Half a Century

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Half a Century

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Half a Century, by Jane Grey Cannon Swisshelm This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: Half a Century
Author: Jane Grey Cannon Swisshelm
Release Date: April 15, 2004 [EBook #12052]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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HALF A CENTURY.
BY
JANE GREY SWISSHELM.
* * * * *
"God so willed: Mankind is ignorant! a man am I: Call ignorance my sorrow, not my sin!"
"O, still as ever friends are they Who, in the interest of outraged truth Deprecate such rough handling of a lie!"
ROBERT BROWNING.
1880.

PREFACE.
It has been assumed, and is generally believed, that the Anti-slavery struggle, which, culminated in the Emancipation Proclamation of 1862, originated in Infidelity, and was a triumph of Skepticism over Christianity. In no way can this error be so well corrected as by the personal history of those who took part in that struggle; and as most of them have passed from earth without leaving any record of the education and motives which underlay their action, the duty they neglected becomes doubly incumbent on the few who remain.
To supply one quota of the inside history of the great Abolition war, is the primary object of this work; but scarcely secondary to this object is that of recording incidents characteristic of the Peculiar Institution overthrown in that struggle.
Another object, and one which struggles for precedence, is to give an inside history of the hospitals during the war of the Rebellion, that the American people may not forget the cost of that Government so often imperiled through their indifference.
A third object, is to give an analysis of the ground which produced the Woman's Rights agitation, and the causes which limited its influence.
A fourth is, to illustrate the force of education and the mutability of human character, by a personal narrative of one who, in 1836, would have broken an engagement rather than permit her name to appear in print, even in the announcement of marriage; and who, in 1850, had as much newspaper notoriety as any man of that time, and was singularly indifferent to the praise or blame of the Press;--of one who, in 1837, could not break the seal of silence set upon her lips by "Inspiration," even so far as to pray with a man dying of intemperance, and who yet, in 1862, addressed the Minnesota Senate in session, and as many others as could be packed in the hall, with no more embarrassment than though talking with a friend in a chimney corner.
J.G.S.

CONTENTS


CHAPTER
I. I FIND LIFE
II. PROGRESS IN CALVINISM, HUNT GHOSTS, SEE LA FAYETTE
III. FATHER'S DEATH
IV. GO TO BOARDING SCHOOL
V. LOSE MY BROTHER
VI. JOIN CHURCH, AND MAKE NEW ENDEAVORS TO KEEP SABBATH
VII. DELIVERER OF THE DARK NIGHT
VIII. FITTING MYSELF INTO MY SPHERE
IX. HABITATIONS OF HORRID CRUELTY
X. KENTUCKY CONTEMPT FOR LABOR
XI. REBELLION
XII. THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH
XIII. "LABOR--SERVICE OR ACT"
XIV. SWISSVALE
XV. WILLOWS BY THE WATER-COURSES
XVI. THE WATERS GROW DEEP
XVII. MY NAME APPEARS IN PRINT
XVIII. MEXICAN WAR LETTERS
XIX. TRAINING SCHOOL
XX. RIGHTS OF MARRIED WOMEN
XXI. PITTSBURG SATURDAY VISITER
XXII. RECEPTION OF THE VISITER
XXIII. MY CROOKED TELESCOPE
XXIV. MINT, CUMMIN AND ANNIS
XXV. FREE SOIL PARTY
XXVI. VISIT WASHINGTON
XXVII. DANIEL WEBSTER
XXVIII. FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW--THE TWO RIDDLES
XXIX. BLOOMERS AND WOMAN'S RIGHTS CONVENTIONS
XXX. MANY MATTERS
XXXI. THE MOTHER CHURCH
XXXII. POLITICS AND PRINTERS
XXXIII. SUMNER, BURLINGAME AND CASSIUS M. CLAY
XXXIV. FINANCE AND DESERTION
XXXV. MY HERMITAGE
XXXVI. THE MINNESOTA DICTATOR
XXXVII. ANOTHER VISITER
XXXVIII. BORDER RUFFIANISM
XXXIX. SPEAK IN PUBLIC
XL. A FAMOUS VICTORY
XLI. STATE AND NATIONAL POLITICS
XLII. RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSIES
XLIII. FRONTIER LIFE
XLIV. PRINTERS
XLV. THE REBELLION
XLVI. PLATFORMS
XLVII. OUT INTO THE WORLD AND HOME AGAIN
XLVIII. THE ARISTOCRACY OF THE WEST
XLIX. THE INDIAN MASSACRE OF '62
L. A MISSIVE AND A MISSION
LI. NO USE FOR ME AMONG THE WOUNDED
LII. FIND WORK
LIII. HOSPITAL GANGRENE
LIV. GET PERMISSION TO WORK
LV. FIND A NAME
LVI. DROP MY ALIAS
LVII. HOSPITAL DRESS
LVIII. SPECIAL WORK
LIX. HEROIC AND ANTI-HEROIC TREATMENT
LX. COST OF ORDER
LXI. LEARN TO CONTROL PYAEMIA
LXII. FIRST CASE OF GROWING A NEW BONE
LXIII. A HEROIC MOTHER
LXIV. TWO KINDS OF APPRECIATION
LXV. LIFE AND DEATH
LXVI. MEET MISS DIX AND GO TO FREDERICKSBURG
LXVII. THE OLD THEATER
LXVIII. AM PLACED IN AUTHORITY
LXIX. VISITORS
LXX. WOUNDED OFFICERS
LXXI. "NOW I LAY ME DOWN TO SLEEP"
LXXII. MORE VICTIMS AND A CHANGE OF BASE
LXXIII. PRAYERS ENOUGH AND TO SPARE
LXXIV. GET OUT OF THE OLD THEATER
LXXV. TAKE BOAT AND SEE A SOCIAL PARTY
LXXVI. TAKE FINAL LEAVE OF FREDERICKSBURG
LXXVII. TRY TO GET UP A SOCIETY AND GET SICK
LXXVIII. AN EFFICIENT NURSE
LXXIX. TWO FREDERICKSBURG PATIENTS
LXXX. AM ENLIGHTENED
CONCLUSION

HALF A CENTURY.


CHAPTER I
.
I FIND LIFE.
Those soft pink circles which fell upon my face and hands, caught in my hair, danced around my feet, and frolicked over the billowy waves of bright, green grass--did I know they