Stowe smiled
quietly according to her wont and passed on.
Great human tenderness was one of her chief characteristics. Although
she was a reformer by nature there was no sternness in her
composition. Forgetfulness of others there was certainly sometimes,
arising from her hopeless absent-mindedness and the preoccupation
consequent upon her work; but her whole life was swayed and ruled by
her affections.
Her love was a sheet anchor which held in the stormiest seas. Of her
household devotion it is impossible to speak fitly; but there are few
natures that can be said to have been more dependent upon human love.
Her tender ways were inexpressibly touching.
Early in life she had written to her brother while hardly more than a
girl: "I wish I could bring myself to feel perfectly indifferent to
the opinions of others. I believe there never was a person more
dependent on the good and evil opinions of those around than I am.
This desire to be loved forms, I fear, the great motive for all my
actions."
Such a nature was quite unlikely to play the part of a famous woman of
the world with any success, and she did not attempt it. She was always
reaching out to the friends of her adoption and drawing them closer to
her side.
In those days of our early acquaintance in Italy we had ample
opportunity to discover the affectionate qualities of her character.
If my first interview was a disappointment, her second greeting a few
days later had the warmth of old acquaintance.
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