CHAPTER X.

IN RETREAT; JOURNALISM.

Miss Martineau's health failed towards the end of 1854; and early in

1855, symptoms of a disorganized circulation became so serious that

she went up to London to consult physicians. Dr. Latham and Sir Thomas

Watson both came to the conclusion that she was suffering from

enlargement and enfeeblement of the heart; and, in accordance with her

wish to hear a candid statement of her case, they told her that her

life would probably not be much prolonged. In short they gave her to

understand that she was dying; and her own sensations confirmed the

impression. She had frequent sinking fits; and every night when she

lay down, a struggle for breath began, which lasted sometimes for

hours. She received her death sentence then, and began a course of

life as trying to the nerves and as searching a test of character as

could well be imagined. That trial she bore nobly for twenty-one long

suffering years. She was carefully carried home, and at once occupied

herself with making every preparation for the departure from earth

which she supposed to be impending. The first business was to make a

new will; and this was a characteristic document. After ordering that

her funeral should be conducted in the plainest manner, and at the

least possible cost, she continued thus:--"It is my desire, from an

interest in the progress of scientific investigation, that my skull

should be given to Henry George Atkinson, of Upper Gloucester Place,

and also my brain, if my death take place within such distance of the

said Henry George Atkinson's then present abode as to enable him to

have it for purposes of scientific investigation." Her property was

then ordered to bear various small charges, including one of L200 to

Mrs. Chapman for writing a conclusion to the testator's autobiography,

over and above a fourth share of the profits on the sale of the whole

work after the first edition. "The Knoll" was bequeathed to her

favorite "little sister," Ellen. The remainder of her possessions were

divided amongst all her brothers and sisters, or their heirs, with as

much impartiality as though she held, with Maggie Tulliver's aunt

Glegg, that "in the matter of wills, personal qualities were

subordinate to the great fundamental fact of blood." Although

mesmerism had estranged her from a sister, and theology from a

brother, she made no display of bitter feelings towards them and

theirs in her last will.

All her personal affairs being made as orderly as possible, she

proceeded to write her _Autobiography_. Readers of that interesting

but misleading work must bear in mind that it was a very hasty

production. The two large volumes were written in a few months; the

MS. was sent to the printer as it was produced, the sheets for the

first edition were printed off, then the matter was stereotyped, and

the sheets and plates were packed up in the office of the printer,

duly insured, and held ready for immediate publication after her

death. She wrote in this hot haste with "the shadow cloaked from head

to foot" at her right hand. So much reason had she to believe that her

very days were numbered, that she wrote the latter part of her

_Autobiography_ before the first portion. She had already given forth,

in _Household Education_ and _The Crofton Boys_, the results of her

childish experiences of life; and she was now specially anxious not to

die without leaving behind her a definite account of the later course

of her intellectual history.

No one who knew her considers that she did herself justice in the

_Autobiography_. It is hard and censorious; it displays vanity,

both in its depreciation of her own work, and in its recital of the

petty slights and insults which had been offered to her from time to

time; it is aggressive, as though replying to enemies rather than

appealing to friends; and no one of either the finer or the softer

qualities of her nature is at all adequately indicated. It is, in

short, the least worthy of her true self of all the writings of her

life.

The reasons of this unfortunate fact was not far to seek. Her

rationalism, and the abuse and moral ill-usage which she had incurred

by her avowal of her anti-theological opinions, were still new to her.

Her very thoughts, replacing as they did the ideas which she held

without examination for some twenty years (the time which intervened

between her devotional writings and her _Eastern Life_) were still so

far new that they had not the unconsciousness and the quiet placidity

which habit alone gives; for new ideas, like new clothes, sit

uneasily, and are noticeable to their wearer, however carefully they

may have been fitted before adoption. Again, the announcement in the

press that her illness was fatal revived the discussion of her

infidelity, and brought down upon her a whole avalanche of signed and

anonymous letters, of little tracts, awe-inspiring hymns, and manuals

of divinity. The letters were controversial, admonishing, minatory, or

entreating; but whatever their character they were all agreed upon one

point, viz., that her unbelief in Christianity was a frightful sin, of

which she had been willfully guilty. They all agreed in supposing that

it was within her own volition to resume her previous faith, and that

she would not only go to eternal perdition if she did not put on again

her old beliefs, but that she would richly deserve to do so for her

willful wickedness.

