Women in English Life - From Medieval To Modern Times - Georgina Hill 1896 - Vol 2

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http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924021879188
WOMEN
IN ENGLISH LIFE.
Sir J^ /i^n^Ms, piîxf
WOMEN
IN ENGLISH LIEE
jFtom
aôuern Cimes.
aêftiatial to
BY
GEORGIANA
HILL,
AUTHOR OF "a HISTORY OF ENGLISH DRESS."
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL.
II.
LONDON
RICHARD BENTLEY &
SON,
Pu6lfe5rg (n rDtnars
New Burlington
to
MDCCCXCVI.
?#er iWaje^ts-
Street,
(p^ 0,2-
CONTENTS OF
PERIOD
VOL.
II.
III.
CENTURY (continued).
LIFE IN THE LAST
CHAPTER
III.
THE POLITICAL INFLUENCE OF WOMEN.
Position and influence of the Saxon

queens ^The three Norman queens The Plantagenet queens
The rule of the HanoveriansPoliticians of the century
Interest in politics confined to the upper classesThe
Duchess of Marlborough Her opinion of women Influence
of Dissenters in
The Countess of SuffolkLady
Hervey The Countess of Huntingdon storms the House of
Lords The Westminster election The Duchess of Devon-
FAGB
Meaning of the word " politics "
last
politics
shire
..
..
..
..
CHAPTER
..
..
..
..
IV.
THE BAS-BLEU.
of
by the fashionable world Influence of France
-Women
Lady Mary Montagu on women's
of the reputation of learningThe dread of work Conception
The
of
Mrs. Chapone on women's
View
literature
position
studies
gentility
coterie
afraid
literary
Lady Mary Montagu, Mrs. Elizabeth Montagu,
Elizabeth Carter, Mrs. Vesey, Hannah More, Mrs. Chapone,

Miss Talbot Origin of the term " Bas-bleu " Miss Carter
on the
folUes of society
..
..
..
..
..
..
40
CONTENTS.
VI
CHAPTER
V.
THE PHILANTHROPISTS.
The
PAGE
beginnings of organized philanthropy Hannah More and

her sisters Mary Carpenter Mrs. Trimmer Ehzabeth Fry
Harriet Martineau Miss Florence Nightingale Mrs.
Josephine Butler
..
CHAPTER
..
..
..
..
..
59
VI.
SERMONS IN DRAWING-ROOMS.
Societies for the

Formalism and inertness of the Church
advancement of religion confined to men Movements outside the Church ^The Countess of Huntingdon and Whit-
Great
field
ladies' opinions of the
Methodist preachers
Attitude of the upper classes towards religious
Condition of the Clergy
..
..
..
PERIOD
WOMEN IN THE
..
movements
..
..
75
IV.
VICTORIAN ERA.
CHAPTER
I.
CHANGE OF IDEAL.
Change
in
women's position
^Women's status in
De S^gur on EngUshcustoms^Women in the
in this century
the past determined by the Church
Change of thought and

Enlargement of
among the middle
classes Single women as described by Jane Austen Marriage as a career
women Change of opinionThe wives
of to-day Social life Independence of unmarried women
women
middle classes
interests
for
CHAPTER
87
II.
THE MODERN GREAT LADY.

Fusion of classes
Social
lady
Her new
^-^/e
Modification of women's
Duties of the modern great
progress
position in the higher ranks

..
..
..
..
..
..
loj
VU
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER
WOMEN
AS TRAVELLERS
III.
AND EXPLORERS.
PAGE
English enterprise and love of travel Travelling for pleasure a

modern taste Ida PfeifFer Lady Hester Stanhope Miss
Bird Miss Annie Taylor Lady Baker Lady Euan Smith
Lady Sale Miss Kingsley ..
..
..
..
..
CHAPTER
ii5
IV.
EDUCATIONAL ADVANCE.
Modern methods
women's education compared with the past

Â French author's opinion of education in England
Some
causes of progress Character of the new education The
days of Mary Somerville and Caroline HerscheU Their
in
election as members of the Astronomical Society Mrs.

Somerville's education Opening of Queen's College Origin
of Girton Foundation of Newnham Character of modern
education
..
..
..
..
CHAPTER
WOMEN
The branches
The
first
..
..
133
V.
IN LITERATURE.
of literature in which
tinguished
..
..
women have been most diswoman writer Influence

of literary women in the
professional
Position
eighteenth centuryAnecdote by Lord Granville Influence
Rapid
of women in literature The new school of
of pubhc sentiment
fiction
advance of women in
all
branches of literature
CHAPTER
..
..
149
VI.
ART AS A PROFESSION.
The
stage as a profession for
womenThe
Opening of the Royal Academy schools
Lady
half of the
instructress
Women as musicians Composers

century Queen Victoria's pianoforte
..162
..
..
..
The musical amateur
Society of
in the
first
progress of art
to female students
Artists
CONTENTS.
VIU
CHAPTER
VII.
THE GENTLEWOMAN
The
IN TRADE.
Change public sentiment

New openings
womenWomen as telegraph clerks
Women in the
Indignation of the male clerks
Female clerks
Dame Willatt and the Manchester
in the Bank of England The gentlewoman in trade Greater
old idea of a gentlewoman
PAGE
in
for
post-office
post-office
freedom enjoyed by
women
in choice of occupation
CHAPTER
..
..
VIII.
THE MODERN WOMAN OF
BUSINESS.
Changes in the occupations of women The number of women

employed in industries Working wives Trades recently
opened to women Women as compositors and type-writers
The modern shop-assistant Trades now followed by
women The change of opinion as to women's occupations
176
CHAPTER
187
IX.
THE FACTORY HAND.

Importance of the industrial as compared with the agricultural
class ^Women's position in the industrial market--Effects
of machinery and the factory system on women's work
Break-up of family life The factory question a woman's
Women's preference for outside work Industrial
of women workers
question
legislation
Âttitude
..
CHAPTER
..
..
195
X.
THE DOMESTIC SERVANT.

Position of the domestic servant
in domestic service
The
^More men formerly employed
demoiselles
and chambrieres of
Servants Elizabethan days Interior of

Hengrave HaU
the seventeenth century Duties of maidservants in 1677 Servants' dress regulatedWant of good
servants
the
century Defoe's observations on servants
A foreigner's opinion of English servantsComplaints of
century Serservants' costume Registry-offices of the
vants' wagesWhere our servants come from Domestic
former days
in
in
in
last
last
service at the present
day
..
..
..
..
..
20S
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER
IX
XI.
THE MODERN HUMANITARIAN MOVEMENT.
PAGB
Capacity of women for organization

Character of modern
philanthropy Women the mainspring of the Humanitarian
Movement Baroness Burdett-Coutts Miss Octavia Hill
Miss Emma Cons The Moral Movement Mrs. Butler and
Miss Ellice Hopkins Temperance work Associations

the benefit of
Miss Frances Power Cobbe on women's
for
girls
work
..
..
..
..
..
CHAPTER
..
..
227
..
XII.
THE SISTERHOOD SYSTEM.
Revival of religious orders The Anglican sisterhoods Clewer

and Harriet Monsell Bishop Wordsworth on sisterhoods
Growth of the sisterhood system " Sisters " in the hospitals
..
..
..
..
^Significance of the movement
CHAPTER
XIII.
THE FREEDOM OF
Scope
for
women's
activities
among
237
DISSENT.
the Dissenting communities
Women in the pulpit Equality of men and women in the

Salvation Army ^Women as missionaries Pioneers in the
Women's position in the Nonconformist
mission
field
Churches of the present day
CHAPTER
WOMAN
XIV.
AS NURSE.
Nursing only recently made a profession Miss Nightingale on

the lack of training ^Want of trained nurses in workhouses
Origin of the Nurses' Training Institution at St. Thomas's
^Work of the sisterhoods The early hospitals at religious
houses Treatment of lepers Decline of nursing The
246-
'
Crimean War periodÂncient and modern conception of

nursing The Franco-German War and Mrs. Dacre Craven
Hinton on nursingThe Royal National Pension
JamesMiss
Twining and workhouse nurses Nursing as a
Fund
gentlewomen Crushing out of the amateur
profession
for
..
256
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER
WOMAN
XV.
AS DOCTOR.
PAGE
Medicine the only one of the learned professions open to women

Women students of medicine in Italy Midwifery in EnglandWitchcraft and medicine Midwives of the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries -Female surgeons The modern
medical movement Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell Dr. Garrett
The
Dr. Sophia Jex-Blake and the fight in Edinburgh

London School of Medicine Public appointments
held by
women
Anderson
..
..
CHAPTER
..
..
..
..
271
XVI.
WOMEN AND MODERN
POLITICS.
organizations
half-century Women's
of the
^Women and the Primrose LeagueThe Women's Liberal
education of
Federation Lady UnionistsThe
Changes
political
last
political
women
.-
..
..
CHAPTER
WOMEN AND
..
..
..
XVII.
PUBLIC WORK.
on public boards School Board work Early members

their
of the School Board Women as Poor-law Guardians
increased numbers Appointment of women as Factory Inspectors ^Woraen as Sheriffs in the time of the Plantagenets
The offices of Marshal, King's Champion, and High Constable held by women A female Sexton Women's capacity
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
for pubhc work
Women
292
CHAPTER
307
XVIII.
THE CLAIM FOR POLITICAL EQUALITY.
The Anti-Slavery
in Parliament The Scotch workers Women

olden times Women voters of
century Miss Lydia
Becker's work The Suffrage Societies
workers
Incidents of the work in Scotland Condorcet and Mr. Lecky
Origin of the claim
Mary
Woollstonecraft
ConventionJohn Stuart Mill and the first Woman's Suffrage

Petition
The Times on Woman's Suffrage The question
electors
in
this
Irish
on Woman's
Suffrage
..
..
..
..
..
..
323
PERIOD
III.
LIFE IN THE LAST CENTURY.

(continued.)
VOL.
II.
y^
2J
WOMEN IN ENGLISH
CHAPTER
LIFE.
III.
Position and influence of the Saxon

The Plantagenet queens
^The rule of the Hanoverians Politicians of the century
Interest
confined to the upper classes The Duchess
of Marlborough Her opinion of women Influence of Dissenters
in
The Countess of Suffolk Lady HerveyThe
Countess of Huntingdon storms the House of Lords The Westminster election The Duchess of Devonshire.
Meaning of the word

queens
The
politics
three
Norman queens
last
in politics
politics
In sketching
politics, it
is
part
women have
the
it
in
modern
word
the
times.
public
State
individual
played
must be premised that the word
used with a wider signification than
to
of
the
as
covers
as
The
original
opposed to
distinct
from
is
politics
attached
meaning of
private, the
the
in
life
a large field of activity.
of
life
the
With-
out attempting the impossible task of describing
all
women have worked

field which would involve, among other
the manifold ways in which

in
this
and foreign
things, penetration into State intrigues
diplomacy
some
may be
outline
given of their
share in the making of history.

In earlier ages the
Every
of the people.
Greece had a voice
of the State
was the
life
every city in
of
citizen
in directing the destinies of his
In early England the
country.
polity
life
civil
polity
was a
composed of the people and the people's
The
representatives.
principle
was the same, and
the change to a more aristocratic form was only

effected
by the retention of a large measure of the
democratic principle.
From
Saxon
downwards,
times
England have not had any

share
in
the
national
in
and recognized
direct
councils,
women
assemblies,
and
parliaments, except to a limited extent by virtue of
being property-holders, or persons of rank whose

hereditary
titles
and burdens.
conferred on
The
them
influence of
certain privileges
women on
speaking generally, has been, and
is
politics,
still,
of an
indirect kind.
Queens, however,
category.
do
not
come
Whether queens of
the
within
country
this
or
queens from foreign lands, their influence has been

direct
and personal.
And
yet
we have had very

few queens-regnant.
English
history
exception
of
for
who
Boadicea,
the tribe of the Iceni,
is
reigned over
the solitary instance in
fifteen
Wessex, who was sovereign
With the
Cenwalch of
centuries.
widow
Saxburga,
for
of
one year, and was
then thrust from the throne by the disdainful nobles,
who
woman, no queen sat

on the throne of England save as a consort until
refused to fight under a
Mary Tudor.
It
has been remarked that the fame of England
has never been greater
among
when a woman has been
at the
the nations than
head of the
State.
Boadicea, in person, led one of the most determined

attacks which the
When
Roman
they landed they were met by
lighted torches, and

fight
legions ever had to face.
men
women waving
led into the hottest of the
by a woman whose indomitable
aroused to vengeance a people sunk

the conquerors of the world.
her
daughters
outraged,
spirit
in slavery to
Her husband
her
had
priests
dead,
slain,
her
people sold into bondage, Boadicea lived only for
and
revenge,
inflicted
it
haying
with her
escaped
own hands
death
in
rather than
battle,
fall
into
those of the Romans.
The
annals of Saxon days show us no such
heroic figure as that of Boadicea.
changed.
We
The
scene has
have no longer the spectacle of a
rude, daring race fighting
own
their
have retreated to
returned to their
is
own
or,
land,
of tribes
having one
kinglets, all fighting for mastery, while
is
the old and the
new
Both
Valhalla
between the riotous
religion,
and the
peaceful
between Wodin and

in the
civil strife
going on, the struggle between
another struggle
Paradise,
common
England
in possession of the country.
by
of
under
such of them as
of war the Romans have
and another nation
midst of this perpetually recurring
in the
joys
soil,
their fastnesses
number
are
ruled
own
own homes, against a

The Britons
organized force.
have survived the shock
home
their
leaders, for their
powerful, civilized,
rather, a
on
delights
of
Christ.
governance of the kingdom and in
matters of religion the queens of the Saxons played
an important
influence
Queen
and exercised a good deal of
part,
over the course
of
Bertha, Augustine and his
interpreters
mission,
certainly
The
Canterbury.
wife
is
Ina,
in
the
city
of
curious intermingling of religion
very marked
in these early
of the most warlike of the
of
monks and
not have received
permission to build a monastery
One
fifty
might never have accomplished their
and would
with politics
Without
history.
king
of
times.
Saxon queens, the
Wessex,
the
law-maker,
persuaded her husband to abdicate, and embrace a

religious
she was
While there were enemies
life.
in the forefront of
the
strife,
to fight
attacking her
foes in their strongholds, but having conquered,
and
secured a certain measure of peace, she not only
down her weapons, but
laid
his
crown
rest of his
into the
forced the king to resign
hands of another and spend the
days with her
in pious exercises.
Elfrida caused the assassination of her stepson,
Edward
the Martyr, to
make way
for her
own
son,
Ethelred, and in the intervals of her murderous
scheming and plotting fought the
battles
The Norman
married priests against the monks.

wife
of Ethelred,
Emma, changed
of the
the course of
events in England by her strong anti-Saxon feeling,
which caused
her,
after she
became a widow,
to
disown her children and wed the famous Canute,
new element
thus bringing a
into the national
life.
Her great political ally was Earl Godwin.

