On April 14 I went to Paris, my daughter escorting me to Dover, and my son meeting me at Calais.  It was a bright, pleasant day, and I sat on deck and enjoyed the trip, though many of my fellow passengers were pale and limp.  Whirling to Paris in an easy car, through the beautiful wheatfields and vineyards, I thought of the old lumbering diligence, in which we went up to Paris at a snail’s pace forty years before.  I remained in Paris until October, and never enjoyed six months more thoroughly.  One of my chief pleasures was making the acquaintance of my fourth son, Theodore.  I had seen but little of him since he was sixteen years old, as he then spent five years at Cornell University, and as many more in Germany and France.  He had already published two works, “The Life of Thiers,” and “The Woman Question in Europe.”  To have a son interested in the question to which I have devoted my life, is a source of intense satisfaction.  To say that I have realized in him all I could desire, is the highest praise a fond mother can give.

My first experience in an apartment, living on an even plane, no running up and down stairs, was as pleasant as it was surprising.  I had no idea of the comfort and convenience of this method of keeping house.  Our apartment in Paris consisted of drawing room, dining room, library, a good-sized hall, in which stood a large American stove, five bedrooms, bathroom, and kitchen, and a balcony fifty-two feet long and four feet wide.  The first few days it made me dizzy to look down from this balcony to the street below.  I was afraid the whole structure would give way, it appeared so light and airy, hanging midway between earth and heaven.  But my confidence in its steadfastness and integrity grew day by day, and it became my favorite resort, commanding, as it did, a magnificent view of the whole city and distant surroundings.

There were so many Americans in town, and French reformers to be seen, that I gave Wednesday afternoon receptions during my whole visit.  To one of our “at homes” came Mlle. Maria Deraismes, the only female Free Mason in France, and the best woman orator in the country; her sister, Mme. Feresse-Deraismes, who takes part in all woman movements; M. Leon Richer, then actively advocating the civil and political rights of women through the columns of his vigorous journal; Mme. Griess Traut, who makes a specialty of Peace work; Mme. Isabelle Bogelot, who afterward attended the Washington Council of 1888, and who is a leader in charity work; the late Mme. Emilie de Morsier, who afterward was the soul of the International Congress of 1889, at Paris; Mme. Pauline Kergomard, the first woman to be made a member of the Superior Council of public Instruction in France, and Mme. Henri Greville, the novelist.