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1910-1911 Meeting Minutes

Season of 1910-1911

Oct. 18, 1910- 1911

Box 4, book 6 and Box 5, book 1

 

The 689th Meeting.

The 689th meeting of The Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore was held on Tuesday, October 18th, 1910, in the assembly room, Academy of Sciences Building. This was the October salon, and the opening meeting of the season of 1910-1911. The president, Mrs. John C. Wrenshall, called the meeting to order, and announced that, as agreed at the last meeting of the season of 1909 and 1910, this afternoon should be devoted to “Book Talks” by the resident members of the Club,--the programme having been arranged by the President. Each

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review was supposed to take up from two to five minutes. The reading of the minutes was deferred.

The programme began with the President’s Greeting on the opening of the season. Mrs. Wrenshall congratulated the Club on the auspicious entrance into the twenty-first autumn of its life. Also on its rich opportunities for intellectual life and culture, and on the continuance of our aims and purposes, with their higher development and power of expression. She spoke of our past, and the outlook for our future, with the advantages it holds out for us.

The Book Talk was begun with a review by Mrs. R. B. Bowie on “Rest [?] Harrow,” by Maurice Hewlett. Mrs. Bowie entertained us with a lively account of the general characteristics of Hewlett’s men and women. In [?] this a sublimated sort of vagabond seems to experiment with having a goddess for a wife,--who leaves him,--but in the end the story appears to come out all right, --from the Hewlett point of view.

The next review was from Miss Virginia Bowie and was on “Pecheurs d’Islande” [Fishermen of the Island], by Pierre Loti. She brought before us Loti’s charms in telling of the lives and loves of the fisher people,--hard to translate but easier to describe appreciatively.

The next review was from Miss H. Frances Cooper, on “The Nine Days Queen,” by Richard Davey. Miss Cooper did not attempt to tell the story of this book, but only said enough about it to make those of us who have not read it wish to do so.

The next article was from Miss Mary D. Davis, and was on “The Andean Land.” Miss Davis described with much interest the lands that border on the great mountain range of the Andes, and the interesting people who inhabit them. She dwelt particularly on Chili [Chile], speaking of the late President Moretti[?], a man of Indian blood, called “the hope of Chili.” She told of the independent state within the Chilean borders,--the Arancanian Indians,-- the only Indian tribe who have never been conquered by Europeans or their descendants. She spoke of the

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resources of South America, and the claims of these near neighbors on our fellowship.

The program called for a review by Mrs. Eliott,--but she was unable to be present, and it could not be given.

The next article was given by Mrs. Charles W. Gallagher, and was on “The Wild Olive,” by the author of “The Inner Shrine.” Mrs. Gallagher had found this novel clean and delightful, not burdened with the women’s mental struggles of “Helena Ritchie,” or “Lady Rose’s Daughter.[“] It is a story of willing self-sacrifice--or self-sacrifices--that can set to right the tangles of life.

The next review was from Mrs. Samuel A. Hill, and was on “England and the English, by Price Collier. Mrs. Hill found pleasant reading in this account of the English from an American point of view. It spoke of the great number of shops devoted to men’s clothes, and of the dominence [dominance] of the man in English home life. It told too, of the substantial efforts for amuse-

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ment and entertainment which seem more incidental with our serious Americans.

The next review was from Miss Annie Hollins, and was on “Franklin Winslow Lane,” by Annie Douglas Sedgwick. Miss Hollin’s [Hollins’s] short and interesting account of this novel brought American and English characters in close contact. She said it might be called a story of vacillations though the people seemed honest, or at least, sincere. She spoke of the curious distinction it seems to give a girl among her companions to have a suitor for her hand.

The next article was by Mrs. G. K. McGaw, and was on “It Never Can Happen Again,” by William de Morgan. Mrs. McGaw spoke of this book as dealing with a disagreeable story concerning the old subject of the marriage of a man with his deceased wife’s sister, but it was redeemed by the entrance of a child of the slums, bringing a natural power of pathos almost equal to that of Dickens.

The next article was from Mrs.

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Charles T. [?] Morgan on “Hearts Contending,” by George Schock. Mrs. Morgan’s review described the Pennsylvania Dutch people, with their laborious housekeeping and farm life. To the Dutch, housekeeper no woman whose closets stand open, beds left unmade, and floors unswept could be at all estimable, however learned or bright she might be. But she spoke of love and trust among these people, and fine pictures of childhood, too.

                 

The next review was from Miss Elizabeth C. Nicholas and was on “In and out of Those Normandy Inns,” by Anna Bowman Dodd. Miss Nicholas said the book was fifteen years old, but it gives us the Norman inns on the seashore, the high roads and rocks, the flowers and the fruits, the local color and the Norman peasants, with their old free life and virtues.              

The next review was from Mrs. Percy M. Reese, and was on [?] “The City of Beautiful Nonsense” by Temple Thurston, and also on “The Illustrious Prince” by Phillips Oppenheim. “The City of Beautiful

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Nonsense” was, she said, delightful, with the gift of laughter,--the hero and heroine delightful especially when together. “The Illustrious Prince” was a facinating [fascinating] Japanese, courteous and gentle, seeing Western civilization with Oriental eyes.

The next article was by Miss Lizette W. Reese, and was on “Catherine de Medici, and the French Revolution,” and “The Latters [Latter] Years of Catherine de Medici,” by A. Sickel. This, she said, was a painstaking account, though not a history book to be studied. Catherine’s early life in the convent was dull, the nuns the only people kind to her. She was not really religious, and cared for neither side in the great controversy; she played one side against the other; it was only the question of her own advancement. She was one of those who fight against elemental justice, and by that she was to be judged.               

The next review was given by Mrs. Charles E. Sadtler, and was on “Caste and Creed” by G. E. Penny. Mrs. Sadtler gave a beautiful picture

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from this story, which made us wish to read it.

The next review was by Miss Schnauffer, and was on “German Ideals of To-day,” by Kuno [?] Franke. We were told of the schools of German that are now changing their methods and really taking the best of Exercises formerly written in Latin are now presented in the vernacular German. We were reminded by Miss Schnauffer of the suggestions of Humboldt, and of Goethe in learning of the German ideals of to-day.                 

The next article was from Mrs. William M. Smith, and was on two books. The first was “The Circuit Rider’s Wife,” by Mrs. Coa Harris. Mrs. Smith had been told that this was the dullest of books; but she had found it full of action and interest. It tells of a good man and a true and Loyola woman, who could ignor[e] yesterday and to-morrow, and live for the essentials of life for those she loved, from day to day. The second of Mrs. Smith’s

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reviews was on “The Kingdom of Slender Swords,” by Hallie Erminie Rives. This kingdom is Japan, and it seems brought before us in water colors and photographs with its confessions and descriptions.

The next article was given by Mrs. Alan P. Smith and was a review of “A Daughter of the Revolution,” by Jessie Anderson Chase. It told of a little girl who came over from England to America; and of a nameless nobleman who was shipwrecked, and on the coast of New England, who called himself Frederick Le Baron. He never told him name but there are now many of his descendents named Le Baron, and of other names also. Among the latter is the author’s of the book reviewed by Mrs. Smith, the Chases, who were related to her husband Dr. Smith. Their house is one hundred and fifty years old, and is now guarded by the parent of a “little Bettie,” who is not only a Daughter of the Revolution but a representative of her ancestress Elizabeth Le Baron.

The President next called on Mrs

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Sidney Turner for her “book talk.” Mrs. Turner told us that by her own request her name had been left off the programme because she had of late been reading only books in large type, and comparatively few books are so conveniently printed. But she had four books to tell us about. The first was the story of the “Post Girl,” which had entertained her. She had, too, read the letters of her friends with the same result. She had read her Bible; and also the book of the Life and the companionship around her. And she had fully enjoyed them all.

The next review was given by Miss Marie Turner and was on “The Beloved Vagabond” by W. J. Locke; Miss Turner spoke of the characterization in this book, of the tenderness and pathos, and of the exquisite humor warming and glowing through its pages.

The next review given was by Miss Nellie C. Williams and was on “Taifun,” by Melchior Lengyel. Miss Williams said this book was written in

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German by a Hungarian. Taifun is in a German spelling, the name of a great storm, or whirlwind, in the East, and the subject of this book is, she said, the fundamental difference between the European and the Oriental. The scene is laid in Paris; and the hero is a Japanese. He is an emissary specially appointed to study thoroughly the methods of European civilization, progress and success in order to steal all their benefits for use in Japan, as the means of conquoring [conquering] Western nations. The story is, we were told, the antithesis of that of “Madame Butterfly.[“] But the emissary through the human side fails in his mission, and the end is tragical for him.

The last review was given by our President Mrs. Wrenshall. It was on a book of great interest, written by two officers of the English Army, not yet published in this country, but sent to our President from England--one of its authors being a relative of her own. It was “A Narrative of the Siege of Delhi” by Captain Charles John Griffiths;--illustrated and

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edited by Captain Henry John Yonge. Mrs. Wrenshall told us that this is probably the last word of the eyewitnesses of the siege of Delhi, as these two authors are the only surviving officers engaged in the capture of the old Mogul capital on September 20th, 1857. Captain Griffiths, she said, has given us in perfect English, his journal from May 1857 to January 1858. The descriptions and illustrations can not fail to be of very great historical value and appealing interest.                

The President spoke of our pleasure in the success of our meeting for “Book Talks”; and said she was glad to announce that the next meeting would be under the charge of the Committee on Poetry. She invited us to take coffee together,--and declared the meeting adjourned.

 

The 690th Meeting.

The 690th meeting of the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore was held on Tuesday, October 25th, 1910, in the assembly room, Academy of Sciences

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Building. The programme was under the charge of Miss Lizette W. Reese, Chairman of the Committee on Poetry. The President called the meeting to order; and in the absence of the Recording Secretary the reading of the minutes was omitted.

The President gave the notice of the Memorial Decoration of the graves of the Authors and Artists of Maryland, held annually on November 2nd. She also gave the list of the subjects for the programmes of the month of November.

The first article of the programme was given by Miss Lizette Reese, and was on “Aldrich and Stedman.” Miss Reese spoke of Mr. Aldrich. Recalling that he was born in Portsmouth New Hampshire, and was of English ancestry in Derbyshire and Lincolnshire. His early years were spent in New York, doing literary work. He afterwards became the editor of the “Atlantic Monthly.” He wrote both prose and poetry. His “Marjorie Daw” was, she said “a jewel of a story--his masterpiece.”

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It has been translated into European languages. But poetry was the “best beloved.” His muse was given to exquisite etchings, every word is polished, every phrase musical.

Mrs. [Miss] Reese next spoke of Mr. E. C. Stedman. He, too, came from New England, and lived the large part of his youth in the old town of Norwich, Connecticut. Mr. Stedman’s literary work was-- at first--that of the journalist; he was also a war correspondent. His prose is that of the [“]literary critic,” and he has given what is, on the whole, the soundest appreciation that we have of the highest form of the art of literature. But he was primarily a poet. His muse is real, and full of life.

Miss Reese then compared the two poets. They were both men of the world,--but both young for their years. Stedman was a critic, Aldrich was not. Both were poets, but Aldrich was more artist than Stedman, and Stedman more spontaneous than Aldrich. There is an

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Aldrich memorial museum in Portsmouth, his native town. A room in Keats-Shelley memorial house in Florence, Italy, has been furnished in memory of Mr. Stedman by the members of the New York Stock Exchange. “Will posterity do more,” she asked, “for these two American authors?” Time, the best critic, will, she thought, preserve their memories.

The next article was given by Mrs. Lawrence Turnbull, the first President of the Club, and was entitled “Edmund Clarence Stedman--Personal Recollections.” Mrs. Turnbull spoke of her early acquaintance with Mrs. Kinney,--the mother of Mr. Stedman who also wrote poems. Mrs. Turnbull in her beautiful article described Mr. Stedman “rather from his rare and winsome human side of warm affection, genial sympathy, and playful humor, than as the man of letters known to the world.” He was the first lecturer on the Percy Turnbull Foundation in the Johns Hopkins University; and a quotation from one of his last

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written letters expresses his high appreciation of the privilege of delivering these lectures, and of gaining the intimacy of their founder. Mrs. Turnbull spoke of Mr. Stedman’s rare social gifts, especially of his instant recognition of any face he had ever seen before, and of his association with the face of some glimpses of the personality so presented to him, even in a casual way. She told of his large sympathy with struggling young literary artists. Also of his ardent admiration for the talents of his peers, yet absolutely impersonal discrimination in criticizing them. As a critic he was great feeling his responsibility to truth, and holding the noble art of literature to its highest ideals. She spoke of the charm of his friendship, its large giving, and freedom from pretentions. Mrs. Turnbull closed with a description of the memorial service held in Mr. Stedman’s honor in Carnegie Hall, on the anniversary of his death, under the auspices

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of the Century and the Authors’ Clubs; The New England Society; the National Institute of Art and Letters; and the New York Stock Exchange. It was presided over by Richard Watson Gilder; and many distinguished men of letters gathered together on the beautifully decorated stage, bringing [missing word--forth?] of appreciation and affection. From these she gave quoations that dwelt on Stedman’s helpfulness, loyalty, and qualifications for his art, but above all on his high courage, worth, and steadfastness as a man.

The programme closed with “Three Poems by Aldrich,” and “Three Poems by Stedman,”--read by Mrs. Percy M. Reese. Those by Aldrich were: “Memory,” “Good Night,” and “Prescience.”

Those by Stedman were: “My Kinsman,” “Falstaff,” and “The Hand of Lincoln.”

After thanking Miss Reese and the other members on the programme for a fine afternoon’s entertainment, the President declared the meeting adjourned.

[END OF MS 988, BOX 4, BOOK 6]

 

NOV. 1, 1910-MAY 23, 1911

MS 988, Box 5, Book 1

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Minutes of The Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore

Beginning November 1st 1910 and going on to May 23rd, 1911. Also October 11th, 1911--January 2nd, 1912.

 

The 691st Meeting.

The 691st meeting of the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore was held on Tuesday, November 1st, 1910 in the assembly room Academy of Sciences Building. The programme of the meeting was under the charge of the Committee on Fiction, Mrs. Percy M. Reese, Chairman. The President, Mrs. Wrenshall, called the meeting to order. On account of unavoidable delay in the arrival of the Recording Secretary, the reading of the minutes was omitted.

The President read a circular containing an offer made by a Sunday Magazine of prizes for original stories, open to those who may wish to make trial of such advantages. It was enclosed by Collier’s and other well known magazines.[1]

The President repeated the notice given at the previous meeting regarding the Memorial Committee for

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decorating with flowers the graves of the authors and artists of Maryland, on All Saint’s Day, November 2nd. Mrs. Bowie, Chairman of this Committee, announced that she would be at the rooms the next day at one o’clock to receive the flowers, and to meet the members of her Committee, to engage in the beautiful work in remembrance of the authors and the artists of our own State.

The first article of the programme was given by Mrs. G. Lane Taneyhill, and was called “The Southern Cross, an Episode.” Mrs. Taneyhill described some voyagers in the southern seas, including a pair of girls who were desirous of seeing the Southern Cross, and had been told that they were there at the last night in which it would be visible to them. But their enthusiasm was apparently not overwhelming, one of the young ladies devoting part of the interval of stargazing to reading her Bible and enjoying lemon squash,^[2] not having in those days had much leisure

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for either of these good things. The consummation of their attempt to make the acquaintance of the great constellation of revered and romantic associations was for a time elusive and we were given the humorous side of the hindrances as they affected the different members of the party;--and the Southern Cross was seen at last.

