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OF
41WOMAFS RIGHT TO LABOR ; ”
OB,
A LETTER EROM MARIE E. ZAKRZEWSKA, M.D.
LATE OF BERLIN, PRUSSIA.
EDITED BT
CAROLINE H. DALL,
AUTHOR OF “WOUAN'S RIGHT TO LABOR,” “ HISTORICAL PICTURK8
RETOUCHED,” &C. &C.
“ Whoso cures the plague,
Though twice a woman, shall be called a leech.”
u And witness : she who did this thing was boni
To do it; claims her license in her work.”
ÀURORA Leigh.
BOSTON:
WALKER, WISE, AND COMPANY,
245, Washington Street.
1860.Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860,
BY WALKER, WISE, AND CO.
In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the District of
Massachusetts.
BOSTON:
PRINTED B Y JOHN WILSON AND SON,
22, School Steeet.TO THE
HON. SAMUEL E. SEWALL,
FAITHFUL ALWAYS TO “WOMEN AND WORK,” AND ONE OP THE BEST
FRIENDS OF
i!tfe»®ng;Ianir Jtrnalt gltirital CoUegt,
THE EDITOR
GRATEFULLY DEDICATES THIS VOLUME.** The men (who are prating, too, on their side) cry,
‘ A woman’s function plainly is . . • to talk.’ ”
“ What
He doubts îs, whether we can do the thing
With decent grâce we’ve not yet done at ail.
Now do it.”
“ Bring your statue:
You hâve room.”
“ None of us is mad enough to say
We’ll hâve a grove of oaks upon that slope,
And sink the need of acoms.”PREFACE.
It is due to myself to say, that the manner in
which tlie Autobiography is subordinated to tbe
general subject in the présent volume, and also the
manner in which it is veiled by the title, are con-
cessions to the modesty of her who had the best
right to décidé in what fashion I should profit by
her goodness, and are very far from being my
own choice.
Caroline H. Dall.
49. Bradford Street, Boston,
Oct. 30, 1860.8 $racttcal Illustration
ov
"WOMAN’S RIGHT TO LABOR.”
JT never happens that a true and forcible word is
spoken for women, that, however faithless
and unbelieving women themselves may be, some
noble men do not with heart and hand attempt to
give it efficiency.
If women themselves are hard upon their own
sex, men are never so in earnest. They realize
more profoundly than women the depth of affection
and self-denial in the womanly soûl ; and they feel
also, with crushing certainty, the real significance
of the obstacles they hâve themselves placed in
woman’s way.
Reflecting men are at this moment ready to help
women to enter wider fields of labor, because, on
the one side, the destitution and vice they hâve
helped to create appalls their consciousness ; and,
12
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
on the other, a profane inanity stands a perpétuai
blasphemy in the face of the Most High.
I do not exaggerate. Every helpless woman is
such a blasphemy. So, indeed, is every helpless
man, where helplessness is not born of idiocy or
calamity ; but society neither expects, provides for,
nor défends, helpless men.
So it happened, that, after the publication of
u Woman’s Right to Labor,” generous men came
forward to help me carry out my plans. The best
printer in Boston said, “ I am willing to take
women into my office at once, if y ou can find
women who will submit to an apprenticeship like
men.” On the same conditions, a distinguished
chemist offered to take a class of women, and train
them to be first-class apothecaries or scientifîc ob-
servers, as they might choose. To these offers
there were no satisfactory responses. u Yes,” said
the would-be printer s, u we will go into an office
for six months ; but, by that time, our oldest sisters
will be married, and our mothers will want us at
home.”
u An apprenticeship of six years ! ” exclaimed
the young lady of a^ Chemical turn. u I should like
to learn very much, so that I could be a chemist,
if I ever had to ; but poison myself for six years
*“ woman’s right to labor.”
3
over those ‘ fumes,’ not I.” It is easy to rail
against society and men in general : but it is very
painful for a woman to confess lier heaviest obsta-
cle to success ; namely, the weakness of women.
The slave who dances, unconscious of dégrada-
tion, on the auction-block, is at once the greatest
stimulus and the bitterest discouragement of the
antislavery reformer : so women, contented in
ignominious dependence, restless even to insanity
from the need of healthy employment and the
perversion of their instincts, and confessedly look-
ing to marriage for salvation, are at once a stimu-
lus to exertion, and an obstacle in our way. But
no kind, wise heart will heed this obstacle. Having
spoken plain to society, having won the sympathy
of men, let us see if we cannot compel the attention
of these well-disposed but thoughtless damsels.
“ Six years out of the very bloom of our lives to
be spent in the printing-office or the laboratory ! ”
exclaim the dismayed band ; and they flutter out
of reach along the sidewalks of Beacon Street, or
through the mazes of the “Lancers.”
But what happens ten years afterward, when,
from twenty-six to thirty, they find themselves
pushed off the pavé, or left to blossom on the wall ?
Desolate, because father and brother hâve died;4
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
disappointed, because well-founded hopes of a home
or a “ career ” hâve failed ; impoverished, because
they depended on strength or means that are bro-
ken, — what hâve they now to say to the printing-
office or the apothecary’s shop ? They enter both
gladly ; with quick woman’s wit, learning as much
in six months as men would in a year ; but grum-
bling and discontented, that, in competing with
men who hâve spent their whole lives in préparation,
they can only be paid at half-wages. What does
common sense demand, if not that women should
make thorough préparation for trades or profes-
sions ; and, having taken up a resolution, should
abide by ail its conséquences like men ?
Before cases like these my lips are often sealed,
and my hands drop paralyzed. Not that they alter
God’s truth, or make the duty of protest against
existing wrong any less incumbent : but they obscure
the truth ; they needlessly complicate the duty.
Perplexed and anxious, I hâve often felt that
what I needed most was an example to set before
young girls, — an example not removed by su-
periority of station, advantage of éducation, or
unwonted endowment, beyond their grasp and imi-
tation.
There was Florence Nightingale. But her fa-“woman’s right to labor.”
5
ther had a title : it was fair to présumé that lier
opportunités were titled also. Ail the girls I knew
wished they could hâve gone to the Crimea ; while
I was morally certain, that the first amputation
would hâve turned them ail faint. There* was
Dorothea Dix : she had money and time. It was
not strange that she had great success ; for she
started, a monomaniac in philanthropy, from the
summit of personal independence. Mrs. John Stuart
Mill : had she ever wanted bread ? George Sand :
the woman wasn’t respectable. In short, whomso-
ever I named, who had pursued with undeviating
perseverance a worthy career, my young friends
had their objections ready. No one had ever
been so poor, so ill educated, so utterly without
power to help herself, as they ; and, provoking as
these objections were, I felt that they had force.
My young friends were not great geniuses: they
were ordinary women, who should enter the ordi-
nary walks of life with the ordinary steadfastness
and dévotion of men in the same paths ; nothing
more. What I wanted was an example, — not too
stilted to be useful, — a life flowing out of circum-
stances not dissimilar to their own, but marked by
a steady will, an unswerving purpose. As I looked
back over my own life, and wished^ I could read6
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
them its lessons,—and I looked back a good way;
for I was very young, when the misérable destitu-
tion of a drunkard’s wife, whom I assisted, showed
me how comfortable a thing it was to rest at the
mercy of the English common law, — as I looked
back over my long interest in the position of woman,
I felt that my greatest drawback had been the want
of such an example. Every practical experiment
that the world recorded had been made under such
peculiar circumstances, or from such a fortuitous
height, that it was at once rejected as a lesson.
One thing I felt profoundly : as men sow they
must reap ; and so must women. The practical
misery of the world — its terrible impurity wiU
never be abated till women préparé themselves
from their earliest years to enter the areua of
which they are ambitious, and stand there at last
mature and calm, but, above ail, thoroughly trained;
trained also at the side of the men, with whom
they must ultimately work ; and not likely, there-
fore, to lose balance or fitness by being thrown, at
the last moment, into unaccustomed relations. A
great deal of nonsense has been talked lately about
the unwillingness of women to enter the reading-
room of the Cooper Institute, where men also
resort.“woman’s right to labor.”
7
“A woman’s library,” in any city, is one of the
partial measures that I deprecate : so I only par-
tially rejoice over the late establishment of such a
library in New York. I look npon it as one of
those half-measures which must be endured in the
progress of any desired reform ; and, while I wish
the Cooper Institute and its reading-room God-
speed with every fibre of my consciousness, I hâve
no words with which to express my shame at the
raingled hypocrisy and indelicacy of those who ob-
ject to use it. What woman stays at home from
a bail because she will meet men there ? What
woman refuses to walk Broadway in the presence
of the stronger sex ? What woman refuses to buy
every article of her apparel from the hands of a
man, or to let the woman’s tailor or shoemaker
take the measure of her waist or foot ; try on and
approve her coiffure or bernouse ?
What are we to think, then, of the delicacy which
shrinks from the reading-room frequented by men ;
which discovers so suddenly that magazines are
more embarrassing than mazourkas ; that to read
in a cloak and hat before a man is more indélicate
than to waltz in his presence half denuded by
fashion ?
Of course, we are to hâve no patience with it,8
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OF
and to refuse utterly to entertain a remonstrance so
beneath propriety.
The object of my whole life has been to inspire
in women a desire for thorough trœining to some
spécial end, and a willingness to share the training
of men both for spécifie and moral reasons. Only
by sharing such training can women be sure that
they will be well trained ; only by Grod-ordained,
natural communion of ail men and women can the
highest moral results be reached.
uFree labor and free society:” I hâve said often
to myself, in these two phrases lies hidden the
future purification of society. When men and
women go everywhere together, the sights they
dare not see together will no longer exist.
Fair and serene will rise before them ail heights
of possible attainment ; and, looking off over the
valleys of human endeavor together, they will' clear
the forest, drain the morass, and improve the in-
terval, stirred by a common impulse.
When neither has any thing to hide from the
other, no social duty will seem too difiicult to be
undertaken ; and, when the interest of each sex is
to secure the purity of the other, neither religion
nor humanity need despair of the resuit.
It was while fully absorbed in thoughts and“woman’s right to labor.”	9
purposes like these, that, in the antumn of 1856, I
first saw Marie Zakrzewska.* During a short visit
to Boston (for she was then résident in New York),
a friend brought her before a physiological institute,
and she addressed its members.
She spoke to them of her expérience in the hos-
pital at Berlin, and showed that the most sinning,
snffering woman never passed beyond the reach of
a woman’s sympathy and help. She had not, at
that time, thoroughly mastered the English lan-
guage ; though it was quite évident that she was
fluent, even to éloquence, in German. Now and
then, a word failed her ; and, with a sort of indig-
nant contempt at the emergency, she forced unac-
customed words to do her service, with an adroit-
ness and détermination that I never saw equalled.
I got from it a new révélation of the power of the
English language. She illustrated her noble and
nervous thoughts with incidents from her own ex-
périence, one of which was told in a manner which
impressed it for ever on my consciousness.
44 Soon after I entered the hospital,” said Marie,
44 the nurse called me to a ward where sixteen of
the most forlorn objects had begun to fight with
* Pronounced Zak-shef-ska.10
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
each other. The inspector and the young physi-
cians had been called to them, but dared not enter
the mêlée. When I arrived, pillows, chairs, foot-
stools, and vessels had deserted their usual places ;
and one stout little woman, with rolling eyes and
tangled hair, lifted a vessel of slops, which she
threatened to throw ail over me, as she exclaimed,
4 Don’t dare to corne here, you green young thing !9
44 I went quietly towards her, saying gently, 4 Be
ashamed, my dear woman, of your fury/
44 Her hands dropped. Seizing me by the shoul-
der, she exclaimed, 4 You don’t mean that you look
on me as a woman ?9
44 4 How else ? * I answered ; while she retreated
to her bed, ail the rest standing in the attitudes
into which passion had thrown them.
44‘Arrange your beds/ I said; ‘and in fifteen
minutes let me return, and find every thing right.’
When I retumed, ail was as I had desired ; every
woman standing at her bedside. The short woman
was missing ; but, bending on each a friendly
glance, I passed through the ward, which never
gave me any more trouble.
44 When, late at night, I entered my room, it
was fragrant with violets. A green wreath sur-
rounded an old Bible, and a little bouquet rested“WOMAN’S RIGHT TO LABOR.,,
11
upon it. I did not pause to speculate over this
sentimentality, but threw myself weary upon the
bed ; when a light tap at tbe door startled me.
The short woman entered ; and humbling herself
on the floor, since she would not sit in my pré-
sence, entreated to be heard.
u 6 You called me a woman/ she said, 4 and you
pity us. Others call us by the name the world
gives us. You would help us, if help were possible.
Ail the girls love you, and are ashamed before
you ; and therefore I hâte you — no : I will not
hâte you any longer. There was a time when
I might hâve been saved, — I and Joanna and
Margaret and Louise. We were not bad. Listen
to me. K you say there is any hope, I will yet be
an honest woman.*
44 She had had respectable parents ; and, when
twenty years old, was deserted by her lover, who
leffc her three months prégnant. Otherwise kind,
her family perpetually reproached her with her
disgrâce, and threatened to send her away. At
last, she fled to Berlin ; keeping herself from utter
starvation, by needlework. In the hospital to which
she went for confinement, she took the small-pox.
When she came out, with her baby in her arms,
her face was covered with red blotches. Not even12
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
the lowest refuge was open to her, her appearance
was so frightful. With her baby dragging at her
empty breast, she wandered through the streets.
An old hag took pity on both ; and, carefully
nursed till health returned, her good humor and
native wit made those about her forget her ugly
face. She was in a brothel, where she soon took
the lead. Her child died, and she once more
attempted to eam her living as a seamstress. She
was saved from starvation only by her employer,
who received her as his mistress. Now her
luck changed : she suffered ail a woman could ;
handled poison and the firebrand. 41 thought of
stealing/ she said, 4 only as an amusement : it was
not exciting enough for a trade.’ She found her-
self in prison ; and was amused to be punished for
a trifle, when nobody suspected her crime. It was
horrible to listen to these details; more horrible
to witness her first repentance.
44 When I thanked her for her violets, she kissed
my hands, and promised to be good.
44 While she remained in the hospital, I took her
as my servant, and trusted every thing to her ;
and, when fînally discharged, she went out to ser-
vice. She wished to corne with me to America.
I could not bring her; but she followed, and,“ woman’s right to labor.”
13
when I was in Cleveland, inqnired for me in
New York.”
It will be impossible, for those wbo hâve nofc
heard such stories from tbe lips and in tbe dens
of the sufferers, to feel as I felt when this dropped
from the pure lips of the lecturer. For the first
time I saw a woman who knew what I knew, felt
what I felt, and was strong in purpose and power
to accomplish our cOmmon aim, — the uplifting
of the fallen, the employment of the idle, and the
purification of society.
I needed no farther introduction to Marie Zakr-
zewska. I knew nothing of her previous history
or condition ; but when I looked upon her clear,
broad forehead, I saw “Faithful unto death” bound
across it like a phylactery. I did not know how
many years she had studied ; but I saw thorough-
ness ingrained into her very muscle. I asked no
questions of the clear, strong gaze that pierced the
assembly ; but I felt very sure that it could be
as tender as it was keen. For the first time I saw
a woman in a public position, about whom I felt
thoroughly at ease ; competent to ail she had
undertaken, and who had undertaken nothing
whose full relations to her sex and society she
did not understand.14
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
I thanked God for the sight, and very little
thought that I should see her again. She came
once more, and we helped her to establish the
Women’s Infirmary in New York ; again, and we
installed her as Résident Physician in the New-
England Female Medical College.
I had never felt any spécial interest in this
college. I was willing it should exist as one of
the half-way measures of which I hâve spoken, —
like the reading-room in New York ; but I was
hent on opening the colleges which already existed
to women, and I left it to others to nurse the young
life of this. The first medical men, I felt assured,
would never, in the présent State of public opinion,
take an interest in a female college ; and I desired,
above ail things, to protect women from second-rate
instruction.
But, when Marie Zakrzewska took up her rési-
dence in Springfield Street, it was impossible to feel
indifferent. Here was a woman born to inspire
faith; meeting ail men as her equals till they
proved themselves superior ; capable of spreading
a contagious fondness for the study of medicine, as
Dr. Black once kindled a Chemical enthusiasm in
Edinburgh.
Often did I ponder her past life, which had left“ woman’s right to labor.”
15
significant lines on face and form. We met seldom,
— always with perfect trust. Whatever I might
hâve to say, I should hâve felt sure of being
understood, if I had not seen her for six months ;
nor could she hâve failed to find a welcome in my
heart for any words of her s.
Then I heard the course of lectures which she
delivered to ladies in the spring of 1860» For the
firsi time, I heard a woman speak of scientific sub-
jects in a way that satisfied me ; nor should I hâve
blushed to find scientific men among her audience.
I had felt, from the first, that her life might
do what my words never could : namely, inspire
women with faith to try their own experiments ;
give them a dignity, which should refuse to look
forward to marriage as an end, while it would
lead them to accept it gladly as a providential help.
I did not fear that she would be untrue to her
vocation, or easily forsake it for a more domestic
sphere. She had not entered it, I could see, without
measuring her own purpose and its use.
It was with such feelings, and such knowledge
of Marie, that in a private conversation, last sum-
mer, with Miss Mary L. Booth of New York, I
heard with undisguised pleasure that she had in
her possession an autobiography of her friend, in16
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
the form of a letter. I really longed to get posses-
sion of that letter so intensely, that I dared not
ask to see it : but I urged Miss Booth to get con-
sent to its publication ; 44 for,” I said, 44 no single
thing will help my work, I am convinced, so much.”
44 I look forward to its publication,” she replied,
44 with great deligbt : it will be the sole labor of
love, of my literary life. But neither you nor I
believe in réputations which death and posterity
hâve not confirmed. What reasons could I urge
to Marie for its présent publication ? ”
44 The good of her own sex,” I replied, 44 and a
better knowledge of the intimate relations existing
between free labor and a pure society. I know
nothing of our friend’s early circumstances ; but I
cannot he mistaken in the imprint they hâve left.
This is one of those rare cases, in which a life may
belong t© the public before it has closed.”
I returned to Boston. Later in the season,
Miss Booth visited Dr. Zakrzewska. Imagine my
surprise when she came to me one day, and laid
before mfe the coveted manuscript. 44 It is yours,”
she said, 44 to publish if you choose. I hâve got
Marie’s consent. She gave it very reluctantly ;
but her convictions accord with yours, and she
does not think she has any right to refuse. As“ woman’s right to labor.”
17
for me” Miss Booth continuée!, 44I resign without
regret my dearest literarj privilège, because I feel
that the position you hâve eamed in reference to
‘woman’s labor’ entitles you to edit it.”
In an interview which I afterwards held with
Marie Zakrzewska, she gave me to understand,
that, had she been of American birth, she would
never hâve consented to the publication of her
letter in her lifètime. 44 But,” she said, 44 I am a
foreigner. You who meet me and sustain me are
entitled to know something of my previous history.
Those whom I most loved are dead ; not a word
of the record can pain them ; not a word but may
help some life just now beginning. It will make a
good sequel to 4 Woman’s Right to Labor.’ ”
44 Only too good,” I thought. 44 May God bless
the lesson ! ”
It was agreed between Miss Booth and myself,
that the autobiography should keep its original,
simple form, to indicate how and why it was
written : so I invite my friends to read it at once
with me. Here is something as entertaining as a
novel, and as useful as a treatise. Here is a story
which must enchant the conservative, while it in-
spires the reformer. The somewhat hazy forms
of Drs. Schmidt and Muller, the king’s order to
218	A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OF
the rebellious electors, the historié prestige of a
Prussian locality, — ail these will lend a magic
charm to the plain lesson which New York and
Boston need.
New York, September, 1857.
Dear Mary,
It is especially for jour benefit that I write
these facts of my life. I am not a great personage,
either through inherited qualifications or the work
that I hâve to show to the world ; yet you may
find, in reading this little sketch, that with few
talents, and very moderate means for developing
them, I hâve accomplished more than many women
of genius and éducation would hâve done in my
place, for the reason that confidence and faith in
their own powers were wanting. And, for this
reason, I know that this story might be of use to
others, by encouraging those who timidly shrink
from the field of action, though endowed with ail
that is necessary to enable them to corne forth and
do their part in life. The fact that a woman of
no extraordinary powers can make her way by the
simple détermination, that whatever she can dou woman’s bight to labor.”
19
she will do, must inspire those who are fîtted to
do much, yet who do nothing because they are not
accnstomed to détermine and décidé for themselves.
I do not intend to weary you with details of my
childhood, as I think that children are generally
very uninteresting subjects of conversation to any
except their parents, who naturally discover what
is beautiful and attractive in them, and appreciate
what is said in correspondence with their own
feelings. I shall, therefore, only tell you a few facts
of this period of my life, which I think absolutely
necessary to illustrate my character and nature.
I was born in Berlin, Prussia, on the 6th of
September, 1829 ; and am the eldest of a family
of five sisters and one brother. My early çhild-
hood passed happily, though heavy clouds of sorrow
and care at times overshadowed our family circle.
I was of a cheerful disposition ; and was always
in good humor, even when sick. I was quiet and
gentle in ail my amusements : my chief delight
consisting in telling stories to my sister, one year
younger than myself, who was always glad to listen
to these products of my imagination, which were
wholly original ; for no stories were told me,
nor had I any children’s books. My heroes and
heroines were generally distinguished for some20
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
mental peculiarity, — beîng kind or cruel, active
or indolent, — which led them into ail sorts of ad-
ventures till it suited my caprice to terminate their
career. In ail our little affairs, I took the lead,
planning and directing every thing ; while my
playmates seemed to take it for granted, that it
was their duty to carry out my commands.
My mémory is remarkable in respect to events
that occurred at this time, while it always fails to
recall dates and names. When twenty years of âge,
I asked my father what sort of a festival he took me
to once, in company with a friend of his with only
one arm, when we walked through meadows where
daisies were blossoming in millions, and where we
rode in carriages that went round continually until
they were wound up. My father answered, with
much surprise, that it was a public festival of
the cabinet-makers, which was celebrated in a
neighboring village ; and that X was, at that time,
only nineteen months old.
