Alien PkoL'r 
 
THE 
 
 INCREASE OF CRIME, 
 
 AND 
 
 ITS CAUSE. 
 
 WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 
 
 BY ANNA B. BOONE. 
 
 AND A SKETCH OF HER ANTECEDENTS. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
 1871. 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by 
 
 ANNA B. BOONE, 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 
 
 * 
 
 
 BOSTON : 
 
 STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY RAND, AVERY, & FRYB. 
 
To MRS. E. OAKES SMITH, 
 
 THE AUTHORESS. 
 
 DEAR MADAM: 
 
 Years ago I read some of your exquisite productions with infinite delight ; and 
 subsequently I have had the pleasure of conversing with you, which confirmed the 
 opinion I had entertained of your intellectual and moral worth. And permit me to 
 add, that I know not another woman who has with more dignity and honor filled the 
 positions assigned by God to our sex Woman, Wife, and Mother than yourself! 
 And that this humble offering may prove acceptable to you is the earnest 
 desire of 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 ANNA B. BOONE. 
 
 M162537 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 "DEADER, there are thousands of mankind 
 T" ^ who have no idea what the many suffer to 
 live, or rather to eke out an existence, no more 
 than those enjoying fine health and affluence 
 know they must suffer to die. 
 
 As I intend returning to England speedily, 
 and it is scarcely probable that I shall come 
 back to this country again, I wish to set the 
 public right on more than one subject. Many 
 persons have informed me, that it was currently 
 reported and believed, that, when the gas acci- 
 dent happened to myself and children, I re- 
 ceived a large sum of money. As this statement 
 vas false, and many others, I have determined 
 to give a graphic account of the whole affair ; 
 which ought to be a warning to all people of 
 the evil effects of COAL gas, police gas, and wo- 
 men's gas. 
 
 6 
 
6 PREFACE. 
 
 I have passed many happy years in America, 
 intermingled with much vicissitude and tribula- 
 tion. I have had six children born in this coun- 
 try, and my others came here when comparative 
 babies. My husband was naturalized, and lost 
 his life in the late war. Two of the most sym- 
 pathizing and loving friends that I ever had 
 were American women, one moving in the 
 highest classes of society, and the other in a 
 more humble sphere of life; but both were just 
 such women as I believe God meant us all to 
 be. A great writer, whose name I forget, said, 
 if a man meets with one real friend as he passes 
 through life, he may think himself fortunate, or 
 words tantamount. So I ought to feel doubly 
 blessed ; and I do. With many such reminis- 
 cences, it is scarcely to be wondered at that I 
 leave America with affectionate regret. When 
 we first came to this country, I remember a 
 man saying to Mr. Boone, " I guess you thought 
 to pick gold up in the road, when you came 
 here ; but you'll have to go through the ( mill,' 
 like the rest of us," 
 
 Reader, I have been through the "mill" 
 twenty times or more, and it has not ground me 
 
PREFACE. 7 
 
 up yet. But, had it not been for the resigna- 
 tion to bear bravely what trials might assail us, 
 and the determination to make the best of what 
 was unavoidable, I certainly should have been 
 mingled with the mother earth long ago. 
 
 Some persons are apt to think, when men or 
 women give their ideas and experience, that they 
 are egotists. If this be the case, then every- 
 body should cease to write at all ; for all authors 
 are supposed to give their own opinions (al- 
 though we occasionally find out that they bor- 
 row a few), even when the hero or moral of the 
 tale is a fictitious one. Yet I suppose, to some 
 extent, humanity is inclined to be egotistical. 
 Still I do not think this appellation should be 
 applied to men and women whom God may have 
 chosen to pass through ordeals of a strange and 
 critical nature, and, by being brought forth to 
 the public, may prove interesting and instruc- 
 tive, and beneficial results generate therefrom. 
 Of course, in my peculiar position, I had seen 
 more of the world and its inmates ten years 
 ago, than the generality of women double my 
 age. So I wish to give my ideas on the " In- 
 crease of Crime," and its cause. In this age of 
 
8 PREFACE. 
 
 knowledge ; in this age of refinement ; in this age 
 of literature ; in this age when we can scarcely 
 pass two streets without beholding a church, 
 which is a building supposed to be a sacred place, 
 where men and women congregate together and 
 return thanks to God for his mercies to them, 
 and offer up prayers, beseeching to be directed 
 into the " narrow path " that guides them up to 
 glory and to God, still, the "increase of 
 crime " is conspicuously evident. So, at a ven- 
 ture, I state some facts, and ask a few "solid 
 questions " of the thinking public. 
 
 Faithfully, 
 
 ANNA B. BOONE. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Contains a Sketch of my Antecedents, and gives Reasons why I ever 
 camo before the Public. Still, cannot but think that Home is Wo- 
 man's Proper Sphere ......... 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 
 With Two Solid Questions: First, Are we to have Children, or not ? 
 With Comments on the Rev. Dr. Todd's Lecture on this Subject,, 
 entitled, " Fashionable Murders." Second Question: Where are we> 
 to put Children when we get them ? For every notice, when Apart- 
 ments are to let, is most emphatic, "No Children taken." One 
 Cause of the Increase of Crime 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Shows the Evil Effect of Coal Gas, Police Gas, and Woman's Gas, with 
 Two Solid Questions : First, Is it not the Love of Fame, in Ninety- 
 nine cases out of a Hundred, that induces Women to ask for Men's 
 Rights? Second Question: Ought we not to cultivate Health, and 
 make this Subject one of the Chief Branches of Education in 
 Public Schools? which would prove a Sure Step to wards decreas- 
 ing Crime 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Contains a Few More Ideas of the Power that True Women possess to 
 disseminate Good without asking for Men's Rights ; and One Solid 
 Question: Did God mean Man and Woman to follow the same 
 Vocation, or to be co-equal ? No. My Reason, for it . . . 
 
10 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A Long One. Asks another Solid Question: Are Women True Friends 
 to each other? No; not as a Body, decidedly not. Another 
 Cause for the Increase of Crime, with a Description of my Hospital 
 Friends, and Three Butterflies with the Shape and Sting of a Wasp, 
 and meant for Women 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Is another Long One, with My Three Last Solid Questions, Is Dress or 
 Worth to be respected ? Are we not to honor the Respectable Poor ? 
 Yes. But do we? No. Another Cause for the Increase of Crime. 
 Are all Men equal? No. The very Dogs teach us this; so do the 
 Divisions of the Earth, the Hitts and the Dales, the Mountains and 
 the Valleys, the Richness of One Soil and the Barrenness of another; 
 all these Natural Distinctions are living Proofs that Equality does not 
 exist, and never will here. Equality by Dress only is dangerous, 
 and another Cause of the Increase of Crime 
 
 CHAPTER VH. 
 
 la Longer still. Gives Further Evidence of the Great Attention that is 
 paid to the Outer Man, instead of the Inner Man, and the Evil Re- 
 sults therefrom; with Several Episodes appertaining to this Subject. 
 The Conclusion 
 
 NOTE. At the end of this work there will be Eight Short Lectures and 
 Articles on Different Subjects, 
 
 By yours faithfully, 
 
 ANNA B. BOONK. 
 
THE INCKEASE OF CKIIE, AND ITS CAUSE, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 With a Brief Sketch of my Antecedents, and the Reason why I ever came 
 before the Public ; as I do not think it Woman's Proper Sphere. 
 
 READER : previous to my solid questions, and previ- 
 ous to an explanatory statement I am about to lay 
 before you with regard to the supposed poisoning case, 
 that was so proved and conned over, and which I will 
 by and by prove to you that scarcely an atom of the 
 statement was correct, I wish to give you a short 
 sketch of my antecedents, not from a mere matter of 
 boast, to show you to whom I am related, but to 
 demonstrate how persons born in the most refined 
 classes of society are frequently tossed about this 
 world by the wayward winds of Fate, just as vessels 
 are upon the vacillating, tempestuous ocean. 
 
 I am not a " woman's-rights " woman, that is, in the 
 usual acceptation of the word ; and I openly protest 
 against woman going out of her natural sphere. 
 
 Persons knowing my ideas on this subject frequently 
 
 11 
 
2| 77/tf INCREASE OF .CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 exclaim, " Mrs. Boone, how came you to let your 
 daughters come before the public? Is not that kind 
 of life out of woman's element? And why do you 
 come? you who insist that home is the most majestic 
 kingdom for a woman to reign in." Reader, it is rather 
 a hackneyed saying, nevertheless a true one, " Circum- 
 stances alter cases." When I was young and admired, 
 I never went before the public ; now, in the meridian 
 of life, and a grandmother, I am compelled to do so : 
 it is my fate.* Presently I will tell you haw I ever 
 allowed my children to appear as public readers. Some 
 hundreds of years ago, an old and wealthy family, by 
 the name of De la Hooke, came from France and 
 settled in England. After many years' residence in 
 that country, they dropped the De la, simply retain- 
 ing the name of Hooke. James Hooke, my great- 
 grandfather, lived at Langdon Hall, Wembury, near 
 Plymouth, England ; and all the surrounding farmers 
 rented their land of him. His eldest son, James, was 
 married near Plymouth, on the 4th June, 1783, at 
 Wembury Church, by Benjamin Love, to Ann Acland, 
 one of the Devonshire Aclands. Every English person 
 knows how highly this ancient family stands in society 
 up to the present time. My grandmother had twelve 
 children. I am not at this moment going to enter into 
 any details, further than inform you that the whole 
 family were considered to possess intellectual powers of 
 
 * And I do not see the necessity of women asking Congress for the liberty 
 to do just what suits them. Nobody interferes with me. 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 13 
 
 a high degree ; and I am simply stating a fact when 
 I inform you that Grace, my mother, was considered 
 the most remarkable of all the children. Almost every 
 pious person, both in England and America, has heard 
 of Samuel Drew of St. Austell, Cornwall, England, 
 who first distinguished himself by writing an essay on 
 the " Immortality and Immateriality oft he Soul," in 
 answer to Tom Paine's " Age of Reason." My mother 
 read this great work, and wrote a criticism on it, and 
 sent it to him without her name. My mother's brother, 
 at that time a lawyer practising in Plymouth, wrote 
 to Mr. Drew, asking how his sister had obtained an 
 introduction to him ; he replied, " I received an anony- 
 mous letter, with some of the most original and power- 
 ful ideas on my ' work,' I imagined written by some 
 ' sage.' I answered it, but, at the same time, informed 
 the writer, that, unless he gave his true name, I would 
 drop the correspondence. What was my astonish- 
 ment," continued the great man, u to find the answer 
 dated from SL AustelPs Seminary, and the writer a 
 young school-girl, your sister, Grace Hooke." My 
 mother corresponded with Mr. Drew on theological 
 matters from the beginning of 1809 to the latter end 
 of 1812 ; and, I am sorry to say, out of the sixty letters 
 I have only fourteen left. At his death, his son wrote, 
 asking, as a great favor, for all his father's letters, as 
 they were about to publish his life ; promising to return 
 them, which he did. \nd some of my mother's letters, 
 
14 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 and Mr. Drew's answers, are in the large volume that 
 was first published of his life. And I do feel proud that 
 this great metaphysician, who was in constant corre- 
 spondence with the illustrious Dr. Adam Clarke and 
 many other men of note, wrote to my mother, " My 
 dear young friend, your description of the poor old 
 man who came trembling to your door was most 
 beautiful. I felt as if I saw him standing before me." 
 
 C"> 
 
 My mother's brother, that I have just referred to, 
 married Augusta Dillon. Her brother and the old Earl 
 of Roscommon contended for some years for the earl- 
 dom ; but the present earl's father gained the cause. 
 Some years after, my uncle marrying, he determined 
 on entering the ecclesiastical profession ; and, although 
 he had been educated at Oxford, he had to re-study at 
 Cambridge ; and he was not permitted by the bishop 
 to accept a curacy until he resumed the old name that 
 had been dropped for more than a hundred years : 
 consequently, all of the family that remained unmarried 
 did the same ; and he is at this time the Rev. James 
 De la Hooke, Rector of Trinity Church, Bridgewater, 
 England ; and his only daughter, Anna, married tlio 
 eldest son of Bishop Ottar, Bishop of Chichester, and 
 brother to the present Lady Belper. Lord Beiper was 
 appointed at the head of the Queen's household during 
 the Duke of Newcastle's visit to this country with the 
 Prince of Wales. So you perceive that my cousin 
 Anna, now living in Toronto, has known none of the 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 13 
 
 vicissitudes of Anna B. Boone. Capt. De la Hooke 
 of the British Army, and Dr. James De la Hooke, near 
 Toronto, are my other two cousins. My mother 
 married Patrick George Boyle, a surgeon in the navy. 
 He passed the Royal College of Surgeons as an 
 assistant in 1810, and 1816 as a full surgeon : and wax' 
 appointed in that capacity at the Stonehouse Naval 
 Hospital, Plymouth; and on the 1st of August, -1826, 
 he took his degree as a doctor of medicine at the Royal 
 University, Edinburgh. My father was the son of 
 Justice Boyle of Sligo, Ireland. He was not hand- 
 some, but distinguished in manners and appearance, 
 proud to a fault, but generous and charitable to the 
 poor. During his life, we lived stylishly; he and my 
 mother mixing among the most refined classes of 
 society in Scotland. Besides an extensive practice, rny 
 father had a liberal pension for life, for a periodical 
 paralyzation of his hands, caused by the climate in the 
 East Indies, where he was appointed by the British 
 Government for some years. Added to this, he had his 
 half-pay as a surgeon in the navy ; but he lived up to 
 every guinea of his income, and, at his death, we were 
 reduced to almost indigent circumstances. To my 
 mother, who had been nurtured in affluence, this unex- 
 pected event was a severe trial : still she bore il 
 with dignity, and told us, when we children com- 
 plained, to imagine how much worse off we would be 
 if we were shipwrecked. And I was made to read 
 
16 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE, 
 
 aioud c * Robinson Crusoe," little dreaming, either she 
 or /, how my life would yet resemble a shipwrecked 
 manner's. For three years we lived in a very isolated, 
 semantic place called " Bovisand Point," near Plym- 
 outh, belonging to my two maiden aunts, Anna and 
 Sarah De la Hooke ; and I believe that I owe, in a 
 great measure, my fine health at the present moment 
 to the pure air and the almost unlimited exercise I 
 was allowed to take while living there. Plymouth 
 Sound was in the front of our house ; the breakwater 
 and Eddystone lighthouse were visible to the naked eye, 
 with an immense expanse of water. Some years ago, 
 Mrs. Dr. Cabbie of Richmond, sister to Mrs. Gen. 
 Scott, was anxious that I should write my life, which 
 she thought was most remarkable. I was to dedicate 
 it to her. But, on my return to this country, I wag 
 grieved to learn she had left this world. Some of my 
 children likewise wish me to publish my life, which I 
 intend doing on my return to London ; and I am quite 
 certain that all mothers will feel deeply interested 
 when they peruse it. As I am the only woman in the 
 whole family really poor, the only one that was ever 
 before the public, and the only one with so large a 
 family depending solely on the efforts of one woman, 
 I must tell you the secret of this state of affairs. I 
 married in opposition to my mother's wishes, and all my 
 relations. Mr. Boone was what we English define a 
 
 O 
 
 poor gentleman : had great expectations, which were 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 17 
 
 never realized, and no profession. At first, my mother 
 was prepossessed in his favor, and quite willing that he 
 should pay his addresses to me ; but, when she found 
 out that his mother's income went back into the Kirk- 
 patrick family of " Haladal House " in Kent at her 
 death, my mother was most opposed to our marriage ; 
 arguing, that, if a man at thirty-six had made no stand- 
 ing in this world by his talents and education, it was 
 scarcely probable that he ever would. I wish to say a 
 few words to you parents who may read this book. 
 Should you not approve of your children's choice of a 
 husband, make them as happy as you are capable of 
 doing at home, and let the man continue his visits, and 
 point out his defects. Kindly appeal to your child's 
 reason, principles, and common sense ; but never say, 
 " You sha'n't have that man ! and I dare him ever to 
 enter my house!" paiticularly if the gentleman is 
 twenty years older than your daughter ; for a man of 
 that age has more power over a girl than one nearer 
 her own age : and, depend upon it, have him she will 
 when she feels her youthful dignity insulted by making 
 her a prisoner ! 
 
 At this time we lived in Plymouth, and I was sent 
 with a letter to my aunts at Bovisand. My mother, it 
 seems, wrote, asking her sisters to detain me, and take 
 a portion of my clothes away. This was the worst 
 course they could have adopted for such a spirit as 
 mine. At four o'clock, one morning, Mr. Boone came 
 
 2 
 
18 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 after me in a boat. A servant sympathized with me, 
 lent me a bonnet and shoes. I jumped out at the 
 window, and went back with him to his mother's. I 
 was instantly disguised as an old lady, and Mrs. Boone 
 and I were booked for Exeter. Mr. B. followed at 
 midnight on foot, walking forty-four miles in the rain. 
 We were married immediately ; and, in seven years and 
 two days, my sixth living child, but first American one, 
 was ushered into this world. None of my relations, 
 save my mother, ever took the slightest notice of me 
 after my marriage ; and, just as my beloved parent had 
 prognosticated, poverty came upon us, and staid with 
 us for many a year. 
 
 Mr. Boone was a man of integrity, sober and 
 educated, of an elegant appearance, but with no knowl- 
 edge of business, and quite incapable of earning a 
 livelihood for his family. Still he was a brave man; and 
 at the time the epidemic caused such devastation in 
 Norfolk, Va., fourteen years ago, he went down of 
 his own accord, and nursed the sick, when hundreds 
 were running away as far as they could get ; and, 
 in the late war, he volunteered his services, and lost his 
 life for the Union! He wrote some beautiful poems; 
 but they were never published. I have a few left, that 
 I hope yet to print. When he was employed at 
 Tariffville, Conn., by Mr. Thomson, he only received 
 six dollars per week. We had a little money sent us 
 occasionally from England ; but we could scarcely pay 
 our way. This was terrible to bear. So I determined 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 19 
 
 to try a school ; and I did, and succeeded well. In a 
 short time, I had sixty pupils, men, women, and chil- 
 dren. One day a lady called on me, and asked if I 
 would read something at a small hall in the village, 
 for the benefit of a poor man who had lost his arm by 
 the machinery in the factory, and had three sick, 
 motherless children. I had never been before the 
 public ; but, under such heart-rending circumstances, I 
 acquiesced, and earned sixty-nine dollars for the family. 
 At the same time I brought out my second child, Lora 
 Gordon, at the tender age of six years. She made quite 
 a sensation by reading " Portia's Eulogium on Mercy : " 
 the ladies were affected to tears. And this was the first 
 appearance of any of the Boone Family before the 
 public. And I am proud that it was for an act of pure 
 charity, and nothing more, although it led to much 
 more eventually. At this time the factory " burst up," 
 that's what the men called it ; and my school exploded 
 at the same time, and hundreds were thrown out of 
 employment, my husband among the rest ; so we 
 winged our way on to New York once more. And 
 Mr. Charles White was the first to bring out- my little 
 girl. Lord Erskine was once asked how he could go 
 into court and plead, with such a great orator as Lord 
 Mansfield for his opponent. He replied, " I thought I 
 felt my little ones tugging at my gown for bread ; and I 
 went." Reader. I have felt my little ones tugging at 
 my gown for bread many a time, which made me 
 
20 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 introduce my children to the public as infant prodigies 
 and I went forth into the world as their protector, 
 teacher, and manager, without one atom of knowledge 
 appertaining to the path I had to tread in, wanderin<? 
 and wading over land and water for the support cf my 
 family. A lady once asked me why I did not settle '.n 
 one place. " I would like to," I replied ; " but it requires 
 'capital,' and I have none; and, as Eugene Sue 
 describes, I hear a voice saying, ' Onward, onward ! ' '' 
 It is the voice of my children. I say again, " home " is 
 the right sphere for woman. One week before Grace 
 was born, I travelled all night from Fayettevillo, N.C., 
 to Raleigh ; and the thunder and the lightning was so 
 severe that the trees were felled to the ground, and the 
 carriage could not pass, and the driver had to make his 
 way through a ploughed field. The carriage shook sa 
 terribly that I was compelled to get out and walk through 
 that storm. Women, I- thought if my mother could have 
 seen me at that moment ! but she never knew it. 
 
 Many years passed, and my oldest child, Anna 
 Isabella, was married to John Burr, on the 5th of 
 February, 1862, at the Register Office, Ampheel Square, 
 Hampstead Road, London. He is an artist quite cele- 
 brated. And, some years ago, the Rev. Dr. Guthrie pre- 
 d^cted from his pulpit that Edinburgh would yet be proud 
 of the Brothers Burr. And she is. His pictures have 
 been copied in the "Illustrated London News," " Har- 
 per's," and almost every paper of this style ; and last 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 21 
 
 November, 1869, " The Art Journal " hac a biographl- 
 cal sketch of " John Burr," showing, that, as early as 
 fourteen years of age, lie earned his own living by paint- 
 ing portraits. They bad three copies of bis pictures in 
 this journal, and spoke in the highest possible manner 
 of his genius. My sixth child, and fourth daughter, 
 Charlotte Yolante, was married October 6, 1862, at 
 Trinity Church, Portland Road, Regent's Park, Lon- 
 don, to Abram Bishop Smith, son of Nathan Smith of 
 New York. His maternal grandfather was Senator 
 Bishop the noted politician of New Haven. My second 
 daughter was married, on the 18th of October in 1865, 
 at Ampheel Square, Hampstead Road, to John Aylwin 
 Bevan, surgeon in Guy's Hospital, London, and son of 
 John Connel Delerue Bevan, broker, Bishopgate 
 Street Within, London. 
 
 On hearing of the marriages of my children, one of 
 my aristocratic relations wrote, asking me how it came 
 I had settled my daughters so elegantly, when they 
 were poor, young, in public, and the press said beauti- 
 ful. I replied, I trained their naturally refined minds 
 so carefully, that no low-bred man would be attracted 
 by them. I watched over them as a miser does his 
 gold ; I guarded and guided them from helpless child- 
 hood up to glorious womanhood, and sent them forth into 
 their husbands' homes as spotless as Oriental pearls ! * 
 
 * All my daughters' marriages were of a most romantic nature : the particu- 
 ars I shall ncount in my Life. Charlotte was educated by her husband at a 
 
22 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 I will now introduce a little episode that happened 
 when I was between eleven and twelve years of a^e, 
 which was symbolical of all my future life. When a 
 child, I had the greatest horror of a needle and thread, 
 and books of every kind were distasteful to me ; hut, 
 of a poetical nature, the first thing I ever learned of 
 my own accord was Byron's " Prisoner of Chillon." 
 I thought it so melancholy and so touchingly beautiful, 
 and I read it so often, that I quite astonished my 
 mother by reciting it one evening at a party. My 
 dislike to every kind of lesson grieved her sadly. I 
 used to spend many hours daily on the beach, looking 
 at the majestic rocks, and the shining, sparkling, silvery 
 spray dashing against them in its luminous splendor, 
 changing into so many different colors, and glittering 
 like precious gems in the sunlight ; wondering at every 
 thing and knowing nothing. One morning, to avoid 
 my lessons, I went forth earlier than usual to gather 
 shells. After a while I fell asleep. How long I re- 
 mained so I know not. When I awoke, I found my feet 
 in the water. I stood up in a state of great bewilderment, 
 and soon perceived that the path I had come down by 
 was not visible ; and I saw no means of escape ! I knew 
 
 boarding-school; she wanting twenty-eight days of being fourteen the morning 
 she became his wife. Any person doubting these statements can obtain a 
 certificate by enclosing two shillings and sixpence, English, with date, to the 
 places named. This last-mentioned alliance was iiuch against my witt, 
 although I was present at the wedding. I will explain hereafter. 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 23 
 
 it would be quite useless to cry for help, as there was 
 not even a habitation in sight. Suddenly I perceived a 
 long, narrow rock, almost perpendicular, that jutted out 
 from the cliff. I waded towards it; and, the nearer I 
 approached, the more impossible it seemed for me to 
 attempt to climb it. My case was desperate ; and, if I 
 did not act at once, I would be lost ! Death was 
 stretching out his arms to receive me in his embrace ; 
 so I made one bold effort, and mounted the rock. 
 There was a deep, stagnant pool of black water on one 
 side, and the sea was fast covering up the foot of the 
 rock on the other side, which was scarcely an inch 
 wider than my body ; so I put my arms round it, and 
 there I lay for some time, wondering what I should do. 
 Again my feet were in the water ; and I cried aloud to 
 God to help me in my despair, and give me strength of 
 mind and body. The sweat poured from my face, my 
 hair seemed as if it stood straight up upon my head ; 
 but God heard and ansivered the little girl's prayer. 
 All at once I perceived some green-looking stalks grow- 
 ing out of the side of the rock, where some earth had 
 fallen from the cliff; and, in stretching out my hand to 
 clutch at them, I found, that, in my agony, I still held 
 the pretty shells tightly clasped in my right hand. A 
 thought instantly seized me ; and I said within myself, 
 " If I throw away these shells, I can, with God's help, 
 get to the top of this rock, and then I shall be safe on 
 the land ! " I threw them away ; and, while doing so, I 
 
24 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS OAUSE ; 
 
 thought, " These pretty things are like the vanities of the 
 world : if we keep them in our hearts, as I did the 
 shells in my hand, we cannot get higher than we are ; 
 but, by throwing them away, we will get higher and 
 higher, and reach heaven at last." When, after nearly 
 an hour's exertion, inch by inch I gained the cliff, and 
 found myself once more safe on the ground, I fell 
 upon my knees, and sobbed forth a prayer of humble 
 gratitude to Him who had delivered me out of the jaws 
 of death ; which I can never forget while I retain my 
 senses. And many a time since, when my vicissitudes 
 have pressed heavily upon me, and my sorrows have 
 seemed, too weighty to bear, I remember my first 
 agonizing trial, and my FAITH THEN ; and I am angry 
 with myself for daring to doubt the Crod who heard the 
 cry of the young child upon the rock. Reader, this 
 incident has indeed been a foreshadow of my strange 
 life : and, believe me, the rock of virtue is hard to climb 
 in this heartless world, with the dark abyss of poverty 
 on one side, and the flashing, gorgeous, magnificent, 
 dangerous sea of temptation on the other side ; and 
 nothing but remembering the blessed precepts of a good 
 mother, and asking for an increase of faith and strength 
 from an all-powerful God, has saved me from falling 
 into the black valley of destruction ! 
 
 As this is the conclusion of the first part of my little 
 book, and I have been speaking of the sea that had 
 nearly swallowed me up, I will insert a few lines written 
 by my mother to Mr. Stevens, the great mathematician. 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 25 
 
 author of " A New Table of Tides ; " by Grace Boyle, 
 late De la Hooke. 
 
 The tides' retreat, the waters' ebb and flow, 
 
 Their cause, their course, their seasons, thou canst know. 
 
 The moon, and he who as her god arose, 
 
 Her light, her life, yet subject to those laws < ; 
 
 Which thou hast shown in sweet attraction lies, 
 
 The eclipse, the full, their settings, and their rise, 
 
 All this is clear. But the great human tide 
 
 Of life, with all its cares, canst thou decide ? 
 
 Say, when at spring or neap, what governs there 
 
 In love or hate, in joy or in despair ? 
 
 And thou canst fathom, thou canst calculate, 
 
 What can retard, or what accelerate ; 
 
 Know well what depth the waters here or there ; 
 
 How much depends on sea, how much on air; 
 
 Say when the tide and under-currents meet ; 
 
 Sport with the secrets of the mighty deep ; 
 
 Know'st with exactness how the waters fill : 
 
 Yet canst not say how much of good or ill 
 
 In that small compass or that point of time ; 
 
 How much of pain or peace, or love or crime, 
 
 Commence or finish, flourish or decline. 
 
 The why and wherefore be it known to thee, 
 
 In air, in earth, in ocean, or in sea ; 
 
 But man's fixed fate or his free agency, 
 
 From the first breath to the last agony, 
 
 Here all is dark, or just but light to show 
 
 That earth is cursed, and man is born to woe. 
 
26 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 NOTE. Some persons have affected great astonishment at my 
 aristocratic relatives not assisting me in my arduous undertaking 
 to provide for so large a family. Do these people recollect that a 
 certain powerful writer, an American lady, was left a fair young 
 widow with two children, and lived in poverty a long time ; and, 
 when she applied to her brother to assist her with his influence in 
 publishing an article she had written, he refused her, and left her 
 to help herself as she could, and a stranger brought her talents 
 before the public, and she instantly met with well-merited success ? 
 However, when Gerald Noel Hoare, brother to the banker in London, 
 and cousin to the Rev. Baptist Noel, found out that my grandmother 
 was one of the Aclands, he did assist me regularly every week, and 
 was not ashamed that all his servants should know I was related to 
 him ; * and, during the illness of my beloved mother and child, he 
 visited us almost daily, which he continued up to the last week of my 
 stay in London, but said all aid would cease on my return to Ameri- 
 ca. It is quite a remarkable fact, that all Old-Country people have 
 an idea that you can get employment the moment you ask for it 
 here. Do my readers recollect, that, at the death of a wealthy man 
 recently, he left large bequests to strangers, yes, even titled men ; 
 and he an American ? and, to my ocular knowledge, there are near 
 relatives bearing his name, living in Boston, and a short distance 
 from it, advanced in years, and not ten dollars in reserve ; and 
 we need not travel far to find hundreds of such unnatural instances. 
 And again : people exclaim, " Why does not Mrs. G. W. Horr, your 
 sister of Athol, assist you (she has never had any children), and 
 your two brothers, one without a child ? " The only answer I shall 
 make in this book is, " My brother James does not believe in a God, 
 and, with the others, forgot one of the noblest and most self-sacri- 
 
 * He said he felt proud to find me so heroically battling and bearing my 
 poverty, and thought I did honor to the blood of my forefathers. 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 27 
 
 ficing women, their mother, in her decrepit old age ; never even 
 took the trouble to write to her, and never knew of two frightful 
 accidents that eventually caused her death." Header, wonder not 
 that these "good Samaritans" forgot their sister ! 
 
28 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 CHAPTER II.' 
 
 With Two Solid Questions : First, Are we to have Children, or not "? 
 with Comments on the Rev. Dr. Todd's Lecture on this Subject, 
 entitled, " Fashionable Murders." Second Question : Where are we 
 to put Children when we get them ? for every notice, where Apart- 
 ments are to let, is most emphatic, "No Children taken." One 
 Cause of the Increase of Crime. 
 
 THE Rev. Dr. Todd has written two of the finest, 
 most truthful, and godlike lectures I ever read, 
 one entitled " Fashionable Murders," and the other, 
 " A Cloud with a Dark Lining." The good man's ex- 
 poundings are excellent : his revelations with regard to 
 the determination that the Americans evince, not to have 
 children, is fearfully true ; more especially among the 
 women. He points out how, eventually, the wrath of 
 God will fall upon them for defying his omnipotent will. 
 All he says is so clearly drawn, and so faithfully illus- 
 trated, that he proves the holy bonds of marriage are 
 too often broken in consequence. Hence God's anger 
 is plain to be seen. He shows out all these truths so 
 clearly, yet scripturally, telling us to bear in mind that 
 children are " an heritage from the Lord," that the 
 modest woman can read it, and, if she is innocent of the 
 crime, without a blush upon her cheek. 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 29 
 
 I read a very able address delivered by Dr. Nathan 
 Allen of Lowell, Mass., at a meeting of the Social 
 Science Association, Boston, entitled " Wanted, More 
 Mothers." He remarks, " that the increase of population 
 for twenty-five years has been mainly in cities and 
 towns ; and it will be found to be largely made up of 
 foreign element: and in the smaller villages, chiefly 
 American, the stock has hardly increased at all." The 
 gentleman ends his lecture by saying, " that beneath all 
 the frivolousness and thoughtlessness which characterize 
 the fashionable women of America to-day, beneath 
 that artificial and unhealthy superficiality which has 
 been grafted upon them by unnatural and foreign influ- 
 ences, there is still a sterling sense of truth and right." 
 
 Reader, as an Englishwoman, I wish to make a few 
 comments upon the word " foreign." I never felt more 
 astonished in my life than when I first heard an Ameri- 
 can call me a foreigner, we, whom this nation actually 
 sprang from, and speaking our language from the first 
 up to the present moment. It seemed quite an enigma 
 to me. Now mark you, this gentleman contradicts him- 
 self; for he first says that the large cities and towns are 
 principally propagated ly foreigners, and then accuses 
 them of bringing these unnatural practices into the 
 country. Now, I think it would only have been fair for 
 him to have defined the nation or nations : therefore, as he 
 has not done so, I undertake to say that it is not the 
 English, Irish, Scotch, or Germans. Who then ? The 
 
30 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 French, whom the Americans fairly worship. Had the 
 English introduced this crime into the country, it would 
 have been eschewed instantly : for there is a class who 
 hate us most heartily ; and every thing to be appreci- 
 ated must be French, and from Paris. I said to a New- 
 York editor a short time since, "If there were two bridges 
 for you to cross over some dangerous precipice, and an 
 Englishman, out of sheer kindness, pointed out the safest 
 one, of his own constructing, you would choose the 
 rickety one, provided it was made by a Frenchman, 
 even at risk of breaking your neck." He laughed 
 heartily, and replied, " That's so." 
 
