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 ...

424

424 THE STORY OF MY LIP&

"I1 declare I don't see how Salisbury did it! I wouldn't
have dreamed that it could be done. I must see the fellow
and tell him that he beats all the tailors I ever have
known!"1
After the trousers had passed the test of three or four
days' wear, I ventured to reveal myself to my husband
as their manufacturer. I shall never forget the incredulous
look on his face, as he heard my statement.
"11You! Do you mean to say that you cut and made
these garments? It is almost - why, you know nothing of
tailoring! How could you cut them without measuring for
them? I cannot believe you mean it,- you must be
joking!"1
And then I told him the story in detail, ending with the
suggestion, that as I had saved the money by doing the work
myself, we could now afford to take the National Era,and it was ordered forthwith. It was the best literary
paper then in existence, and had the right ring to it. It
was entirely free from namby-pambyism, took the right
stand on the great questions of the day, and maintained
a high ethical standard. Among its contributors were
Harriet Beecher Stowe, J. G. Whittier, Gail Hamilton,
Phebe and Alice Cary, and other writers who afterwards
became famous in the world of letters.
While still handicapped from a paucity of books, we
were supplied temporarily from an unexpected quarter.
There was a large and flourishing lodge of Odd Fellows in
town, which included every man of means and prominence in
the three villages. Odd Fellowship was in its palmiest days
at that time, and was in high repute because of the excellent