He was so much interested in my story, that
I related another of my memories. One dark
morning, my mother wakened me, and hastened
my dressing. After this was accomplished, she
handed me a cup of something which I had never
tasted before, and which was as disagreeable as“WOMAÎï’s RIGHT TO LABOR.”
21
assafœtida in later years. This was some coffee,
which I had to take instead of my usual milk.
Then I went with my father to the large park
called Thiergarten, where we saw the sun rise. I
began to spring about ; looking at the big oaks
which seemed to reach into the heavens, or stooping
down to pluck a flower. Birds of ail kinds were
singing in chorus, while the flower-beds surround-
ing the statue of Flora scented the pure morning air
with the sweetest of perfumes. The sun ascended,
meanwhile, from the edge of a little pond covered
with water-lilies. I was intoxicated with joy. The
feeling of that morning is as fresh to-day as when
I related this to my father. I know I walked till I
got fairly tired, and we reached a solitary house
beyond the park. Probably fatigue took entire
possession of me ; for I remember nothing more
till we were on our way home, and the sun was
setting. Then I begged for some large yellow
plums which I saw in the stores. My father
bought some, but gave me only a few ; while I had
a desire for ail, and stole them secretly from his
pockets ; so that, when we reached home, I had
eaten them ail. I was sick after I went to bed,
and remember taking some horrible stuff the next
morning (probably rhubarb); thus ending the day,22	A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
which had opened so poetically, in rather a prosaic
manner. When I repeated this, my parents laughed,
and said that I was only twenty-six months old,
when my father’s pride in his oldest child induced
him to take me on this visit ; when I walked the
whole way, which was about nine miles. These
anecdotes are worth preserving, only because they
indicate an impressionable nature, and great per-
sistence of muscular endurance. It is peculiar,
that between these two events, and a third which
occurred a year after, every thing should be a
blank.
A little brother was then born to me, and lay
undressed upon a cushion, while my father cried
with sobs. I had just completed my third year,
and could not understand why, the next day, this
little thing was carried ofF in a black box.
From that time, I remember almost every day*s
life.
I very soon began to manifest the course of my
natural tendencies. Like most little girls, I was
well provided with dolls ; and, on the day after
a new one came into my possession, I generally
discovered that the dear little thing was ill, and
needed to be nursed and doctored. Porridges
and teas were aceordingly cooked on my little toy“woman’s right to làbor.”
23
stove, and administered to the poor doll, until the
papier-mâché was thoroughly saturated and broken ;
when she was considered dead, and préparations
were made for her burial, — this ceremony being
repeated over and over again. Wbite dresses
were put on for the funeral ; a cricket was tumed
upside-down to serve as the coffin; my mother’s
flower-pots furnished the green leaves for décora-
tion ; and I delivered the funeral oration in praise
of the little sufferer, while placing her in the tomb
improvised of chairs. I hardly ever joined the other
children in their play s, except upon occasions like
these, when I appeared in the characters of doctor,
priest, and undertaker ; generally improving the
opportunity to moralize; informing my audience,
that Ann (the doll) had died in conséquence of
disobeying her mother by going out before she had
recovered from the measles, &c. Once I remember
moving my audience to tears by telling them that
little Ann had been killed by her brother, who, in
amusing himself with picking off the dry skin after
she had had the scarlatina, had carelessly tora
off the real skin over the heart, as they could see ;
thus leaving it to beat in the air, and causing the
little one to die. This happened after we had ail
had the scarlatina.24
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OF
When five years old, I was sent to a primary
school. Here I became the favorite of the teacher
of arithmetic ; for which study I had quite a fancy.
The rest of the teachers disliked me. They called
me unruly because I would not obey arbitrary de-
mands without receiving some reason, and obstinate
because I insisted on following my own will when
I knew that I was in the right. I was told that I
was not worthy to be with my playmates ; and when
I reached the highest class in the school, in which
alone the boys and girls were taught separately, I
was separated from the latter, and was placed with
the boys by way of punishment, receiving instruc-
tions with them from men, while the girls in the
other class were taught by women. Here I found
many friends. I joined the boys in ail their sports ;
sliding and snow-balling with them in winter, and
running and playing bail in summer. With them
I was merry, frank, and self-possessed ; while
with the girls I was quiet, shy, and awkward. I
never made friends with the girls, or felt like ap-
proaching them.
Once only, when I was eleven years old, a girl
in the young ladies* seminary in which I had been
placed when eight years of âge won my affection.
This was Elizabeth Hohenhorst, a child of twelve,“woman’s right to labor.”
25
remarkably quiet, and disposed to melancholy. She
was a devout Catholic ; and, knowing that she was
fated to become a nun, was fitting herself for that
dreary destiny, which rendered her very sentimen-
tal. She was full of fanciful visions, but extremely
sweet and gentle in her manners. My love for her
was unbounded. I went to church in her company,
was présent at ail the religious festivals, and ac-
companied her to receive religious instruction : in
short, I made up my mind to become a Catholic,
and, if possible, a nun like herself. My parents,
who were Rationalists, belonging to no church, gave
me full scope to follow out my own inclinations ;
leaving it to my nature to choose for me a fitting
path. This lasted until Elizabeth went for the
first time to the confessional ; and, when the poor
innocent child could find no other sin of which to
speak than the friendship which she cherished for
a Protestant, the priest forbade her to continue this,
until I, too, had become a Catholic ; reminding her
of the holiness of her future career. The poor girl
conscientiously promised to obey. When I came
the next morning and spoke to her as usual, she
turned away from me, and burst into tears. Sur-
prised and anxious, I asked what was the matter ;
when, in a voice broken with sobs, she told me the26
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
whole story, and begged me to become a Catbolic
as soon as I was fourteen years old. Never in my
whole life shall I forget that morning. For a
moment, I gazed on her with the deepest émotion,
pitying her almost more than myself ; then suddenly
turned coldly and calmly away, without answering
a single word. My mind had awakened to the
despotism of Roman Catholicism, and the church
had lost its expected convert. I never went near
her again, and never exchanged another word with
her. This was the only friend I had during eight
and a half years of uninterrupted attendance at
school.
A visit that I paid to my maternai grandfather,
when seven or eight years old, made a strong im-
pression on my mind. My grandfather, on his
retum from the war of 1818-15, in which he had
served, had received from the authorities of Prenz-
lau (the city in which he lived) a grant of a half-
ruined cloister, with about a hundred acres of
uncultivated land attached, by way of acknowledg-
ment for his services. He removed thither with
his family ; and shortly after invited the widows
of some soldiers, who lived in the city, to occupy
the apartments which he did not need. The habi-
table rooms were soon filled to overflowing with“ woman’s kight to labob.”
27
widows and orphans, who went to work with him
to cultivate the ground. It was not long before
crippled and invalid soldiers arrived, begging to be
allowed to repair the cloister, and to find a slielter
also within its walls. They were set to work at
making brick, tbe material for which my grand-
fatber had discovered on bis land : and, in about
five years, an institution was built, the more valua-
ble from the fact that none lived there on charity,
but ail earned what they needed by cultivating the
ground ; having first built their own dwelling,
which, at this time, looked like a palace, surrounded
by trees, grass, and flowers. Here, in the evening,
the old soldiers sung martial songs, or told stories
of the wars to the orphans gathered about them,
while resting from the labors of the day.
I tell you of this institution so minutely, to prove
to you how wrong it is to provide charitable homes
for the poor as we provide them, — homes in which
the charity always humiliâtes and dégradés the indi-
vidual. Here you hâve an instance in which poor
crippled invalida and destitute women and children
established and supported themselves, under the
guidance of a clear-headed, benevolent man, who
said, u Do what you like, but work for what you
need.” He succeeded admirably, though he died a28
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
very poor man ; his younger children becoming
inmates of the establishment, until they were adopt-
ed by their relatives.
When I visited my grandfather, the 66 convent,”
as he insisted on calling it, — rejecting any name
that would hâve indicated a charitable institution, —
contained about a hundred invalid soldiers, a hun-
dred old wornen, and two hundred and fifty orphans.
One of the wings of the building was fitted up as a
hospital, and a few of the rooms were uecupied by
lunatics. It was my greatest delight to take my
grandfather’s hand at noon, as he walked up and
down the dining-room, between the long tables,
around which were grouped so many cheerful,
hearty faces ; and I stood before him with an ad-
miration that it is impossible to describe, as he
prayed, with his black velvet cap in his hand, be-
fore and after dinner ; though I could not com-
prehend why he should thank another person for
what had been done, when every one there told
me that ail that they had they owed to my grand-
father.
One afternoon, on retuming from the dining-room
to his study, I spied on his desk a neatly written
manuscript. I took it up, and began to read. It
was a dissertation on immortality, attempting by“ woman’s right to labor.”
29
scientific arguments to prove its impossibility. I
became greatly interested, and read on without
noticing that my grandfather had left the room, nor
that the large bell had rang to call the family to
dinner. My grandfather, a very punctual man,
who would ne ver allow lingering, came back to call
and to reprimand me ; when he suddenly started on
seeing the paper in my hands, and, snatching it
from me, tore it in pièces, exclaiming, u That man
is insane, and will make this child so too ! ” A
little frightened, I went to the dinner-table, think-
ing as much about my grandfather’s words as about
what I had read ; without daring, however, to ask
who this man was. The next day, curiosity mas-
tered fear. I asked my grandfather who had writ-
ten that paper ; and was told, in reply, that it was
poor crazy Jacob. I then begged to see him ; but
this my grandfather decidedly refused, saying that
he was like a wild beast, and lay, without clothes,
upon the straw. I knew nothing of lunatics ; and
the idea of a wild man stimulated my curiosity to
such an extent, that, from that time, I teased my
grandfather incessantly to let me see Jacob, until
he finally yielded, to be rid of my importunity, and
led me to the cell in which he was confined. What
a spectacle presented itself in the house that I had30
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
looked on as the abode of so much comfort ! On a
bundle of straw, in a corner of a room, with no
furniture save its bare walls, sat a man, clad only
in a shirt ; with the lefit hand chained to the wall,
and the right foot to the floor. An inkstand stood
on the floor by his side ; and on his knee was some
paper, on which he was writing. His hair and
beard were uncombed, and his fine eyes glared with
fury as we approached him. He tried to rise,
ground his teeth, made grimaces, and shook his fist
at my grandfather, who tried in vain to draw me
out of the room. But, escaping from his grasp, I
stepped towards the lunatic, who grew more quiet
when he saw me approach ; and I tried to lift the
chain, which had attracted my attention. Then,
finding it too heavy for me, I turned to my grand-
father, and asked, “Does not this hurt the poor
man ?” I had hardly spoken the words when his
fury returned, and he shrieked, —
u Hâve I not always told you that you were cruel
to me ? Must this child corne to convince you of
your barbarity ? Yes : you hâve no heart.”
I looked at my grandfather : ail my admiration of
him was gone ; and I said, almost commandingly, —
u Take off these chains ! It is bad of you to tie
this man ! ”	>“woman’s right to labor.”
ai
The man grew calm at once, and asked implor-
ingly to be set free ; promising to be quiet and
tractable if my grandfather would give him a trial.
This was promised him : his chains were removed
the same day ; and Jacob was ever after not only
harmless and obedient, but also a very useful man
in the house.
I never afterwards accompanied my grandfather.
I had discovered a side in his nature which repelled
me. I spent the remainder of my visit in the
workrooms and the sickroom, always secretly fear-
ing that I should meet with some new cruelty ; but
no such instance ever came to my view.
On my return from my grandfather’s, I found
that a cousin had suddenly become blind. She
was soon after sent to the ophthalmic hospital,
where she remained for more than a year; and,
during this time, I was her constant companion
after school-hours. I was anxious to be useful to
her ; and, being gentler than the nurse, she liked to
hâve me wash out the issues that were made in her
back and arms. The nurse, who was very willing
to be relieved of the duty, allowed me to cleanse the
eyes of the girl next my cousin ; and thus these
cares were soon made to dépend on my daily visit.
Cliild as I was, I could not help observing the32
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
carelessness of the nurses, and their great neglect
of cleanliness. One day, when the head-nurse had
washed the floor, leaving pools of water standing
under the beds, the under-nurse found fault with it,
and said, u I shall tell the doctor, when he cornes,
why it is that the patients always hâve colds.”
“ Do,” said the head-nurse. “ What do men under-
stand of such matters? If they knew any thing
about them, they would long ago hâve taken care
that the mattress upon which one patient dies
should always be changed before another cornes
in.” This quarrel impressed itself upon my me-
mory ; and the wish rose in my mind, that some day
I might be head-nurse, to prevent such wrongs, and
to show kindness to the poor lunatics.
At the end of the year, my cousin left the hospi-
tal* At the same time, trouble and constant sick-
ness fell upon our family. My father, who held
liberal opinions and was of an impetuous tempéra-
ment, manifested some revolutionary tendencies,
which drew upon him the displeasure of the govern-
ment, and caused his dismissal, with a very small
pension, from his position as military officer. This
involved us in great pecuniary difficulties ; for our
family was large, and my father’s income too small
to supply the most necessary wants ; while to obtain“ woman’s right to labor.”
33
other occupation for the time was out of the ques-
tion. In this emergency, my mother determined
to pétition the city govemment for admission to
the school of midwives established in Berlin, in
order in this manner to aid in the support of the
family. Influential friends of my father secured
her the élection; and she was admitted to the
school in 1839, I being at that time ten years
of âge.
The éducation of midwives for Berlin requires a
two years* course of study, during six months of
which they are obliged to résidé in the hospital,
to receive instructions from the professors together
with the male students. My mother went there in
the summer of 1840. I went to stay at the house
of an aunt, who wished my company ; and the rest
of the children were put out to board together.
In a few weeks, my eyes became affected with
weakness, so that I could neither read nor write ;
and I begged my mother to let me stay with her in
the hospital. She applied for permission to the
director, and received a favorable answer. I was
placed under the care of one of the physicians (Dr.
Millier), who took a great fancy to me, and made
me go with him wherever he went while engaged
in the hospital. My eyes being bandaged, he led me
334
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
’by the hand, calling me his “ little blind doctor.”
In this way I was constantly with him, bearing
ail bis questions and directions, whicb impressed
themselves tbe more strongly on my mind from
tbe fact tbat I could not see, but bad to gain ail
my knowledge througb hearing alone.
One afternoon, when I bad taken tbe bandage
off my eyes for the first time, Dr. Müller told me
that there was a corpse of a young man to be seen
in tbe dead-house, tbat had turned completely green
in conséquence of poison that he bad eaten. I went
there after my rounds witb him : but finding tbe
room filled with relatives, wbo were busily engaged
in adorning tbe body with flowers, I thought tbat I
would not disturb tbem, but would wait until tbey
had gone before I looked at it ; and went meanwbile
througb tbe adjoining rooms. These were ail
freshly painted. The dissecting-tables, with the ne-
cessary apparatus, stood in the centre ; wbile the
bodies, clad in white gowns, were ranged on boards
along the walls. I examined every thing ; came
back, and looked to my heart’s content at the poi-
soned young man, without noticing that not only
tbe relatives had left, but that the prosector bad
also gone away, after locking up the whole build-
ing. I tben went a second time to tbe otber rooms,“woman’s right to labor.”
35
and looked again at every thing there ; and at last,
when it became dark and I could not leave the
hou se, sat down upon the floor, and went to sleep,
after knocking for half an hour at the door, in the
hope that some passer might hear.
My mother, who knew that I had gone with Dr.
Muller, did not trouble herself about me until nine
o’clock, when she grew uneasy at my stay; and,
thinking that he might hâve taken me to his
rooms, went there in search of me, but found that
he was out, and that the doors were locked. She
then inquired of the people in the house whether
they knew any thing about me, and was told that
they had last seen me going into the dead-house.
Alarmed at this intelligence, my mother hastened
to the prosector, who unwillingly went with her to
the park in which the dead-house stood, assuring
her ail the way that I could not possibly be there ;
when, on opening the door, he saw me sitting close
by, on the floor, fast asleep.
In a few days after this adventure, I recovered
the use of my eyes. As* it was at this time the
summer vacation, in which I had no school-tasks,
I asked Dr. Miiller for some books to read. He
inquired what kind of books I wanted. I told him,
u Books about history ; ” upon which he gave me36
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OF
two huge volumes,—The “History of Midwifery ”
and the u History of Surgery.” Both were so in-
teresting, that I read them through during the
six weeks of vacation ; which occupied me so close-
ly, that even my friend Dr. Muller could not lay
hold of me when he went his morning and evening
rounds. From this time I date my study of me-
dicine ; for, though I did not continue to read upon
the subject, I was instructed in the no less impor-
tant branch of psychology by a new teacher, whom
I found on my return to school at the close of the
summer vacation.
To explain better how my mind was prepared
for such teaching, I must go back to my position
in school. In both schools that I attended, I was
praised for my punctuality, industry, and quick
perception. Beloved I was in - neither : ’ on the
contrary, I was made the target for ail the impu-
dent jokes of my fellow-pupils ; ample material for
which was furnished in the carelessness with which
my hair and dress were usually arranged ; these
being left to the charge of a servant, who troubled
herself very little about how I looked, provided that
I was whole and clean. The truth was, I often
presented a ridiculous appearance ; and once I
could not help laughing heartily at myself, on see-“woman’s right to labor.”
S7
ing my own face by accident in a glas s, with one
braid of hair commencing over the right eye, and
the other over the left ear. I quietly hung a map
over the glass to hide the ludicrous picture, and
continued my studies ; and most likely appeared in
the same style the next day. My face, besides, was
neither handsome, nor even prepossessing ; a large
nose overshadowing the undeveloped features : and
I was ridiculed for my ugliness, both in school and
at home, where an aunt of mine, who disliked me
exceedingly, always said, in describing plain people,
“ Almost as ugly as Marie.”
Another cause arose to render my position at
school still more intolérable. In conséquence of
the loss of his position in the army, my father
could no longer afford to pay my school-bills ; and
was about, in conséquence, to remove me from
school; when the principal offered to retain me
without pay, although she disliked me, and did not
hesitate to show it, any more than to tell me, when-
ever I offended her, that she would never keep so
ugly and naughty a child without being paid for it,
were it not for the sake of so noble a father.
These conditions and harsh judgments made me
a philosopher. I heard myself called obstinate
and wilful, only because I believed myself in the38
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OF
right, and persisted in it. I felt that I was not
maliciously disposed towards any one, but wished
well to ail ; and I offered my services not only
willingly, but cheerfully, wherever tbey could be
of tbe least use ; and saw them accepted, and even
demanded, by those who could not dispense with
them, though they shunned and ridiculed me the
same as before. I felt that they only sought me
when they needed me : this made me shrink still
more from their companionship ; and, when my
sister did not walk home from school with me, I
invariably went alone.
The idea that I might not wish to attach myself
to playmates of this sort never occurred to any
one ; but I was constantly reproached with having
no friends among my schoolfellows, and was told
that no one could love so disagreeable and repelling
a child. This was a severe blow to my affectionate
nature ; but I bore it calmly, consoling myself with
the thought that they were wrong, — that they did
not understand me, — and that the time would
corne, when they would learn that a great, warm
heart was concealed beneath the so-called répulsive
exterior. But, however soothing ail this was for
the time, a feeling of bitterness grew up within me.
I began to be provoked at my ugliness, which I“woman’s right to labor.”
39
believed to be excessive. I speculated why parents
so kind and good as mine skould be deprived of their
means of support, merely because my father would
not consent to endure wrong and imposition. I
was indignant at being told, tbat it was only for my
father’s sake that I was retained in a school where
I tried to do my best, and where I always won the
highest prizes ; and I could not see why, at home,
I should be forced to do housework when I wanted
to read, while my brother, who wished to work,
was compelled to study. When I complained of
this last grievance, I was told that I was a girl,
and never could learn much, but was only fit to
become a housekeeper. Ail these things threw me
upon my own resources, and taught me to make
the most of every opportunity, custom and habit
to the contrary notwithstanding.
It was at this juncture that I found, on my re-
turn to school, the psychologie instructor of whom
I hâve spoken, in a newly engaged teacher of
history, geography, and arithmetic ; ail of which
were my favorite studies. With this man I formed
a most peculiar friendship : he being twenty years
older than myself, and in every respect a highly
educated man ; I, a child of twelve, neglected in
every thing except in my common-school éducation.40
A PRACTIÇAL ILLUSTRATION OP
He began by calling my attention to tbe carelessness
of my dress and the rudeness of my manners, and
was the first one who ever spoke kindly to me on
the subject. I told him ail my thoughts ; that I
did not mean to be disagreeable, but that every
one thought that I could not be otherwise ; that I
was convinced that I was good enough at heart ;
and that I had at last resigned myself to my
position, as something that could not be helped.
My new friend lectured me on the necessity of
attracting others by an agreeable exterior and
courteous manners ; and proved to me that I had
unconsciously repelled them by my carelessness,
even when trying the most to please. His words
made a deep impression on me. I thanked him
for every reproach, and strove to do my best to
gain his approbation. Henceforth my hair was al-
ways carefully combed, my dress nicely arranged,
and my collar in its place ; and, as I always
won the first prizes in the school, two of the
other teachers soon grew friendly towards me, and
began to manifest their preference quite strongly.
In a few months I became a different being. The
bitterness that had been growing up within me
gradually dîsappeared ; and I began to hâve con-
fidence in myself, and to try to win the companion-“woman’s right to labor.”
41
ship of the other children. But a sudden change
took place in my schoolmates, who grew envious
of the preference shown me by the teachers. Since
they could no longer ridicule me for the carelessness
of my dress, they now began to reproach me for
my vanity, and to call me a coquette, who only
thought of pleasing through appearances. This
blow was altogether too hard for me to bear. I
knew that they were wrong : for, with ail the care
I bestowed on my dress, it was not half so fine as
theirs ; as I had but two calico dresses, which I
wore alternately, a week at a time, through the
summer. I waé again repelled from them ; and at
noon, when the rest of the scholars went home, I
remained with my teacher-friend in the schoolroom,
assisting him in correcting the exercises of the pu-
pils. I took the opportunity to tell him of the
curious envy that had taken possession of the girls ;
upon which he began to explain to me human nature
and its fallacies, drawing inferences therefrom for
Personal application. He found a ready listener
in me. My inclination to abstract thought, com-
bined with the unpleasant expérience I had had in
life, made me an attentive pupil, and fitted me to
comprehend his reasoning in the broadest sense.