 When we were living in TarifFville, Conn., Mr. 
 Thomson sent up a clerk to his factory ; and his wife 
 gave herself great airs. And all the people there said 
 she was a perfect lady, and her manners were beautiful, 
 they were so French; and she could speak French. My 
 husband and I knew they were vulgar people ; but we 
 would have been called jealous if we had given our 
 opinion. We were nobody after this grand arrival. 
 
 Reader, where do you think the lady had been brought 
 up ? as a chambermaid in a French hotel. Remember, 
 I am speaking of your half-educated classes, your shod- 
 dyites; not of the highly-educated, intellectual, and 
 polished American. Let me quote a few lines writ- 
 ten by one of your whole-souled, large-brained, educated 
 women, Miss Leslie, who seems proud of the Saxon blood 
 in her veins. She is describing her feelings on leaving 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 31 
 
 England, and looking forward to her beloved American 
 home. She says, " While we sat on the sofa in the lesser 
 cabin, and looked up through the open skylight at the 
 stars that seemed flying over our heads, we talked of the 
 land we had so recently quitted. We talked of her 
 people, who, though differing from ours in a thousand 
 minute particulars, are still essentially the same. Our 
 laws, our institutions, our manners, and our customs are 
 derived from theirs. We are benefited by the same 
 arts; we are enlightened by the same sciences; their 
 noble and copious language is fortunately ours. Their 
 Shakspeare also belongs to us ; and we rejoice that we 
 can possess ourselves of his 4 thoughts that breathe, and 
 words that burn,' in all their original freshness and splen- 
 dor, unobscured by the mist of translation. Though the 
 ocean divides our dwelling-places, though the sword 
 and the cannon-shot have sundered the bonds that once 
 united us to her dominion, though the misrepresenta- 
 tions of travelling adventurers have done much to foster 
 mutual jealousies, still we share the pride of our parent 
 in the glorious beings she can number among the chil- 
 dren of her island-home ; " for " yet lives the blood of 
 England in our veins." 
 
 In this eloquent effusion, which evidently flows from a 
 great and generous mind, how clearly we can perceive 
 Miss Leslie's genuine love for her own country, by being 
 proud to claim or copy what is really great from the 
 mother-land ! But I must return to my subject. The 
 
32 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 learned gentleman goes on to say, " We find there are 
 absolutely more deaths than births among the strictly 
 American children : so that, aside from immigration, and 
 births of children of foreign parentage, the propagation 
 of Massachusetts is really decreasing. Another fact de- 
 veloped by report is, that whereas, in 1765, nearly one- 
 half of the propagation of Massachusetts was under fif-. 
 teen years of age, it is believed, that, at the present 
 time, not more than one-fifth of the purely American 
 population is under that age. In an equal number 
 of American and foreign families, the births will be 
 nearly three times as many in the latter as in the 
 former. In some of the old towns, the records of a 
 hundred years do not show a single instance of a 
 married couple without children. The New- York cen- 
 sus of 1865 shows, that, out of nine hundred and ninety- 
 three thousand two hundred and thirty-six married 
 women, one hundred and thirty-seven thousand seven 
 hundred and forty-five had no children, and three 
 hundred and thirty-three thousand only had one or two. 
 In the small town of Billerica, there are ninety families 
 with ten or more children ; five of these had fourteen, 
 and one twenty-one: the total in the ninety families 
 is ten hundred and ninety-three. The birth-rates show 
 that American families^ do not increase at all ; and the 
 inspection of the registration in other States shows that 
 the same remark applies to all." 
 
 In another part of his lecture, he thinks the brain 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 33 
 
 and nervous system has been too highly developed, and 
 altogether predominates. The effect of this is seen, he 
 continues, in the intense headaches with which our 
 women are now suffering. 
 
 I am sorry to differ with the doctor, who writes so many 
 good and excellent things ; but ray opinion is, that the tight 
 manner the women tie their hair back, stretching every 
 fibre of the scalp, which must be most painful ; then a large 
 bunch of horse-hair, and a switch resembling the tail of a 
 pony, is placed on the top of the head, which, of course, 
 must cause unnatural heat, is chiefly the reason of the 
 headaches referred to at the present time. I have fre- 
 quently seen the waterfall larger than the head itself! 
 And I much fear that the chief mental agony of the 
 masses of the young women of the present day is, who 
 shall have the largest possible waterfall, the smallest 
 bonnet, and make themselves the greatest fright. 
 
 Now, as these learned gentlemen have pointed out the 
 evil effects of defying God's holy ordinance, showing 
 that it not only undermines the woman's health, and 
 makes her prematurely old, but affects the temper of 
 the husband, that he becomes dyspeptic, ill-humored, and 
 his home any thing but agreeable to him, I ask how 
 we are to remedy this state of affairs ? My friends, it 
 must be done by the mothers. I think that mothers 
 ought to set to work and talk to their children, warning 
 them of the evils that they dream not of; more espe- 
 cially to the young married couples, or those contem- 
 
34 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 plating marriage. I have frequently heard women say, 
 *' I don't mind having one or two, but no more for me." 
 When I first heard these expressions, I thought it merely 
 a joke ; but eventually I found out they meant what 
 they said, and I was amazed. And, when these women 
 do condescend to' have one or two children, what sort 
 of a lifelong inheritance are they giving their offspring ? 
 ill-health even unto death. Frequently I come in con- 
 tact with women of thirty, and even twenty-five, so de- 
 bilitated, that they are far more fit for hospitals than to fill 
 the sacred office of either wife or mother. Sometimes, 
 when I feel disheartened with a continuation of my pe- 
 culiar trials, I remember these things, and fear that I 
 have not thanked God enough for the rich heritage my 
 parents left me (fine health), and for giving me the good 
 sense to make every effort to preserve it ; for much de- 
 pends upon ourselves, whether our health is good or oth- 
 erwise. I am now coming to the solution of the ques- 
 tion I just asked you : Are we to have children, or not ? 
 Now I am a going to ask you another question : What 
 are we to do with them when we get them ? and where 
 are we to put them ? I feel quite certain that the 
 wealthy portion of the community, and even those in 
 easy circumstances, have not the least idea what poor 
 gentility suffers, ladies with decayed means, large 
 families, and small purses ; women who have not defied 
 God's holy ordinance, but met it bravely, and accepted 
 children as an heritage from him, in face of the most 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 35 
 
 disheartening obstacles. It is the women whose earliest 
 social position was refinement, that suffer the most when 
 the tyrant poverty lays his iron grasp upon them ; 
 not those " born in a garret, and in a kitchen bred ; " 
 not those who elbow and fight their way through the 
 crowd for the ton of coals, and the dollar-a-week chari- 
 ties ; not those who dress themselves for the occasion, 
 and go forth with the doleful whine of begging upon 
 their lips; not those who may have one or ten chil- 
 dren, and can get dwelling-places at any hour among 
 their fellows. No, no ! these are not the greatest suf- 
 ferers. It is the class, who, when trying to get into 
 respectable houses in a nice street, have the door shut in 
 their faces when " Yes" is the response to the ques- 
 tion, "Have you any children?" It is the high- 
 minded, high-principled men and women, who do not 
 wish to exceed their means, however small, and put up 
 with many a scanty meal to make a genteel appearance, 
 that are the greatest sufferers. 
 
 I have known women who have walked day following 
 day, for two weeks, unable to get a desirable place, un- 
 less they could afford to pay twenty-five or thirty dollars 
 a month. But let a finely-dressed woman go, with a man 
 by her side, * no matter whether he is her husband or 
 not ; that makes no difference : she may call him her 
 brother, or a very particular friend, she will be taken in 
 instantly, and no questions asked ; that is, if she pays 
 her money- down, and answers "No " to the only ques- 
 
36 
 
 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 tion, " Have you any children ? " Of course, there are 
 exceptions in this state of affairs, as in every thing else ; 
 but rare indeed are they. Since I left Boston, three 
 years ago, I have lived in furnished apartments, in board- 
 ing-houses, and in rooms that I furnished myself: and, 
 out of the six different places, five had " kept women " in 
 them ; but they had no children, and plenty of money. 
 It is just the same in Boston. On all the bills you see 
 posted up, you will find a most emphatic notice, "No 
 children taken." One day, I counted seven places in 
 " The Herald." This state of things is one great cause 
 of the " increase of crime." Had the Rev. Dr. Todd said 
 that child- murder* took place only among the genteel 
 class of poor, there would have been a little excuse ; for 
 respectable women, and poor gentlewomen who dare to 
 have children, are compelled to live under the same 
 roof with this fulsome class, or go in some dirty street 
 with a grade of persons whose manners, tastes, and cus- 
 toms are revolting to them, persons who wonder what 
 they mean by coming there, and look upon them with 
 suspicion ; and when they find out there is no husband 
 
 * I am sorry to add, that this crime is carried on to the greatest extent among 
 the wealthy. In Cambridgeport, a medical lady informed me that she was con- 
 tinually applied to for this purpose, and always refused in the most decided 
 manner; but, to her knowledge, one woman performed, on an average, from a 
 hundred to a hundred and fifty cases in a week. And yet churches abound in 
 this place I In my " Life," I shall give a description of these different houses 
 that the world think respectable, judging from the outside. Dr. Kent's, Mrs. 
 More's and Lewis's will figure most conspicuously. This is the only way to 
 eradicate degradation, exposing itJ 
 

 WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 37 
 
 or man in the family, and that they display no gossipping 
 curiosity about their neighbors' affairs, but keep their own 
 apartment, and that their children are not allowed to play 
 in the street, then, in undertones at first, she is called " the 
 grand lady," in derision, and eventually made a very 
 u target " for this herd to shoot their venomous, serpent- 
 like tongues at. God help all the poor ! but, more espe- 
 cially, those who resist temptation, those who cannot 
 be even starved into crime; those who do not accept 
 the wages of sin ; those who, though rebellious at 
 times, through a continuation of sorrow look beyond 
 this world, and pray for a continuation of faith, endeav- 
 oring with a true Christian spirit to say, " Thy will be 
 done." This kind of poor very few think about. Let 
 there be houses built, with fine ventilation, for each 
 class of poor (as far separate as possible), at moderate 
 rents, and have written in large letters, " No persons 
 taken in this house without children," and there will 
 speedily be a VISIBLE decrease in crime ! I 
 
 NOTE. Speaking of having children reminds me of a circum- 
 stance that happened some fifteen years ago. I had a letter of intro- 
 duction to a lady who wished to engage my children to read at a 
 party she was about to give. She received me with an air of melan- 
 choly politeness, at the same time informing me that the gathering 
 was postponed, as dear little Fanny was " real sick." I saw a wine- 
 glass and teaspoon on the table by the side of the sofa, which had 
 a small blanket on it bound with sky-blue ribbon^ covering up some- 
 thing that I supposed to be a sick child. I approached, and gently 
 
38 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 drew aside the blanket. I jumped back it was a poodle-dog, 
 whose black eyes winked at me as if about to cry : a sort of appeal 
 for sympathy shone in its glowing orbs. I was almost convulsed 
 with laughter, it was so unexpected. When able to speak, I said, 
 " Pardon me, madam, for laughing ; but I thought it was a baby." 
 She replied indignantly, " Oh, dear, no ! I never had a baby ; nor 
 I don't want one either ! " And it would be a blessing, I say, if 
 such women as these never became mothers. When I was a young 
 girl, and heard people say they hated children, and saw them fon- 
 dling dogs, and feeding kittens with a spoon because the old cat was 
 too weak to attend to so many, and knew, at the same time, that 
 poor human mothers were compelled (just as slaves once were) to 
 separate from their husbands and children when poverty demanded 
 that they should go into the " Union" or, rather, Disunion, I 
 say, when I pondered on these things, thoughts would flit through 
 my mind, whether, when death severed the body from the souls of 
 these people, that their spirits were not instantly infused into cats 
 and dogs, and that they came back in those shapes as a penance 
 for their brutality to mankind, and their loving-ldndness to brutes. 
 However, we never went to the party. The woman remarked to 
 a friend, that she thought me devoid of all feeling, to laugh at a 
 little, sick, innocent dog. 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 39 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Shows the Evil Effect of Coal Gas, Police Gas, and Woman's Gas, 
 with Two Solid Questions: First, Is it not the Love of Fame, in 
 Ninety-nine Cases out of a Hundred, that induces Women to ask 
 for Men's Rights ? Second Question : Ought We not to cultivate 
 Health, and make this Subject one of the Chief Branches of Edu- 
 cation in the Public Schools? which would prove a Sure Step 
 towards decreasing Crime. 
 
 I THINK, after all the lengthy comments about my- 
 self and children concerning the supposed poison- 
 ing case that took place two years ago last December, it be- 
 hooves me, as a duty I owe to myself, to society, and, more 
 than either, to the sympathizing friends that tendered 
 their services and aided me in that hour of trial, to state 
 facts. I wish to show off a few persons in their true 
 colors. I wish to show how fine dress and ditto furni- 
 ture become mighty, and overpowers right, be it ever so 
 right, bright be a woman clad in the seedy cloak of pov- 
 erty. I told you that I am not what is termed a " wo- 
 man's-rights" woman ; but I am for women of every age, 
 grade, and color, being protected to the uttermost point 
 of justice. And it is too evident, that women's proper 
 
40 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 rights are sadly neglected in the present day : hence 
 one reason why so many ladies are trying to jump into 
 men's boots for protection! Still, you gentlemen must not 
 laugh too much at women who seek refuge in bloomer 
 costume, as Jefferson Davis is not the first man who has 
 sought protection in woman's petticoats, boots and all ; 
 for, in olden times, several instances are recorded of de- 
 voted wives emancipating their husbands from the brutal 
 tyranny of some despotic monarch by 'the aid of a wo- 
 man's dress, which clearly proves that we will fly from op- 
 pression to places, that, under other circumstances, would 
 be distasteful to us. As I sat reading the different pa- 
 pers, with their contradictory statements about us, I 
 thought how little we can depend on the news of the 
 day from newspapers, if they usually recapitulate and 
 represent them in the manner that this said affair has 
 been done.* One paper said I had been an actress of 
 celebrity ; and I was never on the stage in my life. I do 
 not say this disparagingly , remember, but simply because 
 it is the truth ; for I firmly believe there are many 
 excellent women at this time before the public in that 
 capacity, and I finish a small piece I wrote for one of 
 my children, saying, 
 
 Why should a woman be stigmatized for going on the 
 
 stage ? more especially in this enlightened age, when 
 
 % 
 
 * The depraved women, Elliott and Smith, with their Confederate officer, 
 Gttlan, were the inventors of these fabrications, and took much pleasure in in- 
 forming the reporters from time to time, who, of course, believed them. 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 41 
 
 the daily papers inform us, page by page, that thousands 
 are divorced who never trod the stage, without poverty, 
 and starving little ones to tempt them to any ill, but 
 merely their own OVER-FED voluptuous will. I say no 
 matter what our calling may be in our short lives, if we 
 do our duty to our children, and to our husbands prove 
 faithful, loving wives. 
 
 But I decidedly would not wish a daughter of mine to 
 receive her social education from that source, or cultivate 
 her ideas of good and evil from the ACTING of the moral 
 drama. George Stevenson worked under ground as a 
 miner in the very noontide of his life ; and eventual- 
 ly his genuis shone out from beneath that grovelling ob- 
 scurity. And, in after-years, he was honored and re- 
 spected by every class, and has been the guest of nearly 
 all the crowned heads in Europe. Still, reader, neither 
 you nor I would like to put our children in such a place 
 to receive their education, either morally or scholastically. 
 A flush paper printed the most hideous pictures of us, 
 and stated that I was far advanced in years, and a poor, 
 EMACIATED looking creature. I WEIGH ONE HUNDRED 
 AND SEVENTY-SEVEN pounds ! ! * I am certainly some- 
 
 * In this trouble, there were two ladies from the Fifth Avenue, called Irvin. 
 They went to five different houses in their carriage, to inquire? about me, and 
 wishing to see me. A lady begged me, if I did not go myself, to let my children 
 call; and I did. One of them, on seeing Grace and Myrtle, cried " Oh, my 1 you 
 are quite fat : I thought you were almost skeletons. Tell your mother to come 
 and see us." I laughed heartily at the comments of these Pharisees; and you 
 may depend I did not call, for I felt certain that they would have suggested my 
 
42 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; - 
 
 thing over forty years, but think, as long as my physical 
 and mental powers remain healthy, I am decidedly not old. 
 I have seen men and women at sixty, fine, hale, and 
 hearty ; and I have seen both sexes at twenty-eight and 
 thirty look as if it was high time for them to make their 
 WILLS, if they had any thing to leave. Health, in my 
 estimation, is beyond the wealth of the universe ; and, 
 depend upon it, however fertile your brain may be, health 
 will always help to enrich the fruit that falls therefrom. 
 On Friday evening, the 13th of December, 1867, I 
 walked from Amity Place to Thirty-sixth Street, with 
 Daniel and Myrtle, to a temperance meeting. He was 
 to deliver a lecture, and she to sing. It was a bitter 
 night. 
 
 I had on thin gaiters, not fit for the inclement weather, 
 as the snow lay deep upon the ground. So severe was 
 the night, that scarcely anybody was there ; and the 
 president engaged me to address the ladies' meeting the 
 following Friday. We rode home ; but my feet were 
 wet, and I felt chilled. As I left the car, I said, " Daniel, 
 I feel death-struck," little dreaming how soon my 
 words were nearly verified. On entering my apart- 
 ments, three in number, I remarked to my children 
 what a horrible smell of gas there was ; and I left the 
 doors open for some time, as we could not raise the 
 
 exhibiting myself at Barnum's as a fat woman. These creatures, after all their 
 parade, did not even sell a ticket for my entertainment I gave at Steinway 
 Hall. 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 43 
 
 windows, they were so completely wedged down with 
 ice. I felt very ill all night. I felt as if I had been 
 beaten all over. I lay in bed the next day till noon, 
 and then told Daniel to take his bed into the kitchen, 
 and lay it on a lounge, so that I might be near the 
 stove, where there was a large fire. He then went for 
 some hartshorn and sweet oil. And after I had been 
 rubbed alternately by my children, and covered up with 
 blankets, I dozed off to sleep ; and I remembered noth- 
 ing more until, the next day, I found myself in the 
 Bellevue Hospital. It seems, that, when Daniel thought 
 I was asleep, he closed the door, and told the other chil- 
 dren not on any account to disturb me. He went out, 
 and brought home some food for their supper, and finding 
 me very comfortably asleep, as he thought, took all the 
 covers off the stove, and cooked the meat, but omitted 
 to put them on again. After they had finished eating, 
 they shut themselves in with me, and began playing 
 " store." They all say that they remember feeling very 
 sleepy ; and Willie, my youngest child, came and lay by 
 me on the bed, and the others played on the floor until 
 they imperceptibly fell off to sleep. They had a faint 
 recollection of hearing me moan, and trying to rise and 
 help me, but could not. After this, they remember 
 nothing until they found themselves surrounded by 
 many people, and two doctors with me, using every 
 effort to restore me, without any apparent success. Dr. 
 Perry, the first called in, has told me since, that full 
 
44 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 three-quarters of an hour passed before he saw the 
 slightest sign of animation. My appearance was quite 
 torpid. Whenever he hears me laugh, he invariably 
 remarks, " If anybody had told me I would ever hear 
 you laugh so merrily, I would have said it was impos- 
 sible." Daniel, Grace, and Myrtle had their senses in 
 about a quarter of an hour, with rubbing and air ; 
 Willie, longer : but none of my children, from the first, 
 had the livid appearance that I had. It is not to be 
 supposed that they would, as I had been in the room 
 from Saturday, 12, A.M., until nearly 2, A.M., on Sun- 
 day, without air, only the opening and the closing of 
 the door occasionally. Willie, in struggling through the 
 suffocation, had thrown one of his legs across the lower 
 part of the stove, in front of the fire, and burnt it se- 
 verely, which kept him in the hospital for three months 
 subsequently. 
 
 I have no doubt some of my readers remember (about 
 four years ago) of a wealthy family in Brooklyn, who 
 had been removing, and the hour being late, and the 
 weather cold, several members slept in one room, with 
 a stove in it ; and, to produce a greater heat, they took 
 the lids off. In the morning, three persons were found 
 dead, and the others nearly so. Each New-Yorker that 
 I have recalled this circumstance to remembers it per- 
 fectly well. The Rev. Dr. McJilton, of Baltimore, stated 
 to me the following fact, and has permitted me to use his 
 name. A colored man-servant belonging to this gentle- 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 45 
 
 man slept in a room detached from the house. One 
 morning, not seeing him, as usual, at his work, he went 
 to his room ; and, on opening the door, he found the man 
 apparently in the last struggles of death. Everybody 
 rushed instantly to try and relieve the sufferer. Mustard, 
 stimulants, indeed, every thing that could be thought of, 
 was resorted to, and with but little success. A doctor 
 was sent for ; and, notwithstanding all that was done, it 
 was three weeks before he could resume his usual em- 
 ployment. The man informed the doctor that he had 
 uncovered the stove to make the room warm, as the 
 night was bitterly cold. Since I have returned to Bos- 
 ton, I read in " The Herald," " John Cornish and his 
 wife Bridget, who occupy a room at 61 Salem Street, 
 went to bed last night with a coal-fire in the stove, leav- 
 ing the outlet-damper shut, and the cover off the stove. 
 Late in the evening, the occupants of another room 
 heard groans, and, on going in, found Cornish on the 
 bed, and his wife on the floor, both insensible. Dr. 
 McDonald was called, and restored the parties to con- 
 sciousness, after some trouble." 
 
 Such knowledge of the evil effects of gas ought to 
 be a warning to all of us. I imagine that I suffered 
 more than many women would have done under the 
 same circumstances, because I have accustomed myself, 
 all my life, to partake very freely of fresh air, both day 
 and night. I am sure some persons have thought me 
 to use their own term " crazy" on finding my window 
 
46 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 open, no matter how bitter the weather might be. For 
 I always had an instinctive idea, without one particle 
 of scientific knowledge, that we require more air when 
 asleep, when all our powers are lying comparatively 
 dormant, than we do when every artery and muscle of 
 the body is in action ; and, strange to say, I found my 
 theory corroborated, a short time ago, in the London 
 " Public Opinion," headed, " Sleeping-Rooms." It 
 said, 
 
 " The rooms we sleep in should never shut out the 
 fresh, pure air. A sleeping person consumes two hogs- 
 heads of air in an hour, that is, deprives it of all its 
 oxygen, and replaces it with carbonic-acid gas, which is 
 a negative poison ; leaving it so destitute of life-giving 
 property, that the person breathing it will die in a short 
 time, in an hour sometimes. It follows, therefore, 
 that, unless the room be larger than most of those found 
 in dwelling-houses and hotels, there should be thorough 
 ventilation." 
 
 " Currents of air," says the correspondent of an 
 American paper, " must be avoided : hence the bed 
 should be so located in the room, that they may not 
 pass over the sleeper. If there be a single window, it 
 is often well to raise the lower sash a little, and lower 
 a few inches the upper sash. In this way, the current 
 is confined to the window, while it keeps the air per- 
 fectly fresh." 
 
 So, reader, you perceive that my intuitive idea, com- 
 bined with experience, was correct. 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 47 
 
 Health is appreciated much more among the English 
 (even sometimes at the expense of comfort) than the 
 Americans, or, indeed, I may add, any other nation 
 I have come in contact with. If you speak of some 
 new invention, even to an ignorant English person, the 
 first inquiry will be, Is it healthy ? The hot air from 
 the furnace, that is used almost wholly in this country, 
 I think horrible. I very nearly became a wrinkled old 
 woman in two months from its effect. My skin was 
 dry, my lips parched, and I had the headache, with hot 
 eyes, which alarmed me ; for I had never been tor- 
 tured by this terrible pain previously, not ten times in 
 my whole life ! ! And, poor as I am, I would not accept 
 a fine house, rent free, if, into the bargain, I was com- 
 pelled to have hot air, so much do I value our health. 
 And I have always tried to impress on my children's 
 mind, that there are two articles that neither the wealth 
 of Croesus nor the power of Midas can repurchase if once 
 lost; and these are health and intellect. Man can ac- 
 quire riches, but these two blessings come direct from 
 Grod ; and it ought to be considered a religious duty to 
 preserve the one and cultivate the other. The impor- 
 tance of health ought to be one of the principal studies 
 in our public schools and at home, instead of a taste for 
 fine dress and jewelry ; and then there would be less 
 misery and degradation in society, and, consequently, 
 crime would decrease. 
 
 While I am on this subject of health, which ought to 
 
48 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE. 
 
 be an interesting theme to every man and woman, and 
 more so to mothers, I will show yon how the evil effects 
 of foul air was made manifest once before in my own 
 family. I went to England with six children, eighteen 
 months before the war broke out, on a visit to my aged 
 mother. As Daniel was not four years old, my friends 
 deemed it prudent for me to leave two younger children 
 than he in America ; for, by the time I was quite settled 
 in England, I would have one still younger to care for. 
 I have always been paid tremendous compliments by the 
 "faculty" both in London and this country, about the 
 fine health of my children, and about their fine, broad 
 chests, and straight, well-developed legs ; for almost all 
 medical men think that the MOTHER has much to do with 
 these things (s0 do I). I left two of these fine speci- 
 mens of American-born children in this country ; and 
 I was frequently both pained and astonished, while in 
 England, to learn that my babies, more or less, were 
 always suffering from some kind of illness, and that 
 medical aid had to be called to attend to them. I did 
 not return at the appointed time, as my husband wrote 
 there was a rumor of war, and that I had better remain 
 where I was until he heard what was likely to be the 
 issue of the report. We all know what the report ended 
 in ; and I did not return to the States until I heard of 
 my husband's death in the Union army. Then I deter- 
 mined to come over for my children. I had been away 
 nearly six years ; and God only knows how I yearned 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 49 
 
 to embrace them. And when I beheld the two living, 
 livid skeletons that were put before me as mine, I thought 
 I would have fainted. I was speechless. I do not wish 
 my readers to be impressed with the idea that these 
 children had been maltreated by the persons with whom 
 I had left them, but simply of the people's utter igno- 
 rance that fresh air is of as much importance to chil- 
 dren's health, as wholesome food, fine out-door exercise, 
 and retiring at an early and regular hour is, to all young 
 people who wish to lay the foundation to a fine consti^ 
 tution. When I saw the room that my children had 
 slept in, I no longer marvelled that my two little girls, 
 whom I had left looking as if Hygeia presided over 
 them, were turned into shadows. Every thing was 
 scrupulously clean, but scarcely any ventilation. 
 
 The confined atmosphere in these dark bed-rooms* 
 usually found in tenant-houses, if not speedily improved; 
 upon, or, rather, removed entirely, will be a frightful 
 barrier to the working-classes keeping in fine health, . 
 the very men who most require physical power, conse- 
 quently can least afford to lose it. Stalwart men, with: 
 herculean strength, will soon droop, unless they are 
 allowed to have their houses more fitted to receive the 
 fine air and the refreshing and bracing breeze that God 
 disseminates throughout the universe for all mankind, 
 whether the poor woman, with her iron crook, who rakes 
 
 * These people paid seventeen dollars a month for their rooms, 
 4 
 
50 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 every morning for cinders, or the fine lacty riding in her 
 carriage ornamented with gold. And the public know of 
 the existences of these evils for years past, and still permit 
 landlords to build the same kind of houses; and people 
 flock into them, simply because they have no choice. I 
 wish some of you women's-rights women would stir this 
 question up in your club-rooms. My children have been 
 with me now six years, and during that time I have not 
 had a medical man to either of them ; and, although 
 they do not yet look as plump and robust as they once 
 did, it is impossible for them to be in finer health than 
 they are at this moment. Fine appetites, fine lungs, 
 fine DIGESTIVE powers : in fact, the LATTER organs are in 
 such fine order that their food is oftentimes digested be- 
 fore I have the means to REPLENISH the vacuum ! These 
 illustrations will clearly demonstrate to thinking women, 
 that, when we become mothers, our chief study should 
 be the health and education of those whom God has 
 permitted us to bring into life. I cut out a piece from 
 a paper a short time since, headed " Our Children." It 
 said, " The subject of rearing children is of more conse- 
 quence than of gaining honor, distinction, or wealth. 
 It outweighs all others. It ought to be studied more 
 deeply than any profession or business. We ought to 
 be more interested in it than in any thing else we do. 
 We must produce a revolution in this matter. Rearing 
 children must be made a study. Nothing can be so 
 interesting or instructive. The father or the mother 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 51 
 
 who knows how to properly rear and educate a family 
 is greatly wiser than any professor." I agree with every 
 word of these sentiments, and would like to know the 
 author. 
 
 When I say education, I am not speaking of scho- 
 lastic education ; for I have known persons thoroughly 
 educated who had no idea how to impart their knowl- 
 edge to others. This talent is a natural power, and 
 without it I would never allow a man or woman to be- 
 come a teacher, if I had my will in the matter. It is 
 too often the incapability of the teacher that makes 
 children dread going to school ; for a great portion of 
 them take no interest in their work. They give children 
 five or six long lessons to learn verbatim, of which they 
 don't understand one-half, although they may be perfect 
 to the letter; and many tractable and intelligent chil- 
 dren shed the bitterest tears over this mode of being 
 educated ! First make the children good readers. Let 
 the teacher read with them, and explain as they go on, 
 and they will find out, at the end of three months, the 
 children will know more of the sense of the matter that 
 they have been reading about than they would in a year 
 by making them learn by heart. I know this by experi- 
 ence. I have tried both plans. But, as I just now 
 remarked, I am not speaking of scholastic education to 
 mothers. I am speaking of the social education of the 
 heart, and of the training of the principles of their chil- 
 dren, and the expanding of their minds. These occupa- 
 
52 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 tions are far more befitting women than VOTING at poll- 
 stands, pleading in laiu-courts, or holding forth in club- 
 rooms! Home is. the proper place for mothers.* No 
 person knows this fact better than I do. I would like 
 some of these women to know (if it is possible for them 
 to feel) the agony a true mother must suffer to leave 
 babes a month old on the breast of a stranger, and go 
 hundreds of miles AWAY to earn food for them! I would 
 like some of these women to know what it was to leave 
 a darling child on her last bed to go over London Bridge 
 on a snowy night in December, to give an entertainment, 
 that she should have all she wanted ; and her crying, 
 "Where's mamma?" Oh! I am so disgusted with 
 these unnatural women ! Poverty compelled me to suc- 
 cumb; but was I not out of my sphere? Oh, yes ! re- 
 sponds every CHRISTIAN MOTHER. 
 
 It is fame such women are rushing after, and not to 
 ameliorate the condition of their less fortunate sisters. 
 
 * A lady who writes a long communication to " The St. Paul Press," in op- 
 position to female claims for the ballot, growing very enthusiastic towards 
 the close, breaks out into parodic poetry, of which the following verse is a cap- 
 ital specimen : 
 
 " The ' vote ' that all are praising 
 
 Is not the vote for me : 
 Its claims are so amazing, 
 
 I'd rather far be free. 
 But there's a vote in yonder crib, 
 A baby-vote, cjear, shrill, and glib : 
 Tliat vote is worth the raising; 
 And that's the vote for me ! 
 Oh, that's the vote for me ! " 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 53 
 
 This thirst for fame, in some people, is not to be 
 quenched ; and too often both men and women are no- 
 ticed in the most flattering manner, that really do not de- 
 serve it. This knowledge gave me the ideas that headed 
 an article of mine, two years ago, in a Boston paper, on 
 the poverty in England, entitled " The Brute and the 
 Man." 
 
 Fame, fame, courted fame I 
 
 After all thou'rt but a name 
 
 That many miscreants do claim, 
 
 Who should have worn an IRON chain. 
 
 One-half the men called philanthropic, 
 
 Whose every deed and saying is made the topic 
 
 From rostrums, pulpits of the day, 
 Should some of their deeds be brought to light, 
 We'd scarcely bear them in our sight, 
 
 But SHRINK FROM them away. 
 
 I have seen life in all its phases, and I have mixed 
 with women of every grade and position ; that is, I mean 
 I have come in contact with them. Lavater says, that, 
 whatever class we mix among, we look like them after 
 a time, /differ from him, not after the mind is formed ; 
 and, before we assimilate in our outward appearance, 
 there must be a congeniality internally. I have mixed 
 with rich and poor, wicked and good, with the educated 
 and the ignorant : and I have come to the conclusion, 
 after close observation, that the frailties of humanity 
 are as deeply rooted in one class as in the other, when 
 
54 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 the heart is naturally depraved ; and the high and the 
 low are more nearly allied than we generally think.* 
 Who is it that dresses the unfortunate women in the 
 street? The higher classes! Who is it furnishes the 
 gorgeous houses of depravity? The higher classes! 
 Who is it that can sell and buy rum with impunity? 
 The higher classes ! I know people that laugh at the 
 prohibitory law, just passed in Boston, and can pur- 
 chase gallons with impunity, because they have wealth ; 
 and poor Biddy O'Flanigan or Mike Flinn will be 
 made to pay for daring to infringe upon the law by 
 selling one glass I O most noble law ! Well may Ward 
 Beecher exclaim from his pulpit, " Justice stinks ! " I 
 would admire the law that does away with this traffic, 
 if it was universal, but not when it confines itself to the 
 poorer classes only. This fact renders it detestable. 
 
