cks had retreated
that the contour of his strongly marked head might be revealed." The
eminent lawyer, Whipple, is not, she says, a man of the Webster class;
but is, in her eyes, first among men of the class immediately below, and
wears "a pervading air of ease and mastery which shows him fit to be a
leader of the flock." John Neal, of Portland, speaks to her girls on the
destiny and vocation of woman in America, and in private has a long talk
with her concerning woman, whigism, modern English poets, Shakespeare,
and particularly "Richard the Third," concerning which play the two
"actually had a fight." "Mr. Neal," she says, "does not argue quite
fairly, for he uses reason while it lasts, and then helps himself out
with wit, sentiment, and assertion." She hears a discourse and prayer
from Joseph John Gurney, of England, in whose matter and manner she
finds herself grievously disappointed: "Quakerism has at times looked
lovely to me, and I had expected at least a spiritual exposition of its
doctrines from the brother of Mrs. Fry. But his manner was as wooden as
his matter. His figures were paltry, his thoughts narrowed down, and his
very sincerity made corrupt by spiritual pride. The poet, Richard H.
Dana, in those days gave a course of readings from the English
dramatists, beginning with Shakespeare. Margaret writes:--

"The introductory was beautiful.... All this was arrayed in a garb of
most delicate grace; but a man of such genuine refinement undervalues
the cannon-blasts and rockets which are needed to rouse the attention of
the vulgar. His naive gestures, the rapt expression of his face, his
introverted eye, and the almost childlike simplicity of his pathos carry
one back into a purer atmosphere, to live over again youth's fresh
emotions." Her _resume_ of him ends with these words: "Mr. Dana has the
charms and the defects of one whose object in life has been to preserve
his individuality unprofaned."

Margaret's connection with the Greene Street School in Providence
lasted two years. Her success in this work was considered very great,
and her brief residence in Rhode Island was crowned with public esteem
and with many valued friendships.

Her parting from the pupils here was not without tears on both sides.
Although engaged to teach the elder girls, Margaret's care had extended
over the younger ones, and also over some of the boys. With all she
exchanged an affectionate farewell, in which words of advice were
mi