For fifteen months, I thus spent the noon-hour with42
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
him in the schoolroom ; receiving lessons in logic,
and reasoning upon concrète and abstract matters,
that hâve since proved of far more psychologie
value to me than ten years of reading on the same
subjects could do. A strong attachment grew up
between us : he became a necessity to me, and I
revered him like an oracle. But his health failed ;
and he left the school at the end of these fîfteen
months, in a consumption. Shortly after, he sent to
the school for me one morning to ask me to visit
him on his deathbed. I was not permitted to leave
the class until noon ; when, just as I was preparing
to go, a messenger came to inform the principal that
he had died at eleven. This blow fell so heavily
upon me, that I wished to leave the school at once.
I was forced to stay three weeks longer, until the
end of the quarter; when I left the schoolroom
on the lst of April, 1843, at the âge of thirteen
years and seven months, and never entered it
again.
On the same day that I quitted my school, an
aunt, with whom I was a favorite, was attacked
with a violent hemorrhage from the lungs, and
wished me to corne to stay with her. This suited
my taste. I went ; and, for a fortnight, was her
sole nurse.“woman’s right to labor.”
43
Upon my return home, my father told me, that,
having quitted school, I must now become a tho-
rough housekeeper, of whom he might be proud ;
as this was tbe only tbing for which girls were in-
tended by nature. I cheerfully entered upon my
new apprenticesbip, and leamed how to sweep, to
scrub, to wash, and to cook. This work answered
very well as long as tbe novelty lasted; but, as
soon as this wore off, it became higbly burdensome.
Many a forenoon, when I was alone, instead of
sweeping and dusting, I passed the hours in read-
ing books from my father’s library, until it grew so
late, that I was afraid that my mother, wbo had
commenced practice, would corne home, and scold
me for not attending to my work ; when I would
hurry to get tbrougb, doing every tbing so badly,
that I bad to hear daily that I was good for nothing,
and a nuisance in the world ; and that it was not
at ail surprising that I was not liked in school, for
nobody could ever like or be satisfied witb me.
Meanwhile, my mother’s practice gradually in-
creased ; and ber generous and kindly nature won
the confidence of hundreds, wbo, wretchedly poor,
found in her, not only a bumane woman, but a most
skilful practitioner. The poor are good judges of
professional qualifications. Without the aid that44
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
money can buy, without the comforts that the weal-
thy hardly heed, and without friends whose advice is
prompted by intelligence, they must dépend entirely
, upon the skill and humanity of those to whom they
apply. Their life and happiness are placed in the
hands of the physician, and they jealously regard
the one to whom they intrust them. None but a
good practitioner can gain famé and praise in this
class, which is thought so easily satisfied. It is
often said, u Oh ! those people are poor, and will
be glad of any assistance.” Far from it. There
is no class so entirely dépendent for their subsist-
ence upon their strength and health ; these consti-
tue their sole capital, their stock in trade : and,
when sick, they anxiously seek out the best physi-
cians ; for, if unskilfully attended, they may lose
their ail, their fortune, and their happiness.
My mother went everywhere, both night and day ;
and it soon came to pass, that when she was sent for,
and was not at home, I was deputed to go in search
of her. In this way I gradually became a regular
appendage to my mother ; going with her in the
winter nights from place to place, and visiting those
whom she could not visit during the day. I remem-
ber, that in January, 1845, my mother attended
thirty-five women in childbed, — the list of names“woman’s right to labor.”
45
is still in my possession, — and visited from sixteen
to twenty-five daily, with my assistance. I do not
think, that, during the montk, we were in bed for
one whole night. Two-thirds of these patients
were unable to pay a cent. During these years, I
learned ail of life that it was possible for a human
being to learn. I saw nobleness in dens, and mean-
ness in palaces ; virtue among prostitutes, and vice
among so-called respectable women. I learned to
judge human nature correctly ; to see goodness
where the world found nothing but faults, and also
to see faults where the world could see nothing but
virtue. The expérience thus gained cost me the
bloom of youth ; yet I would not exchange it for a
life of everlasting juvenescence. To keep up ap-
pearances is the aim of every one’s life ; but to
fathom these appearances, and judge correctly of
what is beneath them, ought to be the aim of those
who seek to draw true conclusions from life, or to
benefit others by real sympathy.
One fact I learned, both at this time and after-
wards ; namely, that men always sympathize with
fallen and wretched women, while women them-
selves are the first to raise and cast the stone at
them. Why is this ? Hâve not women as much
feeling as men ? Why, women are said to be made46
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
up entirely of feeling. How does it happen, then,
that women condemn where men pity ? Do they
do this in the consciousness of their own superior
virtue ? Ah, no ! for many of the condemning are
no better than the condemned. The reason is, that
men know the world ; that is, they know the obsta-
cles in the path of life, and that they draw lines to
exclude women from eaming an honest livelihood,
while they throw opportunities in their way to
earn their bread by shame. Ail men are aware of
this : therefore the good as well as the bad give
pity to those that claim it. It is my honest and
earnest conviction, that the reason that men are
unwilling for women to enter upon public or busi-
ness life is, not so much the fear of compétition, or
the dread lest women should lose their gentleness,
and thus deprive society of this peculiar charm, as
the fact that they are ashamed of the foulness of
life which exists outside of the house and home.
The good man knows that it is difficult to purify it :
the bad man does not wish to be disturbed in his
prey upon society. If I could but give to ail wo-
men the tenth part of my expérience, they would
see that this is true ; and would see, besides, that
only faith in ourselves and in each other is needed
to work a reformation. Let woman enter fully“woman’s right to labor.”	47
into business, with its serious responsibilities and
duties ; let it be made as honorable and as profita-
ble to her as to men ; let her hâve an equal oppor-
tunity for earning compétence and comfort, — and
we shall need no other purification of society. Men
are no more depraved than women ; or, rather, the
total depravity of mankind is a lie.
From the time of my leaving school until I was
fifteen years old, my life was passed, as I hâve
described, in doing housework, attending the sick
with my mother, and reading a few books of a
scientific and literary character. At the end of this
time, a letter came from an aunt of my mother’s,
who was ill, and whose adopted daughter (who was
my mother’s sister) was also an invalid, requesting
me to visit and nurse them. I went there in the
fall. This was probably the most décisive event of
my life. My great-aunt had a cancer that was to
be taken out. The other was suffering from a
nervous affection, which rendered her a confirmed
invalid. She was a most peculiar woman, and was
a clairvoyant and somnambulist of the most decided
kind. Though not ill-natured, she was full of ca-
prices that would hâve exhausted the patience of
the most enduring of mortals.
This aunt of mine had been sick in bed for seven48
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
years with a nervous dérangement, which baffled
the most skilful physicians who had yisited her.
lier senses were so acute, that one morning she
fell into convulsions from the effect of distant
music which she heard. None of us could per-
ceive it, and we fully believed that her imagination
had produced this resuit. But she insisted upon it ;
telling us that the music was like that of the Bohe-
mian miners, who played nothing but polkas. I
was determined to ascertain the truth ; and really
found, that, in a public garden one and a half miles
from her house, such a troop had played ail the
afternoon. No public music was permitted in the
city, because the magistrate had forbidden it on
her account.
She never was a Spiritualist, though she fre-
quently went into what is now called a trance. She
spoke, wrote, sang, and had presentiments of the
finest kind, in this condition, — far better than I
hâve ever seen here in America in the case of the
most celebrated médiums.
She even prescribed for herself with success, yet
was not a Spiritualist. She was a somnambulist ;
and, though weak enough when awake, threatened
several times to pull the house down, by her vio-
lence, in this condition. She had strength like a“woman’s right to labor.”
49
lion, and no man could manage her. I saw the
game thing in the hospital later. This aunt is now
healthy ; not cured by her own prescriptions or
the magnetic or infinitésimal doses of Dr. Arthur
Lutze, but by a strong émotion which took posses-
sion of her at the time of my great-aunt’s death.
She is not sorry that she has lost ail these strange
powers, but heartily glad of it. When she after-
wards visited us in Berlin, she could speak calmly
and quietly of the perversion to which the nervous
System may become subject, if managed wrongly ;
and could not tell how glad she was to be rid of ail
the émotions and notions she had been compelled to
dreàm out. Over-care and over-anxiety had brought
this about ; and the same causes could again bring
on a condition which the ancients deemed holy, and
which the psychologist treats as one bordering on
insanity.
The old aunt was extremely suspicious andavari-
cious. Eight weeks after my arrivai, she submitted
to an operation. The operating surgeon found me
so good an assistant, that he intrusted me often
with the succeeding dressing of the wound. For six
Weeks, I was the sole nurse of the two ; going from
one room to the other both night and day, and attend-
ing to the household matters beside, with no other
4
f50
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
assistant than a woman who came every morning
for an hour or two to do the rough work ; while an
nncle and a boy-cousin were continually troubling
me with their torn buttons, &c.
I learned in this time to be cheerful and light-
bearted in ail circumstances ; going often into the
anteroom to hâve a healthy, hearty laugh. My
surroundings were certainly any thing but inspiring.
I had the sole responsibility of the two sick women ;
the one annoying me with her caprices, the other
with her avarice. In one room, I Üeard fanciful
forebodings ; in the other, reproaches for having
used a teaspoonful too much sugar. I always had
to carry the key of the storeroom to the old aunt,
in order that she might be sure that I could not
go in and eat bread when I chose. At the end of
six weeks, she died ; and I put on mouming for the
only time in my life, certainly not through grief.
Shortly after the death of my aunt, the attend-
ing physician introduced me to a disciple of Hahne-
mann, by the name of Arthur Lutze ; who was, I
think, a doctor of philosophy, — certainly not of
medicine. Besides being an infinitésimal homœopa-
thist, this man was a devotee to mesmerism. He
became very friendly towards me, and supplied me
with books ; telling me that I would not only make“woman’s right to labor.”
51
a good homœopathic physician, but also an excellent
medium for mesmerism, magnetism, &c. At ail
events, I was glad to get the books, which I read
industriously ; while he constantly supplied me with
new ones, so that I liad quite a library when he
left the place, which he did before my return
He, too, lived in Berlin, and inquired my résidence ;
promising to visit me there, and to teach me the art
he practised.
I remained with my aunt until late in the spring ;
when my health failed, and I returned home. I
was very ill for a time with brain-fever ; but at last
recovered, and set to work industriously to search
for information in respect to the human body. Dr.
Lutze kept his word : he visited me at my home,
gave me more books, and directed my course of
reading. But my father, who had become recon-
ciled to my inclination to assist my mother, was
opposed to homœopathy, and especially opposed to
Dr. Arthur Lutze. He even threatened to tum him
out of the house, if I permitted him to visit me
again ; and burned ail my books, except one that I
snatched from the fiâmes.
From this time, I was resolved to learn ail that
I could about the human System. I read ail the
books on the subject that I could get, and tried52
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OF
besides to educate myself in other branches. My
father was satisfied with this disposition, and was
glad to hear me propose to hâve a French teacher in
the house, both for my sake and for that of the other
children. I studied in good earnest by myself ; at
the same time, going through the nsual discipline
of German girls. I learned plain sewing, dress-
making, and the management of the household ; but
was allowed to use my leisure time as I pleased.
When my sisters .went skating, I remained at home
to study ; when they went to halls and théâtres, I
was thought the proper person to stay to watch the
house. Having become so much older, I was now
of great assistance to my mother in her business.
No one complained any longer of my ugliness or
my rudeness. I was always busy ; and, when at
liberty, always glad to do what I could for others ;
and, though these years were full of hardships,
I consider them among the happiest of my life. I
was as free as it was possible for any German girl
to be.
My household duties, however, continued distaster
fui to me, much to the annoyance of my father,
who still contended that this was the only sphere of
woman. From being so much with my mother, I
had lost ail taste for domestic life : any thing out of“woman’s right to labor.”
53
doors was préférable to the monotonous routine
of the household. I at length determined to follow
my inclinations by studying, in order to fit myself
to become a practitioner of midwifery, as is usual
in Berlin. My father was satisfied, and pleased
with this idea, which opened the way to an inde-
pendent, respectable livelihood ; for he never really
wished to hâve us seek this in marriage. My mother
did not like my resolution at ail. She practised,
not because she liked the profession, but because in
this way she obtained the means of being inde-
pendent, and of aiding in the éducation of the
children. I persisted, however, in my resolution ;
and immediately took measures to carry it into
effect by going directly to, Dr. Joseph Hermann
Schmidt, the Professor of Midwifery in the Uni-
versity and Schools for Midwives, and Director of
the Royal Hospital Charité ; while my father, who
for several years held the position of a civil officer,
made the application to the city magistrates for me
to be admitted as a pupil to the School for Mid-
wives, in which my mother had been educated. In
order to show the importance of this step, it is
necessary to explain more fully the history and or-
ganization of the school.
About 1735, Justina Ditrichin (the wife of Sie-54
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
gemund, a distinguished civil officer of Prussia)
was afflicted with an internai, disease winch baffled
the skill of the midwives, who had pronounced her
prégnant, and none of whom could define her dis-
order. After many months of suflering, she was
visited by the wife of a poor soldier, who told
her what ailed her ; in conséquence of which, she
was cured by her physicians. This circumstance
awakened in the mind of the lady an intense desire
to study midwifery ; which she did, and afterwards
practised it with such success, that, in conséquence
of her extensive practice, she was obliged to confine
herself solely to irregular cases. She performed
ail kinds of operations with masterly skill, and
wrote the first book on the subject ever published
in Germany by a woman. She was sent for from
ail parts of Germany, and was appointed body-
physician of the Queen, and the ladies of the court,
of Prussia and Mark Brandenburg. Through her
influence, schools were established, in which women
were instructed in the science and the art of ob-
stetrics. She also taught many herself ; and a very
successful and respectable practice soon grew up
among women. After her death, however, this was
discountenanced by the physicians, who brought it
into such disrepute by their ridicule, that the edu-“ woman’s right to labor.”
55
cated class of women withdrew from the profession,
leaving it in the hands of ignorant pretenders, who
continued to practise it until 1818 ; when public
attention was called to the subject, and strict laws
were enacted, by which women were required to
call in a male practitioner in every irregular case of
confinement, under penalty of from one to twenty
years of imprisonment, and the forfeiture of the
right to practise. These laws still continue in
force ; and a remarkable case is recorded by Dr.
Schmidt of a woman, who, feeling her own compe-
tency to manage a case committed to her care, did
not send for a male physician as the law required.
Although it was fully proved that she had done
every thing that could hâve been done in the case,
her penalty was imprisonment for twenty years.
Two other cases are quoted by Dr. Schmidt, in
which male practitioners were summoned before a
legal tribunal, and it was proved that they had not
done that which was necessary ; yet their penalty
was no heavier than that inflicted on the woman,
who had done exactly what she ought.
At this time (1818), it was also made illégal for
any woman to practise who had not been educated.
This brought the profession again into repute among
women of the higher classes. A school for mid-56
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OF
wives, supported by the govemment, was established
in Berlin, in which women hâve since continued to
be educated for practice in this city and in other
parts of Prussia. Two midwives are elected each
year, by a committee, from the applicants, to be
educated for practice in Berlin ; and, as they hâve
to study two years, there are always four of these
students in the school, two graduating every year.
The remainder of the students are from the provin-
cial districts. To be admitted to this school is
considered a stroke of good fortune ; as there are
generally more than a hundred applicants, many
of whom hâve to wait eight or ten years before
they are elected. There is, besides, a great deal of
favoritism ; those women being generally chosen
who are the widows or wives of civil officers or
physicians ; to whom this chance of eaming a
livelihood is given, in order that they may not
become a burden on the govemment. Though
educated apart from the male students while
studying the theory of midwifery, they attend the
accouchement-ward together, and receive clinical
or practical instruction in the same class, from the
same professor.
The male students of medicine are admitted
to the university at the âge of eighteen ; having“woman’s right to labor.” 57
first been required to go through a prescribed
course of collegiate study, and to pass the requisite
examination. Here they attend the lectures of
various professors, often of four or five upon the
same subject, in order to learn how it is treated
from different points of view. Then, after having
thus studied for a certain length of time, they
présent themselves for an examination by the
professors of the university, which confers upon
them the title of u M.D.,” without the right to
practise. They are then obliged to préparé for
what is called the State’s examination, before a
Board of the most distinguished men in the pro-
fession, appointed to this place by the government:
these also constitute the medical court. Of this
number, Dr. Schmidt was one.
Dr. Schmidt approved my resolution, and ex-
pressed himself warmly in favor of it. He also
recommended to me a course of reading, to be
commenced at once, as a kind of preliminary édu-
cation ; and, although he had no influence with the
committee of the city government who examined
and elected the pupils, he promised to call upon
some of them, and urge my élection. But, despite
his recommendation and my father’s position as
civil officer, I received a refusai, on the grounds that58
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
I was much too young (being only eighteen), and
that I was unmarried. The latter fault I did not
try to remove ; the former I corrected daily ; and,
when I was nineteen, I repeated my application,
and received the same reply. During this time,
Dr. Schmidt became more and more interested in
me personally. He promised that he would do ail
in his power to hâve me chosen the next year;
while, during this time, he urged me to read and
study as much as possible, in order to become fully
acquainted with the subject. As usual, I continued
to assist my mother in visiting her patients, and
thus had a fine.opportunity for explaining to myself
many things which the mere study of books left in
darkness. In fact, these years of preliminary
practical study were more valuable to me than ail
the lectures that I ever listened to afterwards. Full
of zeal and enthusiasm, and stimulated by a friend
whose position and personal acquirements inspired
me with reverence and dévotion, I thought of no-
thing else than how to préparé myself in such a
way that I should not disappoint him nor those to
whom he had commended me. Dr. Schmidt was
consumptive, and almost qn invalid ; often having
to lecture in a reclining position. The author of
many valuable medical works, and director of the

»“woman’s right to labor.”
59
largest hospital in Prussia (the Charité of Berlin),
he found a most valuable assistant in his wife, —
one of the noblest women that ever lived. She
was always with him, except in the lecture-room ;
and almost ail of his Works are said to hâve been
written by her from his dictation. This had in-
spired him with the highest possible respect for
women. He had the utmost faith in their powers
when rightly developed, and always declared their
intellectual capacity to be the same with that of
men. This belief inspired him with the desire to
give me an éducation superior to that of the com-
mon midwives ; and, at the same time, to reform
the school of midwives by giving to it a professor
of its own sex. To this position he had in his own
mind already elected me ; but, before I could take
it, I had to procure a legitimate élection from the
city to the school as pupil ; while, during my at-
tendant, he had to convince the government of the
necessity of such a reform, as well as to bring over
the medical profession : which was not so easily
done ; for many men were waiting already for Dr.
Schmidt’s death in order to obtain this very post,
which was considered valuable.
When I was twenty, I received my third refusai.
Dr. Schmidt, whose health was failing rapidly, had60
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OF
exerted himself greatly to secure my admission;
and the medical part of the committee had promised
him that they would give me their vote : but some
theological influence was set to work to elect one
of the deaconesses in my stead, .that she might be
educated for the post of superintendant of the
lying-in ward of the hospital, which was under Dr.
Schmidt’s care. She also was rejected, in order
not to offend Dr. Schmidt ; but for this he would
not thank them. No sooner had I carried him the
letter of refusai than he ordered his carriage, and,
proceeding to the royal palace, obtained an audience
of the king ; to whom he related the refusai of the
committee to elect me, on the ground that I was too
young and unmarried, and entreated of him a
cabinet order which should compel the city to ad-
mit me to the school ; adding, that he saw no reason
why Germany, as well as France, should not hâve
and be proud of a La Chapelle. The king, who
held Dr. Schmidt in high esteem, gave him at once
the desired order ; and I became legally the student
of my friend : though his praise procured me in-
tense vexation ; for my name was dropped entirely,
and I was only spoken of as La Chapelle the Se-
cond ; which would by no means hâve been unplea-
sant, had I earned the title ; but to receive it sneer-61
“woman’s eight to labor.”
ingly in advance, before having been allowed to
make my appearance publicly, was indeed unbeara-
ble.
On the tbird day after bis visit to tbe king, Dr.
Schmidt received me into the class, and introduced
me to it as his future assistant teacher. This an-
nouncement was as surprising to me as to the class ;
but I took it quietly, thinking that, if Dr. Schmidt
did not consider me fit for the place, he would not
risk being attacked for it by the profession en masse,
by whom he was watched closely.
On the same day, a little incident occurred which
I must mention. In the evening, instead of going
alone to the class for practical instruction, I accom-
panied Dr. Schmidt at his request. We entered
the hall where his assistant, the chief physician,
had already commenced his instructions. Dr.
Schmidt introduced me to hlm as his private pupil,
to whom he wished him to give particular atten-
tion ; ending by giving my name. The physician
hurriedly came up to me, and grasped my hand,
exclaiming, “ Why, this is my little blind doctor ! ”
I looked at him, and recognized the very Dr. Mul-
ler with whom I used to make the rounds of the
hospital when twelve years old, and who had since
risen to the position of chief physician. This ren-62
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
contre, and the interest that he manifested after-
wards, greatly relieved Dr. Schmidt, who had
feared that he would oppose me, instead of giving
me any spécial aid. During this winter’s study, I
spent the most of the time in the hospital, being
almost constantly at the side of Dr. Schmidt. I
certainly made the most of every opportunity ; and
I scarcely believe it possible for any student to-
learn more in so short a time than I did during this
winter. I was continually busy ; acting even as
nurse, whenever I could learn any thing by it. Dur-
ing the following summer, I was obliged to résidé
wholly in the hospital ; this being a part of the
prescribed éducation. Here I became acquainted
with ail the different wards, and had a fine oppor-
tunity to watch the cases by myself. In the mean
time, Dr. Schmidt*s illness increased so rapidly,
that he feared to die before his plans in respect to
me had been carried out ; especially as the State
of his health had compelled him to give up his po-
sition as Chief Direct or of the Hospital Charité.