 A good standing in society, good breeding, and a good 
 education, with plenty of money, too frequently hide 
 deeds, that, if perpetrated by the poor uncultured man, 
 are laid bare to the public eye in all their revolting 
 hideousness. We have our women's-rights women in 
 every grade, among our Bettys and our Bridgets, 
 our ladies and our working-girls, women who say, 
 u I'll let you know who's master here," and order men 
 in the shape of husbands about as if they were dogs ; 
 
 * Still, with all my experience and mixings, I must candidly acknowledge 
 my preference to come in contact with refined wickedness, rather than the 
 uncultured brute. 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 55 
 
 and, for a quiet life, the TAME creature obeys, and barks 
 not. There are thousands of such "STRONG-MINDED" 
 ladies in every class, showing that these sentiments are 
 not all indicative of either high intellect, high breeding, 
 or in any way of womanly superiority. This thirsting 
 for supremacy, fame, and mens rights, is to be found 
 among the high and the LOW, revealing to us, that behind 
 the screens of wealth, education, and rank, dwells t\\epoor, 
 .frail human mind, in the millionnaire just as in the 
 beggar, showing that TRUE MOTHERS are required TO- 
 DAY far more than ballot ! 
 
 I know women who have been thirsting for fame 
 all their lives as authoresses, and have received the 
 required adulation from a certain class ; and, although 
 they have grown old and gray, they thirst on for " more 
 fame," and it would have been a charity to the public 
 if all they had written had been burnt instead of print- 
 ed. I have been at parties among the elite, and I have 
 seen the lady who invited me in an agonizing state of 
 mind because she had heard that Mrs. P.'s soiree was 
 more crowded than hers, and that the rich, reigning 
 belle of the season was there, who had declined her invi- 
 tation. " More fame!" I have seen a woman sur- 
 rounded by every luxury, sometimes pacing the room, 
 then sitting swaying herself back and forward, and tap- 
 ping her foot on the floor, apparently suffering from 
 some heart-rending trouble, just as I have seen some be- 
 reaved widow do ; and, upon inquiring the cause, I 
 
56 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 found out it was the state of wretched uncertainty she 
 was in, not yet having decided what DRESS she should- 
 wear to the opera ! because she was famed for her superb 
 wardrobe, and thirsted for fame, more fame! 
 
 I never felt prouder than when I perceived, as my 
 daughters approached womanhood, their utter distaste 
 to public life, notwithstanding, when they appeared, the 
 principal American, London, Edinburgh, and Toronto 
 papers spoke more highly of their genius * than my 
 fondest hopes had ever anticipated. The late Gen. 
 Morris heard them at Gen. Scott's, and a few days 
 after, in his " Home Journal," wrote a most flattering 
 criticism on their powers as readers from the " mighty 
 Bard," and pronounced them u patterns for children of a 
 larger growth." In New York for years they read at 
 all the principal schools, two or three times each season 
 
 * " The New- York Tribune," in a long article at the time of the gas catas- 
 trophe, said, " Daniel, Grace, Myrtle, and William were genteel, well-bred, and 
 sweet-mannered children. Daniel's features were singularly intelligent; his 
 declamatory powers were extraordinary; and, when he recited from Shakspcare, 
 his young face became beautiful with a precocious comprehension of the author's 
 meaning. The Httle girls sang sweetly, and were much caressed. Thoy are the 
 brothers and sisters of the distinguished l Boone children,' 1 who some years ago 
 flashed in triumph through the United States, evoking admiration from the 
 most critical auditors, and caustic pens." A few days before we went to Eng- 
 land, in 185S, my two daughters gave a farewell reading. " The New-York 
 Times," after speaking highly of the whole, ended by saying, " We never heard 
 Willis's ' Leper ' read so perfectly as it was by Lora Gordon Boone." She was 
 thirteen years of age at that time. I wish my readers to know, that, notwith- 
 standing the precocious relish God gave my children for this sublime art, they 
 retained all the joyous glee and freshness of happy childhood, which kept the 
 bloom upon their cheeks, and a healthy sparkle in their eye. 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 57 
 
 at each school ; and, when in Toronto, the Lady May- 
 oress sang for me, the Hon. Mrs. Vancouglmet played 
 the piano for me, and Mrs. Davison Murrie had a stage 
 erected in her drawing-room, and the very elite were 
 there ; and my cousin, Anna Otter, wrote to her father, 
 the Rev. James De la Hooke (referred to before) , in Eng- 
 land, that she had never known " public people " taken 
 such notice of in Toronto before. All the first families 
 called on me ; and the colonel of one of the stationary 
 regiments there sent a portion of his band to perform at 
 my entertainment. 
 
 In Washington, these little girls read before the 
 President, Mrs. Pierce, and Cabinet. Fremont pre- 
 sented them with a beautiful bouquet. And, at another 
 time, Bancroft, after hearing them in Broadway, New 
 York, came forward, giving them some beautiful flow- 
 ers, and, taking their hands, said, " My sweet little girls, 
 I never heard any thing like you." The day following, 
 "The Herald" remarked, that "the Chinese Assembly 
 Rooms were crowded with a most fashionable audience, 
 chiefly ladies, to listen to the reading of those phenom- 
 ena, ' The Boone Children ; ' : ' and I could name hun- 
 dreds of such instances of such attentions, as we passed 
 through the States. 
 
 While my children were before the public, they had 
 two hundred and ten elegant books presented them ; and 
 rings, bracelets, lockets, were sent continually. I, being 
 their sole teacher, of course felt flattered. Yet I was 
 
58 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 glad to find all that I had tried to impress upon their 
 childish minds had taken deep root ; and they thought, 
 with ME, that a woman never looks so lovely, so truly 
 great, so fascinating, and so really beautiful and useful, 
 as when in her OWN house, surrounded by her children, 
 giving them what instruction she is capable of, or devis- 
 ing some plan of intellectual entertainment. Depend 
 on it, men and women, that this is the GRANDEST position 
 in this terrestrial world for a WOMAN, and this home-audi- 
 ence is nearer and sweeter to the affectionate heart of a 
 mother whose brain is properly developed than all the 
 applause and flatteries that the outer world can bestow. 
 It is among the household congregation where woman's 
 influence can achieve so much, and reign paramount ; not 
 the court-room, the pulpit, nor the rostrum. 
 
 There is much we women can do for society without 
 being lawyers, parsons, soldiers, sailors, railroad-conduct- 
 ors, firemen, engineers, street-pavers, or coal-carriers; 
 and I affirm that all women who want the privilege of 
 men, each of them according to their education, should 
 be made to accept one of these prominent positions. I 
 approve of women-doctors, not from affectation and 
 mock-modesty ; for I decidedly think there was more of 
 this genuine and beautiful trait of manly and womanly 
 purity in our grandmothers' days than in the present age. 
 But I am of opinion, that when women understand 
 anatomy, and become aware of the evil effects that the 
 present mode of treatment has on their system, and how 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 59 
 
 antagonistic many of the present customs are to fine 
 health, we will have in another generation or two prop- 
 QY\J -developed women, who will not be afraid that hav- 
 ing children will make them look or feel older, but add 
 to, rather than take from, their youthful appearance. It 
 seems to me that some of the women of the present day 
 would like, if they knew how, to turn the world upside 
 down, and inside out, before the time decreed that it shall 
 come to pass. For more than twenty years, this " wo- 
 man's-rights question " has been agitated, and with no 
 good results, but making many weak-minded females 
 discontented with their lot. Grace Darling did not ask 
 to have woman's rights because she did a noble deed 
 and actually a manly service, and acted as greatly and 
 as bravely as ever mortal did on earth, as ever General 
 did on the battlefield covered with the gory wounded. 
 and the dead. She faced death with no mortal power 
 near to aid her. How truly she exemplified her philan- 
 thropy ! and how firm must her faith have been in God's 
 omnipotent, omnipresent, eternal power ! And yet, when 
 her pious efforts were successfully accomplished, and 
 hundreds of the highest classes were rushing to see 
 her, she shrank from public notice, and became the 
 reserved, basJtful maiden again ! What true woman, who 
 has read the Lives of St. Margaret of Scotland, and St. 
 Elizabeth of Hungary, those sweetest of women, those 
 purest of saints, but must feel proud of belonging to their 
 sex ? daughters of a regal race, and wives of heroes, 
 
60 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 who attended on lepers, and administered to their wants 
 with a mother's tenderness, their fair hands performing of- 
 fices that their own mothers shrank from in disgust. I was 
 told by a friend, that Mrs. Abbot of Philadelphia, a 
 Quaker lady, had, to her knowledge from her pure 
 Christianly love for her sisters in affliction, like a minis- 
 tering angel, risen hundreds from the depths of poverty 
 who were verging into crime, and many who had fallen 
 from woman's high estate, and guided them up once 
 again into the path of rectitude and honor. And all 
 these deeds of mercy were done in secrecy, and never 
 blazoned before the public. This was the beautiful char- 
 ity Solomon meant when he said, " He that hath mercy 
 on the poor lendeth to the Lord." When I was in 
 London last, I saw a superb engraving of Mrs. Frye's first 
 visit to Newgate. There she sat, with her Bible in 
 her hand, surrounded by one MASS of human degrada- 
 tion, each gaping visage deeply stamped with vice of long 
 standing, which makes it more hideous to behold. And 
 yet her sweet and gentle voice subdued the very women 
 who had been most OBDURATE ; women who had actually 
 fought with their keepers. How beautifully these holy 
 traitsof female character prove to us that the really 
 great are usually the most retiring, and thirst not for 
 fame ! Florence Nightingale, who sacrificed her health 
 for the love she bore her race, and has been for nine 
 years confined to her room, caused by the hardships 
 she encountered at the " Crimean War," is still work- 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 61 
 
 ing faithfully and earnestly to carry out, to the end 
 of her self-denying life, the mighty work that she feels 
 Crod has decreed she shall finish. Noble woman ! She 
 does not thirst for the unquenchable water called Fame 
 in this world, but only the holy water of life that Christ 
 has left in one large baptismal stream to his followers, to 
 carry them safely away from this rugged world into the 
 vast sea of eternity. And America can claim HER share 
 of great women, who showed their true heroism during 
 the Revolution of '76 without asking to have MEN'S 
 'riyhts, although they actually did men's work. But it 
 was for their country, their husbands, and their children; 
 not because they wished to go out of their sphere. And 
 glad enough were these NOBLE SPECIMENS of WOMAN- 
 HOOD to go back into their homes again, where they 
 could calmly enjoy their domestic associations. 
 
 How beautifully Schiller describes this love of 
 fame ! 
 
 " What shall I do lest life in silence pass ? " 
 
 " And if it do, 
 And never prompt the bray of noisy brass^ 
 
 What needst thou rue ? 
 Remember, aye, the ocean-deeps are mute, 
 
 The shallows roar : 
 " Worth is the ocean ; fame is but the bruit 
 
 Along the shore." 
 " What shall I do to be forever known ? " 
 
 " Thy duty ever." 
 
 " This did full many who yet slept unknown." 
 " Oh, never, never ! " 
 
62 THE INCREASE OF CHIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 " Tkink'st tliou, perchance, that they remain unknown 
 
 Whom tliou know'st not V 
 By angel trumps in heaven their praise is blown ; 
 
 Divine their lot." 
 
 " What shall I do to gain eternal life ? " 
 > " Discharge aright 
 
 The simple dues with which each day is rife ; 
 
 Yea, with all thy might. / 
 
 Ere perfect scheme of action thou devise, 
 
 Will life be fled; 
 
 While he who ever acts as conscience cries 
 Shall live, though dead." 
 
 NOTE OIT HEALTH. Some persons exclaim, "Night-air is 
 bad, I tell you 1 " What a stupid speech ! How can we have 
 day-air at niyht ? and must we not have air ? My father had his 
 children taken out the day after birth ; and we were all remark- 
 able for our health. When I became a mother, Mr. Boone agreed 
 with me, that, if children required the open air the day after they 
 enter this world, they needed it quite as much the first day ; and 
 my nine children that lived were taken into the air the first day 
 they saw the light. Two out of the other three died before they 
 left the room. Lora Gordon was born on the 1st of December, at 
 half-past three, A.M. ; and at eight o'clock she was out! The nurse 
 refused to take the child in the air ; but my servant obeyed me. 
 And no human being ever looked more like Hygeia HERSELF than 
 this child. She was the first of my children that appeared as an 
 infant prodigy ; and the " busy-bodies " were constantly exclaim- 
 ing, " O Mrs. Boone, you'll kill that child ! " and she looking like 
 the freshest of roses. I used to reply, " Take care of your own 
 wan, sickly children, and I'll attend to mine ! " and I did. I 
 have many a time, since she was a woman, insisted that she should 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 63 
 
 wash her pink checks to show doubtful persons they were painted 
 by Nature, and not by " The Bloom of Youth," sold in drug-stores. 
 All my plans of rearing children succeeded well. My daughters 
 were just such girls as Fanny Fern hopes the next generation will 
 be, fine, full-chested, large-brained women, able to walk, and able 
 to eat, and without one^ atom of affectation. Mothers, never be 
 frightened at fresh air. Gordon's first child at nine months' old 
 weighed twenty-eight pounds. So you observe that being taken 
 out at five hours old, in December, and subsequently appearing as a 
 Liliputian reader from Shakspeare, did not kill her, as my sweet 
 friends prognosticated. Fresh air and cold water * (both internally 
 and externally) will keep wrinkles away longer than any other ap- 
 plication on earth. I am a good specimen of this truth ; for I am 
 ALWAYS taken for ten years younger than I am, and very fre- 
 quently fifteen. And, when I have had my numerous family 
 around me, I have actually had to swear they were mine, so 
 youthful was my appearance. Whenever I see the slightest sem- 
 blance of a wrinkle, I commence in the most vigorous manner with 
 cold water five or six times a day till they disappear. Remember 
 this, young ladies : begin at once. 
 
 * Tea I have found a most refreshing beverage. I have drunk very strong 
 tea for twenty-nine years. It agrees with me, although some people protest 
 against it. 
 
64 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Contains a Few More Ideas of the Power that True Women possess to 
 disseminate Good without asking for Men's Rights, and One Solid 
 Question : Did God mean Man and Woman to follow the Same 
 Vocation, or to be co-equal ? No. My Reason for it. 
 
 I HAVE mixed with women, wealthy and poor, in 
 private life, whose glowing goodness sent forth hap- 
 piness everywhere, just as the rose does its delicious 
 odor, wherever it may be planted, whether in the cot- 
 'tage-garden or the ricli man's conservatory, generous, 
 lovely, and intellectual ; and, although they were never 
 publicly heard of, these qualities were felt, not only by 
 those whom Nature has taught to fly to them to be 
 soothed in their childish sorrow or manly grief, but by 
 ALL their surroundings, from the servants up to their 
 nearest and dearest friend, their husbands ; women who 
 do not want to impress you that they possess either the 
 sublimity of an angel, or the powerful intellect of a great 
 man, and are not ashamed of being only women. It 
 is such women as these that have sent forth our great 
 men, men whose grand actions and mighty deeds are 
 known all over the world, and will be forever remem- 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 65 
 
 berecl ; and in reading their lives you will generally find 
 that they had true women for mothers. For as I re- 
 marked in a lecture I delivered twice in Tremont Tem- 
 ple, entitled "An Appeal to Mothers, on Taste," " G-ood 
 men" for no man can be great unless he is good: a 
 man may be a great politician, a great artist, a great 
 poet, &c. ; but, unless he combines goodness, he is 
 simply the great politician, the great artist, the great 
 poet, but not the great man that G-od meant him to be, 
 " Good men, I say, in speaking of their earliest 
 thoughts, feelings, sentiments, and actions, will with 
 pride recount that their highest, holiest, and most lasting 
 impressions were inculcated by their mothers. How- 
 proud we women ought to feel, that such a mighty prov- 
 ince was ordained for us to fill ! but I fear there are but 
 few of us who carry out the many obligations devolving 
 on us, and incumbent upon us to exercise and to execute 
 faithfully, as meant by Him who honored us with this 
 sacred name. And yet there is no earthly love so pure, 
 and so thoroughly disinterested, as the love of a good 
 woman for her child : it is the holiest of loves, because it 
 is entirely divested of passion, it is entirely divested of 
 self. I think a woman shows her superior intellectual- 
 ity by cheerfully accepting the calling, and that it is 
 quite evident the Creator intended her for woman, wife> 
 and mother ; and shrink from circles who attempt to 
 undermine, deride, and ridicule their appointed sphere. 
 When God created man in his own image, he said, " It 
 
66 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 is not good that man should live alone : I will make 
 him a helpmeet." Now, had God meant to create merely 
 a companion, capable of following the same pursuits, and 
 capable of the same herculean labors that evidently is 
 meant to be man's destiny, why, he would have made 
 another man. But no ! When God caused a deep 
 sleep to fall upon Adam, he took out one of his ribs, and 
 made a woman, a being in EVERY WAY MAN'S OPPOSITE. 
 And, after they ate of the tree of knowledge, God said 
 to the woman, " Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and 
 he shall RULE over thee. And unto Adam he said, u Be- 
 cause thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, 
 and hast eaten of the tree which I commanded thee, 
 saying, Thou shall not eat of it, cursed is the ground for 
 thy sake ; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy 
 life;" thus plainly demonstrating to us, that MAN was 
 meant to rule. Bear in mind that God was angry be- 
 cause Adam HEARKENED unto the voice of his WIFE ; and 
 Adam called his wife Eve because she was the mother 
 of all living. So it is clear to be seen, that woman 
 was meant to attend to the duties of a mother in caring 
 for her offspring, and man was intended to labor as the 
 provider for her whom he choses as a helpmeet, and 
 those whom, through God's wise ordinance, he helps to 
 propagate. Woman has natural nourishment sent to 
 her for the babe long before she is able to leave her 
 couch. Is not this knowledge sufficient evidence to ALL 
 'THINKING persons, that our spheres and callings are 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 67 
 
 widely different? Surely, the very opposite formation 
 of man and woman physically, ought to convince us of 
 this sterling fact. 
 
 Man was given a more powerful frame to carry out 
 the arduous tasks assigned for him. Man was given a 
 more capacious intellect to carry out his great poiuers of 
 invention and investigation. EVERY GREAT invention has 
 emanated from MAN, and been carried out by MAN. Man 
 was meant to be the substantial Iron Pillar for the wo- 
 man and her offspring to lean upon. Man's brain is 
 decidedly capable of a greater range of action, and depth 
 of thought, than woman's. Our perceptive organs are 
 KEENER ; our instincts CLEARER, and generally QUICKER ; 
 our impulses often better : but, when terse reasoning is 
 called in question, we fail to reach man's standing. We 
 have never had a female Shakspeare, a female Milton, a 
 female Homer, a Chaucer, or a Dickens ; we have never 
 had a woman Plato, nor a woman Socrates : but, I am 
 sorry to say, we have THOUSANDS of XANTIPPES ; and 
 hundreds of men could be mentioned, that no woman 
 has ever yet been co-equal with. The idea of lovely 
 woman, that great men have written so many exquisite 
 poems about, wishing to look or act like a man, is un- 
 natural ; and every thing not natural ought to be repug- 
 nant to the sensible and refined. This great wish among 
 some women, to have the world think that they possess 
 masculine power, generally proceeds from persons who 
 wish to create a sensation, and fail to do so in the station 
 
68 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 they belong. When a woman wishes to go out of her 
 natural element, you may be certain there is some, if not 
 visible, hidden reason : she has been either very much 
 tvronged in her proper womanly rights, or her intellect 
 is below par, and she is desirous of being thought great- 
 er than her sex generally ; instead, she discovers to us 
 her own littleness. I never saw a handsome w,oman a 
 bloomer yet. These people seem to wish to be what it is 
 impossible for them ever to become, " men." Such 
 proceedings remind me of vulgar people telling us that 
 pork was so lovely, that it ate just like CHICKEN, and 
 that veal stuffed ate like TURKEY, and ducks like GEESE. 
 Now, when I buy those articles, I want them to eat pre- 
 cisely like what they are : just as, when a man marries, 
 he invariably expects to find his wife a woman. A young, 
 shapeless female I used to know, living in one of the 
 turnings-out of Bleecker Street, New York, was always 
 trying to impress me with the idea, that intellectual people 
 were never stout. In speaking of thin people, she would 
 exclaim, u They are such ethereal, spiritual beings ! " The 
 same young lady informed my Willie, that no intellec- 
 tual person ever ate pork. And yet how many of 
 our greatest men have been reared in farmhouses, where 
 they could get but little else of meat kind ! I wonder if 
 she knows that DOGS won't touch pork ; but, perhaps, they 
 are only the spiritual and intellectual breed. The poor 
 diseased lepers in Jerusalem never touch pork ; and I 
 never heard they were noted for either their purity of 
 blood, or clearness of brain. 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 69 
 
 One clay I said to her, " My young friend, as you dress 
 fine, go to watering-places, Paris, and parties, no doubt 
 some time you will get married, and remember my 
 words : Your husband will be very much shocked and 
 disappointed to find you a spirit, instead of a woman." * 
 She never mentioned this word before me again. It is 
 this maudlin, affected sentiment that ruins half the girls 
 of the present day. I know a great number of meagre- 
 minded women, who attempt to deride a fine, natural, 
 womanly form, and a fresh color, calling it vulgar ; and, 
 to my ocular knowledge, their complexion is purchased 
 at chemists, and their figures at the corset-makers. I pray 
 to Heaven that my children and I may retain our health ; 
 and we will run ALL RISK of being mistaken for vulgar 
 plebeians. 
 
 * This young person is not a Spiritualist, but a Catholic. 
 
70 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A Long One. Asks Another Solid Question : Are "Women True Friends 
 to Each Other? No, not as a Body, decidedly not. Another 
 Cause for the Increase of Crime, with a Description of my Hospital 
 Friends, and Three Butterflies with the Shape and Sting of a Wasp, 
 and meant for Women. 
 
 READER, I am now going back to the first subject 
 in this volume, the gas catastrophe. I informed 
 you, that I remember nothing from Saturday, twelve, 
 A.M., until I found myself in the hospital. I shall never 
 forget how strange I felt on regaining my senses. I be- 
 held about fifty beds, with fifty heads, and the eyes of Ar- 
 gus upon me. My little girl was in the bed next to me, 
 and explained every thing. I felt very weak, with dull, 
 heavy pains in my chest. I must now take this oppor- 
 tunity of saying a few words about our treatment while 
 in this excellent institution. 
 
 The doctors, Burnett and Stoddard, were most kind 
 and attentive to us all, and much attracted by my chil- 
 dren. As to Mr. Thomas Brenan, the superintendent 
 of Bellevue, I know not how to speak highly enough of 
 him. He acted the part of a brother, or, rather, how a 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 71 
 
 brother ought to act,* through all our trouble : indeed, 
 his Christianly conduct to the patients and poor unhappy 
 prisoners is well worthy of note. His benevolence is 
 as gigantic as his person, which makes him quite re- 
 markable ; for he is six feet four inches high, and, of 
 course, his heart is proportionately large. If every per- 
 son connected with such asylums treated these poor 
 misguided people in the same considerate way, there 
 would be ten times less crime at the present moment ; for 
 it is quite evident the human heart yearns for sympathy 
 and kind words, even when its transgressions have 
 brought it to so low an ebb. And it has been made 
 manifest by recent disclosures, that savage brutality is 
 not the mode to adopt for reformation. Mr. Brenan 
 has much of the wit of his father's nation ; and several 
 times he has made me laugh most heartily at his de- 
 scription of the arrival of the " Boone Family " at the 
 Bellevue, on Sunday, the 14th of December, 1867, at 
 two, A.M. On many occasions since, we have given 
 readings there before all the doctors and patients : 
 indeed, every person who could leave his bed was 
 present ; and the poor prisoners were not forgotten by 
 Mr. Brenan, who gave them the top gallery, all to them- 
 selves. And I must add, I never read before a more 
 
 * My own beloved brothers never came near me ; and my sister, who had with 
 her husband been to see me a few nights previously, rushed out of the city on 
 hearing of my trouble, and never wrote me one line to cheer me or my children. 
 They were ashamed that the world should know of their brutal neglect; and 
 yet these good people do not speak to each other when they meet. 
 
72 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 orderly audience, much to the credit of the management 
 of this establishment ; and would to God we had more 
 of such men at the head of every institution of this kind, 
 both in England and America ! My first visitors were 
 two of the sisters from St. Stephen's. I need scarcely 
 speak of their kindness ; for we all know what these ladies 
 are noted for. The older one, about thirty-two, I after- 
 wards learned had given an immense fortune to the 
 Church previous to entering a life of devotion to God 
 and his creatures. The other sister, numbering about 
 seventeen years, possessed a countenance that gave me 
 pleasure to behold, so gentle, so guileless, so fresh, so 
 fair and beautiful, such a contrast to some of the 
 faces I had looked upon that morning, that I could 
 scarcely keep my eyes from her. My soul was glad- 
 dened to see the tear of sympathy fall upon the cheek 
 of youth, beauty, and innocence, in its holy purity, as 
 uncontaminated as the dew-drop from heaven resting 
 on the spotless lily of the valley. Next came Father Mc- 
 Avoy, who spoke soothingly to me ; and I felt calmer 
 before he departed. Then came the head sister, with 
 another, from St. Joseph. She is a lady of rare quali- 
 fications, and had for some time felt a deep interest in 
 my children, and offered, as soon as they were farther 
 advanced, to take them in her academy free of expense. 
 She was deeply pained at my position, and bade me re- 
 member how Christ, who was without sin, had suffered 
 so bitterly for all. This lady had, on the Thanksgiving 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 73 
 
 previous, tendered to me the use of the schoolroom of 
 St. Joseph, with the permission of Father Farrell ; and 
 our reading was honored with the presence of the Rev. 
 Dr. Parsons, and the Rev. Father O'Leary, and all the 
 sisters, with their pupils. To me there is something 
 perfectly sublime in the holy life these good Samaritans 
 lead ; they are so zealous in pointing out the true path 
 to happiness (religion), and yet so humble, so meek. 
 After our interview, I was self-possessed, and quite 
 ready to meet coming trouble. 
 
 My next visitor was the very reverse of those who 
 had just left me. A middle-aged woman entered, wear- 
 ing a large mink cape, small bonnet, large waterfall, the 
 wrinkles round her eyes painted white, and her cheeks 
 red, with her veil tightly drawn upon her face. She 
 had a long, thin nose, on which she wore gold spectacles. 
 She advanced towards my bed, and asked if I remem- 
 bered her. I knew her voice instantly. It is rather a 
 peculiar faculty I possess, let me hear a voice once, 
 and I will know that voice, when hearing it, twenty 
 years after. I had engaged this woman, sixteen years 
 before, to sing between my children's readings, simply 
 that they might rest, and not be over-fatigued. At the 
 expiration of three weeks, I discharged her, as I soon 
 found out I was paying fifteen dollars per week for dis- 
 cordant sounds, instead of harmonious ones. She was a 
 person most distasteful, both to Mr. Boone and myself; 
 dressed very gaudily, wore a large quantity of common 
 jewelry, and talked lond nt the pnhliV table. 
 
74 TEE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 I scarcely ever spoke to her unless business demanded 
 it, for \ve seldom met ; I invariably having my meals 
 in my own room. In public, she defined herself by the 
 romantic name of Miss Lizzie Linsey. I once went to 
 her house, and heard a boy call her Lizzie, whom I sub- 
 sequently found out was her son. This abject vanity 
 disgusted me completely ; for at that time I had seven chil- 
 dren, although younger than her: and I can scarcely de- 
 scribe \\o\\proud I felt when my first child called me by my 
 new name, mother. Having children has kept up the 
 poetry of my life. The two matrons of the hospital stood 
 by my bedside ; and to them she praised me in the most 
 enthusiastic manner, saying how I had labored to bring 
 up my large family. As I listened, her voice jarred up* 
 on my ear ; for I felt she had not one atom of interest for 
 me or mine, and that it was merely to make herself con- 
 spicuous in the affair, that she had come. I detest to be 
 flattered by people I dislike, by people who are uncon- 
 genial, by people whom I FEEL are my inferiors in prin- 
 ciple and actions. There are persons who like to be ad- 
 mired and looked up to by any class, provided they are 
 the HEAD ; and I would rather be least among those 
 whom I knew possessed more knowledge and more wis- 
 dom than myself, so as to enable me, by the association, 
 to add something great to the stock I already possess, 
 than to be the head of a set of grovelling toadies, who 
 would flatter my weak points to fatten themselves upon. 
 I arn impervious to such sycophantic sycophants! On 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 75 
 
 leaving, she said she would meet me the next day at 
 Jefferson Market, where I was to appear before Judge 
 Led with. 
 
 Reader, I wish you to understand that this woman was 
 not the slightest use as a witness ; she being entirely ig- 
 norant of the ivliole affair further than I chose to tell 
 her. The last time I had seen her was in the street, 
 thirteen years before : so you will perceive, that she 
 knew nothing of me, or my mode of living. I must not 
 forget to mention, that Mr. Henry Greenfield, of 2, 
 Nassau Street, came and offered his services, free of charge, 
 and said his partner, Mr. Williamson, would be happy 
 to assist him. And I hope yet to be able to show these 
 gentleman, substantially, the gratitude I feel for their 
 chivalrous and sympathetic conduct in that hour of trib- 
 ulation, which is the right time to test true men and true 
 friendship. I was quite proud of my counsel ; for there 
 are not two men of a higher tone of mind, character, and 
 standing, in America. Mr. James McLennon kindly 
 offered his services ; but my counsel thought they would 
 be able to manage without further aid. Still, he com- 
 manded my respect, just as if he had been required. 
 While I was in a state of semi-unconsciousness, it 
 seems I had been asked if I had taken poison ; and some 
 persons standing by say that I answered, u Yes." I do not 
 remember being asked. The next day, at the court, I 
 saw the women who came as witnesses against me; 
 having heard me answer yes to the question referred to, 
 
76 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 I will give you a brief description of the ladies who ruled 
 the Jiouse. They had many male friends, who seemed 
 to take a great interest in their ivelfare. They had 
 plenty of money, and plenty of fine dresses. They were 
 both women about forty, and would still have been 
 handsome, had it not been so evident, by their manners 
 and general appearance, that they had led that loose 
 life which so qwicJdy leaves its indelible mark upon a 
 woman's face, and cannot be disguised by even youth, 
 and perfection of features. This look, once stamped upon 
 the face of the young girl, is painful to behold ; but, by 
 the time a woman has arrived at the meridian of life, it 
 becomes revolting* There these women stood in all 
 their artificial bloom of degradation, attesting to a lie, 
 that I had taken laudanum, and given it to my children. 
 What a glorious thing to know that science has arrived 
 to such perfection that the perjurers were baffled in their 
 murderous design ! The excellent testimony of officer 
 Andrew Ray, of Fifteenth Precinct, who first saw me, 
 contradicted all that these women attempted to affirm. 
 He described every thing in the most graphic manner ; 
 
 * I am a natural physiognomist. I am rarely deceived in a face. I think the 
 expression of the countenance is the truest index of the mind, showing whether 
 the higher or lower feelings predominate. Every base or exalting thought tells its 
 own tale. Every wrinkle\\&& a history, if we only knew it. I can never forget 
 the horrible expression on the woman Smith's face, as she looked out through 
 the glass door of her shop, and saw me in the carriage with uiy four children. 
 NEVER ! I felt if I had gone into that house, I should not have left it ALIVE. 
 Such was my impression then; and, after mature consideration, it still lasts; 
 and I feel it was God's mercy that she refused to admit me. 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 77 
 
 and tli at the room was searched, but no bottle of any 
 description could be found. Added to this, was the Drs. 
 Perry, Stoddard, and Burnett's corroboration, that our 
 illness had proceeded from the effects of gas, and not 
 laudanum. Mrs. E. E. Smith and Mrs. Thomas Elliot 
 had tried to cultivate my acquaintance without the 
 slightest success. I never allowed them in my room ; 
 and the great complaint against me in every house I 
 have lived is, that I am proud, because I make it a rule 
 never to cultivate the acquaintance of people in board- 
 ing-houses, lodging-houses, or hotels. 
 
 One paper said that I was haughty, and kept myself 
 closely shut up the whole time, and that my children 
 seemed to inherit this peculiar trait of character, as they 
 were never seen playing with other children. Reader, 
 is it, because I have been reduced, through uncontrol- 
 lable circumstances, to live among a class that are re- 
 pugnant to me, is it to follow that I am to make these 
 people my companions ? Certainly not. How would 
 you like to be made to associate with each individual 
 you come in contact with in a car, omnibus, or eating- 
 saloon? This would be slavery of the strongest type, 
 which I shall never submit to. These fair ladies, finding 
 me firm in my determination, became dreadfully in- 
 censed against me ; and the time had arrived for their 
 revenge. 
 
