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Show MARY ASHTON RICE LIVERMORE. The death, last week, of Mrs. Mary Ashton Rice Livermore in her home in Massachusetts, did not cause much comment in the south and west, and still she was one of the foremost of women; one who, had she been a man, would have been one of the foremost, if not the foremost man of this nation and age. She was a woman's rights woman, but altogether womanly; her clear brain reasoned that what was just for man was just, likewise, for woman, and she proved in her life that a woman can be a perfect wife and noble mother and still be the equal in masterful intellect of any man, no matter how high his station or commanding his abilities. The amount of superb work that she accomplished cannot be estimated. When a little girl, she went from the high school in Boston to a severely classical seminary. She compassed a four-year course in two years, and that achievement was but typical of her whole after life. We can think of but two women with whom she can be classed, the one the late Frances Willard, the other Julia Ward Howe. And we rate her with Miss Willard merely in strnegth of mind, for unlike Miss Willard, she knew all the burdens of domestic life and was as great under them as in the other callings where brain alone is measured. She was a tower of strength during the great civil war in helping to organize and carry forward the sanitary and relief work needed in organizing and conducting hospitals at home stations and in the field, in caring for soldiers' families. Most of this time, too, she was her own housekeeper, giving her personal supervision to her children and servants, while at night her restless mind was drawing pen pictures for her husband's newspaper or delivering lectures to stimulate supplies and donations of money for the relief work. She wrote monthly reports of the sanitary sani-tary commission, made trips to the front with sanitary stores, saw personally to their distribution, distribu-tion, brought back hundreds of sick and wounded soldiers, organized and carried on sanitary fairs, selected nurses for field hospitals, accompanied them to their destinations and installed them. She was the general of that second army whose campaign cam-paign was to carry back and care for the living fragments of the battle fields. But her greatest power was as a writer and lecturer. Her mind was as versatile as it was great. Editorially she handled almost every theme with consummate skill and power, and on the platform she was an enchantress. Before us is her famous lecture on "The Battle of Life," in which she drew pictures of what the world would be were the nations to agree to settle differences by arbitration; to dismantle their fortresses and fighting ships and disband their armies; what the world would be were liquor manufactures destroyed, de-stroyed, saloons closed and the liquor habit cured; what the world would be were every wo-. wo-. man enfranchised, and it all reads like a stately poem. Listen to these words: "They will probably never eventuate as we i. have planned, nor accomplish just what we an- i ticipate, but they will prove a gain to the race, and take from the battle of life something of its hardships and hopelessness, and its brutality. Believe Be-lieve me, all three of these reforms are coming up the steps of time and are yet to be verities. We may not live to see it, but some of you will behold the approach of them, even if you are not permitted per-mitted to see the full glory of God pass by. Whoever Who-ever works for the improvement of the world, for the lessening of those things that are evil and for the bringing about of what is to help humanity, has his hand in the hand of God, and takes on something of God's almightiness." She was 75 when she uttered those words, her work did not cease until last week when she died at 84. She was a potential power for good for three score years. She was born in New . England's golden age of intellect, cotemporary with New England's greatest names. Her grave need be a shrine so long as our free country endures and men reverence devotion to duty, exalted patriotism, patriot-ism, great brains and great hearts. With man-like brain, with woman's charm and grace, With soul attuned to every high appeal; She walked the earth a glory to her race, For her own sex, the one complete ideal. A sovereign intellect, but tempered sweet With love of justice, love of truth and right, Her mission was the darkness back to beat, From human souls, and to advance the light. Wisdom, austere, Justice with solemn brow, With Love and Mercy for a picture sat. When the composite was developed, lo ! Incarnate Mary Rice shone on the plate. The negative has been recalled above. May God enfold the white soul in His love. |