His design was to make me chief accoucheuse in
the hospital, and to surrender into my hânds his
position as professor in the School for Midwives, so
that I might hâve the entire charge of the mid-
wives* éducation. The opposition to this plan was“ WOMAN’s RIGHT TO LABOR.”
63
twofold : firstly, the theological influence that
sought to place the deaconess (Sister Catherine)
in the position of house-midwife ; and, secondly,
the younger part of the profession, many of whom
were anxious for the post of professor in the School
for Midwives, which ne ver would hâve been suffered
to fall into the hands of Sister Catherine. Dr.
Schmidt, however, was determined to yield to
neither. Personal pride demanded that he should
succeed in his plan ; and several of the older and
more influential members of the profession took his
part, âmong whom were Johannes Muller, Busch,
Muller, Kilian, &c. During the second winter,
his lecturing in the class was only nominal ; often
nothing more than naming the heads of the sub-
jects, while I had to give the real instruction. His
idea was to make me feel the full responsibility of
such a position, and, at the same time, to give me a
chance to do the work that he had declared me
pre-eminently capable of doing. This was an in-
trigue ; but he could not hâve it otherwise. He
did not intend that I should perform his duty for
his benefit, but for my own. He wished to show
to the govemment the fact that I had done the work
of a man like himself, and done it well ; and that,
if he had not told them of his withdrawal, no one64
A FRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OF
would hâve recognized his absence from the re-
suit.
At the close of this terni, I was obliged to pass
my examination at the same time with the fifty-six
students who composed the class. Dr. Schmidt
invited some of the most prominent medical men to
be présent, besides those appointed as the examin-
ing committee. He informed me of this on the day
before the examination, saying, “ I want to convince
them that you can do better than half of the young
men at their examination.”
The excitement of this day I can hardly de-
scribe. I had not only to appear before a body of
strangers, of whose manner of questioning I had
no idea, but also before half a dozen authorities in
the profession, assembled especially for criticism.
Picture to yourself my position : standing before
the table at which were seated the three physicians
composing the examining committee, questioning
me ail the while in the most perplexing manner,
with four more of the highest standing on each
side, — making eleven in ail ; Dr. Schmidt a little
way off, anxious that I should prove true ail that
he had said in praise of me ; and the rest of the
class in the background, filling up the large hall.
It was terrible. The trifling honor qf being consi-“woman’s right to labor.”
65
dered capable was rather dearly purchased. I went
tbrough the whole hour bravely, without missing
a single question ; until finally tbe clock struck
twelve, wben every tbing suddenly grew black be-
fore my eyes, and the last question sounded like
a humming noise in my ear. I answered it, —
how, I know not, — and was permitted to sit
down and rest for fifteen minutes before I was
called to the practical examination on the manikin.
I gave satisfaction to ail, and received the diploma
of the first degree. This by no means ended the
excitement. The students of the year were next
examined. This examination continued for a
week; after which the diplomas were announced,
when it was found that never before had there been
so many of the first degree, and so few of the
third. Dr. Schmidt then made it known that this
was the resuit of my exertions, and I was pro-
nounced a very capable woman.
This acknowledgment having been made by the
medical men présent at the examination, Dr.
Schmidt thought it would be an easy matter to
get me installed into the position for which I had
proved myself capable. But such could not be the
case in a government ruled by hypocrisy and in-
trigue. To acknowledge the capability of a woman
566
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
did not by any means say that she was at liberty
to hold a position in which she could exercise this
capability. German men are educated to be slaves
to tbe government : positive freedom is compre-
bended only by a few. They generally struggle for
a kind of négative freedom ; namely, for themselves :
for each man, however much he may be inclined to
show his subserviency to those superior in rànk,
thinks himself the lord of création ; and, of course,
regards woman only as his appendage. How can
this lord of création, being a slave himself, look
upon the free development and demand of récognition
of his appendage otherwise than as a nonsense, or
usurpation of his exclusive rights ? And among
these lords of création I heartily dislike that class
which not only yield to the influence brought upon
them by government, but who also possess an
infinité amount of narrowness and vanity, united
to as infinité servility to money and position.
There is not ink and paper enough in ail the
world to write down the çontempt I feel for men
in whose power it is to be free in thought and
noble in action, and who act to the contrary to
feed their ambition or their purses. I hâve leamed,
perhaps, too much of their spirit for my own good.
You can hardly believe what I experienced, in“WOMAN*S BIGHT TO LABOR.”
67
respect to intrigue, within the few months following
my examination. Ail the members of the medical
profession were unwilling that a woman should
take her place on a level with them. Ail the diplo-
matists became fearful that Dr. Schmidt intended
to advocate the question of u woman’s rights ; ” one
of them exclaiming one evening, in the heat of
discussion, “For Heaven’s sake! the Berlin women
are already wisér than ail the men of Prussia:
what will become of us if we allow them to
manifest it ? ” I was almost forgotten in the five
months during which the question was debated:
it became more than a matter of personal intrigue.
The real question at stake was, “ How shall women
be educated, and what is their true sphere ? ” and
this was discussed with more energy and spirit
than ever has been done here in America.
Scores of letters were written by Dr. Schmidt to
convince the government that a woman could really
be competent to hold the position in question, and
that I had been pronounced so by the whole Faculty.
The next objection raised was that my father was
known as holding revolutionary principles ; and to
conquer this, cost a long discussion, with many
interviews of the officiais with my father and Dr.
Schmidt* The next thing urged was that I was68
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
much ioo young ; that it would be necessary, in the
course of my duties, to instruct the young men
also ; and that there was danger in our thus being
thrown together. In fact, this reason, read to me
by Dr. Schmidt from one of the letters written at
this time (ail of which are still carefully preserved),
runs thus : “ To give this position to Miss M. E.
Zakrzewska is dangerous. She is a prepossessing
young lady ; and, from coming in contact with so
many gentlemen, must necessarily fall in love with
some one of them, and thus end her career.” To
this I hâve only to reply, that I am sorry that I
could not hâve found one among them that could
hâve made me follow the suggestion. This objec-
tion, however, seemed for a while the most difficult
to be met : for it was well known, that, when a
student myself, I had stood on the most friendly
terms with mÿ fellow-students, and that they had
often taken my part in little disturbances that
naturally came up in an establishment where no
one was permitted to enter or to leave without
giving a reason, and where even my private pa-
tients were sent away at the door because I did
not know of thëir coming, and could not announce
to the doorkeeper the name and résidence of those
who might possibly call.“ woman’s right to LABOR.” I
69
That this difficulty was finally conquered, I hâve
to thank the students themselves.	My relation
with these young men was of the pleasantest kind.
They never seemed to think that I was not of their
sex, but always treated me like one of themselves.
I knew of their studies and their amusements;
y es, even of the mischievous pranks that they
were planning both for college and for social life.
They often made me their confidante in their pri-
vate affairs, and were more anxious for my approval
or forgiveness than for that of their relatives. I
learaed, during this time, how great is the friendly
influence of a woman even upon fast-living and
licentious young men ; and this has done more to
convince me of the necessity that the two sexes
should live together from infancy, than ail the
théories and arguments that are brought to con-
vince the mass of this fact. As soon as it became
known among the students that my youth was the
new objection, they treated it in such a manner that
the whole thing was transformed into a ridiculous
bugbear, growing out of the imagination of the
virtuous opposers.
No thing now seemed left in the way of my attain-
ing to the position ; when suddenly it dawned upon
the mind of some that I was irreligious ; that neither70	A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OF
my father nor my mother attended church ; and that,
under such circumstances, I could not, of course,
be a church-goer. Fortunately, I had complied
with the requirements of the law, and could there-
fore bring my certificate of confirmation from one
of the Protestant churches. By the advice of Dr.
Schmidt, I commenced to attend church regularly,
and continued until a little incident happened which
I must relate here. One Sunday, just after the
sermon was over, I remembered that I had forgot-
ten to give instructions to the nurse in respect to
a patient, and left the church without waiting for
the end of the service. The next morning, I was
summoned to answer to the charge of leaving the
church at an improper time. The inquisitor (who
was one of those who had accused me of irréligion),
being vexed that I contradicted him by going to
church regularly, was anxious to make me confess
that .1 did not care for the service : but I saw
through his policy as well as his hypocrisy, and
simply told him the truth ; namely, that I had
forgotten important business, and therefore thought
it excusable fo leave as soon as the sermon was
over. Whether he sought to lure me on to further
avowals, I know not: but, wbatever was his
motive, he asked me, in reply, whether I believed“ woman’s right to labor.”
71
that he cared for the humdrum custom of church-
going, and whether I thought him imbécile enough
to consider this as any thing more tban the means
by which to keep the masses in check ; adding, that
it was the duty of the intelligent to make the affair
respectable by setting the example of going them-
selves ; and that he only wished me to act on this
principle, when ail accusations of irréligion would
fall to the ground. I had always known that this
man was not my friend r but, when I heard this, I
felt disenchanted with the whole world ; for I had
never thought him more than a hypocrite, whereas
I found him the meanest of Jesuits, both in theory
and practice. I was thoroughly indignant ; the
more so, since I felt guilty myself in going to
church simply to please Dr. Schmidt. I do not
remember what answer I gave ÿ but I know that
my manners and words made it évident that I con-
sidered him a villain. He never forgave me this, as
ail his future acts proved to me : for, in his position
of chief director of the hospital, he had it in his
power, more than any one else, to annoy me ; and
that he did so, you will presently see.
The constant opposition and attendant excite-
ment, together with the annoyances which my
father, as civil officer, had to endure, made him72
A FRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OF
résolve to présent a déclaration to the government,
fhat I should never, with his consent, enter the
position. He had become so tired of my efforts to
become a public character in my profession, that
he suddenly conceived the wish to hâve me mar-
ried. Now, take for a moment into considération
the facts that I was but twenty-two years of âge,
full of sanguine enthusiasm for my vocation, and
strong in the friendship of Dr. Schmidt. He had
inspired me with the idea of a career different from
the common routine of domestic life. My mother,
overcoming her répugnance to my entering my pro-
fession, had been my best friend, encouraging me
steadily ; while my father, yielding to the troubles
that it involved, had become disgusted with it, and
wished me to abandon my career. He was stern,
and would not take back his word. I could do no-
thing without his consent ; while Dr. Schmidt had
finally overcome ail difficulties, and had the pro-
spect of victory if my father would but yield. A
few weeks of this life were sufficient to drive one
mad, and I am sure that I was near beeoming so.
I was resolved to run away from home or to kill my-
self, while my father was equally resolved to marry
me to a man of whom I did not know the sight.
Matters finally came to a crisis through the illnesa“ woman’s right to labor.”
73
of Dr. Schmidt, whose health failed so rapidly, that
it was thought dangerous to let him be longer excit-
ed by the fear of not realizing his favorite scheme.
Some of his medical advisers influenced the govern-
ment to appeal to my father to withdraw his dé-
claration ; which, satisfied with the honor thus done
him, he did on the lst of May, 1852. On the
15th of May, I received my legal instalment to
the position for which Dr. Schmidt had designed
me. The joy that I felt was great beyond expres-
sion. A youthful enthusiast of twenty-two, I stood
at the height of my wishes and expectations. I had
obtained what others only could obtain after the
protracted labor of half a lifetime ; and already I
saw myself in imagination occupying the place
of Dr. Schmidt’s aspirations, — that of a German
La Chapelle. No one, that has not passed at the
same âge throngh the same excitement, can ever
comprehend the fulness of my rejoicing, which
was not wholly selfish ; for I knew that nothing in
the world would please Dr. Schmidt so much as
this victory. The wildest joy of an accepted
suitor is a farce compared to my feelings on the
moming of that 15th of May. I was reconciled to
my bitterest opponents : I could even hâve thanked
them for their opposition, since it had made the74
A FRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OF
success so much thé sweeter. Not the slightest
feeling of triumph was in my heart ; ail was hap-
pineâs and rejoicing : and it was in this condition
of mind and heart that I put on my bonnet and
shawl to carry the good news to Dr. Schmidt.
Without waiting to be announced, I hastened to
his parlor, where I found him sitting with his wife
upon the sofa. I did not walk, but flew, towards
them, and threw the letter upon the table, ex-
claiming, “ There is the victory ! ” Like a confla-
gration, my joy spread to Dr. Schmidt as well as to
his wife, who thought that she saw in these tidings
a cup of new life for her husband. I only staid
long enough to accept their congratulations. Dr.
Schmidt told me to be sure to corne the next
morning to enter legally upon my duties at his
side. Meanwhile, he gave me a Vacation for the
afternoon to see my friends and carry them the
news. He saw that I needed the open air, and
felt that he, too, must hâve it to counteract his joy.
I went to tell my father and several friends, and
spent the day in blissful ignorance of the dreadful
event that was transpiring.
The next morning, at seven o’clock, I left home
to go to my résidence in the hospital. I had not
slept during the night : the youthful fîre of enthu-44 woman’s right to labor.”
75
siasm burnt too violently to allow me any rest.
The old doorkeeper opened the door for me, and
gazed at me with an air of surprise. 44 What is the
matter?” I asked. 441 am astonished to see you
so cheerful,” said he. uWhy?” I asked with
astonishment. 44 Don’t you know that Dr. Schmidt
is dead?” was the answer. Dr. Schmidt dead!
I trembled ; I staggered ; I fell upon a chair. The
beautiful entrance-hall, serving also as a green-
house during the winter, filled in every place with
flowers and tropical fruit, faded from my eyes ; and
in its stead I saw nothing but laughing faces, dis-
torted with scorn and mockery. A flood of tears
cooled the heat of my brain, and a calmness like
that of death soon took possession of me. I had
fallen from the topmost height of joy and happiness
to the profoundest depth of disappointment and de-
spair. If there were nothing else to prove the
strength of my mind, the endurance of this sudden
change would be sufficient.
I went at once to Dr. Schmidt’s résidence in the
Hospital Park, where I met him again, not as I
had expected an hour before, ready to go with me to
the hospital-department which I was henceforth
to superintend, but a corpse. After I had left the
day before, he had expressed a wish to go into76
A PKACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
the open air, he being not much less excited tban
myself. Mrs. Schmidt ordered the carnage, and
they drove to the large park. He .talked constantly
and excitedly about the satisfaction' that he felt in
this success, unfil they arrived ; when he wished to
get out of the carriage, and walk with his wife.
Mrs. Schmidt consented; but they had scarcely
taken a few steps when he sank to the ground,
and a gush of blood from his mouth terminated his
existence.	'
I left Dr. Schmidt’s house, and entered alone
into the wards, where I felt that I was without
friendly encouragement and support. During the
three days that intervened before the burial of Dr.
Schmidt, I was hardly conscious of any thing, but
moved about mechanically like an automaton. The
next few days were days of confusion; for the
death of Dr. Schmidt had left so many places va-
cant, that some fifty persons were struggling to
obtain some one of his offices. The eagerness,
servility, and meanness which these educated men
displayed in striving to conquer their rivais was
more than disgusting. The serpents that lie in
wait for their prey are endurable ; for we know
that it is their nature to be cunning and relentless :
but to see men of intellect and éducation sly and“woman’s right to labor.”
77
snaky, ferocious, yet servile to the utmost, makes
one almost believe in total depravity. The most
of these men gotf what they deserved ; namely,
nothing: the places Were filled temporarily with
others, and every thing went on apparently as be-
fore. My position soon became very disagreeable.
I had received my instalment, not because I was
wanted by the directors of the hospital, but be-
cause they had been commanded by the govern-
ment to accept me in the hope of thus prolonging the
life of Dr. Schmidt. Young and inexperienced in
petty intrigue, I had now to work without friendly
encouragement and appréciation, with no one
about me in whom I had a spécial interest ; while
every one was regretting that the instalment had
been given me before Dr. Schmidt’s death, which
might hâve happened just as well from some other
excitement, in an establishment where three thou-
sand people were constantly at war about each
other’s affairs. I sürveyed the whole arena, and
saw very well, that, unless I practised meanness and
dishonesty as well as the rest, I could not remain
thére for any length of time ; for scores were ready
to calumniate me whenever there was the least
thing to be gained by it.
I was about to commence a new period of life.78
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
I had a solid structure as a foundation ; but the
superstructure had been built up in so short a time,
that a change of wind would suffice to cast it down.
I resolved, therefore, to tear it down myself, and to
begin to build another upon the carefully laid basis ;
and only waited for an opportunity to manifest my
intention. This opportunity soon presented itself.
Sister Catherine, the deaconess of whom I hâve
spoken, who had been allowed to attend the School
of Midwives after my élection, through the influence
of her theological friends upon Dr. Schmidt (the
city magistrates having refused her because I was
already the third accepted pupil), had as yet no
position : and these friends now sought to make her
the second accoucheuse ; I having the first position,
with the additional title of Chief. This she would
not accept. She, the experienqed deaconess, who
had been a Florence Nightingale in the typhus
épidémie of Silesia, was unwilling to be under the
supervision of a woman who had nothing to show
but a thorough éducation, and who was, besides,
eight years younger than herself. Her refusai
made my enemies still more hostile. Why they
were so anxious for her services, I can only ex-
plain by supposing that the directors of the hospital
wished to annoy Pastor Fliedner, the originator ofu woman’s right to jlabor.”
79
the Kaiserswerth Sisterhood ; for, in placing Sister
Catherine in this position, they robbed him of one
of the very best nurses that he ever had in his in-
stitution.
My desire to reconcile the goyernment of the
hospital, in order that I might hâve peace in my
position to pursue my development and éducation
so as to realize and manifest to the people the
truth of what Dr. Schmidt had affirmed of me,
induced me to go to one of the directors, and pro-
pose that Sister Catherine should be installed on
equal terms with me ; offering to drop the title of
Chief, and to consent that the department should
be divided into two. My proposition was accepted
nominally, and Sister Catherine was installed, but
with a third less salary than I received ; while I
had to give the daily reports, &c., and to take the
chief responsibility of the whole. Catherine was
quite friendly to me ; and I was happy in the
thought that there was now one at least who would
stand by me, should any difficulties occur. How
méli I was mistaken in the human heart ! This
pious, sedate woman, towards whom my heart
yearned with friendship, was my greatest enemy ;
though I did not know it until after my arrivai in
America.80
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
A few weeks afterwards, the city petitioned to
hâve a number of women instructed in the practice
of midwifery. These women were ail experienced
nurses, who had taken the liberty to practise this
art to a greater or less extent from what they had
learaed of it while nursing ; and, to put an end to
this unlawful practice, they had been summoned
before an examining committee, and the youngest
and best educated chosen to be instructed as the
law required. Dr. Müller, the pathologist, was
appointed to superintend the theoretical, and Dr.
Ebert the practical, instruction. Dr. Müller, who
never had given this kind of instruction before,
and who was a spécial friend of mine, immediately
surrendered the whole into my hands ; while Dr.
Ebert, whose time was almost wholly absorbed in
the department of the diseases of children, appoint-
ed me as his assistant. Both gentlemen gave me
certifiâtes of this when I determined to emigrate
to America.
The marked preference for my wards that had
always been shown by the male students was shared
by these women when they came. Sister Cathe-
rine was neither ambitious nor envious ; yet she felt
that she was the second in place. Drs. Müller
and Ebert never addressed themselves to her ; nei-“woman’s right to labor.”
81
tlier did they impress the nurses and the servants
with the idea that she was any thing more than the
head-nurse. Ail these things together made her
a spy ; and, though nothing happened for which I
conld be reproved, ail that I said and did was
watched and secretly reported. Under a despotic
government, the spy is as necessary as the corporal.
The annoyance of this reporting is, that the secrecy
exists only for the one whom it concerns ; while the
«ubaltem officers and servants receive hints that
*uch a person is kept under constant surveillance.
When it was found that no occasion offered to find
fault with me, our administrative inspector was
removed, and a surly old corporal put in his place,
with the hint that the government of the hospital
thought that the former inspector did not perform
his duty rightly, since he never reported disturb-
ance in a ward that had been notorious as being the
most disorderly in former times. The truth was,
that, in my innocence of heart, I had been striving
to gain the respect and friendship of my enemies
by doing my work better than any before me had
done. To go to bed at night regularly was a thing
unknown to me. Once I was not undressed for
twenty-one days and nights ; superintending and
giving instructions on six or eight confinement cases82
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
in every twenty-four hours ; lecturing three hours
every afternoon to the class of midwives ; giving
clinical lectures to them twice a week, for an hour
in the morning; super^ntending the care of some
twenty infants, who were epidemically attacked with
purulent ophthalmia ; and having, besides, the ge-
neral supervision of the whole department. But
ail this could not overcome the hostility of my ene-
mies, the chief cause of which lay in the mortifica-
tion at having been vanquished by my appointment.
On the other hand, I was happy in the thought that
Mrs. Schmidt continued to take the same interest
in me as before, and was glad to hear of my partial
success. The students, both male and female, were
devoted to me, and manifested their gratitude openly
and frankly. This was the greatest compensation
that I received for my work. The women wished
to show their appréciation by paying me for the
extra labor that I performed in their instruction ;
not knowing the fact, that I did it simply in
order that they might pass an examination which
should again convince the committee that I was in
the right place. I forbade them ail payment, as I
had refused it to the male students when they
wished to pay me for their extra instruction on the
manikin : but in a true, womanly way, they ma-“woman’s right to labor.”
83
naged to learn tîie date of my birthday ; when two or
three, instead of attending the lecture, took posses-
sion of my room, which they decorated with flowers ;
while en the table they displayed présents to the
amount of some hundred and twenty dollars, which
the fifty-six women of the class had collected among
themselves. This was, of course, a great surprise to
me, and really made me feel sad; for I did not
wish for things of this sort. I wished to prove that
unselfishness was the real motive of my work ; and
thought that I should finally earn the crown of
appréciation from my enemies, for which I was
striving. This gifit crossed ail my plans. I must
accept it, if I would not wound the kindest of hearts ;
yet I felt that I lost my game by so doing. I
quietly packed every thing into a basket, and put it
out of sight under the bed, in order that I might
not be reminded of my loss. Of course, ail these
things were at once reported. I saw in the faces of
many that something was in agitation, and waited
a fortnight in constant expectation of its coming.