 When the judge asked me what I had to say to the 
 charge made by Mrs. Elliot .and Smith, I replied, 
 
78 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 " Your Honor, I do not think such women ought to be 
 allowed as witnesses at all. I would not permit them 
 to enter my apartments ; and they are full of malignant 
 spleen." Luckily for me, Mrs. Elliot was well known 
 at the court by the policemen and lawyers, as having 
 been there many times under circumstances not of the 
 most favorable nature. I could not help thinking, at 
 the time, what a mockery all this investigation was, even 
 had I committed the foul act ; for three doors from the 
 rooms I lived in is the stylish house of Dr. and Mrs. Grin- 
 die, where there are hundreds of "fashionable murders " 
 committed yearly. And twice the papers have teemed 
 with accounts of the unhappy mothers dying ; and, on 
 the last occasion, the child was not to be found, although 
 born alive, and nothing done to either the doctor or 
 his lady ! 
 
 O Ward Beecher ! I thank thee again for teaching 
 me these words, " Justice stinks ! " Was it at all likely 
 that I could commit such a revolting deed? _T, who 
 had for years unceasingly suffered " poverty and toil and 
 care," and worked hard to rear my large family? 
 I, who sold the only diamond-ring I ever possessed (that 
 had been an heir-loom in my husband's family for two 
 hundred years) rather than that my daughters should 
 accept an engagement as readers, for a salary of ten 
 pounds per week each, when in London? (But they 
 were to go forth alone ; and I would not consent. These 
 are stubborn facts.) /, who can say with truth that I 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 79 
 
 never let poverty frighten me from my duty, nor the 
 want of money tempt me to evil ; for which I PRAISE 
 THEE, O GOD, and bless the memory of my mother? 
 
 I was honorably acquitted, and sent for a carriage to 
 take us home to our apartments. Remember, they were 
 paid for in advance ! and these two courtesans locked 
 me out. All rny valuable duplicates were stolen ; 
 nearly all my papers taken or burnt ; over forty of 
 Samuel Drew's letters to my mother destroyed, which 
 I had meant to publish ; and Mrs. Boone's " will," wherein 
 she mentioned having loaned five thousand pounds to a 
 member of the Kirkpatrick family, which she hoped 
 would yet be returned, and, if so, my children and I 
 would be the recipients, this was gone ! Three dozen 
 of clean clothes brought home by the washerwoman the 
 morning of the accident, new blankets and comforters, 
 in fact, every thing I possessed, were so mangled 
 and broken, that they were rendered quite useless to me. 
 These articles were removed by the order of John Rob- 
 erts, son of Daniel Roberts, the landlord (of Long 
 Island), into a cellar without a lock or key ; and every 
 person helped themselves; and it was seven weeks before 
 the woman Elliot would allow the few things that did re- 
 main to leave the house, although I sent a cart three 
 times to get them. And the whole of this time I was 
 paying ten dollars per week for furnished apartments ! 
 And all the redress I obtained from John Roberts, Mrs. 
 E. E. Smith's particular FRIEND, was fifty dollars for 
 
80 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 being locked out (nothing for the thefts committed) ; 
 and a man by the name of Dusenbiny took twenty dol- 
 lars for getting it. Here was justice to the soldier's 
 widow ! shut out in the snow with four children. We 
 had to give up the carriage, as the man was going to a 
 funeral ; and, being Sunday, we found it difficult to get 
 a suitable place ; and, from being exposed on this bitter 
 day, my youngest child's leg festered, and he was twelve 
 iveelcs in the hospital. And I lost my voice for two 
 months. I learned there were hundreds of persons 
 who called to assist me ; and these two women, Smith 
 and Elliot, informed them that I had thousands of 
 dollars sent me ; so that I was worse off than ever, 
 without my furniture, and paying a heavy rent; and all 
 I received was one hundred and forty-six dollars from 
 the late Mr. Raymond, proprietor of " The New- York 
 Times," thirty-four dollars from Mr. Brenan, and ten 
 dollars from the British consul. So, had it not been for 
 the kind gentlemen who responded to Mr. Raymond's 
 appeal in my behalf, I would have been nearly destitute. 
 I shall never forget his Christian " mercy" which is 
 " mightiest in the mightiest," and is, indeed, " an attri- 
 bute to Grod himself," who has since been pleased to 
 summon his spirit away to the bright company of an- 
 gels. I called on Mr. Raymond, and had an agreeable 
 conversation, which I shall recount in a work I am now 
 writing, entitled u Anna Boone's Life-Battle with the 
 Barbarians of the Nineteenth Century." Mr. D. O. C. 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 81 
 
 Townly, of " The Times," kindly came to see me twice. 
 He it was who paid the money to me ; consequently, 
 knows the truth of my statement. I must mention, that 
 Mrs. Elliot has been imprisoned, since this affair, for 
 beating the man she was living with (Elliot), in the 
 open street ; and, the last account I heard of her, she 
 was spending a few months at a rural retreat known by 
 the name of " The Island." And Mrs. E. E. Smith was 
 hooted out of the street, and dare not show her face in 
 that vicinity. And these two women * were the cause 
 of all the misrepresentations in the papers. The ladies 
 who called little knew that they were holding conver- 
 sation with two women that earned their living by their 
 depravity. 
 
 There had been sent for me, to the house of the woman 
 with the painted face, the mink cape, and the gold specta- 
 cles, three elegant coats, worth two hundred dollars, to be 
 used for my boys ; besides flannel, and many other articles. 
 The gentleman who gave these clothes lives in the Fifth 
 Avenue, and he was quite astonished to learn I had seen 
 nothing of them. He informed me, that, when he first 
 heard of the affair, he was so shocked, that he packed up 
 every thing within his reach ; and the coats he had only 
 worn two or three times. The lady who took them to her 
 house thought this woman was a friend of mine, little 
 thinking she would prove a robber. I wrote to her on 
 
 * And a villanous policeman named Gillan. 
 
82 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 the subject ; but she gave no answer, simply sending me 
 ten dollars, and a verbal message, that the things were 
 sold. She called at the hospital, and vilified me to the 
 very matrons to whom she had praised me previously. 
 They thought there was something wrong, but could not 
 define what could have caused such a great alteration 
 in her sentiments. Of course, she had kept away from 
 me, fearing I would find out all about her purloining 
 the clothes. The people at the court thought she was a 
 wealthy woman, with her sweeping moire antique, and 
 three-hundred-and-fifty-dollar cape. She implored me 
 not to acquaint these persons that I had employed her, 
 because she wished the judge to think she lived in the 
 Fifth Avenue, from her expensive dress. She spoke of 
 her cook and housemaid before the men at the court, 
 and implied that she was living in grand style; and her 
 real position was occupying a part of a house in the 
 Fourth Avenue, with three other families, keeping a few 
 boarders, with a maid of ALL WORK. Her husband 
 is a decent mechanic, whom, she informed me, she had 
 married for a home, but said she could not love him, 
 as he was her inferior in every way. Oh, this cursed 
 marrying for a home ! Many an excellent man is taken 
 in thus, for a home and fine dress, or as a cover for the 
 way to obtain it. Her father, when I first saw her, 
 was one of the old " Sun" CARRIERS. During the few 
 days I was in bondage, I gave her twenty dollars to 
 get hats and furs for my little girls, and other requi- 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 83 
 
 sites to appear in court. When they came, I felt ashamed 
 to look at them. They had on purple cotton-velvet 
 hats bound with red, a blue feather-tip in one, and a 
 pink in the other (they cost fifty cents each) ; ragged 
 furs, for which she gave five dollars for the two sets, 
 and I saw nothing of my change.* She told Dr. Perry 
 that she had footed all my bills ; and to me she imparted 
 a great secret, that her husband had failed, and she had 
 not twenty dollars in the world. So I suppose my 
 twenty came in excellent season. She invited Dan up 
 to her house, made him deliver some of his lectures, 
 took up a collection, and took care to keep it. Pie had a 
 gold dollar given him ; and she begged that from the 
 child for a keepsake. She told Grace and Myrtle that 
 she had given them the articles referred to, and informed 
 every other person the same (I knew nothing of this at 
 the time) ; and they believed her, and bowed to her in 
 the most obsequious manner, not because they knew 
 her, and respected her for her moral worth, charities, or 
 her intellect, but because they counted the worth of 
 every article she had on. Oh, these flashy-dressed but- 
 terflies! Oh, these gaudy peacocks ! Oh, these par- 
 rots, with a coat of many colors ! how these croaking 
 imitators of their betters are bowed down to and wor- 
 shipped by the many ! But, thank God ! there is still 
 left an immense class of intellectual, intelligent, and 
 
 * I went to the store, and found this out. 
 
84 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE ; 
 
 naturally-refined persons, who would much prefer the 
 society and plain brown dress of the nightingale, or the 
 gray dress of the mocking-bird, with their volume of 
 rich melody, that charms us when we are happy, and 
 soothes us in our bitterest sorrow ; yes, and even the 
 society of the petit sparrow and the robin, whose more 
 humble efforts apprise us that the fresh, bright spring has 
 arrived, and the radiant summer is near at hand. Who 
 of us, I wonder, has not listened, and felt their spirit 
 gladdened at the heavenly greeting of these natural 
 warblers, when remembering that our Father, in his 
 infinite mercy, has granted us sweet life for another 
 season, to enjoy the purity of this heavenly oratorio, 
 shouting forth his praises, and making us feel that the 
 Spirit of Crod is among us? And, in my estimation, all 
 the combined efforts of the great men cannot approach 
 in divineness this celestial concert one atom nearer than 
 the tower of Babel did to Jehovah's throne. No malice, 
 hatred, slandering, among these musicians; nothing but 
 sunny, genial harmony in their concert-room, the largest 
 in the WORLD, the universe. How clearly God has 
 illustrated to us, through these inspired minstrels, that, 
 if fine feathers do make fine birds, intrinsic worth is far 
 preferable to merely a handsome exterior, whether in 
 person or dress, and shows us that a sweet voice or a 
 great mind is frequently incased in a plain outer garb, 
 which will burst forth at some time, just as the sun does 
 from beneath a black cloud, to give joy to our hearts ! 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 85 
 
 Men and women, it would be a difficult matter with 
 my pen for me to express to you the gratitude I feel to 
 God for giving me this keen relish for the wondrous 
 and manifold signs of his love that he sends to us in so 
 mysterious a manner to lift us up from out of this 
 world's mire, to soar even in its midst. When we have 
 been suffering our very poorest, living in lonely obscu- 
 rity, and feeling more than usually depressed with my 
 vicissitudes, and suddenly the sun has beamed in upon 
 us with his kindly smile, I have thanked my Maker that 
 I was spared to receive his genial warmth, which came 
 to greet me like a pure celestial spirit, kindling up my 
 higher feelings, and clearly manifesting to me that I was 
 still remembered by Him whose pleasure it has been to 
 so severely chastise me. It is this gift from above that 
 has been made a part of my very being, that has enabled 
 me to bear my trials, and feel joyous at times, and com- 
 paratively happy, and prefer insulted poverty to respected, 
 ill-begotten ease and affluence. 
 
 Reader, a short time ago I received a letter from a 
 London lady, who stands high both socially and intel- 
 lectually, wherein she was pleased to compare me to 
 some eminent women whose lives were noted for almost 
 unceasing tribulation. She continued, " How wonder- 
 fully you have borne up under such a continuation of 
 goading insults which are usually lavished upon the 
 poor I " I replied, " My friend, when we can pass 
 through these ordeals uncontauiinated ; .when, we can 
 
86 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 withstand the fiery temptations that are cast in the very 
 teeth of poverty ; when we still possess our fresh relish 
 for the beautiful, the intellectual, and the sublime ; when 
 we can retain that bright cheerfulness which is such a 
 welcome guest to every well-seasoned fireside ; when we 
 can feel that God is chastening us for his own wise pur- 
 pose ; and that it is to purify us, and not debase us, that 
 he lets us suffer, it is THEN we can defy the stinging 
 insults of this cold, heartless world." 
 
 When the " mink cape " heard I was acquitted, she 
 threw her arms round my neck, and kissed me about ten 
 times without stopping, and shrieked, "Free, free!" 
 I hate women to kiss me, unless we are intimate friends 
 of long standing. 
 
 I have seen women kiss who despised each other 
 most heartily. I have witnessed kissing and vilifying 
 in one short half-hour by the same dear friends. I 
 wish I had as many pounds at this moment as I have 
 had ocular proof of these fulsome, hypocritical perform- 
 ances. I am sorry to say that women, as a body, have 
 but little genuine sympathy for their own sex : and I 
 firmly believe this is one reason why we have so many 
 unhappy girls led astray ; for, as I remarked before, 
 human hearts yearn for sympathy, even when their ac- 
 tions have not borne the standing test of what is called 
 morality. I am certain men generally have more 
 genuine feeling than women, and are not as prone to 
 slander each other; and frequently they will do the 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 87 
 
 kindest actions to tlie opposite sex without one evil 
 thought or sinister design ; and young girls, with their 
 trusting, innocent natures, accept with enthusiastic grati- 
 tude (which generally dwells in the unsophisticated 
 youthful heart) that friendship which is so rarely offered 
 one to another by women when most needed. Mrs. 
 Lincoln, in her hour of prosperity, was courted and 
 flattered ; and in her hour of desolation she was deserted, 
 slandered, and held up to derision. Where are the 
 women toadies who were fluttering round her at the 
 44 White House " ? Mrs. Lincoln's conduct on many 
 occasions was not right, perhaps ; but there was never a 
 word against her character morally : and yet ^she has 
 been for years denied a pension ; and thousands of blear- 
 eyed, BLOATED drunkards have received one without a 
 comment upon their actions, or mode of living. Every- 
 body admits Abraham Lincoln was a good man. Mrs. 
 Lincoln was his wife, the mother of his children, whose 
 faces must often have tingled with burning blushes at 
 the rude insults heaped upon the woman who bore them. 
 Poor Mrs. Surratt was deserted in her hour of trial, and 
 hung; and Jeff. Davis goes free. O Ward Beecher ! I 
 thank theeyet again for teaching me these words "justice 
 stinks." Women should have gone in one united body, 
 and hindered tlusfoul deed, (a black spot on American 
 history.)* But, remember, the accepting of sympathy is 
 
 * What a terrible fuss there was because Reverdy Johnson shook hands 
 L the builder of " The Alabama" I and yet, when Mr, Ghreeley bailed the man 
 
88 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AtfD ITS CAUSE; 
 
 dangerous to young girls, even froin men of good prin- 
 ciples and moral worth : for the best of us, more or less, 
 possess some of the frailties that humanity is heir to, 
 and imperceptible evils assail us that we dream not of; 
 and the world cries out with the loud voice of horrified 
 delight. It has often been a subject of wonder to me 
 to hear women, mothers, casting the first stone at some 
 beautiful young orphan who may be frivolous and giddy, 
 whose very loveliness and loneliness call forth alternately 
 envy, admiration, and sympathy, to hear them pro- 
 nounce the impending fate without one arm stretched 
 out to save her ; and should the result be all they have 
 predicted, and the once joyous spirit of the poor child is 
 crushed, and she is glad to seek refuge in some asylum 
 to hide from those who would sneer and reproach her, 
 these women, with the accommodating cloak of religion 
 wrapped closely round them, will parade into this melan- 
 choly building with hearts as hard and cold as the stone 
 it is composed of, and administer their sickening advice 
 to the very girl, that, with timely tenderness, could have 
 been saved from failing into the chasm that had nearly 
 swallowed up body and soul. It is this laxity of proper 
 sympathy from woman to woman, this love of slandering 
 among our sex, that is another cause of the " increase 
 
 that was the cause of rendering tens of thousands of mothers childless, and 
 little children fatherless, and saturating the ground with dear blood, a few vf ere 
 shocked, and expressed amazement; but it blew over as a nine-days' wonder, 
 and some people began to laud him for the act. I think, after all, I shall turn 
 woman's-rights woman, and help to turn the world upside down. 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 89 
 
 of crime." Women, there is much for us to do, if we 
 will only do it with the right spirit, and feel that it is 
 our right. Teachers can accomplish much, wives more, 
 and mothers most. 
 
 If this was the spirit of the age, we would achieve 
 more to glorify God by accepting the mission he has set 
 for us, more for mankind, more for ourselves, than 
 all the rights that the soft sex are so raving about to 
 pass through Congress at the present time : but it must 
 be done in the sphere of a woman; for, when we overstep 
 the boundaries of womanhood, we lose our greatest and 
 most valuable gem, our WOMANLY POWER, which charms 
 the most obdurate, and, when properly used, has saved 
 tens of thousands of men from entering into the broad 
 path that leads to destruction. Let women stand stanch 
 by each other in their peculiar trials, temptations, and 
 duties, and they can conquer whatever they undertake, 
 and accomplish more towards educating the rising gen- 
 eration of young females for the occupations they are 
 most fitted for than all the laws that may pass in our 
 favor. Let us stand by each other just as the brave 
 General does by his men, and they by him. It is UNI- 
 TY that can achieve so much. 
 
 Women, UNION is power in EVERY THING. 
 
90 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Is another Long One, with My Three Last Solid Questions, Is Dress, 
 or Worth, to be respected ? Are we not to honor the Respectable 
 Poor ? Yes. But do we ? No. Another Cause for the Increase of 
 Crime. Are all Men equal ? No. The very Dogs teach us this ; 
 so do the Divisions of the Earth, the Hills and the Dales, the 
 Mountains and the Valleys, the Richness of One Soil, and the Barren- 
 ness of another : all these Natural Distinctions are living Proofs that 
 Equality does not exist, and never will here. Equality by Dress only 
 is dangerous, and another Cause of the Increase of Crime. 
 
 SOME time ago I saw in one of the New -York lead- 
 ing papers an article headed, " The Increase of 
 Crime : where is the Remedy ? " 
 
 Now I am going to give you a few more of my hum- 
 ble ideas on this subject. There is always some reason 
 for every evil that exists ; and I trust that I have given 
 some good reasons already. 
 
 Let us first try to analyze the CAUSE of this increase 
 in the present day ; and, after this has been ascertained, 
 we will be better able to decide upon an efficacious 
 remedy. I rarely take up a paper, but I am greeted 
 with the following announcements : " The late Bank 
 Robbery," " Another Robbery in Wall Street," "Wall 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 91 
 
 Street Fraud," " Bank Robbery in Baltimore." And 
 as to suicides, murders, and crim. con. cases, they are 
 too numerous to identify. Permit me to say that I think 
 the present "Cause" of these flagrant evils is, The 
 false state of society, The lack of reality, The excess 
 of frivolity, The great desire for outside equality, and 
 the dearth of the right kind of entertainment for the 
 RISING YOUTH ! This state of things can scarcely 
 help leading the masses to an increase of crime. 
 Equality ought to be founded and based on two solid 
 principles, morality and education. It struck me 
 forcibly some time ago, when I read the terrible com- 
 plaints against the Board of Education, and even innu- 
 endoes as to what had been done with the enormous sums 
 expended for these evening schools. After attending a 
 meeting at Steinway Hall, on the 29th of March, and 
 hearing some excellent compositions and declamations 
 from boys and young men who are scholars of the New- 
 York Evening High School, and had to work by day to 
 live, I say it struck me forcibly that the " Board " ought 
 to have been lauded for so ably carrying out this excel- 
 lent idea, that of instituting schools for the youth to 
 spend his evenings, where he can educate and ELEVATE 
 his intellectual powers, which all men possess to some 
 extent. If there was ten times more money expended 
 for the rising generation in this way, I feel certain 
 society would be benefited ; and, at the end of a few 
 years, those who are now grunting about the enormous 
 
92 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 expenditure would find out that there would be less 
 money required to keep up the State Prisons : for, 
 depend on it, young men who WISH to attend school, 
 and educate their higher tastes, show a nobility of soul 
 that eventually will command the respect of all good 
 people, even if they never attain what is defined " Great- 
 ness." Young men who live by the sweat of their brow, 
 toiling for poor wages (sew ing- women are not the only 
 people who are poorly paid),* and perhaps a sick or 
 aged mother to assist, I say such youths, who seek to 
 enrich their mental capacities, clearly demonstrate to us 
 that they are seeking after GOOD, and not EVIL. There- 
 fore let the doors of knowledge be opened wide to those 
 who thirst after it, to those whose high instincts recoil 
 from the degraded pastimes of the fashionable youth of 
 the present day. And let us not forget that the doors 
 of temptation are ALWAYS opened to their fullest extent, 
 with sirens (women who act as catch-traps), with their 
 painted faces and affected sweetness, to lure young men 
 in to these swamps of iniquity ; and, for want of the right 
 kind of entertainment, in they walk. OPEN WIDE the 
 gate of the field of instruction, with its many trees of 
 knowledge, and let every man and boy partake of what 
 is best suited to their minds. This is the best mode of 
 Decreasing crime. This is the best remedy to insure 
 the decrease of crimes that make every true mother's 
 
 * Ice-men in the summer begin work at two, A.M., and labor till six, P.M., 
 for fifteen dollars per week. How would some of the women like this horse- 
 work, and so many hours' labor ? 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 93 
 
 blood tingle and burn when she reads and hears of 
 
 O 
 
 them, knowing that her young children have to go 
 forth into this badly-organized state of society in the 
 present age. Let the same kind of institutions be opened 
 for girls ; and they will gain far more than by attending all 
 the u women's-rights " meetings in the world. If women 
 
 g 
 
 wish to vote, surely they ought to be made jit to do so 
 by education. Some of my readers will exclaim, " Are 
 all men fitted by education ? and yet they vote." Cer- 
 tainly not. M ore's the pity ! Hence the reason of this 
 state of things. I am certain that the majority of your 
 voters do not understand the machinery of the constitu- 
 tional government of America. And would it be wise 
 to increase this defect in affairs by letting millions of 
 ignorant women vote ? Reader, you know that there 
 are thousands of women to-day that would vote for 
 two opposite parties at one time, if one offered them 
 a fine dress, and the other side a pair of ear-rings. Let 
 the HIGHEST branches of education be attainable for those 
 who wish to DRINK of its refreshing draughts. Let their 
 minds be illumined with the beauties of SOCIAL POWER, 
 and every woman will find her right place, her right 
 element, and her right sphere. Steinway Hall was 
 crowded ; and there were hundreds of boys listening in 
 rapt attention to the excellent entertainment of the 
 evening. R. W. Morrow's declamation, entitled " Im- 
 pressment of American Seamen," was very good, and 
 nicely delivered; but I was sorry to hear so much about 
 
94 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 Bunker Hill, and the terrible boast of American 
 strength, and of the Briton's weakness. I was sorry 
 to hear such hatred evinced from such young lips to the 
 " old mother-land." 
 
 Thomas Fitz Simmons delivered a capital oration on 
 " Public Opinion," composed by himself. Oh, how 
 charmed must his mother have been to hear him, if she 
 was there ! It was really fine, and well worthy of print- 
 ing. A young man of the name of Cunningham re- 
 cited a piece, " The Rising of '61 Bunker Hill ; " and 
 the poor English were dragged in again. 
 
 Reader, I came to America twenty-two years ago, 
 and I have been to divers kind of lectures ; and I can 
 safely say that I was never at one yet, but I heard 
 about " Bunker Hill," and how the British got threshed. 
 This is bearable from men ; but from boys it sounds 
 laughable, yet terrible. It reminds me of some of the 
 " young folks " of the present day that I often meet, and 
 because they are dressed finer than their parents, speak 
 bad French,* play the piano to distress you, they put on 
 airs, and toss their heads at the old mother, and say, 
 " Mother, you and father are old fogies. We are young, 
 and know more than you do." This revengeful spirit 
 is sad to beJwld in the young, un-Christianly in the old ; 
 and, to say the least of it, it displays bad taste at all 
 times to the refined. I said to a man the other day, 
 who was abusing the English, " If America is really so 
 
 * See note at the end of this chapter. 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTION'S. 95 
 
 superior to Old England, be content and grateful, but 
 don't swagger; for then your dignity vanishes behind the 
 cloud of ostentation." I recollect, when I was a girl, a 
 gentleman taking dinner with us, whom my mother had 
 known when a child. Every thing he undertook he 
 prospered in. He had just then returned from Ber- 
 muda, bringing home Lord Durham's despatches to the 
 British Parliament. This circumstance elated him 
 greatly ; and I can so well remember my mother looking 
 at him, and saying, " Samuel, you're drunk with pros- 
 perity : bear it grandly, nobly, my friend, and don't 
 stagger as you walk through your path strewed with 
 fragrant flowers." 
 
 There is one great trait in John Bull's character : he 
 appreciates every thing that is fine or great, and cares 
 nought about whence it comes from, or where a person 
 was born. He feels something is before him that is 
 superior, and down he comes, heart and hand;* and he 
 will not praise his own country people simply because 
 they are English. Miss Bateman, Miss Cushman, Miss 
 Kellogg, Bennet, jun., and hundreds of others, can 
 
 * When the contest was over between the Harvards and the Oxfords, and the 
 latter came out triumphant, there was not the slightest shadow of boast in 
 the young Englishmen ; and Loring, Fay, and Blakie, on their arrival in New 
 York, united in expressions of gratitude for the kindness received from every 
 one with whom they were brought in contact while in England. After a long 
 account of the whole affair, " The New- York Herald " concluded by saying, " The 
 Harvard boys speak in terms of the highest praise of the fair play and generous 
 good feeling manifested towards them by the membersvaf the boat-clubs, PEOPLE, 
 and PRESS, of England, from first to last." This is the sort of feeling that is so 
 charming to behold. 
 
96 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 attest to this truth. I am happy to say that I can 
 scarcely understand this feeling of ONLY admiring the 
 man, woman, or place, that happens to exist under a 
 certain part of the broad blue sky (where Jwas born). 
 The grandeur of Niagara Falls could not exceed their 
 magnificence, in my estimation, if they had been created 
 in England, instead of AMERICA. 
 
 I do not relish Beecher, Phillips, Chapin, Longfellow, 
 or any of your great men's intellectual works, one atom 
 LESS because the first breath they drew was on Colum- 
 bia's soil ; for in all these creations the hand of the Deity 
 is visibly manifested to us ; and when we can look upon 
 God's great works, whether men or mountains, totally 
 unprejudiced, the beauties are so much the greater to 
 the beholder. Thank God, I know and feel this truth ! 
 This is a jewel that even gold cannot purchase. I was 
 glad to hear the elegant manner the Americans re- 
 ceived my beloved countryman, Dickens (the Bos- 
 tonians particularly). There was a magnanimity about 
 the reception that made my heart glow towards them. 
 Of course, they knew that if he did give his ideas 
 rather freely on the Americans, so he did about the 
 evils of all nations ; and to none more copiously and 
 especially pointed than the English. I consider Dick- 
 ens has done more good for the English poor, in ex- 
 posing many of the degradations in institutions that 
 the world at large knew nothing about, than two-thirds 
 of our bombastic clergymen. I was much shocked 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 97 
 
 to learn of the un-Cliristianly gathering of the " HOLY 
 men " at the Temple, " casting stones " at one unable to 
 speak for himself, giving their puny judgment of the 
 whereabouts of this man's sold. They must surely have 
 forgotten Christ's divine words, " Judge not, lest ye be 
 judged." "Condemn not, lest YE be condemned."* I 
 was glad to see the " Press " so unanimously disgusted. f 
 A Boston paper compared Mr. Fulton to a " live ass 
 kicking a dead LION." As I advance in years and 
 experience, I cannot but feel the beneficent mercy of a 
 HOLY Crod to poor erring sinners, and the merciless 
 brutality of sinners one to another. These observations 
 have assisted my education greatly. 
 
 In my own family, this unfortunate antagonistic feel- 
 ing frequently manifests itself. Daniel was born in 
 America : so would Willie have been, if I had waited 
 two months longer this side of the Atlantic. Conse- 
 quently, they have bickerings about things that they do 
 not comprehend. Kings, Presidents, schools, laws, and 
 customs, are discussed between these eleven and fifteen 
 years old young men, in a manner sometimes most 
 laughable to hear. When these learned youths go too 
 far, I tell them of an old shepherd I once heard of, who 
 
 * " For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that 
 the world through him might be saved." John iii. 17. 
 
 f I must publicly thank the Rev. W. R. Alger for the grand sermon he 
 delivered at Music Hall, June 19, 1870, on " The Christian Genius and Memory 
 of Charles Dickens." Likewise the Rev. B. F. Bowles of Cambridge: a lady 
 told me it was superb. 
 
98 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 suddenly became very rich ; and, after building an ele- 
 gant mansion, he reserved one room for his cottage- 
 furniture, clothes, and crook. And, whenever he felt 
 getting proud, he would unlock this room-door, and take 
 a look at these articles, so as to remember what he 
 sprang from. So I tell these boys to remember two 
 things : first, Master America, that he must read the 
 history of his country, and he will find that it was 
 founded and peopled by the English; and that, when 
 the first war took place, it was actually a civil war, 
 English against ENGLISH ! Secondly, I tell my young 
 John Bull to bear in mind, that if the " Old Bull " had 
 not been so fond of using his horns of tyranny, and 
 showing his cloven foot of oppression ONCE TOO often, 
 harmony, and not discord, would have reigned ; and, 
 although the mighty Atlantic divided their abodes, the 
 hearts and interests of these two nations would have 
 been cemented by true love, which would have endured 
 FOREVER. I think it would be well for us all, sometimes, 
 if, like the old shepherd, we took a glance at the cer- 
 tainty of what we sprang from, the EARTH, and 
 (notwithstanding all we hear, read, and see) the uncer- 
 tainty of our destination when we DO " cast off our mor- 
 tal coil." If we carried these thoughts uppermost in 
 our minds in our daily walk of life, I firmly believe we 
 would be more tender and considerate one to another ; 
 and there would be an increase of real happiness, and 
 a decrease in crime, at the present moment, among every 
 class, whether rich or poor. 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 99 
 
 I cannot help feeling the sterling truth of a fine 
 speech delivered by Gen. Joseph Hooker to the soldiers, 
 at the conclusion of the late war. He said, " The glory 
 is due, not to us alone who have commanded, but those 
 who have suffered, night and day, to bring it about, 
 to those who slept in trenches, and who fought, and who 
 bled, on the battle-field; to those who followed my 
 orders, and the orders of others elsewhere." What gen- 
 uine philanthropy was expressed in this speech ! its 
 chief beauty and eloquence consisting in its simplicity 
 and its truth. This address was to all the soldiers ; and 
 no mention of country was made. I hate to hear people 
 say, " He's only an Irishman ; he's only a Dutchman ; " 
 and so on. The Americans should exclaim, " We care 
 not where his birthplace may be situated, we know he is a 
 Union man ! " This is the word for Americans to look 
 to, " union." It is " union " makes marriage holy. 
 It is " union " makes all our different societies of long 
 standing. It was " union " brought the late " Peace 
 
 O O 
 
 Jubilee," when all voices of all nations joined in one 
 hallowed song, in which mingled the tiny, dulcet strains 
 of the orphans of the soldiers, singing, as it were, a Dirge 
 over their dead fathers, which went direct up to Christ, 
 who blessed little children, without deference or refer- 
 ence to any nation. 
 
 We are all cognizant of this truth, that during the 
 war, when young men, mere striplings just entering the 
 morning of life, others vigorous and stalwart, volun- 
 
100 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 teered their services, leaving all that was near and dear 
 to them for the Union, nobody then asked the question, 
 " To what nation do you belong? " They did not even ask 
 the black man to turn white. This fact ought to be for- 
 ever remembered by all Americans, and clearly demon- 
 strate to them, that when respectable men come to this 
 country, adopting it as their own, to work in it and to 
 fyhtfor it, the nation will be all the stronger and all the 
 greater, when becoming one united band of brothers. 
 
 I think young America should never forget that the 
 early Puritans were the progenitors of one-third of the 
 white population of the United States at the present 
 time. There came over twenty-one thousand two hun- 
 dred persons at once ; and their descendants now amount 
 to millions. And when these brave people left their native 
 soil to gain true freedom, they still remembered the old 
 land of their birth, and christened the part they landed 
 on New England, after the old mother-country, just 
 as affectionate children call their children after the " old 
 folks at home." The names of the New-England States 
 remind me so vividly of my own country, that I could 
 not help weeping when I first heard them mentioned. 
 The sound of Plymouth thrilled me ; for it was there 
 I was born ; there I passed many happy years of my 
 girlhood ; there I stepped out from my loving mother's 
 embrace into the cold, wide world. 
 
 No American should forget that Washington and his 
 wife Martha had a large portion of English blood in 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 101 
 
 them ; Benjamin Franklin, William Penn, and Daniel 
 Boone, the same. And yet, when Grant was elected, 
 a paper happening to state he was of English descent, 
 another daily took up the assertion in the most indignant 
 manner, as if it was a crime, and affirmed that he was of 
 Scotch origin, and descended from the Earl of Seafield. 
 
