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diff --git a/36519-8.txt b/36519-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..faf8d32 --- /dev/null +++ b/36519-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1884 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Childhood of Distinguished Women, by Selina A. Bower + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Childhood of Distinguished Women + +Author: Selina A. Bower + +Release Date: June 26, 2011 [EBook #36519] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHILDHOOD OF *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, paksenarrion, Lindy Walsh and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + + THE CHILDHOOD OF DISTINGUISHED WOMEN. + + + [Illustration: WINDSOR CASTLE.] + + THE CHILDHOOD + OF + Distinguished Women. + + BY + SELINA A. BOWER, + AUTHOR OF "FROM ADVENT TO ADVENT." + + LONDON: + JARROLD & SONS, 3, PATERNOSTER BUILDINGS. + [_ALL RIGHTS RESERVED._] + + + + + _To be had also from the Author._ + ADDRESS--MRS. BOWER, RINGLAND VICARAGE, NORWICH. + + + + + LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + PAGE. + + WINDSOR CASTLE _Frontispiece_ + + THE TOWER OF LONDON 24 + + GREENWICH HOSPITAL 36 + + INCHMAHOME 48 + + NORWICH CATHEDRAL + (copied from a photograph, by permission) 60 + + ST. CLEMENT'S CHURCH, NORWICH 72 + + + + +The Childhood of Distinguished Women. + + + + +I. + +THE PRINCESS ALICE. + + +The Princess Alice was the second daughter and third child of our own +beloved Queen Victoria and the late Prince Consort, "Albert the Good." + +Our deepest sorrowful interest has recently been excited by the touching +and sudden way in which this lovely and gifted woman has been called +from her home on earth to her eternal home in heaven. + +The Princess was born on April 25th, 1843, and was very gladly welcomed +by the warm, true mother's heart of Her Majesty, who has ever shown and +expressed the deepest love for her happy circle of girls and boys. + +The first incident in the babyhood of the Princess Alice which attracts +attention is the record of her christening. It was a very brilliant one, +the Archbishop of Canterbury officiating, on June 2nd. The sponsors were +the late King of Hanover, Ernest, the present Duke of Coburg, and the +Princesses Sophia, Matilda, and Feodora. + +We will give the Queen's own words about the important choice of the +royal infant's names; Her Majesty thus writes:--"Our little baby is to +be called Alice, an old English name, and the other names are to be Maud +(another old English name, and the same as Matilda) and Mary, as she was +born on Aunt Gloucester's birthday." Again, in writing to her uncle, the +Queen's account of the little Princess's conduct was that "little Alice +behaved extremely well." + +When quite a young child, the Princess Alice was remarkably quick, and +earnestly enjoyed the acquirement of all the knowledge suitable to her +years, and soon displayed intellectual talent of a high order. + +Peculiarly sweet and amiable in her disposition, and patient and +untiring in her love, the young Princess was a favourite in the royal +nursery and schoolroom. + +Her illustrious father found her when even a child as to age, quite his +companion as to comprehension and mental capacities. + +Two very special characteristics place the beloved Princess Alice in the +highest range of distinguished women, and call for the deepest regard +and respect from all hearts. + +From her earliest youth, whatever was learned by her was _thoroughly_ +acquired, quietly and completely mastered, definitely and decidedly +finished. And with her highly-refined, cultivated, and capacious mind, +she also combined every domestic and feminine grace and duty, and was +the useful, helpful English maiden, as well as singularly intellectual. + +"In her teens," the Princess was pronounced to be "one of the most +accomplished young ladies in England." + +When the Queen visited Scotland in 1844, the Princess was too young to +accompany the royal party, and Her Majesty thus writes of the +separation. Just when they were ready for the journey, "Alice and the +baby (Prince Alfred) were brought in, poor little things, to wish us +good-bye." + +But in the course of a few years, all the children were able to +participate in the Scotch journeys, and the Princess Alice became the +constant companion of the Queen, riding with her over the lovely hills +on ponies; visiting the poor women in the cottages, calling at the shop +to purchase comforts for them; and at various times climbing the +ascents to Feithort, or up Morven, Loch-na-Gar, and Ben Mac Dhui. This +latter ascent was made through the dank mountain cloud; but this did not +daunt the royal travellers, the Queen recording--"However, I and Alice +rode to the very top, which we reached a few minutes past two; and here, +at a cairn of stones, we lunched in a piercing cold wind.... Luncheon +over, Albert ran off with Alice to the ridge to look at the splendid +view, and sent for me to follow." + +In December, 1861, Prince Albert was attacked by the terrible disease +which eventually proved fatal. The Princess Alice, although only +seventeen, was the constant, unwearied nurse of her well-loved parent, +and tended and watched him with the strongest filial love. To the last +she kept her post, and when her aid and gentle care were no more needed, +for he had passed away, she turned to soothe, comfort, and support her +beloved mother with womanly and dutiful affection. + +On the 1st of July, 1862, the Princess Alice married Prince Louis of +Hesse, and proved a pattern wife and mother. But in 1878, her own little +household group was smitten with diphtheria, and in nursing and +caressing her darling children, she caught the disease herself. One +child preceded her, the Princess Mary, who died November 16th, and on +December 14th, the anniversary of her honoured father's death, she, too, +was summoned home. + +The changes and sorrows of life, and, perhaps, especially the death, of +a darling little one, who fell from a window, in 1873, and was killed by +the fall, had been blessed to her by the Holy Spirit of God; and scenes +of family sickness and bereavement seem to have led the endeared +Princess Alice to that loving and sympathizing Saviour who is ever ready +to save the heart that fully trusts in Him. + +The whole English nation mourned for her, as for one near and dear to +each, and a solemnity pervaded all classes, though Christmas was at +hand. + +Possibly the anticipation of Christmastide had been bright in her own +loving spirit: if so, that anticipation was realized, for the first +Christmas in heaven with Jesus Himself must indeed surpass the most +joyous and happy one ever spent on earth. + + +In Memoriam. + +THE PRINCESS ALICE, WHO DIED DEC. 14th, 1878. + + She is taken to celebrate Christmastide, + In Emmanuel's land of light; + The notes of her carol swell far and wide, + And her raiment is lustrous white. + + Introduced to the happy, and blood-bought throng, + For whom Jesus, the Christ, was born, + How sweetly will echo her triumph song, + On the Heavenly Christmas morn! + + And the day she was taken was linked in love, + By fond memory's silver chain, + With him who had entered the Home above, + Which knows neither parting nor pain. + At the dawn of the wintry, and short, dark day, + The angel of death hovered near, + To herald the sorrowful mother away, + From trouble, and trial, and tear. + + Let us mingle our prayers, asking God to bless, + With earnest, affectionate cry, + Our well-beloved Queen, in her new distress, + Her comfort our God can supply. + May she treasure the thought with tremulous praise, + That those who were lent, and not given, + Are joining with us in the angels' lays, + And keeping their Christmas in Heaven! + +_Montacute, Ilminster, Somerset, Christmas, 1878._ + + + + +II. + +MRS. HANNAH MORE. + + +Mrs. Hannah More spent her happy childhood at Stapleton, near Bristol; +and her early girlhood in Bristol itself, as a pupil in the school of +her three elder sisters. + +Besides these three sisters, whose names were Mary, Betty, and Sally, +there was also one younger than Hannah herself, named Patty. + +The five little girls were the children of a Mr. Jacob More, the head +master of a foundation school at Stapleton. + +Mr. More had married the daughter of a farmer, who had been carefully +brought up, and possessed considerable mind and also great judgment. + +Hannah was born in 1745, and, together with her four sisters, learned to +read at home, the mother herself teaching them. + +It is not difficult to picture that happy home, with all its quiet +influence of love, for the five little girls appear to have been good +children, very affectionate to each other, and would form a sweet, +bright group as they stood with respectful attitude and intelligent +faces round the kind mother, and repeated with interest and earnest +emulation, the familiar "A, B, C." + +Presently, something more than this was needed, but books