MARY CLEMENT LEAVITT-A CHARACTER SKETCH. What Commodore Perry did for the men, HE world moves on apace. Progress seemingly advances with mighty strides. In reality it moves at a snail's gait. The peoples of the ages never learned to distinguish, with any degree of fineness, the difference between what is really improved development and what is but conservatism in new garments. Each age thinks its own the consummate flower of the cycles. If, perchance, one is bold enough to suggest that the times are not what they once were, that the world is growing worse, he is looked upon with mingled contempt and pity by the younger generation, and if he persists, he is unceremoniously dubbed a crank. At no time in the world's history has that one who advocated overturning existing conditions found life's pathway smooth. Now and then a great mind will admit that which pessimists feed upon, but he offsets his admissions by bringing out the other side: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair."* *"Tale of Two Cities." -Yokoi, of Japan, 1894. Dickens spoke of those days ushering in the French Revolution. His remarkable words apply to-day. Ours is the best of times, ours is the worst of times. Now is the spring of hope, now is the winter of despair. Those who know history best, and who are gifted with a keener perception of the right relation of man to his environment during the epochs, are slowest in asserting that the race is attaining the high ideal attainable, at any rapid pace. Men have ever been hero-worshipers, and they will be so long as time lasts. It belongs to our nature to seek out those whom we esteem in some or every particular better than ourselves. It is the transcendent adoration of one who is to us great, and we call it hero-worship. With right ideals embodied in our hero, this homage becomes one of the most important factors in the attainment of the truer manhood. It has been said that every individual is a hero to some one. If each could, therefore, feel the responsibilities which rest upon him sufficiently to prompt him to put guard on his every act, we might then expect progress to go forward by leaps and bounds. The leaders of men are few. The world to most of us is circumscribed by the borders. Whatever will tend to enlarge it will give us just conceptions of things. Many of us must largely depend upon our reading for those things which now and then lift us out of ourselves, and give us tastes of what the higher, nobler and purer life really is. I like our ideals a long way above us, out of reach, For then as we strive is our soul lifted up where no speech Of its being can know or express its repose. E'en thinking good thoughts makes us better as everyone knows. It is not always among those whose names are on every tongue that we find our greatest heroes. "God's passionless reformers, influences, I know that sunshine, through whatever rift, Heroes and heroines unnumbered have left no other monument than that built up from, and in the hearts of, the few with whom they were brought in contact. I said in the outset that progress advanced at a snail's pace. Did a Greek come from his grave, he would indeed be filled with wonder and admiration, but by and by the novelty would wear off, and he would begin to look into our poetry, measure the attainment of our art in its various forms, and note the forms of expression in language and the nature of our philosophy. He would then admit progress in some lines, retrogression in others, and a resultant which had but moved humanity a little forward. I know of no other example which shows so strikingly the tardiness of real progress as that illustrated by the records of the condition of women during the epochs of the ages. It is only in these later days, and in this country, first of all, that women have been given any due recognition. And in these very days many great men hold When Carlyle wrote his lectures on heroes and hero-worship, he took no account of heroines. "The great man," he says, "with his free force direct out of God's own hand, is the lightning." He might have added: "And the great mother is as the sunbeam, bringing light and life into the world, and nourishing that life, and her power, no more than the sunbeams, cannot be measured." Some weeks ago I sought rest and companionship in the Adirondacks. As I passed through Lake George-that beautiful lake that God has immortalized by setting its crystal waters in emeralds of mountains, I felt that indescribable thrill which one can only feel when whatever of the divine in him responds to his Creator's choicest work in nature. Within easy reach of this lake, nestling among the mountains, is a charming summer residence known as "Cliff Seat,"* presided over by a most genial host and a charming hostess. If, in writing the sketch of Mary Clement Leavitt, I allow the memory of the surroundings to lend something of color to what I say, the reader will pardon me. I met Mrs. Leavitt under the most favorable circumstances and in one of the most delightful spots lying in the foot-hills of the Adirondacks. The subject of this sketch was the eldest but one of nine children. The father was brought up a farmer, but feeling that higher call to duty, which few men feel, and fewer have the courage to carry