +"F.W. KNUTH. + +"À MONSIEUR FLENIKEN, Chargé d'Affaires des Etats Unis d'Amérique." + + * * * * * + +TRANSLATION. + +"Copenhagen, 6th October, 1848. + +"SIR: I have had the honor to receive your communication of the 6th +ultimo, in which you express the desire that the medal instituted by his +late Majesty, Frederic VI., as a reward for the discovery of telescopic +comets, should be granted to Miss Maria Mitchell, of Nantucket, in the +United States of America. + +"On examination of the justificatory pieces which you have been good +enough to forward me, relating to her claim, I cannot do otherwise than +participate in your opinion, sir, that it would appear to admit of no +doubt that the discovery of the comet in question was really due to Miss +Mitchell's learned researches; and that her not having as yet received a +mark of distinction to which she seems to have such a just claim was +entirely owing to her not having observed the prescribed forms. + +"The learned astronomer, Professor Schumacher, having likewise +recommended Miss Mitchell to the favor which she now solicits, I hasten +to refer this question to the king, my august master, at the same time +laying before His Majesty the letter which you have addressed to him on +this subject; and I have much pleasure in being now enabled to inform +you, sir, that His Majesty has not hesitated to grant your request by +awarding to Miss Mitchell the medal which she desires. + +"As soon as this medal is struck, I will have it forwarded to you, and +meanwhile have much pleasure in availing myself of this occasion to +renew to you, sir, the assurances of my most distinguished +consideration. + +[Signed] "F.W. KNUTH. + +"To MR. FLENIKEN, Chargé d'Affaires of the United States of America." + + * * * * * + +MR. FLENIKEN TO THE COUNT DE KNUTH. + +"Légation des Etats Unis d'Amérique, à Copenhague, le 7 Octobre, 1848. + +"MONSIEUR: Le soussigné a eu l'honneur de recevoir l'office que votre +Excellence lui a addressé en date d'hier pour lui faire part de la +nouvelle heureuse que sa Majesté, après avoir examiné les documents que +vous avez bien voulu lui soumettre, ayant pour objet d'établir le fait +que Mlle. Mitchell ait la première découvert la comète télescopique +d'Octobre de l'an dernier, a bien voulu trouver ces preuves suffisantes, +et a ordonné qu'on frappe une médaille, afin de la lui faire présenter +comme une marque de distinction que sa Majesté croit qu'elle mérite en +effet, quoiqu'elle n'ait pas rigoureusement observé les formalités +prescrites par le Roi Frédéric VI., fondateur de ce don. + +"Le soussigné s'empresse donc d'assurer votre Excellence et en même +temps de vous prier, Monsieur, de vouloir bien faire parvenir cette +assurance à sa Majesté, que cet acte signalé de libéralité ne peut +manquer d'être dignement et hautement apprécié par les institutions +scientifiques des Etats Unis, par Mlle. Mitchell qui est l'objet de +cette distinction généreuse, et par les nombreux amis scientifiques de +cette dame; enfin, par tous ceux qui prennent de l'intérêt à la réussite +heureuse des recherches astronomiques. + +"Le soussigné ne peut terminer cette communication sans exprimer à votre +Excellence (en la priant de porter aussi ses sentiments à la +connaissance de sa Majesté) sa vive appréciation de ce noble et éclatant +acte de justice, si promptement et si généreusement rendu à sa jeune +compatriote par le roi de Danemark, et il saisit avec empressement cette +occasion de renouveler à votre Excellence les assurances de sa +considération très distinguée. + +"R.P. FLENIKEN. + +"À Son Excellence M. LE COMTE DE KNUTH, Ministre d'Etat et Chef du +Département des Affaires Etrangères." + + * * * * * + +TRANSLATION. + +"Legation of the United States,} +Copenhagen, October 7th, 1848. } + +"SIR: The undersigned has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your +Excellency's communication of yesterday's date, conveying to him the +gratifying intelligence that His Majesty, from an examination of the +evidence which you obligingly laid before him, tending to establish the +fact of Miss Mitchell's having discovered the telescopic comet of +October, last, has been pleased to consider it quite satisfactory, and +has ordered a medal to be struck for her as a mark of distinction to +which his Majesty deems her entitled, notwithstanding her omission to +comply with the prescribed conditions of Frederic VI., who instituted +the donation. + +"The undersigned, therefore, begs to express to you, sir, and through +you to His Majesty, the assurance that this eminent act of liberality +cannot fail to be duly and highly appreciated by the scientific +institutions of his own country, by Miss Mitchell herself, who is the +object of this generous distinction, and by her numerous scientific +friends, as well as by all who feel an interest in successful +astronomical achievements. + +"The undersigned cannot close this communication without expressing to +you and to the king his own unaffected appreciation of this noble and +distinguished act of justice, so promptly and so generously bestowed +upon his unobtrusive countrywoman by the king of Denmark, and avails +himself of the occasion to renew to your Excellency the assurance of his +most distinguished consideration. + +[Signed] "R.P. FLENIKEN. + +"To His Excellency THE COUNT DE KNUTH, Minister of State, etc., etc., +etc." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Maria Mitchell: Life, Letters, and +Journals, by Maria Mitchell + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10202 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7f69b7a --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #10202 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10202) diff --git a/old/10202-8.txt b/old/10202-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..06b8b07 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10202-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9137 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Maria Mitchell: Life, Letters, and Journals +by Maria Mitchell + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Maria Mitchell: Life, Letters, and Journals + +Author: Maria Mitchell + +Release Date: November 21, 2003 [EBook #10202] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARIA MITCHELL *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Sandra Brown and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + +[Illustration: Maria Mitchell] + + + + +MARIA MITCHELL + + +LIFE, LETTERS, AND JOURNALS + + + + +Compiled By + +PHEBE MITCHELL KENDALL + + + + +Illustrated + + +1896 + + + + +CONTENTS + + + + +CHAPTER I + +The parents--Home life--Education, teachers, books--Astronomical +instruments--Solar eclipse of 1831--Teaching--Appointment as librarian +of Nantucket Atheneum--Friendships for young people--Extracts from +diary, 1855--Music--The piano--Society--Story-telling--Housework--Extract +from diary, 1854 + + +CHAPTER II + +"Sweeping" the heavens--Discovery of the comet, 1847--Frederick VI. and +the comet--Letters from G. P. Bond and Hon. Edward Everett--Admiral +Smyth--American Academy--American Association for the Advancement of +Science--Extract from diary, 1855--Dorothea Dix--Esther--Divers extracts +from diary, 1853, 1854--Comet of 1854--Computations for comet--Visit to +Cape Cod--Sandwich and Plymouth--Pilgrim Hall--Rev. James Freeman +Clarke--Accidents in observing + + +CHAPTER III + +Wires in the transit instrument--Deacon Greele--Smithsonian +fund--"Doing"--Rachel in "Phèdre" and "Adrienne"--Emerson--The hard +winter + + +CHAPTER IV + +Southern tour--Chicago--St. Louis--Scientific Academy of St. Louis--Dr. +Pope--Dr. Seyffarth--Mississippi river--Sand-bars--Cherry +blossoms--Eclipse of sun--Natchez--New Orleans--Slave market--Negro +church--The "peculiar institution"--Bible--Judge Smith--Travelling +without escort--Savannah--Rice plantations--Negro children--Miss +Murray--Charleston--Drive--Condition of slaves--Old buildings--Miss +Rutledge--Mr. Capers--Class meeting--Hospitality--Mrs. Holbrook--Miss +Pinckney--Manners--Portraits--Miss Pinckney's father--George +Washington--Augusta--Nashville--Mrs. Fogg--Mrs. Polk--Charles +Sumner--Mammoth cave--Chattanooga + + +CHAPTER V + +First European tour--Liverpool--London--Rev. James Martineau--Mr. John +Taylor--Mr. Lassell--Liverpool observatory--The Hawthornes--Shop-keepers +and waiters--Greenwich observatory--Sir George Airy--Visits to +Greenwich--Herr Struvé's mission to England--Dinner party--General +Sabine--Westminster Abbey--Newton's monument--British museum--Four +great men--St. Paul's--Dr. Johnson--Opera--Aylesbury--Admiral Smyth's +family--Amateur astronomers--Hartwell house--Dr. Lee + + +CHAPTER VI + +Cambridge--Dr. Whewell--Table conversation--Professor Challis--Professor +Adams--Customs--Professor Sedgwick--Caste--King's Chapel--Fellows-- +Ambleside--Coniston waters--The lakes--Miss Southey--Collingwood--Letter +to her father--Herschels--London rout--Professor Stokes--Dr. +Arnott--Edinboro'--Observatory--Glasgow observatory--Professor +Nichol--Dungeon Ghyll--English language--English and Americans--Boys and +beggars + + +CHAPTER VII + +Adams and Leverrier--The discovery of the planet Neptune--Extract from +papers--Professor Bond, of Cambridge, Mass.--Paris--Imperial +observatory--Mons. and Mme. Leverrier--Reception at Leverrier's--Rooms +in observatory--Rome--Impressions--Apartments in Rome and +Paris--Customs--Holy week--Vespers at St. Peter's--Women--Frederika +Bremer--Paul Akers--Harriet Hosmer--Collegio Romano--Father +Secchi--Galileo--Visit to the Roman observatory--Permission from +Cardinal Antonelli--Spectroscope + + +CHAPTER VIII + +Mrs. Somerville--Berlin--Humboldt--Mrs. Mitchell's illness and +death--Removal to Lynn, Mass.--Telescope presented to Miss Mitchell by +Elizabeth Peabody and others--Letters from Admiral Smyth--Colors of +stars--Extract from letter to a friend--San Marino medal--Other extracts + + +CHAPTER IX + +Life at Vassar College--Anxious mammas--Faculty meetings--President +Hill--Professor Peirce--Burlington, Ia., and solar eclipse--Classes at +Vassar--Professor Mitchell and her pupils--Extracts from diary--Aids +--Scholarships--Address to her students--Imagination in science--"I am +but a woman"--Maria Mitchell endowment fund--Emperor of +Brazil--President Raymond's death--Dome parties--Comet, 1881--The +apple-tree--"Honor girls"--Mr. Matthew Arnold + + +CHAPTER X + +Second visit to Europe--Russia--Extracts from diary and +letters--Custom-house peculiarities--Russian railways--Domes--Russian +thermometers and calendars--The drosky and drivers--Observatory at +Pulkova--Herr Struvé--Scientific position of Russia--Language-- +Religion--Democracy of the Church--Government--A Russian +family--London, 1873--Frances Power Cobbe--Bookstores in London--Glasgow +College for Girls + + +CHAPTER XI + +Papers--Science--Eclipse of 1878, Denver, Colorado--Colors of stars + + +CHAPTER XII + +Religious matters--President Taylor's remarks--Sermons--George +MacDonald--Rev. Dr. Peabody--Dr. Lyman Abbott--Professor Henry--Meeting +of the American Scientific Association at Saratoga--Professor Peirce-- +Concord School of Philosophy--Emerson--Miss Peabody--Dr. Harris--Easter +flowers--Whittier--Rich days--Cooking schools--Anecdotes + + +CHAPTER XIII + +Letter-writing--Woman suffrage--Membership in various societies.--Women's +Congress at Syracuse, N.Y.--Picnic at Medfield, Mass.--Degrees from +different colleges--Published papers.--Failure in health--Resigns her +position at Vassar College--Letters from various persons--Death--Conclusion + + +APPENDIX + +Introductory note by Hon. Edward Everett + +Correspondence relative to the Danish medal + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +1818-1846 + +BIRTH--PARENTS--HOME SURROUNDINGS AND EARLY LIFE + +Maria Mitchell was born on the island of Nantucket, Mass., Aug. 1, 1818. +She was the third child of William and Lydia [Coleman] Mitchell. + +Her ancestors, on both sides, were Quakers for many generations; and it +was in consequence of the intolerance of the early Puritans that these +ancestors had been obliged to flee from the State of Massachusetts, and +to settle upon this island, which, at that time, belonged to the State +of New York. + +For many years the Quakers, or Friends, as they called themselves, +formed much the larger part of the inhabitants of Nantucket, and thus +were enabled to crystallize, as it were, their own ideas of what family +and social life should be; and although in course of time many "world's +people" swooped down and helped to swell the number of islanders, they +still continued to hold their own methods, and to bring up their +children in accordance with their own conceptions of "Divine light." + +Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell were married during the war of 1812; the former +lacking one week of being twenty-one years old, and the latter being a +few months over twenty. + +The people of Nantucket by their situation endured many hardships during +this period; their ships were upon the sea a prey to privateers, and +communication with the mainland was exposed to the same danger, so that +it was difficult to obtain such necessaries of life as the island could +not furnish. There were still to be seen, a few years ago, the marks +left on the moors, where fields of corn and potatoes had been planted in +that trying time. + +So the young couple began their housekeeping in a very simple way. Mr. +Mitchell used to describe it as being very delightful; it was noticed +that Mrs. Mitchell never expressed herself on the subject,--it was she, +probably, who had the planning to do, to make a little money go a great +way, and to have everything smooth and serene when her husband came +home. + +Mrs. Mitchell was a woman of strong character, very dignified, honest +almost to an extreme, and perfectly self-controlled where control was +necessary. She possessed very strong affections, but her self-control +was such that she was undemonstrative. + +She kept a close watch over her children, was clearheaded, knew their +every fault and every merit, and was an indefatigable worker. It was she +who looked out for the education of the children and saw what their +capacities were. + +Mr. Mitchell was a man of great suavity and gentleness; if left to +himself he would never have denied a single request made to him by one +of his children. His first impulse was to gratify every desire of their +hearts, and if it had not been for the clear head of the mother, who +took care that the household should be managed wisely and economically, +the results might have been disastrous. The father had wisdom enough to +perceive this, and when a child came to him, and in a very pathetic and +winning way proffered some request for an unusual indulgence, he +generally replied, "Yes, if mother thinks best." + +Mr. Mitchell was very fond of bright colors; as they were excluded from +the dress of Friends, he indulged himself wherever it was possible. If +he were buying books, and there was a variety of binding, he always +chose the copies with red covers. Even the wooden framework of the +reflecting telescope which he used was painted a brilliant red. He liked +a gay carpet on the floor, and the walls of the family sitting-room in +the house on Vestal street were covered with paper resplendent with +bunches of pink roses. Suspended by a cord from the ceiling in the +centre of this room was a glass ball, filled with water, used by Mr. +Mitchell in his experiments on polarization of light, flashing its +dancing rainbows about the room. + +At the back of this house was a little garden, full of gay flowers: so +that if the garb of the young Mitchells was rather sombre, the setting +was bright and cheerful, and the life in the home was healthy and +wide-awake. When the hilarity became excessive the mother would put in +her little check, from time to time, and the father would try to look as +he ought to, but he evidently enjoyed the whole. + +As Mr. Mitchell was kind and indulgent to his children, so he was the +sympathetic friend and counsellor of many in trouble who came to him for +help or advice. As he took his daily walk to the little farm about a +mile out of town, where, for an hour or two he enjoyed being a farmer, +the people would come to their doors to speak to him as he passed, and +the little children would run up to him to be patted on the head. + +He treated animals in the same way. He generally kept a horse. His +children complained that although the horse was good when it was bought, +yet as Mr. Mitchell never allowed it to be struck with a whip, nor urged +to go at other than a very gentle trot, the horse became thoroughly +demoralized, and was no more fit to drive than an old cow! + +There was everything in the home which could amuse and instruct +children. The eldest daughter was very handy at all sorts of +entertaining occupations; she had a delicate sense of the artistic, and +was quite skilful with her pencil. + +The present kindergarten system in its practice is almost identical with +the home as it appeared in the first half of this century, among +enlightened people. There is hardly any kind of handiwork done in the +kindergarten that was not done in the Mitchell family, and in other +families of their acquaintance. The girls learned to sew and cook, just +as they learned to read,--as a matter of habit rather than of +instruction. They learned how to make their own clothes, by making their +dolls' clothes,--and the dolls themselves were frequently home-made, the +eldest sister painting the faces much more prettily than those obtained +at the shops; and there was a great delight in gratifying the fancy, by +dressing the dolls, not in Quaker garb, but in all of the most brilliant +colors and stylish shapes worn by the ultra-fashionable. + +There were always plenty of books, and besides those in the house there +was the Atheneum Library, which, although not a free library, was very +inexpensive to the shareholders. + +There was another very striking difference between that epoch and the +present. The children of that day were taught to value a book and to +take excellent care of it; as an instance it may be mentioned that one +copy of Colburn's "Algebra" was used by eight children in the Mitchell +family, one after the other. The eldest daughter's name was written on +the inside of the cover; seven more names followed in the order of their +ages, as the book descended. + +With regard to their reading, the mother examined every book that came +into the house. Of course there were not so many books published then as +now, and the same books were read over and over. Miss Edgeworth's +stories became part of their very lives, and Young's "Night Thoughts," +and the poems of Cowper and Bloomfield were conspicuous objects on the +bookshelves of most houses in those days. Mr. Mitchell was very apt, +while observing the heavens in the evening, to quote from one or the +other of these poets, or from the Bible. "An undevout astronomer is mad" +was one of his favorite quotations. + +Among the poems which Maria learned in her childhood, and which was +repeatedly upon her lips all through her life, was, "The spacious +firmament on high." In her latter years if she had a sudden fright which +threatened to take away her senses she would test her mental condition +by repeating that poem; it is needless to say that she always remembered +it, and her nerves instantly relapsed into their natural condition. + +The lives of Maria Mitchell and her numerous brothers and sisters were +passed in simplicity and with an entire absence of anything exciting or +abnormal. + +The education of their children is enjoined upon the parents by the +"Discipline," and in those days at least the parents did not give up all +the responsibility in that line to the teachers. In Maria Mitchell's +childhood the children of a family sat around the table in the evenings +and studied their lessons for the next day,--the parents or the older +children assisting the younger if the lessons were too difficult. The +children attended school five days in the week,--six hours in the +day,--and their only vacation was four weeks in the summer, generally in +August. + +The idea that children over-studied and injured their health was never +promulgated in that family, nor indeed in that community; it seems to be +a notion of the present half-century. + +Maria's first teacher was a lady for whom she always felt the warmest +affection, and in her diary, written in her later years, occurs this +allusion to her: + +"I count in my life, outside of family relatives, three aids given me on +my journey; they are prominent to me: the woman who first made the +study-book charming; the man who sent me the first hundred dollars I +ever saw, to buy books with; and another noble woman, through whose +efforts I became the owner of a telescope; and of these, the first was +the greatest." + +As a little girl, Maria was not a brilliant scholar; she was shy and +slow; but later, under her father's tuition, she developed very rapidly. + +After the close of the war of 1812, when business was resumed and the +town restored to its normal prosperity, Mr. Mitchell taught school,--at +first as master of a public school, and afterwards in a private school +of his own. Maria attended both of these schools. + +Mr. Mitchell's pupils speak of him as a most inspiring teacher, and he +always spoke of his experiences in that capacity as very happy. + +When her father gave up teaching, Maria was put under the instruction of +Mr. Cyrus Peirce, afterwards principal of the first normal school +started in the United States. + +Mr. Peirce took a great interest in Maria, especially in developing her +taste for mathematical study, for which she early showed a remarkable +talent. + +The books which she studied at the age of seventeen, as we know by the +date of the notes, were Bridge's "Conic Sections," Hutton's +"Mathematics," and Bowditch's "Navigator." At that time Prof. Benjamin +Peirce had not published his "Explanations of the Navigator and +Almanac," so that Maria was obliged to consult many scientific books and +reports before she could herself construct the astronomical tables. + +Mr. Mitchell, on relinquishing school-teaching, was appointed cashier of +the Pacific Bank; but although he gave up teaching, he by no means gave +up studying his favorite science, astronomy, and Maria was his willing +helper at all times. + +Mr. Mitchell from his early youth was an enthusiastic student of +astronomy, at a time, too, when very little attention was given to that +study in this country. His evenings, when pleasant, were spent in +observing the heavens, and to the children, accustomed to seeing such +observations going on, the important study in the world seemed to be +astronomy. One by one, as they became old enough, they were drafted into +the service of counting seconds by the chronometer, during the +observations. + +Some of them took an interest in the thing itself, and others considered +it rather stupid work, but they all drank in so much of this atmosphere, +that if any one had asked a little child in this family, "Who was the +greatest man that ever lived?" the answer would have come promptly, +"Herschel." + +Maria very early learned the use of the sextant. The chronometers of all +the whale ships were brought to Mr. Mitchell, on their return from a +voyage, to be "rated," as it was called. For this purpose he used the +sextant, and the observations were made in the little back yard of the +Vestal-street home. + +There was also a clumsy reflecting telescope made on the Herschelian +plan, but of very great simplicity, which was put up on fine nights in +the same back yard, when the neighbors used to flock in to look at the +moon. Afterwards Mr. Mitchell bought a small Dolland telescope, which +thereafter, as long as she lived, his daughter used for "sweeping" +purposes. + +After their removal to the bank building there were added to these an +"altitude and azimuth circle," loaned to Mr. Mitchell by West Point +Academy, and two transit instruments. A little observatory for the use +of the first was placed on the roof of the bank building, and two small +buildings were erected in the yard for the transits. There was also a +much larger and finer telescope loaned by the Coast Survey, for which +service Mr. Mitchell made observations. + +At the time when Maria Mitchell showed a decided taste for the study of +astronomy there was no school in the world where she could be taught +higher mathematics and astronomy. Harvard College, at that time, had no +telescope better than the one which her father was using, and no +observatory except the little octagonal projection to the old mansion in +Cambridge occupied by the late Dr. A.P. Peabody. + +However, every one will admit that no school nor institution is better +for a child than the home, with an enthusiastic parent for a teacher. + +At the time of the annular eclipse of the sun in 1831 the totality was +central at Nantucket. The window was taken out of the parlor on Vestal +street, the telescope, the little Dolland, mounted in front of it, and +with Maria by his side counting the seconds the father observed the +eclipse. Maria was then twelve years old. + +At sixteen Miss Mitchell left Mr. Peirce's school as a pupil, but was +retained as assistant teacher; she soon relinquished that position and +opened a private school on Traders' Lane. This school too she gave up +for the position of librarian of the Nantucket Atheneum, which office +she held for nearly twenty years. + +This library was open only in the afternoon, and on Saturday evening. +The visitors were comparatively few in the afternoon, so that Miss +Mitchell had ample leisure for study,--an opportunity of which she made +the most. Her visitors in the afternoon were elderly men of leisure, who +enjoyed talking with so bright a girl on their favorite hobbies. When +they talked Miss Mitchell closed her book and took up her knitting, for +she was never idle. With some of these visitors the friendship was kept +up for years. + +It was in this library that she found La Place's "Mécanique Céleste," +translated by her father's friend, Dr. Bowditch; she also read the +"Theoria Motus," of Gauss, in its original Latin form. In her capacity +as librarian Miss Mitchell to a large extent controlled the reading of +the young people in the town. Many of them on arriving at mature years +have expressed their gratitude for the direction in which their reading +was turned by her advice. + +Miss Mitchell always had a special friendship for young girls and boys. +Many of these intimacies grew out of the acquaintance made at the +library,--the young girls made her their confidante and went to her for +sympathy and advice. The boys, as they grew up, and went away to sea, +perhaps, always remembered her, and made a point, when they returned in +their vacations, of coming to tell their experiences to such a +sympathetic listener. + +"April 18, 1855. A young sailor boy came to see me to-day. It pleases me +to have these lads seek me on their return from their first voyage, and +tell me how much they have learned about navigation. They always say, +with pride, 'I can take a lunar, Miss Mitchell, and work it up!' + +"This boy I had known only as a boy, but he has suddenly become a man +and seems to be full of intelligence. He will go once more as a sailor, +he says, and then try for the position of second mate. He looked as if +he had been a good boy and would make a good man. + +"He said that he had been ill so much that he had been kept out of +temptation; but that the forecastle of a ship was no place for +improvement of mind or morals. He said the captain with whom he came +home asked him if he knew me, because he had heard of me. I was glad to +find that the captain was a man of intelligence and had been kind to the +boy." + +Miss Mitchell was an inveterate reader. She devoured books on all +subjects. If she saw that boys were eagerly reading a certain book she +immediately read it; if it were harmless she encouraged them to read it; +if otherwise, she had a convenient way of _losing_ the book. In +November, when the trustees made their annual examination, the book +appeared upon the shelf, but the next day after it was again lost. At +this time Nantucket was a thriving, busy town. The whale-fishery was a +very profitable business, and the town was one of the wealthiest in the +State. There was a good deal of social and literary life. In a Friend's +family neither music nor dancing was allowed. + +Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell were by no means narrow sectarians, but they +believed it to be best to conform to the rules of Friends as laid down +in the "Discipline." George Fox himself, the founder of the society, had +blown a blast against music, and especially instrumental music in +churches. It will be remembered that the Methodists have but recently +yielded to the popular demand in this respect, and have especially +favored congregational singing. + +It is most likely that George Fox had no ear for music himself, and thus +entailed upon his followers an obligation from which they are but now +freeing themselves. + +There was plenty of singing in the Mitchell family, and the parents +liked it, especially the father, who, when he sat down in the evening +with the children, would say, "Now sing something." But there could be +no instruction in singing; the children sang the songs that they picked +up from their playmates. + +However, one of the daughters bought a piano, and Maria's purse opened +to help that cause along. It would not have been proper for Mr. Mitchell +to help pay for it, but he took a great interest in it, nevertheless. So +indeed did the mother, but she took care not to express herself +outwardly. + +The piano was kept in a neighboring building not too far off to be heard +from the house. Maria had no ear for music herself, but she was always +to be depended upon to take the lead in an emergency, so the sisters put +their heads together and decided that the piano must be brought into the +house. When they had made all the preparations the father and mother +were invited to take tea with their married daughter, who lived in +another part of the town and had been let into the secret. + +The piano was duly removed and placed in an upper room called the +"hall," where Mr. Mitchell kept the chronometers, where the family +sewing was done, and where the larger part of the books were kept,--a +beautiful room, overlooking "the square," and a great gathering-place +for all their young friends. When the piano was put in place, the +sisters awaited the coming of the parents. Maria stationed herself at +the foot of the stairs, ready to meet them as they entered the front +door; another, half-way between, was to give the signal to a third, who +was seated at the piano. The footsteps were heard at the door, the +signal was given; a lively tune was started, and Maria confronted the +parents as they entered. + +"What's that?" was the exclamation. + +"Well," said Maria, soothingly, "we've had the piano brought over." + +"Why, of all things!" exclaimed the mother. + +The father laid down his hat, walked immediately upstairs, entered the +hall, and said, "Come, daughter, play something lively!" + +So that was all. + +But that was not all for Mr. Mitchell; he had broken the rules accepted +by the Friends, and it was necessary for some notice to be taken of it, +so a dear old Friend and neighbor came to deal with him. Now, to be +"under dealings," as it is called, was a very serious matter,--to be +spoken of only under the breath, in a half whisper. + +"I hear that thee has a piano in thy house," said the old Friend. + +"Yes, my daughters have," was the reply. + +"But it is in thy house," pursued the Friend. + +"Yes; but my home is my children's home as well as mine," said Mr. +Mitchell, "and I propose that they shall not be obliged to go away from +home for their pleasures. I don't play on the piano." + +It so happened that Mr. Mitchell held the property of the "monthly +meeting" in his hands at the time, and it was a very improper thing for +the accredited agent of the society to be "under dealings," as Mr. +Mitchell gently suggested. + +This the Friend had not thought of, and so he said, "Well, William, +perhaps we'd better say no more about it." + +When the father came home after this interview he could not keep it to +himself. If it had been the mother who was interviewed she would have +kept it a profound secret,--because she would not have liked to have her +children get any fun out of the proceedings of the old Friend. But Mr. +Mitchell told the story in his quiet way, the daughters enjoyed it, and +declared that the piano was placed upon a firm foothold by this +proceeding. The news spread abroad, and several other young Quaker girls +eagerly seized the occasion to gratify their musical longings in the +same direction. [Footnote: It is pleasant to note that this objection to +music among Friends is a thing of the past, and that the Friends' School +at Providence, R.I., which is under the control of the "New England +Yearly Meeting of Friends," has music in its regular curriculum.] + +Few women with scientific tastes had the advantages which surrounded +Miss Mitchell in her own home. Her father was acquainted with the most +prominent scientific men in the country, and in his hospitable home at +Nantucket she met many persons of distinction in literature and science. + +She cared but little for general society, and had always to be coaxed to +go into company. Later in life, however, she was much more socially +inclined, and took pleasure in making and receiving visits. She could +neither dance nor sing, but in all amusements which require quickness +and a ready wit she was very happy. She was very fond of children, and +knew how to amuse them and to take care of them. As she had half a dozen +younger brothers and sisters, she had ample opportunity to make herself +useful. + +She was a capital story-teller, and always had a story on hand to divert +a wayward child, or to soothe the little sister who was lying awake, and +afraid of the dark. She wrote a great many little stories, printed them +with a pen, and bound them in pretty covers. Most of them were destroyed +long ago. + +Maria took her part in all the household work. She knew how to do +everything that has to be done in a large family where but one servant +is kept, and she did everything thoroughly. If she swept a room it +became clean. She might not rearrange the different articles of +furniture in the most artistic manner, but everything would be clean, +and there would be nothing left crooked. If a chair was to be placed, it +would be parallel to something; she was exceedingly sensitive to a line +out of the perpendicular, and could detect the slightest deviation from +that rule. She had also a sensitive eye in the matter of color, and felt +any lack of harmony in the colors worn by those about her. + +Maria was always ready to "bear the brunt," and could at any time be +coaxed by the younger children to do the things which they found +difficult or disagreeable. + +The two youngest children in the family were delicate, and the special +care of the youngest sister devolved upon Maria, who knew how to be a +good nurse as well as a good playfellow. She was especially careful of a +timid child; she herself was timid, and, throughout her life, could +never witness a thunder-storm with any calmness. + +On one of those occasions so common in an American household, when the +one servant suddenly takes her leave, or is summarily dismissed, Miss +Mitchell describes her part of the family duties: + +"Oct. 21, 1854. This morning I arose at six, having been half asleep +only for some hours, fearing that I might not be up in time to get +breakfast, a task which I had volunteered to do the preceding evening. +It was but half light, and I made a hasty toilet. I made a fire very +quickly, prepared the coffee, baked the graham bread, toasted white +bread, trimmed the solar lamp, and made another fire in the dining-room +before seven o'clock. + +"I always thought that servant-girls had an easy time of it, and I still +think so. I really found an hour too long for all this, and when I rang +the bell at seven for breakfast I had been waiting fifteen minutes for +the clock to strike. + +"I went to the Atheneum at 9.30, and having decided that I would take +the Newark and Cambridge places of the comet, and work them up, I did +so, getting to the three equations before I went home to dinner at +12.30. I omitted the corrections of parallax and aberrations, not +intending to get more than a rough approximation. I find to my sorrow +that they do not agree with those from my own observations. I shall look +over them again next week. + +"At noon I ran around and did up several errands, dined, and was back +again at my post by 1.30. Then I looked over my morning's work,--I can +find no mistake. I have worn myself thin trying to find out about this +comet, and I know very little now in the matter. + +"I saw, in looking over Cooper, elements of a comet of 1825 which +resemble what I get out for this, from my own observations, but I cannot +rely upon my own. + +"I saw also, to-day, in the 'Monthly Notices,' a plan for measuring the +light of stars by degrees of illumination,--an idea which had occurred +to me long ago, but which I have not practised. + +"October 23. Yesterday I was again reminded of the remark which Mrs. +Stowe makes about the variety of occupations which an American woman +pursues. + +"She says it is this, added to the cares and anxieties, which keeps them +so much behind the daughters of England in personal beauty. + +"And to-day I was amused at reading that one of her party objected to +the introduction of waxed floors into American housekeeping, because she +could seem to see herself down on her knees doing the waxing. + +"But of yesterday. I was up before six, made the fire in the kitchen, +and made coffee. Then I set the table in the dining-room, and made the +fire there. Toasted bread and trimmed lamps. Rang the breakfast bell at +seven. After breakfast, made my bed, and 'put up' the room. Then I came +down to the Atheneum and looked over my comet computations till noon. +Before dinner I did some tatting, and made seven button-holes for K. I +dressed and then dined. Came back again to the Atheneum at 1.30, and +looked over another set of computations, which took me until four +o'clock. I was pretty tired by that time, and rested by reading +'Cosmos.' Lizzie E. came in, and I gossiped for half an hour. I went +home to tea, and that over, I made a loaf of bread. Then I went up to my +room and read through (partly writing) two exercises in German, which +took me thirty-five minutes. + +"It was stormy, and I had no observing to do, so I sat down to my +tatting. Lizzie E. came in and I took a new lesson in tatting, so as to +make the pearl-edged. I made about half a yard during the evening. At a +little after nine I went home with Lizzie, and carried a letter to the +post-office. I had kept steadily at work for sixteen hours when I went +to bed." + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +1847-1854 + +MISS MITCHELL'S COMET--EXTRACTS FROM DIARY--THE COMET + +Miss Mitchell spent every clear evening on the house-top "sweeping" the +heavens. + +No matter how many guests there might be in the parlor, Miss Mitchell +would slip out, don her regimentals as she called them, and, lantern in +hand, mount to the roof. + +On the evening of Oct. 1, 1847, there was a party of invited guests at +the Mitchell home. As usual, Maria slipped out, ran up to the telescope, +and soon returned to the parlor and told her father that she thought she +saw a comet. Mr. Mitchell hurried upstairs, stationed himself at the +telescope, and as soon as he looked at the object pointed out by his +daughter declared it to be a comet. Miss Mitchell, with her usual +caution, advised him to say nothing about it until they had observed it +long enough to be tolerably sure. But Mr. Mitchell immediately wrote to +Professor Bond, at Cambridge, announcing the discovery. On account of +stormy weather, the mails did not leave Nantucket until October 3. + +Frederick VI., King of Denmark, had offered, Dec. 17, 1831, a gold medal +of the value of twenty ducats to the first discoverer of a telescopic +comet. The regulations, as revised and amended, were republished, in +April, 1840, in the "Astronomische Nachrichten." + +When this comet was discovered, the king who had offered the medal was +dead. The son, Frederick VII., who had succeeded him, had not the +interest in science which belonged to his father, but he was prevailed +upon to carry out his father's designs in this particular case. + +The same comet had been seen by Father de Vico at Rome, on October 3, at +7.30 P.M., and this fact was immediately communicated by him to +Professor Schumacher, at Altona. On the 7th of October, at 9.20 P.M., +the comet was observed by Mr. W.R. Dawes, at Kent, England, and on the +11th it was seen by Madame Rümker, the wife of the director of the +observatory at Hamburg. + +The following letter from the younger Bond will show the cordial +relations existing between the observatory at Cambridge and the smaller +station at Nantucket: + + CAMBRIDGE, Oct. 20, 1847. + + DEAR MARIA: There! I think that is a very amiable beginning, + considering the way in which I have been treated by you! If you + are going to find any more comets, can you not wait till they + are announced by the proper authorities? At least, don't kidnap + another such as this last was. + + If my object were to make you fear and tremble, I should tell + you that on the evening of the 30th I was sweeping within a few + degrees of your prize. I merely throw out the hint for what it + is worth. + + It has been very interesting to watch the motion of this comet + among the stars with the great refractor; we could almost see it + move. + + An account of its passage over the star mentioned by your father + when he was here, would make an interesting notice for one of + the foreign journals, which we would readily forward.... [Here + follow Mr. Bond's observations.] + + Respectfully, + + Your obedient servant, + + G. P. BOND. + +Hon. Edward Everett, who at that time was president of Harvard College, +took a great interest in the matter, and immediately opened a +correspondence with the proper authorities, and sent a notice of the +discovery to the "Astronomische Nachrichten." + +The priority of Miss Mitchell's discovery was immediately admitted +throughout Europe. + +The King of Denmark very promptly referred the matter to Professor +Schumacher, who reported in favor of granting the medal to Miss +Mitchell, and the medal was duly struck off and forwarded to Mr. +Everett. + +Among European astronomers who urged Miss Mitchell's claim was Admiral +Smyth, whom she knew through his "Celestial Cycle," and who later, on +her visit to England, became a warm personal friend. Madame Rümker, +also, sent congratulations. + +Mr. Everett announced the receipt of the medal to Miss Mitchell in the +following letter: + + CAMBRIDGE, March 29, 1849. + + MY DEAR MISS MITCHELL: I have the pleasure to inform you that + your medal arrived by the last steamer; it reached me by mail, + yesterday afternoon. + + I went to Boston this morning, hoping to find you at the Adams + House, to put it into your own hand. + + As your return to Nantucket prevented this, I, of course, retain + it, subject to your orders, not liking to take the risk again of + its transmission by mail. + + Having it in this way in my hand, I have taken the liberty to + show it to some friends, such as W.C. Bond, Professor Peirce, + the editors of the "Transcript," and the members of my + family,--which I hope you will pardon. + + I remain, my dear Miss Mitchell, with great regard, + + Very faithfully yours, + + EDWARD EVERETT.[Footnote: See Appendix.] + +In 1848 Miss Mitchell was elected to membership by the "American Academy +of Arts and Sciences," unanimously; she was the first and only woman +ever admitted. In the diploma the printed word "Fellow" is erased, and +the words "Honorary Member" inserted by Dr. Asa Gray, who signed the +document as secretary. Some years later, however, her name is found in +the list of Fellows of this Academy, also of the American Institute and +of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. For many +years she attended the annual conventions of this last-mentioned +association, in which she took great interest. + +The extract below refers to one of these meetings, probably that of +1855: + +"August 23. It is really amusing to find one's self lionized in a city +where one has visited quietly for years; to see the doors of fashionable +mansions open wide to receive you, which never opened before. I suspect +that the whole corps of science laughs in its sleeves at the farce. + +"The leaders make it pay pretty well. My friend Professor Bache makes +the occasions the opportunities for working sundry little wheels, +pulleys, and levers; the result of all which is that he gets his +enormous appropriations of $400,000 out of Congress, every winter, for +the maintenance of the United States Coast Survey. + +"For a few days Science reigns supreme,--we are fêted and complimented +to the top of our bent, and although complimenters and complimented must +feel that it is only a sort of theatrical performance, for a few days +and over, one does enjoy acting the part of greatness for a while! I was +tired after three days of it, and glad to take the cars and run away. + +"The descent into a commoner was rather sudden. I went alone to Boston, +and when I reached out my free pass, the conductor read it through and +handed it back, saying in a gruff voice, 'It's worth nothing; a dollar +and a quarter to Boston.' Think what a downfall! the night before, and + + 'One blast upon my bugle horn + Were worth a hundred men!' + +Now one man alone was my dependence, and that man looked very much +inclined to put me out of the car for attempting to pass a ticket that +in his eyes was valueless. Of course I took it quietly, and paid the +money, merely remarking, 'You will pass a hundred persons on this road +in a few days on these same tickets.' + +"When I look back on the paper read at this meeting by Mr. J---- in his +uncouth manner, I think when a man is thoroughly in earnest, how +careless he is of mere _words!_" + +In 1849 Miss Mitchell was asked by the late Admiral Davis, who had just +taken charge of the American Nautical Almanac, to act as computer for +that work,--a proposition to which she gladly assented, and for nineteen +years she held that position in addition to her other duties. This, of +course, made a very desirable increase to her income, but not +necessarily to her expenses. The tables of the planet Venus were +assigned to her. In this year, too, she was employed by Professor Bache, +of the United States Coast Survey, in the work of an astronomical party +at Mount Independence, Maine. + +"1853. I was told that Miss Dix wished to see me, and I called upon her. +It was dusk, and I did not at once see her; her voice was low, not +particularly sweet, but very gentle. She told me that she had heard +Professor Henry speak of me, and that Professor Henry was one of her +best friends, the truest man she knew. When the lights were brought in I +looked at her. She must be past fifty, she is rather small, dresses +indifferently, has good features in general, but indifferent eyes. She +does not brighten up in countenance in conversing. She is so successful +that I suppose there must be a hidden fire somewhere, for heat is a +motive power, and her cold manners could never move Legislatures. I saw +some outburst of fire when Mrs. Hale's book was spoken of. It seems Mrs. +Hale wrote to her for permission to publish a notice of her, and was +decidedly refused; another letter met with the same answer, yet she +wrote a 'Life' which Miss Dix says is utterly false. + +"In her general sympathy for suffering humanity, Miss Dix seems +neglectful of the individual interest. She has no family connection but +a brother, has never had sisters, and she seemed to take little interest +in the persons whom she met. I was surprised at her feeling any desire +to see me. She is not strikingly interesting in conversation, because +she is so grave, so cold, and so quiet. I asked her if she did not +become at times weary and discouraged; and she said, wearied, but not +discouraged, for she had met with nothing but success. There is +evidently a strong will which carries all before it, not like the sweep +of the hurricane, but like the slow, steady, and powerful march of the +molten lava. + +"It is sad to see a woman sacrificing the ties of the affections even to +do good. I have no doubt Miss Dix does much good, but a woman needs a +home and the love of other women at least, if she lives without that of +man." + +The following entry was made many years after:-- + +"August, 1871. I have just seen Miss Dix again, having met her only once +for a few minutes in all the eighteen years. She listened to a story of +mine about some girls in need, and then astonished me by an offer she +made me." + +"Feb. 15, 1853. I think Dr. Hall [in his 'Life of Mary Ware'] does wrong +when he attempts to encourage the use of the _needle_. It seems to me +that the needle is the chain of woman, and has fettered her more than +the laws of the country. + +"Once emancipate her from the 'stitch, stitch, stitch," the industry of +which would be commendable if it served any purpose except the +gratification of her vanity, and she would have time for studies which +would engross as the needle never can. I would as soon put a girl alone +into a closet to meditate as give her only the society of her needle. +The art of sewing, so far as men learn it, is well enough; that is, to +enable a person to _take the stitches_, and, if necessary, to make her +own garments in a strong manner; but the dressmaker should no more be a +universal character than the carpenter. Suppose every man should feel it +is his duty to do his own mechanical work of _all_ kinds, would society +be benefited? would the work be well done? Yet a woman is expected to +know how to do all kinds of sewing, all kinds of cooking, all kinds of +any _woman's_ work, and the consequence is that life is passed in +learning these only, while the universe of truth beyond remains +unentered. + +"May 11, 1853. I could not help thinking of Esther [a much-loved cousin +who had recently died] a few evenings since when I was observing. A +meteor flashed upon me suddenly, very bright, very short-lived; it +seemed to me that it was sent for me especially, for it greeted me +almost the first instant I looked up, and was gone in a second,--it was +as fleeting and as beautiful as the smile upon Esther's face the last +time I saw her. I thought when I talked with her about death that, +though she could not come to me visibly, she might be able to influence +my feelings; but it cannot be, for my faith has been weaker than ever +since she died, and my fears have been greater." + +A few pages farther on in the diary appears this poem: + + "ESTHER + + "Living, the hearts of all around + Sought hers as slaves a throne; + Dying, the reason first we found-- + The fulness of her own. + + "She gave unconsciously the while + A wealth we all might share-- + To me the memory of the smile + That last I saw her wear. + + "Earth lost from out its meagre store + A bright and precious stone; + Heaven could not be so rich before, + But it has richer grown." + +"Sept. 19, 1853. I am surprised to find the verse which I picked up +somewhere and have always admired-- + + "'Oh, reader, had you in your mind + Such stores as silent thought can bring, + Oh, gentle reader, you would find + A tale in everything'-- + +belonging to Wordsworth and to one of Wordsworth's simple, I am almost +ready to say _silly_, poems. I am in doubt what to think of Wordsworth. +I should be ashamed of some of his poems if I had written them myself, +and yet there are points of great beauty, and lines which once in the +mind will not leave it. + +"Oct. 31, 1853. People have to learn sometimes not only how much the +heart, but how much the head, can bear. My letter came from Cambridge +[the Harvard Observatory], and I had some work to do over. It was a +wearyful job, but by dint of shutting myself up all day I did manage to +get through with it. The good of my travelling showed itself then, when +I was too tired to read, to listen, or to talk; for the beautiful +scenery of the West was with me in the evening, instead of the tedious +columns of logarithms. It is a blessed thing that these pictures keep in +the mind and come out at the needful hour. I did not call them, but they +seemed to come forth as a regulator for my tired brain, as if they had +been set sentinel-like to watch a proper time to appear. + +"November, 1853. There is said to be no up or down in creation, but I +think the _world_ must be _low_, for people who keep themselves +constantly before it do a great deal of stooping! + +"Dec. 8, 1853. Last night we had the first meeting of the class in +elocution. It was very pleasant, but my deficiency of ear was never more +apparent to myself. We had exercises in the ascending scale, and I +practised after I came home, with the family as audience. H. says my ear +is competent only to vulgar hearing, and I cannot appreciate nice +distinctions.... I am sure that I shall never say that if I had been +properly educated I should have made a singer, a dancer, or a painter--I +should have failed less, perhaps, in the last. ... Coloring I might have +been good in, for I do think my eyes are better than those of any one I +know. + +"Feb. 18, 1854. If I should make out a calendar by my feelings of +fatigue, I should say there were six Saturdays in the week and one +Sunday. + +"Mr. ---- somewhat ridicules my plan of reading Milton with a view to +his astronomy, but I have found it very pleasant, and have certainly a +juster idea of Milton's variety of greatness than I had before. I have +filled several sheets with my annotations on the 'Paradise Lost,' which +I may find useful if I should ever be obliged to teach, either as a +schoolma'am or a lecturer. [Footnote: This paper has been printed since +Miss Mitchell's death in "Poet-lore," June-July, 1894.] + +"March 2, 1854. I 'swept' last night two hours, by three periods. It was +a grand night--not a breath of air, not a fringe of a cloud, all clear, +all beautiful. I really enjoy that kind of work, but my back soon +becomes tired, long before the cold chills me. I saw two nebulae in Leo +with which I was not familiar, and that repaid me for the time. I am +always the better for open-air breathing, and was certainly meant for +the wandering life of the Indian. + +"Sept. 12, 1854. I am just through with a summer, and a summer is to me +always a trying ordeal. I have determined not to spend so much time at +the Atheneum another season, but to put some one in my place who shall +see the strange faces and hear the strange talk. + +"How much talk there is about religion! Giles [Footnote: Rev. Henry +Giles.] I like the best, for he seems, like myself, to have no settled +views, and to be religious only in feeling. He says he has no piety, but +a great sense of infinity. + +"Yesterday I had a Shaker visitor, and to-day a Catholic; and the more I +see and hear, the less do I care about church doctrines. The Catholic, a +priest, I have known as an Atheneum visitor for some time. He talked +to-day, on my asking him some questions, and talked better than I +expected. He is plainly full of intelligence, full of enthusiasm for his +religion, and, I suspect, full of bigotry. I do not believe he will die +a Catholic priest. A young man of his temperament must find it hard to +live without family ties, and I shall expect to hear, if I ever hear of +him again, that some good little Irish girl has made him forget his +vows. + +"My visitors, in other respects, have been of the average sort. Four +women have been delighted to make my acquaintance--three men have +thought themselves in the presence of a superior being; one offered me +twenty-five cents because I reached him the key of the museum. One woman +has opened a correspondence with me, and several have told me that they +knew friends of mine; two have spoken of me in small letters to small +newspapers; one said he didn't see me, and one said he did! I have +become hardened to all; neither compliment nor quarter-dollar rouses any +emotion. My fit of humility, which has troubled me all summer, is +shaken, however, by the first cool breeze of autumn and the first walk +taken without perspiration. + +"Sept. 22, 1854. On the evening of the 18th, while 'sweeping,' there +came into the field the two nebulae in Ursa Major, which I have known +for many a year, but which to my surprise now appeared to be three. The +upper one, as seen from an inverting telescope, appeared double-headed, +like one near the Dolphin, but much more decided than that, the space +between the two heads being very plainly discernible and subtending a +decided angle. The bright part of this object was clearly the old +nebula--but what was the appendage? Had the nebula suddenly changed? Was +it a comet, or was it merely a very fine night? Father decided at once +for the comet; I hesitated, with my usual cowardice, and forbade his +giving it a notice in the newspaper. + +"I watched it from 8.30 to 11.30 almost without cessation, and was quite +sure at 11.30 that its position had changed with regard to the +neighboring stars. I counted its distance from the known nebula several +times, but the whole affair was difficult, for there were flying clouds, +and sometimes the nebula and comet were too indistinct to be definitely +seen. + +"The 19th was cloudy and the 20th the same, with the variety of +occasional breaks, through which I saw the nebula, but not the comet. + +"On the 21st came a circular, and behold Mr. Van Arsdale had seen it on +the 13th, but had not been sure of it until the 15th, on account of the +clouds. + +"I was too well pleased with having really made the discovery to care +because I was not first. + +"Let the Dutchman have the reward of his sturdier frame and steadier +nerves! + +"Especially could I be a Christian because the 13th was cloudy, and more +especially because I dreaded the responsibility of making the +computations, _nolens volens_, which I must have done to be able to call +it mine.... + +"I made observations for three hours last night, and am almost ill +to-day from fatigue; still I have worked all day, trying to reduce the +places, and mean to work hard again to-night. + +"Sept. 25, 1854. I began to recompute for the comet, with observations +of Cambridge and Washington, to-day. I have had a fit of despondency in +consequence of being obliged to renounce my own observations as too +rough for use. The best that can be said of my life so far is that it +has been industrious, and the best that can be said of me is that I have +not pretended to what I was not. + +"October 10. As soon as I had run through the computations roughly for +the comet, so as to make up my mind that by my own observations (which +were very wrong) the Perihelion was passed, and nothing more to be hoped +for from observations, I seized upon a pleasant day and went to the Cape +for an excursion. We went to Yarmouth, Sandwich, and Plymouth, enjoying +the novelty of the new car-route. It really seemed like railway +travelling on our own island, so much sand and so flat a country. + +"The little towns, too, seemed quaint and odd, and the old gray cottages +looked as if they belonged to the last century, and were waked from a +long nap by the railway whistle. + +"I thought Sandwich a beautiful, and Plymouth an interesting, town. I +would fain have gone off into some poetical quotation, such as 'The +breaking waves dashed high' or 'The Pilgrim fathers, where are they?' +but K., who had been there before, desired me not to be absurd, but to +step quietly on to the half-buried rock and quietly off. Younger sisters +know a deal, so I did as I was bidden to do, and it was just as well not +to make myself hoarse without an appreciative audience. + +"I liked the picture by Sargent in Pilgrim Hall, but seeing Plymouth on +a mild, sunny day, with everything looking bright and pleasant, it was +difficult to conceive of the landing of the Pilgrims as an event, or +that the settling of such a charming spot required any heroism. + +"The picture, of course, represents the dreariness of winter, and my +feelings were moved by the chilled appearance of the little children, +and the pathetic countenance of little Peregrine White, who, considering +that he was born in the harbor, is wonderfully grown up before they are +welcomed by Samoset. According to history little Peregrine was born +about December 6 and Samoset met them about March 16; so he was three +months old, but he is plainly a forward child, for he looks up very +knowingly. Such a child had immortality thrust upon him from his birth. +It must have had a deadening influence upon him to know that he was a +marked man whether he did anything worthy of mark or not. He does not +seem to have made any figure after his entrance into the world, though +he must have created a great sensation when he came. + +"October 17. I have just gone over my comet computations again, and it +is humiliating to perceive how very little more I know than I did seven +years ago when I first did this kind of work. To be sure, I have only +once in the time computed a parabolic orbit; but it seems to me that I +know no more in general. I think I am a little better thinker, that I +take things less upon trust, but at the same time I trust myself much +less. The world of learning is so broad, and the human soul is so +limited in power! We reach forth and strain every nerve, but we seize +only a bit of the curtain that hides the infinite from us. + +"Will it really unroll to us at some future time? Aside from the +gratification of the affections in another world, that of the intellect +must be great if it is enlarged and its desires are the same. + +"Nov. 24, 1854. Yesterday James Freeman Clarke, the biographer of +Margaret Fuller, came into the Atheneum. It was plain that he came to +see me and not the institution.... He rushed into talk at once, mostly +on people, and asked me about my astronomical labors. As it was a kind +of flattery, I repaid it in kind by asking him about Margaret Fuller. He +said she did not strike any one as a person of intellect or as a +student, for all her faculties were kept so much abreast that none had +prominence. I wanted to ask if she was a lovable person, but I did not +think he would be an unbiassed judge, she was so much attached to him. + +"Dec. 5, 1854. The love of one's own sex is precious, for it is neither +provoked by vanity nor retained by flattery; it is genuine and sincere. +I am grateful that I have had much of this in my life. + +"The comet looked in upon us on the 29th. It made a twilight call, +looking sunny and bright, as if it had just warmed itself in the +equinoctial rays. A boy on the street called my attention to it, but I +found on hurrying home that father had already seen it, and had ranged +it behind buildings so as to get a rough position. + +"It was piping cold, but we went to work in good earnest that night, and +the next night on which we could see it, which was not until April. + +"I was dreadfully busy, and a host of little annoyances crowded upon me. +I had a good star near it in the field of my comet-seeker, but _what_ +star? + +"On that rested everything, and I could not be sure even from the +catalogue, for the comet and the star were so much in the twilight that +I could get no good neighboring stars. We called it Arietes, or 707. + +"Then came a waxing moon, and we waxed weary in trying to trace the +fainter and fainter comet in the mists of twilight and the glare of +moonlight. + +"Next I broke a screw of my instrument, and found that no screw of that +description could be bought in the town. + +"I started off to find a man who could make one, and engaged him to do +so the next day. The next day was Fast Day; all the world fasted, at +least from labor. + +"However, the screw was made, and it fitted nicely. The clouds cleared, +and we were likely to have a good night. I put up my instrument, but +scarcely had the screw-driver touched the new screw than out it flew +from its socket, rolled along the floor of the 'walk,' dropped quietly +through a crack into the gutter of the house-roof. I heard it click, and +felt very much like using language unbecoming to a woman's mouth. + +"I put my eye down to the crack, but could not see it. There was but one +thing to be done,--the floor-boards must come up. I got a hatchet, but +could do nothing. I called father; he brought a crowbar and pried up the +board, then crawled under it and found the screw. I took good care not +to lose it a second time. + +"The instrument was fairly mounted when the clouds mounted to keep it +company, and the comet and I again parted. + +"In all observations, the blowing out of a light by a gust of wind is a +very common and very annoying accident; but I once met with a much worse +one, for I dropped a chronometer, and it rolled out of its box on to the +ground. We picked it up in a great panic, but it had not even altered +its rate, as we found by later observations. + +"The glaring eyes of the cat, who nightly visited me, were at one time +very annoying, and a man who climbed up a fence and spoke to me, in the +stillness of the small hours, fairly shook not only my equanimity, but +the pencil which I held in my hand. He was quite innocent of any +intention to do me harm, but he gave me a great fright. + +"The spiders and bugs which swarm in my observing-houses I have rather +an attachment for, but they must not crawl over my recording-paper. Rats +are my abhorrence, and I learned with pleasure that some poison had been +placed under the transit-house. + +"One gets attached (if the term may be used) to certain midnight +apparitions. The Aurora Borealis is always a pleasant companion; a +meteor seems to come like a messenger from departed spirits; and the +blossoming of trees in the moonlight becomes a sight looked for with +pleasure. + +"Aside from the study of astronomy, there is the same enjoyment in a +night upon the housetop, with the stars, as in the midst of other grand +scenery; there is the same subdued quiet and grateful seriousness; a +calm to the troubled spirit, and a hope to the desponding. + +"Even astronomers who are as well cared for as are those of Cambridge +have their annoyances, and even men as skilled as they are make +blunders. + +"I have known one of the Bonds,[Footnote: Of the Harvard College +Observatory.] with great effort, turn that huge telescope down to the +horizon to make an observation upon a blazing comet seen there, and when +he had found it in his glass, find also that it was not a comet, but the +nebula of Andromeda, a cluster of stars on which he had spent much time, +and which he had made a special object of study. + +"Dec. 26, 1854. They were wonderful men, the early astronomers. That was +a great conception, which now seems to us so simple, that the earth +turns upon its axis, and a still greater one that it revolves about the +sun (to show this last was worth a man's lifetime, and it really almost +cost the life of Galileo). Somehow we are ready to think that they had a +wider field than we for speculation, that truth being all unknown it was +easier to take the first step in its paths. But is the region of truth +limited? Is it not infinite?... We know a few things which were once +hidden, and being known they seem easy; but there are the flashings of +the Northern Lights--'Across the lift they start and shift;' there is +the conical zodiacal beam seen so beautifully in the early evenings of +spring and the early mornings of autumn; there are the startling comets, +whose use is all unknown; there are the brightening and flickering +variable stars, whose cause is all unknown; and the meteoric +showers--and for all of these the reasons are as clear as for the +succession of day and night; they lie just beyond the daily mist of our +minds, but our eyes have not yet pierced through it." + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +1855-1857 + +EXTRACTS FROM DIARY--RACHEL--EMERSON--A HARD WINTER + +"Jan. 1, 1855. I put some wires into my little transit this morning. I +dreaded it so much, when I found yesterday that it must be done, that it +disturbed my sleep. It was much easier than I expected. I took out the +little collimating screws first, then I drew out the tube, and in that I +found a brass plate screwed on the diaphragm which contained the lines. +I was at first a little puzzled to know which screws held this diaphragm +in its place, and, as I was very anxious not to unscrew the wrong ones, +I took time to consider and found I need turn only two. Then out slipped +the little plate with its three wires where five should have been, two +having been broken. As I did not know how to manage a spider's web, I +took the hairs from my own head, taking care to pick out white ones +because I have no black ones to spare. I put in the two, after first +stretching them over pasteboard, by sticking them with sealing-wax +dissolved in alcohol into the little grooved lines which I found. When I +had, with great labor, adjusted these, as I thought, firmly, I perceived +that some of the wax was on the hairs and would make them yet coarser, +and they were already too coarse; so I washed my little camel's-hair +brush which I had been using, and began to wash them with clear alcohol. +Almost at once I washed out another wire and soon another and another. I +went to work patiently and put in the five perpendicular ones besides +the horizontal one, which, like the others, had frizzled up and appeared +to melt away. With another hour's labor I got in the five, when a rude +motion raised them all again and I began over. Just at one o'clock I had +got them all in again. I attempted then to put the diaphragm back into +its place. The sealing-wax was not dry, and with a little jar I sent the +wires all agog. This time they did not come out of the little grooved +lines into which they were put, and I hastened to take out the brass +plate and set them in parallel lines. I gave up then for the day, but, +as they looked well and were certainly in firmly, I did not consider +that I had made an entire failure. I thought it nice ladylike work to +manage such slight threads and turn such delicate screws; but fine as +are the hairs of one's head, I shall seek something finer, for I can see +how clumsy they will appear when I get on the eyepiece and magnify their +imperfections. They look parallel now to the eye, but with a magnifying +power a very little crook will seem a billowy wave, and a faint star +will hide itself in one of the yawning abysses. + +"January 15. Finding the hairs which I had put into my instrument not +only too coarse, but variable and disposed to curl themselves up at a +change of weather, I wrote to George Bond to ask him how I should +procure spider lines. He replied that the web from cocoons should be +used, and that I should find it difficult at this time of year to get at +them. I remembered at once that I had seen two in the library room of +the Atheneum, which I had carefully refrained from disturbing. I found +them perfect, and unrolled them.... Fearing that I might not succeed in +managing them, I procured some hairs from C.'s head. C. being not quite +a year old, his hair is remarkably fine and sufficiently long.... I made +the perpendicular wires of the spider's webs, breaking them and doing +the work over again a great many times.... I at length got all in, +crossing the five perpendicular ones with a horizontal one from C.'s +spinning-wheel.... After twenty-four hours' exposure to the weather, I +looked at them. The spider-webs had not changed, they were plainly used +to a chill and made to endure changes of temperature; but C.'s hair, +which had never felt a cold greater than that of the nursery, nor a +change more decided than from his mother's arms to his father's, had +knotted up into a decided curl!--N.B. C. may expect ringlets. + +"January 22. Horace Greeley, in an article in a recent number of the +'Tribune,' says that the fund left by Smithson is spent by the regents +of that institution in publishing books which no publisher would +undertake and which do no good to anybody. Now in our little town of +Nantucket, with our little Atheneum, these volumes are in constant +demand.... + +"I do not suppose that such works as those issued by the Smithsonian +regents are appreciated by all who turn them over, but the ignorant +learn that such things exist; they perceive that a higher cultivation +than theirs is in the world, and they are stimulated to strive after +greater excellence. So I steadily advocate, in purchasing books for the +Atheneum, the lifting of the people. 'Let us buy, not such books as the +people want, but books just above their wants, and they will reach up to +take what is put out for them.' + +"Sept. 10, 1855. To know what one ought to do is certainly the hardest +thing in life. 'Doing' is comparatively easy; but there are no laws for +your individual case--yours is one of a myriad. + +"There are laws of right and wrong in general, but they do not seem to +bear upon any particular case. + +"In chess-playing you can refer to rules of movement, for the chess-men +are few, and the positions in which they may be placed, numerous as they +are, have a limit. + +"But is there any limit to the different positions of human beings +around you? Is there any limit to the peculiarities of circumstances? + +"Here a man, however much of a copyist he may be by nature, comes down +to simple originality, unless he blindly follows the advice of some +friend; for there is no precedent in anything exactly like his case; he +must decide for himself, and must take the step alone; and fearfully, +cautiously, and distrustingly must we all take many of our steps, for we +see but a little way at best, and we can foresee nothing at all. + +"September 13. I read this morning an article in 'Putnam's Magazine,' on +Rachel. I have been much interested in this woman as a genius, though I +am pained by the accounts of her career in point of morals, and I am +wearied with the glitter of her jewelry. Night puts on a jewelled robe +which few admire, compared with the admiration for marketable jewelry. +The New York 'Tribune' descends to the rating of the value of those worn +by her, and it is the prominent point, or rather it makes the multitude +of prominent points, when she is spoken of. + +"The writer in 'Putnam' does not go into these small matters, but he +attempts a criticism on acting, to which I am not entirely a convert. He +maintains that if an actor should really show a character in such light +that we could not tell the impersonation from the reality, the stage +would lose its interest. I do not think so. We should draw back, of +course, from physical suffering; but yet we should be charmed to suppose +anything real, which we had desired to see. If we felt that we really +met Cardinal Wolsey or Henry VIII. in his days of glory, would it not be +a lifelong memory to us, very different from the effect of the stage, +and if for a few moments we really _felt_ that we had met them, would it +not lift us into a new kind of being? + +"What would we not give to see Julius Caesar and the soothsayer, just as +they stood in Rome as Shakspere represents them? Why, we travel hundreds +of miles to see the places noted for the doings of these old Romans; and +if we could be made to believe that we met one of the smaller men, even, +of that day, our ecstasy would be unbounded. 'A tin pan so painted as to +deceive is atrocious,' says this writer. Of course, for we are not +interested in a tin pan; but give us a portrait of Shakspere or Milton +so that we shall feel that we have met them, and I see no atrocity in +the matter. We honor the homes of these men, and we joy in the hope of +seeing them. What would be beyond seeing them in life? + +"October 31. I saw Rachel in 'Phèdre' and in 'Adrienne.' I had +previously asked a friend if I, in my ignorance of acting, and in my +inability to tell good from poor, should really perceive a marked +difference between Rachel and her aids. She thought I should. I did +indeed! In 'Phèdre,' which I first saw, she was not aided at all by her +troupe; they were evidently ill at ease in the Greek dress and in Greek +manners; while she had assimilated herself to the whole. It is founded +on the play of Euripides, and even to Rachel the passion which she +represents as Phèdre must have been too strange to be natural. +Hippolytus refuses the love which Phèdre offers after a long struggle +with herself, and this gives cause for the violent bursts in which +Rachel shows her power. It was an outburst of passion of which I have no +conception, and I felt as if I saw a new order of being; not a woman, +but a personified passion. The vehemence and strength were wonderful. It +was in parts very touching. There was as fine an opportunity for Aricia +to show some power as for Phèdre, but the automaton who represented +Aricia had no power to show. Oenon, whom I took to be the sister Sarah, +was something of an actress, but her part was so hateful that no one +could applaud her. I felt in reading 'Phèdre,' and in hearing it, that +it was a play of high order, and that I learned some little philosophy +from some of its sentiments; but for 'Adrienne' I have a contempt. The +play was written by Scribe specially for Rachel, and the French acting +was better done by the other performers than the Greek. I have always +disliked to see death represented on the stage. Rachel's representation +was awful! I could not take my eyes from the scene, and I held my breath +in horror; the death was so much to the life. It is said that she +changes color. I do not know that she does, but it looked like a ghastly +hue that came over her pale face. + +"I was displeased at the constant standing. Neither as Greeks nor as +Frenchmen did they sit at all; only when dying did Rachel need a chair. +They made love standing, they told long stories standing, they took +snuff in that position, hat in hand, and Rachel fainted upon the breast +of some friend from the same fatiguing attitude. + +"The audience to hear 'Adrienne' was very fine. The Unitarian clergymen +and the divinity students seemed to have turned out. + +"Most of the two thousand listeners followed with the book, and when the +last word was uttered on the French page, over turned the two thousand +leaves, sounding like a shower of rain. The applause was never very +great; it is said that Rachel feels this as a Boston peculiarity, but +she ought also to feel the compliment of so large an audience in a city +where foreigners are so few and the population so small compared to that +of New York. + +"Nov. 14, 1855. Last night I heard Emerson give a lecture. I pity the +reporter who attempts to give it to the world. I began to listen with a +determination to remember it in order, but it was without method, or +order, or system. It was like a beam of light moving in the undulatory +waves, meeting with occasional meteors in its path; it was exceedingly +captivating. It surprised me that there was not only no commonplace +thought, but there was no commonplace expression. If he quoted, he +quoted from what we had not read; if he told an anecdote, it was one +that had not reached us. At the outset he was very severe upon the +science of the age. He said that inventors and discoverers helped +themselves very much, but they did not help the rest of the world; that +a great man was felt to the centre of the Copernican system; that a +botanist dried his plants, but the plants had their revenge and dried +the botanist; that a naturalist bottled up reptiles, but in return the +man was bottled up. + +"There was a pitiful truth in all this, but there are glorious +exceptions. Professor Peirce is anything but a formula, though he deals +in formulae. + +"The lecture turned at length upon beauty, and it was evident that +personal beauty had made Emerson its slave many a time, and I suppose +every heart in the house admitted the truth of his words.... + +"It was evident that Mr. Emerson was not at ease, for he declared that +good manners were more than beauty of face, and good expression better +than good features. He mentioned that Sir Philip Sydney was not +handsome, though the boast of English society; and he spoke of the +astonishing beauty of the Duchess of Hamilton, to see whom hundreds +collected when she took a ride. I think in these cases there is +something besides beauty; there was rank in that of the Duchess, in the +case of Sydney there was no need of beauty at all. + +"Dec. 16, 1855. All along this year I have felt that it was a hard +year--the hardest of my life. And I have kept enumerating to myself my +many trials; to-day it suddenly occurred to me that my blessings were +much more numerous. If mother's illness was a sore affliction, her +recovery is a great blessing; and even the illness itself has its bright +side, for we have joyed in showing her how much we prize her continued +life. If I have lost some friends by death, I have not lost all. If I +have worked harder than I felt that I could bear, how much better is +that than not to have as much work as I wanted to do. I have earned more +money than in any preceding year; I have studied less, but have observed +more, than I did last year. I have saved more money than ever before, +hoping for Europe in 1856." ... + +Miss Mitchell from her earliest childhood had had a great desire to +travel in Europe. She received a very small salary for her services in +the Atheneum, but small as it was she laid by a little every year. + +She dressed very simply and spent as little as possible on +herself--which was also true of her later years. She took a little +journey every year, and could always have little presents ready for the +birthdays and Christmas days, and for the necessary books which could +not be found in the Atheneum library, and which she felt that she ought +to own herself,--all this on a salary which an ordinary school-girl in +these days would think too meagre to supply her with dress alone. + +In this family the children were not ashamed to say, "I can't afford +it," and were taught that nothing was cheap that they could not pay +for--a lesson that has been valuable to them all their lives. + +".... 1855. Deacon Greeley, of Boston, urged my going to Boston and +giving some lectures to get money. I told him I could not think of it +just now, as I wanted to go to Europe. 'On what money?' said he. 'What I +have earned,' I replied. 'Bless me!' said he; 'am I talking to a +capitalist? What a mistake I have made.'" + +During the time of the prosperity of the town, the winters were very +sociable and lively; but when the inhabitants began to leave for more +favorable opportunities for getting a livelihood, the change was felt +very seriously, especially in the case of an exceptionally stormy +winter. Here is an extract showing how Miss Mitchell and her family +lived during one of these winters: + +"Jan. 22, 1857. Hard winters are becoming the order of things. Winter +before last was hard, last winter was harder, and this surpasses all +winters known before. + +"We have been frozen into our island now since the 6th. No one cared +much about it for the first two or three days; the sleighing was good, +and all the world was out trying their horses on Main street--the +racecourse of the world. Day after day passed, and the thermometer sank +to a lower point, and the winds rose to a higher, and sleighing became +uncomfortable; and even the dullest man longs for the cheer of a +newspaper. The 'Nantucket Inquirer' came out for awhile, but at length +it had nothing to tell and nothing to inquire about, and so kept its +peace. + +"After about a week a vessel was seen off Siasconset, and boarded by a +pilot. Her captain said he would go anywhere and take anybody, as all he +wanted was a harbor. Two men whose business would suffer if they +remained at home took passage in her, and with the pilot, Patterson, she +left in good weather and was seen off Chatham at night. It was hoped +that Patterson would return and bring at least a few newspapers, but no +more is known of them. Our postmaster thought he was not allowed to send +the mails by such a conveyance. + +"Yesterday we got up quite an excitement because a large steamship was +seen near the Haul-over. She set a flag for a pilot, and was boarded. It +was found that she was out of course, twenty days from Glasgow, bound to +New York. What the European news is we do not yet know, but it is plain +that we are nearer to Europe than to Hyannis. Christians as we are, I am +afraid we were all sorry that she did not come ashore. We women revelled +in the idea of the rich silks she would probably throw upon the beach, +and the men thought a good job would be made by steamboat companies and +wreck agents. + +"Last night the weather was so mild that a plan was made for cutting out +the steamboat; all the Irishmen in town were ordered to be on the harbor +with axes, shovels, and saws at seven this morning. The poor fellows +were exulting in the prospect of a job, but they are sadly balked, for +this morning at seven a hard storm was raging--snow and a good +north-west wind. What has become of the English steamer no one knows, +but the wind blows off shore, so she will not come any nearer to us. + +"Inside of the house we amuse ourselves in various ways. F.'s family and +ours form a club meeting three times a week, and writing 'machine +poetry' in great quantities. Occasionally something very droll puts us +in a roar of laughter. F., E., and K. are, I think, rather the smartest, +though Mr. M. has written rather the best of all. At the next meeting, +each of us is to produce a sonnet on a subject which we draw by lot. I +have written mine and tried to be droll. K. has written hers and is +serious. + +"I am sadly tried by this state of things. I cannot hear from Cambridge +(the Nautical Almanac office), and am out of work; it is cloudy most of +the time, and I cannot observe; and I had fixed upon just this time for +taking a journey. My trunk has been half packed for a month. + +"January 23. Foreseeing that the thermometer would show a very low point +last night, we sat up until near midnight, when it stood one and +one-half below zero. The stars shone brightly, and the wind blew freshly +from west north-west. + +"This morning the wind is the same, and the mercury stood at six and +one-half below zero at seven o'clock, and now at ten A.M. is not above +zero. The Coffin School dismissed its scholars. Miss F. suffered much +from the exposure on her way to school. + +"The 'Inquirer' came out this morning, giving the news from Europe +brought by the steamer which lies off 'Sconset. No coal has yet been +carried to the steamer, the carts which started for 'Sconset being +obliged to return. + +"There are about seven hundred barrels of flour in town; it is admitted +that fresh meat is getting scarce; the streets are almost impassable +from the snow-drifts. + +"K. and I have hit upon a plan for killing time. We are learning +poetry--she takes twenty lines of Goldsmith's 'Traveller,' and I twenty +lines of the 'Deserted Village.' It will take us twenty days to learn +the whole, and we hope to be stopped in our course by the opening of the +harbor. Considering that K. has a fiancé from whom she cannot hear a +word, she carries herself very amicably towards mankind. She is making +herself a pair of shoes, which look very well; I have made myself a +morning-dress since we were closed in. + +"Last night I took my first lesson in whist-playing. I learned in one +evening to know the king, queen, and jack apart, and to understand what +my partner meant when she winked at me. + +"The worst of this condition of things is that we shall bear the marks +of it all our lives. We are now sixteen daily papers behind the rest of +the world, and in those sixteen papers are items known to all the people +in all the cities, which will never be known to us. How prices have +fluctuated in that time we shall not know--what houses have burned down, +what robberies have been committed. When the papers do come, each of us +will rush for the latest dates; the news of two weeks ago is now +history, and no one reads history, especially the history of one's own +country. + +"I bought a copy of 'Aurora Leigh' just before the freezing up, and I +have been careful, as it is the only copy on the island, to circulate it +freely. It must have been a pleasant visitor in the four or five +households which it has entered. We have had Dr. Kane's book and now +have the 'Japan Expedition.' + +"The intellectual suffering will, I think, be all. I have no fear of +scarcity of provisions or fuel. There are old houses enough to burn. +Fresh meat is rather scarce because the English steamer required so much +victualling. We have a barrel of pork and a barrel of flour in the +house, and father has chickens enough to keep us a good while. + +"There are said to be some families who are in a good deal of suffering, +for whom the Howard Society is on the lookout. Mother gives very freely +to Bridget, who has four children to support with only the labor of her +hands. + +"The Coffin School has been suspended one day on account of the heaviest +storm, and the Unitarian church has had but one service. No great damage +has been done by the gales. My observing-seat came thundering down the +roof one evening, about ten o'clock, but all the world understood its +cry of 'Stand from under,' and no one was hurt. Several windows were +blown in at midnight, and houses shook so that vases fell from the +mantelpieces. + +"The last snow drifted so that the sleighing was difficult, and at +present the storm is so smothering that few are out. A. has been out to +school every day, and I have not failed to go out into the air once a +day to take a short walk. + +"January 24. We left the mercury one below zero when we went to bed last +night, and it was at zero when we rose this morning. But it rises +rapidly, and now, at eleven A.M., it is as high as fifteen. The weather +is still and beautiful; the English steamer is still safe at her +moorings. + +"Our little club met last night, each with a sonnet. I did the best I +could with a very bad subject. K. and E. rather carried the honors away, +but Mr. J. M.'s was very taking. Our 'crambo' playing was rather dull, +all of us having exhausted ourselves on the sonnets. We seem to have +settled ourselves quietly into a tone of resignation in regard to the +weather; we know that we cannot 'get out,' any more than Sterne's +Starling, and we know that it is best not to fret. + +"The subject which I have drawn for the next poem is 'Sunrise,' about +which I know very little. K. and I continue to learn twenty lines of +poetry a day, and I do not find it unpleasant, though the 'Deserted +Village' is rather monotonous. + +"We hear of no suffering in town for fuel or provisions, and I think we +could stand a three months' siege without much inconvenience as far as +the physicals are concerned. + +"January 26. The ice continues, and the cold. The weather is beautiful, +and with the thermometer at fourteen I swept with the telescope an hour +and a half last night, comfortably. The English steamer will get off +to-morrow. It is said that they burned their cabin doors last night to +keep their water hot. Many people go out to see her; she lies off +'Sconset, about half a mile from shore. We have sent letters by her +which, I hope, may relieve anxiety. + +"K. bought a backgammon board to-day. Clifford [the little nephew] came +in and spent the morning. + +"January 29. We have had now two days of warm weather, but there is yet +no hope of getting our steamboat off. Day before yesterday we went to +'Sconset to see the English steamer. She lay so near the shore that we +could hear the orders given, and see the people on board. When we went +down the bank the boats were just pushing from the shore, with bags of +coal. They could not go directly to the ship, but rowed some distance +along shore to the north, and then falling into the ice drifted with it +back to the ship. When they reached her a rope was thrown to them, and +they made fast and the coal was raised. We watched them through a glass, +and saw a woman leaning over the side of the ship. The steamer left at +five o'clock that day. + +"It was worth the trouble of a ride to 'Sconset to see the masses of +snow on the road. The road had been cleared for the coal-carts, and we +drove through a narrow path, cut in deep snow-banks far above our heads, +sometimes for the length of three or four sleighs. We could not, of +course, turn out for other sleighs, and there was much waiting on this +account. Then, too, the road was much gullied, and we rocked in the +sleigh as we would on shipboard, with the bounding over hillocks of snow +and ice. + +"Now, all is changed: the roads are slushy, and the water stands in deep +pools all over the streets. There is a dense fog, very little wind, and +that from the east. The thermometer above thirty-six. + +"[Mails arrived February 3, and our steamboat left February 5.]" + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +1857 + +SOUTHERN TOUR + +In 1857 Miss Mitchell made a tour in the South, having under her charge +the young daughter of a Western banker. + +"March 2, 1857. I left Meadville this morning at six o'clock, in a +stage-coach for Erie. I had, early in life, a love for staging, but it +is fast dying out. Nine hours over a rough road are enough to root out +the most passionate love of that kind. + +"Our stage was well filled, but in spite of the solid base we +occasionally found ourselves bumping up against the roof or falling +forward upon our opposite neighbors. + +"Stage-coaches are, I believe, always the arena for political debate. +To-day we were all on one side, all Buchanan men, and yet all +anti-slavery. It seemed reasonable, as they said, that the South should +cease to push the slave question in regard to Kansas, now that it has +elected its President. + +"When I took the stage out to Meadville on the 'mud-road,' it was filled +with Fremont men, and they seemed to me more able men, though they were +no younger and no more cultivated. + +"March 5. I believe any one might travel from Maine to Georgia and be +perfectly ignorant of the route, and yet be well taken care of, mainly +from the good-nature in every one. + +"I found from Nantucket to Chicago more attention than I desired. I had +a short seat in one of the cars, through the night. I did not think it +large enough for two, and so coiled myself up and went to sleep. There +were men standing all around. Once one of them came along and said +something about there being room for him on my seat. Another man said, +'She's asleep, don't disturb her.' I was too selfish to offer the half +of a short seat, and too tired to reason about the man's being, +possibly, more tired than I. + +"I was invariably offered the seat near the window that I might lean +against the side of the car, and one gentleman threw his shawl across my +knees to keep me warm (I was suffering with heat at the time!). Another, +seeing me going to Chicago alone, warned me to beware of the impositions +of hack-drivers; telling me that I must pay two dollars if I did not +make a bargain beforehand. I found it true, for I paid one dollar for +going a few steps only. + +"One peculiarity in travelling from East to West is, that you lose the +old men. In the cars in New England you see white-headed men, and I kept +one in the train up to New York, and one of grayish-tinted hair as far +as Erie; but after Cleveland, no man was over forty years old. + +"For hundreds of miles the prairie land stretches on the Illinois +Central Railroad between Chicago and St. Louis. It may be pleasant in +summer, but it is a dreary waste in winter. The space is too broad and +too uniform to have beauty. The girdle of trees would be pretty, +doubtless, if seen near, but in the distance and in winter it is only a +black border to a brown plain. + +"The State of Illinois must be capitally adapted to railroads on account +of this level, and but little danger can threaten a train from running +off of the track, as it might run on the soil nearly as well as on the +rails. + +"Our engine was uncoupled, and had gone on for nearly half a mile +without the cars before the conductor perceived it. + +"The time from Chicago to St. Louis is called fifteen hours and a +quarter; we made it twenty-three. + +"If the prairie land is good farming-land, Illinois is destined to be a +great State. If its people will think less of the dollar and more of the +refinements of social life and the culture of the mind, it may become +the great State of the Union yet. + +"March 12. Planter's Hotel, St. Louis. We visited Mercantile Hall and +the Library. The lecture-room is very spacious and very pretty. No +gallery hides the frescoed walls, and no painful economy has been made +of the space on the floor. + +"13th. I begin to perceive the commerce of St. Louis. We went upon the +levee this morning, and for miles the edge was bordered with the pipes +of steamboats, standing like a picket-fence. Then we came to the +wholesale streets, and saw the immense stores for dry-goods and +crockery. + +"To-day I have heard of a scientific association called the 'Scientific +Academy of St. Louis,' which is about a year old, and which is about to +publish a volume of transactions, containing an account of an artesian +well, and of some inscriptions just sent home from Nineveh, which Mr. +Gust. Seyffarth has deciphered. + +"Mr. Seyffarth must be a remarkable man; he has translated a great many +inscriptions, and is said to surpass Champollion. He has published a +work on Egyptian astronomy, but no copy is in this country. + +"Dr. Pope, who called on me, and with whom I was much pleased, told me +of all these things. Western men are so proud of their cities that they +spare no pains to make a person from the Eastern States understand the +resources, and hopes, and plans of their part of the land. + +"Rev. Dr. Eliot I have not seen. He is about to establish a university +here, for which he has already $100,000, and the academic part is +already in a state of activity. + +"Rev. Mr. Staples tells me that Dr. Eliot puts his hands into the +pockets of his parishioners, who are rich, up to the elbows. + +"Altogether, St. Louis is a growing place, and the West has a large hand +and a strong grasp. + +"Doctor Seyffarth is a man of more than sixty years, gray-haired, +healthy-looking, and pleasant in manners. He has spent long years of +labor in deciphering the inscriptions found upon ancient pillars, +Egyptian and Arabic, dating five thousand years before Christ. I asked +him if he found the observations continuous, and he said that he did +not, but that they seem to be astrological pictures of the configuration +of the planets, and to have been made at the birth of princes. + +"He has just been reading the slabs sent from Nineveh by Mr. Marsh; +their date is only about five hundred years B.C. + +"Mr. Seyffarth's published works amount to seventy, and he was surprised +to find a whole set of them in the Astor Library in New York. + +"March 19. We came on board of the steamer 'Magnolia,' this morning, in +great spirits. We were a little late, and Miss S. rushed on board as if +she had only New Orleans in view. I followed a little more slowly, and +the brigadier-general came after, in a sober and dignified manner. + +"We were scarcely on board when the plank was pulled in, and a few +minutes passed and we were afloat on the Mississippi river. Miss S. and +myself were the only lady passengers; we had, therefore, the whole range +of staterooms from which to choose. Each could have a stateroom to +herself, and we talked in admiration of the pleasant times we should +have, watching the scenery from the stateroom windows, or from the +saloon, reading, etc. + +"We started off finely. I, who had been used only to the rough waters of +the Atlantic coast, was surprised at the steady gliding of the boat. I +saw nothing of the mingling of the waters of the Missouri and the +Mississippi of which I had been told. Perhaps I needed somebody to point +out the difference. + +"The two banks of the river were at first much alike, but after a few +hours the left bank became more hilly, and at intervals presented bluffs +and rocks, rude and irregular in shape, which we imagined to be ruins of +some old castle. + +"At intervals, too, we passed steamers going up to St. Louis, all laden +with passengers. We exulted in our majestic march over the waters. I +thought it the very perfection of travelling, and wished that all my +family and all my friends were on board. + +"I wondered at the stupidity of the rest of the world, and thought that +they ought all to leave the marts of business, to step from the desk, +the counting-room, and the workshop on board the 'Magnolia,' and go down +the length of the 'Father of Waters.' + +"And so they would, I suppose, but for sand-bars. Here we are five hours +out, and fast aground! We were just at dinner, the captain making +himself agreeable, the dinner showing itself to be good, when a peculiar +motion of the boat made the captain heave a sigh--he had been heaving +the lead all the morning. 'Ah,' he said, 'just what I feared; we've got +to one of those bad places, and we are rubbing the bottom.' + +"I asked very innocently if we must wait for the tide, and was informed +that there was no tide felt on this part of the river. Miss S. turned a +little pale, and showed a loss of appetite. I was a little bit moved, +but kept it to myself and ate on. + +"As soon as dinner was over, we went out to look at the prospect of +affairs. We were close into the land, and could be put on shore any +minute; the captain had sent round a little boat to sound the waters, +and the report brought back was of shallow water just ahead of us, but +more on the right and left. + +"While we stood on deck a small boat passed, and a sailor very gleefully +called out the soundings as he threw the lead, 'Eight and a half-nine.' + +"But we are still high and dry now at two o'clock P.M. They are shaking +the steamer, and making efforts to move her. They say if she gets over +this, there is no worse place for her to meet. + +"I asked the captain of what the bottom is composed, and he says, 'Of +mud, rocks, snags, and everything.' + +"He is now moving very cautiously, and the boat has an unpleasant +tremulous motion. + +"March 20. Latitude about thirty-eight degrees. We are just where we +stopped at noon yesterday--there is no change, and of course no event. +One of our crew killed a 'possum yesterday, and another boat stopped +near us this morning, and seems likely to lie as long as we do on the +sand-bar. + +"We read Shakspere this morning after breakfast, and then betook +ourselves to the wheel-house to look at the scenery again. While there a +little colored boy came to us bearing a waiter of oranges, and telling +us that the captain sent them with his compliments. We ate them +greedily, because we had nothing else to do. + +"21st. Still the sand-bar. No hope of getting off. We heard the pilot +hail a steamboat which was going up to St. Louis, and tell them to send +on a lighter, and I suppose we must wait for that.... It is my private +opinion that this great boat will not get off at all, but will lie here +until she petrifies.... + +"March 24. We left the 'Magnolia' after four days and four hours upon +the sand-bar near Turkey island, upon seeing the 'Woodruff' approach. We +left in a little rowboat, and it seemed at first as if we could not +overtake the steamer; but the captain saw us and slackened his speed. + +"Miss S. and I clutched hands in a little terror as our small boat +seemed likely to run under the great steamer, but our oarsmen knew their +duty and we were safely put on board of the 'Woodruff.' + +"March 25. We stopped at Cairo at eight o'clock this morning. Mr. S. +went on shore and brought newspapers on board. The Cairo paper I do not +think of high order. I saw no mention in it of the detention of the +'Magnolia'! + +"March 26. Yesterday we count as a day of events. It began to look sunny +on the banks, especially on the Kentucky side, and Miss S. and I saw +cherry-blossoms. We remembered the eclipse, and Mr. S. having brought +with him a piece of broken glass from one of the windows of the +'Magnolia,' I smoked it over a piece of candle which I had brought from +Room No. 22 of the Planter's House at St. Louis, and we prepared to see +the eclipse. + +"I expected to see the moon on at five o'clock and twenty minutes, but +as I had no time I could not tell when to look for it. + +"It was not on at that time by my watch, but in ten minutes after was so +far on that I think my time cannot be much wrong. + +"It was a little cloudy, so that we saw the sun only 'all flecked with +bars,' and caught sight of the phenomenon at intervals. + +"We were at a coal-landing at the time, and not far from Madrid. The +boat stopped so long to take in an immense pile of corn-bags that our +passengers went on shore--such of them as could climb the slippery bank. + +"When we saw them coming back laden with peach-blossoms, and saw the +little children dressing their hats with them, we were seized with a +longing for them, and Mr. S. offered to go and get us some; we begged to +go too, but he objected. + +"We were really envious of his good luck when we saw him jump into a +country wagon, drawn by oxen which trotted off like horses, and, waving +his handkerchief to us, ride off in great glee. He came back with an +armful of peach-tree branches. Whose orchard he robbed at our +instigation I cannot say. A little girl, the daughter of the captain, +pulled some blossoms open, and showed us that the fruit germs were not +dead, but would have become peaches if we had not coveted them. + +"The 25th was also our first night steam-boating. After passing Cairo +the river is considered safe for night travel, and the boat started on +her way at 8.30 P.M. We had been out about half an hour when a lady who +was playing cards threw down her cards and rushed with a shriek to her +stateroom. I perceived then that there had been a peculiar motion to the +boat and that it suddenly stopped. We found that one of the +paddle-wheels was caught in a snag, but there was no harm done. It made +us a little nervous, but we slept well enough after it. + +"When I look out upon the river, I wonder that boats are not continually +snagged. Little trees are sticking up on all sides, and sometimes we +seem to be going over a meadow and pushing among rushes. + +"A yawl, which was sent out yesterday to sound, was snagged by a stump +which was high out of water; probably they were carried on to it by a +current. The little boat whirled round and round, and the men were +plainly frightened, for they dropped their oars and clutched the sides +of the boat. They got control, however, in a few minutes, and had the +jeers of the men left on the steamer for their pains. + +"March 30. We stopped at Natchez before breakfast this morning, and, +having half an hour, we took a carriage and drove through the city. It +was like driving through a succession of gardens: roses were hanging +over the fences in the richest profusion, and the arbor-vitae was +ornamenting every little nook, and adorning every cottage. + +"Natchez stands on a high bluff, very romantic in appearance; jagged and +rugged, as if volcanoes had been at work in a time long past, for tall +trees grew in the ravines. + +"Most of our lady passengers are, like ourselves, on a tour of pleasure; +six of them go with us to the St. Charles Hotel. Some are from Keokuk, +Ia., and I think I like these the best. One young lady goes ashore to +spend some time on a plantation, as a governess. She looks feeble, and +we all pity her. + +"To-day we pass among plantations on both sides of the river. We begin +to see the live-oak--a noble tree. The foliage is so thick and dark that +I have learned to know it by its color. The magnolia trees, too, are +becoming fragrant. + +"March 31. We are at length in New Orleans, and up three flights at the +St. Charles, in a dark room. + +"The peculiarities of the city dawn upon me very slowly. I first noticed +the showy dress of the children, then the turbaned heads of the black +women in the streets, and next the bouquet-selling boys with their +French phrases. + +"April 3. This morning we went to a slave market. It looked on first +entrance like an intelligence office. Men, women, and children were +seated on long benches parallel with each other. All rose at our +entrance, and continued standing while we were there. We were told by +the traders to walk up and down the passage between them, and talk with +them as we liked. As Mr. S. passed the men, several lifted their hands +and said, 'Here's the boy that will suit you; I can do any kind of +work.' Some advertised themselves with a good deal of tact. One woman +pulled at my shawl and asked me to buy her. I told her that I was not a +housekeeper. 'Not married?' she asked.--'No.'--'Well, then, get married +and buy me and my husband.' + +"There was a girl among them whiter than I, who roused my sympathies +very much. I could not speak to her, for the past and the future were +too plainly told in her face. I spoke to another, a bright-looking girl +of twelve. 'Where were you raised?'--'In Kentucky.'--'And why are you to +be sold?'