 O ' 
 
 However, if Grant does one-half as much as the really 
 great and unostentatious Washington did for this coun- 
 try, I feel certain all true Americans will care but little 
 where his forefathers were born, or whether they were 
 Dutch or Welsh. I admire President Grant ; and, if I 
 had fifty votes, I would give them all to him. The more 
 I hear about him, the more I admire him. A great 
 many schemers thought to turn him round and round, 
 like the handle of a coffee-mill, at their will and pleas- 
 ure ; but he has plainly let them see that they have 
 labored under a small mistake. Grant has evidently a 
 mind of his OWN ; and no man is fit to RULE that has 
 not, neither as a general nor a president. We are now 
 enjoying peace through his fine tactician powers (as a 
 General) : that has been proved. And I have not a 
 doubt we will find him as capable to fill the high position 
 he now holds, that of the " President of the United 
 States." 
 
 I am a believer in good blood ; and, before I finish, 
 I will give you my ideas on the subject. 
 
 I am now going back to the reason of the increase of 
 crime. Exterior equality is decidedly another great 
 
102 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 cause of this existing evil. The man whose income is 
 from two to three thousand a year apes every thing that 
 his neighbor does who may be worth eight or ten thou- 
 sand per annum. His wife will have as expensive a man- 
 tle ; will have season-tickets for the opera ; will give 
 soirSes on the same magnificent scale. Where does the 
 money come from ? The working-girl dresses as nearly 
 as possible like the young lady of fortune, whom she 
 cannot approach, either financially or in an educational 
 point. Where does the money come from ? This at- 
 tempt at equality by dress only is dangerous and slippery 
 ground for the working-girl to walk on ; and 'too often 
 
 o o 
 
 she slides down, away from the modest, innocent girl, 
 into the flashily-dressed, painted woman of the street. 
 And what for? Tawdry dress! I heard a woman 
 say, at " The Working-Woman's Convention," that 
 every fine dress a lady had made, caused, on an average, 
 two women to fall ! She used stronger language than 
 this ; but I do not care to repeat it. 
 
 I differ greatly with this assertion : and the truth is, 
 
 1 scarcely understand what she meant ; for I am sure 
 that every fashionably-made dress costs one-half its value 
 to get it made. It is the "firms " who employ these 
 girls, and not the public, that pay so badly. I think my 
 definition of the cause of the increase of the unfortunate 
 women of this age is the lest. It emanates in this MAD- 
 NESS for DRESS, and the great desire to appear ladies ; 
 which they cannot be concocted into even by a FRENCH 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 103 
 
 milliner and dressmaker. Nothing but social refinement 
 and education, combined with modesty, can achieve this. 
 Ask two-thirds of these women whether starvation, or 
 the love of dress, brought them to their degraded state ; 
 and I will guarantee they will answer, " Dress." 
 
 I wish to be most emphatic on another glaring CAUSE 
 of the " increase of crime." I frequently read comments 
 about servants not knowing and performing their proper 
 duties ; in fact, of their incompetency to fill the office 
 they apply for : and it is the truth. But the Americans 
 have themselves to thank for this state of affairs. They 
 have no institution to train girls for this most respectable 
 vocation. The NAME u SERVANT " is thought derogatory 
 in this country, a country where labor is said to be so 
 highly estimated. This undeniable fact has frequently 
 astonished me. 
 
 In Boston, a short time ago, a hundred and eighty 
 unfortunate girls were arrested in one night; and I doubt 
 not that the greater portion of them could have once 
 been respectable servants, but considered the office and 
 NAME too low ! And what kind of a NAME have they 
 NOW ? What future have these women to look forward to ? 
 Generally, the world's COLD, NIPPING SCORN, combined 
 with ill health and destitution. A girl would much 
 rather work in a factory or a "saloon," because she can 
 be called " Miss," dress finer, and imagine she will be 
 thought SL lady! Poor girl ! It is this DELUSION, this 
 FALSE PRIDE, that crowds the streets nightly with pretty 
 
104 THE INCREASE OF CHIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 young girls, some of whom, I learn, can only count 
 twelve short summers ! With Hamlet I exclaim, " Oh, 
 horrible ! most horrible ! " I lived in the house with 
 a girl, Annie C., not seventeen ; and she attended in 
 a restaurant. I once said to her, " Why do you not take 
 the situation of a seamstress or a nurse in a gentleman's 
 family ? " She turned upon me in the most insolent 
 way, saying, " Me be a servant? That will do very 
 well for you English; but I am an American, and feel 
 myself as good as anybody." I wish some kind reader 
 would inform me the difference of rank between a per- 
 son attending on respectable people at a private house 
 and one at & public house, where any degraded man who 
 pays for his dinner can order this said independent young 
 lady to wait on him. However, this girl afterwards 
 went as a BALLET-GIRL at one of the lowest places in 
 Boston ; and the last account I heard of her was, she 
 was travelling with an Ethiopian troop alone, no 
 MOTHER to guide or guard her from the evil influences 
 she is surrounded by ! * Poor young creature ! Reader, 
 what do you think her end will be ? The truth is, that 
 after a girl or boy is fifteen years old, in this country, 
 they consider themselves persons of 'sound judgment; and 
 parents actually look up to these sprites with a sort of 
 deferential fear.f I have seen this girl painted so glar- 
 
 * At the end of this chapter I will insert two letters from my daughter and 
 her husband, showing that I am not preaching to rny readers what I do not 
 practise to my own children. 
 
 t Another short note, at the end of this chapter, on the lack of obedience 
 among children in this age. 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 105 
 
 ingly, that, had her mother acted rightly, she would have 
 thrown the rouge in the fire, locked her up in her room, 
 and kept her on bread and water till she came to her 
 senses. Should this statement meet the eye of any girl 
 beginning a similar career, give me leave to inform 
 her that a genteel English servant would not be seen 
 walking or talking to a " ballet-girl," or a girl living in 
 a public house. No woman has more respect for herself 
 than a well-bred English servant, and consequently is 
 respected by all well-bred people. You can generally 
 tell what quality of inmates are in the house when you 
 see the girl that admits you. It is a monstrous mistake 
 to imagine that men and women who know and perform 
 their proper duties are slaves. I think they are only 
 sensible. I love to see our fresh-faced, plump English 
 girls, not too proud to wear a natty lace cap, white 
 linen apron, collar, and cuffs to match, always looking 
 so clean, and consistent for their position. 
 
 Twenty years ago, THE PLYMOUTH BRETHREN OR 
 SAINTS (in England) sold all their fine furniture, dresses, 
 and jewelry ; and some made their servants sit at the 
 same table with them. This went on at one house for 
 nearly a month ; when one morning, as the mistress en- 
 tered the room, the servants rose in a body, and de- 
 manded that the kitchen * should be once more theirs, or 
 
 * The furniture in an English kitchen has not the slightest attempt at trying 
 to ape the parlor. The tables and chairs are of the whitest deal, no carpet or 
 oil-cloth on the floor, which matches the tables to perfection in color, and all the 
 covers of the dishes and pots shining like " gold and silver" over the mantle- 
 piece. I think these demonstrations are in excellent taste. 
 
106 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 they would all leave, as they had been much more com- 
 fortable under the old regulations. The servants con- 
 quered ; and the lady succumbed. 
 
 I stopped two nights at a hotel in Lawrence, a short 
 time ago. The girl that attended the table wore a 
 light-green dress, with white, clear muslin jacket, show- 
 ing a very low-neck body underneath ; over-skirt of 
 the same, trimmed with lace ; gilt bracelets, long ear- 
 rings, and breast-pin. She had short curls in front 
 (they reminded me of earth-worms writhing in agony) ; 
 her waterfall large enough for a child's pillow. Did this 
 dress not look far more fit to go to an evening party 
 than working earnestly and faithfully for her employer, 
 from whom she expects proper remuneration ? And, if 
 the mistress should make a comment, the retort would 
 be, " I am as good as you." I wish I had as many dol- 
 lars as I have had these stupid, impertinent words said 
 to me. 
 
 I remember a highly-bred Irish lady making a call 
 upon my mother, and, in the course of a conversation, 
 remarking that she should have to discharge her parlor- 
 maid, as, during her absence, she had learned that the girl 
 had opened the door with a CHECK apron on, instead of 
 a white one ; showing that she was not a thorough-bred 
 servant. Allowing that this was carrying matters too 
 far, still, when a girl knows that it is expected she shall 
 wear a white apron, wear it she should. And, if it is 
 ever in my power to keep servants again, their style 
 

 WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 107 
 
 of dress shall be an understood thing before they are in- 
 stalled in my employ. If young women knew how sweet 
 they look in a pretty colored or white muslin dress, and 
 how well it accords with their bright, smiling faces, lit 
 up with health and youth, I am sure they would not 
 dun their hardworking fathers or husbands for expensive 
 articles, nor lower themselves by degraded acts to obtain 
 them. Hundreds of parents at this moment would have 
 a happier countenance, and not that careworn, wretched 
 look that we so frequently see when honest people get 
 in debt incurred by living beyond their means. 
 
 An English servant will frequently live from fifteen 
 to thirty years in a family. My grandmother kept one 
 servant twenty-two years ; Mr. Hoar's housekeeper has 
 lived twenty-eight years in his family ; and a man-ser- 
 vant of my grandfather lived with him thirty years. 
 These people have been taught the art of being true 
 servants ; for there is an art in every thing, from the 
 WASH-TUB up to the piano, from the building of a FIRE 
 to the building of a FORTRESS. If girls would only give 
 these facts mature consideration, and act upon them, we 
 would have a re-organization of society in a few years ; 
 and God knows we stand wofully in want of it at the 
 present moment. Young men would not be afraid to 
 marry, as they now are (which I do not wonder at), 
 consequently would not be led into the temptations that 
 they are in the single state ; for marriage is one sure 
 step towards morality, consequently decreases crime. 
 
108 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 And I wish girls of every class to remember, that if a 
 woman dressed in a calico, merino, or muslin, does not 
 feel and look a lady, the richest velvet will not have the 
 desired effect. The genuine, well-bred man or woman, 
 with a high tone of mind and manner, will shine out 
 from beneath the plainest garb ; and shoddy vulgari- 
 ty, even should it be incased in rubies and diamonds, 
 will only be rendered the more obvious and conspicuous 
 to those who at a glance can discover the difference, 
 to those who cannot be deceived, even by the radiant 
 sparkling of these richest of gems. 
 
 I wish girls of every grade, both rich and poor, 
 to bear in mind that a man worth having will prefer a 
 woman with a well-stored mind, and genuine moral 
 worth, for his wife, even should her physical appear- 
 ance lack what is termed beauty, and her attire be of the 
 most humble kind, to the senseless creature whose 
 capacious brain soars no higher than dress. I have seen 
 both men and women without one handsome feature ; 
 and, on conversing with them, their faces have lit up 
 with manly or womanly intellect, and I have found my- 
 self ten times more charmed with them than all the 
 " GRECIAN BENDS," GRECIAN NOSES, liquid blue eyes, 
 or brown VELVET ones, could have effected, charmed 
 with the depth and expanse of their minds ! What a 
 grand thing to contemplate ! What a purity of thought 
 must dwell in such beings ! What greatness of soul 
 they must possess, when all that is defined as plain and 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 109 
 
 homely vanishes, and we see this intrinsic worth shining 
 in all its radiant glory before us ! These are the men and 
 women that are the nearest approach to the image of 
 their Maker. Young men and maidens, cultivate your 
 minds ; for it is something that will always stand by you, 
 either in affluence or poverty, something that you will 
 never regret. Remember, education is open to all, and 
 will raise you as high as your highest aspirations can de- 
 sire, or aspire to. Bear in mind that all our greatest men, 
 both in England and America, in fact, all over the 
 world, have labored under the most excruciating diffi- 
 culties to attain the high position that it is evident God 
 meant they should fill.* Still you must not imagine that 
 I am invulnerable to a pair of superb eyes, a hand- 
 some mustache, or a silky beard. Oh, no ! Even if I 
 am emaciated, and far advanced in years, I appreciate 
 them for all they are worth, fascinating to behold ; 
 but we soon weary of looking at them, on ascertaining 
 that the head is empty, the principles loose, and the heart 
 as impervious to good as adamant is to the blow of a pin, 
 in fact, that good dwelleth not in their composition, 
 however beautiful the exterior may appear to us at first 
 sight. Such people are simply pretty living pictures 
 walking about the earth, deriding every thing they are 
 
 * Read " The Identification of the Artisan and the Artist the Proper Ob- 
 ject of American Education." Illustrated by a lecture of Cardinal Wiseman, 
 addressed to American workingmen and educators, with an essay on Frcebel'a 
 " Reform of Primary Education." By Elizabeth P. Peabody. It is. grand. 
 
110 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 incapable of understanding. Handsome men and women 
 without a mind, I compare to gaudy flowers without per- 
 fume, or a noxious one. The tulip, poppy, and holly- 
 hock look very elegant in the garden ; but we do not want 
 any social intercourse with them ; we do not crave for 
 them in our bouquets. They please our eyes, but fail to 
 touch our sympathies. 
 
 I am a great lover of beauty. I walked four miles in 
 the snow once to see a beautiful woman. I see beauty 
 in every stage of life. There is beauty in the holy, un- 
 contaminated, innocent babe (pure humanity coming 
 direct from G-od). There is beauty in the fresh spring- 
 tide of girlhood, with her elastic step and joyous laugh. 
 There is beauty in the summer-time of womanhood. 
 There is beauty in the more developed woman, in the 
 autumn of our lives, when our reflective powers are 
 brought into greater action, reviewing the UNRECALLABLE 
 " PAST" with REGRET, and walking forward towards the 
 INVISIBLE FUTURE with HOPE and FAITH stamped firmly 
 upon our brow. There is beauty in the calm dignity 
 of wintry old age, IF the PRECEDING life has been that 
 of a CHRISTIAN. Yes, this is something grand to behold, 
 men and women, looking upward with a holy joy, 
 longing for the hour when God shall claim them as his 
 own. 
 
 With regard to equality, it is impossible for it ever to 
 exist in this world. You put five hundred people on a 
 little island, give each five hundred dollars (all of them 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. Ill 
 
 witli equal advantages in every thing), and, at the end 
 of twenty years, visit them, and you will find that their 
 different tastes, abilities, and actions, have separated them 
 as effectually as any aristocrat could desire. Our deter- 
 mination of character, our tact, our perseverance, our dis- 
 tinct quality and QUANTITY. of the HIGHER and LOWER 
 passions, divides us into different grades and classes.* 
 The very dogs teach us that "blood will tell." Behold 
 the superior, useful Newfoundland dog, the elegantly- 
 shaped greyhound, the King-Charles dog, and the harm- 
 less lap-dog, with its pretty flaxen curls ; and then look 
 at the New-York Water-street dogs, whose pictures 
 I saw lately, monsters to behold ! and, I am sorry 
 to add, their trainers meant for men looked scarcely 
 an atom above them in expression. Why, there are as 
 many natural divisions in canine society as any old John 
 Bull can desire. 
 
 The formation of the earth teaches us this truth. The 
 hills and the dales, the mountains and the valleys, the 
 richness of one soil and the barrenness of another, the 
 powerful intellect of some men and the shallowness of 
 others, the goodness of some men and the baseness of 
 others, all these natural distinctions are LIVING proofs 
 that EQUALITY does NOT exist, and never will on this 
 globe. 
 
 Reader, if you are an educated and capable man, and 
 
 * Dr. Maudsley of London repudiates the idea which assumes that all men 
 are born with equal original mental capacity. 
 
112 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 good, hut poor, and I am an incapable man, and have a 
 dubious sort of a character, but rich, am I your equal ? 
 Certainly not ; yet you know the world would call me 
 your superior. How can we wonder at the increase of 
 crime under this existing demoralizing state of society ? 
 The terrible desire that reigns among the masses for 
 equality is doing much mischief. The terrible love of 
 dress displayed by both sexes is doing more ; and 
 the horror that people evince at being poor, or even 
 thought poor, is, in my estimation, another cause of the 
 increase of CRIME, because poverty is usually viewed as 
 something debasing, as something to be avoided; not 
 because it is hard and painful to the parties who brave 
 it, and grapple with it, to bear, but that it is loathsome 
 to those who behold it. In fact, it is judged as a de- 
 graded evil, caused by some vice. And yet we are aware 
 that hundreds of our noblest men of genius, and Chris- 
 tian men, have contended for years with this direful 
 enemy ; and, bravely as they have fought, they have not 
 always conquered.* Dr. Johnson wrote " Rasselas " in a 
 garret by the deathbed of his mother. Otway died of eat- 
 ing a roll too fast when nearly starving. Dryden was 
 ,. dreadfully poor. The mighty Homer begged his bread. 
 
 * Dr. R. Sheldon Mackenzie wrote an excellent article in Saturday Night, 
 acme weeks ago, entitled, Self-Made Men, Money-Makers, Fame vs. Wealth. 
 He says, " It is not the good a person does, but the MONEY he may make in 
 doing it, entitles him to rank among the ' self-made men.' " He remarks that 
 Pope wrote, " ' Worth makes the man, and the want of it the Fellow; '" and 
 adds, " but methinks the American reading is, ' CASH makes the man.' " 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 113 
 
 " Burns," one of God's nobility, suffered great poverty. 
 Everybody remembers what indigence our admirable 
 "Goldsmith" endured. Poor young " Chatterton," 
 teeming with genius, in a weak moment put an end to his 
 life in an obscure attic, tempted by this foul fiend. And, 
 I am sorry to add, I could fill many long pages with the 
 names of great men who have suffered the bitterest of 
 poverty. I read, not long ago, in u The New-York 
 Sun," that an artist who had just finished a FINE pic- 
 ture, had, for a long time, been struggling in penury. 
 
 A writer whose name I forget (Curtis, I think) says, 
 " There is a law of the moral government of the uni- 
 verse which ordains that all that is great and valuable 
 and permanent in character must be the result, not of 
 theoretical teaching or natural aspiration, of spontaneous 
 resolve or uninterrupted success, but of trial, of suffer- 
 ing, of the fiery furnace of temptation, of the dark hours 
 of disappointment and defeat." 
 
 We are aware that hundreds of our most womanly 
 and sweetest of women have labored for years before 
 they could emerge from obscurity. But we have not 
 all been trained by the same kind of mother ; we have 
 not all been taught to bear and forbear : therefore, tak- 
 ing these things into consideration, we can scarcely won- 
 der that the women who can work, and are willing to 
 work, start up and ask for MEN'S rights, when they 
 do not; get their own. And I attest, that if a woman can 
 work as well as a man ; and desires to do men's work, 
 
 8 
 
114 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 why, there is no question about it but she ought to be 
 paid equal to a man. 
 
 Reader, we can scarcely wonder at the dread poverty 
 is held in when we consider how the poor are oppressed. 
 Wliat an infamous tax is the pawn-shop, where the 
 poor are the usual frequenters ! In New York, if fifty 
 cents or a dollar is borrowed, five cents is deducted at 
 the time for the stamp, besides three cents on each dollar 
 a month ; and, in Boston, five cents a WEEK on EACH 
 dollar, or even fifty cents ; and at the end of four weeks, 
 if the article is not redeemed, or the interest paid up, the 
 goods that the poor man or woman has labored so hard 
 to get are gone. And this robbery is LAWFUL : but the 
 LAW-makers don t feel it; only the POOR, who are obliged 
 to bear this DARING THEFT, yes, as daring as the 
 Broadway murder of Rodgers in New York. I would 
 remark to those who hate the English, that this obnox- 
 ious law exceeds even the overbearing laws of that 
 country. 
 
 Reader, of course you know that in 1765, when the 
 famous Stamp Act was passed in the British parlia- 
 ment, on the news reaching Boston, the bells were muf- 
 fled, and rang a funeral-peal ; and so great was the oppo- 
 sition to the act, that it was repealed during the spring 
 of 1766. This shows us how quickly the evils of society 
 can be put down if people set to work in EARNEST. In 
 New York, the "Act" was carried through the streets 
 with a Death's-head bearing this inscription, " The folly 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 115 
 
 of England, and the ruin of America." And God knows, 
 there could be hundreds of live heads carried through 
 
 o 
 
 New York to-day, so closely resembling death, that you 
 could scarcely detect the difference. Another outrage 
 on the poor is, that, if they are unable to pay their rent 
 in advance, they are put into the street. And yet how 
 many thousands of those who live beyond their income, 
 and pass for rich people, are owing thousands, and com- 
 promise by paying twenty-five or fifty cents on the dollar, 
 STILL keeping a fine house, and consequently are STILL 
 respected. Think you not, reader, that the poor observe 
 this educated chicanery ? Of course. And this is what 
 the depraved and weak-minded poor give for an excuse. 
 They say, " Look at your ivealthy thieves, and don't talk 
 to us about honesty, we poor, who steal because we 
 want the necessaries of life for our children." Does 
 not such knowledge as this teach us to have compassion 
 on this class of unhappy poor ? And does not such 
 knowledge teach us to honor the other class of poor ? 
 those who (as I before remarked) cannot be even starved 
 into crime ? those who do not accept the wages of sin. 
 Ah, my friends, poverty is a barren soil to live on ; and 
 too often the only showers that moisten it are tears that 
 flow forth from a wounded heart. I say again, if we 
 wish a decrease in crime, let us honor the respectable 
 poor. And let us remember that it requires the heroic 
 valor of the bravest soldier who voluntarily faces the 
 mouth of the cannon to contend with the iron arm of 
 
116 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 this licensed civilized MAMMOTH GIANT, Oppression, who 
 has been for a number of years stretching his uncouth, 
 unwieldy, gigantic limbs throughout the Old World, and, 
 I am sorry to add, has at last found a firm standing in 
 free America. Let it be put down at once, if you wish 
 to retain your greatness and yom* freedom. 
 
 Good reader, I pray you take notice how the many 
 mock philanthropists turn a deaf ear on the wrongs of 
 this class of poor, because there would not be publicity 
 given them ; the papers would not teem with the noble 
 deeds of these pharisees. O ye mockers of Christ's 
 charity ! think calmly of these things, and remember you 
 let many fall into the cesspool of crime to make a loud 
 noise when you drag them out. Beware ! for your day 
 of reckoning may be near at hand, when you must stand 
 before One whom you cannot deceive. 
 
 Permit me to give you my mother's ideas on the 
 poor. Twenty- five years ago, there was a sect who 
 defined themselves as the " Plymouth Brethren," or 
 the " Saints," referred to before in this chapter. My 
 sister belonged to them, and was on a visit at the house 
 of a wealthy saint, who one evening related to her a 
 sorrowful tale of a young and lovely woman being mal- 
 treated by a brutal husband. My sister exclaimed, 
 " Poor creature ! " The saint was quite indignant, and 
 replied, " I consider that expression an epithet of con- 
 tempt ; and, since your father died, I have heard your 
 mother called " Poor creature." The " saints " parted 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 117 
 
 and my sainted sister, returning home, re- 
 peated the whole of the affair to my mother. Two 
 days after, there appeared in the principal newspaper of 
 Plymouth the following lines : 
 
 TO ONE OF THE PLYMOUTH " SAINTS " WHO ALLEGED THAT 
 "POOR CREATURE " WAS AN EPITHET OF CONTEMPT. By 
 
 Grace Boyle, late De la Hooke. 
 
 " Poor worm of dust, poor clod of meanest earth, 
 Poor from thy womanhood, thy childhood, birth ; 
 Say, hadst thou beauty, youth, or fame in store, 
 Or wealth, or rank, yet still thou wouldst be poor. 
 Much faith, much works, much reasoning or lore, 
 Yet sinful, sunken, senseless, blind, and poor. 
 Poor, poor mortality, a worldling I, 
 Whom ' SAINTS ' would scoff at, and each fault decry ; 
 And yet Christ saith, ' I blessings have on high.' 
 For the humble spirit, blessings are in store ; 
 And I confess me I am very poor, 
 Poor in that faith by which the soul is driven 
 From earth's strongholds, and half embraces heaven ; 
 Poor in world's goods, in basket, and in store : 
 I do confess me, I am very poor. 
 
 " When the Lord's chastening hand is laid on those 
 Who meekly bear, and tremble to oppose, 
 The GOOD SAMARITAN will wash the sore 
 With OIL and WINE, and say, * Because she's poor.' 
 Do words like these imply contempt in store ? 
 Was Matthew, Mark, was not our Saviour, poor ? 
 Go, woman, weep, thy pride and passion o'er ; 
 Whilst I can smile at ' Blessed are the Poor.' " 
 
118 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 NOTE. I happened to be alone in conversation with the 
 young woman who affirmed that only thin people could be 
 intellectual ; and hearing her pronounce " Edinburgh " as it was 
 spelt, and knowing her sixteen years ago, when she was seven 
 years old, out of kindness I informed her the proper pronuncia- 
 tion was " Edinbro " (having lived in that city ten years). Instead 
 of thanking me, she took not the slightest notice, but asked me 
 if I had ever been to Paris. And these words have remained a 
 byword between myself and friends ever since. When we meet, 
 we salute each other by asking this overpowering question, " Have 
 you been to Paris ? " Her mother was born and reared in the 
 humblest sphere of life (the husband informed me she worked 
 out in her girlhood for seventy-five cents per week), yet often 
 speaks of her boarding-school days, boasted about her daughter's 
 independence in pronouncing this word in her own style ! Let us 
 presume it was the Parisian style. I believe that woman would 
 have undergone such torture that it would have caused her death, 
 had it so happened that her two daughters could not have " BEEN 
 to PARIS." I was sorry to learn, that, on one of their visits to 
 that country (they have been three times there), they had an in- 
 vitation from a woman whom the mother previously informed me 
 was living in open adultery, and had two children by her paramour; 
 and the WIFE of the man languishing in misery alone ! and yet 
 this mother accepted her invitation during her stay in France 
 with her two young women daughters, one born in July, 1847, 
 and the other, July, 1850 ! And, when the unfortunate person and 
 children come to New York, she makes their. house her HOME! 
 Surely there is retribution for such foul deeds as these. I have 
 remarked that the vulgar frequently mistake insolence for inde- 
 pendence; but the meaning of these two words is as distinct as 
 noble DETERMINATION and dogged obstinacy. 
 
 Reader, did it ever occur to you, that, when a certain class of 
 persons get into comparatively affluent circumstances (not by their 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 119 
 
 own exertions, but some strange freak of fortune), the first thing 
 they spring at is a piano and teacher, then a half-dozen French 
 books, and a real French madame, neglecting more useful branch- 
 es of education ? I once knew a woman who had washed all her 
 life for a living ; and one of her young daughters had been with a 
 a family to France as a nurse-girl, and spoke bad French very 
 fluently. When my children and I would go there, the old woman 
 would make this girl repeat every thing she had to say in French, 
 and watch the effect this display of learning had on our countenan- 
 ces. The only result was making us actually ROAR with laughter. 
 About two years ago, I had a dressmaker from "The Working- 
 Woman's Union" New York ; and, speaking of her relations, she 
 said, " O inarm ! you should see my oldest sister's daughter. She is 
 a perfect lady ; and everybody says she'll marry some grand man" 
 "Indeed!" I replied. "Yes, marm, she speaks French elegant; 
 and, when she's speaking, she throws her hands about like an 
 actress." This was too much for my risible faculties. I enjoyed 
 her description of a REAL LADY vastly. In an old paper of Frank- 
 lin's, dated 1723, there is a capital but short postscript, saying, 
 " Gentle readers, we design never to let a paper pass without 
 a Latin motto, if we can possibly pick one up, which carries a 
 charm in it to the vulgar ; and the learned admire the pleasure of 
 construing. We should have obliged the world with a Greek scrap 
 or two ; but the printer has no types : and therefore we entreat the 
 candid reader not to impute the defect to our ignorance ; for our 
 * Doctor ' can say all Greek letters by heart." 
 
 NOTE. Young girls, read this letter of advice I wrote to my 
 daughter Gordon after receiving a letter from her informing me of 
 her happiness with her husband. He had not graduated when they 
 were married; and I knew the income his father allowed him, 
 though handsome for one person, would be very limited when he 
 took a wife. After writing on my family-affairs, I concluded my 
 
120 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 letter thus : "I hope you will bear in mind all I have said to you 
 regarding the marriage-state. Remember, you tested your hus- 
 band's love, and found him faithful ; and it will be your own fault 
 if his affection does not continue. When he comes home to his 
 meals, make a point of having every thing in perfect order, with 
 WELL-COOKED FOOD ; and, however inexpensive your dress may 
 be, let it be neat, but neither gay nor soiled. A white muslin dress 
 always looks well on any person, especially the young, or a bride. 
 I like dresses that wash, because, when they are ' made up/ they 
 look fresh, just like a new one from thestore. I pray you to not 
 let this mode of conduct be merely a beginning, if you wish happi- 
 ness in your married life to be of long duration. Remember, this 
 man has chosen you, a poor girl, for his wife, in preference to a 
 wealthy one whom his friends wished him to have ; proving that 
 it was you he wanted to marry, and not your ESTATES or your 
 GOLD. If he is out of temper, and unreasonable in consequence, 
 on no consideration retort at the time : but, when he is calm and 
 agreeable, then point out when, and where, he was in error ; and, of 
 his own accord, he will ask your forgiveness, and be more careful 
 in future not to offend you. Depend on it, what I say to you is 
 correct, and for your good. I have no object in telling you these 
 things but to make the happiness you speak about continue till 
 'the end of all things.' Do not forget that his profession is one 
 that requires closer study (I think) than any other: therefore 
 never attempt to entertain him with tales about your neighbor's 
 fine dress or fine airs, or your servant's stupidity. Never indulge 
 in gossipping ; for it leads to slandering, which is indicative of a 
 frivolous and envious mind ; and I am sorry to add that women as 
 a body are too prone to it. True men of every grade in life detest 
 it. Do you remember my telling you that neither my mother nor 
 grandmother ever permitted a person to speak disparagingly of 
 another in their presence, when the party was not there to be able 
 to vindicate or defend themselves ? I have frequently heard my 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 121 
 
 mother say to myself and young friends, when we were making com- 
 ments on girls we knew, ' If you have exhausted all your powers of 
 entertaining each other, but this one, "backbiting" I think it 
 is time to separate.' Another important thing I wish to impress on 
 your mind. Do not beg or tease your husband for a SILK dress, or a 
 VELVET mantle, unless you are QUITE certain he CAN really afford 
 to buy one ; for, if he CANNOT, just think of the agony he will en- 
 dure when the bill is presented, and he without the money to settle 
 it ! Only consider how his brain will burn, and how his valuable 
 time will be taken up, devising some way to pay it ; and if you 
 really love your husband, on reviewing the whole matter, how you 
 will reproach yourself for having caused all this tribulation for a 
 fine dress I You have youth on your side, and look well in any 
 thing that is neat and consistent. Hoping you will ask God to 
 direct you in all things, I remain your affectionate mother, 
 
 "ANNA B. BOONE." 
 
 After my daughter (Mrs. Dr. Bevan) became a mother, I re- 
 ceived this letter : 
 
 " MY OWN" DEAR MOTHER, How can I ever thank you 
 enough for all you have done for me ! How much more I am able 
 to appreciate your instruction now that I am a wife and a mother ! 
 Many things that I thought severe in you to expect me to do at 
 that time, I thank you a thousand times for NOW. I have followed 
 your advice as closely as possible, and am truly happy. We have 
 had two invitations to the ' ball ' at Guy's Hospital : all the Doc- 
 tors and their wives will be there. The hospital is to be hung 
 with scarlet cloth. Many of the * nobility ' are invited. My boy 
 is a beauty: his name is John Acland Batler Bevan, Batler 
 after the 'Duke of Ormond,' one of his father's ancestors ; and 
 Acland after mine. So he may be proud of his antecedents. But 
 
122 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 what I shall pray for most is, that he may live to be a good man. I 
 write in great haste as my baby is calling for me. 
 " I remain, my own dear mother, 
 
 " Your affectionate daughter, 
 
 "LoRA GORDON BEVAN. 
 
 " P.S. John will send you a few lines in this envelope. He 
 had twenty-seven patients last Wednesday. O mamma! when 1 
 think of all you have undergone, and how you still retain your 
 cheerfulness and youthful appearance, it seems miraculous. The 
 lines I wrote on William Tell ' I will send you as soon as the 
 paper is sent to me." 
 
 I publish these letters to show my young readers, that, 
 the higher the intellect is cultivated, the better able we 
 all are to fulfil our womanly duties. Such letters as these 
 are very dear to a mother's heart, and prove that she 
 has not labored in vain. 
 
 From John Alywin Bevan to Mrs. Boone. 
 
 11 GUY'S HOSPITAL, 1806. 
 
 " MY DEAR MOTHER-IN-LAW, I cannot allow Gordon to 
 send her letter without addressing a few lines to you to say how 
 much I am indebted to you for having blessed me with such a wife 
 as Gordon. I cannot express the happiness I have realized since 
 our marriage. She possesses (if possible) more virtues than those 
 that have already so distinguished her mother. I write this in the 
 hospital, surrounded by business : therefore excuse this brief letter, 
 and " Believe me ever your affectionate son-in-law, 
 
 'JOHN ALYWIN BEVAN." 
 
