Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Carlyle's laugh and other surprises

[298] Goose in six different languages; Professor Goodwin beginning with a Greek version of “The man in the Moon,” and another Harvard man (now Dr. Gorham Bacon) following up with

Heu! iter didilum
Felis cum fidulum
Vacca transiluit lunam.
Caniculus ridet
Quum talem videt
Et dish ambulavit cum spoonam.

The question being asked by Mrs. Howe whether this last line was in strict accordance with grammar, the scholar gave the following rule: “The conditions of grammar should always give way to exigencies of rhyme.” In conclusion, two young girls, Annie Bigelow and Mariana Mott, were called forward to receive graduate degrees for law and medicine; the former's announcement coming in this simple form: “Annie Bigelow, my little lamb, I welcome you to a long career at the ba-a.”

That time is long past, but “The Hurdy-Gurdy,” or any one of the later children's books by Mrs. Howe's daughter, Mrs. Laura Richards, will give a glimpse at the endless treasury of daring fun which the second generation of that family inherited from their mother in her prime; which last gift, indeed, has lasted pretty