Thus, as Miss Arnold remarked to me, the moment at which she wrote

the _Autobiography_ was the most aggressive and unpleasant of her

whole life. Conscious as she was of the purity of her motives in

uttering her philosophical opinions, she found herself suddenly spoken

to by a multitude, whom she could not but know were mentally and

morally incapable of judging her, as a sinner, worthy of their pity

and reprobation. Knowing that she had long been recognized as a

teacher, in advance of the mass of society in knowledge and power of

thought, here was a crowd of people talking to her in the tones which

they might have adopted towards some ignorant inmate of a prison. What

wonder that her wounded self-esteem seemed for a little while to pass

into vanity, when she had to remind the world, from which such insults

were pouring in, of all that she had done for its instruction in the

past? What wonder that the strength which was summed up to bear with

fortitude this species of modern martyrdom, seemed to give a tone of

coldness and hardness to writing of so personal a kind? Then the

extreme haste with which the writing and printing were done gave no

time for the subsidence of such painful impressions; and great

physical suffering and weakness, together with the powerful depressing

medicines which were being employed, added to the difficulty of

writing with calmness, and with a full possession of the sufferer's

whole nature. In short, an autobiography could not have been written

under less favorable conditions. All things taken into account, it is

no wonder that those who knew and loved her whole personality were

shocked and amazed at the inadequate presentation given of it in those

volumes. The sensitive, unselfish, loving, domestic woman, and the

just, careful, disinterested, conscientious and logical author, were

alike obscured rather than revealed; and the biographer whom she chose

to complete the work had neither the intimate personal knowledge, the

mental faculty which might have supplied its place, nor the literary

skill requisite to present a truer picture.

Her _Autobiography_ completed, the plates engraved, and all publishing

arrangements made, she might, had she been an ordinary invalid, have

settled down into quiet after so hard-working a life. Harriet

Martineau could not do this. Her labors continued uninterruptedly, and

were pursued to the utmost limit which her illness would allow. She

did not cease (except during the few months that the _Autobiography_

was in hand) writing her "leaders" for the _Daily News_. Every week it

contained articles by her, instructing thousands of readers. Yet she

was _very_ ill. She never left her home again, after that journey to

London early in 1855. Sometimes she was well enough to go out upon her

terrace; and she frequently sat in her porch, which was a bower, in

the summer time, of clematis, honeysuckle, and passion-flowers,

intermingled with ivy; but she could do no more. She was given, as

soon as she became ill, the daughterly care of her niece, Maria, the

daughter of her elder brother, Robert Martineau, of Birmingham; and no

mother ever received tenderer care or more valuable assistance from

her own child than Harriet Martineau did from the sensible and

affectionate girl whose life was thenceforth devoted to her service.

Maria once tried if her aunt could be taken out of her own grounds in

a bath-chair; but before they reached the gates a fainting fit came

on, with such appalling symptoms of stoppage of the heart that the

experiment was never repeated. Sometimes Miss Martineau would be well

enough to see visitors; more frequently, however, those whom she would

most have liked to talk with had to be sent away by the doctor's

orders. But, through it all, her work continued.

Soon after the _Autobiography_ was finished, she wrote a long paper

upon a most important subject, and one which she felt to be a source

of the gravest anxiety for the future of English politics--the true

sphere of State interference with daily life. The common ignorance and

carelessness upon this point she believed to be the most painful and

perilous feature of our present situation.

It has been brought to light by beneficent action which is, in

another view, altogether encouraging. Our benevolence towards the

helpless, and our interest in personal morality, have grown into a

sort of public pursuit; and they have taken such a hold on us that

we may fairly hope that the wretched and the wronged will never

more be thrust out of sight. But, in the pursuit of our new

objects, we have fallen back--far further than 1688--in the

principle of our legislative proposals--undertaking to provide by

law against personal vices, and certain special social contracts.

Her devotion to freedom, and her belief in personal liberty, led her

to write an article on "Meddlesome Legislation" for the _Westminster

Review_.

