Washington in a body.
I have since ascertained that they called themselves "Daughters of
Liberty." A kindred association had been formed of "Sons of Liberty."
Perhaps these ladies were of the mind of Mrs. John Adams, who, when
congratulating her husband upon the liberties assured to American men by
the then new Constitution of the United States, thought it "a pity that
the legislators had not also done something for the ladies."

Among the familiar figures of my early life is that of Dr. John
Wakefield Francis. I wish it were in my power to give any adequate
description of this remarkable man, who was certainly one of the
worthies of his time. As already said, he was my uncle by marriage, and
for many years a resident in my father's house. He was of German origin,
florid in complexion and mercurial in temperament. His fine head was
crowned with an abundance of silken curly hair. He always wore
gold-bowed glasses, being very near-sighted, was a born humorist, and
delighted in jest and hyperbole. He was an omnivorous reader, and was so
constituted that four hours of sleep nightly sufficed to keep him in
health. This was fortunate for him, as he had an extensive practice, and
was liable to be called out at all hours of the night. A candle always
stood on a table beside his pillow, and with it a pile of books and
papers, which he habitually perused long before the coming of daylight.
It so happened, however, that he waked one morning at about four of the
clock, and saw his wife, wrapped in shawls, sitting near the fire,
reading something by candlelight. The following conversation ensued:--

"Eliza, what book is that you are reading?"

"'Uncle Tom's Cabin,' dear."

"Is it? I don't need to know anything more about it--it must be the
greatest book of the age."

His humor was extravagant. I once heard him exclaim, "How brilliant is
the light which streams through the fissure of a cracked brain!" Again
he spoke of "a fellow who couldn't go straight in a ropewalk." His
anecdotes of things encountered in the exercise of his profession were
most amusing.

He found us seated in the drawing-room, one evening, to receive a visit
from a very shy professor of Brown University. The doctor, surveying the
group, seized this poor man, lifted him from the floor, and carried him
round the circle, to express his pleasure at seeing an old friend. The
countenance of the guest meanwhile showed an agony of embarrassment and
terror.

The d