The Saxon queens were not called queens,
though they exercised so much sovereign power.
The
wife of a
Saxon monarch was
" the
Lady."
It is said that
the
title
styled simply
of queen and
and honours were abolished owing

that Brihtric, King of Wessex, was
equality of rank
to
the fact
accidentally poisoned
by
pelled to flee the kingdom.
who was comAn attempt was made
his wife,
in later times to restore to the
Saxon queens
their
privileges
and
but
title,
it
was of no
Witenagemot had shorn them of
The
avail.
and
their glory,
they held simply the position of chief lady without
any of the outward marks of royalty.*
Sometimes
it
was the
striking personal qualities
of the queens, their capacity for good or

coloured the course of
their position as the
politics,
that
evil,
sometimes merely
members of rival
houses.
The
intermarriages between Christian and Pagan were

also
potent factors
in
determining the
relations
between the various kingdoms into which Saxon
England was divided.
The
sturdy old heathen,
Penda, gave his daughter to the son of a Christian

king,
Oswy, who
in return
a son of Penda.
married his daughter to
Athelstan, grandson of Alfred
the Great, gave his
sister,
a Christian princess, in
marriage to a pagan and a murderer, the Danish

pirate-king,
embrace
Sigtryg,
on condition that he should
Christianity.
This unpromising convert
soon tired of his new creed and his new wife, and
renounced both.
The daughters and
kings have ever been, as
it
were,
pawns
preservation of the peace of the body

in matters religious pontiffs
sisters
of
for the
politic,
and
without the name, for
they were the real bridge-builders between dissentient faiths.

*
Odell Travers Hill, " English Monasticism."

As we come
the consideration of the part
to
played in politics by queens since the Conquest,
two
facts give us the
The
first is that,
key to the whole
with very few exceptions,
position.
we have
had foreign queens whose conduct was generally

guided by their sympathy with another land and
people,
and the second
that alliance
is
by marriage
with a rival power was productive of discord rather
than peace.
Although from the time of Stephen
the time of
Edward
to
IV. our queens were chiefly
chosen from one or other of the great families of

France,
not from the royal house
if
maintained
against
hereditary enemy.
itself,
country as
that
war was
against an
For one hundred years
it
was
almost constant, the short intervals being used for

preparing fresh attacks.
England
presented
divided against
the
picture
of
house
Far from creating amity
itself.
between princes, our queens caused fresh
quarrels.
Disputes over dowries in the form of land, over
marriage
portions
in
jewels, over honours
the
form
of
money and
bestowed on the family and
friends of a foreign queen, over the presence of a
large retinue of foreign attendants, were constantly
inflaming
the
the
passion
characteristic
of the
for
fighting,
which
Middle Ages.
was
war
frequently took the form of a family quarrel, which
lO
was embittered by the
common bond between

only the
tie
that
fact
there
was
no
the opposing factions, but
of legal relationship.
The queens
themselves played a very important
Sometimes by words, more often by deeds,
part.
they changed and directed the course of history.
Owing
abroad and dissensions at home,
to wars
which caused the frequent absence of the kings, the
became one of great
position of the queens-consort
They were
responsibility.
called
upon
to
assume
the sovereignty in England and to quiet disaffected

provinces on the Continent.
By
their personal in-
fluence they were frequently able to raise supplies
and
To
collect adherents.
roles
would be
they were
describe their various
But
to give a history of the times.
aliens,
and though as queens of England
they were bound up with the interests of the country,

in their character as foreign princesses that their
it is
influence
is
class apart,
most
clearly traceable.
Queens are a
and foreign queens are separated by a
double barrier from the people over
whom
they
rule.
It
was always the personal element
in the
that roused the queens to action, and caused

to
become such
struggle
those
for
days
them
active participators in the deadly
power.
can
war
so
Politics
be
if
termed
the turmoils of
meant
quarrels
II
between sovereigns and other highly placed
indi-
viduals over territory, power, wealth, and inheritance.

It
was
some
to gain
private
end,
to
win some
coveted prize, to avenge some slight or injury that

queens-consort
the
threw
themselves
with
such
ardour into perilous struggles, fought like Amazons,
and intrigued
like diplomatists.
the wife of Stephen
Matilda of Boulogne,
Isabella of France, the wife
Edward 11. Margaret of Anjou, the wife of

Henry VI., stand out as conspicuous instances.
of
No
queens-consort
making of
history.
had a larger
Two
of them,
share
in
the
Matilda and
Margaret, fought for their husbands, Isabella fought

against her husband.
was changed by
languished
II 41,
been
The whole
their action.
course of events
Stephen might have
in prison after the battle of Lincoln, in
and been compelled

for the vigour with
to abdicate,
which
his
had
it
not
queen carried
on the campaign, and her persistency in effecting

his
release.
Edward
might have escaped a
II.
tragic death but for Isabella
and without Margaret
the bitter war by which the Yorkists finally gained

the supremacy would have
come
to a
much
speedier
termination.
It
may
here be noted that this war about the
succession in the reign of Stephen turned on the

rights
and
privileges
of
woman
the
valiant
12
Empress
Matilda,
who
nobles
after
Henry
daughter of
flocked
to
The
I.
standard of Stephen,
the
having sworn fealty to Matilda and her
heirs,
it
would
be a shameful thing to submit to a woman.
The
gave as an excuse
whom
prince to
owed
for their treachery that
they transferred their allegiance

of Boulogne to his
the earldom
wife.
In
default of male heirs, fiefs descended to the female
next
in line of succession.*
The
three queens of the
of Flanders, wife of William

wife of
Henry
Stephen,
I.
kings, Matilda
Matilda of Scotland,
I.;
and Matilda of Boulogne, wife of
exercised a remarkable influence on the
all
country of their adoption.
was a good
able
Norman
fighter,
administrators.
If
Matilda of Boulogne
the two other Matildas were
Matilda
of
Flanders
was
frequently called upon to act in her husband's place
both here and in Normandy.
While William was
King of England,
dukedom of Normandy,
trying to build up his position as

disaffection
arose in
his
and the only thing that he could do

turbulent subjects,
who
felt
to pacify his
that they
were being
deserted by their chief, and deprived of a share in
new honours, was to send over his queen to live

among them and direct the affairs of the kingdom.
When his own presence again became necessary in
his
Lyttelton's " Life of
Henry
II.
Vol.
I.

Normandy
The heavy
by William
it
was Matilda who ruled
Scotland,
upon her
strongest of rulers
England
that
said
is
Matilda of
I.,
owe the
to
Norman
parliaments held under the
shows
her conduct.
queen of Henry
the
to
is
England.
responsibilities frequently cast
one of the
how judicious must have been

It
in
first
Her
dynasty.
share in the governance of the kingdom seems to
have been considerable, and

best interests of the people.
restoration of the
was exerted
it
While favouring the
Saxon forms of
against
oppression
and
Matilda thought of her
insult
own
was a
It
help for the
little
she
legislature,
urged on the passing of other reforms.

rude age, and there was
the
in
by
the
weak
strong.
sex, of the unprotected
wives and daughters of the Saxons
in the
presence
of an insolent, alien aristocracy, and she exerted

herself
to
get
laws
passed which should
Englishwomen from the
The two
their
insults of the
save
Normans.
Plantagenet queens most noted for
beneficent
influence
were neither of them
French and neither of them
politicians.
Eleanor
of Castile was the wife of the greatest soldier and
the best ruler of the age
Edward
actively share in his exploits
government of the kingdom.

his hands,
I.
She did not
or interfere in
the
But she strengthened
and enhanced the loyalty of the people
14
by the attachment which she won
was no jealousy of
"
There
to herself.
Good Queen
Eleanor," as of a
up the
foreigner with a retinue of strangers eating
Her marriage caused no embroilments, and
land.
Philippa of
her death was universally regretted.
Hainault, the wife of the third Edward,
remembered
one deed of womanly tenderness
for
which can hardly be construed into a
Her pleading
political
move.
who
for the brave citizens of Calais,
their lives for their fellow-townsmen,
offered
beautiful picture, but
the test which
it
its
chief
applies to the moral standard of
and
should
is
significance lies in
That an English king
the day.
repute
chiefly
is
one of good
have to be supplicated to
refrain
from an act of hideous barbarity towards a prostrate
enemy
not an incident one would willingly
is
recall.
Philippa of Hainault was useful also to her English

subjects.
Coming
as
she
did
from
Low
the
Countries, where the manufacture of cloth
was
far
ahead of England, she was able to introduce im-
provements and give an impetus to the trade.
How
little
the fact of a French princess sharing
the throne of England did to lessen the enmity

against
France
Joanna
of
may be judged from
Navarre,
marriage with Henry

clamours of a
the
the case of
celebration
IV. was
French war.
felt
of
whose
disturbed by the
The
next
queen,

Catherine of France, occupied a
still
harder position
man who brought
as the wife of the
her country
into the deepest humiliation.
The
over
perpetual struggle to maintain sovereignty
France
intestine war,
however, interrupted
was,
and the history of English
becomes the history of a long and

between opposing
this fight
is
factions.
The
and united
an
politics
bitter
fight
central figure in
She
the renowned Margaret of Anjou.
was among the keenest of the

time,
by
politicians
of her
the qualities of a statesman
to
Never had queen a more difficult

the wife of a king who was only a
those of a soldier.
part to play
ruler
name, and
in
foreigner without wealth, compelled to
her
own and
and
she herself a stranger
battle for
her husband's rights.
we
The
After a lapse of some three hundred years
had again a succession of foreign queens.

wives of the Hanoverian kings were even more
sympathy and
alien in
interest
from the people of
England than were the wives of the Plantagenet

sovereigns.
The one thorough
politician
among
them, Caroline of Anspach, the wife of George II.,

was as completely German in heart as she was in
blood.
Her quick
prehend very
affairs
in
intellect
enabled her to com-
accurately the
position
England, and the marvellous
of
public
tact
with
which she governed her husband made her the

actual
of
strong passions,
woman
Being a
not the nominal ruler.
if
the
she was very eager in
prosecution of political schemes, and very outspoken

in
She and
her expression of opinion.
Sir Robert
He
Walpole managed everything between them.
was popularly known as the

Caroline's partiality for
to the fact that
it
"
Queen's Minister."
Walpole was probably due
was owing
to his influence that
she enjoyed a jointure larger than any queen before

her,
brought
Minister
excited
House
When
;îoo,ooo a year.
viz.
great
in
hostility
in
of Peers deputed
Queen and represent
the
objections
the
to
certain
Lord
to boast that
and
went,
in the
was
to conceal his discomfiture he
foolish
The
of the
by
dis-
interview, which
the
herself took the initiative
occasion
required
her
Dissenters petitioned for the
Test and Corporation Acts
moment
enough
had entreated her not to divulge.
The Queen
deemed
was
he had silenced the Queen by argu-
closing the whole nature

Stairs
the
endeavour
ment, hearing which Caroline retaliated
Lord
upon
Her Majesty
He
But
soundly rated for his pains.
the
quarters,
Stairs to wait
to
measure.
which
scheme,
excise
his
her favourite
for
the
at
Government,
when she
interference.
repeal
an
when
of the
inconvenient
a
general

was pending.
election
much
Walpole, with
The
mise.
and Sir Robert
Caroline
dexterity, effected a
Dissenters
relied
on
and talked
to
the
compro-
Bishop of
The Queen
Salisbury to support their cause.

for the bishop,
him
in
sent
a confidential
tone about the inopportunity of the measure, so

paving- the
some
way
Robert Walpole, who,
for Sir
after
fencing, got the matter arranged to the satis-
faction of the
It is
famous
Government.
curious that for the Minister's brother, the
Horace,
which she evinced
had a great aversion,
Caroline
in a coarse
and offensive manner
without the least attempt at concealment.
Hervey she admitted
great confidence, and
into
would keep him chatting
Lord
at her bedside
about the
news of the day when she was too ill to rise.