were scarce. +Mr. More had been educated for the Church, but his desire to be a +clergyman was frustrated. He removed from Norfolk, his native county, +and in his transit to Stapleton, which in those days was a long and +difficult journey, he lost the greater part of his library. He therefore +endeavoured to supply from memory, information and instruction to his +five daughters, and Hannah was always extremely delighted to stand by +her father's knees and listen to his stories of Grecian and Roman +history, and also to gain thus from him a fair amount of classical +learning. + +The nurse who assisted the busy mother with her happy charge, had lived +for some time in the family of Dryden, and often interested and amused +Hannah and her sisters with accounts of the poet. + +When Mr. More found that Hannah evinced such a desire for information, +he began to teach her Latin and Mathematics; but as she outstripped all +his pupils in the foundation school with extreme rapidity, the father, +fearing that it might tend to make Hannah unfeminine, ceased these +instructions. They seem, however, to have been supplemented by a +different mode of education. The parents were poor, too poor to supply +all the requirements of so large a family. Very wisely they determined +that the children should be trained to support themselves. Miss More +was, therefore, sent to a good school in Bristol, as a weekly boarder, +and every Saturday, on her return home, she was required to teach her +four sisters _all_ that she had learned in the week! + +When this sister was twenty years old, she, together with Betty and +Sally, opened a school themselves in Bristol; and Hannah, then twelve +years of age, and Patty were sent as pupils. + +On one occasion Hannah was taken ill, and Dr. Woodward, evidently a +literary man of that time, was sent for to attend her. But so great was +her conversational power, that the kind doctor forgot the purpose for +which he came. After some time, he took his leave, but exclaimed, +presently, "Bless me! I forgot to ask the girl how she is to-day!" + +This remarkable talent, thus early developed, was one of Mrs. Hannah +More's charms through life, and existed to the last lingering days of +an intelligent old age. + +Hannah's other great talent, as a writer, was also early and fully +indicated. As a mere child, she would scribble poems and prim essays +upon every scrap of available paper, and a story is told of her, that +she had one grand ambition constantly before her young life, and that +was to be old enough to "possess a whole quire of paper!" As a +schoolgirl, Dr. Johnson, the elder Sheridan, and the astronomer +Ferguson, seem to have been on terms of some intimacy, and exercised a +talented influence upon the strong sense and mental capacity of Hannah +More. + +England was experiencing change during the younger years of this +well-known and justly honoured writer; the upper circles of society were +gay and semi-infidel in principle, disposed to laugh at, and ridicule +anything of a religious character; the lower were so intensely ignorant +that they devoted themselves to indolence and vice. But already Wesley +and Whitefield were preaching the simple gospel of the Lord Jesus +Christ, and, through the influence of His Holy Spirit, awakening numbers +to study, appreciate, and rise to the full reception of the truth as it +is in Him. + +Mrs. Hannah More threw her literary influence and ability into the +effort to raise and benefit her fellow-countrymen; though I am not aware +that, during her early years, she in any way displayed personal and +positive perception of the great love of that Heavenly Father who +provided the special salvation and restoration so singularly suited to +the wants and capacities of every child of man. But her evident respect +for religion is singularly shown in the apparent sorrow that any +disregard should be manifested towards God's Word; she once remarked, +with emphatic disapproval, "We saw but one Bible in the parish of +Cheddar, and that was used to prop a flower-pot!" She died in 1833, at +the age of eighty-eight. + +[Illustration: THE TOWER OF LONDON.] + + + + +III. + +LADY JANE GREY. + + +Henry Grey was the Marquis of Dorset, and married Frances Brandon, the +daughter of the Duke of Suffolk and his beautiful wife, Mary, the sister +of Henry VIII. This Mary was for three months Queen of France; and when +Louis XII. left her a widow, she was again married, almost immediately, +to Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. Their child Frances was the mother +of Lady Jane Grey, who was born in 1537. There were two other little +girls younger than Lady Jane, Katherine and Mary. + +All the three children were treated with very great severity, which was +not unusual at that time. Lady Jane, perhaps because she was the eldest +girl, was expected to be quite perfect in her manners, movements, and in +all that she said; to use her own striking expression, to do everything +"Even so perfectly as God made the world." + +Her parents enforced obedience by threatening and taunting her; and also +by literal _pinching_ and _nipping_, besides still more severe and +revolting bodily punishments, which worried and fretted the gentle, +noble child, almost past endurance. + +However, probably partly owing to all this torture, Lady Jane derived +her pleasures from far higher sources than her years warranted. + +Her tutor, Mr. Elmer, unlike her parents, was extremely gentle and kind; +and when with him the child became perfectly free and happy, learning +her lessons with great patience, care, and interest, and enjoying that +true cultivation of mind, which is the result of all study that is +rendered attractive. + +Mr. Elmer had abundant reward for his toil, in winning and retaining the +affection and respect of his young pupil; and also in the rapidity with +which she mastered, not only the usual routine of general knowledge, but +the higher forms of classical learning. In Greek especially she was +proficient, and Plato was to her more interesting than any story book. + +When her father, who was at this time made a Duke, was out with the +Duchess and friends, hunting in the park, Lady Jane preferred remaining +in her bedroom with her books, and, on being questioned why she did not +join the party in their sport in the park, she replied that such +amusements were but "shadow." + +The surroundings of her home life were not congenial to the natural +gentleness and sweetness of her disposition, and this, with perhaps also +her love of the Greek language, led the young girl to study deeply, and +to love God's Holy Word, and very shortly before her sorrowful death, +she sent her Greek Testament to her sister Katherine, as the most +precious gift which she could offer. The truths of that Word fell softly +into the heart that yearned for love, and the salvation and sympathy of +the Saviour seems to have been accepted by Lady Jane in her earliest +years, and evidently proved her support and consolation in the tragedy +that closed her young life here, as well as during the six months' +previous imprisonment in the Tower. + +Born, as she was, in transition times, Lady Jane quickly formed her own +judgment, and was thoroughly Protestant in her faith. She was often with +her cousin, Edward VI., and her decided opinions upon the Reformation, +together with her arguments in its support, and her dislike to the +Romish errors which they both condemned, made the boy-monarch respect +her highly, and there was a warm attachment between the youthful +cousins. + +Her childhood had scarcely faded into early girlhood, when Lady Jane +became the bride of Lord Guildford Dudley, fourth son of the Duke of +Northumberland. There was a treble marriage; Lady Jane and her two +sisters were married at the same time at Durham House, Lady Jane, the +eldest, being only fifteen years of age! + +The rest of her sad story is quickly told. Owing to the ambition of her +own father, and her husband's father, after the death of King Edward, +she was, sorely against her own will, induced to claim the English +crown. It was long before she yielded to the persuasion of Archbishop +Cranmer, and, when she did so, it was with many tears, and these words, +"If this right be truly mine, O gracious God, give me strength so to +rule as to promote Thy honour, and my country's good!" Queen Mary, the +right heir, was duly crowned, and, after ten days, Lady Jane Grey was +informed by her own father that she was not, in reality, Queen. She was +subsequently sent to the Tower, and after six months' imprisonment, the +sentence of death was carried out on February 12th, 1554. + +Three short days were allowed for immediate preparation, during which +Lady Jane calmly wrote to her father, and conversed with Dr. Feckenham, +who tried to induce her to become a Romanist. This she firmly declined, +though she did so with the greatest sweetness. + +Her last words are evidence of her hope and trust; as she laid her head +upon the block, she said, in trembling