--'The trader came to Kentucky, bought me, and brought me +here.' I thought what right had I to be homesick, when that poor girl +had left all her kindred for life without her consent. + +"I could hold my tongue and look around without much outward show of +disgust, but to talk pleasantly to the trader I could not consent. He +told me that he had been brought up in the business, but he thought it a +pity. + +"No buyers were present, so there was no examination that was painful to +look upon. + +"The slaves were intelligent-looking, and very healthy and neat in +appearance. Those who belonged to one owner were dressed alike--some in +striped pink and white dresses, others in plaid, all a little showy. The +men were in thick trousers and coarse dark-blue jackets. + +"April 5. We have been this morning to a negro church. We found it a +miserable-looking house, mostly unpainted and unplastered, but well +filled with the swarthy faces. They were singing when we entered; we +were pointed to a good seat. + +"There may have been fifty persons present, all well dressed; the women +in the fanciful checkered headdresses so much favored by the negro race, +the men in clean collars, nankin trousers, and dark coats. All showed +that they were well kept and well fed. + +"The audience was increased by new comers frequently, and these, +whatever the exercise might be, shook hands with those around them as +they seated themselves, and joined immediately in the services. The +singing was by the whole congregation, the minister lining out the hymns +as in the early times in New England. + +"Several persons carried on the exercises from the pulpit, and in the +prayers and sermon the audience took an active part, responding in +groans, 'Oh, yes,' or 'Amen,' sometimes performing a kind of chant to +accompany the words.... A negro minister said in his prayer, 'O God, we +are not for much talking.' I was delighted at the prospect of a short +discourse, but I found his 'not much talking' exactly corresponded to 'a +good deal' in my use of words. He talked for a full hour. + +"There was something pleasing in the earnestness of the preacher and the +sympathetic feeling of the audience, but their peculiar condition was +not alluded to, and probably was not felt. + +"The discourse was almost ludicrous at times, and at times was pathetic. +I saved up a few specimens: + +"'O God, you have said that where one or two are gathered together in +your name, there will you be; if anything stands between us that you +can't come, put it aside.' + +"'God wants a kingdom upon earth with which he can coin-cide, and that +kingdom are your heart.' + +"'God is near you when you are at the wash-tub or the ironing-table.' + +"'Brethren, I thought last Sabbath I wouldn't live to this; a man gets +such a notion sometimes.' + +"April 9, Alabama River. Some lessons we of the North might learn from +the South, and one is a greater regard for human life. I asked the +captain of our boat if they had any accidents in these waters. He said, +'We don't kill people at the South, we gave that up some years ago; we +leave it to the North, and the North seems to be capable of doing it.' + +"The reason for this is, that they are in no hurry. The Southern +character is opposed to haste. Safety is of more worth than speed, and +there is no hurry. + +"Every one at the South introduces its 'peculiar institution' into +conversation. + +"They talk as I expected Southern people of intelligence to talk; they +lament the evil, and say, 'It is upon us, what can we do? To give them +freedom would be cruel.' + +"Southerners fall back upon the Bible at once; there is more of the +old-fashioned religion at the South than at the North; that is, they are +not intellectual religionists. They are shocked by the irreligion of +Massachusetts, and by Theodore Parker. They read the Bible, and can +quote it; they are ready with it as an argument at every turn. I am of +course not used to the warfare, and so withdraw from the fight. + +"One argument which three persons have brought up to me is the superior +condition of the blacks now, to what it would have been had their +parents remained in Africa, and they been children of the soil. I make +no answer to this, for if this is an argument, it would be our duty to +enslave the heathen, instead of attempting to enlighten them. + +"We hear some anecdotes which are amusing. A Judge Smith, of South +Carolina, moved to Alabama, and became a prominent man there. He was +sent to the Senate. He was violently opposed by a young man who said +that but for his gray hair he would challenge him. Judge Smith said, +'You are not the first coward who has taken shelter beneath my gray +hairs.' + +"The same Judge Smith, when a proposition came before the Senate to +build a State penitentiary, said, 'Wall in the city of Mobile; you will +have your penitentiary and its inmates.' + +"So far I have found it easier to travel without an escort South and +West than at the North; that is, I have more care taken of me. Every one +is courteous, too, in speech. I know that they cannot love +Massachusetts, but they are careful not to wound my feelings. They +acknowledge it to be the great State in education; they point to a +pretty village and say, 'Almost as neat as a New England village.' + +"Savannah, April 15.... To-day we left town at ten o'clock for a drive +in any direction that we liked. Mr. F. and I went in a buggy, and Miss +S. cantered behind us on her horse. + +"The road that we took led to some rice plantations ten miles out of the +city. Our path was ornamented by the live-oaks, cedar trees, the +dogwood, and occasionally the mistletoe, and enlivened sometimes by the +whistle of the mocking-bird. Down low by the wheels grew the wild azalea +and the jessamine. Above our heads the Spanish moss hung from the trees +in beautiful drapery. + +"By mistake we drove into the plantation grounds of Mr. Gibbons, a man +of wealth, who is seldom on his lands, and where the avenues are +therefore a little wild, and the roads a little rough. + +"We came afterwards upon a road leading under the most magnificent oaks +that I ever saw. I felt as if I were under the arched roof of some +ancient cathedral. + +"The trees were irregularly grouped and of immense size, throwing their +hundreds of arms far upon the background of heaven, and bearing the +drapery of the Spanish moss fold upon fold, as if they sought to keep +their raiment from touching the earth. I was perfectly delighted, and +think it the finest picture I have yet seen. + +"Retracing our steps, we sought the plantation of Mr. Potter--a very +different one from that of Mr. Gibbons, as all was finish and neatness; +a fine mansion well stored with books, and some fine oaks, some of which +Mr. Potter had planted himself. + +"Mr. Potter walked through the fields with us, and, stopping among the +negro huts, he said to a little boy, 'Call the children and give us some +singing.' The little boy ran off, shouting, 'Come and sing for massa;' +and in a few minutes the little darkies might be seen running through +the fields and tumbling over the fences in their anxiety to get to us, +to the number of eighteen. + +"They sat upon the ground around us and began their song. The boy who +led sang 'Early in the Morning,' and the other seventeen brought in a +chorus of 'Let us think of Jesus.' Then the leader set up something +about 'God Almicha,' to which the others brought in another chorus. + +"They were a dirty and shabby looking set, but as usual fat, even to the +little babies, whom the larger boys were tending. One little girl as she +passed Mr. Potter carelessly put her hand in his and said, 'Good +morning, massa.' + +"Mrs. G. tells me an anecdote which shows the Southern sentiment on the +one subject. The ladies of Charleston were much pleased with Miss +Murray, and got up for her what they called a Murray testimonial, a +collection of divers pretty things made by their own hands. The large +box was ready to be sent to England, but alas for Miss Murray! While +they were debating in what way it should be sent to ensure its reaching +her without cost to herself, in an unwise moment she sent twenty-five +dollars to 'Bleeding Kansas,' and the fit of good feeling towards her +ebbed; the 'testimonial' remains unsent. + +"April 23, Charleston. This place is somewhat like Boston in its narrow +streets, but unlike Boston in being quiet; as is all the South. Quiet +and moderation seem to be the attributes of Southern cities. You need +not hurry to a boat for fear it will leave at the hour appointed; it +never does. + +"We took a carriage and drove along the Battery. The snuff of salt air +did me good. + +"Then we went on to a garden of roses, owned and cultivated by a colored +woman. She has some twenty acres devoted to flowers and vegetables, and +she owns twenty 'niggers.' The universal term for slaves is 'niggers.' +'Nigger, bring that horse,' 'Nigger, get out of the way,' will be said +by the finest gentleman, and 'My niggers' is said by every one. + +"I do not believe that the slaves are badly treated; there may be cases +of it, but I have seen them only sleek, fat, and lazy. + +"The old buildings of Charleston please me exceedingly. The houses are +built of brick, standing end to the street, three stories in height, +with piazza above piazza at the side; with flower gardens around, and +magnolias at the gates; the winding steps to the mansions festooned with +roses. + +"I have just called on Miss Rutledge, who lives in the second oldest +house in the city; herself a fine specimen of antiquity, in her +double-ruffled cap and plaided black dress; she chatted away like a +young person, using the good old English. + +"April 26. To-day Mr. Capers called on me. I was pleased with the +account he gave me of his college life, and of a meeting held by his +class thirty years after they graduated. Some thirty of them assembled +at the Revere House in Boston; they spread a table with viands from all +sections of the country. Mr. Capers sent watermelons, and another +gentleman from Kentucky sent the wines of his State. + +"They sat late at table; they renewed the old friendships and talked +over college scenes, and when it was near midnight some one proposed +that each should give a sketch of his life, so they went through in +alphabetical order. + +"Adams was the first. He said, 'You all remember how I waited upon table +in commons. You know that I afterwards went through college, but you do +not know that to this man [and he pointed to a classmate] I was indebted +for the money that paid for my college course.' + +"Anderson was the second, and he told of his two wives: of the first, +much; of the second, little. Bowditch came next, and he said he would +tell of Anderson's second wife, who was a Miss Lockworth, of Lexington, +Ky. + +"Anderson, a widower, and his brother went to Lexington, carrying with +them a letter of introduction to the father of the young lady. + +"While the brother was making an elaborate toilet, Anderson strolled +out, and came, in his walk, upon a beautiful residence, and saw, within +the enclosure, some inviting grounds. He stopped and spoke to the +porter, and found it was Mr. Lockworth's. He told the porter that he had +letters to Mr. Lockworth, and was intending to call upon him. The porter +was very communicative, and told him a good deal. Anderson asked if +there were not a pretty daughter. The porter asked him to walk around. +As he entered the gate he reached a dollar to the man, and, being much +pleased, when he came out he reached the porter another dollar. + +"Anderson went back to the hotel, told his brother about it, and they +set out together to deliver the letter. The brother knew Mr. Lockworth, +and as they met him in the parlor, he walked up, shook hands with him, +and asked to present his brother, Lars Anderson. 'No introduction is +necessary,' said Mr. Lockworth; and putting his hand into his pocket, +drawing out the two dollars, he added, 'I am already in your debt just +this sum!' The 'pretty daughter' was sitting upon the sofa. + +"Mr. Capers told me that their autobiographies drew smiles and tears +alternately; they continued till one o'clock; then one of the class +said, 'Brothers, do you know that not a wineglass has yet been turned +up, not a drop of wine drunk? And all were at once so impressed with the +conviction that they had all been lifted above the needs of the flesh +that they refused to drink, and one of the clergymen of the class +kneeling in prayer, they all knelt at once, even to some idle spectators +who were looking on. + +"April 28. Nothing can exceed the hospitality shown to us. We have +several invitations for each day, and calls without limit. + +"I had heard Mrs. Holbrook described as a wonder, and I found her a very +pleasing woman, all ready to talk, and talking with a richness of +expression which shows a full mind. Mrs. Holbrook was a Rutledge, and it +was amusing, after seeing her, to open Miss Bremer's 'Homes of the New +World,' and read her extravagant comments. Miss Bremer was certainly +made happy at Belmont. + +"April 29. To-day I have been to see Miss Pinckney. She is the last +representative of her name, is over eighty, and still retains the +animation of youth, though somewhat shaken in her physical strength by +age. I found her sitting in an armchair, her feet resting upon a +cushion, surrounded by some half-dozen callers. + +"She rose at once when I entered, and insisted upon my occupying her +seat, while she took a less comfortable one. + +"The walls of the room were ornamented with portraits of Major-General +Pinckney by Stuart, Stuart's Washington, one by Morris of General Thomas +Pinckney, and a portrait of Miss Pinckney's mother. + +"Miss Pinckney is a very plain woman, but much beloved for her +benevolence. + +"It is said that on looking over her diary which she keeps, recording +the reasons for her many gifts to her friends and to her slaves, such +entries as these will be found: + +"'$---- to Mary, because she is married.' + +"'$---- to Julia, because she has no husband.' + +"Miss Pinckney showed me among her centre-table ornaments a miniature of +Washington; one of her grandmother, of exceeding beauty; one of each of +the Pinckneys whose portraits are on the walls. + +"Charleston is full of ante-Revolution houses, and they please me. They +were built when there was no hurry; they were built to last, and they +have lasted, and will yet last for the children of their present +possessors. + +"Nothing can be happier in expression than the faces of the colored +children. They have what must be the ease of the lower classes in a +despotic country. The slaves have no care, no ambition; their place is a +fixed one--they know it, and take all the good they can get. The +children are fat, sleek, and, inheriting no nervous longings from their +parents, are on a constant grin--at play with loud laughs and high +leaps. + +"May 1. It does not follow because the slaves are sleek and fat and +really happy--for happy I believe they are--that slavery is not an evil; +and the great evil is, as I always supposed, in the effect upon the +whites. The few Southern gentlemen that I know interest me from their +courtesy, agreeable manners, and ready speech. They also strike me as +childlike and fussy. I catch myself feeling that I am the man and they +are women; and I see this even in the captain of a steamer. Then they +all like to talk sentiment--their religion is a feeling. + +"May 2. The negroes are remarkable for their courtesy of manner. Those +who belong to good families seem to pride themselves upon their dress +and style. + +"A lady walking in Charleston is never jostled by black or white man. +The white man steps out of her way, the black man does this and touches +his hat. The black woman bows--she is distinguished by her neat dress, +her clean plaid head-dress, and her upright carriage. It would be well +for some of our young ladies to carry burdens on their heads, even to +the risk of flattening the instep, if by that means they could get the +straight back of a slave. + +"Mrs. W., who takes us out to drive, comes with her black coachman and a +little boy. The coachman wears white gloves, and looks like a gentleman. +The little boy rings door-bells when we stop. + +"When it rained the other day, Mrs. W. dropped the window of the +carriage, and desired the two to put on their shawls, for fear they +would take cold. They are plainly a great care to their owners, for they +are like children and cannot take care of themselves; and yet in another +way the masters are like children, from the constant waiting upon that +they receive. One would think, where one class does all the thinking and +the other all the working, that masters would be active thinkers and +slaves ready workers; but neither result seems to happen--both are +listless and inactive. + +"May 3. I asked Miss Pinckney to-day if she remembered George +Washington. She and Mrs. Poinsett spoke at once. "'Oh, yes, we were +children,' said Mrs. Poinsett; 'but my father would have him come to see +us, and he took each of us in his arms and kissed us; and at another +time we went to Mt. Vernon and made him a visit.' + +"Never were more intelligent old ladies than Mrs. Poinsett and Miss +Pinckney. The latter stepped around like a young girl, and brought a +heavy book to show me the sketch of her sister, Marie Henrietta +Pinckney, who, in the nullification time of 1830, wrote a pamphlet in +defence of the State. + +"Miss Pinckney's father was the originator of the celebrated maxim, +'Millions for defence, but not one cent for tribute.' Their house was +the headquarters for the nullifiers, and they had serenades, she said, +without number. + +"It was pleasant to hear the old ladies chatter away, and it was +interesting to think of the distinguished men who had been under that +roof, and of the cultivated and beautiful women who had adorned the +mansion. + +"Miss Pinckney, when I left, followed me to the door, and put into my +hands an elegant little volume of poems, called 'Reliquiai.' + +"They seem to be simple effusions of some person who died early. + +"May 9. We left Charleston, its old houses and its good people, on +Monday, and reached Augusta the same day. + +"Augusta is prettily laid out, but the place is of little interest; and +for the hotel where we stayed, I can only give this advice to its +inmates: 'Don't examine a black spot upon your pillow-case; go to sleep +at once, and keep asleep if you can.' + +"When we were on the road from Augusta to Atlanta, the conductor said, +'If you are going on to Nashville, you will be on the road in the night; +people don't love to go on that road in the night. I don't know why.' + +"When we came to the Nashville road, I thought that I knew 'why.' The +road runs around the base of a mountain, while directly beneath it, at a +great depth, runs a river. A dash off the track on one side would be +against the mountain, on the other side would be into the river, while +the sharp turns seem to invite such a catastrophe. When we were somewhat +wrought up to a nervous excitement, the cars would plunge into the +darkness of a tunnel--darkness such as I almost felt. + +"It was a picturesque but weary ride, and we were tired and hungry when +we reached Nashville. + +"May 11. To-day we have been out for a two-hours' drive. It is warm, +cloudy, and looks like a tempest; we are too tired for much effort. + +"Mrs. Fogg, of Nashville, took us to call on the widow of President +Polk. We found her at home, though apparently just ready for a walk. She +is still in mourning, and tells me that she has not travelled fifty +miles from home in the last eight years. + +"She spoke to me of Governor Briggs (of Massachusetts), an old friend; +of Professor Hare; and said that among her cards, on her return from a +journey some years ago, she found Charles Sumner's; and forgetting at +the moment who he was, she asked the servant who he was. 'The +Abolitionist Senator from Massachusetts--I asked him in,' was the reply. + +"Mrs. Polk talks readily, is handsome, elegant in figure, and shows at +once that she is well read. She told me that she reads all the newspaper +reports of the progress of science. She lives simply, as any New England +woman would, though her house is larger than most private residences. + +"Mrs. Fogg told me many anecdotes of Dorothea Dix. That lady was, at one +time, travelling alone, and was obliged to stop at some little village +tavern. As she lay half asleep upon the sofa, the driver of the stage in +which she was to take passage came into the room, approached her, and +held a light to her closed eyes. She did not dare to move nor utter a +sound, but when he turned away she opened her eyes and watched him. He +went to the mail-bags, opened them, took out the letters, hastily broke +the seals, took out money enclosed, put it into his pocket, closed the +bags, and again approached her with his lamp. She shut her eyes and +pretended to sleep again; then at the proper time entered the stage and +pursued her journey. At the end of the journey she reported his conduct +to the proper authorities. + +"I was a little doubtful about the propriety of going to the Mammoth +Cave without a gentleman escort, but if two ladies travel alone they +must have the courage of men. So I called the landlord as soon as we +arrived at the Cave House, and asked if we could have Mat, who I had +been told was the best guide now that Stephen is ill. The landlord +promised Mat to me for two days. After dinner we made our first attempt. + +"The ground descends for some two hundred feet towards the mouth of the +cave; then you come to a low hill, and you descend through a small +aperture not at all imposing, in front of which trickles a little +stream. For some little while we needed no light, but soon the guide +lighted and gave to each of us a little lamp. Mat took the lead, I came +next, Miss S. followed, and an old slave brought up in the rear. + +"I confess that I shuddered as I came into the darkness. Our lamps, of +course, gave but feeble light; we barely saw at first where our feet +must step. + +"I looked up, trying in vain to find the ceiling or the walls. All was +darkness. In about an hour we saw more clearly. The chambers are, many +of them, elliptical in shape; the ceiling is of mixed dark and white +color, and looks much like the sky on a cloudy moonlight evening. + +"A friend of ours, who has been much in the cave, says, 'If the top were +lifted off, and the whole were exposed to view, no woman would ever +enter it again.' + +"We clambered over heaps of rocks, we descended ladders, wound through +narrow passages, passed along chambers so low that we crouched for the +whole length, entered upon lofty halls, ascended ladders, and crossed a +bridge over a yawning abyss. + +"Every nightmare scene that I had ever dreamed of seemed to be realized. +I shuddered several times, and was obliged to reason with myself to +assure me of safety. Occasionally we sat down and rested upon some flat +rock. + +"Miss S., who has a great taste for costuming, wound her plaid shawl +about her shoulders, turbaned her head with a green veil, swung her lamp +upon a stick which she rested upon her shoulder, and then threw herself +upon a rock in a most picturesque attitude. The guide took a lower seat, +and his dirty tin cup, swung across his breast, looked like an ornament +as the light struck it; his swarthy face was bright, and I wondered what +our friends at home would give for a picture. + +"One of these elliptical halls has its ceiling immensely far off, and of +the deepest black, until our feeble little lights strike upon +innumerable points, when it shines forth like a dark starlight night. +The stars are faint, but they look so exceedingly like the heavens that +one easily forgets that it is not reality. + +"The guide asked us to be seated, while he went behind down a descent +with the lights, to show us the creeping over of the shadows of the +rocks, as if a dark cloud passed over the starlit vault. The black cloud +crept on and on as the guide descended, until a fear came over us, and +we cried out together to him to come back, not to leave us in total +darkness. He begged that he might go still lower and show us entire +darkness, but we would not permit it. + +"Guin's Dome. What the name means I can't say. The guide tells you to +pause in your scrambling over loose stones and muddy soil,--which you +are always willing to do,--and to put your head through a circular +aperture, and to look up while he lights the Bengal light; you obey, and +look up upon columns of fluted, snowy whiteness; he tells you to look +down, and you follow the same pillars down--up to heights which the +light cannot climb, down to depths on which it cannot fall. + +"You shudder as you look up, and you shudder as you look down. Indeed, +the march of the cave is a series of shudders. Geologists may enjoy it, +a large party may be merry in it; but if the 'underground railroad' of +the slaves is of that kind, I should rather remain a slave than +undertake a runaway trip! + +"May 18. To-day we retraced our steps from Nashville to Chattanooga. It +had been raining nearly all night, and we found, when not far from the +latter place, that the streams were pouring down from the high lands +upon the car-track, so that we came through rivers. When we dashed into +the dark tunnel it was darker than ever from the darkness of the day, +and it seemed to me that the darkness pressed upon me. I am sure I +should keep my senses a very little while if I were confined in a dark +place. + +"As we came out of the tunnel, the water from the hill above dashed upon +the cars; and although it did not break the panes of glass, it forced +its way through and sprinkled us. + +"The route, with all its terrors, is beautiful, and the trees are now +much finer than they were ten days ago. + +"May 27. There is this great difference between Niagara and other +wonders of the world: that of it you get no idea from descriptions, or +even from paintings. Of the 'Mammoth Cave' you have a conception from +what you are told; of the Natural Bridge you get a really truthful +impression from a picture. But cave and bridge are in still life. +Niagara is all activity and change. No picture gives you the varying +form of the water or the change of color; no description conveys to your +mind the ceaseless roar. So, too, the ocean must be unrepresentable to +those who have not looked upon it. + +"The Natural Bridge stands out bold and high, just as you expect to see +it. You are agreeably disappointed, however, on finding that you can go +under the arch and be completely in the coolness of its shade while you +look up for two hundred feet to the rocky black and white ceiling above. + +"One of the prettiest peculiarities is the fringing above of the trees +which hang over the edge, and looking out past the arch the wooded banks +of the ravine are very pleasant. From above, one has the pain always +attendant to me upon looking down into an abyss, but at the same time +one obtains a better conception of the depth of the valley. It is well +worth seeing, partly for itself, partly because it can be reached only +by a ride among the hills of the Blue Ridge." + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +1857 + +FIRST EUROPEAN TOUR--LIVERPOOL--THE HAWTHORNES--LONDON--GREENWICH +OBSERVATORY--ADMIRAL SMYTH--DR. LEE + + +Shortly after her return from the South, Miss Mitchell started again for +a tour in Europe with the same young girl. + +Miss Mitchell carried letters from eminent scientific people in this +country to such persons as it would be desirable for her to know in +Europe; especially to astronomers and mathematicians. + +When Miss Mitchell went to Europe she took her Almanac work with her, +and what time she was not sight-seeing she was continuing that work. Her +wisdom in this respect was very soon apparent. She had not been in +England many weeks when a great financial crisis took place in the +United States, and the father of her young charge succumbed to the +general failure. The young lady was called home, but after considering +the matter seriously Miss Mitchell decided to remain herself, putting +the young lady into careful hands for the return passage from Liverpool. + +Miss Mitchell enjoyed the society of the scientific people whom she met +in England to her heart's content. She was very cordially received, and +the astronomers not only opened their observatories to her, but welcomed +her into their family life. + +On arriving at Liverpool, Miss Mitchell delivered the letters to the +astronomers living in or near that city, and visited their +observatories. + +"Aug. 3, 1857. I brought a letter from Professor Silliman to Mr. John +Taylor, cotton merchant and astronomer; and to-day I have taken tea with +him. He is an old man, nearly eighty I should think, but full of life, +and talks by the hour on heathen mythology. He was the principal agent +in the establishment of the Liverpool Observatory, but disclaims the +honor, because it was established on so small a scale, compared with his +own gigantic plan. Mr. Taylor has invented a little machine, for showing +the approximate position of a comet, having the elements. + +"He has also made additions to the globes made by De Morgan, so that +they can be used for any year and show the correct rising and setting of +the stars. + +"He struck me as being a man of taste, but of no great profundity. He +has a painting which he believes to be by Guido; it seemed to me too +fresh in its coloring for the sixteenth century. + +"August 4, 3 P.M. I put down my pen, because old Mr. Taylor called, and +while he was here Rev. James Martineau came. Mr. Martineau is one of the +handsomest men I ever saw. He cannot be more than thirty, or if he is he +has kept his dark hair remarkably. He has large, bluish-gray eyes, and +is tall and elegant in manner. He says he is just packed to move to +London. He gave me his London address and hoped he should see me there; +but I doubt if he does, for I did not like to tell him my address unless +he asked for it, for fear of seeming to be pushing. + +"August,... I have been to visit Mr. Lassell. He called yesterday and +asked me to dine with him to-day. He has a charming place, about four +miles out of Liverpool; a pretty house and grounds. + +"Mr. Lassell has constructed two telescopes, both on the Newtonian plan; +one of ten, the other of twenty, feet in length. Each has its separate +building, and in the smaller building is a transit instrument. + +"Mr. Lassell must have been a most indefatigable worker as well as a +most ingenious man; for, besides constructing his own instruments, he +has found time to make discoveries. He is, besides, very genial and +pleasant, and told me some good anecdotes connected with astronomical +observations. + +"One story pleased me very much. Our Massachusetts astronomer, Alvan +Clark, has long been a correspondent of Mr. Dawes, but has never seen +him. Wishing to have an idea of his person, and being a portrait +painter, Mr. Clark sent to Mr. Dawes for his daguerreotype, and from +that painted a likeness, which he has sent out to Liverpool, and which +is said to be excellent. + +"Mr. Lassell looks in at the side of his reflecting telescopes by means +of a diagonal eye-piece; when the instrument is pointed at objects of +high altitude he hangs a ladder upon the dome and mounts; the ladder +moves around with the dome. Mr. Lassell works only for his own +amusement, and has been to Malta,--carrying his larger telescope with +him,--for the sake of clearer skies. Neither Mr. Lassell nor Mr. Hartnup +[Footnote: Of the Liverpool Observatory.] makes regular observations. + +"The Misses Lassell, four in number, seem to be very accomplished. They +take photographs of each other which are beautiful, make their own +picture-frames, and work in the same workshop with their father. One of +them told me that she made observations on my comet, supposing it to +belong to Mr. Dawes, who was a friend of hers. + +"They keep an album of the autographs of their scientific visitors, and +among them I saw those of Professor Young, of Dartmouth, and of +Professor Loomis. + +"August 4. I have just returned from a visit to the Liverpool +Observatory, under the direction of Mr. Hartnup. It is situated on +Waterloo dock, and the pier of the observatory rests upon the sandstone +of that region, The telescope is an equatorial; like many good +instruments in our country, it is almost unused. + +"Mr. Hartnup's observatory is for nautical purposes. I found him a very +gentlemanly person, and very willing to show me anything of interest +about the observatory; but they make no regular series of astronomical +observations, other than those required for the commerce of Liverpool. + +"Mr. Hartnup has a clock which by the application of an electric current +controls the action of other clocks, especially the town clock of +Liverpool--distant some miles. The current of electricity is not the +motive power, but a corrector. + +"Much attention is paid to meteorology. The pressure of the wind, the +horizontal motion, and the course are recorded upon sheets of paper +running upon cylinders and connected with the clock; the instrument +which obeys the voice of the wind being outside. + +"Aug. 5, 1857. I did not send my letter to Mr. Hawthorne until +yesterday, supposing that he was not in the city; but yesterday when +Rev. James Martineau called on me, he said that he had not yet left. Mr. +Martineau said that it would be a great loss to Liverpool when Mr. +Hawthorne went away. + +"I sent my letter at once; from all that I had heard of Mr. Hawthorne's +shyness, I thought it doubtful if he would call, and I was therefore +very much pleased when his card was sent in this morning. Mr. Hawthorne +was more chatty than I had expected, but not any more diffident. He +remained about five minutes, during which time he took his hat from the +table and put it back once a minute, brushing it each time. The +engravings in the books are much like him. He is not handsome, but looks +as the author of his books should look; a little strange and odd, as if +not of this earth. He has large, bluish-gray eyes; his hair stands out +on each side, so much so that one's thoughts naturally turn to combs and +hair-brushes and toilet ceremonies as one looks at him." + +Later, when Miss Mitchell was in Paris, alone, on her way to Rome, she +sent to the Hawthornes, who were also in Paris, asking for the privilege +of joining them, as they too were journeying in the same direction. She +says in her diary: + +"Mrs. Hawthorne was feeble, and she told me that she objected, but that +Mr. Hawthorne assured her that I was a person who would give no trouble; +therefore she consented. We were about ten days on the journey to Rome, +and three months in Rome; living, however, some streets asunder. I saw +them nearly every day. Like everybody else, I found Mr. Hawthorne very +taciturn. His few words were, however, very telling. When I talked +French, he told me it was capital: 'It came down like a sledge-hammer.' +His little satirical remarks were such as these: It was March and I took +a bunch of violets to Rosa; notched white paper was wound around them, +and Mr. Hawthorne said, 'They have on a cambric ruffle." + +"Generally he sat by an open fire, with his feet thrust into the coals, +and an open volume of Thackeray upon his knees. He said that Thackeray +was the greatest living novelist. I sometimes suspected that the volume +of Thackeray was kept as a foil, that he might not be talked to. He +shrank from society, but rode and walked." + +EXTRACT FROM A LETTER. + + ROME, Feb. 16, 1858. + + ... The Hawthornes are invaluable to me, because the little ones + come to my room every day and I go there when I like. Mrs. + Hawthorne sometimes walks with us, Mr. H. _never_. He has a + horror of sight-seeing and of emotions in general, but I like + him very much, and when I say I like _him_ it only means that I + like _her_ a little more. Julian, the boy, is in love with me. + When I was last there Mr. H. came home with me; as he put on his + coat he turned to Julian and said, "Julian, I should think with + your _tender interest_ in Miss Mitchell you wouldn't let me + escort her home." + +"We arrived in Rome in the evening. Mrs. H. was somewhat of an invalid, +and Mr. Hawthorne tried in vain to make the servant understand that she +must have a fire in her room. He spoke no word of French, German, or +Italian, but he said emphatically, 'Make a fire in Mrs. Hawthorne's +room.' Worn out with his efforts, he turned to me and said, 'Do, Miss +Mitchell, tell the servant what I want; your French is excellent! +Englishmen and Frenchmen understand it equally well.' So I said in +execrable French, 'Make a fire,' and pointed to the grate; of course the +gesture was understood. + +"Mr. Hawthorne was minutely and scrupulously honest; I should say that +he was a rigid temperance man. Once I heard Mrs. Hawthorne say to the +clerk, 'Send some brandy to Mr. Hawthorne at once.' We were six in the +party. When I paid my bill I heard Mr. Hawthorne say to Miss S., the +teacher, who took all the business cares, 'Don't let Miss Mitchell pay +for one-sixth of my brandy.' + +"So if we ordered tea for five, and six partook of it, he called the +waiter and said, 'Six have partaken of the tea, although there was no +tea added; to the amount.' + +"I told Mr. Hawthorne that a friend of mine, Miss W., desired very much +to see him, as she admired him very much. He said, 'Don't let her see +me, let her keep her little lamp burning.' + +"He was a sad man; I could never tell why. I never could get at anything +of his religious views. + +"He was wonderfully blest in his family. Mrs. Hawthorne almost +worshipped him. She was of a very serious and religious turn of mind. + +"I dined with them the day that Una was sixteen years old. We drank her +health in cold water. Mr. Hawthorne said, 'May you live happily, and be +ready to go when you must.' + +"He joined in the family talk very pleasantly. One evening we made up a +story. One said, 'A party was in Rome;' another said, 'It was a pleasant +day;' another said, 'They took a walk.' It came to Hawthorne's turn, and +he said, 'Do put in an incident;' so Rosa said, 'Then a bear jumped from +the top of St. Peter's!' The story went no further. + +"I was with the family when they first went to St. Peter's. Hawthorne +turned away saying, 'The St. Peter's of my imagination was better.' + +"I think he could not have been well, he was so very inactive. If he +walked out he took Rosa, then a child of six, with him. He once came +with her to my room, but he seemed tired from the ascent of the stairs. +I was on the fifth floor. + +"I have been surprised to see that he made severe personal remarks in +his journal, for in the three months that I knew him I never heard an +unkind word; he was always courteous, gentle, and retiring. Mrs. +Hawthorne said she took a wifely pride in his having no small vices. Mr. +Hawthorne said to Miss S., 'I have yet to find the first fault in Mrs. +Hawthorne.' + +"One day Mrs. Hawthorne came to my room, held up an inkstand, and said, +'The new book will be begun to-night.' + +"This was 'The Marble Faun.' She said, 'Mr. Hawthorne writes after every +one has gone to bed. I never see the manuscript until it is what he +calls _clothed_'.... Mrs. H. says he never knows when he is writing a +story how the characters will turn out; he waits for _them_ to influence +_him_. + +"I asked her if Zenobia was intended for Margaret Fuller, and she said, +'No;' but Mr. Hawthorne admitted that Margaret Fuller seemed to be +around him when he was writing it. + +"London, August. We went out for our first walk as soon as breakfast was +over, and we walked on Regent street for hours, looking in at the shop +windows. The first view of the street was beautiful, for it was a misty +morning, and we saw its length fade away as if it had no end. I like it +that in our first walk we came upon a crowd standing around 'Punch.' It +is a ridiculous affair, but as it is as much a 'peculiar institution' as +is Southern slavery, I stopped and listened, and after we came into the +house Miss S. threw out some pence for them. We rested after the shop +windows of Regent street, took dinner, and went out again, this time to +Piccadilly. + +"The servility of the shopkeepers is really a little offensive. 'What +shall I have the honor of showing you?' they say. + +"Our chambermaid, at our lodgings, thanks us every time we speak to her. + +"I feel ashamed to reach a four-penny piece to a stout coachman who +touches his hat and begs me to remember him. Sometimes I am ready to +say, 'How can I forget you, when you have hung around me so closely for +half an hour?' + +"Our waiter at the Adelphi Hotel, at Liverpool, was a very respectable +middle-aged man, with a white neck-cloth; he looked like a Methodist +parson. He waited upon us for five days with great gravity, and then +another waiter told us that we could give our waiter what we pleased. We +were charged £1 for 'attendance' in the bill, but I very innocently gave +half as much more, as fee to the 'parson,' + +"August 14. To-day we took a brougham and drove around for hours. Of +course we didn't _see_ London, and if we stay a month we shall still +know nothing of it, it is so immense. I keep thinking, as I go through +the streets, of 'The rats and the mice, they made such a strife, he had +to go to London,' etc., and especially 'The streets were so wide, and +the lanes were so narrow;' for I never saw such narrow streets, even in +Boston. + +"We have begun to send out letters, but as it is 'out of season' I am +afraid everybody will be at the watering-places. + +THE GREENWICH OBSERVATORY. "The observatory was founded by Charles II. +The king that 'never said a foolish thing and never did a wise one' was +yet sagacious enough to start an institution which has grown to be a +thing of might, and this, too, of his own will, and not from the +influence of courtiers. One of the hospital buildings of Greenwich, then +called the 'House of Delights,' was the residence of Henrietta Maria, +and the young prince probably played on the little hill now the site of +the observatory. + +"But Charles, though he started an observatory, did not know very well +what was needed. The first building consisted of a large, octagonal +room, with windows all around; it was considered sufficiently firm +without any foundation, and sufficiently open to the heavens with no +opening higher than windows. This room is now used as a place of deposit +for instruments, and busts and portraits of eminent men, and also as the +dancing-hall for the director's family. + +"Under Mr. Airy's [Footnote: The late Sir George Airy.] direction, the +walls of the observing-room have become pages of its history. The +transit instruments used by Halley, Bradley, and Pond hang side by side; +the zenith sector with which Bradley discovered the 'aberration of +light,' now moving rustily on its arc, is the ornament of another room; +while the shelves of the computing-room are filled with volumes of +unpublished observations of Flamstead and others. + +"The observatory stands in Greenwich Park, the prettiest park I have yet +seen; being a group of small hills. They point out oaks said to belong +to Elizabeth's time--noble oaks of any time. The observatory is one +hundred and fifty feet above the sea level. The view from it is, of +course, beautiful. On the north the river, the little Thames, big with +its fleet, is winding around the Isle of Dogs; on the left London, +always overhung with a cloud of smoke, through which St. Paul's and the +Houses of Parliament peep. + +"Mr. Airy was exceedingly kind to me, and seemed to take great interest +in showing me around. He appeared to be much gratified by my interest in +the history of the observatory. He is naturally a despot, and his +position increases this tendency. Sitting in his chair, the zero-point +of longitude for the world, he commands not only the little knot of +observers and computers around him, but when he says to London, 'It is +one o'clock,' London adopts that time, and her ships start for their +voyages around the globe, and continue to count their time from that +moment, wherever the English flag is borne. + +"It is singular what a quiet motive-power Science is, the breath of a +nation's progress. + +"Mr. Airy is not favorable to the multiplication of observatories. He +predicted the failure of that at Albany. He says that he would gladly +destroy one-half of the meridian instruments of the world, by way of +reform. I told him that my reform movement would be to bring together +the astronomers who had no instruments and the instruments which had no +astronomers. + +"Mr. Airy is exceedingly systematic. In leading me by narrow passages +and up steep staircases, from one room to another of the irregular +collection of rooms, he was continually cautioning me about my +footsteps, and in one place he seemed to have a kind of formula: 'Three +steps at this place, ten at this, eleven at this, and three again.' So, +in descending a ladder to the birthplace of the galvanic currents, he +said, 'Turn your back to the stairs, step down with the right foot, take +hold with the right hand; reverse the operation in ascending; do not, on +coming out, turn around at once, but step backwards one step first.' + +"Near the throne of the astronomical autocrat is another proof of his +system, in a case of portfolios. These contain the daily bills, letters, +and papers, as they come in and are answered in order. When a portfolio +is full, the papers are removed and are sewed together. Each year's +accumulation is bound, and the bound volumes of Mr. Airy's time nearly +cover one side of his private room. + +"Mr. Airy replies to all kinds of letters, with two exceptions: those +which ask for autographs, and those which request him to calculate +nativities. Both of these are very frequent. + +"In the drawing-room Mr. Airy is cheery; he loves to recite ballads and +knows by heart a mass of verses, from 'A, Apple Pie,' to the 'Lady of +the Lake.' + +"A lover of Nature and a close observer of her ways, as well in the +forest walk as in the vault of heaven, Mr. Airy has roamed among the +beautiful scenery of the Lake region until he is as good a mountain +guide as can be found. He has strolled beside Grassmere and ascended +Helvellyn. He knows the height of the mountain peaks, the shingles that +lie on their sides, the flowers that grow in the valleys, the mines +beneath the surface. + +"At one time the Government Survey planted what is called a 'Man' on the +top of one of the hills of the Lake region. In a dry season they built +up a stone monument, right upon the bed of a little pond. The country +people missed the little pond, which had seemed to them an eye of Nature +reflecting heaven's blue light. They begged for the removal of the +surveyor's pile, and Mr. Airy at once changed the station. + +"The established observatories of England do not step out of their +beaten path to make discoveries--these come from the amateurs. In this +respect they differ from America and Germany. The amateurs of England do +a great deal of work, they learn to know of what they and their +instruments are capable, and it is done. + +"The library of Greenwich Observatory is large. The transactions of +learned societies alone fill a small room; the whole impression of the +thirty volumes of printed observations fills a wall of another room, and +the unpublished papers of the early directors make of themselves a small +manuscript library. + +"October 22, 1857. We have just returned from our fourth visit to +Greenwich, like the others twenty-four hours in length. We go again +to-morrow to meet the Sabines. + +"Herr Struve, the director of the Pulkova Observatory, is at Greenwich, +with his son Karl. The old gentleman is a magnificent-looking fellow, +very large and well proportioned; his great head is covered with white +hair, his features are regular and handsome. When he is introduced to +any one he thrusts both hands into the pockets of his pantaloons, and +bows. I found that the son considered this position of the hands +particularly _English_. However, the old gentleman did me the honor to +shake hands with me, and when I told him that I brought a letter to him +from a friend in America, he said, 'It is quite unnecessary, I know you +without.' He speaks very good English. + +"Herr Struve's mission in England is to see if he can connect the +trigonometrical surveys of the two countries. It is quite singular that +he should visit England for this purpose, so soon after Russia and +England were at war. One of his sons was an army surgeon at the Crimea. + +"Five visitors remained all night at the observatory. I slept in a +little round room and Miss S. in another, at the top of a little +jutting-out, curved building. Mrs. Airy says, 'Mr. Airy got permission +of the Board of Visitors to fit up some of the rooms as lodging-rooms.' +Mr. Airy said, 'My dear love, I did as I always do: I fitted them up +first, and then I reported to the Board that I had done it.' + +"October 23. Another dinner-party at the observatory, consisting of the +Struves, General and Mrs. Sabine, Professor and Mrs. Powell, Mr. Main, +and ourselves; more guests coming to tea. + +"Mrs. Airy told me that she should arrange the order of the guests at +table to please herself; that properly all of the married ladies should +precede me, but that I was really to go first, with Mr. Airy. To effect +this, however, she must explain it to Mrs. Sabine, the lady of highest +rank. + +"So we went out, Professor Airy and myself, Professor Powell and Mrs. +Sabine, General Sabine and Mrs. Powell, Mr. Charles Struve and Miss S., +Mr. Main, Mrs. Airy, and Professor Struve. + +"General Sabine is a small man, gray haired and sharp featured, about +seventy years old. He smiles very readily, and is chatty and sociable at +once. He speaks with more quickness and ease than most of the Englishmen +I have met. Mrs. Sabine is very agreeable and not a bit of a +blue-stocking. + +"The chat at table was general and very interesting. Mr. Airy says, 'The +best of a good dinner is the amount of talk.' He talked of the great +'Leviathan' which he and Struve had just visited, then anecdotes were +told by others, then they went on to comic poetry. Mr. Airy repeated +'The Lost Heir,' by Hood. General Sabine told droll anecdotes, and the +point was often lost upon me, because of the local allusions. One of his +anecdotes was this: 'Archbishop Whately did not like a professor named +Robert Daly; he said the Irish were a very contented people, they were +satisfied with one _bob daily_.' I found that a 'bob' is a shilling. + +"When the dinner was over, the ladies left the room, and the gentlemen +remained over their wine; but not for long, for Mr. Airy does not like +it, and Struve hates it. + +"Then, before tea, others dropped in from the neighborhood, and the tea +was served in the drawing-room, handed round informally. + +"August 15. Westminster Abbey interested me more than I had expected. We +went into the chapels and admired the sculpture when the guide told us +we ought, and stopped with interest sometimes over some tomb which he +did not point out. + +"I stepped aside reverently when I found I was standing on the stone +which covers the remains of Dr. Johnson. It is cracked across the +middle. Garrick lies by the side of Johnson, and I thought at first that +Goldsmith lay near; but it is only a monument--the body is interred in +Temple churchyard. + +"You are continually misled in this way unless you refer at every minute +to your guide-book, and to go through Europe reading a guide-book which +you can read at home seems to be a waste of time. On the stone beneath +which Addison lies is engraved the verse from Tickell's ode: + + "'Ne'er to these chambers where the mighty rest,' etc. + +"The base of Newton's monument is of white marble, a solid mass large +enough to support a coffin; upon that a sarcophagus rests. The remains +are not enclosed within. As I stepped aside I found I had been standing +upon a slab marked 'Isaac Newton,' beneath which the great man's remains +lie. + +"On the side of the sarcophagus is a white marble slab, with figures in +bas-relief. One of these imaginary beings appears to be weighing the +planets on a steel-yard. They hang like peas! Another has a pair of +bellows and is blowing a fire. A third is tending a plant. + +"On this sarcophagus reclines a figure of Newton, of full size. He leans +his right arm upon four thick volumes, probably 'The Principia,' and he +points his left hand to a globe above his head on which the goddess +Urania sits; she leans upon another large book. + +"Newton's head is very fine, and is probably a portrait. The left hand, +which is raised, has lost two fingers. I thought at first that this had +been the work of some 'undevout astronomer,' but when I came to 'read +up' I found that at one time soldiers were quartered in the abbey, and +probably one of them wanted a finger with which to crowd the tobacco +into his pipe, and so broke off one. + +"August 17. To-day we have been to the far-famed British Museum. I +carried an 'open sesame' in the form of a letter given to me by +Professor Henry, asking for me special attention from all societies with +which the 'Smithsonian' at Washington is connected. + +"I gave the paper first to a police officer; a police officer is met at +every turn in London. He handed it to another official, who said, 'You'd +better go to the secretary.' + +"I walked in the direction towards which he pointed, a long way, until I +found the secretary. He called another man, and asked him to show me +whatever I wanted to see. + +"This man took me into another room, and consigned me to still another +man--the fifth to whom I had been referred. No. 5 was an intelligent and +polite person, and he began to talk about America at once. + +"I asked to see anything which had belonged to Newton, and he told me +they had one letter only,--from Newton to Leibnitz,--which he showed me. +It was written in Latin, with diagrams and formulae interspersed. The +reply of Leibnitz, copied by Newton, was also in their collection, and +an order from Newton written while he was director of the mint. + +"No. 5 also showed me the illuminated manuscripts of the collection; +they are kept locked in glass-topped cases, and a curtain protects them +from the light. We saw also the oldest copy of the Bible in the world. + +"The art of printing has brought incalculable blessings; but as I looked +at a neat manuscript book by Queen Elizabeth, copied from another as a +present to her father, I could not help thinking it was much better than +worsted work! + +"A much-worn prayer-book was shown me, said to be the one used by Lady +Jane Grey when on the scaffold. Nothing makes me more conscious that I +am on foreign soil than the constant recurrence of associations +connected with the executioner's block. We hung the Quakers and we +burned the witches, but we are careful not to remember the localities of +our barbarisms; we show instead the Plymouth Rock or the Washington Elm. + +"Among other things, we were shown the 'Magna Charta'--a few fragments +of worn-out paper on which some words could be traced; now carefully +preserved in a frame, beneath a glass. + +"Thus far England has impressed me seriously; I cannot imagine how it +has ever earned the name of 'Merrie England.' + +"August 19. There are four great men whose haunts I mean to seek, and on +whose footsteps I mean to stand: Newton, Shakspere, Milton, and Johnson. + +"To-day I told the driver to take me to St. Martin's, where the +guide-book says that Newton lived. He put me down at the Newton Hotel, +but I looked in vain to its top to see anything like an observatory. + +"I went into a wine-shop near, and asked a girl, who was pouring out a +dram, in which house Newton lived. She pointed, not to the hotel, but to +a house next to a church, and said, 'That's it--don't you see a place on +the top? That's where he used to study nights.' + +"It is a little, oblong-shaped observatory, built apparently of wood, +and blackened by age. The house is a good-looking one--it seems to be of +stone. The girl said the rooms were let for shops. + +"Next I told the driver to take me to Fleet street, to Gough square, and +to Bolt court, where Johnson lived and died. + +"Bolt court lies on Fleet street, and it is but few steps along a narrow +passage to the house, which is now a hotel, where Johnson died; but you +must walk on farther through the narrow passage, a little fearful to a +woman, to see the place where he wrote the dictionary. The house is so +completely within a court, in which nothing but brick walls could be +seen, that one wonders what the charm of London could be, to induce one +to live in that place. But a great city always draws to itself the great +minds, and there Johnson probably found his enjoyment. + +"August 27. We took St. Paul's Church to-day. We took tickets for the +vaults, the bell, the crypt, the whispering-gallery, the clock and all. +We did not know what was before us. It was a little tiresome as far as +the library and the room of Nelson's trophies, but to my surprise, when +the guide said, 'Go that way for the clock,' he did not take the lead, +but pointed up a staircase, and I found myself the pioneer in the +narrowest and darkest staircase I ever ascended. It was really perfect +darkness in some of the places, and we had to feel our way. We all took +a long breath when a gleam of light came in at some narrow windows +scattered along. At the top, in front of the clock works, stood a woman, +who began at once to tell us the statistics of the pendulum, to which +recital I did not choose to listen. She was not to go down with us, and, +panting with fatigue and trembling with fright, we groped our way down +again. + +"There was another long, but easy, ascent to the 'whispering-gallery,' +which is a fine place from which to look down upon the interior of the +church. The man in attendance looked like a respectable elderly +gentleman. He told us to go to the opposite side of the gallery, and he +would whisper to us. We went around, and, worn out with fatigue, dropped +upon a bench. + +"The man began to whisper, putting his mouth to an opening in the wall; +we heard noises, but could not tell what he said. + +"To my amazement, this very respectable-looking elderly gentleman, as we +passed him in going out, whispered again, and as this time he put his +mouth close to my ear, I understood! He said, 'If you will give anything +for the whisper, it will be gratefully received.' There are notices all +over the church forbidding fees, and I felt that the man was a beggar at +best--more properly a pickpocket. + +"A figure of Dr. Johnson stands in one of the aisles of the church. It +must be like him, for it is exceedingly ugly. + +"September 3. We have been three weeks in London 'out of season,' but +with plenty of letters. At present we have as many acquaintances as we +desire. Last night we were at the opera, to-night we go out to dine, and +to-morrow evening to a dance, the next day to Admiral Smyth's. + +"The opera fatigued me, as it always does. I tired my eyes and ears in +the vain effort to appreciate it. Mario was the great star of the +evening, but I knew no difference. + +"One little circumstance showed me how an American, with the best +intentions, may offend against good manners. American-like we had +secured very good seats, were in good season, and as comfortable as the +very narrow seats would permit us to be, before most of the audience +arrived. The house filled, and we sat at our ease, feeling our +importance, and quite unconscious that we were guilty of any +impropriety. While the curtain was down, I heard a voice behind me say +to the gentleman who was with us, 'Is the lady on your left with +you?'--'Yes,' said Mr. R.--'She wears a bonnet, which is not according +to rule.'--'Too late now,' said Mr. R.--'It is my fault,' said the +attendant; 'I ought not to have admitted her; I thought it was a hood.' + +"I was really in hopes that I should be ordered out, for I was +exceedingly fatigued and should have been glad of some fresh air. On +looking around, I saw that only the 'pit' wore bonnets. + +"September 6. We left London yesterday for Aylesbury. It is two hours by +railroad. Like all railroads in England, it runs seemingly through a +garden. In many cases flowers are cultivated by the roadside. + +"From Aylesbury to Stone, the residence of Admiral Smyth, it is two +miles of stage-coach riding. Stage-coaches are now very rare in England, +and I was delighted with the chance for a ride. + +"We found the stage-coach crowded. The driver asked me if we were for +St. John's Lodge, and on my replying in the affirmative gave me a note +which Mrs. Smyth had written to him, to ask for inside seats. The note +had reached him too late, and he said we must go on the outside. He +brought a ladder and we got up. For a minute I thought, 'What a height +to fall from!' but the afternoon was so lovely that I soon forgot the +danger and enjoyed the drive. There were six passengers on top. + +"Aylesbury is a small town, and Stone is a very small village. The +driver stopped at what seemed to be a cultivated field, and told me that +I was at my journey's end. On looking down I saw a wheelbarrow near the +fence, and I remembered that Mrs. Smyth had said that one would be +waiting for our luggage, and I soon saw Mrs. Smyth and her daughter +coming towards us. It was a walk of about an eighth of a mile to the +'Lodge'--a pleasant cottage surrounded by a beautiful garden. + +"Admiral Smyth's family go to a little church seven hundred years old, +standing in the midst of tombstones and surrounded by thatched cottages. +English scenery seems now (September) much like our Southern scenery in +April--rich and lovely, but wanting mountains and water. An English +village could never be mistaken for an American one: the outline against +the sky differs; a thatched cottage makes a very wavy line on the blue +above. + +"We find enough in St. John's Lodge, in the admiral's library, and in +the society of the cultivated members of his family to interest us for a +long time. + +"The admiral himself is upwards of sixty years of age, noble-looking, +loving a good joke, an antiquarian, and a good astronomer. I picked up +many an anecdote from him, and many curious bits of learning. + +"He tells a good story, illustrative of his enthusiasm when looking at a +crater in the moon. He says the night was remarkably fine, and he +applied higher and higher powers to his glass until he seemed to look +down into the abyss, and imagining himself standing on its verge he felt +himself falling in, and drew back with a shudder which lasted even after +the illusion was over. + +"In speaking of Stratford-upon-Avon, the admiral told me that the Lucy +family, one of whose ancestors drove Shakspere from his grounds, and who +is caricatured in Justice Shallow, still resides on the same spot as in +Shakspere's time. He says no family ever retained their characteristics +more decidedly. + +"Some years ago one of this family was invited to a Shakspere dinner. He +resented the well-meant invitation, saying they must surely have +forgotten how that _person_ treated his ancestor! + +"The amateur astronomers of England are numerous, but they are not like +those of America. + +"In America a poor schoolmaster, who has some bright boys who ask +questions, buys a glass and becomes a star-gazer, without time and +almost without instruments; or a watchmaker must know the time, and +therefore watches the stars as time-keepers. In almost all cases they +are hard-working men. + +"In England it is quite otherwise. A wealthy gentleman buys a telescope +as he would buy a library, as an ornament to his house. + +"Admiral Smyth says that no family is quite civilized unless it +possesses a copy of some encyclopaedia and a telescope. The English +gentleman uses both for amusement. If he is a man of philosophical mind +he soon becomes an astronomer, or if a benevolent man he perceives that +some friend in more limited circumstances might use it well, and he +offers the telescope to him, or if an ostentatious man he hires some +young astronomer of talent, who comes to his observatory and makes a +name for him. Then the queen confers the honor of knighthood, not upon +the young man, but upon the owner of the telescope. Sir James South was +knighted for this reason. + +"We have been visiting Hartwell House, an old baronial residence, now +the property of Dr. Lee, a whimsical old man. + +"This house was for years the residence of Louis XVIII., and his queen +died here. The drawing-room is still kept as in those days; the blue +damask on the walls has been changed by time to a brown. The rooms are +spacious and lofty, the chimney-pieces of richly carved marble. The +ceiling of one room has fine bas-relief allegorical figures. + +"Books of antiquarian value are all around--one whole floor is covered +with them. They are almost never opened. In some of the rooms paintings +are on the walls above the doors. + +"Dr. Lee's modern additions are mostly paintings of himself and a former +wife, and are in very bad taste. He has, however, two busts of Mrs. +Somerville, from which I received the impression that she is handsome, +but Mrs. Smyth tells me she is not so; certainly she is sculpturesque. + +"The royal family, on their retreat from Hartwell House, left their +prayer-book, and it still remains on its stand. The room of the ladies +of the bedchamber is papered, and the figure of a pheasant is the +prevailing characteristic of the paper. The room is called 'The Pheasant +Room.' One of the birds has been carefully cut out, and, it is said, was +carried away as a memento by one of the damsels. + +"Dr. Lee is second cousin to Sir George Lee, who died childless. He +inherits the estate, but not the title. The estate has belonged to the +Lees for four hundred years. As the doctor was a Lee only through his +mother, he was obliged to take her name on his accession to the +property. He applied to Parliament to be permitted to assume the title, +and, being refused, from a strong Tory he became a Liberal, and delights +in currying favor with the lowest classes; he has twice married below +his rank. Being remotely connected with the Hampdens, he claims John +Hampden as one of his family, and keeps a portrait of him in a +conspicuous place. + +"A summer-house on the grounds was erected by Lady Elizabeth Lee, and +some verses inscribed on its walls, written by her, show that the Lees +have not always been fools. + +"But Dr. Lee has his way of doing good. Being fond of astronomy, he has +bought an eight and a half feet equatorial telescope, and with a wisdom +which one could scarcely expect, he employed Admiral Smyth to construct +an observatory. He has also a fine transit instrument, and the admiral, +being his near neighbor, has the privilege of using the observatory as +his own. In the absence of the Lees he has a private key, with which he +admits himself and Mrs. Smyth. They make the observations (Mrs. Smyth is +a very clever astronomer), sleep in a room called 'The Admiral's Room,' +find breakfast prepared for them in the morning, and return to their own +house when they choose. + +"I saw in the observatory a timepiece with a double second-hand; one of +these could be stopped by a touch, and would, in that way, show an +observer the instant when he thought a phenomenon, as an occultation for +instance, had occurred, and yet permit him to go on with his count of +the seconds, and, if necessary, correct his first impression. + +"Admiral Smyth is a hard worker, but I suspect that many of the amateur +astronomers of England are Dr. Lees--rich men who, as a hobby, ride +astronomy and employ a good astronomer. Dr. Lee gives the use of a good +instrument to the curate; another to Mr. Payson, of Cambridge, who has +lately found a little planet. + +"I saw at Admiral Smyth's some excellent photographs of the moon, but in +England they have not yet photographed the stars." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +1857 + +FIRST EUROPEAN TOUR CONTINUED--CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY--AMBLESIDE--MISS +SOUTHEY---THE HERSCHELS--A LONDON ROUT--EDINBORO' AND GLASGOW +OBSERVATORIES--"REFLECTIONS AND MUTTERINGS" + +"If any one wishes to know the customs of centuries ago in England, let +him go to Cambridge. + +"Sitting at the window of the hotel, he will see the scholars, the +fellows, the masters of arts, and the masters of colleges passing along +the streets in their different gowns. Very unbecoming gowns they are, in +all cases; and much as the wearers must be accustomed to them, they seem +to step awkwardly, and to have an ungraceful feminine touch in their +motions. + +"Everything that you see speaks of the olden time. Even the images above +the arched entrance to the courts around which the buildings stand are +crumbling slowly, and the faces have an unearthly expression. + +"If the visitor is fortunate enough to have an introduction to one of +the college professors, he will be taken around the buildings, to the +libraries, the 'Combination' room to which the fellows retire to chat +over their wine, and perhaps even to the kitchen. + +"Our first knowledge of Cambridge was the entrance to Trinity College +and the Master's Lodge. + +"We arrived in Cambridge just about at lunch time--one o'clock. + +"Mrs. Airy said to me, 'Although we are invited to be guests of Dr. +Whewell, he is quite too mighty a man to come to meet us." Her sons, +however, met us, and we walked with them to Dr. Whewell's. + +"The Master's Lodge, where Dr. Whewell lives, is one of the buildings +composing the great pile of Trinity College. One of the rooms in the +lodge still remains nearly as in the time of Henry VIII. It is immense +in size, and has two oriel windows hung with red velvet. In this room +the queen holds her court when she is in Cambridge; for the lodge then +becomes a palace, and the 'master' retires to some other apartments, and +comes to dinner only when asked. + +"It is said that the present master does not much like to submit to this +position. + +"In this great room hang full-length portraits of Henry and Elizabeth. +On another wall is a portrait of Newton, and on a third the sweet face +of a young girl, Dr. Whewell's niece, of whom I heard him speak as +'Kate.' + +"Dr. Whewell received us in this room, standing on a rug before an open +fireplace; a wood fire was burning cheerily. Mrs. Airy's daughter, a +young girl, was with us. + +"Dr. Whewell shook hands with us, and we stood. I was very tired, but we +continued to stand. In an American gentleman's house I should have asked +if I might sit, and should have dropped upon a chair; here, of course, I +continued to stand. After, perhaps, fifteen minutes, Dr. Whewell said, +'Will you sit?' and the four of us dropped upon chairs as if shot! + +"The master is a man to be noted, even physically. He is much above +ordinary size, and, though now gray-haired, would be extraordinarily +handsome if it were not for an expression of ill-temper about the mouth. + +"An Englishmen is proud; a Cambridge man is the proudest of Englishmen; +and Dr. Whewell, the proudest of Cambridge men. + +"In the opinion of a Cambridge man, to be master of Trinity is to be +master of the world! + +"At lunch, to which we stayed, Dr. Whewell talked about American +writers, and was very severe upon them; some of them were friends of +mine, and it was not pleasant. But I was especially hurt by a remark +which he made afterwards. Americans are noted in England for their use +of slang. The English suppose that the language of Sam Slick or of Nasby +is the language used in cultivated society. They do not seem to +understand it, and I have no doubt to-day that Lowell's comic poems are +taken seriously. So at this table, Dr. Whewell, wishing to say that we +would do something in the way of sight-seeing very thoroughly, turning +to me, said, 'We'll go the whole hog, Miss Mitchell, as you say in +America.' + +"I turned to the young American girl who sat next to me, and said, 'Miss +S., did you ever hear that expression except on the street?' 'Never,' +she replied. + +"Afterwards he said to me, 'You in America think you know something +about the English language, and you get out your Webster's dictionary, +and your Worcester's dictionary, but we here in Cambridge think we know +rather more about English than you do.' + +"After lunch we went to the observatory. The Cambridge Observatory has +the usual number of meridian instruments, but it has besides a good +equatorial telescope of twenty feet in length, mounted in the English +style; for Mr. Airy was in Cambridge at the time of its establishment. +In this pretty observatory, overlooking the peaceful plains, with some +small hills in the distance, Mr. and Mrs. Airy passed the first year of +their married life. + +"Professor Challis, the director, is exceedingly short, thick-headed (in +appearance), and, like many of the English, thick-tongued. While I was +looking at the instruments, Mrs. Airy came into the equatorial house, +bringing Mr. Adams, the rival of Leverrier, [Footnote: See Chapter +VII.]--another short man, but bright-looking, with dark hair and eyes, +and again the thick voice, this time with a nasal twang. He is a fellow +of Pembroke College, and master of arts. If Mr. Adams had become a +fellow of his own college, St. John, he must have gone into holy orders, +as it is called; this he was not willing to do; he accepted a fellowship +from Pembroke. + +"Mr. Adams is a merry little man, loves games with children, and is a +favorite with young ladies. + +"At 6.30 we went again to the lodge to dine. We were a little late, and +the servant was in a great hurry to announce us; but I made him wait +until my gloves were on, though not buttoned. He announced us with a +loud voice, and Dr. Whewell came forward to receive us. Being announced +in this way, the other guests do not wait for an introduction. There was +a group of guests in the drawing-room, and those nearest me spoke to me +at once. + +"Dinner was announced immediately, and Dr. Whewell escorted me +downstairs, across an immense hall, to the dining-room, outside of which +stood the waiters, six in number, arranged in a straight line, in +livery, of course. One of them had a scarlet vest, short clothes, and +drab coat. + +"As I sat next to the master, I had a good deal of talk with him. He was +very severe upon Americans; he said that Emerson did not write good +English, and copied Carlyle! I thought his severity reached really to +discourtesy, and I think he perceived it when he asked me if I knew +Emerson personally, and I replied that I did, and that I valued my +acquaintance with him highly. + +"I got a little chance to retort, by telling him that we had outgrown +Mrs. Hemans in America, and that we now read Mrs. Browning more. He +laughed at it, and said that Mrs. Browning's poetry was so coarse that +he could not tolerate it, and he was amused to hear that any people had +got above Mrs. Hemans; and he asked me if we had outgrown Homer! To +which I replied that they were not similar cases. + +"Altogether, there was a tone of satire in Dr. Whewell's remarks which I +did not think amiable. + +"There were, as there are very commonly in English society, some dresses +too low for my taste; and the wine-drinking was universal, so that I had +to make a special point of getting a glass of water, and was afraid I +might drink all there was on the table! + +"Before the dessert came on, saucers were placed before each guest, and +a little rose-water dipped into them from a silver basin; then each +guest washed his face thoroughly, dipping his napkin into the saucer. +Professor Willis, who sat next to me, told me that this was a custom +peculiar to Cambridge, and dating from its earliest times. + +"The finger bowls came on afterwards, as usual. + +"It is customary for the lady of the house or the 'first lady' to turn +to her nearest neighbor at the close of dinner and say, 'Shall we retire +to the drawing-room?' Now, there was no lady of the house, and I was in +the position of first lady. They might have sat there for a thousand +years before I should have thought of it. I drew on my gloves when the +other ladies drew on theirs, and then we waited. Mrs. Airy saw the +dilemma, made the little speech, and the gentlemen escorted us to the +door, and then returned to their wine. + +"We went back to the drawing-room and had coffee; after coffee new +guests began to come, and we went into the magnificent room with the +oriel windows. + +"Professor Sedgwick came early--an old man of seventy-four, already a +little shattered and subject to giddiness. He is said to be very fond of +young ladies even now, and when younger made some heartaches; for he +could not give up his fellowship and leave Cambridge for a wife; which, +to me, is very unmanly. He is considered the greatest geologist in +England, and of course they would say 'in the world,' and is much loved +by all who know him. He came to Cambridge a young man, and the elms +which he saw planted are now sturdy trees. It is pleasant to hear him +talk of Cambridge and its growth; he points to the stately trees and +says, 'Those trees don't look as old as I, and they are not.' + +"I did not see Professor Adams at that time, but I spent the whole of +Monday morning walking about the college with him. I asked him to show +me the place where he made his computations for Neptune, and he was +evidently well pleased to do so. + +"We laughed over a roll, which we saw in the College library, containing +a list of the ancestors of Henry VIII.; among them was Jupiter. + +"Professor Adams tells me that in Wales genealogical charts go so far +back that about half-way between the beginning and the present day you +find this record: 'About this time the world was created'! + +"November 2. At lunch to-day Dr. Whewell was more interesting than I had +seen him before. He asked me about Laura Bridgman, and said that he knew +a similar case. He contended, in opposition to Mrs. Airy and myself, +that loss of vision was preferable to loss of hearing, because it shut +one out less from human companionship. + +"Dr. Whewell's self-respect and immense self-esteem led him to +imperiousness of manner which touches the border of discourtesy. He +loves a good joke, but his jests are serious. He writes verses that are +touchingly beautiful, but it is difficult to believe, in his presence, +that he writes them. Mrs. Airy said that Dr. Whewell and I _riled_ each +other! + +"I was at an evening party, and the Airy boys, young men of eighteen and +twenty, were present. They stood the whole time, occasionally leaning +against a table or the piano, in their blue silk gowns. I urged them to +sit. 'Of course not,' they said; 'no undergraduate sits in the master's +presence!' + +"I went to three services on 'Scarlet Sunday,' for the sake of seeing +all the sights. + +"The costumes of Cambridge and Oxford are very amusing, and show, more +than anything I have seen, the old-fogyism of English ways. Dr. Whewell +wore, on this occasion, a long gown reaching nearly to his feet, of rich +scarlet, and adorned with flowing ribands. The ribands did not match the +robe, but were more of a crimson. + +"I wondered that a strong-minded man like Dr. Whewell could tolerate +such trappings for a moment; but it is said that he is rather proud of +them, and loves all the etiquette of the olden time, as also, it is +said, does the queen. + +"In these robes Dr. Whewell escorted me to church--and of course we were +a great sight! + +"Before dinner, on this Scarlet Sunday, there was an interval when the +master was evidently tried to know what to do with me. At length he hit +upon an expedient. 'Boys,' he said to the young Airys, 'take Miss +Mitchell on a walk!' + +"I was a little surprised to find myself on a walk, 'nolens volens;' so +as soon as we were out of sight of the master of Trinity, I said, 'Now, +young gentlemen, as I do not want to go to walk, we won't go!' + +"It was hard for me to become accustomed to English ideas of caste. I +heard Professor Sedgwick say that Miss Herschel, the daughter of Sir +John and niece to Caroline, married a Gordon. 'Such a great match for +her!' he added; and when I asked what match could be great for a +daughter of the Herschels, I was told that she had married one of the +queen's household, and was asked to _sit_ in the presence of the queen! + +"When I hear a missionary tell that the pariah caste sit on the ground, +the peasant caste lift themselves by the thickness of a leaf, and the +next rank by the thickness of a stalk, it seems to me that the heathen +has reached a high state of civilization--precisely that which Victoria +has reached when she permits a Herschel to sit in her presence! + +"The University of Cambridge consists of sixteen colleges. I was told +that, of these, Trinity leads and St. John comes next. + +"Trinity has always led in mathematics; it boasts of Newton and Byron +among its graduates. Milton belonged to Christ Church College; the +mulberry tree which he planted still flourishes. + +"Even to-day, a young scholar of Trinity expressed his regret to me that +Milton did not belong to the college in which he himself studied. He +pointed out the rooms occupied by Newton, and showed us 'Newton's +Bridge,' 'which will surely fall when a greater man than he walks over +it'! + +"Milton first planned the great poem, 'Paradise Lost,' as a drama, and +this manuscript, kept within a glass case, is opened to the page on +which the _dramatis personae_ are planned and replanned. On the opposite +page is a part of 'Lycidas,' neatly written and with few corrections. + +"The most beautiful of the college buildings is King's Chapel. A +Cambridge man is sure to take you to one of the bridges spanning the +wretched little stream called the 'Silver Cam,' that you may see the +architectural beauties of this building. + +"It is well to attend service in one or the other of the chapels, to see +assembled the young men, who are almost all the sons of the nobility or +gentry. The propriety of their conduct struck me. + +"The fellows of the colleges are chosen from the 'scholars' who are most +distinguished, as the 'scholars' are chosen from the undergraduates. +They receive an income so long as they remain connected with the college +and unmarried. + +"They have also the use of rooms in the college; they dine in the same +hall with the undergraduates, but their tables are placed upon a raised +dais; they have also little garden-places given them. + +"'What are their duties?' I asked Mr. Airy. 'None at all; _they_ are the +college. It would not be a seat of learning without them.' + +"They say in Cambridge that Dr. Whewell's book, 'Plurality of Worlds,' +reasons to this end: The planets were created for this world; this world +for man; man for England; England for Cambridge; and Cambridge for Dr. +Whewell! + +"Ambleside, September 13. We have spent the Sunday in ascending a +mountain, I have a minute route marked out for me by Professor Airy, who +has rambled among the lakes and mountains of Cumberland and Westmoreland +for months, and says that no man lives who knows them better than he. + +"In accordance with these directions, I took a one-horse carriage this +morning for Coniston Waters, in order to ascend the 'Old Man.' The +waiter at the 'Salutation' at Ambleside, which we made headquarters, +told me that I could not make the ascent, as the day would not be fine; +but I have not travelled six months for nothing, and I knew he was +saying, 'You are fine American geese; you are not to leave my house +until you have been well plucked!'--which threat he will of course keep, +but I shall see all the 'Old Men' that I choose. So I borrowed the +waiter's umbrella, when he said it would rain, and off we went in an +open carriage, a drive of seven miles, up hill and down dale, among +mountains and around ponds (lakes _they_ called them), in the midst of +rich lands and pretty mansions, with occasionally a castle, and once a +ruin, to diversify the scenery. + +"Arrived at Coniston Hotel, the waiter said the same thing: 'It's too +cloudy to ascend the "Old Man;"' but as soon as it was found that if it +was too cloudy we did not intend to stay, it cleared off amazingly fast, +and the ponies were ordered. I thought at first of walking up, but, +having a value for my feet and not liking to misuse them, I mounted a +pony and walked him. + +"He was beautifully stupid, but I could not help thinking of Henry +Colman, the agriculturist, who, when in England, went on a fox-hunt. He +said, 'Think of my poor wife's old husband leaping a fence!' + +"But I soon forgot any fear, for the pony needed nothing from me or the +guide, but scrambled about any way he chose; and the scenery was +charming, for although the mountains are not very high, they are thrown +together very beautifully and remind me of those of the Hudson +Highlands. Then the little lakes were lovely, and occasionally we came +to a tarn or pond, and exceedingly small waterfalls were rushing about +everywhere, without any apparent object in view, but evidently looking +for something. And spite of the weatherwise head-waiter of the +'Salutation' and of him of Coniston Inn, the day was beautiful. We had +to give up the ponies when we were half a mile from the top, and clamber +up ourselves. The guide was very intelligent, and pointed out the lakes, +Windermere, Coniston; and the mountains, Helvellyn, Skiddaw, and +Saddleback; but at one time he spoke a name that I couldn't understand, +and forgetting that I was in England and not in America, I asked him to +_spell_ it. He replied, 'Theys call it so always.' He did not fail, +however, to ask questions like a Yankee, if he couldn't spell like one. +'Which way be ye coming?'--'From America.'--'Ye'll be going to Scotland +like?'--'Yes.'--'Ye'll be spending much money before ye are home again.' + +"When we were quite on top of the mountain I asked what the white +glimmering was in the distance, and he said it was, what I supposed, an +arm of the sea. + +"The shadows of the flying clouds were very pretty falling on the hills +around us, and the villages in the valleys beneath looked like white +dots on the green. + +"Sunday, Sept. 20, 1857. We have been to see Miss Southey to-day. I sent +the letter which Mrs. Airy gave me yesterday, and with it a note saying +that I would call to-day if convenient. + +"Miss Southey replied at once, saying that she should be happy to see +me. She lives in a straggling, irregular cottage, like most of the +cottages around Keswick, but beautifully situated, though far from the +lake. + +"Southey himself lived at Greta Hall, a much finer place, for many +years, but he never owned it, and the gentleman who bought it will +permit no one to see it. + +"Miss Southey's house is overgrown with climbing plants, has windows +opening to the ground, and is really a summer residence, not a good +winter home. + +"When Southey, in his decline, married a second wife, the family +scattered, and this daughter, the only unmarried one, left him. + +"We were shown into a pleasant parlor comfortably furnished, especially +with books and engravings, portraits of Southey, Wordsworth, and others. + +"Miss Southey soon came down; she is really pretty, having the fresh +English complexion and fair hair. She seems to be a very simple, +pleasant person; chatty, but not too much so. She is much engrossed by +the care of three of her brother's children, an old aunt, and a servant, +who, having been long in the family, has become a dependant. Miss +Southey spoke at once of the Americans whom she had known, Ticknor being +one. + +"The old aunt asked after a New York lady who had visited Southey at +Greta Hall, but her niece reminded her that it must have been before I +was born! + +"Miss Southey said that her father felt that he knew as many Americans +as Englishmen, and that she wanted very much to go to America. I told +her that she would be in danger of being 'lionized;' she said, 'Oh, I +should like that, for of course it is gratifying to know how much my +father was valued there." + +"I asked after the children, and Miss Southey said that the little boy +had called out to her, 'Oh! Aunt Katy, the Ameriky ladies have come! + +"The three children were called in; the boy, about six years old, of +course wouldn't speak to me. + +"The best portrait of Southey in his daughter's collection is a profile +in wax--a style that I have seen several times in England, and which I +think very pretty. + +"We went down to Lodore, the scene of the poem, 'How does the Water come +Down,' etc., and found it about as large as the other waterfalls around +here--a little dripping of water among the stones. + + COLLINGWOOD, Nov. 14, 1857. + + MY DEAR FATHER: This is Sir John Herschel's place. I came last + night just at dusk. + + According to English ways, I ought to have written a note, + naming the hour at which I should reach Etchingham, which is + four miles from Collingwood; but when I left Liverpool I went + directly on, and a letter would have arrived at the same time + that I did. I stopped in London one night only, changed my + lodging-house, that I might pay a pound a week only for letting + my trunk live in a room, instead of two pounds, and started off + again. + + I reached Etchingham at ten minutes past four, took a cab, and + set off for Sir John's. It is a large brick house, no way + handsome, but surrounded by fine grounds, with beautiful trees + and a very large pond. + + The family were at dinner, and I was shown into the + drawing-room. + + There was just the light of a coal fire, and as I stood before + it Sir John bustled in, an old man, much bent, with perfectly + white hair standing out every way. He reached both hands to me, + and said, "We had no letter and so did not expect you, but you + are always welcome in this house." Lady Herschel followed--very + noble looking; she does not look as old as I, but of course must + be; but English women, especially of her station, do not wear + out as we do, who are "Jacks at all trades." + + I found a fire in my room, and a cup of tea and crackers were + immediately sent up. + + The Herschels have several children; I have not seen Caroline, + Louise, William, and Alexander, but Belle, and Amelie, and + Marie, and Julie, and Rosa, and Francesca, and Constance, and + John are at home! + + The children are not handsome, but are good-looking, and well + brought up of course, and highly educated. The children all come + to table, which is not common in England. Think what a table + they must set when the whole twelve are at home! + + The first object that struck me in the house was Borden's map of + Massachusetts, hanging in the hall opposite the entrance. Over + the mantelpiece in the dining-room is a portrait of Sir William + Herschel. In the parlor is a portrait of Caroline Herschel, and + busts of Sir William, Sir John, and the eldest daughter. + + I spent the evening in looking at engravings, sipping tea, and + talking. Sir John is like the elder Mr. Bond, except that he + talks more readily; but he is womanly in his nature, not a + tyrant like Whewell. Sir John is a better listener than any man + I have met in England. He joins in all the chit-chat, is one of + the domestic circle, and tells funny little anecdotes. (So do + Whewell and Airy.) + + The Herschels know Abbot Lawrence and Edward Everett--and + everywhere these two have left a good impression. But I am + certainly mortified by anecdotes that I hear of "pushing" + Americans. Mrs. ---- sought an introduction to Sir John Herschel + to tell him about an abridgment of his Astronomy which she had + made, and she intimated to him that in consequence of her + abridgment his work was, or would be, much more widely known in + America. Lady Herschel told me of it, and she remarked, "I + believe Sir John was not much pleased, for he does not like + abridgments." I told her that I had never heard of the + abridgment. + + There are other guests in the house: a lady whose sister was + among those killed in India; and her husband, who is an officer + in the army. We have all been playing at "Spelling" this + evening, with the letters, as we did at home last winter. + + Sunday, 15th. I thought of going to London to-day, but was + easily persuaded to stay and go with Lady Herschel to-morrow. + All this afternoon I have spent listening to Sir John, who has + shown me his father's manuscript, his aunt's, beautifully neat, + and he told me about his Cape observations. + + The telescope used at the Cape of Good Hope lies in the barn + (the glass, of course, taken care of) unused; and Sir John now + occupies himself with writing only. He made many drawings at the + Cape, which he showed me, and very good ones they are. Lady + Herschel offers me a letter to Mrs. Somerville, who is godmother + to one of her children. I am afraid I shall have no letter to + Leverrier, for every one seems to dislike him. Lady Herschel + says he is one of the few persons whom she ever asked for an + autograph; he was her guest, and he refused! + + Just as I was coming away, Sir John bustled up to me with a + sheet of paper, saying that he thought I would like some of his + aunt's handwriting and he would give it to me. He had before + given me one of his own calculations; he says if there were no + "war, pestilence, or famine," and one pair of human beings had + been put upon the globe at the time of Cheops, they would not + only now fill the earth, but if they stood upon each other's + heads, they would reach a hundred times the distance to + Neptune! + + I turned over their scrap-books, and Sir John's poetry is much + better than many of the specimens they had carefully kept, by + Sir William Hamilton. Sir William Hamilton's sister had some + specimens in the book, and also Lady Herschel and her brother. + + Lady Herschel is the head of the house--so is Mrs. Airy--so, I + suspect, is the wife in all well-ordered households! I perceived + that Sir John did not take a cup of tea until his wife said, + "You can have some, my dear." + + Mr. Airy waits and waits, and then says, "My dear, I shall lose + all my flesh if I don't have something to eat and drink." + + I am hoping to get to Paris next week, about the 23d. I have had + just what I wanted in England, as to society. + +"November 26. A few days ago I received a card, 'Mrs. Baden Powell, at +home November 25.' Of course I did not know if it was a tea party or a +wedding reception. So I appealed to Mrs. Airy. She said, 'It is a London +rout. I never went to one, but you'll find a crowd and a good many +interesting people.' + +"I took a cab, and went at nine o'clock. The servant who opened the door +passed me to another who showed me the cloak-room. The girl who took my +shawl numbered it and gave me a ticket, as they would at a public +exhibition. Then she pointed to the other end of the room, and there I +saw a table with tea and coffee. I took a cup of coffee, and then the +servant asked my name, _yelled_ it up the stairs to another, and he +announced it at the drawing-room door just as I entered. + +"Mrs. Powell and the professor were of course standing near, and Mrs. +Admiral Smyth just behind. To my delight, I met four English persons +whom I knew, and also Prof. Henry B. Rogers, who is a great society man. + +"People kept coming until the room was quite full. I was very glad to be +introduced to Professor Stokes, who is called the best mathematician in +England, and is a friend of Adams. He is very handsome--almost all +Englishmen are handsome, because they look healthy; but Professor Stokes +has fine black eyes and dark hair and good features. He looks very young +and innocent. Stokes is connected with Cambridge, but lives in London, +just as Professor Powell is connected with Oxford, but also lives in +London. Several gentlemen spoke to me without a special +introduction--one told me his name was Dr. Townby [Qy., Toynbie], and he +was a great admirer of Emerson--the first case of the sort I have met. + +"Dr. Townby is a young man not over thirty, full of enthusiasm and +progress, like an American. He really seemed to me all alive, and is +either a genius or crazy--the shade between is so delicate that I can't +always tell to which a person belongs! I asked him if Babbage was in the +room, and he said, 'Not yet,' so I hoped he would come. + +"He told me that a fine-looking, white-headed, good-featured old man was +Roget, of the 'Thesaurus;' and another old man in the corner was Dr. +Arnott, of the 'Elements of Physics.' I had supposed he was dead long +ago. Afterwards I was introduced to him. He is an old man, but not much +over sixty; his hair is white, but he is full of vigor, short and stout, +like almost all Englishmen and Englishwomen. I have met only two women +taller than myself, and most of them are very much shorter. Dr. Arnott +told me he was only now finishing the 'Elements,' which he first +published in 1827. He intends now to publish the more mathematical +portions with the other volumes. He was very sociable, and I told him he +had twenty years ago a great many readers in America. He said he +supposed he had more there than in England, and that he believed he had +made young men study science in many instances. + +"I asked him if Babbage was in the room, and he too said, 'Not yet.' Dr. +Arnott asked me if I wore as many stockings when I was observing as the +Herschels--he said Sir William put on twelve pairs and Caroline +fourteen! + +"I stayed until eleven o'clock, then I said 'Good-by,' and just as I +stepped upon the threshold of the drawing-room to go out, a broad old +man stepped upon it, and the servant announced 'Mr. Babbage,' and of +course that glimpse was all I shall ever have! + +"Edinboro', September 30. The people of Edinboro', having a passion for +Grecian architecture, and being very proud of the Athenian character of +their city, seek to increase the resemblance by imitations of ancient +buildings. + +"Grecian pillars are seen on Calton Hill in great numbers, and the +observatory would delight an old Greek; its four fronts are adorned by +Grecian pillars, and it is indeed beautiful as a structure; but the +Greeks did not build their temples for astronomical observations; they +probably adapted their architecture to their needs. + +"This beautiful building was erected by an association of gentlemen, who +raised a good deal of money, but, of course, not enough. They built the +Grecian temple, but they could not supply it with priests. + +"About a hundred years ago Colin Maclaurin had laid the foundation of an +observatory, and the curious Gothic building, which still stands, is the +first germ. We laugh now at the narrow ideas of those days, which seemed +to consider an observatory a lookout only; but the first step in a work +is a great step--the others are easily taken. There was added to the +building of Maclaurin a very small transit room, and then the present +edifice followed. + +"When the builders of the observatory found that they could not support +it, they presented it to the British government; so that it is now a +government child, but it is not petted, like the first-born of +Greenwich. + +"There are three instruments; an excellent transit instrument of six and +a half inches' aperture, resting on its y's of solid granite. The +corrections of the errors of the instrument by means of little screws +are given up, and the errors which are known to exist are corrected in +the computations. + +"Professor Smyth finds that although the two pillars upon which the +instrument rests were cut from the same quarry, they are unequally +affected by changes of temperature; so that the variation of the azimuth +error, though slight, is irregular. + +"The collimation plate they correct with the micrometer, so that they +consider some position-reading of the micrometer-head the zero point, +and correct that for the error, which they determine by reflection in a +trough of mercury. With this instrument they observe on certain stars of +the British Catalogue, whose places are not very well determined, and +with a mural circle of smaller power they determine declinations. + +"The observatory possesses an equatorial telescope, but it is of mixed +composition. The object glass was given by Dr. Lee, the eye-pieces by +some one else, and the two are put together in a case, and used by +Professor Smyth for looking at the craters in the moon; of these he has +made fine drawings, and has published them in color prints. + +"The whole staff of the observatory consists of Professor Smyth, Mr. +Wallace, an old man, and Mr. Williamson, a young man. + +"The city of Edinboro' has no amateur astronomers, and there are two +only, of note, in Scotland: Sir William Bisbane and Sir William Keith +Murray. + +"From the observatory, the view of Edinboro' is lovely. 'Auld Reekie,' +as the Scotch call it, always looks her best through a mist, and a +Scotch mist is not a rare event--so we saw the city under its most +becoming veil. + +"October, 1857. I stopped in Glasgow a few hours, and went to the +observatory, which is also the private residence of Professor Nichol. +Miss Nichol received me, and was a very pleasant, blue-eyed young lady. + +"I found that the observatory boasts of two good instruments: a meridian +circle, which must be good, from its appearance, and a Newtonian +telescope, differently mounted from any I had seen; cased in a +composition tube which is painted bright blue--rather a striking object. +The iron mounting seemed to me good. It was of the German kind, but +modified. It seemed to me that it could be used for observations far +from the meridian. The iron part was hollow, so that the clock was +inside, as was the azimuth circle, and thus space was saved. + +"They have a wind and rain self-register, and a self-registering +barometer, marking on a cylinder turned by a clock, the paper revolving +once an hour. + +"When I was at Dungeon Ghyll, a little ravine among the English lakes, +down which trickles an exceedingly small stream of water, but which is, +nevertheless, very picturesque,--as I followed the old man who shows it +for a sixpence, he asked if we had come a long way. 'From America,' I +replied. 'We have many Americans here,' said he; 'it is much easier to +understand their language than that of other foreigners; they speak very +good English, better than the French or Germans.' + +"I felt myself a little annoyed and a good deal amused. I supposed that +I spoke the language that Addison wrote, and here was a Westmoreland +guide, speaking a dialect which I translated into English before I could +understand it, complimenting me upon my ability to speak my own tongue. + +"I learned afterwards, as I journeyed on, to expect no appreciation of +my country or its people. The English are strangely deficient in +curiosity. I can scarcely imagine an Englishwoman a gossip. + +"I found among all classes a knowledge of the extent of America; by the +better classes its geography was understood, and its physical +peculiarities. One astronomer had bound the scientific papers from +America in green morocco, as typical of a country covered by forests. +Among the most intelligent men whom I met I found an appreciation of the +different characters of the States. Everywhere Massachusetts was +honored; everywhere I met the horror of the honest Englishman at the +slave system; but anything like a discriminating knowledge of our public +men I could not meet. Webster had been heard of everywhere. They assured +me that our _really great_ men were known, our really great deeds +appreciated; but this is not true. They make mistakes in their measure +of our men; second-rate men who have travelled are of course known to +the men whom they have met; these travellers have not perhaps thought it +necessary to mention that they represent a secondary class of people, +and they are considered our 'first men.' The English forget that all +Americans travel. + +"I was vexed when I saw some of our most miserable novels, bound in +showy yellow and red, exposed for sale. A friend told me that they had +copied from the cheap publications of America. It may be so, but they +have outdone us in the cheapness of the material and the showy covers. I +never saw yellow and red together on any American book. + +"The English are far beyond us in their highest scholarship, but why +should they be ignorant of our scholars? The Englishman is proud, and +not without reason; but he may well be proud of the American offshoot. +It is not strange that England produces fine scholars, when we consider +that her colleges confer fellowships on the best undergraduates. + +"England differs from America in the fact that it has a past. Well may +the great men of the present be proud of those who have gone before +them; it is scarcely to be hoped that the like can come after them; and +yet I suppose we must admit that even now the strong minds are born +across the water. + +"At the same time England has a class to which we have happily no +parallel in our country--a class to which even English gentlemen liken +the Sepoys, and who would, they admit, under like circumstances be +guilty of like enormities. But the true Englishman shuts his eyes for a +great part of the time to the steps in the social scale down which his +race descends, and looks only at the upper walks. He has therefore a +glance of patronizing kindness for the people of the United States, and +regards us of New England as we regard our rich brethren of the West. + +"I wondered what was to become of the English people! Their island is +already crowded with people, the large towns are numerous and are very +large. Suppose for an instant that her commerce is cut off, will they +starve? It is an illustration of moral power that, little island as that +of Great Britain is, its power is the great power of the world. + +"Crowded as the people are, they are healthy. I never saw, I thought, so +many ruddy faces as met me at once in Liverpool. Dirty children in the +street have red cheeks and good teeth. Nowhere did I see little children +whose minds had outgrown their bodies. They do not live in the +school-room, but in the streets. One continually meets little children +carrying smaller ones in their arms; little girls hand in hand walk the +streets of London all day. There are no free schools, and they have +nothing to do. Beggars are everywhere, and as importunate as in Italy. +For a well-behaved common people I should go to Paris; for clean +working-women I should look in Paris. + +"I saw a little boy in England tormenting a smaller one. He spat upon +his cap, and then declared that the little one did it. The little one +sobbed and said he didn't. I gave the little one a penny; he evidently +did not know the value of the coin, and appealed to the bigger boy. 'Is +it a penny?' he asked, with a look of amazement. 'Yes,' said the bigger. +Off ran the smaller one triumphant, and the bigger began to cry, which I +permitted him to do." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +1857-1858 + +FIRST EUROPEAN TOUR CONTINUED--LEVERRIER AND THE PARIS +OBSERVATORY--ROME--HARRIET HOSMER--OBSERVATORY OF THE COLLEGIO +ROMANO--SECCHI + +At this time, the feeling between astronomers of Great Britain and those +of the United States was not very cordial. It was the time when Adams +and Leverrier were contending to which of them belonged the honor of the +discovery of the planet Neptune, and each side had its strong partisans. + +Among Miss Mitchell's papers we find the following with reference to +this subject: + +"... Adams, a graduate of Cambridge, made the calculations which showed +how an unseen body must exist whose influences were felt by Uranus. It +was a problem of great difficulty, for he had some half-dozen quantities +touching Uranus which were not accurately known, and as many wholly +unknown concerning the unseen planet. We think it a difficult question +which involves three or four unknown quantities with too few +circumstances, but this problem involved twelve or thirteen, so that x, +y, z reached pretty high up into the alphabet. But Adams, having worked +the problem, carried his work to Airy, the Astronomer Royal of England, +and awaited his comments. A little later Leverrier, the French +astronomer, completed the same problem, and waiting for no authority +beyond his own, flung his discovery out to the world with the +self-confidence of a Frenchman.... + +"... When the news of the discovery of Neptune reached this country, I +happened to be visiting at the observatory in Cambridge, Mass. Professor +Bond (the elder) had looked for the planet the night before I arrived at +his house, and he looked again the evening that I came. + +"His observatory was then a small, round building, and in it was a small +telescope; he had drawn a map of a group of stars, one of which he +supposed was not a star, but the planet. He set the telescope to this +group, and asking his son to count the seconds, he allowed the stars to +pass by the motion of the earth across the field. If they kept the +relative distance of the night before, they were all stars; if any one +had approached or receded from the others, it was a planet; and when the +father looked at his son's record he said, 'One of those has moved, and +it is the one which I thought last night was the planet.' He looked +again at the group, and the son said, 'Father, do give me a look at the +new planet--you are the only man in America that can do it!' And then we +both looked; it looked precisely like a small star, and George and I +both asked, 'What made you think last night that it was the new planet?' +Mr. Bond could only say, 'I don't know, it looked different from the +others.' + +"It is always so--you cannot get a man of genius to explain steps, he +leaps. + +"After the discovery of this planet, Professor Peirce, in our own +country, declared that it was not the planet of the theory, and +therefore its discovery was a happy accident. But it seemed to me that +it was the planet of the theory, just as much if it varied a good deal +from its prescribed place as if it varied a little. So you might have +said that Uranus was not the Uranus of the theory. + +"Sir John Herschel said, 'Its movements have been felt trembling along +the far-reaching line of our analysis, with a certainty hardly inferior +to ocular demonstration.' I consider it was superior to ocular +demonstration, as the action of the mind is above that of the senses. +Adams, in his study at Cambridge, England, and Leverrier in his closet +at Paris, poring over their logarithms, knew better the locus of that +outside planet than all the practical astronomers of the world put +together.... + +"Of course in Paris I went to the Imperial Observatory, to visit +Leverrier. I carried letters from Professor Airy, who also sent a letter +in advance by post. Leverrier called at my hotel, and left cards; then +came a note, and I went to tea. + +"Leverrier had succeeded Arago. Arago had been a member of the +Provisional Government, and had died. Leverrier took exactly opposite +ground, politically, to that of Arago; he stood high with the emperor. + +"He took me all over the observatory. He had a large room for a +ballroom, because in the ballroom science and politics were discussed; +for where a press is not free, salons must give the tone to public +opinion. + +"Both Leverrier and Madame Leverrier said hard things about the English, +and the English said hard things about Leverrier. + +"The Astronomical Observatory of Paris was founded on the establishment +of the Academy of Sciences, in the reign of Louis XIV. The building was +begun in 1667 and finished in 1672; like other observatories of that +time, it was quite unfit for use. + +"John Dominie Cassini came to it before it was finished, saw its +defects, and made alterations; but the whole building was afterwards +abandoned. M. Leverrier showed me the transit instrument and the mural +circle. He has, like Mr. Airy, made the transit instrument incapable of +mechanical change for its corrections of error, so that it depends for +accuracy upon its faults being known and corrected in the computations. + +"All the early observatories of Europe seem to have been built as +temples to Urania, and not as working-chambers of science. The Royal +Observatory at Greenwich, the Imperial Observatory of Paris, and the +beautiful structure on Calton Hill, Edinboro', were at first wholly +useless as observatories. That of Greenwich had no steadiness, while +every pillar in the astronomical temple of Edinboro', though it may tell +of the enlightenment of Greece, hides the light of the stars from the +Scottish observer. Well might Struve say that 'An observatory should be +simply a box to hold instruments.' + +"The Leverriers speak English about as well as I do French, and we had a +very awkward time of it. M. Leverrier talked with me a little, and then +talked wholly to one of the gentlemen present. Madame was very chatty. + +"Leverrier is very fine-looking; he is fair-haired full-faced, +altogether very healthy-looking. His wife is really handsome, the +children beautiful. I was glad that I could understand when Leverrier +said to the children, 'If you make any more noise you go to bed.' + +"While I was there, a woman as old as I rushed in, in bonnet and shawl, +and flew around the room, kissed madame, jumped the children about, and +shook hands with monsieur; and there was a great amount of screaming and +laughing, and all talked at once. As I could not understand a word, it +seemed to me like a theatre. + +"I asked monsieur when I could see the observatory, and he answered, +'Whenever it suits your convenience.' + +"December 15. I went to Leverrier's again last evening by special +invitation. Four gentlemen and three ladies received me, all standing +and bowing without speaking. Monsieur was, however, more sociable than +before, and shrieked out to me in French as though I were deaf. + +"The ladies were in blue dresses; a good deal of crinoline, deep +flounces, high necks, very short, flowing sleeves, and short +undersleeves; the dresses were brocade and the flounces much trimmed, +madame's with white plush. + +"The room was cold, of course, having no carpet, and a wood fire in a +very small fireplace. + +"The gentlemen continued standing or promenading, and taking snuff. + +"Except Leverrier, no one of them spoke to me. The ladies all did, and +all spoke French. The two children were present again--the little girl +five years old played on the piano, and the boy of nine played and sang +like a public performer. He promenaded about the room with his hands in +his pockets, like a man. I think his manners were about equal to +-----'s, as occasionally he yelled and was told to be quiet. + +"About ten o'clock M. Leverrier asked me to go into the observatory, +which connects with the dwelling. They are building immense additional +rooms, and are having a great telescope, twenty-seven feet in focal +length, constructed. + +"With Leverrier's bad English and my bad French we talked but little, +but he showed me the transit instrument, the mural circle, the +computing-room, and the private office. He put on his cloak and cap, and +said, 'Voila le directeur!' + +"One room, he told me, had been Arago's, and Arago had his bed on one +side. M. Leverrier said, 'I do not wish to have it for my room.' He is +said to be much opposed to Arago, and to be merciless towards his +family. + +"He showed me another room, intended for a reception-room, and explained +to me that in France one had to make science come into social life, for +the government must be reached in order to get money. + +"There were huge globes in one room that belonged to Cassini. If what he +showed me is not surpassed in the other rooms, I don't think much of +their instruments. + +"M. Leverrier said he had asked M. Chacornac to meet me, but he was not +there. I felt that we got on a little better, but not much, and it was +evident that he did not expect me to understand an observatory. We did +not ascend to the domes. + +"Leverrier has telegraphic communication with all Europe except Great +Britain. + +"It was quite singular that they made such different remarks to me. +Leverrier said that they had to make science popular. + +"Airy said, 'In England there is no astronomical public, and we do not +need to make science popular.' + +"Jan. 24, 1858. I am in Rome! I have been here four days, and already I +feel that I would rather have that four days in Rome than all the other +days of my travels! I have been uncomfortable, cold, tired, and +subjected to all the evils of travelling; but for all that, I would not +have missed the sort of realization that I have of the existence of the +past of great glory, if I must have a thousand times the discomfort. I +went alone yesterday to St. Peter's and the Vatican, and today, taking +Murray, I went alone to the Roman Forum, and stood beside the ruined +porticos and the broken columns of the Temple. Then I pushed on to the +Coliseum, and walked around its whole circumference. I could scarcely +believe that I really stood among the ruins, and was not dreaming! I +really think I had more enjoyment for going alone and finding out for +myself. Afterwards the Hawthornes called, and I took Mrs. H. to the same +spot.... + +"I really feel the impressiveness of Rome. All Europe has been serious +to me; Rome is even sad in its seriousness. You cannot help feeling, in +the Coliseum, some little of the influence of the scenes that have been +enacted there, even if you know little about them; you must remember +that the vast numbers of people who have been within its walls for ages +have not been common minds, whether they were Christian martyrs or +travelling artists.... + +"I think if I had never heard before of the reputation of the pictures +and statues of the Vatican, I should have perceived their superiority. +There is more idea of _action_ conveyed by the statuary than I ever +received before--they do not seem to be _dead_. + +"January 25. I have finer rooms than I had in Paris, but the letting of +apartments is better managed in Paris. There you always find a +_concierge_, who tells you all you want to know, and who speaks several +languages. In Rome you enter a narrow, dark passage, and look in vain +for a door. Then you go up a flight of stairs, and see a door with a +string; you pull the string, and a woman puts her mouth to a square +hole, covered with tin punctured with holes, and asks what you want. You +tell her, and she tells you to go up higher; you repeat the process, and +at last reach the rooms. The higher up the better, because you get some +sun, and one learns the value of sunlight. I saw no sun in Paris in my +room, and here I have it half of the day, and it seems very pleasant. + +"All the customs of the people differ from those of Paris.... + +"A little of Italian art enters into the ornaments of rooms and +furniture, but anything like mechanical skill seems to be unheard of; +and I dare say the pretty stamp used on the butter I have, which +represents some antique picture, was cut by some northern hand. I could +make a better cart than those that I see on the streets, and I could +_almost_ make as good horses as those that draw them!... + +"It is Holy Week. I have spent seven hours at a time at St. Peter's, in +terrible crowds, for ten days, and now I go no more. The ladies are +seated, but as the ceremonies are in different parts of the immense +building, they rush wildly from one to the other; with their black veils +they look like furies let loose! I stayed five hours to-day to see the +Pope wash feet, which was very silly; for I saw mother wash them much +more effectually twenty years ago! + +"The crowd is better worth seeing than the ceremony, if one could only +see it without being in it. I shall not try to hear the 'Miserere'--I +have given up the study of music! Since I failed to appreciate Mario, I +sha'n't try any more! + +"I go to the Storys' on Sunday evening to look at St. Peter's lighting +up. + +"March 21. I have been to vespers at St. Peter's. They begin an hour +before sunset. When my work is done for the day, I walk to St. Peter's. +This is Sunday, and the floor was full of kneeling worshippers, but that +makes no difference. I walk about among them. + +"I was there an hour to-day before I saw a person that I knew; then I +met the Nicholses and went with them into a side chapel to hear vespers. +Then I saw next the Waterstons, then Miss Lander; but I was unusually +short of friends, I generally meet so many more. + +"There were kneeling women to-day with babies in their arms. The babies +of the lower classes have their legs so wrapped up that they cannot move +them; they look like small pillows even when they are six months old. I +think it must dwarf them. We Americans are a tall people. I am a very +tall woman here. I think that P.'s height would cause a sensation in the +streets. My servant admires my height very much. + +"March 22. I called on Miss Bremer to-day, having heard that she desired +to see me. She is a 'little woman in black,' but not so plain; her face +is a little red, but her complexion is fair and the expression very +pleasing. She chatted away a good deal; asked me about astronomy, and +how I came to study it. I told her that my father put me to it, and she +said she was just writing a story on the affection of father and +daughter. She told me I had good eyes. It is a long time now since any +one has told me that! + +"Miss Bremer and Mrs. W. met in my room and remained an hour. Miss +Bremer is quiet and unpretending. Mrs. W. is flashy and brilliant, and, +as I usually say when I don't understand a person, a little insane; she +had the floor all the time after she came in. She gave a sketch of her +life from her birth up, mentioning incidentally that she had been a +belle, surrounded with beaux, the pride of her parents, with a +reputation for intellect, etc. + +"I had been urging Miss Bremer into an interesting talk before Mrs. W. +appeared, and I felt what a pity it was that she hadn't the same +propensity to talk that the latter had. She talked very pleasantly, +however, and I thought what a pity it was that I shall not see her +again; for I leave Rome in three days for Florence. + +"I was in Rome for a winter, an idler by necessity for six weeks. It is +the very place of all the world for an idler. + +"On the pleasant days there are the ruins to visit, the Campagna to +stroll over, the villas and their grounds to gather flowers in, the +Forum to muse in, the Pincian Hill or the Capitoline for a gossiping +walk with some friend. + +"On rainy days it is all art. There are the cathedrals, the galleries, +and the studios of the thousand artists; for every winter there are a +thousand artists in Rome. + +"A rainy day found me in the studio of Paul Akers. As I was looking at +some of his models, the studio door opened and a pretty little girl, +wearing a jaunty hat and a short jacket, into the pockets of which her +hands were thrust, rushed into the room, seemingly unconscious of the +presence of a stranger, began a rattling, all-alive talk with Mr. Akers, +of which I caught enough to know that a ride over the Campagna was +planned, as I heard Mr. Akers say, 'Oh, I won't ride with you--I'm +afraid to!' after which he turned to me and introduced Harriet Hosmer. + +"I was just from old conservative England, and I had been among its most +conservative people. I had caught something of its old musty-parchment +ideas, and the cricket-like manners of Harriet Hosmer rather troubled +me. It took some weeks for me to get over the impression of her madcap +ways; they seemed childish. + +"I went to her studio and saw 'Puck,' a statue all fun and frolic, and I +imagined all was fun to the core of her heart. + +"As a general rule, people disappoint you as you know them. To know them +better and better is to know more and more weaknesses. Harriet Hosmer +parades her weaknesses with the conscious power of one who knows her +strength, and who knows you will find her out if you are worthy of her +acquaintance. She makes poor jokes--she's a little rude--a good deal +eccentric; but she is always _true_. + +"In the town where she used to live in Massachusetts they will tell you +a thousand anecdotes of her vagaries--but they are proud of her. + +"She does not start on a false scent; she knows the royal character of +the game before she hunts. + +"A lady who is a great rider said to me a few days since: 'Of course I +do not ride like Harriet Hosmer, but, if you will notice, there is +method in Harriet Hosmer's madness. She does not mount a horse until she +has examined him carefully.' + +"At the time when I saw her, she was thinking of her statue of Zenobia. +She was studying the history of Palmyra, reading up on the manners and +customs of its people, and examining Eastern relics and costumes. + +"If she heard that in the sacristy of a certain cathedral, hundreds of +miles away, were lying robes of Eastern queens, she mounted her horse +and rode to the spot, for the sake of learning the lesson they could +teach. + +"Day after day alone in her studio, she studied the subject. Think what +knowledge of the country, of the history of the people, must be +gathered, must be moulded, to bring into the face and bearing of its +queen the expression of the race! Think what familiar acquaintance with +the human form, to represent a lifelike figure at all! + +"For years after I came home I read the newspapers to see if I could +find any notice of the statue of Zenobia; and I did at length see this +announcement: 'The statue of Zenobia, by Miss Hosmer, is on exhibition +at Childs & Jenks'.' + +"It was after five years. All through those five years, Miss Hosmer had +kept her projects steadily turned in this direction. + +"Whatever may be the criticism of art upon her work, no one can deny +that she is above the average artist. + +"But she is herself, as a woman, very much above herself in art. If +there came to any struggling artist in Rome the need of a friend,--and +of the thousand artists in Rome very few are successful,--Harriet Hosmer +was that friend. + +"I knew her to stretch out a helping hand to an unfortunate artist, a +poor, uneducated, unattractive American, against whom the other +Americans in Rome shut their houses and their hearts. When the other +Americans turned from the unsuccessful artist, Harriet Hosmer reached +forth the helping hand. + +"When Harriet Hosmer knew herself to be a sculptor, she knew also that +in all America was no school for her. She must leave home, she must live +where art could live. She might model her busts in the clay of her own +soil, but who should follow out in marble the delicate thought which the +clay expressed? The workmen of Massachusetts tended the looms, built the +railroads, and read the newspapers. The hard-handed men of Italy worked +in marble from the designs put before them; one copied the leaves which +the sculptor threw into the wreaths around the brows of his heroes; +another turned with his tool the folds of the drapery; another wrought +up the delicate tissues of the flesh; none of them dreamed of ideas: +they were copyists,--the very hand-work that her head needed. + +"And to Italy she went. For her school she sought the studio of +Gibson--the greatest sculptor of the time. + +"She resolved 'To scorn delights and live laborious days;' and there she +has lived and worked for years. + +"She fashions the clay to her ideal--every little touch of her fingers +in the clay is a thought; she thinks in clay. + +"The model finished and cast in the dull, hard, inexpressive plaster, +she stands by the workmen while they put it into the marble. She must +watch them, for a touch of the tool in the wrong place might alter the +whole expression of the face, as a wrong accent in the reader will spoil +a line of poetry. + +"COLLEGIO ROMANO; SECCHI. There was another observatory which had a +reputation and was known in America. It was the observatory of the +Collegio Romano, and was in the monastery behind the Church of St. +Ignasio. Its director was the Father Secchi who had visited the United +States, and was well known to the scientists of this country. + +"I said to myself, 'This is the land of Galileo, and this is the city in +which he was tried. I knew of no sadder picture in the history of +science than that of the old man, Galileo, worn by a long life of +scientific research, weak and feeble, trembling before that tribunal +whose frown was torture, and declaring that to be false which he knew to +be true. And I know of no picture in the history of religion more weakly +pitiable than that of the Holy Church trembling before Galileo, and +denouncing him because he found in the Book of Nature truths not stated +in their own Book of God--forgetting that the Book of Nature is also a +Book of God. + +"It seems to be difficult for any one to take in the idea that two +truths cannot conflict. + +"Galileo was the first to see the four moons of Jupiter; and when he +announced the fact that four such moons existed, of course he was met by +various objections from established authority. One writer declared that +as astrologers had got along very well without these planets, there +could be no reason for their starting into existence. + +"But his greatest heresy was this: He was tried, condemned, and punished +for declaring that the sun was the centre of the system, and that the +earth moved around it; also, that the earth turned on its axis. + +"For teaching this, Galileo was called before the assembled cardinals of +Rome, and, clad in black cloth, was compelled to kneel, and to promise +never again to teach that the earth moved. It is said that when he arose +he whispered, 'It does move!' + +"He was tried at the Hall of Sopre Minerva. In fewer than two hundred +years from that time the Church of St. Ignasio was built, and the +monastery on whose walls the instruments of the modern observatory +stand. + +"It is a very singular fact, but one which seems to show that even in +science 'the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church,' that the +spot where Galileo was tried is very near the site of the present +observatory, to which the pope was very liberal. + +"From the Hall of Sopre Minerva you make but two turns through short +streets to the Fontenelle de Borghese, in the rear of which stands the +present observatory. + +"Indeed, if a cardinal should, at the Hall of Sopre Minerva, call out to +Secchi, 'Watchman, what of the night?' Secchi could hear the question; +and no bolder views emanate from any observatory than those which Secchi +sends out. + +"I sent a card to Secchi, and awaited a call, well satisfied to have a +little more time for listless strolling among ruins and into the +studios. And so we spent many an hour: picking up land shells from the +top of the Coliseum, gathering violets in the upper chambers of the +Palace of the Caesars,--for the overgrown walls made climbing very +easy,--or, resting upon some broken statue on the Forum, we admired the +arches of the Temple of Peace, thrown upon the rich blue of the sunny +skies. + +"Returning one day from a drive, I met two priests descending one of the +upper flights of stairs in the house where I lived. As my rooms had been +blessed once, and holy water sprinkled upon them, I thought perhaps +another process of that kind had just been gone through, and was about +to pass them, when one of them, accosting me, asked if I were the +Signorine Mitchell,--changing his Italian to good English as he saw that +I was, and introducing himself as Father Secchi. He told me that the +younger man was a young _religieux_, and the two turned and went back +with me. + +"I recalled, as I saw Father Secchi, an anecdote I had heard, no way to +his credit,--except for ingenious trickery. It was said that coming to +America he brought with him the object-glass of a telescope, at a time +when scientific apparatus paid a high duty. Being asked by some official +what the article was, he replied, 'My looking-glass,' and in that way +passed it off as personal wardrobe, so escaped the duty. (It may have +been De Vico.) + +"Father Secchi had brought with him, to show me, negatives of the planet +Saturn,--the rings showing beautifully, although the image was not more +than half an inch in size. + +"I was ignorant enough of the ways of papal institutions, and, indeed, +of all Italy, to ask if I might visit the Roman Observatory. I +remembered that the days of Galileo were days of two centuries since. I +did not know that my heretic feet must not enter the sanctuary,--that my +woman's robe must not brush the seats of learning. + +"The Father's refusal was seen in his face at once, and I felt that I +had done something highly improper. The Father said that he would have +been most happy to have me visit him, but he had not the power--it was a +religious institution--he had already applied to his superior, who was +not willing to grant permission--the power lay with the Holy Father or +one of his cardinals. I was told that Mrs. Somerville, the most learned +woman in all Europe, had been denied admission; that the daughter of Sir +John Herschel, in spite of English rank, and the higher stamp of +Nature's nobility, was at that time in Rome, and could not enter an +observatory which was at the same time a monastery. + +"If I had before been mildly desirous of visiting the observatory, I was +now intensely anxious to do so. Father Secchi suggested that I should +see Cardinal Antonelli in person, with a written application in my hand. +This was not to be thought of--to ask an interview with the wily +cardinal! + + FROM A LETTER TO HER FATHER. + + ... I am working to get admitted to see the observatory, but it + cannot be done without special permission from the pope, and I + don't like to be "presented." If I can get permission without + the humbug of putting on a black veil and receiving a blessing + from Pius, I shall; but I shrink from the formality of + presentation. I know thou'd say "Be presented." + +"Our minister at that time had the reputation of being very careless of +the needs and wishes of his countrymen, and I was not surprised to find +a long delay. + +"In the course of my waiting, I had told my story to a young Italian +gentleman, the nephew of a monseigneur; a monseigneur being next in rank +to a cardinal. He assured me that permission would never be obtained by +our minister. + +"After a fortnight's waiting I received a permit, written on parchment, +and signed by Cardinal Antonelli. + +"When the young Italian next called, I held the parchment up in triumph, +and boasted that Minister ---- had at length moved in the matter. The +young man coolly replied, 'Yes, I spoke to my uncle last evening, and +asked him to urge the matter with Cardinal Antonelli; but for that it +would never have come!' There had been 'red tape,' and I had not seen +it. + +"At the same time that the formal missive was sent to me, a similar one +was sent to Father Secchi, authorizing him to receive me. The Father +called at once to make the arrangements for my visit. I made the most +natural mistake! I supposed that the doors which opened to one woman, +opened to all, and I asked to take with me my Italian servant, a +quick-witted and bright-eyed woman, who had escorted me to and from +social parties in the evening, and who had learned in these walks the +names of the stars, receiving them from me in English, and giving back +to me the sweet Italian words; and who had come to think herself quite +an astronomer. Father Secchi refused at once. He said I was to meet him +at the Church of St. Ignasio at one and a half hours before Ave Marie, +and he would conduct me through the church into the observatory. My +servant might come into the church with me. The Ave Marie bell rings +half an hour after sunset. + +"At the appointed time, the next fine day,--and all days seem to be +fine,--we set out on our mission. + +"When we entered the church we saw, far in the distance, Father Secchi, +standing just behind a pillar. He slipped out a little way, as much as +to say, 'I await you,' but did not come forward to meet us; so the woman +and I passed along through the rows of kneeling worshippers, by the +strolling students, and past the lounging tourists--who, guide-book in +hand, are seen in every foreign church--until we came to the standpoint +from which the Father had been watching us. + +"Then the Italian woman put up a petition, not one word of which I could +understand, but the gestures and the pointing showed that she begged to +go on and enter the monastery and see the observatory. Father Secchi +said, 'No, the Holy Father gave permission to one only,' and alone I +entered the monastery walls. + +"Through long halls, up winding staircases, occasionally stopped by some +priest who touched his broad hat and asked 'Parlate Italiano?' +occasionally passed by students, often stopped by pictures on the +walls,--once to be introduced to a professor; then through the library +of the monastery, full of manuscripts on which monks had worked away +their lives; then through the astronomical library, where young +astronomers were working away theirs, we reached at length the dome and +the telescope. + +"One observatory is so much like another that it does not seem worth +while to describe Father Secchi's. This observatory has a telescope +about the size of that at Washington (about twelve inches). Secchi had +no staff, and no prescribed duties. The base of the observatory was the +solid foundation of the old Roman building. The church was built in +1650, and the monastery in part at that time, certainly the dome of the +room in which was the meridian instrument. + +"The staircase is cut out of the old Roman walls, which no roll of +carriage, except that of the earthquake chariot, can shake. + +"Having no prescribed duties, Secchi could follow his fancies--he could +pick up comets as he picked up bits of Mosaic upon the Roman forum. He +learns what himself and his instruments can do, and he keeps to that +narrow path. + +"He was at that time much interested in celestial photography. + +"Italy must be the very paradise of astronomers; certainly I never saw +objects so well before; the purity of the air must be very superior to +ours. We looked at Venus with a power of 150, but it was not good. +Jupiter was beautiful, and in broad daylight the belts were plainly +seen. With low powers the moon was charming, but the air would not bear +high ones. + +"Father Secchi said he had used a power of 2,000, but that 600 was more +common. I have rarely used 400. Saturn was exquisite; the rings were +separated all around; the dusky ring could be seen, and, of course, the +shadow of the ball upon the ring. + +"The spectroscopic method of observing starlight was used by Secchi as +early as by any astronomer. By this method the starlight is analyzed, +and the sunlight is analyzed, and the two compared. If it does not +disclose absolutely what are the peculiarities of starlight and +sunlight, relatively, it traces the relationship. + +"In order to be successful in this kind of observation, the telescope +must keep very accurately the motion of the earth in its axis; and so +the papal government furnishes nice machinery to keep up with this +motion,--the same motion for declaring whose existence Galileo suffered! +The two hundred years had done their work. + +"I should have been glad to stay until dark to look at nebulae, but the +Father kindly informed me that my permission did not extend beyond the +daylight, which was fast leaving us, and conducting me to the door he +informed me that I must make my way home alone, adding, 'But we live in +a civilized country.' + +"I did not express to him the doubt that rose to my thoughts! The Ave +Marie bell rings half an hour after sunset, and before that time I must +be out of the observatory and at my own house." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +1858-1865 + +FIRST EUROPEAN TOUR CONCLUDED--MRS. SOMERVILLE--HUMBOLDT--MRS. +MITCHELL'S DEATH--REMOVAL TO LYNN, MASS.--PRESENT OF AN EQUATORIAL +TELESCOPE-EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS + +"I had no hope, when I went to Europe, of knowing Mrs. Somerville. +American men of science did not know her, and there had been unpleasant +passages between the savants of Europe and those of the United States +which made my friends a little reluctant about giving me letters. + +"Professor Henry offered to send me letters, and said that among them +should be one to Mrs. Somerville; but when his package came, no such +letter appeared, and I did not like to press the matter,--indeed, after +I had been in England I was not surprised at any amount of reluctance. +They rarely asked to know my friends, and yet, if they were made known +to them, they did their utmost. + +"So I went to Europe with no letter to Mrs. Somerville, and no letter to +the Herschels. + +"I was very soon domesticated with the Airys, and really felt my +importance when I came to sleep in one of the round rooms of the Royal +Observatory. I dared give no hint to the Airys that I wanted to know the +Herschels, although they were intimate friends. 'What was I that I +should love them, save for feeling of the pain?' But one fine day a +letter came to Mrs. Airy from Lady Herschel, and she asked, 'Would not +Miss Mitchell like to visit us?' Of course Miss Mitchell jumped at the +chance! Mrs. Airy replied, and probably hinted that Miss Mitchell 'could +be induced,' etc. + +"If the Airys were old friends of Mrs. Somerville, the Herschels were +older. The Airys were just and kind to me; the Herschels were lavish, +and they offered me a letter to Mrs. Somerville. + +"So, provided with this open sesame to Mrs. Somerville's heart, I called +at her residence in Florence, in the spring of 1858. + +"I sent in the letter and a card, and waited in the large Florentine +parlor. In the open fireplace blazed a wood fire very suggestive of +American comfort--very deceitful in the suggestion, for there is little +of home comfort in Italy. + +"After some little delay I heard a footstep come shuffling along the +outer room, and an exceedingly tall and very old man entered the room, +in the singular head-dress of a red bandanna turban, approached me, and +introduced himself as Dr. Somerville, the husband. + +"He was very proud of his wife, and very desirous of talking about her, +a weakness quite pardonable in the judgment of one who is desirous to +know. He began at once on the subject. Mrs. Somerville, he said, took +great interest in the Americans, for she claimed connection with the +family of George Washington. + +"Washington's half-brother, Lawrence, married Anne Fairfax, who was one +of the Scotch family. When Lieutenant Fairfax was ordered to America, +Washington wrote to him as a family relative, and asked him to make him +a visit. Lieutenant Fairfax applied to his commanding officer for +permission to accept, and it was refused. They never met, and much to +the regret of the Fairfax family the letter of Washington was lost. The +Fairfaxes of Virginia are of the same family, and occasionally some +member of the American branch returns to see his Scotch cousins. + +"While Dr. Somerville was eagerly talking of these things, Mrs. +Somerville came tripping into the room, speaking at once with the +vivacity of a young person. She was seventy-seven years old, but +appeared twenty years younger. She was not handsome, but her face was +pleasing; the forehead low and broad; the eyes blue; the features so +regular, that in the marble bust by Chantrey, which I had seen, I had +considered her handsome. + +"Neither bust nor picture, however, gives a correct idea of her, except +in the outline of the head and shoulders. + +"She spoke with a strong Scotch accent, and was slightly affected with +deafness, an infirmity so common in England and Scotland. + +"While Mrs. Somerville talked, the old gentleman, seated by the fire, +busied himself in toasting a slice of bread on a fork, which he kept at +a slow-toasting distance from the coals. An English lady was present, +learned in art, who, with a volubility worthy of an American, rushed +into every little opening of Mrs. Somerville's more measured sentences +with her remarks upon recent discoveries in _her_ specialty. Whenever +this occurred, the old man grew fidgety, moved the slice of bread +backwards and forwards as if the fire were at fault, and when, at +length, the English lady had fairly conquered the ground, and was +started on a long sentence, he could bear the eclipse of his idol no +longer, but, coming to the sofa where we sat, he testily said, 'Mrs. +Somerville would rather talk on science than on art.' + +"Mrs. Somerville's conversation was marked by great simplicity; it was +rather of the familiar and chatty order, with no tendency to the essay +style. She touched upon the recent discoveries in chemistry or the +discovery of gold in California, of the nebulae, more and more of which +she thought might be resolved, and yet that there might exist nebulous +matters, such as compose the tails of comets, of the satellites, of the +planets, the last of which she thought had other uses than as +subordinates. She spoke with disapprobation of Dr. Whewell's attempt to +prove that our planet was the only one inhabited by reasoning beings; +she believed that a higher order of beings than ourselves might people +them. + +"On subsequent visits there were many questions from Mrs. Somerville in +regard to the progress of science in America. She regretted, she said, +that she knew so little of what was done in our country. + +"From Lieutenant Maury, alone, she received scientific papers. She spoke +of the late Dr. (Nathaniel) Bowditch with great interest, and said she +had corresponded with one of his sons. She asked after Professor Peirce, +whom she considered a great mathematician, and of the Bonds, of +Cambridge. She was much interested in their photography of the stars, +and said it had never been done in Europe. At that time photography was +but just applied to the stars. I had carried to the Royal Astronomical +Society the first successful photograph of a star. It was that of Mizar +and Alcor, in the Great Bear. (Since that time all these things have +improved.) + +"The last time I saw Mrs. Somerville, she took me into her garden to +show me her rose-bushes, in which she took great pride. Mrs. Somerville +was not a mathematician only, she spoke Italian fluently, and was in +early life a good musician. + +"I could but admire Mrs. Somerville as a woman. The ascent of the steep +and rugged path of science had not unfitted her for the drawing-room +circle; the hours of devotion to close study have not been incompatible +with the duties of wife and mother; the mind that has turned to rigid +demonstration has not thereby lost its faith in those truths which +figures will not prove. 'I have no doubt,' said she, in speaking of the +heavenly bodies, 'that in another state of existence we shall know more +about these things.' + +"Mrs. Somerville, at the age of seventy-seven, was interested in every +new improvement, hopeful, cheery, and happy. Her society was sought by +the most cultivated people in the world. [She died at ninety-two.] + +"Berlin, May 7, 1858. Humboldt had replied to my letter of introduction +by a note, saying that he should be happy to see me at 2 P.M., May 7. Of +course I was punctual. Humboldt is one of several residents in a very +ordinary-looking house on Oranienberge strasse. + +"All along up the flight of stairs to his room were printed notices +telling persons where to leave packages and letters for Alexander +Humboldt. + +"The servant showed me at first into a sort of anteroom, hung with +deers' horns and carpeted with tigers' skins, then into the study, and +asked me to take a seat on the sofa. The room was very warm; comfort was +evidently carefully considered, for cushions were all around; the sofa +was handsomely covered with worsted embroidery. A long study-table was +full of books and papers. + +"I had waited but a few moments when Humboldt came in; he was a smaller +man than I had expected to see. He was neater, more 'trig,' than the +pictures represent him; in looking at the pictures you feel that his +head is too large,--out of proportion to the body,--but you do not +perceive this when you see him. + +"He bowed in a most courtly manner, and told me he was much obliged to +me for coming to see him, then shook hands, and asked me to sit, and +took a chair near me. + +"There was a clock in sight, and I stayed but half an hour. He talked +every minute, and on all kinds of subjects: of Dr. Bache, who was then +at the head of the U.S. Coast Survey; of Dr. Gould, who had recently +returned from long years in South America; of the Washington Observatory +and its director, Lieutenant Maury; of the Dudley Observatory, at +Albany; of Sir George Airy, of the Greenwich Observatory; of Professor +Enke's comet reputation; of Argelander, who was there observing variable +stars; of Mrs. Somerville and Goldschmidt, and of his brother. + +"It was the period when the subject of admitting Kansas as a slave State +was discussed--he touched upon that; it was during the administration of +President Buchanan, and he talked about that. + +"Having been nearly a year in Europe, I had not kept up my reading of +American newspapers, but Humboldt could tell me the latest news, +scientifically and politically. To my ludicrous mortification, he told +me of the change of position of some scientific professor in New York +State, and when I showed that I didn't know the location of the town, +which was Clinton, he told me if I would look at the map, which lay upon +the table, I should find the town somewhere between Albany and Buffalo. + +"Humboldt was always considered a good-tempered, kindly-natured man, but +his talk was a little fault-finding. + +"He said: 'Lieutenant Maury has been useful, but for the director of an +observatory he has put forth some strange statements in the 'Geography +of the Sea.' + +"He asked me if Mrs. Somerville was now occupied with pure mathematics. +He said: 'There she is strong. I never saw her but once. She must be +over sixty years old.' In reality she was seventy-seven. He spoke with +admiration of Mrs. Somerville's 'Physical Geography,'--said it was +excellent because so concise. 'A German woman would have used more +words.' + +"Humboldt asked me if they could apply photography to the small +stars--to the eighth or ninth magnitude. I had asked the same question +of Professor Bond, of Cambridge, and he had replied, 'Give me $500,000, +and we can do it; but it is very expensive.' + +"Humboldt spoke of the fifty-three small planets, and gave his opinion +that they could not be grouped together; that there was no apparent +connection. + +"Having lost all his teeth, Humboldt's articulation was indistinct--he +talked very rapidly. His hair was thin and very white, his eyes very +blue, his nose too broad and too flat; yet he was a handsome man. He +wore a white necktie, a black dress-coat, buttoned up, but not so much +so that it hid a figured dark-blue and white waistcoat. He was a little +deaf. He told me that he was eighty-nine years old, and that he and +Bonpland, alone, were living of those who in early life were on +expeditions together; that Bonpland was eighty-five, and much the more +vigorous of the two. + +"He said that we had gone backwards, morally, in America since he was +there,--that then there were strong men there: Jefferson, and Hamilton, +and Madison; that the three months he spent in America were spent almost +wholly with Jefferson. + +"In the course of conversation he told me that the fifth volume of +'Cosmos' was in preparation. He urged me to go to see Argelander on my +way to London; he followed me out, still urging me to do this, and at +the same time assured me that Kansas would go all right. + +"It was singular that Humboldt should advise me to use the sextant; it +was the first instrument that I ever used, and it is a very difficult +one. No young aspirant in science ever left Humboldt's presence +uncheered, and no petty animosities come out in his record. You never +heard of Humboldt's complaining that any one had stolen his thunder,--he +knew that no one could lift his bolts. + +"When I came away, he thanked me again for the visit, followed me into +the anteroom, and made a low bow." + +In 1855 Mrs. Mitchell was taken suddenly ill, and although partial +recovery followed, her illness lasted for six years, during which time +Maria was her constant nurse. For most of the six years her mother's +condition was such that merely a general care was needed, but it used to +be said that Maria's eyes were always upon her. When the opportunity to +go to Europe came, an older sister came with her family to take Maria's +place in the home; and when Miss Mitchell returned she found her mother +so nearly in the state in which she had left her, that she felt +justified in having taken the journey. + +Mrs. Mitchell died in 1861, and a few months after her death Mr. +Mitchell and his daughter removed to Lynn, Mass.--Miss Mitchell having +purchased a small house in that city, in the rear of which she erected +the little observatory brought from Nantucket. She was very much +depressed by her mother's death, and absorbed herself as much as +possible in her observations and in her work for the Nautical Almanac. + +Soon after her return from Europe she had been presented with an +equatorial telescope, the gift of American women, through Miss Elizabeth +Peabody. The following letter refers to this instrument: + + LETTER FROM ADMIRAL SMYTH. + + ST. JOHN'S LODGE, NEAR AYLESBURY, 25-7-'59. + + MY DEAR MISS MITCHELL: ... We are much pleased to hear of your + acquisition of an equatorial instrument under a revolving roof, + for it is a true scientific luxury as well as an efficient + implement. The aperture of your object-glass is sufficient for + doing much useful work, but, if I may hazard an opinion to you, + do not attempt too much, for it is quality rather than quantity + which is now desirable. I would therefore leave the + multiplication of objects to the larger order of telescopes, and + to those who are given to sweep and ransack the heavens, of whom + there is a goodly corps. Now, for your purpose, I would + recommend a batch of neat, but not over-close, binary systems, + selected so as to have always one or the other on hand. + + I, however, have been bestirring myself to put amateurs upon a + more convenient and, I think, a better mode of examining double + stars than by the wire micrometer, with its faults of + illumination, fiddling, jumps, and dirty lamps. This is by the + beautiful method of rock-crystal prisms, not the Rochon method + of double-image, but by thin wedges cut to given angles. I have + told Mr. Alvan Clark my "experiences." and I hope he will apply + his excellent mind to the scheme. I am insisting upon this point + in some astronomical twaddle which I am now printing, and of + which I shall soon have to request your acceptance of a copy. + + There is a very important department which calls for a zealous + amateur or two, namely, the colors of double stars, for these + have usually been noted after the eye has been fatigued with + observing in illuminated fields. The volume I hope to + forward--_en hommage_--will contain all the pros and cons of + this branch. + + There is, for ultimate utility, nothing like forming a plan and + then steadily following it. Those who profess they will attend + to everything often fall short of the mark. The division of + labor leads to beneficial conclusions as well in astronomy as in + mechanics and arts. + + Mrs. Smyth and my daughter unite with me in wishing you all + happiness and success; and believe me + + My dear Miss Mitchell, + + Yours very faithfully, + + W. H. SMYTH. + +In regard to the colors of stars, Miss Mitchell had already begun their +study, as these extracts from her diary show: + +"Feb. 19, 1853. I am just learning to notice the different colors of the +stars, and already begin to have a new enjoyment. Betelgeuse is +strikingly red, while Rigel is yellow. There is something of the same +pleasure in noticing the hues that there is in looking at a collection +of precious stones, or at a flower-garden in autumn. Blue stars I do not +yet see, and but little lilac except through the telescope. + +"Feb. 12, 1855.... I swept around for comets about an hour, and then I +amused myself with noticing the varieties of color. I wonder that I have +so long been insensible to this charm in the skies, the tints of the +different stars are so delicate in their variety. ... What a pity that +some of our manufacturers shouldn't be able to steal the secret of +dyestuffs from the stars, and astonish the feminine taste by new +brilliancy in fashion. [Footnote: See Chapter XI.] + + [NANTUCKET], April [1860]. + + MY DEAR: Your father just gave me a great fright by "tapping at + my window" (I believe Poe's was a door, wasn't it?) and holding + up your note. I was busy examining some star notices just + received from Russia or Germany,--I never knew where Dorpat + is.--and just thinking that my work was as good as theirs. I + always noticed that when school-teachers took a holiday in order + to visit other institutions they came home and quietly said, "No + school is better or as good as mine." And then I read your note, + and perceive your reading is as good as Mrs. Kemble's. Now, + being _modest_, I always felt afraid the reason I thought you + such a good reader was because I didn't know any better, but if + all the world is equally ignorant, it makes it all right.... + + I've been intensely busy. I have been looking for the little + inferior planet to cross the sun, which it hasn't done, and I + got an article ready for the paper and then hadn't the courage + to publish--not for fear of the readers, but for fear that I + should change my own ideas by the time 'twas in print. + + I am hoping, however, to have something by the meeting of the + Scientific Association in August,--some paper,--not to get + reputation for myself,--my reputation is so much beyond me that + as policy I should keep quiet,--but in order that my telescope + may show that it is at work. I am embarrassed by the amount of + work it might do--as you do not know which of Mrs. Browning's + poems to read, there are so many beauties. + +The little republic of San Marino presented Miss Mitchell, in 1859, with +a bronze medal of merit, together with the _Ribbon_ and _Letters Patent_ +signed by the two captains regent. This medal she prized as highly as +the gold one from Denmark. + +"Nantucket, May 12, 18[60].... I send you a notice of an occultation; +the last sentence and the last figures are mine. You and I can never +occult, for have we not always helped one another to shine? Do you have +Worcester's Dictionary? I read it continually. Did you feast on 'The +Marble Faun'? I have a charming letter from Una Hawthorne, herself a +poet by nature, all about 'papa's book.' Ought not Mr. Hawthorne to be +the happiest man alive? He isn't, though! Do save all the anecdotes you +possibly can, piquant or not; starved people are not over-nice. + + LYNN, Jan. 5 [1864]. + + ... I very rarely see the B----s; they go to a different church, + and you know with that class of people "not to be with us is to + be against us." Indeed, I know very little of Lynn people. If I + can get at Mr. J., when you come to see me I'll ask him to tea. + He has called several times, but he's in such demand that he + must be engaged some weeks in advance! Would you, if you lived + in Lynn, want to fall into such a mass of idolaters? + + I was wretchedly busy up to December 31, but have got into quiet + seas again. I have had a great deal of company--not a person + that I did not want to see, but I can't make the days more than + twenty-four hours long, with all my economy of time. This week + Professor Crosby, of Salem, comes up with his graduating class + and his corps of teachers for an evening. + +They remained in Lynn until Miss Mitchell was called to Vassar College, +in 1865, as professor of astronomy and director of the observatory. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +1865-1885 + +LIFE AT VASSAR COLLEGE + +In her life at Vassar College there was a great deal for Miss Mitchell +to get accustomed to; if her duties had been merely as director of the +observatory, it would have been simply a continuation of her previous +work. But she was expected, of course, to teach astronomy; she was by no +means sure that she could succeed as a teacher, and with this new work +on hand she could not confine herself to original investigation--that +which had been her great aim in life. + +But she was so much interested in the movement for the higher education +of women, an interest which deepened as her work went on, that she gave +up, in a great measure, her scientific life, and threw herself heart and +soul into this work. + +For some years after she went to Vassar, she still continued the work +for the Nautical Almanac; but after a while she relinquished that, and +confined herself wholly to the work in the college. + +"1866. Vassar College brought together a mass of heterogeneous material, +out of which it was expected that a harmonious whole would +evolve--pupils from all parts of the country, of different habits, +different training, different views; teachers, mostly from New England, +differing also; professors, largely from Massachusetts, yet differing +much. And yet, after a year, we can say that there has been no very +noisy jarring of the discordant elements; small jostling has been felt, +but the president has oiled the rough places, and we have slid over +them. + +"... Miss ---- is a bigot, but a very sincere one. She is the most +conservative person I ever met. I think her a very good woman, a woman +of great energy.... She is very kind to me, but had we lived in the +colonial days of Massachusetts, and had she been a power, she would have +burned me at the stake for heresy! + +"Yesterday the rush began. Miss Lyman [the lady principal] had set the +twenty teachers all around in different places, and I was put into the +parlor to talk to 'anxious mothers.' + +"Miss Lyman had a hoarse cold, but she received about two hundred +students, and had all their rooms assigned to them. + +"While she had one anxious mamma, I took two or three, and kept them +waiting until she could attend to them. Several teachers were with me. I +made a rush at the visitors as they entered, and sometimes I was asked +if I were lady principal, and sometimes if I were the matron. This +morning Miss Lyman's voice was gone. She must have seen five hundred +people yesterday. + +"Among others there was one Miss Mitchell, and, of course, that anxious +mother put that girl under my special care, and she is very bright. Then +there were two who were sent with letters to me, and several others +whose mothers took to me because they were frightened by Miss Lyman's +_style_. + +"One lady, who seemed to be a bright woman, got me by the button and +held me a long time--she wanted this, that, and the other impracticable +thing for the girl, and told me how honest her daughter was; then with a +flood of tears she said, 'But she is not a Christian. I know I put her +into good hands when I put her here.' (Then I was strongly tempted to +avow my Unitarianism.) Miss W., who was standing by, said, 'Miss Lyman +will be an excellent spiritual adviser,' and we both looked very +serious; when the mother wiped her weeping eyes and said, 'And, Miss +Mitchell, will you ask Miss Lyman to insist that my daughter shall curl +her hair? She looks very graceful when her hair is curled, and I want it +insisted upon,' I made a note of it with my pencil, and as I happened to +glance at Miss W. the corners of her mouth were twitching, upon which I +broke down and laughed. The mother bore it very good-naturedly, but went +on. She wanted to know who would work some buttonholes in her daughter's +dress that was not quite finished, etc., and it all ended in her +inviting me to make her a visit. + +"Oct. 31, 1866. Our faculty meetings always try me in this respect: we +do things that other colleges have done before. We wait and ask for +precedent. If the earth had waited for a precedent, it never would have +turned on its axis! + +"Sept. 22, 1868. I have written to-day to give up the Nautical Almanac +work. I do not feel sure that it will be for the best, but I am sure +that I could not hold the almanac and the college, and father is happy +here. + +"I tell Miss Lyman that my father is so much pleased with everything +here that I am afraid he will be immersed!" [Footnote: Vassar College, +though professedly unsectarian, was mainly under Baptist control.] Only +those who knew Vassar College in its earlier days can tell of the life +that the father and daughter led there for four years. + +Mr. Mitchell died in 1869. + +[Illustration: THE FATHER AND DAUGHTER] + +"Jan. 3, 1868. Meeting Dr. Hill at a private party, I asked him if +Harvard College would admit girls in fifty years. He said one of the +most conservative members of the faculty had said, within sixteen days, +that it would come about in twenty years. I asked him if I could go into +one of Professor Peirce's recitations. He said there was nothing to keep +me out, and that he would let me know when they came. + +"At eleven A.M., the next Friday, I stood at Professor Peirce's door. As +the professor came in I went towards him, and asked him if I might +attend his lecture. He said 'Yes.' I said 'Can you not say "I shall be +happy to have you"?' and he said 'I shall be happy to have you,' but he +didn't look happy! + +"It was with some little embarrassment that Mrs. K. and I seated +ourselves. Sixteen young men came into the room; after the first glance +at us there was not another look, and the lecture went on. Professor +Peirce had filled the blackboard with formulae, and went on developing +them. He walked backwards and forwards all the time, thinking it out as +he went. The students at first all took notes, but gradually they +dropped off until perhaps only half continued. When he made simple +mistakes they received it in silence; only one, that one his son (a +tutor in college), remarked that he was wrong. The steps of his lesson +were all easy, but of course it was impossible to tell whence he came or +whither he was going.... + +"The recitation-room was very common-looking--we could not tolerate such +at Vassar. The forms and benches of the recitation-room were better for +taking notes than ours are. + +"The professor was polite enough to ask us into the senior class, but I +had an engagement. I asked him if a young lady presented herself at the +door he _could_ keep her out, and he said 'No, and I shouldn't.' I told +him I would send some of my girls. + +"Oct. 15, 1868. Resolved, in case of my outliving father and being in +good health, to give my efforts to the intellectual culture of women, +without regard to salary; if possible, connect myself with liberal +Christian institutions, believing, as I do, that happiness and growth in +this life are best promoted by them, and that what is good in this life +is good in any life." + +In August, 1869, Miss Mitchell, with several of her Vassar students, +went to Burlington, Ia., to observe the total eclipse of the sun. She +wrote a popular account of her observations, which was printed in "Hours +at Home" for September, 1869. Her records were published in Professor +Coffin's report, as she was a member of his party. + +"Sept. 26, 1871. My classes came in to-day for the first time; +twenty-five students--more than ever before; fine, splendid-looking +girls. I felt almost frightened at the responsibility which came into my +hands--of the possible _twist_ which I might give them. + +"1871. I never look upon the mass of girls going into our dining-room or +chapel without feeling their nobility, the sovereignty of their pure +spirit." + +The following letter from Miss Mitchell, though written at a later date, +gives an idea of the practical observing done by her classes: + + MY DEAR MISS ----: I reply to your questions concerning the + observatory which you propose to establish. And, first, let me + congratulate you that you begin _small_. A large telescope is a + great luxury, but it is an enormous expense, and not at all + necessary for teaching.... My beginning class uses only a small + portable equatorial. It stands out-doors from 7 A.M. to 9 P.M. + The girls are encouraged to use it: they are expected to + determine the rotation of the sun on its axis by watching the + spots--the same for the planet Jupiter; they determine the + revolution of Titan by watching its motions, the retrograde and + direct motion of the planets among the stars, the position of + the sun with reference to its setting in winter and summer, the + phases of Venus. All their book learning in astronomy should be + mathematical. The astronomy which is not mathematical is what is + so ludicrously called "Geography of the Heavens"--is not + astronomy at all. + + My senior class, generally small, say six, is received as a + class, but in practical astronomy each girl is taught + separately. I believe in _small_ classes. I instruct them + separately, first in the use of the meridian instrument, and + next in that of the equatorial. They obtain the time for the + college by meridian passage of stars; they use the equatorial + just as far as they can do with very insufficient mechanism. We + work wholly on planets, and they are taught to find a planet at + any hour of the day, to make drawings of what they see, and to + determine positions of planets and satellites. With the clock + and chronograph they determine difference of right ascension of + objects by the electric mode of recording. They make, sometimes, + very accurate drawings, and they learn to know the satellites of + Saturn (Titan, Rhea, etc.) by their different physiognomy, as + they would persons. They have sometimes measured diameters. + + If you add to your observatory a meridian instrument, I should + advise a small one. _Size_ is not so important as people + generally suppose. Nicety and accuracy are what is needed in all + scientific work; startling effects by large telescopes and high + powers are too suggestive of sensational advertisement. + +The relation between herself and her pupils was quite remarkable--it was +very cordial and intimate; she spoke of them always as her "girls," but +at the same time she required their very best work, and was intolerant +of shirking, or of an ambition to do what nature never intended the girl +in question to do. + +One of her pupils writes thus: "If it were only possible to tell you of +what Professor Mitchell did for one of her girls! 'Her girls!' It meant +so much to come into daily contact with such a woman! There is no need +of speaking of her ability; the world knows what that was. But as her +class-room was unique, having something of home in its belongings, so +its atmosphere differed from that of all others. Anxiety and nervous +strain were left outside of the door. Perhaps one clue to her influence +may be found in her remark to the senior class in astronomy when '76 +entered upon its last year: 'We are women studying together.' + +"Occasionally it happened that work requiring two hours or more to +prepare called for little time in the class. Then would come one of +those treats which she bestowed so freely upon her girls, and which +seemed to put them in touch with the great outside world. Letters from +astronomers in Europe or America, or from members of their families, +giving delightful glimpses of home life; stories of her travels and of +visits to famous people; accounts of scientific conventions and of large +gatherings of women,--not so common then as now,--gave her listeners a +wider outlook and new interests. + +"Professor Mitchell was chairman of a standing committee of the American +Association for the Advancement of Women,--that on women's work in +science,--and some of her students did their first work for women's +organizations in gathering statistics and filling out blanks which she +distributed among them. + +"The benefits derived from my college course were manifold, but time and +money would have been well spent had there been no return but that of +two years' intercourse with Maria Mitchell." + +Another pupil, and later her successor at Vassar College, Miss Mary W. +Whitney, has said of her method of teaching: "As a teacher, Miss +Mitchell's gift was that of stimulus, not that of drill. She could not +drill; she would not drive. But no honest student could escape the +pressure of her strong will and earnest intent. The marking system she +held in contempt, and wished to have nothing to do with it. 'You cannot +mark a human mind,' she said, 'because there is no intellectual unit;' +and upon taking up her duties as professor she stipulated that she +should not be held responsible for a strict application of the system." + +"July, 1887. My students used to say that my way of teaching was like +that of the man who said to his son, 'There are the letters of the +English alphabet--go into that corner and learn them.' + +"It is not exactly my way, but I do think, as a general rule, that +teachers talk too much! A book is a very good institution! To read a +book, to think it over, and to write out notes is a useful exercise; a +book which will not repay some hard thought is not worth publishing. The +fashion of lecturing is becoming a rage; the teacher shows herself off, +and she does not try enough to develop her pupils. + +"The greatest object in educating is to give a right habit of study.... + + * * * * * + +"... Not too much mechanical apparatus--let the imagination have some +play; a cube may be shown by a model, but let the drawing upon the +blackboard represent the cube; and if possible let Nature be the +blackboard; spread your triangles upon land and sky. + +"One of my pupils always threw her triangles on the celestial vault +above her head.... + +"A small apparatus well used will do wonders. A celebrated chemist +ordered his servant to bring in the laboratory--on a tray! Newton rolled +up the cover of a book; he put a small glass at one end, and a large +brain at the other--it was enough. + + * * * * * + +"When a student asks me, 'What specialty shall I follow?' I answer, +'Adopt some one, if none draws you, and wait.' I am confident that she +will find the specialty engrossing. + +"Feb. 10, 1887. When I came to Vassar, I regretted that Mr. Vassar did +not give full scholarships. By degrees, I learned to think his plan of +giving half scholarships better; and to-day I am ready to say, 'Give no +scholarships at all.' + +"I find a helping-hand lifts the girl as crutches do; she learns to like +the help which is not self-help. + +"If a girl has the public school, and wants enough to learn, she will +learn. It is hard, but she was born to hardness--she cannot dodge it. +Labor is her inheritance. + +"I was born, for instance, incapable of appreciating music. I mourn it. +Should I go to a music-school, therefore? No, avoid the music-school; it +is a very expensive branch of study. When the public school has taught +reading, writing, and arithmetic, the boy or girl has his or her tools; +let them use these tools, and get a few hours for study every day. + +"... Do not give educational aid to sickly young people. The old idea +that the feeble young man must be fitted for the ministry, because the +more sickly the more saintly, has gone out. Health of body is not only +an accompaniment of health of mind, but is the cause; the converse may +be true,--that health of mind causes health of body; but we all know +that intellectual cheer and vivacity act upon the mind. If the gymnastic +exercise helps the mind, the concert or the theatre improves the health +of the body. + +"Let the unfortunate young woman whose health is delicate take to the +culture of the woods and fields, or raise strawberries, and avoid +teaching. + +"Better give a young girl who is poor a common-school education, a +little lift, and tell her to work out her own career. If she have a +distaste to the homely routine of life, leave her the opportunity to try +any other career, but let her understand that she stands or falls by +herself. + +"... Not every girl should go to college. The over-burdened mother of a +large family has a right to be aided by her daughter's hands. I would +aid the mother and not the daughter. + +"I would not put the exceptionally smart girl from a _very_ poor family +into college, unless she is a genius; and a genius should wait some +years to _prove_ her genius. + +"Endow the already established institution with money. Endow the woman +who shows genius with _time_. + +"A case at Johns Hopkins University is an excellent one. A young woman +goes into the institution who is already a scholar; she shows what she +can do, and she takes a scholarship; she is not placed in a happy valley +of do nothing,--she is put into a workshop, where she can work. + +"... We are all apt to say, 'Could we have had the opportunity in life +that our neighbor had,'--and we leave the unfinished sentence to imply +that we should have been geniuses. + +"No one ever says, 'If I had not had such golden opportunities thrust +upon me, I might have developed by a struggle'! But why look back at +all? Why turn your eyes to your shadow, when, by looking upward, you see +your rainbow in the same direction? + +"But our want of opportunity was our opportunity--our privations were +our privileges--our needs were stimulants; we are what we are because we +had little and wanted much; and it is hard to tell which was the more +powerful factor.... + + * * * * * + +"Small aids to individuals, large aid to masses. + + * * * * * + +"The Russian Czar determined to found an observatory, and the first +thing he did was to take a million dollars from the government treasury. +He sends to America to order a thirty-five inch telescope from Alvan +Clark,--not to promote science, but to surpass other nations in the size +of his glass. 'To him that hath shall be given.' Read it, 'To him that +hath _should_ be given.' + + * * * * * + +"To give wisely is hard. I do not wonder that the millionaire founds a +new college--why should he not? Millionaires are few, and he is a man by +himself--he must have views, or he could not have earned a million. But +let the man or woman of ordinary wealth seek out the best institution +already started,--the best girl already in college,--and give the +endowment. + +"I knew a rich woman who wished to give aid to some girls' school, and +she travelled in order to find that institution which gave the most +solid learning with the least show. She found it where few would expect +it,--in Tennessee. It was worth while to travel. + +"The aid that comes need not be money; let it be a careful consideration +of the object, and an evident interest in the cause. + +"When you aid a teacher, you improve the education of your children. It +is a wonder that teachers work as well as they do. I never look at a +group of them without using, mentally, the expression, 'The noble army +of martyrs'! + +"The chemist should have had a laboratory, and the observatory should +have had an astronomer; but we are too apt to bestow money where there +is no man, and to find a man where there is no money. + + * * * * * + +"If every girl who is aided were a very high order of scholar, +scholarship would undoubtedly conquer poverty; but a large part of the +aided students are ordinary. They lack, at least, executive power, as +their ancestors probably did. Poverty is a misfortune; misfortunes are +often the result of blamable indiscretion, extravagance, etc. + +"It is one of the many blessings of poverty that one is not obliged to +'give wisely.'" + +1866. _To her students:_ "I cannot expect to make astronomers, but I do +expect that you will invigorate your minds by the effort at healthy +modes of thinking.... When we are chafed and fretted by small cares, a +look at the stars will show us the littleness of our own interests. + +"... But star-gazing is not science. The entrance to astronomy is +through mathematics. You must make up your mind to steady and earnest +work. You must be content to get on slowly if you only get on +thoroughly.... + +"The phrase 'popular science' has in itself a touch of absurdity. That +knowledge which is popular is not scientific. + +"The laws which govern the motions of the sun, the earth, planets, and +other bodies in the universe, cannot be understood and demonstrated +without a solid basis of mathematical learning. + + * * * * * + +"Every formula which expresses a law of nature is a hymn of praise to +God. + + * * * * * + +"You cannot study anything persistently for years without becoming +learned, and although I would not hold reputation up to you as a very +high object of ambition, it is a wayside flower which you are sure to +have catch at your skirts. + +"Whatever apology other women may have for loose, ill-finished work, or +work not finished at all, you will have none. + +"When you leave Vassar College, you leave it the _best educated women in +the world_. Living a little outside of the college, beyond the reach of +the little currents that go up and down the corridors, I think I am a +fairer judge of your advantages than you can be yourselves; and when I +say you will be the best educated women in the world, I do not mean the +education of text-books, and class-rooms, and apparatus, only, but that +broader education which you receive unconsciously, that higher teaching +which comes to you, all unknown to the givers, from daily association +with the noble-souled women who are around you." + +"1871. When astronomers compare observations made by different persons, +they cannot neglect the constitutional peculiarities of the individuals, +and there enters into these computations a quantity called 'personal +equation.' In common terms, it is that difference between two +individuals from which results a difference in the _time_ which they +require to receive and note an occurrence. If one sees a star at one +instant, and records it, the record of another, of the same thing, is +not the same. + +"It is true, also, that the same individual is not the same at all +times; so that between two individuals there is a mean or middle +individual, and each individual has a mean or middle self, which is not +the man of to-day, nor the man of yesterday, nor the man of to-morrow; +but a middle man among these different selves.... + + * * * * * + +"We especially need imagination in science. It is not all mathematics, +nor all logic, but it is somewhat beauty and poetry. + +"There will come with the greater love of science greater love to one +another. Living more nearly to Nature is living farther from the world +and from its follies, but nearer to the world's people; it is to be of +them, with them, and for them, and especially for their improvement. We +cannot see how impartially Nature gives of her riches to all, without +loving all, and helping all; and if we cannot learn through Nature's +laws the certainty of spiritual truths, we can at least learn to promote +spiritual growth while we are together, and live in a trusting hope of a +greater growth in the future. + +"... The great gain would be freedom of thought. Women, more than men, +are bound by tradition and authority. What the father, the brother, the +doctor, and the minister have said has been received undoubtingly. Until +women throw off this reverence for authority they will not develop. When +they do this, when they come to truth through their investigations, when +doubt leads them to discovery, the truth which they get will be theirs, +and their minds will work on and on unfettered. + +[1874.] "I am but a woman! + +"For women there are, undoubtedly, great difficulties in the path, but +so much the more to overcome. First, no woman should say, 'I am but a +woman!' But a woman! What more can you ask to be? + +"Born a woman--born with the average brain of humanity--born with more +than the average heart--if you are mortal, what higher destiny could you +have? No matter where you are nor what you are, you are a power--your +influence is incalculable; personal influence is always underrated by +the person. We are all centres of spheres--we see the portions of the +sphere above us, and we see how little we affect it. We forget the part +of the sphere around and before us--it extends just as far every way. + +"Another common saying, 'It isn't the way,' etc. Who settles the way? Is +there any one so forgetful of the sovereignty bestowed on her by God +that she accepts a leader--one who shall capture her mind? + +"There is this great danger in student life. Now, we rest all upon what +Socrates said, or what Copernicus taught; how can we dispute authority +which has come down to us, all established, for ages? + +"We must at least question it; we cannot accept anything as granted, +beyond the first mathematical formulae. Question everything else. + + "'The world is round, and like a ball + Seems swinging in the air.'[1] +[Footnote 1: From Peter Parley's Primary Geography.] + +"No such thing! the world is not round, it does not swing, and it +doesn't _seem_ to swing! + +"I know I shall be called heterodox, and that unseen lightning flashes +and unheard thunderbolts will be playing around my head, when I say that +women will never be profound students in any other department except +music while they give four hours a day to the _practice_ of music. I +should by all means encourage every woman who is born with musical gifts +to study music; but study it as a science and an art, and not as an +accomplishment; and to every woman who is not musical, I should say, +'Don't study it at all;' you cannot afford four hours a day, out of some +years of your life, just to be agreeable in company upon _possible_ +occasions. + +"If for four hours a day you studied, year after year, the science of +language, for instance, do you suppose you would not be a linguist? Do +you put the mere pleasing of some social party, and the reception of a +few compliments, against the mental development of four hours a day of +study of something for which you were born? + +"When I see that girls who are required by their parents to go through +with the irksome practising really become respectable performers, I +wonder what four hours a day at something which they loved, and for +which God designed them, would do for them. + +"I should think that to a real scientist in music there would be +something mortifying in this rush of all women into music; as there +would be to me if I saw every girl learning the constellations, and then +thinking she was an astronomer! + +"Jan. 8, 1876. At the meeting of graduates at the Deacon House, the +speeches that were made were mainly those of Dr. R. and Professor B. I +am sorry now that I did not at least say that the college is what it is +mainly because the early students pushed up the course to a collegiate +standard. + +"Jan. 25, 1876. It has become a serious question with me whether it is +not my duty to beg money for the observatory, while what I really long +for is a quiet life of scientific speculation. I want to sit down and +study on the observations made by myself and others." + +During her later years at Vassar, Miss Mitchell interested herself +personally in raising a fund to endow the chair of astronomy. In March, +1886, she wrote: "I have been in New York quite lately, and am quite +hopeful that Miss ---- will do something for Vassar. Mrs. C., of +Newburyport, is to ask Whittier, who is said to be rich, and ---- told +me to get anything I could out of her father. But after all I am a poor +beggar; my ideas are small!" + +Since Miss Mitchell's death, the fund has been completed by the alumnae, +and is known as the Maria Mitchell Endowment Fund. With $10,000 +appropriated by the trustees it amounts to $50,000. + +"June 18, 1876. I had imagined the Emperor of Brazil to be a dark, +swarthy, tall man, of forty-five years; that he would not really have a +crown upon his head, but that I should feel it was somewhere around, +handy-like, and that I should know I was in royal presence. But he turns +out to be a large, old man,--say, sixty-five,--broad-headed and +broad-shouldered, with a big white beard, and a very pleasant, even +chatty, manner. + +"Once inside of the dome, he seemed to feel at home; to my astonishment +he asked if Alvan Clark made the glass of the equatorial. As he stepped +into the meridian-room, and saw the instruments, he said, 'Collimators?' +I said, 'You have been in observatories before.' 'Oh, yes, Cambridge and +Washington,' he replied. He seemed much more interested in the +observatory than I could possibly expect. I asked him to go on top of +the roof, and he said he had not time; yet he stayed long enough to go +up several times. I am told that he follows out, remarkably, his own +ideas as to his movements." + +In 1878, Miss Mitchell went to Denver, Colorado, to observe the total +eclipse of the sun. She was accompanied by several of her former pupils. +She prepared an account of this eclipse, which will be found in Chapter +XI. + +"Aug. 20, 1878. Dr. Raymond [President of Vassar College] is dead. I +cannot quite take it in. I have never known the college without him, and +it will make all things different. + +"Personally, I have always been fond of him; he was very enjoyable +socially and intellectually. Officially he was, in his relations to the +students, perfect. He was cautious to a fault, and has probably been +very wise in his administration of college affairs. He was broad in his +religious views. He was not broad in his ideas of women, and was made to +broaden the education of women by the women around him. + +"June 18, 1881. The dome party to-day was sixty-two in number. It was +breakfast, and we opened the dome; we seated forty in the dome and +twenty in the meridian-room." + +This "dome party" requires a few words of explanation, because it was +unique among all the Vassar festivities. The week before commencement, +Miss Mitchell's pupils would be informed of the approaching gathering by +a notice like the following: + + CIRCULAR. + + The annual dome party will be held at the observatory on + Saturday, the 19th, at 6 P.M. You are cordially invited to be + present. + + M. M. + + [As this gathering is highly intellectual, you are invited to + bring poems.] + +It was, at first, held in the evening, but during the last years was a +breakfast party, its character in other respects remaining the same. +Little tables were spread under the dome, around the big telescope; the +flowers were roses from Miss Mitchell's own garden. The "poems" were +nonsense rhymes, in the writing of which Miss Mitchell was an adept. +Each student would have a few verses of a more or less personal +character, written by Miss Mitchell, and there were others written by +the girls themselves; some were impromptu; others were set to music, and +sung by a selected glee-club. + +"June 5, 1881. We have written what we call our dome poetry. Some nice +poems have come in to us. I think the Vassar girls, in the main, are +magnificent, they are so all-alive.... + +"May 20, 1882. Vassar is getting pretty. I gathered lilies of the valley +this morning. The young robins are out in a tree close by us, and the +phoebe has built, as usual, under the front steps. + +"I am rushing dome poetry, but so far show no alarming symptoms of +brilliancy." + +A former student writes as follows about the dome poetry: + +"At the time it was read, though it seemed mere merry nonsense, it +really served a more serious purpose in the work of one who did nothing +aimlessly. This apparent nonsense served as the vehicle to convey an +expression of approbation, affection, criticism, or disapproval in such +a merry mode that even the bitterest draught seemed sweet." + +"1881, July 5. We left Vassar, June 24, on the steamer 'Galatea,' from +New York to Providence. I looked out of my state-room window, and saw a +strange-looking body in the northern sky. My heart sank; I knew +instantly that it was a comet, and that I must return to the +observatory. Calling the young people around me, and pointing it out to +them, I had their assurance that it was a comet, and nothing but a +comet. + +"We went to bed at nine, and I arose at six in the morning. As soon as I +could get my nieces started for Providence, I started for +Stonington,--the most easy of the ways of getting to New York, as I +should avoid Point Judith. + +"I went to the boat at the Stonington wharf about noon, and remained on +board until morning--there were few passengers, it was very quiet, and I +slept well. + +"Arriving in New York, I took cars at 9 A.M. for Poughkeepsie, and +reached the college at dinner-time. I went to work the same evening. + +"As I could not tell at what time the comet would pass the meridian, I +stationed myself at the telescope in the meridian-room by 10 P.M., and +watched for the comet to cross. As it approached the meridian, I saw +that it would go behind a scraggy apple-tree. I sent for the watchman, +Mr. Crumb, to come with a saw, and cut off the upper limbs. He came back +with an axe, and chopped away vigorously; but as one limb after another +fell, and I said, 'I need more, cut away,' he said, 'I think I must cut +down the whole tree.' I said, 'Cut it down.' I felt the barbarism of it, +but I felt more that a bird might have a nest in it. + +"I found, when I went to breakfast the next morning, that the story had +preceded me, and I was called 'George Washington.' + +"But for all this, I got almost no observation; the fog came up, and I +had scarcely anything better than an estimation. I saw the comet blaze +out, just on the edge of the field, and I could read its declination +only. + +"On the 28th, 29th, and July 1st, I obtained good meridian passages, and +the R.A. must be very good. + +"Jan. 12, 1882. There is a strange sentence in the last paragraph of Dr. +Jacobi's article on the study of medicine by women, to the effect that +it would be better for the husband always to be superior to the wife. +Why? And if so, does not it condemn the ablest women to a single life? + +"March 13, 1882, 3 P.M. I start for faculty, and we probably shall elect +what are called the 'honor girls.' I dread the struggle that is pretty +certain to come. Each of us has some favorite whom she wishes to put +into the highest class, and whom she honestly believes to be of the +highest order of merit. I never have the whole ten to suit me, but I can +truly say that at this minute I do not care. I should be sorry not to +see S., and W., and P., and E., and G., and K. on the list of the ten, +but probably that is more than I ought to expect. The whole system is +demoralizing and foolish. Girls study for prizes, and not for learning, +when 'honors' are at the end. The unscholarly motive is wearing. If they +studied for sound learning, the cheer which would come with every day's +gain would be health-preserving. + +"... I have seven advanced students, and to-day, when I looked around to +see who should be called to help look out for meteors, I could consider +only _one_ of them not already overworked, and she was the +post-graduate, who took no honors, and never hurried, and has always +been an excellent student. + +"... We are sending home some girls already [November 14], and ---- is +among them. I am somewhat alarmed at the dropping down, but ---- does an +enormous amount of work, belongs to every club, and writes for every +club and for the 'Vassar Miscellany,' etc.; of course she has the +headache most of the time. + +"Sometimes I am distressed for fear Dr. Clarke [Footnote: Author of "Sex +in Education."] is not so far wrong; but I do not think it is the +study--it is the morbid conscientiousness of the girls, who think they +must work every minute. + +"April 26, 1882. Miss Herschel came to the college on the 11th, and +stayed three days. She is one of the little girls whom I saw, +twenty-three years since, playing on the lawn at Sir John Herschel's +place, Collingwood. + +"... Miss Herschel was just perfect as a guest; she fitted in +beautifully. The teachers gave a reception for her, ---- gave her his +poem, and Henry, the gardener, found out that the man in whose employ he +lost a finger was her brother-in-law, in Leeds! + +"Jan. 9, 1884. Mr. [Matthew] Arnold has been to the college, and has +given his lecture on Emerson. The audience was made up of three hundred +students, and three hundred guests from town. Never was a man listened +to with so much attention. Whether he is right in his judgment or not, +he held his audience by his manly way, his kindly dissection, and his +graceful English. Socially, he charmed us all. He chatted with every +one, he smiled on all. He said he was sorry to leave the college, and +that he felt he must come to America again. We have not had such an +awakening for years. It was like a new volume of old English poetry. + +"March 16, 1885. In February, 1831, I counted seconds for father, who +observed the annular eclipse at Nantucket. I was twelve and a half years +old. In 1885, fifty-four years later, I counted seconds for a class of +students at Vassar; it was the same eclipse, but the sun was only about +half-covered. Both days were perfectly clear and cold." + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +1873 + +SECOND EUROPEAN TOUR--RUSSIA--FRANCES POWER COBBE--"THE GLASGOW COLLEGE +FOR GIRLS" + +In 1873, Miss Mitchell spent the summer in Europe, and availed herself +of this opportunity to visit the government observatory at Pulkova, in +Russia. + +"Eydkuhnen, Wednesday, July 30, 1873. Certainly, I never in my life +expected to spend twenty-four hours in this small town, the frontier +town of Prussia. Here I remembered that our little bags would be +examined, and I asked the guard about it, but he said we need not +trouble ourselves; we should not be examined until we reached the first +Russian town of Wiersbelow. So, after a mile more of travel, we came to +Wiersbelow. Knowing that we should keep our little compartment until we +got to St. Petersburg, we had scattered our luggage about; gloves were +in one place, veil in another, shawl in another, parasol in another, and +books all around. + +"The train stopped. Imagine our consternation! Two officials entered the +carriage, tall Russians in full uniform, and seized everything--shawls, +books, gloves, bags; and then, looking around very carefully, espied W's +poor little ragged handkerchief, and seized that, too, as a contraband +article! We looked at one another, and said nothing. The tall Russian +said something to us; we looked at each other and sat still. The tall +Russians looked at one another, and there was almost an official smile +between them. + +"Then one turned to me, and said, very distinctly, 'Passy-port.' 'Oh,' I +said, 'the passports are all right; where are they?' and we produced +from our pockets the passports prepared at Washington, with the official +seal, and we delivered them with a sort of air as if we had said, +'You'll find that they do things all right at Washington.' + +"The tall Russians got out, and I was about to breathe freely, when they +returned, and said something else--not a word did I understand; they +exchanged a look of amusement, and W. and I, one of amazement; then one +of them made signs to us to get out. The sign was unmistakable, and we +got out, and followed them into an immense room, where were tables all +around covered with luggage, and about a hundred travellers standing by; +and our books, shawls, gloves, etc., were thrown in a heap upon one of +these tables, and we awoke to the disagreeable consciousness that we +were in a custom-house, and only two out of a hundred travellers, and +that we did not understand one word of Russian. + +"But, of course, it could be only a few minutes of delay, and if German +and French failed, there is always left the language of signs, and all +would be right. + +"After, perhaps, half an hour, two or three officials approached us, +and, holding the passports, began to talk to us. How did they know that +those two passports belonged to us? Out of two hundred persons, how +could they at once see that the woman whose age was given at more than +half a century, and the lad whose age was given at less than a score of +years, were the two fatigued and weary travellers who stood guarding a +small heap of gloves, books, handkerchiefs, and shawls? Two of the +officials held up the passports to us, pointed to the blank page, shook +their heads ominously; the third took the passports, put them into his +vest pocket, buttoned up his coat, and motioned to us to follow him. + +"We followed; he opened the door of an ordinary carriage, waved his hand +for us to get in, jumped in himself, and we found we were started back. +We could not cross the line between Germany and Russia. + +"We meekly asked where we were to go, and were relieved when we found +that we went back only to the nearest town, but that the passports must +be sent to Konigsberg, sixty miles away, to be endorsed by the Russian +ambassador--it might take some days. W. was very much inclined to refuse +to go back and to attempt a war of words, but it did not seem wise to me +to undertake a war against the Russian government; I know our country +does not lightly go into an 'unpleasantness' of that kind.... + +"So we went back to Eydkuhnen,--a little miserable German village. We +took rooms at the only hotel, and there we stayed twenty-four hours. +Before the end of that time, we had visited every shop in the village, +and aired our German to most of our fellow-travellers whom we met at the +hotel. + +"The landlord took our part, and declared it was hard enough on simple +travellers like ourselves to be stopped in such a way, and that Russia +was the only country in Europe which was rigid in that respect. Happily, +our passports were back in twenty-four hours, and we started again; our +trunks had been registered for St. Petersburg, and to St. Petersburg +they had gone, ahead of us; and of the small heap of things thrown down +promiscuously at the custom-house, the whole had not come back to us--it +was not very important. I learned how to wear one glove instead of two, +or to go without. + +"We had the ordeal of the custom-house to pass again; but once passed, +and told that we were free to go on, it was like going into a clear +atmosphere from a fog. We crossed the custom-house threshold into +another room, and we found ourselves in Russia, and in an excellent, +well-furnished, and cheery restaurant. We lost the German smoke and the +German beer; we found hot coffee and clean table-cloths. + +"We did not return to our dusty, red-velvet palace, but we entered a +clean, comfortable compartment, with easy sofas, for the night. We +started again for St. Petersburg; we were now four days from London. I +will omit the details of a break-down that night, and another change of +cars. We had some sleep, and awoke in the morning to enjoy Russia. + +"And, first, of Russian railroads. When the railroads of Russia were +planned, the Emperor Nicholas allowed a large sum of money for the +building. The engineer showed him his plan. The road wound by slight +curves from one town to another. This did not suit the emperor at all. +He took his ruler, put it down upon the table, and said: 'I choose to +have my roads run so.' Of course the engineer assented--he had his large +fund granted; a straight road was much cheaper to build than a curved +one. As a consequence, he built and furnished an excellent road. + +"At every 'verst,' which is not quite a mile, a small house is placed at +the roadside, on which, in very large figures, the number of versts from +St. Petersburg is told. The train runs very smoothly and very slowly; +twenty miles an hour is about the rate. Of course the journey seemed +long. For a large part of the way it was an uninhabited, level plain; so +green, however, that it seemed like travelling on prairies. Occasionally +we passed a dreary little village of small huts, and as we neared St. +Petersburg we passed larger and better built towns, which the dome of +some cathedral lighted up for miles. + +"The road was enlivened, too, by another peculiarity. The restaurants +were all adorned by flags of all colors, and festooned by vines. At one +place the green arches ran across the road, and we passed under a bower +of evergreens. I accepted this, at first, as a Russian peculiarity, and +was surprised that so much attention was paid to travellers; but I +learned that it was not for us at all. The Duke of Edinboro' had passed +over the road a few days before, on his way to St. Petersburg, for his +betrothal to the only daughter of the czar, and the decorations were for +him; and so we felt that we were of the party, although we had not been +asked. + +"We approached St. Petersburg just at night, and caught the play of the +sunlight on the domes. It is a city of domes--blue domes, green domes, +white domes, and, above all, the golden dome of the Cathedral of St. +Isaac's. + +"It is almost never a single dome. St. Isaac's central, gilded dome +looms up above its fellow domes, but four smaller ones surround it. + +"It was summer; the temperature was delightful, about like our October. +The showers were frequent, there was no dust and no sultry air. + +"There must be a great deal of nice mechanical work required in St. +Petersburg, for on the Nevsky Perspective, the principal street, there +were a great many shops in which graduating and measuring instruments of +very nice workmanship were for sale. Especially I noticed the excellence +of the thermometers, and I naturally stopped to read them. Figures are a +common language, but it was clear that I was in another planet; I could +not read the thermometers! I judged that the weather was warm enough for +the thermometer to be at 68. I read, say, 16. And then I remembered that +the Russians do not put their freezing point at 32, as we do, and I was +obliged to go through a troublesome calculation before I could tell how +warm it was. + +"But I came to a still stranger experience. I dated my letters August 3, +and went to my banker's, before I sealed them, to see if there were +letters for me. The banker's little calendar was hanging by his desk, +and the day of the month was on exhibition, in large figures. I read, +July 22! This was distressing! Was I like Alice in Wonderland? Did time +go backward? Surely, I had dated August 3. Could I be in error twelve +days? And then I perceived that twelve days was just the difference of +old and new calendars. + +"How many times I had taught students that the Russians still counted +their time by the 'old style,' but had never learned it myself! And so I +was obliged to teach myself new lessons in science. The earth turns on +its axis just the same in Russia as in Boston, but you don't get out of +the sunlight at the Boston sunset hour. + +"When the thermometer stands at 32 in St. Petersburg, it does not freeze +as it does in Boston. On the contrary, it is very warm in St. +Petersburg, for it means what 104 does in Boston. And if you leave +London on the 22d of July, and are five days on the way to St. +Petersburg, a week after you get there it is still the 22d of July! And +we complain that the day is too short! + +"Another peculiarity. We strolled over the city all day; we came back to +our hotel tired; we took our tea; we talked over the day; we wrote to +our friends; we planned for the next day; we were ready to retire. We +walked to the window--the sun was striking on all the chimney tops. It +doesn't seem to be right even for the lark to go to sleep while the sun +shines. We looked at our watches; but the watches said nine o'clock, and +we went off to our beds in daytime; and we awoke after the first nap to +perceive that the sun still shone into the room. + +"Like all careful aunts, I was unwilling that my nephew should be out +alone at night. He was desirous of doing the right thing, but urged that +at home, as a little boy, he was always allowed to be out until dark, +and he asked if he could stay out until dark! Alas for the poor lad! +There was no dark at all! I could not consent for him to be out all +night, and the twilight was not over. You may read and read that the +summer day at St. Petersburg is twenty hours long, but until you see +that the sun scarcely sets, you cannot take it in. + +"I wondered whether the laboring man worked eight or ten hours under my +window; it seemed to me that he was sawing wood the whole twenty-four! + +"W. came in one night after a stroll, and described a beautiful square +which he had come upon accidentally. I listened with great interest, and +said, 'I must go there in the morning; what is the name of it?'--'I +don't know,' he replied.--'Why didn't you read the sign?' I asked.--'I +can't read,' was the reply.--'Oh, no; but why didn't you ask some +one?'--'I can't speak,' he answered. Neither reading nor speaking, we +had to learn St. Petersburg by our observation, and it is the best way. +Most travellers read too much. + +"There are learned institutions in St. Petersburg: universities, +libraries, picture-galleries, and museums; but the first institution +with which I became acquainted was the drosky. The drosky is a very, +very small phaeton. It has the driver's seat in front, and a very narrow +seat behind him. One person can have room enough on this second seat, +but it usually carries two. Invariably the drosky is lined with +dark-blue cloth, and the drosky-driver wears a dark-blue wrapper, coming +to the feet, girded around the waist by a crimson sash. He also wears a +bell-shaped hat, turned up at the side. You are a little in doubt, if +you see him at first separated from his drosky, whether he is a +market-woman or a serving-man, the dress being very much like a morning +wrapper. But he is rarely six feet away from his carriage, and usually +he is upon it, sound asleep! + +"The trunks having gone to St. Petersburg in advance of ourselves, our +first duty was to get possession of them. They were at the custom-house, +across the city. My nephew and I jumped upon a drosky--we could not say +that we were really _in_ the drosky, for the seat was too short. The +drosky-driver started off his horse over the cobble-stones at a terrible +rate. I could not keep my seat, and I clung to W. He shouted, 'Don't +hold by me; I shall be out the next minute!' What could be done? I was +sure I shouldn't stay on half a minute. Blessings on the red sash of the +drosky-man--I caught at that! He drove faster and faster, and I clung +tighter and tighter, but alarmed at two immense dangers: first, that I +should stop his breath by dragging the girdle so tightly; and, next, +that when it became unendurable to him, he would loosen it in front. + +"I could not perceive that he was aware of my existence at all! He had +only one object in life,--to carry us across the city to our place of +destination, and to get his copecks in return. + +"In a few days I learned to like the jolly vehicles very much. They are +so numerous that you may pick one up on any street, whenever you are +tired of walking. + +"My principal object in visiting St. Petersburg was the astronomical +observatory at Pulkova, some twelve miles distant. + +"I had letters to the director, Otto von Struve, but our consul declared +that I must also have one from him, for Struve was a very great man. I, +of course, accepted it. + +"We made the journey by rail and coach, but it would be better to drive +the whole way. + +"Most observatories are temples of silence, and quiet reigns. As we +drove into the grounds at Pulkova, a small crowd of children of all +ages, and servants of all degrees, came out to meet us. They did not +come out to do us honor, but to gaze at us. I could not understand it +until I learned that the director of the observatory has a large number +of aids, and they, with all their families, live in large houses, +connected with the central building by covered ways. + +"All about the grounds, too, were small observatories,--little +temples,--in which young men were practising for observations on the +transit of Venus. These little buildings, I afterwards learned, were to +be taken down and transported, instruments and all, to the coast of +Asia. + +"The director of the observatory is Otto Struve--his father, Wilhelm +Struve, preceded him in this office. Properly, the director is Herr Von +Struve; but the old Russian custom is still in use, and the servants +call him Wilhelm-vitch; that is, 'the son of William.' + +"When I bought a photograph of the present emperor, Alexander, I saw +that he was called Nicholas-vitch. + +"Herr Struve received us courteously, and an assistant was called to +show us the instruments. All observatories are much alike; therefore I +will not describe this, except in its peculiarities. One of these was +the presence of small, light, portable rooms, i.e., baseless boxes, +which rolled over the instruments to protect them; two sides were of +wood, and two sides of green silk curtains, which could, of course, be +turned aside when the boxes, or little rooms, were rolled over the +apparatus. Being covered in this way, the heavy shutters can be left +open for weeks at a time. + +"Everything was on a large scale--the rooms were immense. + +"The director has three assistants who are called 'elder astronomers,' +and two who are called 'adjunct astronomers.' Each of these has a +servant devoted to him. I asked one of the elder astronomers if he had +rooms in the observatory, and he answered, 'Yes, my rooms are 94 ft. by +50.' + +"They seem to be amused at the size of their lodgings, for Mr. Struve, +when he told me of his apartments, gave me at once the dimensions,--200 +ft. by 100 ft. + +"The room in which we dined with the family of Herr Struve was immense. +I spoke of it, and he said, 'We cannot open our windows in the +winter,--the winters are so severe,--and so we must have good air +without it.' Their drawing-room was also very large; the chairs +(innumerable, it seemed to me) stood stiffly around the walls of the +room. The floor was painted and highly varnished, and flower-pots were +at the numerous windows on little stands. It was scrupulously neat +everywhere. + +"There was very little ceremony at dinner; we had the delicious wild +strawberries of the country in great profusion; and the talk, the best +part of the dinner, was in German, Russian, and English. + +"Madame Struve spoke German, Russian, and French, and complained that +she could not speak English. She said that she had spent three weeks +with an English lady, and that she must be very stupid not to speak +English. + +"I noticed that in one of the rooms, which was not so very immense, +there was a circular table, a small centre-carpet, and chairs around the +table; I have been told that 'in society' in Russia, the ladies sit in a +circle, and the gentlemen walk around and talk consecutively with the +ladies,--kindly giving to each a share of their attention. + +"They assured me that the winters were charming, the sleighing constant, +and the social gatherings cheery; but think of four hours, only, of +daylight in the depth of the winter. Their dread was the spring and the +autumn, when the mud is deep. + +"Everything in the observatory which could be was built of wood. They +have the fir, which is very indestructible; it is supposed to show no +mark of change in two hundred years. + +"Wood is so susceptible of ornamentation that the pretty villages of +Russia--and there are some that look like New England villages--struck +us very pleasantly, after the stone and brick villages of England. + +"I try, when I am abroad, to see in what they are superior to us,--not +in what they are inferior. + +"Our great idea is, of course, freedom and self-government; probably in +that we are ahead of the rest of the world, although we are certainly +not so much in advance as we suppose; but we are sufficiently inflated +with our own greatness to let that subject take care of itself when we +travel. We travel to learn; and I have never been in any country where +they did not do something better than we do it, think some thoughts +better than we think, catch some inspiration from heights above our +own--as in the art of Italy, the learning of England, and the philosophy +of Germany. + +"Let us take the scientific position of Russia. When, half a century +ago, John Quincy Adams proposed the establishment of an astronomical +observatory, at a cost of $100,000, it was ridiculed by the newspapers, +considered Utopian, and dismissed from the public mind. When our +government, a few years since, voted an appropriation of $50,000 for a +telescope for the National Observatory, it was considered magnificent. +Yet, a quarter of a century since (1838), Russia founded an astronomical +observatory. The government spent $200,000 on instruments, $1,500,000 on +buildings, and annually appropriated $38,000 for salaries of observers. +I naturally thought that a million and a half dollars, and Oriental +ideas, combined, would make the observatory a showy place; I expected +that the observatory would be surmounted by a gilded dome, and that +'pearly gates' would open as I approached. There is not even a dome! + +"The central observation-room is a cylinder, and its doors swing back on +hinges. Wherever it is possible, wood is used, instead of stone or +brick. I could not detect, in the whole structure, anything like +carving, gilding, or painting, for mere show. It was all for science; +and its ornamentations were adapted to its uses, and came at their +demand. + +"In our country, the man of science leads an isolated life. If he has +capabilities of administration, our government does not yet believe in +them. + +"The director of the observatory at Pulkova has the military rank of +general, and he is privy councillor to the czar. Every subordinate has +also his military position--he is a soldier. + +"What would you think of it, if the director of any observatory were one +of the President's cabinet at Washington, in virtue of his position? +Struve's position is that of a member of the President's cabinet. + +"Here is another difference: Ours is a democratic country. We recognize +no caste; we are born 'free and equal.' We honor labor; work is +ennobling. These expressions we are all accustomed to use. Do we live up +to them? Many a rich man, many a man in fine social position, has +married a school-teacher; but I never heard it spoken of as a source of +pride in the alliance until I went to despotic Russia. Struve told me, +as he would have told of any other honor which had been his, that his +wife, as a girl, had taught school in St. Petersburg. And then Madame +Struve joined in the conversation, and told me how much the subject of +woman's education still held her interest. + +"St. Petersburg is about the size of Philadelphia. Struve said, 'There +are thousands of women studying science in St. Petersburg.' How many +thousand women do you suppose are studying science in the whole State of +New York? I doubt if there are five hundred. + +"Then again, as to language. It is rare, even among the common people, +to meet one who speaks one language only. If you can speak no Russian, +try your poor French, your poor German, or your good English. You may be +sure that the shopkeeper will answer in one or another, and even the +drosky-driver picks up a little of some one of them. + +"Of late, the Russian government has founded a medical school for women, +giving them advantages which are given to men, and the same rank when +they graduate; the czar himself contributed largely to the fund. + +"One wonders, in a country so rich as ours, that so few men and women +gratify their tastes by founding scholarships and aids for the tuition +of girls--it must be such a pleasant way of spending money. + +"Then as regards religion. I am never in a country where the Catholic or +Greek church is dominant, but I see with admiration the zeal of its +followers. I may pity their delusions, but I must admire their devotion. +If you look around in one of our churches upon the congregation, +five-sixths are women, and in some towns nineteen-twentieths; and if you +form a judgment from that fact, you would suppose that religion was +entirely a 'woman's right.' In a Catholic church or Greek church, the +men are not only as numerous as the women, but they are as intense in +their worship. Well-dressed men, with good heads, will prostrate +themselves before the image of the Holy Virgin as many times, and as +devoutly, as the beggar-woman. + +"I think I saw a Russian gentleman at St. Isaac's touch his forehead to +the floor, rise and stand erect, touch the floor again, and rise again, +ten times in as many minutes; and we were one day forbidden entrance to +a church because the czar was about to say his prayers; we found he was +making the pilgrimage of some seventy churches, and praying in each one. + +"Christians who believe in public prayer, and who claim that we should +be instant in prayer, would consider it a severe tax upon their energies +to pray seventy times a day--they don't care to do it! + +"Then there is the _democracy_ of the church. There are no pews to be +sold to the highest bidder--no 'reserved seats;' the oneness and +equality before God are always recognized. A Russian gentleman, as he +prays, does not look around, and move away from the poor beggar next to +him. At St. Peter's the crowd stands or kneels--at St. Isaac's they +stand; and they stand literally on the same plane. + +"I noticed in the crowd at St. Isaac's, one festival day, young girls +who were having a friendly chat; but their religion was ever in their +thoughts, and they crossed themselves certainly once a minute. Their +religion is not an affair of Sunday, but of every day in the week. + +"The drosky-driver, certainly the most stupid class of my acquaintance +in Russia, never forgets his prayers; if his passenger is never so much +in a hurry, and the bribe never so high, the drosky-driver will check +his horse, and make the sign of the cross as he passes the little image +of the Virgin,--so small, perhaps, that you have not noticed it until +you wonder why he slackens his pace. + +"Then as to government. We boast of our national freedom, and we talk +about universal suffrage, the 'Home of the Free,' etc. Yet the serfs in +Russia were freed in March, 1861, just before our Civil war began. They +freed their serfs without any war, and each serf received some acres of +land. They freed twenty-three millions, and we freed four or five +millions of blacks; and all of us, who are old enough, remember that one +of the fears in freeing the slaves was the number of lawless and +ignorant blacks who, it was supposed, would come to the North. + +"We talk about _universal_ suffrage; a larger part of the antiquated +Russians vote than of Americans. Just as I came away from St. Petersburg +I met a Moscow family, travelling. We occupied the same compartment car. +It was a family consisting of a lady and her three daughters. When they +found where I had been, they asked me, in excellent English, what had +carried me to St. Petersburg, and then, why I was interested in Pulkova; +and so I must tell them about American girls, and so, of course, of +Vassar College. + +"They plied me with questions: 'Do you have women in your faculty? Do +men and women hold the same rank?' I returned the questions: 'Is there a +girl's college in Moscow?' 'No,' said the youngest sister, with a sigh, +'we are always _going_ to have one.' The eldest sister asked: 'Do women +vote in America?' 'No,' I said. 'Do women vote in Russia?' She said +'No;' but her mother interrupted her, and there was a spicy conversation +between them, in Russian, and then the mother, who had rarely spoken, +turned to me, and said: 'I vote, but I do not go to the polls myself. I +send somebody to represent me; my vote rests upon my property.' + +"Have you not read a story, of late, in the newspapers, about some +excellent women in a little town in Connecticut whose pet heifers were +taken by force and sold because they refused to pay the large taxes +levied upon them by their townsmen, they being the largest holders of +property in the town? That circumstance could not have happened in +barbarous Russia; there, the owner of property has a right to say how it +shall be used. + +"'Why do you ask me about our government?' I said to the Russian girls. +'Are you interested in questions of government?' They replied, 'All +Russian women are interested in questions of that sort.' How many +American women are interested in questions concerning government? + +"These young girls knew exactly what questions to ask about Vassar +College,--the course of study, the diploma, the number of graduates, +etc. The eldest said: 'We are at once excited when we hear of women +studying; we have longed for opportunities to study all our lives. Our +father was the engineer of the first Russian railroad, and he spent two +years in America." + +"I confess to a feeling of mortification when one of these girls asked +me, 'Did you ever read the translation of a Russian book?' and I was +obliged to answer 'No.' This girl had read American books in the +original. They were talking Russian, French, German, and English, and +yet mourning over their need of education; and in general education, +especially in that of women, I think we must be in advance of them. + +"One of these sisters, forgetting my ignorance, said something to me in +Russian. The other laughed. 'What did she say?' I asked. The eldest +replied, 'She asked you to take her back with you, and educate her.' +'But,' I said, 'you read and speak your languages--the learning of the +world is open to you--found your own college!' And the young girl leaned +back on the cushions, drew her mantle around her, and said, 'We have not +the energy of the American girl!' + +"The energy of the American girl! The rich inheritance which has come +down to her from men and women who sought, in the New World, a better +and higher life. + +"When the American girl carries her energy into the great questions of +humanity, into the practical problems of life; when she takes home to +her heart the interests of education, of government, and of religion, +what may we not hope for our country! + +London, 1873. "It was the 26th of August, and I had no hope that Miss +Cobbe could be at her town residence, but I felt bound to deliver Mrs. +Howe's letter, and I wished to give her a Vassar pamphlet; so I took a +cab and drove; it was at an enormous distance from my lodging--she told +me it was six miles. I was as much surprised as delighted when the girl +said she was at home, for the house had painters in it, the carpets were +up, and everything looked uninhabitable. The girl came back, after +taking my card, and asked me if I would go into the studio, and so took +me through a pretty garden into a small building of two rooms, the outer +one filled with pictures and books. I had never heard that Miss Cobbe +was an artist, and so I looked around, and was afraid that I had got the +wrong Miss Cobbe. But as I glanced at the table I saw the 'Contemporary +Review,' and I took up the first article and read it--by Herbert +Spencer. I had become somewhat interested in a pretty severe criticism +of the modes of reasoning of mathematical men, and had perceived that he +said the problems of concrete sciences were harder than any of the +physical sciences (which I admitted was all true), when a very white dog +came bounding in upon me, and I dropped the book, knowing that the dog's +mistress must be coming,--and Miss Cobbe entered. She looked just as I +expected, but even larger; but then her head is magnificent because so +large. She was very cordial at once, and told me that Miss Davies had +told her I was in London. She said the studio was that of her friend. I +could not refrain from thanking her for her books, and telling her how +much we valued them in America, and how much good I believed they had +done. She colored a very little, and said, 'Nothing could be more +gratifying to me.' + +"I had heard that she was not a women's rights woman, and she said, 'Who +could have told you that? I am remarkably so. I write suffrage articles +continually--I sign petitions.' + +"I was delighted to find that she had been an intimate friend of Mrs. +Somerville; had corresponded with her for years, and had a letter from +her after she was ninety-two years of age, when she was reading +Quaternions for amusement. She said that Mrs. Somerville would probably +have called herself a Unitarian, but that really she was a Theist, and +that it came out more in her later life. She said she was correcting +proof of the Life by the daughters; that the Life was intensely +interesting; that Mrs. Somerville mourned all her life that she had not +had the advantages of education. + +"I asked her how I could get a photograph of Mrs. Somerville, and she +said they could not be bought. She told me, without any hint from me, +that she would give Vassar College a plaster cast of the bust of Mrs. +Somerville. [Footnote: This bust always stood in Miss Mitchell's parlor +at the observatory.] She said, as women grew older, if they lived +independent lives, they were pretty sure to be 'women's rights women.' +She said the clergy--the broadest, who were in harmony with her--were +very courteous, and that since she had grown old (she's about +forty-five) all men were more tolerant of her and forgot the difference +of sex. + +"I felt drawn to her when she was most serious. I told her I had +suffered much from doubt, and asked her if she had; and she said yes, +when she was young; but that she had had, in her life, rare intervals +when she believed she held communion with God, and on those rare periods +she had rested in the long intermissions. She laughed, and the tears +came to her eyes, all together; she was _quick_, and all-alive, and so +courteous. When she gave me a book she said, 'May I write your whole +name? and may I say "from your friend"?' + +"Then she hurried on her bonnet, and walked to the station with me; and +her round face, with the blond hair and the light-blue eyes, seemed to +me to become beautiful as she talked. + +"In Edinburgh I asked for a photograph of Mary Somerville, and the young +man behind the counter replied, 'I don't know who it is.' + +"In London I asked at a bookstore, which the Murrays recommended, for a +photograph of Mrs. Somerville and of Sir George Airy, and the man said +if they could be had in London he would get them; and then he asked, +'Are they English?' and I informed him that Sir George Airy was the +astronomer royal! + + * * * * * + +"'The Glasgow College for Girls.' Seeing a sign of this sort, I rang the +door-bell of the house to which it was attached, entered, and was told +the lady was at home. As I waited for her, I took up the 'Prospectus,' +and it was enough,--'music, dancing, drawing, needlework, and English' +were the prominent features, and the pupils were children. All well +enough,--but why call it a college? + +"When the lady superintendent came in, I told her that I had supposed it +was for more advanced students, and she said, 'Oh, it is for girls up to +twenty; one supposes a girl is finished by twenty.' + +"I asked, as modestly as I could, 'Have you any pupils in Latin and +mathematics?' and she said, 'No, it's for girls, you know. Dr. M. hopes +we shall have some mathematics next year.' 