Her pecuniary sacrifices for the _Review_ had been made because she

looked upon it as an organ for free speech. Her feelings may be

imagined when the editor refused to insert this article, not on any

ground of principle, but merely because it spoke too freely of some of

the advocates of meddlesome factory laws. The essay was published

however, as a pamphlet, and had such influence upon a bill then before

Parliament that the Association of Factory Occupiers requested to be

allowed to signalize their appreciation of it by giving one hundred

guineas in her name to a charity. A somewhat similar piece of work

followed in the next year, a rather lengthy pamphlet _On Corporate

Traditions and National Rights_. She offered nothing more to the

_Westminster Review_, however, for some time; not, indeed, until that

subject in which she took so profound an interest, the welfare of the

United States, and the progress of the anti-slavery cause, seemed to

require of her that she should avail herself of every possible means

of addressing the public upon it. Then, in 1857, she wrote an article

on _The Manifest Destiny of the American Union_, which appeared in the

_Westminster_ for July of that year.

Having thus signalized her forgiveness of that _Review_, she went on

writing again for it for a little while. In the October number of

the same year there was a paper by her on _Female Dress_ in 1857.

Crinoline had then lately been introduced by the Empress of the

French. If one good, rousing argument could have stood in the path of

fashion, this amusing and vigorous paper from Harriet Martineau's

sick-room might have answered the purpose. But, alas! crinoline

flourished; and five whole years later on was still so enormous that

she took up her parable against it once more, in _Once a Week_, as

the cause of "willful murder."

About this time she determined to assume the prefix of "Mrs." "There

were so many Misses Martineau," she said; and, besides, she felt the

absurdity of a woman of mature years bearing only the same complimentary

title as is accorded to a little girl in short frocks at school. Her

cards and the envelopes of her friends bore thenceforward the

inscription, "Mrs. Harriet Martineau."

Although she continued to write, contributing almost every day to the

_Daily News_, as well as to these larger periodicals, she was, it

must be remembered, an invalid. Her health fluctuated from day to day;

but it may as well be explicitly stated that she was more or less ill

during the whole of the rest of her life. She suffered a considerable

amount daily of actual pain, which was partly the consequence of the

medicines prescribed for her, and partly the result of the

displacement of the internal organs arising, as her doctors led her to

suppose, from the enlargement of the heart; but in reality, as was

afterwards discovered, from the growth of a tumor. Her most constant

afflictions were the difficulty of breathing, dizziness, and dimness

of sight, resulting from disturbed circulation. At irregular, but not

infrequent, intervals she was seized with fainting-fits, in which her

heart appeared to entirely cease beating for a minute or two; and it

was not certain from day to day but that she might die in one of these

attacks.

Not only did she continue her work under these conditions, but her

interest in her poor neighbors remained unabated. There is more than

one man now living in Ambleside who traces a part of his prosperity to

the interest which she from her sick-room displayed in his progress. A

photograph of her, still sold in Ambleside, was taken in her own

drawing-room by a young beginner whom she allowed thus to benefit

himself. He and several others were given free access to her library.

A sickly young woman in the village was made a regular sharer in the

good things--the wine, the turtle soup, the game and the

flowers--which devoted friends sent frequently to cheer Harriet

Martineau's retirement. Every Christmas, there was a party of the

oldest inhabitants of Ambleside invited to spend a long day in the

kitchen of the "Knoll." The residents in her own cottages looked upon

her less as a landlady than as a friend to whom to send in every

difficulty.

Nor did she cease to do whatever was possible to her in the local

public life. The question of Church Rates was approaching a crisis

when she was taken ill; and when the Ambleside Quakers resolved to

organize resistance to payment of these rates, they found Harriet

Martineau ready to help. The householders who refused to pay were

summoned before the local bench; and it was Harriet Martineau whom the

justices selected to be distrained upon; but events marched rapidly,

and the distraint was not made.

The next article that she contributed to the _Westminster Review_

appeared in the July (1858) number, and, under the title of _The

Last Days of Church Rates_, gave an account of the efforts by which

Non-conformists in all parts of the country were rendering this impost

impossible.

In October, 1858, there was another long article in the _Westminster_,

entitled _Travel during the Last Half-Century_. She was now, however,

growing tired of wasting her work in that quarter, and, as we shall

presently see, she sought a more influential and appreciative medium

for her longer communications with the public.