tones, "Lord Jesus! receive my +spirit!" and the short life of earth was merged in the eternal life of +Heaven! + + + + +IV. + +SELINA, COUNTESS OF HUNTINGDON. + + +Not very far from Ashby-de-la-Zouch, in Leicestershire, there is now a +fine Gothic building, where the old mansion of the Hastings family +formerly, and for centuries, had stood. The situation is lovely, for +Donnington-park, with its large forest trees and magnificent old oaks, +forms a more than usually beautiful surrounding to the extensive and +immediate grounds. Those, to the north, were precipitous, and the broken +craggy ground, with hanging woods, give additional charm to the sweeping +valleys and alternating hills. + +To this venerable old English home, Lady Selina Shirley came, as the +bride of Theophilus Hastings, ninth Earl of Huntingdon, when she was +nearly twenty-one, from her own adjacent home, Stanton Harold, which lay +between Donnington-park and Ashby-de-la-Zouch. + +The two homes thus near, were singularly similar. For the home of Lady +Selina's childhood was also a fine old edifice, very massive, with noble +and spacious apartments, standing in the midst of an extensive park, +with soft, swelling hills, and still softer green-clad vales. The +tasteful grounds, too, were rendered more attractive by a large +ornamental lake, which clearly mirrored a handsome stone bridge, as it +lay peacefully resting against the sloping lawn. The church, with its +pretty tower, adjoined the house, and Sunday after Sunday, the child, as +she sat or stood in the old family pew, became familiar with the long +inscriptions that were on the monuments of her own ancestors, and which +plainly indicated that all, whatever the rank and station, must pass +from the present to a future state. + +The Shirley family was celebrated for two specialities--the purity of +its genealogy, which could be traced up to the time of Edward the +Confessor; and the piety of its most distinguished members, which, as it +arose from a living faith in an eternal Saviour, must result in a +future, which no human calculation can limit to its possessors, and in +an infinite and everlasting life through Him alone. + +The grandfather of Lady Selina Shirley had twenty-seven children, her +father being the second son. She was born at Stanton Harold, on the +24th August, 1707. Two sisters, one older and one younger, shared the +nursery with Lady Selina, and participated in the play, the happy +strolls in the park, and presently in the early lessons. Elizabeth, the +eldest, became the celebrated Lady E. Nightingale, and Mary, the "baby" +of the family, was afterwards Viscountess Kilmorey. + +Lady Selina was decidedly talented, very benevolent, unusually grave and +serious, and extremely graceful. Though not strictly beautiful, yet the +large, bright eyes, the well-formed mouth, and the bold, intellectual +brow, when illumined by the animation of the ardent spirit, were far +more attractive than those perishing charms which exist only in features +and externals. + +She was a sensitive child, as well as serious, and often went alone to a +small room to pray, and in childish, earnest fervour she would pour out +every little trouble into the ear of that Father in heaven who listens +to each whisper of distress. + +When the Lady Selina was nine years old, a child just her own age died, +and the passing funeral attracted her notice. She followed to the grave; +listened to the beautiful and solemn service; heard those thrilling +words, as the body was slowly lowered, "Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, +dust to dust." Her eyes filled with tears, and, awe-struck and +frightened, the young girl earnestly asked God to prepare her for her +last hour, that she might die happily and without alarm. After this, she +would often go to that little grave to think, to weep, to pray, and was +much impressed with this first realization of death! + +On December 25th, 1717, her grandfather died, and this deepened those +impressions, adding earnestness to her prayers, and strengthening her +seriousness, although it was not until nearly ten years after her +marriage that she became personally interested in the love of the +Saviour, and sought full salvation through His work; and by the power of +the Holy Spirit became a decided disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. + +Lady Selina was very highly educated, being trained with extreme care, +for her social position, and her naturally high intellect, and evident +talent, were developed by sound instruction in all the various branches +of interesting study. Her retentive memory and brilliant fancy availed +themselves of all the knowledge presented to them; and even when quite +young, her sound understanding and clear judgment were beyond her years, +as they appeared in the conversation and observations in which she took +part. + +Probably all this was preparing her for those peculiar efforts in the +religious world, with their lasting influences, which have made Selina, +Countess of Huntingdon, a truly distinguished woman. + +But it was the grace of God alone which influenced her to utilize all +this preparation; and that grace; having first filled her heart with a +deep sense of sin, and of the utter insufficiency of her own ability to +procure salvation, then led her to the most unbounded and simple trust +in Jesus. Her love and gratitude made her anxious to work for Him; and +her own peace rendered her desirous that others too should possess like +peace. Thus the whole of her energy was directed to seek the honour and +glory of her Saviour, and the safety of every sinner through Him. + +During her last illness the Countess often repeated, "I long to be at +home! My work is done! I have nothing to do but to go to my heavenly +Father;" and almost her last words were, "I shall go to my Father +to-night." + +She entered that Father's heavenly presence on June 17th, 1791, in the +eighty-fourth year of her age. + +[Illustration: GREENWICH HOSPITAL.] + + + + +V. + +QUEEN ELIZABETH. + + +Queen Elizabeth, who was the second daughter of King Henry VIII., was +born at Greenwich on the 7th of September, 1533, in a tapestry-covered +chamber in the palace. This tapestry represented the parable of the Ten +Virgins, and the half-unconscious eyes of the royal infant often rested +upon the hazy blue dresses of the quaint maidens with their odd little +lamps, as the days of early babyhood went softly by. + +The King had his young daughter very magnificently christened by +Archbishop Cranmer. It was Archbishop Cranmer who drew up the Church +Catechism, and who was some years afterwards a Christian martyr, in the +reign of Queen Mary, Elizabeth's eldest sister. + +Besides the Princesses Mary and Elizabeth, Henry VIII. had one son, +Edward, who succeeded his father as King of England. + +When Elizabeth was between two and three years old, her mother, whose +maiden name was Anne Boleyn, the daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn, and +niece of the Duke of Norfolk, was put to death by the King's wish, in a +most unjust and wicked way. The poor little child probably knew nothing +of this, for she was sent to reside, under the care of Lady Margaret +Bryan, in the manor of Hunsdon. She appears to have been greatly +neglected, as presently a petition went from Lady Margaret to Court +requesting that suitable dresses and apparel for Elizabeth might be sent +at once; for, wrote Lady Margaret, "She had neither gown nor kirtle, nor +no manner of linen, nor foresmocks, nor kerchiefs, nor sleeves, nor +veils, nor mufflers, nor biggins;" a funny list of juvenile attire for a +young Princess! However, the little girl was well cared for by Lady +Margaret, and soon learned to read, to write, and to sew beautifully, +and could play "indifferent well" upon some musical instruments. + +In 1537, Elizabeth's brother Edward was born, King Henry having married +again, and at the christening of this Prince, Elizabeth seems to have +appeared at Court for the first time. The tiny Princess was allowed to +hold the chrism on the occasion, and afterwards presented her baby +brother with a "shirt of cambric," which her own small fingers had +industriously embroidered. + +In the course of a few years, Elizabeth had acquired a fair knowledge of +astronomy and geography, besides mathematics and architecture; and could +speak five languages fluently, as well as her own native English. + +For some time the Princess Mary also resided at Hunsdon, and was +evidently kind to her younger sister. The two girls, whose lives were to +be so distinguished, but so different, probably spent together the +happiest portion of those lives in the comparative seclusion of Lady +Margaret's home, busy, and occupied also with domestic employments, as +they stored their minds with the literature of the period. + +At that time, Elizabeth's vanity, which was a sad trait in her latter +years, was not perceptible, for in a sketch of her when about twelve, +she is spoken of as dressing