As for the three other Hanoverian queens, one
of them, Sophia of Zell, wife of
set foot in
England
Her
name.
at
George
never
and was only queen
all,
influence on English politics
Queen Charlotte, being a

was more concerned with
I.,
was
in
nil.
quiet domestic character,
the welfare of her family
and the good ordering of her court than with

Her public acts were chiefly of a
State business.
benevolent kind.
When
she sent money of her

holders of one
VOL.
II.
pound
a bank broke at Windsor
own
to relieve the distressed
notes,
and out of her private

24
purse she established and supported a

of good birth.
home
for
successor, " the
Her
orphan
girls
injured
queen," Caroline of Brunswick,
is
a con-
spicuous figure in history, but chiefly on account of
her personal sufferings as a wife, and her remarkable
Family quarrels occupy a large portion
trial.
of the annals of our Hanoverian sovereigns.
The
feuds between father and son, mother and daughter,
husband and wife form the court
George
I.
and
his son,
which broke out
of
abundant food
in invectives against
Amelia,
Princess
I V.'s
afford
for
Caroline of Anspach's fiery temper,
the gossips.
down
flames
of the period.
with their rival courts at
Hampton and Richmond,
the
life
and the Prince of Wales,
the page of history
perfidies
make
her daughter,
while George
a tragedy of his reign.
The
only queen-consort who, during the absence
the
king,
under the
was vested with sovereign power,
title
of
Parr, the sixth wife
Queen Regent, was Catherine

of Henry VHI.
Great as was
the commotion caused by

their
abrupt
rather
families
than
dissolution,
national
more than
Henry's marriages and

they
interests,
affected
domestic
the
of great
that of the people.
themselves had but
little
influence
fate
The queens
upon
political
matters, with the exception of Catherine of Aragon,
though they excited jealousy and animosity by their

position,
and so caused intrigues among statesmen.
They were the
pivots of political parties, the centres
of religious strife
Catherine
the
but neither the
first
nor the
last
one a devout Romanist, the other
a zealous Protestant
were
able to effect
much
for
their respective causes, while the four intervening
queens had but a short-lived influence, and were

chiefly occupied
was not
safe
with
their
Henry
for
own
misfortunes.
VIII.'s
It
queens to be
politicians.
The
position of queens-regnant with regard to
comes within the scope of the
political life scarcely
present purpose.
queen who reigns alone
necessity, a politician.
State, and, even
She
indifferent
if
the centre
is
or
by
is,
of the
incapable,
must
perforce not merely influence, but direct, the course
We
of politics.
who was
have never had a queen-regnant
indifferent
and although Queen Anne
usually described as weak, and
governed by her
obstinate,
favourites,
is
was undoubtedly
she
was
extremely
and held strong, fixed opinions.
Of
the
two Tudor queens, the one was a far-seeing, wideminded politician a match not only for the sove-
reigns, but
The
for all
the
first
Ministers of Europe.
other united to the Tudor talent and temper
a deep and passionate religious fanaticism and a
womanly yearning
for personal
happiness,
which,
20
being unattainable, saddened and embittered her

life.
Queen Anne, although she succumbed
influence of the quick-witted beauty
to the
who was
the
wife of the greatest general of the age, retained

all
her prepossessions, and in spite of the presence
and counsels of the more free-thinking Sarah, was

throughout a staunch Tory, an orthodox Church-
woman, and a
When we
rigid
Conservative in social matters.
reach the eighteenth century
we hear
no more of citizenesses presenting petitions

interest of the middle classes in politics
have died out with the
women
is
the
seems to
But among
War.
keen and constant.

Intrigue
party feeling high, and every one directly
rife,
or indirectly
game
it
both business and pleasure.
Politics are
is
Civil
of the upper ranks
connected with the players in
of politics
movement,
danger.
is
to gain
In
fact,
trying
to
aid
some advantage,
the
or retard
to avert
the
some
the aristocracy are the political
world, and in this world the great ladies
who
are
the wives and daughters of Ministers and would-be

the
women who
places
at
court,
and whose families are out of favour, are
all
seen
swimming together
statesmen,
some
idly as
in
aspire
to
the sea of politics
for a pastime, others with
straining
nerves, as in a race.
At the beginning of the eighteenth century

politics
and
religion
were once more closely
21
inter-
The High Church party were in the

ascendant.
Queen Anne and her ladies attending
twined.
the
of Dr. Sacheverell in support of his cause
trial
shows the
drift in
court circles.
feeling against Dissent,
danger equivalent
There was a
bitter
which was regarded as a
another direction to Popery.
in
Whatever threatened the Church threatened the

State.
This gave a new tone to politics. While
the domination of
power superior
lasted there
to that of the State
was a partner with the
terms.
Indeed
to
aid,
its
in
power of
not supreme;
State, but not
was more
Church
cry of "the
rallying
it
was always a
the
The Anglican Church was
the priest.
it
Rome
on equal
The
like a nursling.
danger" brought the State
ready to do battle with
its
enemies.
Public
interest
was
centred
chiefly
the
in
eighteenth century upon the foreign policy of the
Government.
home
war and
attention
In
but
the previous century the

politics
the
vital
import
absorbed
as
once
no domestic question of
had agitated the country
during the Stuart dynasty.
What
distinguishes the
eighteenth century in the eyes of posterity

it
the
all
Hanoverian succession
established, there existed
such
had
civil
was an age of great statesmen.
The
is
that
roll
of
22
mediocre, respectable politicians fades
presence of their leaders.

large
followings,
and
principle fails to arouse
in
the
Great statesmen attract
inspire
where
enthusiasm
more than languid
took a very personal tone
Politics
away
interest.
eighteenth
in the
century.
If the
Duke
of Marlborough was the
first
soldier
of his age, the Duchess was undoubtedly the
Except Queen Elizabeth, she has
stateswoman.
no peer
woman
No
English history.
in
first
other English-
exercised such sway over politics as the
beautiful Sarah, or held, as she did, the destinies of
Europe
in
her hands.
Women," wrote
"
after
life,
the Duchess, in the bitterness of her
"signify nothing, unless they are the mistress
of a prince or
first
minister,
which
would not be
if I
were
any women that

have understanding or impartiality enough to serve well
young
and
think there are very few
if
those they really wish to serve."
In this
lies
the key to the age.
Politically,
women
signified nothing in the last century, but as great

ladies their influence in the political world
the
first
was of
moment.
In dealing with women's part in politics in the

last century,
it
be considered.
is
only the upper classes
The
City
dames who
who need
petitioned the
Parliament and the Commonwealth are gone, and

their
good
successors,
public
souls,
Their
matters.
have
families,
23
care for
little
businesses,
their
their toilettes, the cheery, gossipy intercourse with

their neighbours are
enough
comfort beget indifference.

civil wâr
the country
national prestige
of a domestic,
the
women
is
There
Politics
more of an imperial
of the bourgeoisie they
As
of their purview.
no desolating
is
growing prosperous, the
heightening.
is
Ease and
for them.
have
less
and
aspect,
to
seem remote, out
who
Ferri de Saint Constant,
wrote at the close of the century, observed

"
Sans doute
les
femmes
anglaises participent a I'esprit
aux
national, a I'esprit public, et ne sont point indifferentes

int^r^ts
de
la patrie
mais ce qui
le sujet
fait
de leur
conversation, surtout a leurs parties de the, ce sont les
nouveaux romans,
les
hommes ne
les
Comme
nouvelles pieces de theatre.
causent jamais avec les femmes, celles-ci
n'ont aucun inter^t de se mettre au courant de ce qui

le
sujet de la conversation
des
hommes
pr^ferer de s'entretenir ,et entr'elles de ce qui
fait
doivent
elles
est
portê de toutes de ce qui est plus int^ressant pour
a la
elles,
*
ou du moins plus amusant."
But with the women of the aristocracy

otherwise.
They, no doubt, chatted over
tables about the last romance, the

freshest
little
as
scandal
the majority
new
it
was
their teaplay,
the
perhaps cared as
did the tradesmen's and farmers' wives

* "
Londres
et les Anglais."
24
own
about matters outside their
ence was that their
circle
circle
the differ-
was a wider one, and that
through their connections and friends they were

always en rapport with the news of the day.
To
woman
the ordinary
of fashion politics were
an occasional diversion, and politicians were to be
some
courted for the sake of
social end.
It
was
neither patriotism nor political principle nor even
party feeling that inspired the votaries of fashion,
but the love of variety and desire for advancement.
Those who aspired

must needs be able
become
to
to attract
leaders of society
men who were
promi-
nently before the public.
But these were only on the outer edge of the

political
politics
world.
more
the
As
seriously.
interest deepens.
press
There were
written from
who took
the circle narrows, the
In an age
was as undeveloped as
Georges,
others
when
it
was
when parliamentary
the newspaper
in the
time of
reports
memory, and the voice was
were
infinitely
more powerful and far-reaching than the pen, there

was a flavour about
never taste
in the
news which we can
political
present day,
when everything
is
blazoned abroad from one end of the country to

the other an hour after
papers,
what
it
has occurred.
The news-
under the weight of the stamp duty, did
they could, but
they were,
after
all,
but

meagre sources of Information.
only been awake to the
25
had
If the editors
considerable interest
fact,
might have been added to the columns by the

political
women who
who were
all
obtained the news
first
constantly conversing with politicians of
degrees, corresponding on
topics of
public and private, with public men, and
some measure
able in
political
valuable
hand,
have
could
Countess of Suffolk,
sorts,
who were
forecast the drift of the
to
straws floating in their

hints
all
been
who knew
What
circle.
all
by the
given
the history of
the court, or by the Duchess of Gordon,
who was
bent at one time on marrying her daughter to

or
by
Dowager Countess
that outspoken
who, writing to her son
in
in-
Pitt,
of Stair,
1714 about the death
Queen Anne, describes the event as " this surprising show of Providence."
Queen Anne, with
her High Church principles and dislike of Disof
senters,
must have been an unwelcome sovereign
a family
who had been
silenced
in the habit of entertaining
preachers, and
attending conventicles.
ager,
" that
to
the nations
had been persecuted for

"
wish," writes the dow-
may
live
under the due
impression of the greatness of their deliverance."
Queen Anne's
of the
reign
Dissenters
was remarkable
into
for the rise
a political power.
were regarded as a very
real
danger,
They
and
the
26
High Church party
strenuousness with which the
inveighed against Baptists, Independents, and Presbyterians
not so
there
much
were
no Methodists then
was
a measure of their rehgious feehng as
of their political fears.
stood outside this
The
conflict
only Dissenters
who
were
the
of
parties
who had gone through their days of

bitterness, and were now in the position of onQuakers,
But the
lookers.
" a solid
formed
rest of the Dissenters
mass of human beings, unconformable to many of
the established usages, secular as well as religious.
bending
in principle,
and strong enough to
Un-
resist injustice,
no doubt their oppressors found them a grievous clog on
movements of the complicated machinery of

and political life." *
the free
social
The Duchess
of
Marlborough, perhaps, can
hardly be taken as an impartial
Anne.
Still facts
British
critic
Queen
of
speak for themselves, and there
were certain things, such as the
management of the
details
of
the
royal household, about which
knew more than most

was she who had fought Queen Anne's
the duchess, from her position,

people.
battles
It
when William
III.
grudged
his sister-in-law
the ;^30,ooo a year which she had been
previously
by her
father,
and
got
allowed
the
brought before Parliament, who proved more

*
Burton, " Histoi-y of Reign of
Queen Anne."
matter
liberal

Queen Anne, she
than the king.
On
extravagant.
"
made no
said,
27
was never
the contrary, she saved, for she
foolish buildings nor
bought one
Out
jewel.
of
her revenue she gave ;"iqo,ooo in one year to ease the

nation in time of war.
Out of her civil list she paid many
pensions since thrown on the public."
If
Anne showed
thrift
she certainly did not inherit
that virtue from her father's family,
of
fulness
contrast
the
the
to
and her
care-
money was a welcome
nation's
wasteful,
shiftless
ways of her
Stuart progenitors.
The Duchess of Marlborough, whatever aspersions may be cast on her motives and conduct in
the unique position which she held, was determined
to
do
all
power
from tarnishing
successors
becoming
lay in her
that
tuft-hunters.
She
to prevent
name by
the
family
left
her wealth to her
grandson, John Spencer, and his heirs, but
be forfeited
or
civil,
everybody
was
to
they took any employment, military
I
;
think," wrote the Duchess, " ought to please

for
it
None
will secure
my heirs in being very consider-
of them can put on a fool's coat, and take
posts from soldiers of experience and service,
did anything but

heirs
it
or any pension from any king or queen.
" This,
able men.
if
her
may do
kill
who
pheasants and partridges.
never
Their
great service to their country, and ought to
be well received when they go to Court, since they

have nothing to ask
for
would have them
will
join with
28
any king or minister when they desire nothing but what is

for the good of the nation and the King, who in truth must
always have the same interest. But if we should happen
ever to have a Prince that would
rump members
for giving
their vote for the true interest of their country, in that case,
man
live at
for
may be very well contented to

home, and keep much better company than I have
with a great fortune
many
years at Court."
The much-envied Duchess
had, doubtless,
grounds for her contempt of the society

she
She
lived.
wâs
people w^ho were
Duchess
Somerset
of
the office of
also
enjoyed
she
privileges
Groom
to
as
planned
by
her the
from
filch
first
which
in
surrounded
constantly
trying
good
favourite.
to
rob
The
her
of
of the Stole, a place coveted
by several other noble
such as the
ladies,
Duchess of Ormond, who was a daughter of the
Duke
and
of Beaufort,
Lady
politics
Fretcheville.
meant a struggle
office of
the
Lady Henry Hyde Rochester,
Groom
To
great
these
for place
and power.
the
whether
queen,
regnant or a queen-consort.
It
though the duties must have
fallen
under the Protectorate.
at the
But
was reserved
for
a queen-
was held by both
men and women. Sir Ralph Verney,

Commonwealth, made application for
it
The
of the Stole belonged originally to
household of
George L
ladies
an
during the
into
the
post,
abeyance
accession of
officer
of the
2q
household of the King or of the Prince of Wales.
The
rangership
ofifice
held by the Duchess of Marlborough.
Windsor
of
Park was another
After the time of the famous Sarah other figures
loom upon our view.
There
Suffolk (already mentioned),
known
to
the
of
to readers
On
her
1731,
she
Howard.
Swift's correspondence as Mrs.
elevation
the Countess of
is
rank of countess,
in
became Mistress of the Robes. She had been Lady

of
Bedchamber
the
accession,
II.,
but
is
said to
woman
of the day, and
William
Pitt,
Walpole, her neighbour
much
her correspondents
Lord
Chesterfield, Pope, Swift, Gay,
ally entered
many
She was acquainted with most of the
men
included
the
She was
of keen intellect and possessed of
social gifts.
leading
at
have been very
disinterested in the use of her powers.
her
before
and had considerable influence
George
court of
Queen
the
to
Bolingbroke,
Lord
Young, and Horace
in later life.
Politics natur-
into her correspondence.
One
of
her acquaintances, the Countess of Bristol, sends an
account of the electioneering contests in which her

family were engaged in 1727.
She describes the
election of an alderman for the
Edmunds,
in
which Lord
Bristol
town of Bury
had strong
St.
political
interest, as a great struggle, the choice of an alder-
man who
should be of their party being of " vast
30
service towards
up the body
filling
my
in
lord's
Lord Bathurst was another who kept
interest."
the Countess of Suffolk au courant with political
news.
very keen politician of
this
period was
Mrs. Selwyn, mother of the well-known
and Charles Selwyn.
woman of great
as a
She
is
described by Walpole
She was one
wit and vivacity.
of the Ladies of the
George
Bedchamber
to the
Queen of
George IL
Lady Hervey, who
as
Mary
Lepell had been
maid of honour to the Princess of Wales, was
warmly
interested in the politics of her time.
743 she writes
"
The
warm
world seems to be in great agitation.
political
fears are great.
In
The next
session, I believe, will
My
be
one."
The following year

know what party to wish
she observes
for."
"I do not
In November, 1748,
she writes
The town is sickly, and nothing seems prosperous but

gaming and gamesters. 'Tis really prodigious to see how
"
deep the ladies play."