 NOTE ON " YOUNG AMERICA." Speaking on the subject of 
 obedience among children in this country, I rarely find it, even 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 123 
 
 in highly respectable American families. And I am most decidedly 
 in favor of parents being the " head " of the household. In Eng- 
 land, children are decidedly kept in better order. I have had more 
 trouble with my young American boys than all my other children. 
 Daniel wishes to be " master," and gives his ideas rather too freely. 
 So does young Willie. Daniel has marched off a half a dozen times, 
 " to see the world," as he says ; but I am bound to go after him as 
 long as the law gives me that power : and he will thank me for 
 it in after-years. This boy has supported himself, ever since he 
 was seven years old, by delivering little temperance-pieces, and, 
 later, regular lectures (some will be found at the end of this book). 
 And on the 1st of January, 1867, at Tremont Temple, he deliv- 
 ered an address (written by me) on the Emancipation Procla- 
 mation. The next morning, " The Boston Journal " spoke in the 
 highest terms of this boy's powers, and copied a small portion of 
 the lecture, and ended by observing that one of the speakers in- 
 stantly rose, and gave out the words, " God moves in a mysterious 
 way his wonders to perform." " The Boston Post," after making 
 comments on many of the gentlemen present, said, " The next 
 speaker introduced was Daniel Boone, the youthful orator. Young 
 Boone, only twelve years of age, made a fine appearance on the 
 platform, and spoke with all the dignity and gracefulness that an 
 accomplished elocutionist can command when in the presence of 
 a large audience. The remarks of this child-orator for such in- 
 deed he is were received with frequent rounds of applause, as the 
 well-rounded periods, accompanied with most graceful gestures, fell 
 from his lips. This address was decidedly the great feature of the 
 afternoon exercises." Of course, such nattering remarks from such 
 papers are apt to make a boy vain. It is not the case with him. He 
 does not give himself " airs ; " never attempts to say or infer that 
 he is at all superior to any AMERICAN BOY. He hates to " show 
 off" what he can do. I do not object to this. But he speaks of all 
 the English with a sort of contempt, which makes him appear un- 
 
124 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 just, and is most decidedly little. This prominent feeling in Young 
 America, I think, is caused by some writers who have travelled, 
 and hate the English, and are continually harping upon the Amer- 
 ican boys' superiority. 
 
 . The Rev. Dr. Bellows writes as follows to " The Liberal Chris- 
 tian," respecting some of the experiences of his recent voyage up 
 the Nile : " I am delighted with our English boys (there are none 
 over twenty-five), and think myself most fortunate in the opportu- 
 nity of studying young men just out of college from the tight little 
 island. I cannot but compare them (not unfavorably, or the reverse) 
 with the three American young men. The differences are very 
 marked. All the young men, both American and English, are, it 
 BO happens, college-bred, and all, on both sides, earnest and fine 
 fellows. They are all, too, nearly of one age. The English are 
 gentler, more considerate of the feelings of those about them, softer, 
 and more restrained. They are modest, and less accustomed to the 
 society of women, very sensitive, and a little awkward. They are 
 deferential to the elders of the party, and never put themselves on 
 the common footing of human beings, without much regard to age 
 or sex. They are up in the classics, in history, and in antiquities, 
 but not up in the physical sciences, nor even in their own litera- 
 ture. They know a good^deal about English politics, but not much 
 about foreign or American affairs. They chaff each other, talk a 
 deal of slang, are always good natured, and have next to no self- 
 assertion or national sensitiveness. They are very liberal in their 
 religious notions, especially the Cambridge man. They are not 
 good-looking, considered as physical specimens, and, with one ex- 
 ception, have not a spark of grace or fascination in appearance. 
 The Americans are men better versed in general knowledge and in 
 acquaintance with the world. They are more skilled in the sci- 
 ences and in general literature, know more about English authors, 
 than the Englishmen. They know much less of Latin and Greek 
 and antiquities. They talk less, but are more self-possessed, and 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 125 
 
 seem much older for their years. They are comparatively bluff, 
 manly fellows ; handsome as men, and not very sensitive to the 
 charms of the young ladies, whom they treat with an easy respect 
 which is not very flattering. They look more like men who had a 
 distinct and serious business in life, over which they were brooding 
 too deeply to have much taste for trifles. They have very little of 
 the solicitude to please, and very little of the gentleness, of the 
 English youth. They are less engaging from a domestic point of 
 view, but more promising. In short, one represents a country where 
 all hopes are bounded^ and where everybody must move step by 
 step, and with due regard to ten thousand competitors ; the others, 
 a country where everybody has scope,* where men may have great 
 
 * And is there so little hope for the English, doctor ? In Philadelphia, some 
 months ago, the college-bred young men did not approve of young ladies being 
 " STUDENTS ; " and they insulted them so grossly, that the police actually had 
 to interfere. I read this statement myself. And a short time subsequently, at 
 the Bellevue Hospital, New York, the same kind of scenes took place; and 
 Warden Brennan was ordered to call in the "/jrce," if the outrages were again 
 repeated. And, more recently still, I read an article headed, " Disgraceful 
 Scenes at Tale CMeje." It ran thus : " Yale students have AGAIN been guilty 
 of conduct calculated to bring that institution into disgrace. Last Saturday 
 night. ' The Palladium ' says, a fow of the students engaged in a series of wan- 
 ton actions, prominent among which were the firing of a college out-building, 
 breaking into and defacing the chapel, abstracting the cushions and Bible, carry- 
 ing off one of the iron scats on the green." Doctor, I am in favor of the strictest 
 discipline ; and, when I cannoi manage my boys, I shall put them where they 
 will be well kept down. I knew a clergyman in England; and he said boys ought 
 to be threshed once a month, whether they were obstreperous or not. And Ward 
 Beecher says, if a child is whipped, let it be done in EARNEST, or not at all, 
 words tantamount. I say ditto. 
 
 I read, a few days since, in another paper, the following remarks : 
 " Not only wealth, but fame, social position, political power, are within 
 easy reach of every class. Patrick Henry, Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, and 
 Abraham Lincoln, were all born of poor but honest parents." Does the writer of 
 these words know that Milton was a poor man, born in Bread Lane, London 1 
 that Cobden was once only a commercial traveller ? that Sir Robert Peel was only 
 a poor weaver, and after, premier of England ? Charles Dickens was born in 
 
125 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 hopes, and where their early motions are accommodated to a long 
 and a lofty goal. I must say, I see nothing in the most candid com- 
 parison of these English and American young men to make me 
 feel ashamed of being an American." 
 
 The doctor says, " The English are gentler, more considerate of 
 the feelings of those about them, softer, and more restrained." He 
 repeats this as if it were rather a fault (I think this style charming, 
 and to be admired). He continues, " They are modest, and less 
 accustomed to the society of women, very sensitive, and a little 
 awkward. They are deferential to the elders of the party, and 
 never put themselves oa the common footing of human beings, 
 without much regard to AGE or SEX." I must say, it is very beau- 
 tiful to see modesty in either sex, that is, to MY taste. He says 
 they are not good looking, considered as physical specimens, and, 
 with ONE exception, have not a spark of grace or fascination in 
 appearance (remember, he judges from three or four young men). 
 Now, just suppose that an English person had made a similar remark 
 about the Americans. Why, we English would be scouted in the 
 most horrible manner. I pray you, give us credit for one thing, - 
 never making remarks on personal appearance until really called for ; 
 
 humble life. George Stevenson could not read till he was twenty-two years old; 
 and to what height did HE rise ! And where is his son now ? Samuel Drew 
 waa a poor shoemaker; and, when he went dlnnerless, he would tie his apron- 
 string tighter, pounding away at the sole of a boot, occasionally getting up to 
 take down a pair of old BELLOWS for a DESK, and writing his exquisite essay on 
 the other soul. This work so distinguished him, that his family are now living in 
 splendor in St. Anstel, Cornwall. And at one time he lived in one room with six 
 children. Cobbett was a poor soldier. Poor Bunyan in a prison wrote " The Pil- 
 grinrs Progress," a work that will be handed down to posterity. Our " mighty 
 Bard " was only born in the middle class of society. In fact, I could fill volumes 
 with such illustrations. And as to our wealthy men, thousands have risen from 
 obscurity yes, charity-boys, workhouse-boys to opulence. But we rarely 
 hear of these people, simply because the English do not lay such stress on men 
 for their wealth, unless worth is combined : then we signalize them as being 
 great; and they make themselves " men of mark." 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 127 
 
 and likewise honor us for taking care of the LITTLE beauty we do 
 possess. I know two young women, of twenty-one and twenty-three, 
 that are actually plain-looking persons ; and a woman told me, that, 
 when they were " young" they were " real sweet." " Young ! " I 
 exclaimed, " why, they are girls now ! " " Oh ! " said the lady ; 
 " I mean when they were fifteen or sixteen." Now, just think of 
 such a speech ! 
 
 Reader, I have a paper on medical subjects ; * and, in less space 
 than a quarter of a yard, there are three separate sentences on the 
 superior beauty of the American women to the English. Not one 
 of these travellers seem to be cognizant of the fact that the Lan- 
 cashire women are very beautiful ; that they are always called the 
 " Lancashire witches," so bewitchingly lovely are they ; and in 
 " Worcester," the women are called the three P's, "poor, proud, 
 and pretty ; and Plymouth is noted for her beautiful women. In 
 Plymouth, a female Quaker was so exceedingly beautiful, that the 
 street was actually lined with people to look at her; and in Weru- 
 bery, near Plymouth, a farmer's daughter, Miss Dudney, was so 
 lovely, the Duke of Clarence (afterwards King William) jumped off 
 his horse, and presented her with a diamond-ring, and at the same 
 time declared that a second " Fair Rosamond " had come to life. In 
 London, a confectioner's daughter was so transcendently beautiful, 
 that, when she appeared in the shop, the police had to be on hand. 
 And some monster threw a stone, and injured her. The father shut 
 her up ; and she pined and died. This circumstance happened 
 when my mother was a girl. 
 
 And as to our intellectual power, as a body, I shall say nothing 
 about; for all my educated readers are aware how highly this " Gem" 
 predominates in the Old World. I could write volumes about our 
 beautiful and great women ; but these things speak for themselves 
 
 * It was Dr. Holland, who writes under the name of "Timothy Titcomb," 
 writing to The Springfield Republican. 
 
128 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 louder than book or words. One thing I will say to both the young 
 and the old, there is always hope, when a boy is temperate and 
 honest in every thing (for his future). These are two great features 
 in the making of a man or woman, and something that parents ought 
 to inculcate in their children from their earliest days, something 
 that is more to be looked to than people generally imagine. Of 
 course, these traits arc not every thing ; but they are two great 
 things. I have been called severe ; but I thank God I was deter- 
 mined enough to bear the insults of ignorant people ; and I have 
 reaped the benefits of my severity (I mean morally). I know a 
 woman now who is a respectable American ; and she had to put her 
 child of twelve years away for unruly conduct. Now she wishes 
 him home ; and the authorities won't let her have him. This woman 
 informed me that she had no more control over this boy than if he 
 was not her own ; and there are hundreds of such cases : I was 
 told so by a gentleman of distinction at the State House lately. The 
 difference is, I am bound to be master over my children. Once, 
 when Daniel ran off, I started from New York to Vermont, with 
 only sixty-two cents, and arrived back in New York with two cents. 
 Women, make your children TEMPERANCE children. Neither one 
 of my sons or daughters would touch a jelly that had a drop of 
 wine in it. Mrs. Vanderbilt, jr., recently was teaching her children 
 to mend stockings. Some lady reproved her for doing so, "a lady 
 in her rank," she said. Mrs. Vanderbilt replied, and very rightly, 
 that she thought a mother ought to teach her children every tltincj, as 
 it was impossible to know how vicissitude some day might require 
 them to do many things that they dream not of when children. 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 129 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Is Longer still. Gives Further Evidence of the Great Attention that is 
 paid to the Outer Man, instead of the Inner Man, and the Evil Re- 
 sults therefrom ; with Several Episodes appertaining to this Subject. 
 The Conclusion. 
 
 A WOMAN in Boston said to me five years ago, 
 " Mrs. Boone, a lady wondered that I took you to 
 board with that old cloak on." Reader, just think of such 
 a speech ! And yet a gentleman of high moral character, 
 and of excellent standing in society, walked many times 
 through Washington Street with me in the identical 
 
 o o 
 
 cloak. I heard he was married a 3 7 ear ago : and I feel 
 quite certain that he has chosen his wife for her superior 
 mind, and not for the texture of her cloak ; for her high 
 tone of principle, and not for the weight of her chain, 
 a happy thing if there were more such marriages. 
 
 My husband used to relate an anecdote of a young 
 gentleman possessing both education and talent, but 
 poor. Hearing that a proud and wealthy statesman had 
 a secretaryship at his disposal, he determined to try his 
 fortune. He knew it was impossible to obtain an inter- 
 view in his seedy clothes, unless the footman willed it. 
 
130 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 The flunkey was insolent ; but, on finding a golden 
 guinea thrust into his hand (the last the poor fellow 
 had), he instantly conducted him into the presence of 
 his master, whose countenance betokened amazement 
 at such presumption. The servant whispered, u Your 
 honor, he would come in." The haughty man turned 
 round to his indigent visitor, and inquired his business. 
 After a few moments' conversation, the statesman was 
 spell-bound with the youth's elegant address, his earnest, 
 manly, and straightforward manner of asking for the 
 vacancy, and his evident capability of being able to fill 
 it, that he granted his request. And, on leaving, the 
 great man opened the door himself, instead of ringing 
 for the footman ; at the same time remarking, " I hope 
 my servant was not impertinent to you : I fear he was." 
 " Not at all," replied the young man. "He was 
 very polite to me ; but he was rather insolent to my 
 clothes." Some time after, he called, well dressed, and 
 without a guinea. He was immediately admitted to the 
 presence of his patron, who again hoped that his man 
 had been more polite. " No, sir," replied the secretary: 
 " he behaved just the same to me; but he was very obse- 
 quious to my CLOTHES." 
 
 I copied from a paper some time ago the following 
 little episode : " A Long-Branch correspondent of a 
 Trenton paper gives an account of a well-merited re- 
 buke administered to a party of pretentious fashionables 
 at that place. The Hon. Gov. Newell and his wife ar- 
 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTION'S. 131 
 
 rived at the ' Mansion House ' just at the dinner-hour, 
 and entered the din'mor-hall before Mrs. Newell changed 
 
 O O 
 
 her attire. The party alluded to, immediately, not know- 
 ing her, made audible remarks on her appearance, and 
 spoke indignantly because the waiters, to whom Gov. 
 Newell was known, waited on him first. Various in- 
 sulting allusions were made in the table conversation. 
 In the evening, Mrs. Newell appeared in the parlor in 
 full dress. She was saluted by a gentleman who hap- 
 pened to be a friend of the ladies in the fashionable 
 party, and who subsequently, on their inquiry, informed 
 them who Mrs. Newell was. They immediately sent the 
 most abject apologies, which she refused to receive, 
 not on account of personal resentment, but because their 
 conduct exhibited them as persons not fitted to associate 
 with genuine ladies ; and she would riot recognize them 
 as such." Bravo, Mrs. Newell ! if every lady acted in 
 the like manner, this species of the human animal 
 would soon be annihilated, and dress would have its 
 downfall. Some time ago, my son-in-law Burr sent me 
 ten pounds, which I received in Wall Street. I was 
 dressed in black silk, with a white bonnet ; and I re- 
 member I had on new kid gloves. The clerk paid me 
 instantly. A few months after, Mr. Hoar sent me a 
 check for a small sum due to my mother from the Gov- 
 ernment, paid up to the time of her death. As the 
 sky was cloudy, I put on appropriate clothes, fearing it 
 might rain; however, it cleared off, and my apparel 
 
132 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 looked rather shabby. I saw the two clerks whispering 
 together ; and one stepped forward, and asked me for a 
 reference. I replied, " Young man, I am Mrs. Anna 
 B. Boone, the same woman that you paid in this office 
 a short time ago ; but I was handsomely dressed at the 
 time, and you looked at my CLOTHES then for a REFER- 
 ENCE. This is the main cause of the existence of so 
 many young Ketchums in Wall Street." He colored to 
 the very temples, paid me ; and I left. When I was 
 stopping at a hotel in Washington, some years ago, the 
 landlady showed me a set of diamonds that her husband 
 had purchased a few days previously, costing a thousand 
 dollars. In course of conversation, I inquired if she was 
 well provided for in case of his death, as he was her 
 senior by many years. "No: she would have noth- 
 ing." And the new furniture that they were supposed 
 to have bought was not half paid for. The clerk's wife 
 showed me a ring that cost her husband a hundred dol- 
 lars, a miserable looking young woman of twenty-two, 
 with one sickly child, and a nurse to attend to it. She 
 did nothing from morning till night but read novels, and 
 look at her white hands, particularly the one with the 
 ring on it. 
 
 A wealthy lady came to the hotel to stay a few days, 
 and she wore some superb diamonds. At the dinner- 
 table, it was most laughable to see the clerk's wife 
 stretching her long, thin neck to feast her eyes on the 
 lady's jewels. The sight of them seemed to light up her 
 languid system. 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 133 
 
 " London Public Opinion " copied an article from 
 another paper, which stated that it is natural for women 
 to love jewelry ; and that they ought to have it. If 
 this be the case, it is not at all indicative of intellect ; 
 for, the greater the savage, the greater the love of this 
 unwholesome propensity. And unwholesome it decided- 
 ly is ; for we have continual proofs (one recently, of a 
 most glaring nature) that it degrades the women of the 
 present day ; or it impoverishes their homes, and makes 
 the heart of many worthy men ache till they sicken and 
 weary of life. Reader, you must know that the reason 
 I feel a sort of manly sympathy for the masculine 
 gender is, I have had to act, in a great measure, nearly 
 the whole of my life, a man's part to my numerous 
 family. I know all the responsibilities. I know what 
 it is to be major-domo. When I wore velvet and honi- 
 ton, I earned it ; when I stopped at the principal hotels, 
 my hard earnings paid for it ; when I have been a guest 
 at some of the first families in America, it was my intel- 
 lect, my self-respect, my deportment, that won me these 
 attentions ; and my only jewels were my children. Con- 
 sequently, I was compelled to feel myself the head of 
 the house ; and GOD knows how I YEARNED for it to be 
 otherwise. 
 
 I have great respect for working-meu of every class, 
 from the news-vender up to the millionnaire, who daily 
 toil for the support of their wives and children ; and the 
 wife should remember, that, generally speaking, every 
 
134 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 cent is earned by the husband, every bill is presented to 
 him. Who pays for the barrel of flour ? If one or ten 
 pairs of shoes are wanting, his labor has earned the means 
 . to meet the demand ; and, if debts are incurred, the man 
 goes to prison, and not the woman ! When women meet 
 with such men as these, they ought to make home as 
 near like paradise as possible. Frequently, instead, the 
 husband comes home to a disorderly house, and a badly- 
 cooked dinner. There is nothing makes me so ill tem- 
 pered as poorly-dressed food, particularly after working 
 hard to pay for it ; and I am proud that I know how to 
 cook an excellent dinner, as well as read Shakspeare ; 
 and taught my daughters the same necessary and 
 womanly accomplishment. Every woman ought to 
 knosv how to dress a good dinner, and iron a shirt ; for, 
 if ten servants are at our command, it will never come 
 amiss to know how to direct them. Many a man makes 
 some excuse to dine out to get a decent dinner; and 
 should he meet a friend, and stay out a couple of hours 
 later than usual, he is defined as a monster and a brute. 
 I don't blame him : so should I. 
 
 A lady fell into a violent passion with me lately, be- 
 cause I said I believed that .domestic grievances too fre- 
 quently originated from either the idleness, incompetency, 
 or selfishness of the wife ; and I do believe it from my 
 heart. And at meal-times, men are amused by columns 
 of slander. She said, " Why, of all women on earth, 
 you ought to agree with our rights ; YOU, who have had 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 135 
 
 to nm half round the world to live ! " " True," I re- 
 plied, " I do agree that women should have their proper 
 rights; but, when they want men's rights, let them 
 share their responsibilities. If a woman aspires to be 
 the head of the house, let 5ier meet its expenses. I 
 only wish," I continued, "you had to 'run round the 
 world,' as you call it, and then you would perceive why 
 1 ignore woman going out of the path cut out for her (by 
 Nature) to walk in. I imagine you would soon tire of 
 men's rights when you partake of the work into the #ar- 
 galn" 
 
 Two winters ago, I read in " The Sun " of New 
 York, many letters from working-men to the editor of 
 that paper. The majority were boasting how much it 
 cost them to live, and were terribly down upon a man 
 who signed himself " Observer," because his wife pro- 
 vided food for him, herself, and three or four chil- 
 dren, on a dollar a day, and had saved enough to buy 
 him an overcoat. Both of these persons were laughed 
 at and derided with many insulting epithets, in epistles 
 from working men and women, whose boast and insolence 
 they evidently mistook for genuine wit. I am very sure 
 " Observer" and his wife would have -gained the appro- 
 bation of Dr. Franklin in regard to their frugality, 
 which redounds to their credit. I think men and 
 women who live within their income can afford to be 
 laughed at these fast times. 
 
 When I kept school in Connecticut, out of my sixty 
 
136 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 pupils, I remarked three that I felt certain would rise 
 above the station they were born in. Their minds were 
 evidently above mediocrity ; they were attentive, punc- 
 tual, and well dressed ; called mean and greedy by many 
 of my other pupils : but what was the result of these 
 excellent qualities and habits? Two of these girls are 
 living elegantly in New York, married ; and the other 
 owns a ten-roomed house in Greenpoint, with some 
 thousands in the bank. Her eldest daughter, to my 
 knowledge, is receiving her education at the " Rutgers 
 Institute," in the Fifth Avenue, and learning every ac- 
 complishment. 
 
 If " Observer's " wife, by her excellent management, 
 gets a greatcoat out of the overplus of her small income, 
 surely she is to be honored for it far more than if she 
 had bought a dashing pair of ear-rings or a breast-pin ; 
 for the greatcoat keeps warmth in the man who is her 
 provider to the best of his abilities, her protector, the 
 father of her children, and the man whom, it is to be 
 supposed and hoped, she loves, and has chosen for life, 
 for better, for worse. It is such actions and sacrifices as 
 these that prove the genuine love that should exist be- 
 tween man and wife, and exhibit a purity of mind that 
 should be lauded, by casting aside temptations that too 
 frequently bring desolation and poverty on loved ones, 
 and too frequently ruin the happiness, respect, and 
 honor of once joyous homes. Every day such disclosures 
 are made manifest. When a man marries, lie pays the 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 137 
 
 woman the greatest compliment he is capable of offering 
 her, and shows her that he wishes and believes she will 
 make him a sacred and happy spot in this world, wherever 
 his destiny may call him to pitch his tent, because a 
 man can always have a place to resort to, either to gratify 
 his intellectual or animal desires, without marrying, and 
 without comment. I do not tell you that I think these 
 things right; but such are the conventionalities of society. 
 If a woman marries a true man, it is her own fault if she 
 does not retain his affections when he sought to win her 
 
 O 
 
 for herself only ; but if she will give herself, body and 
 soul, to a man for a fine home and fine dress, he will 
 soon find out the truth, and that there is no love. Then, 
 GOD HELP HER ! for bitterness or apathy must dwell 
 in her bosom forever. And, if she WILL marry a pup- 
 pet or puppy because " he is such a PRETTY FELLOW," 
 why, let her take the consequence ; which is, that he will 
 think much more of his mustache and necktie than either 
 of her or his children ! 
 
 Let COMPETENT women be better paid for their labor, 
 and then there will be an end to marrying for a home, 
 or rather a shelter ; for such uncongenial firesides can- 
 not be called by that loving, tender, hallowed name, 
 " home," sweet home ! 
 
 It has frequently occurred to me how beautifully the 
 simple song of 
 
 " There's Nae Luck about the House" 
 exemplifies the love of a true wife for her husband : 
 
138 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 " And are ye sure the news is true ? 
 
 And are ye sure he's weel ? 
 Is this a time to think of wark ? 
 
 Ye jauds, fling by your wheel ! 
 Is this a time to think of wark, 
 
 When Collin's at the door ? 
 Rax me my clock : I'll to the qua, 
 
 And see him come ashore. 
 
 " For there's nae luck about the house, i 
 
 There's nae luck at a* ; 
 There's little pleasure in the house, 
 When our gudeman's awa'. 
 
 " Rise up, and make a clean fireside ; 
 
 Put on the muckle pot ; 
 Gie little Kate her button gown, 
 
 And Jock his Sunday coat. 
 And make their shoon as black as slae, 
 
 Their hose as white as snaw : 
 It's aw to please my ain gudeman, 
 
 For he's been lang awa'. 
 
 " Sae true his heart, so smooth his speech, 
 
 His breath like caller air ; 
 His very FOOT has MUSIC in't 
 
 As he comes up the STAIR : 
 And will I see his face again ? 
 
 And will I hear him speak ? 
 I'm downright dizzy wi' the thought ; 
 
 In troth, I'm like to greet." 
 
 What a beautiful, touching sentiment, that " his very 
 foot has music in't as he comes up the stair " ! What a 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 139 
 
 thrilling idea of love these few words contain ! It is not 
 the ringing of the GOLD he is bringing home that sounds 
 so harmonious to her ear, but his FOOTSTEP that makes 
 MUSIC to her HEART ; for every step brings him closer 
 to her ARMS. And yet they have lived long enough 
 together to have a little Jock and a wee Kate. The 
 
 o 
 
 love that exists between mother and child is the holiest 
 of love ; but the genuine love of man, and woman, is, 
 unquestionably, the most wonderful, the most mysterious, 
 in fact, it is a miracle that CANNOT be SOLVED. How 
 often you will see a family living in the most perfect har- 
 mony, and fate or chance (fate, I think) sends a strange 
 man to the house, and he falls in love, perhaps, with the 
 most affectionate, obedient, and modest of those daugh- 
 ters ; and, should she reciprocate the attachment, why 
 she will leave all her early associations, ALL the tender 
 words and caresses of her PARENTS, and go forth with 
 him whithersoever he may wish to lead her. So far, 
 I believe in magnetism and spiritualism : I believe that 
 love often takes a strong hold at first sight. But I do 
 not believe in spiritualism to the extent that some persons 
 do; for I know of a woman living with a married man, 
 and she says the spirits sent him to her. She is forty- 
 nine, and she has a child two years old ; and she solemnly 
 affirms that it was a gift from the spirits. Now, the wo- 
 man that I have referred to is a poor, uncultured person ; 
 and yet, to palliate her crime of living in open adultery, 
 she blames the poor spirits, by affecting, that, as she be- 
 
140 TIIE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 longs to this pure circle of oracles, she is compelled to 
 obey their mandates. Still, I wish my readers to under- 
 stand that I firmly believe there are HUNDREDS of pure- 
 minded spiritualists who are disgusted at such proceed- 
 ings, and sorry that such degraded acts are carried on 
 under the name of u SPIRITUALISM." 
 
 There have been recently some terrible disclosures in 
 a Boston paper about the meetings at Boylston-street 
 Hall ; and I know not why, but I understand these 
 anonymous letters have been imputed to me. I am 
 happy to inform every person who may read this book, 
 that, in the first place, I never wrote an article YET that 
 I was ashamed to put my name to. In the second place, 
 my time is better employed by endeavoring to earn an 
 honorable living for myself and four children. I have 
 not read these letters ; but I am sorry to say, that, from 
 what I hear of them, there is too much truth in what 
 they allege ; for there is no doubt but there are a num- 
 ber of degraded characters belong to that hall. I have 
 heard an old withered wretch, called Bruce, say a long 
 prayer (if you can imagine a fiend praying) ; and then 
 break out like a maniac, slandering every person who 
 had given her the least offence, and even persons whom 
 in reality she knew nothing about ; and she says she is 
 under the control of Jack Wade, a gambler, and she is 
 not accountable for what she utters. Such a creature 
 ought to be sent to the State Prison. But the most ridic- 
 ulous part is, that these people all slander each other even 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 141 
 
 worse than their out-door enemies are guilty of. This 
 was told me by a harmless and respectable old woman, 
 whose daughter attends this Hall, much against her will. 
 When I hear and read accounts of educated men ob- 
 jecting to the opening of THE PUBLIC Library on Sun- 
 day for the benefit of the hardworking portion of society, 
 as being immoral, I wonder whether these gentlemen 
 notice the advertisements of the different meetings that 
 are held on SUNDAY evenings, by persons who pretend 
 to be spiritualists. A respectable married man informed 
 me, that the majority of these places were nothing better 
 than houses of degradation. Oh ! I implore you men 
 who can do aught in this matter, to crush down this Sun- 
 day crime* and OPEN WIDE the doors of the Temple of 
 Wisdom, and let those who have toiled for six long days 
 enter, and regale their manly thoughts by reading the 
 gems that have fallen from the powerful brain of great 
 and good men, whose works shine brightly to-day, though 
 many of their forms are mingled in the dust. There are 
 thousands of workingmen whose minds are STARVING 
 for intellectual knoivledge ; and the opening of the Public 
 Library on SUNDAY would be hailed by them with a 
 spontaneous burst of joy ; yes, equal to the joy that a 
 shower of GOLD coin would cause to a Wall-street BRO- 
 KER. 
 
 And allow me to add, in conclusion, that, as long as 
 such stress is laid on our apparel, CRIME will not decrease. 
 
 * See note at the end of this chapter. 
 
142 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 You may build grand churches, and pay learned men 
 to preach the highest and purest morals, and to expound 
 the Word of the Great Jehovah; you may call to your 
 aid, for an example, the life of Christ, who walked with 
 chanty, holiness, and humility upon this earth : but 
 there will be no diminution in crime while there is such 
 deference paid to the outer man instead of the moral 
 man, instead of the inner, Christian man. 
 
 These things remind me of unthinking people imagin- 
 ing that a black coat and a white necktie makes a man 
 fit to go into the pulpit (God knows we have had fearful 
 revelations lately to the contrary), or that a man who 
 wears a dark-blue coat, with a certain brass button indi- 
 cating police, must be respectable. I have frequently seen 
 one of these men arresting some poor, misguided indi- 
 vidual, with a countenance that denoted him the greater 
 villain of the two, and who seemed to gloat with a sort 
 of catlike joy, over his captured prey. In New York, I 
 have seen these moral men, when on duty, look up the 
 street and down the street, and then snatch a glass of 
 Bourbon out of a saloon-man's hand, swallow it down, 
 turn round, and look as solemn as a judge, ready to ar- 
 rest a small boy for the monstrous atrocity of " playing 
 ball in the street." I lived in the vicinity of Grand Street 
 after the Sunday prohibitory law had passed ; and I had 
 ocular proof that there was more rum brought into that 
 house on Sunday than all the other six days of the 
 week, because the working-man had his Saturday-night's 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 143 
 
 wages, and could slip a bribe into the hand of the " good 
 man " dressed in blue.* O my friends, what a horrible 
 thought, that a velvet mantle, a fur cape, or even a brass 
 button, actually sways the mind of rational and intelli- 
 gent people ! The existence of these facts is a degrada- 
 tion both to the laws of Grod and man. 
 
 I hope the time will soon arrive when a woman shall 
 be judged by her principles, and not by the quality of 
 her cloak ; by her intellect, and not by the richness of 
 her carpet ; and I hope the time is fast approaching when 
 a woman shall be judged by the moral life she leads, and 
 the temptations she has withstood, and not by the weight 
 of the chain she wears ; and I earnestly hope the time 
 will yet arrive when both men and women who jshow 
 
 * I mean, by speaking thus, that, unless the man is really a good man pre- 
 viously, taking the position of a policeman does not make him what every man 
 OUGHT to BE, HOLDING such a station, a CHRISTIAN MAN. But I think the Bos- 
 tonians have chosen two excellent headings in both c/u'e/and deputy. Mr. Savage 
 is a man of gentle and gentlemanly bearing, and has already shown his desire 
 to " DECREASE CRIME." I had an agreeable conversation with him on this sub- 
 ject, and was much pleased with his views and ideas. He informed me, that, on 
 speaking to the women he caused to be arrested, they all seemed to be very har- 
 dened; but when he asked them what they thought their poor, dear (perhaps 
 dead) mothers would feel, if it was possible that they could know of their degra- 
 dation, instantly nearly the whole of them shed tears copiously. I say again, it is 
 true mothers that are wanted to-day more than the BALLOT. I have had busi- 
 ness with Deputy Quin, and must say, that, had I gone to him in an elegant car- 
 riage, he could not have shown me more attention, or despatched my business 
 with greater promptness ; and doubtless there are hundreds like these two gen- 
 tlemen; but there are, likewise, many now in the "Force" who are not fit to 
 fill this trusty office. Mr. Hale, the head officer in the State Prison, informed 
 me that there are over two hundred more prisoners in there now than during 
 the time of the war. 
 