into effect, he devoted his life to his fellows. He became a Baptist minister of power, preaching almost constantly for fifty-three years. Only six weeks before his death, at the *Cliff Seat is the summer residence of Joseph Cook, LL.D. advanced age of eighty years, he ably filled the pulpit. The salary of a Baptist minister in those days was not better than that received by so many country pastors to-day. But this was secondary. The true minister of God gives much less thought to what he eats and wears than to the duties of his high calling. So it came about that the children must largely make their own way if they received the advantages they so much desired. Mary seems to have been a girl of unusual pluck, and endowed with what I may call the faculty of fertility of expedient. When she was but fifteen years old she undertook the acquiring of an education by her own endeavors, and persisted until she had won the desire which had stimulated her efforts. She graduated from West Newton Normal School, carrying off the honors of her class. Her unusual pluck and ability won for her the offer of a three years' scholarship in Boston. She did what was very honorable indeed, and what many wealthy men's sons and daughters would not have done-she refused the offer. She felt that she had the ability to make her own way, and that scholarships should be given to the less favored ones. She pursued her studies in Boston for some time, then entered upon the profession of teaching. During the five years she was engaged in teaching she became interested in slum work in the city. Almost every evening was given to this work in some of its forms. She became known as a. most energetic and untiring worker. It frequently happened that she attended five different services on Sunday, speaking herself at three of them. We were sitting out on the front veranda at Cliff Seat. I had induced Mrs. Leavitt to tell me something of her most interesting life. To our right were the mountains, whose feet were washed by the clear waters of Lake George; to our left was "Sunset Dome" and the "Three Brothers;" in front the grove, with its twenty maples, its twenty oaks, its twenty beeches, with Gladstone and John Bright (for many of those trees are named, and have cozy seats under their stalwart branches), Carlyle and Webster, Browning and Beaconsfield, Hamilton and Jefferson, and other equally companionable personages. Perhaps it was the environs of the place. It might have been the invigorating breezes coming up through the valley, bringing with them the fragrance of the wild flowers and the meadows. It might have been the living over again of those days of her youth, so full of memories, dear now because almost half a century separated them from the present; or it may have been the harmony of the whole, which seemed to open the heart and soul of the woman of sixty-four, carrying her age better than many a decade younger. "How much heart and soul there is in that face," I said to my hostess. It were better could I give her own words—give them in that quiet, unassuming manner which is hers always. "During those early years, Mrs. Leavitt," said I, "did you not feel that there was some special work for you to do? You must have had some aim, some high incentive which kept up your courage as you struggled to acquire an education, and at the same time extend so much help to your father's family." "No," she replied, "no definite aim ever entered my mind. I never planned what I should be or what I should do; the one aim, indeed, I may say the one rule of my life has been to do the thing that I ought to do at the time. I loved study too well to find hard work for its sake a burden." And I thought of Lowell's, "In life's small things be resolute and great To keep thy muscles trained; know'st thou when Fate Thy measure takes, or when she'll say to thee, 'I find thee worthy; do this deed for me.'" "I had a good voice," she continued, "and learned to sing and play, and many of my friends hoped I should become an opera singer. I never, however, wanted to simply amuse people. I do not now. I feel that there is always a greater work to do, and that I want my life to be helpful in some other way than to amuse." daughter was growing up into womanhood, she wanted to give over the responsibilities of managing a private school and accept a position in some institution where she could have more leisure and freedom. She was offered a chair in her alma mater, at what would the second year become a salary of one thousand dollars a year. Mrs. Mary A. Livermore, however, insisted upon her taking up the temperance work for the state of Massachusetts, which she finally consented to do, at a salary of only six hundred dollars a year. Mrs. Leavitt did not feel that God called her to that work which paid her the highest salary. The name of Mrs. Mary H. Hunt is known throughout the land in connection with her great work of having temperance instruction instituted in the public schools. of so many states. Mrs. Leavitt has also greatly aided in this work. On one occasion, She married at the age of twenty-six, and ten years later was left with three small children to support. For this purpose she opened a private school in Boston, where she was so favorably known, and where she