But these people wished to crush me entirely. They
knew well that a blow cornes hardest when least
expected, and therefore kept quiet week after week,
until I really began to ask their pardon in my heart
for having done them the wrong to expect them to84
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OF
act meanly about a thing that was natural and
allowable. In a word, I became quiet and happy
again in the performance of my duties ; until sud-
denly, six weeks after my birthday, I was sum-
moned to the presence of Director Horn (the same
who had reprimanded me for leaving the church),
who received me with a face as hard and stern as
an avengiug judge, and asked me whether I knew
that it was against the law to receive any other
payment than that given me by the hospital. Upon
my avowing that I did, he went on to ask how it
was, then, that I had accepted gifts on my birthday.
This question fell upon me like a thunderbolt ; for
I never had thought of looking upon these as a
payment. Had these women paid me for the in-
struction that I gave them beyond that which was
prescribed, they ought each one to hâve given me
the value of the présents. I told him this in reply,
and also how disagreeable the acceptance had been
to me, and how ready I was to return the whole at
his command ; since it had been my desire to prove,
not only my capability, but my unselfishness in the
work. The man was ashamed ; I saw it in his face
as he tumed it away from me : yet he saw in me
a proof that he had been v'anquished in intrigue,
and was resolved that the occasion should end in“woman’s right to labor.”
85
my overthrow. Much more was said about the
présents and their significance ; and I soon ceased
to be the humble woman, and spoke boldly what I
thought, in défiance of his authority, as I had done
at the time of the religious conversation (by the
way, I never attended church again after that in-
terview). The end was, that I declared my readi-
ness to leave the hospital. He wished to inflict
direct pjmishment on me ; and forbade me to be
présent at the examination of the class, which was
to take place the next day. This was really a
hard penalty, to which he was forced for his own
sake ; for, if I had been présent, I should hâve told
the whole afiair to men of a nobler starnp, who
would hâve opposed, as they afterwards did, my
leaving a place which I filled to their entire satis-
faction.
I made my préparations to leave the hospital on
the 15th of November. What was I to do ? I
was not made to practise quietly, as is commonly
done : my éducation and aspirations demanded
more than this. For the time, I could do nothing
more than inform my patients that I intended to
practise independently. My father again wished
that I should marry ; and I began to ask myself,
whether marriage is an institution to relieve pa-86
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OF
rents from embarrassment. When troubled about
the future of a son, parents are ready to give bim
to the army; when in fears of the destiny of a
daughter, they induce her to become the slave of
the marriage bond. I never doubted that it was
more unendurable and unworthy to be a wife with-
out love, than a soldier without a spécial calling
for that profession ; and I never could think of
marriage as the means to procure a shelter and
bread.
I had so many schemes in my head, that I would
not listen to his words. Among these was espe-
cially the wish to emigrate to America. The Penn-
sylvania Female Medical College had sent its first
Report to Dr. Schmidt, whô had informed me of it
as well as his colleagues, and had advocated the
justice of such a reform. This fact occurred to
my memory ; and, for the next two months, I did
nothing but speculate how to carry out my design
of émigration. I had lived rather expensively and
lavishly, without thinking of laying up any money ;
and my whole fortune, when I left the Charité, con-
sisted of sixty dollars.
One thing happened in connection with my leav-
ing the hospital, which I must relate here. Di-
rector Hora was required to justify his conduct to“woman’s right to labor.”
87
the minister to whom the change had to be reported ;
and a committee was appointed to hear the accusa-
tion, and pass judgment upon the affair. As this
was done in secrecy and not before a jury, and as
the accuser was a man of high rank, I knew nothing
of it until Christmas Eve, when I received a docu-
ment, stating that, as a gratification for my services
for the benefit of the city of Berlin in instructing the
class of midwives, a compensation was decreed me
of fifty dollars. This was a large sum for Berlin,
such as was only given on rare occasions. I was
also informed that Director Horn was instructed to
give me, should I ever demand it, a first-class cer-
tificate of what my position had been in the hospi-
tal, with the title of Chief attached. Whatever I
had suffered from the injustice of my enemies,
I was now fully recompensed. I inquired who
had taken my part so earnestly against Director
Horn as to gain this action, and found that it was
Dr. Miiller the pathologist, backed by several
other physicians. Director Horn, it was said, was
greatly humiliated by the decision of Minister von
Raumer, who could not see the least justice in his
conduct in this matter ; and, had I not left the
hospital so readily, I should never hâve stood so
fîrmly as after this secret trial.88
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
It was done, however ; and I confidently told my
mother of my design to emigrate. Between my
mother and myself there existed, not merely the
strongest relation of maternai and filial love, bnt also
a professional eympathy and peculiar friendship,
which was the resuit of two similar minds and hearts,
and which made me stand even nearer to her than
as a child I could possibly hâve done. She consented
with heart and soûl, encouraged me in ail my plans
and expectations, and asked me at once at what
time I would leave. I next told my father and the
rest of the family of my plan. My third sister
(Anna), a beautiful, joyous young girl, exclaimed,
“And I will go with you ! ” My father, who
would not listen to my going alone, at once con-
sented to our going together. But I thought dif-
ferently. In going alone, I risked only my own
happiness : in going with her, I risked hers too ;
while I should be constantly restricted in my ad-
venturous undertaking from having her with me,
who knew nothing of the world save the happiness
of a tranquil family life. The next day, I told
them that I had changed my mind, and should not
go away, but should establish myself in Berlin.
Of course, I received a torrent of gibes on my fic-
kleness ; for they did not understand my feelings in“WOMAÎ^S EIGHT TO LABOR.”	89
respect to tbe responsibility that I feared to take
for my younger sister.
I began to establish myself in practice. Mrs.
Schmidt, who was anxious to assist me in my new
career, suggested to those physicians who were my
friends the establishment of a private hospital,
which should be under my care. She fonnd them
strongly in favor of the plan ; and, had I not been
constantly speculating about leaving for America,
this scheme would hâve been realized. But I had
resolved to emigrate, and took my measures ac-
cordingly. I went secretly to Drs. Miiller and
Ebert, and procured certificates from them attest-
ing my position in respect to them in the hospital.
I then obtained the certificat e from Director Horn,
and carried them ail to the American Chargé d’Af-
faires (Théodore S. Fay) to hâve them legalized in
English, so that they could be of service to me
in America.*
* u The undersigned, Secretary of Légation of the United
States of America, certifies that Miss Marie Elizabeth Zakr-
zewska has exhibited to him very strong recommendations from
the highest professional authorities of Prussia, as a scientific,
practical, experienced accoucheuse of unusual talent and skill.
She has been chief accoucheuse in the Royal Hospital of Berlin,
and possesses a cettificate of her superiority from the Board of
Directors of that institution. She has not only manifested great90
A FRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OF
When I told Drs. Ebert and Muller and Mrs.
»
Schmidt of my intention to emigrate, they pro-
nounced me insane. They thought that I had the
best field of activity open in Berlin, and could not
comprehend why I should seek greater freedom of
person and of action. Little really is known in
Berlin about America, and to go there is consi-
dered as great an undertaking as to seek the river
Styx in order to go to Hades. The remark that I
heard from almost every quarter was, “ What ! you
wish to go to the land of barbarism, where they hâve
negro slavery, and where they do not know how to
appreciate talent and genius ? ” But this could not
prevent me from realizing my plans. I had ideal-
ized the freedom of America, and especially the
reform of the position of women, to such an extent,
that I would not listen to their arguments. After
talent as a practitioner, but also as a teacher; and enjoys the
advantage of a moral and irreproachable privâte character.
She bas attained this higli rank over many female competitors
in the same branch ; there being more than fifty f in the city of
Berlin who threaten, by their acknowledged excellence, to mo-
nopolize the obstetric art.	M Théo. S. Fay.
“ Légation United States, Beblin, Jan. 26,1853.”
[SEAL.]
t “ Upon inquiry, I find that, instead of fifty, there are one hundred
and ten female accoucheuse# in Berlin.	44 Théo. S. Fat.”“ woman’s eight to labob.”
91
having been several years in America, very pro-
bably I would think twice before undertaking again
to emigrate ; for even the idealized freedom has
lost a great deal of its charm, when I consider how
much better it could be.
Having put every tbing in order, I told my father
of my conclusion to leave. He was surprised to
hear of it the second time : but I showed him my
papers in readiness for the journey, and declared
that I should go as soon as the ship was ready to sail ;
having a hundred dollars,—just money enough to
pay my passage. He would not give his consent,
unless my sister Anna accompanied me ; thinking
her, I suppose, a counterpoise to any rash under-
takings in which I might engage in a foreign land.
If I wished to go, I was, therefore, forced to hâve
her company ; of which I should hâve been very
glad, had I not feared the moral care and respon-
sibility. ¥e decided to go in a fortnight. My
father paid her passage, and gave her a hundred
dollars in cash,—just enough to enable us to spend
a short time in New York : after which he expected
either to send us more money, or that we would
return ; and, in case we did this, an agreement was
made with the shipping-merehant that payment
should be made on our arrivai in Hamburg.92
A FRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OF
On the 13th of March, 1853, we left the paternal
roof, to which we should never return. My mo-
ther bade us adieu with tears in her eyes ; saying,
^Au revoir in America ! ” She was determined to
follow us.
Dear Mary, here ends my Berlin and European
life ; and I can assure you that this was the hard-
est moment I ever knew. Upon my memory is
for ever imprinted the Street, the house, the win-
dow behind which my mother stood waving her
handkerchief. Not a tear did I suffer to mount
to my eyes, in order to make her believe that the
departure was an easy one ; but a heart beating
convulsively within punished me for the restraint.
My father and brothers accompanied us to the
dépôt, where the cars received us for Hamburg.
On our arrivai there, we found that the ice had
not left the Elbe, and that the ships could not sail
until the river was entirely free. We were forced
to remain three weeks in Hamburg. We had
taken staterooms in the clipper ship u Deutschland.”
Besides ourselves, there were sixteen passengers in
the first cabin ; people good enough in their way,
but not sufficiently attractive to induce us to make
their acquaintance. We observed a dead silence
as to who we were, where we were going, or what“womàn’s right to labor.”
93
was the motive of our emigrating to America.
The only person that we ever spoke to was a Mr.
R. from Hamburg, a youth of nineteen, whoj like
ourselves, had left a happy home in order to try
his strength in a strange land. The voyage was
of forty-seven days* duration ; excessively stormy,
but otherwise very dull, like ail voyages of this
kind ; and, had it not been for the expectations
that filled our hearts, we should hâve died of
ennui. As it was, the days passed slowly, made
worse by the inévitable sea-sickness of our fellow-
passengers ; and we longed for the hour that should
bring us in sight of the shores of the New World.
Amd now commences my life in America.
“ Dear Marie, best Marie ! make haste to corne
upon deck to see America ! Oh, how pleasant it is
to see the green trees again ! How brightly the sun
k gilding the land you are seeking, — the land of
âtaedom ! ” With such childlike exclamations
of delight, my sister Anna burst into my cabin to
hasten my appearance on deck on the morning
0f the 22d of May, 1853. The beautiful child of
nineteen summers was only conscious of a heart
overflowing with pleasure at the sight of the charm-
r ing landscape that opened before her eyes after a
tedious voyage of forty-seven days upon the océan.
94	A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
We had reaclied the quarantine at Staten Island.
The captain, the old pilot, every one, gazed at her as
she danced joyously about the deck, with a mingled
feeling of sadness and curiosity ; for our reserve
while on shipboard had surrounded us with a sort
of mystery which none knew how to unravel.
As soon as I had dressed for going on shore, and
had packed up the things that we had used on our
voyage, in order that they might not be stolen
during this time of excitement, I obeyed the last
call of my impatient sister to corne at least to see
the last rays of sunrise ; and went on deck, where
I was at once riveted by the beautiful scene that
was spread before my eyes. The green, sloping
lawns, with which the white cottages formed such
a cheerful contrast; the trees, clad in their first
foliage, and suggesting hope by their smiling blos-
soms ; the placid cows, feeding quietly in the fields ;
the domestic chickens, just visible in the distance ;
and the friendly barking of a dog, — ail seemed to
greet me with a first welcome to the shores of this
strange country : while the sun, shining brightly
from a slightly clouded sky, mellowed the whole
landscape, and so deeply impressed my soûl, that
tears sprang to my eyes, and a feeling y ose in my
heart that I can call nothing else than devotional ;“woman’s right to labor.”
95
for it bowed my knees beneath me, and forced
sounds from my lips tbat I could not translate into
words, for they were mysterious to myself. A
stranger in a strange, wide land, not knowing its
habits and customs, not understanding its people,
not yet understanding its workings and aims, my
mind was not clouded with loneliness. I was hap-
py. Had it not been my own wish that had made
me leave the home of a kind father, and of a
mother beloved beyond ail earthly beings ? I had
succeeded in safely reaching the shores of Ameri-
ca. Life was again open before me. With these
thoughts, I turned from the beautiful landscape ;
and finding the captain, a noble-hearted sailor, in-
quired of him how long it would take us to reach
the port of New York. “That is New York,”
saîd he, pointing to a dark mass of buildings, with
here and there a spire towering in the air. “ We
shall reach there about eight o’clock ; but it is
Sunday, and you will hâve to stay on board till
to-morrow.” With this he turned away, calling
his men to weigh anchor ; as the physician, whose
duty it was to inspect the cargo of men, like cattle,
had just left in his boat. On we went, my sister
still dancing and singing for joy ; and Mr. R. and
myself sitting somewhat apart, — he looking de-96
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OF
spondently into the water, I with my liead firmly
raised in the air, happy in heart, but thoughtful in
mind, and trusting in my inward strength for the
future.
I took my breakfast on deck. No one seemed
to hâve any appetite ; and I felt somewhat reproved
when I heard some one near me say, “ She seems
to hâve neither head nor heart : see how tranquilly
she can eat at such a time as this ! ” These words
were spoken by one of the cabin-passengers, — a
young man, who was exceedingly curious to know
why I was going to America, and had several
times tried to make the rest of the passengers be-
lieve that it must be in conséquence of an unhappy
love. The poor simpleton ! he thought that wo-
men could only enter into life through the tragedy
of a broken heart.
A bell sounded. We were opposite Trinity Church,
which had just struck eight. On my right lay an
enormous collection of bricks (houses I could not
call them ; for, seen from the ship, they resembled
only a pile of ruins) ; on my left, the romantic shore
of New Jersey. But the admiration with which I
had gazed upon Staten Island was gone as I stood
before this beautiful scene ; the appréciation of
Nature was mastered by another feeling, — a feeling“ woman’s right to labor.”
97
of activity that had become my idéal. I had corne
here for a purpose, — to carry ont tbe plan wbich
a despotic govemment and its servile agents had
prevented me from doing in my native city. I had
to show to those men who had opposed me so
strongly because I was a woman, that in this land of
liberty, equality, and fratemity, I could maintain
that position which they would not permit to me at
home. My talents were in an unusual direction. I
was a physician ; and, as such, had for years moved
in the most select circles of Berlin. Even my ene-
mies had beeya forced to give me the highest testi-
monials : and these were the only treasure that I
brought to this country ; for I had given my last
dollar to the sailor who brought me the first news
that land was in sight.
I looked again upon New York, but with a feel-
ing that a great mystery was lying before my
eyes, — a feeling that was confirmed by the men,
who came off to the ship in small boats, speaking
a language that seemed like a chaos of sounds.
As I turned, I saw my sister coming slowly up from
the cabin with a changed air ; and I asked her with
surprise what was the matter. “ O Marie ! ” said
she, “ most of the passengers are called for. Mr.
R.’s brother has just corne to take him on shore.
798
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
He was so glad to see him (for he thought he was
in New Orléans), that I think he will forget to
say good-by. I am afraid that we shall hâve to
stay here ail alone, and ”---- u Are the Misses
Zakrzewska on board ? ” called a voice from a little
boat by the side of the ship. We looked down in
surprise, but did not recognize the man, who spoke
as if he were an acquaintance. The captain an-
swered, “ Yes.” Upon which the same voice said,
“ Mr. G. requests them to wait : he will be here
in a moment.”
This announcement surprised us the more that
it came from a totally unexpected quarter. An
acquaintance of ours, who had emigrated to New
York a few years before, and had shortly after
married a Mr. G., had heard from her brother in
Berlin of our departure for America in the ship
44 Deutschland ; ” and these good people, thinking
that they could be of use to us in a new country,
had been watching for its arrivai. No one on
board dared ask a question as to who our friends
were, so reserved had we been in regard to our
plans : only the young man who had accused me
of having neither head nor heart said, half aside,
“Ali, ha! now we know the reason ™hy Miss
Marie ate her breakfast so calmly, while her sister“ woman’s right .to labor.”
99
danced for joy. They had beaux who were ex-
pecting them.” “ Simpleton ! ” thought I: “must
women always hâve beaux in order to be calm about
the future ? ”
Mr. G. came on board in a few minutes, bring-
ing us from his wife an invitation of welcome to
ber house. I cannot express in words the émotion
awakened in my heart by the really unselfish kind-
ness that had impelled these people to greet us in
this manner; and this was increased when we
reached their very modest dwelling, consisting of
a large shop in which Mr. G. carried on his
business of manufacturing fringes and tassels, one
sitting-room, a bedroom, and a small kitchen. My
strength left me, and my composure dissolved in a
flood of tèars. The good people did ail that they
could to make us feel at home, and insisted that
we should occupy the sitting-room until we had
decided what further to do. Of course, I deter-
mined that this should be for as short a time as
possible, and that we would immediately look out
for other lodgings.
One-half of this first day was spent in talking
about home ; the other, in making an excursion to
Hoboken. This visit we would gladly hâve dis-
pensed with, so exhausted were we by the excite-100
A FRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OF
ment that we had passed through since sunrise;
but our friends were bent on entertaining us with
stories and sigbts of the New World, and we fol-
lowed them rather reluctantly. I hâve since been
glad that I did so ; for my mind was in a State that
rendered it far more impressible than usual, and
therefore better fitted to observe, much that would
hâve been lost to me in a less-excited condition.
Here I first saw the type of common German life on
Sunday in America ; and I saw enough of it on that
one Sunday afternoon to last a whole lifetime. My
friends called on several of their acquaintances.
Everywhere that we went, I noticed two peculiari-
ties, — comparative poverty in the surroundings,
and apparent extravagance in the manner of living :
for in every house we found an abundance of wine,
beer, cake, méat, salad, &c., although it was be-
tween the hours of meals ; and every one was
eating, although no one seemed hungry. At nine
o’clock in the evening, the visit was concluded by
going to a hôtel, where a rich supper was served
up to us ; and at eleven at night we returned home.
My work in America had already commenced.
Was it not necessary for a stranger in a new coun-
try to observe life in ail its phases, before entering
upon it ? It seemed so to me ; and I had already“ woman’s right to rabor.”
101
planned, while on ship-board, to spend the first
month in observations of this kind. I had made a
fair beginning ; and, when I saw many répétitions
of tbis kind of life among my countrymen, I feared
that this was their main purpose in this country,
and their consolation for the loss of the entertain-
ment» and récréations which their fatherland of-
fered to them. But, as soon as I got opportunity
to make my observations among the educated class-
es, I found my fear ungrounded ; and I also found
that the Americans had noticed the impulse for
progress and higher development which animated
these Germans. The German mind, so much
honored in Europe for its scientific capacity, for
its consistency regarding principles, and its correct
criticism, is not dead here : but it has to struggle
against difficulties too numerous to be detailed
here ; and therefore it is that the Americans don’t
know of its existence, and the chief obstacle is
their different languages. A Humboldt must re-
main unknown here, unless he chooses to Ameri-
canize himself in every respect ; and could he do
this without ceasing to be Humboldt the cosmo-
politan genius ?
It would be a great benefit to the development
of this country if the German language was made102
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
a branch of éducation, and not an accomplish-
ment simply. Only then would the Americans
appreciate liow mu ch ha s been done by the Ger-
mans to advance higher development, and to diffuse
the true principles of freedom. It would serve
both parties to leam how much the Germans aid in
developing the reason, and supporting progress
in every direction. The révolution of 1848 has
been more serviceable to America than to Germa-
ny ; for it has caused the émigration of thousands
of men who would hâve been the pride of a free
Germany. America has received the German
freemen, whilst Germany has retained the sub-
jeds.
The next morning, I determined to return to the
ship to look after my baggage. As Mr. and Mrs.
G. were busy in their shop, there was no one to
accompany me : I therefore had either to wait un-
til they were at leisure, or to go alone. I chose the
latter, and took my first walk in the city of New
York on my way to the North River, where the
ship was lying. The noise and bustle everywhere
about me absorbed my attention to such a degree,
that, instead of turning to the right hand, I went
to the left, and found myself at the East River, in
the neighborhood of Peck Slip. Here I inquired“woman’s right to labor.”
103
after the German ship u Deutschland,” and was
directed, in my native tongue, down to*the Battery,
and thence np to Pier 13, where I found the ship
discharging the rest of her passengers and their
baggage. It was eleven o’clock when I reached
the ship: I had, therefore, taken a t-hree-honrs*
walk. I had now to wait until the custom-house
officer had inspected my trunks, and afterwards
for the arrivai of Mr. G., who came at one o’clock
with a cart to convey the baggage to his house.
While standing amidst the crowd, a man in a light
suit of clothes of no positive color, with a com-
plexion of the same sort, came up to me, and asked,
in German, whether I had yet found a boarding-
place. The man’s smooth face instinctively repelled
me ; yet the feeling that I was not independently
established made me somewhat indefinite in my
reply. On seeing this, he at once grew talkative
and friendly, and, speaking of the necessity of find-
ing a safe and comfortable home, said that he could
recommend me to a hôtel where I would be treated
honestly; or that, if I chose to be in a private
family, he knew of a very kind, motherly lady, who
kept a boarding-house for ladies alone, — not to
make money, but for the sake of her country-
women. The familiarity that he mingled in his104
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
conversation while trying to be friendly made me
thoroughly indignant : I turned my back upon him,
saying that I did not need his services. It was not
long before I saw him besieging my sister Anna,
who had corne with Mr. G. ; being nervaus lest I
might not hâve found the ship. What he said to
her, I do not know. I only remember that she
came to me, saying, u I am afraid of that man : I
wish that we could go home soon.” This meeting
with a man who makes friendly offers of service
may seem a small matter to the mere looker-on ; but
it ceases to be so when one knows his motives : and,
since that time, I hâve had but too many opportu-
nités to see for what end these offers are made.