The next story was given by Mrs. Harriet Lummis Smith, and was called "The Foot Prints." Mrs. Smith told of an unhappy wife whose husband's egotism was proof against all her efforts to gain sympathy or affection. Even their only child's advent, short life and death by drowning had not brought true union. After twelve years of married life he called her still Mrs. Elmsley. There had been another man who had called her "Mary". The crisis had come to her, and breaking away from her home seemed the only relief. One morning when her husband had left her with the mockery of a kiss, she told her servant that

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she was going out and would not be back to dinner. But it was hard to bid good-bye to her boy's room where he had lived, and his dead form had lain. If he had lived and she had continued to pray that he might be kept pure, no unlawful thoughts could have found place in her mind. Turning to go she saw the prints of a child's wet feet. She seemed to wait for a voice. On out of the house went the steps, even when dry they were footprints still. And then she turned and went in again.

The next story was by Mrs. Emily Paret Atwater, and was called "The International Spooks Company, Limited." Miss Atwater told of Miss Rosa whose devoted lover Tom was engaged in buying and selling houses and lands. This she considered too material a profession to suit her, there being no romance and certainly no mystery in dealing in real estate. Tom became convinced that if he could furnish his profession with an element of mystery Rosa would begin to

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prepare her trousseau immediately. Tom had a friend who had just come from Europe, and was rather contemptuous of most of the palaces, castles, and historic ruins he had visited, but represented that those of them that were haunted,--whose hosts were spooks--were a relief to the monotony of the other show places. It was said that the spooks met together once in a century. His friend had a list of one hundred of them including Henry VIII, Julius Caesar, and many more. He proposed bringing over a few of them to America for the benefit of those people who had no spooks roosting in their family trees. The friends agreed to form the International Spooks Company. But the spooks were sea-sick, and did not like America. Still the young lady, at first, seemed to enjoy the fine company of aristocratic ghosts. But Henry VIII made love in a style to which she was not accustomed, and she had no idea of being

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mixed up with this sextette in any way whatever. When the spooks had made themselves sufficiently unsatisfactory, and wanted to go home Tom saw his chance to push his suit successfully.

The last article of the programme was "A Story" by Mrs. R. B. Bowie called "The Beggar at the Gate." Mrs. Bowie told of a beggar at the gate of the great temple at Teringápatam who called continually: "Mercy to the merciful. Alms." He had been long before dreadfully hurt by the falling of a big log upon him. The elephants had drawn it off but he lay long unassisted and helpless. An officer from a nearby garrison post had him removed to a hospital to be washed and bandaged. But when food was brought to him he refused it until hunger overcame his Hindu scruples of conscience. His nurse told him that all men were brothers and related the story of One who came to far off India to save mankind. He compares her stories with those in the Vedas,

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made objections but showed interest in them. The story went on to tell of the arrival of a large amount of money for the garrison, which was locked up in a chest. Then came a thrilling episode,--the attempt of a thief to rob the chest. The poor disabled patient followed him and saved the money by attacking him and throwing his body over a precipice into the river. Then he travelled slowly far away down the river to the great temple where, now a true believer, he cries continually: "Mercy to the merciful. Alms."

At the close of Mrs. Bowie's story the President thanked Mrs. Reese and her Committee for their entertaining programme, and declared the meeting adjourned.

 

The 692nd Meeting.

The 692nd meeting of the Woman's Literary Club of Baltimore was held on Tuesday, November 8th, 1910, at 105 West Franklin Street. The programme was under the charge

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of Mrs. R. M. Wylie, Chairman of the Committee on Art. The President called the meeting to order, and the Recording Secretary read the minutes of the meeting of November 1st, 1910.

The President called on Mrs. R. B. Bowie, Chairman of the Memorial Committee, for her report on the decoration of the authors and artists of Maryland on November 2nd, All Saints Day. Mrs. Bowie reported that members of her Committee, which includes the names of Miss Mary Dorsey Davis, Miss Nicholas, and others had met her at the Club rooms, had received the flowers, and had visited and decorated the graves of a long list of the deceased authors and artists of our State, including some members of our own Club, whose memory we keep green and unfading. They had also sent flowers to the families of those on our list whose graves could not be reached. Mrs. Bowie told of her going to the grave of Edgar Allan Poe, in Westminster churchyard. The gate being closed--

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as usual--and the sexton not found, she had engaged a little boy who, in her presence, had climbed the openwork fence, and placed our wreath on the poet’s tomb.^[3] She was pleased to find that the poet’s name and writings were not unknown to the child, and that other children--his companions--showed interest in our commemoration. The President gave our thanks to Mrs. Bowie and her Committee and said she hoped our beautiful memorial custom will be continued on each 2nd of November as long as our Club shall last.

The President then announced that we expect to have about the end of the month an evening meeting at which a lecture is to be given by Mr. Day Allen Willey, a well known journalist and critic, on a literary topic. The exact date is to be given, and the members of the Club are requested to give verbal invitations to their friends, and to notify Mrs. Uhler, Recording Secretary of these in-

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vitations.

Mrs. Wrenshall Markland opened the afternoon’s programme with a general resume of American Art Notes for 1910, prefacing her paper with an allusion to the recently reported loss of the Monna Lisa, a picture invaluable to all portrait painters, and so familiar to everyone as to almost give it the rank of the individual family portrait.

She then drew attention to this year’s successes of American artists in Berlin, Paris, and Venice, mentioning that eighty-four paintings were accepted and four occupied places of honor in the spring Salon of the artistes Francais^[4]; and in connection with these now past exhibitions, spoke of the approaching one of the “International Exposition of Art and History,” to be held in Rome March, 1911, and of the disappointment of many artists whose offered work would necessarily be rejected, and the primary reasons of such rejections.

Mrs. Markland enumerated a

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number of valuable pictures that have been brought to the United States within the past year, and their enormous value to the art students, as well as to the general public, she drawing comparisons between the past and the present work of both European and American artists, and their relative value in instructing each other.

Mrs. Markland then mentioned in chronological order the many statues and monuments that have been erected in 1910, and of the necessity of controlling this form of civic adornment.

In summing up the varied lines of work followed by American artists, portrait painters, miniaturists, landscapists, sculptors, workers in bronze and silver, and the handicrafts, Mrs. Markland concluded her paper by saying; “That all anxious for the Nation’s progress in Art were satisfied with the work being done, as with its reception by the people, and the American critics of American art, had developed a sense of feeling,

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an appreciation, a power to express himself, and a bravery to condemn as well as to praise that was as helpful to the artists as to the public, while the press through the medium of the camera was giving us increasingly beautiful work.”

To illustrate her presentation of Art notes for 1910, Mrs. Markland had collected through the past year a number of handsome prints, these including three especially fine pictures, illustrative of the high grade of work attained by the American press in the reproduction of photographs.^[5]

The next article was given by Mrs. R. M. Wylie, and was on the Taj Mahal at Agra, India. Mrs. Wylie showed us a photograph of the Taj Mahal taken by her son on his recent journey around the world. He had told her that the most beautiful erection he had seen in his whole world tour was the Taj Mahal. Mrs. Wylie went on to give a vivid account and description of this world wonder; built in the seventeenth cen-

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tury by the Mohammedan Great Mogul, Shah Jehan for the tomb of his dearly loved wife Arjimand Banoo,--who, she reminded us, had been asserted to be the same as Nourmahal, the Light of the Harem in Moore’s “Lalla Rookh,” but this identity has not been proved. The lovely Taj Mahal took twenty thousand men twenty-two years to build it,--forced labor being easily commanded then and there,--and the result in majesty, grace, and exquisite beauty seems to grow upon us with each new description. Mrs. Wylie told of the echoes that can be awakened near the tomb, so soft and musical that it seems as if Israfel (said to have the sweetest voice of all the angels) were there to answer mortal voices in the monument dedicated to undying love. She quoted the words of Seward, that “The Pantheon [Parthenon]^[6] was man’s expression of his awe for the gods; that St. Peter’s Cathedral at Rome was his expression of religion; and the Taj Mahal was the expression of pure human love.”

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Mrs. Wylie said she had expected a third article for her programme, but circumstances had caused her the disappointment of not receiving it.

The President expressed our grateful appreciation of the programme just given us.

The meeting was adjourned.

 

The 693rd Meeting.

The 693rd meeting of the Woman's Literary Club of Baltimore was held on Tuesday, November 15th, 1910, at 105 West Franklin Street. The programme was under the charge of the Committee on Foreign Languages, Miss Marie E. Perkins, Chairman.

In the absence of our President, Mrs. Alan P. Smith, Second Vice-President, presided, and called the meeting to order. She read a note to herself from Mrs. Wrenshall, expressing her regret that circumstances that she could not control prevented her being with us this afternoon, and speaking also of the sense of loss she always felt when

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obliged to miss one of our Tuesdays.

The Recording Secretary gave notes of the meeting of November 1st which she had not been able to attend. Mrs. Smith added interesting details of that meeting, especially with regard to the article of our first President, Mrs. Turnbull.

The first article of the programme was given by Miss Lillie Schnauffer, and was her translation of a "History of American Literature" by the German writer Karl Knortz. In Miss Schnauffer's absence her article was read by Mrs. Ashley. Herr Knortz dwelt at first on the small amount of literature produced in our Colonial and Revolutionary times when the use of the axe and the hoe--as well as making homes and defending them--left little leisure for good work of the pen. We were given small comment on American literature before the recognition of the writings of William Cullen Bryant, to whom Herr Knortz gives a highly appreciative tribute. He finds a great resemblance between

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Bryant and Wordsworth,--a fact which was asserted by the English Blackwood's Review, early in the lives of both writers. Herr Knortz draws a comparison between Bryant's great poem "Thanatopsis" and Wordsworth's "Ode to Immortality" asserting the superiority of the American's poem,--though Ralph Waldo Emerson considered Wordsworth's "Ode" the high-water mark of intellect in the nineteenth century. Herr Knortz places Bryant far above Longfellow--though giving due credit to Longfellow's power to say things well and melodiously. He reiterates the charge made that Longfellow's "Hiawatha" is a plagiarism of the old epic of Finland "The Kalevala", but he does not agree to the resemblance some critics have found between Longfellow's "Building of the Ship" and Schiller's "Song of the Bell." Longfellow's dramas he says are monologues--he never loses his egotism. After speaking of many others well known to us Herr Knortz describes the poet-

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ical pessimism of Edgar Allan Poe to whom he accords a very high place. He speaks of Poe's perfect love of beauty and his ideal of the beautiful woman as above all other earthly forms. But it often is the ideal loved and lost to earthly sight. Poe's prose and especially the form of writing in which he was a pioneer--his wonderful short stories--meet no less appreciation than his poems. Herr Knortz speaks of Henry Timrod with due admiration; and of Sidney Lanier, of whom he writes in words to please greatly those who love his works and his memory. Herr Knortz tells, too, of George Henry Calvert, who was by birth and ancestry a Marylander. Calvert's early works including his translations of Schiller's "Don Carlos" were published here in Baltimore up to the year 1840. He spoke of Calvert's travels, culture and elegant English. At the close of Miss Schnauffer's review, Mrs. Alan Smith expressed our pleasure in hearing so much of our American literature so in-

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telligently appreciated from the German point of view.

The next article was a story translated from the French of Guy de Maupassant by Miss Nellie C. Williams. Miss Williams gave a short criticism of de Maupassant's writing,--saying, however, that this story was not in his usual style. It is called: “My Uncle Sosthenes,” and is supposed to be related by the nephew of his uncle. His uncle, he says, was a Freethinker--so was he. But the skepticism of one was aggressive, and that of the other passive. The uncle was an enthusiastic Freemason and his nephew tried to persuade him that his secret society was a religion to him, for which he was as zealous as any of the good Christians around him were for theirs. One Friday the uncle had a dinner, to which he invited guests of his own kind, and the nephew. The latter formed a scheme, which, like many practical jokes, proved not a joke to

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its originator. After bringing his uncle with good wine into a helpless condition, he went to an old Jesuit Priest, who was to him a good old soul, but to the uncle's thinking an enemy; he represented his relation as being dangerously ill, and persuaded the old father to go to him in this extremity. The kind priest went, but he stayed all day, to the astonishment of the plotter. When at last the coast was clear for the nephew, he found his uncle in a rather weak state, overcome with gratitude for the attentions of the friend in need who had come to him, as he thought, to bring him back to life, and whom he had found, besides his kind thoughtfulness and knowledge of remedies, was a man of culture and intelligence and good companionship. The final result was that the nephew found himself disinherited, his uncle's money being left to the Church.

The next article was also a

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translation of Miss Williams; a story called "The American," from the German of Raoul Auernheimer.^[7] Miss Williams said that Auernheimer lives in Vienna and writes in German, but he writes like a dis[c]iple of Maupassant. The hero of this story, who had apparently left Vienna to live in Zurich; was thirty years old with good professional career. He is staying at a French summer resort with a friend who tells the story. He is very much attracted by seeing some American girls riding past them. He has been to America, and has seen many Americans in Europe. He speaks of the new and very agreeable type of the American young lady, beautiful, frank, lively, and especially where she is rich and lavish in her expenditures. He confesses of having been engaged to one of them who fulfilled all the conditions except not being what is generally called a girl. She had been married to a vicomte,^[8] but in a very short time had

[21]

secured a divorce from him in Dakotah. She, Florence, was a splendid woman, and they loved each other. She had twenty millions of dollars herself; and her father was at the head of a great financial corporation. He visited her home in New York and its luxury made him dizzy. After characteristic lovemaking on both sides, they made plans for a life which seemed to be chiefly travelling. It was hard to get an interview with her father, who had little leisure for small affairs; but the few minutes at last secured with him were satisfactory, and the old gentleman, looking at his match, offered to telephone for the clergyman. The hero’s friend then asked him what broke off the engagement? “The twenty millions,” was the answer. “She was too rich for me, and I had my profession that I loved,--wanted to work at it.” He explained that she wanted to travel, and wanted many other things. He could

[22]

not, after all, be idle on a wife’s money. So they parted. A few days after telling of his love adventure, the hero of it again was walking with his friend. He suddenly called out “Florence”, and went and joined a party, evidently Americans, who had been going past them. The friend recognized the original of a photograph. He soon thought the engagement was on again, especially when he learned that the father’s great trust had suspended, and that Florence’s own fortune had dwindled to a paltry half million. But the revived magnetism did not continue as at first. The electric force swung to the negative pole. “She is not for me,” he said, “she may find another vicomte.” He did not add apparently, “Perhaps another Dakota divorce.”

The presiding officer gave our thanks for the entertainment given us. The meeting was afterwards adjourned.

 

[23]

The 694th Meeting.

The regular meeting of the Woman’s Literary Club was held Tuesday, November 22nd, the President presiding. In opening the meeting Mrs. Wrenshall announced the lecture by Mr. Day Allen Willey on the “Development of the Magazine”, to be given the evening of December 2nd. In connection with the announcement, Mrs. Wrenshall read a selection from Putnam’s Magazine in which Mr. Willey was pronounced the most prolific magazine writer in America.

A most interesting number, not on the programme, was the reading by Mrs. Bowie of a description of Poe’s room at the University of Virginia, written for the Club by an out-of-town member, Miss Pendleton. The room in question is under the charge of the Raven Society, and contains some rare fixtures of the University’s famous and unfortunate son, as well as many interesting letters.

The programme opened with

[24]

a paper by Mrs. G. Lane Taneyhill on “Education in Korea”. Mrs. Taneyhill said that the history of education in Korea is the history of missionary effort, and she introduced her discussion by a description of the difficulties experienced by the missionaries, not the least being, in her opinion, the mental strain due to using and hearing a foreign language constantly, so that every event of the day becomes a language lesson.

Education has always been held in high repute in Korea, as in China, but in the former as well as in the latter country, the educational methods were summed up by feats of memorizing. The boy learned the Chinese Classics and Chinese History, but left school ignorant of the fundamentals. Since the first mission school opened in Seoul in 1882 an educational revolution has taken place. Modern text-books are used and a graded system has been introduced, while the educational benefits now include

[25]

girls as well as boys. Another interesting departure is the making use of the despised Korean alphabet.