Subjects which could be treated briefly were always taken up as

"leaders" for the _Daily News_. Lengthier topics, too, were

occasionally dealt with in those columns in the form of serial

articles. One set of papers on _The Endowed Schools of Ireland_, were

contributed in this manner, in 1857, to the _Daily News_, and

afterwards reprinted in a small volume. In that same year occurred

the terrible Indian crisis which compelled the people of this country

to give, for a time, the attention which they so begrudge to their

great dependency. Miss Martineau then wrote a series of articles,

under the title of _The History of British Rule in India_, for the

_Daily News_, and this most useful work was immediately re-published

in a volume. Alas! even she could not make so involved and distant a

story interesting; but her book was clear and vivid, and whenever it

dealt with the practical problem of the moment, it was full of wisdom

and conscientiousness. This volume was immediately followed by

_Suggestions towards the Future Government of India_. The preface of

the first is dated October, 1857; and that of the second, January,

1858. The key-note of these books is a plea for the government of

India according to Indian ideas; and, as a natural consequence, its

government with the assistance of its natives. Courage as well as

insight were required at that particular moment of popular passion to

put forward these calm, statesman-like ideas. The wisdom and the

practical value of the books cannot be shown by extracts; but one

paragraph may be given as a faint indication of the tone: "If instead

of attempting to hold India as a preserve of English destinies, a

nursery of British fortunes, we throw it open with the aim of

developing India for the Indians, by means of British knowledge and

equity, we shall find our own highest advantage, political and

material, and may possibly recognize brethren and comrades at length,

where we have hitherto perceived only savages, innocents, or

foes."[22] Such was the spirit to which the _Daily News_, under

Harriet Martineau's hand, led the people at a moment of great

political excitement. The amplest testimony to the practical wisdom

of the suggestions that she made was borne by those Anglo-Indians who

were qualified to judge.

[22] _Future Government of India_, p. 94.

In June, 1858, she wrote the first letter, which lies before me, to

her relative, Mr. Henry Reeve, the editor of the _Edinburgh Review_.

In this, after telling him that she never before has offered or wished

to write for that _Review_, because in politics she had generally

disagreed with it (to her, it may be remarked in passing, Toryism was

less odious than official Whigism), she says that she has now a

subject in view which she thinks would be suitable for the pages of

the good old Whig organ. Before entering into details, she begs him to

tell her frankly if any article will be refused merely because it

comes from her. She adds that her health is so sunk and her life so

precarious, that all her engagements have to be made with an

explanation of the chances against their fulfillment; still she _does_

write a good deal, and with higher success than in her younger days.

Mr. Reeve replied cordially inviting her contributions, and the result

was the establishment both of an intimate correspondence with him, and

of a relationship with the _Review_ under his charge, which lasted

until she could write no more.

The particular subject which she offered Mr. Reeve at first did not

seem to him a suitable one. The title of it was to have been _French

Invasion Panics_; but as Mr. Reeve did not like the idea, the paper

was not written. But for the _Edinburgh_ of April, 1859, she wrote a

long article on _Female Industry_, which attracted much attention. Its

purpose was to show how greatly the conditions of women's lives are

altered in this century from what they were of old. "A very large

proportion of the women of England earn their own bread; and there is

no saying how much good may be done by a timely recognition of this

simple truth. A social organization framed for a community of which

half stayed at home while the other half went out to work, cannot

answer the purposes of a society of which a quarter remains at home

while three-quarters go out to work." After considering in detail,

with equal benevolence and wisdom, the condition of the various

classes of women workers--those employed in agriculture, mines,

fishing, domestic service, needlework, and shop-keeping, and

suggesting, in passing, the schools of cookery which have since become

established facts, the article concludes: "The tale is plain enough.

So far from our countrywomen being all maintained as a matter of fact

by us, the 'bread-winners,' three millions out of six of adult English

women work for subsistence, and two out of the three in independence.

With this new condition of affairs new duties and new views must be

adopted. Old obstructions must be removed; and the aim must be set

before us, as a nation as well as in private life, to provide for the

free development and full use of the powers of every member of the

community." It scarcely needs to be pointed out that here she went

quietly but surely to the foundation of that whole class of new claims

and demands on behalf of the women of our modern world, of which she

was so valuable an advocate, and for the granting of which her life

was so excellent a plea. In these few sentences she at one time

displayed the character of the changes required, and the reasons why

it is now necessary, as it did not use to be, that women should be

completely enfranchised, industrially and otherwise.

The year 1859 was a very busy one. Besides the long article just

mentioned, she published in April of that year quite a large volume on

_England and her Soldiers_. The book was written to aid the work

which her beloved friend Florence Nightingale, had in hand for the

benefit of the army. It was, in effect, a popularization of all that

had come out before the Royal Commission on the sanitary condition of

the army; with the additional advantage of the views and opinions of

Florence Nightingale, studied at first hand. One of the most beautiful

features of the book is the hearty and generous delight with which the

one illustrious lady recounts the efforts, the sacrifices, and the

triumphs of the other.

