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 ...

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THE STORY OF MY LIFE.

in Christmas. It signified nothing to me. So a third time
I declined attendance on the Christmas festivities, assigning
the true reason, that I needed the time for work.
It was a bright winter day, full of sunshine and beauty.
The ground was bare of snow, there had been none of the
usual severe weather, and the grass was vividly green
in moist places. But beautiful as was the day, I was ill at
ease. An intense dissatisfaction with life, and all that it
promised, had taken possession of me, and neither by hard
work, reading, or philosophizing could I throw it off. What
was the meaning of life? Who could solve the great problem of human destiny? Forced into existence without our
consent being asked or given, our position arbitrarily assigned us in advance of our coming, compelled to learn the
conditions and laws of life by the hardest experiences,
through the pain and suffering consequent on our violation
of them, we stumble on blindly and ignorantly for a few
troubled and reluctant years, and then drop out,- where I
As the evening deepened, and my spirits drooped more
heavily, I ceased work, and went out for a long tramp. I
passed the Unitarian and Methodist churches, lighted and
filled with people, whom I felt no inclination to join. I
reached the " village," and neared the Universalist church,
which commanded a fine view of the sea, then at flood-tide.
The full moon was riding through the heavens, and shone
across the wide expanse of water in a broad path of silver
light. I stopped to gaze. The cool air blew lightly on my
heated face, with grateful refreshing, and I stood quiet and
alone, absorbed in moody contemplation, and yet longing
for light and peace. The church door, a little way behind
me, opened for the admission of visitors, when a triumphant
burst of song rang out on the night air: " Glory to God in
the highest I on earth peace and good will to men!"