Miss Nellie Williams gave a description of the Lette Verein of Berlin, an institution established for training girls and young women. It is the largest of its kind in the world, and in many respects serves as a model for its class. There are eight separate schools, such as house-keeping, book-binding, photography, etc., and each has a number of departments. There are courses for the amateur, and also for the young woman who wishes a professional training. All the principals of the various schools are women, with the exception of the photography school. The thirty five hundred girls and young women are under almost military discipline, and such is the fame of the school, that recently educators have been to it from the United States to study it and its methods.

 

[26]

The 695th Meeting.

The regular meeting of the Woman’s Literary Club was held Tuesday, November 29th, the President Presiding. In the absence of the Secretary the minutes of the previous meeting were read by Mrs. William Smith. In announcing the programme for December, Mrs. Wrenshall called attention to the fact that there would be no meetings on the dates of December 20th and 27th.

The programme of the afternoon opened with a paper by Mrs. Lawrence Turnbull, reviewing Fabian Franklin’s “Life of Daniel Coit Gilman.” Mrs. Turnbull prefaced her discussion by the statement that no one ever did so much for the intellectual development of Baltimore as Dr. Gilman, and cited a list of his varied activities as proof of her statement. Not only was he identified with the various beneficent movements connected with the social and civic life of Baltimore, but he did invaluable work on

[27]

the commission appointed by President Cleveland, in connection with the Venezuelan boundary dispute, was one of the trustees of the Carnegie foundation, and lent his ripe power to similar outside interests. His successfully assuming the directorship of the Hopkins hospital during its period of organization, along with his work as the head of a young university, is probably unparalleled.

Mary Watts’s novel “Nathan Burke,” was reviewed by Mrs. William Smith. The literary style of the comparatively new author was discussed, with her method of character-drawing, and her vivid picture of life in the forties. The part of the book devoted to the Mexican war came in for considerable discussion, and attention was called to the fact that this chapter of our history, in spite of undesirable picturesqueness, has made comparatively little appeal to the novelist of the last fifty years.

Under the title, “Art Alone Enduring”, Miss Virginia Woodward

[28]

Cloud reviewed a number of the more prominent of the latter books. “The Rosary,” in her opinion, showed no mark of genius, but owes much to the song with which it associates itself in the reader’s mind, and which pervades the story as the fragrance of a rose may scent the day. “Rest Harrow” stripped of its literary efflorescence, was pronounced an unsavory story, preaching simplicity and harmony, and ignoring the law fundamental to both. “Pan’s Mountain” by Amelia Rives, was held up as an example of egotism and affectation masquerading as naturalness. Franklin Winslow Kane, by Anne Douglas Sedgewick^[9] was highly praised as being one of the best examples of poise and style we have in our present day literature. “An Affair of Dishonor,” by De Morgan, a tragic story laid in England during the Restoration, was characterized as an immoderately long novelette, with a repellent plot, and without historic value.

[29]

“The Creators” by Miss Sinclair was pronounced the best book of the year. This book deals with the struggle of a group of geniuses for the life of their art, in an environment often most hostile when best-intentioned. “Rewards and Fairies,” under which quaint name Mr. Kipling has grouped another collection of his fascinating “Puck” tales came in, as was inevitable, for the highest commendation.

 

The 696th Meeting.

The regular meeting of the Woman’s Literary Club was held Tuesday, December 6th, the President presiding. In the absence of the secretary, Mrs. William Smith read the minutes of the meeting of November 29th.

Before opening the programme, Mrs. Wrenshall gave a number of announcements of interest to the Club. An illustrated lecture by Professor David Gordon Lyon, of Harvard University, on “Explorations

[30]

in Samaria” was announced for December 12th, at 5 o’clock, in McCoy Hall. An invitation was extended to the Club to attend the lecture at the Arundel Club Hall, under the auspices of the Southern Industrial Educational Association on “The Southern Mountaineer,” on Thursday, December 8th, at 4 o’clock, and also to attend the private view of the photographic salon, under the auspices of the Photography Club, at the Maryland Institute, Wednesday, December 4th. A concert by the Choral Society of Zion Lutheran church, on the evening of December 8th, at 8:15, whose programme included some music given at our Twelfth Night entertainment of last year, was also announced.

The programme, under the direction of the Committee on Essay and Essayists, was opened with a paper on “Oberammergau in 1910,” by Miss H. Frances Cooper. Miss Cooper described her arrival at the Mecca of the pilgrims of the present

[31]

year, during a rain-storm, and her assignment to the home of a resident who in previous plays had enacted the roles of Annas, the High Priest, and Joseph of Arimathaea, honors on which he prided himself. The play which begins at 8 a.m. and closes at 6 p.m., with an intermission for dinner, has nearly seven hundred participants, and the theatre in which it is enacted can seat 4,000 persons. Beginning with his entry into Jerusalem, various scenes from the life of Christ are depicted, and interspersed are tableaux, representing many scenes from the Old Testament, which bear especial relation to the story of the Gospels. A well trained chorus adds much to the effectiveness of the production. In Miss Cooper’s opinion, the finest impersonation in the play was that of Judas. Miss Cooper emphasized the reverent tone of the production, which left many in the audience in tears.

“Castles and Chauteaux” was the

[32]

subject chosen by Mrs. Charles W. Lord, who opened her paper by saying that a trip through Europe was an object lesson in past history, the castles being eloquent of conflict, while the chateaux are rather associated in our minds with the lives and intrigues of knights and monarchs. Beginning with the Danish Castles, we are astonished by their barbaric splendor, revealing a taste unexpectedly gorgeous. Throughout Germany these massive structures dominate the hills, and strung along the Rhine like jewels on a silver cord. Even in ruins they are impressive, suggesting the battle-axe, the battering ram, conflict and massacre, as well as the accumulated legends of mediaeval times. French history is also typified in its chateaux, many of which are kept in perfect condition with enchanting gardens. Malmaison, associated with the lives of Napolan [Napoleon] and Josephine, is a connecting link between mediaeval times and the

[33]

present, and still more modern are the dream castles of the mad king of Bavaria, poet and idealist, as well as madmen, who realized in their structures his dreams of perfect beauty. By a profusion of historical references, Mrs. Lord added to the value of her description.

Mrs. Sidney Turner discussed “Responsibilities of Advantage,” without notes. Taking as a text the papers already given, she declared the obligation of advantages to be twofold, to take in and to give out. Mrs. Turner gave it as her opinion that Baltimore had more available advantages than any city in the country, and proceeded to cite them in support of her statement. Educationally, the Johns Hopkins University and Goucher College, as well as the secondary schools; the courses of lectures given at both institutions; the lectures given by the Municipal Art Society, in various quarters of the city; the Teacher’s course of lectures; the private lectures. The libraries were

[34]

mentioned as further advantages, entailing responsibility, and so with the clubs scattered throughout the city and suburbs, many of which are doing admirable work. In a musical way the Peabody recitals, the symphony concerts, and the opera were rated along with the work of some local musical societies. The theatre was named as an advantage when used with discrimination, and the Walter’s Gallery was put forward without qualification, since the recent addition has made it the finest private collection in the world.

 

The 697th Meeting.

The regular meeting of the Woman’s Literary Club was held Tuesday, December 13th, 1911, the President presiding. Mrs. Wrenshall announced that the regular meetings of the Club would be discontinued throughout the holidays, and also announced the second evening meeting of the winter, a

[35]

recital by Mr. Harry Patterson Hopkins, on the evening of December 29th, and the usual Twelfth Night celebration on the evening of January 3rd, for which occasion, Mrs. Wrenshall said, an excellent musical and literary programme had been prepared.

In graceful recognition of the proximity of the Christmas festival, the programme was confined to topics dealing with the Bethlehem of the old world and that of the new. The first number on the programme, “An American Bethlehem,” by Miss Ellen Duval[l], was read by Miss Hollins. Miss Duvall opened her paper by a comprehensive sketch of the history of the Moravians, telling in some detail the life of Count Zinzendorf, the founder of the United Brethren, under whose leadership the American colony was established before the middle of the eighteenth century.

Miss Duvall also described some of the peculiar customs character-

[36]

izing the Bethlehem of the new world,the Christmas festival, lasting a week, the Easter morning love feast, and the like. The Moravians are noted for their love of music and of learning, and the genius and spirituality of Zinzendorf lives in the church he founded. At the conclusion of the paper, Mrs. Sidney Turner added some interesting items regarding the Moravian customs.

A poem by Miss Lizette Woodworth Reese followed. The poem, in the style of the old English carols, described the visit of humble men to the Bethlehem manger. Mrs. Wrenshall voiced the evident desire of the club in asking for a second reading.

“Scenes Around an Old City” was the title chosen by Mrs. Allan P. Smith for dealing with the Bethlehem of the old world. Four dramatic scenes connected with Bethlehem were chosen by Mrs. Smith. First the encampment of a caravan near the city,

[37]

the death of Rachel and her burial near the gates of Bethlehem. Passing from this sad scene over the centuries to the barley fields of Boaz, the most exquisite of the Bible love-stories, was retold. At the gate of Bethlehem, again, Boaz, in accordance with the Mosaic law, redeemed the property of his kinsmen, and took Ruth the Moabitess as his wife. 

The third scene selected by Mrs. Smith was the anointing of a king, when the youngest son of Jesse was called from the sheep pasture to be consecrated to his high mission. And lastly, the supreme scene which has given the city of David, rich in so many sacred memories, a unique place among earth’s cities, was told with scrupulous fidelity to the gospel narrative.

Mrs. Wm. Milligan Smith,

Acting Secretary.^[10]

 

[41]^[11]

The Second Evening Meeting of the Winter of 1910-1911.

The second evening meeting of 1910-1911 was held on Thursday, December 29th, 1910, in the Club room at 8:15 p.m. This was a musical meeting, under the direction of Miss Annie Hollins, Chairman of the Committee on Music of the Salons. The musical performers were Mr. Harry Patterson Hopkins, pianist, and Mrs. Cora Barker Janney, contralto.

After a short introduction by the President, Mr. Hopkins played selections

[42]

from the works of McDowell, and of Chopin, with interesting comments on these works.

The next numbers were “Three Songs for Contralto” from the compositions of Gounod, Stanford and Meyer Helmund, sung by Mrs. Janney.

Mr. Hopkins gave some of his own experiences in connection with his musical studies in Europe. These he illustrated by giving one of his own compositions, which was very much appreciated by his audience. He closed the programme with Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodie, No. 4.

The President thanked Mr. Hopkins and Mrs. Janney for the great pleasure their music had given us, and declared the meeting adjourned,--for conversation and refreshments.

 

[38]

The Twelfth Night Festival.

The Twelfth Night festival was held on Tuesday evening, January 3rd, 1911, at 8:15 p.m. On this occasion the Club room was beautifully decorated, and a large and very appreciative audience--including the members of the club and their friends--was present.

The programme called for: Part I. “Carols,--Adeste Fidelis, and Holy Night,” given by a chorus: the Misses Marie Louise Hoffman, Gertrude Hoffman, and Lydia Posh,--the Misses Thomas Turner, John C. Thomas, Hermann Kumlehn, and Mr. Weber.

This was followed by the “Christmas Song” of Adolphe Adams, given by Miss Belle Bradford and the chorus.

The programme next called for the “Address from the President.”

Then followed “Calm as the Night,” a duett sung by Miss Rachel Aldridge and Mr. John C. Thomas.

[39]

The next number was Goodman’s “I am Thy Harp,” given by Mr. Thomas. Mr. Thomas being called on for “encores”, sang both in English and in German.

Part II of the programme began with a “Dramatic Sketch” by Miss Louisa C. O. Haughton, called “A New Year’s Decision”. The performers were: Miss Harriet P. Marine, Miss Ada Mummo, and Mr. Frank Mellor.

The programme had been arranged by the President, Mrs. John C. Wrenshall, and the Chairman of the Twelfth Night Festival, Miss Haughton.

The Board of Management of the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore also desired to acknowledge with thanks, the kindly offices of Miss Lina Stiebler (Honorary Member) in securing and directing the music for this and similar occasions.

The music was beautifully executed, and fully enjoyed.

The President’s Address was

[40]

on “Twelfth Night, the Feast of Lights”, and took us back to ancient Biblical and Mediaeval times, tracing the traditions, development, and various observances of the festival now represented by the Epiphany, observed now in Christian countries.

Miss Haughton’s dramatic sketch was called “A New Year’s Decision”, and its motto was from Robert Browning: “Give Love, ask only Love, and leave the rest.” It was a very successful piece of amateur acting,-- neither over done, nor lacking in dramatic art, spirit, grace, or humor. Miss Harriet P. Marine, whose part was almost a monologue, was especially admired; and she and the author, Miss Haughton, were called out to receive the applause they had merited.

After the adjournment, the sound of old fashioned Scotch bagpipes ushered in the procession of the Twelfth Night Cake with its many candles. This cake, which was cut and dis-

[41]

tributed, contained a ring, a thimble, a heart, and other symbolical treasures,--sought and found by the fortunate receivers of the lucky slices.

A supper was served, and the jollity of the holiday season prevailed, until the breaking up of the assembly, and made this festival one to be happily remembered.^[12]

 

[42]

The 698th Meeting.

The 698th meeting of the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore was held on Tuesday, January 10th,

[43]

1911, at 105 West Franklin street. The programme was under the charge of Miss Nellie C. Williams, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Languages. The President, Mrs. Wrenshall, called the meeting to order earlier than the usual hour to announce the loss that the Club had sustained in the sudden death of our valued and esteemed member, Miss Annie Helmsworth Hollins, on January 3rd, 1911. Mrs. Wrenshall paid a beautiful tribute to her ability, culture, and untiring exertions, the faithful and helpful life of Miss Hollins, which her fellow members are glad to remember. She was one of our Board of Management; the Chairman of our Committees [Committee] on Music,-- herself an accomplished musician. As a member of our Committee on Foreign Languages, she gave us fine translations,--from the German, French, Italian, and Spanish. She wrote on the Literature of the Bible, excellent criticisms. She was active in other societies,

[44]

and in religious and charitable work. She became a member of our Club in 1901, and was with us at the musical meeting of December 29th, 1910. On the following Tuesday she was called from her good works to a higher life.

After her own words of high appreciation, Mrs. Wrenshall read from the Baltimore “Sun” of January 5th, 1911, an article by Miss Emily E. Lantz, giving a heartfelt recognition of the true and helpful character of Miss Hollins, her varied attainments, and of the grateful memories she has left to her friends.

The President then asked if any of her fellow members had a word to add in testimony of our sense of loss.

Mrs. Reese spoke of the earnestness of purpose in Miss Hollins, of her living for others, and forgetfulness of self.

Mrs. Lord recalled the comfort and enjoyment Miss Hollins gave to her friends without at all

[45]

seeming to know that she was doing so.

Mrs. Morgan spoke of this death without struggle, pain or fear, as one that those who loved her might wish her to have.

Mrs. Stevens said our friend who has gone was one of those of whom it has been said: “It rests me to be with her.”

Mrs. Hooper said that from long acquaintance with Miss Hollins she knew the qualities that gained for her love and trust, but she also dwelt upon the mental growth and advancement by study, travel, and experience that continued to the end.

The President called on Mrs. Alan P. Smith, Second Vice-President, to read her Resolutions on our loss in the death of Miss Hollins, which had been approved by the Board of Management, to be presented to the Club. These resolutions embodying our deep sense of loss, and the grateful esteem in which Miss Hollins was held by

[46]

her fellow members[,] were read by the Vice-President, and unanimously endorsed by a rising vote of the Club. It was ordered that the Resolutions be sent to the family of Miss Hollins; and also recorded in full on the minutes of this meeting.^[13]

[89]

The meeting of January 10, 1911, as sent to the family of Miss Hollins.

At the meeting of the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore, held on Tuesday, January 10th, 1911, the following Resolution was offered for endorsement by Mrs. Alan P. Smith of the Board of Management.