with peculiarly "simple elegance," and +almost despising personal adornment. + +Being tall, she was commanding in person, and she was impetuous in her +bearing. Her complexion was pale, her hair rather light, her face long +and narrow, with an aquiline nose; and though her temper was hasty, she +was usually so bright and cheerful that her companions scarcely heeded +her fits of passion. She was also sensible and shrewd, and when very +young, showed a disposition to rule and govern. + +The grave faults of her latter days, her vanity, her strong epithets of +abuse, her caprice, and her increasing warmth of temper, were probably +the results of the personal disappointments of her strange life. And +perhaps her dread of death, points us to the real source of these +faults, for it seems to indicate that Queen Elizabeth had not been so +earnest in seeking God's grace, and the influence of His Holy Spirit, as +she ought to have been, to preserve her from evil in this life, as well +as to prepare her for the future life where there will be no evil, in +the kingdom of the "King of kings and Lord of lords," the happy realm of +Jesus. + +Elizabeth was fourteen when her father died, and then she wrote a +celebrated letter in choice Latin to her young half-brother Edward, with +whom she was always on excellent terms. + +The two children were Protestants, Mary alone remaining attached to the +Papal power, which Henry VIII. had so unflinchingly put down during the +latter part of his reign. Elizabeth's cherished and noble Protestantism +remained firm through all the changes of her eventful life; and when, +after the reigns of her brother Edward VI., and her elder sister Mary, +she herself was placed upon the throne of England, she finally +established the Protestant religion in the country; and to her, under +God, we owe a deep debt of gratitude, for the long and happy years which +have intervened until the present time, and during which God's most Holy +Word has been left to us, a free and open book, in which we may each +read and learn for ourselves His will, and about that spiritual service +which He requires, and which alone can fit us for His presence, when He +calls us from His world below to His world above. + +Queen Elizabeth died on March 24th, 1603, before the morning dawned, +after a reign of nearly forty-five years, at the age of sixty-nine. + + + + +VI. + +MRS. HEMANS. + + +Let us sketch a scene in the west of our island home. Long, rolling, +soft, beautiful blue waves are dashing lightly upon a clear beach of +wide sparkling sand, leaving behind, as the tide gradually ebbs, a +ribbed and rippled surface. A rather narrow coast-line presents a +somewhat scanty amount of cultivation; cottage and mansion lying here +and there, as convenience or fancy may have suggested to the possessor. +Now and then a tiny clean Welsh village, or small town, claims a space +of country which may be rather broader than usual. This coast-line is +immediately hemmed in by high, wild, stern mountains sloping quickly +upwards towards the sky, with soft grey clouds sometimes poised midway +up the steep sides, or resting in filmy folds upon the top. Snowdon, +rather to the south of the locality that we are sketching, and a little +inland, often raising its high summit above the rest like a +silver-haired veteran surrounded by companions, who vie with each other +in emulation of their leader. + +A large house, Grwych (pronounced Griech), stood some years ago where +this coast is rather narrow, the mountains towering up in front, and the +sea softly laving the sandy shore behind. A set of six young children +with their parents occupied this house. They had happy playhours in the +old garden, or on the smooth sand; and Felicia, the fourth child, not +always disposed for the gay romp of the cheerful group, took constant +possession of a large apple tree, into which she could climb; its leafy +boughs well hid the little girl and her book, which she then enjoyed in +unmolested quiet. Until she was five years old Felicia Dorothea Browne +had lived in Liverpool. She was born there in Duke-street, on the 25th +September, 1794. Her father's ancestry was Irish, that of her mother was +Venetian, and probably the Italian origin of the gentle poetess gave +rise to the beauty and extent of her imagination, as perhaps also from +her father she might derive the quick bright flow of language from which +her pen sped on in an easy graceful stream. + +She was an extremely beautiful child, with long curling golden hair, +which became dark brown as she grew older; her complexion was clear and +bright, the colour coming and going with every varying impulse and +impression. Her mother, herself talented and clever, cultivated her +young daughter's tastes, and at the early age of seven years the little +Felicia produced some attempts at composition. She had an extremely +retentive memory, read well, and evinced great love of reading. +Shakespeare was one of her favourite books at this time, and she took +delight in juvenile attempts at personifying the characters. Happily, +this was but a temporary freak. + +Her studies do not appear to have been at all conducted with regularity. +French, the English Grammar, and the rudiments of Latin comprised the +only systematic training which she received. Highly imaginative as she +was, and surrounded by the wild beauty of the Welsh hills, the varying +sights and sounds of the wide deep sea, with her love of books and +capacity to retain, as well as enjoy, her cultivation progressed, and +knowledge increased rapidly without effort on her part, or on the part +of others. + +There is a story told of a constant childish raid. When the mother +thought the little one safe for the night, she would slip quickly and +quietly down to the bright laving sea, and bathe alone in the clear +water, softly creeping back to bed undiscovered; and perhaps throughout +her life the same wrong tendency towards insincerity and love of hidden +mischief is discernible. + +A visionary belief in spirits and apparitions also appears to have +influenced her at times, when mystery, rather than truth, assumed +possession of her mind. Even little children in the present day need +scarcely be told that there are no ghosts; but, being highly sensitive +and nervous, she was peculiarly open to every passing fancy. + +Early in life, Felicia visited London, but cared little for its gaiety; +and with true childlike impatience longed to be at home again in the +dear old house by the sea, though she enjoyed the works of art to which +this visit afforded access. + +Felicia Browne's first book of poems was published in 1808, when she was +only fourteen, and this, together with another volume published in 1812, +met with severe criticism. The poor child felt this so acutely that she +became ill, and had to keep her bed for several days. + +These books were the only two which she wrote before her married life +commenced, so that her fame as a poetess was acquired as Mrs. Hemans, +and not as Felicia Browne. + +There is no evidence to prove that in youth she gave her heart to the +Saviour of sinners; but some of her poems in after life are deeply and +touchingly full of yearnings for "The Better Land," or they sketch in +soft melodious metre the swift decay of earthly beauty and joy, which is +indeed always "Passing Away." As years and sorrows gathered, she also +studied God's Word with earnestness and zeal, and the sixteenth of St. +John was her favourite chapter; it was also the last which she read +before her death. We may certainly hope that "The Comforter," who is +promised in that chapter, guided her safely into "all truth," and led +her simply to trust in Jesus, that in Him alone she "might have peace." +For only Jesus can prepare any child of man, through the influences of +His Spirit, for the purity, beauty, and happiness of His Heavenly Home, +in that "better country," of which Mrs. Hemans once wrote-- + + "Eye hath not seen it, my gentle boy; + Ear hath not heard its sweet sounds of joy; + Dreams cannot picture a world so fair, + Sorrow and death may not enter there; + Time may not breathe on its faultless bloom, + For beyond the grave, and beyond the tomb, + It is there, it is there, my child." + +Mrs. Hemans passed away in the evening twilight, on the 16th of May, +1835, at the age of forty-one. + +[Illustration: INCHMAHOME, + +The Child-Queen's child garden, with her little walk and its boxwood, +left to itself for three hundred years. Yes, without doubt, 'Here is the +first garden of her simpleness.'] + + + + +VII. + +MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS. + + +James V., of Scotland, was dangerously ill owing to severe +disappointments and defeats experienced in his border war with Henry +VIII., of England, and dying at Falkland, when, on the 8th of December, +1542, a message came to him from Linlithgow Palace, stating that his +Queen, Mary of Guise, had a baby daughter. The king, rendered sorrowful +by his trials and his sickness, replied, in