In 1859, also, Mrs. Martineau began to write frequent letters for

publication to the American _Anti-Slavery Standard_. The affairs

of the Republic were plainly approaching a crisis; and those in

America who knew how well-informed she was on the politics of both

countries, and on political principles, were anxious to have the

guidance that only she could give in the difficult time that was

approaching. During the three years, 1859 to 1861, she sent over

ninety long articles for publication in America.

An article on _Trades Unions_, denouncing the tyranny of men in

fustian coats sitting round a beer-shop table, as to the full as

mischievous as that of crowned and titled despots, appeared in the

_Edinburgh Review_ for October, 1859. In the July (1860) issue of the

same _Review_ she wrote on _Russia_, and in October of that year on

_The American Union_.

Besides these large undertakings, she was writing during these years

almost weekly articles, on one topic or another, for the illustrated

periodical _Once a Week_; whilst the _Daily News_ "leaders" continued

without intermission during the whole time. As regards these latter, I

shall presently mention when she entirely ceased to write; but in the

meanwhile I do not attempt to follow them in detail. Nothing that I

could say would give any adequate impression of their quality. _That_

may be sufficiently judged by the fact that the newspaper in which

they were issued was one of the best of the great London dailies; and

that, during her time, it touched the highest point of influence and

circulation, as the organ of no clique, but the consistent advocate of

high principles, and just, consistent, sound (not mere "Liberal

Party") political action. As to the subjects of the _Daily News_

articles, they range over the whole field of public interests,

excepting only those "hot and hot" topics which had to be treated

immediately that fresh news about them reached London. Those who were

with Mrs. Martineau tell me that the only difficulty with her was to

choose what subject she would treat each day, out of the many that

offered. She kept up an extensive correspondence, and read

continually; and her fertile mind, highly cultivated as it was by her

life-long studies, had some original and valuable contribution to make

upon the vast variety of the topics of which each day brought

suggestions.

The marvel that a sick lady, shut up in her house in a remote village,

could thus keep touch with and take an active part in all the

interests and movements of the great world, increases the more it is

considered. The very correspondence by which she was aided in knowing

and feeling what the public mind was stirred about, was in itself a

heavy labor, and a great tax upon such feeble strength as she

possessed. The letters with which Mr. Reeve has favored me give

glimpses of how ideas and calls came to her sometimes. Here is a

graphic account, for instance, of a man riding up with a telegram from

Miss Nightingale--"Agitate! agitate! for Lord de Grey in place of Sir

G. Cornewall Lewis"--which gives the first intimation in Ambleside

that the post of War Minister is vacant. The newspaper arrives later,

and Lewis' death is learned; so a "leader" is written early next

morning, to catch the coach, and appears in the following morning's

_Daily News_. Presently Lord de Grey is appointed, and then the

two women friends rejoice together in the chance of getting army

reforms made by a minister who, they hope, will not be a slave to

royal influences. Another time she tells Mr. Reeve how she is treating

the _Reversion of Mysore_ in the _Daily News_, on the suggestion of a

man learned in Indian affairs; and again, that she is reviewing a book

of Eastern travel at the request of a friend. In fine, there were

constant letters seeking to engage her interest and aid in every

description of reforms, and for all kinds of movements in public

affairs.

But with all the wide circle of suggesting correspondents, the wonder

of the prolific mind working so actively from the Ambleside hermitage

remains untouched. Perhaps I cannot better show how much she did, and

how wide a range she covered, in _Daily News_ "leaders," than by

giving a list of the articles of a single year. I take 1861, really at

random. It was simply the page at which the office ledger happened to

be open before me.