Resolved:--That in the death of Miss Annie Helmsworth Hollins on Tuesday 3rd, 1911, the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore has experienced the loss of one of its most highly valued members. Since her connection with the Club in 1901, Miss Hollins has ever given liberally of her time and versatile talents toward its welfare. As an officer, her regular attendance at the meetings of the Board, and her wise counsel there have been a support to her fellow workers. ^[14]

[90]

As Chairman of the Committee on Music of the Salons and the Literature of Music, her delightful programs will never be forgotten. The untiring interest of Miss Hollins did not end with the work of her own department for from her rich store of culture she always generously contributed towards the edification and pleasure of the Club whenever called upon by other Committees. Especially to be remembered were her fine translations from foreign languages and her excellent work for the Committee on the Literature of the Bible.

In her beautiful character there was such a freedom from ostentation, and yet such a rare combination of gentleness and strength as to make her an inspiration and power for good to all about her. Few, if any, were her idle minutes;--there was no time for folded hands; her usefulness and

[91]

services for her fellow men continued until the very hour when the sudden summons came calling her to the higher, fuller life in the Heavenly Home where her strong faith had led her to place her best affections and her hopes for perfect happiness.

The memory of Annie Helmsworth Hollins will long be cherished by the members of the Club, and her presence will be greatly missed from the place she so faithfully filled.

Be it further Resolved:--That these Resolutions be upon the Minutes of the Club, and a copy sent to the members of the family of Miss Hollins with the heartfelt sympathy of the President, Board of Management, and Members of the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore.

[46]

The preliminary meeting was adjourned.

The President called attention to the fact that we were now holding the first regular meeting of the year 1911. Mrs. Wrenshall then called for the minutes of the meeting of December 13th, 1910. They had, in the absence of the Recording Secretary, been written by Mrs. William Mulligan Smith, by whom they were read. They were approved, with thanks, by the Club.

Announcement was made of an appeal for recruits for the two Committees of Foreign Travel and Foreign Languages.

The first article of the programme was given by Mrs. G. Lane Taneyhill,

[47]

and was called: “From Benares to Bombay.” Mrs Taneyhill told of Benares, the splendid old central seat of Hindooism on the “holy” Ganges. She spoke of its temples, and mosques, and ghants [ghats], and, as she said, “the crowds of  brown humanity” who come to worship and to bathe in the sacred river. She went on to describe her journey across a large portion of of Hindostan, telling of the people and their customs, and the modes of transportation, the scenery, the discomfort, and the relief of mind and body from a short rest in a missionary home. She told of mission schools, and of being struck with the real comeliness and beauty of the young native women she saw. She described her first Christmas in India, and her arrival soon after at Bombay. She described the Parsee population and their peculiar customs. Mrs. Taneyhill had apologized for the personal note in her article but its quality of unlikeness to the guide

[48]

books, and as the work of an eyewitness of the present day gave it special interest to us.

The next article of the programme was given by Miss Nellie C. William and was called “Under the Polar Skies.” Miss Williams told of the great Sahara of Ice, far in the North, where it would sometimes seem as if one’s soul stood bare before the solitary barren rocks and ice of that frozen zone. She was one of a party of tourists who sailed away to the North last summer, and made the first landing in the group of islands called Spitzbergen. In July they arrived in Advent Bay which cuts the main island of the group into East and West Spitzbergen. They landed for a little exploration, during which they were suddenly delighted to see an American flag rising over a wooden building, evidently at least temporarily inhabited. It was the headquarters of a Boston Company, which was endeavoring to develop good coal mines, long

[49]

reported as existing in Spitzbergen. On that July day the unexpected presence of the Star Spangled Banner was more inspiring than ever to the American travellers as far from home. She spoke of the golden Sun which was then shining over Advent Bay for day and night. Miss Williams Told of her visit to Iceland. She spoke of the interest this island awakens for its geology, history, literature, educational standing, and also for the human nature which “makes the whole world kin.” She described Reykiavik, the capital of the island as looking like an American frontier town of wooden houses. She spoke of the culture and patriotism by the Icelanders. She described and entertainment given on the visiting ship attended by gentlemen and ladies handsomely dressed, who conversed easily and well in German and in English. Their native tongue is old Norwegian. A native Glee Club gave good

[50]

music. They are a blue eyed people, but of the pure blond type. Life under Polar skies has its highest development in Iceland, and we were glad to hear it so well recounted “up to date,” and at first hand by one of our own members.

The President gave our thanks to Miss Williams and Mrs. Taneyhill for their articles and declared the meeting adjourned.

 

The 699th Meeting.

The 699th meeting of the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore was held on Tuesday, January 17th, 1911, at 105 West Franklin street. The programme was under the charge of Mrs. Percy M. Reese, Chairman of the Committee on Fiction. The President called the meeting to order; and the Recording Secretary read the minutes of the meeting of January 10th.

Mrs. Wrenshall then recalled to us that at our last meeting we

[51]

were called on to express our deep sense of loss in the death of our valued member, Miss Hollins. And now at our next assembly together, she must announce the deaths of the highly valued members, Mrs. William Paret and Miss Octavia Williams Bates, two noble women endowed with high gifts of mentality and of personal characteristics. The President then gave short biographical notices of these two members, appreciating fully the value of their lives and their work here and elsewhere. By a unanimous vote, her beautiful tributes were endorsed by the Club, and ordered to be engrossed in the minutes of this meeting.^[15]

[52]

Remarks upon the deaths of Miss Octavia Williams Bates
and
Mrs. William Paret.

(January 17th, 1911.)

Ladies:--

The deepest feeling is aroused again speaking to you, to-day, as in our last meeting, of those who have gone before us. Since we met here last Tuesday, two noble women, honored members of our Club, Mrs. William Paret and Miss Octavia Williams Bates, alike beautiful in body and in spirit, endowed by nature with her highest gifts of mentality, and personal characteristics, have passed from the pains and weariness of long mortal illness into the joy of everlasting life.

Miss Octavia Williams Bates, of Detroit, Michigan, died on last Wednesday at her home in this City. Miss Bates was a woman of wide culture and^[16]

[93]

thought, her talents essentially forensic. A student of the law, she was admitted to the Bar in her own State, and later to pleading in the Supreme Court of Michigan, the only woman who has ever been so honored. Abroad she enjoyed unusual privileges and distinctions; withal she ever remained modest, serene, with clear views of life and powers of judgment, unusual, as they were unwarped, by the prejudice, or uncolored by personal opinion. She possessed, in large degree, that joyous gift, enthusiasm, and a warm and gentle heart. Miss Bates became a member of the Woman’s Literary Club in May 1903, and though a constant traveller with many long absences, held her place unbrokenly in full membership, and always brought back to us interesting incidents and experiences she had encountered. A year ago she accepted the Chairmanship of the

[94]

Committee on Letters and Autographs, and gave us a very interesting programme.

When we held our business meeting for the reports of the Chairmen, on the third day of May last, she answered for her Committee with her characteristic brightness and spontaneity, and cheered my heart by saying how pleasant she had found the duty, how glad she was to hold the office, and how she should look forward to another year in contributing her share to the Clubwork. Bright, beautiful, and seemingly vigorous, how little we could then for[e]see the parting so near at hand. I think very few of the Club members knew of her long illness, and thus we must feel added pain in our loss.

Two days ago with the regret unstilled in our hearts, the tidings came that Mrs. William Paret had pass-

[95]

ed into everlasting life.

There is perhaps no one here who know not personally of the beauty of the life of this sweet lady, who ten years ago came into our midst a stranger, and on going from us has left her place empty in our hearts and our city life. Mrs. Paret was the First Vice-President of the Woman’s Literary Club for a year, and we felt ourselves most happy in claiming her. She was a delightful Chairman of our Committee on Foreign Travel, presenting several fine programmes and contributing to them admirable articles of her own. Her letters to me during her last winter abroad, this time a year ago, were a rare pleasure, bright and charming, telling of her visits to places which she knew I loved and had lingered in. You know well of Miss Paret’s personal characteristics: she was generous, kind,

[96]

charitable, her refinement and simplicity not often equaled, and she lived up to her duties, which were often overwhelming in a manner that was an example to all. Mrs. Paret possessed the most remarkable self poise I have ever known; in her entire self forgetfulness she would put aside fatigue, anxiety, natural excitement, and great responsibility with gentle, but firm self control, and respond to the needs of the home, were they small or great. In her ineffable sweetness she won all hearts and kept them.

The influence of these two dear members, who did their parts so well when with us, must long linger here. Differing as were their gifts, and their personalities, they alike stood over and above all things for truth. They lived in the perfect light of truth, guile was not in their hearts, and rejoicing that we held such women in our membership, we will keep their memories green.

[51]

Mrs. Wrenshall spoke of the good work of Book Notes that has been done for years for us by Miss Cooper in placing the names of new books on our bulletin board.

The first article of the programme was “A Story” by Mrs. Robert B. Bowie, called “The Passing of the Gods.” Mrs. Bowie

[52]

began with vivid word pictures showing the wild scenes and deeds of the Buccaneers in the 17th century in Mexico and the West Indies. She told of the so-called pre-eminent Buccaneer, Henry Morgan the Welshman; and especially of his attack and capture of old Panama on the Isthmus,--the Isthmus of pre-eminent interest in the present time. She told of the horrors of the fight, and the destruction that followed it, leaving the city in ruins. Mrs. Bowie told the story of the young Indian mother Dolores, who had been a convert to Christianity, but who in the midst of the cruelties of the white invaders, turned back to the old Aztec gods, and even sacrificed her child in the hope of winning their favor and protection for her people. But Dolores found that the power of her gods had passed away with the power of her people, and only the in-

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terposition of a Christian priest saved her life.

The next story was by Mrs. Percy M. Reese, and was called, “Links in  a Chain.” Mrs. Reese’s story told of a young man who went by a sudden impulse on a Mediterranean steamer without having engaged passage beforehand in the desire to study a flower, the trumpet creeper[,] on its native soil. But his voyage is made easy and pleasant for him. He meets friends, and, soon after setting sail, he sees a graceful, veiled lady on the deck holding in her hand a trumpet creeper. She and her flower are both from Leesburg, Virginia, both beautiful, of course. He finds she is a trained nurse, and is going to Gibraltar to undertake a case there, for which she is engaged by an American friend. The propinquity of the voyage develops a wonderful congeniality in the young people; and the discovery on the arrival at her destination that the case has met a

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fatal termination is for them only the last link of the chain that has been gradually lengthening to bind the two hearts and lives together.

The next article was by Miss Lilie Schnauffer, and was called: “Two Cries.” It was read by Miss Nellie C. Williams. Miss Schnauffer’s story told of Mrs. Long and her daughter, Julia, who had the good fortune to live in Baltimore, after many dull experiences of living in the country. They were ensconced in an apartment house near “The Park,” and Miss Julia’s great hope was to continue living there, and her great fear that limited means might relegate them to the country. She related to her mother the experiences of a friend of hers, Miss Ames, who lived in a flat; and who one day heard the cry of distress given by a baby on another floor, to which nobody seemed to pay any attention. At last she was moved by common humanity

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to go to its relief, and found it in immediate danger of falling out of bed, and, of course, of breaking its neck. Just then a young man appeared whom she took to be the father, but discovered to be an equally humane rescuer of the deserted baby, a young doctor who lived in a nearby flat. The arrival of the missing negro nurse was followed by that of the real father, who thanked the doctor, the young lady having disappeared. Fate ordered a few more delightful incidents, which resulted in love and happiness. After this the pleasant life of Miss Julia and her mother was not without side lights of imagination from the bright possibilities incidentally afforded by an apartment house. In due time Miss Julia also hears a cry of distress, and goes to the rescue. But she meets,--apparently--a crawley old bachelor, who seems to resent any intrusion into his affairs, or those of his pet cat who had given the cry. But afterwards, pussy’s master comes to apologize for any

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seeming rudeness after sending his card and some flowers as an atonement. He is attracted by a picture of Robert Bruce; and he and Mrs. Long suddenly discovered that they had the same Scotch ancestor about a thousand years ago. Before long Miss Julia is surprised with the information that her very attractive mother is engaged to marry the new found Scotch cousin. Julia congratulated him on his choice, and then mentally congratulated herself that now they will continue to live in Baltimore.

The next article was by Mrs. Harriet Lummis Smith, and was called “Tit for Tat.” Mrs. Smith told of her heroine, Mrs. Atwood, who, after years of married life, and several years of widowhood, found that she was about to meet the lover of her girlhood, at the summer resort where they had been together in very early days. She was two years younger than Tom,--but she did not think too much about

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the family Bible just then. He was not married, and, at any rate, she put on the black lace dress that was, at least, becoming. Tom and she met, pleasantly enough it seems, but he was dancing with all the girls,--the babyish one, the athletic one, and the one who seemed trying to make attentive listening pass for intelligence, with the belief that most men would not know the difference. She found herself seated with three old ladies, each of whom had a ruling passion. With one it was the Bridge Whist; with another, Ancestry; with another, the bright sayings and doings of her grand children. The same evening she accidentally heard one young man tell another that the new girl with the black lace dress is a “stunner”. This boy, as she thinks him, soon falls in love with her, which she finds interesting,--under the circumstances, until she discovers a letter which is a farewell, preliminary to drowning

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himself, after trying to persuade her that though youth may be gone love can still be left. Then she rushes off to find Tom, and appeals to him to save the boy. The boy is saved, and then Tom says to her, “No matter, Nan, if youth is gone, if only love is left.”

The President thanked Mrs. Reese and her committee for an uniformly excellent programme, and declared the meeting adjourned.

 

The 700th Meeting.

The 700th Meeting of the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore was held on Tuesday, January 24th, 1911, at 105 West Franklin street. The programme was arranged by the President from the work of the Committee of Foreign Languages.

The meeting began with the reading of the minutes of the meeting on January 17th, by the Recording Secretary. The

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President announced a change in the programmes for the month, by which the next meeting on January 31st would be under the charge of Mrs. Percy M. Reese, Chairman of the Committee on Fiction. The President also announced that the next open evening meeting of the Club would be on February 24th, when Mr. Roderick of Washington, a well known critic and reader, will give the programme in a reading of the play of “Twelfth Night.”

The first article of the programme was given by Miss Elizabeth Cary Nicholas. It was her translation from the French of “Extracts from the Journal of the Baron de Closen,” taken from the “Rochambeau Papers” in the Library of Congress. Baron de Closen was a comrade of Lafayette and Rochambeau in their brave efforts to aid the American Colonies in gaining their independence. The extracts from the Baron de Closen’s dairy [diary] began with

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July 1782, when a portion of the French troops serving with the American Army was stationed in Maryland. These records were not of actions in the fighting field, but were full of interest with their side lights on life in our own State when war and rumors of war were inspiring--or depressing--to the patriots--men and women--of some one hundred and twenty-eight years ago,--given from the French soldier’s point of view. He tells of reviews [revues] and of dances, and of the hospitalities amidst the hopes and fear of our ancestors. He thinks the social life of Annapolis more interesting on the whole than that of Baltimore, remarking that trade seemed to have left Annapolis for the other city. He says the ladies of Maryland are the most beautiful in the colonies, and also the best dressed. He particularly admires “Madame Lloyd” finding in her the grace, elegance, and charm of a French

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woman, and relating that she, before marrying her husband, has insisted that they should spend two years in France. Familiar scenes and names are pleasant to meet with in these records.

The next article of the programme was given by Mrs. Nellie C. Williams, and was her translation of a story called “Tinfoil”, from the German of Raoul Auernheimer. The hero of this story was possessed by a great love; not love for a woman, however; he was barely six years old, and the love of six is somewhat different from the love of twenty. But he had long ago discovered the difference between dolls and babies, also that hobby horses do not eat, and now his devotion was to bright tinfoil. A friend discovers the boy’s great love when his mother entrusts him to offer his box of bonbons to their guest. The case with which the shining tinfoil is taken from the chocolate before it is offered, and

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the discovery of the saved up wrappers of the already eaten confectionary reveal the ruling passion of the youthful soul. The guest’s information that the precious tinfoil can be bought in sheets, is followed by his taking the boy to a shop, where five sheets of the seeming silver is bought for--nominally--five dollars--,--really five cents. The delight of cutting out round dollars goes on, until it becomes monotonous; and the novelty of making them square is a failure by its manifest difference from real money. Then at last comes the disillusionment that must be found in tinfoil and other equally bright and valuable possessions. The lover forgets the object of his love; until a younger sister lights upon the beautiful round money between the leaves of a book. But he says “Oh tinfoil!” with something like contempt.