his own expressive language, +"Ay, it cam' (meaning the kingdom of Scotland) wi' a lass, and it will +gang wi' a lass," and this prediction seem fulfilled in Mary's fate. + +The king, her father, only lingered five more days, and on his death the +tiny infant became Queen of Scotland and the Isles. + +When about nine months old, Mary was solemnly crowned, on the 9th of +September, 1543, at Stirling Castle, having been carefully taken there +from Linlithgow for the coronation by Cardinal Beaton, who performed the +ceremony. Her mother was presently appointed regent. + +After a few months, Mary went to reside on a small island in the Lake of +Monteith, called Inchmahome. + +Four other noble children were her companions, and all these four +children bore also the name of Mary; Mary Beaton, Mary Fleming, Mary +Seaton, and Mary Livingstone, and all were of the same age. + +Mary remained on this island until she was nearly six years old. The +five young girls, so isolated and lonely as regards the rest of the +world, must have amused themselves with the usual routine of baby +pastimes, but a great change now took place. The Queen of Scots was +removed to France, and the four companions of her baby days also +accompanied her to the gay scenes of the French Court. + +Henry II., King of France, received Mary with great enthusiasm and +respect, and a triumphal procession was arranged to convey her to the +palace of St. Germain-en-Laye. + +Her extreme beauty drew much attention. She had bright auburn hair, +dark hazel eyes, a fair complexion, and a "dimpled chin." + +When the king saw her, his surprise at her loveliness made him enquire, +with truly characteristic French politeness and love of compliment, "Are +you not an angel?" + +Mary was shortly afterwards placed in a French convent to receive a +royal education, and appears to have been much attached to those who +instructed and tended her. She said adieu to them all very reluctantly, +when she returned to the gay Court life at a still early age. + +The description of her at this time is that she was very accomplished, +having acquired some skill in music, singing, dancing, and even in +poetic effusions. She also had pursued more serious studies, both +historical and classical, and was altogether so bright and intelligent +that Brantôine remarked, "Ah! kingdom of Scotland! I cannot but think +your days must be shorter, your nights longer, now you have lost the +Princess by whom you were illumined!" + +Her dress appears to have been a subject of much whim and caprice: +sometimes she would wear a Highland costume, then again the fashionable +French or Italian mode of those days, and her time was spent completely +in gaiety and amusements. + +Mary, Queen of Scots, was born and educated in the Romish religion, and +was, in after life, a rigid Papist. Lord Shrewsbury, who had charge of +her by Queen Elizabeth's orders, intimates in his letters, which are +still extant, that he thought of her rather "as a mischievous, cunning +Papist, than as an injured Queen." + +Owing to various conspiracies and plots, Mary was sentenced to die, +eventually, by Queen Elizabeth, and her execution took place on February +7th, 1587. + +There is a touching little story about her favourite dog. The tiny +animal hid itself in her dress when she was taken to the scaffold, and, +after her death, he refused to leave her body, and had to be forcibly +taken away. + +Mary, Queen of Scots, led a gay, dissipated life, and her death was sad +and solemn. Having been trained a Romanist, the Holy Word of God was not +placed in her hands and made the guide of her life, and her sins brought +much sorrow and difficulty which seemed to draw her on from sin to sin, +instead of leading her to humble repentance and simple faith in the Lord +Jesus Christ. + +The Bible alone is the guide which God has given both for this present +life, and for the future life; and God has given this book to each and +all, to read and to study with earnest prayer for His Holy Spirit's +teaching, that each and all may understand it, and may act upon its +_teaching_. + +Perhaps if Mary had read God's Word herself, and seen the beauty and +purity of its commands, and learned from it all the great love of God, +and His way of salvation for sinners through the "One Mediator between +God and men, the Man Christ Jesus," she would have escaped the +temptations of her own great beauty and of her royal position, and not +have perished as she did. We ought, indeed, to value our Bibles, and to +seek grace to study them, so that, although there are snares and +temptations around us, we may always know what God's will is, and also +know how to resist those temptations through His mighty help. And we +should also thank God that He has given us His Holy Word to lead us +safely through all earth's changes to the unchanging Heaven, and that He +has promised to give those who trust in Jesus and love Him now, far more +than an uncertain crown of gold, even a "Crown of glory that fadeth not +away." + + + + +VIII. + +POCAHONTAS, THE ROSEBUD. + + +Long ago, and far away, this Indian Princess was born, in 1594. + +Pocahontas was a distinguished woman for two reasons, which render her +short life one of singular interest. + +One of these reasons was the effectual aid she rendered when quite a +young girl to the early English settlers in the United States. + +The other reason, and a far higher one, was that Pocahontas was the +first heathen amongst the Red Indians who was converted to Christianity +in Virginia. The readers of "The Rosebud" will be interested to know +that a young girl bearing the name of Pocahontas, which means "The +Rosebud," was thus the earliest native of those dark lands who was led +from the sad shadows of heathen superstition, ignorance, and idolatry, +to that Jesus who is truly "the Light of the world." + +The father of Pocahontas was a Red Indian chief in the state of +Virginia, and the dark little baby grew and played under the shade of +the sugar-maple, or the long-leaved India-rubber tree, probably +gathering with her tiny fingers the large blossoms from the trailing +passion-flower, or the snowy white magnolia, and grouping them with the +crimson rhododendron, or gorgeous drooping fuschias, which grew wild in +the tangled forests near to her father's wigwam. + +When very young, she boldly induced her father, who was the great chief +Powhattan, to spare the life of an English captain, one of the first +settlers in North America, who had been taken prisoner by a native +tribe. This captain, James Smith, had been sentenced to a very cruel +death, and Pocahontas, then only thirteen years old, interceded so +bravely and eloquently that Captain Smith was spared. He was allowed to +live in Powhattan's wigwam, and, after a short time, was set completely +free. + +Rather more than two years after this, the Indian tribes became alarmed +as to the movements of the English residents, and again endeavoured to +take the Captain prisoner. Pocahontas, with the brave resolute strength +of both mind and body which characterised many of those swarthy natives, +started on a lonely journey of nine miles, through the wild, overgrown +forests, threading her way amongst uncultivated cotton trees, or +trampling down the smaller tobacco plants; alike heedless of the lovely +beauty of the gay flowers along her path, and fearless of the grisly +bear, the treacherous boa constrictor, or the powerful vulture called +the condor, as she pursued her mission of mercy. Having found Captain +Smith, and apprised him of his peril, Pocahontas sped home again, lest +her father should miss her and enquire about her absence. + +The persevering Princess continued pleading well and earnestly for some +time in behalf of the English settlers, but at last her father, perhaps +weary of her entreaties, sent her away to the chief of another tribe. +Instead of protecting the girl thus placed under his care, the +treacherous chief sold her to an English Captain, named Argill, who +intended to make good use of his bargain in transactions with her +father, Powhattan. These transactions failed, and poor Pocahontas, the +Rosebud, remained a captive. The English treated her with extreme +courtesy and kindness; and amongst the number of officers was a Mr. +Thomas Rolfe, who offered to teach the native girl the English +language. + +She proved a very gentle, amiable scholar; and Mr. Rolfe, being himself +an earnest Christian man, also taught that dark mind the bright and +lustrous truths of God's most Holy Word. The Spirit of God blessed that +teaching, and the light thus introduced by His influence, alone became +the means of revealing to the warm heart of Pocahontas, the love of that +living Saviour of sinners, who died for all, that all may live for Him. +His blood can purify the Red Indian girl just as effectually as the fair +English maiden, and both equally require that blood to take away the sad +stains of sin in heart and life, which are as dark, as deep, and as +deadly in