"
He thus early became the foster-father of Lucy Larcom's children of
the brain, and, what was far more to her, a life-long friend, adviser,
and supporter.
One of his most intimate personal friends for many years was Lydia
Maria Child. Beginning in the earliest days of the anti-slavery
struggle, their friendship lasted into the late and peaceful sunset of
their days. As Mrs. Child advanced in years, it was her custom in the
winter to leave her cottage at Wayland for a few months, and to take
lodgings in Boston. The dignity and independence of Mrs. Child's
character were so great that she knew her friends would find her
wherever she might live, and her desire to help on the good work of
the world led her to practice the most austere economies. Therefore,
instead of finding a comfortable boarding-place, which she might well
have excused herself for doing at her advanced age of eighty years,
she took rooms in a very plain little house in a remote quarter of the
city, and went by the street cars daily to the North End, to get her
dinner at a restaurant which she had discovered as being clean, and
having wholesome food at the very lowest prices. This enabled her to
give away sums which were surprisingly large to those who knew her
income. Wendell Phillips, who had always taken charge of her affairs,
said to me at the time of her death that when the negroes made their
flight into Kansas, Mrs. Child came in as soon as the news arrived and
asked him to forward fifty dollars for their assistance.
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