SAMUEL GRIDLEY HOWE By Laura E. Richards .• Mrs. Richards'
biography of her distinguished father is a much more interesting and snore attractive piece of work than most documentary expressions of filial piety of today. In parts, it is true,•it is somewhat less critical than a dispassionate, objective survey would demand ; but her sincerity is rein- forced by 'a firm reasonableness,which nearly:always lends conviction to her narrative. Dr. Howe's career was varied and picturesque. In his youth he was a firm advocate of Greek independence, fought with Byron in Greece, and did practical service organizing relief work for the Greek peasants. In Germany he found himself committed to a Prussian prison as a result of expressing his sympathies for Polish revolu- tionists. Returning home after these adventures, he started on the work for the blind and insane which ultimat.elY, after great efforts and difficulties, won him extensilie recognition as a pioneer in both these fields, but though be is generally known only for his work in these two connexipns, this book reveals that his writings on many other subjects;-such as popular education and prison reform, were also considerably in advance of contemporary opinion.-. He married Julia Ward, the author of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," and was the friend of Carlyle, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Horace Mann and many other distinguished persons. Mrs. Richards' account of both his public and private life is constructed with taste and skill, and her book is a worthy memorial to her father's great career. ,c.
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