The story of my life ; or, The sunshine and shadow of seventy years / by Mary A. Livermore ... with hitherto unrecorded incidents and recollections of three years' experience as an army nurse in the great Civil War, and reminiscences of twenty-five years' experiences on the lecture platform ... to which is added six of her most popular lectures ... with portraits and one hundred and twenty engravings from designs by eminent artists ...

MY ROOM AND ITS FURNISHINGS.,6

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jections. "We had to learn when Ma taught us, I tell you!"
was Dick's explanation, when I expressed surprise at their
acquirements.
Both parents were extreme radicals in religion, with no
faith in historic Christianity, no belief in an immanent God,
and with no more regard for the Bible than for any other
book. Singularly enough, however, they desired their chitdren to be taught the Christian religion, and to become
church members. They had stipulated with me before I
left Boston, that I should conduct morning and evening
devotions with them, and give them religious and biblical
instruction on Sundays, as the nearest church was twentyfive miles distant. Moreover, a check for money had been
sent me, to be expended in the" purchase of a Bible for each
one of them. Their reasons for this were odd enough.
They regarded a religious character as a graceful accomplishment, and declared that church membership gave one a
good standing in society, to which they honestly added, that
to any one who thoroughly believed it, the Christian religion
was evidently a great comfort and delight.
I was accompanied to my room, the night of my arrival,
by the whole troop of children, for they had each contributed in some way to its furnishing. It contained the same
wide, canopied bed, capacious chest of drawers, and lofty
wardrobe as were in the family room below, and a second
edition of the same huge fire roared in the broad, deep fireplace. Laura had placed in the book-case a complete edition
of Sir Walter Scott's novels, in handsome, uniform binding, -
her own personal property. Mary, who had artistic tastes,
had hung two or three of her pencilings among the more