All her
published
letters,
addressed to her sons'
most of which are
tutor,
Morris, a country clergyman, are

public
affairs,
the
full
Rev.
Edmund
of remarks on
she herself being in the inner circle

of the political world.
Bristol,
One
of her four sons, Lord
was sent as ambassador
Many
in the present
day
to
will
Spain in 1758.
sympathize with
the Duchess of Queensberry, who, writing to the
Countess of Suffolk from Edinburgh

says
"
elections
in
I
;
am
tired
they ought
an age."
to
In
death with
June, 1734,
and
politics
in conscience to
be but once
Perhaps the Duchess's spleen was
induced by her social surroundings, for she adds

"
have not met with any one
in this
country
doth not eat with a knife and drink a dish of

Selina,
Countess of Huntingdon,
is
better
who
tea."
known
as the founder of a religious sect and a disciple of
Whitfield
became
active
than as a
a widow,
member
was an ardent
politician.
and while her husband was an
of the
House
politician.
one of a party of
But before she
ladies,
of Lords, the Countess
In May, 1738, she
some of them
made
peeresses,
who stormed the House of Lords. The public

mind was much agitated about some depredations of
the Spaniards, and Lady Huntingdon, in common
with several of her friends, was exceedingly anxious
to hear a certain debate in the
House of Lords.
But their lordships did not desire to have female

or any other auditors.
At the last warm debate in the House of Lords," says

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, " it was unanimously resolved
"
32
there should be no unnecessary auditors
the
fair
consequently,
sex were excluded, and the gallery destined to the
sole use
House
of the
which determination a
of
Commons. Notwithstanding
dames resolved to show on
tribe of
men nor laws could resist them.

These heroines were Lady Huntingdon, the Duchess of
Queensberry, the Duchess of Ancaster, Lady Westmoreland,
Lady Cobham, Lady Charlotte Edwin, Lady Archibald
this occasion, that neither
Hamilton, and her daughter Mrs.

and Lady Frances Saunderson.''
Lady Mary
says
Scott, Mrs. Pendarves,
she has been particular
in
enumerating these ladies

"
since
looked upon them to be the boldest assertors and
most resigned
They
sufferers for liberty I ever read of.
presented themselves at the door at nine o'clock in the
morning,
when
Sir
William
Saunderson
informed them that the Chancellor had
The Duchess
against their admittance.

as head of the squadron,
'
pished
'
respectfully
made an
order
of Queensberry,
at the ill-breeding of a
mere lawyer, and desired Sir William to let them upstairs

privately.
After some modest refusals he swore he would
Her Grace with a noble warmth answered,
not admit them.
they would come
whole House.
in,
in spite of the Chancellor
them out
not be opened
starve
an order was made that the doors should

till
they had raised their siege.
Amazons now showed themselves

of foot-soldiers
These
qualified for the
they stood there until
noon, without sustenance, every

vollies of
and the
This being reported the Peers resolved to
duty
five in the after-
now and then
plying
thumps, kicks and raps, with so much violence
against the door that the speakers in the
House were
scarce

When
heard.
33
the Lords were not to be conquered by
the two Duchesses
(very well
this,
apprised of the use of
commanded a silence of half an hour

Chancellor, who thought this a certain proof of
stratagems in war)
and the
their absence (the
gave orders
enter),
they
all
rushed
Commons
for the
in,
also being very impatient to
opening of the door, upon which
pushed aside
their competitors,
They
placed themselves in the front rows of the gallery.

stayed there
till
after eleven,
and
rose; and
when the House
during the debate, gave applause and showed marks of

dislike,
not only
been allowed
in
by smiles and winks (which have always

these cases), but by noisy laughs and
apparent contempts which
why
is
supposed to be the true reason
poor Lord Hervey spoke so miserably."
The
politics
interest
which
EngHsh
ladies
took in
was a matter of considerable surprise
foreigners.
It
to
has been related of Lord Tyrconnel,
who was
by birth but French by education,
that when he first visited England, as a man of
thirty years of age, he was much disgusted to find
Irish
politics
such a constant theme of
Hoping
to get a change,
conversation.
he invited some ladies to
supper, but, to his horror, they immediately began

to talk about the debates in the
House
Nothing that he could invent
in the
of
Commons.
way
of con-
versation diverted them from the engrossing subject
of
politics.
At
last,
losing
all
patience,
and
for-
getting his duties as a host, he absolutely ran away,

arid the
VOL.
II.
next morning embarked for France.

25
34
The whole
the political
atmosphere was charged with
social
The women sometimes
element.
feigned an interest in public affairs which they did
men would
not feel because the
The
dutiful
obediently while
listening
wife,
husband expounds
his
talk of nothing else.
views on matters of State,
pictured with admiration by a traveller
many
her
is
who made
observations on the manners and customs of
the English in the last century.

"
Un
^poux, qui ne respire que politique, est toujours
femme une personne avec
sur de trouver dans sa

il
vivement.
laquelle
peut s'entretenir sur les objets qui I'interessent
satisfaire
II
n'a pas besoin d'aller hors de chez lui chercher
women politicians in
James Fox contested West-
when Charles
1784,
plus
un besoin aussi pressant."
was a great epoch
It
le
for
minster and outstripped his opponent through the

personal influence of the Duchess of Devonshire.
The
excitement of an election
ballot
and the
poll
when
was kept open
can never be equalled
in the
there
was no
for several
present day.
weeks
But the
Duchess and her coadjutors pursued methods similar

to those of
modern
canvassers.
They drove about
in their carriages, creating a constant
favour of
Fox and
excitement in
the Liberal party
they went
on foot from house to house, arguing, persuading,

cajoling the electors out of their votes.

"
The Duchess
35
Lord Cornwallis
of Devonshire," wrote
on April 9th, 1784, "is indefatigable in her canvass for

Fox. She was in the most blackguard houses in England
by eight
o'clock
Fox
morning.
this
is,
however, 288
behind Sir Cecil Wray, notwithstanding the assistance of

the Duchess, Mrs. Bouverie, Mrs. Robinson, and
her
many
of
fair canvassers."
Among
the numerous poetical effusions was the
following ode to the Duchess

" Hail, Duchess
first
of womankind,
Far, far you leave your sex behind.
With you none can compare

For who but you, from street to
Would run about a
Thrice, thrice bewitching fair
The Duchess,
street.
vote to get,
"
!
with her brilliant beauty and
boundless enthusiasm, soon reversed matters, and
Fox shot ahead

In company with
of his opponent with 100 votes.
the Duchess on this electioneering
campaign was her

beauty, and
Lady
sister,
among
Carlisle,
Lady Duncannon,
other
Whig
canvassers were
Lady Derby, Lady Beauchamp, and
Horace Walpole's three lovely

Waldegrave.
also a
One
of
" as
Ladies
the witticisms of the day
aptly described the Duchess
Lady Duncannon
nieces, the
of Devonshire
and
the most perfect pieces that
ever appeared upon a canvass."
An
votes
attempt was made by the Tories to secure
by
feminine
influence,
but though
Lady
36
Salisbury and the Hon.
connection of
could
Pitt,
prevail against
not
and her
William
Lady Hobart, who was a
fair
phalanx,
their best, they
did
the queen
whom
of beauties
Pitt ungallantly styled
"the other women of the People."
It
was no
use
" Let Pitt and
Wray
dislike the fair,
Decry our Devon's matchless merit
braver, kinder soul
And
we wear,
love her beauty, love her spirit.
Let distant times and ages know.
When Temple
would have made us slaves,

we ward the fatal blow,
Fox that beats 'tis Devon saves.''
'Tis thus
'Tis
The Tories tried what they could do by

They issued, among other things, a kind of
tisement,
headed
squibs.
adver-
"NO MURDER!
"No Club Law, No Butchers' Law, No Petticoat
Government.
"
The worthy
electors of Westminster,
who
are neither
intimidated by marrow-bones and cleavers, nor influenced
by Peers
or Peeresses, are called
privileges as Britons
and
upon
to exert their native
It is yet in their power

and by a speedy and earnest
support of Lord Hood and Sir Cecil Wray, to pour
contempt upon the barest exertion of open bribery that
citizens.
to vindicate their liberties,
ever disgraced the English nation."
The
electors of Westminster, however,
the sentiment of the following lines
echoed
37
" Sure Heav'n approves of Fox's cause
(Tho' slaves at Court abhor him)

vote for Fox, then, who can pause,
To
angels canvass
Since
When
drawn
in
for him."
the election was over, and
Fox was being
a triumphal car through the streets, the
Duchess of Devonshire and the Duchess of Portland brought up the procession in their state coaches,
drawn by
known
The same
six horses each.
society leader, Mrs. Crewe, gave
then called a rout
which the guests
and
all
what was
at this brilliant gathering, at
appeared
blue and buff, the Prince of

"
night a well-
in the
Whig
colours,
Wales gave the
toast,
Mrs. Crewe and true blue," to which the hostess
promptly responded with,
"
True blue and
all
of
you."
Among
the curiosities of the political literature
of that period was a justification of Sir Cecil Wray's
proposal to place a tax on female servants

" Sir Cecil
Wray,
at the request of a great part of his
upon maid servants.

by nature and humanity bound to protect
constituents, did propose a slender tax
Every man
is
the sex, but
surely
no
sophistry can
be
clearer,
no
absurdity can be greater, than to suppose that a tax of a

kyfj shillings
the least
per
annum on
female servants would border
upon oppression, would be the
increase prostitution, or to destroy the

subsistence.
there be)
Men who
least calculated to
means
seriously think this
must estimate female
(if
of female
any such
virtue at a very low rate.
38
and be very
superficial
judges either of the expences or the
women. But after all such a tax would in

wages would not
reality fall upon the master or mistress
be lowered by it, neither would the number of servants be
diminished to any degree deserving of attention."
passions of
The Westminster
election roused
women
in all
parts of the country to take an interest in politics.
The Duchess
set the fashion for canvassing,
subsequently became a
take
part
Two
ladles, of
good
were canvassing very successfully
ing,
interest in
some part of Norfolk.
rendered
desperate
women
and
curious
occurred during the general
incident
election of 1806.
it
thing for ladies to
contests.
political
in
disgraceful
common
and
by
social stand-
Tory
in the
Their opponents,
two
persuaded
failure,
of doubtful character to attire themselves
so as to resemble, as nearly as possible, the
Tory
lady canvassers, and to go about soliciting votes.
The
trick
was soon discovered, and brought a
Whig
storm upon the head of the
The
great
influence
candidate.
which
the
Duchess of
gathered from a story
may be
which was related, many
years
George IV.
Devonshire
was
afterwards,
thought
by
to
possess
certain
Mrs. Adair, a Frenchwoman,
who was concerned
in
one
political
intrigues,
called
day upon
the
Duchess, and offered her ^10,000 at once, and

more afterwards,
39
she would communicate certain
if
Cabinet secrets.
The French Government were
convinced that the Duchess, being so intimate with

the poHtical leaders, was quite able,
willing, to
impart
all
she were
if
the information they desired.
The Duchess was very much
and
disturbed,
indignant distress sent at once for Fox, to
of the shameful proposal.

failed
in
her object,
his private secretary.
he could not do
(who seems
so,
to
him
Mrs. Adair not only
but injured
Fox had intended
prospects.
tell
in
to
husband's
her
make Mr. Adair
After this revelation, he
and, unwilling to
tell
felt
Mr. Adair
have been quite innocent
in the
matter) that his wife was a spy, he had to put him

off with promises.
The Duchess
of Devonshire was the
last,
as
she was the most notable, of the female politicians
the
of the eighteenth century
lady whose social
type of the great
rank was a
measure
The immense
political interest.
of
her
influence wielded
by the Duchess was more due
to
her personal
charms and the energy of her disposition than to

her place in society.
her
her day the

to
successor has
She held an unique
lustre.
enough
No
Whig
have
position.
dimmed
Since
party has not been fortunate
in coalition
on
its
behalf a great
beauty and a great statesman both of European fame.
40
CHAPTER
IV.
THE BAS-BLEU.
View of literature by the fashionable world Influence of France

Lady Mary Montagu on women's position Women afraid of ,the
reputation of learning The dread of work Conception of
gentility
Mrs. Chapone on women's studies The literary
coterie
Lady Mary Montagu, Mrs. Elizabeth Montagu, EUzabeth
Carter, Mrs. Vesey,
Hannah More, Mrs. Chapone, Miss Talbot
Origin of the term " Bas-bleu " Miss Carter on the
follies
of
society.
Just as the revival of learning
in
the
sixteenth
century and the patronage of letters at court and
among
the aristocracy helped to turn the course
of women's education into deeper channels, so the
movement in the eighteenth century

long wave of thought which left a ripple-
great literary
sent out a
mark on the
learned
ladies
of
acquired historic
reflected
the
correct.
The
life.
The
century
have
shifting sands of feminine
the
eighteenth
importance.
To
say that they
thought of the age would not be

serious cultivation of literature
was
looked upon by the fashionable world as something
THE BAS-BLEU.
Even Horace Walpole spoke
rather beneath them.
of literary pursuits as hardly becoming in a gentle-
man.
There was not an
except
letters
of
professedly
in
intellectual tone
literary
anywhere
Men
circles.
of
were people to be patronized and made much
as
interesting
regarded
the professions
All
associated.
by those with
equals
as
they were not
but
curiosities,
kind of contempt by people of
whom
were
held
they
in
Lady Susan
leisure.
Fox, daughter of Lord Ilchester, married O'Brien
man
the actor, a
by her world a
of
means
and
was thought
far greater mesalliance
Lady Harriet Wentworth

fared
little
than when
married her footman.
These two marriages took place
The parson
this
in
764.
better in the estimation
of polite society, and the position of a chaplain in
a family of rank was that of an
Learning was
their living
by
very well for people
all
it,
upper servant.
who made
but was beneath the attention of
persons of quality.
It
is
century,
somewhat strange that the eighteenth

which was so much affected by French
customs and
to
delight
habits,
in
which delighted
French
literature,
or pretended
should not have
caught something of the intellectual tone of French

society.
Mrs. Chapone, whose literary taste and
acquirements have rendered her famous,
in writing
42
to her niece
French than
It
says, "
more agreeable books of female
there are
in
on educational matters,
in
believe
literature
any other language."
was the age of Addison,
Steele,
Johnson,
mention only a few out of a host of

celebrated names.
The times were bubbling with
Pope,
to
fresh thought.
There had not been a period when
many men
there were so
of letters of diverse order
pouring forth their productions since the days of