the one as in the other. + +Powhattan seems to have been permitted some intercourse with his +daughter, for with his consent she eventually married Mr. Rolfe, and +subsequently Pocahontas came over to England, and was presented at Court +in 1616. Queen Anne appears to have been very friendly with the Indian +Princess. Her intelligence was great, and her modesty and unaffected +manners interested all who knew her. + +She did not live to carry out her intention of returning to her own +native land, Virginia, but died at Gravesend in 1617. Her little son +remained in England for some years, and was educated as an English boy. +He then sought his mother's country, and from him many of the well-known +families of the State of Virginia claim descent. + +Pocahontas, or the Rosebud, has been the heroine of many stories and +songs, but the most beautiful thought connected with her memory is that +those to whom her generous help and interest opened a fair land on +earth, should be the means, through the power of the Holy Spirit of God, +of opening to her that "land of pure delight, where saints immortal +reign;" and that from our own dear native country she should have passed +away, to enjoy for ever that "infinite day" which "excludes the night," +through Him who is "The Way," for the dark daughter of another soil, as +well as for the favoured children of our own. + +[Illustration: NORWICH CATHEDRAL. + +(_Copied from a Photograph, by permission_)] + + + + +IX. + +MRS. OPIE. + + +Norwich has been called "The City of Gardens;" for behind the large +houses belonging to professional men, and business men, which front the +narrow irregular streets, there are sweet lawns and well-cared-for +flower borders, with trees and shrubs planted so thickly round the +walls, or the walls themselves so covered with the trailing tendrils of +fresh creepers, that imagination might fancy the scene one of pure +country loveliness. + +The beautiful taper spire of the rather small, but very elegant +Cathedral, appears above the verdure-covered walls, its stone notches +resting softly in attractive clearness upon the cloudless blue sky; or, +perhaps the battlements of the square, massive block of the Castle, rise +quietly above the grave old buildings of the city, the slopes of the +castle moat, gaily draped with innumerable lilacs in the spring, resting +in drowsy dignity below. + +Another feature of the fine old city of Norwich is the quaint +churchyard, with blackish stone walls around and sometimes intersected +diagonally with a narrow paved walk, or perhaps surrounded by a +roughly-paved street, with posts to guard each entrance, and with the +dignified name of "Church Alley." + +In a house which stood in one of these churchyards--St. Clement's--a +physician, named Dr. Alderson, lived rather more than a hundred years +ago. He had only one child, who was born on the 12th of November, 1769. +This little girl was christened Amelia, after her mother, who taught and +trained her both wisely and well. + +To this, probably, the success of Amelia Alderson, afterwards Mrs. Opie, +as a writer, was mainly due, although the great care of the parent did +not altogether enable the daughter to conquer all faults, for Sydney +Smith once plainly told her that "Tenderness is your _forte_, and +carelessness your _fault_." + +Amelia was a bright, cheerful, golden-haired girl, with lively fancy and +strong imaginative powers, decidedly talented and capable of high +cultivation. + +When a very tiny thing, she would lie quietly in bed to listen to the +church bells which had awakened her, and, looking up to the sapphire sky +at early dawn, she gazed and listened, as her mistaken ideas suggested +that the chaste chime was the music of the angels hidden in the depths +of the blue! + +But her thoughts were not always thus happy, for the child invested +other objects with attributes of terror, and black beetles were a source +of inconceivable dread and horror. + +She was also extremely timid about deranged people, perhaps the more so +because the large "Bethel" in Norwich is a conspicuous building, and +forms a home for poor lunatics, and possibly her father was interested +in the restless patients who were located there. + +Negroes also appear to have produced the same amount of fear in the +little girl as the black beetles. + +Mrs. Alderson was too wise and sensible to allow these nervous fancies +uncontrolled play, and most earnestly applied herself to teaching and +helping Amelia to overcome them. + +Both teacher and taught were indeed successful; for before long the +child would shake hands with an imbecile whom she sometimes met, speak +kindly to her, and at last even begged to be taken over the "Bethel" +itself, where the sorrowful sights and sounds moved the warm heart to a +deep and sincere pity for trials which no human love can mitigate. + +This judicious mother died when Amelia Alderson was about fifteen years +old, and from that time until she was eight-and-twenty, household cares +and superintendence occupied her largely, for she entirely managed her +father's home and presided at his table. + +The literary and poetical career of this reputedly pleasant woman +commenced after her marriage with Mr. Opie, the celebrated portrait +painter, which marriage took place at Marylebone Church in London, on +the 8th of May, 1798. + +Much later still in life, and after even the earlier years of widowhood +had passed, her far higher career as a Christian character was ushered +in by Mrs. Opie becoming a member of the Society of Friends, and for +more than twenty-five years, consistency, peace, and quiet, marked her +calm course. Ere joining the "Friends," she had been induced to give up, +not only writing fiction, but reading it also. + +Mrs. Opie died on the 2nd of December, 1853. Just as the day passed +away, the dawning of her eternal day began--a day that we cannot measure +with our present ideas, it is so long, so bright, so cloudless. The day +of grace closed, and the day of glory opened, for Mrs. Opie loved and +served Jesus on earth, so that she was taken to serve Him in Heaven. + +The early teaching of the mother appears to have been blessed to the +child in later life, even as its influence also preserved her amidst +some difficulties during younger days, for Mrs. Opie writes very sweetly +of her mother's care thus:-- + + "Oh! how I mourn'd my heedless youth, + Thy watchful care, repaid so ill: + Yet joy'd to think some words of truth + Sunk in my soul, and teach me still. + Like lamps along life's fearful way, + To me, at times, those truths have shone, + And oft when snares around me lay, + That light has made the danger known." + +The truths of God's most Holy Word will always brighten each day of this +life, not only cheering, but sufficiently lighting it for the safety of +those who seek also the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit. The long, +long day with Jesus, by-and-bye will have no snares, no dangers, no +regrets to cast their sorrowful shadows across its pure, sweet sky, for +His presence will be everlasting light, and He has taken away all the +sins of His people who believe in Him, and as there is no sin in Heaven, +there is no suffering, and no shade of pain. + + + + +X. + +GRACE DARLING. + + +One of the most dangerous and rugged coasts of England is that of +Northumberland. This is partly owing to the proximity of the group of +tiny islands called the Farne Islands; which number about twenty. When +the sea is at all rough, and the wind high in this vicinity, the wild +waves rush with violence between the somewhat narrow island channels, +and lash themselves into fretted fury, as they curl over in frothy foam. +Many years ago, on one of the Farne Islands named the Longstone, a +lighthouse was built, that vessels might be duly warned of the danger +and difficulty of the rocks and shore. + +In 1815, a tiny, gentle baby girl was born in the little lighthouse +home, who presently received the name of Grace Horsley. + +Her father was William Darling; a most suitable man for his post as +keeper of the lighthouse, being vigilant, steady, attentive, and +careful, not only in the special duties to which he was appointed, but +also in training a numerous family with diligence and discretion. + +So little Grace was not a lonely child in a quiet home; but one of a +merry, active, happy troupe of northern children; sometimes playing in +the clean, white-washed rooms and staircases of the lighthouse, or at +other times clambering about the rough rocks, and watching the eddying +waters all around. + +Still the life of the young girl was not all play, with the dear +brothers and sisters whom she loved. + +Lessons had to be learned, and they were well learned too; copies had to +be written, and in these little Grace soon excelled, for she "wrote a +beautiful hand." + +The kind, homely parents, too, taught her to think, and as she read +nicely, and was bright and quick in acquiring the information within her +rather limited grasp, she became