'And,' I asked, 'some Latin?' +'Yes, Dr. M. hopes we shall have some Latin; but I confess I believe +Latin and mathematics all bosh; give them modern languages and +accomplishments. I suppose your school is for professional women.' + +"I told her no; that the daughters of our wealthiest people demand +learning; that it would scarcely be considered 'good society' when the +women had neither Latin nor mathematics. + +"'Oh, well,' she said, 'they get married here so soon.' + +"When I asked her if they had lady teachers, she said 'Oh, no [as if +that would ruin the institution]; nothing but first-class masters.' + +"It was clear that the women taught the needlework." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +PAPERS--SCIENCE [1874]--THE DENVER ECLIPSE [1878]--COLORS OF STARS + +"The dissemination of information in regard to science and to scientific +investigations relieves the scientist from the small annoyances of +extreme ignorance. + +"No one to-day will expect to receive a letter such as reached Sir John +Herschel some years ago, asking for the writer's horoscope to be cast; +or such as he received at another time, which asked, Shall I marry? and +Have I seen _her_? + +"Nor can it be long, if the whole population is somewhat educated, that +I shall be likely to receive, as I have done, applications for +information as to the recovery of stolen goods, or to tell fortunes. + +"When crossing the Atlantic, an Irish woman came to me and asked me if I +told fortunes; and when I replied in the negative, she asked me if I +were not an astronomer. I admitted that I made efforts in that +direction. She then asked me what I could tell, if not fortunes. I told +her that I could tell when the moon would rise, when the sun would rise, +etc. She said, 'Oh,' in a tone which plainly said, 'Is _that_ all?' + +"Only a few winters since, during a very mild winter, a young lad who +was driving a team called out to me on the street, and said he had a +question to ask me. + +"I stopped; and he asked, 'Shall we lose our ice-crop this winter?' + +"It was January, and it was New England. It took very little learning +and no alchemy to foretell that the month of February and the +neighborhood of Boston would give ice enough; and I told him that the +ice-crop would be abundant; but I was honest enough to explain to him +that my outlook into the future was no better than his. + +"One of the unfavorable results of the attempt to popularize science is +this: the reader of popular scientific books is very likely to think +that he understands the science itself, when he merely understands what +some writer says about science. + +"Take, for example, the method of determining the distance of the moon +from the earth--one of the easiest problems in physical astronomy. The +method can be told in a few sentences; yet it took a hundred years to +determine it with any degree of accuracy--and a hundred years, not of +the average work of mankind in science, but a hundred years during which +able minds were bent to the problem. + +"Still, with all the school-masters, and all the teaching, and all the +books, the ignorance of the unscientific world is enormous; they are +ignorant both ways--they underrate the scientific people and they +overrate them. There is, on the one hand, the Irish woman who is +disappointed because you cannot tell fortunes, and, on the other hand, +the cultivated woman who supposes that you must know _all_ science. + +"I have a friend who wonders that I do not take my astronomical clock to +pieces. She supposes that because I am an astronomer, I must be able to +be a clock-maker, while I do not handle a tool if I can help it! She did +not expect to take her piano to pieces because she was musical! She was +as careful not to tinker it as I was not to tinker the clock, which only +an expert in clock-making was prepared to handle. + +"... Only a few weeks since I received a letter from a lady who wished +to come to make me a visit, and to 'scan the heavens,' as she termed it. +Now, just as she wrote, the clock, which I was careful not to meddle +with, had been rapidly gaining time, and I was standing before it, +watching it from hour to hour, and slightly changing its rate by +dropping small weights upon its pendulum. Time is so important an +element with the astronomer, that all else is subordinate to it. + +"Then, too, the uneducated assume the unvarying exactness of +mathematical results; while, in reality, mathematical results are often +only approximations. We say the sun is 91,000,000 miles from the earth, +plus or minus a probable error; that is, we are right, probably, within, +say, 100,000 miles; or, the sun is 91,000,000 minus 100,000 miles, or it +is 91,000,000 plus 100,000 miles off; and this probable error is only a +probability. + +"If we make one more observation it cannot agree with any one of our +determinations, and it changes our probable error. + +[Illustration: BUST OF MARIA MITCHELL. + +_From Original made by Miss Emma F. Brigham in 1877_] + +"This ignorance of the masses leads to a misconception in two ways; the +little that a scientist can do, they do not understand,--they suppose +him to be godlike in his capacity, and they do not see results; they +overrate him and they underrate him--they underrate his work. + +"There is no observatory in this land, nor in any land, probably, of +which the question is not asked, 'Are they doing anything? Why don't we +hear from them? They should make discoveries, they should publish.' + +"The one observation made at Greenwich on the planet Neptune was not +published until after a century or more--it was recorded as a star. The +observation had to wait a hundred years, about, before the time had come +when that evening's work should bear fruit; but it was good, faithful +work, and its time came. + +"Kepler was years in passing from one of his laws to another, while the +school-boy, to-day, rattles off the three as if they were born of one +breath. + +"The scientist should be free to pursue his investigations. He cannot be +a scientist and a school-master. If he pursues his science in all his +intervals from his class-work, his classes suffer on account of his +engrossments; if he devotes himself to his students, science suffers; +and yet we all go on, year after year, trying to work the two fields +together, and they need different culture and different implements. + +"1878. In the eclipse of this year, the dark shadow fell first on the +United States thirty-eight degrees west of Washington, and moved towards +the south-east, a circle of darkness one hundred and sixteen miles in +diameter; circle overlapping circle of darkness until it could be mapped +down like a belt. + +"The mapping of the dark shadow, with its limitations of one hundred and +sixteen miles, lay across the country from Montana, through Colorado, +northern and eastern Texas, and entered the Gulf of Mexico between +Galveston and New Orleans. This was the region of total eclipse. Looking +along this dark strip on the map, each astronomer selected his bit of +darkness on which to locate the light of science. + +"But for the distance from the large cities of the country, Colorado +seemed to be a most favorable part of the shadow; it was little subject +to storms, and reputed to be enjoyable in climate and abundant in +hospitality. + +"My party chose Denver, Col. I had a friend who lived in Denver, and she +was visiting me. I sought her at once, and with fear and trembling +asked, 'Have you a bit of land behind your house in Denver where I could +put up a small telescope?' 'Six hundred miles,' was the laconic reply! + +"I felt that the hospitality of the Rocky mountains was at my feet. +Space and time are so unconnected! For an observation which would last +two minutes forty seconds, I was offered six hundred miles, after a +journey of thousands. + +"A journey from Boston to Denver makes one hopeful for the future of our +country. We had hour after hour and day after day of railroad travel, +over level, unbroken land on which cattle fed unprotected, summer and +winter, and which seemed to implore the traveller to stay and to accept +its richness. It must be centuries before the now unpeopled land of +western Kansas and Colorado can be crowded. + +"We started from Boston a party of two; at Cincinnati a third joined us; +at Kansas City we came upon a fourth who was ready to fall into our +ranks, and at Denver two more awaited us; so we were a party of +six--'All good women and true.' + +"All along the road it had been evident that the country was roused to a +knowledge of the coming eclipse; we overheard remarks about it; small +telescopes travelled with us, and our landlord at Kansas City, when I +asked him to take care of a chronometer, said he had taken care of fifty +of them in the previous fortnight. Our party had three telescopes and +one chronometer. + +"We had travelled so comfortably all along the Santa Fé road, from +Kansas City to Pueblo, that we had forgotten the possibility of other +railroad annoyances than those of heat and dust until we reached Pueblo. +At Pueblo all seemed to change. We left the Santa Fé road and entered +upon that of the Rio Grande. + +"Which road was to blame, it is not for me to say, but there was trouble +at once about our 'round-trip ticket.' That settled, we supposed all was +right. + +"In sending out telescopes so far as from Boston to Denver, I had +carefully taken out the glasses, and packed them in my trunks. I carried +the chronometer in my hand. + +"It was only five hours' travel from Pueblo to Denver, and we went on to +that city. The trunks, for some unexplained reason, or for no reason at +all, chose to remain at Pueblo. + +"One telescope-tube reached Denver when we did; but a telescope-tube is +of no value without glasses. We learned that there was a war between the +two railroads which unite at Pueblo, and war, no matter where or when it +occurs, means ignorance and stupidity. + +"The unit of measure of value which the railroad man believes in is +entirely different from that in which the scientist rests his faith. + +"A war between two railroads seemed very small compared with two minutes +forty seconds of observation of a total eclipse. One was terrestrial, +the other cosmic. + +"It was Wednesday when we reached Denver. The eclipse was to occur the +following Monday. + +"We haunted the telegraph-rooms, and sent imploring messages. We placed +ourselves at the station, and watched the trains as they tossed out +their freight; we listened to every express-wagon which passed our door +without stopping, and just as we were trying to find if a telescope +could be hired or bought in Denver, the glasses arrived. + +"It was now Friday; we must put up tents and telescopes, and test the +glasses. + +"It rained hard on Friday--nothing could be done. It rained harder on +Saturday. It rained hardest of all on Sunday, and hail mingled with the +rain. But Monday morning was clear and bright. It was strange enough to +find that we might camp anywhere around Denver. Our hostess suggested to +us to place ourselves on 'McCullough's Addition.' In New York or Boston, +if I were about to camp on private grounds I should certainly ask +permission. In the far West you choose your spot of ground, you dig +post-holes and you pitch tents, and you set up telescopes and inhabit +the land; and then the owner of the land comes to you, and asks if he +may not put up a fence for you, to keep off intruders, and the nearest +residents come to you and offer aid of any kind. + +"Our camping-place was near the house occupied by sisters of charity, +and the black-robed, sweet-faced women came out to offer us the +refreshing cup of tea and the new-made bread. + +"All that we needed was 'space,' and of that there was plenty. + +"Our tents being up and the telescopes mounted, we had time to look +around at the view. The space had the unlimitedness that we usually +connect with sea and sky. Our tents were on the slope of a hill, at the +foot of which we were about six thousand feet above the sea. The plain +was three times as high as the hills of the Hudson-river region, and +there arose on the south, almost from west to east, the peaks upon peaks +of the Rocky mountains. One needs to live upon such a plateau for weeks, +to take in the grandeur of the panorama. + +"It is always difficult to teach the man of the people that natural +phenomena belong as much to him as to scientific people. Camping parties +who put up telescopes are always supposed to be corporations with +particular privileges, and curious lookers-on gather around, and try to +enter what they consider a charmed circle. We were remarkably free from +specialists of this kind. Camping on the south-west slope of the hill, +we were hidden on the north and east, and another party which chose the +brow of the hill was much more attractive to the crowd. Our good +serving-man was told to send away the few strollers who approached; even +our friends from the city were asked to remove beyond the reach of +voice. + +"There is always some one to be found in every gathering who will not +submit to law. At the time of the total eclipse in Iowa, in 1869, there +passed in and out among our telescopes and observers an unknown, closely +veiled woman. The remembrance of that occasion never comes to my mind +without the accompaniment of a fluttering green veil. + +"This time it was a man. How he came among us and why he remained, no +one can say. Each one supposed that the others knew, and that there was +good reason for his presence. If I was under the tent, wiping glasses, +he stood beside me; if the photographer wished to make a picture of the +party, this man came to the front; and when I asked the servant to send +off the half-vagrant boys and girls who stood gazing at us, this man +came up and said to me in a confidential tone, 'They do not understand +the sacredness of the occasion, and the fineness of the conditions.' +There was something regal in his audacity, but he was none the less a +tramp. + +"Persons who observe an eclipse of the sun always try to do the +impossible. They seem to consider it a solemn duty to see the first +contact of sun and moon. The moon, when seen in the daytime, looks like +a small faint cloud; as it approaches the sun it becomes wholly unseen; +and an observer tries to see when this unseen object touches the glowing +disc of the sun. + +"When we look at any other object than the sun, we stimulate our vision. +A good observer will remain in the dark for a short time before he makes +a delicate observation on a faint star, and will then throw a cap over +his head to keep out strong lights. + +"When we look at the sun, we at once try to deaden its light. We protect +our eyes by dark glasses--the less of sunlight we can get the better. We +calculate exactly at what point the moon will touch the sun, and we +watch that point only. The exact second by the chronometer when the +figure of the moon touches that of the sun, is always noted. It is not +only valuable for the determination of longitude, but it is a check on +our knowledge of the moon's motions. Therefore, we try for the +impossible. + +"One of our party, a young lady from California, was placed at the +chronometer. She was to count aloud the seconds, to which the three +others were to listen. Two others, one a young woman from Missouri, who +brought with her a fine telescope, and another from Ohio, besides +myself, stood at the three telescopes. A fourth, from Illinois, was +stationed to watch general effects, and one special artist, pencil in +hand, to sketch views. + +"Absolute silence was imposed upon the whole party a few minutes before +each phenomenon. + +"Of course we began full a minute too soon, and the constrained position +was irksome enough, for even time is relative, and the minute of +suspense is longer than the hour of satisfaction. [Footnote: As the +computed time for the first contact drew near, the breath of the counter +grew short, and the seconds were almost gasped and threatened to become +inaudible, when Miss Mitchell, without moving her eye from the tube of +the telescope, took up the counting, and continued until the young lady +recovered herself, which she did immediately.] + +"The moon, so white in the sky, becomes densely black when it is closely +ranging with the sun, and it shows itself as a black notch on the +burning disc when the eclipse begins. + +"Each observer made her record in silence, and then we turned and faced +one another, with record in hand--we differed more than a second; it was +a large difference. + +"Between first contact and totality there was more than an hour, and we +had little to do but look at the beautiful scenery and watch the slow +motion of a few clouds, on a height which was cloud-land to dwellers by +the sea. + +"Our photographer begged us to keep our positions while he made a +picture of us. The only value to the picture is the record that it +preserves of the parallelism of the three telescopes. You would say it +was stiff and unnatural, did you not know that it was the ordering of +Nature herself--they all point to the centre of the solar system. + +"As totality approached, all again took their positions. The corona, +which is the 'glory' seen around the sun, was visible at least thirteen +minutes before totality; each of the party took a look at this, and then +all was silent, only the count, on and on, of the young woman at the +chronometer. When totality came, even that ceased. + +"How still it was! + +"As the last rays of sunlight disappeared, the corona burst out all +around the sun, so intensely bright near the sun that the eye could +scarcely bear it; extending less dazzlingly bright around the sun for +the space of about half the sun's diameter, and in some directions +sending off streamers for millions of miles. + +"It was now quick work. Each observer at the telescopes gave a furtive +glance at the un-sunlike sun, moved the dark eye-piece from the +instrument, replaced it by a more powerful white glass, and prepared to +see all that could be seen in two minutes forty seconds. They must note +the shape of the corona, its color, its seeming substance, and they must +look all around the sun for the 'interior planet.' + +"There was certainly not the beauty of the eclipse of 1869. Then immense +radiations shot out in all directions, and threw themselves over half +the sky. In 1869, the rosy prominences were so many, so brilliant, so +fantastic, so weirdly changing, that the eye must follow them; now, +scarcely a protuberance of color, only a roseate light around the sun as +the totality ended. But if streamers and prominences were absent, the +corona itself was a great glory. Our special artist, who made the sketch +for my party, could not bear the light. + +"When the two minutes forty seconds were over, each observer left her +instrument, turned in silence from the sun, and wrote down brief notes. +Happily, some one broke through all rules of order, and shouted out, +'The shadow! the shadow!' And looking toward the southeast we saw the +black band of shadow moving from us, a hundred and sixty miles over the +plain, and toward the Indian Territory. It was not the flitting of the +closer shadow over the hill and dale: it was a picture which the sun +threw at our feet of the dignified march of the moon in its orbit. + +"And now we looked around. What a strange orange light there was in the +north-east! what a spectral hue to the whole landscape! Was it really +the same old earth, and not another planet? + +"Great is the self-denial of those who follow science. They who look +through telescopes at the time of a total eclipse are martyrs; they +severely deny themselves. The persons who can say that they have seen a +total eclipse of the sun are those who rely upon their eyes. My aids, +who touched no glasses, had a season of rare enjoyment. They saw +Mercury, with its gleam of white light, and Mars, with its ruddy glow; +they saw Regulus come out of the darkening blue on one side of the sun, +Venus shimmer and Procyon twinkle near the horizon, and Arcturus shine +down from the zenith. + +"_We_ saw the giant shadow as it _left_ us and passed over the lands of +the untutored Indian; _they_ saw it as it approached from the distant +west, as it fell upon the peaks of the mountain-tops, and, in the +impressive stillness, moved directly for our camping-ground. + +"The savage, to whom it is the frowning of the Great Spirit, is +awe-struck and alarmed; the scholar, to whom it is a token of the +inviolability of law, is serious and reverent. + +"There is a dialogue in some of the old school-readers, and perhaps in +some of the new, between a tutor and his two pupils who had been out for +a walk. One pupil complained that the way was long, the road was dusty, +and the scenery uninteresting; the other was full of delight at the +beauties he had found in the same walk. One had walked with his eyes +intellectually closed; the other had opened his eyes wide to all the +charms of nature. In some respects we are all, at different times, like +each of these boys: we shut our eyes to the enjoyments of nature, or we +open them. But we are capable of improving ourselves, even in the use of +our eyes--we see most when we are most determined to see. The _will_ has +a wonderful effect upon the perceptive faculties. When we first look up +at the myriads of stars seen in a moonless evening, all is confusion to +us; we admire their brilliancy, but we scarcely recognize their +grouping. We do not feel the need of knowing much about them. + +"A traveller, lost on a desert plain, feels that the recognition of one +star, the Pole star, is of itself a great acquisition; and all persons +who, like mariners and soldiers, are left much with the companionship of +the stars, only learn to know the prominent clusters, even if they do +not know the names given to them in books. + +"The daily wants of the body do not require that we should say + + "'Give me the ways of wandering stars to know + The depths of heaven above and earth below.' + +But we have a hunger of the mind which asks for knowledge of all around +us, and the more we gain, the more is our desire; the more we see, the +more are we capable of seeing. + +"Besides learning to see, there is another art to be learned,--_not to +see_ what is not. + +"If we read in to-day's paper that a brilliant comet was seen last night +in New York, we are very likely to see it to-night in Boston; for we +take every long, fleecy cloud for a splendid comet. + +"When the comet of 1680 was expected, a few years ago, to reappear, some +young men in Cambridge told Professor Bond that they had seen it; but +Professor Bond did not see it. Continually are amateurs in astronomy +sending notes of new discoveries to Bond, or some other astronomers, +which are no discoveries at all! + +"Astronomers have long supposed the existence of a planet inferior to +Mercury; and M. Leverrier has, by mathematical calculation, demonstrated +that such a planet exists. He founded his calculations upon the supposed +discovery of M. Lesbarcault, who declares that it crossed the sun's +disc, and that he saw it and made drawings. The internal evidence, from +the man's account, is that he was an honest enthusiast. I have no doubt +that he followed the path of a solar spot, and as the sun turned on its +axis he mistook the motion for that of the dark spot; or perhaps the +spot changed and became extinct, and another spot closely resembling it +broke out and he was deceived; his wishes all the time being 'father to +the thought.' + +"The eye is as teachable as the hand. Every one knows the most prominent +constellations,--the Pleiades, the Great Bear, and Orion. Many persons +can draw the figures made by the most brilliant stars in these +constellations, and very many young people look for the 'lost Pleiad.' +But common observers know these stars only as bright objects; they do +not perceive that one star differs from another in glory; much less do +they perceive that they shine with differently colored rays. + +"Those who know Sirius and Betel do not at once perceive that one shines +with a brilliant white light and the other burns with a glowing red, as +different in their brilliancy as the precious stones on a lapidary's +table, perhaps for the same reason. And so there is an endless variety +of tints of paler colors. + +"We may turn our gaze as we turn a kaleidoscope, and the changes are +infinitely more startling, the combinations infinitely more beautiful; +no flower garden presents such a variety and such delicacy of shades. + +"But beautiful as this variety is, it is difficult to measure it; it has +a phantom-like intangibility--we seem not to be able to bring it under +the laws of science. + +"We call the stars garnet and sapphire; but these are, at best, vague +terms. Our language has not terms enough to signify the different +delicate shades; our factories have not the stuff whose hues might make +a chromatic scale for them. + +"In this dilemma, we might make a scale of colors from the stars +themselves. We might put at the head of the scale of crimson stars the +one known as Hind's, which is four degrees west of Rigel; we might make +a scale of orange stars, beginning with Betel as orange red; then we +should have + + Betelgeuze, + Aldebaran, + ß Ursae Minoris, + Altair and _a_ Canis, + _a_ Lyrae, + +the list gradually growing paler and paler, until we come to a Lyrae, +which might be the leader of a host of pale yellow stars, gradually +fading off into white. + +"Most of the stars seen with the naked eye are varieties of red, orange, +and yellow. The reds, when seen with a glass, reach to violet or dark +purple. With a glass, there come out other colors: very decided greens, +very delicate blues, browns, grays, and white. If these colors are +almost intangible at best, they are rendered more so by the variations +of the atmosphere, of the eye, and of the glass. But after these are all +accounted for, there is still a real difference. Two stars of the class +known as double stars, that is, so little separated that considerable +optical power is necessary to divide them, show these different tints +very nicely in the same field of the telescope. + +"Then there comes in the chance that the colors are complementary; that +the eye, fatigued by a brilliant red in the principal star, gives to the +companion the color which would make up white light. This happens +sometimes; but beyond this the reare innumerable cases of finely +contrasted colors which are not complementary, but which show a real +difference of light in the stars; resulting, perhaps, from +distance,--for some colors travel farther than others, and all colors +differ in their order of march,--perhaps from chemical differences. + +"Single blue or green stars are never seen; they are always given as the +smaller companion of a pair. + +"Out of several hundred observed by Mr. Bishop, forty-five have small +companions of a bluish, or greenish, or purplish color. Almost all of +these are stars of the eighth to tenth magnitude; only once are both +seen blue, and only in one case is the large one blue. In almost every +case the large star is yellow. The color most prevailing is yellow; but +the varieties of yellow are very great. + +"We may assume, then, that the blue stars are faint ones, and probably +distant ones. But as not all faint stars or distant ones are blue, it +shows that there is a real difference. In the star called 35 Piscium, +the small star shows a peculiar snuffy-brown tinge. + +"Of two stars in the constellation Ursa Minoris, not double stars, one +is orange and the other is green, both very vivid in color. + +"From age to age the colors of some prominent stars have certainly +changed. This would seem more likely to be from change of place than of +physical constitution. + +"Nothing comes out more clearly in astronomical observations than the +immense activity of the universe. 'All change, no loss, 'tis revolution +all.' + +"Observations of this kind are peculiarly adapted to women. Indeed, all +astronomical observing seems to be so fitted. The training of a girl +fits her for delicate work. The touch of her fingers upon the delicate +screws of an astronomical instrument might become wonderfully accurate +in results; a woman's eyes are trained to nicety of color. The eye that +directs a needle in the delicate meshes of embroidery will equally well +bisect a star with the spider web of the micrometer. Routine +observations, too, dull as they are, are less dull than the endless +repetition of the same pattern in crochet-work. + +"Professor Chauvenet enumerates among 'accidental errors in observing,' +those arising from imperfections in the senses, as 'the imperfection of +the eye in measuring small spaces; of the ear, in estimating small +intervals of time; of the touch, in the delicate handling of an +instrument.' + +"A girl's eye is trained from early childhood to be keen. The first +stitches of the sewing-work of a little child are about as good as those +of the mature man. The taking of small stitches, involving minute and +equable measurements of space, is a part of every girl's training; she +becomes skilled, before she is aware of it, in one of the nicest +peculiarities of astronomical observation. + +"The ear of a child is less trained, except in the case of a musical +education; but the touch is a delicate sense given in exquisite degree +to a girl, and her training comes in to its aid. She threads a needle +almost as soon as she speaks; she touches threads as delicate as the +spider-web of a micrometer. + +"Then comes in the girl's habit of patient and quiet work, peculiarly +fitted to routine observations. The girl who can stitch from morning to +night would find two or three hours in the observatory a relief." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +RELIGIOUS BELIEFS--COMMENTS ON SERMONS--CONCORD SCHOOL--WHITTIER--COOKING +SCHOOLS--ANECDOTES + + +Partly in consequence of her Quaker training, and partly from her own +indifference towards creeds and sects, Miss Mitchell was entirely +ignorant of the peculiar phrases and customs used by rigid sectarians; +so that she was apt to open her eyes in astonishment at some of the +remarks and sectarian prejudices which she met after her settlement at +Vassar College. She was a good learner, however, and after a while knew +how to receive in silence that which she did not understand. + +"Miss Mitchell," asked one good missionary, "what is your favorite +position in prayer?" "Flat upon my back!" the answer came, swift as +lightning. + +In 1854 she wrote in her diary: + +"There is a God, and he is good, I say to myself. I try to increase my +trust in this, my only article of creed." + +Miss Mitchell never joined any church, but for years before she left +Nantucket she attended the Unitarian church, and her sympathies, as long +as she lived, were with that denomination, especially with the more +liberally inclined portion. There were always a few of the teachers and' +some of the students who sympathized with her in her views; but she +usually attended the college services on Sunday. + +President Taylor, of Vassar College, in his remarks at her funeral, +stated that all her life Professor Mitchell had been seeking the +truth,--that she was not willing to accept any statement without +studying into the matter herself,--"And," he added, "I think she has +found the truth she was seeking." + +Miss Mitchell never obtruded her views upon others, nor did she oppose +their views. She bore in silence what she could not believe, but always +insisted upon the right of private judgment. + +Miss W., a teacher at Vassar, was fretting at being obliged to attend +chapel exercises twice a day when she needed the time for rest and +recreation, and applied to Miss Mitchell for help in getting away from +it. After some talk Miss Mitchell said: "Oh, well, do as _I_ do--sit +back folding your arms, and think of something pleasant!" + +"Sunday, Dec. 18, 1866. We heard two sermons: the first in the +afternoon, by Rev. Mr. A., Baptist, the second in the evening, by Rev. +Mr. B., Congregationalist. + +"Rev. Mr. A. took a text from Deuteronomy, about 'Moses;' Rev. Mr. B. +took a text from Exodus, about 'Moses;' and I am told that the sermon on +the preceding Sunday was about Moses. + +"It seems to me strange that since we have the history of Christ in the +New Testament, people continue to preach about Moses. + +"Rev. Mr. A. was a man of about forty years of age. He chanted rather +than read a hymn. He chanted a sermon. His description of the journey of +Moses towards Canaan had some interesting points, but his manner was +affected; he cried, or pretended to cry, at the pathetic points. I hope +he really cried, for a weakness is better than an affectation of +weakness. He said, 'The unbeliever is already condemned.' It seems to me +that if anything would make me an infidel, it would be the threats +lavished against unbelief. + +"Mr. B. is a self-made man, the son of a blacksmith. He brought the +anvil, the hammer, and bellows into the pulpit, and he pounded and blew, +for he was in earnest. I felt the more respect for him because he was in +earnest. But when he snapped his fingers and said, 'I don't care that +for the religion of a man which does not begin with prayer,' I was +provoked at his forgetfulness of the character of his audience. + +"1867. I am more and more disgusted with the preaching that I hear!... +Why cannot a man act himself, be himself, and think for himself? It +seems to me that naturalness alone is power; that a borrowed word is +weaker than our own weakness, however small we may be. If I reach a +girl's heart or head, I know I must reach it through my own, and not +from bigger hearts and heads than mine. + +"March, 1873. There was something so genuine and so sincere in George +Macdonald that he took those of us who were _emotional_ completely--not +by storm so much as by gentle breezes.... What he said wasn't profound +except as it reached the depths of the heart.... He gave us such broad +theological lessons! In his sermon he said, 'Don't trouble yourself +about what you _believe_, but _do_ the will of God.' His consciousness +of the existence of God and of his immediate supervision was felt every +minute by those who listened.... + +"He stayed several days at the college, and the girls will never get +over the good effects of those three days--the cheerier views of life +and death. + +"... Rev. Dr. Peabody preached for us yesterday, and was lovely. +Everyone was charmed in spite of his old-fashioned ways. His voice is +very bad, but it was such a simple, common-sense discourse! Mr. Vassar +said if that was Unitarianism, it was just the right thing. + +"Aug. 29, 1875. Went to a Baptist church, and heard Rev. Mr. F. 'Christ +the way, the only way.' The sermon was wholly without logic, and yet he +said, near its close, that those who had followed him must be convinced +that this was true. He said a traveller whom he met on the cars admitted +that we all desired heaven, but believed that there were as many ways to +it as to Boston. Mr. F. said that God had prepared but one way, just as +the government in those countries of the Old World whose cities were +upon almost inaccessible pinnacles had prepared one way of approach. (It +occurred to me that if those governments possessed godlike powers, they +would have made a great many ways.) + +"Mr. F. was very severe upon those who expect to be saved by their own +deserts. He said, 'You tender a farthing, when you owe a million.' I +could not see what they owed at all! At this point he might well have +given some attention to 'good works;' and if he must mention 'debt,' he +might well remind them that they sat in an unpaid-for church! + +"It was plain that he relied upon his anecdotes for the hold upon his +audience, and the anecdotes were attached to the main discourse by a +very slender thread of connection. I felt really sad to know that not a +listener would lead a better life for that sermon--no man or woman went +out cheered, or comforted, or stimulated. + +"On the whole, it is strange that people who go to church are no worse +than they are! + +"Sept. 26, 1880. A clergyman said, in his sermon, 'I do not say with the +Frenchman, if there were no God it would be well to invent one, but I +say, if there were no future state of rewards and punishments, it would +be better to believe in one.' Did he mean to say, 'Better to believe a +lie'? + +"March 27, 1881. Dr. Lyman Abbott preached. I was surprised to find how +liberal Congregational preaching had become, for he said he hoped and +expected to see women at the bar and in the pulpit, although he believed +they would always be exceptional cases. He preached mainly on the +motherhood of God, and his whole sermon was a tribute to womanhood.... I +rejoice at the ideal womanhood of purity which he put before the girls. +I wish some one would preach purity to young men. + +"July 1, 1883. I went to hear Rev. Mr. ---- at the Universalist church. +He enumerated some of the dangers that threaten us: one was 'The +doctrines of scientists,' and he named Tyndale, Huxley, and Spencer. I +was most surprised at his fear of these men. Can the study of truth do +harm? Does not every true scientist seek only to know the truth? And in +our deep ignorance of what is truth, shall we dread the search for it? + +"I hold the simple student of nature in holy reverence; and while there +live sensualists, despots, and men who are wholly self-seeking, I cannot +bear to have these sincere workers held up in the least degree to +reproach. And let us have truth, even if the truth be the awful denial +of the good God. We must face the light and not bury our heads in the +earth. I am hopeful that scientific investigation, pushed on and on, +will reveal new ways in which God works, and bring to us deeper +revelations of the wholly unknown. + +"The physical and the spiritual seem to be, at present, separated by an +impassable gulf; but at any moment that gulf may be overleaped--possibly +a new revelation may come.... + +"April, 1878. I called on Professor Henry at the Smithsonian Institute. +He must be in his eightieth year; he has been ill and seems feeble, but +he is still the majestic old man, unbent in figure and undimmed in eye. + +"I always remember, when I see him, the remark of Dorothy Dix, 'He is +the truest man that ever lived.' + +"We were left alone for a little while, and he introduced the subject of +his nearness to death. He said, 'The National Academy has raised +$40,000, the interest of which is for myself and family as long as any +of us live [he has daughters only], and in view of my death it is a +great comfort to me.' I ventured to ask him if he feared death at all. +He said, 'Not in the least; I have thought of it a great deal, and have +come to feel it a friend. I _cherish_ the belief in immortality; I have +suffered much, at times, in regard to that matter.' Scientifically +considered, only, he thought the probability was on the side of +continued existence, as we must believe that spirit existed independent +of matter. + +"He went to a desk and pulled out from a drawer an old copy of +'Gregory's Astronomy,' and said, 'That book changed my whole life--I +read it when I was sixteen years old; I had read, previously, works of +the imagination only, and at sixteen, being ill in bed, that book was +near me; I read it, and determined to study science.' I asked him if a +life of science was a good life, and he said that he felt that it was +so. + +"... When I was travelling with Miss S., who was near-sighted and kept +her eyes constantly half-shut, it seemed to me that every other young +lady I met had wide, staring eyes. Now, after two years sitting by a +person who never reasons, it strikes me that every other person whom I +meet has been thinking hard, and his logic stands out a prominent +characteristic. + +"Aug. 27, 1879. Scientific Association met at Saratoga. ... Professor +Peirce, now over seventy years old, was much the same as ever. He went +on in the cars with us, and was reading Mallock's 'Is Life Worth +Living?' and I asked, 'Is it?' to which Professor Peirce replied, 'Yes, +I think it is.' Then I asked, 'If there is no future state, is life +worth living?' He replied, 'Indeed it is not; life is a cruel tragedy if +there is no immortality.' I asked him if he conceived of the future life +as one of embodiment, and he said 'Yes; I believe with St Paul that +there is a spiritual body....' + +"Professor Peirce's paper was on the 'Heat of the Sun;' he considers the +sun fed not by impact of meteors, but by the compression of meteors. I +did not think it very sound. He said some good things: 'Where the truth +demands, accept; what the truth denies, reject.' + +"Concord, Mass., 1879. To establish a school of philosophy had been the +dream of Alcott's life; and there he sat as I entered the vestry of a +church on one of the hottest days in August. He looked full as young as +he did twenty years ago, when he gave us a 'conversation' in Lynn. +Elizabeth Peabody came into the room, and walked up to the seat of the +rulers; her white hair streamed over her shoulders in wild carelessness, +and she was as careless as ever about her whole attire, but it was +beautiful to see the attention shown to her by Mr. Alcott and Mr. +Sanborn. + +"Emerson entered,--pale, thin, almost ethereal in countenance,--followed +by his daughter, who sat beside him and watched every word that he +uttered. On the whole, it was the same Emerson--he stumbled at a +quotation as he always did; but his thoughts were such as only Emerson +could have thought, and the sentences had the Emersonian pithiness. He +made his frequent sentences very emphatic. It was impossible to see any +thread of connection; but it always was so--the oracular sentences made +the charm. The subject was Memory.' He said, 'We remember the +selfishness or the wrong act that we have committed for years. It is as +it should be--Memory is the police-officer of the universe.' 'Architects +say that the arch never rests, and so the past never rests.' (Was it, +never sleeps?) 'When I talk with my friend who is a genealogist, I feel +that I am talking with a ghost.' + +"The little vestry, fitted perhaps for a hundred people, was packed with +two hundred,--all people of an intellectual cast of face,--and the +attention was intense. The thermometer was ninety in the shade! + +"I did not speak to Mr. Emerson; I felt that I must not give him a bit +of extra fatigue. + +"July 12, 1880. The school of philosophy has built a shanty for its +meetings, but it is a shanty to be proud of, for it is exactly adapted +to its needs. It is a long but not low building, entirely without +finish, but water-tight. A porch for entrance, and a recess similar at +the opposite end, which makes the place for the speakers. There was a +small table upon the platform on which were pond lilies, some shelves +around, and a few busts--one of Socrates, I think. + +"I went in the evening to hear Dr. Harris on 'Philosophy.' The rain +began to come down soon after I entered, and my philosophy was not +sufficient to keep me from the knowledge that I had neither overshoes +nor umbrella; I remembered, too, that it was but a narrow foot-path +through the wet grass to the omnibus. But I listened to Dr. Harris, and +enjoyed it. He lauded Fichte as the most accurate philosopher following +Kant--he said not of the greatest _breadth_, but the most acute. + +"After Dr. Harris' address, Mr. Alcott made a few remarks that were +excellent, and said that when we had studied philosophy for fifteen +years, as the lecturer had done, we might know something; but as it was, +he had pulled us to pieces and then put us together again. + +"The audience numbered sixty persons. + +"May, 1880. I have just finished Miss Peabody's account of Channing. I +have been more interested in Miss Peabody than in Channing, and have +felt how valuable she must have been to him. How many of Channing's +sermons were instigated by her questions! ... Miss Peabody must have +been very remarkable as a young woman to ask the questions which she +asked at twenty. + +"April, 1881. The waste of flowers on Easter Sunday distressed me. +Something is due to the flowers themselves. They are massed together +like a bushel of corn, and look like red and white sugar-plums as seen +in a confectioner's window. + +"A pillow of flowers is a monstrosity. A calla lily in a vase is a +beautiful creation; so is a single rose. But when the rose is crushed by +a pink on each side of it, and daisies crush the pinks, and azaleas +surround the daisies, there is no beauty and no fitness. + +"The cathedral had no flowers. + +"Aug. 22, 1882. We visited Whittier; we found him at lunch, but he soon +came into the parlor. He was very chatty, and seemed glad to see us. +Mrs. L. was with me, and Whittier was very ready to write in the album +which she brought with her, belonging to her adopted son. We drifted +upon theological subjects, and I asked Mr. Whittier if he thought that +we fell from a state of innocence; he replied that he thought we were +better than Adam and Eve, and if they fell, they 'fell up.' + +"His faith seems to be unbounded in the goodness of God, and his belief +in moral accountability. He said, 'I am a good deal of a Quaker in my +conviction that a light comes to me to dictate to me what is right.' We +stayed about an hour, and we were afraid it would be too much for him; +but Miss Johnson, his cousin, who lives with him, assured us that it was +good for him; and he himself said that he was sorry to have us go. + +"One thing that he said, I noted: that his fancy was for farm-work, but +he was not strong enough; he had as a young man some literary ambition, +but never thought of attaining the reputation which had come to him. + +"July 31, 1883. I have had two or three rich days! On Friday last I went +to Holderness, N.H., to the Asquam House; I had been asked by Mrs. T. to +join her party. There were at this house Mr. Whittier, Mr. and Mrs. +Cartland, Professor and Mrs. Johnson, of Yale, Mr. Williams, the Chinese +scholar, his brother, an Episcopal clergyman, and several others. The +house seemed full of fine, cultivated people. We stayed two days and a +half. + +"And first of the scenery. The road up to the house is a steep hill, and +at the foot of the hill it winds and turns around two lakes. The +panorama is complete one hundred and eighty degrees. Beyond the lakes +lie the mountains. We do not see Mt. Washington. The house has a piazza +nearly all around it. We had a room on the first floor--large, and with +two windows opening to the floor. + +"The programme of the day's work was delightfully monotonous. For an +hour or so after breakfast we sat in the ladies' parlor, we sewed, and +we told anecdotes. Whittier talked beautifully, almost always on the +future state and his confidence in it. Occasionally he touched upon +persons. He seems to have loved Lydia Maria Child greatly. + +"When the cool of the morning was over, we went out upon the piazza, and +later on we went under the trees, where, it is said, Whittier spends +most of the time. + +"There was little of the old-time theology in his views; his faith has +been always very firm. Mr. Cartland asked me one day if I really felt +there was any doubt of the immortality of the soul. I told him that on +the whole I believed it more than I doubted it, but I could not say that +I felt no doubt. Whittier asked me if there were no immortality if I +should be distressed by it, and I told him that I should be exceedingly +distressed; that it was the only thing that I craved. He said that +'annihilation was better for the wicked than everlasting punishment,' +and to that I assented. He said that he thought there might be persons +so depraved as not to be worth saving. I asked him if God made such. +Nobody seemed ready to reply. Besides myself there was another of the +party to whom a dying friend had promised to return, if possible, but +had not come. + +"Whittier believed that they did sometimes come. He said that of all +whom he had lost, no one would be so welcome to him as Lydia Maria +Child. + +"We held a little service in the parlor of the hotel, and Mrs. C. read +the fourteenth chapter of John. Rev. Mr. W. read a sermon from 'The pure +in heart shall see God," written by Parkhurst, of New York. He thought +the child should be told that in heaven he should have his hobby-horse. +After the service, when we talked it over, I objected to telling the +child this. Whittier did not object; he said that Luther told his little +boy that he should have a little dog with a golden tail in heaven. + +"Aug. 26, 1886. I have been to see an exhibition of a cooking school. I +found sixteen girls in the basement of a school-house. They had long +tables, across which stretched a line of gas-stoves and jets of gas. +Some of the girls were using saucepans; they set them upon the stove, +and then sat down where they could see a clock while the boiling process +went on. + +"At one table a girl was cutting out doughnuts; at another a girl was +making a pudding--a layer of bits of bread followed by a layer of fruit. +Each girl had her rolling-pin, and moulding-board or saucepan. + +"The chief peculiarity of these processes was the cleanliness. The +rolling-pins were clean, the knives were clean, the aprons were clean, +the hands were clean. Not a drop was spilled, not a crumb was dropped. + +"If into the kitchen of the crowded mother there could come the +utensils, the commodities, the clean towels, the ample _time_, there +would come, without the lessons, a touch of the millennium. + +"I am always afraid of manual-labor schools. I am not afraid that these +girls could not read, for every American girl reads, and to read is much +more important than to cook; but I _am_ afraid that not all can +_write_--some of them were not more than twelve years old. + +"And what of the boys? Must a common cook always be a girl? and must a +boy not cook unless on the top of the ladder, with the pay of the +president of Harvard College? + +"I am jealous for the schools; I have heard a gentleman who stands high +in science declare that the cooking schools would eventually kill out +every literary college in the land--for women. But why not for men? If +the food for the body is more important than the food for the mind, let +us destroy the latter and accept the former, but let us not continue to +do what has been tried for fifteen hundred years,--to keep one half of +the world to the starvation of the mind, in order to feed better the +physical condition of the other half. + +"Let us have cooks; but let us leave it a matter of choice, as we leave +the dressmaking and the shoe-making, the millinery and the +carpentry,--free to be chosen! + +"There are cultivated and educated women who enjoy cooking; so there are +cultivated men who enjoy Kensington embroidery. Who objects? But take +care that some rousing of the intellect comes first,--that it may be an +enlightened choice,--and do not so fill the day with bread and butter +and stitches that no time is left for the appreciation of Whittier, +letting at least the simple songs of daily life and the influence of +rhythm beautify the dreary round of the three meals a day." + +Miss Mitchell had a stock of conundrums on hand, and was a good guesser. +She told her stories at all times when they happened to come into her +mind. She would arrive at her sister's house, just from Poughkeepsie on +a vacation, and after the threshold was crossed and she had said "Good +morning," in a clear voice to be heard by all within her sight, she +would, perhaps, say, "Well, I have a capital story which I must tell +before I take my bonnet off, or I shall forget it!" And there went with +her telling an action, voice, and manner which added greater point to +the story, but which cannot be described. One of her associates at +Vassar, in recalling some of her anecdotes, writes: "Professor Mitchell +was quite likely to stand and deliver herself of a bright little speech +before taking her seat at breakfast. It was as though the short walk +from the observatory had been an inspiration to thought." + +She was quick at repartee. On one occasion Charlotte Cushman and her +friend Miss Stebbins were visiting Miss Mitchell at Vassar. Miss +Mitchell took them out for a drive, and pointed out the different +objects of interest as they drove along the banks of the Hudson. "What +is that fine building on the hill?" asked Miss Cushman.--"That," said +Miss Mitchell, "was a boys' school, originally, but it is now used as a +hotel, where they charge five dollars a day!"--"Five dollars a day?" +exclaimed Miss Cushman; "Jupiter Ammon!"--"No," said Miss Stebbins, +"Jupiter Mammon!"--"Not at all," said Miss Mitchell, "Jupiter _gammon!_" + +"Farewell, Maria," said an old Friend, "I hope the Lord will be with +thee." + +"Good-by," she replied, "I _know_ he will be with you." + +A characteristic trait in Miss Mitchell was her aversion to receiving +unsolicited advice in regard to her private affairs. "A suggestion is an +impertinence," she would often say. The following anecdote shows how she +received such counsel: + +A literary man of more than national reputation said to one of her +admirers, "I, for one, cannot endure your Maria Mitchell." At her +solicitation he explained why; and his reason was, as she had +anticipated, founded on personal pique. It seems he had gone up from New +York to Poughkeepsie especially to call upon Professor Mitchell. During +the course of conversation, with that patronizing condescension which +some self-important men extend to all women indiscriminately, he +proceeded to inform her that her manner of living was not in accordance +with his ideas of expediency. "Now," he said, "instead of going for each +one of your meals all the way from your living-rooms in the observatory +over to the dining-hall in the college building, I should think it would +be far more convenient and sensible for you to get your breakfast, at +least, right in your own apartments. In the morning you could make a cup +of coffee and boil an egg with almost no trouble." At which Professor +Mitchell drew herself up with the air of a tragic queen, saying, "And is +my time worth no more than to boil eggs?" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +MISS MITCHELL'S LETTERS--WOMAN SUFFRAGE--MEMBERSHIP IN VARIOUS +SOCIETIES--PUBLISHED ARTICLES--DEATH--CONCLUSION + + +Miss Mitchell was a voluminous letter writer and an excellent +correspondent, but her letters are not essays, and not at all in the +approved style of the "Complete Letter Writer." If she had any +particular thing to communicate, she rushed into the subject in the +first line. In writing to her own family and intimate friends, she +rarely signed her full name; sometimes she left it out altogether, but +ordinarily "M.M." was appended abruptly when she had expressed all that +she had to say. She wrote as she talked, with directness and promptness. +No one, in watching her while she was writing a letter, ever saw her +pause to think what she should say next or how she should express the +thought. When she came to that point, the "M.M." was instantly added. +She had no secretiveness, and in looking over her letters it has been +almost impossible to find one which did not contain too much that was +personal, either about herself or others, to make it proper; especially +as she herself would be very unwilling to make the affairs of others +public. + +"Oct. 22, 1860. I have spent $100 on dress this year. I have a very +pretty new felt bonnet of the fashionable shape, trimmed with velvet; it +cost only $7, which, of course, was pitifully cheap for Broadway. If +thou thinks after $100 it wouldn't be extravagant for me to have a +waterproof cloak and a linsey-woolsey morning dress, please to send me +patterns of the latter material and a description of waterproofs of +various prices. They are so ugly, and I am so ditto, that I feel if a +few dollars, more or less, would make me look better, even in a storm, I +must not mind it." + +"My orthodoxy is settled beyond dispute, I trust, by the following +circumstance: The editor of a New York magazine has written to me to +furnish an article for the Christmas number on 'The Star in the East.' I +have ventured, in my note of declination, to mention that if I +investigated that subject I might decide that there was no star in the +case, and then what would become of me, and _where should I go_? Since +that he has not written, so I may have hung myself! + +"1879. April 25. I have 'done' New York very much as we did it thirty +years ago. On Saturday I went to Miss Booth's reception, and it was like +Miss Lynch's, only larger than Miss Lynch's was when I was there.... +Miss Booth and a friend live on Fifty-ninth street, and have lived +together for years. Miss Booth is a nice-looking woman. She says she has +often been told that she looked like me; she has gray hair and black +eyes, but is fair and well-cut in feature. I had a very nice time. + +"On Sunday I went to hear Frothingham, and he was at his very best. The +subject was 'Aspirations of Man,' and the sermon was rich in thought and +in word. + +... Frothingham's discourse was more cheery than usual; he talked about +the wonderful idea of personal immortality, and he said if it be a dream +of the imagination let us worship the imagination. He spoke of Mrs. +Child's book on 'Aspirations,' and I shall order it at once. The only +satire was such a sentence as this: on speaking of a piece of Egyptian +sculpture he said, 'The gates of heaven opened to the good, not to the +orthodox.' + +"To-day, Monday, I have been to a public school (a primary) and to +Stewart's mansion. I asked the majordomo to take us through the rooms on +the lower floor, which he did. I know of no palace which comes up to it. +The palaces always have a look as if at some point they needed +refurbishing up. I suppose that Mrs. Stewart uses that dining-room, but +it did not look as if it was made to eat in. I still like Gérôme's +'Chariot Race' better than anything else of his. The 'Horse Fair' was +too high up for me to enjoy it, and a little too mixed up. + +"1873. St. Petersburg is another planet, and, strange to say, is an +agreeable planet. Some of these Europeans are far ahead of us in many +things. I think we are in advance only in one universal democracy of +freedom. But then, that is everything. + +"Nov. 17, 1875. I think you are right to decide to make your home +pleasant at any sacrifice which involves _only_ silence. And you are so +all over a radical, that it won't hurt you to be toned down a little, +and in a few years, as the world moves, your family will have moved one +way and you the other a little, and you will suddenly find yourself on +the same plane. It is much the way that has been between Miss ---- and +myself. To-day she is more of a women's rights woman than I was when I +first knew her, while I begin to think that the girls would better dress +at tea-time, though I think on that subject we thought alike at first, +so I'll take another example. + +"I have learned to think that a _young_ girl would better not walk to +town alone, even in the daytime. When I came to Vassar I should have +allowed a child to do it. But I never knew _much_ of the world--never +shall--nor will you. And as we were both born a little deficient in +worldly caution and worldly policy, let us receive from others those, +lessons,--_do as well as we can_, and keep our _heart_ unworldly if our +manners take on something of those ways. + +"Oct. 25, 1875.... I have scarcely got over the _tire_ of the congress +[Footnote: The annual meeting of the Association for the Advancement of +Women, of which Miss Mitchell was president. It was held at Syracuse, +N.Y., in 1875.] yet, although it is a week since I returned. I feel as +if a great burden was lifted from my soul. You will see my 'speech' in +the 'Woman's Journal,' but in the last sentence it should be 'eastward' +and not '_earth_ward.' It was a grand affair, and babies came in arms. +School-boys stood close to the platform, and school-girls came, books in +hand. The hall was a beautiful opera-house, and could hold at least one +thousand seven hundred. It was packed and jammed, and rough men stood in +the aisles. When I had to speak to announce a paper I stood _very still_ +until they became quiet. Once, as I stood in that way, a man at the +extreme rear, before I had spoken a word, shouted out, 'Louder!' We all +burst into a laugh. Then, of course, I had to make them quiet again. I +lifted the little mallet, but I did not strike it, and they all became +still. I was surprised at the good breeding of such a crowd. In the +evening about half was made up of men. I could not have believed that +such a crowd would keep still when I asked them to. + +"They say I did well. Think of my developing as a president of a social +science society in my old age!" + +Miss Mitchell took no prominent part in the woman suffrage movement, but +she believed in it firmly, and its leaders were some of her most highly +valued friends. + +"Sept. 7, 1875. Went to a picnic for woman suffrage at a beautiful grove +at Medfield, Mass. It was a gathering of about seventy-five persons +(mostly from Needham), whose president seemed to be vigorous and +good-spirited. + +"The main purpose of the meeting was to try to affect public sentiment +to such an extent as to lead to the defeat of a man who, when the +subject of woman suffrage was before the Legislature, said that the +women had all they wanted now--that they could get anything with 'their +eyes as bright as the buttons on an angel's coat.' Lucy Stone, Mr. +Blackwell, Rev. Mr. Bush, Miss Eastman, and William Lloyd Garrison +spoke. + +"Garrison did not look a day older than when I first saw him, forty +years ago; he spoke well--they said with less fire than he used in his +younger days. Garrison said what every one says--that the struggle for +women was the old anti-slavery struggle over again; that as he looked +around at the audience beneath the trees, it seemed to be the same scene +that he had known before. + +"... We had a very good bit of missionary work done at our table (at +Vassar) to-day. A man whom we all despise began to talk against voting +by women. I felt almost inclined to pay him something for his remarks. + +"A group from the Washington Women Suffrage Association stopped here +to-day.... I liked Susan B. Anthony very much. She seemed much worn, but +was all alive. She is eighteen months younger than I, but seems much +more alert. I suppose brickbats are livelier than logarithms!" + +Miss Mitchell was a member of several learned societies. + +She was the first woman elected to membership of the American Academy of +Arts and Sciences, whose headquarters are at Boston. + +In 1869 she was chosen a member of the American Philosophical Society, a +society founded by Benjamin Franklin, in Philadelphia. + +The American Association for the Advancement of Science made her a +member in the early part of its existence. Miss Mitchell was one of the +earliest members of the American Association for the Advancement of +Women. At one period she was president of the association, and for many +years served as chairman of the committee on science. In this latter +capacity she reached, through circulars and letters, women studying +science in all parts of the country; and the reports, as shown from year +to year, show a wonderful increase in the number of such women. She was +a member, also, of the New England Women's Club, of Boston, and after +her annual visit at Christmas she entertained her students at Vassar +with descriptions of the receptions and meeting of that body. She was +also a member of the New York Sorosis. She received the degree of Ph.D. +from Rutgers Female College in 1870, her first degree of LL.D. from +Hanover College in 1832, and her last LL.D. from Columbia College in +1887. + +Miss Mitchell had no ambition to appear in print, and most of her +published articles were in response to applications from publishers. + +A paper entitled "Mary Somerville" appeared in the "Atlantic Monthly" +for May, 1860. There were several articles in "Silliman's +Journal,"--mostly results of observations on Jupiter and Saturn,--a few +popular science papers in "Hours at Home," and one on the "Herschels," +printed in "The Century" just after her death. + +Miss Mitchell also read a few lectures to small societies, and to one or +two girls' schools; but she never allowed such outside work to interfere +with her duties at Vassar College, to which she devoted herself heart +and soul. + +When the failure of her health became apparent to the members of her +family, it was with the utmost difficulty that Miss Mitchell could be +prevailed upon to resign her position. She had fondly hoped to remain at +Vassar until she should be seventy years old, of which she lacked about +six months. It was hoped that complete rest might lead to several years +more of happy life for her; but it was not to be so--she died in Lynn, +June 28, 1889. + +It was one of Miss Mitchell's boasts that she had earned a salary for +over fifty years, without any intermission. She also boasted that in +July, 1883, when she slipped and fell, spraining herself so that she was +obliged to remain in the house a day or two, it was the first time in +her memory when she had remained in the house a day. In fact, she made a +point of walking out every day, no matter what the weather might be. A +serious fall, during her illness in Lynn, stopped forever her daily +walks. + +She had resigned her position in January, 1888. The resignation was laid +on the table until the following June, at which time the trustees made +her Professor Emeritus, and offered her a home for life at the +observatory. This offer she did not accept, preferring to live with her +family in Lynn. The following extracts from letters which she received +at this time show with what reverence and love she was regarded by +faculty and students. + +"Jan. 9, 1888.... You may be sure that we shall be glad to do all we can +to honor one whose faithful service and honesty of heart and life have +been among the chief inspirations of Vassar College throughout its +history. Of public reputation you have doubtless had enough, but I am +sure you cannot have too much of the affection and esteem which we feel +toward you, who have had the privilege of working, with you." + +"Jan. 10, 1888. You will consent, you _must_ consent, to having your +home here, and letting the work go. It is not astronomy that is wanted +and needed, it is Maria Mitchell.... The richest part of my life here is +connected with you.... I cannot picture Vassar without you. There's +nothing to point to!" + +"May 5, 1889. In all the great wonder of life, you have given me more of +what I have wanted than any other creature ever gave me. I hoped I +should amount to something for your sake." + +Dr. Eliza M. Mosher, at one time resident physician at the college, said +of her: "She was quick to withdraw objections when she was convinced of +error in her judgment. I well remember her opposition to the ground I +took in my 'maiden speech' in faculty meeting, and how, at supper, she +stood, before sitting down, to say, 'You were right this afternoon. I +have thought the matter over, and, while I do not like to believe it, I +think it is true.'" + +Of her rooms at the observatory, Miss Grace Anna Lewis, who had been a +guest, wrote thus: "Her furniture was plain and simple, and there was a +frank simplicity corresponding therewith which made me believe she chose +to have it so. It looked natural for her. I think I should have been +disappointed had I found her rooms fitted up with undue elegance." + +"Professor Mitchell's position at Vassar gave astronomy a prominence +there that it has never had in any other college for women, and in but +few for men. I suppose it would have made no difference what she had +taught. Doubtless she never suspected how many students endured the +mathematical work of junior Astronomy in order to be within range of her +magnetic personality." (From "Wide Awake," September, 1889.) + +A graduate writes: "Her personality was so strong that it was felt all +over the college, even by those who were not in her department, and who +only admired her from a distance." + +Extract from a letter written after her death by a former pupil: "I +count Maria Mitchell's services to Vassar and her pupils infinitely +valuable, and her character and attainments great beyond anything that +has yet been told.... I was one of the pupils upon whom her freedom from +all the shams and self-deceptions made an impression that elevated my +whole standard, mental and moral.... The influence of her own personal +character sustains its supreme test in the evidence constantly +accumulating, that it strengthens rather than weakens with the lapse of +time. Her influence upon her pupils who were her daily companions has +been permanent, character-moulding, and unceasingly progressive." + +President Taylor, in his address at her funeral, said: "If I were to +select for comment the one most striking trait of her character, I +should name her _genuineness_. There was no false note in Maria +Mitchell's thinking or utterance.... + +"One who has known her kindness to little children, who has watched her +little evidences of thoughtful care for her associates and friends, who +has seen her put aside her own long-cherished rights that she might make +the way of a new and untried officer easier, cannot forget the tenderer +side of her character.... + +"But if would be vain for me to try to tell just what it was in Miss +Mitchell that attracted us who loved her. It was this combination of +great strength and independence, of deep affection and tenderness, +breathed through and through with the sentiment of a perfectly genuine +life, which has made for us one of the pilgrim-shrines of life the study +in the observatory of Vassar College where we have known her _at home_, +surrounded by the evidences of her honorable professional career. She +has been an impressive figure in our time, and one whose influence +lives." + + + + +INTRODUCTORY NOTE + + +On the 17th of December, 1831, a gold medal of the value of twenty +ducats was founded, at the suggestion of Professor Schumacher, of +Altona, by his Majesty Frederic VI., at that time king of Denmark, to be +awarded to any person who should first discover a telescopic comet. This +foundation and the conditions on which the medal would be awarded were +announced to the public in the "Astronomische Nachrichten" for the 20th +of March, 1832. The regulations underwent a revision after a few years, +and in April, 1840 ("Astronomische Nachrichten," No. 400), were +republished as follows: + +"1. The medal will be given to the first discoverer of any comet, which, +at the time of its discovery, is invisible to the naked eye, and whose +periodic time is unknown. + +"2. The discoverer, if a resident of any part of Europe except Great +Britain, is to make known his discovery to Mr. Schumacher at Altona. If +a resident in Great Britain, or any other quarter of the globe except +the continent of Europe, he is to make his discovery known directly to +Mr. Francis Baily, London. [Since Mr. Baily's decease, G.B. Airy, Esq., +Astronomer Royal, has been substituted in this and in the 7th and 8th +articles of the regulations.] + +"3. This communication must be made by the _first post_ after the +discovery. If there is no regular mail at the place of discovery, the +first opportunity of any other kind must be made use of, without waiting +for other observations. Exact compliance with this condition is +indispensable. If this condition is not complied with, and only one +person discovers the comet, no medal will be given for the discovery. +Otherwise, the medal will be assigned to the discoverer who earliest +complies with the condition. + +"4. The communication must not only state as exactly as possible the +time of the discovery, in order to settle the question between rival +claims, but also as near as may be the place of the comet, and the +direction in which it is moving, as far as these points can be +determined from the observations of one night. + +"5. If the observations of one night are not sufficient to settle these +points, the enunciation of the discovery must still be made, in +compliance with the third article. As soon as a second observation is +made, it must be communicated in like manner with the first, and with it +the longitude of the place where the discovery is made, unless it take +place at some known observatory. The expectation of obtaining a second +observation will never be received as a satisfactory reason for +postponing the communication of the first. + +"6. The medal will be assigned twelve months after the discovery of the +comet, and no claim will be admitted after that period. + +"7. Messrs. Baily and Schumacher are to decide if a discovery has been +made. If they differ, Mr. Gauss, of Göttingen, is to decide. + +"8. Messrs. Baily and Schumacher have agreed to communicate mutually to +each other every announcement of a discovery. + +"Altona, April, 1840." + +On the 1st of October, 1847, at half-past ten o'clock, P.M., a +telescopic comet was discovered by Miss Maria Mitchell, of Nantucket, +nearly vertical above Polaris about five degrees. The further progress +and history of the discovery will sufficiently appear from the following +correspondence. On the 3d of October the same comet was seen at +half-past seven, P.M., at Rome, by Father de Vico, and information of +the fact was immediately communicated by him to Professor Schumacher at +Altona. On the 7th of October, at twenty minutes past nine, P.M., it was +observed by Mr. W.R. Dawes, at Camden Lodge, Cranbrook, Kent, in +England, and on the 11th it was seen by Madame Rümker, the wife of the +director of the observatory at Hamburg. Mr. Schumacher, in announcing +this last discovery, observes: [Footnote: "Astronomische Nachrichten," +No. 616.] "Madame Rümker has for several years been on the lookout for +comets, and her persevering industry seemed at last about to be +rewarded, when a letter was received from Father de Vico, addressed to +the editor of this journal, from which it appeared that the same comet +had been observed by him on the 3d instant at Rome." + +Not deeming it probable that his daughter had anticipated the observers +of this country and Europe in the discovery of this comet, no steps were +taken by Mr. Mitchell with a view to obtaining the king of Denmark's +medal. Prompt information, however, of the discovery was transmitted by +Mr. Mitchell to his friend, William C. Bond, Esq., director of the +observatory at Cambridge. The observations of the Messrs. Bond upon the +comet commenced on the 7th of October; and on the 30th were transmitted +by me to Mr. Schumacher, for publication in the "Astronomische +Nachrichten." It was stated in the memorandum of the Messrs. Bond that +the comet was seen by Miss Mitchell on the 1st instant. This notice +appeared in the "Nachrichten" of Dec. 9, 1847, and the priority of Miss +Mitchell's discovery was immediately admitted throughout Europe. + +My attention had been drawn to the subject of the king of Denmark's +comet medal by some allusion to it in my correspondence with Professor +Schumacher, in reference to the discovery of telescopic comets by Mr. +George P. Bond, of the observatory at Cambridge. Having learned some +weeks after Miss Mitchell's discovery that no communication had been +made on her behalf to the trustees of the medal, and aware that the +regulations in this respect were enforced with strictness, I was +apprehensive that it might be too late to supply the omission. Still, +however, as the spirit of the regulations had been complied with by Mr. +Mitchell's letter to Mr. Bond of the 3d of October, it seemed worth +while at least to make the attempt to procure the medal for his +daughter. Although the attempt might be unsuccessful, it would at any +rate cause the priority of her discovery to be more authentically +established than it might otherwise have been. + +I accordingly wrote to Mr. Mitchell for information on the subject, and +applied for, and obtained from Mr. Bond, Mr. Mitchell's original letter +to him of the 3d of October, with the Nantucket postmark. These papers +were transmitted to Professor Schumacher, with a letter dated 15th and +24th January. + +On the 8th of February I wrote a letter to my much esteemed friend, +Captain W.H. Smyth, R.N., formerly president of the Astronomical Society +at London, requesting him to interest himself with Professor Schumacher +to obtain the medal for Miss Mitchell. Captain Smyth entered with great +readiness into the matter, and addressed a note on the subject to Mr. +Airy, the Astronomer Royal, at Greenwich. Mr. Airy kindly wrote to +Professor Schumacher without loss of time; but it was their united +opinion that a compliance with the condition relative to immediate +notice of a discovery was indispensable, and that it was consequently +out of their power to award the medal to Miss Mitchell. Mr. Schumacher +suggested, as the only means by which this difficulty could be overcome, +an application to the Danish government, through the American legation +at Copenhagen. + +Conceiving that the correspondence could be carried on more promptly +through the Danish legation at Washington, I addressed a letter on the +20th of April to Mr. Steene-Billé, Chargé d'Affaires of the king of +Denmark in this country, and sent with it copies of the documents which +had been forwarded to Professor Schumacher. Mr. Steene-Billé, however, +was of opinion that the application, if made at all, should be made +through the American legation at Copenhagen; but he expressed at the +same time a confident opinion that, owing to the condition and political +relations of Denmark, the application would necessarily prove +unavailing. + +It was at this time that the difficulties in Schleswig-Holstein were at +their height, and it seemed hopeless at such a moment, and in face of +the opinion of the official representative of the Danish government in +this country, to engage its attention to an affair of this kind. No +further attempt was accordingly made by me, for some weeks, to pursue +the matter. In fact, a report reached the United States that the medal +had actually been awarded to Father de Vico. Although this was believed +by me to be an unfounded rumor, the regulations allowing one year for +the presentation of claims, there was reason to apprehend that it +proceeded from some quarter well informed as to what would probably take +place at the expiration of the twelvemonth. + +On the 5th of August, Father de Vico, who had left Rome in the spring in +consequence of the troubles there, made a visit to Cambridge, in company +with the Right Rev. Bishop Fitzpatrick, of Boston, and on this occasion +informed me that he had received an intimation from Professor Schumacher +that the comet-medal would be awarded to Miss Mitchell. I was disposed +to think that Father de Vico labored under some misapprehension as to +the purport of Professor Schumacher's communications, as afterwards +appeared to be the case. I felt encouraged, however, by his statement +not only to renew my correspondence on the subject with Professor +Schumacher, but I determined, on the 8th of August, to address a letter +to R.P. Fleniken, Esq., Chargé d'Affaires of the United States at +Copenhagen. This letter was accompanied with copies of the original +papers. + +Mr. Fleniken entered with great zeal and interest into the subject. He +lost no time in bringing it before the Danish government by means of a +letter to the Count de Knuth, the Minister at that time for Foreign +Affairs, and of another to the king of Denmark himself. His Majesty, +with the most obliging promptness, ordered a reference of the case to +Professor Schumacher, with directions to report thereon without delay. +Mr. Schumacher had been for a long time in possession of the documents +establishing Miss Mitchell's priority, which was, indeed, admitted +throughout scientific Europe. Professor Schumacher immediately made his +report in favor of granting the medal to Miss Mitchell, and this report +was accepted by the king. The result was forthwith communicated by the +Count de Knuth to Mr. Fleniken, with the gratifying intelligence that +the king had ordered the medal to be awarded to Miss Mitchell, and that +it would be delivered to him for transmission as soon as it could be +struck off. This has since been done. + +It must be regarded as a striking proof of an enlightened interest for +the promotion of science, not less than of a kind regard for the rights +and feelings of the individual most concerned in this decision, that the +king of Denmark should have bestowed his attention upon this subject, at +a period of so much difficulty and alarm for Europe in general and his +own kingdom in particular. It would not have been possible to act more +promptly in a season of the profoundest tranquillity. His Majesty has on +this occasion shown that he is animated by the same generous zeal for +the encouragement of astronomical research which led his predecessor to +found the medal; while he has performed an act of gracious courtesy +toward a stranger in a distant land which must ever be warmly +appreciated by her friends and countrymen. + +Nor ought the obliging agency of the Count de Knuth, the Minister of +Foreign Affairs, to be passed without notice. The slightest indifference +on his part, even the usual delays of office, would have prevented the +application from reaching the king before the expiration of the +twelvemonth within which all claims must, by the regulations, be +presented. No one can reflect upon the pressure of business which must +have existed in the foreign office at Copenhagen during the past year, +without feeling that the Count de Knuth must largely share his +sovereign's zeal for science, as well as his love of justice. Nothing +else will account for the attention bestowed at such a political crisis +on an affair of this kind. The same attention appears to have been given +to the subject by his successor, Count Moltka. + +It was quite fortunate for the success of the application that the +office of chargé d'affaires of the United States at Copenhagen happened +to be filled by a gentleman disposed to give it his prompt and +persevering support. A matter of this kind, of course, lay without the +province of his official duties. But no subject officially committed to +him by the instructions of his government could have been more zealously +pursued. On the very day on which my communication of the 8th of August +reached him, Mr. Fleniken addressed his letters to the minister of +foreign affairs and to the king, and he continued to give his attention +to the subject till the object was happily effected, and the medal +placed in his hands. + +The event itself, however insignificant in the great world of politics +and business, is one of pleasing interest to the friends of American +science, and it has been thought proper that the following record of it +should be preserved in a permanent form. I have regretted the frequent +recurrence of my own name in the correspondence, and have suppressed +several letters of my own which could be spared, without rendering less +intelligible the communications of the other parties, to whom the +interest and merit of the transaction belong. + +EDWARD EVERETT. + +CAMBRIDGE, 1st February, 1849. + + + + +CORRESPONDENCE + + +HON. WILLIAM MITCHELL TO WILLIAM C. BOND, ESQ., CAMBRIDGE. + +"Nantucket, 10 mo. 3d, 1847. + +"MY DEAR FRIEND: I write now merely to say that Maria discovered a +telescopic comet at half-past ten on the evening of the first instant, +at that hour nearly vertical above Polaris five degrees. Last evening it +had advanced westwardly; this evening still further, and nearing the +pole. It does not bear illumination, but Maria has obtained its right +ascension and declination, and will not suffer me to announce it. Pray +tell me whether it is one of George's; if not, whether it has been seen +by anybody. Maria supposes it may be an old story. If quite convenient, +just drop a line to her; it will oblige me much. I expect to leave home +in a day or two, and shall be in Boston next week, and I would like to +have her hear from you before I can meet you. I hope it will not give +thee much trouble amidst thy close engagements. + +"Our regards are to all of you, most truly, + +"WILLIAM MITCHELL." + + * * * * * + +HON. EDWARD EVERETT TO HON. WILLIAM MITCHELL. + +"Cambridge, 10th January, 1848. + +"DEAR SIR: I take the liberty to inquire of you whether any steps have +been taken by you, on behalf of your daughter, by way of claiming the +medal of the king of Denmark for the first discovery of a telescopic +comet. The regulations require that information of the discovery should +be transmitted by the next mail to Mr. Airy, the Astronomer Royal, if +the discovery is made elsewhere than on the continent of Europe. If made +in the United States, I understand from Mr. Schumacher that information +may be sent to the Danish minister at Washington, who will forward it to +Mr. Airy,--but it must be sent by next mail. + +"In consequence of non-compliance with these regulations, Mr. George +Bond has on one occasion lost the medal. I trust this may not be the +case with Miss Mitchell. + +"I am, dear sir, with much respect, faithfully yours, + +"EDWARD EVERETT." + + * * * * * + +EXTRACT FROM A LETTER OF THE HON. WILLIAM MITCHELL TO HON. EDWARD +EVERETT. + +"Nantucket, 1st mo. 15th, 1848. + +"ESTEEMED FRIEND: Thy kind letter of the 10th instant reached me duly. +No steps were taken by my daughter in claim of the medal of the Danish +king. On the night of the discovery, I was fully satisfied that it was a +comet from its location, though its real motion at this time was so +nearly opposite to that of the earth (the two bodies approaching each +other) that its apparent motion was scarcely appreciable. I urged very +strongly that it should be published immediately, but she resisted it as +strongly, though she could but acknowledge her conviction that it was a +comet. She remarked to me, 'If it is a new comet, our friends, the +Bonds, have seen it. It may be an old one, so far as relates to the +discovery, and one which we have not followed.' She consented, however, +that I should write to William C. Bond, which I did by the first mail +that left the island after the discovery. This letter did not reach my +friend till the 6th or 7th, having been somewhat delayed here and also +in the post-office at Cambridge. + +"Referring to my journal I find these words: 'Maria will not consent to +have me announce it as an original discovery.' + +"The stipulations of His Majesty have, therefore, not been complied +with, and the peculiar circumstances of the case, her sex, and isolated +position, may not be sufficient to justify a suspension of the rules. +Nevertheless, it would gratify me that the generous monarch should know +that there is a love of science even in this to him remote corner of the +earth. "I am thine, my dear friend, most truly, + +"WILLIAM MITCHELL." + + * * * * * + +HON. EDWARD EVERETT TO PROFESSOR SCHUMACHER, AT ALTONA. + +"Cambridge, 15th January, 1848. + +"DEAR SIR: Your letter of the 27th October, accompanying the +'Planeten-Circulär,' reached me but a few days since. If you would be so +good as to forward to the care of John Miller, Esq., 26 Henrietta +street, Covent Garden, London, any letter you may do me the favor to +write to me, it would reach me promptly. + +"The regulations relative to the king of Denmark's medal have not +hitherto been understood in this country. I shall take care to give +publicity to them. Not only has Mr. Bond lost the medal to which you +think he would have been entitled, [Footnote: Mr. Schumacher had +remarked to me, in his letter of the 27th of October, that Mr. George P. +Bond would have received the medal for the comet first seen by him as a +nebulous object on the 18th of February, 1846, if his observation made +at that time had been communicated, according to the regulations, to the +trustees of the medal.] but I fear the same has happened to Miss +Mitchell, of Nantucket, who discovered the comet of last October on the +first day of that month. I think it was not seen in Europe till the +third. + +"I remain, dear sir, with great respect, faithfully yours, + +"EDWARD EVERETT." + + * * * * * + +HON. EDWARD EVERETT TO HON. WILLIAM MITCHELL. + +"Cambridge, 18th January, 1848. + +"DEAR SIR: I have your esteemed favor of the 15th, which reached me this +day. I am fearful that the rigor deemed necessary in enforcing the +regulations relative to the king of Denmark's prize may prevent your +daughter from receiving it. I learn from Mr. Schumacher's letter, that, +besides Mr. George Bond, Dr. Bremeker lost the medal because he allowed +a single post-day to pass before he announced his discovery. There +could, in his case, be no difficulty in establishing the fact of his +priority, nor any doubt of the good faith with which it was asserted. +But inasmuch as Miss Mitchell's discovery was actually made known to Mr. +Bond by the next mail which left your island, it is possible--barely +possible--that this may be considered as a substantial compliance with +the regulation. At any rate, it is worth trying; and if we can do no +more we can establish the lady's claim to all the credit of the prior +discovery. I shall therefore apply to Mr. Bond for the letter which you +wrote, and if it contains nothing improper to be seen by others we will +forward it to the Danish minister at Washington with a certified extract +from your journal. I will have a certified copy of all these papers +prepared and sent to Mr. Schumacher; and if any departure from the +letter of the regulations is admissible, this would seem to be a case +for it. I trust Miss Mitchell's retiring disposition will not lead her +to oppose the taking of these steps. + +"I am, dear sir, with great respect, faithfully yours, + +[Signed] "EDWARD EVERETT." + + * * * * * + +POSTSCRIPT TO MR. EVERETT'S LETTER TO PROFESSOR SCHUMACHER OF THE 15TH +JANUARY, 1848. + +"P.S.--The foregoing was written to go by the steamer of the 15th, but +was a few hours too late. I have since received some information in +reference to the comet of October which leads me to hope that you may +feel it in your power to award the medal to Miss Maria Mitchell. Miss +Mitchell saw the comet at half-past ten o'clock on the evening of +October 1st. Her father, a skilful astronomer, made an entry in his +journal to that effect. On the third day of October he wrote a letter to +Mr. Bond, the director of our observatory, announcing the discovery. +This letter was despatched the following day, being the first post-day +after the discovery of the comet. This letter I transmit to you, +together with letters from Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Bond to myself. +Nantucket, as you are probably aware, is a small, secluded island, lying +off the extreme point of the coast of Massachusetts. Mr. Mitchell is a +member of the executive council of Massachusetts and a most respectable +person. + +"As the claimant is a young lady of great diffidence, the place a +retired island, remote from all the high-roads of communication; as the +conditions have not been well understood in this country; and especially +as there was a substantial compliance with them--I hope His Majesty may +think Miss Maria Mitchell entitled to the medal. + +"Cambridge, 24th January, 1848. + + * * * * * + +EXTRACT FROM A LETTER FROM MR. EVERETT TO CAPTAIN W.H. SMYTH, R.N., LATE +PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, LONDON, DATED CAMBRIDGE, +8TH FEBRUARY, 1848. + +"I have lately been making interest with Mr. Schumacher to cause the +king of Denmark's medal to be given to Miss Mitchell for the discovery +of the comet to which her name has been given, if I mistake not, in the +journal of your society as well as in the 'Nachrichten.' She +unquestionably discovered it at half-past ten on the evening of the 1st +of October; it was not, I think, seen in Europe till the 3d. Her father, +on the 3d, wrote a letter to Mr. Bond, the director of our observatory, +informing him of this discovery; and this letter was sent by the first +mail that left the little out-of-the-way island (Nantucket) after the +discovery. The _spirit_ of the regulations was therefore complied with. +But as the _letter_ requires that the notice should be given either to +the Danish minister resident in the country or to Mr. Airy, if the +discovery is made elsewhere than on the continent of Europe, it is +possible that some demur may be made. The precise terms of the +regulations have not been sufficiently made known in this country. As +the claim in this case is really a just one, the claimant a lady, +industrious, vigilant, a good astronomer and mathematician, I cannot but +hope she will succeed; and if you have the influence with Schumacher +which you ought to have, I would take it kindly if you would use it in +her favor." + + + * * * * * + +CAPTAIN SMYTH TO MR. EVERETT. + +"3 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, 10th March, 1848. + +"MY DEAR SIR: On the receipt of your last letter, I forthwith wrote to +the astronomer royal, urging the claims of Miss Mitchell, of Nantucket, +and he immediately replied, saying that he would lose no time in +consulting his official colleague, Mr. Schumacher, on the subject. I +have just received the accompanying letter from Greenwich, by which you +will perceive how the matter stands at present; I say at present, +because, however the claim may be considered as to the technical form of +application, there is no doubt whatever of her fully meriting the award. + +"I am, my dear sir, very faithfully yours, + +[Signed] "W.H. SMYTH." + + * * * * * + +G.B. AIRY, ESQ., TO CAPTAIN SMYTH. + +"Royal Observatory, Greenwich, 10th March, 1848. + +"MY DEAR SIR: I have received Mr. Schumacher's answer in regard to Miss +Mitchell's supposed claims for the king of Denmark's medal. We agree, +without the smallest hesitation, that we cannot award the medal. We have +in all cases acted strictly in conformity with the published rules; and +I am convinced, and I believe that Mr. Schumacher is convinced, that it +is absolutely necessary that we do not depart from them. + +"Mr. Schumacher suggests, as the only way in which Miss Mitchell's claim +in equity could be urged, that application might be made on her part, +through the American legation, to the king of Denmark; and the king can, +if he pleases, make exception to the usual rules. + +"I am, my dear sir, yours most truly, + +[Signed] "G.B. AIRY." + + * * * * * + +HON. EDWARD EVERETT TO R.P. FLENIKEN. + +"Cambridge, Mass., 8th August, 1848. + +"DEAR SIR: Without the honor of your personal acquaintance, I take the +liberty of addressing you on a subject which I am confident will +interest you as a friend of American science. You are doubtless aware +that by the liberality of one of the kings of Denmark, the father, I +believe, of his late Majesty, a foundation was made for a gold medal to +be given to the first discoverer of a telescopic comet. Mr. Schumacher, +of Altona, and Mr. Baily, of London (and since his decease Mr. Airy, +Astronomer Royal at Greenwich), were made the trustees of this +foundation. Among the regulations established for awarding the medal was +this: that the discoverer should, by the first mail which leaves the +place of his residence after the discovery, give notice thereof to Mr. +Schumacher if the discovery is made on the continent of Europe, and to +Mr. Airy if made in any other part of the world; provided that, if the +discovery be made in America, the notice may be given to the Danish +minister at Washington. It has been deemed necessary to adhere with +great strictness to this regulation, in order to prevent fraudulent +claims. + +"On the first day of October last, at about half-past ten o'clock in the +evening, a telescopic comet was discovered, in the island of Nantucket, +by Miss Maria Mitchell, daughter of Hon. W. Mitchell, one of the +executive council of this State. Mr. Mitchell made an entry of the +discovery at the time in his journal. In consequence of Miss Mitchell's +diffidence, she would not allow any publicity to be given to her +discovery till its reality was ascertained. Her father, however, by the +first mail that left Nantucket for the mainland, addressed a letter to +Mr. W.C. Bond, director of the observatory in this place, acquainting +him with his daughter's discovery. A copy of this letter I herewith +transmit to you. The comet was not discovered in Europe till the 3d of +October, when it was seen by Father de Vico, the celebrated astronomer +at Rome. + +"You perceive from this statement that, if Mr. Mitchell had addressed +his letter to the Danish minister at Washington instead of Mr. Bond, his +daughter would have been entitled to the medal, under the strict terms +of the regulations. But these regulations have not been generally +understood in this country; and as the fact of Miss Mitchell's prior +discovery is undoubted, and recognized throughout Europe, it would be a +pity that she should lose the medal on a mere technical punctilio. The +comet is constantly called 'Miss Mitchell's comet' in the monthly +journal of the Royal Astronomical Society at London, and in the +'Astronomische Nachrichten,' the well-known astronomical journal, edited +by Mr. Schumacher himself, at Altona. Father de Vico (who, with his +brothers of the Society of Jesuits, has left Rome since the revolution +there) was at this place (Cambridge) three days ago, and spoke of Miss +Mitchell's priority as an undoubted fact. + +"Last winter I addressed a letter to Mr. Schumacher, acquainting him +with the foregoing facts relative to the discovery, and transmitting to +him the _original_ letter of Mr. Mitchell to Mr. Bond, dated 3d October, +bearing the original Nantucket postmark of the 4th. I also wrote to +Capt. W. H. Smyth, late president of the Royal Astronomical Society of +England, desiring him to speak to Mr. Airy on the subject. He did so, +and Mr. Airy wrote immediately to Mr. Schumacher. Mr. Schumacher in his +reply expressed the opinion, in which Mr. Airy concurs, that _under the +regulations_ it is not in their power to award the medal to Miss +Mitchell. They suggest, however, that an application should be made, +through the American legation at the Danish court, to His Majesty the +King of Denmark, for authority, under the present circumstances, to +dispense with the literal fulfilment of the conditions. + +"It is on this subject that I take the liberty to ask your good offices. +I accompany my letter with copies of a portion of the correspondence +which has been had on the subject, and I venture to request you to +address a note to the proper department of the Danish government, to the +end that authority should be given to Messrs. Schumacher and Airy to +award the medal to Miss Mitchell, _provided they are satisfied that she +first discovered the comet_. + +"I will only add that, should you succeed in effecting this object, you +will render a very acceptable service to all the friends of science in +America. + +"I remain, dear sir, with high consideration, your obedient, faithful +servant, + +[Signed] "EDWARD EVERETT. + +"To R. P. FLENIKEN, ESQ., Chargé d'Affaires of the United States of +America at Copenhagen." + + * * * * * + +R.P. FLENIKEN, ESQ., TO THE COUNT DE KNUTH. + + "Légation des Etats Unis d'Amérique,} + à Copenhague, le 6 Septembre, 1848. } + +"MONSIEUR LE MINISTRE: J'ai l'honneur de remettre sous ce pli à votre +Excellence une lettre que j'ai reçue d'un de mes concitoyens les plus +distingués, avec une correspondance touchant une matière à laquelle il +me semble que le Danemark ne soit guère moins intéressé que ne le sont +les Etats Unis; le premier y ayant contribué le digne motif, l'autre en + +ayant heureusement accompli l'objet. + +"Je recommande ces documents à l'examination attentive de votre +Excellence, sachant bien l'intérêt profond qu'elle ne manque jamais de +prendre à de tels sujets, et la réputation éminente de cultivateur des +sciences et de la littérature, dont elle jouit avec tant de justice. J'y +ai joint une lettre de moi-même, adressée à sa Majesté le Roi de +Danemark. + +"La matière dont il est question, Monsieur, sera d'autant plus +intéressante à votre Excellence, qu'on peut la regarder comme une voix +de réponse adressée à l'ancienne Scandinavie, proclaimant les prodiges +merveilleux de la science moderne, des bords mêmes du Vinland des +Vikinger hardis et entreprenants du dixième et de l'onzième siècles. + +"Je prie votre Excellence de vouloir bien soumettre tous les documents +ci-joints à l'oeil de sa Majesté, et dans le cas heureux ou vous seriez +d'avis que ma compatriote, Mlle. Mitchell, puisse avec justice +revendiquer la récompense génereuse instituée par le Roi Frédéric VI., +alors, Monsieur, je prie votre Excellence de vouloir bien appuyer de ses +propres estimables et puissantes recommandations l'application des amis +de la jeune demoiselle. + +"Je m'empresse à cette occasion, Monsieur, de renouveler à votre +Excellence l'assurance de ma considération très distinguée. + +"R.P. FLENIKEN. + +"A Son Excellence M. LE COMTE DE KNUTH, Ministre d'Etat, et Chef du +Département des Affaires Etrangères. + + +TRANSLATION. [Footnote: This and the other translations of the French +letters are printed as received in this country.] + +"Legation of the United States of America,} +City of Copenhagen, September 6th, 1848. } + +"Sir: I have the honor to communicate to you a letter from a +distinguished citizen of my own country, together with a correspondence +relating to a subject in which Denmark and the United States appear +somewhat equally interested, the former in furnishing a laudable motive, +and the latter as happily achieving the object. + +"I commend these papers to your careful examination, being well aware of +the deep interest you take in all such subjects, and of the eminent +reputation you so justly enjoy as a gentleman of science and of +literature. They are accompanied by a letter from myself addressed to +His Majesty the King of Denmark. + +"This subject will not be the less interesting to you, sir, as it would +appear to be a returning voice addressed to ancient Scandinavia, +speaking of the wonderful achievements of modern science, from the +'Vinland' of the hardy and enterprising 'Northmen' of the tenth and the +eleventh centuries. + +"I beg, therefore, that you will obligingly lay them all before His +Majesty, and should they happily impress you that my countrywoman, Miss +Mitchell, is fairly entitled to the generous offering of King Frederic +VI., be pleased, sir, to accompany the application of her friends in her +behalf by your own very valuable and potent recommendation. + +"I avail myself of this occasion to renew to your Excellency the +assurance of my most distinguished consideration. + +[Signed]. "R.P. FLENIKEN. + +"To His Excellency THE COUNT DE KNUTH, Minister of State and Chief of +the Department of Foreign Affairs. + + * * * * * + +R. P. FLENIKEN, ESQ., TO THE KING OF DENMARK. + +"Légation des Etats Unis d'Amérique,} +à Copenhague, le 6 Septembre, 1848. } + +"SIRE: Le soussigné a l'honneur, par l'intermédiaire de M. votre +ministre d'état et chef du département des affaires étrangères, de +soumettre à votre Majesté une lettre d'un citoyen très distingué des +Etats Unis, accompagnée de la copie d'une correspondance concernant une +matière a laquelle votre Majesté, souverain également distingué par la +libéralité généreuse qu'elle fait voir dans ses rapports sociaux et +politiques, et par l'admiration ardente qu'elle manifeste envers la +science et la littérature, ne peut manquer de prendre un vif intérêt. + +"Le soussigné se félicite beaucoup d'être l'intermédiaire par les mains +duquel ces documents arrivent sous l'oeil de votre Majesté, étant +persuadé que la lecture en fournira à votre Majesté l'occasion de +recourir avec une grande satisfaction patriotique, comme protecteur +éminent des sciences, à l'institution d'un de ses illustres +prédécesseurs; et ce souvenir de la haute position à laquelle le +Danemark s'est élevé dans les arts et les sciences, ne lui sera +peut-être pas moins doux quand elle songe que c'est justement sur cette +même côte, où déjà au dixième siècle l'intrépidité et l'esprit hardi de +ses ancêtres Scandinaves les avaient amenés à la découverte du grand +continent occidental et à la fondation d'une colonie, que vient de +s'accomplir cette conquête de la science, dont parlent les dits papiers. + +"Le soussigné ose donc espérer, qu'à la suite d'une examination +attentive des lettres ci-jointes, et desquelles il paraîtrait être +généralement reconnu qu'à Mlle. Mitchell des Etats Unis est dû l'honneur +d'avoir la première découvert la comète télescopique qui aujourd'hui +porte son nom, que votre Majesté ne trouvera point dans la réserve +louable qui empêcha cette jeune demoiselle de se précipiter à la +poursuite d'une renommée publique, une cause suffisante de lui refuser +le prix de sa brilliante découverte; mais qu'au contraire elle donnera +l'ordre de lui expédier la médaille, autant comme une récompense due à +ses éminents talents scientifiques, que pour témoigner combien votre +Majesté sait apprécier cette modestie charmante qui s'opposa à ce que +Mlle. Mitchell recherchât une célébrité publique et scientifique, avec +le seul but de remplir une forme tout-à-fait technique. + +"Le soussigné, chargé d'affaires des Etats Unis de l'Amérique, saisit +avec empressement cette occasion d'offrir à votre Majesté l'expression +de sa considération la plus haute et la plus distinguée. + +"R.P. FLENIKEN. + +"À Sa Majesté FREDERIC VII., Roi de Danemark, Duc de Slesvig et de +Holstein." + + * * * * * + +TRANSLATION. + +"Legation of the United States of America,} +City of Copenhagen, September 4th, 1848. } + +"SIRE: The undersigned has the honor, through your Majesty's minister of +state and chief of the department of foreign affairs, to communicate to +you a letter from a very distinguished citizen of the United States, +together with copies of a correspondence relating to a subject in which +your Majesty, alike distinguished for generous liberality in social and +political affairs as a sovereign, as well as an ardent admirer of +science and of literature, will doubtless feel a lively interest. + +"The undersigned is happy to be the medium through which those papers +reach the eye of your Majesty, feeling sensible that their perusal will +furnish occasion to your Majesty to recur with much national pleasure to +the act of one of your illustrious predecessors as a distinguished +patron of science; and this recurrence to the eminent position that +Denmark has attained in the arts and the sciences may perhaps not be the +less pleasurable from the fact that the trophy of science to which the +papers allude was achieved on the very coast where, as far back as the +tenth century, the intrepidity and enterprise of your Majesty's +Scandinavian ancestors first discovered and planted a colony upon the +great western continent. + +"The undersigned therefore hopes that, after a careful examination of +the accompanying papers, from which it would seem to be admitted that +Miss Mitchell, of the United States, is entitled to the honor of first +discovering the telescopic comet bearing her name, your Majesty will not +be able to perceive in that commendable delicacy which forbade her +hastily seeking public notoriety a sufficient motive for withholding +from her the reward of her eminent discovery; but, on the contrary, will +direct the medal to be awarded to her, not only as a suitable +encouragement to her distinguished scientific attainments, but also as +evincing your Majesty's appreciation of that beautiful virtue which +withheld her from rushing into public and scientific renown merely to +comply with a purely technical condition. + +"The undersigned, American chargé d'affaires, gladly improves this very +pleasant occasion to tender to your Majesty the expression of his high +and most distinguished consideration. + +[Signed] "R. P. FLENIKEN. + +"To his Majesty FREDERIC VII., King of Denmark, Duke of Schleswig and +Holstein." + + * * * * * + +THE COUNT DE KNUTH TO MR. FLENIKEN. + +"Copenhague, ce 6 Octobre, 1848. + +"MONSIEUR: J'ai eu l'honneur de recevoir votre office du 6 du passé, par +lequel vous avez exprimé le désir que la médaille instituée par feu le +Roi Frédéric VI., en récompense de la découverte de comètes +télescopiques, fût accordée à Mlle. Maria Mitchell, de Nantucket dans +les Etats Unis d'Amérique. + +"Après avoir examiné les pièces justificatives que vous avez bien voulu +me communiquer relativement à cette réclamation, je ne saurais que +partager votre avis, Monsieur, qu'il paraît hors de doute que la +découverte de la comète en question est effectivement dûe aux savantes +recherches de Mlle. Mitchell; et que ce n'est que faute de n'avoir pas +observé les formalités prescrites, qu'elle n'a point jusqu'ici reçu une +marque de distinction à laquelle elle paraît avoir de si justes titres. + +"Le savant astronome, le Professeur Schumacher, ayant également +recommandé Mlle. Mitchell à la faveur qu'elle sollicite maintenant, je +me suis empressé de référer cette question au roi, mon auguste maître, +en mettant en même temps sous les yeux de sa Majesté la lettre que vous +lui avez adressée à ce sujet; et c'est avec bien du plaisir que je me +vois aujourd'hui à même de vous faire part, Monsieur, que sa Majesté n'a +point hésité à satisfaire à votre demande, en accordant à Mlle. Mitchell +la médaille qu'elle ambitionne. + +"Aussitôt que cette médaille sera frappée, je m'empresserai de vous la +faire parvenir. + +"En attendant je saisis avec bien du plaisir cette occasion pour vous +renouveler, Monsieur, les assurances de ma considération très +distinguée. + +"F.W. KNUTH. + +"À MONSIEUR FLENIKEN, Chargé d'Affaires des Etats Unis d'Amérique." + + * * * * * + +TRANSLATION. + +"Copenhagen, 6th October, 1848. + +"SIR: I have had the honor to receive your communication of the 6th +ultimo, in which you express the desire that the medal instituted by his +late Majesty, Frederic VI., as a reward for the discovery of telescopic +comets, should be granted to Miss Maria Mitchell, of Nantucket, in the +United States of America. + +"On examination of the justificatory pieces which you have been good +enough to forward me, relating to her claim, I cannot do otherwise than +participate in your opinion, sir, that it would appear to admit of no +doubt that the discovery of the comet in question was really due to Miss +Mitchell's learned researches; and that her not having as yet received a +mark of distinction to which she seems to have such a just claim was +entirely owing to her not having observed the prescribed forms. + +"The learned astronomer, Professor Schumacher, having likewise +recommended Miss Mitchell to the favor which she now solicits, I hasten +to refer this question to the king, my august master, at the same time +laying before His Majesty the letter which you have addressed to him on +this subject; and I have much pleasure in being now enabled to inform +you, sir, that His Majesty has not hesitated to grant your request by +awarding to Miss Mitchell the medal which she desires. + +"As soon as this medal is struck, I will have it forwarded to you, and +meanwhile have much pleasure in availing myself of this occasion to +renew to you, sir, the assurances of my most distinguished +consideration. + +[Signed] "F.W. KNUTH. + +"To MR. FLENIKEN, Chargé d'Affaires of the United States of America." + + * * * * * + +MR. FLENIKEN TO THE COUNT DE KNUTH. + +"Légation des Etats Unis d'Amérique, à Copenhague, le 7 Octobre, 1848. + +"MONSIEUR: Le soussigné a eu l'honneur de recevoir l'office que votre +Excellence lui a addressé en date d'hier pour lui faire part de la +nouvelle heureuse que sa Majesté, après avoir examiné les documents que +vous avez bien voulu lui soumettre, ayant pour objet d'établir le fait +que Mlle. Mitchell ait la première découvert la comète télescopique +d'Octobre de l'an dernier, a bien voulu trouver ces preuves suffisantes, +et a ordonné qu'on frappe une médaille, afin de la lui faire présenter +comme une marque de distinction que sa Majesté croit qu'elle mérite en +effet, quoiqu'elle n'ait pas rigoureusement observé les formalités +prescrites par le Roi Frédéric VI., fondateur de ce don. + +"Le soussigné s'empresse donc d'assurer votre Excellence et en même +temps de vous prier, Monsieur, de vouloir bien faire parvenir cette +assurance à sa Majesté, que cet acte signalé de libéralité ne peut +manquer d'être dignement et hautement apprécié par les institutions +scientifiques des Etats Unis, par Mlle. Mitchell qui est l'objet de +cette distinction généreuse, et par les nombreux amis scientifiques de +cette dame; enfin, par tous ceux qui prennent de l'intérêt à la réussite +heureuse des recherches astronomiques. + +"Le soussigné ne peut terminer cette communication sans exprimer à votre +Excellence (en la priant de porter aussi ses sentiments à la +connaissance de sa Majesté) sa vive appréciation de ce noble et éclatant +acte de justice, si promptement et si généreusement rendu à sa jeune +compatriote par le roi de Danemark, et il saisit avec empressement cette +occasion de renouveler à votre Excellence les assurances de sa +considération très distinguée. + +"R.P. FLENIKEN. + +"À Son Excellence M. LE COMTE DE KNUTH, Ministre d'Etat et Chef du +Département des Affaires Etrangères." + + * * * * * + +TRANSLATION. + +"Legation of the United States,} +Copenhagen, October 7th, 1848. } + +"SIR: The undersigned has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your +Excellency's communication of yesterday's date, conveying to him the +gratifying intelligence that His Majesty, from an examination of the +evidence which you obligingly laid before him, tending to establish the +fact of Miss Mitchell's having discovered the telescopic comet of +October, last, has been pleased to consider it quite satisfactory, and +has ordered a medal to be struck for her as a mark of distinction to +which his Majesty deems her entitled, notwithstanding her omission to +comply with the prescribed conditions of Frederic VI., who instituted +the donation. + +"The undersigned, therefore, begs to express to you, sir, and through +you to His Majesty, the assurance that this eminent act of liberality +cannot fail to be duly and highly appreciated by the scientific +institutions of his own country, by Miss Mitchell herself, who is the +object of this generous distinction, and by her numerous scientific +friends, as well as by all who feel an interest in successful +astronomical achievements. + +"The undersigned cannot close this communication without expressing to +you and to the king his own unaffected appreciation of this noble and +distinguished act of justice, so promptly and so generously bestowed +upon his unobtrusive countrywoman by the king of Denmark, and avails +himself of the occasion to renew to your Excellency the assurance of his +most distinguished consideration. + +[Signed] "R.P. FLENIKEN. + +"To His Excellency THE COUNT DE KNUTH, Minister of State, etc., etc., +etc." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Maria Mitchell: Life, Letters, and +Journals, by Maria Mitchell + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARIA MITCHELL *** + +***** This file should be named 10202-8.txt or 10202-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/0/10202/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Sandra Brown and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: + https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL + + diff --git a/old/10202-8.zip b/old/10202-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..af35ad6 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10202-8.zip diff --git a/old/10202.txt b/old/10202.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..644b0bc --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10202.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9137 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Maria Mitchell: Life, Letters, and Journals +by Maria Mitchell + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Maria Mitchell: Life, Letters, and Journals + +Author: Maria Mitchell + +Release Date: November 21, 2003 [EBook #10202] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARIA MITCHELL *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Sandra Brown and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + +[Illustration: Maria Mitchell] + + + + +MARIA MITCHELL + + +LIFE, LETTERS, AND JOURNALS + + + + +Compiled By + +PHEBE MITCHELL KENDALL + + + + +Illustrated + + +1896 + + + + +CONTENTS + + + + +CHAPTER I + +The parents--Home life--Education, teachers, books--Astronomical +instruments--Solar eclipse of 1831--Teaching--Appointment as librarian +of Nantucket Atheneum--Friendships for young people--Extracts from +diary, 1855--Music--The piano--Society--Story-telling--Housework--Extract +from diary, 1854 + + +CHAPTER II + +"Sweeping" the heavens--Discovery of the comet, 1847--Frederick VI. and +the comet--Letters from G. P. Bond and Hon. Edward Everett--Admiral +Smyth--American Academy--American Association for the Advancement of +Science--Extract from diary, 1855--Dorothea Dix--Esther--Divers extracts +from diary, 1853, 1854--Comet of 1854--Computations for comet--Visit to +Cape Cod--Sandwich and Plymouth--Pilgrim Hall--Rev. James Freeman +Clarke--Accidents in observing + + +CHAPTER III + +Wires in the transit instrument--Deacon Greele--Smithsonian +fund--"Doing"--Rachel in "Phedre" and "Adrienne"--Emerson--The hard +winter + + +CHAPTER IV + +Southern tour--Chicago--St. Louis--Scientific Academy of St. Louis--Dr. +Pope--Dr. Seyffarth--Mississippi river--Sand-bars--Cherry +blossoms--Eclipse of sun--Natchez--New Orleans--Slave market--Negro +church--The "peculiar institution"--Bible--Judge Smith--Travelling +without escort--Savannah--Rice plantations--Negro children--Miss +Murray--Charleston--Drive--Condition of slaves--Old buildings--Miss +Rutledge--Mr. Capers--Class meeting--Hospitality--Mrs. Holbrook--Miss +Pinckney--Manners--Portraits--Miss Pinckney's father--George +Washington--Augusta--Nashville--Mrs. Fogg--Mrs. Polk--Charles +Sumner--Mammoth cave--Chattanooga + + +CHAPTER V + +First European tour--Liverpool--London--Rev. James Martineau--Mr. John +Taylor--Mr. Lassell--Liverpool observatory--The Hawthornes--Shop-keepers +and waiters--Greenwich observatory--Sir George Airy--Visits to +Greenwich--Herr Struve's mission to England--Dinner party--General +Sabine--Westminster Abbey--Newton's monument--British museum--Four +great men--St. Paul's--Dr. Johnson--Opera--Aylesbury--Admiral Smyth's +family--Amateur astronomers--Hartwell house--Dr. Lee + + +CHAPTER VI + +Cambridge--Dr. Whewell--Table conversation--Professor Challis--Professor +Adams--Customs--Professor Sedgwick--Caste--King's Chapel--Fellows-- +Ambleside--Coniston waters--The lakes--Miss Southey--Collingwood--Letter +to her father--Herschels--London rout--Professor Stokes--Dr. +Arnott--Edinboro'--Observatory--Glasgow observatory--Professor +Nichol--Dungeon Ghyll--English language--English and Americans--Boys and +beggars + + +CHAPTER VII + +Adams and Leverrier--The discovery of the planet Neptune--Extract from +papers--Professor Bond, of Cambridge, Mass.--Paris--Imperial +observatory--Mons. and Mme. Leverrier--Reception at Leverrier's--Rooms +in observatory--Rome--Impressions--Apartments in Rome and +Paris--Customs--Holy week--Vespers at St. Peter's--Women--Frederika +Bremer--Paul Akers--Harriet Hosmer--Collegio Romano--Father +Secchi--Galileo--Visit to the Roman observatory--Permission from +Cardinal Antonelli--Spectroscope + + +CHAPTER VIII + +Mrs. Somerville--Berlin--Humboldt--Mrs. Mitchell's illness and +death--Removal to Lynn, Mass.--Telescope presented to Miss Mitchell by +Elizabeth Peabody and others--Letters from Admiral Smyth--Colors of +stars--Extract from letter to a friend--San Marino medal--Other extracts + + +CHAPTER IX + +Life at Vassar College--Anxious mammas--Faculty meetings--President +Hill--Professor Peirce--Burlington, Ia., and solar eclipse--Classes at +Vassar--Professor Mitchell and her pupils--Extracts from diary--Aids +--Scholarships--Address to her students--Imagination in science--"I am +but a woman"--Maria Mitchell endowment fund--Emperor of +Brazil--President Raymond's death--Dome parties--Comet, 1881--The +apple-tree--"Honor girls"--Mr. Matthew Arnold + + +CHAPTER X + +Second visit to Europe--Russia--Extracts from diary and +letters--Custom-house peculiarities--Russian railways--Domes--Russian +thermometers and calendars--The drosky and drivers--Observatory at +Pulkova--Herr Struve--Scientific position of Russia--Language-- +Religion--Democracy of the Church--Government--A Russian +family--London, 1873--Frances Power Cobbe--Bookstores in London--Glasgow +College for Girls + + +CHAPTER XI + +Papers--Science--Eclipse of 1878, Denver, Colorado--Colors of stars + + +CHAPTER XII + +Religious matters--President Taylor's remarks--Sermons--George +MacDonald--Rev. Dr. Peabody--Dr. Lyman Abbott--Professor Henry--Meeting +of the American Scientific Association at Saratoga--Professor Peirce-- +Concord School of Philosophy--Emerson--Miss Peabody--Dr. Harris--Easter +flowers--Whittier--Rich days--Cooking schools--Anecdotes + + +CHAPTER XIII + +Letter-writing--Woman suffrage--Membership in various societies.--Women's +Congress at Syracuse, N.Y.--Picnic at Medfield, Mass.--Degrees from +different colleges--Published papers.--Failure in health--Resigns her +position at Vassar College--Letters from various persons--Death--Conclusion + + +APPENDIX + +Introductory note by Hon. Edward Everett + +Correspondence relative to the Danish medal + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +1818-1846 + +BIRTH--PARENTS--HOME SURROUNDINGS AND EARLY LIFE + +Maria Mitchell was born on the island of Nantucket, Mass., Aug. 1, 1818. +She was the third child of William and Lydia [Coleman] Mitchell. + +Her ancestors, on both sides, were Quakers for many generations; and it +was in consequence of the intolerance of the early Puritans that these +ancestors had been obliged to flee from the State of Massachusetts, and +to settle upon this island, which, at that time, belonged to the State +of New York. + +For many years the Quakers, or Friends, as they called themselves, +formed much the larger part of the inhabitants of Nantucket, and thus +were enabled to crystallize, as it were, their own ideas of what family +and social life should be; and although in course of time many "world's +people" swooped down and helped to swell the number of islanders, they +still continued to hold their own methods, and to bring up their +children in accordance with their own conceptions of "Divine light." + +Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell were married during the war of 1812; the former +lacking one week of being twenty-one years old, and the latter being a +few months over twenty. + +The people of Nantucket by their situation endured many hardships during +this period; their ships were upon the sea a prey to privateers, and +communication with the mainland was exposed to the same danger, so that +it was difficult to obtain such necessaries of life as the island could +not furnish. There were still to be seen, a few years ago, the marks +left on the moors, where fields of corn and potatoes had been planted in +that trying time. + +So the young couple began their housekeeping in a very simple way. Mr. +Mitchell used to describe it as being very delightful; it was noticed +that Mrs. Mitchell never expressed herself on the subject,--it was she, +probably, who had the planning to do, to make a little money go a great +way, and to have everything smooth and serene when her husband came +home. + +Mrs. Mitchell was a woman of strong character, very dignified, honest +almost to an extreme, and perfectly self-controlled where control was +necessary. She possessed very strong affections, but her self-control +was such that she was undemonstrative. + +She kept a close watch over her children, was clearheaded, knew their +every fault and every merit, and was an indefatigable worker. It was she +who looked out for the education of the children and saw what their +capacities were. + +Mr. Mitchell was a man of great suavity and gentleness; if left to +himself he would never have denied a single request made to him by one +of his children. His first impulse was to gratify every desire of their +hearts, and if it had not been for the clear head of the mother, who +took care that the household should be managed wisely and economically, +the results might have been disastrous. The father had wisdom enough to +perceive this, and when a child came to him, and in a very pathetic and +winning way proffered some request for an unusual indulgence, he +generally replied, "Yes, if mother thinks best." + +Mr. Mitchell was very fond of bright colors; as they were excluded from +the dress of Friends, he indulged himself wherever it was possible. If +he were buying books, and there was a variety of binding, he always +chose the copies with red covers. Even the wooden framework of the +reflecting telescope which he used was painted a brilliant red. He liked +a gay carpet on the floor, and the walls of the family sitting-room in +the house on Vestal street were covered with paper resplendent with +bunches of pink roses. Suspended by a cord from the ceiling in the +centre of this room was a glass ball, filled with water, used by Mr. +Mitchell in his experiments on polarization of light, flashing its +dancing rainbows about the room. + +At the back of this house was a little garden, full of gay flowers: so +that if the garb of the young Mitchells was rather sombre, the setting +was bright and cheerful, and the life in the home was healthy and +wide-awake. When the hilarity became excessive the mother would put in +her little check, from time to time, and the father would try to look as +he ought to, but he evidently enjoyed the whole. + +As Mr. Mitchell was kind and indulgent to his children, so he was the +sympathetic friend and counsellor of many in trouble who came to him for +help or advice. As he took his daily walk to the little farm about a +mile out of town, where, for an hour or two he enjoyed being a farmer, +the people would come to their doors to speak to him as he passed, and +the little children would run up to him to be patted on the head. + +He treated animals in the same way. He generally kept a horse. His +children complained that although the horse was good when it was bought, +yet as Mr. Mitchell never allowed it to be struck with a whip, nor urged +to go at other than a very gentle trot, the horse became thoroughly +demoralized, and was no more fit to drive than an old cow! + +There was everything in the home which could amuse and instruct +children. The eldest daughter was very handy at all sorts of +entertaining occupations; she had a delicate sense of the artistic, and +was quite skilful with her pencil. + +The present kindergarten system in its practice is almost identical with +the home as it appeared in the first half of this century, among +enlightened people. There is hardly any kind of handiwork done in the +kindergarten that was not done in the Mitchell family, and in other +families of their acquaintance. The girls learned to sew and cook, just +as they learned to read,--as a matter of habit rather than of +instruction. They learned how to make their own clothes, by making their +dolls' clothes,--and the dolls themselves were frequently home-made, the +eldest sister painting the faces much more prettily than those obtained +at the shops; and there was a great delight in gratifying the fancy, by +dressing the dolls, not in Quaker garb, but in all of the most brilliant +colors and stylish shapes worn by the ultra-fashionable. + +There were always plenty of books, and besides those in the house there +was the Atheneum Library, which, although not a free library, was very +inexpensive to the shareholders. + +There was another very striking difference between that epoch and the +present. The children of that day were taught to value a book and to +take excellent care of it; as an instance it may be mentioned that one +copy of Colburn's "Algebra" was used by eight children in the Mitchell +family, one after the other. The eldest daughter's name was written on +the inside of the cover; seven more names followed in the order of their +ages, as the book descended. + +With regard to their reading, the mother examined every book that came +into the house. Of course there were not so many books published then as +now, and the same books were read over and over. Miss Edgeworth's +stories became part of their very lives, and Young's "Night Thoughts," +and the poems of Cowper and Bloomfield were conspicuous objects on the +bookshelves of most houses in those days. Mr. Mitchell was very apt, +while observing the heavens in the evening, to quote from one or the +other of these poets, or from the Bible. "An undevout astronomer is mad" +was one of his favorite quotations. + +Among the poems which Maria learned in her childhood, and which was +repeatedly upon her lips all through her life, was, "The spacious +firmament on high." In her latter years if she had a sudden fright which +threatened to take away her senses she would test her mental condition +by repeating that poem; it is needless to say that she always remembered +it, and her nerves instantly relapsed into their natural condition. + +The lives of Maria Mitchell and her numerous brothers and sisters were +passed in simplicity and with an entire absence of anything exciting or +abnormal. + +The education of their children is enjoined upon the parents by the +"Discipline," and in those days at least the parents did not give up all +the responsibility in that line to the teachers. In Maria Mitchell's +childhood the children of a family sat around the table in the evenings +and studied their lessons for the next day,--the parents or the older +children assisting the younger if the lessons were too difficult. The +children attended school five days in the week,--six hours in the +day,--and their only vacation was four weeks in the summer, generally in +August. + +The idea that children over-studied and injured their health was never +promulgated in that family, nor indeed in that community; it seems to be +a notion of the present half-century. + +Maria's first teacher was a lady for whom she always felt the warmest +affection, and in her diary, written in her later years, occurs this +allusion to her: + +"I count in my life, outside of family relatives, three aids given me on +my journey; they are prominent to me: the woman who first made the +study-book charming; the man who sent me the first hundred dollars I +ever saw, to buy books with; and another noble woman, through whose +efforts I became the owner of a telescope; and of these, the first was +the greatest." + +As a little girl, Maria was not a brilliant scholar; she was shy and +slow; but later, under her father's tuition, she developed very rapidly. + +After the close of the war of 1812, when business was resumed and the +town restored to its normal prosperity, Mr. Mitchell taught school,--at +first as master of a public school, and afterwards in a private school +of his own. Maria attended both of these schools. + +Mr. Mitchell's pupils speak of him as a most inspiring teacher, and he +always spoke of his experiences in that capacity as very happy. + +When her father gave up teaching, Maria was put under the instruction of +Mr. Cyrus Peirce, afterwards principal of the first normal school +started in the United States. + +Mr. Peirce took a great interest in Maria, especially in developing her +taste for mathematical study, for which she early showed a remarkable +talent. + +The books which she studied at the age of seventeen, as we know by the +date of the notes, were Bridge's "Conic Sections," Hutton's +"Mathematics," and Bowditch's "Navigator." At that time Prof. Benjamin +Peirce had not published his "Explanations of the Navigator and +Almanac," so that Maria was obliged to consult many scientific books and +reports before she could herself construct the astronomical tables. + +Mr. Mitchell, on relinquishing school-teaching, was appointed cashier of +the Pacific Bank; but although he gave up teaching, he by no means gave +up studying his favorite science, astronomy, and Maria was his willing +helper at all times. + +Mr. Mitchell from his early youth was an enthusiastic student of +astronomy, at a time, too, when very little attention was given to that +study in this country. His evenings, when pleasant, were spent in +observing the heavens, and to the children, accustomed to seeing such +observations going on, the important study in the world seemed to be +astronomy. One by one, as they became old enough, they were drafted into +the service of counting seconds by the chronometer, during the +observations. + +Some of them took an interest in the thing itself, and others considered +it rather stupid work, but they all drank in so much of this atmosphere, +that if any one had asked a little child in this family, "Who was the +greatest man that ever lived?" the answer would have come promptly, +"Herschel." + +Maria very early learned the use of the sextant. The chronometers of all +the whale ships were brought to Mr. Mitchell, on their return from a +voyage, to be "rated," as it was called. For this purpose he used the +sextant, and the observations were made in the little back yard of the +Vestal-street home. + +There was also a clumsy reflecting telescope made on the Herschelian +plan, but of very great simplicity, which was put up on fine nights in +the same back yard, when the neighbors used to flock in to look at the +moon. Afterwards Mr. Mitchell bought a small Dolland telescope, which +thereafter, as long as she lived, his daughter used for "sweeping" +purposes. + +After their removal to the bank building there were added to these an +"altitude and azimuth circle," loaned to Mr. Mitchell by West Point +Academy, and two transit instruments. A little observatory for the use +of the first was placed on the roof of the bank building, and two small +buildings were erected in the yard for the transits. There was also a +much larger and finer telescope loaned by the Coast Survey, for which +service Mr. Mitchell made observations. + +At the time when Maria Mitchell showed a decided taste for the study of +astronomy there was no school in the world where she could be taught +higher mathematics and astronomy. Harvard College, at that time, had no +telescope better than the one which her father was using, and no +observatory except the little octagonal projection to the old mansion in +Cambridge occupied by the late Dr. A.P. Peabody. + +However, every one will admit that no school nor institution is better +for a child than the home, with an enthusiastic parent for a teacher. + +At the time of the annular eclipse of the sun in 1831 the totality was +central at Nantucket. The window was taken out of the parlor on Vestal +street, the telescope, the little Dolland, mounted in front of it, and +with Maria by his side counting the seconds the father observed the +eclipse. Maria was then twelve years old. + +At sixteen Miss Mitchell left Mr. Peirce's school as a pupil, but was +retained as assistant teacher; she soon relinquished that position and +opened a private school on Traders' Lane. This school too she gave up +for the position of librarian of the Nantucket Atheneum, which office +she held for nearly twenty years. + +This library was open only in the afternoon, and on Saturday evening. +The visitors were comparatively few in the afternoon, so that Miss +Mitchell had ample leisure for study,--an opportunity of which she made +the most. Her visitors in the afternoon were elderly men of leisure, who +enjoyed talking with so bright a girl on their favorite hobbies. When +they talked Miss Mitchell closed her book and took up her knitting, for +she was never idle. With some of these visitors the friendship was kept +up for years. + +It was in this library that she found La Place's "Mecanique Celeste," +translated by her father's friend, Dr. Bowditch; she also read the +"Theoria Motus," of Gauss, in its original Latin form. In her capacity +as librarian Miss Mitchell to a large extent controlled the reading of +the young people in the town. Many of them on arriving at mature years +have expressed their gratitude for the direction in which their reading +was turned by her advice. + +Miss Mitchell always had a special friendship for young girls and boys. +Many of these intimacies grew out of the acquaintance made at the +library,--the young girls made her their confidante and went to her for +sympathy and advice. The boys, as they grew up, and went away to sea, +perhaps, always remembered her, and made a point, when they returned in +their vacations, of coming to tell their experiences to such a +sympathetic listener. + +"April 18, 1855. A young sailor boy came to see me to-day. It pleases me +to have these lads seek me on their return from their first voyage, and +tell me how much they have learned about navigation. They always say, +with pride, 'I can take a lunar, Miss Mitchell, and work it up!' + +"This boy I had known only as a boy, but he has suddenly become a man +and seems to be full of intelligence. He will go once more as a sailor, +he says, and then try for the position of second mate. He looked as if +he had been a good boy and would make a good man. + +"He said that he had been ill so much that he had been kept out of +temptation; but that the forecastle of a ship was no place for +improvement of mind or morals. He said the captain with whom he came +home asked him if he knew me, because he had heard of me. I was glad to +find that the captain was a man of intelligence and had been kind to the +boy." + +Miss Mitchell was an inveterate reader. She devoured books on all +subjects. If she saw that boys were eagerly reading a certain book she +immediately read it; if it were harmless she encouraged them to read it; +if otherwise, she had a convenient way of _losing_ the book. In +November, when the trustees made their annual examination, the book +appeared upon the shelf, but the next day after it was again lost. At +this time Nantucket was a thriving, busy town. The whale-fishery was a +very profitable business, and the town was one of the wealthiest in the +State. There was a good deal of social and literary life. In a Friend's +family neither music nor dancing was allowed. + +Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell were by no means narrow sectarians, but they +believed it to be best to conform to the rules of Friends as laid down +in the "Discipline." George Fox himself, the founder of the society, had +blown a blast against music, and especially instrumental music in +churches. It will be remembered that the Methodists have but recently +yielded to the popular demand in this respect, and have especially +favored congregational singing. + +It is most likely that George Fox had no ear for music himself, and thus +entailed upon his followers an obligation from which they are but now +freeing themselves. + +There was plenty of singing in the Mitchell family, and the parents +liked it, especially the father, who, when he sat down in the evening +with the children, would say, "Now sing something." But there could be +no instruction in singing; the children sang the songs that they picked +up from their playmates. + +However, one of the daughters bought a piano, and Maria's purse opened +to help that cause along. It would not have been proper for Mr. Mitchell +to help pay for it, but he took a great interest in it, nevertheless. So +indeed did the mother, but she took care not to express herself +outwardly. + +The piano was kept in a neighboring building not too far off to be heard +from the house. Maria had no ear for music herself, but she was always +to be depended upon to take the lead in an emergency, so the sisters put +their heads together and decided that the piano must be brought into the +house. When they had made all the preparations the father and mother +were invited to take tea with their married daughter, who lived in +another part of the town and had been let into the secret. + +The piano was duly removed and placed in an upper room called the +"hall," where Mr. Mitchell kept the chronometers, where the family +sewing was done, and where the larger part of the books were kept,--a +beautiful room, overlooking "the square," and a great gathering-place +for all their young friends. When the piano was put in place, the +sisters awaited the coming of the parents. Maria stationed herself at +the foot of the stairs, ready to meet them as they entered the front +door; another, half-way between, was to give the signal to a third, who +was seated at the piano. The footsteps were heard at the door, the +signal was given; a lively tune was started, and Maria confronted the +parents as they entered. + +"What's that?" was the exclamation. + +"Well," said Maria, soothingly, "we've had the piano brought over." + +"Why, of all things!" exclaimed the mother. + +The father laid down his hat, walked immediately upstairs, entered the +hall, and said, "Come, daughter, play something lively!" + +So that was all. + +But that was not all for Mr. Mitchell; he had broken the rules accepted +by the Friends, and it was necessary for some notice to be taken of it, +so a dear old Friend and neighbor came to deal with him. Now, to be +"under dealings," as it is called, was a very serious matter,--to be +spoken of only under the breath, in a half whisper. + +"I hear that thee has a piano in thy house," said the old Friend. + +"Yes, my daughters have," was the reply. + +"But it is in thy house," pursued the Friend. + +"Yes; but my home is my children's home as well as mine," said Mr. +Mitchell, "and I propose that they shall not be obliged to go away from +home for their pleasures. I don't play on the piano." + +It so happened that Mr. Mitchell held the property of the "monthly +meeting" in his hands at the time, and it was a very improper thing for +the accredited agent of the society to be "under dealings," as Mr. +Mitchell gently suggested. + +This the Friend had not thought of, and so he said, "Well, William, +perhaps we'd better say no more about it." + +When the father came home after this interview he could not keep it to +himself. If it had been the mother who was interviewed she would have +kept it a profound secret,--because she would not have liked to have her +children get any fun out of the proceedings of the old Friend. But Mr. +Mitchell told the story in his quiet way, the daughters enjoyed it, and +declared that the piano was placed upon a firm foothold by this +proceeding. The news spread abroad, and several other young Quaker girls +eagerly seized the occasion to gratify their musical longings in the +same direction. [Footnote: It is pleasant to note that this objection to +music among Friends is a thing of the past, and that the Friends' School +at Providence, R.I., which is under the control of the "New England +Yearly Meeting of Friends," has music in its regular curriculum.] + +Few women with scientific tastes had the advantages which surrounded +Miss Mitchell in her own home. Her father was acquainted with the most +prominent scientific men in the country, and in his hospitable home at +Nantucket she met many persons of distinction in literature and science. + +She cared but little for general society, and had always to be coaxed to +go into company. Later in life, however, she was much more socially +inclined, and took pleasure in making and receiving visits. She could +neither dance nor sing, but in all amusements which require quickness +and a ready wit she was very happy. She was very fond of children, and +knew how to amuse them and to take care of them. As she had half a dozen +younger brothers and sisters, she had ample opportunity to make herself +useful. + +She was a capital story-teller, and always had a story on hand to divert +a wayward child, or to soothe the little sister who was lying awake, and +afraid of the dark. She wrote a great many little stories, printed them +with a pen, and bound them in pretty covers. Most of them were destroyed +long ago. + +Maria took her part in all the household work. She knew how to do +everything that has to be done in a large family where but one servant +is kept, and she did everything thoroughly. If she swept a room it +became clean. She might not rearrange the different articles of +furniture in the most artistic manner, but everything would be clean, +and there would be nothing left crooked. If a chair was to be placed, it +would be parallel to something; she was exceedingly sensitive to a line +out of the perpendicular, and could detect the slightest deviation from +that rule. She had also a sensitive eye in the matter of color, and felt +any lack of harmony in the colors worn by those about her. + +Maria was always ready to "bear the brunt," and could at any time be +coaxed by the younger children to do the things which they found +difficult or disagreeable. + +The two youngest children in the family were delicate, and the special +care of the youngest sister devolved upon Maria, who knew how to be a +good nurse as well as a good playfellow. She was especially careful of a +timid child; she herself was timid, and, throughout her life, could +never witness a thunder-storm with any calmness. + +On one of those occasions so common in an American household, when the +one servant suddenly takes her leave, or is summarily dismissed, Miss +Mitchell describes her part of the family duties: + +"Oct. 21, 1854. This morning I arose at six, having been half asleep +only for some hours, fearing that I might not be up in time to get +breakfast, a task which I had volunteered to do the preceding evening. +It was but half light, and I made a hasty toilet. I made a fire very +quickly, prepared the coffee, baked the graham bread, toasted white +bread, trimmed the solar lamp, and made another fire in the dining-room +before seven o'clock. + +"I always thought that servant-girls had an easy time of it, and I still +think so. I really found an hour too long for all this, and when I rang +the bell at seven for breakfast I had been waiting fifteen minutes for +the clock to strike. + +"I went to the Atheneum at 9.30, and having decided that I would take +the Newark and Cambridge places of the comet, and work them up, I did +so, getting to the three equations before I went home to dinner at +12.30. I omitted the corrections of parallax and aberrations, not +intending to get more than a rough approximation. I find to my sorrow +that they do not agree with those from my own observations. I shall look +over them again next week. + +"At noon I ran around and did up several errands, dined, and was back +again at my post by 1.30. Then I looked over my morning's work,--I can +find no mistake. I have worn myself thin trying to find out about this +comet, and I know very little now in the matter. + +"I saw, in looking over Cooper, elements of a comet of 1825 which +resemble what I get out for this, from my own observations, but I cannot +rely upon my own. + +"I saw also, to-day, in the 'Monthly Notices,' a plan for measuring the +light of stars by degrees of illumination,--an idea which had occurred +to me long ago, but which I have not practised. + +"October 23. Yesterday I was again reminded of the remark which Mrs. +Stowe makes about the variety of occupations which an American woman +pursues. + +"She says it is this, added to the cares and anxieties, which keeps them +so much behind the daughters of England in personal beauty. + +"And to-day I was amused at reading that one of her party objected to +the introduction of waxed floors into American housekeeping, because she +could seem to see herself down on her knees doing the waxing. + +"But of yesterday. I was up before six, made the fire in the kitchen, +and made coffee. Then I set the table in the dining-room, and made the +fire there. Toasted bread and trimmed lamps. Rang the breakfast bell at +seven. After breakfast, made my bed, and 'put up' the room. Then I came +down to the Atheneum and looked over my comet computations till noon. +Before dinner I did some tatting, and made seven button-holes for K. I +dressed and then dined. Came back again to the Atheneum at 1.30, and +looked over another set of computations, which took me until four +o'clock. I was pretty tired by that time, and rested by reading +'Cosmos.' Lizzie E. came in, and I gossiped for half an hour. I went +home to tea, and that over, I made a loaf of bread. Then I went up to my +room and read through (partly writing) two exercises in German, which +took me thirty-five minutes. + +"It was stormy, and I had no observing to do, so I sat down to my +tatting. Lizzie E. came in and I took a new lesson in tatting, so as to +make the pearl-edged. I made about half a yard during the evening. At a +little after nine I went home with Lizzie, and carried a letter to the +post-office. I had kept steadily at work for sixteen hours when I went +to bed." + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +1847-1854 + +MISS MITCHELL'S COMET--EXTRACTS FROM DIARY--THE COMET + +Miss Mitchell spent every clear evening on the house-top "sweeping" the +heavens. + +No matter how many guests there might be in the parlor, Miss Mitchell +would slip out, don her regimentals as she called them, and, lantern in +hand, mount to the roof. + +On the evening of Oct. 1, 1847, there was a party of invited guests at +the Mitchell home. As usual, Maria slipped out, ran up to the telescope, +and soon returned to the parlor and told her father that she thought she +saw a comet. Mr. Mitchell hurried upstairs, stationed himself at the +telescope, and as soon as he looked at the object pointed out by his +daughter declared it to be a comet. Miss Mitchell, with her usual +caution, advised him to say nothing about it until they had observed it +long enough to be tolerably sure. But Mr. Mitchell immediately wrote to +Professor Bond, at Cambridge, announcing the discovery. On account of +stormy weather, the mails did not leave Nantucket until October 3. + +Frederick VI., King of Denmark, had offered, Dec. 17, 1831, a gold medal +of the value of twenty ducats to the first discoverer of a telescopic +comet. The regulations, as revised and amended, were republished, in +April, 1840, in the "Astronomische Nachrichten." + +When this comet was discovered, the king who had offered the medal was +dead. The son, Frederick VII., who had succeeded him, had not the +interest in science which belonged to his father, but he was prevailed +upon to carry out his father's designs in this particular case. + +The same comet had been seen by Father de Vico at Rome, on October 3, at +7.30 P.M., and this fact was immediately communicated by him to +Professor Schumacher, at Altona. On the 7th of October, at 9.20 P.M., +the comet was observed by Mr. W.R. Dawes, at Kent, England, and on the +11th it was seen by Madame Ruemker, the wife of the director of the +observatory at Hamburg. + +The following letter from the younger Bond will show the cordial +relations existing between the observatory at Cambridge and the smaller +station at Nantucket: + + CAMBRIDGE, Oct. 20, 1847. + + DEAR MARIA: There! I think that is a very amiable beginning, + considering the way in which I have been treated by you! If you + are going to find any more comets, can you not wait till they + are announced by the proper authorities? At least, don't kidnap + another such as this last was. + + If my object were to make you fear and tremble, I should tell + you that on the evening of the 30th I was sweeping within a few + degrees of your prize. I merely throw out the hint for what it + is worth. + + It has been very interesting to watch the motion of this comet + among the stars with the great refractor; we could almost see it + move. + + An account of its passage over the star mentioned by your father + when he was here, would make an interesting notice for one of + the foreign journals, which we would readily forward.... [Here + follow Mr. Bond's observations.] + + Respectfully, + + Your obedient servant, + + G. P. BOND. + +Hon. Edward Everett, who at that time was president of Harvard College, +took a great interest in the matter, and immediately opened a +correspondence with the proper authorities, and sent a notice of the +discovery to the "Astronomische Nachrichten." + +The priority of Miss Mitchell's discovery was immediately admitted +throughout Europe. + +The King of Denmark very promptly referred the matter to Professor +Schumacher, who reported in favor of granting the medal to Miss +Mitchell, and the medal was duly struck off and forwarded to Mr. +Everett. + +Among European astronomers who urged Miss Mitchell's claim was Admiral +Smyth, whom she knew through his "Celestial Cycle," and who later, on +her visit to England, became a warm personal friend. Madame Ruemker, +also, sent congratulations. + +Mr. Everett announced the receipt of the medal to Miss Mitchell in the +following letter: + + CAMBRIDGE, March 29, 1849. + + MY DEAR MISS MITCHELL: I have the pleasure to inform you that + your medal arrived by the last steamer; it reached me by mail, + yesterday afternoon. + + I went to Boston this morning, hoping to find you at the Adams + House, to put it into your own hand. + + As your return to Nantucket prevented this, I, of course, retain + it, subject to your orders, not liking to take the risk again of + its transmission by mail. + + Having it in this way in my hand, I have taken the liberty to + show it to some friends, such as W.C. Bond, Professor Peirce, + the editors of the "Transcript," and the members of my + family,--which I hope you will pardon. + + I remain, my dear Miss Mitchell, with great regard, + + Very faithfully yours, + + EDWARD EVERETT.[Footnote: See Appendix.] + +In 1848 Miss Mitchell was elected to membership by the "American Academy +of Arts and Sciences," unanimously; she was the first and only woman +ever admitted. In the diploma the printed word "Fellow" is erased, and +the words "Honorary Member" inserted by Dr. Asa Gray, who signed the +document as secretary. Some years later, however, her name is found in +the list of Fellows of this Academy, also of the American Institute and +of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. For many +years she attended the annual conventions of this last-mentioned +association, in which she took great interest. + +The extract below refers to one of these meetings, probably that of +1855: + +"August 23. It is really amusing to find one's self lionized in a city +where one has visited quietly for years; to see the doors of fashionable +mansions open wide to receive you, which never opened before. I suspect +that the whole corps of science laughs in its sleeves at the farce. + +"The leaders make it pay pretty well. My friend Professor Bache makes +the occasions the opportunities for working sundry little wheels, +pulleys, and levers; the result of all which is that he gets his +enormous appropriations of $400,000 out of Congress, every winter, for +the maintenance of the United States Coast Survey. + +"For a few days Science reigns supreme,--we are feted and complimented +to the top of our bent, and although complimenters and complimented must +feel that it is only a sort of theatrical performance, for a few days +and over, one does enjoy acting the part of greatness for a while! I was +tired after three days of it, and glad to take the cars and run away. + +"The descent into a commoner was rather sudden. I went alone to Boston, +and when I reached out my free pass, the conductor read it through and +handed it back, saying in a gruff voice, 'It's worth nothing; a dollar +and a quarter to Boston.' Think what a downfall! the night before, and + + 'One blast upon my bugle horn + Were worth a hundred men!' + +Now one man alone was my dependence, and that man looked very much +inclined to put me out of the car for attempting to pass a ticket that +in his eyes was valueless. Of course I took it quietly, and paid the +money, merely remarking, 'You will pass a hundred persons on this road +in a few days on these same tickets.' + +"When I look back on the paper read at this meeting by Mr. J---- in his +uncouth manner, I think when a man is thoroughly in earnest, how +careless he is of mere _words!_" + +In 1849 Miss Mitchell was asked by the late Admiral Davis, who had just +taken charge of the American Nautical Almanac, to act as computer for +that work,--a proposition to which she gladly assented, and for nineteen +years she held that position in addition to her other duties. This, of +course, made a very desirable increase to her income, but not +necessarily to her expenses. The tables of the planet Venus were +assigned to her. In this year, too, she was employed by Professor Bache, +of the United States Coast Survey, in the work of an astronomical party +at Mount Independence, Maine. + +"1853. I was told that Miss Dix wished to see me, and I called upon her. +It was dusk, and I did not at once see her; her voice was low, not +particularly sweet, but very gentle. She told me that she had heard +Professor Henry speak of me, and that Professor Henry was one of her +best friends, the truest man she knew. When the lights were brought in I +looked at her. She must be past fifty, she is rather small, dresses +indifferently, has good features in general, but indifferent eyes. She +does not brighten up in countenance in conversing. She is so successful +that I suppose there must be a hidden fire somewhere, for heat is a +motive power, and her cold manners could never move Legislatures. I saw +some outburst of fire when Mrs. Hale's book was spoken of. It seems Mrs. +Hale wrote to her for permission to publish a notice of her, and was +decidedly refused; another letter met with the same answer, yet she +wrote a 'Life' which Miss Dix says is utterly false. + +"In her general sympathy for suffering humanity, Miss Dix seems +neglectful of the individual interest. She has no family connection but +a brother, has never had sisters, and she seemed to take little interest +in the persons whom she met. I was surprised at her feeling any desire +to see me. She is not strikingly interesting in conversation, because +she is so grave, so cold, and so quiet. I asked her if she did not +become at times weary and discouraged; and she said, wearied, but not +discouraged, for she had met with nothing but success. There is +evidently a strong will which carries all before it, not like the sweep +of the hurricane, but like the slow, steady, and powerful march of the +molten lava. + +"It is sad to see a woman sacrificing the ties of the affections even to +do good. I have no doubt Miss Dix does much good, but a woman needs a +home and the love of other women at least, if she lives without that of +man." + +The following entry was made many years after:-- + +"August, 1871. I have just seen Miss Dix again, having met her only once +for a few minutes in all the eighteen years. She listened to a story of +mine about some girls in need, and then astonished me by an offer she +made me." + +"Feb. 15, 1853. I think Dr. Hall [in his 'Life of Mary Ware'] does wrong +when he attempts to encourage the use of the _needle_. It seems to me +that the needle is the chain of woman, and has fettered her more than +the laws of the country. + +"Once emancipate her from the 'stitch, stitch, stitch," the industry of +which would be commendable if it served any purpose except the +gratification of her vanity, and she would have time for studies which +would engross as the needle never can. I would as soon put a girl alone +into a closet to meditate as give her only the society of her needle. +The art of sewing, so far as men learn it, is well enough; that is, to +enable a person to _take the stitches_, and, if necessary, to make her +own garments in a strong manner; but the dressmaker should no more be a +universal character than the carpenter. Suppose every man should feel it +is his duty to do his own mechanical work of _all_ kinds, would society +be benefited? would the work be well done? Yet a woman is expected to +know how to do all kinds of sewing, all kinds of cooking, all kinds of +any _woman's_ work, and the consequence is that life is passed in +learning these only, while the universe of truth beyond remains +unentered. + +"May 11, 1853. I could not help thinking of Esther [a much-loved cousin +who had recently died] a few evenings since when I was observing. A +meteor flashed upon me suddenly, very bright, very short-lived; it +seemed to me that it was sent for me especially, for it greeted me +almost the first instant I looked up, and was gone in a second,--it was +as fleeting and as beautiful as the smile upon Esther's face the last +time I saw her. I thought when I talked with her about death that, +though she could not come to me visibly, she might be able to influence +my feelings; but it cannot be, for my faith has been weaker than ever +since she died, and my fears have been greater." + +A few pages farther on in the diary appears this poem: + + "ESTHER + + "Living, the hearts of all around + Sought hers as slaves a throne; + Dying, the reason first we found-- + The fulness of her own. + + "She gave unconsciously the while + A wealth we all might share-- + To me the memory of the smile + That last I saw her wear. + + "Earth lost from out its meagre store + A bright and precious stone; + Heaven could not be so rich before, + But it has richer grown." + +"Sept. 19, 1853. I am surprised to find the verse which I picked up +somewhere and have always admired-- + + "'Oh, reader, had you in your mind + Such stores as silent thought can bring, + Oh, gentle reader, you would find + A tale in everything'-- + +belonging to Wordsworth and to one of Wordsworth's simple, I am almost +ready to say _silly_, poems. I am in doubt what to think of Wordsworth. +I should be ashamed of some of his poems if I had written them myself, +and yet there are points of great beauty, and lines which once in the +mind will not leave it. + +"Oct. 31, 1853. People have to learn sometimes not only how much the +heart, but how much the head, can bear. My letter came from Cambridge +[the Harvard Observatory], and I had some work to do over. It was a +wearyful job, but by dint of shutting myself up all day I did manage to +get through with it. The good of my travelling showed itself then, when +I was too tired to read, to listen, or to talk; for the beautiful +scenery of the West was with me in the evening, instead of the tedious +columns of logarithms. It is a blessed thing that these pictures keep in +the mind and come out at the needful hour. I did not call them, but they +seemed to come forth as a regulator for my tired brain, as if they had +been set sentinel-like to watch a proper time to appear. + +"November, 1853. There is said to be no up or down in creation, but I +think the _world_ must be _low_, for people who keep themselves +constantly before it do a great deal of stooping! + +"Dec. 8, 1853. Last night we had the first meeting of the class in +elocution. It was very pleasant, but my deficiency of ear was never more +apparent to myself. We had exercises in the ascending scale, and I +practised after I came home, with the family as audience. H. says my ear +is competent only to vulgar hearing, and I cannot appreciate nice +distinctions.... I am sure that I shall never say that if I had been +properly educated I should have made a singer, a dancer, or a painter--I +should have failed less, perhaps, in the last. ... Coloring I might have +been good in, for I do think my eyes are better than those of any one I +know. + +"Feb. 18, 1854. If I should make out a calendar by my feelings of +fatigue, I should say there were six Saturdays in the week and one +Sunday. + +"Mr. ---- somewhat ridicules my plan of reading Milton with a view to +his astronomy, but I have found it very pleasant, and have certainly a +juster idea of Milton's variety of greatness than I had before. I have +filled several sheets with my annotations on the 'Paradise Lost,' which +I may find useful if I should ever be obliged to teach, either as a +schoolma'am or a lecturer. [Footnote: This paper has been printed since +Miss Mitchell's death in "Poet-lore," June-July, 1894.] + +"March 2, 1854. I 'swept' last night two hours, by three periods. It was +a grand night--not a breath of air, not a fringe of a cloud, all clear, +all beautiful. I really enjoy that kind of work, but my back soon +becomes tired, long before the cold chills me. I saw two nebulae in Leo +with which I was not familiar, and that repaid me for the time. I am +always the better for open-air breathing, and was certainly meant for +the wandering life of the Indian. + +"Sept. 12, 1854. I am just through with a summer, and a summer is to me +always a trying ordeal. I have determined not to spend so much time at +the Atheneum another season, but to put some one in my place who shall +see the strange faces and hear the strange talk. + +"How much talk there is about religion! Giles [Footnote: Rev. Henry +Giles.] I like the best, for he seems, like myself, to have no settled +views, and to be religious only in feeling. He says he has no piety, but +a great sense of infinity. + +"Yesterday I had a Shaker visitor, and to-day a Catholic; and the more I +see and hear, the less do I care about church doctrines. The Catholic, a +priest, I have known as an Atheneum visitor for some time. He talked +to-day, on my asking him some questions, and talked better than I +expected. He is plainly full of intelligence, full of enthusiasm for his +religion, and, I suspect, full of bigotry. I do not believe he will die +a Catholic priest. A young man of his temperament must find it hard to +live without family ties, and I shall expect to hear, if I ever hear of +him again, that some good little Irish girl has made him forget his +vows. + +"My visitors, in other respects, have been of the average sort. Four +women have been delighted to make my acquaintance--three men have +thought themselves in the presence of a superior being; one offered me +twenty-five cents because I reached him the key of the museum. One woman +has opened a correspondence with me, and several have told me that they +knew friends of mine; two have spoken of me in small letters to small +newspapers; one said he didn't see me, and one said he did! I have +become hardened to all; neither compliment nor quarter-dollar rouses any +emotion. My fit of humility, which has troubled me all summer, is +shaken, however, by the first cool breeze of autumn and the first walk +taken without perspiration. + +"Sept. 22, 1854. On the evening of the 18th, while 'sweeping,' there +came into the field the two nebulae in Ursa Major, which I have known +for many a year, but which to my surprise now appeared to be three. The +upper one, as seen from an inverting telescope, appeared double-headed, +like one near the Dolphin, but much more decided than that, the space +between the two heads being very plainly discernible and subtending a +decided angle. The bright part of this object was clearly the old +nebula--but what was the appendage? Had the nebula suddenly changed? Was +it a comet, or was it merely a very fine night? Father decided at once +for the comet; I hesitated, with my usual cowardice, and forbade his +giving it a notice in the newspaper. + +"I watched it from 8.30 to 11.30 almost without cessation, and was quite +sure at 11.30 that its position had changed with regard to the +neighboring stars. I counted its distance from the known nebula several +times, but the whole affair was difficult, for there were flying clouds, +and sometimes the nebula and comet were too indistinct to be definitely +seen. + +"The 19th was cloudy and the 20th the same, with the variety of +occasional breaks, through which I saw the nebula, but not the comet. + +"On the 21st came a circular, and behold Mr. Van Arsdale had seen it on +the 13th, but had not been sure of it until the 15th, on account of the +clouds. + +"I was too well pleased with having really made the discovery to care +because I was not first. + +"Let the Dutchman have the reward of his sturdier frame and steadier +nerves! + +"Especially could I be a Christian because the 13th was cloudy, and more +especially because I dreaded the responsibility of making the +computations, _nolens volens_, which I must have done to be able to call +it mine.... + +"I made observations for three hours last night, and am almost ill +to-day from fatigue; still I have worked all day, trying to reduce the +places, and mean to work hard again to-night. + +"Sept. 25, 1854. I began to recompute for the comet, with observations +of Cambridge and Washington, to-day. I have had a fit of despondency in +consequence of being obliged to renounce my own observations as too +rough for use. The best that can be said of my life so far is that it +has been industrious, and the best that can be said of me is that I have +not pretended to what I was not. + +"October 10. As soon as I had run through the computations roughly for +the comet, so as to make up my mind that by my own observations (which +were very wrong) the Perihelion was passed, and nothing more to be hoped +for from observations, I seized upon a pleasant day and went to the Cape +for an excursion. We went to Yarmouth, Sandwich, and Plymouth, enjoying +the novelty of the new car-route. It really seemed like railway +travelling on our own island, so much sand and so flat a country. + +"The little towns, too, seemed quaint and odd, and the old gray cottages +looked as if they belonged to the last century, and were waked from a +long nap by the railway whistle. + +"I thought Sandwich a beautiful, and Plymouth an interesting, town. I +would fain have gone off into some poetical quotation, such as 'The +breaking waves dashed high' or 'The Pilgrim fathers, where are they?' +but K., who had been there before, desired me not to be absurd, but to +step quietly on to the half-buried rock and quietly off. Younger sisters +know a deal, so I did as I was bidden to do, and it was just as well not +to make myself hoarse without an appreciative audience. + +"I liked the picture by Sargent in Pilgrim Hall, but seeing Plymouth on +a mild, sunny day, with everything looking bright and pleasant, it was +difficult to conceive of the landing of the Pilgrims as an event, or +that the settling of such a charming spot required any heroism. + +"The picture, of course, represents the dreariness of winter, and my +feelings were moved by the chilled appearance of the little children, +and the pathetic countenance of little Peregrine White, who, considering +that he was born in the harbor, is wonderfully grown up before they are +welcomed by Samoset. According to history little Peregrine was born +about December 6 and Samoset met them about March 16; so he was three +months old, but he is plainly a forward child, for he looks up very +knowingly. Such a child had immortality thrust upon him from his birth. +It must have had a deadening influence upon him to know that he was a +marked man whether he did anything worthy of mark or not. He does not +seem to have made any figure after his entrance into the world, though +he must have created a great sensation when he came. + +"October 17. I have just gone over my comet computations again, and it +is humiliating to perceive how very little more I know than I did seven +years ago when I first did this kind of work. To be sure, I have only +once in the time computed a parabolic orbit; but it seems to me that I +know no more in general. I think I am a little better thinker, that I +take things less upon trust, but at the same time I trust myself much +less. The world of learning is so broad, and the human soul is so +limited in power! We reach forth and strain every nerve, but we seize +only a bit of the curtain that hides the infinite from us. + +"Will it really unroll to us at some future time? Aside from the +gratification of the affections in another world, that of the intellect +must be great if it is enlarged and its desires are the same. + +"Nov. 24, 1854. Yesterday James Freeman Clarke, the biographer of +Margaret Fuller, came into the Atheneum. It was plain that he came to +see me and not the institution.... He rushed into talk at once, mostly +on people, and asked me about my astronomical labors. As it was a kind +of flattery, I repaid it in kind by asking him about Margaret Fuller. He +said she did not strike any one as a person of intellect or as a +student, for all her faculties were kept so much abreast that none had +prominence. I wanted to ask if she was a lovable person, but I did not +think he would be an unbiassed judge, she was so much attached to him. + +"Dec. 5, 1854. The love of one's own sex is precious, for it is neither +provoked by vanity nor retained by flattery; it is genuine and sincere. +I am grateful that I have had much of this in my life. + +"The comet looked in upon us on the 29th. It made a twilight call, +looking sunny and bright, as if it had just warmed itself in the +equinoctial rays. A boy on the street called my attention to it, but I +found on hurrying home that father had already seen it, and had ranged +it behind buildings so as to get a rough position. + +"It was piping cold, but we went to work in good earnest that night, and +the next night on which we could see it, which was not until April. + +"I was dreadfully busy, and a host of little annoyances crowded upon me. +I had a good star near it in the field of my comet-seeker, but _what_ +star? + +"On that rested everything, and I could not be sure even from the +catalogue, for the comet and the star were so much in the twilight that +I could get no good neighboring stars. We called it Arietes, or 707. + +"Then came a waxing moon, and we waxed weary in trying to trace the +fainter and fainter comet in the mists of twilight and the glare of +moonlight. + +"Next I broke a screw of my instrument, and found that no screw of that +description could be bought in the town. + +"I started off to find a man who could make one, and engaged him to do +so the next day. The next day was Fast Day; all the world fasted, at +least from labor. + +"However, the screw was made, and it fitted nicely. The clouds cleared, +and we were likely to have a good night. I put up my instrument, but +scarcely had the screw-driver touched the new screw than out it flew +from its socket, rolled along the floor of the 'walk,' dropped quietly +through a crack into the gutter of the house-roof. I heard it click, and +felt very much like using language unbecoming to a woman's mouth. + +"I put my eye down to the crack, but could not see it. There was but one +thing to be done,--the floor-boards must come up. I got a hatchet, but +could do nothing. I called father; he brought a crowbar and pried up the +board, then crawled under it and found the screw. I took good care not +to lose it a second time. + +"The instrument was fairly mounted when the clouds mounted to keep it +company, and the comet and I again parted. + +"In all observations, the blowing out of a light by a gust of wind is a +very common and very annoying accident; but I once met with a much worse +one, for I dropped a chronometer, and it rolled out of its box on to the +ground. We picked it up in a great panic, but it had not even altered +its rate, as we found by later observations. + +"The glaring eyes of the cat, who nightly visited me, were at one time +very annoying, and a man who climbed up a fence and spoke to me, in the +stillness of the small hours, fairly shook not only my equanimity, but +the pencil which I held in my hand. He was quite innocent of any +intention to do me harm, but he gave me a great fright. + +"The spiders and bugs which swarm in my observing-houses I have rather +an attachment for, but they must not crawl over my recording-paper. Rats +are my abhorrence, and I learned with pleasure that some poison had been +placed under the transit-house. + +"One gets attached (if the term may be used) to certain midnight +apparitions. The Aurora Borealis is always a pleasant companion; a +meteor seems to come like a messenger from departed spirits; and the +blossoming of trees in the moonlight becomes a sight looked for with +pleasure. + +"Aside from the study of astronomy, there is the same enjoyment in a +night upon the housetop, with the stars, as in the midst of other grand +scenery; there is the same subdued quiet and grateful seriousness; a +calm to the troubled spirit, and a hope to the desponding. + +"Even astronomers who are as well cared for as are those of Cambridge +have their annoyances, and even men as skilled as they are make +blunders. + +"I have known one of the Bonds,[Footnote: Of the Harvard College +Observatory.] with great effort, turn that huge telescope down to the +horizon to make an observation upon a blazing comet seen there, and when +he had found it in his glass, find also that it was not a comet, but the +nebula of Andromeda, a cluster of stars on which he had spent much time, +and which he had made a special object of study. + +"Dec. 26, 1854. They were wonderful men, the early astronomers. That was +a great conception, which now seems to us so simple, that the earth +turns upon its axis, and a still greater one that it revolves about the +sun (to show this last was worth a man's lifetime, and it really almost +cost the life of Galileo). Somehow we are ready to think that they had a +wider field than we for speculation, that truth being all unknown it was +easier to take the first step in its paths. But is the region of truth +limited? Is it not infinite?... We know a few things which were once +hidden, and being known they seem easy; but there are the flashings of +the Northern Lights--'Across the lift they start and shift;' there is +the conical zodiacal beam seen so beautifully in the early evenings of +spring and the early mornings of autumn; there are the startling comets, +whose use is all unknown; there are the brightening and flickering +variable stars, whose cause is all unknown; and the meteoric +showers--and for all of these the reasons are as clear as for the +succession of day and night; they lie just beyond the daily mist of our +minds, but our eyes have not yet pierced through it." + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +1855-1857 + +EXTRACTS FROM DIARY--RACHEL--EMERSON--A HARD WINTER + +"Jan. 1, 1855. I put some wires into my little transit this morning. I +dreaded it so much, when I found yesterday that it must be done, that it +disturbed my sleep. It was much easier than I expected. I took out the +little collimating screws first, then I drew out the tube, and in that I +found a brass plate screwed on the diaphragm which contained the lines. +I was at first a little puzzled to know which screws held this diaphragm +in its place, and, as I was very anxious not to unscrew the wrong ones, +I took time to consider and found I need turn only two. Then out slipped +the little plate with its three wires where five should have been, two +having been broken. As I did not know how to manage a spider's web, I +took the hairs from my own head, taking care to pick out white ones +because I have no black ones to spare. I put in the two, after first +stretching them over pasteboard, by sticking them with sealing-wax +dissolved in alcohol into the little grooved lines which I found. When I +had, with great labor, adjusted these, as I thought, firmly, I perceived +that some of the wax was on the hairs and would make them yet coarser, +and they were already too coarse; so I washed my little camel's-hair +brush which I had been using, and began to wash them with clear alcohol. +Almost at once I washed out another wire and soon another and another. I +went to work patiently and put in the five perpendicular ones besides +the horizontal one, which, like the others, had frizzled up and appeared +to melt away. With another hour's labor I got in the five, when a rude +motion raised them all again and I began over. Just at one o'clock I had +got them all in again. I attempted then to put the diaphragm back into +its place. The sealing-wax was not dry, and with a little jar I sent the +wires all agog. This time they did not come out of the little grooved +lines into which they were put, and I hastened to take out the brass +plate and set them in parallel lines. I gave up then for the day, but, +as they looked well and were certainly in firmly, I did not consider +that I had made an entire failure. I thought it nice ladylike work to +manage such slight threads and turn such delicate screws; but fine as +are the hairs of one's head, I shall seek something finer, for I can see +how clumsy they will appear when I get on the eyepiece and magnify their +imperfections. They look parallel now to the eye, but with a magnifying +power a very little crook will seem a billowy wave, and a faint star +will hide itself in one of the yawning abysses. + +"January 15. Finding the hairs which I had put into my instrument not +only too coarse, but variable and disposed to curl themselves up at a +change of weather, I wrote to George Bond to ask him how I should +procure spider lines. He replied that the web from cocoons should be +used, and that I should find it difficult at this time of year to get at +them. I remembered at once that I had seen two in the library room of +the Atheneum, which I had carefully refrained from disturbing. I found +them perfect, and unrolled them.... Fearing that I might not succeed in +managing them, I procured some hairs from C.'s head. C. being not quite +a year old, his hair is remarkably fine and sufficiently long.... I made +the perpendicular wires of the spider's webs, breaking them and doing +the work over again a great many times.... I at length got all in, +crossing the five perpendicular ones with a horizontal one from C.'s +spinning-wheel.... After twenty-four hours' exposure to the weather, I +looked at them. The spider-webs had not changed, they were plainly used +to a chill and made to endure changes of temperature; but C.'s hair, +which had never felt a cold greater than that of the nursery, nor a +change more decided than from his mother's arms to his father's, had +knotted up into a decided curl!--N.B. C. may expect ringlets. + +"January 22. Horace Greeley, in an article in a recent number of the +'Tribune,' says that the fund left by Smithson is spent by the regents +of that institution in publishing books which no publisher would +undertake and which do no good to anybody. Now in our little town of +Nantucket, with our little Atheneum, these volumes are in constant +demand.... + +"I do not suppose that such works as those issued by the Smithsonian +regents are appreciated by all who turn them over, but the ignorant +learn that such things exist; they perceive that a higher cultivation +than theirs is in the world, and they are stimulated to strive after +greater excellence. So I steadily advocate, in purchasing books for the +Atheneum, the lifting of the people. 'Let us buy, not such books as the +people want, but books just above their wants, and they will reach up to +take what is put out for them.' + +"Sept. 10, 1855. To know what one ought to do is certainly the hardest +thing in life. 'Doing' is comparatively easy; but there are no laws for +your individual case--yours is one of a myriad. + +"There are laws of right and wrong in general, but they do not seem to +bear upon any particular case. + +"In chess-playing you can refer to rules of movement, for the chess-men +are few, and the positions in which they may be placed, numerous as they +are, have a limit. + +"But is there any limit to the different positions of human beings +around you? Is there any limit to the peculiarities of circumstances? + +"Here a man, however much of a copyist he may be by nature, comes down +to simple originality, unless he blindly follows the advice of some +friend; for there is no precedent in anything exactly like his case; he +must decide for himself, and must take the step alone; and fearfully, +cautiously, and distrustingly must we all take many of our steps, for we +see but a little way at best, and we can foresee nothing at all. + +"September 13. I read this morning an article in 'Putnam's Magazine,' on +Rachel. I have been much interested in this woman as a genius, though I +am pained by the accounts of her career in point of morals, and I am +wearied with the glitter of her jewelry. Night puts on a jewelled robe +which few admire, compared with the admiration for marketable jewelry. +The New York 'Tribune' descends to the rating of the value of those worn +by her, and it is the prominent point, or rather it makes the multitude +of prominent points, when she is spoken of. + +"The writer in 'Putnam' does not go into these small matters, but he +attempts a criticism on acting, to which I am not entirely a convert. He +maintains that if an actor should really show a character in such light +that we could not tell the impersonation from the reality, the stage +would lose its interest. I do not think so. We should draw back, of +course, from physical suffering; but yet we should be charmed to suppose +anything real, which we had desired to see. If we felt that we really +met Cardinal Wolsey or Henry VIII. in his days of glory, would it not be +a lifelong memory to us, very different from the effect of the stage, +and if for a few moments we really _felt_ that we had met them, would it +not lift us into a new kind of being? + +"What would we not give to see Julius Caesar and the soothsayer, just as +they stood in Rome as Shakspere represents them? Why, we travel hundreds +of miles to see the places noted for the doings of these old Romans; and +if we could be made to believe that we met one of the smaller men, even, +of that day, our ecstasy would be unbounded. 'A tin pan so painted as to +deceive is atrocious,' says this writer. Of course, for we are not +interested in a tin pan; but give us a portrait of Shakspere or Milton +so that we shall feel that we have met them, and I see no atrocity in +the matter. We honor the homes of these men, and we joy in the hope of +seeing them. What would be beyond seeing them in life? + +"October 31. I saw Rachel in 'Phedre' and in 'Adrienne.' I had +previously asked a friend if I, in my ignorance of acting, and in my +inability to tell good from poor, should really perceive a marked +difference between Rachel and her aids. She thought I should. I did +indeed! In 'Phedre,' which I first saw, she was not aided at all by her +troupe; they were evidently ill at ease in the Greek dress and in Greek +manners; while she had assimilated herself to the whole. It is founded +on the play of Euripides, and even to Rachel the passion which she +represents as Phedre must have been too strange to be natural. +Hippolytus refuses the love which Phedre offers after a long struggle +with herself, and this gives cause for the violent bursts in which +Rachel shows her power. It was an outburst of passion of which I have no +conception, and I felt as if I saw a new order of being; not a woman, +but a personified passion. The vehemence and strength were wonderful. It +was in parts very touching. There was as fine an opportunity for Aricia +to show some power as for Phedre, but the automaton who represented +Aricia had no power to show. Oenon, whom I took to be the sister Sarah, +was something of an actress, but her part was so hateful that no one +could applaud her. I felt in reading 'Phedre,' and in hearing it, that +it was a play of high order, and that I learned some little philosophy +from some of its sentiments; but for 'Adrienne' I have a contempt. The +play was written by Scribe specially for Rachel, and the French acting +was better done by the other performers than the Greek. I have always +disliked to see death represented on the stage. Rachel's representation +was awful! I could not take my eyes from the scene, and I held my breath +in horror; the death was so much to the life. It is said that she +changes color. I do not know that she does, but it looked like a ghastly +hue that came over her pale face. + +"I was displeased at the constant standing. Neither as Greeks nor as +Frenchmen did they sit at all; only when dying did Rachel need a chair. +They made love standing, they told long stories standing, they took +snuff in that position, hat in hand, and Rachel fainted upon the breast +of some friend from the same fatiguing attitude. + +"The audience to hear 'Adrienne' was very fine. The Unitarian clergymen +and the divinity students seemed to have turned out. + +"Most of the two thousand listeners followed with the book, and when the +last word was uttered on the French page, over turned the two thousand +leaves, sounding like a shower of rain. The applause was never very +great; it is said that Rachel feels this as a Boston peculiarity, but +she ought also to feel the compliment of so large an audience in a city +where foreigners are so few and the population so small compared to that +of New York. + +"Nov. 14, 1855. Last night I heard Emerson give a lecture. I pity the +reporter who attempts to give it to the world. I began to listen with a +determination to remember it in order, but it was without method, or +order, or system. It was like a beam of light moving in the undulatory +waves, meeting with occasional meteors in its path; it was exceedingly +captivating. It surprised me that there was not only no commonplace +thought, but there was no commonplace expression. If he quoted, he +quoted from what we had not read; if he told an anecdote, it was one +that had not reached us. At the outset he was very severe upon the +science of the age. He said that inventors and discoverers helped +themselves very much, but they did not help the rest of the world; that +a great man was felt to the centre of the Copernican system; that a +botanist dried his plants, but the plants had their revenge and dried +the botanist; that a naturalist bottled up reptiles, but in return the +man was bottled up. + +"There was a pitiful truth in all this, but there are glorious +exceptions. Professor Peirce is anything but a formula, though he deals +in formulae. + +"The lecture turned at length upon beauty, and it was evident that +personal beauty had made Emerson its slave many a time, and I suppose +every heart in the house admitted the truth of his words.... + +"It was evident that Mr. Emerson was not at ease, for he declared that +good manners were more than beauty of face, and good expression better +than good features. He mentioned that Sir Philip Sydney was not +handsome, though the boast of English society; and he spoke of the +astonishing beauty of the Duchess of Hamilton, to see whom hundreds +collected when she took a ride. I think in these cases there is +something besides beauty; there was rank in that of the Duchess, in the +case of Sydney there was no need of beauty at all. + +"Dec. 16, 1855. All along this year I have felt that it was a hard +year--the hardest of my life. And I have kept enumerating to myself my +many trials; to-day it suddenly occurred to me that my blessings were +much more numerous. If mother's illness was a sore affliction, her +recovery is a great blessing; and even the illness itself has its bright +side, for we have joyed in showing her how much we prize her continued +life. If I have lost some friends by death, I have not lost all. If I +have worked harder than I felt that I could bear, how much better is +that than not to have as much work as I wanted to do. I have earned more +money than in any preceding year; I have studied less, but have observed +more, than I did last year. I have saved more money than ever before, +hoping for Europe in 1856." ... + +Miss Mitchell from her earliest childhood had had a great desire to +travel in Europe. She received a very small salary for her services in +the Atheneum, but small as it was she laid by a little every year. + +She dressed very simply and spent as little as possible on +herself--which was also true of her later years. She took a little +journey every year, and could always have little presents ready for the +birthdays and Christmas days, and for the necessary books which could +not be found in the Atheneum library, and which she felt that she ought +to own herself,--all this on a salary which an ordinary school-girl in +these days would think too meagre to supply her with dress alone. + +In this family the children were not ashamed to say, "I can't afford +it," and were taught that nothing was cheap that they could not pay +for--a lesson that has been valuable to them all their lives. + +".... 1855. Deacon Greeley, of Boston, urged my going to Boston and +giving some lectures to get money. I told him I could not think of it +just now, as I wanted to go to Europe. 'On what money?' said he. 'What I +have earned,' I replied. 'Bless me!' said he; 'am I talking to a +capitalist? What a mistake I have made.'" + +During the time of the prosperity of the town, the winters were very +sociable and lively; but when the inhabitants began to leave for more +favorable opportunities for getting a livelihood, the change was felt +very seriously, especially in the case of an exceptionally stormy +winter. Here is an extract showing how Miss Mitchell and her family +lived during one of these winters: + +"Jan. 22, 1857. Hard winters are becoming the order of things. Winter +before last was hard, last winter was harder, and this surpasses all +winters known before. + +"We have been frozen into our island now since the 6th. No one cared +much about it for the first two or three days; the sleighing was good, +and all the world was out trying their horses on Main street--the +racecourse of the world. Day after day passed, and the thermometer sank +to a lower point, and the winds rose to a higher, and sleighing became +uncomfortable; and even the dullest man longs for the cheer of a +newspaper. The 'Nantucket Inquirer' came out for awhile, but at length +it had nothing to tell and nothing to inquire about, and so kept its +peace. + +"After about a week a vessel was seen off Siasconset, and boarded by a +pilot. Her captain said he would go anywhere and take anybody, as all he +wanted was a harbor. Two men whose business would suffer if they +remained at home took passage in her, and with the pilot, Patterson, she +left in good weather and was seen off Chatham at night. It was hoped +that Patterson would return and bring at least a few newspapers, but no +more is known of them. Our postmaster thought he was not allowed to send +the mails by such a conveyance. + +"Yesterday we got up quite an excitement because a large steamship was +seen near the Haul-over. She set a flag for a pilot, and was boarded. It +was found that she was out of course, twenty days from Glasgow, bound to +New York. What the European news is we do not yet know, but it is plain +that we are nearer to Europe than to Hyannis. Christians as we are, I am +afraid we were all sorry that she did not come ashore. We women revelled +in the idea of the rich silks she would probably throw upon the beach, +and the men thought a good job would be made by steamboat companies and +wreck agents. + +"Last night the weather was so mild that a plan was made for cutting out +the steamboat; all the Irishmen in town were ordered to be on the harbor +with axes, shovels, and saws at seven this morning. The poor fellows +were exulting in the prospect of a job, but they are sadly balked, for +this morning at seven a hard storm was raging--snow and a good +north-west wind. What has become of the English steamer no one knows, +but the wind blows off shore, so she will not come any nearer to us. + +"Inside of the house we amuse ourselves in various ways. F.'s family and +ours form a club meeting three times a week, and writing 'machine +poetry' in great quantities. Occasionally something very droll puts us +in a roar of laughter. F., E., and K. are, I think, rather the smartest, +though Mr. M. has written rather the best of all. At the next meeting, +each of us is to produce a sonnet on a subject which we draw by lot. I +have written mine and tried to be droll. K. has written hers and is +serious. + +"I am sadly tried by this state of things. I cannot hear from Cambridge +(the Nautical Almanac office), and am out of work; it is cloudy most of +the time, and I cannot observe; and I had fixed upon just this time for +taking a journey. My trunk has been half packed for a month. + +"January 23. Foreseeing that the thermometer would show a very low point +last night, we sat up until near midnight, when it stood one and +one-half below zero. The stars shone brightly, and the wind blew freshly +from west north-west. + +"This morning the wind is the same, and the mercury stood at six and +one-half below zero at seven o'clock, and now at ten A.M. is not above +zero. The Coffin School dismissed its scholars. Miss F. suffered much +from the exposure on her way to school. + +"The 'Inquirer' came out this morning, giving the news from Europe +brought by the steamer which lies off 'Sconset. No coal has yet been +carried to the steamer, the carts which started for 'Sconset being +obliged to return. + +"There are about seven hundred barrels of flour in town; it is admitted +that fresh meat is getting scarce; the streets are almost impassable +from the snow-drifts. + +"K. and I have hit upon a plan for killing time. We are learning +poetry--she takes twenty lines of Goldsmith's 'Traveller,' and I twenty +lines of the 'Deserted Village.' It will take us twenty days to learn +the whole, and we hope to be stopped in our course by the opening of the +harbor. Considering that K. has a fiance from whom she cannot hear a +word, she carries herself very amicably towards mankind. She is making +herself a pair of shoes, which look very well; I have made myself a +morning-dress since we were closed in. + +"Last night I took my first lesson in whist-playing. I learned in one +evening to know the king, queen, and jack apart, and to understand what +my partner meant when she winked at me. + +"The worst of this condition of things is that we shall bear the marks +of it all our lives. We are now sixteen daily papers behind the rest of +the world, and in those sixteen papers are items known to all the people +in all the cities, which will never be known to us. How prices have +fluctuated in that time we shall not know--what houses have burned down, +what robberies have been committed. When the papers do come, each of us +will rush for the latest dates; the news of two weeks ago is now +history, and no one reads history, especially the history of one's own +country. + +"I bought a copy of 'Aurora Leigh' just before the freezing up, and I +have been careful, as it is the only copy on the island, to circulate it +freely. It must have been a pleasant visitor in the four or five +households which it has entered. We have had Dr. Kane's book and now +have the 'Japan Expedition.' + +"The intellectual suffering will, I think, be all. I have no fear of +scarcity of provisions or fuel. There are old houses enough to burn. +Fresh meat is rather scarce because the English steamer required so much +victualling. We have a barrel of pork and a barrel of flour in the +house, and father has chickens enough to keep us a good while. + +"There are said to be some families who are in a good deal of suffering, +for whom the Howard Society is on the lookout. Mother gives very freely +to Bridget, who has four children to support with only the labor of her +hands. + +"The Coffin School has been suspended one day on account of the heaviest +storm, and the Unitarian church has had but one service. No great damage +has been done by the gales. My observing-seat came thundering down the +roof one evening, about ten o'clock, but all the world understood its +cry of 'Stand from under,' and no one was hurt. Several windows were +blown in at midnight, and houses shook so that vases fell from the +mantelpieces. + +"The last snow drifted so that the sleighing was difficult, and at +present the storm is so smothering that few are out. A. has been out to +school every day, and I have not failed to go out into the air once a +day to take a short walk. + +"January 24. We left the mercury one below zero when we went to bed last +night, and it was at zero when we rose this morning. But it rises +rapidly, and now, at eleven A.M., it is as high as fifteen. The weather +is still and beautiful; the English steamer is still safe at her +moorings. + +"Our little club met last night, each with a sonnet. I did the best I +could with a very bad subject. K. and E. rather carried the honors away, +but Mr. J. M.'s was very taking. Our 'crambo' playing was rather dull, +all of us having exhausted ourselves on the sonnets. We seem to have +settled ourselves quietly into a tone of resignation in regard to the +weather; we know that we cannot 'get out,' any more than Sterne's +Starling, and we know that it is best not to fret. + +"The subject which I have drawn for the next poem is 'Sunrise,' about +which I know very little. K. and I continue to learn twenty lines of +poetry a day, and I do not find it unpleasant, though the 'Deserted +Village' is rather monotonous. + +"We hear of no suffering in town for fuel or provisions, and I think we +could stand a three months' siege without much inconvenience as far as +the physicals are concerned. + +"January 26. The ice continues, and the cold. The weather is beautiful, +and with the thermometer at fourteen I swept with the telescope an hour +and a half last night, comfortably. The English steamer will get off +to-morrow. It is said that they burned their cabin doors last night to +keep their water hot. Many people go out to see her; she lies off +'Sconset, about half a mile from shore. We have sent letters by her +which, I hope, may relieve anxiety. + +"K. bought a backgammon board to-day. Clifford [the little nephew] came +in and spent the morning. + +"January 29. We have had now two days of warm weather, but there is yet +no hope of getting our steamboat off. Day before yesterday we went to +'Sconset to see the English steamer. She lay so near the shore that we +could hear the orders given, and see the people on board. When we went +down the bank the boats were just pushing from the shore, with bags of +coal. They could not go directly to the ship, but rowed some distance +along shore to the north, and then falling into the ice drifted with it +back to the ship. When they reached her a rope was thrown to them, and +they made fast and the coal was raised. We watched them through a glass, +and saw a woman leaning over the side of the ship. The steamer left at +five o'clock that day. + +"It was worth the trouble of a ride to 'Sconset to see the masses of +snow on the road. The road had been cleared for the coal-carts, and we +drove through a narrow path, cut in deep snow-banks far above our heads, +sometimes for the length of three or four sleighs. We could not, of +course, turn out for other sleighs, and there was much waiting on this +account. Then, too, the road was much gullied, and we rocked in the +sleigh as we would on shipboard, with the bounding over hillocks of snow +and ice. + +"Now, all is changed: the roads are slushy, and the water stands in deep +pools all over the streets. There is a dense fog, very little wind, and +that from the east. The thermometer above thirty-six. + +"[Mails arrived February 3, and our steamboat left February 5.]" + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +1857 + +SOUTHERN TOUR + +In 1857 Miss Mitchell made a tour in the South, having under her charge +the young daughter of a Western banker. + +"March 2, 1857. I left Meadville this morning at six o'clock, in a +stage-coach for Erie. I had, early in life, a love for staging, but it +is fast dying out. Nine hours over a rough road are enough to root out +the most passionate love of that kind. + +"Our stage was well filled, but in spite of the solid base we +occasionally found ourselves bumping up against the roof or falling +forward upon our opposite neighbors. + +"Stage-coaches are, I believe, always the arena for political debate. +To-day we were all on one side, all Buchanan men, and yet all +anti-slavery. It seemed reasonable, as they said, that the South should +cease to push the slave question in regard to Kansas, now that it has +elected its President. + +"When I took the stage out to Meadville on the 'mud-road,' it was filled +with Fremont men, and they seemed to me more able men, though they were +no younger and no more cultivated. + +"March 5. I believe any one might travel from Maine to Georgia and be +perfectly ignorant of the route, and yet be well taken care of, mainly +from the good-nature in every one. + +"I found from Nantucket to Chicago more attention than I desired. I had +a short seat in one of the cars, through the night. I did not think it +large enough for two, and so coiled myself up and went to sleep. There +were men standing all around. Once one of them came along and said +something about there being room for him on my seat. Another man said, +'She's asleep, don't disturb her.' I was too selfish to offer the half +of a short seat, and too tired to reason about the man's being, +possibly, more tired than I. + +"I was invariably offered the seat near the window that I might lean +against the side of the car, and one gentleman threw his shawl across my +knees to keep me warm (I was suffering with heat at the time!). Another, +seeing me going to Chicago alone, warned me to beware of the impositions +of hack-drivers; telling me that I must pay two dollars if I did not +make a bargain beforehand. I found it true, for I paid one dollar for +going a few steps only. + +"One peculiarity in travelling from East to West is, that you lose the +old men. In the cars in New England you see white-headed men, and I kept +one in the train up to New York, and one of grayish-tinted hair as far +as Erie; but after Cleveland, no man was over forty years old. + +"For hundreds of miles the prairie land stretches on the Illinois +Central Railroad between Chicago and St. Louis. It may be pleasant in +summer, but it is a dreary waste in winter. The space is too broad and +too uniform to have beauty. The girdle of trees would be pretty, +doubtless, if seen near, but in the distance and in winter it is only a +black border to a brown plain. + +"The State of Illinois must be capitally adapted to railroads on account +of this level, and but little danger can threaten a train from running +off of the track, as it might run on the soil nearly as well as on the +rails. + +"Our engine was uncoupled, and had gone on for nearly half a mile +without the cars before the conductor perceived it. + +"The time from Chicago to St. Louis is called fifteen hours and a +quarter; we made it twenty-three. + +"If the prairie land is good farming-land, Illinois is destined to be a +great State. If its people will think less of the dollar and more of the +refinements of social life and the culture of the mind, it may become +the great State of the Union yet. + +"March 12. Planter's Hotel, St. Louis. We visited Mercantile Hall and +the Library. The lecture-room is very spacious and very pretty. No +gallery hides the frescoed walls, and no painful economy has been made +of the space on the floor. + +"13th. I begin to perceive the commerce of St. Louis. We went upon the +levee this morning, and for miles the edge was bordered with the pipes +of steamboats, standing like a picket-fence. Then we came to the +wholesale streets, and saw the immense stores for dry-goods and +crockery. + +"To-day I have heard of a scientific association called the 'Scientific +Academy of St. Louis,' which is about a year old, and which is about to +publish a volume of transactions, containing an account of an artesian +well, and of some inscriptions just sent home from Nineveh, which Mr. +Gust. Seyffarth has deciphered. + +"Mr. Seyffarth must be a remarkable man; he has translated a great many +inscriptions, and is said to surpass Champollion. He has published a +work on Egyptian astronomy, but no copy is in this country. + +"Dr. Pope, who called on me, and with whom I was much pleased, told me +of all these things. Western men are so proud of their cities that they +spare no pains to make a person from the Eastern States understand the +resources, and hopes, and plans of their part of the land. + +"Rev. Dr. Eliot I have not seen. He is about to establish a university +here, for which he has already $100,000, and the academic part is +already in a state of activity. + +"Rev. Mr. Staples tells me that Dr. Eliot puts his hands into the +pockets of his parishioners, who are rich, up to the elbows. + +"Altogether, St. Louis is a growing place, and the West has a large hand +and a strong grasp. + +"Doctor Seyffarth is a man of more than sixty years, gray-haired, +healthy-looking, and pleasant in manners. He has spent long years of +labor in deciphering the inscriptions found upon ancient pillars, +Egyptian and Arabic, dating five thousand years before Christ. I asked +him if he found the observations continuous, and he said that he did +not, but that they seem to be astrological pictures of the configuration +of the planets, and to have been made at the birth of princes. + +"He has just been reading the slabs sent from Nineveh by Mr. Marsh; +their date is only about five hundred years B.C. + +"Mr. Seyffarth's published works amount to seventy, and he was surprised +to find a whole set of them in the Astor Library in New York. + +"March 19. We came on board of the steamer 'Magnolia,' this morning, in +great spirits. We were a little late, and Miss S. rushed on board as if +she had only New Orleans in view. I followed a little more slowly, and +the brigadier-general came after, in a sober and dignified manner. + +"We were scarcely on board when the plank was pulled in, and a few +minutes passed and we were afloat on the Mississippi river. Miss S. and +myself were the only lady passengers; we had, therefore, the whole range +of staterooms from which to choose. Each could have a stateroom to +herself, and we talked in admiration of the pleasant times we should +have, watching the scenery from the stateroom windows, or from the +saloon, reading, etc. + +"We started off finely. I, who had been used only to the rough waters of +the Atlantic coast, was surprised at the steady gliding of the boat. I +saw nothing of the mingling of the waters of the Missouri and the +Mississippi of which I had been told. Perhaps I needed somebody to point +out the difference. + +"The two banks of the river were at first much alike, but after a few +hours the left bank became more hilly, and at intervals presented bluffs +and rocks, rude and irregular in shape, which we imagined to be ruins of +some old castle. + +"At intervals, too, we passed steamers going up to St. Louis, all laden +with passengers. We exulted in our majestic march over the waters. I +thought it the very perfection of travelling, and wished that all my +family and all my friends were on board. + +"I wondered at the stupidity of the rest of the world, and thought that +they ought all to leave the marts of business, to step from the desk, +the counting-room, and the workshop on board the 'Magnolia,' and go down +the length of the 'Father of Waters.' + +"And so they would, I suppose, but for sand-bars. Here we are five hours +out, and fast aground! We were just at dinner, the captain making +himself agreeable, the dinner showing itself to be good, when a peculiar +motion of the boat made the captain heave a sigh--he had been heaving +the lead all the morning. 'Ah,' he said, 'just what I feared; we've got +to one of those bad places, and we are rubbing the bottom.' + +"I asked very innocently if we must wait for the tide, and was informed +that there was no tide felt on this part of the river. Miss S. turned a +little pale, and showed a loss of appetite. I was a little bit moved, +but kept it to myself and ate on. + +"As soon as dinner was over, we went out to look at the prospect of +affairs. We were close into the land, and could be put on shore any +minute; the captain had sent round a little boat to sound the waters, +and the report brought back was of shallow water just ahead of us, but +more on the right and left. + +"While we stood on deck a small boat passed, and a sailor very gleefully +called out the soundings as he threw the lead, 'Eight and a half-nine.' + +"But we are still high and dry now at two o'clock P.M. They are shaking +the steamer, and making efforts to move her. They say if she gets over +this, there is no worse place for her to meet. + +"I asked the captain of what the bottom is composed, and he says, 'Of +mud, rocks, snags, and everything.' + +"He is now moving very cautiously, and the boat has an unpleasant +tremulous motion. + +"March 20. Latitude about thirty-eight degrees. We are just where we +stopped at noon yesterday--there is no change, and of course no event. +One of our crew killed a 'possum yesterday, and another boat stopped +near us this morning, and seems likely to lie as long as we do on the +sand-bar. + +"We read Shakspere this morning after breakfast, and then betook +ourselves to the wheel-house to look at the scenery again. While there a +little colored boy came to us bearing a waiter of oranges, and telling +us that the captain sent them with his compliments. We ate them +greedily, because we had nothing else to do. + +"21st. Still the sand-bar. No hope of getting off. We heard the pilot +hail a steamboat which was going up to St. Louis, and tell them to send +on a lighter, and I suppose we must wait for that.... It is my private +opinion that this great boat will not get off at all, but will lie here +until she petrifies.... + +"March 24. We left the 'Magnolia' after four days and four hours upon +the sand-bar near Turkey island, upon seeing the 'Woodruff' approach. We +left in a little rowboat, and it seemed at first as if we could not +overtake the steamer; but the captain saw us and slackened his speed. + +"Miss S. and I clutched hands in a little terror as our small boat +seemed likely to run under the great steamer, but our oarsmen knew their +duty and we were safely put on board of the 'Woodruff.' + +"March 25. We stopped at Cairo at eight o'clock this morning. Mr. S. +went on shore and brought newspapers on board. The Cairo paper I do not +think of high order. I saw no mention in it of the detention of the +'Magnolia'! + +"March 26. Yesterday we count as a day of events. It began to look sunny +on the banks, especially on the Kentucky side, and Miss S. and I saw +cherry-blossoms. We remembered the eclipse, and Mr. S. having brought +with him a piece of broken glass from one of the windows of the +'Magnolia,' I smoked it over a piece of candle which I had brought from +Room No. 22 of the Planter's House at St. Louis, and we prepared to see +the eclipse. + +"I expected to see the moon on at five o'clock and twenty minutes, but +as I had no time I could not tell when to look for it. + +"It was not on at that time by my watch, but in ten minutes after was so +far on that I think my time cannot be much wrong. + +"It was a little cloudy, so that we saw the sun only 'all flecked with +bars,' and caught sight of the phenomenon at intervals. + +"We were at a coal-landing at the time, and not far from Madrid. The +boat stopped so long to take in an immense pile of corn-bags that our +passengers went on shore--such of them as could climb the slippery bank. + +"When we saw them coming back laden with peach-blossoms, and saw the +little children dressing their hats with them, we were seized with a +longing for them, and Mr. S. offered to go and get us some; we begged to +go too, but he objected. + +"We were really envious of his good luck when we saw him jump into a +country wagon, drawn by oxen which trotted off like horses, and, waving +his handkerchief to us, ride off in great glee. He came back with an +armful of peach-tree branches. Whose orchard he robbed at our +instigation I cannot say. A little girl, the daughter of the captain, +pulled some blossoms open, and showed us that the fruit germs were not +dead, but would have become peaches if we had not coveted them. + +"The 25th was also our first night steam-boating. After passing Cairo +the river is considered safe for night travel, and the boat started on +her way at 8.30 P.M. We had been out about half an hour when a lady who +was playing cards threw down her cards and rushed with a shriek to her +stateroom. I perceived then that there had been a peculiar motion to the +boat and that it suddenly stopped. We found that one of the +paddle-wheels was caught in a snag, but there was no harm done. It made +us a little nervous, but we slept well enough after it. + +"When I look out upon the river, I wonder that boats are not continually +snagged. Little trees are sticking up on all sides, and sometimes we +seem to be going over a meadow and pushing among rushes. + +"A yawl, which was sent out yesterday to sound, was snagged by a stump +which was high out of water; probably they were carried on to it by a +current. The little boat whirled round and round, and the men were +plainly frightened, for they dropped their oars and clutched the sides +of the boat. They got control, however, in a few minutes, and had the +jeers of the men left on the steamer for their pains. + +"March 30. We stopped at Natchez before breakfast this morning, and, +having half an hour, we took a carriage and drove through the city. It +was like driving through a succession of gardens: roses were hanging +over the fences in the richest profusion, and the arbor-vitae was +ornamenting every little nook, and adorning every cottage. + +"Natchez stands on a high bluff, very romantic in appearance; jagged and +rugged, as if volcanoes had been at work in a time long past, for tall +trees grew in the ravines. + +"Most of our lady passengers are, like ourselves, on a tour of pleasure; +six of them go with us to the St. Charles Hotel. Some are from Keokuk, +Ia., and I think I like these the best. One young lady goes ashore to +spend some time on a plantation, as a governess. She looks feeble, and +we all pity her. + +"To-day we pass among plantations on both sides of the river. We begin +to see the live-oak--a noble tree. The foliage is so thick and dark that +I have learned to know it by its color. The magnolia trees, too, are +becoming fragrant. + +"March 31. We are at length in New Orleans, and up three flights at the +St. Charles, in a dark room. + +"The peculiarities of the city dawn upon me very slowly. I first noticed +the showy dress of the children, then the turbaned heads of the black +women in the streets, and next the bouquet-selling boys with their +French phrases. + +"April 3. This morning we went to a slave market. It looked on first +entrance like an intelligence office. Men, women, and children were +seated on long benches parallel with each other. All rose at our +entrance, and continued standing while we were there. We were told by +the traders to walk up and down the passage between them, and talk with +them as we liked. As Mr. S. passed the men, several lifted their hands +and said, 'Here's the boy that will suit you; I can do any kind of +work.' Some advertised themselves with a good deal of tact. One woman +pulled at my shawl and asked me to buy her. I told her that I was not a +housekeeper. 'Not married?' she asked.--'No.'--'Well, then, get married +and buy me and my husband.' + +"There was a girl among them whiter than I, who roused my sympathies +very much. I could not speak to her, for the past and the future were +too plainly told in her face. I spoke to another, a bright-looking girl +of twelve. 'Where were you raised?'--'In Kentucky.'--'And why are you to +be sold?'--'The trader came to Kentucky, bought me, and brought me +here.' I thought what right had I to be homesick, when that poor girl +had left all her kindred for life without her consent. + +"I could hold my tongue and look around without much outward show of +disgust, but to talk pleasantly to the trader I could not consent. He +told me that he had been brought up in the business, but he thought it a +pity. + +"No buyers were present, so there was no examination that was painful to +look upon. + +"The slaves were intelligent-looking, and very healthy and neat in +appearance. Those who belonged to one owner were dressed alike--some in +striped pink and white dresses, others in plaid, all a little showy. The +men were in thick trousers and coarse dark-blue jackets. + +"April 5. We have been this morning to a negro church. We found it a +miserable-looking house, mostly unpainted and unplastered, but well +filled with the swarthy faces. They were singing when we entered; we +were pointed to a good seat. + +"There may have been fifty persons present, all well dressed; the women +in the fanciful checkered headdresses so much favored by the negro race, +the men in clean collars, nankin trousers, and dark coats. All showed +that they were well kept and well fed. + +"The audience was increased by new comers frequently, and these, +whatever the exercise might be, shook hands with those around them as +they seated themselves, and joined immediately in the services. The +singing was by the whole congregation, the minister lining out the hymns +as in the early times in New England. + +"Several persons carried on the exercises from the pulpit, and in the +prayers and sermon the audience took an active part, responding in +groans, 'Oh, yes,' or 'Amen,' sometimes performing a kind of chant to +accompany the words.... A negro minister said in his prayer, 'O God, we +are not for much talking.' I was delighted at the prospect of a short +discourse, but I found his 'not much talking' exactly corresponded to 'a +good deal' in my use of words. He talked for a full hour. + +"There was something pleasing in the earnestness of the preacher and the +sympathetic feeling of the audience, but their peculiar condition was +not alluded to, and probably was not felt. + +"The discourse was almost ludicrous at times, and at times was pathetic. +I saved up a few specimens: + +"'O God, you have said that where one or two are gathered together in +your name, there will you be; if anything stands between us that you +can't come, put it aside.' + +"'God wants a kingdom upon earth with which he can coin-cide, and that +kingdom are your heart.' + +"'God is near you when you are at the wash-tub or the ironing-table.' + +"'Brethren, I thought last Sabbath I wouldn't live to this; a man gets +such a notion sometimes.' + +"April 9, Alabama River. Some lessons we of the North might learn from +the South, and one is a greater regard for human life. I asked the +captain of our boat if they had any accidents in these waters. He said, +'We don't kill people at the South, we gave that up some years ago; we +leave it to the North, and the North seems to be capable of doing it.' + +"The reason for this is, that they are in no hurry. The Southern +character is opposed to haste. Safety is of more worth than speed, and +there is no hurry. + +"Every one at the South introduces its 'peculiar institution' into +conversation. + +"They talk as I expected Southern people of intelligence to talk; they +lament the evil, and say, 'It is upon us, what can we do? To give them +freedom would be cruel.' + +"Southerners fall back upon the Bible at once; there is more of the +old-fashioned religion at the South than at the North; that is, they are +not intellectual religionists. They are shocked by the irreligion of +Massachusetts, and by Theodore Parker. They read the Bible, and can +quote it; they are ready with it as an argument at every turn. I am of +course not used to the warfare, and so withdraw from the fight. + +"One argument which three persons have brought up to me is the superior +condition of the blacks now, to what it would have been had their +parents remained in Africa, and they been children of the soil. I make +no answer to this, for if this is an argument, it would be our duty to +enslave the heathen, instead of attempting to enlighten them. + +"We hear some anecdotes which are amusing. A Judge Smith, of South +Carolina, moved to Alabama, and became a prominent man there. He was +sent to the Senate. He was violently opposed by a young man who said +that but for his gray hair he would challenge him. Judge Smith said, +'You are not the first coward who has taken shelter beneath my gray +hairs.' + +"The same Judge Smith, when a proposition came before the Senate to +build a State penitentiary, said, 'Wall in the city of Mobile; you will +have your penitentiary and its inmates.' + +"So far I have found it easier to travel without an escort South and +West than at the North; that is, I have more care taken of me. Every one +is courteous, too, in speech. I know that they cannot love +Massachusetts, but they are careful not to wound my feelings. They +acknowledge it to be the great State in education; they point to a +pretty village and say, 'Almost as neat as a New England village.' + +"Savannah, April 15.... To-day we left town at ten o'clock for a drive +in any direction that we liked. Mr. F. and I went in a buggy, and Miss +S. cantered behind us on her horse. + +"The road that we took led to some rice plantations ten miles out of the +city. Our path was ornamented by the live-oaks, cedar trees, the +dogwood, and occasionally the mistletoe, and enlivened sometimes by the +whistle of the mocking-bird. Down low by the wheels grew the wild azalea +and the jessamine. Above our heads the Spanish moss hung from the trees +in beautiful drapery. + +"By mistake we drove into the plantation grounds of Mr. Gibbons, a man +of wealth, who is seldom on his lands, and where the avenues are +therefore a little wild, and the roads a little rough. + +"We came afterwards upon a road leading under the most magnificent oaks +that I ever saw. I felt as if I were under the arched roof of some +ancient cathedral. + +"The trees were irregularly grouped and of immense size, throwing their +hundreds of arms far upon the background of heaven, and bearing the +drapery of the Spanish moss fold upon fold, as if they sought to keep +their raiment from touching the earth. I was perfectly delighted, and +think it the finest picture I have yet seen. + +"Retracing our steps, we sought the plantation of Mr. Potter--a very +different one from that of Mr. Gibbons, as all was finish and neatness; +a fine mansion well stored with books, and some fine oaks, some of which +Mr. Potter had planted himself. + +"Mr. Potter walked through the fields with us, and, stopping among the +negro huts, he said to a little boy, 'Call the children and give us some +singing.' The little boy ran off, shouting, 'Come and sing for massa;' +and in a few minutes the little darkies might be seen running through +the fields and tumbling over the fences in their anxiety to get to us, +to the number of eighteen. + +"They sat upon the ground around us and began their song. The boy who +led sang 'Early in the Morning,' and the other seventeen brought in a +chorus of 'Let us think of Jesus.' Then the leader set up something +about 'God Almicha,' to which the others brought in another chorus. + +"They were a dirty and shabby looking set, but as usual fat, even to the +little babies, whom the larger boys were tending. One little girl as she +passed Mr. Potter carelessly put her hand in his and said, 'Good +morning, massa.' + +"Mrs. G. tells me an anecdote which shows the Southern sentiment on the +one subject. The ladies of Charleston were much pleased with Miss +Murray, and got up for her what they called a Murray testimonial, a +collection of divers pretty things made by their own hands. The large +box was ready to be sent to England, but alas for Miss Murray! While +they were debating in what way it should be sent to ensure its reaching +her without cost to herself, in an unwise moment she sent twenty-five +dollars to 'Bleeding Kansas,' and the fit of good feeling towards her +ebbed; the 'testimonial' remains unsent. + +"April 23, Charleston. This place is somewhat like Boston in its narrow +streets, but unlike Boston in being quiet; as is all the South. Quiet +and moderation seem to be the attributes of Southern cities. You need +not hurry to a boat for fear it will leave at the hour appointed; it +never does. + +"We took a carriage and drove along the Battery. The snuff of salt air +did me good. + +"Then we went on to a garden of roses, owned and cultivated by a colored +woman. She has some twenty acres devoted to flowers and vegetables, and +she owns twenty 'niggers.' The universal term for slaves is 'niggers.' +'Nigger, bring that horse,' 'Nigger, get out of the way,' will be said +by the finest gentleman, and 'My niggers' is said by every one. + +"I do not believe that the slaves are badly treated; there may be cases +of it, but I have seen them only sleek, fat, and lazy. + +"The old buildings of Charleston please me exceedingly. The houses are +built of brick, standing end to the street, three stories in height, +with piazza above piazza at the side; with flower gardens around, and +magnolias at the gates; the winding steps to the mansions festooned with +roses. + +"I have just called on Miss Rutledge, who lives in the second oldest +house in the city; herself a fine specimen of antiquity, in her +double-ruffled cap and plaided black dress; she chatted away like a +young person, using the good old English. + +"April 26. To-day Mr. Capers called on me. I was pleased with the +account he gave me of his college life, and of a meeting held by his +class thirty years after they graduated. Some thirty of them assembled +at the Revere House in Boston; they spread a table with viands from all +sections of the country. Mr. Capers sent watermelons, and another +gentleman from Kentucky sent the wines of his State. + +"They sat late at table; they renewed the old friendships and talked +over college scenes, and when it was near midnight some one proposed +that each should give a sketch of his life, so they went through in +alphabetical order. + +"Adams was the first. He said, 'You all remember how I waited upon table +in commons. You know that I afterwards went through college, but you do +not know that to this man [and he pointed to a classmate] I was indebted +for the money that paid for my college course.' + +"Anderson was the second, and he told of his two wives: of the first, +much; of the second, little. Bowditch came next, and he said he would +tell of Anderson's second wife, who was a Miss Lockworth, of Lexington, +Ky. + +"Anderson, a widower, and his brother went to Lexington, carrying with +them a letter of introduction to the father of the young lady. + +"While the brother was making an elaborate toilet, Anderson strolled +out, and came, in his walk, upon a beautiful residence, and saw, within +the enclosure, some inviting grounds. He stopped and spoke to the +porter, and found it was Mr. Lockworth's. He told the porter that he had +letters to Mr. Lockworth, and was intending to call upon him. The porter +was very communicative, and told him a good deal. Anderson asked if +there were not a pretty daughter. The porter asked him to walk around. +As he entered the gate he reached a dollar to the man, and, being much +pleased, when he came out he reached the porter another dollar. + +"Anderson went back to the hotel, told his brother about it, and they +set out together to deliver the letter. The brother knew Mr. Lockworth, +and as they met him in the parlor, he walked up, shook hands with him, +and asked to present his brother, Lars Anderson. 