Shakespeare.
general
But with
it
all
there was not that
high appreciation of literature
become so marked a
Out-
feature of this century.
side the literary set the chief things
has
that
aimed
at
were
acconiplishments, and these carried only so far as

to serve for conversational
and other social purposes.
Generally speaking, women's education was very

defective.
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
writes bitterly of
the estimate in which women's intellectual ability
Of
held.
"My
folly
her studies of the
sex
classics,
she says
was
usually forbid studies of this nature, and
is
reckoned so much our proper sphere, we are sooner
pardoned any excesses of that than the

to reading or
good
sense.
We
least pretensions
are permitted no books
but such as tend to the weakening and effeminating of the

mind.
it
is
Our
natural defects are in every
looked upon as
reason, or fancy
in
way
indulged, and
a degree criminal to improve our
we have
any.
We
are taught to place all
THE BAS-BLEU.
43
our art in adorning our outward forms, and permitted

without reproach to carry that custom even to extravagancy,
while our minds are entirely neglected, and by disuse of
reflections, filled
with nothing but the
our
trifling objects
This custom so long
eyes are daily entertained with.
makes it even
ridiculous to go out of the common road, and forces one
to find as many excuses as if it was a thing altogether
and
established
industriously
upheld
criminal not to play the fool in concert with other
women
of quality, whose birth and leisure only serve to render
them the most
and most worthless part of the

hardly a creature in the world more
useless
There
creation.
is
despicable or more liable to universal ridicule than that

of a learned
woman
these words imply, according to the
received sense, a tattling, impertinent, vain and conceited

creature.
The Abbe
Bellegarde gives a right reason
women's talking over much they know nothing and

every outward object strikes their imagination and produces
a multitude of thoughts which if they knew more they
for
would know not worth
their thinking
of.
arguing for an equality of the two sexes.
God and
I
I
am
we
we owe obedience and
and any woman who
nature have thrown us into an inferior rank
are a lower part of the creation,
submission to the
suffers her vanity
superior sex,
and
folly to
deny
this, rebels
is
a worse effect than
education given to
any man of
women
this,
sense, that finds
it
its
but
being so easy for
either his interest or his
The common method
begin by
attacking their religion
fallacious
arguments
their
which follows the careless
of quality,
pleasure to corrupt them.
against the
laws of the Creator and indisputable order of nature

there
now
not
do not doubt
is
to
they bring a thousand
excessive
ignorance
hinders
44
them from refuting and I speak now from my own

knowledge and conversation among them, there are more
:
among
atheists
the fine ladies than the lowest sort of
rakes."
The
literary
women
of the eighteenth century-
Great ladies might do
belonged to a set apart.

anything, and
if
they chose to patronize literature,
even to become writers themselves, they could do

so,
and were praised and
flattered.
It
added
to
the lustre of a hospitable and wealthy house to be
men of letters, and to have

who could exchange repartees
the gathering-place of
for its mistress a lady
with
the
wits
of
the
day,
and
subtle
discuss
questions with scholars.
Yet even great
ladies
acknowledging their gifts.

" I
made
a discovery.
were afraid sometimes of
Walpole
.
writes, in
Lady Nuneham
is
773
a poetess
and writes with great ease and sense some poetry, but
afraid of the character as if
Women,
as a rule,
being thought learned.
it
was a
sin to
make
were exceedingly
This was
as
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
of
men regarded
is
as
verses.''
fearful of
not surprising
if,
said, the generality
a learned education for daughters
"as great a profanation as the clergy would do
if
the laity should presume to exercise the functions

of the priesthood."
as Dr.
Even
More was alarmed
so enlightened a
man
at his clever daughter's
THE BAS'BLEU.
and when he found
progress,
making rapid headway
45
Hannah
his little
Latin and mathematics
in
he caused her to discontinue those studies
lest
she
should appear singular.
For women of
rank there was no
inferior social
inducement, in the tone of thought around them, to

tread the paths of learning.
on a low
level.
Their education was
woman's part was
to a great extent, not to embarrass

talent
and learning, nor
and opinions, but
to
be negative
men by
displaying
worry them with theories
to
to accept
whatever was
laid
down.
Especially was this the case in the middle ranks of
Work was shunned by
society.
those
who were
obliged to earn their
were objects of pity

consisted
in
vailed in the
in
to
is
their
doing nothing.
first
certain "
very well provided
friends.
own
living
Gentility
This sentiment pre-
half of this century.
Miss Austen's days.
there
gentlewomen, and
In her novel
It
"
was
rife
Emma,"
Jane Fairfax," who, not being
for,
educates herself for teaching.
Her
prospects as a governess are regarded by her
circle
with the utmost horror, and her preparation
is
described as that of a martyr.

"
With
the fortitude of a devoted novitiate she had
resolved at one and twenty to complete the sacrifice, and

retire
from
all
the pleasures of hfe, of rational intercourse,
equal society, peace and hope, to penance and mortification for ever."
46
The
intellectual evolution of
woman was
ably slow in such a mental atmosphere.
an awakening of thought
in
upon, there
in
There was no motive
knowledge so long as
life
Until the false
work were broken
could be no advance.
cultivating
needed
departments of
in all
to raise the educational standard.
notions respecting
It
inevit-
its fruits
for
were held
such low esteem.
The
Western's
gives
some
She had
indication
lived
Tom
Jones
touched
although
aunt,
accomplishments
"
"
description in
of Sophia
"
with
satire,
of the standard of female
about the Court and had seen the world
hence she had acquired
all
that knowledge which the said
world usually communicates, and was a perfect mistress of

manners, customs, ceremonies and fashions.
erudition stop here
mind by study
Nor
did her
she had considerably improved her
all the modern

and romances, in all which
but had gone through Rapin's History
she had not only read
plays, operas, oratorios, poems,
she was a
critic
of England, Echard's
Roman
Mhnoires pom' servir A

most of the
political
History, and
thistoire
many French
to these she
had added
pamphlets and journals published
within the last twenty years
a very competent skill
politics,
in
from which she had attained
and could discourse
very learnedly on the affairs of Europe."
Even Mrs. Chapone deprecates

She writes
classics by women.
:
the study of the
THE B AS-BLEU.
"As
47
to the learned languages, though
respect the
and application of those ladies who have attained

who make a modest and proper use of them, yet
abilities
them, and
would by no means advise you or any other woman who

to engage
is not strongly influenced by a particular genius
I
in
The
such studies.
labour and time which they require
are generally incompatible with our natures and proper
employments
the real knowledge which they supply
is
not essential, since the English, French and Italian tongues

aiford tolerable translations of all the
most valuable produc-
tions of antiquity, beside the multitude of original authors
which they furnish; and these are much more than sufficient
to store your mind with as many ideas as you will know
how
in
to
manage.
woman
The danger of pedantry and presumption
of her exciting envy one sex and jealousy

of her exchanging the graces of imagination
in
in the other
and preciseness of a scholar, would be, I

vow, sufficient to frighten me from the ambition of seeing
my girl remarkable for learning. Such objections are
for the severity
perhaps
still
The
stronger with regard to the abstruse sciences."
learned ladies
exceptionally gifted
bas-bleus
women, and the
acquired such celebrity

intellectual
called
interests
is
were
were
fact that
all
they
an indication that their
something out of the
common.
The name that rises most readily is that of

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu already quoted
from who was singularly unfortunate in her literary
The long friendship with Pope
acquaintance.
ended disastrously, and Walpole, who knew all the
48
celebrities
opprobrium.
Walpole
animosity when
from her
him,
mentions her with
of his day, always
was
his
of
and Lady Mary, apart
offended,
literary
sparing
not
was displeasing to
proclivities,
her husband having been an opponent
Walpole's father.
She was a good
of
classical scholar,
studying under Bishop Burnet, and was abreast of

all
the thought of the time.
We
find her,
when
scarcely twenty, corresponding with her tutor about
a translation that she
of Epictetus.
done
in
abroad.
had made of the "Enchiridion"
This was a mere fragment of work
a week's leisure before starting on a journey
Many
years later Elizabeth Carter betook
same
herself to the study of the
great deal of fame
among
classic,
and won a
students for her scholarly
translation.
If for nothing else.
to be
remembered
caused her to
opposition,
fly
Lady Mary would deserve
for the liberality of
in
the
face
view which
of prejudice
and
and experiment on her son with the
then
unknown system
The
secret she learned abroad,
of inoculation for small-pox.
and her example
was the means of the system being introduced

England, to the great
relief of
into
an age scarred with
the ravages of small-pox, and almost equally ignorant

of the principles of sanitation as of the practice of
vaccination.
THE BAS-BLEU.
Lady Mary's time
After
Montagu,
49
arose another
there
This was Elizabeth Robinson, wife of Edward
satile.
Montagu, who was grandson of the
and M.P.
Sandwich,
brought up
for
Kent, at
Monks Horton,
the postal town
Her
carried.
made
to
until
life
She was
Yorkshire, next
her
marriage,
in
near Hythe, which was
which the
letters
insatiable love of society
provincial
Earl of
first
Huntingdon.
in the country, first in
Cambridge, and then,
at
and ver-
less noted, but equally brilliant
had
be
to
would have
as irksome to her as
it
was
to
her father (who frequently bemoaned the necessity

of residing
had
away from the
not been for her elastic
it
which
wit,
diversions of the town),

spirits
and sparkling
always found food for mirth
the
in
dullest
company.
and
no correspondent was ever more delightfully
fresh
and witty
of
she
life
Cicero,"
In the midst of her lively chatter
in dealing
discusses
and Lyttelton's
with the commonplaces

" Life
Middleton's
Dr.
" Observations
on Cicero
with her friend, the Duchess of Portland,

a great student of the famous
While the family were
of
"
who was
Roman.
living at
Cambridge she
had the advantage of associating with many of the

heads of the
University,
and Dr. Middleton, a
family connection, took the bright, intelligent child,

as
she was then,
VOL.
II.
under
his
special
Her
care.
2^
50
ought not to be
father's influence
man
he being a
of considerable intellectual power,
and ready to forward
his
encourage her talents
in
more fortunate
out of account,
left
daughter's studies and
She was
every way.
in this respect
than her celebrated
Poor Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
namesake.
had to teach herself Latin and everything
was out of the usual
else that
course, her sole instructress
being a pious, elderly governess, not qualified for

the task of instructing a girl of such brilliant parts
as the daughter of
Duke
Dorchester and
To
we
"
in a
" Life
time very
find Mrs.
Montagu descanting on
of Warburton's
the qualities
new
of Kingston.
another favoured correspondent, the Rev.
Mr. Freind,
speare
Evelyn Pierrepont, Marquis of
very
critical
"
Notes on Shake-
spirit.
She
finds
some
of James L" which appeared about that

dull,
and English history
after his
day
" very disagreeable."

"
In some reigns the kingdom
is
in the
most
terrible
con-
mean and corrupt in King

we make with French
measures and French mistresses. But when our times are
fusion, in others
it
appears
time what a figure
Charles
II.'s
written,
England
will
recover
its
glory
such conquests
abroad, such prosperity at home, such prudence in council,
many men clothed in scarlet,

many cannon that do not so much
such vigour in execution, so

so
many
fine tents, so
as roar, such easy taxes, such flourishing trade
Can
THE BAS-BLEU.
posterity
believe
it?
may
not
wish our history, from
its
in-
bound with the fairy tales,

and serve to amuse children, and make nursery maids
credibility,
get
moralize."
Whether she
flirtations
or
is
writing of balls or of books, of
of syllogisms,
comments have
her
always the same humorous touch.

the fashionable
to
women
of her day, she had recourse
There was no
Bath to drink the waters.
pretence of ill-health
was a
constitution
Like most of
in
Her
her case.
false
delicate
In 1748, six
life-long trouble.
years after her marriage, she was sent for three
months
to Bath, where, she writes, " they
dull to furnish
any news or scandal."
before she wrote of Bath
one hears
in the
Eight years
" I think no place can be less agreeable

all
were too
morning, and
what
'
'
is
how
ye
d'
trumps
'
do,' is
in the
afternoon."j
Mrs. Montagu and Elizabeth Carter were the

closest of friends
and most constant correspondents.
Mrs. Montagu's regard for Miss Carter was so
when Mr. Montagu died,

widow a large fortune, the first
sincere that
leaving his
in
1775,
thing she
did was to settle a hundred a year on Miss Carter.
Mrs. Montagu was the most

cdterie,
and her assemblies
man Square became
noted.
brilliant
by
far of
her
in Hill Street
and Port-
She was an
excellent
52
conversationalist, a beauty,
much more wrapped up

life,
was
At no
probably, could she have said, like
of assembly has
a.m.,
ill-health,
her studies.
in
her friend, Elizabeth Robinson
speaks, in her
Miss Carter,
wit.
good deal from
suffering as she did a
time in her
and a
charms
its
young
"
for
The very name
me," though she
days, of sitting
up
till
three
and dancing nine hours.
Miss Carter's
letters are full of interesting re-
ferences to literature, politics, the events of the day,
the changes in her

genial,
the
and passes
own
easily
is
always
from subject to subject
manner of one accustomed
Her reading was
of things.
She
social circle.
in
to take a large view
extensive, ranging from
Voyages" and the

For modern novels
the classics to "Captain Cook's
works of Mme. de Genlis.
she seems to have availed herself, like ladies

the
present
Writing
in
day,
of
the
subscription
1782 from Deal, where her father was
a minister, to Mrs. Montagu, she says
seen Miss Burney's

velled, to our
Italian,
'
Cecilia.'
It
circulating library."
"
have not
has not yet tra-
With French,
Spanish, and Portuguese, she was well ac-
quainted, also with
ment
of
libraries.
in
German, an uncommon acquire-
those days, and one which the brilliant
Mrs. Montagu did not seem to possess, for Miss

Carter, in describing a
heavy German novel, remarks:
THE BAS -BLEU.

