They visited an estate that afterwards figured
as that of Colonel Shelby in "Uncle Tom's Cabin," and here the young
authoress first came into personal contact with the negro slaves of
the South. In speaking, many years afterwards, of this visit, Miss
Dutton said: "Harriet did not seem to notice anything in particular
that happened, but sat much of the time as though abstracted in
thought. When the negroes did funny things and cut up capers, she did
not seem to pay the slightest attention to them. Afterwards, however,
in reading 'Uncle Tom,' I recognized scene after scene of that visit
portrayed with the most minute fidelity, and knew at once where the
material for that portion of the story had been gathered."
At this time, however, Mrs. Stowe was more deeply interested in the
subject of education than in that of slavery, as is shown by the
following extract from one of her letters to Miss May, who was herself
a teacher. She says:--
"We mean to turn over the West by means of _model schools_ in
this, its capital. We mean to have a young lady's school of about
fifty or sixty, a primary school of little girls to the same amount,
and then a primary school for _boys_. We have come to the
conclusion that the work of teaching will never be rightly done till
it passes into _female_ hands. This is especially true with
regard to boys. To govern boys by moral influences requires tact and
talent and versatility; it requires also the same division of labor
that female education does.
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