now chaplain of the United States Senate. Mrs.
Hitchcock's great-grandfather Hale was a sur-
geon in the Revolution, and her grandfather
a drummer boy in the company with his father.
Her mother was born, and lived until she was
sixteen years old, on one of the rare spots on
God's green earth, on the edge of a little lake
called "Indian Pond," in the heart of our
New England mountains, in Orford, N.H.
After teaching in the little red school-house
among the hills, she was called to Lowell,
where, after having taught a few years, she
married. Later she removed with her husband
to Cambridge to educate the children. Here
her daughter, Caroline Hanks, went through the
public schools, and then entered the Harvard
Annex, now Radcliffe College. After leaving
college, she taught in the Harvard School until
her marriage in 1887, when she went with her
husband, Sanmel M. Hitchcock, to New York.
She now lives with her son, James Hitchcock,
on Harvard Street, Cambridge.
A few years ago Mrs. Hitchcock became in- tensely interested in theosophy. She is now president of the Cambridge Lodge of the Universal Brotherhood Organization and Theosophical Society, whose head(iuarters are at Point Loma, Cal. Here the Children's Raja Yoga School is being carried on with marked success, and the School for the Revival of the Lost Mysteries of Anticiuity has been already established under Katherine Tingley, of Newburyport, Mass. When asked the other day, "What are the Mysteries?" Mrs. Hitch- cock answered: "What, indeed, is there that is not a mystery? Is not life it-self the Great Mystery — life, this jjanoramic glimpse be- tween two vast silences? Raja Yoga is the Science of Life, the study by means of which we may come to understand the inner workings of that great law which has made brotherhood a fact in nature, and has made life joyful just in that degree that we recognize that the welfare of one is indissohibly and forever a part of the welfare of all. Tlieoso])hy is nior(> than a name, more than a theory: it is a living, trans- forming ])()wer, that shall lift the whole world and fill all life with light and joy. It is the history of the mental, moral, and spiritual evo- lution of the sou! on this planet."
Mrs. Hitchcock believes that the future of the world rests in the hands of the little children. "At Point Loma hundreds of them," it is said, " gathered from many nations, are being trained in the atmosphere of love, the spiritual science of the soul. Music and art are the transform- ing powers of life, and here they are taught in their deepest- meaning. The power of beauti- ful expression comes from the arousing of the inner powers of the soul, which are in sym- pathy with whatever is high and pure. Many of these little children are homeless waifs, who are being instructed in the laws of Universal Nature and Justice, the laws governing their own being, and the wisdom of mutual helpful- ness. The children are taught to regard them- selves as integral and responsible parts of the nation to which they belong; to aspire to the position of national benefactors, teachers, and helpers, and so become exponents of the truest and wisest patriotism." Mrs. Hitchcock is also interested in the various branches of this .school, which are found in all the large centres of Amer- ica, as well as in her own Cambridge, where she works indefatigably with the children. As stated in a recent periodical, she is "en- thusiastically loyal to her countrywomen, as she is, indeed, to everything truly American. She believes heartily in woman suffrage, and regrets deeply varicnis fraudulent methods that govern motlern politics." Another subject which has deeply interested her of late is anti- compulsory vaccination, on which she spoke earnestly at the State IIf)use some months ago. Although she was obliged to refuse the nomi- nation for presidency of the society of that name, her heart is entirely in sympathy with the cause.
The Cambridge Press of May 13, 1903, says: "As a writer, Mrs. Hitchcock is especially gifted. Her l)()oks — ' Nancy Hanks, a Story of Abraham Lincoln's Mother' and 'The History of the Hanks Family in America' — are regarded as authorities on these subjects. The first clears up what had b(>en for years before its publication mysterious and unsatisfactory with regard to the biography of the most lovable and noble mother of our great President. As a lecturer, Mrs. Hitchcock is fluent and interesting as well as graceful. Her lectures upon