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The next article was also given by Miss Williams, and was again her translation from Raoul Auernheimer. It was called “Roses That We Cannot Reach.” It told of a lonely student in Vienna, who is preparing himself for a government position in his own small home town. From his window he watches a grand residence where he sees every morning a lovely young countess come out to cut magnificent roses, and later in the day he sees her drive out with the roses in her carriage. He is possessed with the desire for one of those flowers. He has also a neighbor, a young girl, whose friendship for him is sincere and helpful and wins his gratitude. She is pretty. He sometimes wonders if she is not falling in love with him, and sometimes even if he is not even a little in love with her. But his other love--for the roses--is so great that he one day bribes the coachman of the countess to let him stealthily abstract one of them from the

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back of the carriage. The man consents, and takes the money. But he fails, for the lovely young lady turns and looks at him. It is his last day in Vienna and his girl friend comes to help him pack up. He goes out for a walk, disturbed and dissatisfied in mind. When he comes back to his room he finds a bunch of beautiful roses for him there. He takes them up with grateful delight and blessings for the supposed sender. Before he leaves his landlady tells him that his girl neighbor had left the bunch of roses for him,--with her love. And the unsatisfied soul goes out on its journey with wonderful remembrances of the roses he cannot reach.

The President thanked the members of the Committee on Foreign Languages for their articles, and declared the meeting adjourned.

 

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The 701st Meeting

The 701st meeting of the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore was held on Tuesday, January 31st, 1911, at 105 West Franklin street. The programme was under the direction of Mrs. Percy M. Reese, Chairman of the Committee of Fiction. The President called the meeting to order, and the Recording Secretary read the minutes of the meeting of January 24th. The President announced the subjects of our programmes in the month of February.

The President also announced that the fourth open evening meeting of the Club season will be held on Friday, February 24th, when Mr. Alfred H. Rodrick, a well-known reader will give us a recital of Shakespear’s play, “Twelfth Night.” Invitations for friends can be obtained from Mrs. P. R. Uhler, our Corresponding Secretary.

The President spoke of the misfortune that has befallen

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our member, Mrs. Gallagher, and her husband, in the destructive fire at the Maryland College at Lutherville, the institution of which they are the principals and owners. She suggested a letter of sympathy and regret to be sent from the Club to Dr. and Mrs. Gallagher. Mrs. Reese made the motion that this should be done. It was seconded by Miss Latane and carried by a rising vote of the members of the Club.

The first article of the programme was given by Mrs. Edith Howell Armor, and was called “Sylvia.” Mrs. Armor’s story is supposed to be told by a young woman to whom is submitted the proposition to assume a very different role. Application has been made by a scientific professor for a capable woman absolutely deaf and dumb, to be the companion and helper of a girl who is a nervous sufferer, and requires most delicate and silent treatment. She is urged to accept the position by the

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wise man to whom the application has been made, who believes that she can act the part of the required mute without being discovered by the professor, who is the uncle of the young patient. She goes to the place and finds a most beautiful house, with walls all around it, and an elegant garden where she and her charge, Sylvia, are to walk. Her rooms are next to Sylvia’s, and everything is luxurious; but all doors are visibly locked, and only automatically opened. The professor meets her, and conversing by writing tablets, of course, arranges that she shall always breakfast with him and giver her tablet reports of her charge. Sylvia is an enigma; supposed to be fifteen years old, but with nothing apparently very youthful about her, though beautiful in spite of her settled gloom and seeming hopelessness. She is evidently a prisoner in a room with many mirrors around her. The companion

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hears her begging her uncle for some one to talk to, and some freedom. One night there are dreadful shrieks somewhere in the building, apparently by the voice of an old woman, and seemingly a demented one. One day she hears the professor tell Sylvia that her cousin, the doctor is coming and will see her. When he comes the companion overhears a conversation between these two scientists showing that they are studying and sometimes experimenting in radium,--especially with regard to its effect on human minds and bodies, and on human life itself. When the doctor asks after Sylvia, the professor answers that she is about the same; but that Emmeline is unruly. The companion at last asks for a day off: and prepares to go. Before she leaves she sees a ghastly looking old woman suddenly climb out of a fire escape and plunge down to Sylvia’s garden, screaming that she wants

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freedom to die; that she is dead already, but that her children are paid for the time that she is kept living. She falls at the feet of the girl, saying “Come, Sylvia!” and becomes a heap of dust and ashes and clothes. Sylvia falls dead too,--but has apparently been the subject of a shorter experiment. The companion escapes and communicates with the police, but when they arrive the birds have flown, and in after days only Sylvia’s grave is found near by the place of her sad life.

The next article of the programme was a story by Mrs. Harriet Lummis Smith, called “The Runaways.” Mrs. Smith told of a restaurant in Twin Pines in a new settlement of the western part of our country, where young Mr. Russell, an Englishman comes to take his meals. The cashier of the establishment has, he confides to himself, the grace and air of a duchess, and

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the voice of an archangel. He wonders how she comes to be there. The wife of the proprietor seems fond of her, but we are told in the beginning that she warns the young lady she will have no engagement to that young Englishman. Russell finds the beauty cold to him and receives the impression that she dislikes all Englishmen; but afterwards discovers that she particularly dislikes the fortune hunting Englishmen, generally with a title to barter for gold. One afternoon. One afternoon [repetition in original] she goes out for a walk and the Englishman ventures to warn her that she may need protection. She maintains that her dog Pedro is her sufficient chaperon, escort, and protector. Then she sees a big brown animal crushing his way through the bushes on one side of the

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road. As she tries to hurry on the great cat keeps pace with her steps, knowing the secret of torture. Then the man she had left early in the afternoon suddenly comes to share her danger. He is not armed, but his presence and strength give relief and comfort. And help suddenly comes. A noisy freight train comes crashing past, and the panther flees. After such experience came confidence, and surprising confidences. The girl reveals that she does belong to the aristocracy of labor,--that her father has made money, plenty of it, and they had been abroad. But they had met the impecunious aunt of a titled Englishman, who had devised the scheme of marrying her to the nephew whose fortune she desired to make, and perhaps her own people were dazzled with the prospect. So she had fled to Twin Pines, where the lady of the restaurant was an old friend of hers, whose for-

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tunes had gone down instead of up. And young Russell had been bored to death with the advantages of marrying an American heiress,--whom he would not meet, and had unwittingly made Twin Pines his city of refuge. To these two who had run away to avoid meeting finally concluded that they belonged to each other.

The President thanked Mrs. Reese and her Committee for their entertaining programme, and declared the meeting adjourned.

 

The 702nd Meeting.

The 702nd meeting of the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore was held on Tuesday, February 7th, 1911, at 105 West Franklin street. The President called the meeting to order, and the Recording Secretary read the minutes of the meeting of January 31st.

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The programme announced “Studies in the Mediaeval History of Italy. ‘Florence, Rome’s Most Glorious Daughter.’” The President announced a change in the subject first appointed for this meeting. Owing to the illness of the Chairman of the Committee on the Authors and Artists of Maryland, Mrs. Wrenshall Markland would fill the afternoon’s programme with “Readings from the first four chapters of a series of Studies in Mediaeval Florence.”

Mrs. Markland spoke of the charm and interest of the streets and squares of Florence with the well curbs^[17] as wet and shining to-day as when the courtyards were flooded with the vanished sunshine of the 13th century, and with the people we see thronging the streets still the same types as those in the portraits on the walls of the picture galleries.

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Mrs. Markland then drew attention to the legendary origin of the city to the semi-mythical herdsman of the hillsides, and to the efforts of the early chroniclers to give some definite history to the development of the city. She went on to the rise and ascendancy of the Guilds, with a general sketch of their rulers and power, which, together with the successive generation of the soldiers, poets, artists, and statesmen, united through the first two and one half centuries of Florentine history in building the powerful Mediaeval City-State.

A thread of a love story developed in the reading; and Mrs. Markland explained that this had been introduced for several reasons, one of which was to emphasize the racial similarity of the Florentine people of to-day with those of Mediaeval times, as well as to throw stronger light upon ancient conditions; the simplest actions

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the everyday sights and sounds of the prosaic 20th century being often but echoes of the great past.

With an outline of the civic statutes, the social and political conditions that necessitated the rise of the one man power, Mrs. Markland concluded her paper with a general commentary on the remarkable characteristics of Cosimo dei Medici, the first of that family really to enter the field of Florentine Statescraft.

Mrs. Wrenshall Markland’s article showed great research and high appreciation of her subject, and took us back to days of very much historical and literary interest.

The Club was adjourned to enjoy an hour of social tea and talk.

 

The 703rd Meeting.

The 703rd meeting of the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore

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was held on Tuesday, February 14th, 1911, at 105 West Franklin street. Mrs. Alan P. Smith, First Vice-President, called the meeting to order, and announced with regret that our president would not be with us this afternoon. The programme of this meeting was given by the Committee on “The Drama”, Miss Virginia W. Cloud, Chairman. There was some unavoidable delay in the beginning of the exercises, and the reading of the minutes was omitted.

The first article read was by Miss Lizette W. Reese and was called, “The Piper”, and its author, Miss Reese, gave an interesting description of the Shakespeare Memorial meeting at Stratford upon Avon, beginning July 26th, 1910, attended by distinguished Shakespearean scholars, and other literary lights. A prize of £300 had been offered sometime before for the best original play to be performed sever-

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al times at this commemoration. The prize was won by Josephine Preston Peabody,--Mrs. Marks, an American woman. Miss Reese gave an entertaining account of the success and the honors paid to our countrywoman. Her play was called “The Piper.” It was, we were told, founded on the story of our old acquaintance, “The Pied Piper of Hamlin,” of Robert Browning’s poem, but without its supernatural incidents, and only relating the portion within human possibilities, and also without the element of malevolent revenge developed by the original pied piper.

Miss Reese went on to the story of Mrs. Marks’ play. In the old Mediaeval Hamlin city of the 13th century the rats and the mice have been driven off, and the children have gone too. The parents have reached the point of willingness to have the hungry destroyers back again, if only the children could come too. The

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angry piper, who has hidden the children in a cave, at last relents, so far as to to promise that one shall come back, and the cry from every parent is “Mine!” “Mine!” But the mother of the lame child appeals most to the piper, for he is brought back first; to be followed by all the rest. The bells ring out like a Christmas Day.

Miss Reese showed a picture of Mrs. Marks, and also read a letter to herself from this successful prize winner, which seemed to bring us in touch with Stratford, and the memories of its great poet and dramatist.

The next article given us was an essay by Miss Ellen Duvall, our absent member, and was read for her by Miss Lucy Latane. It was called “Shakespeare and Bacon Again.” Miss Duvall treated the half century old Shakespeare and Bacon controversary [controversy], from the point of view of its latest developments. After touching on former so-called discoveries in

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this field, she told of a new book of two hundred pages by Mrs. Elizabeth Wells Gallup of Detroit, Michigan, called “The Bi Literal Cypher.” By qualities and powers belonging to the often recurring words “Power” and “Honor” in the Shakespear plays, and apparently by suggestions equally convincing, Mrs. Gallup finds the keys to unlock the proofs of Bacon’s authorship of these immortal works. Miss Duval said that if Bacon wrote all these plays and sonnets attributed to him in addition to all the other work he is acknowledged to have done, the days in “the spacious times of great Elizabeth” must have been 64 hours long instead of 24. It is also asserted that through this Bi Literal Cypher has been discovered an autobiography of Francis Bacon, which asserts that he was the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth by reason of a secret marriage with the Earl of Leicester, a secret of which Francis Tudor Bacon is said to have wrung con-

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firmation from his reputed parents. Of this union it is asserted that the Earl of Essex was the youngest son, and we are also told that Elizabeth “as a mother loved him, but as a queen beheaded him.[”] Francis Tudor Bacon is also recorded as a lover of Marguerite de Valois, Queen of Navarre, and afterwards of France. Miss Duvall gave a fine critical comparison of the essential elements and literary art, as shown in the works of Shakespeare and of Bacon. The beautiful little song of Hamlet:

“Doubt that the stars are fire,
Doubt that the sun doth move,
Doubt truth to be a liar,
But never doubt I love,”

Could not, she said, have been put there by Bacon. He was too literal a believer in the Copernican system to have made the suggestion that the stars are fire, or that the sun doth move. (Carlyle is reported

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to have said: “Bacon could no more have written Hamlet than he could have created this planet.”) The prophets of the Bi Literal Cypher say that to a bright intelligence their discoveries are plain and evident; but Miss Duvall seemed to find the results of their researches the opposite of bright, and themselves obsessed with unintelligent psychological ideas.

The presiding officer Mrs. Smith gave the thanks of the Club for our fine programme; and requested Miss Latane to inform Miss Duvall of our appreciation of her essay.

The meeting was adjourned.

 

The 704th Meeting.

The 704th meeting ot the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore was held on Tuesday February 21st, 1911, at 105 West Franklin street. The programme was given by the Committee on Colonial and Revolutionary History,

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Mrs. Thomas Hill, Chairman. The President, Mrs. Wrenshall, called the meeting to order, and the Recording Secretary read the deferred minutes of the meeting of February 7th. The minutes of February 14th were not read. The President gave notice of a meeting of the Executive Board of the Edgar Allan Poe Memorial Association to be held on February 23rd at her home; also of the open evening meeting of the Club, February 24th.

The programme began with an “Ode” on America by Professor Philip Reese Uhler. It was read by Mrs. Wrenshall with full appreciation. Dr. Uhler’s “Ode” was eloquent, scholarly and patriotic, and closed with the faith that out of the many lands on earth our own was the best of all.

The next article was by Mrs. Francis P. Stevens, and was called: “Unfamiliar Records of Old Time Days in Near By

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Places.” Mrs. Stevens took us with her to the old localities around our own Baltimore which have possessed historical and traditional interest from Colonial and Revolutionary days down to our own times. She took us to Sparrows Point, and to North Point, where the battle for Baltimore was fought in 1814. But the chief interest of her paper was in the old residences and the people who lived in them, and in names still surviving, or still remembered. Among other she spoke of “Walnut Grove,” the home of Judge Jones, with century old trees, and its double staircase, the flights of steps made to meet and divide till she felt in going up as if in the full presence of a distinguished company coming down, who ought to be formally greeted. She told of Judge Jones and his descendants, and read a letter he wrote to his wife, just after he had been in some danger of shipwreck

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and drowning,--a highly pleasing document. It was written in rather flowery language, and full of the complements, courteous allusions, and--to us--unconscious humor, with which the letter of our ancestors--even to their nearest relations--were often adorned. But the suggestion was natural whether some of the very condensed epistles of our time might not be better for a little of the old fashioned civility. Mrs. Stevens spoke of Soller’s Point, where Mayor Sollers of the United States Naval service was long stationed, and after whom this strategic point for the defense of Baltimore was named. It is now called Fort Carroll. At the end of Mrs. Steven’s article, some interesting comments followed on the subject suggested by it.

The next article was by Miss Harriet P. Marine, and was called “The Muse of Maryland Women.” Miss Marine told

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of the cities of Maryland of great importance in the history of the Colony. The first St. Mary’s, the earliest capital, where the voyagers of the Ark and the Dove first erected the Cross as the symbol of the faith they had brought with them. She told of Margaret Brent and her sister Mary, of Mistress Hall, and other good women whose devotion, endurance and heroism it is well to recall. The second city was Annapolis, the succeeding capital, before very many years called the Athens of America, with its cultured society, and its bright and fair women, still remembered and admired. The third city was Baltimore. Miss Marine spoke of the patriotism of the women of this city, who entertained General Lafayette with a ball, and the next morning turned the ball room into a meeting place to make clothes for his soldiers.

