An amusing incident of family life was as follows: Some
Northern visitors seemed to think that the family had no rights which
were worthy of a moment's consideration. They would land at the wharf,
roam about the place, pick flowers, peer into the house through the
windows and doors, and act with that disregard of all the proprieties
of life which characterizes ill-bred people when on a journey. The
professor had been driven well-nigh distracted by these migratory
bipeds. One day, when one of them broke a branch from an orange tree
directly before his eyes, and was bearing it off in triumph with all
its load of golden fruit, he leaped from his chair, and addressed the
astonished individual on those fundamental principles of common
honesty, which he deemed outraged by this act. The address was
vigorous and truthful, but of a kind which will not bear repeating,
"Why," said the horror-stricken culprit, "I thought that this was Mrs.
Stowe's place!" "You thought it was Mrs. Stowe's place!" Then, in a
voice of thunder, "I would have you understand, sir, that I am the
proprietor and protector of Mrs. Stowe and of this place, and if you
commit any more such shameful depredations I will have you punished as
you deserve!" Thus this predatory Yankee was taught to realize that
there is a God in Israel.
In April, 1869, Mrs. Stowe was obliged to hurry North in order to
visit Canada in time to protect her English rights in "Oldtown Folks,"
which she had just finished.
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