"
have not heard that
French, or
has been translated into
much
should
it
53
like
you to read
it."
Writing of German novels, she says

"
Some
written
for
German books
of the
but
young
of fiction are exquisitely well
should think them very dangerous reading
people, from a singular art which they have of
sanctifying the passions."
With
and
sentimentality Miss Carter had no sympathy,
finds "
The Sorrows
She adds,
book."
"
but
of Werther " " a detestable

I
know
of no other in Ger-
man that is exceptionable in the same horrid way."

The Johnson, Thrale, and Burney set may be
said to
have formed a part of
Indeed, with
Dr.
Johnson's
Mrs. Montagu's salon
fell.
the doctor, the
company was
no
however
freethinkers,
to join the circle.
this literary coterie.
death
the
fame of
Out of deference
carefully sorted,
distinguished,
were
to
and
invited
Johnson used to say of a cele-
brated scholar of his acquaintance that he under-
stood Greek better than any one
ever
known
except Elizabeth Carter.
another of the
of which
"
The
whom
coterie,
he had
Mrs. Vesey,
held assemblies, the character
Hannah More
described in her
poem on
Progress of Conversation," addressed to Mrs.
Vesey, and which Miss Carter thought a delightful

production.
Mrs. Vesey's assembly was nick-named
bas-bleu.
54
Opinions
One
differ as to the
exact origin of the name.
account says that a foreign gentleman, being
invited
go
to
one of the parties
to
Montagu's or Mrs. Vesey's
was
might go
told he
pleased,
either
with an
acquaintance,
in his blue stockings if
dress being quite optional.
full
Mrs.
In
he
fact,
ceremony and entertainment other than that of

conversation were dispensed with entirely.
writers say that
the naturalist,
it
was Mr. Benjamin
who gave
Other
Stillingfleet,
the appellation by
rise to
wearing blue stockings, but according to the Rev.
Montagu Pennington (Miss

Stillingfleet died
"
into vogue.
authority,
character
"
these parties,"
was not
it
be
to
name came
says the same
1771, before the
in
To
biographer),
Carter's
for
difficult
any person of
Hannah
introduced."
writes
"
Here sober Duchesses are seen,

Chaste wits and critics void of spleen
Physicians fraught with real science,
And Whigs and

Poets
fulfilling
Tories in alliance
Christian duties,
Just Lawyers, reasonable Beauties
Bishops who preach and Peers who pray,

And Countesses who seldom play,
Learn'd Antiquaries
who from
college.
Reject the rust and bring the knowledge
And
hear
it,
age, believe
\t,
youth,
Polemics really seeking truth
And
Travellers of that rare tribe
Who've
seen the countries they describe."
More
THE BAS-BLEU.
No wonder
55
that these parties were attractive.
Mrs. Vesey was an admirable hostess, and had the
making every one appear
gift of
at his or her best.
Conversation under her guidance flowed
she had a clever

little
way
easily,
and
of sorting her guests into
groups.
While perhaps Dr. Johnson in one corner held forth

duties, in another two or three young people
might be talking of the fashions and the Opera, and in a
third Lord Orford (then Mr. Horace Walpole) might be
amusing a little group around him with his lively wit and
"
on the moral
intelligent conversation."
Mrs. Vesey was the daughter of Sir
Thomas
Vesey, Archbishop of Tuam, and after the death

of
her
first
husband,
Mr.
again took her maiden

tive,
Mr.
A. Vesey,
Wm.
Handcock, she
name by marrying a
of
Lucan,
near
rela-
Dublin,
Comptroller and Accountant-General for Ireland.
Mrs. Vesey's
for
brilliant
faculties
were clouded over
about two years before her death, which took
when she was seventy-five. She seems to

have had some premonition that her bodily powers
place
would
last
longer than her mental ones.
Carter remained a faithful friend to the
went regularly
to see her
when
in
Elizabeth
last,
London
and
after
Mrs. Vesey had ceased to recognize any of her

acquaintances.
56
Among
Mrs.
company which used
the
were
Vesey's
Lord
Garrick,
eccentric character,
tagu,
such
playing in
Dr.
and
Burney,
of the party, and
in
Hannah
There was no card-
town.
People
assemblies.
really
together to enjoy each other's conversation.
was quite a new departure

"
Long was Society
in
that
Mrs. Mon-
Lord Monboddo.
of course, was
More when she was
Pulteney,
Johnson,
Burke,
Lyttleton,
frequent
to
London
met
This
society.
o'er-run
By Whist, that desolating Hun

Long did Quadrille despotic sit,
That vandal of colloquial wit
And
Conversation's setting light
Lay half obscured in Gothic night

At length the mental shades decline,
;
Colloquial wit begins to shine
Genius prevails and Conversation

Emerges into Reformation."
One
feature of this
the ladies of
to
and enjoyed
of
doing
it,
so,
society
They
lived
though they chose
and
selected
their
with regard to similarity of tastes
There was,
wealth.
" intellectual
said to
*
that
the world
in
own way
company more
their
than rank or
doubtless, a certain
trifling "
among
as one writer has observed.*

is
was
were by no means wholly given up
it
pursuits.
literary
literary
these
amount of
lively
Mrs. Chapone,
wits,
who
have been hampered by an unpleasing

Anna
J.
Buckland, " Life of Hannah More."
THE BAS- BLEU.
57
appearance, would probably not have

in
society but
her intellectual
for
same cannot be
said of Elizabeth
won her way

but the
gifts,
Montagu, whose
charming face and manners made her a general

favourite.
The
real
which
friendship
between
existed
Mrs. Montagu, Miss Carter, Mrs. Chapone, Miss

Talbot, Mrs. Vesey, and one or two more, and the
unaffected interest they displayed in each other's
welfare,
any
their correspondence from
redeemed
Miss Carter discourses im-
charge of pedantry.
partially of family matters
and of Epictetus, of her
friend Miss Talbot's health, her brother's marriage,
of Dr. Lyttelton's
rature.
and
new
history,
and of French
She was the deepest student of
all
the
days avoided society
after her juvenile
lite-
set,
more
than did the others, though to please her brother

she would sometimes go to a
writes, "
have nothing
subsequent
and to which
by
prostration
claims for which her
" where,"
I
she
have
She would court headache
no earthly temptation."
and
to do,
ball,
weak
fulfilling
social
health was not fitted.
In spite of rheumatism, which sometimes crippled
her from head to
foot,
and other ailments, she
lived to the age of eighty-nine.
Miss Carter could be severe on the

society
in
her
good-natured way.
follies
of
Writing to
58
Mrs. Vesey
in April,
macaronies are wearing
1772, she tells her that the

artificial
"Surely this species of animal
is
nosegays.
not an English character.
Such a composition of monkey and demon,

of the day appears to be studying
all
as at one half
the tricks of the most
and contemptible foppery, and in the other is roaring

and blaspheming at a gaming table, must be an aggregate
of all the follies and all the crimes that a worthless head
and a profligate heart can collect from all parts of the
globe.
Next winter may, perhaps, furnish a companion to
trifling
the picture and exhibit the coterie ladies making riots at
down
away at
the play-houses armed with oaken clubs, knocking
watchmen and demolishing lamps

the sight of a spider or an earwig."
and
fainting
59
CHAPTER
V.
Martineau Miss Florence Nightingale Mrs. Josephine Butler.
The beginnings of organized philanthropy Hannah More and her

Mary Carpenter Mrs. Trimmer Elizabeth Fry Harriet
sisters
There was no organized philanthropy before the

time of Hannah More, who, with her sisters, undertook the task of introducing much-needed reforms
in the
At
neighbourhood of
that time
ladies
to
it
where she
Mores purpose was

philanthropists were
a religious one,
women
impulse was predominant.
in
It
religious than a humanitarian
engaged.
Hannah
Carpenter
were
and
all
for
haunts of vice and the dens
where the poor were huddled together.
feeling,
lived.
was quite an unknown thing

the
visit
Bristol,
all
the earlier
the religious
was much more a
work
in
which they
More, Elizabeth Fry, Mary
women
their efforts
of the necessity they
whom
Hannah
of
strong
religious
were inspired by a sense
were under
for saving souls.
6o
The modern
Their object
standpoint.
They go
happiness.
work
philanthropists
briefly, civilization
is,
in
from another
name
the
of
to secure better recognition of the laws
society together
respect
humanity
They endeavour
rather than that of religion.
and
first
which bind
morality, abstinence
for
from crime, order, cleanliness, sobriety.
They do
not appeal to the emotions, but to the reason.
The
inculcation
of
religious belief they leave
How
accredited teachers.
moved by
religious impulse
stream of action takes

secular channels.
present
is
day
specialize.
it is
its rise, it
not for the outside
runs into distinctly

dissociation of
only partially
for
it is
due very much to the tendency

subdivide work,
to
We
their
The comparative
philanthropy from religion
they themselves are
But from whatever source
public to judge.
separated
far
to
have experts
to
in the
classify
and
for everything.
In the last century the philanthropists were

religious workers.
ing in the
West
all
While Hannah More was work-
of England, a lady
who became one
of her friends and correspondents was engaged in
a somewhat similar enterprise at Brentford.
Mrs. Sarah Trimmer had none of the
But
difficulties to
contend with that beset Hannah More and her sisters

at
Cheddar and Blagdon.
among a
ferocious,
She was not working
half savage population.
Mrs.
Trimmer,
like the
religious nature,
'
Misses More, was of a deeply-
and her
first effort
was
to establish
Sunday-schools at Brentford for the children of the

very poor.
It
special care,
there for
was the
girls
who
received
two schools being eventually established
girls,
and one
condition of the children
for
The
boys.
who were gathered
destitute
together
turned the scheme more into a charity school.
people
in those
So
and,
one
cannot say clothe
not satisfied with religious instruction, Mrs.

to
seek for some daily employ-
for the little ones.
An
opportune present of
a spinning-wheel of peculiar construction,
enabled thirteen
girls
to
was added
proved
which
be set to work, was the
beginning of a school of industry.
this
their
frocks and jackets had to be provided,
Trimmer began
ment
Poor
days would buy rags by the pound
with which to cover

children.
her
To
flax-spinning
knitting, but neither of these occupations
profitable,
and plain work was substituted,
being much more successful.
One
of Mrs.
Trimmer's friends and helpers was a Mrs. Denward,
whose acquaintance she made through Miss Elizabeth

Carter.
Similar schools were established here and
there by benevolent persons in different places; there
was one
in the
Edgeware Road, London, and one
Hartingford, in Hertfordshire
energy.
There were
also
both due
at
to feminine
one or two female friendly
62
during the closing years of the
societies established
and
century,
at
in
1799 several ladies and gentlemen
Clapham banded together
to visit the
poor
in
systematic way, dividing the neighbourhood into
Trimmer was not only a philanthropist, but, like

Hannah More, possessed of
literary ability, though in a much slighter degree.
Mrs.
districts.
In her girlhood she had
attracted
the
notice of
Dr. Johnson by her intellectual tendencies, and she
had a considerable
gift for
How
composition.
she
found time for outside work with her family of

twelve children
it
is
difficult
to
but as she
see,
married at twenty-one, some of her daughters were

old
enough
to assist her in her projects,
take shape
not
for
twenty-five
which did
years
after
her
marriage.
In
Hannah More's philanthropy
(distinctly the
work.
The
required
Mendip
seen very
combination of religious and secular

people
among whom she
were destitute of everything.

all
is
considerable
To
courage.
visit
laboured
them
Among
at
the
Hills lived a wild population, lawless, un-
tamed, uncivilized.
Compared with
these savages
the rough colliers and weavers of the villages
Hannah More saw that

improvement was to work among
a mild and tractable

the only hope of
the children.
were
set.
She began by
establishing schools.
It
was more
63
Many
like reformatory work.
of the
children had been in prison, and were as vicious
Sometimes there
for their years as the parents.
was opposition from
rich neighbours, as at
Wed-
more, a village near Cheddar, where the principal

landlord of the place objected to a school being
In another
built.
Blagdon, a long and
district,
serious struggle took place through the action of
the
curate,
who was
offended with the school-
master appointed by the Misses More.
But the
work gradually extended,
until
an area of twenty-
was covered.
To
the Sunday-schools
eight miles
were added day-schools, the
being taught to
girls
spin flax and wool, and the products of their in-
dustry were sent to factories

Gloucestershire.
in
Somersetshire and
Miss Yonge,
her " Life of
in
Hannah More," observes that

Hannah and Patty More were
for
like
years
thirty
two colonial
clergymen, with their large area of work,
which
obliged them to keep travelling from place to place.
And
more
the difficulties which they encountered were

like
those
of
than of philanthropic workers

take only one instance
in
settlers
there
those days suitable for use
in
new country
Old England.
was no
among
the poor.
lanthropists of the present day have ready to

quantities of leaflets, tracts,
To
literature in
Phi-
hand
and books, specially
64
composed
for the
a storehouse of
own
write her
unlearned
for juveniles there
But Hannah More had
fiction.
tales.
And when
it
came
is
to
to teach-
there were no cheap school-primers, no well-
ing,
arranged spelling and reading books.
National
The means
of instruc-
education had not begun.
and amusement had
tion
It
was the lack of
incited
there
Hannah More
to
be created.
religious teaching that first
The
The
did
not even
story
of Mr.
Cheddar while on a
cursion to
for
special
its
fulfil
Wilberforce's
"
ex-
the Misses
visit to
More, and his brief comment,
be done
a hundred
for
Church, far from initiating any scheme
reform,
social
functions.
In one place
to her work.
had been no resident vicar
years.
of
all
Something must
Cheddar," has been often
told.
was the beginning of Hannah More's
That
life-work.
Although her writing engaged so large a part of

her time, and brought her fame and wealth,
and the homage of the best
society,
philanthropist which inspired the
Hannah More's
life
woman
it
was the
of letters.
was a very long one, and
forms a link with the nineteenth century, for while

she belonged essentially to the age of Dr. Johnson,
with
whom
she was on intimate terms, she was also
the contemporary of Miss Mitford (who,
remarked
in
it
may be
passing, thoroughly disliked her), of
65
Mary Carpenter, Mrs. Somerville, Maria Edgeworth,

and some others known to persons still living.
It is curious that
as
two such noted philanthropists
Hannah More and Mary Carpenter should have
both lived and worked
the neighbourhood of
in
Indeed before Hannah
Bristol in close succession.
Mary
More's eighty-eight years had been spent,