Here are the subjects of her _Daily News_ "leaders" in 1861:

The American Union; The King of Prussia; Arterial Drainage; Sidney

Herbert; The Secession of South Carolina; Cotton Supply; Laborers'

Dwellings; The American Difficulty (two days); Destitution and its

Remedy; The American Revolution; Cotton Culture; The American

Union; Indian Affairs; America; North and South; American Politics;

Agricultural Labor; The London Bakers; President Buchanan; The

Southern Confederacy; United States Population; The Duchess of

Kent; Indian Famines; Agricultural Statistics; President Lincoln's

Address; Indian Currency; American Census; The Southern

Confederacy; The Action of the South; The Census; America and

Cotton; The American Envoy; Lord Canning's Address; The American

Crisis; Spain and San Domingo; East Indian Irrigation; Water-mills;

Hayti and San Domingo; The Conflict in America; American Movements;

The Secession Party; The American Contest; The Literary Fund;

Working-men's Visit to Paris; Mr. Clay's Letter; The American

Contest; Money's "Java" (four articles); Mr. Douglas; Our American

Relations; Lord Campbell; Results of American Strife; Our Cotton

Supply; American Union; Soldiers' Homes; Indian Irrigation; San

Domingo; American Movements; Slavery in America; The Morrill

Tariff; Drainage in Agriculture; Neutrality with America; The

Builders' Strike; Lord Herbert; Lord Elgin's Government; The

Builders' Dispute; The Strike; The American Contest; Indian

Famines; Syrian Improvement; Affairs of Hayti; Cotton Supply; The

American War and Slavery; Mr. Cameron and General Butler;

Post-office Robberies; The American Press; Mrs. Stowe; The Morrill

Tariff; American Affairs; Domestic Servants; The Education Minutes;

The Georgian Circular; French Free Trade; The Fremont Resolution;

Laborers' Improvidence; American Humiliation; The Education Code; A

Real Social Evil; Captain Jervis in America; The American Contest;

Indian Cotton; Slaves in America; The Prince of Wales; American

Movements; Lancashire Cotton Trade; India and Cotton; Cotton

Growing; The Herbert Testimonial; Captain Wilkes' Antecedents;

Arterial Drainage; The American Controversy; Land in India; Slaves

in America; Death of Prince Albert; Slavery; Loyalty in Canada;

Review of the Year, five columns long.

This gives a total of one hundred and nine leading articles, in that

one year, on political and social affairs. In the same year she wrote

to the Boston _Anti-Slavery Standard_ as much matter as would have

made about forty-five "leaders;" and during the same period she

regularly contributed to _Once a Week_[23] a fortnightly article on

some current topic, and also a series of biographical sketches

entitled "Representative Men." These _Once a Week_ articles were all

much longer than "leaders;" the year's aggregate of space filled, in

1861, is two hundred and eighty-one of the closely printed columns of

_Once a Week_; and this would be equivalent to at least one hundred

and forty leading articles in the usual "leaded" type. I need not give

a complete list of titles of the year's _Once a Week_ articles; but a

few may be cited to show what class of subjects she selected: "Our

Peasantry in Progress," "Ireland and her Queen," "The Harvest," "The

Domestic Service Question," "What Women are Educated for," "American

Soldiering," "Deaths by Fire," "The Sheffield Outrages," "Education

and the Racing Season."

[23] Most of these papers are signed "From the Mountain."

Such was Harriet Martineau's work for the year 1861; and thus could

she, confined to her house, comprehend and care for the condition of

mankind.

It will be noticed that she had written on Domestic Servants both in

the _Daily News_ and _Once a Week_; but still she had not said all

that she wished to say about the subject, and early in the next year

she wrote a long article on it, which appeared in the _Edinburgh_

for April, 1862. It is a capital article, distinguished alike by

common-sense, and by wide-reaching sympathy; _womanly_ in the best

sense--in its domestic knowledge, and its feeling for women in their

perplexities and troubles, whether as servants or mistresses,--and yet

philosophical in its calmness, its power of tracing from causes to

effects, and its practical wisdom in forestalling future difficulties.

In this year she began to write historical stories, "Historiettes," as

she called them, for _Once a Week_. As fictions, they are not equal to

her best productions of that class; but their special value was less

in this direction, or even in the detailed historical knowledge that

they displayed, than in the insight into the philosophy of political

history which the reader gained. They were illustrated by Millais, and

proved so attractive that they were continued during the next two

years. One, dealing with the constitutional struggle in the reign of

Charles I., and called "The Hampdens," has been re-published so

recently as 1880.

A large portion of her time and thought was absorbed, in these years,

by the American struggle and its consequences. Loving the United States

and their people as she did, the interest and anxiety with which she

watched their progress were extreme. She was no coward--as it is, no

doubt, hardly necessary to remark on this page--and though she grieved

deeply for the sufferings both of personal friends and of the whole

country, yet her soul rose up in noble exultation over the courage, the

resolution, and the high-mindedness of the bulk of the American nation.