very intelligent. + +A fair share of household duties also fell to her lot, and these were +discharged in a quiet, orderly, and unobtrusive way. + +Though very neat in her dress, she was never smart; the only trace of +feminine vanity was this:--After her brave conduct in the shipwreck of +the "Forfarshire," the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland sent for Grace +Darling to Alnwick Castle, and presented her with a gold watch, which +she always wore when visitors came to the lighthouse; taking care that +the watch-seal should be slightly conspicuous on the plain, simple +striped cotton gown! + +Thus the childhood and girlhood passed gently on in almost unvarying +home love, duty, and quiet happiness, until the 5th of September, 1838, +Grace being then in her twenty-third year. + +On that night an awful storm rose in tempestuous fury and swept up to +the Farne Islands, raging and swelling around, and tossing the black +billows into surging foam amongst the cliffy little isles that chafed it +into such majestic madness. A steamer had left Hull a day or two before, +and as her boilers were not in good repair, she was soon rendered +helpless in the wide ocean, and presently drifted on towards the +perilous Longstone Lighthouse. She struck on one of the dreaded islands, +and the cries of the few survivors who could cling to that portion of +the wreck which was forcibly driven between the rocks, reached the ears +of Grace Darling, who immediately awakened her father. Utter darkness +prevented them from seeing where the wreck lay, and both father and +daughter watched till the dawn. An attempt to rescue the moving forms +which they could faintly discern in the misty daylight was almost +hopeless, but for all that it was made, and the two stepped without +hesitation into the frail, small boat, which they then rowed towards the +wreck. Here the difficulty increased, as the tempestuous sea threatened +to dash the boat and its occupants on the rocks where the "Forfarshire" +was stranded. But the father succeeded in landing, Grace pushing off +with the boat to avoid its being engulphed, and with her oars balancing +it amongst the rolling billows until the nine survivors and her father +were safely with her in the tiny craft. Then both rowing back to the +lighthouse, they carefully nursed, cheered, and tended those rescued +men, Grace especially devoting herself to them with unremitting care. + +This event gave Grace Darling the notoriety which her noble conduct so +well merited. + +It was on the 20th of October, 1842, when the wild equinoctial gales had +not long swept over the surrounding seas, that she died gently in the +midst of her own loving family circle, at the early age of twenty-seven. + +It is easy to imagine the gratitude and joy of the nine perishing men +who were rescued from an awful death! + +May you, dear young readers, value far more highly that eternal +salvation from darker death than the one which threatened them, that +salvation of those who trust themselves fully to the loving Saviour's +power and willingness to save! To save _from_ both the guilt of past +sin, and the power of present sin of heart and life, through the +influence of the Holy Spirit of God, and to save _for_ the calm, +unshaken rest of a bright Home of Light, when the last wave of this +stormy sea of life is left outside, and exchanged for the unbroken +beauty of heaven's crystal "sea of glass!" + +[Illustration: ST. CLEMENT'S CHURCH, NORWICH.] + + + + +XI. + +MRS. FRY. + + +Elizabeth Fry, subsequently so well known as the kind visitor and +instructress of the females in Newgate, was born on the 21st of May, +1780, in St. Clement's parish in the old city of Norwich. + +Her father's name was John Gurney; her mother, whose maiden name was +Bell, was a lineal descendant of Robert Barclay, the Apologist of the +Quakers. + +The Gurneys of Norwich trace their family back to the days of William +Rufus, if not to the times of William the Conqueror. + +Elizabeth was one of twelve children, and the third daughter in this +large family of Quakers. + +When she was four years old, her parents removed from the city to the +beautiful estate of Earlham, where her childhood passed away in much +worldliness and gaiety, for the Quakers of this period were extremely +lax in carrying out their peculiarities. + +Earlham Hall is scarcely two miles from Norwich, and is a stately +mansion surrounded by a lovely park, the river Wensum adding its charms +to the scenery by its graceful windings in the vicinity. It was here, +surrounded by luxury, beauty, and profusion, that the child played; and +the old Hall was her bright, glad home. + +Her mother seems to have been very fond of Elizabeth, and in writing +about her, remarks:--"My dear little Betsey never offends, and is, in +every sense of the word, truly engaging." + +This may have been maternal partiality, for whilst a mere child, she was +somewhat obstinate in disposition, and averse to study. It is even +stated that she was thought a very dull child as to lessons, but this +was probably because she had a great dislike to routine; and preferred a +ride on horseback, a merry dance--for she was particularly fond of +dancing--or a song with her sister Rachel, with whom she sang duets +well. + +However, Elizabeth evidently made progress in accomplishments, and was +taught drawing, as well as music and dancing. + +The young girl was naturally extremely nervous and sensitive; when only +seven years old, she would quietly watch her mother when asleep, with a +terrible dread that that beloved mother should not wake again. Or at +times the wish would come into her heart, that the walls might close +upon herself, and her dear parents, brothers, and sisters, and bury them +in one grave together, rather than that she should ever have to suffer +separation from them. + +When her mother died, Elizabeth was a fair-haired, sweet-looking child +of twelve, with soft blue eyes, and a silvery attractive voice, which in +later life told the beautiful story of the love and life of Jesus, with +wonderful influence, to the poor degraded outcasts in prison. One poor +woman, on hearing her read, said, "Hush! the angels have lent her their +voices!" + +After the mother's death, the father and friends remained as gay as +before, and an almost sceptical tendency crept over the family. With +Elizabeth's nervous disposition, a dread of death was inevitable; she +frequently alluded to it, calling it "This wonderful death," and in her +diary she complains of dark restlessness of mind, and some disbelief in +the truths of the Bible. + +Happily this was arrested, for before Elizabeth was eighteen, an +American "Friend" came to Norwich and his addresses given in the chapel +roused the attention, and led the unsatisfied spirit to deep sorrow and +mental anxiety. Elizabeth, who appeared as one of the listeners, in such +gay clothing that her boots--purple laced with scarlet--were the +especial envy of a younger sister, left the "Meeting" humble and +weeping; and at night she remarked that she had for the first time +_felt_ that there was a God, and added, "May that belief never leave me, +or, if it does, may I at least always remember that I _have_ felt there +is a God and immortality." + +She had a long struggle with herself, being fond of notice and flattery, +and possessed of considerable pride. + +When "His Royal Highness of Gloucester" was in Norwich, she wished him +to visit Earlham, but confessed, after she had seen the Prince, that her +wish was the result of pride. + +Soon after this she went to London, and was introduced to London life, +but immediately after her return to her home, she gave up the gaiety +which she had proved to be utterly unsatisfactory, and commenced a life +of devotion to God, that resulted in loving obedience to His will. + +Elizabeth's first efforts to teach to others the way of life, which the +Holy Spirit had revealed to her through Christ, was attention to a +dying servant. This was followed by instruction to an increasing class +of boys whom she had in the laundry at Earlham Hall, and on her marriage +with Joseph Fry, these lads numbered eighty-seven. Shortly after this +marriage, which had removed her to London, she began her work of love in +Newgate, where for many years she taught the poor women of the sympathy +and care of Jesus. She passed away at the age of sixty-seven, with a +beautiful, lingering smile, and the simple words of trust and faith, "It +is a strife, but I am safe." + + + + +XII. + +AGNES STRICKLAND. + + +Let us turn to an old Westmoreland family, residing between three and +four hundred years ago, in the style of the period, at Sizergh Castle. +Sir Thomas Strickland, the head of that family, manifested loyal +attachment to the house of Stuart, and some of the lands and hereditary +possessions, both in Westmoreland and Lancashire, were eventually lost +through the steady adherence of Sir Thomas and his relatives to this +cause. + +We read of one daughter of the house in