Carpenter had become an active worker.
two
years
Hannah More's
before
Carpenter was
acting
years
More's, there
visiting in
Mary
of
the
She was then twenty-
and overflowing with mental
of age,
In
activity.
Mary
death,
superintendent
as
afternoon Sunday-school.
four
In 1831,
Carpenter's days, as in
Hannah
was no organized system of
district
connection with churches and chapels.
Dr. Carpenter, Mary's father, was a Nonconformist

minister,
and a society was formed
for visiting the
poor belonging to his congregation and Sundayschool.
But
in
1839 Dr. Carpenter died, and his
daughter's work and interests widened more and
more, becoming less local and more general.

the neighbourhood of her
to
own home was
engage her sympathies, and continued
them
to the end.
most
important
was around
It
of
the
originated took shape

first
Ragged
of which was opened in 1846.
VOL. n.
first
to hold
Bristol that the
movements
the
the
Still
which
she
Schools,
the
From
the waifs
27
66
and
strays gathered in
these schools
penter turned her attention to a

class,
for
whom
there was
She was one
time.
Mary Car-
more
still
no provision
difficult
whose minds
of those
that
at
stretch
out to the future, and her anxiety was aroused at

the prospect of letting loose upon society the juvenile delinquents,
with whose ways she had become
only too well acquainted.
boys and
girls
It
shocked her to see
brought up before the magistrates
time after time, and allowed to return to their old

haunts and their vicious companions without any
effort at
reclaiming them.
In the year 1851 she
wrote a work on the subject of Reformatory Schools,
and the following year got a school established

KIngswood, near Bristol.
Adderley,
who was one
introduced a
Bill
into
At
the
of her warmest friends,
Parliament on the subject,
which continued to be agitated.
In
Carpenter writes to Lady Byron, with
was on
at
same time Mr.
cordial terms of intimacy,
Mary
1852
whom
hoping that
she
after
the Conferences which had been held at Birming-
ham
a ladies' committee would be formed, and a
girls'
reformatory school started.
Red
Lodge
"
School
for
Girls
In
was
1854
"The
opened
at
Bristol.
How Mary
Carpenter came to be recognized as
the pioneer in this important work
may be
seen
from tributes paid to her initiatory
efforts
quarter of a century later by Mr. G.
President of
W.
about a
Hastings,
Council of the National Association
tlie
Promotion of Social Science, and by Lord
for the
Sandon.
" I
67
Mr. Hastings
remember
said, in
when some
well,
1877
twenty-five years ago, she
mainly originated the movement for
[Mary Carpenter]
dealing effectually with the criminal and vagrant classes.

.
What was most
remarkable
Mary Carpenter was
in
the prevision which she showed on the whole subject.

I
which assisted Miss Carpenter

in
had the honour of acting as Chairman of the Committee
Lord Sandon's
Bill
in obtaining the insertion
of a series of clauses providing
for such schools."
In July, 1876,
"
He
Lord Sandon remarked
did not wish to take to himself or the Government,
the credit of the scheme itself
longed to
many
The
real credit of
be-
it
benevolent people outside the House, and
amongst them he must mention the honoured name of

Miss Carpenter, who had tried Day Industrial Schools
under disadvantageous circumstances and with marked
success."
Meantime
Mary
Carpenter's
been going out to the Americans
sympathies
in their struggle
for the abolition of slavery, while the
home concerning
tion.
In
brought
the
movement
at
education also engaged her atten-
year
forward
had
1856
John
Sir
measure
in
the
Pakington
House
of
68
Commons
for creating
Education Boards
every
in
levy a rate for the
town and country union
to
education of the people.
Such a proposal was
far
too radical to find acceptance and had to be with-
Then
drawn.
Lord
John
Russell
urged
that
Parliament ought to aim at establishing a system of
To
national education.
this
Mary Carpenter took
exception, and in correspondence with Sir Stafford
Northcote expressed herself strongly against Lord
Her
John's scheme.
idea
would meet the want.

years she was
Industrial,
wrote
was
that evening schools
In the next two or three
much occupied with
the subject of
Ragged, and Reformatory schools, and

pamphlet urging the claims of Ragged
Schools to a share in the Parliamentary grant.
1862 she writes that her mind

convict
"
which
subject
was,
question,
is
is
In
occupied with the

of
surpassing
im-
portance."
Another
however, to take pre-
cedence of the convict question.
Hitherto
Mary
Carpenter had confined her energies to the
re-
clamation of the lowest stratum of society from
its
vice
and ignorance.
Now
class altogether, in equal
which
is
she was to find another
need of her
help, a class
engaging the earnest attention of modern
philanthropists
the women of
1864, she writes
India.
In January,
" I
devote
the
my
In doing this
of India.
my work
me, nor will
give
up
it
which
remarkable
until I
and
perfecting
my
shall not
have put
it
so far as in
my
come
But
obey
can be done.
Christian
accordance with former deep

Without any present and apparent
in
watch openings, devote myself to
shall
for the
When Mary
work.
attention
in
The
is
technically
subjects
that
known
engaged her
and
in the gaols
seemed
prison
to her the
greatest necessities for the well-being of the
teachers,
as
procure female teachers in the schools
and female warders
of India.
way
Carpenter said " Christian work,"
India were educational
To
in every
women."
mean only what
religious
reform.
my
going to India to promote the
object,
work
she did not
I shall
present work, and bearing testimony in
great
me
I believe that it is
purposed book, gain information and prepare

for
suddenly
which has been given me so un-
is
resolves.
change of plan,
basis.
this
call
expectedly, which
feelings
here which has long and deep claims on
on a firm and settled
to a point at
the
solemn resolve that henceforth
heart and soul and strength to the elevation of
women
abandon
lies
my
here record
69
Above
and
all
did she strive to get
after visiting Calcutta,
women
women
Bombay, and
Madras, a committee was formed to carry on the

plan she had outlined.
At
the present day the question of women's
position
in
India
contending that
is
very much debated,
women
some
are not either degraded or
"JO
ill-treated,
and by no means the miserable slaves
whom we
picture to ourselves as groaning
a system of bondage and oppression.
urge that the Zenana
permanent
evils,
is
and
Others again
an institution fraught with

child-marriage,
that
in
widows,
who
are treated as a class apart,
Women
social deformity.
which
number of
the creation of so large a
results
under
is
a hideous
England have entered
in
with great enthusiasm upon the crusade in defence

of the
women
of India.
It
has diverted a consider-
able stream of philanthropy that would otherwise
have flowed into home channels.
During the
last
twenty-five years especially India has been a rally-
ing
point of
women have
certain
turned
missionaries are
their
Hindu
eyes
up
medical
eastward.
more numerous than ever
educationists are setting

teachers,
The
movements.
The
and the
schools, training native
and encouraging the
ladies in this country
efforts
who
made by some
are working for
their sisters in India.
The work which Mary Carpenter began

been followed up as
way
paid three
visits
threads of her
It
far as concerns education in a
shows signs of permanent
that
will
to
home
has
India,
activity.
She
keeping hold of the
interests meanwhile.
be noted that the earlier philanthropists
undertook exceedingly hard problems, and at
I;
when unusual difficulties beset women who

engaged in work outside the home.
It is very
much easier now for women to enter upon any kind
period
of work, paid or unpaid, secular or religious, either

as volunteers or as bread-winners.
is
to
a large extent with them
formerly
it
was against them
Public opinion
in their efforts
they have become
what they were not a century ago

portion of the
those
body
who have
essential
among
they are included
a practical interest in the welfare of
When
the State.
politic,
an
Elizabeth Fry penetrated to the
female wards of Newgate, gentlewomen were not
accustomed to visiting among the slums of London
They knew nothing whatever of

workhouses, and to go among con-
as they are now.
the insides of
victed criminals
must have seemed an awful and
impossible task.
Elizabeth Fry was not the centre
of
a humanitarian or
struck out a
new
girlhood and her
As
Elizabeth
pleasures
of
religious
She
The contrast between her

womanhood was very marked.
path.
Gurney she
society
parents afforded.
movement.
which
revelled
the
in
position
all
the
of
her
Norwich was her early home,
but she married at twenty, and lived the greater part

of her
life in
London.
Like many another enthusiast
or saint, she was overpowered by a sense of the

claims of her spiritual nature, but her piety took
72
practical
shape.
engaged
in
She did
in
solitude
soul,
but was
dwell
not
own
the culture of her
driven forth by a mighty impulse to devote herself

to the
sex.
lowest and most miserable of those of her

It
perfectly clear
is
that
it
was the
force
of religious feeling that stirred Elizabeth Fry to her

life-work.
not
At
come
There was no reform
in the air
into the midst of a general
she did
movement.
the present day she might have been the head
a round-the-world missionary, a
of a sisterhood,
hospital nurse, a Salvationist leader, or the founder
But
of a reformatory.
alone
own day she stood
her
she had no extraneous support.
was against
tried
in
to
The very governor
her.
dissuade
Everything
of
Newgate
her from her enterprise.
But
nothing could deter her, not the dread of personal

danger, robbery, insult, or the
fear of failure.
The change
And
effected
still
more crushing
she succeeded marvellously.
by her presence and by her
suggestions (which included a school) quite trans-
formed the prison, which became
in eighteen
months'
time a place to which visitors flocked.
The
philanthropists of the end of the eighteenth
century and the beginning of the nineteenth, had
two great obstacles

public
to
and an apathetic Church.
began her labours
in
an
apathetic
When
Mrs. Fry
contend with
London
the humanitarian spirit
was not awake.
Here and there
73
individuals were
was
found performing deeds of benevolence, but
it
not an age of association and combination.
When
Hannah More and her
sisters
went over
to
Cheddar,
they found the people absolutely deserted by those
who
These
should have been their spiritual guides.
courageous
women were
led to their
work by the
negligence of the Church.
Mary Carpenter
brings
us
into
the
modern
period, the period of conferences, discussions, corre-
spondence,
domestic
and
parliamentary
politics.
agitation
about
But when she opened her
first
Ragged School in 1846, and when she wrote her

book on Reformatory Schools in 1851, philanthropic
work was not organized as it is now. Like Hannah
More and
Elizabeth Fry, she launched into questions
To
of great magnitude.
rescue and train juvenile
delinquents in England, and to cope with the subject

of women's
tasks.
education
in
India,
Later on, in the seventies,
were Herculean
Mary Carpenter
was associated with Mrs. Josephine

Florence Nightingale, and
Butler,
Miss
Harriet Martineau
in
questions of moral reform, and she signed an appeal

for the formation of the Ladies' National Associa-
tion for the
repeal
of certain
Acts which Mary
Carpenter and her friends justly regarded as an

insult to
womanhood.
In the year of her death,
74
1877, she put her signature to another
a memorial to the senate of the
London
degrees
for
the
admission of
document
University of
women
to
medical
an object which has since been attained.
The
philanthropy of the
last
a matter of individual enterprise.
century was really
There being no
systems of work established, every step was an

experiment.
persons,
The
and the
interest
centres
history of the whole philanthropic
record
is
narrative.
round a few
history of their labours
movement.
is
the
The
therefore practically limited to personal
75
CHAPTER
VI.
Formalism and inertness of the Church Societies for the advancement of religion confined to men Movements outside the
Church The Countess of Huntingdon and Whitfield Great
Ladies' opinions of the Methodist preachers
Attitude of
the
upper classes towards religious movements Condition of the

Clergy.
The
characteristic
most generally dwelt upon of
the Church in the eighteenth century
is
its
for-
The records of philanthropy show how

very much the Church was outside the lives of the
malism.
people.
want of
great deal has been written about the
religious
life
and
feeling
among
the clergy
of the last century.
"The
eighteenth century was the golden age of the
Establishment, an age of brass, or rather of
Church.
Everything resembling
iron, for
vital godliness
a ban at the very time when mobs gathered to
concession to Nonconformity, and the cry of the

in
the
was under
resist any
'
Church
danger was enough to overturn a Ministry, and set the

'
nation in a blaze."
76
"
Everywhere there was a lack of
age hated enthusiasm, and the
was
effect of
spiritual
its
The
life.
chilling cynicism
by the Churches."
felt
No
one can define how much earnestness and
We
conviction actually existed.
are accustomed to
look for modes of expression which are peculiar to

the present day, and, failing to find them, to assume
that nothing lay beneath the apparently cold exterior.
It
may have been
that the clergy
were
indifferent,
but in any case they would not have acted according
is true,
tion
The
approved modern methods.
to the
did not organize social
the clergy were
there was very
little
many
of
attempt
Church,
work of any
for the
descrip-
and
them
pluralists,
made
to attract the
masses by going out of the usual routine.

century, the idea that the
it
In the last
Church was an organization
performance of a variety of everyday matters
had not taken
The Church, in fact, had

The most conscientious of
root.
been secularized.
priests did not conceive
it
to
crusades.
district visitors,
little activity, it
was
to start
keep
temperance
modern growth.
social force
showed so
inert also as a spiritual agency,
according to modern
religious
and
All these things are of
While the Church as a
her
be part of their duties
to establish clothing-clubs or reading-rooms, to
a brigade of
not
standards.
The
propagandism was not abroad.
spirit
of
Outside
J "J
the routine of public worship the clergy did not feel
upon
called
There are always periods
to stray.
the history of institutions
low ebb.
was so
It
when
in the
vitality
seems
in
at a
eighteenth century with
regard to the Church.