'No introduction is +necessary,' said Mr. Lockworth; and putting his hand into his pocket, +drawing out the two dollars, he added, 'I am already in your debt just +this sum!' The 'pretty daughter' was sitting upon the sofa. + +"Mr. Capers told me that their autobiographies drew smiles and tears +alternately; they continued till one o'clock; then one of the class +said, 'Brothers, do you know that not a wineglass has yet been turned +up, not a drop of wine drunk? And all were at once so impressed with the +conviction that they had all been lifted above the needs of the flesh +that they refused to drink, and one of the clergymen of the class +kneeling in prayer, they all knelt at once, even to some idle spectators +who were looking on. + +"April 28. Nothing can exceed the hospitality shown to us. We have +several invitations for each day, and calls without limit. + +"I had heard Mrs. Holbrook described as a wonder, and I found her a very +pleasing woman, all ready to talk, and talking with a richness of +expression which shows a full mind. Mrs. Holbrook was a Rutledge, and it +was amusing, after seeing her, to open Miss Bremer's 'Homes of the New +World,' and read her extravagant comments. Miss Bremer was certainly +made happy at Belmont. + +"April 29. To-day I have been to see Miss Pinckney. She is the last +representative of her name, is over eighty, and still retains the +animation of youth, though somewhat shaken in her physical strength by +age. I found her sitting in an armchair, her feet resting upon a +cushion, surrounded by some half-dozen callers. + +"She rose at once when I entered, and insisted upon my occupying her +seat, while she took a less comfortable one. + +"The walls of the room were ornamented with portraits of Major-General +Pinckney by Stuart, Stuart's Washington, one by Morris of General Thomas +Pinckney, and a portrait of Miss Pinckney's mother. + +"Miss Pinckney is a very plain woman, but much beloved for her +benevolence. + +"It is said that on looking over her diary which she keeps, recording +the reasons for her many gifts to her friends and to her slaves, such +entries as these will be found: + +"'$---- to Mary, because she is married.' + +"'$---- to Julia, because she has no husband.' + +"Miss Pinckney showed me among her centre-table ornaments a miniature of +Washington; one of her grandmother, of exceeding beauty; one of each of +the Pinckneys whose portraits are on the walls. + +"Charleston is full of ante-Revolution houses, and they please me. They +were built when there was no hurry; they were built to last, and they +have lasted, and will yet last for the children of their present +possessors. + +"Nothing can be happier in expression than the faces of the colored +children. They have what must be the ease of the lower classes in a +despotic country. The slaves have no care, no ambition; their place is a +fixed one--they know it, and take all the good they can get. The +children are fat, sleek, and, inheriting no nervous longings from their +parents, are on a constant grin--at play with loud laughs and high +leaps. + +"May 1. It does not follow because the slaves are sleek and fat and +really happy--for happy I believe they are--that slavery is not an evil; +and the great evil is, as I always supposed, in the effect upon the +whites. The few Southern gentlemen that I know interest me from their +courtesy, agreeable manners, and ready speech. They also strike me as +childlike and fussy. I catch myself feeling that I am the man and they +are women; and I see this even in the captain of a steamer. Then they +all like to talk sentiment--their religion is a feeling. + +"May 2. The negroes are remarkable for their courtesy of manner. Those +who belong to good families seem to pride themselves upon their dress +and style. + +"A lady walking in Charleston is never jostled by black or white man. +The white man steps out of her way, the black man does this and touches +his hat. The black woman bows--she is distinguished by her neat dress, +her clean plaid head-dress, and her upright carriage. It would be well +for some of our young ladies to carry burdens on their heads, even to +the risk of flattening the instep, if by that means they could get the +straight back of a slave. + +"Mrs. W., who takes us out to drive, comes with her black coachman and a +little boy. The coachman wears white gloves, and looks like a gentleman. +The little boy rings door-bells when we stop. + +"When it rained the other day, Mrs. W. dropped the window of the +carriage, and desired the two to put on their shawls, for fear they +would take cold. They are plainly a great care to their owners, for they +are like children and cannot take care of themselves; and yet in another +way the masters are like children, from the constant waiting upon that +they receive. One would think, where one class does all the thinking and +the other all the working, that masters would be active thinkers and +slaves ready workers; but neither result seems to happen--both are +listless and inactive. + +"May 3. I asked Miss Pinckney to-day if she remembered George +Washington. She and Mrs. Poinsett spoke at once. "'Oh, yes, we were +children,' said Mrs. Poinsett; 'but my father would have him come to see +us, and he took each of us in his arms and kissed us; and at another +time we went to Mt. Vernon and made him a visit.' + +"Never were more intelligent old ladies than Mrs. Poinsett and Miss +Pinckney. The latter stepped around like a young girl, and brought a +heavy book to show me the sketch of her sister, Marie Henrietta +Pinckney, who, in the nullification time of 1830, wrote a pamphlet in +defence of the State. + +"Miss Pinckney's father was the originator of the celebrated maxim, +'Millions for defence, but not one cent for tribute.' Their house was +the headquarters for the nullifiers, and they had serenades, she said, +without number. + +"It was pleasant to hear the old ladies chatter away, and it was +interesting to think of the distinguished men who had been under that +roof, and of the cultivated and beautiful women who had adorned the +mansion. + +"Miss Pinckney, when I left, followed me to the door, and put into my +hands an elegant little volume of poems, called 'Reliquiai.' + +"They seem to be simple effusions of some person who died early. + +"May 9. We left Charleston, its old houses and its good people, on +Monday, and reached Augusta the same day. + +"Augusta is prettily laid out, but the place is of little interest; and +for the hotel where we stayed, I can only give this advice to its +inmates: 'Don't examine a black spot upon your pillow-case; go to sleep +at once, and keep asleep if you can.' + +"When we were on the road from Augusta to Atlanta, the conductor said, +'If you are going on to Nashville, you will be on the road in the night; +people don't love to go on that road in the night. I don't know why.' + +"When we came to the Nashville road, I thought that I knew 'why.' The +road runs around the base of a mountain, while directly beneath it, at a +great depth, runs a river. A dash off the track on one side would be +against the mountain, on the other side would be into the river, while +the sharp turns seem to invite such a catastrophe. When we were somewhat +wrought up to a nervous excitement, the cars would plunge into the +darkness of a tunnel--darkness such as I almost felt. + +"It was a picturesque but weary ride, and we were tired and hungry when +we reached Nashville. + +"May 11. To-day we have been out for a two-hours' drive. It is warm, +cloudy, and looks like a tempest; we are too tired for much effort. + +"Mrs. Fogg, of Nashville, took us to call on the widow of President +Polk. We found her at home, though apparently just ready for a walk. She +is still in mourning, and tells me that she has not travelled fifty +miles from home in the last eight years. + +"She spoke to me of Governor Briggs (of Massachusetts), an old friend; +of Professor Hare; and said that among her cards, on her return from a +journey some years ago, she found Charles Sumner's; and forgetting at +the moment who he was, she asked the servant who he was. 'The +Abolitionist Senator from Massachusetts--I asked him in,' was the reply. + +"Mrs. Polk talks readily, is handsome, elegant in figure, and shows at +once that she is well read. She told me that she reads all the newspaper +reports of the progress of science. She lives simply, as any New England +woman would, though her house is larger than most private residences. + +"Mrs. Fogg told me many anecdotes of Dorothea Dix. That lady was, at one +time, travelling alone, and was obliged to stop at some little village +tavern. As she lay half asleep upon the sofa, the driver of the stage in +which she was to take passage came into the room, approached her, and +held a light to her closed eyes. She did not dare to move nor utter a +sound, but when he turned away she opened her eyes and watched him. He +went to the mail-bags, opened them, took out the letters, hastily broke +the seals, took out money enclosed, put it into his pocket, closed the +bags, and again approached her with his lamp. She shut her eyes and +pretended to sleep again; then at the proper time entered the stage and +pursued her journey. At the end of the journey she reported his conduct +to the proper authorities. + +"I was a little doubtful about the propriety of going to the Mammoth +Cave without a gentleman escort, but if two ladies travel alone they +must have the courage of men. So I called the landlord as soon as we +arrived at the Cave House, and asked if we could have Mat, who I had +been told was the best guide now that Stephen is ill. The landlord +promised Mat to me for two days. After dinner we made our first attempt. + +"The ground descends for some two hundred feet towards the mouth of the +cave; then you come to a low hill, and you descend through a small +aperture not at all imposing, in front of which trickles a little +stream. For some little while we needed no light, but soon the guide +lighted and gave to each of us a little lamp. Mat took the lead, I came +next, Miss S. followed, and an old slave brought up in the rear. + +"I confess that I shuddered as I came into the darkness. Our lamps, of +course, gave but feeble light; we barely saw at first where our feet +must step. + +"I looked up, trying in vain to find the ceiling or the walls. All was +darkness. In about an hour we saw more clearly. The chambers are, many +of them, elliptical in shape; the ceiling is of mixed dark and white +color, and looks much like the sky on a cloudy moonlight evening. + +"A friend of ours, who has been much in the cave, says, 'If the top were +lifted off, and the whole were exposed to view, no woman would ever +enter it again.' + +"We clambered over heaps of rocks, we descended ladders, wound through +narrow passages, passed along chambers so low that we crouched for the +whole length, entered upon lofty halls, ascended ladders, and crossed a +bridge over a yawning abyss. + +"Every nightmare scene that I had ever dreamed of seemed to be realized. +I shuddered several times, and was obliged to reason with myself to +assure me of safety. Occasionally we sat down and rested upon some flat +rock. + +"Miss S., who has a great taste for costuming, wound her plaid shawl +about her shoulders, turbaned her head with a green veil, swung her lamp +upon a stick which she rested upon her shoulder, and then threw herself +upon a rock in a most picturesque attitude. The guide took a lower seat, +and his dirty tin cup, swung across his breast, looked like an ornament +as the light struck it; his swarthy face was bright, and I wondered what +our friends at home would give for a picture. + +"One of these elliptical halls has its ceiling immensely far off, and of +the deepest black, until our feeble little lights strike upon +innumerable points, when it shines forth like a dark starlight night. +The stars are faint, but they look so exceedingly like the heavens that +one easily forgets that it is not reality. + +"The guide asked us to be seated, while he went behind down a descent +with the lights, to show us the creeping over of the shadows of the +rocks, as if a dark cloud passed over the starlit vault. The black cloud +crept on and on as the guide descended, until a fear came over us, and +we cried out together to him to come back, not to leave us in total +darkness. He begged that he might go still lower and show us entire +darkness, but we would not permit it. + +"Guin's Dome. What the name means I can't say. The guide tells you to +pause in your scrambling over loose stones and muddy soil,--which you +are always willing to do,--and to put your head through a circular +aperture, and to look up while he lights the Bengal light; you obey, and +look up upon columns of fluted, snowy whiteness; he tells you to look +down, and you follow the same pillars down--up to heights which the +light cannot climb, down to depths on which it cannot fall. + +"You shudder as you look up, and you shudder as you look down. Indeed, +the march of the cave is a series of shudders. Geologists may enjoy it, +a large party may be merry in it; but if the 'underground railroad' of +the slaves is of that kind, I should rather remain a slave than +undertake a runaway trip! + +"May 18. To-day we retraced our steps from Nashville to Chattanooga. It +had been raining nearly all night, and we found, when not far from the +latter place, that the streams were pouring down from the high lands +upon the car-track, so that we came through rivers. When we dashed into +the dark tunnel it was darker than ever from the darkness of the day, +and it seemed to me that the darkness pressed upon me. I am sure I +should keep my senses a very little while if I were confined in a dark +place. + +"As we came out of the tunnel, the water from the hill above dashed upon +the cars; and although it did not break the panes of glass, it forced +its way through and sprinkled us. + +"The route, with all its terrors, is beautiful, and the trees are now +much finer than they were ten days ago. + +"May 27. There is this great difference between Niagara and other +wonders of the world: that of it you get no idea from descriptions, or +even from paintings. Of the 'Mammoth Cave' you have a conception from +what you are told; of the Natural Bridge you get a really truthful +impression from a picture. But cave and bridge are in still life. +Niagara is all activity and change. No picture gives you the varying +form of the water or the change of color; no description conveys to your +mind the ceaseless roar. So, too, the ocean must be unrepresentable to +those who have not looked upon it. + +"The Natural Bridge stands out bold and high, just as you expect to see +it. You are agreeably disappointed, however, on finding that you can go +under the arch and be completely in the coolness of its shade while you +look up for two hundred feet to the rocky black and white ceiling above. + +"One of the prettiest peculiarities is the fringing above of the trees +which hang over the edge, and looking out past the arch the wooded banks +of the ravine are very pleasant. From above, one has the pain always +attendant to me upon looking down into an abyss, but at the same time +one obtains a better conception of the depth of the valley. It is well +worth seeing, partly for itself, partly because it can be reached only +by a ride among the hills of the Blue Ridge." + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +1857 + +FIRST EUROPEAN TOUR--LIVERPOOL--THE HAWTHORNES--LONDON--GREENWICH +OBSERVATORY--ADMIRAL SMYTH--DR. LEE + + +Shortly after her return from the South, Miss Mitchell started again for +a tour in Europe with the same young girl. + +Miss Mitchell carried letters from eminent scientific people in this +country to such persons as it would be desirable for her to know in +Europe; especially to astronomers and mathematicians. + +When Miss Mitchell went to Europe she took her Almanac work with her, +and what time she was not sight-seeing she was continuing that work. Her +wisdom in this respect was very soon apparent. She had not been in +England many weeks when a great financial crisis took place in the +United States, and the father of her young charge succumbed to the +general failure. The young lady was called home, but after considering +the matter seriously Miss Mitchell decided to remain herself, putting +the young lady into careful hands for the return passage from Liverpool. + +Miss Mitchell enjoyed the society of the scientific people whom she met +in England to her heart's content. She was very cordially received, and +the astronomers not only opened their observatories to her, but welcomed +her into their family life. + +On arriving at Liverpool, Miss Mitchell delivered the letters to the +astronomers living in or near that city, and visited their +observatories. + +"Aug. 3, 1857. I brought a letter from Professor Silliman to Mr. John +Taylor, cotton merchant and astronomer; and to-day I have taken tea with +him. He is an old man, nearly eighty I should think, but full of life, +and talks by the hour on heathen mythology. He was the principal agent +in the establishment of the Liverpool Observatory, but disclaims the +honor, because it was established on so small a scale, compared with his +own gigantic plan. Mr. Taylor has invented a little machine, for showing +the approximate position of a comet, having the elements. + +"He has also made additions to the globes made by De Morgan, so that +they can be used for any year and show the correct rising and setting of +the stars. + +"He struck me as being a man of taste, but of no great profundity. He +has a painting which he believes to be by Guido; it seemed to me too +fresh in its coloring for the sixteenth century. + +"August 4, 3 P.M. I put down my pen, because old Mr. Taylor called, and +while he was here Rev. James Martineau came. Mr. Martineau is one of the +handsomest men I ever saw. He cannot be more than thirty, or if he is he +has kept his dark hair remarkably. He has large, bluish-gray eyes, and +is tall and elegant in manner. He says he is just packed to move to +London. He gave me his London address and hoped he should see me there; +but I doubt if he does, for I did not like to tell him my address unless +he asked for it, for fear of seeming to be pushing. + +"August,... I have been to visit Mr. Lassell. He called yesterday and +asked me to dine with him to-day. He has a charming place, about four +miles out of Liverpool; a pretty house and grounds. + +"Mr. Lassell has constructed two telescopes, both on the Newtonian plan; +one of ten, the other of twenty, feet in length. Each has its separate +building, and in the smaller building is a transit instrument. + +"Mr. Lassell must have been a most indefatigable worker as well as a +most ingenious man; for, besides constructing his own instruments, he +has found time to make discoveries. He is, besides, very genial and +pleasant, and told me some good anecdotes connected with astronomical +observations. + +"One story pleased me very much. Our Massachusetts astronomer, Alvan +Clark, has long been a correspondent of Mr. Dawes, but has never seen +him. Wishing to have an idea of his person, and being a portrait +painter, Mr. Clark sent to Mr. Dawes for his daguerreotype, and from +that painted a likeness, which he has sent out to Liverpool, and which +is said to be excellent. + +"Mr. Lassell looks in at the side of his reflecting telescopes by means +of a diagonal eye-piece; when the instrument is pointed at objects of +high altitude he hangs a ladder upon the dome and mounts; the ladder +moves around with the dome. Mr. Lassell works only for his own +amusement, and has been to Malta,--carrying his larger telescope with +him,--for the sake of clearer skies. Neither Mr. Lassell nor Mr. Hartnup +[Footnote: Of the Liverpool Observatory.] makes regular observations. + +"The Misses Lassell, four in number, seem to be very accomplished. They +take photographs of each other which are beautiful, make their own +picture-frames, and work in the same workshop with their father. One of +them told me that she made observations on my comet, supposing it to +belong to Mr. Dawes, who was a friend of hers. + +"They keep an album of the autographs of their scientific visitors, and +among them I saw those of Professor Young, of Dartmouth, and of +Professor Loomis. + +"August 4. I have just returned from a visit to the Liverpool +Observatory, under the direction of Mr. Hartnup. It is situated on +Waterloo dock, and the pier of the observatory rests upon the sandstone +of that region, The telescope is an equatorial; like many good +instruments in our country, it is almost unused. + +"Mr. Hartnup's observatory is for nautical purposes. I found him a very +gentlemanly person, and very willing to show me anything of interest +about the observatory; but they make no regular series of astronomical +observations, other than those required for the commerce of Liverpool. + +"Mr. Hartnup has a clock which by the application of an electric current +controls the action of other clocks, especially the town clock of +Liverpool--distant some miles. The current of electricity is not the +motive power, but a corrector. + +"Much attention is paid to meteorology. The pressure of the wind, the +horizontal motion, and the course are recorded upon sheets of paper +running upon cylinders and connected with the clock; the instrument +which obeys the voice of the wind being outside. + +"Aug. 5, 1857. I did not send my letter to Mr. Hawthorne until +yesterday, supposing that he was not in the city; but yesterday when +Rev. James Martineau called on me, he said that he had not yet left. Mr. +Martineau said that it would be a great loss to Liverpool when Mr. +Hawthorne went away. + +"I sent my letter at once; from all that I had heard of Mr. Hawthorne's +shyness, I thought it doubtful if he would call, and I was therefore +very much pleased when his card was sent in this morning. Mr. Hawthorne +was more chatty than I had expected, but not any more diffident. He +remained about five minutes, during which time he took his hat from the +table and put it back once a minute, brushing it each time. The +engravings in the books are much like him. He is not handsome, but looks +as the author of his books should look; a little strange and odd, as if +not of this earth. He has large, bluish-gray eyes; his hair stands out +on each side, so much so that one's thoughts naturally turn to combs and +hair-brushes and toilet ceremonies as one looks at him." + +Later, when Miss Mitchell was in Paris, alone, on her way to Rome, she +sent to the Hawthornes, who were also in Paris, asking for the privilege +of joining them, as they too were journeying in the same direction. She +says in her diary: + +"Mrs. Hawthorne was feeble, and she told me that she objected, but that +Mr. Hawthorne assured her that I was a person who would give no trouble; +therefore she consented. We were about ten days on the journey to Rome, +and three months in Rome; living, however, some streets asunder. I saw +them nearly every day. Like everybody else, I found Mr. Hawthorne very +taciturn. His few words were, however, very telling. When I talked +French, he told me it was capital: 'It came down like a sledge-hammer.' +His little satirical remarks were such as these: It was March and I took +a bunch of violets to Rosa; notched white paper was wound around them, +and Mr. Hawthorne said, 'They have on a cambric ruffle." + +"Generally he sat by an open fire, with his feet thrust into the coals, +and an open volume of Thackeray upon his knees. He said that Thackeray +was the greatest living novelist. I sometimes suspected that the volume +of Thackeray was kept as a foil, that he might not be talked to. He +shrank from society, but rode and walked." + +EXTRACT FROM A LETTER. + + ROME, Feb. 16, 1858. + + ... The Hawthornes are invaluable to me, because the little ones + come to my room every day and I go there when I like. Mrs. + Hawthorne sometimes walks with us, Mr. H. _never_. He has a + horror of sight-seeing and of emotions in general, but I like + him very much, and when I say I like _him_ it only means that I + like _her_ a little more. Julian, the boy, is in love with me. + When I was last there Mr. H. came home with me; as he put on his + coat he turned to Julian and said, "Julian, I should think with + your _tender interest_ in Miss Mitchell you wouldn't let me + escort her home." + +"We arrived in Rome in the evening. Mrs. H. was somewhat of an invalid, +and Mr. Hawthorne tried in vain to make the servant understand that she +must have a fire in her room. He spoke no word of French, German, or +Italian, but he said emphatically, 'Make a fire in Mrs. Hawthorne's +room.' Worn out with his efforts, he turned to me and said, 'Do, Miss +Mitchell, tell the servant what I want; your French is excellent! +Englishmen and Frenchmen understand it equally well.' So I said in +execrable French, 'Make a fire,' and pointed to the grate; of course the +gesture was understood. + +"Mr. Hawthorne was minutely and scrupulously honest; I should say that +he was a rigid temperance man. Once I heard Mrs. Hawthorne say to the +clerk, 'Send some brandy to Mr. Hawthorne at once.' We were six in the +party. When I paid my bill I heard Mr. Hawthorne say to Miss S., the +teacher, who took all the business cares, 'Don't let Miss Mitchell pay +for one-sixth of my brandy.' + +"So if we ordered tea for five, and six partook of it, he called the +waiter and said, 'Six have partaken of the tea, although there was no +tea added; to the amount.' + +"I told Mr. Hawthorne that a friend of mine, Miss W., desired very much +to see him, as she admired him very much. He said, 'Don't let her see +me, let her keep her little lamp burning.' + +"He was a sad man; I could never tell why. I never could get at anything +of his religious views. + +"He was wonderfully blest in his family. Mrs. Hawthorne almost +worshipped him. She was of a very serious and religious turn of mind. + +"I dined with them the day that Una was sixteen years old. We drank her +health in cold water. Mr. Hawthorne said, 'May you live happily, and be +ready to go when you must.' + +"He joined in the family talk very pleasantly. One evening we made up a +story. One said, 'A party was in Rome;' another said, 'It was a pleasant +day;' another said, 'They took a walk.' It came to Hawthorne's turn, and +he said, 'Do put in an incident;' so Rosa said, 'Then a bear jumped from +the top of St. Peter's!' The story went no further. + +"I was with the family when they first went to St. Peter's. Hawthorne +turned away saying, 'The St. Peter's of my imagination was better.' + +"I think he could not have been well, he was so very inactive. If he +walked out he took Rosa, then a child of six, with him. He once came +with her to my room, but he seemed tired from the ascent of the stairs. +I was on the fifth floor. + +"I have been surprised to see that he made severe personal remarks in +his journal, for in the three months that I knew him I never heard an +unkind word; he was always courteous, gentle, and retiring. Mrs. +Hawthorne said she took a wifely pride in his having no small vices. Mr. +Hawthorne said to Miss S., 'I have yet to find the first fault in Mrs. +Hawthorne.' + +"One day Mrs. Hawthorne came to my room, held up an inkstand, and said, +'The new book will be begun to-night.' + +"This was 'The Marble Faun.' She said, 'Mr. Hawthorne writes after every +one has gone to bed. I never see the manuscript until it is what he +calls _clothed_'.... Mrs. H. says he never knows when he is writing a +story how the characters will turn out; he waits for _them_ to influence +_him_. + +"I asked her if Zenobia was intended for Margaret Fuller, and she said, +'No;' but Mr. Hawthorne admitted that Margaret Fuller seemed to be +around him when he was writing it. + +"London, August. We went out for our first walk as soon as breakfast was +over, and we walked on Regent street for hours, looking in at the shop +windows. The first view of the street was beautiful, for it was a misty +morning, and we saw its length fade away as if it had no end. I like it +that in our first walk we came upon a crowd standing around 'Punch.' It +is a ridiculous affair, but as it is as much a 'peculiar institution' as +is Southern slavery, I stopped and listened, and after we came into the +house Miss S. threw out some pence for them. We rested after the shop +windows of Regent street, took dinner, and went out again, this time to +Piccadilly. + +"The servility of the shopkeepers is really a little offensive. 'What +shall I have the honor of showing you?' they say. + +"Our chambermaid, at our lodgings, thanks us every time we speak to her. + +"I feel ashamed to reach a four-penny piece to a stout coachman who +touches his hat and begs me to remember him. Sometimes I am ready to +say, 'How can I forget you, when you have hung around me so closely for +half an hour?' + +"Our waiter at the Adelphi Hotel, at Liverpool, was a very respectable +middle-aged man, with a white neck-cloth; he looked like a Methodist +parson. He waited upon us for five days with great gravity, and then +another waiter told us that we could give our waiter what we pleased. We +were charged L1 for 'attendance' in the bill, but I very innocently gave +half as much more, as fee to the 'parson,' + +"August 14. To-day we took a brougham and drove around for hours. Of +course we didn't _see_ London, and if we stay a month we shall still +know nothing of it, it is so immense. I keep thinking, as I go through +the streets, of 'The rats and the mice, they made such a strife, he had +to go to London,' etc., and especially 'The streets were so wide, and +the lanes were so narrow;' for I never saw such narrow streets, even in +Boston. + +"We have begun to send out letters, but as it is 'out of season' I am +afraid everybody will be at the watering-places. + +THE GREENWICH OBSERVATORY. "The observatory was founded by Charles II. +The king that 'never said a foolish thing and never did a wise one' was +yet sagacious enough to start an institution which has grown to be a +thing of might, and this, too, of his own will, and not from the +influence of courtiers. One of the hospital buildings of Greenwich, then +called the 'House of Delights,' was the residence of Henrietta Maria, +and the young prince probably played on the little hill now the site of +the observatory. + +"But Charles, though he started an observatory, did not know very well +what was needed. The first building consisted of a large, octagonal +room, with windows all around; it was considered sufficiently firm +without any foundation, and sufficiently open to the heavens with no +opening higher than windows. This room is now used as a place of deposit +for instruments, and busts and portraits of eminent men, and also as the +dancing-hall for the director's family. + +"Under Mr. Airy's [Footnote: The late Sir George Airy.] direction, the +walls of the observing-room have become pages of its history. The +transit instruments used by Halley, Bradley, and Pond hang side by side; +the zenith sector with which Bradley discovered the 'aberration of +light,' now moving rustily on its arc, is the ornament of another room; +while the shelves of the computing-room are filled with volumes of +unpublished observations of Flamstead and others. + +"The observatory stands in Greenwich Park, the prettiest park I have yet +seen; being a group of small hills. They point out oaks said to belong +to Elizabeth's time--noble oaks of any time. The observatory is one +hundred and fifty feet above the sea level. The view from it is, of +course, beautiful. On the north the river, the little Thames, big with +its fleet, is winding around the Isle of Dogs; on the left London, +always overhung with a cloud of smoke, through which St. Paul's and the +Houses of Parliament peep. + +"Mr. Airy was exceedingly kind to me, and seemed to take great interest +in showing me around. He appeared to be much gratified by my interest in +the history of the observatory. He is naturally a despot, and his +position increases this tendency. Sitting in his chair, the zero-point +of longitude for the world, he commands not only the little knot of +observers and computers around him, but when he says to London, 'It is +one o'clock,' London adopts that time, and her ships start for their +voyages around the globe, and continue to count their time from that +moment, wherever the English flag is borne. + +"It is singular what a quiet motive-power Science is, the breath of a +nation's progress. + +"Mr. Airy is not favorable to the multiplication of observatories. He +predicted the failure of that at Albany. He says that he would gladly +destroy one-half of the meridian instruments of the world, by way of +reform. I told him that my reform movement would be to bring together +the astronomers who had no instruments and the instruments which had no +astronomers. + +"Mr. Airy is exceedingly systematic. In leading me by narrow passages +and up steep staircases, from one room to another of the irregular +collection of rooms, he was continually cautioning me about my +footsteps, and in one place he seemed to have a kind of formula: 'Three +steps at this place, ten at this, eleven at this, and three again.' So, +in descending a ladder to the birthplace of the galvanic currents, he +said, 'Turn your back to the stairs, step down with the right foot, take +hold with the right hand; reverse the operation in ascending; do not, on +coming out, turn around at once, but step backwards one step first.' + +"Near the throne of the astronomical autocrat is another proof of his +system, in a case of portfolios. These contain the daily bills, letters, +and papers, as they come in and are answered in order. When a portfolio +is full, the papers are removed and are sewed together. Each year's +accumulation is bound, and the bound volumes of Mr. Airy's time nearly +cover one side of his private room. + +"Mr. Airy replies to all kinds of letters, with two exceptions: those +which ask for autographs, and those which request him to calculate +nativities. Both of these are very frequent. + +"In the drawing-room Mr. Airy is cheery; he loves to recite ballads and +knows by heart a mass of verses, from 'A, Apple Pie,' to the 'Lady of +the Lake.' + +"A lover of Nature and a close observer of her ways, as well in the +forest walk as in the vault of heaven, Mr. Airy has roamed among the +beautiful scenery of the Lake region until he is as good a mountain +guide as can be found. He has strolled beside Grassmere and ascended +Helvellyn. He knows the height of the mountain peaks, the shingles that +lie on their sides, the flowers that grow in the valleys, the mines +beneath the surface. + +"At one time the Government Survey planted what is called a 'Man' on the +top of one of the hills of the Lake region. In a dry season they built +up a stone monument, right upon the bed of a little pond. The country +people missed the little pond, which had seemed to them an eye of Nature +reflecting heaven's blue light. They begged for the removal of the +surveyor's pile, and Mr. Airy at once changed the station. + +"The established observatories of England do not step out of their +beaten path to make discoveries--these come from the amateurs. In this +respect they differ from America and Germany. The amateurs of England do +a great deal of work, they learn to know of what they and their +instruments are capable, and it is done. + +"The library of Greenwich Observatory is large. The transactions of +learned societies alone fill a small room; the whole impression of the +thirty volumes of printed observations fills a wall of another room, and +the unpublished papers of the early directors make of themselves a small +manuscript library. + +"October 22, 1857. We have just returned from our fourth visit to +Greenwich, like the others twenty-four hours in length. We go again +to-morrow to meet the Sabines. + +"Herr Struve, the director of the Pulkova Observatory, is at Greenwich, +with his son Karl. The old gentleman is a magnificent-looking fellow, +very large and well proportioned; his great head is covered with white +hair, his features are regular and handsome. When he is introduced to +any one he thrusts both hands into the pockets of his pantaloons, and +bows. I found that the son considered this position of the hands +particularly _English_. However, the old gentleman did me the honor to +shake hands with me, and when I told him that I brought a letter to him +from a friend in America, he said, 'It is quite unnecessary, I know you +without.' He speaks very good English. + +"Herr Struve's mission in England is to see if he can connect the +trigonometrical surveys of the two countries. It is quite singular that +he should visit England for this purpose, so soon after Russia and +England were at war. One of his sons was an army surgeon at the Crimea. + +"Five visitors remained all night at the observatory. I slept in a +little round room and Miss S. in another, at the top of a little +jutting-out, curved building. Mrs. Airy says, 'Mr. Airy got permission +of the Board of Visitors to fit up some of the rooms as lodging-rooms.' +Mr. Airy said, 'My dear love, I did as I always do: I fitted them up +first, and then I reported to the Board that I had done it.' + +"October 23. Another dinner-party at the observatory, consisting of the +Struves, General and Mrs. Sabine, Professor and Mrs. Powell, Mr. Main, +and ourselves; more guests coming to tea. + +"Mrs. Airy told me that she should arrange the order of the guests at +table to please herself; that properly all of the married ladies should +precede me, but that I was really to go first, with Mr. Airy. To effect +this, however, she must explain it to Mrs. Sabine, the lady of highest +rank. + +"So we went out, Professor Airy and myself, Professor Powell and Mrs. +Sabine, General Sabine and Mrs. Powell, Mr. Charles Struve and Miss S., +Mr. Main, Mrs. Airy, and Professor Struve. + +"General Sabine is a small man, gray haired and sharp featured, about +seventy years old. He smiles very readily, and is chatty and sociable at +once. He speaks with more quickness and ease than most of the Englishmen +I have met. Mrs. Sabine is very agreeable and not a bit of a +blue-stocking. + +"The chat at table was general and very interesting. Mr. Airy says, 'The +best of a good dinner is the amount of talk.' He talked of the great +'Leviathan' which he and Struve had just visited, then anecdotes were +told by others, then they went on to comic poetry. Mr. Airy repeated +'The Lost Heir,' by Hood. General Sabine told droll anecdotes, and the +point was often lost upon me, because of the local allusions. One of his +anecdotes was this: 'Archbishop Whately did not like a professor named +Robert Daly; he said the Irish were a very contented people, they were +satisfied with one _bob daily_.' I found that a 'bob' is a shilling. + +"When the dinner was over, the ladies left the room, and the gentlemen +remained over their wine; but not for long, for Mr. Airy does not like +it, and Struve hates it. + +"Then, before tea, others dropped in from the neighborhood, and the tea +was served in the drawing-room, handed round informally. + +"August 15. Westminster Abbey interested me more than I had expected. We +went into the chapels and admired the sculpture when the guide told us +we ought, and stopped with interest sometimes over some tomb which he +did not point out. + +"I stepped aside reverently when I found I was standing on the stone +which covers the remains of Dr. Johnson. It is cracked across the +middle. Garrick lies by the side of Johnson, and I thought at first that +Goldsmith lay near; but it is only a monument--the body is interred in +Temple churchyard. + +"You are continually misled in this way unless you refer at every minute +to your guide-book, and to go through Europe reading a guide-book which +you can read at home seems to be a waste of time. On the stone beneath +which Addison lies is engraved the verse from Tickell's ode: + + "'Ne'er to these chambers where the mighty rest,' etc. + +"The base of Newton's monument is of white marble, a solid mass large +enough to support a coffin; upon that a sarcophagus rests. The remains +are not enclosed within. As I stepped aside I found I had been standing +upon a slab marked 'Isaac Newton,' beneath which the great man's remains +lie. + +"On the side of the sarcophagus is a white marble slab, with figures in +bas-relief. One of these imaginary beings appears to be weighing the +planets on a steel-yard. They hang like peas! Another has a pair of +bellows and is blowing a fire. A third is tending a plant. + +"On this sarcophagus reclines a figure of Newton, of full size. He leans +his right arm upon four thick volumes, probably 'The Principia,' and he +points his left hand to a globe above his head on which the goddess +Urania sits; she leans upon another large book. + +"Newton's head is very fine, and is probably a portrait. The left hand, +which is raised, has lost two fingers. I thought at first that this had +been the work of some 'undevout astronomer,' but when I came to 'read +up' I found that at one time soldiers were quartered in the abbey, and +probably one of them wanted a finger with which to crowd the tobacco +into his pipe, and so broke off one. + +"August 17. To-day we have been to the far-famed British Museum. I +carried an 'open sesame' in the form of a letter given to me by +Professor Henry, asking for me special attention from all societies with +which the 'Smithsonian' at Washington is connected. + +"I gave the paper first to a police officer; a police officer is met at +every turn in London. He handed it to another official, who said, 'You'd +better go to the secretary.' + +"I walked in the direction towards which he pointed, a long way, until I +found the secretary. He called another man, and asked him to show me +whatever I wanted to see. + +"This man took me into another room, and consigned me to still another +man--the fifth to whom I had been referred. No. 5 was an intelligent and +polite person, and he began to talk about America at once. + +"I asked to see anything which had belonged to Newton, and he told me +they had one letter only,--from Newton to Leibnitz,--which he showed me. +It was written in Latin, with diagrams and formulae interspersed. The +reply of Leibnitz, copied by Newton, was also in their collection, and +an order from Newton written while he was director of the mint. + +"No. 5 also showed me the illuminated manuscripts of the collection; +they are kept locked in glass-topped cases, and a curtain protects them +from the light. We saw also the oldest copy of the Bible in the world. + +"The art of printing has brought incalculable blessings; but as I looked +at a neat manuscript book by Queen Elizabeth, copied from another as a +present to her father, I could not help thinking it was much better than +worsted work! + +"A much-worn prayer-book was shown me, said to be the one used by Lady +Jane Grey when on the scaffold. Nothing makes me more conscious that I +am on foreign soil than the constant recurrence of associations +connected with the executioner's block. We hung the Quakers and we +burned the witches, but we are careful not to remember the localities of +our barbarisms; we show instead the Plymouth Rock or the Washington Elm. + +"Among other things, we were shown the 'Magna Charta'--a few fragments +of worn-out paper on which some words could be traced; now carefully +preserved in a frame, beneath a glass. + +"Thus far England has impressed me seriously; I cannot imagine how it +has ever earned the name of 'Merrie England.' + +"August 19. There are four great men whose haunts I mean to seek, and on +whose footsteps I mean to stand: Newton, Shakspere, Milton, and Johnson. + +"To-day I told the driver to take me to St. Martin's, where the +guide-book says that Newton lived. He put me down at the Newton Hotel, +but I looked in vain to its top to see anything like an observatory. + +"I went into a wine-shop near, and asked a girl, who was pouring out a +dram, in which house Newton lived. She pointed, not to the hotel, but to +a house next to a church, and said, 'That's it--don't you see a place on +the top? That's where he used to study nights.' + +"It is a little, oblong-shaped observatory, built apparently of wood, +and blackened by age. The house is a good-looking one--it seems to be of +stone. The girl said the rooms were let for shops. + +"Next I told the driver to take me to Fleet street, to Gough square, and +to Bolt court, where Johnson lived and died. + +"Bolt court lies on Fleet street, and it is but few steps along a narrow +passage to the house, which is now a hotel, where Johnson died; but you +must walk on farther through the narrow passage, a little fearful to a +woman, to see the place where he wrote the dictionary. The house is so +completely within a court, in which nothing but brick walls could be +seen, that one wonders what the charm of London could be, to induce one +to live in that place. But a great city always draws to itself the great +minds, and there Johnson probably found his enjoyment. + +"August 27. We took St. Paul's Church to-day. We took tickets for the +vaults, the bell, the crypt, the whispering-gallery, the clock and all. +We did not know what was before us. It was a little tiresome as far as +the library and the room of Nelson's trophies, but to my surprise, when +the guide said, 'Go that way for the clock,' he did not take the lead, +but pointed up a staircase, and I found myself the pioneer in the +narrowest and darkest staircase I ever ascended. It was really perfect +darkness in some of the places, and we had to feel our way. We all took +a long breath when a gleam of light came in at some narrow windows +scattered along. At the top, in front of the clock works, stood a woman, +who began at once to tell us the statistics of the pendulum, to which +recital I did not choose to listen. She was not to go down with us, and, +panting with fatigue and trembling with fright, we groped our way down +again. + +"There was another long, but easy, ascent to the 'whispering-gallery,' +which is a fine place from which to look down upon the interior of the +church. The man in attendance looked like a respectable elderly +gentleman. He told us to go to the opposite side of the gallery, and he +would whisper to us. We went around, and, worn out with fatigue, dropped +upon a bench. + +"The man began to whisper, putting his mouth to an opening in the wall; +we heard noises, but could not tell what he said. + +"To my amazement, this very respectable-looking elderly gentleman, as we +passed him in going out, whispered again, and as this time he put his +mouth close to my ear, I understood! He said, 'If you will give anything +for the whisper, it will be gratefully received.' There are notices all +over the church forbidding fees, and I felt that the man was a beggar at +best--more properly a pickpocket. + +"A figure of Dr. Johnson stands in one of the aisles of the church. It +must be like him, for it is exceedingly ugly. + +"September 3. We have been three weeks in London 'out of season,' but +with plenty of letters. At present we have as many acquaintances as we +desire. Last night we were at the opera, to-night we go out to dine, and +to-morrow evening to a dance, the next day to Admiral Smyth's. + +"The opera fatigued me, as it always does. I tired my eyes and ears in +the vain effort to appreciate it. Mario was the great star of the +evening, but I knew no difference. + +"One little circumstance showed me how an American, with the best +intentions, may offend against good manners. American-like we had +secured very good seats, were in good season, and as comfortable as the +very narrow seats would permit us to be, before most of the audience +arrived. The house filled, and we sat at our ease, feeling our +importance, and quite unconscious that we were guilty of any +impropriety. While the curtain was down, I heard a voice behind me say +to the gentleman who was with us, 'Is the lady on your left with +you?'--'Yes,' said Mr. R.--'She wears a bonnet, which is not according +to rule.'--'Too late now,' said Mr. R.--'It is my fault,' said the +attendant; 'I ought not to have admitted her; I thought it was a hood.' + +"I was really in hopes that I should be ordered out, for I was +exceedingly fatigued and should have been glad of some fresh air. On +looking around, I saw that only the 'pit' wore bonnets. + +"September 6. We left London yesterday for Aylesbury. It is two hours by +railroad. Like all railroads in England, it runs seemingly through a +garden. In many cases flowers are cultivated by the roadside. + +"From Aylesbury to Stone, the residence of Admiral Smyth, it is two +miles of stage-coach riding. Stage-coaches are now very rare in England, +and I was delighted with the chance for a ride. + +"We found the stage-coach crowded. The driver asked me if we were for +St. John's Lodge, and on my replying in the affirmative gave me a note +which Mrs. Smyth had written to him, to ask for inside seats. The note +had reached him too late, and he said we must go on the outside. He +brought a ladder and we got up. For a minute I thought, 'What a height +to fall from!' but the afternoon was so lovely that I soon forgot the +danger and enjoyed the drive. There were six passengers on top. + +"Aylesbury is a small town, and Stone is a very small village. The +driver stopped at what seemed to be a cultivated field, and told me that +I was at my journey's end. On looking down I saw a wheelbarrow near the +fence, and I remembered that Mrs. Smyth had said that one would be +waiting for our luggage, and I soon saw Mrs. Smyth and her daughter +coming towards us. It was a walk of about an eighth of a mile to the +'Lodge'--a pleasant cottage surrounded by a beautiful garden. + +"Admiral Smyth's family go to a little church seven hundred years old, +standing in the midst of tombstones and surrounded by thatched cottages. +English scenery seems now (September) much like our Southern scenery in +April--rich and lovely, but wanting mountains and water. An English +village could never be mistaken for an American one: the outline against +the sky differs; a thatched cottage makes a very wavy line on the blue +above. + +"We find enough in St. John's Lodge, in the admiral's library, and in +the society of the cultivated members of his family to interest us for a +long time. + +"The admiral himself is upwards of sixty years of age, noble-looking, +loving a good joke, an antiquarian, and a good astronomer. I picked up +many an anecdote from him, and many curious bits of learning. + +"He tells a good story, illustrative of his enthusiasm when looking at a +crater in the moon. He says the night was remarkably fine, and he +applied higher and higher powers to his glass until he seemed to look +down into the abyss, and imagining himself standing on its verge he felt +himself falling in, and drew back with a shudder which lasted even after +the illusion was over. + +"In speaking of Stratford-upon-Avon, the admiral told me that the Lucy +family, one of whose ancestors drove Shakspere from his grounds, and who +is caricatured in Justice Shallow, still resides on the same spot as in +Shakspere's time. He says no family ever retained their characteristics +more decidedly. + +"Some years ago one of this family was invited to a Shakspere dinner. He +resented the well-meant invitation, saying they must surely have +forgotten how that _person_ treated his ancestor! + +"The amateur astronomers of England are numerous, but they are not like +those of America. + +"In America a poor schoolmaster, who has some bright boys who ask +questions, buys a glass and becomes a star-gazer, without time and +almost without instruments; or a watchmaker must know the time, and +therefore watches the stars as time-keepers. In almost all cases they +are hard-working men. + +"In England it is quite otherwise. A wealthy gentleman buys a telescope +as he would buy a library, as an ornament to his house. + +"Admiral Smyth says that no family is quite civilized unless it +possesses a copy of some encyclopaedia and a telescope. The English +gentleman uses both for amusement. If he is a man of philosophical mind +he soon becomes an astronomer, or if a benevolent man he perceives that +some friend in more limited circumstances might use it well, and he +offers the telescope to him, or if an ostentatious man he hires some +young astronomer of talent, who comes to his observatory and makes a +name for him. Then the queen confers the honor of knighthood, not upon +the young man, but upon the owner of the telescope. Sir James South was +knighted for this reason. + +"We have been visiting Hartwell House, an old baronial residence, now +the property of Dr. Lee, a whimsical old man. + +"This house was for years the residence of Louis XVIII., and his queen +died here. The drawing-room is still kept as in those days; the blue +damask on the walls has been changed by time to a brown. The rooms are +spacious and lofty, the chimney-pieces of richly carved marble. The +ceiling of one room has fine bas-relief allegorical figures. + +"Books of antiquarian value are all around--one whole floor is covered +with them. They are almost never opened. In some of the rooms paintings +are on the walls above the doors. + +"Dr. Lee's modern additions are mostly paintings of himself and a former +wife, and are in very bad taste. He has, however, two busts of Mrs. +Somerville, from which I received the impression that she is handsome, +but Mrs. Smyth tells me she is not so; certainly she is sculpturesque. + +"The royal family, on their retreat from Hartwell House, left their +prayer-book, and it still remains on its stand. The room of the ladies +of the bedchamber is papered, and the figure of a pheasant is the +prevailing characteristic of the paper. The room is called 'The Pheasant +Room.' One of the birds has been carefully cut out, and, it is said, was +carried away as a memento by one of the damsels. + +"Dr. Lee is second cousin to Sir George Lee, who died childless. He +inherits the estate, but not the title. The estate has belonged to the +Lees for four hundred years. As the doctor was a Lee only through his +mother, he was obliged to take her name on his accession to the +property. He applied to Parliament to be permitted to assume the title, +and, being refused, from a strong Tory he became a Liberal, and delights +in currying favor with the lowest classes; he has twice married below +his rank. Being remotely connected with the Hampdens, he claims John +Hampden as one of his family, and keeps a portrait of him in a +conspicuous place. + +"A summer-house on the grounds was erected by Lady Elizabeth Lee, and +some verses inscribed on its walls, written by her, show that the Lees +have not always been fools. + +"But Dr. Lee has his way of doing good. Being fond of astronomy, he has +bought an eight and a half feet equatorial telescope, and with a wisdom +which one could scarcely expect, he employed Admiral Smyth to construct +an observatory. He has also a fine transit instrument, and the admiral, +being his near neighbor, has the privilege of using the observatory as +his own. In the absence of the Lees he has a private key, with which he +admits himself and Mrs. Smyth. They make the observations (Mrs. Smyth is +a very clever astronomer), sleep in a room called 'The Admiral's Room,' +find breakfast prepared for them in the morning, and return to their own +house when they choose. + +"I saw in the observatory a timepiece with a double second-hand; one of +these could be stopped by a touch, and would, in that way, show an +observer the instant when he thought a phenomenon, as an occultation for +instance, had occurred, and yet permit him to go on with his count of +the seconds, and, if necessary, correct his first impression. + +"Admiral Smyth is a hard worker, but I suspect that many of the amateur +astronomers of England are Dr. Lees--rich men who, as a hobby, ride +astronomy and employ a good astronomer. Dr. Lee gives the use of a good +instrument to the curate; another to Mr. Payson, of Cambridge, who has +lately found a little planet. + +"I saw at Admiral Smyth's some excellent photographs of the moon, but in +England they have not yet photographed the stars." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +1857 + +FIRST EUROPEAN TOUR CONTINUED--CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY--AMBLESIDE--MISS +SOUTHEY---THE HERSCHELS--A LONDON ROUT--EDINBORO' AND GLASGOW +OBSERVATORIES--"REFLECTIONS AND MUTTERINGS" + +"If any one wishes to know the customs of centuries ago in England, let +him go to Cambridge. + +"Sitting at the window of the hotel, he will see the scholars, the +fellows, the masters of arts, and the masters of colleges passing along +the streets in their different gowns. Very unbecoming gowns they are, in +all cases; and much as the wearers must be accustomed to them, they seem +to step awkwardly, and to have an ungraceful feminine touch in their +motions. + +"Everything that you see speaks of the olden time. Even the images above +the arched entrance to the courts around which the buildings stand are +crumbling slowly, and the faces have an unearthly expression. + +"If the visitor is fortunate enough to have an introduction to one of +the college professors, he will be taken around the buildings, to the +libraries, the 'Combination' room to which the fellows retire to chat +over their wine, and perhaps even to the kitchen. + +"Our first knowledge of Cambridge was the entrance to Trinity College +and the Master's Lodge. + +"We arrived in Cambridge just about at lunch time--one o'clock. + +"Mrs. Airy said to me, 'Although we are invited to be guests of Dr. +Whewell, he is quite too mighty a man to come to meet us." Her sons, +however, met us, and we walked with them to Dr. Whewell's. + +"The Master's Lodge, where Dr. Whewell lives, is one of the buildings +composing the great pile of Trinity College. One of the rooms in the +lodge still remains nearly as in the time of Henry VIII. It is immense +in size, and has two oriel windows hung with red velvet. In this room +the queen holds her court when she is in Cambridge; for the lodge then +becomes a palace, and the 'master' retires to some other apartments, and +comes to dinner only when asked. + +"It is said that the present master does not much like to submit to this +position. + +"In this great room hang full-length portraits of Henry and Elizabeth. +On another wall is a portrait of Newton, and on a third the sweet face +of a young girl, Dr. Whewell's niece, of whom I heard him speak as +'Kate.' + +"Dr. Whewell received us in this room, standing on a rug before an open +fireplace; a wood fire was burning cheerily. Mrs. Airy's daughter, a +young girl, was with us. + +"Dr. Whewell shook hands with us, and we stood. I was very tired, but we +continued to stand. In an American gentleman's house I should have asked +if I might sit, and should have dropped upon a chair; here, of course, I +continued to stand. After, perhaps, fifteen minutes, Dr. Whewell said, +'Will you sit?' and the four of us dropped upon chairs as if shot! + +"The master is a man to be noted, even physically. He is much above +ordinary size, and, though now gray-haired, would be extraordinarily +handsome if it were not for an expression of ill-temper about the mouth. + +"An Englishmen is proud; a Cambridge man is the proudest of Englishmen; +and Dr. Whewell, the proudest of Cambridge men. + +"In the opinion of a Cambridge man, to be master of Trinity is to be +master of the world! + +"At lunch, to which we stayed, Dr. Whewell talked about American +writers, and was very severe upon them; some of them were friends of +mine, and it was not pleasant. But I was especially hurt by a remark +which he made afterwards. Americans are noted in England for their use +of slang. The English suppose that the language of Sam Slick or of Nasby +is the language used in cultivated society. They do not seem to +understand it, and I have no doubt to-day that Lowell's comic poems are +taken seriously. So at this table, Dr. Whewell, wishing to say that we +would do something in the way of sight-seeing very thoroughly, turning +to me, said, 'We'll go the whole hog, Miss Mitchell, as you say in +America.' + +"I turned to the young American girl who sat next to me, and said, 'Miss +S., did you ever hear that expression except on the street?' 'Never,' +she replied. + +"Afterwards he said to me, 'You in America think you know something +about the English language, and you get out your Webster's dictionary, +and your Worcester's dictionary, but we here in Cambridge think we know +rather more about English than you do.' + +"After lunch we went to the observatory. The Cambridge Observatory has +the usual number of meridian instruments, but it has besides a good +equatorial telescope of twenty feet in length, mounted in the English +style; for Mr. Airy was in Cambridge at the time of its establishment. +In this pretty observatory, overlooking the peaceful plains, with some +small hills in the distance, Mr. and Mrs. Airy passed the first year of +their married life. + +"Professor Challis, the director, is exceedingly short, thick-headed (in +appearance), and, like many of the English, thick-tongued. While I was +looking at the instruments, Mrs. Airy came into the equatorial house, +bringing Mr. Adams, the rival of Leverrier, [Footnote: See Chapter +VII.]--another short man, but bright-looking, with dark hair and eyes, +and again the thick voice, this time with a nasal twang. He is a fellow +of Pembroke College, and master of arts. If Mr. Adams had become a +fellow of his own college, St. John, he must have gone into holy orders, +as it is called; this he was not willing to do; he accepted a fellowship +from Pembroke. + +"Mr. Adams is a merry little man, loves games with children, and is a +favorite with young ladies. + +"At 6.30 we went again to the lodge to dine. We were a little late, and +the servant was in a great hurry to announce us; but I made him wait +until my gloves were on, though not buttoned. He announced us with a +loud voice, and Dr. Whewell came forward to receive us. Being announced +in this way, the other guests do not wait for an introduction. There was +a group of guests in the drawing-room, and those nearest me spoke to me +at once. + +"Dinner was announced immediately, and Dr. Whewell escorted me +downstairs, across an immense hall, to the dining-room, outside of which +stood the waiters, six in number, arranged in a straight line, in +livery, of course. One of them had a scarlet vest, short clothes, and +drab coat. + +"As I sat next to the master, I had a good deal of talk with him. He was +very severe upon Americans; he said that Emerson did not write good +English, and copied Carlyle! I thought his severity reached really to +discourtesy, and I think he perceived it when he asked me if I knew +Emerson personally, and I replied that I did, and that I valued my +acquaintance with him highly. + +"I got a little chance to retort, by telling him that we had outgrown +Mrs. Hemans in America, and that we now read Mrs. Browning more. He +laughed at it, and said that Mrs. Browning's poetry was so coarse that +he could not tolerate it, and he was amused to hear that any people had +got above Mrs. Hemans; and he asked me if we had outgrown Homer! To +which I replied that they were not similar cases. + +"Altogether, there was a tone of satire in Dr. Whewell's remarks which I +did not think amiable. + +"There were, as there are very commonly in English society, some dresses +too low for my taste; and the wine-drinking was universal, so that I had +to make a special point of getting a glass of water, and was afraid I +might drink all there was on the table! + +"Before the dessert came on, saucers were placed before each guest, and +a little rose-water dipped into them from a silver basin; then each +guest washed his face thoroughly, dipping his napkin into the saucer. +Professor Willis, who sat next to me, told me that this was a custom +peculiar to Cambridge, and dating from its earliest times. + +"The finger bowls came on afterwards, as usual. + +"It is customary for the lady of the house or the 'first lady' to turn +to her nearest neighbor at the close of dinner and say, 'Shall we retire +to the drawing-room?' Now, there was no lady of the house, and I was in +the position of first lady. They might have sat there for a thousand +years before I should have thought of it. I drew on my gloves when the +other ladies drew on theirs, and then we waited. Mrs. Airy saw the +dilemma, made the little speech, and the gentlemen escorted us to the +door, and then returned to their wine. + +"We went back to the drawing-room and had coffee; after coffee new +guests began to come, and we went into the magnificent room with the +oriel windows. + +"Professor Sedgwick came early--an old man of seventy-four, already a +little shattered and subject to giddiness. He is said to be very fond of +young ladies even now, and when younger made some heartaches; for he +could not give up his fellowship and leave Cambridge for a wife; which, +to me, is very unmanly. He is considered the greatest geologist in +England, and of course they would say 'in the world,' and is much loved +by all who know him. He came to Cambridge a young man, and the elms +which he saw planted are now sturdy trees. It is pleasant to hear him +talk of Cambridge and its growth; he points to the stately trees and +says, 'Those trees don't look as old as I, and they are not.' + +"I did not see Professor Adams at that time, but I spent the whole of +Monday morning walking about the college with him. I asked him to show +me the place where he made his computations for Neptune, and he was +evidently well pleased to do so. + +"We laughed over a roll, which we saw in the College library, containing +a list of the ancestors of Henry VIII.; among them was Jupiter. + +"Professor Adams tells me that in Wales genealogical charts go so far +back that about half-way between the beginning and the present day you +find this record: 'About this time the world was created'! + +"November 2. At lunch to-day Dr. Whewell was more interesting than I had +seen him before. He asked me about Laura Bridgman, and said that he knew +a similar case. He contended, in opposition to Mrs. Airy and myself, +that loss of vision was preferable to loss of hearing, because it shut +one out less from human companionship. + +"Dr. Whewell's self-respect and immense self-esteem led him to +imperiousness of manner which touches the border of discourtesy. He +loves a good joke, but his jests are serious. He writes verses that are +touchingly beautiful, but it is difficult to believe, in his presence, +that he writes them. Mrs. Airy said that Dr. Whewell and I _riled_ each +other! + +"I was at an evening party, and the Airy boys, young men of eighteen and +twenty, were present. They stood the whole time, occasionally leaning +against a table or the piano, in their blue silk gowns. I urged them to +sit. 'Of course not,' they said; 'no undergraduate sits in the master's +presence!' + +"I went to three services on 'Scarlet Sunday,' for the sake of seeing +all the sights. + +"The costumes of Cambridge and Oxford are very amusing, and show, more +than anything I have seen, the old-fogyism of English ways. Dr. Whewell +wore, on this occasion, a long gown reaching nearly to his feet, of rich +scarlet, and adorned with flowing ribands. The ribands did not match the +robe, but were more of a crimson. + +"I wondered that a strong-minded man like Dr. Whewell could tolerate +such trappings for a moment; but it is said that he is rather proud of +them, and loves all the etiquette of the olden time, as also, it is +said, does the queen. + +"In these robes Dr. Whewell escorted me to church--and of course we were +a great sight! + +"Before dinner, on this Scarlet Sunday, there was an interval when the +master was evidently tried to know what to do with me. At length he hit +upon an expedient. 'Boys,' he said to the young Airys, 'take Miss +Mitchell on a walk!' + +"I was a little surprised to find myself on a walk, 'nolens volens;' so +as soon as we were out of sight of the master of Trinity, I said, 'Now, +young gentlemen, as I do not want to go to walk, we won't go!' + +"It was hard for me to become accustomed to English ideas of caste. I +heard Professor Sedgwick say that Miss Herschel, the daughter of Sir +John and niece to Caroline, married a Gordon. 'Such a great match for +her!' he added; and when I asked what match could be great for a +daughter of the Herschels, I was told that she had married one of the +queen's household, and was asked to _sit_ in the presence of the queen! + +"When I hear a missionary tell that the pariah caste sit on the ground, +the peasant caste lift themselves by the thickness of a leaf, and the +next rank by the thickness of a stalk, it seems to me that the heathen +has reached a high state of civilization--precisely that which Victoria +has reached when she permits a Herschel to sit in her presence! + +"The University of Cambridge consists of sixteen colleges. I was told +that, of these, Trinity leads and St. John comes next. + +"Trinity has always led in mathematics; it boasts of Newton and Byron +among its graduates. Milton belonged to Christ Church College; the +mulberry tree which he planted still flourishes. + +"Even to-day, a young scholar of Trinity expressed his regret to me that +Milton did not belong to the college in which he himself studied. He +pointed out the rooms occupied by Newton, and showed us 'Newton's +Bridge,' 'which will surely fall when a greater man than he walks over +it'! + +"Milton first planned the great poem, 'Paradise Lost,' as a drama, and +this manuscript, kept within a glass case, is opened to the page on +which the _dramatis personae_ are planned and replanned. On the opposite +page is a part of 'Lycidas,' neatly written and with few corrections. + +"The most beautiful of the college buildings is King's Chapel. A +Cambridge man is sure to take you to one of the bridges spanning the +wretched little stream called the 'Silver Cam,' that you may see the +architectural beauties of this building. + +"It is well to attend service in one or the other of the chapels, to see +assembled the young men, who are almost all the sons of the nobility or +gentry. The propriety of their conduct struck me. + +"The fellows of the colleges are chosen from the 'scholars' who are most +distinguished, as the 'scholars' are chosen from the undergraduates. +They receive an income so long as they remain connected with the college +and unmarried. + +"They have also the use of rooms in the college; they dine in the same +hall with the undergraduates, but their tables are placed upon a raised +dais; they have also little garden-places given them. + +"'What are their duties?' I asked Mr. Airy. 'None at all; _they_ are the +college. It would not be a seat of learning without them.' + +"They say in Cambridge that Dr. Whewell's book, 'Plurality of Worlds,' +reasons to this end: The planets were created for this world; this world +for man; man for England; England for Cambridge; and Cambridge for Dr. +Whewell! + +"Ambleside, September 13. We have spent the Sunday in ascending a +mountain, I have a minute route marked out for me by Professor Airy, who +has rambled among the lakes and mountains of Cumberland and Westmoreland +for months, and says that no man lives who knows them better than he. + +"In accordance with these directions, I took a one-horse carriage this +morning for Coniston Waters, in order to ascend the 'Old Man.' The +waiter at the 'Salutation' at Ambleside, which we made headquarters, +told me that I could not make the ascent, as the day would not be fine; +but I have not travelled six months for nothing, and I knew he was +saying, 'You are fine American geese; you are not to leave my house +until you have been well plucked!'--which threat he will of course keep, +but I shall see all the 'Old Men' that I choose. So I borrowed the +waiter's umbrella, when he said it would rain, and off we went in an +open carriage, a drive of seven miles, up hill and down dale, among +mountains and around ponds (lakes _they_ called them), in the midst of +rich lands and pretty mansions, with occasionally a castle, and once a +ruin, to diversify the scenery. + +"Arrived at Coniston Hotel, the waiter said the same thing: 'It's too +cloudy to ascend the "Old Man;"' but as soon as it was found that if it +was too cloudy we did not intend to stay, it cleared off amazingly fast, +and the ponies were ordered. I thought at first of walking up, but, +having a value for my feet and not liking to misuse them, I mounted a +pony and walked him. + +"He was beautifully stupid, but I could not help thinking of Henry +Colman, the agriculturist, who, when in England, went on a fox-hunt. He +said, 'Think of my poor wife's old husband leaping a fence!' + +"But I soon forgot any fear, for the pony needed nothing from me or the +guide, but scrambled about any way he chose; and the scenery was +charming, for although the mountains are not very high, they are thrown +together very beautifully and remind me of those of the Hudson +Highlands. Then the little lakes were lovely, and occasionally we came +to a tarn or pond, and exceedingly small waterfalls were rushing about +everywhere, without any apparent object in view, but evidently looking +for something. And spite of the weatherwise head-waiter of the +'Salutation' and of him of Coniston Inn, the day was beautiful. We had +to give up the ponies when we were half a mile from the top, and clamber +up ourselves. The guide was very intelligent, and pointed out the lakes, +Windermere, Coniston; and the mountains, Helvellyn, Skiddaw, and +Saddleback; but at one time he spoke a name that I couldn't understand, +and forgetting that I was in England and not in America, I asked him to +_spell_ it. He replied, 'Theys call it so always.' He did not fail, +however, to ask questions like a Yankee, if he couldn't spell like one. +'Which way be ye coming?'--'From America.'--'Ye'll be going to Scotland +like?'--'Yes.'--'Ye'll be spending much money before ye are home again.' + +"When we were quite on top of the mountain I asked what the white +glimmering was in the distance, and he said it was, what I supposed, an +arm of the sea. + +"The shadows of the flying clouds were very pretty falling on the hills +around us, and the villages in the valleys beneath looked like white +dots on the green. + +"Sunday, Sept. 20, 1857. We have been to see Miss Southey to-day. I sent +the letter which Mrs. Airy gave me yesterday, and with it a note saying +that I would call to-day if convenient. + +"Miss Southey replied at once, saying that she should be happy to see +me. She lives in a straggling, irregular cottage, like most of the +cottages around Keswick, but beautifully situated, though far from the +lake. + +"Southey himself lived at Greta Hall, a much finer place, for many +years, but he never owned it, and the gentleman who bought it will +permit no one to see it. + +"Miss Southey's house is overgrown with climbing plants, has windows +opening to the ground, and is really a summer residence, not a good +winter home. + +"When Southey, in his decline, married a second wife, the family +scattered, and this daughter, the only unmarried one, left him. + +"We were shown into a pleasant parlor comfortably furnished, especially +with books and engravings, portraits of Southey, Wordsworth, and others. + +"Miss Southey soon came down; she is really pretty, having the fresh +English complexion and fair hair. She seems to be a very simple, +pleasant person; chatty, but not too much so. She is much engrossed by +the care of three of her brother's children, an old aunt, and a servant, +who, having been long in the family, has become a dependant. Miss +Southey spoke at once of the Americans whom she had known, Ticknor being +one. + +"The old aunt asked after a New York lady who had visited Southey at +Greta Hall, but her niece reminded her that it must have been before I +was born! + +"Miss Southey said that her father felt that he knew as many Americans +as Englishmen, and that she wanted very much to go to America. I told +her that she would be in danger of being 'lionized;' she said, 'Oh, I +should like that, for of course it is gratifying to know how much my +father was valued there." + +"I asked after the children, and Miss Southey said that the little boy +had called out to her, 'Oh! Aunt Katy, the Ameriky ladies have come! + +"The three children were called in; the boy, about six years old, of +course wouldn't speak to me. + +"The best portrait of Southey in his daughter's collection is a profile +in wax--a style that I have seen several times in England, and which I +think very pretty. + +"We went down to Lodore, the scene of the poem, 'How does the Water come +Down,' etc., and found it about as large as the other waterfalls around +here--a little dripping of water among the stones. + + COLLINGWOOD, Nov. 14, 1857. + + MY DEAR FATHER: This is Sir John Herschel's place. I came last + night just at dusk. + + According to English ways, I ought to have written a note, + naming the hour at which I should reach Etchingham, which is + four miles from Collingwood; but when I left Liverpool I went + directly on, and a letter would have arrived at the same time + that I did. I stopped in London one night only, changed my + lodging-house, that I might pay a pound a week only for letting + my trunk live in a room, instead of two pounds, and started off + again. + + I reached Etchingham at ten minutes past four, took a cab, and + set off for Sir John's. It is a large brick house, no way + handsome, but surrounded by fine grounds, with beautiful trees + and a very large pond. + + The family were at dinner, and I was shown into the + drawing-room. + + There was just the light of a coal fire, and as I stood before + it Sir John bustled in, an old man, much bent, with perfectly + white hair standing out every way. He reached both hands to me, + and said, "We had no letter and so did not expect you, but you + are always welcome in this house." Lady Herschel followed--very + noble looking; she does not look as old as I, but of course must + be; but English women, especially of her station, do not wear + out as we do, who are "Jacks at all trades." + + I found a fire in my room, and a cup of tea and crackers were + immediately sent up. + + The Herschels have several children; I have not seen Caroline, + Louise, William, and Alexander, but Belle, and Amelie, and + Marie, and Julie, and Rosa, and Francesca, and Constance, and + John are at home! + + The children are not handsome, but are good-looking, and well + brought up of course, and highly educated. The children all come + to table, which is not common in England. Think what a table + they must set when the whole twelve are at home! + + The first object that struck me in the house was Borden's map of + Massachusetts, hanging in the hall opposite the entrance. Over + the mantelpiece in the dining-room is a portrait of Sir William + Herschel. In the parlor is a portrait of Caroline Herschel, and + busts of Sir William, Sir John, and the eldest daughter. + + I spent the evening in looking at engravings, sipping tea, and + talking. Sir John is like the elder Mr. Bond, except that he + talks more readily; but he is womanly in his nature, not a + tyrant like Whewell. Sir John is a better listener than any man + I have met in England. He joins in all the chit-chat, is one of + the domestic circle, and tells funny little anecdotes. (So do + Whewell and Airy.) + + The Herschels know Abbot Lawrence and Edward Everett--and + everywhere these two have left a good impression. But I am + certainly mortified by anecdotes that I hear of "pushing" + Americans. Mrs. ---- sought an introduction to Sir John Herschel + to tell him about an abridgment of his Astronomy which she had + made, and she intimated to him that in consequence of her + abridgment his work was, or would be, much more widely known in + America. Lady Herschel told me of it, and she remarked, "I + believe Sir John was not much pleased, for he does not like + abridgments." I told her that I had never heard of the + abridgment. + + There are other guests in the house: a lady whose sister was + among those killed in India; and her husband, who is an officer + in the army. We have all been playing at "Spelling" this + evening, with the letters, as we did at home last winter. + + Sunday, 15th. I thought of going to London to-day, but was + easily persuaded to stay and go with Lady Herschel to-morrow. + All this afternoon I have spent listening to Sir John, who has + shown me his father's manuscript, his aunt's, beautifully neat, + and he told me about his Cape observations. + + The telescope used at the Cape of Good Hope lies in the barn + (the glass, of course, taken care of) unused; and Sir John now + occupies himself with writing only. He made many drawings at the + Cape, which he showed me, and very good ones they are. Lady + Herschel offers me a letter to Mrs. Somerville, who is godmother + to one of her children. I am afraid I shall have no letter to + Leverrier, for every one seems to dislike him. Lady Herschel + says he is one of the few persons whom she ever asked for an + autograph; he was her guest, and he refused! + + Just as I was coming away, Sir John bustled up to me with a + sheet of paper, saying that he thought I would like some of his + aunt's handwriting and he would give it to me. He had before + given me one of his own calculations; he says if there were no + "war, pestilence, or famine," and one pair of human beings had + been put upon the globe at the time of Cheops, they would not + only now fill the earth, but if they stood upon each other's + heads, they would reach a hundred times the distance to + Neptune! + + I turned over their scrap-books, and Sir John's poetry is much + better than many of the specimens they had carefully kept, by + Sir William Hamilton. Sir William Hamilton's sister had some + specimens in the book, and also Lady Herschel and her brother. + + Lady Herschel is the head of the house--so is Mrs. Airy--so, I + suspect, is the wife in all well-ordered households! I perceived + that Sir John did not take a cup of tea until his wife said, + "You can have some, my dear." + + Mr. Airy waits and waits, and then says, "My dear, I shall lose + all my flesh if I don't have something to eat and drink." + + I am hoping to get to Paris next week, about the 23d. I have had + just what I wanted in England, as to society. + +"November 26. A few days ago I received a card, 'Mrs. Baden Powell, at +home November 25.' Of course I did not know if it was a tea party or a +wedding reception. So I appealed to Mrs. Airy. She said, 'It is a London +rout. I never went to one, but you'll find a crowd and a good many +interesting people.' + +"I took a cab, and went at nine o'clock. The servant who opened the door +passed me to another who showed me the cloak-room. The girl who took my +shawl numbered it and gave me a ticket, as they would at a public +exhibition. Then she pointed to the other end of the room, and there I +saw a table with tea and coffee. I took a cup of coffee, and then the +servant asked my name, _yelled_ it up the stairs to another, and he +announced it at the drawing-room door just as I entered. + +"Mrs. Powell and the professor were of course standing near, and Mrs. +Admiral Smyth just behind. To my delight, I met four English persons +whom I knew, and also Prof. Henry B. Rogers, who is a great society man. + +"People kept coming until the room was quite full. I was very glad to be +introduced to Professor Stokes, who is called the best mathematician in +England, and is a friend of Adams. He is very handsome--almost all +Englishmen are handsome, because they look healthy; but Professor Stokes +has fine black eyes and dark hair and good features. He looks very young +and innocent. Stokes is connected with Cambridge, but lives in London, +just as Professor Powell is connected with Oxford, but also lives in +London. Several gentlemen spoke to me without a special +introduction--one told me his name was Dr. Townby [Qy., Toynbie], and he +was a great admirer of Emerson--the first case of the sort I have met. + +"Dr. Townby is a young man not over thirty, full of enthusiasm and +progress, like an American. He really seemed to me all alive, and is +either a genius or crazy--the shade between is so delicate that I can't +always tell to which a person belongs! I asked him if Babbage was in the +room, and he said, 'Not yet,' so I hoped he would come. + +"He told me that a fine-looking, white-headed, good-featured old man was +Roget, of the 'Thesaurus;' and another old man in the corner was Dr. +Arnott, of the 'Elements of Physics.' I had supposed he was dead long +ago. Afterwards I was introduced to him. He is an old man, but not much +over sixty; his hair is white, but he is full of vigor, short and stout, +like almost all Englishmen and Englishwomen. I have met only two women +taller than myself, and most of them are very much shorter. Dr. Arnott +told me he was only now finishing the 'Elements,' which he first +published in 1827. He intends now to publish the more mathematical +portions with the other volumes. He was very sociable, and I told him he +had twenty years ago a great many readers in America. He said he +supposed he had more there than in England, and that he believed he had +made young men study science in many instances. + +"I asked him if Babbage was in the room, and he too said, 'Not yet.' Dr. +Arnott asked me if I wore as many stockings when I was observing as the +Herschels--he said Sir William put on twelve pairs and Caroline +fourteen! + +"I stayed until eleven o'clock, then I said 'Good-by,' and just as I +stepped upon the threshold of the drawing-room to go out, a broad old +man stepped upon it, and the servant announced 'Mr. Babbage,' and of +course that glimpse was all I shall ever have! + +"Edinboro', September 30. The people of Edinboro', having a passion for +Grecian architecture, and being very proud of the Athenian character of +their city, seek to increase the resemblance by imitations of ancient +buildings. + +"Grecian pillars are seen on Calton Hill in great numbers, and the +observatory would delight an old Greek; its four fronts are adorned by +Grecian pillars, and it is indeed beautiful as a structure; but the +Greeks did not build their temples for astronomical observations; they +probably adapted their architecture to their needs. + +"This beautiful building was erected by an association of gentlemen, who +raised a good deal of money, but, of course, not enough. They built the +Grecian temple, but they could not supply it with priests. + +"About a hundred years ago Colin Maclaurin had laid the foundation of an +observatory, and the curious Gothic building, which still stands, is the +first germ. We laugh now at the narrow ideas of those days, which seemed +to consider an observatory a lookout only; but the first step in a work +is a great step--the others are easily taken. There was added to the +building of Maclaurin a very small transit room, and then the present +edifice followed. + +"When the builders of the observatory found that they could not support +it, they presented it to the British government; so that it is now a +government child, but it is not petted, like the first-born of +Greenwich. + +"There are three instruments; an excellent transit instrument of six and +a half inches' aperture, resting on its y's of solid granite. The +corrections of the errors of the instrument by means of little screws +are given up, and the errors which are known to exist are corrected in +the computations. + +"Professor Smyth finds that although the two pillars upon which the +instrument rests were cut from the same quarry, they are unequally +affected by changes of temperature; so that the variation of the azimuth +error, though slight, is irregular. + +"The collimation plate they correct with the micrometer, so that they +consider some position-reading of the micrometer-head the zero point, +and correct that for the error, which they determine by reflection in a +trough of mercury. With this instrument they observe on certain stars of +the British Catalogue, whose places are not very well determined, and +with a mural circle of smaller power they determine declinations. + +"The observatory possesses an equatorial telescope, but it is of mixed +composition. The object glass was given by Dr. Lee, the eye-pieces by +some one else, and the two are put together in a case, and used by +Professor Smyth for looking at the craters in the moon; of these he has +made fine drawings, and has published them in color prints. + +"The whole staff of the observatory consists of Professor Smyth, Mr. +Wallace, an old man, and Mr. Williamson, a young man. + +"The city of Edinboro' has no amateur astronomers, and there are two +only, of note, in Scotland: Sir William Bisbane and Sir William Keith +Murray. + +"From the observatory, the view of Edinboro' is lovely. 'Auld Reekie,' +as the Scotch call it, always looks her best through a mist, and a +Scotch mist is not a rare event--so we saw the city under its most +becoming veil. + +"October, 1857. I stopped in Glasgow a few hours, and went to the +observatory, which is also the private residence of Professor Nichol. +Miss Nichol received me, and was a very pleasant, blue-eyed young lady. + +"I found that the observatory boasts of two good instruments: a meridian +circle, which must be good, from its appearance, and a Newtonian +telescope, differently mounted from any I had seen; cased in a +composition tube which is painted bright blue--rather a striking object. +The iron mounting seemed to me good. It was of the German kind, but +modified. It seemed to me that it could be used for observations far +from the meridian. The iron part was hollow, so that the clock was +inside, as was the azimuth circle, and thus space was saved. + +"They have a wind and rain self-register, and a self-registering +barometer, marking on a cylinder turned by a clock, the paper revolving +once an hour. + +"When I was at Dungeon Ghyll, a little ravine among the English lakes, +down which trickles an exceedingly small stream of water, but which is, +nevertheless, very picturesque,--as I followed the old man who shows it +for a sixpence, he asked if we had come a long way. 'From America,' I +replied. 'We have many Americans here,' said he; 'it is much easier to +understand their language than that of other foreigners; they speak very +good English, better than the French or Germans.' + +"I felt myself a little annoyed and a good deal amused. I supposed that +I spoke the language that Addison wrote, and here was a Westmoreland +guide, speaking a dialect which I translated into English before I could +understand it, complimenting me upon my ability to speak my own tongue. + +"I learned afterwards, as I journeyed on, to expect no appreciation of +my country or its people. The English are strangely deficient in +curiosity. I can scarcely imagine an Englishwoman a gossip. + +"I found among all classes a knowledge of the extent of America; by the +better classes its geography was understood, and its physical +peculiarities. One astronomer had bound the scientific papers from +America in green morocco, as typical of a country covered by forests. +Among the most intelligent men whom I met I found an appreciation of the +different characters of the States. Everywhere Massachusetts was +honored; everywhere I met the horror of the honest Englishman at the +slave system; but anything like a discriminating knowledge of our public +men I could not meet. Webster had been heard of everywhere. They assured +me that our _really great_ men were known, our really great deeds +appreciated; but this is not true. They make mistakes in their measure +of our men; second-rate men who have travelled are of course known to +the men whom they have met; these travellers have not perhaps thought it +necessary to mention that they represent a secondary class of people, +and they are considered our 'first men.' The English forget that all +Americans travel. + +"I was vexed when I saw some of our most miserable novels, bound in +showy yellow and red, exposed for sale. A friend told me that they had +copied from the cheap publications of America. It may be so, but they +have outdone us in the cheapness of the material and the showy covers. I +never saw yellow and red together on any American book. + +"The English are far beyond us in their highest scholarship, but why +should they be ignorant of our scholars? The Englishman is proud, and +not without reason; but he may well be proud of the American offshoot. +It is not strange that England produces fine scholars, when we consider +that her colleges confer fellowships on the best undergraduates. + +"England differs from America in the fact that it has a past. Well may +the great men of the present be proud of those who have gone before +them; it is scarcely to be hoped that the like can come after them; and +yet I suppose we must admit that even now the strong minds are born +across the water. + +"At the same time England has a class to which we have happily no +parallel in our country--a class to which even English gentlemen liken +the Sepoys, and who would, they admit, under like circumstances be +guilty of like enormities. But the true Englishman shuts his eyes for a +great part of the time to the steps in the social scale down which his +race descends, and looks only at the upper walks. He has therefore a +glance of patronizing kindness for the people of the United States, and +regards us of New England as we regard our rich brethren of the West. + +"I wondered what was to become of the English people! Their island is +already crowded with people, the large towns are numerous and are very +large. Suppose for an instant that her commerce is cut off, will they +starve? It is an illustration of moral power that, little island as that +of Great Britain is, its power is the great power of the world. + +"Crowded as the people are, they are healthy. I never saw, I thought, so +many ruddy faces as met me at once in Liverpool. Dirty children in the +street have red cheeks and good teeth. Nowhere did I see little children +whose minds had outgrown their bodies. They do not live in the +school-room, but in the streets. One continually meets little children +carrying smaller ones in their arms; little girls hand in hand walk the +streets of London all day. There are no free schools, and they have +nothing to do. Beggars are everywhere, and as importunate as in Italy. +For a well-behaved common people I should go to Paris; for clean +working-women I should look in Paris. + +"I saw a little boy in England tormenting a smaller one. He spat upon +his cap, and then declared that the little one did it. The little one +sobbed and said he didn't. I gave the little one a penny; he evidently +did not know the value of the coin, and appealed to the bigger boy. 'Is +it a penny?' he asked, with a look of amazement. 'Yes,' said the bigger. +Off ran the smaller one triumphant, and the bigger began to cry, which I +permitted him to do." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +1857-1858 + +FIRST EUROPEAN TOUR CONTINUED--LEVERRIER AND THE PARIS +OBSERVATORY--ROME--HARRIET HOSMER--OBSERVATORY OF THE COLLEGIO +ROMANO--SECCHI + +At this time, the feeling between astronomers of Great Britain and those +of the United States was not very cordial. It was the time when Adams +and Leverrier were contending to which of them belonged the honor of the +discovery of the planet Neptune, and each side had its strong partisans. + +Among Miss Mitchell's papers we find the following with reference to +this subject: + +"... Adams, a graduate of Cambridge, made the calculations which showed +how an unseen body must exist whose influences were felt by Uranus. It +was a problem of great difficulty, for he had some half-dozen quantities +touching Uranus which were not accurately known, and as many wholly +unknown concerning the unseen planet. We think it a difficult question +which involves three or four unknown quantities with too few +circumstances, but this problem involved twelve or thirteen, so that x, +y, z reached pretty high up into the alphabet. But Adams, having worked +the problem, carried his work to Airy, the Astronomer Royal of England, +and awaited his comments. A little later Leverrier, the French +astronomer, completed the same problem, and waiting for no authority +beyond his own, flung his discovery out to the world with the +self-confidence of a Frenchman.... + +"... When the news of the discovery of Neptune reached this country, I +happened to be visiting at the observatory in Cambridge, Mass. Professor +Bond (the elder) had looked for the planet the night before I arrived at +his house, and he looked again the evening that I came. + +"His observatory was then a small, round building, and in it was a small +telescope; he had drawn a map of a group of stars, one of which he +supposed was not a star, but the planet. He set the telescope to this +group, and asking his son to count the seconds, he allowed the stars to +pass by the motion of the earth across the field. If they kept the +relative distance of the night before, they were all stars; if any one +had approached or receded from the others, it was a planet; and when the +father looked at his son's record he said, 'One of those has moved, and +it is the one which I thought last night was the planet.' He looked +again at the group, and the son said, 'Father, do give me a look at the +new planet--you are the only man in America that can do it!' And then we +both looked; it looked precisely like a small star, and George and I +both asked, 'What made you think last night that it was the new planet?' +Mr. Bond could only say, 'I don't know, it looked different from the +others.' + +"It is always so--you cannot get a man of genius to explain steps, he +leaps. + +"After the discovery of this planet, Professor Peirce, in our own +country, declared that it was not the planet of the theory, and +therefore its discovery was a happy accident. But it seemed to me that +it was the planet of the theory, just as much if it varied a good deal +from its prescribed place as if it varied a little. So you might have +said that Uranus was not the Uranus of the theory. + +"Sir John Herschel said, 'Its movements have been felt trembling along +the far-reaching line of our analysis, with a certainty hardly inferior +to ocular demonstration.' I consider it was superior to ocular +demonstration, as the action of the mind is above that of the senses. +Adams, in his study at Cambridge, England, and Leverrier in his closet +at Paris, poring over their logarithms, knew better the locus of that +outside planet than all the practical astronomers of the world put +together.... + +"Of course in Paris I went to the Imperial Observatory, to visit +Leverrier. I carried letters from Professor Airy, who also sent a letter +in advance by post. Leverrier called at my hotel, and left cards; then +came a note, and I went to tea. + +"Leverrier had succeeded Arago. Arago had been a member of the +Provisional Government, and had died. Leverrier took exactly opposite +ground, politically, to that of Arago; he stood high with the emperor. + +"He took me all over the observatory. He had a large room for a +ballroom, because in the ballroom science and politics were discussed; +for where a press is not free, salons must give the tone to public +opinion. + +"Both Leverrier and Madame Leverrier said hard things about the English, +and the English said hard things about Leverrier. + +"The Astronomical Observatory of Paris was founded on the establishment +of the Academy of Sciences, in the reign of Louis XIV. The building was +begun in 1667 and finished in 1672; like other observatories of that +time, it was quite unfit for use. + +"John Dominie Cassini came to it before it was finished, saw its +defects, and made alterations; but the whole building was afterwards +abandoned. M. Leverrier showed me the transit instrument and the mural +circle. He has, like Mr. Airy, made the transit instrument incapable of +mechanical change for its corrections of error, so that it depends for +accuracy upon its faults being known and corrected in the computations. + +"All the early observatories of Europe seem to have been built as +temples to Urania, and not as working-chambers of science. The Royal +Observatory at Greenwich, the Imperial Observatory of Paris, and the +beautiful structure on Calton Hill, Edinboro', were at first wholly +useless as observatories. That of Greenwich had no steadiness, while +every pillar in the astronomical temple of Edinboro', though it may tell +of the enlightenment of Greece, hides the light of the stars from the +Scottish observer. Well might Struve say that 'An observatory should be +simply a box to hold instruments.' + +"The Leverriers speak English about as well as I do French, and we had a +very awkward time of it. M. Leverrier talked with me a little, and then +talked wholly to one of the gentlemen present. Madame was very chatty. + +"Leverrier is very fine-looking; he is fair-haired full-faced, +altogether very healthy-looking. His wife is really handsome, the +children beautiful. I was glad that I could understand when Leverrier +said to the children, 'If you make any more noise you go to bed.' + +"While I was there, a woman as old as I rushed in, in bonnet and shawl, +and flew around the room, kissed madame, jumped the children about, and +shook hands with monsieur; and there was a great amount of screaming and +laughing, and all talked at once. As I could not understand a word, it +seemed to me like a theatre. + +"I asked monsieur when I could see the observatory, and he answered, +'Whenever it suits your convenience.' + +"December 15. I went to Leverrier's again last evening by special +invitation. Four gentlemen and three ladies received me, all standing +and bowing without speaking. Monsieur was, however, more sociable than +before, and shrieked out to me in French as though I were deaf. + +"The ladies were in blue dresses; a good deal of crinoline, deep +flounces, high necks, very short, flowing sleeves, and short +undersleeves; the dresses were brocade and the flounces much trimmed, +madame's with white plush. + +"The room was cold, of course, having no carpet, and a wood fire in a +very small fireplace. + +"The gentlemen continued standing or promenading, and taking snuff. + +"Except Leverrier, no one of them spoke to me. The ladies all did, and +all spoke French. The two children were present again--the little girl +five years old played on the piano, and the boy of nine played and sang +like a public performer. He promenaded about the room with his hands in +his pockets, like a man. I think his manners were about equal to +-----'s, as occasionally he yelled and was told to be quiet. + +"About ten o'clock M. Leverrier asked me to go into the observatory, +which connects with the dwelling. They are building immense additional +rooms, and are having a great telescope, twenty-seven feet in focal +length, constructed. + +"With Leverrier's bad English and my bad French we talked but little, +but he showed me the transit instrument, the mural circle, the +computing-room, and the private office. He put on his cloak and cap, and +said, 'Voila le directeur!' + +"One room, he told me, had been Arago's, and Arago had his bed on one +side. M. Leverrier said, 'I do not wish to have it for my room.' He is +said to be much opposed to Arago, and to be merciless towards his +family. + +"He showed me another room, intended for a reception-room, and explained +to me that in France one had to make science come into social life, for +the government must be reached in order to get money. + +"There were huge globes in one room that belonged to Cassini. If what he +showed me is not surpassed in the other rooms, I don't think much of +their instruments. + +"M. Leverrier said he had asked M. Chacornac to meet me, but he was not +there. I felt that we got on a little better, but not much, and it was +evident that he did not expect me to understand an observatory. We did +not ascend to the domes. + +"Leverrier has telegraphic communication with all Europe except Great +Britain. + +"It was quite singular that they made such different remarks to me. +Leverrier said that they had to make science popular. + +"Airy said, 'In England there is no astronomical public, and we do not +need to make science popular.' + +"Jan. 24, 1858. I am in Rome! I have been here four days, and already I +feel that I would rather have that four days in Rome than all the other +days of my travels! I have been uncomfortable, cold, tired, and +subjected to all the evils of travelling; but for all that, I would not +have missed the sort of realization that I have of the existence of the +past of great glory, if I must have a thousand times the discomfort. I +went alone yesterday to St. Peter's and the Vatican, and today, taking +Murray, I went alone to the Roman Forum, and stood beside the ruined +porticos and the broken columns of the Temple. Then I pushed on to the +Coliseum, and walked around its whole circumference. I could scarcely +believe that I really stood among the ruins, and was not dreaming! I +really think I had more enjoyment for going alone and finding out for +myself. Afterwards the Hawthornes called, and I took Mrs. H. to the same +spot.... + +"I really feel the impressiveness of Rome. All Europe has been serious +to me; Rome is even sad in its seriousness. You cannot help feeling, in +the Coliseum, some little of the influence of the scenes that have been +enacted there, even if you know little about them; you must remember +that the vast numbers of people who have been within its walls for ages +have not been common minds, whether they were Christian martyrs or +travelling artists.... + +"I think if I had never heard before of the reputation of the pictures +and statues of the Vatican, I should have perceived their superiority. +There is more idea of _action_ conveyed by the statuary than I ever +received before--they do not seem to be _dead_. + +"January 25. I have finer rooms than I had in Paris, but the letting of +apartments is better managed in Paris. There you always find a +_concierge_, who tells you all you want to know, and who speaks several +languages. In Rome you enter a narrow, dark passage, and look in vain +for a door. Then you go up a flight of stairs, and see a door with a +string; you pull the string, and a woman puts her mouth to a square +hole, covered with tin punctured with holes, and asks what you want. You +tell her, and she tells you to go up higher; you repeat the process, and +at last reach the rooms. The higher up the better, because you get some +sun, and one learns the value of sunlight. I saw no sun in Paris in my +room, and here I have it half of the day, and it seems very pleasant. + +"All the customs of the people differ from those of Paris.... + +"A little of Italian art enters into the ornaments of rooms and +furniture, but anything like mechanical skill seems to be unheard of; +and I dare say the pretty stamp used on the butter I have, which +represents some antique picture, was cut by some northern hand. I could +make a better cart than those that I see on the streets, and I could +_almost_ make as good horses as those that draw them!... + +"It is Holy Week. I have spent seven hours at a time at St. Peter's, in +terrible crowds, for ten days, and now I go no more. The ladies are +seated, but as the ceremonies are in different parts of the immense +building, they rush wildly from one to the other; with their black veils +they look like furies let loose! I stayed five hours to-day to see the +Pope wash feet, which was very silly; for I saw mother wash them much +more effectually twenty years ago! + +"The crowd is better worth seeing than the ceremony, if one could only +see it without being in it. I shall not try to hear the 'Miserere'--I +have given up the study of music! Since I failed to appreciate Mario, I +sha'n't try any more! + +"I go to the Storys' on Sunday evening to look at St. Peter's lighting +up. + +"March 21. I have been to vespers at St. Peter's. They begin an hour +before sunset. When my work is done for the day, I walk to St. Peter's. +This is Sunday, and the floor was full of kneeling worshippers, but that +makes no difference. I walk about among them. + +"I was there an hour to-day before I saw a person that I knew; then I +met the Nicholses and went with them into a side chapel to hear vespers. +Then I saw next the Waterstons, then Miss Lander; but I was unusually +short of friends, I generally meet so many more. + +"There were kneeling women to-day with babies in their arms. The babies +of the lower classes have their legs so wrapped up that they cannot move +them; they look like small pillows even when they are six months old. I +think it must dwarf them. We Americans are a tall people. I am a very +tall woman here. I think that P.'s height would cause a sensation in the +streets. My servant admires my height very much. + +"March 22. I called on Miss Bremer to-day, having heard that she desired +to see me. She is a 'little woman in black,' but not so plain; her face +is a little red, but her complexion is fair and the expression very +pleasing. She chatted away a good deal; asked me about astronomy, and +how I came to study it. I told her that my father put me to it, and she +said she was just writing a story on the affection of father and +daughter. She told me I had good eyes. It is a long time now since any +one has told me that! + +"Miss Bremer and Mrs. W. met in my room and remained an hour. Miss +Bremer is quiet and unpretending. Mrs. W. is flashy and brilliant, and, +as I usually say when I don't understand a person, a little insane; she +had the floor all the time after she came in. She gave a sketch of her +life from her birth up, mentioning incidentally that she had been a +belle, surrounded with beaux, the pride of her parents, with a +reputation for intellect, etc. + +"I had been urging Miss Bremer into an interesting talk before Mrs. W. +appeared, and I felt what a pity it was that she hadn't the same +propensity to talk that the latter had. She talked very pleasantly, +however, and I thought what a pity it was that I shall not see her +again; for I leave Rome in three days for Florence. + +"I was in Rome for a winter, an idler by necessity for six weeks. It is +the very place of all the world for an idler. + +"On the pleasant days there are the ruins to visit, the Campagna to +stroll over, the villas and their grounds to gather flowers in, the +Forum to muse in, the Pincian Hill or the Capitoline for a gossiping +walk with some friend. + +"On rainy days it is all art. There are the cathedrals, the galleries, +and the studios of the thousand artists; for every winter there are a +thousand artists in Rome. + +"A rainy day found me in the studio of Paul Akers. As I was looking at +some of his models, the studio door opened and a pretty little girl, +wearing a jaunty hat and a short jacket, into the pockets of which her +hands were thrust, rushed into the room, seemingly unconscious of the +presence of a stranger, began a rattling, all-alive talk with Mr. Akers, +of which I caught enough to know that a ride over the Campagna was +planned, as I heard Mr. Akers say, 'Oh, I won't ride with you--I'm +afraid to!' after which he turned to me and introduced Harriet Hosmer. + +"I was just from old conservative England, and I had been among its most +conservative people. I had caught something of its old musty-parchment +ideas, and the cricket-like manners of Harriet Hosmer rather troubled +me. It took some weeks for me to get over the impression of her madcap +ways; they seemed childish. + +"I went to her studio and saw 'Puck,' a statue all fun and frolic, and I +imagined all was fun to the core of her heart. + +"As a general rule, people disappoint you as you know them. To know them +better and better is to know more and more weaknesses. Harriet Hosmer +parades her weaknesses with the conscious power of one who knows her +strength, and who knows you will find her out if you are worthy of her +acquaintance. She makes poor jokes--she's a little rude--a good deal +eccentric; but she is always _true_. + +"In the town where she used to live in Massachusetts they will tell you +a thousand anecdotes of her vagaries--but they are proud of her. + +"She does not start on a false scent; she knows the royal character of +the game before she hunts. + +"A lady who is a great rider said to me a few days since: 'Of course I +do not ride like Harriet Hosmer, but, if you will notice, there is +method in Harriet Hosmer's madness. She does not mount a horse until she +has examined him carefully.' + +"At the time when I saw her, she was thinking of her statue of Zenobia. +She was studying the history of Palmyra, reading up on the manners and +customs of its people, and examining Eastern relics and costumes. + +"If she heard that in the sacristy of a certain cathedral, hundreds of +miles away, were lying robes of Eastern queens, she mounted her horse +and rode to the spot, for the sake of learning the lesson they could +teach. + +"Day after day alone in her studio, she studied the subject. Think what +knowledge of the country, of the history of the people, must be +gathered, must be moulded, to bring into the face and bearing of its +queen the expression of the race! Think what familiar acquaintance with +the human form, to represent a lifelike figure at all! + +"For years after I came home I read the newspapers to see if I could +find any notice of the statue of Zenobia; and I did at length see this +announcement: 'The statue of Zenobia, by Miss Hosmer, is on exhibition +at Childs & Jenks'.' + +"It was after five years. All through those five years, Miss Hosmer had +kept her projects steadily turned in this direction. + +"Whatever may be the criticism of art upon her work, no one can deny +that she is above the average artist. + +"But she is herself, as a woman, very much above herself in art. If +there came to any struggling artist in Rome the need of a friend,--and +of the thousand artists in Rome very few are successful,--Harriet Hosmer +was that friend. + +"I knew her to stretch out a helping hand to an unfortunate artist, a +poor, uneducated, unattractive American, against whom the other +Americans in Rome shut their houses and their hearts. When the other +Americans turned from the unsuccessful artist, Harriet Hosmer reached +forth the helping hand. + +"When Harriet Hosmer knew herself to be a sculptor, she knew also that +in all America was no school for her. She must leave home, she must live +where art could live. She might model her busts in the clay of her own +soil, but who should follow out in marble the delicate thought which the +clay expressed? The workmen of Massachusetts tended the looms, built the +railroads, and read the newspapers. The hard-handed men of Italy worked +in marble from the designs put before them; one copied the leaves which +the sculptor threw into the wreaths around the brows of his heroes; +another turned with his tool the folds of the drapery; another wrought +up the delicate tissues of the flesh; none of them dreamed of ideas: +they were copyists,--the very hand-work that her head needed. + +"And to Italy she went. For her school she sought the studio of +Gibson--the greatest sculptor of the time. + +"She resolved 'To scorn delights and live laborious days;' and there she +has lived and worked for years. + +"She fashions the clay to her ideal--every little touch of her fingers +in the clay is a thought; she thinks in clay. + +"The model finished and cast in the dull, hard, inexpressive plaster, +she stands by the workmen while they put it into the marble. She must +watch them, for a touch of the tool in the wrong place might alter the +whole expression of the face, as a wrong accent in the reader will spoil +a line of poetry. + +"COLLEGIO ROMANO; SECCHI. There was another observatory which had a +reputation and was known in America. It was the observatory of the +Collegio Romano, and was in the monastery behind the Church of St. +Ignasio. Its director was the Father Secchi who had visited the United +States, and was well known to the scientists of this country. + +"I said to myself, 'This is the land of Galileo, and this is the city in +which he was tried. I knew of no sadder picture in the history of +science than that of the old man, Galileo, worn by a long life of +scientific research, weak and feeble, trembling before that tribunal +whose frown was torture, and declaring that to be false which he knew to +be true. And I know of no picture in the history of religion more weakly +pitiable than that of the Holy Church trembling before Galileo, and +denouncing him because he found in the Book of Nature truths not stated +in their own Book of God--forgetting that the Book of Nature is also a +Book of God. + +"It seems to be difficult for any one to take in the idea that two +truths cannot conflict. + +"Galileo was the first to see the four moons of Jupiter; and when he +announced the fact that four such moons existed, of course he was met by +various objections from established authority. One writer declared that +as astrologers had got along very well without these planets, there +could be no reason for their starting into existence. + +"But his greatest heresy was this: He was tried, condemned, and punished +for declaring that the sun was the centre of the system, and that the +earth moved around it; also, that the earth turned on its axis. + +"For teaching this, Galileo was called before the assembled cardinals of +Rome, and, clad in black cloth, was compelled to kneel, and to promise +never again to teach that the earth moved. It is said that when he arose +he whispered, 'It does move!' + +"He was tried at the Hall of Sopre Minerva. In fewer than two hundred +years from that time the Church of St. Ignasio was built, and the +monastery on whose walls the instruments of the modern observatory +stand. + +"It is a very singular fact, but one which seems to show that even in +science 'the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church,' that the +spot where Galileo was tried is very near the site of the present +observatory, to which the pope was very liberal. + +"From the Hall of Sopre Minerva you make but two turns through short +streets to the Fontenelle de Borghese, in the rear of which stands the +present observatory. + +"Indeed, if a cardinal should, at the Hall of Sopre Minerva, call out to +Secchi, 'Watchman, what of the night?' Secchi could hear the question; +and no bolder views emanate from any observatory than those which Secchi +sends out. + +"I sent a card to Secchi, and awaited a call, well satisfied to have a +little more time for listless strolling among ruins and into the +studios. And so we spent many an hour: picking up land shells from the +top of the Coliseum, gathering violets in the upper chambers of the +Palace of the Caesars,--for the overgrown walls made climbing very +easy,--or, resting upon some broken statue on the Forum, we admired the +arches of the Temple of Peace, thrown upon the rich blue of the sunny +skies. + +"Returning one day from a drive, I met two priests descending one of the +upper flights of stairs in the house where I lived. As my rooms had been +blessed once, and holy water sprinkled upon them, I thought perhaps +another process of that kind had just been gone through, and was about +to pass them, when one of them, accosting me, asked if I were the +Signorine Mitchell,--changing his Italian to good English as he saw that +I was, and introducing himself as Father Secchi. He told me that the +younger man was a young _religieux_, and the two turned and went back +with me. + +"I recalled, as I saw Father Secchi, an anecdote I had heard, no way to +his credit,--except for ingenious trickery. It was said that coming to +America he brought with him the object-glass of a telescope, at a time +when scientific apparatus paid a high duty. Being asked by some official +what the article was, he replied, 'My looking-glass,' and in that way +passed it off as personal wardrobe, so escaped the duty. (It may have +been De Vico.) + +"Father Secchi had brought with him, to show me, negatives of the planet +Saturn,--the rings showing beautifully, although the image was not more +than half an inch in size. + +"I was ignorant enough of the ways of papal institutions, and, indeed, +of all Italy, to ask if I might visit the Roman Observatory. I +remembered that the days of Galileo were days of two centuries since. I +did not know that my heretic feet must not enter the sanctuary,--that my +woman's robe must not brush the seats of learning. + +"The Father's refusal was seen in his face at once, and I felt that I +had done something highly improper. The Father said that he would have +been most happy to have me visit him, but he had not the power--it was a +religious institution--he had already applied to his superior, who was +not willing to grant permission--the power lay with the Holy Father or +one of his cardinals. I was told that Mrs. Somerville, the most learned +woman in all Europe, had been denied admission; that the daughter of Sir +John Herschel, in spite of English rank, and the higher stamp of +Nature's nobility, was at that time in Rome, and could not enter an +observatory which was at the same time a monastery. + +"If I had before been mildly desirous of visiting the observatory, I was +now intensely anxious to do so. Father Secchi suggested that I should +see Cardinal Antonelli in person, with a written application in my hand. +This was not to be thought of--to ask an interview with the wily +cardinal! + + FROM A LETTER TO HER FATHER. + + ... I am working to get admitted to see the observatory, but it + cannot be done without special permission from the pope, and I + don't like to be "presented." If I can get permission without + the humbug of putting on a black veil and receiving a blessing + from Pius, I shall; but I shrink from the formality of + presentation. I know thou'd say "Be presented." + +"Our minister at that time had the reputation of being very careless of +the needs and wishes of his countrymen, and I was not surprised to find +a long delay. + +"In the course of my waiting, I had told my story to a young Italian +gentleman, the nephew of a monseigneur; a monseigneur being next in rank +to a cardinal. He assured me that permission would never be obtained by +our minister. + +"After a fortnight's waiting I received a permit, written on parchment, +and signed by Cardinal Antonelli. + +"When the young Italian next called, I held the parchment up in triumph, +and boasted that Minister ---- had at length moved in the matter. The +young man coolly replied, 'Yes, I spoke to my uncle last evening, and +asked him to urge the matter with Cardinal Antonelli; but for that it +would never have come!' There had been 'red tape,' and I had not seen +it. + +"At the same time that the formal missive was sent to me, a similar one +was sent to Father Secchi, authorizing him to receive me. The Father +called at once to make the arrangements for my visit. I made the most +natural mistake! I supposed that the doors which opened to one woman, +opened to all, and I asked to take with me my Italian servant, a +quick-witted and bright-eyed woman, who had escorted me to and from +social parties in the evening, and who had learned in these walks the +names of the stars, receiving them from me in English, and giving back +to me the sweet Italian words; and who had come to think herself quite +an astronomer. Father Secchi refused at once. He said I was to meet him +at the Church of St. Ignasio at one and a half hours before Ave Marie, +and he would conduct me through the church into the observatory. My +servant might come into the church with me. The Ave Marie bell rings +half an hour after sunset. + +"At the appointed time, the next fine day,--and all days seem to be +fine,--we set out on our mission. + +"When we entered the church we saw, far in the distance, Father Secchi, +standing just behind a pillar. He slipped out a little way, as much as +to say, 'I await you,' but did not come forward to meet us; so the woman +and I passed along through the rows of kneeling worshippers, by the +strolling students, and past the lounging tourists--who, guide-book in +hand, are seen in every foreign church--until we came to the standpoint +from which the Father had been watching us. + +"Then the Italian woman put up a petition, not one word of which I could +understand, but the gestures and the pointing showed that she begged to +go on and enter the monastery and see the observatory. Father Secchi +said, 'No, the Holy Father gave permission to one only,' and alone I +entered the monastery walls. + +"Through long halls, up winding staircases, occasionally stopped by some +priest who touched his broad hat and asked 'Parlate Italiano?' +occasionally passed by students, often stopped by pictures on the +walls,--once to be introduced to a professor; then through the library +of the monastery, full of manuscripts on which monks had worked away +their lives; then through the astronomical library, where young +astronomers were working away theirs, we reached at length the dome and +the telescope. + +"One observatory is so much like another that it does not seem worth +while to describe Father Secchi's. This observatory has a telescope +about the size of that at Washington (about twelve inches). Secchi had +no staff, and no prescribed duties. The base of the observatory was the +solid foundation of the old Roman building. The church was built in +1650, and the monastery in part at that time, certainly the dome of the +room in which was the meridian instrument. + +"The staircase is cut out of the old Roman walls, which no roll of +carriage, except that of the earthquake chariot, can shake. + +"Having no prescribed duties, Secchi could follow his fancies--he could +pick up comets as he picked up bits of Mosaic upon the Roman forum. He +learns what himself and his instruments can do, and he keeps to that +narrow path. + +"He was at that time much interested in celestial photography. + +"Italy must be the very paradise of astronomers; certainly I never saw +objects so well before; the purity of the air must be very superior to +ours. We looked at Venus with a power of 150, but it was not good. +Jupiter was beautiful, and in broad daylight the belts were plainly +seen. With low powers the moon was charming, but the air would not bear +high ones. + +"Father Secchi said he had used a power of 2,000, but that 600 was more +common. I have rarely used 400. Saturn was exquisite; the rings were +separated all around; the dusky ring could be seen, and, of course, the +shadow of the ball upon the ring. + +"The spectroscopic method of observing starlight was used by Secchi as +early as by any astronomer. By this method the starlight is analyzed, +and the sunlight is analyzed, and the two compared. If it does not +disclose absolutely what are the peculiarities of starlight and +sunlight, relatively, it traces the relationship. + +"In order to be successful in this kind of observation, the telescope +must keep very accurately the motion of the earth in its axis; and so +the papal government furnishes nice machinery to keep up with this +motion,--the same motion for declaring whose existence Galileo suffered! +The two hundred years had done their work. + +"I should have been glad to stay until dark to look at nebulae, but the +Father kindly informed me that my permission did not extend beyond the +daylight, which was fast leaving us, and conducting me to the door he +informed me that I must make my way home alone, adding, 'But we live in +a civilized country.' + +"I did not express to him the doubt that rose to my thoughts! The Ave +Marie bell rings half an hour after sunset, and before that time I must +be out of the observatory and at my own house." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +1858-1865 + +FIRST EUROPEAN TOUR CONCLUDED--MRS. SOMERVILLE--HUMBOLDT--MRS. +MITCHELL'S DEATH--REMOVAL TO LYNN, MASS.--PRESENT OF AN EQUATORIAL +TELESCOPE-EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS + +"I had no hope, when I went to Europe, of knowing Mrs. Somerville. +American men of science did not know her, and there had been unpleasant +passages between the savants of Europe and those of the United States +which made my friends a little reluctant about giving me letters. + +"Professor Henry offered to send me letters, and said that among them +should be one to Mrs. Somerville; but when his package came, no such +letter appeared, and I did not like to press the matter,--indeed, after +I had been in England I was not surprised at any amount of reluctance. +They rarely asked to know my friends, and yet, if they were made known +to them, they did their utmost. + +"So I went to Europe with no letter to Mrs. Somerville, and no letter to +the Herschels. + +"I was very soon domesticated with the Airys, and really felt my +importance when I came to sleep in one of the round rooms of the Royal +Observatory. I dared give no hint to the Airys that I wanted to know the +Herschels, although they were intimate friends. 'What was I that I +should love them, save for feeling of the pain?' But one fine day a +letter came to Mrs. Airy from Lady Herschel, and she asked, 'Would not +Miss Mitchell like to visit us?' Of course Miss Mitchell jumped at the +chance! Mrs. Airy replied, and probably hinted that Miss Mitchell 'could +be induced,' etc. + +"If the Airys were old friends of Mrs. Somerville, the Herschels were +older. The Airys were just and kind to me; the Herschels were lavish, +and they offered me a letter to Mrs. Somerville. + +"So, provided with this open sesame to Mrs. Somerville's heart, I called +at her residence in Florence, in the spring of 1858. + +"I sent in the letter and a card, and waited in the large Florentine +parlor. In the open fireplace blazed a wood fire very suggestive of +American comfort--very deceitful in the suggestion, for there is little +of home comfort in Italy. + +"After some little delay I heard a footstep come shuffling along the +outer room, and an exceedingly tall and very old man entered the room, +in the singular head-dress of a red bandanna turban, approached me, and +introduced himself as Dr. Somerville, the husband. + +"He was very proud of his wife, and very desirous of talking about her, +a weakness quite pardonable in the judgment of one who is desirous to +know. He began at once on the subject. Mrs. Somerville, he said, took +great interest in the Americans, for she claimed connection with the +family of George Washington. + +"Washington's half-brother, Lawrence, married Anne Fairfax, who was one +of the Scotch family. When Lieutenant Fairfax was ordered to America, +Washington wrote to him as a family relative, and asked him to make him +a visit. Lieutenant Fairfax applied to his commanding officer for +permission to accept, and it was refused. They never met, and much to +the regret of the Fairfax family the letter of Washington was lost. The +Fairfaxes of Virginia are of the same family, and occasionally some +member of the American branch returns to see his Scotch cousins. + +"While Dr. Somerville was eagerly talking of these things, Mrs. +Somerville came tripping into the room, speaking at once with the +vivacity of a young person. She was seventy-seven years old, but +appeared twenty years younger. She was not handsome, but her face was +pleasing; the forehead low and broad; the eyes blue; the features so +regular, that in the marble bust by Chantrey, which I had seen, I had +considered her handsome. + +"Neither bust nor picture, however, gives a correct idea of her, except +in the outline of the head and shoulders. + +"She spoke with a strong Scotch accent, and was slightly affected with +deafness, an infirmity so common in England and Scotland. + +"While Mrs. Somerville talked, the old gentleman, seated by the fire, +busied himself in toasting a slice of bread on a fork, which he kept at +a slow-toasting distance from the coals. An English lady was present, +learned in art, who, with a volubility worthy of an American, rushed +into every little opening of Mrs. Somerville's more measured sentences +with her remarks upon recent discoveries in _her_ specialty. Whenever +this occurred, the old man grew fidgety, moved the slice of bread +backwards and forwards as if the fire were at fault, and when, at +length, the English lady had fairly conquered the ground, and was +started on a long sentence, he could bear the eclipse of his idol no +longer, but, coming to the sofa where we sat, he testily said, 'Mrs. +Somerville would rather talk on science than on art.' + +"Mrs. Somerville's conversation was marked by great simplicity; it was +rather of the familiar and chatty order, with no tendency to the essay +style. She touched upon the recent discoveries in chemistry or the +discovery of gold in California, of the nebulae, more and more of which +she thought might be resolved, and yet that there might exist nebulous +matters, such as compose the tails of comets, of the satellites, of the +planets, the last of which she thought had other uses than as +subordinates. She spoke with disapprobation of Dr. Whewell's attempt to +prove that our planet was the only one inhabited by reasoning beings; +she believed that a higher order of beings than ourselves might people +them. + +"On subsequent visits there were many questions from Mrs. Somerville in +regard to the progress of science in America. She regretted, she said, +that she knew so little of what was done in our country. + +"From Lieutenant Maury, alone, she received scientific papers. She spoke +of the late Dr. (Nathaniel) Bowditch with great interest, and said she +had corresponded with one of his sons. She asked after Professor Peirce, +whom she considered a great mathematician, and of the Bonds, of +Cambridge. She was much interested in their photography of the stars, +and said it had never been done in Europe. At that time photography was +but just applied to the stars. I had carried to the Royal Astronomical +Society the first successful photograph of a star. It was that of Mizar +and Alcor, in the Great Bear. (Since that time all these things have +improved.) + +"The last time I saw Mrs. Somerville, she took me into her garden to +show me her rose-bushes, in which she took great pride. Mrs. Somerville +was not a mathematician only, she spoke Italian fluently, and was in +early life a good musician. + +"I could but admire Mrs. Somerville as a woman. The ascent of the steep +and rugged path of science had not unfitted her for the drawing-room +circle; the hours of devotion to close study have not been incompatible +with the duties of wife and mother; the mind that has turned to rigid +demonstration has not thereby lost its faith in those truths which +figures will not prove. 'I have no doubt,' said she, in speaking of the +heavenly bodies, 'that in another state of existence we shall know more +about these things.' + +"Mrs. Somerville, at the age of seventy-seven, was interested in every +new improvement, hopeful, cheery, and happy. Her society was sought by +the most cultivated people in the world. [She died at ninety-two.] + +"Berlin, May 7, 1858. Humboldt had replied to my letter of introduction +by a note, saying that he should be happy to see me at 2 P.M., May 7. Of +course I was punctual. Humboldt is one of several residents in a very +ordinary-looking house on Oranienberge strasse. + +"All along up the flight of stairs to his room were printed notices +telling persons where to leave packages and letters for Alexander +Humboldt. + +"The servant showed me at first into a sort of anteroom, hung with +deers' horns and carpeted with tigers' skins, then into the study, and +asked me to take a seat on the sofa. The room was very warm; comfort was +evidently carefully considered, for cushions were all around; the sofa +was handsomely covered with worsted embroidery. A long study-table was +full of books and papers. + +"I had waited but a few moments when Humboldt came in; he was a smaller +man than I had expected to see. He was neater, more 'trig,' than the +pictures represent him; in looking at the pictures you feel that his +head is too large,--out of proportion to the body,--but you do not +perceive this when you see him. + +"He bowed in a most courtly manner, and told me he was much obliged to +me for coming to see him, then shook hands, and asked me to sit, and +took a chair near me. + +"There was a clock in sight, and I stayed but half an hour. He talked +every minute, and on all kinds of subjects: of Dr. Bache, who was then +at the head of the U.S. Coast Survey; of Dr. Gould, who had recently +returned from long years in South America; of the Washington Observatory +and its director, Lieutenant Maury; of the Dudley Observatory, at +Albany; of Sir George Airy, of the Greenwich Observatory; of Professor +Enke's comet reputation; of Argelander, who was there observing variable +stars; of Mrs. Somerville and Goldschmidt, and of his brother. + +"It was the period when the subject of admitting Kansas as a slave State +was discussed--he touched upon that; it was during the administration of +President Buchanan, and he talked about that. + +"Having been nearly a year in Europe, I had not kept up my reading of +American newspapers, but Humboldt could tell me the latest news, +scientifically and politically. To my ludicrous mortification, he told +me of the change of position of some scientific professor in New York +State, and when I showed that I didn't know the location of the town, +which was Clinton, he told me if I would look at the map, which lay upon +the table, I should find the town somewhere between Albany and Buffalo. + +"Humboldt was always considered a good-tempered, kindly-natured man, but +his talk was a little fault-finding. + +"He said: 'Lieutenant Maury has been useful, but for the director of an +observatory he has put forth some strange statements in the 'Geography +of the Sea.' + +"He asked me if Mrs. Somerville was now occupied with pure mathematics. +He said: 'There she is strong. I never saw her but once. She must be +over sixty years old.' In reality she was seventy-seven. He spoke with +admiration of Mrs. Somerville's 'Physical Geography,'--said it was +excellent because so concise. 'A German woman would have used more +words.' + +"Humboldt asked me if they could apply photography to the small +stars--to the eighth or ninth magnitude. I had asked the same question +of Professor Bond, of Cambridge, and he had replied, 'Give me $500,000, +and we can do it; but it is very expensive.' + +"Humboldt spoke of the fifty-three small planets, and gave his opinion +that they could not be grouped together; that there was no apparent +connection. + +"Having lost all his teeth, Humboldt's articulation was indistinct--he +talked very rapidly. His hair was thin and very white, his eyes very +blue, his nose too broad and too flat; yet he was a handsome man. He +wore a white necktie, a black dress-coat, buttoned up, but not so much +so that it hid a figured dark-blue and white waistcoat. He was a little +deaf. He told me that he was eighty-nine years old, and that he and +Bonpland, alone, were living of those who in early life were on +expeditions together; that Bonpland was eighty-five, and much the more +vigorous of the two. + +"He said that we had gone backwards, morally, in America since he was +there,--that then there were strong men there: Jefferson, and Hamilton, +and Madison; that the three months he spent in America were spent almost +wholly with Jefferson. + +"In the course of conversation he told me that the fifth volume of +'Cosmos' was in preparation. He urged me to go to see Argelander on my +way to London; he followed me out, still urging me to do this, and at +the same time assured me that Kansas would go all right. + +"It was singular that Humboldt should advise me to use the sextant; it +was the first instrument that I ever used, and it is a very difficult +one. No young aspirant in science ever left Humboldt's presence +uncheered, and no petty animosities come out in his record. You never +heard of Humboldt's complaining that any one had stolen his thunder,--he +knew that no one could lift his bolts. + +"When I came away, he thanked me again for the visit, followed me into +the anteroom, and made a low bow." + +In 1855 Mrs. Mitchell was taken suddenly ill, and although partial +recovery followed, her illness lasted for six years, during which time +Maria was her constant nurse. For most of the six years her mother's +condition was such that merely a general care was needed, but it used to +be said that Maria's eyes were always upon her. When the opportunity to +go to Europe came, an older sister came with her family to take Maria's +place in the home; and when Miss Mitchell returned she found her mother +so nearly in the state in which she had left her, that she felt +justified in having taken the journey. + +Mrs. Mitchell died in 1861, and a few months after her death Mr. +Mitchell and his daughter removed to Lynn, Mass.--Miss Mitchell having +purchased a small house in that city, in the rear of which she erected +the little observatory brought from Nantucket. She was very much +depressed by her mother's death, and absorbed herself as much as +possible in her observations and in her work for the Nautical Almanac. + +Soon after her return from Europe she had been presented with an +equatorial telescope, the gift of American women, through Miss Elizabeth +Peabody. The following letter refers to this instrument: + + LETTER FROM ADMIRAL SMYTH. + + ST. JOHN'S LODGE, NEAR AYLESBURY, 25-7-'59. + + MY DEAR MISS MITCHELL: ... We are much pleased to hear of your + acquisition of an equatorial instrument under a revolving roof, + for it is a true scientific luxury as well as an efficient + implement. The aperture of your object-glass is sufficient for + doing much useful work, but, if I may hazard an opinion to you, + do not attempt too much, for it is quality rather than quantity + which is now desirable. I would therefore leave the + multiplication of objects to the larger order of telescopes, and + to those who are given to sweep and ransack the heavens, of whom + there is a goodly corps. Now, for your purpose, I would + recommend a batch of neat, but not over-close, binary systems, + selected so as to have always one or the other on hand. + + I, however, have been bestirring myself to put amateurs upon a + more convenient and, I think, a better mode of examining double + stars than by the wire micrometer, with its faults of + illumination, fiddling, jumps, and dirty lamps. This is by the + beautiful method of rock-crystal prisms, not the Rochon method + of double-image, but by thin wedges cut to given angles. I have + told Mr. Alvan Clark my "experiences." and I hope he will apply + his excellent mind to the scheme. I am insisting upon this point + in some astronomical twaddle which I am now printing, and of + which I shall soon have to request your acceptance of a copy. + + There is a very important department which calls for a zealous + amateur or two, namely, the colors of double stars, for these + have usually been noted after the eye has been fatigued with + observing in illuminated fields. The volume I hope to + forward--_en hommage_--will contain all the pros and cons of + this branch. + + There is, for ultimate utility, nothing like forming a plan and + then steadily following it. Those who profess they will attend + to everything often fall short of the mark. The division of + labor leads to beneficial conclusions as well in astronomy as in + mechanics and arts. + + Mrs. Smyth and my daughter unite with me in wishing you all + happiness and success; and believe me + + My dear Miss Mitchell, + + Yours very faithfully, + + W. H. SMYTH. + +In regard to the colors of stars, Miss Mitchell had already begun their +study, as these extracts from her diary show: + +"Feb. 19, 1853. I am just learning to notice the different colors of the +stars, and already begin to have a new enjoyment. Betelgeuse is +strikingly red, while Rigel is yellow. There is something of the same +pleasure in noticing the hues that there is in looking at a collection +of precious stones, or at a flower-garden in autumn. Blue stars I do not +yet see, and but little lilac except through the telescope. + +"Feb. 12, 1855.... I swept around for comets about an hour, and then I +amused myself with noticing the varieties of color. I wonder that I have +so long been insensible to this charm in the skies, the tints of the +different stars are so delicate in their variety. ... What a pity that +some of our manufacturers shouldn't be able to steal the secret of +dyestuffs from the stars, and astonish the feminine taste by new +brilliancy in fashion. [Footnote: See Chapter XI.] + + [NANTUCKET], April [1860]. + + MY DEAR: Your father just gave me a great fright by "tapping at + my window" (I believe Poe's was a door, wasn't it?) and holding + up your note. I was busy examining some star notices just + received from Russia or Germany,--I never knew where Dorpat + is.--and just thinking that my work was as good as theirs. I + always noticed that when school-teachers took a holiday in order + to visit other institutions they came home and quietly said, "No + school is better or as good as mine." And then I read your note, + and perceive your reading is as good as Mrs. Kemble's. Now, + being _modest_, I always felt afraid the reason I thought you + such a good reader was because I didn't know any better, but if + all the world is equally ignorant, it makes it all right.... + + I've been intensely busy. I have been looking for the little + inferior planet to cross the sun, which it hasn't done, and I + got an article ready for the paper and then hadn't the courage + to publish--not for fear of the readers, but for fear that I + should change my own ideas by the time 'twas in print. + + I am hoping, however, to have something by the meeting of the + Scientific Association in August,--some paper,--not to get + reputation for myself,--my reputation is so much beyond me that + as policy I should keep quiet,--but in order that my telescope + may show that it is at work. I am embarrassed by the amount of + work it might do--as you do not know which of Mrs. Browning's + poems to read, there are so many beauties. + +The little republic of San Marino presented Miss Mitchell, in 1859, with +a bronze medal of merit, together with the _Ribbon_ and _Letters Patent_ +signed by the two captains regent. This medal she prized as highly as +the gold one from Denmark. + +"Nantucket, May 12, 18[60].... I send you a notice of an occultation; +the last sentence and the last figures are mine. You and I can never +occult, for have we not always helped one another to shine? Do you have +Worcester's Dictionary? I read it continually. Did you feast on 'The +Marble Faun'? I have a charming letter from Una Hawthorne, herself a +poet by nature, all about 'papa's book.' Ought not Mr. Hawthorne to be +the happiest man alive? He isn't, though! Do save all the anecdotes you +possibly can, piquant or not; starved people are not over-nice. + + LYNN, Jan. 5 [1864]. + + ... I very rarely see the B----s; they go to a different church, + and you know with that class of people "not to be with us is to + be against us." Indeed, I know very little of Lynn people. If I + can get at Mr. J., when you come to see me I'll ask him to tea. + He has called several times, but he's in such demand that he + must be engaged some weeks in advance! Would you, if you lived + in Lynn, want to fall into such a mass of idolaters? + + I was wretchedly busy up to December 31, but have got into quiet + seas again. I have had a great deal of company--not a person + that I did not want to see, but I can't make the days more than + twenty-four hours long, with all my economy of time. This week + Professor Crosby, of Salem, comes up with his graduating class + and his corps of teachers for an evening. + +They remained in Lynn until Miss Mitchell was called to Vassar College, +in 1865, as professor of astronomy and director of the observatory. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +1865-1885 + +LIFE AT VASSAR COLLEGE + +In her life at Vassar College there was a great deal for Miss Mitchell +to get accustomed to; if her duties had been merely as director of the +observatory, it would have been simply a continuation of her previous +work. But she was expected, of course, to teach astronomy; she was by no +means sure that she could succeed as a teacher, and with this new work +on hand she could not confine herself to original investigation--that +which had been her great aim in life. + +But she was so much interested in the movement for the higher education +of women, an interest which deepened as her work went on, that she gave +up, in a great measure, her scientific life, and threw herself heart and +soul into this work. + +For some years after she went to Vassar, she still continued the work +for the Nautical Almanac; but after a while she relinquished that, and +confined herself wholly to the work in the college. + +"1866. Vassar College brought together a mass of heterogeneous material, +out of which it was expected that a harmonious whole would +evolve--pupils from all parts of the country, of different habits, +different training, different views; teachers, mostly from New England, +differing also; professors, largely from Massachusetts, yet differing +much. And yet, after a year, we can say that there has been no very +noisy jarring of the discordant elements; small jostling has been felt, +but the president has oiled the rough places, and we have slid over +them. + +"... Miss ---- is a bigot, but a very sincere one. She is the most +conservative person I ever met. I think her a very good woman, a woman +of great energy.... She is very kind to me, but had we lived in the +colonial days of Massachusetts, and had she been a power, she would have +burned me at the stake for heresy! + +"Yesterday the rush began. Miss Lyman [the lady principal] had set the +twenty teachers all around in different places, and I was put into the +parlor to talk to 'anxious mothers.' + +"Miss Lyman had a hoarse cold, but she received about two hundred +students, and had all their rooms assigned to them. + +"While she had one anxious mamma, I took two or three, and kept them +waiting until she could attend to them. Several teachers were with me. I +made a rush at the visitors as they entered, and sometimes I was asked +if I were lady principal, and sometimes if I were the matron. This +morning Miss Lyman's voice was gone. She must have seen five hundred +people yesterday. + +"Among others there was one Miss Mitchell, and, of course, that anxious +mother put that girl under my special care, and she is very bright. Then +there were two who were sent with letters to me, and several others +whose mothers took to me because they were frightened by Miss Lyman's +_style_. + +"One lady, who seemed to be a bright woman, got me by the button and +held me a long time--she wanted this, that, and the other impracticable +thing for the girl, and told me how honest her daughter was; then with a +flood of tears she said, 'But she is not a Christian. I know I put her +into good hands when I put her here.' (Then I was strongly tempted to +avow my Unitarianism.) Miss W., who was standing by, said, 'Miss Lyman +will be an excellent spiritual adviser,' and we both looked very +serious; when the mother wiped her weeping eyes and said, 'And, Miss +Mitchell, will you ask Miss Lyman to insist that my daughter shall curl +her hair? She looks very graceful when her hair is curled, and I want it +insisted upon,' I made a note of it with my pencil, and as I happened to +glance at Miss W. the corners of her mouth were twitching, upon which I +broke down and laughed. The mother bore it very good-naturedly, but went +on. She wanted to know who would work some buttonholes in her daughter's +dress that was not quite finished, etc., and it all ended in her +inviting me to make her a visit. + +"Oct. 31, 1866. Our faculty meetings always try me in this respect: we +do things that other colleges have done before. We wait and ask for +precedent. If the earth had waited for a precedent, it never would have +turned on its axis! + +"Sept. 22, 1868. I have written to-day to give up the Nautical Almanac +work. I do not feel sure that it will be for the best, but I am sure +that I could not hold the almanac and the college, and father is happy +here. + +"I tell Miss Lyman that my father is so much pleased with everything +here that I am afraid he will be immersed!" [Footnote: Vassar College, +though professedly unsectarian, was mainly under Baptist control.] Only +those who knew Vassar College in its earlier days can tell of the life +that the father and daughter led there for four years. + +Mr. Mitchell died in 1869. + +[Illustration: THE FATHER AND DAUGHTER] + +"Jan. 3, 1868. Meeting Dr. Hill at a private party, I asked him if +Harvard College would admit girls in fifty years. He said one of the +most conservative members of the faculty had said, within sixteen days, +that it would come about in twenty years. I asked him if I could go into +one of Professor Peirce's recitations. He said there was nothing to keep +me out, and that he would let me know when they came. + +"At eleven A.M., the next Friday, I stood at Professor Peirce's door. As +the professor came in I went towards him, and asked him if I might +attend his lecture. He said 'Yes.' I said 'Can you not say "I shall be +happy to have you"?' and he said 'I shall be happy to have you,' but he +didn't look happy! + +"It was with some little embarrassment that Mrs. K. and I seated +ourselves. Sixteen young men came into the room; after the first glance +at us there was not another look, and the lecture went on. Professor +Peirce had filled the blackboard with formulae, and went on developing +them. He walked backwards and forwards all the time, thinking it out as +he went. The students at first all took notes, but gradually they +dropped off until perhaps only half continued. When he made simple +mistakes they received it in silence; only one, that one his son (a +tutor in college), remarked that he was wrong. The steps of his lesson +were all easy, but of course it was impossible to tell whence he came or +whither he was going.... + +"The recitation-room was very common-looking--we could not tolerate such +at Vassar. The forms and benches of the recitation-room were better for +taking notes than ours are. + +"The professor was polite enough to ask us into the senior class, but I +had an engagement. I asked him if a young lady presented herself at the +door he _could_ keep her out, and he said 'No, and I shouldn't.' I told +him I would send some of my girls. + +"Oct. 15, 1868. Resolved, in case of my outliving father and being in +good health, to give my efforts to the intellectual culture of women, +without regard to salary; if possible, connect myself with liberal +Christian institutions, believing, as I do, that happiness and growth in +this life are best promoted by them, and that what is good in this life +is good in any life." + +In August, 1869, Miss Mitchell, with several of her Vassar students, +went to Burlington, Ia., to observe the total eclipse of the sun. She +wrote a popular account of her observations, which was printed in "Hours +at Home" for September, 1869. Her records were published in Professor +Coffin's report, as she was a member of his party. + +"Sept. 26, 1871. My classes came in to-day for the first time; +twenty-five students--more than ever before; fine, splendid-looking +girls. I felt almost frightened at the responsibility which came into my +hands--of the possible _twist_ which I might give them. + +"1871. I never look upon the mass of girls going into our dining-room or +chapel without feeling their nobility, the sovereignty of their pure +spirit." + +The following letter from Miss Mitchell, though written at a later date, +gives an idea of the practical observing done by her classes: + + MY DEAR MISS ----: I reply to your questions concerning the + observatory which you propose to establish. And, first, let me + congratulate you that you begin _small_. A large telescope is a + great luxury, but it is an enormous expense, and not at all + necessary for teaching.... My beginning class uses only a small + portable equatorial. It stands out-doors from 7 A.M. to 9 P.M. + The girls are encouraged to use it: they are expected to + determine the rotation of the sun on its axis by watching the + spots--the same for the planet Jupiter; they determine the + revolution of Titan by watching its motions, the retrograde and + direct motion of the planets among the stars, the position of + the sun with reference to its setting in winter and summer, the + phases of Venus. All their book learning in astronomy should be + mathematical. The astronomy which is not mathematical is what is + so ludicrously called "Geography of the Heavens"--is not + astronomy at all. + + My senior class, generally small, say six, is received as a + class, but in practical astronomy each girl is taught + separately. I believe in _small_ classes. I instruct them + separately, first in the use of the meridian instrument, and + next in that of the equatorial. They obtain the time for the + college by meridian passage of stars; they use the equatorial + just as far as they can do with very insufficient mechanism. We + work wholly on planets, and they are taught to find a planet at + any hour of the day, to make drawings of what they see, and to + determine positions of planets and satellites. With the clock + and chronograph they determine difference of right ascension of + objects by the electric mode of recording. They make, sometimes, + very accurate drawings, and they learn to know the satellites of + Saturn (Titan, Rhea, etc.) by their different physiognomy, as + they would persons. They have sometimes measured diameters. + + If you add to your observatory a meridian instrument, I should + advise a small one. _Size_ is not so important as people + generally suppose. Nicety and accuracy are what is needed in all + scientific work; startling effects by large telescopes and high + powers are too suggestive of sensational advertisement. + +The relation between herself and her pupils was quite remarkable--it was +very cordial and intimate; she spoke of them always as her "girls," but +at the same time she required their very best work, and was intolerant +of shirking, or of an ambition to do what nature never intended the girl +in question to do. + +One of her pupils writes thus: "If it were only possible to tell you of +what Professor Mitchell did for one of her girls! 'Her girls!' It meant +so much to come into daily contact with such a woman! There is no need +of speaking of her ability; the world knows what that was. But as her +class-room was unique, having something of home in its belongings, so +its atmosphere differed from that of all others. Anxiety and nervous +strain were left outside of the door. Perhaps one clue to her influence +may be found in her remark to the senior class in astronomy when '76 +entered upon its last year: 'We are women studying together.' + +"Occasionally it happened that work requiring two hours or more to +prepare called for little time in the class. Then would come one of +those treats which she bestowed so freely upon her girls, and which +seemed to put them in touch with the great outside world. Letters from +astronomers in Europe or America, or from members of their families, +giving delightful glimpses of home life; stories of her travels and of +visits to famous people; accounts of scientific conventions and of large +gatherings of women,--not so common then as now,--gave her listeners a +wider outlook and new interests. + +"Professor Mitchell was chairman of a standing committee of the American +Association for the Advancement of Women,--that on women's work in +science,--and some of her students did their first work for women's +organizations in gathering statistics and filling out blanks which she +distributed among them. + +"The benefits derived from my college course were manifold, but time and +money would have been well spent had there been no return but that of +two years' intercourse with Maria Mitchell." + +Another pupil, and later her successor at Vassar College, Miss Mary W. +Whitney, has said of her method of teaching: "As a teacher, Miss +Mitchell's gift was that of stimulus, not that of drill. She could not +drill; she would not drive. But no honest student could escape the +pressure of her strong will and earnest intent. The marking system she +held in contempt, and wished to have nothing to do with it. 'You cannot +mark a human mind,' she said, 'because there is no intellectual unit;' +and upon taking up her duties as professor she stipulated that she +should not be held responsible for a strict application of the system." + +"July, 1887. My students used to say that my way of teaching was like +that of the man who said to his son, 'There are the letters of the +English alphabet--go into that corner and learn them.' + +"It is not exactly my way, but I do think, as a general rule, that +teachers talk too much! A book is a very good institution! To read a +book, to think it over, and to write out notes is a useful exercise; a +book which will not repay some hard thought is not worth publishing. The +fashion of lecturing is becoming a rage; the teacher shows herself off, +and she does not try enough to develop her pupils. + +"The greatest object in educating is to give a right habit of study.... + + * * * * * + +"... Not too much mechanical apparatus--let the imagination have some +play; a cube may be shown by a model, but let the drawing upon the +blackboard represent the cube; and if possible let Nature be the +blackboard; spread your triangles upon land and sky. + +"One of my pupils always threw her triangles on the celestial vault +above her head.... + +"A small apparatus well used will do wonders. A celebrated chemist +ordered his servant to bring in the laboratory--on a tray! Newton rolled +up the cover of a book; he put a small glass at one end, and a large +brain at the other--it was enough. + + * * * * * + +"When a student asks me, 'What specialty shall I follow?' I answer, +'Adopt some one, if none draws you, and wait.' I am confident that she +will find the specialty engrossing. + +"Feb. 10, 1887. When I came to Vassar, I regretted that Mr. Vassar did +not give full scholarships. By degrees, I learned to think his plan of +giving half scholarships better; and to-day I am ready to say, 'Give no +scholarships at all.' + +"I find a helping-hand lifts the girl as crutches do; she learns to like +the help which is not self-help. + +"If a girl has the public school, and wants enough to learn, she will +learn. It is hard, but she was born to hardness--she cannot dodge it. +Labor is her inheritance. + +"I was born, for instance, incapable of appreciating music. I mourn it. +Should I go to a music-school, therefore? No, avoid the music-school; it +is a very expensive branch of study. When the public school has taught +reading, writing, and arithmetic, the boy or girl has his or her tools; +let them use these tools, and get a few hours for study every day. + +"... Do not give educational aid to sickly young people. The old idea +that the feeble young man must be fitted for the ministry, because the +more sickly the more saintly, has gone out. Health of body is not only +an accompaniment of health of mind, but is the cause; the converse may +be true,--that health of mind causes health of body; but we all know +that intellectual cheer and vivacity act upon the mind. If the gymnastic +exercise helps the mind, the concert or the theatre improves the health +of the body. + +"Let the unfortunate young woman whose health is delicate take to the +culture of the woods and fields, or raise strawberries, and avoid +teaching. + +"Better give a young girl who is poor a common-school education, a +little lift, and tell her to work out her own career. If she have a +distaste to the homely routine of life, leave her the opportunity to try +any other career, but let her understand that she stands or falls by +herself. + +"... Not every girl should go to college. The over-burdened mother of a +large family has a right to be aided by her daughter's hands. I would +aid the mother and not the daughter. + +"I would not put the exceptionally smart girl from a _very_ poor family +into college, unless she is a genius; and a genius should wait some +years to _prove_ her genius. + +"Endow the already established institution with money. Endow the woman +who shows genius with _time_. + +"A case at Johns Hopkins University is an excellent one. A young woman +goes into the institution who is already a scholar; she shows what she +can do, and she takes a scholarship; she is not placed in a happy valley +of do nothing,--she is put into a workshop, where she can work. + +"... We are all apt to say, 'Could we have had the opportunity in life +that our neighbor had,'--and we leave the unfinished sentence to imply +that we should have been geniuses. + +"No one ever says, 'If I had not had such golden opportunities thrust +upon me, I might have developed by a struggle'! But why look back at +all? Why turn your eyes to your shadow, when, by looking upward, you see +your rainbow in the same direction? + +"But our want of opportunity was our opportunity--our privations were +our privileges--our needs were stimulants; we are what we are because we +had little and wanted much; and it is hard to tell which was the more +powerful factor.... + + * * * * * + +"Small aids to individuals, large aid to masses. + + * * * * * + +"The Russian Czar determined to found an observatory, and the first +thing he did was to take a million dollars from the government treasury. +He sends to America to order a thirty-five inch telescope from Alvan +Clark,--not to promote science, but to surpass other nations in the size +of his glass. 'To him that hath shall be given.' Read it, 'To him that +hath _should_ be given.' + + * * * * * + +"To give wisely is hard. I do not wonder that the millionaire founds a +new college--why should he not? Millionaires are few, and he is a man by +himself--he must have views, or he could not have earned a million. But +let the man or woman of ordinary wealth seek out the best institution +already started,--the best girl already in college,--and give the +endowment. + +"I knew a rich woman who wished to give aid to some girls' school, and +she travelled in order to find that institution which gave the most +solid learning with the least show. She found it where few would expect +it,--in Tennessee. It was worth while to travel. + +"The aid that comes need not be money; let it be a careful consideration +of the object, and an evident interest in the cause. + +"When you aid a teacher, you improve the education of your children. It +is a wonder that teachers work as well as they do. I never look at a +group of them without using, mentally, the expression, 'The noble army +of martyrs'! + +"The chemist should have had a laboratory, and the observatory should +have had an astronomer; but we are too apt to bestow money where there +is no man, and to find a man where there is no money. + + * * * * * + +"If every girl who is aided were a very high order of scholar, +scholarship would undoubtedly conquer poverty; but a large part of the +aided students are ordinary. They lack, at least, executive power, as +their ancestors probably did. Poverty is a misfortune; misfortunes are +often the result of blamable indiscretion, extravagance, etc. + +"It is one of the many blessings of poverty that one is not obliged to +'give wisely.'" + +1866. _To her students:_ "I cannot expect to make astronomers, but I do +expect that you will invigorate your minds by the effort at healthy +modes of thinking.... When we are chafed and fretted by small cares, a +look at the stars will show us the littleness of our own interests. + +"... But star-gazing is not science. The entrance to astronomy is +through mathematics. You must make up your mind to steady and earnest +work. You must be content to get on slowly if you only get on +thoroughly.... + +"The phrase 'popular science' has in itself a touch of absurdity. That +knowledge which is popular is not scientific. + +"The laws which govern the motions of the sun, the earth, planets, and +other bodies in the universe, cannot be understood and demonstrated +without a solid basis of mathematical learning. + + * * * * * + +"Every formula which expresses a law of nature is a hymn of praise to +God. + + * * * * * + +"You cannot study anything persistently for years without becoming +learned, and although I would not hold reputation up to you as a very +high object of ambition, it is a wayside flower which you are sure to +have catch at your skirts. + +"Whatever apology other women may have for loose, ill-finished work, or +work not finished at all, you will have none. + +"When you leave Vassar College, you leave it the _best educated women in +the world_. Living a little outside of the college, beyond the reach of +the little currents that go up and down the corridors, I think I am a +fairer judge of your advantages than you can be yourselves; and when I +say you will be the best educated women in the world, I do not mean the +education of text-books, and class-rooms, and apparatus, only, but that +broader education which you receive unconsciously, that higher teaching +which comes to you, all unknown to the givers, from daily association +with the noble-souled women who are around you." + +"1871. When astronomers compare observations made by different persons, +they cannot neglect the constitutional peculiarities of the individuals, +and there enters into these computations a quantity called 'personal +equation.' In common terms, it is that difference between two +individuals from which results a difference in the _time_ which they +require to receive and note an occurrence. If one sees a star at one +instant, and records it, the record of another, of the same thing, is +not the same. + +"It is true, also, that the same individual is not the same at all +times; so that between two individuals there is a mean or middle +individual, and each individual has a mean or middle self, which is not +the man of to-day, nor the man of yesterday, nor the man of to-morrow; +but a middle man among these different selves.... + + * * * * * + +"We especially need imagination in science. It is not all mathematics, +nor all logic, but it is somewhat beauty and poetry. + +"There will come with the greater love of science greater love to one +another. Living more nearly to Nature is living farther from the world +and from its follies, but nearer to the world's people; it is to be of +them, with them, and for them, and especially for their improvement. We +cannot see how impartially Nature gives of her riches to all, without +loving all, and helping all; and if we cannot learn through Nature's +laws the certainty of spiritual truths, we can at least learn to promote +spiritual growth while we are together, and live in a trusting hope of a +greater growth in the future. + +"... The great gain would be freedom of thought. Women, more than men, +are bound by tradition and authority. What the father, the brother, the +doctor, and the minister have said has been received undoubtingly. Until +women throw off this reverence for authority they will not develop. When +they do this, when they come to truth through their investigations, when +doubt leads them to discovery, the truth which they get will be theirs, +and their minds will work on and on unfettered. + +[1874.] "I am but a woman! + +"For women there are, undoubtedly, great difficulties in the path, but +so much the more to overcome. First, no woman should say, 'I am but a +woman!' But a woman! What more can you ask to be? + +"Born a woman--born with the average brain of humanity--born with more +than the average heart--if you are mortal, what higher destiny could you +have? No matter where you are nor what you are, you are a power--your +influence is incalculable; personal influence is always underrated by +the person. We are all centres of spheres--we see the portions of the +sphere above us, and we see how little we affect it. We forget the part +of the sphere around and before us--it extends just as far every way. + +"Another common saying, 'It isn't the way,' etc. Who settles the way? Is +there any one so forgetful of the sovereignty bestowed on her by God +that she accepts a leader--one who shall capture her mind? + +"There is this great danger in student life. Now, we rest all upon what +Socrates said, or what Copernicus taught; how can we dispute authority +which has come down to us, all established, for ages? + +"We must at least question it; we cannot accept anything as granted, +beyond the first mathematical formulae. Question everything else. + + "'The world is round, and like a ball + Seems swinging in the air.'[1] +[Footnote 1: From Peter Parley's Primary Geography.] + +"No such thing! the world is not round, it does not swing, and it +doesn't _seem_ to swing! + +"I know I shall be called heterodox, and that unseen lightning flashes +and unheard thunderbolts will be playing around my head, when I say that +women will never be profound students in any other department except +music while they give four hours a day to the _practice_ of music. I +should by all means encourage every woman who is born with musical gifts +to study music; but study it as a science and an art, and not as an +accomplishment; and to every woman who is not musical, I should say, +'Don't study it at all;' you cannot afford four hours a day, out of some +years of your life, just to be agreeable in company upon _possible_ +occasions. + +"If for four hours a day you studied, year after year, the science of +language, for instance, do you suppose you would not be a linguist? Do +you put the mere pleasing of some social party, and the reception of a +few compliments, against the mental development of four hours a day of +study of something for which you were born? + +"When I see that girls who are required by their parents to go through +with the irksome practising really become respectable performers, I +wonder what four hours a day at something which they loved, and for +which God designed them, would do for them. + +"I should think that to a real scientist in music there would be +something mortifying in this rush of all women into music; as there +would be to me if I saw every girl learning the constellations, and then +thinking she was an astronomer! + +"Jan. 8, 1876. At the meeting of graduates at the Deacon House, the +speeches that were made were mainly those of Dr. R. and Professor B. I +am sorry now that I did not at least say that the college is what it is +mainly because the early students pushed up the course to a collegiate +standard. + +"Jan. 25, 1876. It has become a serious question with me whether it is +not my duty to beg money for the observatory, while what I really long +for is a quiet life of scientific speculation. I want to sit down and +study on the observations made by myself and others." + +During her later years at Vassar, Miss Mitchell interested herself +personally in raising a fund to endow the chair of astronomy. In March, +1886, she wrote: "I have been in New York quite lately, and am quite +hopeful that Miss ---- will do something for Vassar. Mrs. C., of +Newburyport, is to ask Whittier, who is said to be rich, and ---- told +me to get anything I could out of her father. But after all I am a poor +beggar; my ideas are small!" + +Since Miss Mitchell's death, the fund has been completed by the alumnae, +and is known as the Maria Mitchell Endowment Fund. With $10,000 +appropriated by the trustees it amounts to $50,000. + +"June 18, 1876. I had imagined the Emperor of Brazil to be a dark, +swarthy, tall man, of forty-five years; that he would not really have a +crown upon his head, but that I should feel it was somewhere around, +handy-like, and that I should know I was in royal presence. But he turns +out to be a large, old man,--say, sixty-five,--broad-headed and +broad-shouldered, with a big white beard, and a very pleasant, even +chatty, manner. + +"Once inside of the dome, he seemed to feel at home; to my astonishment +he asked if Alvan Clark made the glass of the equatorial. As he stepped +into the meridian-room, and saw the instruments, he said, 'Collimators?' +I said, 'You have been in observatories before.' 'Oh, yes, Cambridge and +Washington,' he replied. He seemed much more interested in the +observatory than I could possibly expect. I asked him to go on top of +the roof, and he said he had not time; yet he stayed long enough to go +up several times. I am told that he follows out, remarkably, his own +ideas as to his movements." + +In 1878, Miss Mitchell went to Denver, Colorado, to observe the total +eclipse of the sun. She was accompanied by several of her former pupils. +She prepared an account of this eclipse, which will be found in Chapter +XI. + +"Aug. 20, 1878. Dr. Raymond [President of Vassar College] is dead. I +cannot quite take it in. I have never known the college without him, and +it will make all things different. + +"Personally, I have always been fond of him; he was very enjoyable +socially and intellectually. Officially he was, in his relations to the +students, perfect. He was cautious to a fault, and has probably been +very wise in his administration of college affairs. He was broad in his +religious views. He was not broad in his ideas of women, and was made to +broaden the education of women by the women around him. + +"June 18, 1881. The dome party to-day was sixty-two in number. It was +breakfast, and we opened the dome; we seated forty in the dome and +twenty in the meridian-room." + +This "dome party" requires a few words of explanation, because it was +unique among all the Vassar festivities. The week before commencement, +Miss Mitchell's pupils would be informed of the approaching gathering by +a notice like the following: + + CIRCULAR. + + The annual dome party will be held at the observatory on + Saturday, the 19th, at 6 P.M. You are cordially invited to be + present. + + M. M. + + [As this gathering is highly intellectual, you are invited to + bring poems.] + +It was, at first, held in the evening, but during the last years was a +breakfast party, its character in other respects remaining the same. +Little tables were spread under the dome, around the big telescope; the +flowers were roses from Miss Mitchell's own garden. The "poems" were +nonsense rhymes, in the writing of which Miss Mitchell was an adept. +Each student would have a few verses of a more or less personal +character, written by Miss Mitchell, and there were others written by +the girls themselves; some were impromptu; others were set to music, and +sung by a selected glee-club. + +"June 5, 1881. We have written what we call our dome poetry. Some nice +poems have come in to us. I think the Vassar girls, in the main, are +magnificent, they are so all-alive.... + +"May 20, 1882. Vassar is getting pretty. I gathered lilies of the valley +this morning. The young robins are out in a tree close by us, and the +phoebe has built, as usual, under the front steps. + +"I am rushing dome poetry, but so far show no alarming symptoms of +brilliancy." + +A former student writes as follows about the dome poetry: + +"At the time it was read, though it seemed mere merry nonsense, it +really served a more serious purpose in the work of one who did nothing +aimlessly. This apparent nonsense served as the vehicle to convey an +expression of approbation, affection, criticism, or disapproval in such +a merry mode that even the bitterest draught seemed sweet." + +"1881, July 5. We left Vassar, June 24, on the steamer 'Galatea,' from +New York to Providence. I looked out of my state-room window, and saw a +strange-looking body in the northern sky. My heart sank; I knew +instantly that it was a comet, and that I must return to the +observatory. Calling the young people around me, and pointing it out to +them, I had their assurance that it was a comet, and nothing but a +comet. + +"We went to bed at nine, and I arose at six in the morning. As soon as I +could get my nieces started for Providence, I started for +Stonington,--the most easy of the ways of getting to New York, as I +should avoid Point Judith. + +"I went to the boat at the Stonington wharf about noon, and remained on +board until morning--there were few passengers, it was very quiet, and I +slept well. + +"Arriving in New York, I took cars at 9 A.M. for Poughkeepsie, and +reached the college at dinner-time. I went to work the same evening. + +"As I could not tell at what time the comet would pass the meridian, I +stationed myself at the telescope in the meridian-room by 10 P.M., and +watched for the comet to cross. As it approached the meridian, I saw +that it would go behind a scraggy apple-tree. I sent for the watchman, +Mr. Crumb, to come with a saw, and cut off the upper limbs. He came back +with an axe, and chopped away vigorously; but as one limb after another +fell, and I said, 'I need more, cut away,' he said, 'I think I must cut +down the whole tree.' I said, 'Cut it down.' I felt the barbarism of it, +but I felt more that a bird might have a nest in it. + +"I found, when I went to breakfast the next morning, that the story had +preceded me, and I was called 'George Washington.' + +"But for all this, I got almost no observation; the fog came up, and I +had scarcely anything better than an estimation. I saw the comet blaze +out, just on the edge of the field, and I could read its declination +only. + +"On the 28th, 29th, and July 1st, I obtained good meridian passages, and +the R.A. must be very good. + +"Jan. 12, 1882. There is a strange sentence in the last paragraph of Dr. +Jacobi's article on the study of medicine by women, to the effect that +it would be better for the husband always to be superior to the wife. +Why? And if so, does not it condemn the ablest women to a single life? + +"March 13, 1882, 3 P.M. I start for faculty, and we probably shall elect +what are called the 'honor girls.' I dread the struggle that is pretty +certain to come. Each of us has some favorite whom she wishes to put +into the highest class, and whom she honestly believes to be of the +highest order of merit. I never have the whole ten to suit me, but I can +truly say that at this minute I do not care. I should be sorry not to +see S., and W., and P., and E., and G., and K. on the list of the ten, +but probably that is more than I ought to expect. The whole system is +demoralizing and foolish. Girls study for prizes, and not for learning, +when 'honors' are at the end. The unscholarly motive is wearing. If they +studied for sound learning, the cheer which would come with every day's +gain would be health-preserving. + +"... I have seven advanced students, and to-day, when I looked around to +see who should be called to help look out for meteors, I could consider +only _one_ of them not already overworked, and she was the +post-graduate, who took no honors, and never hurried, and has always +been an excellent student. + +"... We are sending home some girls already [November 14], and ---- is +among them. I am somewhat alarmed at the dropping down, but ---- does an +enormous amount of work, belongs to every club, and writes for every +club and for the 'Vassar Miscellany,' etc.; of course she has the +headache most of the time. + +"Sometimes I am distressed for fear Dr. Clarke [Footnote: Author of "Sex +in Education."] is not so far wrong; but I do not think it is the +study--it is the morbid conscientiousness of the girls, who think they +must work every minute. + +"April 26, 1882. Miss Herschel came to the college on the 11th, and +stayed three days. She is one of the little girls whom I saw, +twenty-three years since, playing on the lawn at Sir John Herschel's +place, Collingwood. + +"... Miss Herschel was just perfect as a guest; she fitted in +beautifully. The teachers gave a reception for her, ---- gave her his +poem, and Henry, the gardener, found out that the man in whose employ he +lost a finger was her brother-in-law, in Leeds! + +"Jan. 9, 1884. Mr. [Matthew] Arnold has been to the college, and has +given his lecture on Emerson. The audience was made up of three hundred +students, and three hundred guests from town. Never was a man listened +to with so much attention. Whether he is right in his judgment or not, +he held his audience by his manly way, his kindly dissection, and his +graceful English. Socially, he charmed us all. He chatted with every +one, he smiled on all. He said he was sorry to leave the college, and +that he felt he must come to America again. We have not had such an +awakening for years. It was like a new volume of old English poetry. + +"March 16, 1885. In February, 1831, I counted seconds for father, who +observed the annular eclipse at Nantucket. I was twelve and a half years +old. In 1885, fifty-four years later, I counted seconds for a class of +students at Vassar; it was the same eclipse, but the sun was only about +half-covered. Both days were perfectly clear and cold." + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +1873 + +SECOND EUROPEAN TOUR--RUSSIA--FRANCES POWER COBBE--"THE GLASGOW COLLEGE +FOR GIRLS" + +In 1873, Miss Mitchell spent the summer in Europe, and availed herself +of this opportunity to visit the government observatory at Pulkova, in +Russia. + +"Eydkuhnen, Wednesday, July 30, 1873. Certainly, I never in my life +expected to spend twenty-four hours in this small town, the frontier +town of Prussia. Here I remembered that our little bags would be +examined, and I asked the guard about it, but he said we need not +trouble ourselves; we should not be examined until we reached the first +Russian town of Wiersbelow. So, after a mile more of travel, we came to +Wiersbelow. Knowing that we should keep our little compartment until we +got to St. Petersburg, we had scattered our luggage about; gloves were +in one place, veil in another, shawl in another, parasol in another, and +books all around. + +"The train stopped. Imagine our consternation! Two officials entered the +carriage, tall Russians in full uniform, and seized everything--shawls, +books, gloves, bags; and then, looking around very carefully, espied W's +poor little ragged handkerchief, and seized that, too, as a contraband +article! We looked at one another, and said nothing. The tall Russian +said something to us; we looked at each other and sat still. The tall +Russians looked at one another, and there was almost an official smile +between them. + +"Then one turned to me, and said, very distinctly, 'Passy-port.' 'Oh,' I +said, 'the passports are all right; where are they?' and we produced +from our pockets the passports prepared at Washington, with the official +seal, and we delivered them with a sort of air as if we had said, +'You'll find that they do things all right at Washington.' + +"The tall Russians got out, and I was about to breathe freely, when they +returned, and said something else--not a word did I understand; they +exchanged a look of amusement, and W. and I, one of amazement; then one +of them made signs to us to get out. The sign was unmistakable, and we +got out, and followed them into an immense room, where were tables all +around covered with luggage, and about a hundred travellers standing by; +and our books, shawls, gloves, etc., were thrown in a heap upon one of +these tables, and we awoke to the disagreeable consciousness that we +were in a custom-house, and only two out of a hundred travellers, and +that we did not understand one word of Russian. + +"But, of course, it could be only a few minutes of delay, and if German +and French failed, there is always left the language of signs, and all +would be right. + +"After, perhaps, half an hour, two or three officials approached us, +and, holding the passports, began to talk to us. How did they know that +those two passports belonged to us? Out of two hundred persons, how +could they at once see that the woman whose age was given at more than +half a century, and the lad whose age was given at less than a score of +years, were the two fatigued and weary travellers who stood guarding a +small heap of gloves, books, handkerchiefs, and shawls? Two of the +officials held up the passports to us, pointed to the blank page, shook +their heads ominously; the third took the passports, put them into his +vest pocket, buttoned up his coat, and motioned to us to follow him. + +"We followed; he opened the door of an ordinary carriage, waved his hand +for us to get in, jumped in himself, and we found we were started back. +We could not cross the line between Germany and Russia. + +"We meekly asked where we were to go, and were relieved when we found +that we went back only to the nearest town, but that the passports must +be sent to Konigsberg, sixty miles away, to be endorsed by the Russian +ambassador--it might take some days. W. was very much inclined to refuse +to go back and to attempt a war of words, but it did not seem wise to me +to undertake a war against the Russian government; I know our country +does not lightly go into an 'unpleasantness' of that kind.... + +"So we went back to Eydkuhnen,--a little miserable German village. We +took rooms at the only hotel, and there we stayed twenty-four hours. +Before the end of that time, we had visited every shop in the village, +and aired our German to most of our fellow-travellers whom we met at the +hotel. + +"The landlord took our part, and declared it was hard enough on simple +travellers like ourselves to be stopped in such a way, and that Russia +was the only country in Europe which was rigid in that respect. Happily, +our passports were back in twenty-four hours, and we started again; our +trunks had been registered for St. Petersburg, and to St. Petersburg +they had gone, ahead of us; and of the small heap of things thrown down +promiscuously at the custom-house, the whole had not come back to us--it +was not very important. I learned how to wear one glove instead of two, +or to go without. + +"We had the ordeal of the custom-house to pass again; but once passed, +and told that we were free to go on, it was like going into a clear +atmosphere from a fog. We crossed the custom-house threshold into +another room, and we found ourselves in Russia, and in an excellent, +well-furnished, and cheery restaurant. We lost the German smoke and the +German beer; we found hot coffee and clean table-cloths. + +"We did not return to our dusty, red-velvet palace, but we entered a +clean, comfortable compartment, with easy sofas, for the night. We +started again for St. Petersburg; we were now four days from London. I +will omit the details of a break-down that night, and another change of +cars. We had some sleep, and awoke in the morning to enjoy Russia. + +"And, first, of Russian railroads. When the railroads of Russia were +planned, the Emperor Nicholas allowed a large sum of money for the +building. The engineer showed him his plan. The road wound by slight +curves from one town to another. This did not suit the emperor at all. +He took his ruler, put it down upon the table, and said: 'I choose to +have my roads run so.' Of course the engineer assented--he had his large +fund granted; a straight road was much cheaper to build than a curved +one. As a consequence, he built and furnished an excellent road. + +"At every 'verst,' which is not quite a mile, a small house is placed at +the roadside, on which, in very large figures, the number of versts from +St. Petersburg is told. The train runs very smoothly and very slowly; +twenty miles an hour is about the rate. Of course the journey seemed +long. For a large part of the way it was an uninhabited, level plain; so +green, however, that it seemed like travelling on prairies. Occasionally +we passed a dreary little village of small huts, and as we neared St. +Petersburg we passed larger and better built towns, which the dome of +some cathedral lighted up for miles. + +"The road was enlivened, too, by another peculiarity. The restaurants +were all adorned by flags of all colors, and festooned by vines. At one +place the green arches ran across the road, and we passed under a bower +of evergreens. I accepted this, at first, as a Russian peculiarity, and +was surprised that so much attention was paid to travellers; but I +learned that it was not for us at all. The Duke of Edinboro' had passed +over the road a few days before, on his way to St. Petersburg, for his +betrothal to the only daughter of the czar, and the decorations were for +him; and so we felt that we were of the party, although we had not been +asked. + +"We approached St. Petersburg just at night, and caught the play of the +sunlight on the domes. It is a city of domes--blue domes, green domes, +white domes, and, above all, the golden dome of the Cathedral of St. +Isaac's. + +"It is almost never a single dome. St. Isaac's central, gilded dome +looms up above its fellow domes, but four smaller ones surround it. + +"It was summer; the temperature was delightful, about like our October. +The showers were frequent, there was no dust and no sultry air. + +"There must be a great deal of nice mechanical work required in St. +Petersburg, for on the Nevsky Perspective, the principal street, there +were a great many shops in which graduating and measuring instruments of +very nice workmanship were for sale. Especially I noticed the excellence +of the thermometers, and I naturally stopped to read them. Figures are a +common language, but it was clear that I was in another planet; I could +not read the thermometers! I judged that the weather was warm enough for +the thermometer to be at 68. I read, say, 16. And then I remembered that +the Russians do not put their freezing point at 32, as we do, and I was +obliged to go through a troublesome calculation before I could tell how +warm it was. + +"But I came to a still stranger experience. I dated my letters August 3, +and went to my banker's, before I sealed them, to see if there were +letters for me. The banker's little calendar was hanging by his desk, +and the day of the month was on exhibition, in large figures. I read, +July 22! This was distressing! Was I like Alice in Wonderland? Did time +go backward? Surely, I had dated August 3. Could I be in error twelve +days? And then I perceived that twelve days was just the difference of +old and new calendars. + +"How many times I had taught students that the Russians still counted +their time by the 'old style,' but had never learned it myself! And so I +was obliged to teach myself new lessons in science. The earth turns on +its axis just the same in Russia as in Boston, but you don't get out of +the sunlight at the Boston sunset hour. + +"When the thermometer stands at 32 in St. Petersburg, it does not freeze +as it does in Boston. On the contrary, it is very warm in St. +Petersburg, for it means what 104 does in Boston. And if you leave +London on the 22d of July, and are five days on the way to St. +Petersburg, a week after you get there it is still the 22d of July! And +we complain that the day is too short! + +"Another peculiarity. We strolled over the city all day; we came back to +our hotel tired; we took our tea; we talked over the day; we wrote to +our friends; we planned for the next day; we were ready to retire. We +walked to the window--the sun was striking on all the chimney tops. It +doesn't seem to be right even for the lark to go to sleep while the sun +shines. We looked at our watches; but the watches said nine o'clock, and +we went off to our beds in daytime; and we awoke after the first nap to +perceive that the sun still shone into the room. + +"Like all careful aunts, I was unwilling that my nephew should be out +alone at night. He was desirous of doing the right thing, but urged that +at home, as a little boy, he was always allowed to be out until dark, +and he asked if he could stay out until dark! Alas for the poor lad! +There was no dark at all! I could not consent for him to be out all +night, and the twilight was not over. You may read and read that the +summer day at St. Petersburg is twenty hours long, but until you see +that the sun scarcely sets, you cannot take it in. + +"I wondered whether the laboring man worked eight or ten hours under my +window; it seemed to me that he was sawing wood the whole twenty-four! + +"W. came in one night after a stroll, and described a beautiful square +which he had come upon accidentally. I listened with great interest, and +said, 'I must go there in the morning; what is the name of it?'--'I +don't know,' he replied.--'Why didn't you read the sign?' I asked.--'I +can't read,' was the reply.--'Oh, no; but why didn't you ask some +one?'--'I can't speak,' he answered. Neither reading nor speaking, we +had to learn St. Petersburg by our observation, and it is the best way. +Most travellers read too much. + +"There are learned institutions in St. Petersburg: universities, +libraries, picture-galleries, and museums; but the first institution +with which I became acquainted was the drosky. The drosky is a very, +very small phaeton. It has the driver's seat in front, and a very narrow +seat behind him. One person can have room enough on this second seat, +but it usually carries two. Invariably the drosky is lined with +dark-blue cloth, and the drosky-driver wears a dark-blue wrapper, coming +to the feet, girded around the waist by a crimson sash. He also wears a +bell-shaped hat, turned up at the side. You are a little in doubt, if +you see him at first separated from his drosky, whether he is a +market-woman or a serving-man, the dress being very much like a morning +wrapper. But he is rarely six feet away from his carriage, and usually +he is upon it, sound asleep! + +"The trunks having gone to St. Petersburg in advance of ourselves, our +first duty was to get possession of them. They were at the custom-house, +across the city. My nephew and I jumped upon a drosky--we could not say +that we were really _in_ the drosky, for the seat was too short. The +drosky-driver started off his horse over the cobble-stones at a terrible +rate. I could not keep my seat, and I clung to W. He shouted, 'Don't +hold by me; I shall be out the next minute!' What could be done? I was +sure I shouldn't stay on half a minute. Blessings on the red sash of the +drosky-man--I caught at that! He drove faster and faster, and I clung +tighter and tighter, but alarmed at two immense dangers: first, that I +should stop his breath by dragging the girdle so tightly; and, next, +that when it became unendurable to him, he would loosen it in front. + +"I could not perceive that he was aware of my existence at all! He had +only one object in life,--to carry us across the city to our place of +destination, and to get his copecks in return. + +"In a few days I learned to like the jolly vehicles very much. They are +so numerous that you may pick one up on any street, whenever you are +tired of walking. + +"My principal object in visiting St. Petersburg was the astronomical +observatory at Pulkova, some twelve miles distant. + +"I had letters to the director, Otto von Struve, but our consul declared +that I must also have one from him, for Struve was a very great man. I, +of course, accepted it. + +"We made the journey by rail and coach, but it would be better to drive +the whole way. + +"Most observatories are temples of silence, and quiet reigns. As we +drove into the grounds at Pulkova, a small crowd of children of all +ages, and servants of all degrees, came out to meet us. They did not +come out to do us honor, but to gaze at us. I could not understand it +until I learned that the director of the observatory has a large number +of aids, and they, with all their families, live in large houses, +connected with the central building by covered ways. + +"All about the grounds, too, were small observatories,--little +temples,--in which young men were practising for observations on the +transit of Venus. These little buildings, I afterwards learned, were to +be taken down and transported, instruments and all, to the coast of +Asia. + +"The director of the observatory is Otto Struve--his father, Wilhelm +Struve, preceded him in this office. Properly, the director is Herr Von +Struve; but the old Russian custom is still in use, and the servants +call him Wilhelm-vitch; that is, 'the son of William.' + +"When I bought a photograph of the present emperor, Alexander, I saw +that he was called Nicholas-vitch. + +"Herr Struve received us courteously, and an assistant was called to +show us the instruments. All observatories are much alike; therefore I +will not describe this, except in its peculiarities. One of these was +the presence of small, light, portable rooms, i.e., baseless boxes, +which rolled over the instruments to protect them; two sides were of +wood, and two sides of green silk curtains, which could, of course, be +turned aside when the boxes, or little rooms, were rolled over the +apparatus. Being covered in this way, the heavy shutters can be left +open for weeks at a time. + +"Everything was on a large scale--the rooms were immense. + +"The director has three assistants who are called 'elder astronomers,' +and two who are called 'adjunct astronomers.' Each of these has a +servant devoted to him. I asked one of the elder astronomers if he had +rooms in the observatory, and he answered, 'Yes, my rooms are 94 ft. by +50.' + +"They seem to be amused at the size of their lodgings, for Mr. Struve, +when he told me of his apartments, gave me at once the dimensions,--200 +ft. by 100 ft. + +"The room in which we dined with the family of Herr Struve was immense. +I spoke of it, and he said, 'We cannot open our windows in the +winter,--the winters are so severe,--and so we must have good air +without it.' Their drawing-room was also very large; the chairs +(innumerable, it seemed to me) stood stiffly around the walls of the +room. The floor was painted and highly varnished, and flower-pots were +at the numerous windows on little stands. It was scrupulously neat +everywhere. + +"There was very little ceremony at dinner; we had the delicious wild +strawberries of the country in great profusion; and the talk, the best +part of the dinner, was in German, Russian, and English. + +"Madame Struve spoke German, Russian, and French, and complained that +she could not speak English. She said that she had spent three weeks +with an English lady, and that she must be very stupid not to speak +English. + +"I noticed that in one of the rooms, which was not so very immense, +there was a circular table, a small centre-carpet, and chairs around the +table; I have been told that 'in society' in Russia, the ladies sit in a +circle, and the gentlemen walk around and talk consecutively with the +ladies,--kindly giving to each a share of their attention. + +"They assured me that the winters were charming, the sleighing constant, +and the social gatherings cheery; but think of four hours, only, of +daylight in the depth of the winter. Their dread was the spring and the +autumn, when the mud is deep. + +"Everything in the observatory which could be was built of wood. They +have the fir, which is very indestructible; it is supposed to show no +mark of change in two hundred years. + +"Wood is so susceptible of ornamentation that the pretty villages of +Russia--and there are some that look like New England villages--struck +us very pleasantly, after the stone and brick villages of England. + +"I try, when I am abroad, to see in what they are superior to us,--not +in what they are inferior. + +"Our great idea is, of course, freedom and self-government; probably in +that we are ahead of the rest of the world, although we are certainly +not so much in advance as we suppose; but we are sufficiently inflated +with our own greatness to let that subject take care of itself when we +travel. We travel to learn; and I have never been in any country where +they did not do something better than we do it, think some thoughts +better than we think, catch some inspiration from heights above our +own--as in the art of Italy, the learning of England, and the philosophy +of Germany. + +"Let us take the scientific position of Russia. When, half a century +ago, John Quincy Adams proposed the establishment of an astronomical +observatory, at a cost of $100,000, it was ridiculed by the newspapers, +considered Utopian, and dismissed from the public mind. When our +government, a few years since, voted an appropriation of $50,000 for a +telescope for the National Observatory, it was considered magnificent. +Yet, a quarter of a century since (1838), Russia founded an astronomical +observatory. The government spent $200,000 on instruments, $1,500,000 on +buildings, and annually appropriated $38,000 for salaries of observers. +I naturally thought that a million and a half dollars, and Oriental +ideas, combined, would make the observatory a showy place; I expected +that the observatory would be surmounted by a gilded dome, and that +'pearly gates' would open as I approached. There is not even a dome! + +"The central observation-room is a cylinder, and its doors swing back on +hinges. Wherever it is possible, wood is used, instead of stone or +brick. I could not detect, in the whole structure, anything like +carving, gilding, or painting, for mere show. It was all for science; +and its ornamentations were adapted to its uses, and came at their +demand. + +"In our country, the man of science leads an isolated life. If he has +capabilities of administration, our government does not yet believe in +them. + +"The director of the observatory at Pulkova has the military rank of +general, and he is privy councillor to the czar. Every subordinate has +also his military position--he is a soldier. + +"What would you think of it, if the director of any observatory were one +of the President's cabinet at Washington, in virtue of his position? +Struve's position is that of a member of the President's cabinet. + +"Here is another difference: Ours is a democratic country. We recognize +no caste; we are born 'free and equal.' We honor labor; work is +ennobling. These expressions we are all accustomed to use. Do we live up +to them? Many a rich man, many a man in fine social position, has +married a school-teacher; but I never heard it spoken of as a source of +pride in the alliance until I went to despotic Russia. Struve told me, +as he would have told of any other honor which had been his, that his +wife, as a girl, had taught school in St. Petersburg. And then Madame +Struve joined in the conversation, and told me how much the subject of +woman's education still held her interest. + +"St. Petersburg is about the size of Philadelphia. Struve said, 'There +are thousands of women studying science in St. Petersburg.' How many +thousand women do you suppose are studying science in the whole State of +New York? I doubt if there are five hundred. + +"Then again, as to language. It is rare, even among the common people, +to meet one who speaks one language only. If you can speak no Russian, +try your poor French, your poor German, or your good English. You may be +sure that the shopkeeper will answer in one or another, and even the +drosky-driver picks up a little of some one of them. + +"Of late, the Russian government has founded a medical school for women, +giving them advantages which are given to men, and the same rank when +they graduate; the czar himself contributed largely to the fund. + +"One wonders, in a country so rich as ours, that so few men and women +gratify their tastes by founding scholarships and aids for the tuition +of girls--it must be such a pleasant way of spending money. + +"Then as regards religion. I am never in a country where the Catholic or +Greek church is dominant, but I see with admiration the zeal of its +followers. I may pity their delusions, but I must admire their devotion. +If you look around in one of our churches upon the congregation, +five-sixths are women, and in some towns nineteen-twentieths; and if you +form a judgment from that fact, you would suppose that religion was +entirely a 'woman's right.' In a Catholic church or Greek church, the +men are not only as numerous as the women, but they are as intense in +their worship. Well-dressed men, with good heads, will prostrate +themselves before the image of the Holy Virgin as many times, and as +devoutly, as the beggar-woman. + +"I think I saw a Russian gentleman at St. Isaac's touch his forehead to +the floor, rise and stand erect, touch the floor again, and rise again, +ten times in as many minutes; and we were one day forbidden entrance to +a church because the czar was about to say his prayers; we found he was +making the pilgrimage of some seventy churches, and praying in each one. + +"Christians who believe in public prayer, and who claim that we should +be instant in prayer, would consider it a severe tax upon their energies +to pray seventy times a day--they don't care to do it! + +"Then there is the _democracy_ of the church. There are no pews to be +sold to the highest bidder--no 'reserved seats;' the oneness and +equality before God are always recognized. A Russian gentleman, as he +prays, does not look around, and move away from the poor beggar next to +him. At St. Peter's the crowd stands or kneels--at St. Isaac's they +stand; and they stand literally on the same plane. + +"I noticed in the crowd at St. Isaac's, one festival day, young girls +who were having a friendly chat; but their religion was ever in their +thoughts, and they crossed themselves certainly once a minute. Their +religion is not an affair of Sunday, but of every day in the week. + +"The drosky-driver, certainly the most stupid class of my acquaintance +in Russia, never forgets his prayers; if his passenger is never so much +in a hurry, and the bribe never so high, the drosky-driver will check +his horse, and make the sign of the cross as he passes the little image +of the Virgin,--so small, perhaps, that you have not noticed it until +you wonder why he slackens his pace. + +"Then as to government. We boast of our national freedom, and we talk +about universal suffrage, the 'Home of the Free,' etc. Yet the serfs in +Russia were freed in March, 1861, just before our Civil war began. They +freed their serfs without any war, and each serf received some acres of +land. They freed twenty-three millions, and we freed four or five +millions of blacks; and all of us, who are old enough, remember that one +of the fears in freeing the slaves was the number of lawless and +ignorant blacks who, it was supposed, would come to the North. + +"We talk about _universal_ suffrage; a larger part of the antiquated +Russians vote than of Americans. Just as I came away from St. Petersburg +I met a Moscow family, travelling. We occupied the same compartment car. +It was a family consisting of a lady and her three daughters. When they +found where I had been, they asked me, in excellent English, what had +carried me to St. Petersburg, and then, why I was interested in Pulkova; +and so I must tell them about American girls, and so, of course, of +Vassar College. + +"They plied me with questions: 'Do you have women in your faculty? Do +men and women hold the same rank?' I returned the questions: 'Is there a +girl's college in Moscow?' 'No,' said the youngest sister, with a sigh, +'we are always _going_ to have one.' The eldest sister asked: 'Do women +vote in America?' 'No,' I said. 'Do women vote in Russia?' She said +'No;' but her mother interrupted her, and there was a spicy conversation +between them, in Russian, and then the mother, who had rarely spoken, +turned to me, and said: 'I vote, but I do not go to the polls myself. I +send somebody to represent me; my vote rests upon my property.' + +"Have you not read a story, of late, in the newspapers, about some +excellent women in a little town in Connecticut whose pet heifers were +taken by force and sold because they refused to pay the large taxes +levied upon them by their townsmen, they being the largest holders of +property in the town? That circumstance could not have happened in +barbarous Russia; there, the owner of property has a right to say how it +shall be used. + +"'Why do you ask me about our government?' I said to the Russian girls. +'Are you interested in questions of government?' They replied, 'All +Russian women are interested in questions of that sort.' How many +American women are interested in questions concerning government? + +"These young girls knew exactly what questions to ask about Vassar +College,--the course of study, the diploma, the number of graduates, +etc. The eldest said: 'We are at once excited when we hear of women +studying; we have longed for opportunities to study all our lives. Our +father was the engineer of the first Russian railroad, and he spent two +years in America." + +"I confess to a feeling of mortification when one of these girls asked +me, 'Did you ever read the translation of a Russian book?' and I was +obliged to answer 'No.' This girl had read American books in the +original. They were talking Russian, French, German, and English, and +yet mourning over their need of education; and in general education, +especially in that of women, I think we must be in advance of them. + +"One of these sisters, forgetting my ignorance, said something to me in +Russian. The other laughed. 'What did she say?' I asked. The eldest +replied, 'She asked you to take her back with you, and educate her.' +'But,' I said, 'you read and speak your languages--the learning of the +world is open to you--found your own college!' And the young girl leaned +back on the cushions, drew her mantle around her, and said, 'We have not +the energy of the American girl!' + +"The energy of the American girl! The rich inheritance which has come +down to her from men and women who sought, in the New World, a better +and higher life. + +"When the American girl carries her energy into the great questions of +humanity, into the practical problems of life; when she takes home to +her heart the interests of education, of government, and of religion, +what may we not hope for our country! + +London, 1873. "It was the 26th of August, and I had no hope that Miss +Cobbe could be at her town residence, but I felt bound to deliver Mrs. +Howe's letter, and I wished to give her a Vassar pamphlet; so I took a +cab and drove; it was at an enormous distance from my lodging--she told +me it was six miles. I was as much surprised as delighted when the girl +said she was at home, for the house had painters in it, the carpets were +up, and everything looked uninhabitable. The girl came back, after +taking my card, and asked me if I would go into the studio, and so took +me through a pretty garden into a small building of two rooms, the outer +one filled with pictures and books. I had never heard that Miss Cobbe +was an artist, and so I looked around, and was afraid that I had got the +wrong Miss Cobbe. But as I glanced at the table I saw the 'Contemporary +Review,' and I took up the first article and read it--by Herbert +Spencer. I had become somewhat interested in a pretty severe criticism +of the modes of reasoning of mathematical men, and had perceived that he +said the problems of concrete sciences were harder than any of the +physical sciences (which I admitted was all true), when a very white dog +came bounding in upon me, and I dropped the book, knowing that the dog's +mistress must be coming,--and Miss Cobbe entered. She looked just as I +expected, but even larger; but then her head is magnificent because so +large. She was very cordial at once, and told me that Miss Davies had +told her I was in London. She said the studio was that of her friend. I +could not refrain from thanking her for her books, and telling her how +much we valued them in America, and how much good I believed they had +done. She colored a very little, and said, 'Nothing could be more +gratifying to me.' + +"I had heard that she was not a women's rights woman, and she said, 'Who +could have told you that? I am remarkably so. I write suffrage articles +continually--I sign petitions.' + +"I was delighted to find that she had been an intimate friend of Mrs. +Somerville; had corresponded with her for years, and had a letter from +her after she was ninety-two years of age, when she was reading +Quaternions for amusement. She said that Mrs. Somerville would probably +have called herself a Unitarian, but that really she was a Theist, and +that it came out more in her later life. She said she was correcting +proof of the Life by the daughters; that the Life was intensely +interesting; that Mrs. Somerville mourned all her life that she had not +had the advantages of education. + +"I asked her how I could get a photograph of Mrs. Somerville, and she +said they could not be bought. She told me, without any hint from me, +that she would give Vassar College a plaster cast of the bust of Mrs. +Somerville. [Footnote: This bust always stood in Miss Mitchell's parlor +at the observatory.] She said, as women grew older, if they lived +independent lives, they were pretty sure to be 'women's rights women.' +She said the clergy--the broadest, who were in harmony with her--were +very courteous, and that since she had grown old (she's about +forty-five) all men were more tolerant of her and forgot the difference +of sex. + +"I felt drawn to her when she was most serious. I told her I had +suffered much from doubt, and asked her if she had; and she said yes, +when she was young; but that she had had, in her life, rare intervals +when she believed she held communion with God, and on those rare periods +she had rested in the long intermissions. She laughed, and the tears +came to her eyes, all together; she was _quick_, and all-alive, and so +courteous. When she gave me a book she said, 'May I write your whole +name? and may I say "from your friend"?' + +"Then she hurried on her bonnet, and walked to the station with me; and +her round face, with the blond hair and the light-blue eyes, seemed to +me to become beautiful as she talked. + +"In Edinburgh I asked for a photograph of Mary Somerville, and the young +man behind the counter replied, 'I don't know who it is.' + +"In London I asked at a bookstore, which the Murrays recommended, for a +photograph of Mrs. Somerville and of Sir George Airy, and the man said +if they could be had in London he would get them; and then he asked, +'Are they English?' and I informed him that Sir George Airy was the +astronomer royal! + + * * * * * + +"'The Glasgow College for Girls.' Seeing a sign of this sort, I rang the +door-bell of the house to which it was attached, entered, and was told +the lady was at home. As I waited for her, I took up the 'Prospectus,' +and it was enough,--'music, dancing, drawing, needlework, and English' +were the prominent features, and the pupils were children. All well +enough,--but why call it a college? + +"When the lady superintendent came in, I told her that I had supposed it +was for more advanced students, and she said, 'Oh, it is for girls up to +twenty; one supposes a girl is finished by twenty.' + +"I asked, as modestly as I could, 'Have you any pupils in Latin and +mathematics?' and she said, 'No, it's for girls, you know. Dr. M. hopes +we shall have some mathematics next year.' 'And,' I asked, 'some Latin?' +'Yes, Dr. M. hopes we shall have some Latin; but I confess I believe +Latin and mathematics all bosh; give them modern languages and +accomplishments. I suppose your school is for professional women.' + +"I told her no; that the daughters of our wealthiest people demand +learning; that it would scarcely be considered 'good society' when the +women had neither Latin nor mathematics. + +"'Oh, well,' she said, 'they get married here so soon.' + +"When I asked her if they had lady teachers, she said 'Oh, no [as if +that would ruin the institution]; nothing but first-class masters.' + +"It was clear that the women taught the needlework." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +PAPERS--SCIENCE [1874]--THE DENVER ECLIPSE [1878]--COLORS OF STARS + +"The dissemination of information in regard to science and to scientific +investigations relieves the scientist from the small annoyances of +extreme ignorance. + +"No one to-day will expect to receive a letter such as reached Sir John +Herschel some years ago, asking for the writer's horoscope to be cast; +or such as he received at another time, which asked, Shall I marry? and +Have I seen _her_? + +"Nor can it be long, if the whole population is somewhat educated, that +I shall be likely to receive, as I have done, applications for +information as to the recovery of stolen goods, or to tell fortunes. + +"When crossing the Atlantic, an Irish woman came to me and asked me if I +told fortunes; and when I replied in the negative, she asked me if I +were not an astronomer. I admitted that I made efforts in that +direction. She then asked me what I could tell, if not fortunes. I told +her that I could tell when the moon would rise, when the sun would rise, +etc. She said, 'Oh,' in a tone which plainly said, 'Is _that_ all?' + +"Only a few winters since, during a very mild winter, a young lad who +was driving a team called out to me on the street, and said he had a +question to ask me. + +"I stopped; and he asked, 'Shall we lose our ice-crop this winter?' + +"It was January, and it was New England. It took very little learning +and no alchemy to foretell that the month of February and the +neighborhood of Boston would give ice enough; and I told him that the +ice-crop would be abundant; but I was honest enough to explain to him +that my outlook into the future was no better than his. + +"One of the unfavorable results of the attempt to popularize science is +this: the reader of popular scientific books is very likely to think +that he understands the science itself, when he merely understands what +some writer says about science. + +"Take, for example, the method of determining the distance of the moon +from the earth--one of the easiest problems in physical astronomy. The +method can be told in a few sentences; yet it took a hundred years to +determine it with any degree of accuracy--and a hundred years, not of +the average work of mankind in science, but a hundred years during which +able minds were bent to the problem. + +"Still, with all the school-masters, and all the teaching, and all the +books, the ignorance of the unscientific world is enormous; they are +ignorant both ways--they underrate the scientific people and they +overrate them. There is, on the one hand, the Irish woman who is +disappointed because you cannot tell fortunes, and, on the other hand, +the cultivated woman who supposes that you must know _all_ science. + +"I have a friend who wonders that I do not take my astronomical clock to +pieces. She supposes that because I am an astronomer, I must be able to +be a clock-maker, while I do not handle a tool if I can help it! She did +not expect to take her piano to pieces because she was musical! She was +as careful not to tinker it as I was not to tinker the clock, which only +an expert in clock-making was prepared to handle. + +"... Only a few weeks since I received a letter from a lady who wished +to come to make me a visit, and to 'scan the heavens,' as she termed it. +Now, just as she wrote, the clock, which I was careful not to meddle +with, had been rapidly gaining time, and I was standing before it, +watching it from hour to hour, and slightly changing its rate by +dropping small weights upon its pendulum. Time is so important an +element with the astronomer, that all else is subordinate to it. + +"Then, too, the uneducated assume the unvarying exactness of +mathematical results; while, in reality, mathematical results are often +only approximations. We say the sun is 91,000,000 miles from the earth, +plus or minus a probable error; that is, we are right, probably, within, +say, 100,000 miles; or, the sun is 91,000,000 minus 100,000 miles, or it +is 91,000,000 plus 100,000 miles off; and this probable error is only a +probability. + +"If we make one more observation it cannot agree with any one of our +determinations, and it changes our probable error. + +[Illustration: BUST OF MARIA MITCHELL. + +_From Original made by Miss Emma F. Brigham in 1877_] + +"This ignorance of the masses leads to a misconception in two ways; the +little that a scientist can do, they do not understand,--they suppose +him to be godlike in his capacity, and they do not see results; they +overrate him and they underrate him--they underrate his work. + +"There is no observatory in this land, nor in any land, probably, of +which the question is not asked, 'Are they doing anything? Why don't we +hear from them? They should make discoveries, they should publish.' + +"The one observation made at Greenwich on the planet Neptune was not +published until after a century or more--it was recorded as a star. The +observation had to wait a hundred years, about, before the time had come +when that evening's work should bear fruit; but it was good, faithful +work, and its time came. + +"Kepler was years in passing from one of his laws to another, while the +school-boy, to-day, rattles off the three as if they were born of one +breath. + +"The scientist should be free to pursue his investigations. He cannot be +a scientist and a school-master. If he pursues his science in all his +intervals from his class-work, his classes suffer on account of his +engrossments; if he devotes himself to his students, science suffers; +and yet we all go on, year after year, trying to work the two fields +together, and they need different culture and different implements. + +"1878. In the eclipse of this year, the dark shadow fell first on the +United States thirty-eight degrees west of Washington, and moved towards +the south-east, a circle of darkness one hundred and sixteen miles in +diameter; circle overlapping circle of darkness until it could be mapped +down like a belt. + +"The mapping of the dark shadow, with its limitations of one hundred and +sixteen miles, lay across the country from Montana, through Colorado, +northern and eastern Texas, and entered the Gulf of Mexico between +Galveston and New Orleans. This was the region of total eclipse. Looking +along this dark strip on the map, each astronomer selected his bit of +darkness on which to locate the light of science. + +"But for the distance from the large cities of the country, Colorado +seemed to be a most favorable part of the shadow; it was little subject +to storms, and reputed to be enjoyable in climate and abundant in +hospitality. + +"My party chose Denver, Col. I had a friend who lived in Denver, and she +was visiting me. I sought her at once, and with fear and trembling +asked, 'Have you a bit of land behind your house in Denver where I could +put up a small telescope?' 'Six hundred miles,' was the laconic reply! + +"I felt that the hospitality of the Rocky mountains was at my feet. +Space and time are so unconnected! For an observation which would last +two minutes forty seconds, I was offered six hundred miles, after a +journey of thousands. + +"A journey from Boston to Denver makes one hopeful for the future of our +country. We had hour after hour and day after day of railroad travel, +over level, unbroken land on which cattle fed unprotected, summer and +winter, and which seemed to implore the traveller to stay and to accept +its richness. It must be centuries before the now unpeopled land of +western Kansas and Colorado can be crowded. + +"We started from Boston a party of two; at Cincinnati a third joined us; +at Kansas City we came upon a fourth who was ready to fall into our +ranks, and at Denver two more awaited us; so we were a party of +six--'All good women and true.' + +"All along the road it had been evident that the country was roused to a +knowledge of the coming eclipse; we overheard remarks about it; small +telescopes travelled with us, and our landlord at Kansas City, when I +asked him to take care of a chronometer, said he had taken care of fifty +of them in the previous fortnight. Our party had three telescopes and +one chronometer. + +"We had travelled so comfortably all along the Santa Fe road, from +Kansas City to Pueblo, that we had forgotten the possibility of other +railroad annoyances than those of heat and dust until we reached Pueblo. +At Pueblo all seemed to change. We left the Santa Fe road and entered +upon that of the Rio Grande. + +"Which road was to blame, it is not for me to say, but there was trouble +at once about our 'round-trip ticket.' That settled, we supposed all was +right. + +"In sending out telescopes so far as from Boston to Denver, I had +carefully taken out the glasses, and packed them in my trunks. I carried +the chronometer in my hand. + +"It was only five hours' travel from Pueblo to Denver, and we went on to +that city. The trunks, for some unexplained reason, or for no reason at +all, chose to remain at Pueblo. + +"One telescope-tube reached Denver when we did; but a telescope-tube is +of no value without glasses. We learned that there was a war between the +two railroads which unite at Pueblo, and war, no matter where or when it +occurs, means ignorance and stupidity. + +"The unit of measure of value which the railroad man believes in is +entirely different from that in which the scientist rests his faith. + +"A war between two railroads seemed very small compared with two minutes +forty seconds of observation of a total eclipse. One was terrestrial, +the other cosmic. + +"It was Wednesday when we reached Denver. The eclipse was to occur the +following Monday. + +"We haunted the telegraph-rooms, and sent imploring messages. We placed +ourselves at the station, and watched the trains as they tossed out +their freight; we listened to every express-wagon which passed our door +without stopping, and just as we were trying to find if a telescope +could be hired or bought in Denver, the glasses arrived. + +"It was now Friday; we must put up tents and telescopes, and test the +glasses. + +"It rained hard on Friday--nothing could be done. It rained harder on +Saturday. It rained hardest of all on Sunday, and hail mingled with the +rain. But Monday morning was clear and bright. It was strange enough to +find that we might camp anywhere around Denver. Our hostess suggested to +us to place ourselves on 'McCullough's Addition.' In New York or Boston, +if I were about to camp on private grounds I should certainly ask +permission. In the far West you choose your spot of ground, you dig +post-holes and you pitch tents, and you set up telescopes and inhabit +the land; and then the owner of the land comes to you, and asks if he +may not put up a fence for you, to keep off intruders, and the nearest +residents come to you and offer aid of any kind. + +"Our camping-place was near the house occupied by sisters of charity, +and the black-robed, sweet-faced women came out to offer us the +refreshing cup of tea and the new-made bread. + +"All that we needed was 'space,' and of that there was plenty. + +"Our tents being up and the telescopes mounted, we had time to look +around at the view. The space had the unlimitedness that we usually +connect with sea and sky. Our tents were on the slope of a hill, at the +foot of which we were about six thousand feet above the sea. The plain +was three times as high as the hills of the Hudson-river region, and +there arose on the south, almost from west to east, the peaks upon peaks +of the Rocky mountains. One needs to live upon such a plateau for weeks, +to take in the grandeur of the panorama. + +"It is always difficult to teach the man of the people that natural +phenomena belong as much to him as to scientific people. Camping parties +who put up telescopes are always supposed to be corporations with +particular privileges, and curious lookers-on gather around, and try to +enter what they consider a charmed circle. We were remarkably free from +specialists of this kind. Camping on the south-west slope of the hill, +we were hidden on the north and east, and another party which chose the +brow of the hill was much more attractive to the crowd. Our good +serving-man was told to send away the few strollers who approached; even +our friends from the city were asked to remove beyond the reach of +voice. + +"There is always some one to be found in every gathering who will not +submit to law. At the time of the total eclipse in Iowa, in 1869, there +passed in and out among our telescopes and observers an unknown, closely +veiled woman. The remembrance of that occasion never comes to my mind +without the accompaniment of a fluttering green veil. + +"This time it was a man. How he came among us and why he remained, no +one can say. Each one supposed that the others knew, and that there was +good reason for his presence. If I was under the tent, wiping glasses, +he stood beside me; if the photographer wished to make a picture of the +party, this man came to the front; and when I asked the servant to send +off the half-vagrant boys and girls who stood gazing at us, this man +came up and said to me in a confidential tone, 'They do not understand +the sacredness of the occasion, and the fineness of the conditions.' +There was something regal in his audacity, but he was none the less a +tramp. + +"Persons who observe an eclipse of the sun always try to do the +impossible. They seem to consider it a solemn duty to see the first +contact of sun and moon. The moon, when seen in the daytime, looks like +a small faint cloud; as it approaches the sun it becomes wholly unseen; +and an observer tries to see when this unseen object touches the glowing +disc of the sun. + +"When we look at any other object than the sun, we stimulate our vision. +A good observer will remain in the dark for a short time before he makes +a delicate observation on a faint star, and will then throw a cap over +his head to keep out strong lights. + +"When we look at the sun, we at once try to deaden its light. We protect +our eyes by dark glasses--the less of sunlight we can get the better. We +calculate exactly at what point the moon will touch the sun, and we +watch that point only. The exact second by the chronometer when the +figure of the moon touches that of the sun, is always noted. It is not +only valuable for the determination of longitude, but it is a check on +our knowledge of the moon's motions. Therefore, we try for the +impossible. + +"One of our party, a young lady from California, was placed at the +chronometer. She was to count aloud the seconds, to which the three +others were to listen. Two others, one a young woman from Missouri, who +brought with her a fine telescope, and another from Ohio, besides +myself, stood at the three telescopes. A fourth, from Illinois, was +stationed to watch general effects, and one special artist, pencil in +hand, to sketch views. + +"Absolute silence was imposed upon the whole party a few minutes before +each phenomenon. + +"Of course we began full a minute too soon, and the constrained position +was irksome enough, for even time is relative, and the minute of +suspense is longer than the hour of satisfaction. [Footnote: As the +computed time for the first contact drew near, the breath of the counter +grew short, and the seconds were almost gasped and threatened to become +inaudible, when Miss Mitchell, without moving her eye from the tube of +the telescope, took up the counting, and continued until the young lady +recovered herself, which she did immediately.] + +"The moon, so white in the sky, becomes densely black when it is closely +ranging with the sun, and it shows itself as a black notch on the +burning disc when the eclipse begins. + +"Each observer made her record in silence, and then we turned and faced +one another, with record in hand--we differed more than a second; it was +a large difference. + +"Between first contact and totality there was more than an hour, and we +had little to do but look at the beautiful scenery and watch the slow +motion of a few clouds, on a height which was cloud-land to dwellers by +the sea. + +"Our photographer begged us to keep our positions while he made a +picture of us. The only value to the picture is the record that it +preserves of the parallelism of the three telescopes. You would say it +was stiff and unnatural, did you not know that it was the ordering of +Nature herself--they all point to the centre of the solar system. + +"As totality approached, all again took their positions. The corona, +which is the 'glory' seen around the sun, was visible at least thirteen +minutes before totality; each of the party took a look at this, and then +all was silent, only the count, on and on, of the young woman at the +chronometer. When totality came, even that ceased. + +"How still it was! + +"As the last rays of sunlight disappeared, the corona burst out all +around the sun, so intensely bright near the sun that the eye could +scarcely bear it; extending less dazzlingly bright around the sun for +the space of about half the sun's diameter, and in some directions +sending off streamers for millions of miles. + +"It was now quick work. Each observer at the telescopes gave a furtive +glance at the un-sunlike sun, moved the dark eye-piece from the +instrument, replaced it by a more powerful white glass, and prepared to +see all that could be seen in two minutes forty seconds. They must note +the shape of the corona, its color, its seeming substance, and they must +look all around the sun for the 'interior planet.' + +"There was certainly not the beauty of the eclipse of 1869. Then immense +radiations shot out in all directions, and threw themselves over half +the sky. In 1869, the rosy prominences were so many, so brilliant, so +fantastic, so weirdly changing, that the eye must follow them; now, +scarcely a protuberance of color, only a roseate light around the sun as +the totality ended. But if streamers and prominences were absent, the +corona itself was a great glory. Our special artist, who made the sketch +for my party, could not bear the light. + +"When the two minutes forty seconds were over, each observer left her +instrument, turned in silence from the sun, and wrote down brief notes. +Happily, some one broke through all rules of order, and shouted out, +'The shadow! the shadow!' And looking toward the southeast we saw the +black band of shadow moving from us, a hundred and sixty miles over the +plain, and toward the Indian Territory. It was not the flitting of the +closer shadow over the hill and dale: it was a picture which the sun +threw at our feet of the dignified march of the moon in its orbit. + +"And now we looked around. What a strange orange light there was in the +north-east! what a spectral hue to the whole landscape! Was it really +the same old earth, and not another planet? + +"Great is the self-denial of those who follow science. They who look +through telescopes at the time of a total eclipse are martyrs; they +severely deny themselves. The persons who can say that they have seen a +total eclipse of the sun are those who rely upon their eyes. My aids, +who touched no glasses, had a season of rare enjoyment. They saw +Mercury, with its gleam of white light, and Mars, with its ruddy glow; +they saw Regulus come out of the darkening blue on one side of the sun, +Venus shimmer and Procyon twinkle near the horizon, and Arcturus shine +down from the zenith. + +"_We_ saw the giant shadow as it _left_ us and passed over the lands of +the untutored Indian; _they_ saw it as it approached from the distant +west, as it fell upon the peaks of the mountain-tops, and, in the +impressive stillness, moved directly for our camping-ground. + +"The savage, to whom it is the frowning of the Great Spirit, is +awe-struck and alarmed; the scholar, to whom it is a token of the +inviolability of law, is serious and reverent. + +"There is a dialogue in some of the old school-readers, and perhaps in +some of the new, between a tutor and his two pupils who had been out for +a walk. One pupil complained that the way was long, the road was dusty, +and the scenery uninteresting; the other was full of delight at the +beauties he had found in the same walk. One had walked with his eyes +intellectually closed; the other had opened his eyes wide to all the +charms of nature. In some respects we are all, at different times, like +each of these boys: we shut our eyes to the enjoyments of nature, or we +open them. But we are capable of improving ourselves, even in the use of +our eyes--we see most when we are most determined to see. The _will_ has +a wonderful effect upon the perceptive faculties. When we first look up +at the myriads of stars seen in a moonless evening, all is confusion to +us; we admire their brilliancy, but we scarcely recognize their +grouping. We do not feel the need of knowing much about them. + +"A traveller, lost on a desert plain, feels that the recognition of one +star, the Pole star, is of itself a great acquisition; and all persons +who, like mariners and soldiers, are left much with the companionship of +the stars, only learn to know the prominent clusters, even if they do +not know the names given to them in books. + +"The daily wants of the body do not require that we should say + + "'Give me the ways of wandering stars to know + The depths of heaven above and earth below.' + +But we have a hunger of the mind which asks for knowledge of all around +us, and the more we gain, the more is our desire; the more we see, the +more are we capable of seeing. + +"Besides learning to see, there is another art to be learned,--_not to +see_ what is not. + +"If we read in to-day's paper that a brilliant comet was seen last night +in New York, we are very likely to see it to-night in Boston; for we +take every long, fleecy cloud for a splendid comet. + +"When the comet of 1680 was expected, a few years ago, to reappear, some +young men in Cambridge told Professor Bond that they had seen it; but +Professor Bond did not see it. Continually are amateurs in astronomy +sending notes of new discoveries to Bond, or some other astronomers, +which are no discoveries at all! + +"Astronomers have long supposed the existence of a planet inferior to +Mercury; and M. Leverrier has, by mathematical calculation, demonstrated +that such a planet exists. He founded his calculations upon the supposed +discovery of M. Lesbarcault, who declares that it crossed the sun's +disc, and that he saw it and made drawings. The internal evidence, from +the man's account, is that he was an honest enthusiast. I have no doubt +that he followed the path of a solar spot, and as the sun turned on its +axis he mistook the motion for that of the dark spot; or perhaps the +spot changed and became extinct, and another spot closely resembling it +broke out and he was deceived; his wishes all the time being 'father to +the thought.' + +"The eye is as teachable as the hand. Every one knows the most prominent +constellations,--the Pleiades, the Great Bear, and Orion. Many persons +can draw the figures made by the most brilliant stars in these +constellations, and very many young people look for the 'lost Pleiad.' +But common observers know these stars only as bright objects; they do +not perceive that one star differs from another in glory; much less do +they perceive that they shine with differently colored rays. + +"Those who know Sirius and Betel do not at once perceive that one shines +with a brilliant white light and the other burns with a glowing red, as +different in their brilliancy as the precious stones on a lapidary's +table, perhaps for the same reason. And so there is an endless variety +of tints of paler colors. + +"We may turn our gaze as we turn a kaleidoscope, and the changes are +infinitely more startling, the combinations infinitely more beautiful; +no flower garden presents such a variety and such delicacy of shades. + +"But beautiful as this variety is, it is difficult to measure it; it has +a phantom-like intangibility--we seem not to be able to bring it under +the laws of science. + +"We call the stars garnet and sapphire; but these are, at best, vague +terms. Our language has not terms enough to signify the different +delicate shades; our factories have not the stuff whose hues might make +a chromatic scale for them. + +"In this dilemma, we might make a scale of colors from the stars +themselves. We might put at the head of the scale of crimson stars the +one known as Hind's, which is four degrees west of Rigel; we might make +a scale of orange stars, beginning with Betel as orange red; then we +should have + + Betelgeuze, + Aldebaran, + ss Ursae Minoris, + Altair and _a_ Canis, + _a_ Lyrae, + +the list gradually growing paler and paler, until we come to a Lyrae, +which might be the leader of a host of pale yellow stars, gradually +fading off into white. + +"Most of the stars seen with the naked eye are varieties of red, orange, +and yellow. The reds, when seen with a glass, reach to violet or dark +purple. With a glass, there come out other colors: very decided greens, +very delicate blues, browns, grays, and white. If these colors are +almost intangible at best, they are rendered more so by the variations +of the atmosphere, of the eye, and of the glass. But after these are all +accounted for, there is still a real difference. Two stars of the class +known as double stars, that is, so little separated that considerable +optical power is necessary to divide them, show these different tints +very nicely in the same field of the telescope. + +"Then there comes in the chance that the colors are complementary; that +the eye, fatigued by a brilliant red in the principal star, gives to the +companion the color which would make up white light. This happens +sometimes; but beyond this the reare innumerable cases of finely +contrasted colors which are not complementary, but which show a real +difference of light in the stars; resulting, perhaps, from +distance,--for some colors travel farther than others, and all colors +differ in their order of march,--perhaps from chemical differences. + +"Single blue or green stars are never seen; they are always given as the +smaller companion of a pair. + +"Out of several hundred observed by Mr. Bishop, forty-five have small +companions of a bluish, or greenish, or purplish color. Almost all of +these are stars of the eighth to tenth magnitude; only once are both +seen blue, and only in one case is the large one blue. In almost every +case the large star is yellow. The color most prevailing is yellow; but +the varieties of yellow are very great. + +"We may assume, then, that the blue stars are faint ones, and probably +distant ones. But as not all faint stars or distant ones are blue, it +shows that there is a real difference. In the star called 35 Piscium, +the small star shows a peculiar snuffy-brown tinge. + +"Of two stars in the constellation Ursa Minoris, not double stars, one +is orange and the other is green, both very vivid in color. + +"From age to age the colors of some prominent stars have certainly +changed. This would seem more likely to be from change of place than of +physical constitution. + +"Nothing comes out more clearly in astronomical observations than the +immense activity of the universe. 'All change, no loss, 'tis revolution +all.' + +"Observations of this kind are peculiarly adapted to women. Indeed, all +astronomical observing seems to be so fitted. The training of a girl +fits her for delicate work. The touch of her fingers upon the delicate +screws of an astronomical instrument might become wonderfully accurate +in results; a woman's eyes are trained to nicety of color. The eye that +directs a needle in the delicate meshes of embroidery will equally well +bisect a star with the spider web of the micrometer. Routine +observations, too, dull as they are, are less dull than the endless +repetition of the same pattern in crochet-work. + +"Professor Chauvenet enumerates among 'accidental errors in observing,' +those arising from imperfections in the senses, as 'the imperfection of +the eye in measuring small spaces; of the ear, in estimating small +intervals of time; of the touch, in the delicate handling of an +instrument.' + +"A girl's eye is trained from early childhood to be keen. The first +stitches of the sewing-work of a little child are about as good as those +of the mature man. The taking of small stitches, involving minute and +equable measurements of space, is a part of every girl's training; she +becomes skilled, before she is aware of it, in one of the nicest +peculiarities of astronomical observation. + +"The ear of a child is less trained, except in the case of a musical +education; but the touch is a delicate sense given in exquisite degree +to a girl, and her training comes in to its aid. She threads a needle +almost as soon as she speaks; she touches threads as delicate as the +spider-web of a micrometer. + +"Then comes in the girl's habit of patient and quiet work, peculiarly +fitted to routine observations. The girl who can stitch from morning to +night would find two or three hours in the observatory a relief." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +RELIGIOUS BELIEFS--COMMENTS ON SERMONS--CONCORD SCHOOL--WHITTIER--COOKING +SCHOOLS--ANECDOTES + + +Partly in consequence of her Quaker training, and partly from her own +indifference towards creeds and sects, Miss Mitchell was entirely +ignorant of the peculiar phrases and customs used by rigid sectarians; +so that she was apt to open her eyes in astonishment at some of the +remarks and sectarian prejudices which she met after her settlement at +Vassar College. She was a good learner, however, and after a while knew +how to receive in silence that which she did not understand. + +"Miss Mitchell," asked one good missionary, "what is your favorite +position in prayer?" "Flat upon my back!" the answer came, swift as +lightning. + +In 1854 she wrote in her diary: + +"There is a God, and he is good, I say to myself. I try to increase my +trust in this, my only article of creed." + +Miss Mitchell never joined any church, but for years before she left +Nantucket she attended the Unitarian church, and her sympathies, as long +as she lived, were with that denomination, especially with the more +liberally inclined portion. There were always a few of the teachers and' +some of the students who sympathized with her in her views; but she +usually attended the college services on Sunday. + +President Taylor, of Vassar College, in his remarks at her funeral, +stated that all her life Professor Mitchell had been seeking the +truth,--that she was not willing to accept any statement without +studying into the matter herself,--"And," he added, "I think she has +found the truth she was seeking." + +Miss Mitchell never obtruded her views upon others, nor did she oppose +their views. She bore in silence what she could not believe, but always +insisted upon the right of private judgment. + +Miss W., a teacher at Vassar, was fretting at being obliged to attend +chapel exercises twice a day when she needed the time for rest and +recreation, and applied to Miss Mitchell for help in getting away from +it. After some talk Miss Mitchell said: "Oh, well, do as _I_ do--sit +back folding your arms, and think of something pleasant!" + +"Sunday, Dec. 18, 1866. We heard two sermons: the first in the +afternoon, by Rev. Mr. A., Baptist, the second in the evening, by Rev. +Mr. B., Congregationalist. + +"Rev. Mr. A. took a text from Deuteronomy, about 'Moses;' Rev. Mr. B. +took a text from Exodus, about 'Moses;' and I am told that the sermon on +the preceding Sunday was about Moses. + +"It seems to me strange that since we have the history of Christ in the +New Testament, people continue to preach about Moses. + +"Rev. Mr. A. was a man of about forty years of age. He chanted rather +than read a hymn. He chanted a sermon. His description of the journey of +Moses towards Canaan had some interesting points, but his manner was +affected; he cried, or pretended to cry, at the pathetic points. I hope +he really cried, for a weakness is better than an affectation of +weakness. He said, 'The unbeliever is already condemned.' It seems to me +that if anything would make me an infidel, it would be the threats +lavished against unbelief. + +"Mr. B. is a self-made man, the son of a blacksmith. He brought the +anvil, the hammer, and bellows into the pulpit, and he pounded and blew, +for he was in earnest. I felt the more respect for him because he was in +earnest. But when he snapped his fingers and said, 'I don't care that +for the religion of a man which does not begin with prayer,' I was +provoked at his forgetfulness of the character of his audience. + +"1867. I am more and more disgusted with the preaching that I hear!... +Why cannot a man act himself, be himself, and think for himself? It +seems to me that naturalness alone is power; that a borrowed word is +weaker than our own weakness, however small we may be. If I reach a +girl's heart or head, I know I must reach it through my own, and not +from bigger hearts and heads than mine. + +"March, 1873. There was something so genuine and so sincere in George +Macdonald that he took those of us who were _emotional_ completely--not +by storm so much as by gentle breezes.... What he said wasn't profound +except as it reached the depths of the heart.... He gave us such broad +theological lessons! In his sermon he said, 'Don't trouble yourself +about what you _believe_, but _do_ the will of God.' His consciousness +of the existence of God and of his immediate supervision was felt every +minute by those who listened.... + +"He stayed several days at the college, and the girls will never get +over the good effects of those three days--the cheerier views of life +and death. + +"... Rev. Dr. Peabody preached for us yesterday, and was lovely. +Everyone was charmed in spite of his old-fashioned ways. His voice is +very bad, but it was such a simple, common-sense discourse! Mr. Vassar +said if that was Unitarianism, it was just the right thing. + +"Aug. 29, 1875. Went to a Baptist church, and heard Rev. Mr. F. 'Christ +the way, the only way.' The sermon was wholly without logic, and yet he +said, near its close, that those who had followed him must be convinced +that this was true. He said a traveller whom he met on the cars admitted +that we all desired heaven, but believed that there were as many ways to +it as to Boston. Mr. F. said that God had prepared but one way, just as +the government in those countries of the Old World whose cities were +upon almost inaccessible pinnacles had prepared one way of approach. (It +occurred to me that if those governments possessed godlike powers, they +would have made a great many ways.) + +"Mr. F. was very severe upon those who expect to be saved by their own +deserts. He said, 'You tender a farthing, when you owe a million.' I +could not see what they owed at all! At this point he might well have +given some attention to 'good works;' and if he must mention 'debt,' he +might well remind them that they sat in an unpaid-for church! + +"It was plain that he relied upon his anecdotes for the hold upon his +audience, and the anecdotes were attached to the main discourse by a +very slender thread of connection. I felt really sad to know that not a +listener would lead a better life for that sermon--no man or woman went +out cheered, or comforted, or stimulated. + +"On the whole, it is strange that people who go to church are no worse +than they are! + +"Sept. 26, 1880. A clergyman said, in his sermon, 'I do not say with the +Frenchman, if there were no God it would be well to invent one, but I +say, if there were no future state of rewards and punishments, it would +be better to believe in one.' Did he mean to say, 'Better to believe a +lie'? + +"March 27, 1881. Dr. Lyman Abbott preached. I was surprised to find how +liberal Congregational preaching had become, for he said he hoped and +expected to see women at the bar and in the pulpit, although he believed +they would always be exceptional cases. He preached mainly on the +motherhood of God, and his whole sermon was a tribute to womanhood.... I +rejoice at the ideal womanhood of purity which he put before the girls. +I wish some one would preach purity to young men. + +"July 1, 1883. I went to hear Rev. Mr. ---- at the Universalist church. +He enumerated some of the dangers that threaten us: one was 'The +doctrines of scientists,' and he named Tyndale, Huxley, and Spencer. I +was most surprised at his fear of these men. Can the study of truth do +harm? Does not every true scientist seek only to know the truth? And in +our deep ignorance of what is truth, shall we dread the search for it? + +"I hold the simple student of nature in holy reverence; and while there +live sensualists, despots, and men who are wholly self-seeking, I cannot +bear to have these sincere workers held up in the least degree to +reproach. And let us have truth, even if the truth be the awful denial +of the good God. We must face the light and not bury our heads in the +earth. I am hopeful that scientific investigation, pushed on and on, +will reveal new ways in which God works, and bring to us deeper +revelations of the wholly unknown. + +"The physical and the spiritual seem to be, at present, separated by an +impassable gulf; but at any moment that gulf may be overleaped--possibly +a new revelation may come.... + +"April, 1878. I called on Professor Henry at the Smithsonian Institute. +He must be in his eightieth year; he has been ill and seems feeble, but +he is still the majestic old man, unbent in figure and undimmed in eye. + +"I always remember, when I see him, the remark of Dorothy Dix, 'He is +the truest man that ever lived.' + +"We were left alone for a little while, and he introduced the subject of +his nearness to death. He said, 'The National Academy has raised +$40,000, the interest of which is for myself and family as long as any +of us live [he has daughters only], and in view of my death it is a +great comfort to me.' I ventured to ask him if he feared death at all. +He said, 'Not in the least; I have thought of it a great deal, and have +come to feel it a friend. I _cherish_ the belief in immortality; I have +suffered much, at times, in regard to that matter.' Scientifically +considered, only, he thought the probability was on the side of +continued existence, as we must believe that spirit existed independent +of matter. + +"He went to a desk and pulled out from a drawer an old copy of +'Gregory's Astronomy,' and said, 'That book changed my whole life--I +read it when I was sixteen years old; I had read, previously, works of +the imagination only, and at sixteen, being ill in bed, that book was +near me; I read it, and determined to study science.' I asked him if a +life of science was a good life, and he said that he felt that it was +so. + +"... When I was travelling with Miss S., who was near-sighted and kept +her eyes constantly half-shut, it seemed to me that every other young +lady I met had wide, staring eyes. Now, after two years sitting by a +person who never reasons, it strikes me that every other person whom I +meet has been thinking hard, and his logic stands out a prominent +characteristic. + +"Aug. 27, 1879. Scientific Association met at Saratoga. ... Professor +Peirce, now over seventy years old, was much the same as ever. He went +on in the cars with us, and was reading Mallock's 'Is Life Worth +Living?' and I asked, 'Is it?' to which Professor Peirce replied, 'Yes, +I think it is.' Then I asked, 'If there is no future state, is life +worth living?' He replied, 'Indeed it is not; life is a cruel tragedy if +there is no immortality.' I asked him if he conceived of the future life +as one of embodiment, and he said 'Yes; I believe with St Paul that +there is a spiritual body....' + +"Professor Peirce's paper was on the 'Heat of the Sun;' he considers the +sun fed not by impact of meteors, but by the compression of meteors. I +did not think it very sound. He said some good things: 'Where the truth +demands, accept; what the truth denies, reject.' + +"Concord, Mass., 1879. To establish a school of philosophy had been the +dream of Alcott's life; and there he sat as I entered the vestry of a +church on one of the hottest days in August. He looked full as young as +he did twenty years ago, when he gave us a 'conversation' in Lynn. +Elizabeth Peabody came into the room, and walked up to the seat of the +rulers; her white hair streamed over her shoulders in wild carelessness, +and she was as careless as ever about her whole attire, but it was +beautiful to see the attention shown to her by Mr. Alcott and Mr. +Sanborn. + +"Emerson entered,--pale, thin, almost ethereal in countenance,--followed +by his daughter, who sat beside him and watched every word that he +uttered. On the whole, it was the same Emerson--he stumbled at a +quotation as he always did; but his thoughts were such as only Emerson +could have thought, and the sentences had the Emersonian pithiness. He +made his frequent sentences very emphatic. It was impossible to see any +thread of connection; but it always was so--the oracular sentences made +the charm. The subject was Memory.' He said, 'We remember the +selfishness or the wrong act that we have committed for years. It is as +it should be--Memory is the police-officer of the universe.' 'Architects +say that the arch never rests, and so the past never rests.' (Was it, +never sleeps?) 'When I talk with my friend who is a genealogist, I feel +that I am talking with a ghost.' + +"The little vestry, fitted perhaps for a hundred people, was packed with +two hundred,--all people of an intellectual cast of face,--and the +attention was intense. The thermometer was ninety in the shade! + +"I did not speak to Mr. Emerson; I felt that I must not give him a bit +of extra fatigue. + +"July 12, 1880. The school of philosophy has built a shanty for its +meetings, but it is a shanty to be proud of, for it is exactly adapted +to its needs. It is a long but not low building, entirely without +finish, but water-tight. A porch for entrance, and a recess similar at +the opposite end, which makes the place for the speakers. There was a +small table upon the platform on which were pond lilies, some shelves +around, and a few busts--one of Socrates, I think. + +"I went in the evening to hear Dr. Harris on 'Philosophy.' The rain +began to come down soon after I entered, and my philosophy was not +sufficient to keep me from the knowledge that I had neither overshoes +nor umbrella; I remembered, too, that it was but a narrow foot-path +through the wet grass to the omnibus. But I listened to Dr. Harris, and +enjoyed it. He lauded Fichte as the most accurate philosopher following +Kant--he said not of the greatest _breadth_, but the most acute. + +"After Dr. Harris' address, Mr. Alcott made a few remarks that were +excellent, and said that when we had studied philosophy for fifteen +years, as the lecturer had done, we might know something; but as it was, +he had pulled us to pieces and then put us together again. + +"The audience numbered sixty persons. + +"May, 1880. I have just finished Miss Peabody's account of Channing. I +have been more interested in Miss Peabody than in Channing, and have +felt how valuable she must have been to him. How many of Channing's +sermons were instigated by her questions! ... Miss Peabody must have +been very remarkable as a young woman to ask the questions which she +asked at twenty. + +"April, 1881. The waste of flowers on Easter Sunday distressed me. +Something is due to the flowers themselves. They are massed together +like a bushel of corn, and look like red and white sugar-plums as seen +in a confectioner's window. + +"A pillow of flowers is a monstrosity. A calla lily in a vase is a +beautiful creation; so is a single rose. But when the rose is crushed by +a pink on each side of it, and daisies crush the pinks, and azaleas +surround the daisies, there is no beauty and no fitness. + +"The cathedral had no flowers. + +"Aug. 22, 1882. We visited Whittier; we found him at lunch, but he soon +came into the parlor. He was very chatty, and seemed glad to see us. +Mrs. L. was with me, and Whittier was very ready to write in the album +which she brought with her, belonging to her adopted son. We drifted +upon theological subjects, and I asked Mr. Whittier if he thought that +we fell from a state of innocence; he replied that he thought we were +better than Adam and Eve, and if they fell, they 'fell up.' + +"His faith seems to be unbounded in the goodness of God, and his belief +in moral accountability. He said, 'I am a good deal of a Quaker in my +conviction that a light comes to me to dictate to me what is right.' We +stayed about an hour, and we were afraid it would be too much for him; +but Miss Johnson, his cousin, who lives with him, assured us that it was +good for him; and he himself said that he was sorry to have us go. + +"One thing that he said, I noted: that his fancy was for farm-work, but +he was not strong enough; he had as a young man some literary ambition, +but never thought of attaining the reputation which had come to him. + +"July 31, 1883. I have had two or three rich days! On Friday last I went +to Holderness, N.H., to the Asquam House; I had been asked by Mrs. T. to +join her party. There were at this house Mr. Whittier, Mr. and Mrs. +Cartland, Professor and Mrs. Johnson, of Yale, Mr. Williams, the Chinese +scholar, his brother, an Episcopal clergyman, and several others. The +house seemed full of fine, cultivated people. We stayed two days and a +half. + +"And first of the scenery. The road up to the house is a steep hill, and +at the foot of the hill it winds and turns around two lakes. The +panorama is complete one hundred and eighty degrees. Beyond the lakes +lie the mountains. We do not see Mt. Washington. The house has a piazza +nearly all around it. We had a room on the first floor--large, and with +two windows opening to the floor. + +"The programme of the day's work was delightfully monotonous. For an +hour or so after breakfast we sat in the ladies' parlor, we sewed, and +we told anecdotes. Whittier talked beautifully, almost always on the +future state and his confidence in it. Occasionally he touched upon +persons. He seems to have loved Lydia Maria Child greatly. + +"When the cool of the morning was over, we went out upon the piazza, and +later on we went under the trees, where, it is said, Whittier spends +most of the time. + +"There was little of the old-time theology in his views; his faith has +been always very firm. Mr. Cartland asked me one day if I really felt +there was any doubt of the immortality of the soul. I told him that on +the whole I believed it more than I doubted it, but I could not say that +I felt no doubt. Whittier asked me if there were no immortality if I +should be distressed by it, and I told him that I should be exceedingly +distressed; that it was the only thing that I craved. He said that +'annihilation was better for the wicked than everlasting punishment,' +and to that I assented. He said that he thought there might be persons +so depraved as not to be worth saving. I asked him if God made such. +Nobody seemed ready to reply. Besides myself there was another of the +party to whom a dying friend had promised to return, if possible, but +had not come. + +"Whittier believed that they did sometimes come. He said that of all +whom he had lost, no one would be so welcome to him as Lydia Maria +Child. + +"We held a little service in the parlor of the hotel, and Mrs. C. read +the fourteenth chapter of John. Rev. Mr. W. read a sermon from 'The pure +in heart shall see God," written by Parkhurst, of New York. He thought +the child should be told that in heaven he should have his hobby-horse. +After the service, when we talked it over, I objected to telling the +child this. Whittier did not object; he said that Luther told his little +boy that he should have a little dog with a golden tail in heaven. + +"Aug. 26, 1886. I have been to see an exhibition of a cooking school. I +found sixteen girls in the basement of a school-house. They had long +tables, across which stretched a line of gas-stoves and jets of gas. +Some of the girls were using saucepans; they set them upon the stove, +and then sat down where they could see a clock while the boiling process +went on. + +"At one table a girl was cutting out doughnuts; at another a girl was +making a pudding--a layer of bits of bread followed by a layer of fruit. +Each girl had her rolling-pin, and moulding-board or saucepan. + +"The chief peculiarity of these processes was the cleanliness. The +rolling-pins were clean, the knives were clean, the aprons were clean, +the hands were clean. Not a drop was spilled, not a crumb was dropped. + +"If into the kitchen of the crowded mother there could come the +utensils, the commodities, the clean towels, the ample _time_, there +would come, without the lessons, a touch of the millennium. + +"I am always afraid of manual-labor schools. I am not afraid that these +girls could not read, for every American girl reads, and to read is much +more important than to cook; but I _am_ afraid that not all can +_write_--some of them were not more than twelve years old. + +"And what of the boys? Must a common cook always be a girl? and must a +boy not cook unless on the top of the ladder, with the pay of the +president of Harvard College? + +"I am jealous for the schools; I have heard a gentleman who stands high +in science declare that the cooking schools would eventually kill out +every literary college in the land--for women. But why not for men? If +the food for the body is more important than the food for the mind, let +us destroy the latter and accept the former, but let us not continue to +do what has been tried for fifteen hundred years,--to keep one half of +the world to the starvation of the mind, in order to feed better the +physical condition of the other half. + +"Let us have cooks; but let us leave it a matter of choice, as we leave +the dressmaking and the shoe-making, the millinery and the +carpentry,--free to be chosen! + +"There are cultivated and educated women who enjoy cooking; so there are +cultivated men who enjoy Kensington embroidery. Who objects? But take +care that some rousing of the intellect comes first,--that it may be an +enlightened choice,--and do not so fill the day with bread and butter +and stitches that no time is left for the appreciation of Whittier, +letting at least the simple songs of daily life and the influence of +rhythm beautify the dreary round of the three meals a day." + +Miss Mitchell had a stock of conundrums on hand, and was a good guesser. +She told her stories at all times when they happened to come into her +mind. She would arrive at her sister's house, just from Poughkeepsie on +a vacation, and after the threshold was crossed and she had said "Good +morning," in a clear voice to be heard by all within her sight, she +would, perhaps, say, "Well, I have a capital story which I must tell +before I take my bonnet off, or I shall forget it!" And there went with +her telling an action, voice, and manner which added greater point to +the story, but which cannot be described. One of her associates at +Vassar, in recalling some of her anecdotes, writes: "Professor Mitchell +was quite likely to stand and deliver herself of a bright little speech +before taking her seat at breakfast. It was as though the short walk +from the observatory had been an inspiration to thought." + +She was quick at repartee. On one occasion Charlotte Cushman and her +friend Miss Stebbins were visiting Miss Mitchell at Vassar. Miss +Mitchell took them out for a drive, and pointed out the different +objects of interest as they drove along the banks of the Hudson. "What +is that fine building on the hill?" asked Miss Cushman.--"That," said +Miss Mitchell, "was a boys' school, originally, but it is now used as a +hotel, where they charge five dollars a day!"--"Five dollars a day?" +exclaimed Miss Cushman; "Jupiter Ammon!"--"No," said Miss Stebbins, +"Jupiter Mammon!"--"Not at all," said Miss Mitchell, "Jupiter _gammon!_" + +"Farewell, Maria," said an old Friend, "I hope the Lord will be with +thee." + +"Good-by," she replied, "I _know_ he will be with you." + +A characteristic trait in Miss Mitchell was her aversion to receiving +unsolicited advice in regard to her private affairs. "A suggestion is an +impertinence," she would often say. The following anecdote shows how she +received such counsel: + +A literary man of more than national reputation said to one of her +admirers, "I, for one, cannot endure your Maria Mitchell." At her +solicitation he explained why; and his reason was, as she had +anticipated, founded on personal pique. It seems he had gone up from New +York to Poughkeepsie especially to call upon Professor Mitchell. During +the course of conversation, with that patronizing condescension which +some self-important men extend to all women indiscriminately, he +proceeded to inform her that her manner of living was not in accordance +with his ideas of expediency. "Now," he said, "instead of going for each +one of your meals all the way from your living-rooms in the observatory +over to the dining-hall in the college building, I should think it would +be far more convenient and sensible for you to get your breakfast, at +least, right in your own apartments. In the morning you could make a cup +of coffee and boil an egg with almost no trouble." At which Professor +Mitchell drew herself up with the air of a tragic queen, saying, "And is +my time worth no more than to boil eggs?" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +MISS MITCHELL'S LETTERS--WOMAN SUFFRAGE--MEMBERSHIP IN VARIOUS +SOCIETIES--PUBLISHED ARTICLES--DEATH--CONCLUSION + + +Miss Mitchell was a voluminous letter writer and an excellent +correspondent, but her letters are not essays, and not at all in the +approved style of the "Complete Letter Writer." If she had any +particular thing to communicate, she rushed into the subject in the +first line. In writing to her own family and intimate friends, she +rarely signed her full name; sometimes she left it out altogether, but +ordinarily "M.M." was appended abruptly when she had expressed all that +she had to say. She wrote as she talked, with directness and promptness. +No one, in watching her while she was writing a letter, ever saw her +pause to think what she should say next or how she should express the +thought. When she came to that point, the "M.M." was instantly added. +She had no secretiveness, and in looking over her letters it has been +almost impossible to find one which did not contain too much that was +personal, either about herself or others, to make it proper; especially +as she herself would be very unwilling to make the affairs of others +public. + +"Oct. 22, 1860. I have spent $100 on dress this year. I have a very +pretty new felt bonnet of the fashionable shape, trimmed with velvet; it +cost only $7, which, of course, was pitifully cheap for Broadway. If +thou thinks after $100 it wouldn't be extravagant for me to have a +waterproof cloak and a linsey-woolsey morning dress, please to send me +patterns of the latter material and a description of waterproofs of +various prices. They are so ugly, and I am so ditto, that I feel if a +few dollars, more or less, would make me look better, even in a storm, I +must not mind it." + +"My orthodoxy is settled beyond dispute, I trust, by the following +circumstance: The editor of a New York magazine has written to me to +furnish an article for the Christmas number on 'The Star in the East.' I +have ventured, in my note of declination, to mention that if I +investigated that subject I might decide that there was no star in the +case, and then what would become of me, and _where should I go_? Since +that he has not written, so I may have hung myself! + +"1879. April 25. I have 'done' New York very much as we did it thirty +years ago. On Saturday I went to Miss Booth's reception, and it was like +Miss Lynch's, only larger than Miss Lynch's was when I was there.... +Miss Booth and a friend live on Fifty-ninth street, and have lived +together for years. Miss Booth is a nice-looking woman. She says she has +often been told that she looked like me; she has gray hair and black +eyes, but is fair and well-cut in feature. I had a very nice time. + +"On Sunday I went to hear Frothingham, and he was at his very best. The +subject was 'Aspirations of Man,' and the sermon was rich in thought and +in word. + +... Frothingham's discourse was more cheery than usual; he talked about +the wonderful idea of personal immortality, and he said if it be a dream +of the imagination let us worship the imagination. He spoke of Mrs. +Child's book on 'Aspirations,' and I shall order it at once. The only +satire was such a sentence as this: on speaking of a piece of Egyptian +sculpture he said, 'The gates of heaven opened to the good, not to the +orthodox.' + +"To-day, Monday, I have been to a public school (a primary) and to +Stewart's mansion. I asked the majordomo to take us through the rooms on +the lower floor, which he did. I know of no palace which comes up to it. +The palaces always have a look as if at some point they needed +refurbishing up. I suppose that Mrs. Stewart uses that dining-room, but +it did not look as if it was made to eat in. I still like Gerome's +'Chariot Race' better than anything else of his. The 'Horse Fair' was +too high up for me to enjoy it, and a little too mixed up. + +"1873. St. Petersburg is another planet, and, strange to say, is an +agreeable planet. Some of these Europeans are far ahead of us in many +things. I think we are in advance only in one universal democracy of +freedom. But then, that is everything. + +"Nov. 17, 1875. I think you are right to decide to make your home +pleasant at any sacrifice which involves _only_ silence. And you are so +all over a radical, that it won't hurt you to be toned down a little, +and in a few years, as the world moves, your family will have moved one +way and you the other a little, and you will suddenly find yourself on +the same plane. It is much the way that has been between Miss ---- and +myself. To-day she is more of a women's rights woman than I was when I +first knew her, while I begin to think that the girls would better dress +at tea-time, though I think on that subject we thought alike at first, +so I'll take another example. + +"I have learned to think that a _young_ girl would better not walk to +town alone, even in the daytime. When I came to Vassar I should have +allowed a child to do it. But I never knew _much_ of the world--never +shall--nor will you. And as we were both born a little deficient in +worldly caution and worldly policy, let us receive from others those, +lessons,--_do as well as we can_, and keep our _heart_ unworldly if our +manners take on something of those ways. + +"Oct. 25, 1875.... I have scarcely got over the _tire_ of the congress +[Footnote: The annual meeting of the Association for the Advancement of +Women, of which Miss Mitchell was president. It was held at Syracuse, +N.Y., in 1875.] yet, although it is a week since I returned. I feel as +if a great burden was lifted from my soul. You will see my 'speech' in +the 'Woman's Journal,' but in the last sentence it should be 'eastward' +and not '_earth_ward.' It was a grand affair, and babies came in arms. +School-boys stood close to the platform, and school-girls came, books in +hand. The hall was a beautiful opera-house, and could hold at least one +thousand seven hundred. It was packed and jammed, and rough men stood in +the aisles. When I had to speak to announce a paper I stood _very still_ +until they became quiet. Once, as I stood in that way, a man at the +extreme rear, before I had spoken a word, shouted out, 'Louder!' We all +burst into a laugh. Then, of course, I had to make them quiet again. I +lifted the little mallet, but I did not strike it, and they all became +still. I was surprised at the good breeding of such a crowd. In the +evening about half was made up of men. I could not have believed that +such a crowd would keep still when I asked them to. + +"They say I did well. Think of my developing as a president of a social +science society in my old age!" + +Miss Mitchell took no prominent part in the woman suffrage movement, but +she believed in it firmly, and its leaders were some of her most highly +valued friends. + +"Sept. 7, 1875. Went to a picnic for woman suffrage at a beautiful grove +at Medfield, Mass. It was a gathering of about seventy-five persons +(mostly from Needham), whose president seemed to be vigorous and +good-spirited. + +"The main purpose of the meeting was to try to affect public sentiment +to such an extent as to lead to the defeat of a man who, when the +subject of woman suffrage was before the Legislature, said that the +women had all they wanted now--that they could get anything with 'their +eyes as bright as the buttons on an angel's coat.' Lucy Stone, Mr. +Blackwell, Rev. Mr. Bush, Miss Eastman, and William Lloyd Garrison +spoke. + +"Garrison did not look a day older than when I first saw him, forty +years ago; he spoke well--they said with less fire than he used in his +younger days. Garrison said what every one says--that the struggle for +women was the old anti-slavery struggle over again; that as he looked +around at the audience beneath the trees, it seemed to be the same scene +that he had known before. + +"... We had a very good bit of missionary work done at our table (at +Vassar) to-day. A man whom we all despise began to talk against voting +by women. I felt almost inclined to pay him something for his remarks. + +"A group from the Washington Women Suffrage Association stopped here +to-day.... I liked Susan B. Anthony very much. She seemed much worn, but +was all alive. She is eighteen months younger than I, but seems much +more alert. I suppose brickbats are livelier than logarithms!" + +Miss Mitchell was a member of several learned societies. + +She was the first woman elected to membership of the American Academy of +Arts and Sciences, whose headquarters are at Boston. + +In 1869 she was chosen a member of the American Philosophical Society, a +society founded by Benjamin Franklin, in Philadelphia. + +The American Association for the Advancement of Science made her a +member in the early part of its existence. Miss Mitchell was one of the +earliest members of the American Association for the Advancement of +Women. At one period she was president of the association, and for many +years served as chairman of the committee on science. In this latter +capacity she reached, through circulars and letters, women studying +science in all parts of the country; and the reports, as shown from year +to year, show a wonderful increase in the number of such women. She was +a member, also, of the New England Women's Club, of Boston, and after +her annual visit at Christmas she entertained her students at Vassar +with descriptions of the receptions and meeting of that body. She was +also a member of the New York Sorosis. She received the degree of Ph.D. +from Rutgers Female College in 1870, her first degree of LL.D. from +Hanover College in 1832, and her last LL.D. from Columbia College in +1887. + +Miss Mitchell had no ambition to appear in print, and most of her +published articles were in response to applications from publishers. + +A paper entitled "Mary Somerville" appeared in the "Atlantic Monthly" +for May, 1860. There were several articles in "Silliman's +Journal,"--mostly results of observations on Jupiter and Saturn,--a few +popular science papers in "Hours at Home," and one on the "Herschels," +printed in "The Century" just after her death. + +Miss Mitchell also read a few lectures to small societies, and to one or +two girls' schools; but she never allowed such outside work to interfere +with her duties at Vassar College, to which she devoted herself heart +and soul. + +When the failure of her health became apparent to the members of her +family, it was with the utmost difficulty that Miss Mitchell could be +prevailed upon to resign her position. She had fondly hoped to remain at +Vassar until she should be seventy years old, of which she lacked about +six months. It was hoped that complete rest might lead to several years +more of happy life for her; but it was not to be so--she died in Lynn, +June 28, 1889. + +It was one of Miss Mitchell's boasts that she had earned a salary for +over fifty years, without any intermission. She also boasted that in +July, 1883, when she slipped and fell, spraining herself so that she was +obliged to remain in the house a day or two, it was the first time in +her memory when she had remained in the house a day. In fact, she made a +point of walking out every day, no matter what the weather might be. A +serious fall, during her illness in Lynn, stopped forever her daily +walks. + +She had resigned her position in January, 1888. The resignation was laid +on the table until the following June, at which time the trustees made +her Professor Emeritus, and offered her a home for life at the +observatory. This offer she did not accept, preferring to live with her +family in Lynn. The following extracts from letters which she received +at this time show with what reverence and love she was regarded by +faculty and students. + +"Jan. 9, 1888.... You may be sure that we shall be glad to do all we can +to honor one whose faithful service and honesty of heart and life have +been among the chief inspirations of Vassar College throughout its +history. Of public reputation you have doubtless had enough, but I am +sure you cannot have too much of the affection and esteem which we feel +toward you, who have had the privilege of working, with you." + +"Jan. 10, 1888. You will consent, you _must_ consent, to having your +home here, and letting the work go. It is not astronomy that is wanted +and needed, it is Maria Mitchell.... The richest part of my life here is +connected with you.... I cannot picture Vassar without you. There's +nothing to point to!" + +"May 5, 1889. In all the great wonder of life, you have given me more of +what I have wanted than any other creature ever gave me. I hoped I +should amount to something for your sake." + +Dr. Eliza M. Mosher, at one time resident physician at the college, said +of her: "She was quick to withdraw objections when she was convinced of +error in her judgment. I well remember her opposition to the ground I +took in my 'maiden speech' in faculty meeting, and how, at supper, she +stood, before sitting down, to say, 'You were right this afternoon. I +have thought the matter over, and, while I do not like to believe it, I +think it is true.'" + +Of her rooms at the observatory, Miss Grace Anna Lewis, who had been a +guest, wrote thus: "Her furniture was plain and simple, and there was a +frank simplicity corresponding therewith which made me believe she chose +to have it so. It looked natural for her. I think I should have been +disappointed had I found her rooms fitted up with undue elegance." + +"Professor Mitchell's position at Vassar gave astronomy a prominence +there that it has never had in any other college for women, and in but +few for men. I suppose it would have made no difference what she had +taught. Doubtless she never suspected how many students endured the +mathematical work of junior Astronomy in order to be within range of her +magnetic personality." (From "Wide Awake," September, 1889.) + +A graduate writes: "Her personality was so strong that it was felt all +over the college, even by those who were not in her department, and who +only admired her from a distance." + +Extract from a letter written after her death by a former pupil: "I +count Maria Mitchell's services to Vassar and her pupils infinitely +valuable, and her character and attainments great beyond anything that +has yet been told.... I was one of the pupils upon whom her freedom from +all the shams and self-deceptions made an impression that elevated my +whole standard, mental and moral.... The influence of her own personal +character sustains its supreme test in the evidence constantly +accumulating, that it strengthens rather than weakens with the lapse of +time. Her influence upon her pupils who were her daily companions has +been permanent, character-moulding, and unceasingly progressive." + +President Taylor, in his address at her funeral, said: "If I were to +select for comment the one most striking trait of her character, I +should name her _genuineness_. There was no false note in Maria +Mitchell's thinking or utterance.... + +"One who has known her kindness to little children, who has watched her +little evidences of thoughtful care for her associates and friends, who +has seen her put aside her own long-cherished rights that she might make +the way of a new and untried officer easier, cannot forget the tenderer +side of her character.... + +"But if would be vain for me to try to tell just what it was in Miss +Mitchell that attracted us who loved her. It was this combination of +great strength and independence, of deep affection and tenderness, +breathed through and through with the sentiment of a perfectly genuine +life, which has made for us one of the pilgrim-shrines of life the study +in the observatory of Vassar College where we have known her _at home_, +surrounded by the evidences of her honorable professional career. She +has been an impressive figure in our time, and one whose influence +lives." + + + + +INTRODUCTORY NOTE + + +On the 17th of December, 1831, a gold medal of the value of twenty +ducats was founded, at the suggestion of Professor Schumacher, of +Altona, by his Majesty Frederic VI., at that time king of Denmark, to be +awarded to any person who should first discover a telescopic comet. This +foundation and the conditions on which the medal would be awarded were +announced to the public in the "Astronomische Nachrichten" for the 20th +of March, 1832. The regulations underwent a revision after a few years, +and in April, 1840 ("Astronomische Nachrichten," No. 400), were +republished as follows: + +"1. The medal will be given to the first discoverer of any comet, which, +at the time of its discovery, is invisible to the naked eye, and whose +periodic time is unknown. + +"2. The discoverer, if a resident of any part of Europe except Great +Britain, is to make known his discovery to Mr. Schumacher at Altona. If +a resident in Great Britain, or any other quarter of the globe except +the continent of Europe, he is to make his discovery known directly to +Mr. Francis Baily, London. [Since Mr. Baily's decease, G.B. Airy, Esq., +Astronomer Royal, has been substituted in this and in the 7th and 8th +articles of the regulations.] + +"3. This communication must be made by the _first post_ after the +discovery. If there is no regular mail at the place of discovery, the +first opportunity of any other kind must be made use of, without waiting +for other observations. Exact compliance with this condition is +indispensable. If this condition is not complied with, and only one +person discovers the comet, no medal will be given for the discovery. +Otherwise, the medal will be assigned to the discoverer who earliest +complies with the condition. + +"4. The communication must not only state as exactly as possible the +time of the discovery, in order to settle the question between rival +claims, but also as near as may be the place of the comet, and the +direction in which it is moving, as far as these points can be +determined from the observations of one night. + +"5. If the observations of one night are not sufficient to settle these +points, the enunciation of the discovery must still be made, in +compliance with the third article. As soon as a second observation is +made, it must be communicated in like manner with the first, and with it +the longitude of the place where the discovery is made, unless it take +place at some known observatory. The expectation of obtaining a second +observation will never be received as a satisfactory reason for +postponing the communication of the first. + +"6. The medal will be assigned twelve months after the discovery of the +comet, and no claim will be admitted after that period. + +"7. Messrs. Baily and Schumacher are to decide if a discovery has been +made. If they differ, Mr. Gauss, of Goettingen, is to decide. + +"8. Messrs. Baily and Schumacher have agreed to communicate mutually to +each other every announcement of a discovery. + +"Altona, April, 1840." + +On the 1st of October, 1847, at half-past ten o'clock, P.M., a +telescopic comet was discovered by Miss Maria Mitchell, of Nantucket, +nearly vertical above Polaris about five degrees. The further progress +and history of the discovery will sufficiently appear from the following +correspondence. On the 3d of October the same comet was seen at +half-past seven, P.M., at Rome, by Father de Vico, and information of +the fact was immediately communicated by him to Professor Schumacher at +Altona. On the 7th of October, at twenty minutes past nine, P.M., it was +observed by Mr. W.R. Dawes, at Camden Lodge, Cranbrook, Kent, in +England, and on the 11th it was seen by Madame Ruemker, the wife of the +director of the observatory at Hamburg. Mr. Schumacher, in announcing +this last discovery, observes: [Footnote: "Astronomische Nachrichten," +No. 616.] "Madame Ruemker has for several years been on the lookout for +comets, and her persevering industry seemed at last about to be +rewarded, when a letter was received from Father de Vico, addressed to +the editor of this journal, from which it appeared that the same comet +had been observed by him on the 3d instant at Rome." + +Not deeming it probable that his daughter had anticipated the observers +of this country and Europe in the discovery of this comet, no steps were +taken by Mr. Mitchell with a view to obtaining the king of Denmark's +medal. Prompt information, however, of the discovery was transmitted by +Mr. Mitchell to his friend, William C. Bond, Esq., director of the +observatory at Cambridge. The observations of the Messrs. Bond upon the +comet commenced on the 7th of October; and on the 30th were transmitted +by me to Mr. Schumacher, for publication in the "Astronomische +Nachrichten." It was stated in the memorandum of the Messrs. Bond that +the comet was seen by Miss Mitchell on the 1st instant. This notice +appeared in the "Nachrichten" of Dec. 9, 1847, and the priority of Miss +Mitchell's discovery was immediately admitted throughout Europe. + +My attention had been drawn to the subject of the king of Denmark's +comet medal by some allusion to it in my correspondence with Professor +Schumacher, in reference to the discovery of telescopic comets by Mr. +George P. Bond, of the observatory at Cambridge. Having learned some +weeks after Miss Mitchell's discovery that no communication had been +made on her behalf to the trustees of the medal, and aware that the +regulations in this respect were enforced with strictness, I was +apprehensive that it might be too late to supply the omission. Still, +however, as the spirit of the regulations had been complied with by Mr. +Mitchell's letter to Mr. Bond of the 3d of October, it seemed worth +while at least to make the attempt to procure the medal for his +daughter. Although the attempt might be unsuccessful, it would at any +rate cause the priority of her discovery to be more authentically +established than it might otherwise have been. + +I accordingly wrote to Mr. Mitchell for information on the subject, and +applied for, and obtained from Mr. Bond, Mr. Mitchell's original letter +to him of the 3d of October, with the Nantucket postmark. These papers +were transmitted to Professor Schumacher, with a letter dated 15th and +24th January. + +On the 8th of February I wrote a letter to my much esteemed friend, +Captain W.H. Smyth, R.N., formerly president of the Astronomical Society +at London, requesting him to interest himself with Professor Schumacher +to obtain the medal for Miss Mitchell. Captain Smyth entered with great +readiness into the matter, and addressed a note on the subject to Mr. +Airy, the Astronomer Royal, at Greenwich. Mr. Airy kindly wrote to +Professor Schumacher without loss of time; but it was their united +opinion that a compliance with the condition relative to immediate +notice of a discovery was indispensable, and that it was consequently +out of their power to award the medal to Miss Mitchell. Mr. Schumacher +suggested, as the only means by which this difficulty could be overcome, +an application to the Danish government, through the American legation +at Copenhagen. + +Conceiving that the correspondence could be carried on more promptly +through the Danish legation at Washington, I addressed a letter on the +20th of April to Mr. Steene-Bille, Charge d'Affaires of the king of +Denmark in this country, and sent with it copies of the documents which +had been forwarded to Professor Schumacher. Mr. Steene-Bille, however, +was of opinion that the application, if made at all, should be made +through the American legation at Copenhagen; but he expressed at the +same time a confident opinion that, owing to the condition and political +relations of Denmark, the application would necessarily prove +unavailing. + +It was at this time that the difficulties in Schleswig-Holstein were at +their height, and it seemed hopeless at such a moment, and in face of +the opinion of the official representative of the Danish government in +this country, to engage its attention to an affair of this kind. No +further attempt was accordingly made by me, for some weeks, to pursue +the matter. In fact, a report reached the United States that the medal +had actually been awarded to Father de Vico. Although this was believed +by me to be an unfounded rumor, the regulations allowing one year for +the presentation of claims, there was reason to apprehend that it +proceeded from some quarter well informed as to what would probably take +place at the expiration of the twelvemonth. + +On the 5th of August, Father de Vico, who had left Rome in the spring in +consequence of the troubles there, made a visit to Cambridge, in company +with the Right Rev. Bishop Fitzpatrick, of Boston, and on this occasion +informed me that he had received an intimation from Professor Schumacher +that the comet-medal would be awarded to Miss Mitchell. I was disposed +to think that Father de Vico labored under some misapprehension as to +the purport of Professor Schumacher's communications, as afterwards +appeared to be the case. I felt encouraged, however, by his statement +not only to renew my correspondence on the subject with Professor +Schumacher, but I determined, on the 8th of August, to address a letter +to R.P. Fleniken, Esq., Charge d'Affaires of the United States at +Copenhagen. This letter was accompanied with copies of the original +papers. + +Mr. Fleniken entered with great zeal and interest into the subject. He +lost no time in bringing it before the Danish government by means of a +letter to the Count de Knuth, the Minister at that time for Foreign +Affairs, and of another to the king of Denmark himself. His Majesty, +with the most obliging promptness, ordered a reference of the case to +Professor Schumacher, with directions to report thereon without delay. +Mr. Schumacher had been for a long time in possession of the documents +establishing Miss Mitchell's priority, which was, indeed, admitted +throughout scientific Europe. Professor Schumacher immediately made his +report in favor of granting the medal to Miss Mitchell, and this report +was accepted by the king. The result was forthwith communicated by the +Count de Knuth to Mr. Fleniken, with the gratifying intelligence that +the king had ordered the medal to be awarded to Miss Mitchell, and that +it would be delivered to him for transmission as soon as it could be +struck off. This has since been done. + +It must be regarded as a striking proof of an enlightened interest for +the promotion of science, not less than of a kind regard for the rights +and feelings of the individual most concerned in this decision, that the +king of Denmark should have bestowed his attention upon this subject, at +a period of so much difficulty and alarm for Europe in general and his +own kingdom in particular. It would not have been possible to act more +promptly in a season of the profoundest tranquillity. His Majesty has on +this occasion shown that he is animated by the same generous zeal for +the encouragement of astronomical research which led his predecessor to +found the medal; while he has performed an act of gracious courtesy +toward a stranger in a distant land which must ever be warmly +appreciated by her friends and countrymen. + +Nor ought the obliging agency of the Count de Knuth, the Minister of +Foreign Affairs, to be passed without notice. The slightest indifference +on his part, even the usual delays of office, would have prevented the +application from reaching the king before the expiration of the +twelvemonth within which all claims must, by the regulations, be +presented. No one can reflect upon the pressure of business which must +have existed in the foreign office at Copenhagen during the past year, +without feeling that the Count de Knuth must largely share his +sovereign's zeal for science, as well as his love of justice. Nothing +else will account for the attention bestowed at such a political crisis +on an affair of this kind. The same attention appears to have been given +to the subject by his successor, Count Moltka. + +It was quite fortunate for the success of the application that the +office of charge d'affaires of the United States at Copenhagen happened +to be filled by a gentleman disposed to give it his prompt and +persevering support. A matter of this kind, of course, lay without the +province of his official duties. But no subject officially committed to +him by the instructions of his government could have been more zealously +pursued. On the very day on which my communication of the 8th of August +reached him, Mr. Fleniken addressed his letters to the minister of +foreign affairs and to the king, and he continued to give his attention +to the subject till the object was happily effected, and the medal +placed in his hands. + +The event itself, however insignificant in the great world of politics +and business, is one of pleasing interest to the friends of American +science, and it has been thought proper that the following record of it +should be preserved in a permanent form. I have regretted the frequent +recurrence of my own name in the correspondence, and have suppressed +several letters of my own which could be spared, without rendering less +intelligible the communications of the other parties, to whom the +interest and merit of the transaction belong. + +EDWARD EVERETT. + +CAMBRIDGE, 1st February, 1849. + + + + +CORRESPONDENCE + + +HON. WILLIAM MITCHELL TO WILLIAM C. BOND, ESQ., CAMBRIDGE. + +"Nantucket, 10 mo. 3d, 1847. + +"MY DEAR FRIEND: I write now merely to say that Maria discovered a +telescopic comet at half-past ten on the evening of the first instant, +at that hour nearly vertical above Polaris five degrees. Last evening it +had advanced westwardly; this evening still further, and nearing the +pole. It does not bear illumination, but Maria has obtained its right +ascension and declination, and will not suffer me to announce it. Pray +tell me whether it is one of George's; if not, whether it has been seen +by anybody. Maria supposes it may be an old story. If quite convenient, +just drop a line to her; it will oblige me much. I expect to leave home +in a day or two, and shall be in Boston next week, and I would like to +have her hear from you before I can meet you. I hope it will not give +thee much trouble amidst thy close engagements. + +"Our regards are to all of you, most truly, + +"WILLIAM MITCHELL." + + * * * * * + +HON. EDWARD EVERETT TO HON. WILLIAM MITCHELL. + +"Cambridge, 10th January, 1848. + +"DEAR SIR: I take the liberty to inquire of you whether any steps have +been taken by you, on behalf of your daughter, by way of claiming the +medal of the king of Denmark for the first discovery of a telescopic +comet. The regulations require that information of the discovery should +be transmitted by the next mail to Mr. Airy, the Astronomer Royal, if +the discovery is made elsewhere than on the continent of Europe. If made +in the United States, I understand from Mr. Schumacher that information +may be sent to the Danish minister at Washington, who will forward it to +Mr. Airy,--but it must be sent by next mail. + +"In consequence of non-compliance with these regulations, Mr. George +Bond has on one occasion lost the medal. I trust this may not be the +case with Miss Mitchell. + +"I am, dear sir, with much respect, faithfully yours, + +"EDWARD EVERETT." + + * * * * * + +EXTRACT FROM A LETTER OF THE HON. WILLIAM MITCHELL TO HON. EDWARD +EVERETT. + +"Nantucket, 1st mo. 15th, 1848. + +"ESTEEMED FRIEND: Thy kind letter of the 10th instant reached me duly. +No steps were taken by my daughter in claim of the medal of the Danish +king. On the night of the discovery, I was fully satisfied that it was a +comet from its location, though its real motion at this time was so +nearly opposite to that of the earth (the two bodies approaching each +other) that its apparent motion was scarcely appreciable. I urged very +strongly that it should be published immediately, but she resisted it as +strongly, though she could but acknowledge her conviction that it was a +comet. She remarked to me, 'If it is a new comet, our friends, the +Bonds, have seen it. It may be an old one, so far as relates to the +discovery, and one which we have not followed.' She consented, however, +that I should write to William C. Bond, which I did by the first mail +that left the island after the discovery. This letter did not reach my +friend till the 6th or 7th, having been somewhat delayed here and also +in the post-office at Cambridge. + +"Referring to my journal I find these words: 'Maria will not consent to +have me announce it as an original discovery.' + +"The stipulations of His Majesty have, therefore, not been complied +with, and the peculiar circumstances of the case, her sex, and isolated +position, may not be sufficient to justify a suspension of the rules. +Nevertheless, it would gratify me that the generous monarch should know +that there is a love of science even in this to him remote corner of the +earth. "I am thine, my dear friend, most truly, + +"WILLIAM MITCHELL." + + * * * * * + +HON. EDWARD EVERETT TO PROFESSOR SCHUMACHER, AT ALTONA. + +"Cambridge, 15th January, 1848. + +"DEAR SIR: Your letter of the 27th October, accompanying the +'Planeten-Circulaer,' reached me but a few days since. If you would be so +good as to forward to the care of John Miller, Esq., 26 Henrietta +street, Covent Garden, London, any letter you may do me the favor to +write to me, it would reach me promptly. + +"The regulations relative to the king of Denmark's medal have not +hitherto been understood in this country. I shall take care to give +publicity to them. Not only has Mr. Bond lost the medal to which you +think he would have been entitled, [Footnote: Mr. Schumacher had +remarked to me, in his letter of the 27th of October, that Mr. George P. +Bond would have received the medal for the comet first seen by him as a +nebulous object on the 18th of February, 1846, if his observation made +at that time had been communicated, according to the regulations, to the +trustees of the medal.] but I fear the same has happened to Miss +Mitchell, of Nantucket, who discovered the comet of last October on the +first day of that month. I think it was not seen in Europe till the +third. + +"I remain, dear sir, with great respect, faithfully yours, + +"EDWARD EVERETT." + + * * * * * + +HON. EDWARD EVERETT TO HON. WILLIAM MITCHELL. + +"Cambridge, 18th January, 1848. + +"DEAR SIR: I have your esteemed favor of the 15th, which reached me this +day. I am fearful that the rigor deemed necessary in enforcing the +regulations relative to the king of Denmark's prize may prevent your +daughter from receiving it. I learn from Mr. Schumacher's letter, that, +besides Mr. George Bond, Dr. Bremeker lost the medal because he allowed +a single post-day to pass before he announced his discovery. There +could, in his case, be no difficulty in establishing the fact of his +priority, nor any doubt of the good faith with which it was asserted. +But inasmuch as Miss Mitchell's discovery was actually made known to Mr. +Bond by the next mail which left your island, it is possible--barely +possible--that this may be considered as a substantial compliance with +the regulation. At any rate, it is worth trying; and if we can do no +more we can establish the lady's claim to all the credit of the prior +discovery. I shall therefore apply to Mr. Bond for the letter which you +wrote, and if it contains nothing improper to be seen by others we will +forward it to the Danish minister at Washington with a certified extract +from your journal. I will have a certified copy of all these papers +prepared and sent to Mr. Schumacher; and if any departure from the +letter of the regulations is admissible, this would seem to be a case +for it. I trust Miss Mitchell's retiring disposition will not lead her +to oppose the taking of these steps. + +"I am, dear sir, with great respect, faithfully yours, + +[Signed] "EDWARD EVERETT." + + * * * * * + +POSTSCRIPT TO MR. EVERETT'S LETTER TO PROFESSOR SCHUMACHER OF THE 15TH +JANUARY, 1848. + +"P.S.--The foregoing was written to go by the steamer of the 15th, but +was a few hours too late. I have since received some information in +reference to the comet of October which leads me to hope that you may +feel it in your power to award the medal to Miss Maria Mitchell. Miss +Mitchell saw the comet at half-past ten o'clock on the evening of +October 1st. Her father, a skilful astronomer, made an entry in his +journal to that effect. On the third day of October he wrote a letter to +Mr. Bond, the director of our observatory, announcing the discovery. +This letter was despatched the following day, being the first post-day +after the discovery of the comet. This letter I transmit to you, +together with letters from Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Bond to myself. +Nantucket, as you are probably aware, is a small, secluded island, lying +off the extreme point of the coast of Massachusetts. Mr. Mitchell is a +member of the executive council of Massachusetts and a most respectable +person. + +"As the claimant is a young lady of great diffidence, the place a +retired island, remote from all the high-roads of communication; as the +conditions have not been well understood in this country; and especially +as there was a substantial compliance with them--I hope His Majesty may +think Miss Maria Mitchell entitled to the medal. + +"Cambridge, 24th January, 1848. + + * * * * * + +EXTRACT FROM A LETTER FROM MR. EVERETT TO CAPTAIN W.H. SMYTH, R.N., LATE +PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, LONDON, DATED CAMBRIDGE, +8TH FEBRUARY, 1848. + +"I have lately been making interest with Mr. Schumacher to cause the +king of Denmark's medal to be given to Miss Mitchell for the discovery +of the comet to which her name has been given, if I mistake not, in the +journal of your society as well as in the 'Nachrichten.' She +unquestionably discovered it at half-past ten on the evening of the 1st +of October; it was not, I think, seen in Europe till the 3d. Her father, +on the 3d, wrote a letter to Mr. Bond, the director of our observatory, +informing him of this discovery; and this letter was sent by the first +mail that left the little out-of-the-way island (Nantucket) after the +discovery. The _spirit_ of the regulations was therefore complied with. +But as the _letter_ requires that the notice should be given either to +the Danish minister resident in the country or to Mr. Airy, if the +discovery is made elsewhere than on the continent of Europe, it is +possible that some demur may be made. The precise terms of the +regulations have not been sufficiently made known in this country. As +the claim in this case is really a just one, the claimant a lady, +industrious, vigilant, a good astronomer and mathematician, I cannot but +hope she will succeed; and if you have the influence with Schumacher +which you ought to have, I would take it kindly if you would use it in +her favor." + + + * * * * * + +CAPTAIN SMYTH TO MR. EVERETT. + +"3 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, 10th March, 1848. + +"MY DEAR SIR: On the receipt of your last letter, I forthwith wrote to +the astronomer royal, urging the claims of Miss Mitchell, of Nantucket, +and he immediately replied, saying that he would lose no time in +consulting his official colleague, Mr. Schumacher, on the subject. I +have just received the accompanying letter from Greenwich, by which you +will perceive how the matter stands at present; I say at present, +because, however the claim may be considered as to the technical form of +application, there is no doubt whatever of her fully meriting the award. + +"I am, my dear sir, very faithfully yours, + +[Signed] "W.H. SMYTH." + + * * * * * + +G.B. AIRY, ESQ., TO CAPTAIN SMYTH. + +"Royal Observatory, Greenwich, 10th March, 1848. + +"MY DEAR SIR: I have received Mr. Schumacher's answer in regard to Miss +Mitchell's supposed claims for the king of Denmark's medal. We agree, +without the smallest hesitation, that we cannot award the medal. We have +in all cases acted strictly in conformity with the published rules; and +I am convinced, and I believe that Mr. Schumacher is convinced, that it +is absolutely necessary that we do not depart from them. + +"Mr. Schumacher suggests, as the only way in which Miss Mitchell's claim +in equity could be urged, that application might be made on her part, +through the American legation, to the king of Denmark; and the king can, +if he pleases, make exception to the usual rules. + +"I am, my dear sir, yours most truly, + +[Signed] "G.B. AIRY." + + * * * * * + +HON. EDWARD EVERETT TO R.P. FLENIKEN. + +"Cambridge, Mass., 8th August, 1848. + +"DEAR SIR: Without the honor of your personal acquaintance, I take the +liberty of addressing you on a subject which I am confident will +interest you as a friend of American science. You are doubtless aware +that by the liberality of one of the kings of Denmark, the father, I +believe, of his late Majesty, a foundation was made for a gold medal to +be given to the first discoverer of a telescopic comet. Mr. Schumacher, +of Altona, and Mr. Baily, of London (and since his decease Mr. Airy, +Astronomer Royal at Greenwich), were made the trustees of this +foundation. Among the regulations established for awarding the medal was +this: that the discoverer should, by the first mail which leaves the +place of his residence after the discovery, give notice thereof to Mr. +Schumacher if the discovery is made on the continent of Europe, and to +Mr. Airy if made in any other part of the world; provided that, if the +discovery be made in America, the notice may be given to the Danish +minister at Washington. It has been deemed necessary to adhere with +great strictness to this regulation, in order to prevent fraudulent +claims. + +"On the first day of October last, at about half-past ten o'clock in the +evening, a telescopic comet was discovered, in the island of Nantucket, +by Miss Maria Mitchell, daughter of Hon. W. Mitchell, one of the +executive council of this State. Mr. Mitchell made an entry of the +discovery at the time in his journal. In consequence of Miss Mitchell's +diffidence, she would not allow any publicity to be given to her +discovery till its reality was ascertained. Her father, however, by the +first mail that left Nantucket for the mainland, addressed a letter to +Mr. W.C. Bond, director of the observatory in this place, acquainting +him with his daughter's discovery. A copy of this letter I herewith +transmit to you. The comet was not discovered in Europe till the 3d of +October, when it was seen by Father de Vico, the celebrated astronomer +at Rome. + +"You perceive from this statement that, if Mr. Mitchell had addressed +his letter to the Danish minister at Washington instead of Mr. Bond, his +daughter would have been entitled to the medal, under the strict terms +of the regulations. But these regulations have not been generally +understood in this country; and as the fact of Miss Mitchell's prior +discovery is undoubted, and recognized throughout Europe, it would be a +pity that she should lose the medal on a mere technical punctilio. The +comet is constantly called 'Miss Mitchell's comet' in the monthly +journal of the Royal Astronomical Society at London, and in the +'Astronomische Nachrichten,' the well-known astronomical journal, edited +by Mr. Schumacher himself, at Altona. Father de Vico (who, with his +brothers of the Society of Jesuits, has left Rome since the revolution +there) was at this place (Cambridge) three days ago, and spoke of Miss +Mitchell's priority as an undoubted fact. + +"Last winter I addressed a letter to Mr. Schumacher, acquainting him +with the foregoing facts relative to the discovery, and transmitting to +him the _original_ letter of Mr. Mitchell to Mr. Bond, dated 3d October, +bearing the original Nantucket postmark of the 4th. I also wrote to +Capt. W. H. Smyth, late president of the Royal Astronomical Society of +England, desiring him to speak to Mr. Airy on the subject. He did so, +and Mr. Airy wrote immediately to Mr. Schumacher. Mr. Schumacher in his +reply expressed the opinion, in which Mr. Airy concurs, that _under the +regulations_ it is not in their power to award the medal to Miss +Mitchell. They suggest, however, that an application should be made, +through the American legation at the Danish court, to His Majesty the +King of Denmark, for authority, under the present circumstances, to +dispense with the literal fulfilment of the conditions. + +"It is on this subject that I take the liberty to ask your good offices. +I accompany my letter with copies of a portion of the correspondence +which has been had on the subject, and I venture to request you to +address a note to the proper department of the Danish government, to the +end that authority should be given to Messrs. Schumacher and Airy to +award the medal to Miss Mitchell, _provided they are satisfied that she +first discovered the comet_. + +"I will only add that, should you succeed in effecting this object, you +will render a very acceptable service to all the friends of science in +America. + +"I remain, dear sir, with high consideration, your obedient, faithful +servant, + +[Signed] "EDWARD EVERETT. + +"To R. P. FLENIKEN, ESQ., Charge d'Affaires of the United States of +America at Copenhagen." + + * * * * * + +R.P. FLENIKEN, ESQ., TO THE COUNT DE KNUTH. + + "Legation des Etats Unis d'Amerique,} + a Copenhague, le 6 Septembre, 1848. } + +"MONSIEUR LE MINISTRE: J'ai l'honneur de remettre sous ce pli a votre +Excellence une lettre que j'ai recue d'un de mes concitoyens les plus +distingues, avec une correspondance touchant une matiere a laquelle il +me semble que le Danemark ne soit guere moins interesse que ne le sont +les Etats Unis; le premier y ayant contribue le digne motif, l'autre en + +ayant heureusement accompli l'objet. + +"Je recommande ces documents a l'examination attentive de votre +Excellence, sachant bien l'interet profond qu'elle ne manque jamais de +prendre a de tels sujets, et la reputation eminente de cultivateur des +sciences et de la litterature, dont elle jouit avec tant de justice. J'y +ai joint une lettre de moi-meme, adressee a sa Majeste le Roi de +Danemark. + +"La matiere dont il est question, Monsieur, sera d'autant plus +interessante a votre Excellence, qu'on peut la regarder comme une voix +de reponse adressee a l'ancienne Scandinavie, proclaimant les prodiges +merveilleux de la science moderne, des bords memes du Vinland des +Vikinger hardis et entreprenants du dixieme et de l'onzieme siecles. + +"Je prie votre Excellence de vouloir bien soumettre tous les documents +ci-joints a l'oeil de sa Majeste, et dans le cas heureux ou vous seriez +d'avis que ma compatriote, Mlle. Mitchell, puisse avec justice +revendiquer la recompense genereuse instituee par le Roi Frederic VI., +alors, Monsieur, je prie votre Excellence de vouloir bien appuyer de ses +propres estimables et puissantes recommandations l'application des amis +de la jeune demoiselle. + +"Je m'empresse a cette occasion, Monsieur, de renouveler a votre +Excellence l'assurance de ma consideration tres distinguee. + +"R.P. FLENIKEN. + +"A Son Excellence M. LE COMTE DE KNUTH, Ministre d'Etat, et Chef du +Departement des Affaires Etrangeres. + + +TRANSLATION. [Footnote: This and the other translations of the French +letters are printed as received in this country.] + +"Legation of the United States of America,} +City of Copenhagen, September 6th, 1848. } + +"Sir: I have the honor to communicate to you a letter from a +distinguished citizen of my own country, together with a correspondence +relating to a subject in which Denmark and the United States appear +somewhat equally interested, the former in furnishing a laudable motive, +and the latter as happily achieving the object. + +"I commend these papers to your careful examination, being well aware of +the deep interest you take in all such subjects, and of the eminent +reputation you so justly enjoy as a gentleman of science and of +literature. They are accompanied by a letter from myself addressed to +His Majesty the King of Denmark. + +"This subject will not be the less interesting to you, sir, as it would +appear to be a returning voice addressed to ancient Scandinavia, +speaking of the wonderful achievements of modern science, from the +'Vinland' of the hardy and enterprising 'Northmen' of the tenth and the +eleventh centuries. + +"I beg, therefore, that you will obligingly lay them all before His +Majesty, and should they happily impress you that my countrywoman, Miss +Mitchell, is fairly entitled to the generous offering of King Frederic +VI., be pleased, sir, to accompany the application of her friends in her +behalf by your own very valuable and potent recommendation. + +"I avail myself of this occasion to renew to your Excellency the +assurance of my most distinguished consideration. + +[Signed]. "R.P. FLENIKEN. + +"To His Excellency THE COUNT DE KNUTH, Minister of State and Chief of +the Department of Foreign Affairs. + + * * * * * + +R. P. FLENIKEN, ESQ., TO THE KING OF DENMARK. + +"Legation des Etats Unis d'Amerique,} +a Copenhague, le 6 Septembre, 1848. } + +"SIRE: Le soussigne a l'honneur, par l'intermediaire de M. votre +ministre d'etat et chef du departement des affaires etrangeres, de +soumettre a votre Majeste une lettre d'un citoyen tres distingue des +Etats Unis, accompagnee de la copie d'une correspondance concernant une +matiere a laquelle votre Majeste, souverain egalement distingue par la +liberalite genereuse qu'elle fait voir dans ses rapports sociaux et +politiques, et par l'admiration ardente qu'elle manifeste envers la +science et la litterature, ne peut manquer de prendre un vif interet. + +"Le soussigne se felicite beaucoup d'etre l'intermediaire par les mains +duquel ces documents arrivent sous l'oeil de votre Majeste, etant +persuade que la lecture en fournira a votre Majeste l'occasion de +recourir avec une grande satisfaction patriotique, comme protecteur +eminent des sciences, a l'institution d'un de ses illustres +predecesseurs; et ce souvenir de la haute position a laquelle le +Danemark s'est eleve dans les arts et les sciences, ne lui sera +peut-etre pas moins doux quand elle songe que c'est justement sur cette +meme cote, ou deja au dixieme siecle l'intrepidite et l'esprit hardi de +ses ancetres Scandinaves les avaient amenes a la decouverte du grand +continent occidental et a la fondation d'une colonie, que vient de +s'accomplir cette conquete de la science, dont parlent les dits papiers. + +"Le soussigne ose donc esperer, qu'a la suite d'une examination +attentive des lettres ci-jointes, et desquelles il paraitrait etre +generalement reconnu qu'a Mlle. Mitchell des Etats Unis est du l'honneur +d'avoir la premiere decouvert la comete telescopique qui aujourd'hui +porte son nom, que votre Majeste ne trouvera point dans la reserve +louable qui empecha cette jeune demoiselle de se precipiter a la +poursuite d'une renommee publique, une cause suffisante de lui refuser +le prix de sa brilliante decouverte; mais qu'au contraire elle donnera +l'ordre de lui expedier la medaille, autant comme une recompense due a +ses eminents talents scientifiques, que pour temoigner combien votre +Majeste sait apprecier cette modestie charmante qui s'opposa a ce que +Mlle. Mitchell recherchat une celebrite publique et scientifique, avec +le seul but de remplir une forme tout-a-fait technique. + +"Le soussigne, charge d'affaires des Etats Unis de l'Amerique, saisit +avec empressement cette occasion d'offrir a votre Majeste l'expression +de sa consideration la plus haute et la plus distinguee. + +"R.P. FLENIKEN. + +"A Sa Majeste FREDERIC VII., Roi de Danemark, Duc de Slesvig et de +Holstein." + + * * * * * + +TRANSLATION. + +"Legation of the United States of America,} +City of Copenhagen, September 4th, 1848. } + +"SIRE: The undersigned has the honor, through your Majesty's minister of +state and chief of the department of foreign affairs, to communicate to +you a letter from a very distinguished citizen of the United States, +together with copies of a correspondence relating to a subject in which +your Majesty, alike distinguished for generous liberality in social and +political affairs as a sovereign, as well as an ardent admirer of +science and of literature, will doubtless feel a lively interest. + +"The undersigned is happy to be the medium through which those papers +reach the eye of your Majesty, feeling sensible that their perusal will +furnish occasion to your Majesty to recur with much national pleasure to +the act of one of your illustrious predecessors as a distinguished +patron of science; and this recurrence to the eminent position that +Denmark has attained in the arts and the sciences may perhaps not be the +less pleasurable from the fact that the trophy of science to which the +papers allude was achieved on the very coast where, as far back as the +tenth century, the intrepidity and enterprise of your Majesty's +Scandinavian ancestors first discovered and planted a colony upon the +great western continent. + +"The undersigned therefore hopes that, after a careful examination of +the accompanying papers, from which it would seem to be admitted that +Miss Mitchell, of the United States, is entitled to the honor of first +discovering the telescopic comet bearing her name, your Majesty will not +be able to perceive in that commendable delicacy which forbade her +hastily seeking public notoriety a sufficient motive for withholding +from her the reward of her eminent discovery; but, on the contrary, will +direct the medal to be awarded to her, not only as a suitable +encouragement to her distinguished scientific attainments, but also as +evincing your Majesty's appreciation of that beautiful virtue which +withheld her from rushing into public and scientific renown merely to +comply with a purely technical condition. + +"The undersigned, American charge d'affaires, gladly improves this very +pleasant occasion to tender to your Majesty the expression of his high +and most distinguished consideration. + +[Signed] "R. P. FLENIKEN. + +"To his Majesty FREDERIC VII., King of Denmark, Duke of Schleswig and +Holstein." + + * * * * * + +THE COUNT DE KNUTH TO MR. FLENIKEN. + +"Copenhague, ce 6 Octobre, 1848. + +"MONSIEUR: J'ai eu l'honneur de recevoir votre office du 6 du passe, par +lequel vous avez exprime le desir que la medaille instituee par feu le +Roi Frederic VI., en recompense de la decouverte de cometes +telescopiques, fut accordee a Mlle. Maria Mitchell, de Nantucket dans +les Etats Unis d'Amerique. + +"Apres avoir examine les pieces justificatives que vous avez bien voulu +me communiquer relativement a cette reclamation, je ne saurais que +partager votre avis, Monsieur, qu'il parait hors de doute que la +decouverte de la comete en question est effectivement due aux savantes +recherches de Mlle. Mitchell; et que ce n'est que faute de n'avoir pas +observe les formalites prescrites, qu'elle n'a point jusqu'ici recu une +marque de distinction a laquelle elle parait avoir de si justes titres. + +"Le savant astronome, le Professeur Schumacher, ayant egalement +recommande Mlle. Mitchell a la faveur qu'elle sollicite maintenant, je +me suis empresse de referer cette question au roi, mon auguste maitre, +en mettant en meme temps sous les yeux de sa Majeste la lettre que vous +lui avez adressee a ce sujet; et c'est avec bien du plaisir que je me +vois aujourd'hui a meme de vous faire part, Monsieur, que sa Majeste n'a +point hesite a satisfaire a votre demande, en accordant a Mlle. Mitchell +la medaille qu'elle ambitionne. + +"Aussitot que cette medaille sera frappee, je m'empresserai de vous la +faire parvenir. + +"En attendant je saisis avec bien du plaisir cette occasion pour vous +renouveler, Monsieur, les assurances de ma consideration tres +distinguee. + +"F.W. KNUTH. + +"A MONSIEUR FLENIKEN, Charge d'Affaires des Etats Unis d'Amerique." + + * * * * * + +TRANSLATION. + +"Copenhagen, 6th October, 1848. + +"SIR: I have had the honor to receive your communication of the 6th +ultimo, in which you express the desire that the medal instituted by his +late Majesty, Frederic VI., as a reward for the discovery of telescopic +comets, should be granted to Miss Maria Mitchell, of Nantucket, in the +United States of America. + +"On examination of the justificatory pieces which you have been good +enough to forward me, relating to her claim, I cannot do otherwise than +participate in your opinion, sir, that it would appear to admit of no +doubt that the discovery of the comet in question was really due to Miss +Mitchell's learned researches; and that her not having as yet received a +mark of distinction to which she seems to have such a just claim was +entirely owing to her not having observed the prescribed forms. + +"The learned astronomer, Professor Schumacher, having likewise +recommended Miss Mitchell to the favor which she now solicits, I hasten +to refer this question to the king, my august master, at the same time +laying before His Majesty the letter which you have addressed to him on +this subject; and I have much pleasure in being now enabled to inform +you, sir, that His Majesty has not hesitated to grant your request by +awarding to Miss Mitchell the medal which she desires. + +"As soon as this medal is struck, I will have it forwarded to you, and +meanwhile have much pleasure in availing myself of this occasion to +renew to you, sir, the assurances of my most distinguished +consideration. + +[Signed] "F.W. KNUTH. + +"To MR. FLENIKEN, Charge d'Affaires of the United States of America." + + * * * * * + +MR. FLENIKEN TO THE COUNT DE KNUTH. + +"Legation des Etats Unis d'Amerique, a Copenhague, le 7 Octobre, 1848. + +"MONSIEUR: Le soussigne a eu l'honneur de recevoir l'office que votre +Excellence lui a addresse en date d'hier pour lui faire part de la +nouvelle heureuse que sa Majeste, apres avoir examine les documents que +vous avez bien voulu lui soumettre, ayant pour objet d'etablir le fait +que Mlle. Mitchell ait la premiere decouvert la comete telescopique +d'Octobre de l'an dernier, a bien voulu trouver ces preuves suffisantes, +et a ordonne qu'on frappe une medaille, afin de la lui faire presenter +comme une marque de distinction que sa Majeste croit qu'elle merite en +effet, quoiqu'elle n'ait pas rigoureusement observe les formalites +prescrites par le Roi Frederic VI., fondateur de ce don. + +"Le soussigne s'empresse donc d'assurer votre Excellence et en meme +temps de vous prier, Monsieur, de vouloir bien faire parvenir cette +assurance a sa Majeste, que cet acte signale de liberalite ne peut +manquer d'etre dignement et hautement apprecie par les institutions +scientifiques des Etats Unis, par Mlle. Mitchell qui est l'objet de +cette distinction genereuse, et par les nombreux amis scientifiques de +cette dame; enfin, par tous ceux qui prennent de l'interet a la reussite +heureuse des recherches astronomiques. + +"Le soussigne ne peut terminer cette communication sans exprimer a votre +Excellence (en la priant de porter aussi ses sentiments a la +connaissance de sa Majeste) sa vive appreciation de ce noble et eclatant +acte de justice, si promptement et si genereusement rendu a sa jeune +compatriote par le roi de Danemark, et il saisit avec empressement cette +occasion de renouveler a votre Excellence les assurances de sa +consideration tres distinguee. + +"R.P. FLENIKEN. + +"A Son Excellence M. LE COMTE DE KNUTH, Ministre d'Etat et Chef du +Departement des Affaires Etrangeres." + + * * * * * + +TRANSLATION. + +"Legation of the United States,} +Copenhagen, October 7th, 1848. } + +"SIR: The undersigned has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your +Excellency's communication of yesterday's date, conveying to him the +gratifying intelligence that His Majesty, from an examination of the +evidence which you obligingly laid before him, tending to establish the +fact of Miss Mitchell's having discovered the telescopic comet of +October, last, has been pleased to consider it quite satisfactory, and +has ordered a medal to be struck for her as a mark of distinction to +which his Majesty deems her entitled, notwithstanding her omission to +comply with the prescribed conditions of Frederic VI., who instituted +the donation. + +"The undersigned, therefore, begs to express to you, sir, and through +you to His Majesty, the assurance that this eminent act of liberality +cannot fail to be duly and highly appreciated by the scientific +institutions of his own country, by Miss Mitchell herself, who is the +object of this generous distinction, and by her numerous scientific +friends, as well as by all who feel an interest in successful +astronomical achievements. + +"The undersigned cannot close this communication without expressing to +you and to the king his own unaffected appreciation of this noble and +distinguished act of justice, so promptly and so generously bestowed +upon his unobtrusive countrywoman by the king of Denmark, and avails +himself of the occasion to renew to your Excellency the assurance of his +most distinguished consideration. + +[Signed] "R.P. FLENIKEN. + +"To His Excellency THE COUNT DE KNUTH, Minister of State, etc., etc., +etc." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Maria Mitchell: Life, Letters, and +Journals, by Maria Mitchell + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARIA MITCHELL *** + +***** This file should be named 10202.txt or 10202.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/0/10202/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Sandra Brown and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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