his
daughter while he was abroad. They returned to the ancestral home at
Elmwood soon after the marriage, and continued to reside there until the
poet was appointed Minister to Spain by President Hayes, when they
repaired together to that country. Upon his transfer to the Court of St.
James, they removed to London, where both were universally and justly
popular. Few ladies have received such warm encomiums in England as Mrs.
Lowell, and few have as richly deserved them. No man whom our nation has
sent to represent us in England has been so highly praised by the
English press as Mr. Lowell, and probably no one has been so much liked
by the class of people with whom he came chiefly in contact. There
seemed to be much wonder in court circles there that America could
produce so finished a gentleman as Mr. Lowell; and perhaps they had had
some reason to doubt this, if they judged by the average American
tourist. They wondered, too, at his delightful public speaking,--a thing
to which Englishmen are not as much accustomed as Americans. They have a
heavy, labored way of speaking, extremely painful to listeners
accustomed to the ease of American speakers; and they were never weary
of listening to the pleasing and graceful oratory of Mr. Lowell. He was
called upon constantly to address the people, upon all sorts of
occasions, and invariably received the highest praise for his efforts.
Much regret was felt in England when he was called home; much also in
this country by those who had the honor of the nation at heart, although
the whole people were glad to welcome him back to his native land once
more. Mrs. Lowell died during their residence in London, and the
sympathies of the world went out to the husband in his affliction.

Mr. Lowell came to the aid of the despised Abolitionists at an early
day. While it was still inviting social ostracism and public indignity
to do so, he bravely lifted up his voice in their defence, and began
lending his vigorous and powerful pen to the cause they represented. All
the traditions of his life seemed to bind him to the conservative
classes; but he broke away from them, and boldly faced their derision
and their sneers, to do what seemed right in his own eyes. As far back
as the publication of the "Fable for Critics," he had dared to praise
Whittier, whom all the conservatives affected to despise,--

"For singing and striking in front of the war,
And hitting his foes with the mallet of Thor.