Is Polite Society Polite?
And Other Essays
BY
MRS. JULIA WARD HOWE
BOSTON & NEW YORK
Lamson, Wolffe, & Company
1895
Copyright, 1895,
By Lamson, Wolffe, & Co.
All rights reserved
Preface
I REMEMBER that, quite late in the fifties, I mentioned to Theodore Parker the desire which I began to feel to give living expression to my thoughts, and to lend to my written words the interpretation of my voice.
Parker, who had taken a friendly interest in the publication of my first volumes, "Passion Flowers" and "Words for the Hour," gave his approval also to this new project of mine. "The great desire of the age," he said, "is for vocal expression. People are scarcely satisfied with the printed page alone: they crave for their instruction the living voice and the living presence."