had, from time to time, been thrown with the best people. "How did you happen to take up the passing through Concord, N. H., she found temperance work?" "I have been a total abstainer all my life. Father circulated the first total abstinence pledge when I was but a child. When he and mother had affixed their names, I wanted to put down mine, but father said that I did not know what it meant. But I did, and my name was added. I helped to organize the Boston Union, but opposed the crusade conducted in the same city, feeling that results of such a campaign would not repay the women for their endeavors in that direction. I helped to organize the state Woman's Christian Temperance Union, was a member of the state executive for years, and president of the Boston Union for some years." She seems to have always done the work of two or three, and during those years when she was conducting a private school, she was constantly doing a woman's work for humanity. When her youngest she had three quarters of an hour between trains. At once she determined to use her time to the best advantage (she seldom fails to do otherwise), and accordingly made her way to the state superintendent of schools. He had been prejudiced against the movement, but Mrs. Leavitt was able, before she left him, to convert him to her views. He went to the Legislature, turned the tide of affairs, and the bill was passed. No other person living has spoken from so many Boston pulpits on temperance topics. No one has taken up larger collections in the same city, save Mrs. Mary A. Livermore. "In the development of your work, did it never occur to you that your mission might extend beyond New England?" I asked. "No, I think not. The work seemed of itself to grow continually. I did not know what it would become. I simply did present duties as well as I could." Her work in New England began to attract wide recognition. She was chosen to represent the Woman's Christian Temperance Union cause on the Pacific coast, where she labored for sixteen months. In 1884 the national convention, by vote, selected her to make a world-tour in the interest of the Union, and upon six days' notice she left for Honolulu, having but thirty-five dollars and her passage to the islands, which had been previously sent her by Honolulu people. "What did they give you for your journey-the national convention-and what provision was made in a financial way?" "They did not give me a penny. There was not a word said about money. I had my passage to Hawaii. My work among these people was very successful. They responded liberally with their means, and I was enabled to push on to New Zealand. While the work of organization was gratifying, the people, not understanding that my mission was largely a project of faith, contributed only sums for the local expenses. I wrote Miss Willard then, stating that it would be impossible to go further without at least a guarantee of expenses. In the meantime the friends of the movement, learning the true state of affairs, gave more liberally. Promise came later from Miss Willard that expenses would be guaranteed, and there was no further delay on this account." It would be absolutely impossible to attempt even the slightest detail regarding Mrs. Leavitt's experiences during the subsequent six years. At most we can but blaze the pathway here and there in such a manner that it may serve as a guide or an inspiration to those who wish to know more about the most remarkable tour of the world, made by one of the most remarkable women of our day. Let it be remembered that Mrs. Leavitt was fifty-four years of age when she undertook this first world missionary tour. For thirty years previous she had made her home in one of our best cities, surrounded by all the modern comforts, and she had supposed it impossible for her to sleep in other than good, comfortable beds, or to undergo any extraordinary hardships. She had enjoyed all the advantages of Boston society. Now she was to go through experiences which would make many a younger person quail, and she was in the midst of every difficulty, to carry forward duty's commands unflinchingly.. She learned to find some rest in the worst of beds, to sleep in wagons, on the hard ground, and even to lie down on the deck of a Japanese steamer, surrounded by men, who, out of respect, slept with their heads toward her, a row on either side. She was to travel in every imaginable sort of vehicle, and be carried on men's backs altogether over one thousand miles. She was ferried across swollen streams in rickety boats, when others sank beneath the mad waters. She jogged over the wild roadways of southern Africa in the rude post-carts, and slept on the mail-bags of Her Majesty, the Queen, waking to find her joints stiff and numb with cramp. She was the only cabin passenger in a fifty-hour trip across the Baltic, which was lengthened into five days by a furious storm, every moment threatening to shatter the vessel in pieces. During three days of this time amidst the storm no food could be cooked. In South America, at the instigations of the priesthood, she was stoned, and was almost miraculously spared. Indeed, the marvelous escapes she passed through are strong evidence of the divinity in her work. Four times she was stricken with fever |