Many an educated girl cornes from the Old World
to find a position as governess or teacher, who is
taken up in this manner, and is never heard from
again, or is only found in the most wretched con-
dition. It is shameful that the most effective
arrangements should not be made for the safety of
these helpless beings, who corne to these shores with
the hope of finding a Canaan.
The week was mostly spent in looking for apart-
ments ; as we had concluded to commence house-
keeping on a small scale, in order to be more
iudcpendent and to save money. On our arrivai,“woman’s right to labor.”
105
I had borrowed from my sister the hundred dollars
which my father had given her on our departure
from Berlin, and which was to be my capital until
I had established myself in business. I succeeded
in finding a suite of rooms, with Windows facing
the Street, in the house of a grocer ; and, having
put them in perfect order, we moved into them on
the 6th of June, paying eleven dollars as our rent
for two months in advance.
My sister took charge of our fîrst day’s house-
keeping, while I went to deliver my letters of
introduction. I went first to Dr. Reisig, in Four-
teenth Street. My mother, who had employed
him when he was a young man and we were small
children, had spoken of him kindly ; and, for this
reason, I had confidence in him. I found him a
very friendly man, but by no means a cordial one.
He informed me that femalé physicians in this
country were of the lowest rank, and that they did
not hold even the position of a good nurse. He
said that he wished to be of service to me if I were
willing to serve as nurse ; and, as he was just then
in need of a good one, would recommend me for
the position. I thanked him for his candor and
kindness, but refused his offer, as I could not con-
descend to be patronized in this way. Depressed106
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
in hope, but strengthened in will, I did not deliver
any more of my letters, since they were ail to
physicians, and I could not hope to be more suc-
cessful in other quarters. I went home, therefore,
determined to commence practice as a stranger.
The resuit of my experiment discouraged my
’sister greatly. After meditating for some time,
she suddenly said, “Marie, I read in the paper
this morning of a dressmaker who wanted some
one to sew for her. I know how to sew well : I
shall go there, and y ou can attend to our little
household. No one here knows me, and I do not
think there is any thing wrong in my trying to earn
some money.”
She was determined, and went. I put up my
sign, and spent my time in attending to the house-
hold duties, and in reading in order to gain in-
formation of the country and the people. Occa-
sionally I took walks through different parts of the
city, to learn, from the houses and their surround-
ings, the character of life in New York. I am
sure that though, perhaps, I appeared idle, I was
not so in reality ; for during this time I learned the
philosophy of American life.
But our stock of money was becoming less and less.
To furnish the rooms had cost us comparatively“woman’s right to labor.”
107
little, as we had brought a complété set of house-
hold furniture with us ; but paying the rent and
completing the arrangements had not left us more
than enough to live upon, in the most economical
manner, until the lst of August. My sister ob-
tained the place at the dressmaker’s ; and after
working a week from seven in the morning until
twelve (when she came home to dinner), then from
one in the afternoon until seven in the evening, she
received two dollars and seventy-five cents as the
best sewer of six. She brought home the hardly
earned money with tears in her eyes ; for she had
expected at least three dollars for the week’s work.
She had made each day a whole muslin dress, with
the trimmings. And this was not ail : the dress-
maker often did not pay on Saturday nights,
because, as she said, people did not pay her punc-
tually ; and the poor girls received their wages by
six or eight shillings at a time. For the last two
weeks of my sister’s work, she received her pay-
ment seven weeks after she had left.
We lived in this manner until the middle of July,
when I lost patience ; for practice did not corne as
readily as I wished, nor was I in a position for
making money in any other way. My sister,
usually so cheerful and happy, grew grave from108
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
the unusual work and close confinement. One of
these nights, on lying down to sleep, she burst into
tears, and told me of her doubts and fears for the
future. I soothed her as well as I could, and she
fell asleep. For myself, I could not sleep, but lay
awake ail night meditating what I could possibly
do. Should I write home, requesting help from
my father? He certainly would hâve given it;
for we had received a letter two weeks before,
offering us ail désirable aid. No : ail my pride
rebelled against it. “I must help myself,” I
thought, “ and that to-morrow.”
The next morning, my sister left me as usual.
I w:ent out, and walked through the city to Broad-
way ; turning into Canal Street, where I had
formed an acquaintance with a very friendly Ger=>
man woman by purchasing little articles at various
times at her store. I entered without any particular
design, and exchanged a few commonplaces with
her about the weather. Her husband stood talking
with a man about worsted goods, and their conver-
sation caught my ear. The merchant was com-
plaining because the manufacturer did not supply
him fast enough : upon which the man answered,
that it was very difficult to get g;ood hands to work ;
and that, besides, he had more orders than it was“woman’s right to labor.”
109
possible to fill ; naming several merchants whose
names I had seen in Broadway, who were also
complaining because he did not supply them.
After he had left, I asked carelessly what kind of
articles were in demand, and was shown a great
variety of worsted fancy-goods. A thought entered
my brain. I left the store, and, walking down
Broadway, asked at one of the stores that had
been mentioned for a certain article of worsted
goods, in order to learn the price. Finding this
enormous, I did not buy it; and returned home,
calculating on my way how much it would cost to
manufacture these articles, and how much profit
could be made in making them on a large scale.
I found that two hundred per cent profit might be
made by going to work in the right way. My
sister came home, as usual, to dinner. I sat down
with her, but could not eat. She looked at me
anxiously, and said, “ I hope you are not sick
again. Oh, dear ! what shall we do if you get
sick ?” I had been ill for a week, and she feared a
relapse. I said nothing of my plan, but consoled
her in respect to my health.
As soon as she had left, I counted my money.
But five dollars remained. If I had been dépend-
ent upon money for cheerfulness, I should certainly110
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
hâve been discouraged. I went to John Street,
and, entering a large worsted store, inquired of a
cheerful-looking girl the Wholesale price of the
best Berlin wool ; how many colors could be had in
a pound; &c. The pleasant and ready answers
that I received in my native tongue induced me to
tell her frankly that I wanted but a small quantity
at that time, but that I intended to make an experi-
ment in manufacturing worsted articles ; and, if
successful, would like to open a small crédit, which
she said they generally would do when security
was given.
I purchased four and a half dollars’ worth of
worsted ; so that fifty cents were left in my pocket
when I quitted the store. I tlien went to the office
of a German newspaper, where I paid twenty-five
cents for advertising for girls who understood ail
kinds of knitting. When my sister came home at
night, the worsted was ail sorted on the table in
parcels for the girls who would corne the next
morning, while I was busily engaged in the experi-
ment of making little worsted tassels. I had never
been skilful in knitting ; but in this I succecded so
well, that I could hâve made a hundred yards of
tassels in one day. My sister turned pale on seemg
ail this ; and hurriedly asked, u How much money“woman’s right to labor.”
111
hâve you spent? ” — 44Ail, my dear Anna,” an-
swered I ; 44 ail, except twenty-fîve cents, which will
be sufficient to buy a pound of beefsteak and pota-
toes for to-morrow’s dinner. Bread, tea, and sugar
we hâve still in the house ; and to-morrow night
you will bring home your twenty-two shillings.”
“ May you succeed, Marie ! that is ail I hâve to
say,” was lier reply. She learned of me that even-
ing how to make the tassels ; and we worked till
midnight, finishing a large number.
The next day was Saturday, and some women
really came to get work. I gave them just enough
for one day, keeping one day’s work in reserve.
The day was spent busily in arranging matters, so
that, on Monday morning, I might be able to carry
a sample of the manufactured articles to those
stores that I had heard mentioned as not being
sufiiciently supplied.
In the evening, my sister came home without
her money: the dressmaker had gone into the
country in the afternoon, without paying the girls.
She was more than sad, and I felt a little uncom-
fortable; for what was I to do, without money to
provide for the next two day s, or to pay those girls
on Monday with whose work I might not be satis-
fied ? What was to be done ? To go down to our112
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
landlord, the grocer, and ask liim to advance us a
few dollars ? No : he was a stranger, and kad no
means of knowing tkat we would return tke money.
Besides, I did not wisk tke people in tke kouse to
know our condition.
My resolution was taken. I proposed to my
sister to go to tke market witk me to buy méat
and fruit for tke morrow. Ske looked at me witk
blank astoniskment ; but, witkout heeding it, I said
calmly, taking from tke bureau-drawer tke ckain
of my watck, “ Anna, opposite tke market, tkere
is a pawnbroker. No one knows us ; and, by giving
a fictitious name, we can get money, without thank-
ing any one for it.” She was satisfied ; and, taking
a little basket, we went on our errand. I asked of
tke pawnbroker six dollars, under tke name of Mill-
ier, and received tke money ; after wkick we made
our purckases, and went kome in quite good
spirits.
On Monday morning, tke knitters brougkt kome
tkeir work. I paid tkem, and gave tkem enougk
for anotker day ; after wkick I set about finisking
eack piece, completing tke task about two in tke
afternoon. Tkis done, I carried tke articles to
Broadway ; and, leaving a sample in a number
of stores, received orders from tkem for several“woman’s right to labor.”
113
dozens.* I then went to the worsted store in
John Street, where I also obtained orders for the
manufactured articles, together with ten dollars’
worth of worsted on crédit ; having first given my
name and résidence to the book-keeper, with the
names of the stores from which I had received or-
ders. In the evening, when my sister came home,
I was, therefore, safely launched into a manufactur-
ing business. The news cheered her greatly ; but
she could not be induced to quit her sewing. The
new business had sprung up so rapidly and plea-
santly, that she could not trust in the reality of its
existence.
I must tell you hère something of the social life
that we led. We had brought a number of friendly
letters with us from our acquaintances in Berlin to
their friends and relatives in America ; ail of which,
upon our arrivai, we sent by post, with the exception
of two, — the one sent by a neighbor to his son,
Albert C. ; the other to a young artist ; both of
whom called for their letters. About four weeks
* Here I hâve to remark, that, not being able to speak English,
I conducted my business at the different stores either in German
or Frcnch, as I easily found some of the employées who could
speak one of these languages.
8114
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
after we were settled in New York, we received a
call from some young men whose sisters had been
schoolmates of my sisters in Berlin, who came to
inquire of us where to find Mr. C. We could give
them no information, as we had not seen him since
he called for his letter ; neither did we now see any
thing of the G.’s : but the acquaintance thus formed
with these young men was continued, and our soli-
tude was now and then enlivened by an hour’s call
from them. Soon after I had commenced my new
business, they came one day in company with Mr.
C., whom they had met accidently in the Street,
and, on his expressing a wish to see us, had taken
the liberty to bring to our housë.
My business continued to prosper ; and, by con-
stantly offering none but the best quality of goods
for sale, in a very short time I had so much to do,
that my whole time in the day was occupied with
out-door business, and I was forced to sit up at
night with my sister to préparé work for the knit-
ters. At one time, we had constantly thirty girls
in our employ ; and in this way I became acquaint-
ed with many of those unfortunates who had been
misled and ruined on their arrivai by persons pre-
tending friendship. Two of these in particular
interested me greatly. One, the grand-daughter“woman’s right to labor.”
115
of Krummaclier, and bearing his naine, was the
daugbter of a physician, who had corne to this
country, hoping to find a place as governess. Poor
girl ! she was a mere wreck wben I found her, and
ail my efforts to raise her up were in vain. She
was sick, and in a terrible mental condition. We
took her into our house, nursed her and cared for
her, and, when she had recovered, supplied her
with work ; for which we paid her so well, that she
always had three dollars a week, which paid for
her board and washing. It was twice as much as
she could earn, yet not enough to make her feel
reconciled with life. At one time, she did not
corne to us for a whole week. I went to see her,
and her landlady told me that she was melancholy.
I persuaded her to corne and stay with us for a
few days ; but, in spite of ail my friendly encou-
ragement, I could not succeed in restoring her to
cheerfulness. She owned that she could not work
merely to live : she did not feel the pangs of hun-
ger ; but she felt the want of comforts to which she
had been accustomed, and which, in our days, are
regarded as necessities. She attempted to find a
situation as governess ; but her proficiency in music,
French, and drawing, counted as nothing. She had
no city references ; and, having been two years inne
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OF
New York, dared not name the place to which she
had been conducted on her arrivai. She left ns at
last in despair, after having been a week with us.
She never called again, and I could not leam from
her landlady where she had gone. Three months
aflerwards, I heard from one of the girls in our
employ that she had married a poor shoemaker in
order to hâve a home ; but I never leamed whether
this was true. About a year later, I met her in
the Bowery, poorly but cleanly dressed. She
hastily turned away her face on seeing me ; and I
onîy caught a glimpse of the crimson flush that
overspread her countenance.
The other girl that I referred to was a Miss
Mary ------, who came with her mother to this
country, expecting to live with a brother. They
found the brother married, and unwilling to sup-
port his sister ; while his wife was by no means
friendly in her réception of his mother* The good
girl determined to earn a support for her mother,
and a pretended friend offered to take care of their
things until she could find work and rent lodgings.
After four weeks’ search, she found a little room
and bedroom in a rear-building in Elizabeth Street,
at five dollars a month ; and was preparing to move,
when her friend presented a bill of forty dollars foru woman’s right to jlabor.”
117
his services. She could only satisfy his rapacity
by selling every thing that she could possibly spare :
after which she commenced to work; and as she
embroidered a great deal, besides working for me
(for which I paid her six dollars a week), for a time
she lived tolerably well. After some time, her mo
ther fell ifl ; and she had to nurse her and attend to
the household, as well as labor for their support.
It was a trying time for the poor girL She sought
her brother ; but he had moved to the West. I
did ail that I could for her ; but this was not half
enough : and, after I had quitted the ûianufacturing
business and left the city, my sister heard that she
had drowned herself in the Hudson, because her
mother’s corpse was lying in the house, while she
had not a cent to give it burial, or to buy a piece
of bread, without selling herself to vice.
Are not these two terrible romances of New-
York life ? And many besides did I leam among
these poor women ; so many, indeed, that I forget
the details of ail. Stories of this kind are said to
be without foundation : I say that# there are more
of them in our midst than it is possible to imagine.
Women of good éducation, but without money, are
forced to eara their living. They déterminé to
leave their home, either because false pride pre-118
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OF
vents their seeking work where they hâve been
brought up as ladies, or because this work is so
scarce that they cannot earn by it even a life of
semi-starvation ; while they are encouraged to be-
lieve that in this country they will readily find
proper employment. They are too well educated
to become domestics ; better educated, indeed,
than are half the teachers here : but modesty,
and the habit of thinking that they must pass
through the same legal ordeal as in Europe, pre-
vent them from seeking places in this capacity.
They ail know how to embroider in the most beau-
tiful manner ; and, knowing that this is well paid
for in Europe, seek to find employment of this kind
in the stores. Not being able to speak English,
they believe the stories of the clerks and proprie-
tors, and are made to work at low wages, and are
often swindled out of their money. They feel home-
sick, forlorn and forsaken in the world. Their
health at length fails them, and they cannot earn
bread enough to keep themselves from starvation.
They are too proud to beg ; and the conséquence is,
that they walk the streets, or throw themselves into
the river.
I met scores of these friendless women. Some
I took into my house ; for others I found work,“woman’s right to labor.”
119
and made myself a sort of guardian ; while to
others I gave friendship to keep them morally
alive. It is a curious fact, that these women are
chiefly Germans. The Irish resort at once to beg-
gary, or are inveigled into brothels, as soon as they
arrive; while the French are always intriguing
enough either to put on a white cap and find a
place as bonne, or to secure a private lover,
I am often in despair about the helplessness of
women, and the readiness of men to let them earn
money in abundance by shame, while they grind
them down to the merest pittance for honorable
work. Shame on society, that women are forced
to surrender themselves to an abandoned life and
death, when so many are enjoying wealth and lux-
ury in extravagance ! I do not wish them to divide
their estâtes with the poor; I am no friend to
communism in any form : I only wish institutions
that shall give to women an éducation from child-
hood, that will enable them, like young men, to earn
their livelihood. These weak women are the last
to corne forth to aid in their émancipation from
inefficient éducation. We cannot calculate upon
these : we must educate the children for better po-
sitions, and leave the adults to their destiny.
How many women marry only for a shelter or a120
A FRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OF
home ! How often hâve I been the eonfîdante of
girls, who the day before, arrayed.in satin, had
given their hands to rich men before the altar,
while their hearts were breaking with suppressed
agony I and this, too, among Americans, this great,
free nation, who, notwithstanding, let their women
starve. It is but lately that a young woman said
to me, u I thank Heaven, my dear doctor, that you
are a woman; for now I can tell you the truth
about my health. It is not my body that is sick,
but my heart. These flounces and velvets cover a
body that is sold,—sold legally to a man who could
pay my father’s debts.” Oh ! I scorn men, some-
times, from the bottom of my heart. Still this is
wrong : for it is the women’s, the mothers’ fault, in
educating their daughters to be merely beautiful
machines, fit to ornament a fine establishment ;
while, if they do not succeed in gaining this, there
is nothing left but wretchedness of mind and body.
Women, there is a connection between the Fifth
Avenue and the Five Points ! Both the rich and
the wretched are types of womanhood; both are
linked together, forming one great body ; and both
hâve the same part in good and evil. I can hardly
leave this subject, though it may seem to hâve little
to do with my American expérience ; but a word“ woman’s right to labor.”
121
spoken from a full heart not only gives relief, but
may fall on one listening ear, and take root there.
I must now retum to my new enterprise. The
business paid well : and, although I was often forced
to work with my sistîer till the dawn of morning,
we were happy ; for we had ail that we needed,
and I could Write home that the offered assistance
was superfluous. Here I must say, that I had
resolved, on leaving Berlin, never to ask for aid, in
order that I might be able with perfect freedom to
carry out my plans independently of my family.
How this was ever to be done, I did not yet see ;
though I had a good opportunity to learn, from iife
and from the papers, what I had to expect here.
But this mode of instruction, though useful to one
seeking to become a philosopher, was very unsatis-
faetory to me. The chief thing that I learned was,
that I must acquire English before I could under-
take any thing. And this was the most difficult
point to overcome. I am not a linguist by nature :
ail that I learn of languages must be obtained by
the greatest perseverance and industry ; and, for
this, my business would not allow me time.
Shortly after I had fairly established my3elf in
the manufacturing business, I received news from122
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
Berlin, tliat Sister Catherine had left the Hospital
Charité, and was intending to join me in America,
in order to aid me in carrying out my plan for the
establishment of a hospital for women in the New
World. The parties interested in her had finally
succeeded in placing her in tlie wished-for position,
thus disconnecting her from the sisterhood. But,
after my departure, the position became greatly mo-
dified in rank, and inferior in character. Private
reasons besides made it disagreeable for her to re-
main there any longer ; and in this moment she
remembered my friendship towards her, and in
the unfortunate belief that she shared with many
others, that ail that I designed to do I could do at
once, resolved to corne to me, and offer her assist-
ance. She joined us on the 22d of August, and
was not a little disappointed to find me in the tassel
instead of the medical line. The astonishment
with which her acquaintances in Berlin heard her
announce her intention of going to seek help from
a person to whom she had been less than a friend,
could not be expressed in words ; and she told me
that the annoyance that they manifested was really
the chief stimulus that decided her to corne at last.
She arrived without a cent. Having always found
friends enough ready to supply her with money,“woman’s right to labor.”
123
whenever she wished to establish a temporary hospi-
tal, it had never occurred to her that she should need
any for private use, beyond just enough to fumish the
simple blue merino dress of the sisterhood, which
had often been provided for her by the Kaiserswerth
Institute. But heré she was ; and she very soon
learned to understand the difficulties which must
be overcome before I could enter again into my
profession. She became satisfied, and lived with
us, sharing equally in whatever we had ourselves.
There is a peculiar satisfaction in showing kindness
to a person who has injured us, though unconsci-
ously, under different circumstances : and, in her
case, she was not entirely unconscious of the harm
she had done me ; for she confessed to me while in
America, that her acquaintance was courted by ail
those who had been thwarted in their opposition
by my appointment, and that she knew well that
they sought every opportunity to annoy me.
On the ISth of September, a sister, one year
younger than myself, joined us ; having been
tempted by our favorable accounts to try a life of
adventure. We were now four in the family. But
Catherine gradually grew discontented. Having
been accustomed to the comforts afforded in large
institutions, and to receiving attentions from the124
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
most aristocratie families of Prussia, the monoto-
nous life that we led was only endurable to her so
long as the novelty lasted. This soon wore off,
and she became anxious for a change. She had
heard her fellow-passengers speak of a Pastor S.,
who had been sent to America as a missionary ;
and she begged me to seek him out, and take
her to him, that she might consult him as to
what she had best do. I did so, and she soon be-
came acquainted with his family. Mr. S. exerted
himself in her behalf, and secured her a place as
nurse in the Home for the Friendless, where she
had the charge of some thirty children. This was
a heavy task ; for, though none were under a year
old, she was constantly disturbed through the night,
and could get but a few hours’ consecutive sleep.
Besides, she could not become reconciled to wash-
ing under the hydrant in the morning, and to being
forced to mingle with the commonest Irish girls.
She was in every respect a lady, and had been ac-
customed to hâve a servant at her command, even
in the midst of the typhus-fever in the desolate
districts of Silesia; while here she was not even
treated with humanity. This soon grew unbeara-
ble ; and she returned to us on the 16th of October,
after having been only ten days in the institution.“ woman’s right to labor.”
125
S o eager was she to make her escape, that she did
not even ask for the two dollars that were due her
for wages. But we could not receiTe her ; for we
had takcn another woman in her place, as friend-
less and as penniless as she. Besides, a misfortune
had just fallen upon us. During the night before,
our doors had been unlocked, our bureau-drawers
inspected, and ail our money, amounting to fifty-two
dollars, carried off ; and, when Catherine arrived,
we were so poor that we had to borrow the bread
and milk for our breakfast. Fortunately, the day
before, I had refused the payment due me for a
large bill of goods ; and this came now in a very
good time. I did not feel justifîed, however, in
increasing the family to five aller our loss ; nor did
she claim our assistance, but went again to Pastor
S., who had invited her to visit his family. With
his assistance, she obtained some private nursing,
which maintained her until the congrégation had
collected money enough to enable her to return to
Berlin ; which she did on the 2d of December.