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They won the high commendation of the brave Frenchman and the gratitude of Washington himself.

The last article was by Mrs. Thomas Hill, and was called “Washington the Hero.” Mrs. Hill spoke of Washington as having been born a hero by the will of God. He was of good blood and associations, but his heroic nature was his own. She spoke of his early life, and his campaign with General Braddock. She said he lived a hero, and told of his self sacrifices in the misfortunes of war, and in the years that followed. She said he died a hero, leaving his country the inheritance of his name and example.

The President said that Mrs. Hill’s paper was a beautiful and fitting close to our programme. Thanks were given to Mrs. Hill and her

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Committee for their programme. The meeting was adjourned.

 

The [Fourth Evening Meeting].

The fourth evening meeting of the season of 1910-1911, in the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore was held on Friday, February 24th, 1911, at 105 West Franklin street, at 8:15 p.m. The literary entertainment consisted of a dramatic reading by Mr. Alfred H. Rodrick of Washington, D.C. The play selected was Shakespear’s “Twelfth Night.” The audience--members of the club and their guests--was a large and attentive one. Mr. Roderick was appropriately introduced by the President of the Club, Mrs. John C. Wrenshall.

Mr. Rodrick’s reading was really a recitation. He spoke without notes, and showed excellent acquaintance with the text of the play; taking

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up the different parts of the characters by the change of voice and manner.

At the close of the recitation, the President gave, in a few graceful sentences, an acknowledgment of our grateful appreciation of the entertainment given us by Mr. Rodrick, and invited all present to remain for a social hour. Refreshments and pleasant conversation followed, until the assemblage broke up.^[18]

 

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The 705th Meeting.

The 705th meeting of the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore was held on Tuesday, February 28th, 1911, at 105 West Franklin Street. In the absence of our President, on account of the death of a near relative, Mrs. Alan P. Smith, First Vice-President, was the presiding officer. Mrs. Smith had also arranged the miscellaneous programme of this meeting. The minutes of February 14th and February 21st were read by the Recording Secretary. Mrs. Smith spoke of our regret for the loss this afternoon of Mrs. Wrenshall’s lecture upon the beautiful Italian scenes which our President knows so well how to describe.

The first article of the programme was given by Miss Elizabeth Lester Mullin and was called “A Present Day Farce.” Miss Mullin’s comedy revolves around an old family portrait, the most valuable worldly possession

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of three ladies, a widow and her young daughters. And when a rich relation, one of the high heads in Wall Street, New York, writes his intention to come to Baltimore to see them, they immediately suspect him of coveting their valued piece of canvas, representing his ancestor as well as their own. Before and after his arrival there comes a series of embar[r]assing, and  almost discomfiting adventures happening to everybody concerned,--including the portrait itself. There are also two or three little love stories introduced. But everything shows its humorous side and the conclusion is satisfactory to us who heard Miss Mullin read her lively play.

The next article was “A Story” by Mrs. Edith Howell Armor. Mrs. Armor tells of a family with some seven daughters, who, after a business crash have found their father left with only some “mining interests”, on which

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it is necessary to realize by sale. Dolly, who tells the story is the second in age, and a young lady fond of escapades and surprises. Sir Charles Keith, whom Dolly calls a “blooming Englishman”, comes to negotiate for the mining interests, and happens to have heard Dolly’s designation of his individuality. The eldest daughter, Connie, has a lover named Dick, but the parents prefer the English man for her. Two younger girls have lovers also, but are given to understand that they must wait until Connie is married. Dolly seems to be left out of the question. But she is the good genius of the family, and her determination that Connie shall marry the man she loves surprises the parents with the possession of four sons-in-law instead of one, and herself with an English home and title.

The last article of the programme was given by Mrs. Alan P. Smith, and was called “Read-

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ings from an Unpublished Biography.” Mrs. Smith told of a pleasant Baltimore home on Lombard street in the early days of the last century. A daughter of this house, Priscilla, a beauty according to tradition and her portrait, had been taught many things by a good stepmother, including to play on the piano “The Battle of Prague,” that noisy piece of music with which I am afraid not many of my fellow members are well acquainted. Mrs. Smith told us that Priscilla was married very young and went West with her husband to live in Cincinnati, a town of some 9,000 inhabitants, while Baltimore numbered 60,000. The journey was long and the young couple carried their provisions and furniture in wagons not without fear of highwaymen, or even wild Indians. We were given interesting extracts from the “Diary of Priscilla in 1830.” She tells of a long journey to

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Niagara Falls, and of Riding in the first steam cars ever run in our country. Her impressions of the cities of New York and Philadelphia at that time are entertaining to us now, and the grandure of Niagara is described as it impressed a Baltimore girl more than eighty years ago.

At the close of Mrs. Smith’s reading, the meeting was adjourned.

 

The 706th Meeting.

The 706th meeting of the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore was held on Tuesday, March 7th, 1911 at 105 West Franklin street. In the absence of our President, Mrs. John C. Wrenshall, the presiding officer was the First Vice-President, Mrs. Alan P. Smith. The minutes of the meeting of February 28th were read by the Recording Secretary. We were highly favored in the programme of this meeting being given by

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the first President of our club, Mrs. Lawrence Turnbull. It was entirely of “Readings” from her own forth coming romance “The Royal Pawn of Venice.” It was an historical story,--the time being the latter half of the fifteenth century. The book showed great research and care in verifying her accounts of historical events related in it. Mrs. Turnbull took occasion to express her gratitude to Professor Philip R. Uhler, especially for the facilities given her in consulting authorities, and in the use of them. The historical heroine of the book was Caterina Cornaro, Queen of the Island of Cypress. The chapters selected for the reading were: “Day-Dreams of the Rulers of Venice;” “Kypros-Phaphos;” “James the Second;” “Caterine;” “The Day of the Betrothal;” “L. Isola Fortunata,” “The Prior of the House of Priests on Tröodos;” “The Queen Captive;” and “The Assembling of the High Court.” Mrs. Turnbull told then

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of Caterina Cornaro, the daughter of noble Venitian Rulers; and described her portrait painted by Titian, the master painter of Venice, showing us also a photograph of the picture. Mrs. Turnbull went on to tell of the great power, and the dreams of still greater power, of the rulers of the Republic of Venice. She described to use the marriage made for political reasons, of the beautiful Caterina, when 16 years old, to the young King of Cyprus, Janos the Second. We were told of the day of the betrothal, of the marriage, and of the going of the young bride to the island in the eastern Mediterranean, whose wonderful and romantic historical vicissitudes were recalled with much interest. The life of the young Queen was dwelt upon, seeking to do good to her people, talking in their Greek tongue instead of her own Italian, coming near to them

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in religion and in sympathy. It would be impossible in a few notes to do justice to Mrs. Turnbull’s vivid descriptions, but one striking scene may be recalled to those of us who listened to it. Misfortune overtakes the Queen, her husband dies, leaving a will, by which she she and her infant son are joint rulers. But their rights to the throne are disputed and attacked; and the conscience of the Queen is disturbed with regard to her right,--in the sense of rectitude--to her regal office. She seeks counsel from the reputed holiest priest in the country. He is the Prior of the House of “Priests on Tröodos.” In his mountain home he has learnt something of women since leaving his mother as a boy. He comes to the palace scorning wealth, luxury, and worldly honors. But before he goes, loyalty to truth and honesty are recognized by the old monk and the girl queen in each other, and the

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needed counsel is given and received. We could thank Mrs. Turnbull for bringing the “eternal feminine” qualities from the 15th century to appeal to the woman of the 20th. Our only regret was that she did not read to us more from “The Royal Pawn of Venice.”

Mrs. Alan P. Smith gave the thanks of all present to Mrs. Turnbull for her “beautifully told story,” and the meeting was adjourned.

 

The 707th Meeting.

The 707th meeting of the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore was held on Tuesday, March 14th, 1911, at 105 West Franklin street. The programme was given by the Committee on Essays & Essayists, Mrs. Sidney Turner Chairman. In the much regretted absence of our President, Mrs. John C. Wrenshall, the presiding officer was our excellent

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Vice-President, Mrs. Alan P. Smith. The minutes of the meeting of February 7th were read by the Recording Secretary. Invitations to several courses of lectures were presented, including the notice of the Percy Turnbull Memorial Lectures on Poetry, for which tickets could be requested from Johns Hopkins University.

The first article of the programme was given by Miss Elizabeth Cary Nicholas, and was called “What Shall We Talk About?” Miss Nicholas spoke of the many subjects discussed in the present by pen and by tongue, and of the question of choosing among them. She spoke of the social conversations of former days, especially the Salons of the French Monarchy presided over by Court ladies and women of genius, where discussions were held on the topics of the time, great and small. These last seem now somewhat suspended by the newspapers. One can learn much of a woman’s taste and limitations from what she finds of interest in the newspapers.

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Some of them study the bargain counter news as some men do the stocks and bonds. We can, she said, talk about our neighbors, if it is to praise them. But let us not say too much about our personal interests, “fads and fancies.” Miss Nicholas spoke of the so-called “lost art of Conversation,” and made some suggestions for its rediscovery and revival among us.

The programme next announced, “Some Mediums of Expression,” by Mrs. Wrenshall Markland. Mrs. Markland’s article, which was finely read by Mrs. Uhler, was an essay of great interest in subject and treatment. The Secretary is glad to say that Mrs. Markland consented to write a brief synopsis of her paper, which is now presented.

Mrs. Wrenshall Markland was the second contributor to

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the programme; her subject being the extent that sound and color express our emotions. She divided sound under the natural heads of; First: Sound conveyed in the written word of prose or verse; Secondly: In speech; Thirdly: In the melody of the Folk Song; Fourthly: In the constructed composition; and Fifthly: In volume; citing examples to illustrate her meaning: as also drawing attention to the interest of many kindred points, such as the value of punctuation, and the charm and possibilities of lying in tone and color. Passing directly to the second medium of expressing our emotions, that of color, Mrs. Markland said that on reflection, color does not seem to open the many avenues to fresh lines of thought as sound, though it is not lacking in interest, being especially valuable in the transmition [transmission] of the history of

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the ages. She dwelt especially upon racial selection of color: and concluded with a general summary of the suggestions she had offered.

The last article was given by Mrs. Samuel Alexander Hill, and was called “The Economites,” a religious sect of the last century. Mrs. Hill spoke of a vivid picture in her own memory of an old fashioned village in the beautiful Ohio valley, about fifteen miles from Pittsburgh. It was the home of a community of German emigrants brought to Pennsylvania about 1804 by George Rapp of Wurtemburg. He and his followers had found the State Church oppressive, and came to practise their own understanding of faith. They were an educated people, with their Church, school, house, museum, and manufactories of wool, cotton, and silk. They prospered greatly and lived in community,

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having land and all other properties in common, if any one wished to leave them he was free to go, but could not take any property, once given to the community. They were a moral and religious community, and good observers of the Sabbath. Mrs. Hill told of a visit to Gertrude Rapp, a daughter of their founder of the colony, and one of its oldest survivors, a pleasant old lady. As described to us the life of the community seemed a happy one, though one of the present day might not find it so much so as did those good German people.

The presiding officer gave the thanks of the Club to Mrs. Turner and her Committee for our programme, and the meeting was adjourned.

 

The 708th Meeting.

The 708th Meeting of the

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Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore was held on Tuesday, March 21st, 1911, at 105 West Franklin Street. The programme was given by the Committee on Unfamiliar Records, Mrs. Edward Stabler, Chairman. The first Vice-President Mrs. Alan P. Smith presided. In opening meeting she spoke of our President’s inability to be with us on this afternoon, and of her hope to see us again at our next meeting. The Recording Secretary read the minutes of the meeting of March 14th.

The first article of the programme was given by Mrs. Edward Stabler, and was on “The Dress of Our Ancestors.” Mrs. Stabler spoke of the early days when clothes became necessary to the human race for reasons including the requirements of climate and comfort, and very soon afterwards for adornment,--this later development resulting in fashions of dress.

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She referred to the use of the skins of animals and to the evolution of dress in civilization, down to the wonderful creations of the artists whose creations were worn in the last few centuries. She told of the dress of the early Britons and of that which they adopted from their Roman Conquerors. She told us of the court dress in England under the different kings; and described the gorgeous court costumes of the elder George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, the favorite of Charles the First. Mrs. Stabler treated the clothes of our ancestors with relation to the people who wore them, and made them very entertaining.

The next article was by Mrs. Hester Dorsey Richardson, and was on “Some Early Maryland Clubs.” Mrs. Richardson told of the old South River Club of Anne Arundel County, a meeting of gentlemen gathering

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together for good fellowship, as early, it seems, as 1742, but whose existence as a Club apparently dates from 1746. It seems to have lived on at least in good memory, and to have had a revival in 1895, and its members to continue their mutual entertainment and hospitality in 1911. Many well known names are those of its early and later members. Mrs. Richardson read a list of the rules to be observed by all the members of that Club; some of these rules are perhaps a little strict, or antiquated, but well intentioned and appropriate to a gentlemen’s Club. Mrs. Richardson told us also of the old Tuesday Club of Annapolis, the names of whose founders suggest Scotch blood and ancestry, and which dates from 1745. The rolls of the Tuesday Club contain names of historic, legal and political importance. It had honorary members and visitors from other parts of the state; and the accounts

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of its meetings have much interest for the descendants of those who attended them.

The next article was by Miss Harriet P. Marine, and was called “The Muse of Maryland’s Fair Women.” Miss Marine referred to her former article on Maryland’s historic women beginning with Margaret Brent and her contemporaries and colonial successors. In this later one she spoke of the women of the Revolutionary period, and the war of Independence. She gave a dramatic description of the burning of the ship “Peggy Stewart” at Annapolis before the war broke out, and told of the patriotic Maryland women, and of their services to their state and country. Miss Marine went on to the women of the second war with England from 1812 to 1815. She suggested the placing of a tablet on the little house in Albemarle street in which a Baltimore

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woman and her family made the flag that floated over Fort McHenry at the Battle of North Point, and was apostrophized by Francis Scott Key, “The Star Spangled Banner.” Miss Marine went on to speak of the writings of some Maryland women, mentioning among them Mrs. Amelia B. Welby, whose poems were praised by Edgar Allan Poe, and of Emma Alice Brown who began life in poor and limited surroundings but who gained literary recognition in New York and elsewhere.

The next article was by Miss Elizabeth Cary Nicholas, and was called “An Historical Letter.” This letter, written on July 14th 1785, to the Bishop of London by Miss Mary Tawney, wife of the Sheriff of Calvert County. It was not in good spelling as we think now. But it was an earnest, and even eloquent appeal to the good Bishop, in whose diocese Mrs. Tawney considered her colony to

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belong, for the establishment of an Anglican church in her region of the country among 500 or 600 loyal subjects of the king, who are in danger of falling into infidelity through lack of their regular worship. We were not told whether Mrs. Tawney’s petition was successful.

Mrs. Smith thanked the Chairman and members of the Committee on Unfamiliar Records, and the meeting was adjourned.

 

The 709th Meeting.

The 709th meeting of the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore was held on Tuesday, March 28th, 1911 at 105 West Franklin street. The programme was given by the Committee on Current Criticism. Miss Lucy Temple Latane, Chairman. In the absence of our President, who was unable to be with us, Mrs. Sidney Turner was the presiding

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officer. The minutes of the meeting of March 21st were read by the Recording Secretary.