144 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE; 
 
 the heroism and determination to brave the trials of pov- 
 erty in its most frightful reality, shall be properly esti- 
 mated for bearing it, shall be honored and respected 
 for braving it, and not insulted, because they prefer 
 reputable poverty to gaining luxury by riding through 
 the subterraneous passage of degradation! And I hope 
 the time will speedily be here when women who have 
 not defied God's wise ordinance, but have cheerfully ac- 
 cepted their destiny by giving life and birth to the off- 
 spring that he, in his almighty wisdom, chooses to send 
 them, shall not be compelled to live under the same roof 
 with courtesans, or have the street-door shut them out the 
 moment the landlady discovers that they have not com- 
 mitted "fashionable murders " of" the HOLY INNOCENTS." 
 And my friends, you who are acquainted with 
 grief, do not forget the faith of the little girl, who, it 
 is evident, was inspired by God with the thought, that, in 
 throwing away the handful of shells when in her immi- 
 nent danger, she would reach the summit of the rugged 
 rock she was climbing; that she compared these toys, 
 even in her childish mind, to the vanities of this world, 
 and that she felt then had to be cast aside before she 
 could enter the gate of salvation, that is wide open to ALL 
 who earnestly desire to enter ; where sits our heavenly 
 and merciful Father on his throne of grace, ready to re- 
 ceive us. And what a solace to those broken in spirit, 
 to those who are weary of life's stormy waves, and 
 have cast themselves at the foot of the cross, - when 
 
WITH A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS. 145 
 
 remembering Christ's divine words, "In my Father's 
 house are many mansions " ! So, let us feel that there is 
 a vacant mansion reserved for all of us who cast aside 
 the baubles of this world : let us feel that there are 
 angels waiting at the great GATE of LIFE, with the lan- 
 tern of faith, to usher us into the presence of the EVER- 
 LASTING and ETERNAL GOD. 
 
 NOTE RELATIVE TO THE PUBLIC LlBRAEY BEING OPEN 
 
 ON SUNDAY. Every person must allow that both men and 
 women spending their Sunday by reading wholesome matter 
 would be a moral way of passing their time: with regard to 
 whether it is a religious one or not, is another question. This 
 privilege in the Public Library will not hinder a good Christian 
 from going to his church, or saying his prayers before he en- 
 ters. And, to those who never go to church, this resort may 
 lead to something good : they may come in contact with a book 
 that may open their darkened minds, that have been shut up 
 in ignorance; and a bright light may gleam in upon their im- 
 aginations, that may lead them to higher and better things. If the 
 " Public Library " is shut up on Sunday because it is immoral to 
 read any thing but the Bible on that day, then why do the laws 
 of the land allow newspapers to be sold and read on a Sunday? 
 I wish some good man or woman would answer these questions, 
 for they puzzle my brain terribly. Religion is something that no 
 man ought to interfere with his fellow-man about. Whether a man 
 is a Catholic, a Baptist, a Unitarian, a Universalist, or a Deist, 
 is generally because he has been born among them, or baptized 
 in either faith ; and what is born in us is rather difficult to eradi- 
 cate. Each .man that professes a certain creed believes HE is 
 right; and yet we all know that it is not often that ignorant men 
 wrangle about religion, but men of letters. The most learned 
 10 
 
146 THE INCREASE OF CRIME, AND ITS CAUSE. 
 
 men, all reading from the SAME HOLY BIBLE, actually take dif- 
 ferent views of the same sentences ! Surely this truth should con- 
 vince us that we ought not to be bigoted, but generous one to 
 another, on a subject that so many benevolent men do not accord 
 with each other about. There is one thing that every believer in 
 the Son of God must agree with : that Christ's teachings were 
 love, charity, and harmony, and not dogged discord, which must jar 
 upon the ear of his REAL FOLLOWERS as the playing on a broken 
 instrument must grate upon the ear of an accomplished musician. 
 Good men ! open the doors of the Public Library on the Sabbath. 
 You will insure much happiness to an intelligent community. 
 Had it not been for books, my life would have been a bitter lot. 
 Reading has accomplished much towards lessening my manifold 
 and severe trials. If I knew I should never wear any thing but a 
 calico dress again, and live in an attic (where the sun shines in), 
 with enough to eat, and plenty of the RIGHT KIND of books, I 
 should be perfectly contented with my children round me. So 
 much can I say in favor of reading. 
 
AN APPEAL TO MOTHERS ON TASTE, 
 
 AND 
 
 IN BEHALF OF "BAND OF HOPE" INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 WRITTEN BIT MRS. ANNA B. BOONE, 
 
 And delivered before the " Father- Matheiv T. A. B. Society, No. 2," on the 
 27th of January, 1865, corner of Twenty-Third Street and Second 
 Avenue, and all the Temperance Societies in New York, twice at Tre- 
 mont Temple, Boston, April, 1867, and the Pilgrims Church, Eighteenth 
 Street, New York. 
 
 LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I believe you are aware 
 that the subject I am about to lay before you this even- 
 ing is, chiefly, advocating temperance from childhood ; 
 advocating " Band of Hope " institutions throughout 
 the country. But allow me to preface this address by 
 assuring you that it is a short one ; still as much to the 
 point, I trust, as if I spoke for two consecutive hours. 
 I have a great distaste to long lectures or long sermons, 
 even when the orator is fine, and the subject good ; that 
 is, if the speaker is long enough to become monotonous : 
 for then the charm vanishes, and we weary of it ; and, 
 when this is the case, the intended good does not result 
 therefrom. Multum in parvo is my motto. 
 
 147 
 
148 ADDIiESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 
 
 Drunkenness has been practised for hundreds, yes, 
 thousands, of years ; and has been scorned, scoffed at, 
 and derided in all ages. Even when total abstainers 
 were not in existence, men with immense knowledge, 
 men with brilliant talents, men with capacious brains, and 
 teeming with genius, have been expounding the evil ef- 
 fects of this deleterious habit for years. Hundreds of 
 laborers have worked with the most unremitting zeal in 
 this cause, to crush and root out this disease from the 
 human family, without succeeding in their undertakings. 
 Philanthropic men in the last generation toiled ; men of 
 the same noble stamp in this generation, are now toiling 
 here and there, showing forth, in eloquent language, 
 scientific reasons and causes why this custom is injurious 
 to the bodily health and appearance of mankind ; beget- 
 ting red noses, bloated cheeks, bluish-white parched 
 lips ; showing when and how it generates and engenders 
 different diseases of the brain, upsets the whole nervous 
 system ; how it corrodes the stomach, creates nausea, 
 and an unnatural appetite for unwholesome food ; show- 
 ing how respectable workingmen's houses are turned into 
 cheerless hovels ; how the children are neglected, and 
 allowed to grow up in ignorance and idleness, which too 
 often leads to crime. I say all these facts have been 
 shown forth by men in flowing and glowing terms, with 
 truth to back them up, to tens of thousands of persons 
 for a long series of years, and yet drunkenness still ex- 
 ists, and with but little sign of diminution. 
 
ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 149 
 
 New gin-palaces are built in London each succeeding 
 year; every grocery that opens in New York has a 
 portion of the store dedicated to the sale of strong 
 drinks ; and nearly all the basements are turned into free- 
 and-easy groggeries. 
 
 I am aware that there are thousands of teetotallers ; 
 but I am likewise cognizant of the fact that there are 
 hundreds of thousands who are not. Why is this, if 
 ours is the right method to lure men away from this evil 
 course ? Simply because we have begun at the wrong 
 end. Reform as many adult drunkards as you can ; but 
 the surest way to have a sober nation is to train up the 
 young to loathe drink from their earliest days, to teach 
 them to abhor and dread the sight of this coiling ser- 
 pent. Impress upon their minds, that, however charming 
 it may seem at first, it will leave an indelible mark upon 
 its prey, and impregnate their happiness with its deadly 
 sting. Warn them of this sting as you would of a roar- 
 ing lion ; tell them that they must run from it as from 
 the embrace of the black bear, who, while he is hugging 
 them, is murdering them. 
 
 In my travels, I have heard hundreds of persons of 
 different nations, both men and women, exclaim, 
 " Would to God I had never tasted this filthy drink ! " 
 Of course, they knew, that t if they had never tasted it, 
 they would not then have been poor, besotted drunkards. 
 My friends, these are very sad and appalling sounds to 
 be heard from men, often the heads of families, to hear 
 
150 ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 
 
 them lifting up their voices bemoaning and bewailing 
 that they had acquired this vicious habit. I say, when 
 we hear men thus earnestly denouncing drink, yet un- 
 able to relinquish it, are these facts not sufficient evi- 
 dences, that, to annihilate this custom forever, we must 
 establish '" Bands of Hope " institutions, and begin 
 with the rising generation? Certainly there is no 
 refuting such a question. I feel quite certain that 
 London will eventually gain the ascendancy in the 
 temperance-movement over New York, although it is 
 more than twenty times larger, and doubtless more 
 drinking going on at the present moment. But we 
 have an immense foundation-stone laid there in the 
 shape of thousands of children, some who have grown 
 up to young men and maidens, who had, at the sugges- 
 tion of their parents, vowed never to touch any kind of 
 alcoholic liquors ; so that they do not require to be re- 
 formed when they reach glorious man and woman hood. 
 They are spotless ; they are free from the taint of this 
 ruinous drug, which is eating up the vitals of all nations : 
 and poverty, ignorance, and strife reign, instead of wis- 
 dom, peace, and plenty. It is not to be denied, in fact, 
 there is no question about it, but that taste in all, most 
 all, instances, can be acquired, whether in eating, drink- 
 ing, dress, or habits generally. If you see a girl of sev- 
 enteen or eighteen years of age dressing in all the varie- 
 gated colors of the rainbow, you may be pretty sure she 
 has a mother whose raiment is as mixed in shades as the 
 
 
ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 151 
 
 feathers of a parrot, and her head is not much superior 
 in development ; for, no matter what our occupation or 
 station may be, I always think you can discover a well- 
 balanced brain by the manner a man or woman may 
 dress and conduct themselves. You can soon perceive 
 what they have been used to at home, and what their 
 social cultivation has been. Of course, there are excep- 
 tions to all rules ; but we are more likely to imitate and 
 remember scenes, sayings, and doings at home, longer 
 than all the changes we meet with in after-life. 
 
 Many a man has been on the eve of committing a 
 wrong act, and fancied he has heard a good mother's 
 voice ringing in his ears, and has been deterred from com- 
 mitting the act. In another lecture, I intend to expatiate 
 further upon this subject. With regard to taste in eat- 
 ing, I did not like sweet-potatoes when I first tasted 
 them, nor corn either. In three years, I liked them ex- 
 ceedingly ; and on my return to England, after living 
 here ten years, I quite missed these American produc- 
 tions, and used to describe them to my friends ; and I 
 would feel much annoyed that they did not seem to ap- 
 preciate my description. They would laugh at my cha- 
 grin, and say, " But we never tasted them, and so don't 
 miss them, if you do." The death of my father caused 
 a great reverse in our circumstances ; and my only sister 
 had to make her valuable education her livelihood ; and 
 so much was she sought after, that she overworked her- 
 self, and became weak. As is usually the case, she was 
 
152 ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 
 
 ordered by our medical adviser to drink porter. My 
 friends, I have seen my mother stand by and make her 
 take it, with loaf-sugar in her hand to give her to put 
 the taste out of her mouth, just as I do to my Willie 
 when I give him jalap. Two years after, I have seen 
 her drink porter at her dinner without the aid of sugar. 
 When I first heard that ladies in the South chewed snuff, 
 I candidly tell you that I did not give the slightest cre- 
 dence to the report. I thought the lady who informed 
 me was either deranged, or had a very fertile imagination. 
 It was not until I had ocular proof that I believed it ; 
 because I knew, that, if a morsel of snuff came near my 
 mouth, I should certainly spit it out. Now, this taste 
 must have been acquired ; for no person could like snuff 
 at first. I shall never forget my horror, during one of 
 my accouchements, in the South, seeing my nurse, early 
 in the morning, first take a glass of brandy, then smoke 
 a pipe, and finish by putting a large quid of tobacco in 
 her mouth. I felt quite certain she was not a fit person 
 to have the care of a tender, helpless baby, and deter- 
 mined to inform the doctor that I must have another 
 woman who had none of these propensities. " Lord 
 bless you, madam ! " said he, " it will be a hard matter 
 to find a woman such as you want. Why, there is hard- 
 ly a lady in Hilsbrough but what uses tobacco in some 
 form, even girls of fifteen years ; and I read in a New- 
 York paper, that one of the fashionable shops on Broad- 
 way, on an average, sells one hundred dollars' worth of 
 snuff in a day ! " So much for TASTE ! 
 
ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 153 
 
 How often you will hear a cold, conceited, phlegmatic, 
 moderate-drinker say, " Yes, yes ! it is all very well. But 
 I consider a man that has no power over himself weak ;. 
 and a drunkard must have a low mind." I beg Mr. 
 Moderate-Drinker's pardon : drunkenness confines itself 
 to no station, to no particular class, grade, or profession. 
 There are drunken kings and drunken beggars. Men 
 with high intellect, and men with no intellect, drink. 
 Poets, whose descriptive powers and eloquent language 
 have entranced and charmed you, drink. Actors, whose 
 impersonations have spell-bound you, drink. Statesmen, 
 with fine powers of oratory, and whose noble deeds will 
 be handed down to posterity, have drank. All these dif- 
 ferent men, with different minds, and in different posi- 
 tions of life, have found themselves, when too late, slaves 
 to drink! 
 
 What more do you wish me to say to convince you 
 that " Band-of-Hope " institutions are necessary to abol- 
 ish drunkenness, and necessary to the welfare of mankind 
 and Christianity ? What more can I say to convince 
 you moderate-drinkers, that this tyrant, this despot, if 
 once he gets you into \iisfangs, no matter if you are 
 at the highest pinnacle of rank, he will prostrate you 
 in the gutter, and level you with the dust ! No matter 
 if you are at the highest pinnacle of fame, through the 
 genius which God gave you, showing that you belong to 
 his nobility, this demon will equalize you with the imbe- 
 cile, with the maniac. 
 
154 ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 
 
 Some of you whom it has pleased God to place wealth 
 in your hands, set to work with it ; for it was not all 
 given to you to consume upon yourselves, but lent to 
 you to help the afflicted, the desolate, and reform the dis- 
 solute. What holier province do you want than to 
 bring the drunkard back to his manly footing in society 
 with his fellow-men ? Yes, there is a holier responsi- 
 bility for you fathers and mothers to fulfil ; and that is 
 to carry out the efforts that have been made towards 
 quelling the traffic of this fod^-and-so^Z-destroying 
 liquor. Let me appeal to you women, you mothers, 
 who have much more to do with the forming of the 
 
 O 
 
 minds of your children than the fathers have ; for al- 
 most all the great men we have ever had, speaking of 
 their earliest thoughts, feelings, sentiments, and actions, 
 will, with pride, recount that their holiest, highest, and 
 most lasting impressions were inculcated by their mother. 
 How proud we ought all feel that such a mighty province 
 was ordained for woman to fill ! But, alas ! I fear there 
 are but few of us who carry out the many obligations 
 devolving upon us, and incumbent upon us to exercise 
 and to execute faithfully, as meant by Him who honored 
 us with this sacred name. And yet there is no love so 
 pure and so thoroughly disinterested as the love of a good 
 woman for her child : it is the holiest of loves, because 
 it is entirely divested of passion, it is entirely di- 
 vested of self. While the senses remain unimpaired, 
 this love never grows cold : this love knows no change. 
 
ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 155 
 
 Brothers and sisters have forgotten each other ; fathers 
 have proved unforgiving to their children ; husbands 
 have been false to their wives, and vice versd ; lovers 
 forget their vows ; and children too often forget their 
 parents : but you rarely hear of a mother forgetting even 
 her ungrateful, disobedient children, whose actions have 
 lacerated her heart, and caused dark shadows to glide 
 before her eyes, and enter her very soul. Still there 
 are moments when her faithful heart yearns towards 
 them ; there are moments when the reminiscences of the 
 happy past obliterate the present sorrow, and the poor, 
 wounded spirit is cheered for a while, because there is 
 still one of the fibres of the root of hope left in her for- 
 lorn breast, and a languid smile will flit over her wan 
 and prematurely-faded face. Yes, she forgives, though 
 there is no River Lethe for her to drink from in this 
 life. Showing that her love is the most pure in this 
 world, and the nearest approach to the love that God 
 has so graciously bestowed us, and so openly manifested 
 to us all. 
 
 " How is it, Mrs. Boone " (said an old bachelor to 
 me, a short time since), " how is it there is not more 
 nature in the present age, and less sophistication in so- 
 ciety, and that the tender mothers you speak of do not 
 teach their daughters to fit themselves for wives and 
 mothers ? for they all seem to be ^setting traps to get 
 husbands. Why," continued he, " the young ladies of 
 the present day are quite ashamed, should they be igno- 
 
156 ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 
 
 rant of the name of the last new opera and its composer, 
 but would feel quite indignant if they were asked if 
 they knew how to make good soup, or broil a beefsteak." 
 " My observing friend," I replied, " this is an error of 
 judgment, and not of the heart." " Then give me a 
 little more judgment, and a little less heart, if this is the 
 result of the error," replied he. I answered, " Do I not 
 say there are few of us who carry out the many obliga- 
 tions devolving upon us to exercise and execute faith- 
 fully ? Mothers are far too apt to think their children 
 perfect, and to flatter themselves that they will never do 
 wrong." This is one of the greatest evils that a mother 
 can commit towards her child ; and, to show you how 
 truthful the analyzation is of this failing in mothers gen- 
 erally, I ask } r ou women here to-night, if you thought 
 that your Willie or Henry that God has been good 
 enough to give to you, if you thought that these dear 
 ones, whom you have borne and nurtured, would live to 
 become drunkards, would you not at once denounce 
 drink, fearing, that, by not doing so, it might prove a 
 stepping-stone to their ruin ? I know you would, and 
 you know you would. But, my friends, you flatter 
 yourselves that your children will know how much to 
 take, and when to leave off. It is this delusion that is 
 the great curse of drink. If men knew how much to 
 take, and when to stop, I query whether we would have 
 ever had occasion for teetotal meetings at all. 
 
 Now, as this gentleman asked of me why girls are not 
 
ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 157 
 
 better fitted for an office that they are angling for, I ask 
 you mothers why, when you so love your children, and 
 see and feel the truth of what I am asserting, and hun- 
 dreds before me have pointed out to you, why do you 
 run the risk of your children travelling the same road ? 
 It is not for want of love, my dear friends, but for want 
 of thought. Now, I pray you, do think, and save those 
 whom you would almost die for that they might live ! 
 
 Some mothers think, that if they keep their children 
 clean, well dressed, and send them to school, they are 
 doing all that is required of them. My friends, ask 
 yourselves, Can the young girls who teach your children 
 have the same interest in them that you have ? even if 
 they were capable of instilling high principles into their 
 thoughts ? No, you answer ; and so do I. The excellent 
 schools in this free country are indeed a blessing to the 
 community at large ; but I pray you bear in mind that 
 scholastic education is not every thing : it is the educa- 
 tion of the heart, and the natural instincts that mankind 
 is heir to, that a mother must guide, direct, and turn 
 them into the right channel. And where will you find 
 so prudent a pilot as a mother, if she sees danger hover- 
 ing over the head of her child ? Who will leave all, and 
 risk all, to save her beloved one from some frightful 
 precipice that they are standing on the very brink of? 
 A mother. My friends, let me warn you who are not 
 temperance mothers, that your children are at this 
 moment in the most imminent danger, and that it is 
 
158 ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 
 
 high time you, put forth your protecting hand to save 
 them by taking the pledge yourselves. And, when you 
 do so, you will feel that you have achieved a great act ; 
 you will then place yourself and offspring upon the high 
 footing that God meant for us all. God never intended 
 one of his creatures, whom he honored by making in his 
 " own image," to be a drunkard : he did not give us 
 sense, talent, and genius (which we all possess, more or 
 less, in different ways), to be muddled always with gin 
 and beer : he never gave a woman a child, but that he 
 gave her the sense to train and care for it, if she will 
 take the trouble, just as he prepares and gives her the 
 milk to nourish it. He gave us a high standing ; and it 
 is our own actions that lower us. He places us upon a 
 high mountain] audit is our fault if we fall into the 
 abyss beneath. God shows clearly the elevated position 
 he meant for us, by giving his precious Son, and allowing 
 him to walk the earth shaped like a man, speaking like 
 a man, and holding communion with man, to show him 
 the nearest way back to salvation. God makes no dis- 
 tinction, further than that the best man is the surest of 
 heaven. The workingman, I think, is the greatest in 
 his estimation if he leads a proper life. And frequently 
 the humbler classes have the most intellect ; but it must 
 be cultivated ; and this you can do yourselves, if you 
 please. 
 
 I was never at school, and would not learn at home 
 of my highly-cultivated and noble-minded mother; 
 
ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 159 
 
 still her pure example and exemplary precepts sunk 
 deeply into my heart ; and I reaped the intended benefit 
 in after-years. I married very young ; and, believe me, 
 when I entered my new career of life, there were few 
 girls who knew less than I did. I am not going to tell 
 you that I am a learned woman now : but I will tell you, 
 that I am a thinking woman and a working one ; for 
 this is what I have been for the last twenty years. And 
 I cannot help feeling a little pride, that eight out of the 
 nine living children I have, were never inside a school 
 since they were born. And all they know has been 
 taught them by their mother. 
 
 Shall I tell you how the darkness of my ignorance 
 vanished, and the light of my understanding shone forth ? 
 When I became a mother, then rushed upon me the 
 truth of my good mother's precepts and experience ; and 
 I felt the tender chords of my heart touched, and improved 
 my mind, so that I might instruct those who are so near 
 and dear to me. 
 
 I need scarcely inform you, thinking mothers here to- 
 night, that I have had a pretty hard task to fit children 
 seven and eight years old to read classically, and so per- 
 fectly as to call forth the greatest admiration from some 
 of the most able critics in New York and London. 
 The late well-known poet, Gen. MORRIS, who heard 
 my children several times at Gen. Scott's house, pro- 
 nounced them, in his " Home Journal," patterns for 
 " children of a larger growth ; " and Miss Charlotte Gush- 
 
160 ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 
 
 man, in a letter to ray husband, which I had inserted in 
 " The Herald," wrote that they were the best readers 
 she ever had heard. And, at the tender ages of nine and 
 ten years, I had a salary of two hundred dollars per 
 week, when dollars were dollars; and, nine years ago, 
 these children appeared and read at all the principal 
 schools in this city ; and the same academies are now 
 engaging myself, with fresh branches of the family, to 
 read and recite before the young ladies this winter. 
 This is sufficient evidence to show the estimation they 
 are held in by first-class teachers. 
 
 So, my friends, this will plainly demonstrate to you 
 how much can be achieved by determination, discrimina- 
 tion, and cultivating only the talents that we are most 
 likely to shine in, and able to adopt for our livelihood. 
 And I believe every man and woman w r as meant to be 
 great in something, and they can shine if they like; but 
 there is very little hope of your continuing to shine with- 
 out temperance for your motto ; and, if you keep to 
 this, you can make yourselves masters of any occupa- 
 tion your inclination may lead you to seek for. 
 
 Some people try to push twenty different things into 
 their children's heads at once, to make them very clever ; 
 but this mode of educating the young always proves a 
 failure. Learn a few things perfectly ; and, if you have 
 the genius for more, they will be sure to develop them- 
 selves in some part of your lives. 
 
 Now, my dear friends, I have given you a slight idea 
 
ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 161 
 
 of what I have had to do to gain an honorable living, 
 and make my mark in this world ; and I tell you truth- 
 fully, that I would rather be here, showing you the 
 beauties of temperance, and talking to you mothers about 
 the future welfare of your children, than reading at the 
 finest house in the Fifth Avenue. Oh, what a holy labor 
 of love for we mothers to make a deep pit among the 
 drunkards to plant a young tree called " The Band of 
 Hope," so that the branches may come out fresh and 
 green, free from distemper, and the blossom so clear and 
 clean, that, when the fruit comes to maturity, we will 
 find it pure and unalloyed ; no disease at the core that 
 requires to be expelled, because the root was well cared 
 for, put into new earth, and watered with the fountain 
 of life by the fostering care of a mother's hand ! 
 
 My dear friends, I trust my humble appeal to you 
 this evening has not been in vain. Let us lead our chil- 
 dren up to the high position God meant we all should 
 attain. But remember, all your great thoughts, all your 
 determination, all your perseverance to get to the top of 
 the mountain of fame, like the " Tower of Babel," will 
 fall to the ground, unless you make your First Step a 
 Firm one, upon the Solid Rock of Temperance. 
 11 
 
162 ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 
 
 AN ADDRESS TO THE BAND OF HOPE, 
 
 And delivered by her son Daniel (nine years old), on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 
 1862, at the Eclectic Hall, 18 Denmark Street, Soho, London,- being 
 the Annual Meeting of the Band of Hope, to which he belonged when Jive 
 years old. And at the Children's Mission, Tremont Street, Boston, 1870. 
 
 MY YOUNG FRIENDS, who are members of this Band 
 of Hope, it occurred to me, when I heard this meeting 
 was to take place to-night, that I would ask my mother 
 to write a few lines in the shape of an address to you, to 
 show you, as clearly as I am able, how much I rejoice in 
 belonging to thi& band. I think a great deal on this sub- 
 ject ; but, without my mother's aid, I am unable to ex- 
 press my ideas in language that would be intelligible and 
 agreeable for you to hear. Still I wish you to bear in 
 mind that each sentiment I shall utter this evening is 
 quite in accordance with my thoughts, as the meaning 
 of every word is explained to me before I deliver it. 
 Now, this subject (TEMPERANCE), we may call a divine 
 subject ; for it is the foundation-stone to Christianity : 
 and it is much to be doubted whether a man can, in re- 
 ality, be a divine without temperance for his motto. For 
 
ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 163 
 
 what man is fit to discuss the mysterious works of our 
 Creator when under the unnatural excitement caused by 
 using alcoholic liquors ? Of course, I shall not attempt 
 to explain why this fiery drink makes young men like 
 feeble, trembling age ; or why it makes men like idiots 
 while under its baneful influence, simply because I am 
 not at present learned enough so to do. Yet the young- 
 est child here to-night, who can speak the English lan- 
 guage pretty well, knows a drunken man from a sober 
 one ; and, likewise, that the said drunkenness is caused 
 by gin, beer, or some stuff sold in public-houses. In 
 many districts in London, we can behold these wretched 
 drunkards in every street we pass through. But we 
 must not deride and scorn these unhappy people ; for, 
 in all probability, they were never sent to these " Band 
 of Hope" meetings when they were children like you 
 and me here to-night. 
 
 How grateful we ought to be to a kind Providence 
 that such a place has been instituted, and open to any 
 child who may wisli to come and learn good precepts, 
 from willing and capable teachers, who are most zealous 
 in the noble cause. I consider these " Band of Hope " 
 meetings the greatest movement that the Temperance 
 League has ever made towards crushing drunkenness ; 
 because you and I cannot desire a thing we have never 
 tasted ; and, surely, nothing can ever tempt us to touch 
 an article that we have been taught to know will injure 
 our bodily health as well as our brain. 
 
164 ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 
 
 What a happy thought for us, large and small, here 
 to-night, who are, as it were, younger soldiers in this 
 hopeful band ready to fight for our cause, and defend it 
 at all hazards, if necessary ! but the weapon we will carry 
 to defend us will be a dear head, which will direct 
 our tongues to battle with our opposers, rather than 
 swords and pistols. 
 
 I say what a happy thought to feel that we are in a 
 fair way of becoming vigorous, robust, healthy, rational, 
 reputable, and in every way creditable men. These are 
 blessings we ought not to treat lightly; and in years 
 hence we shall feel fully what evils we have escaped by 
 joining this glorious society. Yes ; and I have no doubt 
 but there are many boys here to-night who think just as 
 I do on this subject ; for we little boys think more deeply 
 than you grown people give us credit for. The great 
 beauty of being an abstainer is, that we can be sober 
 wherever we go, and consequently must be respected 
 in whatever grade fate may please to place us. 
 
 No matter what our calling may be through life, if we 
 keep temperance for our motto, honesty for our coat-of- 
 arms, truth for our guide, and the fear of Grod in our 
 hearts, we shall stand equal in his sight to the first nolle 
 in the land, even if he wear a crown upon his head. 
 
ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 165 
 
 AN ADDRESS 
 
 TO PERSONS WHO TAKE BEER AND OTHER STIMULANTS 
 BECAUSE THEY ARE "USED TO THEM, BUT DON'T CARE 
 ABOUT THEM." 
 
 WRITTEN BY MRS. ANNA B. BOONE, 
 
 And delivered by her little son Daniel (nine years old), at the Royal 
 Coliseum, Regent's Park, London, Nov. 9, 1863. 
 
 LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I fear you will think a 
 temperance-lecture out of place to-night, at such an 
 entertainment as the present one, especially being deliv- 
 ered by a little boy ; but I am such an advocate in a 
 cause that I have practised all my life, and found the 
 benefits therefrom, that I cannot resist the temptation 
 of addressing so fair an assembly of lovely ladies and 
 intellectual-looking men : in fact, I think it becomes all 
 persons who are stanch teetotallers, no matter how 
 young or old they are, no matter where they are 
 placed, to say a few words on so important a subject, 
 a subject that so greatly affects the community at large. 
 
 Now, I have been nine years a practical member 
 of this glorious temperance society ; and although I am 
 not old enough to be designated a man, yet I am old 
 
166 ^ ADDRESSES O.V TEMPERANCE. 
 
 enough to know right from wrong ; and I feel that 
 I have been guided into the right path, the path of 
 total abstinence. There is no mistake about it, " total 
 abstinence " is the word, and nothing short of it. I 
 have a few suggestions to make to you moderate drink- 
 ers. A great many exclaim that they take beer " be- 
 cause they are used to it," and that they " don't care 
 about it," mark you, but don't think they have a right 
 to give it up because others get drunk. Now, my 
 friends, there is neither logic nor reason in either of 
 these arguments, and to use a Latin phrase, argumentum 
 ad ignorantaim, a foolish argument ; for we all know, 
 that taking beer because they are used to it is not a sig- 
 nification that the action is right, because they have 
 made a habit of it ; for we can habituate ourselves to 
 almost any thing if our minds are at all so inclined, 
 whether good or evil. And again : these moderate 
 drinkers argue that they have no right to give it up, 
 when they never get drunk. How is it possible for 
 them to be sure they will never get intoxicated ? 
 For there are not ten men out of a thousand that 
 ever look to become drivelling sots when they take 
 the first glass ; and yet the first glass is the founda- 
 tion to this crushing curse, intemperance. And you 
 moderate drinkers will not leave off this custom, al- 
 though you daily witness its direful effects as being so 
 detrimental in every way to society, because you are 
 quite sure you will never take too much. Presumptu- 
 
ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 167 
 
 ous men ! when so many learned men, great men, 
 yes, and even good men, have found themselves slaves, 
 chained down to poverty by this demoniac tyrant, King 
 Alcohol. Now, you who " do not care for beer," why 
 don't you abjure it altogether, if only from a kind Chris- 
 tian feeling towards your fellow-men, whose minds may 
 not be so capable of resistance as you attest yours to 
 be, and who are in a fair way of becoming drunkards ? 
 for the sake of the rising generation, more especially 
 when you remember that your own offspring are among 
 them ? 
 
 Let me beseech you, all who don't care about this 
 loathsome drink, to try my system for three months. 
 WATER, WATER! beautiful water, exhilarating water, 
 that never clouds the understanding, but refreshes the 
 drooping, and restores the fainting, without the smallest 
 drop of brandy in it. I say, try my system for three 
 months, and I will guarantee that you will find your 
 brain clearer, your feet lighter (without staggering), 
 and your general health invigorated. I feel in the finest 
 state of health ; and I have never touched any kind of 
 stimulant since I was born. Some of you will say, u Yes, 
 yes ; but you have never worked." I reply, "Don't you 
 be too sure of that ;" for my mother says, that my earn- 
 ings for the last two years have not only supported 
 myself, but helped her too. My vocation is to speak 
 pieces that she writes for me ; and often and often is it 
 past twelve o'clock before I retire to rest. So you per- 
 
168 ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 
 
 ceive I am a worker, and am proud of work ; and we 
 workers are the men who should speak our experience, 
 
 we who know what labor is. Where mio-ht I have 
 
 o 
 
 been by this time, and what might I have been, if I had 
 taken the delicious, black, sticky porter two or three 
 times a day? Still you mu,;t not think I am without 
 my troubles and temptations because I am a teetotaller, 
 and not a married man : in fact, I think we bachelors 
 are in greater danger than you married folks ; for your 
 wives take such good care of you, the buttons put on 
 your beautiful clean shirts, and your clothes brushed 
 down just before you are going out ; and some of the 
 little darlings actually comb and curl your hair ; and, 
 when they have finished you off to perfection, they 
 won't let you off without a sweet kiss, saying, u Be 
 sure to be back to dinner, John ; for, if you don't come, 
 I shall not be able to touch a bit ; " and, last of all, she 
 makes her lovely fat baby say, " Ta, ta, da, da." 
 