the time of Henry VIII., whose +name, like that of the character we are sketching, was Agnes Strickland, +marrying Sir Henry Curwen, of Workington Castle. And their son received +Mary Queen of Scots, when she landed upon his estate. Camden, the +historian, is also descended from the same branch of the family of +Strickland. + +A second Agnes Strickland married the eldest son of the Archbishop of +York, Francis Sandys, and the family of the Stricklands appear to owe +their conversion from Romanism to the Protestant faith to the influence +of another son of the Archbishop, named George, who was a poet about two +hundred years ago. They then became as staunch in the principles of the +Reformation as they had previously been firm in papal policy. + +One branch of the Strickland family settled at Raydon Hall, in Suffolk, +and here the third Agnes Strickland was born, who has been so justly +celebrated as the Historian of "The Queens of England from the Norman +Conquest." Raydon Hall is a very lonely place on the sea coast, quite a +mile from the nearest village, and there is no dwelling at all near to +it, except one farm-house upon the estate. + +The seclusion being thus extremely great during the long, bleak winter +on the eastern coast, the family residing there would have passed many +dreary months but for the intellectual tastes of its talented members. + +There were eight children. Agnes was the third daughter, and the girls +were very amicable and sociable in their simple life, varying the +sterner work of severe study with delightful games, or in the care of +pet animals, or by strolls in the gardens and grounds around the Hall. A +governess had the partial training of Agnes and her sisters, but their +father, himself a literary man, and intensely fond of history, +topography and genealogy, principally conducted their education; +compelling the girls to master subjects far beyond the usual attainments +of young ladies, and requiring some knowledge of algebra and mathematics +from the not always compliant and obedient daughters. + +Mr. Strickland suffered from gout, and was frequently confined to his +chair or bed. + +He then supplied abundant work for Elizabeth, Agnes, and the other +sisters in reading to him. This they were delighted to do, and took +almost as much interest in history as the father. But Mr. Strickland +also endeavoured to carry out his wish that the girls should be +proficient in mathematical studies, and in this Elizabeth alone seemed +to be docile, for she would patiently pore over the figures on her +slate, whilst Agnes and the others bestowed very sisterly pity upon her. + +Agnes had a more classical turn, preferring the history, and also +poetry, making sundry attempts at versification herself; but this taste +Mr. Strickland rigorously checked, considering the effort as a waste of +time. At last the child obtained her father's consent to let Latin take +the place of problems, and she then set to work upon an old book in that +language, learning to repeat a number of dialogues:--a mode of studying +language extremely irregular, and by no means commended by the anxious +parent. + +Still Agnes also managed to write verses which presently came under Mr. +Strickland's notice, and when twelve years old she composed a poem +called "The Red Rose." This was intended as a sketch of the fortunes of +the House of Lancaster, but was so severely criticised by her father, +that she tore up the manuscript by his advice, and promised not to try +poetry again. But three years afterwards she made another venture in +that line under the title of "Worcester Field," which was published, +although, however, it is not well known. + +Her fame arose gradually soon after this period, when, through the death +of the father, reverses of fortune induced Agnes and her sisters to make +literature a profession. She then assumed her true taste, and evinced +marvellous talent as a writer of history, making the lives of England's +Queens no longer dull, dry, and uninteresting, but beautiful sketches of +true character, and of real, though bygone times; painting, too, in +vivid colours, the social positions of our royal matrons with wonderful +skill and ability. + +Agnes Strickland died on the 13th of July, 1874, leaving us a powerful +proof of the importance of early and attentive education. + +The young girl, living in such seclusion on the Suffolk coast, little +imagined in her childhood that her future fame was depending upon the +interesting and valuable information which she was beginning to +accumulate, and which she was learning to love as she read in dutiful +diligence the books indicated by her careful father. + +And yet that quiet commencement led to high honour, and England has well +acknowledged her debt of gratitude to Agnes Strickland for her splendid +additions to historic lore. Large labour, constant care, and stern study +enabled her to use the talents which God had given, talents, of which +she was unconscious as a child. + +May not this thought induce a spirit of earnest effort in each young +heart now? God has given talent in some degree, and of some description, +to all, and He requires the improvement of that talent, whatever it may +be. + +In conclusion, Agnes Strickland wrote with womanly and wonderful beauty +the history of England's Queens. There was once a history written, of +far greater beauty, and by far higher power, of Him who is the "King of +kings and Lord of lords;" a history traced by His own hand alone, as He +guided "Holy men" of old by the power of the Holy Ghost. One portion of +this History is traced in blood--the "blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, +which cleanseth from all sin" those who receive in penitence, faith, and +love, the "record that God gave of His Son." May the same Holy Spirit, +which dictated the Holy Word of God, write the History of His character +and love so deeply within our hearts, that we may receive His full +salvation now, and the "eternal life" which He so freely gives +hereafter! + +[Illustration: finis.] + + + + + PRINTED BY JARROLD AND SONS, NORWICH. + + * * * * * + + + + + BY THE SAME AUTHOR. + + _Crown 8vo., 3/6. Handsomely bound in Cloth, Gilt Edges_: + + FROM ADVENT TO ADVENT: OR, PIECES IN PROSE & POETRY, + + On Subjects selected from Sunday Services. + + + "A series of brief, thoughtful, and ably-written meditations. + The poems are the spiritual utterances of a devout mind. We + recommend the book with the greatest pleasure." + _Hand and Heart._ + + + "Each prose composition is followed by a poetical one; + 'collect,' 'meditation,' and 'poem' succeed each other in + due order throughout the book, and every page contains + instructive and edifying matter. The verses show a command + of metre in all its varieties, the ideas are well + expressed, and the rhymes are good.... We sincerely wish + it success." + _The Voice of Warning._ + + + REVIEWS. + + "Very high praise is due to the talented wife of the Vicar + of Ringland, not only for the conception of this work, + "From Advent to Advent," but for the admirable way in + which she has carried it out, and the remarkable literary + ability therein displayed." + _The Norfolk Chronicle and Norwich Gazette._ + + "We hardly know which to commend most--the admirable + arrangement of the work, or the excellence of its + composition. Both afford abundant evidence of great genius + and tact, to which is added the advantage of a large and + ripened experience.... An unceasing stream of meditation + and praise, in language which no Christian lips could + refuse to utter.... They simply breathe the pure spirit of + the Gospel, and express it with a beauty and pathos which + will attract every reader. The work supplies a long-felt + want. It forms an admirable companion to the Prayer + Book.... Even the verses, taken by themselves, would form + a second 'Christian Year,' of which a Keble need not be + ashamed. To the prose compositions like praise must be + accorded. The work is well-bound and printed, and forms an + attractive little volume, well suitable for Sunday School + prizes, for presentation to friends, and for the general + circulation which it deserves extensively to obtain." + _Derbyshire Advertiser and Journal._ + + "A valuable volume." + _The Rev. Hely H. Smith._ + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + + Punctuation has been normalized. + + Page 14: "caresssing" replaced with "caressing". + "... in nursing and caressing her darling children...." + + Page 50: "Inchmahone" replaced with "Inchmahome". + "... a small island in the Lake of Monteith, called Inchmahome." + + Page 67: "troup" replaced with "troupe". + "... happy troupe of northern children; sometimes playing in...." + + Page 69: "engulphed" retained as printed. + + Page 81: "latin" replaced with "Latin". + "... let Latin take the place of problems...." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Childhood of Distinguished Women, by +Selina A. 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