The first article of the programme was given by Mrs. Percy M. Reese, and was called “Parson Weems.” It was a review of the life of the Rev. Mason Locke Weems, by Lawrence C. Worth of this city. Mrs. Reese gave an entertaining review of this life of the well known “Parson Weems” of Maryland and Virginia in the later 18th and earlier 19th centuries. He was an Episcopal Clergyman, and also an author of some distinction, besides being a [blank space inserted] of books, a player on the fiddle, preaching and visiting in many neighborhoods,--a cheerful companion to young and old. The good Bishop Meade described him as “one of Nature’s oddities.” He was born in Maryland but spent most of his adult life in Virginia, where there are numerous traditions of his kind deeds and humorous

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words. Mrs. Reese told of his staying, when a boy, in Maryland with a Mr. Jenifer in Charles County, during which visit his friends found that he disappeared every evening, coming back late, and they feared he was not in good company. Some of them tracked him and found him in the pine woods, surrounded by the poor half-clad, bare-footed children of the neighborhood, earnestly engaged in teaching them. Bishop Meade tells of the pathos, and even eloquence to be found in some of the writings of Parson Weems. Mrs. Reese spoke of his “Life of Washington,” in which first appeared the story of the cherry tree and the hatchet, and the inability to tell a lie. Mrs. Reese spoke of the doubts that have arisen about the authenticity of the story, for which the good parson has been held responsible. But it has its defenders, who point out

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that Mr. Weems was a neighbor of the Washington family, and knew them well. We were given extracts from Mr. Worth’s book, bringing before us this “parson” of rather gay and happy memory, and throw sidelights on the people among whom he lived.

The next article was given by Miss Latane and was a review of “The Life of William Sharp” by his wife. Miss Latane told us of the man, who for years in his own name of William Sharp, wrote works of serious import and value; and in an entirely different region of letters, as Fiona McCleod--from the point of view of a woman--wrote successful works of fancy and imagination. He seemed to create or discover a dual personality of a high order, and achievements. He guarded his secret so well, that only now has the full revelation been made by his memoirs, that these two were the same person. He even wrote letters to himself

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under his assumed name, and seemed almost, himself, to believe in what some people call the “astral body.” Miss Latane gave an interesting account of this double existence and double success. She spoke of his Scotch ancestors, and of his inheritance of mind and nature from the wonderful Gaelic people.

The last article was by Mrs. William M. Smith, and was a review of the new book “The Doctor’s Christmas Eve,” by James Lane Allen. Mrs. Smith spoke of the book as being in some sort a sequel to the author’s former one, “The Bride of the Mistletoe.” She said this work had received much favorable criticism, apparently without special mention of its faults,--but these latter had strongly impressed her in reading it. Mr. Allen has, it seems, told of two unsatisfactory households; in which the love of husband and wife is outgrown or worn out, and where the

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children are supposed to be bright and knowing, but are in danger of becoming unnatural little monsters, judging from their unchildlike expressions of opinion. Some regret is felt by one parent on having only two; but this to the reader might be a cause for thankfulness. The wife and mother growing old, finds that she has been only an incident in the life of her husband, and is past becoming only an incident in the lives of her children. Her love, care, and self-sacrifice goes for nothing, and she is expected to accept her Calvary. Surely the contrast to all of this has been seen in the family life that we all find around us. Mrs. Smith closed by wondering if it is indeed the “Kentucky Cardinal” who has sung to us such a song as this one.

Mrs. Turner thanked the members who had decorated the Club room; and also expressed grateful appreciation to the Com-

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mittee on Current Criticism for their fine programme.

The meeting was adjourned.

 

The [710th Meeting.]

The regular meeting of the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore was held April 4th, 1911, Mrs. Wrenshall presiding. Owing to the Secretary’s absence the minutes of the meeting of March 28th, 1911, were omitted, and Mrs. William Smith was appointed to act as Secretary.

The first number on the programme was a paper on Jack London, by Miss Virginia Berkley Bowie. Miss Bowie began by reviewing the literature which forms the staple reading of children and young people which depict life as we should like to have it, rather than as it is, and in which the characters are either very good or very bad, with none of the perplexing combinations of good

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and evil we find in the human beings about us. For contrast to this school, Miss Bowie named a number of writers of the modern realistic school, with especial emphasis on Jack London. Several of this writer’s books were discussed, and “Martin Edon” in particular was carefully analyzed.

Mrs. Edward Lee Ashley gave the second number on the programme, “Some Thoughts on Edward Markham,” in which she emphasized the peculiar versatility of the writer who has reached such lyrical perfection in his poems, and yet shows such a practical grasp in his discussions of child labor. It was suggested that the hard circumstances of his early life saved him from being merely a dreamer. Mrs. Ashley read several extracts from Mr. Markham’s poems, and also a letter from the poet which was exceptionally interesting as giving insight into the simple and appreciative nature of the

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man himself.

S. Weir Mitchell[19] was discussed by Mrs. John R. Hooper, who gave some interesting autobiographical facts regarding her subject. For four generations Dr. Mitchell’s family have been physicians, and his literary efforts were postponed till he made a reputation in his chosen profession, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, another literary physician giving him this counsel. Though Dr. Mitchell graduated in 1850, his first volume of short stories was not published till 1880. In addition to his well-known works and verse, he is the author of one hundred and fifty medical works.

The concluding paper on the programme was by Mrs. James C. Fenhagen, on the origin of the Teddy Bear with a sketch of the cartoonist, Mr. Clifford Berryman of Washington. The little bear made his appearance at the conclusion of Mr. Roosevelt’s unsuc-

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cessful bear hunt in Mississippi, and appealed so strongly to the popular taste that he was not allowed to vanish after playing his part for one day. So identified did he become with the administration that Mr. Roosevelt himself acknowledged it would be sure to go down in history as the Teddy Bear Administration. The idea was taken up by the German toy-makers with much profit to themselves, but none to the originator.

Mrs. Fenhagen was provided with a number of publications of the Gridiron Club of Washington, of which Mr. Berryman is a member, and the official cartoonist.

Of especial interest among the many examples of Mr. Berryman’s skill was the cartoon drawn expressly for the Woman’s Literary Club, which Mrs. Fenhagen had framed. The members present spent a pleasant half hour examining the car-

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toons along with the letters and autographs of the other celebrities represented on the programme.

 

The [711th Meeting.]

The regular meeting of the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore was held Tuesday, April 11th, 1911, Mrs. Wrenshall presiding. In the secretary’s [absence], Mrs William Smith was appointed to act as secretary.

The programme opened with a paper by Miss Lizette Woodworth Reese, read by Mrs. Uhler. “Under a Fool’s Cap.” The paper treated of a slender volume of verse bearing that title, of which Daniel Henry Holmes is author. Twenty-five familiar Mother Goose rhymes are used as texts for the poems. In each case, the jingle is printed at the head of the poem for which it serves as a suggestion, the author sometimes treating the rhyme as an allegory, sometimes

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making it the basis of a story, or again simply enlarging on it. King Cole, Jumping Joan, Wee Willie Winkle, the lady who rode to Banbury Cross, are among the old acquaintances one meets in its pages, while the Old Man in Leather is made by the text for a somewhat melancholy contrast between life’s aspirations and its achievements.

A paper by Miss Ellen Duvall on Swinburne^[20] was read by Miss Latane. While recognizing the lyrical perfection of much of Swinburne’s work, and his exquisite sense of the beautiful in language, Miss Duvall charged him with being the servant of his muse rather than its master. The feminine element is preeminent in Swinburne’s poetry. He treats life as a riddle, rather than a mystery. He broods over its problems, but does not think to a conclusion. Back of all great poetry there lies a profound philosophy of

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life, and this he lacked. The poet came in for censure in ignoring the standards set up by his race and his age. Of love despondent, inconstant, passionate, he wrote much, but of love militant triumphant and self-purifying he was ignorant. He knew beauty, but a vision of loveliness seems to have been denied him.

Mrs. Charles W. Lord gave a talk on Bonchurch where Swinburne is buried. Though not present at the funeral services, Mrs. Lord was but a day behind, and visited the poet’s grave when the masses of flowers were still fresh and unfaded. Swinburne’s brothers, sisters, father, and grandfather lie in the same churchyard, and from that point can be distinctly heard the sound of the sea which he loved.

The programme closed with a poem by Mrs. Charles W. Gallagher on “The Hall of Memory.” This poem was of es-

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pecial interest to the Club, since it owes its inspiration to the recent disastrous fire in Lutherville, which so touched the sympathies of the community, and Mrs. Gallagher was given the tribute of moist eyes as well as of rapt attention.

 

The 712th Meeting.

The 712th meeting of the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore was held on Tuesday, April 18th, 1911, at 105 West Franklin street. The programme was given by the Committee on Foreign Travel, Miss Nellie C. Williams, Chairman. The President, Mrs. John C. Wrenshall, called the meeting to order; and the minutes of the meeting of April 11th were read by Mrs. William M. Smith, who had kindly acted as Recording Secretary on that occasion.

The President announced that the vacancies on the Board of Management had been filled for the rest of the year at the

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last two Board meetings, and we congratulate ourselves on having as our Second Vice-President Miss H. Frances Cooper, and as one of our Directors Mrs. William M. Smith.

The first article of the programme was given by Mrs. James C. Fenhagen, and was called: “A Trip to Jamaica.” Mrs. Fenhagen gave a very pleasant description of the short voyage into the Southern waters, and the landing on the island of Jamaica, bringing up reminders of the landing there by Columbus in 1494. She told of the beautiful scenery of the shores, and of her arrival at Port Antonio. She spoke of the Blue mountains, and the rivers, the climate and fine harbors. She described the cities, especially Kingston and Port Royal,--the old submerged city with traditions of drowned treasures, and the new one of the same name. She told of the markets where the colored women sit on the ground

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with their fruit and vegetables before them. She spoke of the remaining effect of the great earthquake, which even we in this country have not forgotten. She described the people,--the white and much more numerous black and colored ones,--their manners and characteristics, and touched upon the varied history of the island. Personal incidents were pleasantly told, and our island neighbor was attractively presented to us.

The next article was by our member Mrs. Haman, and was called: “A Summer in France.” Miss Haman told of arriving in France at Havre, of waiting for the tide and, and landing at ten o’clock at night in what seemed almost like a suburb of New York. She told of traveling in Normandy, and of going to Paris to stay in the Latin Quarter, in the real old Paris, the island in the Seine near to Notre Dame, and many other

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buildings and places of old historic and romantic interest. She spoke of the heroes and heroines of former centuries, and described the customes and ceremonies of older times that have left their traces to be seen in our own days. We were glad to hear Mrs. Haman’s account of “the pleasant land of France” as she saw it last summer.

The last article was by Mrs. C. W. Lord, and was called: “Copenhagen.” Mrs. Lord told of the stately capital of Denmark with its many attractions, natural and made by its people through the centuries. She told of the life lived there, as she saw it in company with our former active and now honorary member, Lady Hamerik,^[21] who in her far away home has not entirely forgotten our Club; and whose husband was for years a resident of Baltimore, though himself a well known family in Denmark. Mrs. Lord spoke of the beautiful parks in Copenhagen, and of the two wonderful museums of the great

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Danish sculptor Thorwaldsen, known to us chiefly by copies of his “Christ and Apostles”; and the other has a fine collection of ancient curiosities, many prehistoric, such as cups of the bronze age, and a remarkable musical instrument which is called a “lür,” and was in late years made to give its music again after a silence of many centuries, by an uncle of Mr. Hamerik, who discovered how to play on it, and was knighted after his discovery. Mrs. Lord heard old music performed on this strange instrument. She told of the ancient civilization in Denmark, said to be perhaps the oldest in Europe; and she recalled to us the names of the authors, artists, heroes, and scientists of this always interesting country.

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The President thanked Miss Williams and her Committee for the agreeable Foreign Travels they had given us; and declared the meeting adjourned.

 

The 713th Meeting. 

The 713th meeting of the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore was held on Tuesday, April 25th, 1911, at 105 West Franklin Street. This meeting was the April Salon, and was given for the Committee on Foreign Travel, Miss Nellie C. Williams, Chairman. For the programme we were given a beautiful illustrated lecture by our President, Mrs. John C. Wrenshall, the subject being a little journey made by herself: “Around the Sorrentine Peninsula.” The illustrations included “Views of the Streets of Naples”; “Pompeii”; “Paestum”; “Amalfi”; “Ravello”; “Sorrento”; “Ischia”; and “Capri.” “The lantern slides for this lecture

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were made and colored by Mrs. Wrenshall Markland, largely from photographs taken by herself.” They were well chosen and beautifully executed, with the glowing, exquisite coloring we could well understand to belong to Italian skies and scenes and sunshine. Leaving Naples we seemed to see Pompeii pictures before us with new light, variety and charm. Mrs. Wrenshall showed and described for us Paestum, the city of Poseidon,--recalling its Grecian origin. Then came Amalfi, with its ancient and mediaeval associations, followed by Ravello, Sorrento, Ischia, and Capri with its wonderful Blue Grotto. With all were beautiful pictures, and picturesque, poetical, and historical descriptions for our interest and appreciation.

At the close of Mrs. Wrenshall’s lecture the meeting was adjourned and a pleasant hour passed in comment, refreshment, and conversation.

 

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The 714th Meeting

The 714th meeting of the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore was held on Tuesday, May 2nd, 1911, at 105 West Franklin street. This was a business meeting, for members only, devoted to the presentation of the annual Reports of the Standing Committees of the Club.

After a few introductory words, the President announced that the first Report on our list could not be given, as the Committee on Archaeology (of which Mrs. P. R. Uhler,--our Corresponding Secretary,--is Chairman) had been prevented by unavoidable circumstances from giving the programme of any meeting this year.

The Committee on Art, Mrs R. M. Wylie reported the meeting of November 8th, 1910, at which Mrs. Wrenshall Markland gave an article on “Art Notes in 1910,” and Mrs.

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Wylie herself a new description of the “Taj Mahal.”

For the next Committee on the list, that of Authors and Artists of Maryland, we again had to regret that unavoidable circumstances had prevented the presentation of a programme or report.

The Committee on Colonial and Revolutionary History reported the meeting of February 21st, 1911, which began with an “Ode--America” by Professor Philip Reese Uhler, L.L.D., presented to the President of our Club by the distinguished author, and read by Mrs. Wrenshall. Then followed an article by Mrs. F. P. Stevens on “Unfamiliar Records of Old Time Days in Nearby Places.” Miss Harriet P. Maurice then gave us “The Muse of Maryland Women”; and Mrs. Thomas Hill the Chairman, gave an article on “Washington the Hero.”

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The Committee on Current Criticism, Miss Lucy T. Latane, Chairman, reported two meetings. The first one on November 29th, 1910, began with a paper by our first President, Mrs. Lawrence Turnbull, on Fabian Franklin’s “Life of Daniel Coit Gilman.” This was followed with a review, given by Mrs. William M. Smith of the new novel “Nathan Burke,” by Mary Watts. Then, Miss Virginia W. Cloud gave, under the title of “Art Alone Enduring,” short reviews of the new books; “The Rosary”; “Rest Harrow”; “Pan’s Mountain”; “Francis Winslow Kane”; “The Creators”; and Rudyard Kipling’s “Rewards and Fairies.”

Miss Latane’s second meeting was on March 28th, 1911. Reviews were given: First by Mrs. Percy M. Reese on “The Life of Parson Weems,” by L. C. Wroth; Second by Miss Latane

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on “A Memoir of William Sharp”; Third by Mrs. William M. Smith on “The Doctor’s Christmas Eve,” by James Lane Allen.

The Committee on “The Drama,” Miss Virginia W. Cloud Chairman, reported the meeting of February 14th, 1911. It began with an “Essay” by Miss Ellen Duvall on “Shakespeare and Bacon again,” read by Miss Latane. Then followed a review of Miss Lizette W. Reese on the new play “The Piper” and “Its Author.”

The Committee on Education, Mrs. R. B. Bowie, Chairman, reported the meeting of November 22nd, 1910; which began with an article contributed by Miss Henrietta G. R. Pendleton, on “A Small Room for a Great Poet,” being a description of the room of Edgar Allan Poe at the University of Virginia, read by Mrs. Bowie. This was followed by an article on “Education in Korea,” given by Mrs. G. Lane Taneyhill.

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The meeting closed with an article on “The Lette Verein,” a school in Berlin, given by Miss Nellie C. Williams.