Having many friends in the best circles of that city,
she immediately found a good practice again ; and is
now, as she says, enjoying lifb in a civilized manner.
We moved at once from the scene of the rob-
bery, and took a part of a house in Monroe Street,126
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
for which we paid two hundred dollars a year.
Our business continued good, and I had some pro-
spects of getting into practice. But, with spring,
the demand for worsted goods ceased ; and as my
practice brought me work, but no money, I was
forced to look out for something else to do. By
accident, I saw in a store a coiffure made of silk, in
imitation of hair, winch I bought ; but I found, on
examination, that I could not manufacture it, as it
was machine-work. I went, therefore, to Mr. G.,
and proposed to establish a business with him, in
which he should manufacture these coiffures, while
I would sell them by Wholesale to the merchants
with whom I was acquainted. Mr. G. had com-
pletely ruined himself during the winter by
neglecting his business and meddling with Tam-
many-Hall politics, which had wasted his money
and his time. He had not a single workman in
his shop when I called, and was too much discou-
raged to think of any new enterprise ; but, on my
telling him that I would be responsible for the first
outlay, he engaged hands, and, in less than a month,
had forty-eight persons busily employed. In this
way I earned money during the spring, and freed
myself from the obligations which his kindness in
receiving us the spring before had laid upon us.“woman’s right to labor.”
127
My chief business now was to sell the goods
manufactured by Mr. G. Our worsted business
was very small ; and the prospect was that it would
cease entirely, and that the coiffure that we made
would not long continue in fashion. Some other
business, therefore, had to be found, especially as
it was impossible for us to lay up money. Our
family now consisted of myself and two sisters,
the friend that was staying with us, and a brother,
nineteen years of âge, who had joined us during
the winter, and who, though an engineer and in
good business, was, like most young men, thought-
less, and more likely to increase than to lighten
our burdens. Our friend Mr. C., who had be-
come our constant visitor, planned at this time a
journey to Europe ; so that our social life seemed
also about to corne to an end.
On the 13th of May, 1854, as I was riding down
to the stores on my usual business, reveries of the
past took possession of my mind. Almost a year
in America, and not one step advanced towards
my purpose in coming hither ! It was true that I
had a comfortable home, with enough to live upon,
and had repaid my sister the money that I had
borrowed from her on our arrivai ; yet what kind
of a life was it that I was leading, in a business128	A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
foreign to my nature and inclinations, and without
even the prospect of enlarging this ? These ré-
factions made me so sad, that, when I reached the
store, the book-keeper noticed my dejection, and
told me, by way of cheering me, that he had another
order for a hundred dollars’ worth of goods, &c. ;
but this did not relieve me. I entered the omnibus
again, specuiating constantly on what I should do
next ; when a thought suddenly dawned upon me.
Might not the people in the Home for the Friend-
less be able to give me advice? I had hardly
conceived the idea, when I determined to ride
directly up there, instead of stopping at the Street
in which I lived. I thought, besides, that some
employment might be found for my sister Anna, in
which she could learn the English language, for.
which she had evinced some talent, while I had
decided that I could never become master of it. I
had seen the matron, Miss Goodrich, once when
I called there on Catherine S. She had a humane
face, and I was persuaded that I should find a
friend in her. I was not mistaken. I told her of
my plans in coming here, and of our présent mode
of life and prospects ; and confided to her my dis-
appointment and dejection, as well as my détermi-
nation to persevere courageously. She seemed to“woman’s right to labor.” 129
understand and to enter into my feelingsr and
promised to see Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, whom
she advised me to call upon at once.
I went home full of the hope and inspiration of
a new life. Dear Mary, you can hardly compre-
hend the happiness of that morning. I was not
suffering, it is true, for the necessaries of life ; but,
what was far worse, I suffered from the feeling
that I lived for no purpose but to eat and to drink.
I had no friends who were interested in the pursuits
towards which my nature inclined ; and I saw
crowds of arrogant people about me, to whom I
could not prove that I was their equal in spite of
their money. My sisters had not seen me so cheer-
ful since our arrivai in America, and thought that
I had surely discovered the philosopher^ stone. I
told them of what I had done, and received their
approbation.
On the morning of the 15th of May,—the anni-
versary of the death of Dr. Schmidt and of my
greatest joy and my greatest misery, — we received
a call from Miss Goodrich, who told us that she
had seen Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, and thought that
she had also procured a suitable place for my sister.
She gave us the addresses of Dr. Blackwell and of
Miss Catherine Sedgwick. We called first upon the
#	9130
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
latter, who was extremely kind ; and although she
had quite misunderstood our wishes, — having ex-
erted herself to procure a place for my sister in a
way that manifested the belief that we had neither
a home nor the means to live, — yet her friendliness
and readiness to assist us made us for ever grateful
to her. At that time we did not know her standing
in society, and looked upon her merely as a benevo-
lent and wealthy woman. We soon learned more
of her, however : for, though unsuccessful in her
first efforts, she shortly after sent for my sister,
having secured her a place in Mr. Théodore Sedg-
wick’s family ; which was acceptable, inasmuch as
it placed her above the level of the servants. She
remained there seven weeks, and then returned
home.
On the same moraing, I saw Dr. Elizabeth
Blackwell ; and from this call of the 15th of May
I date my new life in America. She spoke a little
German, and understood me perfectly when I
talked. I gave her ail my certificates for inspec-
tion, but said nothing to her of my plans in coming
to America. It would hâve seemed too ludicrous
for me in my position to tell her that I entertained
the idea of interesting the people in the establish-
ment of a hospital for women. I hardly know“woman’s right to labor.”
131
what I told her, indeed ; for I had no other plan of
which to speak, and therefore talked eonfusedly,
lîke an adventnrer. I only know that I said that
I would take the position of nurse, if I could enter
one of the large hospitals, in order to learn the
manner in which they were managed in this coun-
try.
I cannot comprehend how Dr. Blackwell could
ever hâve taken so deep an interest in me as she
manifested that morning ; for I never in my life
was so little myself. Yet she did take this interest ;
for she gave me a sketch of her own expérience in
acquiring a medical éducation, and explained the
requirements for such in this country, and the ob-
stacles that are thrown in the way of women who
seek to.become physicians. She told me of her plan
of founding a hospital, — the long-cherished idea
of my life ; and said that she had opened a little
dispensary — the charter for which was procured
during the preceding winter, under the name of
“The New-York Infîrmary for Indigent Women
and Children ” — on the lst of May, two weeks
before, and which was designed to be the nucléus
for this hospital, where she invited me to corne and
assist her. She insisted that, first of ail, I should
leam English ; and offered to give me lessons twice132
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
a week, and also to make efforts to enable me to
enter a college to acquire the title of M.D., which
I had not the right to attach to my name. I left
her after several hours’ conversation, and we parted
friends.
. I continued my work at home ; going regularly to
Dr. Blackwell to receive lessons in English, and
to assist her in the dispensary. As we grew better
acquainted, I disclosed more to her of the fact, that
I had a fixed plan in coming to this country ; which
increased her interest in me. She wrote in my
behalf to the different colleges, and at length suc-
ceeded in obtaining admission for me to the
Cleveland Medical College (Western Reserve), on
the most favorable terms ; crédit being given me
on the lecture-fees for an indefinite time.
Here I must stop to tell you why this crédit was
necessary. The articles that I had manufactured
had gone out of fashion in May : and I could not
invent any thing new, partly because I no longer
felt the same interest as before, knowing that I
should soon go to a medical college ; and partly
because the articles then in fashion were cheaper
when imported. We had to live for a little while
on the money that we had laid up, until I procured
a commission for embroidering caps. It is per-“woman’s right to labor.”
133
fectly wonderful into what kinds of business I was
forced, ail foreign to my taste.
And here let me tell you some secrets of this
kind of business, in which hundreds of women
starve, and hundreds more go down to a life of
infamy. Cap-making (the great business of Water
Street of New York) gives employment to thou-
sands of unfortunates. For embroidering caps,
the Wholesale dealer pays seven cents each ; and
for making up, three cents. To make a dozen a
day, one must work for sixteen hours. The em-
broidering is done in this wise : I received the
eut cloth from the Wholesale dealer ; drew the pat-
tern upon each cap ; gave them, with three cents’
worth of silk, to the embroiderer, who received three
cents for her work ; then pressed and returned
them ; thus making one cent on each for myself.
B y working steadily for sixteen hours, a girl could
embroider fifleen in a day. I gave out about six
dozen daily ; eaming, like the rest, fifby cents a day:
unless I chose to do the stamping and pressing at
night, and to embroider a dozen during the day ; in
which case, I earaed a dollar.
One can live in this way for a little while, until
health fails, or the merchant says that the work
has corne to an end. You will think this terrible134
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
again. Oh, no ! tins is not terrible. The good men
provide in another way. They tell every woman of
a prepossessing appearance, that it is wrong in her
to work so hard ; that many a man would be glad
to care for her ; and that many women live quite
comfortably with the help of a friend. They say,
further, that it is lonely to live without ever going
to church, to the concert and theatre ; and that if
these women would only permit the speakers to
visit them, and to attend them to any of these places,
they would soon fînd that they would no longer be
obliged to work so hard. This is the polished talk
of gentlemen who enjoy the réputation of piety and
respectability, and who think it a bad spéculation
to pay women liberally for their work. So it would
be, in truth ; for these poor créatures would not be
so willing to abandon themselves to a disreputa-
ble life, if they could procure bread in any other
way.
During the summer of 1854, I took work on
commission from men of this sort. While in Ber-
lin, I had learned from the prostitutes in the hospi-
tal in what manner educated women often became
what they then were. The average story was al-
ways the same. The purest love made them weak ;
their lover deceived and deserted them ; their“woman’s right to labor.” Î35
family cast them off b y way of punishment. In
their disgrâce, they went to bury themselves in
large cities, where the work that they could find
scarcely gave tbem their daily bread. Their em-
ployers, attracted by their personal appearance and
the refinement of their speech and manners, offered
them assistance in another way, in which they could
earn money without work. In despair, they ac-
cepted the proposais ; and sunk gradually, step
by step, to the depths of dégradation, as depicted
by Hogarth in the “ Harlot’s Progrès s.” In New
York, I was thrown continually among men who
were of the stamp that I described before ; and can
say, even from my own expérience, that no man is
ever more polite, more friendly, or more kind, than
one who has impure wishes in his heart. It is
really so dangerous for a woman of refined nature
to go to such stores, that I never suffered my sister
to visit them ; not because I feared that she would
listen to these men, but because I could not endure
the thought that so innocent and beautiful a girl
should corne in contact with them, or even breathe
the same atmosphère. When fathers are unwilling
that their daughters shall enter life as physicians,
lawyers, mer-chants, or in any other public capacity,
it is simply because they belong to the class that so136
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
contaminâtes the air, that none can breathe it but
themselves ; or because, from being thrown con-
stantly in contact with sucb men, they arrive at the
same point ât which I then stood, and say to them-
selves, u I can afford to meet such men. I am
steeled by my knowledge of mankind, and supported
by the philosophy that I hâve leamed during years
of trial. It cannot hurt me ; but, by ail means,
spare the young and beautiful the same expé-
rience ! ”
I dealt somewhat haughtily with the merchants
whom I hâve described, in a manner that at once
convinced them of my position. But the consé-
quence was, that the embroidery commission, which
had commenced so favorably, suddenly ceased,
u because the Southern trade had faited in truth,
because I would not allow any of these men to say
any more to me than was absolutely necessary in
our business. My income became less and less,
and we were forced to live upon the money that
we had laid up during the year. I did not look for
any new sources of employment, for I was intend-
ing to go to Cleveland in October ; while my next
sister had business of her own, and Anna was en-
gaged to be married to our friend Mr. C. My
brother was also with them ; and my mother’s“ woman’s right to labor.”
137
brother, whom she had adopted as a child, was on
his way to America.
After having settled our affairs, fifty dollars re-
ïnained as my share ; and, with this sum, I set out
for Cleveland on the 16th of October, 1854. Dr.
Elizabeth Blackwell had supplied me with the ne-
cessary medical text-books ; so that I had no other
expenses than my jouraey and the matriculation
fees, which together amounted to twenty dollars,
leaving thirty dollars in my possession.
I do not believe that many begin the study of
medicine with so light a purse and so heavy a heart
as did I. My heart was heavy for the reason that
I did not know a single sentence of English. Ail
of my study with Dr. Blackwell had been like rain-
drops falling upon stone : I had profited nothing.
The lectures I did not care for, since there was
more need of my studying English than medicine :
but the subjects were well known to me ; and I
therefore reasoned, that, by hearing familiar things
treated of in English, I must learn the language ;
and the logic held good.
I hâve alrëady told you that the Faculty had
agreed to give me crédit for my lecture-fees. Dr.
Blackwell had written also to 'a lady there, who
had called upon her some time before in the capa-138
A PEACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
city of President of a Physiological Society, whicli,
among other good things, h ad established a small
fund for the assistance of women desirous of study-
ing medicine. This lady (Mrs. Caroline M. Seve-
rance) replied in the most friendly manner, saying
that I might corne directly to her house, and that
she would see that my board for the winter was
secured by the Physiological Society over which
she presided.
The journey to Cleveland was a silent but a
pleasant one. Through a mishap, I arrived on
Saturday night, instead of in the morning ; and,
being unwilling to disturb Mrs. Severance at so late
an hour, went first to a hôtel. But what trials I
had there ! No one could understand me ; until at
last I wrote on a slate my own name and Mrs.
Severance’s, with the words, “A carnage,” and
“ To-morrow.” From this the people inferred that
I wished to stay at the hôtel ail night, and to hâve
a carriage to take me to Mrs. Severance’s the next
day ; as was the case. A waiter took my carpet-
bag, and conducted me to a room. I could not
understand his directions to the supper-room, nei-
ther could I make him understand that I wanted
some suppér in my own room ; and the conséquence
was, that I went to bed hungry, having eatenu woman’s right to labor.”
139
nothing ail day but a little bread, and an apple for
luncheon.
As soon as I was dressed tbe next morning, I
rang tbe bell furiously ; and, on the appearance of
the waiter, exclaimed, u Beefsteak ! ” This time
be comprehended me, and went laughingly away to
bring me a good breakfast. I often saw the same
waiter afterwards at the hôtel ; and he never saw
me without laughing, and exclaiming, “ Beef-
steak ! ”
In the course of the forenoon, I was taken in a
carriage to the house of Mrs. Severance ; but the
family were not at home. I retumed to the hôtel,
somewhat disheartened and disappointed. Al-
though I should hâve supposed that death was not
far off if no disappointment had happened to me
when I least expected it, yet this persistent going
wrong of every thing in Cleveland was really
rather dispiriting. But a bright star soon broke
through the clouds, in the shape of Mr. Severance,
who came into the parlor directly after dinner,
calling for me in so easy and so cordial a manner,
that I forgot every thing, and was perfectly happy.
This feeling, however, lasted only until I reached
the house. I found four fine children, ail full of
childish curiosity to hear me talk ; who, as soon as140
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
they found that I could not make myself under-
stood by them, looked on me with that sort of con-
tempt peculiar to children when they discover that
a person cannot do as much as they can themselves.
Mr. Severance, too, was expecting to find me ac-
complished in music, “ like ail Germans ; ” and had
to learn that I had neither voice nor ear for the art
Mrs. Severance understood a little German, yet not
half enough to gain any idea of how much or how
little I was capable of doing ; and therefore looked
upon me with a sort of uncertainty as to what was
my real capacity. This position was more provok-
ing than painful ; there was even something ludi-
crous in it : and, when not annoyed, I often went
into my room to indulge in a hearty laugh by
myself.
I met with a most cordial réception in the col-
lege. The dean (Dr. John J. Delamater) received
me like a father ; and, on the first day, I felt per-
fectly at home. Ail was going on well. I had a
home at Mrs. Severance’s ; while, despite my muti-
lated English, I found many friends in the college*
when circumstances changed every thing. Some
changes occurred in Mr. Severance’s business ; and
he was forced, in conséquence, to give up house-
keeping. At that time, I did not know that the“woman’s kight to labor.”
141
Fhysiological Society was ready to lend me money ;
and was therefore in great distress. I never expe-
rienced so bitter a day as that on which Mrs. Seve-
rance told me that I conld stay with her no longer.
It was but five weeks after my arrivai, and I was
not able to make myself understood in the English
language, which was like chaos to me. On the
same day, I well remember, that, for the fîrst time
in my life, I made an unsuccessful attempt to bor-
row money ; and, because it was the first and the
last time, it was the more painful to me to be re-
fused. I envied the dog that lived, and was happy
without troubling his brain ; I envied the kitchen-
maid, that did her work mechanically, and enjoyed
life far more than those fitted by nature for some-
thing higher, while the world would go on just as
well without them as with them.
Mrs. Severance secured a boarding-place for me
for the rest of the winter ; and paid my board,
amounting to thirty-three dollars, from the funds
of the society. I lived quietly by myself ; studied
six hours daily at home, with four dictionaries by
me ; attending six lectures a day, and going in the
evenmg for three hours to the dissecting - rooms.
I never conversed with any one in the boarding-
house, nor even asked for any thing at the table ;142
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
but was supplied like a mute. This silence was
fruitful to me. About New Year, I ventured to
make my English audible ; when, lo ! every one un-
derstood me perfectly. From this time forward,
I sought to make acquaintances, to the especial de-
light of good old Dr. Delamater, who had firmlv
believed that I was committing graduai suicide.
Through Mrs. Severance, I became acquainted
with Dr. Harriot K. Hunt, who was then on a
visit to Cleveland ; and, through her, with the Itev.
A. D. Mayo, who was pastor of a small society
there, known as that of the Liberal Christians.
I found many dear and valued friends during my
résidence in Cleveland, but none to whom I am
bound in lasting gratitude as to Mr. Mayo, who
offered me his assistance when he learned that I
was in need ; my extra expenses having swallowed
up the little money that I had brought with me, so
that I had not even enough to return to my sisters
in New York. As the minister of a small congré-
gation, advocating Liberal ideas, he had a hard
position in Cleveland, both socially and pecuniarily ;
yet he offered to share his little with me. I was
forced to accept it ; and I am now, and hâve always
been, glad that I did so. No one, that has not had
the expérience, can appreciate the happiness that“woman’s right to labor.”
143
cornes with the feeling, tliat a rich man has not
cast a fragment of his superfluity towards you (and
here let me remark, that it is next to impossible to
fînd wealth and generosity go together in friend-
ship), but that the help cornes from one who must
work for it as well as the récipient. It proves the
existence of the mutual appréciation that is known
by the name of “ friendship.” The apple given by a
friend is worth ten times more than a whole orchard
bestowed in such a way as to make you feel that
the gift is but the superfluity of the donor.
I remained for ten months a member of Mr.
Mayo’s family ; when he received a call to Albany,
and changes had to be made in his household.
During this time, I eamed a little money by giving
lessons in German, that served to cover my most
necessary expenses. For the last five months that
I spent in Cleveland, I carried in my purse one
solitary cent as a sort of talisman ; firmly believing
that some day it would turn into gold : but this
did not happen ; and on the day that I was expect-
ing the receipt of the last eighteen dollars for my
lessons, which were designed to bear my expenses
to New York, I gave it to a poor woman in the
Street who begged me for a cent ; and it doubtless,
ere long, found its way into a gin-shop.144
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OF
The twenty months that I spent in Cleveland were
chiefly devoted to the study of medicine in the
English language ; and in this I was assisted by
most noble - hearted men. Dr. Delamater’s office
became a pleasant spot, and its occupants a neces-
sity to me ; and, on the days that I did not meet
them, my spirits fell below zéro. In spite of the
pecuniary distress from which I constantly suffered,
I was happier in Cleveland than ever before or
since. I lived in my element ; having a fixed pur-
pose in view, and enjoying the warmest tokens of
real friendship. I was liked in the college ; and,
though the students often found it impossible to
repress a hearty laugh at my ridiculous blunders in
English, they always showed me respect and fel-
lowship in the highest sense of the terms. In the
beginning of the first winter, I was the only wo-
man after the first month, another was admitted ;
and, during the second winter, there were three
besides myself that attended the lectures and gradu-
ated in the spring. I should certainly look upon
this season as the spring-time of my life, had not a
sad event thrown a gloom over the whole.
In the autumn of 1854, after deciding to go to
Cleveland to résumé my medical studies, I wrote
to my parents to tell them of my hopes and aims.“ woman’s right to labor.”
145
These letters were not received with the same
pleasure with which they had been written. My
father, who had encouraged me before my entrance
upon a public career, was not only grieved by my
return to my old mode of life, but greatly opposed
to it, and manifested tbis in the strongest words in
the next letter that I received from him. My mo-
ther, on the contrary, who had not been at ail
enthusiastic in the beginning, was rather glad to
receive the news. As I had left many good friends
among the physicians of Berlin, my letters were
always circulated, after their arrivai, by one of their
number who stood high in the profession ; and,
though I did not receive my father’s approbation,
he sent me several letters from strangers who
approved my conduct, and who, after hearing my
letters, had sent him congratulations upon my
doings in America. How he received the respect
thus manifested to him, you can judge from a pas-
sage in one of his letters, which I will quote to
you: —
M I am proud of you, my daughter ; yet you give
me more grief than any other of my children. If
you were a young man, I could not find words
in which to express my satisfaction and pride in
respect to your acts ; for I know that ail you
10146
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
accomplish you owe to yourself: but you are a
woman, a weak woman ; and ail that I can do for
you now is to grieve and to weep. O my daugh-
ter ! return from this unhappy path. Believe me,
the temptation of living for humanity en masse,
magnificent as it may appear in its aim, will lead
you only to learn that ail is vanity ; while the in-
gratitude of the mass for whom you choose to work
will be your compensation.”