Over here, she threw herself with warm eagerness into the effort to

support those Lancashire workers upon whom fell so heavy a tax of

deprivation in the cotton famine. The patience, the quietness, the

heroism with which our North-Country workers bore all that they had to

suffer, supported as they were by the sympathy of the mass of their

fellow-countrymen, and by their own intelligent convictions that they

were aiding a good cause by remaining peaceful and quiet--this was just

the sort of thing to arouse all Harriet Martineau's loving sympathies.

"Her face would all light up and the tears would rush to her eyes

whenever she was told of a noble deed," says Miss Arnold; "no matter

how humble the doer, or how small the matter might seem, you could see

the delight it gave her to know that a fine, brave, or unselfish act

had been done." Animated by such respectful joy in the attitude of the

Lancashire workers, she threw herself into their service; and her

correspondence on this topic during 1861, when she used all her public

and private influence on their behalf, and employed her best energies

in aiding and advising the relief committees, would fill a large

volume.

In the midst of her labors for America, she could not but be gratified

by the testimonies which constantly reached her from that country to

the appreciation of the work which she had done and was doing.

_The History of the Peace_ was reprinted in Boston in the very midst

of the civil war, "at the instance of men of business throughout the

country, who believe it will do great good from its political and yet

more economical lessons, which are so much wanted." The publishers of

the _Atlantic Monthly_ appealed to her to write them a series of

articles on "Military Hygiene;" and, over-pressed as she was, she

could not refuse a request which enabled her to do much good service

for the soldiers of the North, for whom she felt so deeply. Nor were

more private tributes to the value of her efforts lacking. A set of

the _Rebellion Record_, published by Putnam, was sent to her with the

cover stamped under the title with these words: "Presented by citizens

of New York to Harriet Martineau;" and innumerable books came with

testimonies inscribed by the writers, such as that in Henry Wilson's

_Slave Power in America_, which was as follows: "Mrs. Harriet

Martineau; with the gratitude of the author for her friendship for his

country, and her devotion to freedom."[24]

[24] The highest honor yet done to her memory is the work of

our sisters and brothers across the Atlantic. A public

subscription has raised funds for a statue of Harriet

Martineau, which has been executed by Anne Whitney, in white

marble. The statue represents Mrs. Martineau seated, with her

hands folded over a manuscript on her knees. The head is

raised, and has a light veil thrown over the back of it and

falling down upon the shoulders, while a shawl is draped

partially over the figure. The eyes are looking forth, as

though in that thoughtful questioning of the future to which

she often gave herself. The statue was unveiled in the Old

South Hall, Boston, December 26th, 1883, in the presence of

many notable personages. Mrs. Mary Livermore presided, and

speeches were made by William Lloyd Garrison, Jun., and

Wendell Phillips, in the case of the last-named it was his

final speech, for he, too, six weeks after, was numbered

amongst those who are at rest. "The audience sat in silence

for a moment as the white vision was unveiled; then went up

such applause as stirred the echoes of the historic interior

in which the ceremony took place."

In the latter part of the year 1862, Harriet Martineau wrote a paper

on "Our Convict System," which appeared in the following January

number of the _Edinburgh_. It will be noted that she never wrote on

the politics of the day--the action of the Government and Opposition

of the moment--in this _Review_; her political principles were too

democratic for the great Whig organ.

In _Once a Week_, however, her articles became more decisively

political year by year. Some of her best political papers are in that

magazine for 1863. The most noteworthy feature in them are their

basis of principles and not of party, and their practical wisdom.

When I speak of her devotion to principles, in politics, I half fear

that I may be misunderstood--for so shockingly does Cant spawn its

loathsomeness over every holy phrase, that such expressions come to

us "defamed by every charlatan," and doubtful in their use. But she

was neither doctrinaire, nor blind, nor pig-headed, nor pharisaic,

nor jealous, nor scheming; but wise, brave, truthful, upright, and

independent. Love of justice and truthfulness of speech were as much

to her in public affairs as they are to any high-minded person in

private. Her desire in her thoughts and utterances on politics was

simply to secure "the greatest happiness for the greatest number"

of the people; and the spirit in which she worked was correctly

appraised by the then editor of the _Daily News_, William Weir, when

he wrote to her in these terms, in 1856:--

I have never before met--I do not hope again to meet--one so

earnest (as you) to promote progress, so practical in the means by

which to arrive at it. My aim in life is to be able to say, when

it is closing, "I, too, have done somewhat, though little, to

benefit my kind;" and there are so few who do not regard this as

Quixotism or hypocrisy, that I shrink even from confessing it.