 Many a fair hand has put a goblet of wine under my 
 nose to tempt me ; but I have turned from it as a sane 
 man would from a dose of laudanum. Yes, my friends; 
 and, if you will do the same, the stigma of drunken- 
 ness will ere long be entirely obliterated from our fair 
 land, and, eventually, teetotalism will reign predominant 
 throughout the world ; and the present existing state of 
 things will be spoken of in the past tense by mothers to 
 their children, just as they relate fairy tales now-a-days, 
 
 that in olden times there was a slow poison sold that 
 
ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 169 
 
 fascinated persons, and that, the more they drank it, the 
 more they wanted it ; and on they would drink until 
 their senses were entirely gone ; and they would do the 
 most outrageous things when under the influence of this 
 injurious beverage. And when the effects of the drink 
 had passed away, and these persons became perfectly 
 sober again, on being told of the acts they had com- 
 mitted, and the sayings they had said, excessive shame 
 would pervade their countenances ; and they would pro- 
 test that they had determined never to touch the filthy 
 stuff any more. And yet again they were lured, and 
 again and again ; for this drink had the fascination of a 
 rattlesnake for them. And this degraded mode of liv- 
 ing, my dear children (the mother will add), went on 
 for hundreds of years, until the glorious sons of temper- 
 ance set their bright example, and emancipated us from 
 this thraldom, and freed us from these black iron chains, 
 and eradicated this noxious custom from the universe.. 
 And the little children with clasped hands will answer,. 
 " O mother! how glad we are we did not live in those 
 days, when men, with their proper senses God had given; 
 them, drank stuff that they knew would take those 
 senses away, and lie down like beasts in the open 
 streets." The mother will press her little ones to her 
 bosom, and humbly ejaculate, " Amen ! " 
 
 O my friends ! come and join us to-night; and this 
 little episode I have introduced will come to pass all the* 
 sooner. Come and sign the pledge to-night, and let the 
 
170 ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 
 
 black cloud (drunkenness), pass away at once from this 
 earth, that the bright star of temperance may shine 
 forth on this terrestrial territory as brilliantly as one of 
 those silvery planets that we may so often see glittering 
 in God's celestial hemisphere. 
 
ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 171 
 
 AN ORIGINAL TEMPERANCE-LECTURE, 
 
 Written by Anna B. Boonefor the "Cold Water Army," or " Band of Hope," 
 and delivered by her Son, Daniel Boone, the Youngest Temperance Orator 
 in the World, at Roger Williams Hall, Providence, on the 3Qth of January, 
 1867 ; and at Tremont Temple, Boston. 
 
 "Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise." 
 
 MATT. zxi. 15, 16. 
 " Genius when young is divine." DISRAELI. 
 
 LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I am happy to be with 
 you again to-night to speak upon my favorite subject, 
 temperance. Some of you, who do not belong to this 
 organization, may exclaim, on leaving this hall, " What 
 right has that child or anybody to be talking to us 
 as if we were a set of drunkards?" My friends, 
 this is not the question. We didn't say that you are 
 drunkards because you do not belong to us ; and, very 
 probably, at this moment there is not one man in this 
 room who could be called by such a name. But we ask 
 if you have denounced drink publicly ? Have you abol- 
 ished it from your house, from your table, privately ? If 
 not, you are indirectly encouraging drunkenness. With 
 regard to my age, it is of little consequence whether I 
 am eleven years old, or fifty years old, and of still less 
 
172 ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 
 
 account whether I am four feet high or six feet high, so 
 I deliver my sentiments plainly and to the point, so that 
 those whom I address understand me : ani I speaking 
 the truth ? These are the questions you must ask your- 
 selves, and at the same time remember, age does not al- 
 ways develop brains. Disraeli says, genius, when young, 
 is divine. Extreme youth overthrew the Persian em- 
 pire ; and I am trying to overthrow the cursed gin-shops 
 that my fair country is inundated with at the present 
 moment. A short time ago, I was looking over an old 
 scrap-book of my mother's, and found the following 
 statement, cut out of " The New-York Times," dated 
 1856 : " On Monday evening last, one of the Boston 
 station-houses presented a scene, which, by those who 
 witnessed it, will be long and painfully remembered. 
 Some of the officers of that station had been called into 
 a tenement to quell a disturbance, and there found Mrs. 
 Margaret Murphy in a state of unconscious drunken- 
 ness, with her little infant crying on her breast, and the 
 older child, a boy of seven years, rolling about the room 
 in a state of maudlin intoxication. The whole party 
 were taken to the station-house, where the drunken 
 shouts of the mother, and the insanely sad croaks of the 
 drunken boy, mingled in the distressed chorus with the 
 plaintive wailings of the infant child." This case oc- 
 curred ten years ago ; and doubtless many, many such 
 cases have happened since. Therefore, my friends, do 
 you not think it is high time that we little temperance 
 
ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 173 
 
 boys should mount the rostrum to speak on this holy 
 subject, to show forth its lasting beauty, its purity, and 
 godliness, when comparative infants can relish this deadly 
 poison as if it was their mother's milk? I joined the 
 Band of Hope when I was five years old; and my baby- 
 work can be seen at 18 Denmark Street, Soho, London ; 
 and from that period I began repeating teetotal pieces, 
 and by the time I was eight years old I was engaged 
 at the Royal Coliseum, Regent's Park, by the well- 
 known Nimo, at one time the manager of Jenny Lind, to 
 deliver my first temperance-lecture, entitled " To those 
 who take Beer and other Stimulants because they are 
 used to them, but don't care about them." So you per- 
 ceive, rny friends, I began pretty young to plunge into 
 the spring of cold water. On the 12th of May, 1866, 
 at the American Temperance Alliance, held at the 
 Cooper Institute, New York, I was presented with a 
 medal, before three thousand persons, for being the 
 youngest temperance orator in the world ; and I fer- 
 vently hope that I shall go on lecturing, speaking, and 
 singing for this wise and upright cause, if I live to be 
 a hundred years old. God forbid I should live to forget 
 the value of the golden precept, temperance ! and I am 
 quite sure, then, those who love me dearly would pray 
 to see me dead at this moment (and I would join them 
 in this prayer), if I thought it possible I could ever forget 
 my Band-of-Hope pledge, which I feel to be a " pearl far 
 above price ; " for as my mother remarks, in her " Ap- 
 
174 ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 
 
 peal to Mothers," " drunkenness confines itself to no par- 
 ticular age, class, grade, or profession : there are drunken 
 hogs, and drunken men ; there are drunken kings, and 
 drunken beggars. Men with high intellect, and men 
 without intellect, drink. Poets whose descriptive powers 
 and eloquent language have entranced and charmed you 
 drink. Actors whose impersonations have spell-bound 
 you drink. Statesmen with fine powers of oratory, and 
 whose noble deeds will be handed down to posterity, have 
 drunk. All these different men, with different minds, 
 and in different positions of life, have found themselves, 
 when too late, slaves to drink." If there are any chil- 
 dren in this hall who comprehend what I am saying, and 
 agree with these sentiments, don't let anybody put you 
 down by laughing at you, and saying, " You are too 
 young to understand such subjects." Let them know, 
 that, young as you may be, you do understand them. 
 And ask these sceptics if they remember the twenty-first 
 chapter of St. Matthew, the fifteenth and sixteenth verses : 
 " Then the children cried in the temple, saying, Hosan- 
 na to the son of David ! The chief priests were sore 
 displeased, and said to Jesus, Hearest thou what these 
 say ? " What was his answer ? " Yea, have ye never 
 read, Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings Thou 
 hast perfected praise." 
 
 So you perceive, my young friends, we have even God 
 himself corroborating what I have just stated, that little 
 people may have large brains. I know a man in New 
 
ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 175 
 
 York who said he could not think how any sensible per- 
 son could listen to the lecture of such a child as I am ; 
 and that he did not think I was any thing more than one 
 of Barnum's monstrosities. Of course, this will prove to 
 you that he had read but little, or he would not have 
 made use of such stupid language ; but I am happy to 
 say the many do not think as he does. Why, the great- 
 est captains of ancient and modern times both conquered 
 Italy at twenty-five. Don John of Austria won Lepanto 
 at twenty-five. Gaston de Foix was only twenty-two 
 when he stood victor on the Plains of Ravenna. John 
 de Medicis was a cardinal at fifteen years of age. John 
 Wesley worked with young brains. Pascal, the greatest 
 of Frenchmen, wrote a great work at sixteen. Was it 
 experience that guided the pencil of Raphael when he 
 painted the palace of Rome ? Bolingbroke and Pitt 
 were both ministers before other men leave off cricket. 
 Grotius was in practice at seventeen, and attorney- 
 general at twenty-four. jiEquaviva was general of the 
 Jesuits, ruled every cabinet in Europe, and colonized 
 America, at thirty-five. What a career ! The secret 
 sway of Europe : that was indeed a position ! And I 
 could give you fifty more such instances if my time 
 would permit. " The history of heroes," says Disraeli, 
 " is the history of youth." 
 
 When I delivered two lectures at the first New-Eng- 
 land National Temperance Convention, held in Boston, 
 at Tremont Temple, Oct. 3 and 4, 1866, 1 was delighted 
 
176 ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 
 
 to hear a speech from Master Green of South Boston, 
 another monstrosity, as my learned friend in New York 
 would say ; for the young gentleman is only two years 
 older than I am. And I hope, by the time the next 
 national meeting takes place, there will be fifty such 
 demonstrations of Young America. Call us by what 
 name you please : any appellation you may choose to 
 use will not take from the good that we temperance-boys 
 are determined to achieve. Remember, we are the rising 
 generation ; and we are bound to have no drinking in 
 our Senate, no drinking in our Congress. We want 
 sober men, who will show themselves capable of baffling 
 our enemies, if required, at the shortest notice ; and this is 
 what no man can accomplish with Bourbon on the brain. 
 We want those who rule this extensive country to have 
 a finely-developed brain, not one who takes that which 
 steals his brains away. I think that Daniel Boone and 
 Master Green ought to feel proud, that, at the convention, 
 they were allowed on the rostrum with some of the best 
 and most learned men in this country to deliver their sen- 
 timents on this great question, total abstinence. And 
 the name of this boy and myself is mentioned, with a 
 portion of the speeches we delivered, in a large pamphlet, 
 which has been printed, of all the proceedings, as reported 
 by Mr. W. G. Tousey ; and, at the conclusion, the Rev. 
 Phineas Stowe in his prayer was pleased to mention me, 
 and hoped, that, when many of those brothers who had 
 spoken that day might be in their graves, I would again 
 
ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 177 
 
 stand upon that platform to speak on a subject that should 
 engage the attention of every good Christian ; and, with 
 the protection and direction of a kind Providence, I hope 
 to fulfil his pious wish. 
 
 Many persons say we ought to have nothing of a merry 
 nature at our temperance-meetings, and that we ought 
 to say nothing that will make our audiences laugh. 
 I wish to know why we should not be as happy and 
 joyful at these gatherings as we are at our tea-table. 
 I am acquainted with people who are so horribly fanati- 
 cal, that they actually protest that it is a sin to laugh. 
 I want to know why this faculty was given to us by our 
 Creator, if it is sinful to use it. The very first indica- 
 tion of sense that a pure, undefiled, innocent babe of 
 four or five weeks old gives us, in return for our loving, 
 tender words and caresses, is a smile which beams like 
 an extra sun sent forth from the very soul of paradise 
 to gladden our hearts, and reminds us of our Redeemer's 
 touching speech, " Suffer little children to come unto me, 
 and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heav- 
 en." And these innocents at eight and nine months actu- 
 ally laugh aloud, which shows that there is truth, beauty, 
 innocence, and purity in a harmless laugh. And remem- 
 ber, we are not all organized alike. Some people love to 
 laugh ; others, to cry, like the two philosophers of old.: 
 and I say, let us humor these opposites, if we wish to 
 benefit society. Let us make everybody by moral 
 
 suasion an abstainer, and not by compulsion. We cannot 
 12 
 
178 ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 
 
 expect to draw all men away from their convivial meet- 
 ings, unless they have something to amuse them. I think 
 Mr. John B. Gough shows his wisdom when he makes 
 his hearers feel happy. This is the great secret why he 
 gets so many to sign the pledge : they see that it does 
 not require either wine or whiskey to create cheerfulness. 
 If we take an expansive view of this subject, we will 
 find that there is much to be grateful and thankful for in 
 this wicked world, as some people are so apt to call it. 
 No, my dear friends, this is a beautiful world ; for not- 
 withstanding the vile slanders that go on from day to day, 
 notwithstanding the thieves and drunkards that are still 
 in existence, notwithstanding all the rebellious crimes that 
 frail humanity continues to be heir to, still God showers 
 down Ifis blessings upon us. For when we plant the 
 wheat, our mortal staff of life ; when we plant the acorn, 
 which spreads into the stupendous, mighty, and useful oak, 
 down comes the uncontaminated water from heaven 
 to moisten, and set it firmly in the earth, and out shines 
 the warm, loving sun, to bring these blessings to matu- 
 rity ; showing that it is the inhabitants who are wicked, 
 and not the world, and so clearly revealing to us that 
 " God is love." Yes, my friends, this is a beautiful 
 world. 
 
 I cannot help laughing when I see people with every 
 luxury this world can produce, and that gold can pro- 
 cure for them, looking as wretched as if they were 
 going to be hung. But I forgot these people do smile 
 
ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 179 
 
 sometimes, and talk baby-talk, but not to a disagreeable 
 child, for they hate children, but to a dear little doggie, 
 the dear little lambs ! Ah, my friends ! many a little 
 doggie is sleeping on the lap of a finely-dressed lady, and 
 fed on the best food, while little children are homeless, 
 houseless, and hungry, and driven off the door-steps of 
 some grand mansion, as if they were in reality dogs, and 
 had never a soul to be saved. Poor little children! 
 How frequently do we read in our dailies, " A young 
 thief," or u a hard character, only ten years old ! " in 
 fact, continually do we hear of the delinquencies of 
 youth, which are generally shown out in the broadest 
 possible light. We are all too apt to forget that those 
 sprites are born in houses little better than dog-kennels, 
 and that the first nourishment they receive is gin, through 
 their mothers' milk ; and that hundreds, in large cities, 
 lie in filthy alleys; with the stones for their couch, and 
 nothing but the canopy of heaven to cover them. And 
 yet everybody knows that Christ blessed little children. 
 May his wings shelter these neglected ones ! Look well 
 into these truths, you who bestow your time in washing, 
 feeding, and kissing your lap-dogs. Does not this state- 
 ment show us a good reason why we should all take the 
 pledge, more especially we young people. 
 
 I am glad to find so many Sunday schools in this re- 
 fined city. What a blessing, that Mr. B. W. Williams 
 does not hate children ! for he has the largest Sunday 
 schools in Boston. What a blessing that the Rev. Father 
 
180 ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 
 
 Haskins, of the same city, does not hate little children, 
 but leads the wanderer, who, for want of parents or 
 proper ones, has gone astray, back to the straight road 
 of honesty, goodness, and truth ! And God must bless 
 such men as these. No matter what their creed may 
 be, their example will shine brightly in this " naughty 
 world." 
 
 Now, you boys who have not signed the pledge, come, 
 one and all, forth boldly, and put your name down to- 
 night. Let temperance be our king in this free country, 
 and let us be loyal subjects all the days of our life ! Let 
 we youths of America clasp this great emblem of peace 
 to our hearts as a loving mother does her lost child when 
 restored to her ! Let us eschew evil, and court all that 
 is really good ; for, without this determination, we can- 
 not be really great. Let us be one united band of 
 brothers in this cold-water army ;. and then we will 
 prove that we really are the greatest nation in the world. 
 
ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 181 
 
 A FEW SOLID QUESTIONS TO RUM-DRINKERS. 
 
 Written by Anna B. Boone, and delivered by her Son Daniel, on Sunday, 
 twenty- fifth December, 18G4, at the first Father Mathew's Society organ- 
 ized in New York, 361 Broome Street, and at every Temperance Society 
 in New York and Broolclyn. 
 
 MY BROTHERS AND FRIENDS, The former lecture 
 I delivered to you was especially addressed to persons 
 who affirm that they take beer and other stimulants 
 because they are used to them, but don't care about 
 them ; alleging that they will never take too much, and 
 that they can leave it off whenever they please. Well, 
 we have asked them to please to do it at once ; and some 
 of them have done so : but we will leave, for the present, 
 this class of drinkers to their own reflections, and make 
 an appeal to those persons who take drink because they 
 do care about it. In the first place, I hope and believe 
 every man in this hall is perfectly sober, at least for to- 
 nigut ; then, while you are quite yourselves, and are feel- 
 ing and acting like rational beings, let me ask you a few 
 plain, honest, straightforward, solid questions. Does 
 brandy, gin, or rum increase your health if you are 
 weak? Does it increase your intellectual qualities? 
 
182 ADDRESSES CLV TEMPERANCE. 
 
 No. Does it make you wake in the morning bright, 
 happy, with good appetite and good temper, as sober 
 men? You answer, No. Does it make your pocket 
 more able to answer the demands on Saturday night? 
 No, will be the response to all these questions by 
 every man whose brain is clear from the stupefying 
 liquor. My drinking friends, yes, my dear drinking 
 friends, I call for you to bear in mind, we teetotalers 
 are your best friends ; and it is because you are dear to 
 us that I am here to-night to talk to you ; and although 
 some of you may laugh at me,, a little boy, giving my 
 advice and my experience, I will answer you as Brutus 
 did Cassius, if you do. I care not ; for I feel the time 
 is fast approaching when hundreds will shake me by the 
 hand, and say, " Thank God, Daniel Boone, 1 am a 
 Father Mathew's man now!" Oh, how joyful I will 
 feel each time I hear those words vibrate upon my ear ! 
 because I want men to join us with their hearts, as well 
 as signing with their hands. But to return to my solid 
 questions, and to show you that this drinking custom is 
 quite a monomania. I will illustrate it thus: Will you 
 wear a shoe longer than you can help it, if it pinches 
 your little toe, that, perhaps, has a big corn on it ? No, 
 you will kick it off the first opportunity. Would you 
 like me to take a piece of glass, and scrape the skin off 
 your palate or throat ? If I did so, I guess you would 
 kick me as you did the shoe that pinched your corn. 
 Now, my friends, why don't you kick the burning glass 
 
ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 183 
 
 of brandy away ? for that not only scorches your palate 
 and throat, but tears the thin, delicate skins of your 
 stomach, lacerates them and ulcerates them, conse- 
 quently rendering the digestive organs incompetent to 
 fulfil their functional power. If a thief comes into your 
 house, and strips the dress off your wife's back, and emp- 
 ties your cupboard, would you not give him such a kick 
 that would send him sprawling into the gutter ? I can 
 tell you, I would, if any man touched my wife, or robbed 
 my children of bread ; and the law would help to punish 
 him too. And yet, my friends, you permit this hellish, 
 insidious snake, BRANDY, to creep into your house, and 
 divest those dear to you of raiment and food, in fact, 
 of every thing, and, worse than all, your senses, and your 
 glorious identity to your Maker, who made you in " his 
 own image." Now, why don't you give this snake such 
 a kick that will shiver him to atoms forever ; for re- 
 member, there is no public law for this thief : there- 
 fore you must take the law into your own hands. Let 
 me implore you to exert your moral courage and 
 strength, and pluck this fiery fiend from your brain, 
 wrench him from your hearts, thrust him from your 
 homes, or he will soon level them into dens no better 
 than dog-kennels, not fit for man to dwell in, who, in 
 his natural state, is God's most glorious work. Does it not 
 seem to you madness, when you calmly reason this mat- 
 ter, that men with good sense, talent, and thousands with 
 genius, should deliberately injure their mental capabili- 
 
184 ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 
 
 ties, as well as physically enfeeble themselves, thereby 
 rendering their actions unfit for an example to their chil- 
 dren, unfit to be called by the holy name of father, unfit 
 to be called by the holy name of son or brother, and the 
 sacred name of husband ? Young as I am, these truths 
 have been pointed out to me, and their consequences, by 
 her who knows me best ; and I can appreciate them. 
 Jow, my dear friends, I am calling your attention to these 
 facts, and entreat you to join me in appreciating them, 
 and viewing my statements in a proper light, which is, 
 that brandy robs you and your loved ones at home, 
 while it dresses and feeds your bitterest enemies ; and 
 your hard earnings pay for it. I assert this statement 
 to be a living truth, and I dare any man to say it is a 
 lie. Are your feelings never wounded, when you are 
 buying your brandy, to see the man or woman who is 
 selling you this poison, yes, selling you your death- 
 warrant^ I say, do you not feel a twitch of conscience 
 to see those persons dressed in fine broadcloth and silks, 
 with watches, chains, and rings, and perhaps your wife 
 wishing she could get only a respectable calico dress, and 
 can't afford to buy it, or a sick child at home languish- 
 ing for some little dainty that the poor, distressed 
 mother is unable to procure for it ? My deluded friends, 
 you know, and I know, and everybody knows, that, when 
 you are leading a sober life, you would fly to get your 
 sick child every thing in your power; yes, and even 
 work over-time for your beloved offspring, and to make 
 
ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 185 
 
 your home a happy one. So do you not plainly perceive 
 that this filthy drink actually takes from you your noble 
 qualities and feelings as a father, son, or brother, and 
 makes you neglect her whom you have taken for life to 
 share your joys and your sorrows, and your grand aspi- 
 rations as men become numbed, nulled, and void, and 
 at last every good and noble feeling in your breast is 
 corrupted ; and, when this is the case, you are lower 
 than the quadruped animal. But, after all, these tender 
 feelings, these noble qualities, these grand aspirations, 
 hereditary to man, inherent in his nature, are only at 
 this moment drowned in the drunkard's breast in brandy ; 
 and, if you choose, you can raise your head out of it, and 
 swim to dry land, to soar above this burning river as 
 high as the eagle does above the pitiful wasp. And then 
 your home will once more become bright, and the faces 
 of those dear to you will be radiant and beaming with 
 happiness; and the sight of this fairylike change will be 
 as welcome to your hearts as the brilliant sun is to us all, 
 when it shines forth in its majestic glory on a bleak, 
 cloudy, wintry day. Some people say to my mother, 
 " Mrs. Boone, you teach your boy too much for his age, 
 and let him descant on subjects deep enough for men to 
 argue on." She replies, " I feel we mothers cannot be- 
 gin too early to teach our children good precepts. 4 Train 
 up a child in the way he should go.' Look at your 
 little boys at ten and eleven years old, smoking and 
 chewing. Listen to their foul, obscene language, and 
 
186 ADDRESSES ON TEMPERANCE. 
 
 ask yourselves whether their little bodies, brains, and 
 hearts are not overtaxed with this early depravity. No, 
 no : my boy is fitted, both mentally and physically, for 
 the path I have chosen for him to tread in ; and, with 
 the help of divine Providence, I feel he will achieve 
 much good." And so I will, my friends, if I am spared. 
 I would walk any night in rain or snow to extricate even 
 one drunkard out of the dark swamp he is stuck in, out 
 of the obnoxious cesspool he is fast sinking into, if he 
 will only join us heart and hand in this cause, and 
 accept Father Mathew's godlike legacy, which will 
 prove a crown of olive-leaves to his burning, aching 
 brow, and diffuse peace, joy, and genial warmth through 
 his heart in this world, and which eventually will guide 
 him into the narrow path that leads us to eternal glory, 
 where Father Mathew now dwells with the FATHER OF 
 
 ALL MANKIND. 
 
INTKODTJCTIOIT 
 
 TO 
 
 ANNA BOONE'S LIFE-BATTLE WITH THE THREE B f S OP 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, THE BUMBLE- 
 BEES, BUTTEBFLIES, AND BARBARIANS. 
 
 I HAVE read, that the meeting and receding of the under-cur- 
 rents of the ocean affect the surface of the water in many ways 
 at different periods ; sometimes causing a sleepy calmness, at other 
 times a great swelling, and, again, a raging madness : and yet the 
 masses arc ignorant of the reason of these apparently unaccount- 
 able and uncontrollable changes, simply because they arc ignorant 
 of the CAUSE. Few men believe in any thing, unless it comes 
 within their comprehension, and they have themselves tested the 
 genuineness of the article or subject in question. Hundreds of 
 thousands of men sec these natural changes, and are content to 
 say, " God does these things," without exercising the intellect that 
 He gave them to inquire into the why and wherefore of their ex- 
 istence. No men on earth are more ignorant than sailors, as a body ; 
 and yet no men have greater scope for improving their intellec- 
 tual and Christian knowledge, and of seeing daily the hundreds 
 of specimens of God's boundless wonders in natural productions, 
 of which the most insignificant in appearance (if we only knew it) 
 may be of the greatest importance and value. These men are 
 generally taciturn, yet conceited, and are frequently absolutely de- 
 void of all sublimity of sentiment ; for, if a germ existed, surely it 
 
 187 
 
188 LIFE-BATTLE WITH THE THREE B.'S. 
 
 would bo called forth, and expand into wisdom, on witnessing the 
 continual and rapid proofs that God is everywhere (but it is not so). 
 How apt we all are to pass by "little things," and admire only 
 that which is dazzling and grand to the eye, without knowing 
 whether it is useful, and really worthy of our admiration ! And yet, 
 upon reflection, we can trace the same great incomprehensible Art- 
 ist's visible yet invisible omnipresence in the smallest seed, or the 
 fresh blade of grass, that we so often carelessly tread on, just as, 
 in the magnificent Sun that peeps in between our shutters, silently 
 informing us the morning of another day has come, to begin either 
 our toil, renew our pleasures, or, perhaps, to recall some sad trial 
 that balmy sleep had shut out from our vision for a time. 
 
 Thousands of people view these " little things" as in significant, 
 nor once think of how much we are indebted to them for comfort, 
 affluence, health (yes, and in manifold ways these tiny things be- 
 come mighty), and that life-giving results spring even from little blades 
 of grass. Now, as I have spoken of the under-current s of the ocean, 
 that so few of the "many" know any thing about, and. of their 
 mightiness in swaying the tides, and of " little things " that so few 
 contemplate about, and jet again remind my reader of their great- 
 ness, now, there is something more that I wish particularly to call 
 the attention of my readers, especially the young; and this is 
 the under-currents of society. Much MORE depends on the good 
 or evil among private circles than public men, I mean men hold- 
 ing high office, because these are but a FEW -out of mjUi&n*. 
 Should a public man be a despot, he is " the observed of all ob- 
 servers," and can only go to a certain length of despotism ; but the 
 
 PRIV4.TE TYRANT OF SOCIETY can COUlUlit THOUSANDS of DE- 
 GRADED deeds that none but the OPPRESSED can feel or know any 
 thing about. 
 
 When Mrs. Lincoln gave parties at the White House during the 
 war, everybody knew it (these deeds had better been left undone, 
 
INTRODUCTION. 189 
 
 I acknowledge) ; but still people seem to disrcmembcr the FACT, 
 that, if OTHER WOMEN had not accepted the invitations, there 
 could have been no parties at all ! ! Not a comment \vas made on 
 any lady but the President's WIFE. The people did not choose HER 
 to preside over this nation, but her HUSBAND ; and whatever defects 
 or merits she possessed previously, would not be made different, 
 because He was chosen to be the chief-magistrate. Mr. Dyer 
 showed forth the Water-Street degradations, and, I think, did much 
 good ; although I cannot agree with him in thinking that the late 
 John Allen was the most wicked man in New York. In the first 
 place, that would be a most difficult problem to solve in such a city ; 
 and, in the second place, John did not AFFECT to be a GOOD man, 
 but candidly acknowledged he was a BAD ONE, which took away 
 a portion of his sins instantly (at least, so thought one of our old phi- 
 losophers). How many persons there are in this world, defined as 
 noble and grand, both men and women, and who in reality are most 
 debased ! and others, who arc slandered without one atom of truth : 
 these facts have come directly under my observation. The former 
 people compose the chief part of the " under-currcnts " of society that 
 affect the outer world, and are able either to ELEVATE or DEGRADE 
 it, because they have the power, with money or position (and too 
 often both) ; consequently can silently, but EFFECTUALLY, work 
 their good or evil desires. I have travelled through the principal 
 cities of England, Scotland, and America ; and many a time, when 
 I have witnessed the actions of " private " people in private life, I 
 have bethought me, if a Queen did this, or a President, or a poet, 
 or a Governor, an actor, or actress, how quickly the world would be 
 made cognizant of the whole affair, with TEN THOUSAND ADDI- 
 TIONS ! When public people rise or retire, go out or come in, every- 
 body knows it. What they wear or eat is actually made the topic of 
 conversation from the nobleman's castle down to the laborer's cot- 
 tage. And, oh ! if we could sometimes take a PEEP into the CASTLE 
 
190 LIFE-BATTLE WITH THE THREE B,'S. 
 
 or the COTTAGE window, what SCENES might meet our eye ! 1 am 
 not a believer in PLACES making minds pure: it is in the in'md of 
 the individual that purity exists, and the associations, that help to 
 purify. Some writers expatiate on the purity of country-life, as if 
 the inhabitants were really better. Of course, the air is clearer 
 and more wholesome ; but oftentimes there is more gabble and slan- 
 der going on in a small village than in a large city. The FOULEST 
 DEEDS have been committed in villages. The most atrocious mur- 
 ders have been perpetrated by rustics, out in the green fields, 
 under the broad blue sky, in the VERY FACE OF HEAVEN, with the 
 chaste, silvery moon shedding down her soft rays of light upon the 
 murderers and their victims. The blood has been found on the rich, 
 green, velvet moss ; the graceful trees have fanned the face of the 
 murderer ; and millions of brilliant stars, Hashing like diamonds, 
 have witnessed these fulsome deeds. 
 
 When I went to a lovely town in Vermont, after my boy, I had 
 only been a few hours there, when I was informed that the wife 
 of one of the wealthiest men in that place had -just given birth to 
 a child by one of her husband 's most intimate friends. Subse- 
 quently, I staid a few nights with this family ; and the husband's 
 bister informed me of the whole affair. No excuse : this couple had 
 lived happily for eleven years ; the wife had every luxury. No pov- 
 erty, foul air, dirt, nor corruption was near her; only her OWN cor- 
 rupted HEART. After the birth of the babe, she went home to her 
 mother's, and left him whom she had promised to 'be iaithful to, 
 holding his head down in shame till the end of his days. There was 
 no doubt about any of this sad case ; for, thinking she was going ;o 
 die, she had written a full confession to her husband : the child was 
 born under HIS roof. And, in the same town, a girl of fourteen years 
 was on the eve of becoming a mother ! ! Suppose these crimes had 
 been committed by Public People, what a FEAST the gossips and 
 slanderers would have had ! There is not a sin in existence, but 
 
IN TR OD UCTION. 19 1 
 
 has taken place in a country town or village, showing, that where 
 frail humanity dwells, THERE LIVES SIN ALWAYS (of course, more 
 or less, according to the number of inhabitants) ; and that a really 
 pure mind, and keen apprcciators of God's creations, arc to be found 
 in lonely attics and back rooms in dirty streets, is not to be doubted. 
 When Mrs. Stowe attacked Byron, and Mr. Fulton Dickens, they 
 both had been men of genius, and public men (only a very few 
 would have heard a word about them, had they been cvery-day 
 sort of folks, in PRIVATE LIFE, even had they committed the foulest 
 acts). If Mr. Fulton had only thought of the fact that several 
 CLERGYMEN not farfrom Boston were guilty of a crime even MORE 
 heinous than the one that Byron was FALSELY accused of, I think 
 he might have been SILENT on the subject of Mr. Dickens's sepa- 
 rating from his wii'e, merely because their tempers were Incompatible. 
 If every man that is unfaithful to his marriage-tie is sent to per- 
 dition, I much fear old BEELZEBUB will have to enlarge his sub- 
 terranean Castle to make room for them ! ! * 
 
 The printers have sent for these few sheets, so I am compelled 
 to stop before I have written half that I wish to say, and will just 
 add, we all too frequently forget that it is private people that make 
 up the million, and are in REALITY the rulers of every nation. 
 Every evil that has been repealed, both in England and America, 
 was done by the MASSES in private life, not by a Jang, a presi- 
 dent, or an emperor. In speaking of the different Bumblebees, Butter- 
 flies, and BARBARIANS that I have had to fight with in my ' ; Life- 
 Battle,f " I shall call them all by their true names ; and I beg to in- 
 form my readers that they are all LIVING, so can answer for tliem- 
 
 * If the alleged slander against Fulton be false, still let us admire TlUon for 
 stating what he does while the man is ALIVE, and able to answer for HIMSELF, 
 whicii he has done at the TEMPLE, and on the same platform where he vilified 
 the dead man. (This is retribution, my friends ! !) God never forgeta. 
 
 f Good reader, a great number of the three B.'s of the nineteenth century 
 I encountered in England, as well as in other lands. 
 
192 LIFE-BATTLE WITH THE THREE B.'S. 
 
 selves if I state aught but the truth. I feel convinced that every 
 mother will thank me for writing this book ; for it will be a warning 
 to young, volatile girls, as well as unthinking women. I shall com- 
 mence from my landing in America, a very young woman, and a 
 stranger. I shall occasionally give a portion of my diary as I 
 wrote it at that time. My book will contain five hundred pages- 
 I shall show that when friends proved false, how the GREAT and 
 TRUE FRIEXD to the afflicted never forsook me, and always an- 
 swered me when I called upon him ; how He watched over me when 
 I thought I was forgotten. Remember, all the evils that I shall state 
 can be put down, if the masses take it upon themselves I 
 
 Although I am not what is termed a " Woman's Rights Wo- 
 man," yet I am for my sex being protected in whatever they under- 
 take to do honestly ; and I am sorry to add, that I will, in my next 
 book, be able to give many incidents where law was lawless to 
 women without a HUSBAND or a PROTECTOR. 
 
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