Letters of this sort poured upon me ; and, when
my father learned that neither his reasoning nor
his prayers could turn me from a work which I
had begun with such enthusiasm, he began to
threaten; telling me that I must not expect any
pecuniary assistance from him ; that I would con-
tract debts in Cleveland which I should never be
able to pay, and which would certainly undermine
my prospects ; with more of this sort. My good
father did not know that I had vowed to myself, on
my arrivai in America, that I would never ask his
aid ; and besides, he never imagined that I could
go for five months with a single cent in my pocket.
Oh, how small ail these difficultés appeared to me,
especially at a time when I began to speak English î
I felt so rich, that I never thought money could not
be had, whenever I wanted it in good earnest.“woman’s right to labor.”
147
After having been nine months in Cleveland, I
received news that my mother had left Berlin
with my two yonngest sisters to pay us a visit, and
to seê what the prospects would be for my father jn
case sbe chose to remain. Dear Mary, shall I
attempt to describe to you the feeling^ that over-
powered me on the receipt of these tidings ? If I
did, you never could feel it with me : for I could not
picture in words the joy that I felt at the prospect
of beholding again the mother whom I loved be-
yond ail expression, and who was my friend
besides ; for we really never thought of each other
in our relation of mother and child, but as two who
were bound together as friends in thought and in
feeling. No : I cannot give you a description of
this, especially as it was mingled with the fear that
I might not hâve the means to go to greet her in
New York before another ten months were over.
Day and night, night and day, she was in my mind ;
and, from the time that I had a right to expect her
arrivai, I counted the hours from morning until
noon, and from noon until night, when the telegraph
office would be closed. At length, on the 18th of
September, the despatch came, — not to me, but to
my friend Mr. Mayo, — bearing the words, “Tell
Marie that she must calmly and quietly receive the148
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
news that our good mother sleeps at thé bottom of
the océan, winch serves as her monument and her
grave.” Mary, this is the most trying passage
that I hâve to write in this sketch of my life ? and
you must not think me weak that tears blot the
words as I write. My mother fell a victim to sea-
sickness, which brought on a violent hemorrhage,
that exhausted the sources of life. She died three
weeks before the vessel reached the port ; and my
two sisters (the one seventeen and the other nine
years of âge) chose rather to hâve her lowered on
the Banks of Newfoundland, than bring to us a
corpse instead of the living. They were right;
and the great océan seems to me her fitting monu-
ment.
Of course, upon the receipt of these tidings, I
could remain no longer in Cleveland, but took my
last money, and went to New York to stay for a
while with my afflicted brother and sisters. The
journey was very bénéficiai to me ; for, without it,
I should not hâve been able to go through my win-
ter’s study. During my stay in New York, I often
visited Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, and leamed that
the little dispensary was closed because her prac-
tice prevented her from attending it regularly ; but
that, during my absence, she had been trying to“woman’s eight to labor.”
149
interest some wealthy friends in the collection of
money, to enable us, after my return in the spring,
to commence again upon a little larger scale. To
effectthis, she proposed to hold a fair during the
winter after my return ; and we concluded that
the first meeting for this purpose should be held
during my visit in New York. She succeeded in
calling together a few friends at her house, who
determined to form a nucléus for a Fair Associa-
tion, for the purpose of raising money for the New-
York Infirmary.
I made a visit of a few days to Boston, and then
returned again to Cleveland. The winter passed
in very much the same manner as the first, with
the différence that I spoke better English, and vi-
sited many friends whom I had made during the
preceding year. In the spring of 1856, I gradu-
ated. Shortly after commencement, the Dean of
the College (Dr. Delamater) called upon me at the
house of a friend with whom I was staying on a
visit. A call from this venerable gentleman was
a thing so unusual, that numberless conjectures as
to what this visit might mean flitted through my
brain on my way to the paidor. He received me,
as usual, paternally ; wished me a thousand bless-
ings; and handed back to me the note for one150
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
hundred and twenty dollars, payable in two years,
which I had given for the lecture-fees ; telling me,
that, in the meeting of the Faculty after graduating-
day, it was proposed by one of the professors to
return the note to me as a gift; to which those
présent cheerfully gave a unanimous vote, adding
their wishes for my success, and appointing Dr.
Delamater as their delegate to inform me of the
proceedings. This was a glorious beginning, for
which I am more than thankful, and for which I
was especially so at that time, when I had barely
money enough to return to New York, with very
small prospects of getting means wherewith to
commence practice. The mention of this fact
might be thought indiscreet by the Faculty in
Cleveland, were they still so organized as to admit
women ; which, I am sorry to say, is no longer the
case ; though they give as their reason, that women
at présent hâve their own medical colleges, and,
consequently, hâve no longer need of theirs.
Before I quit the subject of the Cleveland Col-
lege, I must mention a fact, which may serve as an
argument against the belief that the sexes cannot
study together without* exerting an injurious effect
upon each other. During the last winter of my
study, there was such émulation in respect to the“ woman’s right to labor.”
151
graduating honora among the candidates for gradua-
tion, comprising thirty-eight male and four female
students, that ail studied more closely than they
had ever done before — the men not wishing to be
excelled by the women, nor the women by the men ;
and one of the professors afterwards told me, that
whereas it was usually a difficult thing to décidé
upon the three best theses to be read publicly at the
commencement, since ail were more or lésa indif-
ferently written, this year the theses were ail so
good, that it was necessary, to avoid doing absolute
injustice, to select thirteen from which parts should
be read. Does not this prove that the stimulus of
the one sex upon the other would act rather favo-
rably than otherwise upon the profession ? and
would not the very best tonie that could be given
to the individual be to pique his amour propre by
the danger of being excelled by one of the opposite
sex ? Is not this natural ? and would not this be
the best and the surest reformation of humanity
and. ils social condition, if left free to work out its
own development ?
On the day following the visit of Dr. Delamater,
I received a letter from my brother-in-law, in which
he told me that his business compelled him to go to
Europe for half a year ; and that he had, therefore,152
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
made arrangements for me to procure money, in
case that I should need it to commence my practice.
Ile said that he intended to assist me afterwards ;
but that, as he thought it best for my sister (his
wife) to live out of New York during his absence,
he was willing to lend me as much money as I re-
quired until his return. I accepted his offer with
infinité pleasure ; for it was another instance of real
friendship. He was by no means a rich man, but
was simply in the employ of a large importing
house.
With these prospects I left Cleveland. Imme-
diately after my arrivai in New York, I began to
look out for a suitable office ; Consulting Dr. Eliza-
beth Blackwell, with whom I had maintained a
constant correspondence, in regard to location. I
soon found that I could not obtain a respectable
room without paying an exorbitant price. Some
were afraid to let an office to a female physician,
lest she might tum out a spiritual medium, clair-
voyant, hydropathist, &c. ; others, who believed
me when I told them that I had a diploma from a
regular school, and should never practise contrary
to its requirements, inquired to what religious déno-
mination I belonged, and whether I had a private
fortune, or intended to support myself by my prac-“ woman’s right to labor.”
153
tice ; while the third class, who asked no questions
at ail, demanded three dollars a day for a back
parlor alone, without the privilège of putting a
sign on the house or the door. Now, ail this may
be very aggravating, when it is absolutely necessary
that one should hâve a place upon which to put a
sign to let the world know that she is ready to try
her skill upon suffering humanity ; but it has such a
strongly ludicrous side, that I could not be provoked,
in spite of ail the fatigue and disappointment of
wandering over the city, when, with aching limbs,
I commenced the search afresh each morning, with
the same prospect of success. I finally gave up
looking for a room, and accepted Dr. Elizabeth
Blackwell’s offer to occupy her back parlor (the
front one serving as her own office) ; of which I
took possession on the 17th of April.
Meanwhile, I had regularly attended the Thurs-
day fair-meetings ; wondering how persons could
afford to meet to so little purpose. There was
scarcely any life in these gatherings ; and, when I
saw ladies corne week after week to résumé the
knitting of a baby’s stocking (which was always
laid aside again in an hour or two, without any
marked progress), I began to doubt whether the
sale of these articles would ever bring ten thousand154
A PEACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OF
cents, instead of the ten thousand dollars which it
was proposed at the first meeting to raise in order
to buy a house. I used to say on Wednesday,
“ To-morrow we hâve our fair-meeting. I wonder
whether there will be, as usual, twô and a half per-
sons présent, or three and three-quarters.”
I grew at length heartily sick of this kind of
effort, and set about speculating what better could
be done. The idea occurred to me to go from
house to house, and ask for a dimè at each, which,
if given, would amount to ten dollars a day ; and,
with the money thus collected daily for half a year,
to establish a nucléus hospital, which, as a fixed
fact, should stimulate its friends to further assist-
ance.
I took my note-book, and wrote out the whole
plan, and also calculated the expenses of such a
miniature hospital as I proposed ; including fumi-
ture, beds, household utensils ; every thing, in short,
that was necessary in such an institution. With
this book, which I still hâve in my possession, I
went one evening into Dr. Blackwell’s parlor, and,
seating myself, told her that I could not work any
longer for the fair in the way that the ladies were
doing ; and then read my plan to her, which I advo-
cated long and eamestly. She finally agreed with“ woman’s right to labor.”
155
me that it would be better speedily to establisb a
small hospital than to wait for the large sum that
had been proposed ; though she did not approve of
the scheme of the dime collection, fearing that I
would not only meet with great annoyances, but
would also injure my health in the effort. At that
time, after some discussion, I agreed with her :
now I think that this plan would hâve been better
than that which I afterwards followed. On the
same evening, I proposed, and we agreed, that, on
a year from that day (the lst of May, 1857), the
New-York Infirmary should be opened.
I went to rest with a light heart, but rose sor-
rowfully in the morning. u In one year from
to-day, the Infirmary must be opened,” said I to
myself ; u and the funds towards it are two pairs
of half-knit babies* stockings.” The day was passed
in thinking what was the next best scheme to raise
money for its foundation. At length I remembered
my visit to Boston, and some friends there whose
influence might help me to beg for an institution for
American women. For myself I could never hâve
begged; I would sooner hâve drowned myself:
now I determined to beg money from Americans to
establish an institution for their own benefit. This
plan was disclosed to Dr. Blackwell, and agreed156
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
upon, as there was nothing risked in it ; I taking
the whole responsibility.
On the next day, the fair-meeting was held at
Dr. BlackwelTs. The new plan was brought for-
ward; and, although it was as yet nothing but a
plan, it acted like a warm, soft rain upon a held
after a long drought. The knitting and sewing
(for which I hâve a private horror under ail con-
ditions) were laid aside, to my great relief ; and the
project was talked of with so much enthusiasm, that
I already saw myself in imagination making my
evening visits to the patients in the New-York In-
firmary ; while ail the members présent (and there
were unusually many ; I think, six or seven) dis-
cussed the question the next day among their circles
of friends, whether Henry Ward Beecher or a phy-
sician of high standing should make the opening
speech in the institution.
This excitement increased the interest exceed-
ingly, and the succeeding meetings were quite en-
thusiastic. The babies* stockings were never again
resumed (don’t think that, because I detested those
stockings so much, I am cruel enough to wish the
little créatures to go barefoot) ; but plans were
made for raising money in New York, and for get-
ting articles for sale on a larger scale. Dr. Black-“ woman’s right to labor.”
157
well wrote to her sister, Dr. Emily Blackwell, who
was at that time studyîng in England, requesting
her to make collections among their friends in that
conntry ; which she did with success.
After having thus thoroughly impressed the pub-
lic mind with the idea that the Infirmary must be
opened, we began to look about for a suitable
house. In autumn, I went to Boston to see what
aid could be obtained there. I cannot tell you
here in what manner I became acquainted with a
circle of noble women, who had both means and
the disposition to employ them for such a purpose :
it suffices to say, that I interested them in the un-
dertaking, and obtained a hundred dollars towards
the expenses of the fair, together with a promise
of a large table of fancy-goods, and an invitation
to corne again in case any further aid was needed.
At the end of three weeks, I left Boston for Phila-
delphia ; but here I was not successful, as ail who
were interested in the medical éducation of women
contributed largely already to the Philadelphia
College. A small table of fancy-goods was the
resuit of my visit there. The money and promise
of goods that I received in Boston stimulated our
friends in New York to such a degree, that, in spite
of Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell’s doubts as to whether158
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
we should cover the expenses, the fair realized a
thousand dollars. Yet this was not half sufficient
to commence the proposed hospital ; and I there-
fore proposed to Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell that I
should go on another begging tour through New
England, while she and her sister (Dr. Emily
Blackwell, who had arrived from England a week
before the fair) should arrange matters in New
York, where they had more acquaintances than I.
I went for the second time to Boston in February,
and met with unexpected success ; bringing back
about six hundred dollars in cash, with promises
of a like sum for the ensuing two years. I had
represented our scheme as a three-years’ experi-
ment. In the mean time, the Drs. Blackwell had
hired a large, old-fashioned house, No. 64, Bleeker
Street, which we had looked at together, and which
was very well suited to our purpose, devoting the
rest of their time chiefly to endeavors to interest
the Législature in our enterprise ; the resuit of
which was, that, though nothing was granted us
that spring, the next winter, when we could show
our institution in operation, the usual dispensary
grant was extended to us.
On the 3d of April, I returned from Boston,
and almost immediately went to work with some“ woman’s right to labor.”
159
of our lady-managers to order beds and to furnish
the house and dispensary, and also to superintend
the internai changes. After five weeks of hard
work, I had the pleasure, on the 15th of May, 1857,
of listening in the wards of the New-York Infirm-
ary to the opening speeches delivered by the Rev.
Henry Ward Beecher, Dr. Elder, and Rev. Dudley
Tyng.
A few days afterwards, I admitted the first house-
patient and opened the dispensary, which I attended
two days in the week ; Drs. Elizabeth and Emily
Blackwell taking charge of it for the remaining
four days. I had ofîered two years’ gratuitous
services as my contribution to the Infirmary, re-
maining there not only as résident physician, but
also as superintendent of the household and gene-
ral manager ; and attending to my private prac-
tice during the afternoon. The institution grew
rapidly, and the number of dispensary patients
increased to such an extent, that the time from
seven in the moraing until one in the afternoon
was wholly occupied in the examination of cases.
In the second year of the existence of the Infirma-
ry, the State of Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell’s health
compelled lier to go to Europe : and for nine months
Dr. Emily Blackwell and I took charge of the160
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
business, which at this time was considérable;
the attendance at the dispensary averaging sixty
daily.
During the course of this year, I received letters
from some of the Trustées of the New-England
Female Medical College in Boston, inquiring
whether I were inclined to take charge of a hos-
pital in connection with that institution. A con-
sultation on the subject with Drs. Elizabeth and
Emily Blackwell seemed to prove to us, that by
doing this, and helping the college to attain its
objects, we could probably best aid the cause of
the medical éducation of women. After hesitating
for a long time what course to pursue, I went to
Boston in the spring of 1859, in order to define in
a public address my views and position in respect
to the study of medicine. I found so great a desire
prevailing for the élévation of the institution to the
standard of the male medical colleges, and such
enthusiasm in respect to the proposed hospital, that
I concluded at once to leave the Infirmary ; Dr.
Elizabeth Blackwell’s absence having proved that
it could be sustained by two, not only without loss,
but with a steady increase, secured by the good
done by its existence. Having fulfilled my promise
of two years to the institution, on the 5th of June,“ woman’s right to labor.”
161
1859,1 left for Boston, where I am now striving to
make the hospital-department as useful as the New-
York Infirmary is to the public and the students.
Now, my dear Mary, you may think me very
long in my story, especially in the latter part, of
which you know much already ; but I could not
refrain from writing fully of this part of my life,
which has been the object of ail my undertakings,
and for which I hâve borne trials and overcome
difficulties which would hâve crushed nine out of
ten in my position. I do not expect that this will
be the end of my usefulness ; but I do expect that I
shall not hâve to write to you any more of my do-
ings. It was simply in order that you, my friend,
should understand me fully, and because you hâve
so often expressed a wish to know my life before
we met, that I finished this work. Now you hâve
me externally and intemally, past and présent:
and although there hâve been many influences be-
sides which hâve made their impressions on my
peculiar development, yet they are not of a nature
to be spoken of as facts; as, for instance, your
friendship for me.
On looking back upon my past life, I may say
that I am like a fine ship, that, launched upon high162
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
seas, is tossed about by the winds and waves, and
steered against contrary currents, until finally strand-
ed upon the shore, where, from the materials, a small
boat is built, just strong enough to reach the port
into which it had expected to enter with proud-
ly swelling sails. But this ambition is entirely
gone ; and I care now very little whether the people
recognize what is in me or not, so long as the ob-
ject for which I hâve lived becomes a reality.
And now, my good friend, I must add one wish
before I send these last few pages to you ; namely,
that I may be enabled some day to go with you to
Berlin, to show you the scenes in which my child-
hood and youth were passed, and to teach you on
the spot the différence between Europe and Ameri-
ca. Ail other inducements to retum hâve vanished.
The death of my father during the last year se-
vered the last tie that bound me to my native place.
Nearly ail the men who aided in promoting my
wishes hâve passed away ; and the only stimulus
that now remains to revisit the home of my youth
is the wish to wander about there with you, and
perhaps two or three other of my American friends.
Until this can be accomplished, I hope to continue
my présent work in the New-England Female
Medical College, which, though by no means yet44 woman’s right to labor.”
163
what we wish it to be, is deserving of every effort
to raise it to the stand that it ought to take among
the medical institutions of America.
Yours with love,
MARIE E. ZAKRZEWSKA.
Boston, September, 1859.
The sweet, pure song has ended. Happy she
who has been permitted to set its clear, strong notes
to music. I need not murmur that my own old
hand-organ grows useless, since it has been per-
mitted to grind out the key. Yet Marie’s story is
told so modestly, and with so much personal reserve,
that, for the sake of the women whom we are both
striving to help, I must be forgiven for directing
the public attention to a few of its points.
In ail respects, the 44 little blind doctor ” of the
story is the Marie Zakrzewska that we know.
The early anecdotes give us the poetic impressi-
bility and the enduring muscular fibre, that make
themselves felt through the lively, facile nature.
The voice that ordered the fetters taken off of crazy
Jacob is the voice we stiU hear in the wards of the
hospital. But that poetic impressibility did not164	A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
run wild with crazy fancies when she was left to
sleep on the floor of the dead-house: the same
strong sense controlled it that started the u tassel
manufactory” in New York, where it had been
meant to open a physician’s office. Only thirteen
years old when she left school, she had but little aid
beside a steady purpose in preparing for her career.
We hear of her slattemly habits ; but who would
ever guess them, who remembers the quiet, tasteful
dress of later years ?
How free from ail egotism is the record ! The
brain-fever which followed her attendance on her
two aunts is mentioned as quietly as if it were a
sprained foot. Who of us but can see the wearing-
away of nervous energy which took place with
the perpétuai care of a cancer and a somnambu-
list, pressed also by the hard reading suggested
by Dr. Arthur Liitze ? Berlin educated the second
La Chapelle ; but it was for America, not Germany.
The dreadful tragedy of Dr. Schmidt’s death is
hardly dwelt upon long enough to show its full
effects, so fearful is our friend of intruding a Per-
sonal matter.
WTien u Woman’s Right to Labor ” was printed,
many persons expressed their regret that so little
was said about sin and destitution in Boston itself ;“ woman’s right to labor.”
165
and many refused to believe that every pit-fall and
snare open in the Old World gaped as widely here.
u You hâve only the testimony of the girls them-
selves,,, they would reply, when I privately told
them what I had not thought it wise to print. I
hâve never regretted yielding to the motives which
decided me to withhold much that I knew. u If
they believe not Moses and the prophets, neither
would they believe though one rose from the dead,”
said, of old, the divine voice ; and the hearts that
were not touched by what I thought it fit to tell
would never hâve been stirred to energy by fuller
révélations.
In these pages, authenticated by a pure and cul-
tivated woman, who holds a high position among
us, every fact at which I hinted is made plain ; and
here no careless talker may challenge the record
with impunity. Here, as in New York, smooth-
faced men go on board the emigrant-ship, or the
steerage of the long-expected * steamer ; here, as
there, they make friendly offers and tell plausible
lies, which girls who hâve never walked the streets
of Berlin at night, nor seen the occupants of a hos-
pital-ward at the Charité, can hardly be expected
to estimate at their just worth. The stories which
I hâve told of unknown sufîerers are here repeated.166
A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OP
The grand - daughter of Krummacher marries a
poor shoemaker to save herself from vice, and
poor German Mary drowns herself in the Hudson
because she feels herself a burden on a heartless
brother. Better far to sink beneath its waves
than beneath the more remorseless flood which
sweeps over ail great cities. Now, when the story
of the Water- Street cap-makers is told, to be
matched by many another in Boston itself, it is no
longer some ignorant, half-trained stranger who
tells the story, but the capable, skilled woman,
who, educated for better things, made tassels and
coiffures, and accepted commissions in embroidery,
till the merchants were convinced that here, indeed,
was a woman without reproach. "Water-street
merchants would do well to remember hereafter that
the possibilities of a Zakrzewska lie hidden in every
oppre^ëd girl, and govern themselves accordingly.
Think of this accomplished woman, able to earn no
more than thirty-six cents a day, — a day sixteen
hours long, which finished a dozen caps at three
cents each ! What, then, must become of clumsy
and inferior work-women ? Think of it long and
patiently, till you corne to see, as she bids you,
the true relation between the idleness of women
and money in the Fifth Avenue and the hunted“ woman’s right to labor.” 167
squalor of women without money at the Five Points.
Women of Boston, the parallel stands good for
you. List en, and you may hear the dull murmur of
your own w Black Sea,” as it surges against your
gateway.
Hasten to save those whom it has not yet over-
whelmed. Believe me that many of them are as
pure and good as the babes whom you cradle in
cambric and lace. If you will not save them,
neither shall you save your own beloved ones from
the current which undermines like a u back-water”
your costliest churches, your most sacred homes.
CAROLINE H. DALL.
OCX. 29, 1860.L’ENVOI.
“ TJnbarred be ail your gates, and opened wide,
Till she who honors women sball corne in ! ”
Dante: Sonnet xx.