He so well recognized that as truly _her_ aim also that he did not

fear to utter to her his high aspiration. It is in this spirit that

her political articles are written, and the result of the constant

reference to principles is that her essays are almost as instructive

reading now as they were when first published; _then_, their interest

and their importance were both incalculable.

Of such articles Harriet Martineau wrote in the _Daily News_, from

first to last, _sixteen hundred and forty-two_: besides the great

number that I have referred to, which appeared in other journals. I

wonder how many of the men who have presumed to say that the women are

"incapable of understanding politics," or of "sympathizing in great

causes," received a large part of their political education, and of

rousing stimulus to public-spirited action, from those journalistic

writings by Harriet Martineau?

An instructive article on "The Progress of the Negro Race" was

prepared for the _Edinburgh_ of January, 1864. Only a few weeks after

the appearance of this, there fell upon her the greatest blow of her

old age. Her beloved niece Maria, who had for so long filled the place

of a daughter to her, was taken ill with typhoid fever, and died after

a three weeks' illness. Maria Martineau's active disposition, and her

intellectual power (which was far above the average) had made her an

ideal companion for her aunt, and the blow to _her_ was a terrible

one. Ill and suffering as she was before, this shock completed the

wreck of Harriet Martineau's health. She had a dreary time of illness

immediately after her niece's death; and although she went on writing

for some time longer, it was always with the feeling that the end of

her long life's industry was near at hand.

She was not left alone; for Maria's youngest sister, Jane, presently

offered voluntarily to fill, as far as she could, the vacant place at

"The Knoll." The family from which these sisters came was one in which

kindliness and generosity were (and are to this day, with its younger

members who remain) distinguishing features. It was no light matter for

Mr. and Mrs. Robert Martineau to part with a second daughter to their

sister; but, as it was Jane's own wish to try to be to that beloved and

honored relative what Maria had been, the parents would not refuse

their permission. Harriet wrote of this to Mr. Reeve with her heart

full; telling him how "humbly grateful" she felt for what was so

generously offered to her, and with what thankfulness she accepted the

blessing. Even in such circumstances, she could note what a delight it

was to find that Maria's own spirit of devotedness prevailed amongst

them all--for nothing could be nobler and sweeter than the conduct of

everyone.

By June of that same year, 1864, Mrs. Martineau was ready to undertake

another article on a topic which pressed upon her mind, "Co-operative

Societies," which was published in the _Edinburgh_ for October

following.

She went on writing for the _Daily News_, through that year and the

next, though the effort came to be constantly more and more laborious.

Her interest in public affairs did not flag; nor is there the least

sign of failure of power in her letters; but she became increasingly

conscious that it was a strain upon her to write under the

responsibility of addressing the public.

Early in 1865 she wrote some articles on "The Scarcity of Nurses,"

"poked up to do it," as she said, by Florence Nightingale. In the

April of the same year was prepared an article on "Female Convicts,"

which was published in the _Edinburgh_ for October. In sending this

she intimated to the editor that it would be her last contribution,

as she felt the strain of such writing too great for her strength.

After all she did prepare one more article for the _Edinburgh_,

though it was as long afterwards as 1868. This was the paper on

"Salem Witchcraft," which will be found in the number of that

_Review_ for July. It formed Harriet Martineau's last contribution of

any length to literature; and she wrote it with some reluctance,

after having suggested the subject to Mr. Reeve, and he having

replied that he could find no one suitable to undertake it but

herself.

She was very loath to cease her writing for the _Daily News_, and

continued it until the spring of 1866. It was a great trial when at

last the moment came that she felt she absolutely _must_ be freed from

the obligation and the temptation to frequent work. But the spring was

always her worst time as to health; and during this customary vernal

exacerbation of illness, in April, 1866, she found herself obliged at

last, after fourteen years' service, to send in her resignation to the

_Daily News_.

When she thus terminated her connection with the paper through whose

columns she had spoken so long, she practically concluded her literary

life. Neither her intellectual powers, nor her interest in public

affairs, were perceptibly diminished; as will presently be seen, these

continued to the end of her life all but unabated. Her regular

literary exertions were now, however, at an end; and she was ill

enough by this time, her niece tells me, to feel only relief at being

freed from the constant pressure of the duty of thought and speech.