Lives of Girls Who Became Famous | Page 5

was done.
Uncle Tom's Cabin was published March 20,1852. Then came the
reaction in her own mind. Would anybody read this book? The subject
was unpopular. It would indeed be a failure, she feared, but she would
help the story make its way if possible. She sent a copy of the book to
Prince Albert, knowing that both he and Queen Victoria were deeply
interested in the subject; another copy to Macaulay, whose father was a
friend of Wilberforce; one to Charles Dickens; and another to Charles
Kingsley. And then the busy mother, wife, teacher, housekeeper, and
author waited in her quiet Maine home to see what the busy world
would say.

In ten days, ten thousand copies had been sold. Eight presses were run
day and night to supply the demand. Thirty different editions appeared
in London in six months. Six theatres in that great city were playing it
at one time. Over three hundred thousand copies were sold in less than
a year.
Letters poured in upon Mrs. Stowe from all parts of the world. Prince
Albert sent his hearty thanks. Dickens said, "Your book is worthy of
any head and any heart that ever inspired a book." Kingsley wrote, "It
is perfect." The noble Earl of Shaftesbury wrote, "None but a Christian
believer could have produced such a book as yours, which has
absolutely startled the whole world.... I live in hope--God grant it may
rise to faith!--that this system is drawing to a close. It seems as though
our Lord had sent out this book as the messenger before His face to
prepare His way before Him." He wrote out an address of sympathy
"From the women of England to the women of America," to which
were appended the signatures of 562,448 women. These were in
twenty-six folio volumes, bound in morocco, with the American eagle
on the back of each, the whole in a solid oak case, sent to the care of
Mrs. Stowe.
The learned reviews gave long notices of Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Blackwood said, "There are scenes and touches in this book which no
living writer that we know can surpass, and perhaps none can equal."
George Eliot wrote her beautiful letters.
How the heart of Lyman Beecher must have been gladdened by this
wonderful success of his daughter! How Roxana Beecher must have
looked down from heaven, and smiled that never-to-be-forgotten smile!
How Harriet Beecher Stowe herself must have thanked God for this
unexpected fulness of blessing! Thousands of dollars were soon paid to
her as her share of the profits from the sale of the book. How restful it
must have seemed to the tired, over-worked woman, to have more than
enough for daily needs!
The following year, 1853, Professor Stowe and his now famous wife
decided to cross the ocean for needed rest. What was their astonishment,
to be welcomed by immense public meetings in Liverpool, Glasgow,

Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee; indeed, in every city which they visited.
People in the towns stopped her carriage, to fill it with flowers. Boys
ran along the streets, shouting, "That's her--see the courls!" A penny
offering was made her, given by people of all ranks, consisting of one
thousand golden sovereigns on a beautiful silver salver. When the
committee having the matter in charge visited one little cottage, they
found only a blind woman, and said, "She will feel no interest, as she
cannot read the book."
"Indeed," said the old lady, "if I cannot read, my son has read it to me,
and I've got my penny saved to give."
The beautiful Duchess of Sutherland entertained Mrs. Stowe at her
house, where she met Lord Palmerston, the Duke of Argyle, Macaulay,
Gladstone, and others. The duchess gave her a solid gold bracelet in the
form of a slave's shackle, with the words, "We trust it is a memorial of
a chain that is soon to be broken." On one link was the date of the
abolition of the slave trade, March 25, 1807, and of slavery in the
English territories, Aug. 1, 1834. On the other links are now engraved
the dates of Emancipation in the District of Columbia; President
Lincoln's proclamation abolishing slavery in the States in rebellion, Jan.
1, 1863; and finally, on the clasp, the date of the Constitutional
amendment, abolishing slavery forever in the United States. Only a
decade after Uncle Tom's Cabin was written, and nearly all this
accomplished! Who could have believed it possible?
On Mrs. Stowe's return from Europe, she wrote _Sunny Memories of
Foreign Lands_, which had a large sale. Her husband was now
appointed to the professorship of sacred literature in the Theological
Seminary at Andover, Mass., and here they made their home. The
students found in her a warm-hearted friend, and an inspiration to
intellectual