The Committee on Essays, Mrs. Sidney Turner, Chairman, reported two meetings. The first on December 6th, 1910, began with an article by Miss H. Frances Cooper on “Oberammergau in 1910.” Mrs. C. W. Lord gave an account of “Copenhagen”; and Mrs. Turnbull herself spoke on “The Responsibilities of Advantages.”

At Mrs. Turner’s second meeting, on March 14th, 1911, Miss E. C. Nicholas gave an article on “What Shall We Talk About?” Mrs. Wrenshall Markland discussed: “Some Mediums of Expression”; and Mrs. Samuel A. Hill told of that strange sect, the Economites.

The Committee on Fiction, Mrs. Percy M. Reese, Chairman, reported the programmes of three meetings, and contributions

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from the Committee had, as we knew, appeared on the programmes of other Committees also. At Mrs. Reese’s first meeting on November 1st, 1910, Mrs. G. Lane Taneyhill gave us the “Southern Cross”; Mrs. Harriet Lummis Smith gave “The Foot Prints”; Miss Emily Paret Atwater gave “The International Spooks Company, Limited”; and “A Story” was given by Mrs. Robert B. Bowie.

At the second Fiction meeting the programme given was: “The Passing of the Gods” by Mrs. R. B. Bowie; “Links in a Chain,” by Mrs. Percy M. Reese; “Two Cries” by Miss Lilie Schnauf; and “Tit for Tat” by Mrs. Harriet L. Smith.

Mrs. Reese’s third programme was given on January 31st, 1911, when Mrs. Edith Howell Armour gave a story called “Sylvia;” and “A Story” was also given by Mrs. Harriet L. Smith.

The Committee on Foreign Languages, of which Mrs. John C. Wrenshall, our President is Chair-

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man pro tempore, had given the programmes of two meetings. To the first of these on November 21st, 1910, Miss Lilie Schnauffer gave her translations from the German of Karl Knortz of extracts from his “History of American Literature.” This was followed by the translation of “The American” from the German of Raoul Auernheimer by Miss Nellie C. Williams.

The second Foreign Languages meeting was on January 24th, 1911. The first article was “French Troops in Maryland” by Miss E. C. Nicholas,--her translation of “Extracts from the Journal of Baron Closen; Rochambeau Papers, in the Library of Congress.” Then followed two stories translated by Miss Nellie C. Williams: “Tinfoil,” and “Roses We Cannot Reach,” both from the German of Karl Auernheimer.

The next Committee was that of Foreign Travel, Miss Nellie C. Williams Chairman.

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Three programmes were recorded on the list of this Committee; and another--February 4th--might seem to be in the same or kindred subjective relation of historical interest. Miss Williams reported the meeting of January 10th, 1911, at which Mrs. G. Lane Taneyhill gave an article called “From Benares to Bombay”; and Miss Williams told of her own journey “Under the Polar Skies.”

Her meeting of April 18th, 1911, contained an article by Mrs. J. C. Fenhagen on “A Trip to Jamaica.” Mrs. Haman told of “Summer in France”; and Mrs. C. W. Lord described a visit to “Copenhagen.”

At the meeting of February 7th, 1911, Mrs. Wrenshall Markland gave us “Studies in the Mediaeval History of Italy, as Relating to the Past and Present of the Life of Florence, ‘Rome’s most glorious daughter.’”

The last Foreign Travel programme, on April 25th, 1911,

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--our last literary meeting--was filled by the beautiful lecture of our President, Mrs. John C. Wrenshall, called “Around the Sorrentine Peninsula,” and illustrated with very fine pictures taken by Mrs. Wrenshall Markland;--altogether “the appropriate crown of our year’s work.”

The Committee on Letters and Autographs, Mrs. Harriet Lummis Smith, Chairman, reported the meetings of April 4th, 1911, when Miss Virginia Bowie gave an “Autograph and Sketch of Jack London”; Mrs. Edward Lee Ashley gave “Some thoughts of Edwin Markham”; Mrs. John B. Hooper gave a talk on “Dr. S. Weir Mitchell”; and Mrs. James C. Fenhagen gave “The Origin of the Teddy Bear, and Sketch of the Cartoonist.”

The Committee on the literature of the Bible, Mrs. Alan P. Smith, Chairman, reported the meeting of December 13th,

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1910. The first article was “An American Bethlehem,” written by Miss Ellen Duvall and read by Miss Latane. This was followed by a poem given by Miss Lizette W. Reese on “A Visit to Bethlehem Manger.” The last article was by Mrs. Alan P. Smith, and was called “Scenes around an Old City,” the Bethlehem of Palestine.

The Committee on Modern Poetry, Miss Lizette W. Reese, Chairman, reported the two meetings of October 25th, 1910, and April 11th, 1911. At the first Miss Reese herself gave a comparison of “Aldrich and Stedman.” Mrs. Lawrence Turnbull, our first President, gave us “Edmund Clarence Stedman: Personal Reminiscence.” “Three Poems by Aldrich,” and “Three Poems by Stedman,” were read by Mrs. Percy M. Reese.

At the second Poetry meeting on April 11th, 1911, the first

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number on the programme was given by Mrs. Charles W. Gallagher, a poem—called “The Hall of Memory.” This was followed by a poem written by Miss L. W. Reese, and read by Mrs. P. R. Uhler, called “Under a Fool’s Cap.” An essay, written by Miss Ellen Duvall and read by Miss Latane, on “Swinburne,” followed. The closing article was “Bonchurch,” a talk by C. W. Lord.

The Committee on Unfamiliar Records, Mrs. Edward Stabler, Chairman, reported the meeting of March 21st, 1911. It began with an article by the Chairman herself on “The Dress of Our Ancestors.” Then followed an article by Mrs. Hester Dorsey Richardson on “Some Early Maryland Clubs.” Miss Harriet P. Marine gave us the second part of her “Muse of Maryland Women.” The closing article was “An Historic Letter,” read by Miss E. C. Nicholas.

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There was no report from the Committee on Music. Our able and much regretted Chairman of the two Music Committees,--a valuable member of other Committees, and also a Director--Miss Annie Hollins, having died suddenly on January 3rd, 1911, her place had not yet been filled. There had been miscellaneous programmes, arranged by the President, or with her direction, from the work of the Committees. On February 28th, with Mrs. Alan P. Smith presiding, the programme included “A Present Day Farce” by Miss Elizabeth L. Millin; “A Story” by Mrs. Edith Howell Armour; and readings from “An Unpublished Biography,” given by Mrs. Alan P. Smith.

On March 7th, 1911, we were favored by our former President, Mrs. Lawrence Turnbull, with “Reading of Extracts” from her yet unpublished book, “The Royal Pawn of Venice.”

Our “Twelfth Night” en-

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tertainment was much enjoyed; and all our four open evening meetings, both lectures and musical ones, were successful in entertaining our friends as well as our own members.

At the close of the meeting of May 2nd, 1911, the President and Chairmen of Committees arranged the dates of the programmes for the Club year of 1911-1912.

 

The 715th Meeting.

The 715th meeting of the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore was held on Tuesday, May 9th, 1911, at 105 West Franklin Street. This was the annual business meeting required by the constitution for the nomination of the six officers, and three directors of the Club. There was some delay in beginning the meeting while waiting for a business quorum to ar-

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rive. The President called the meeting to order, and the minutes were omitted. The President explained that there was a very unusual number of absences,--entirely unavoidable ones--in the ranks of our voting members. She read a list of names of those members who were away from Baltimore or detained by illness, or death in their families. The President explained our general methods and rules of nomination and election, and it was agreed to proceed with the business on hand with the representative members present,--this meeting being for nominations only. The President then gave her appointments for the election Committee, which by the Constitution must consist of two members from the Board of Management and three from the ranks of the Club. The first name on this Committee is that of the Chairman who is also Judge of Election.

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The names were: Miss Lillie Schnauffer, Chairman; Mrs. Percy Reese; Miss E. C. Nicolas; Mrs. Sidney Turner; and Miss E. L. Mullin; the two last named being from the Board of Management.

The President explained that the six officers were elected for one year, and that the present incumbents were eligible for re-election, if so desired. Of our six Directors who are elected for two years, three hold over from the last year’s election, and the terms of three expire,--but these, also, are eligible, of course, for re-election, if desired. The members holding over from last year are: Mrs. Sidney Turner; Mrs. W. M. Powell; and Mrs. William Mulligan Smith. Those whose terms expire are: Miss Virginia W. Cloud; Miss Cooper; and Miss Hollins; our loss of the last named member having never been filled.

The President then called on Miss Schnauffer as Judge

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of Election to take charge of the meeting. Miss Schnauffer called the roll, the members present answering to their names. The Committee then distributed the nominating ballots, and the members proceeded to fill them with the individual choice of each voter. After collecting the filled ballots, the Committee retired to the adjoining room to count the votes cast. The other members assembled on the floor, and held informal discussions on subjects relating to the Club, its work, progress and details, as well as on the literary topics. The Committee returned and announced the results of the nominating votes. There were twelve notes. So nearly unanimous were they as to make a majority of a quorum for all the candidates. One or two scattering votes and blanks showed really the indisposition of those knowing themselves

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to be candidates to vote for themselves, or their wish to compliment others.

The result of nominations:

For President . . . Mrs. John C. Wrenshall,

1st Vice-President . . . Mrs. Alan P. Smith,

2nd “   “ . . . Mrs. Samuel A. Hill,

Recording Secretary . . . Miss Lydia Crane,

Corresponding   “   . . . Mrs. Philip R. Uhler,

Treasurer . . . Miss Elizabeth L. Mullin,

Directors

Mrs. Wrenshall Markland,

Miss Virginia W. Cloud,

Miss H. Frances Cooper,

The Directors holding over are:

Mrs. Turner

Mrs. Prowell,

Mrs. W. Mulligan Smith.

Mrs. Turner asked if those who had received votes for positions they did not wish to fill could withdraw their names. It was answered that this, of course, would be done. The scattering votes were withdrawn. The result of the

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nominations was evidently satisfactory. With general congratulations the meeting was adjourned.

Before entirely dispersing, Mrs. Armour kindly gave the reading of three published poems of her own to a small but appreciative audience.

 

The 716th Meeting.

The 716th Meeting of the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore was held on Tuesday, May 16th, 1911, at 105 West Franklin street. This was the business meeting devoted to the annual election of six officers and three directors, to serve for the coming Club year of 1911 and 1912. In the absence of the President, Mrs. Sidney Turner presided. The Recording Secretary read the minutes of the meeting of May 9th, 1911, which had been devoted to the preliminary nominations. Our President sent us her best wishes, and her regrets for her inability to be with us.

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It was announced that our next meeting on May 23rd, 1911, would be a musical one, under the direction of Miss Lina Stiebler, and would also be the concluding Salon of the season of 1910 and 1911.

It was announced that the opening meeting of the next season would be held on October 14th; and that the programme would be similar to the one with which we began the Club year last October;--a series of “Book Talks” by our members, telling of the books read during the vacation. Our President had suggested that these talks should be rather of the impressions of the books made on the minds of the readers than of the plots and details of the books themselves.

All the members present were then called upon to sign their names in the Club book.

The nominating ballots were distributed to the signers. On these ballots were printed the names of those who had

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received the majority of the nominating votes at the previous meeting, with spaces for any others the members might desire to vote for.

The ballots were collected by the Election Committee, who retired to count them.

As the Treasurer’s Report is also annually given to the Club on the third Tuesday in May, and the accounts are previously submitted to two members appointed by the presiding officer, Mrs. Turner announced as these auditors, Miss Mary D. Davis and Mrs. Fayerweather.

In a short time the Election Committee returned to the platform, and the Judge, Miss Schnauffer announced the result of the votes.

For President . . . Mrs. John C. Wrenshall,

1st Vice President . . . Mrs. Alan P. Smith,

2nd Vice President . . . Mrs. Samuel A. Hill,

Recording Secretary . . . Miss Lydia Crane,

Corresponding Secretary . . . Mrs. Philip R. Uhler,

Treasurer . . . Miss Elizabeth L. Mullin,

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Directors.

Mrs. Wrenshall Markland,

Miss Virginia W. Cloud,

Miss H. Frances Cooper,

The Directors holding over from last year’s elections are:

Mrs. Sidney Turner,

Mrs. W. M. Powell,

Mrs. Harriet L. Smith.

The Treasurers and Auditors then returned to present the financial report of the year which had been found clear and correct.

Miss Mullin reported the receipts and expenditures for the year.

Balance in National Mechanics Bank May 16th, 1910--$177.57

Received from dues up to May 16th, 1911,--586.32 $763.89

Expenditures as per vouchers to May 16th, 1911, 424.20 $339.69.

Miss Mullin’s Report was so satisfactory to the Club, that with

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grateful recognition, the hope was expressed that she may always be our Treasurer.

With congratulations on the result of the election, the meeting was adjourned.

 

The 717th Meeting. 

The 717th meeting of the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore was held on Tuesday, May 23rd, 1911, at 105 West Franklin street. This was the May Salon, and the closing meeting of the season of 1910 and 1911. A musical programme was given by Miss Lina Steibler. The minutes of the business meeting were not read.

After calling the meeting to order, the President announced to the Club some changes of the Chairmen of Standing Committees. Miss Nellie C. Williams had accepted the Chairmanship of the Committee on Foreign Languages; and Mrs. C. W. Lord, that of the Committee

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on Foreign Travel. Miss Lina Steibler of the Peabody Conservatory had accepted the Chairmanship of the Committee on Music. The President then called attention to the just published book “The Reminiscences of William Paret, Sixth Episcopal Bishop of Maryland,” edited by his grand-daughter--and our member--Miss Emily Paret Atwater, of which she spoke with high appreciation.

The programme next called for “The President’s Address.” Mrs. Wrenshall gracefully expressed her grateful appreciation for the confidence known by her late unopposed election to her fourteenth term as President of the Woman’s Literary Club. Reviewing our past, and looking to our future, she spoke of the growth and progress of our work; and the extension and value of

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our influence. In closing our meetings for the summer, she would leave us one word: Aspiration, to be kept in mind until we meet again.

The musical programme was given by Miss Lydia Post, soprano; Miss Belle Bradford, contralto; Mr. T. Randolph Turner and Mr. Frank Mellor, tenors; Mr. John C. Thomas, baritone; Miss Beatrice Schwartz, pianist; and Miss Lina Steibler, accompanist.

The first number was a duet,--”Violets,” by Loehr, sung by Miss Belle Bradford and Mr. T. Randolph Turner.

The next number was a piano solo, “A Serenade” by Oelson, played by Miss Beatrice Schwartz.

The third number was “A Little Dutch Garden,” sung by Miss Belle Bradford.

The fourth number was the “Aria, Marta,” of Flotow, sung by Mr. Frank Mellor.

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The fifth number was “The Page’s Aria” of Meyerbeer, sung by Miss Lydia Posh.

The sixth number sung was “My Old Black Mare” by Squire, sung by Mr. Thomas, and much enjoyed.

The seventh number was “The Dance of the Elves,” played by Miss Beatrice Schwartz. Miss Schwartz played so successfully, that until our President brought her to the platform, one could only hear, and not see her, did not know that she was a child,--or “a little fairy.”

We were next favored with a solo by Mr. T. Randolph Turner,--who sung “Moira My Girl.”

The ninth number was, appropriately, “Printemptemps [Printemps] qui Commence” of Saint-Saëns, sung by Miss Belle Bradford.

The last number was finely given by Mr. John C.

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Thomas, and was of the three beautiful songs found in Tennyson’s “Princess,” with the music by Whelpley. This was a fitting close to a well selected, and well executed programme, for which our President gave the thanks of all present to Miss Stiebler, and her able company of musicians.

Mrs. Wrenshall spoke of our regret in parting from each other until the fall. She declared the Club adjourned until October 17th, and hoped we should all meet again then at about quarter past three p.m.

Refreshments and social enjoyment followed for another hour; after which came the real good-byes.

[END OF SEASON]