" It
hard indeed," wrote the late Professor Thorold
is
Rogers, " to see what there
is
picture which the Anglican
Church presents from the death
of
No
Queen Anne
doubt
worse.
by
The
to the time of the Evangelical Revival.
conceivable that things might have been
is
it
to relieve the darkness of the
clergy might have scandalised their profession
evil lives.
This cannot be
laid to their charge.
Though
negligent of duty, and, to a large extent, unfaithful to the
Gospel which they were bound to preach, lacking not only

but also in faith, and eager only in the pursuit
in fervour
of selfish ends, they were not profligate or immoral.
The Church had become simply a department

and a department whose
officers were,
even
of the State,
in those
days
of general corruption and abuse, conspicuous examples of

inattention to duty.''
The
events that occurred after the dissolution
of the monasteries, the conflict between the two

religious parties, the persecutions
on both
political
sides,
were a
struggle of
and martyrdoms
tragic preparation for the
the seventeenth
century,
which the religious element played a great
Between the
Puritans and
was an antagonism
in
part.
the royalist Anglicans
similar to that which existed
78
between Protestants and

preceding
religion
two
its
The
era.
Roman
Catholics in the
differences in the form of their
were greater, and the feeling between the
parties
was equally
bitter, if
modes of expression.
That
not so
terrific in
to this hot fanaticism
should succeed a period of formalism was only a
The
natural reaction.
excused
"
if it
found
The mainspring
political life of the
its
may be
eighteenth century
emotions exhausted.
of the religious as well as of the
country was relaxed.
In both one and
the other the high feeling of faith was enervated
and
this
deficiency was sensibly felt in a lowering of general tone,

both in the domain of intellect and in that of practice." *
The
Protestant Church during the
first
century
or century and a half after the Reformation did
not concern
itself
religious teaching.
the help of the
"A
with
It
matters
outside strictly
neither asked
nor desired
laity.
clerical jealousy of
laymen, a fear of schism, and
a dislike of everything approaching to irregularity, lay at

the bottom of the Anglican aversion to lay agency.
judices of a similar kind influenced Puritans
there existed abundant religious
for
Pre-
although
irregularity during the
amongst NonconCommonwealth,
formists wedded to their own notions of Church order.
They were High Churchmen in their own way, regarding
the ecclesiastical principles of the New Testament as so
there were not a few
* Overton.
comprehensive
in their direct application as to render all
Church
associations distinguished from the

fectly needless.
ment began, opening the way

since have been
when a move-
to consequences
religious societies,
connection with churches, some

at
all,
philosophers
At
unfolding themselves.
number of our
them
itself as per-
This state of things prevailed during
three-fourths of the seventeenth century,
vast
79
in
which ever
present the
some
in
slender
no connection with
form phenomena worth the study of social

;
and the
rise
of
them may be
distinctly
purposes, just
traced in these combinations, for certain
*
before and during the reign of William III."
But
in these societies
religion,
the advancement of
for
which were started
not take any part.
in
1687,
women
did
They were founded by young
men, members of the Church of England, living

in
"
London, and
their design
stated to have been
is
mutual assistance and consolation one of another
in their Christian warfare."
and improve the

them, and
Four or
evil habits
They went on
which they saw around
others began
presently
to
hearted
contest.
London
But
their
also.
and other
They must have been
life.
reformers
stir
gentlemen banded together
five private
to battle with the drunkenness, swearing,
vices of
to try
to
enter upon
stout-
so unequal
example inspired men
else-
where, and there gradually sprang up Societies for

*
" Religion in England."
8o
Reformation of Manners
the
These
kingdom.
of the
societies
all
in
were the
parts of the
stirrings
first
of reform which has created so
spirit
channels of
activity
which they did
the
times.
later
in
prosecution of
many
The work
persons who
kept disorderly houses, procuring at considerable

pains warrants
offenders
share,
against
was
not work
least
at
housebreakers and other
in
women could
And although it
which
in
that period.
was done under the impulse of
some cases with the co-operation of the

was not
initiated
The
first
and
in
clergy,
it
religion,
by the Church, but by laymen.
women's
movements
matters were outside the Church.
in
religious
The
preaching
of Whitfield attracted the Countess of Huntingdon,
whose drawing-rooms were
filled
by fashionable
crowds curious to hear the new Methodist preacher.
Other women of rank joined the Countess.

the
into
Even
famous Duchess of Marlborough was drawn

this
movement
so alien to her surroundings.
She expresses regret on one occasion

not been
field's
present at a certain sermon of Whit-
in St. Sepulchre's
Countess's
that she had
friends there
resented the
Church.
were some who strongly
plain-spoken
mising doctrines of
the
But among the
words and uncomprogreat
Duchess of Buckinsfham writes
revivalists.
The
" I
thank your Ladyship for the information concerning
their doctrines are most repuland strongly tinctured with impertinence and dis-
the Methodist preachers

sive,
respect towards their superiors, in perpetually endeavouring

to level all ranks,
is
as the
is
and do away with
all
distinctions.
It
monstrous to be told that you have a heart as sinful
common
wretches that crawl on the earth.
This
highly offensive and insulting, and
I cannot but wonder

any sentiments so much
variance with high rank and good breeding."
that your Ladyship should relish

at
The Countess
strative
still
of
was more
her expressions of
in
on one occasion
said
Suffolk
to
demonand
dislike,
is
have rushed out of the
Countess's drawing-room in a passion after a ser-
mon from
Whitfield, which she construed into a
personal attack.
Generally speaking, the attitude of the upper

classes towards reform,
wise,
was one of
The
indifference or of hostility.
condition of the clergy themselves was not
favourable to
marked
the growth
inequalities as
century created too

to leave
whether religious or other-
room
and again
of
existed
much
new
in
Such
efforts.
the eighteenth
ranks
friction within the
for a healthy,
expanding
life.
rises the cry of the poorly paid,
Again
uncon-
sidered priest against the
mighty Rectors riding over the heads of their Readers

and Curates, receiving them with an air of superiority
"
VOL.
II.
28
"
82
would better become a Persian monarch than a

breaking jests upon their poverty and
that
Christian priest
making themselves merry with their misfortunes turning

them among the herd of their servants into the kitchen,
till dinner comes in, and then shewing them what a mighty
favour it is that they are permitted to sit down at the
;
lower end of the table
The
their
"
of
bitterness
the ordinary
thus
Clergy
priests
among
"
their betters."
the
number
the
" Inferior
of the parish
description
set forth,
is
of
lot
presumably by one of
Oh my Lord how
prettily
and temperately may a
wife and half a dozen children be maintain'd with almost

;^30 per
annum
What an handsom
nious and frugal divine make to take
it
shift will
a cassock one year and a pair of breeches another

a primitive sight will
shoes out at toes,
about
in
and
be to see a
it
man
of
tatter'd
What
God with
his stockings out at heels,
an old russet coat or a
an inge-
by turns and wear
gown
his
wandering
for
appren-
and wags to break jests on

And what
a notable figure will he make in a pulpit on Sundays that
has sent his Hooker and Stillingfieet, his Pearson and
Saunderson, his Barrow and Tillotson, with many more
tices to point at
Fathers of the English Church into limbo long since, to
keep his
wife's pensive petticoat
lamented wedding-ring
company and her much
Things were not the same

century.
There were
variations
all
through
in the
the
condition
of the clergy, for in the course of a hundred years
SERMONS TN DRAWING-ROOMS.
social
many
undergoes
life
we
own time
get to our
does this fact become

" It
would be
men
change.
great
in
the more noticeable
to
find
the end of the
at
same stamp as
hundred years wrought
of exactly the
...
find at the beginning.
antiquaries
and the
too,
difficult
eighteenth century
we
The
modifications.
mental and moral standpoint changes

nearer
83
Old-fashioned
scholars,
dry-as-dust
parsonage and manse, cosy, respectable,
ease-loving teachers of different denominations were largely
disappearing.
A new
race
had
risen up."
Taking the Church as an
women
The Church had
made no effort to enlist women
one of
It
organization,
neutrality.
There was nothing

existing
its atti-
in the eighteenth century was
tude towards
for
The
system.
them
to
altruistic
got into a rut.

in its service.
do under the
spirit
was
not
awake.
"
The country
increased rapidly in strength and
material prosperity
its
growth was uninterrupted
resources continued to develop
its
in
its
political constitution
gained in power and consolidation.
But there was a
deficiency of disinterested principle."
Perhaps
it
was
this
duced such a reaction

the
very deadness which pro-
in the
next century.
High Church party which was
the
first
It
to
was
make
84
use of the capital lying idle
in
energies and zeal of the female
Anglican
Church.
more brought women
The
the unemployed
members
sisterhood
of the
system once
into that direct relation with
the Church which characterized

pre- Reformation times.
their
position
in
PERIOD
IV.
WOMEN IN THE VICTORIAN
ERA.
CHAPTER
CHANGE OF
I.
IDEAL.
Women's status in the

De Segur on Englishwomen
Change of thought and customs Women in the middle classes
Enlargement of interests among the middle classes Single
women as described by Jane Austen Marriage as a career for
women Change of opinion The wives of to-day Social
Change
in
women's position
in this century
past determined by the Church
life
Independence of unmarried women.
There
are periods
English history
in
when
the
nation seems to have taken fresh starts, to have

cast its intellectual shell
and become a new creature.
Such a period occurred
in the sixteenth century, led
up
literary
by the
to
thirteenth
the feudal
similar
earlier
and fourteenth centuries and the

This
system.
awakening.
It
the
renaissance in
fall
of
century witnessed
was a many-sided move-
ment, affecting social and family
life
as
much
as
intellectual progress.
The
of the
Many
alteration in the position of
women
is
one
most marked features of the movement.

will
be ready to say that
it
has not been a
WOMEN
88
IN THE VICTORIAN ERA.
true progress, but only a restless seeking for
There
paths.
change of
which
"
woman
nothing harder to accept than a
is
And
ideals.
has,
The
question."
of religion, of
compound
says
"
cannot
lower.
still
the
It
created
of
womanhood
is
not like the
or of literature
An
it
is
Indian proverb
women are degraded, there

Where the other ideals
ideal of womanhood will be
live."
are low, the
life
itself
these things.
all
Where
the gods
of
of
art,
century,
ideal
which a nation creates for

ideal
kind of change
this
is
it
present
the
in
new
depends on
all
the great social
forces.
''^^
The
conception of woman's place in society has
undergone a process of re-making
Even
is
those
who advocate keeping woman
called her
sphere
in this century.
many
predecessors.
"sphere,"
in
what
have admitted into that
amazed
things that would have
The change
their
has been forced on by
outward circumstances as well as by a remodelling

of thought, or rather, the mental aspect has been
largely determined
by physical conditions.
The
immense growth of the population, and the excess

of the female portion, have altered the point of view
for both
In
men and women.
the
Middle Ages
it
was the Church that
determined the status of women.
As
long as the
CHANGE OF IDEAL.
Church was
women were
the
strongest
regarded as
89
influence
society,
in
inst ruments for
ma n's
use,
rather than as beings with an independent exist-
Unreasoning obedience was enjoined, to the
ence.
priest
first,
to the
ment was upheld
When
husband afterwards.
as the
Self efface-
highest duty or~wOTrreii.
by
the influence of the Church was modified
the spread of knowledge and education, the conception took a different form, but the coarseness of
manners and the rude conditions of

vailed,
even
up
to
the
century,
last
break.
The
artificiality
social traditions
were hard
and sham sentiment, when the
to
The
inevitably low.
ideal of
fashionable
including the women themselves held
woman was made
for pleasure
intellectual
occupations
beyond her ken, and

knowledge as would
that
the bourgeoisie that
and
interests
were S
that she only required such
enable
her
to
efficiently the duties of ministering to
The English women," wrote De

much in the same manner as those
exception of walls or keepers.
(!
more
man's needs
fulfil
and amusements.
"
Both agreed
she was created for domestic uses.

that
prevented
eighteenth century was a period of
womanhood was
world
and
that pre-
Besides which,
broader views from gaining ground.

habit was strong,
life
Segur, in 1803, "live

of Turkey, with the
Without being so much
WOMEN
90

However
overlooked, they suffer equal constraint.
may
the superiority which they
great
be sensible they possess
above their husbands, they are obliged to respect and to
and they therefore endeavour to acquire their

love as a matter of necessity.
Such is also the lesson they
them
fear
give to their children, and
recommend
as a duty.
and when
than
'
in
pared,
woman
to
it
In
it
them
fact,
is
be remarked that they
command by obeying
they can only
said that a
any other country,
by her
may
it
rather as a political measure than
woman
it is
education, to be
is
only saying that she
more
satisfied
pre-
is
than another
with a mediocrity of happiness."
Whether women
are happier in
England than
formerly, or than they are in other countries,

difficult
question to determine
conception of
all
happier in England
is
but certainly the
womanhood which now
sections of society
was current
is
different
prevails in
from that which
at the beginning of the century.
The
evolution that has been proceeding, during the last
years especially, has affected
fifty
^he
)
middle than
there
in the
women more
upper ranks, but
new ideal of what is

woman. Qualities which
used to be thought admirable, such
weakness and mental indolence, are
demned.
(
Neither the
domesticity
share
in
both
has been created a
excellent and desirable in

]
in
in
all
suffices.
the social
rSle
of
woman
and
physical
as
pitied or con-
pleasure
is
nor of
expected
intellectual
to
activities
CHANGE OF IDEAL.
around her, to follow and understand,
she does
if
not play any definite part.
The
mould
which
influences
society
the
in
present day are more diverse than at former periods.
Thought
freer,
is
travelling along
advances of
acquire
new
by
constantly enriched
is
tracks
civilization.
new mental
The forms
times,
and
It
opened out
is
by the
less difficult
now
to y''
habits than to retain old ones.
of social
life
have changed with the
and the forms occasionally outrun the con-
ception.
New
ways are adopted while the old
uppermost.
instincts are
fresh custom, brought
about by a variety of indirect causes, helps
to
produce a change of thought, practice accomplishing
The
what reasoning would never have achieved.
necessity for conforming to the altered conditions
of daily life conditions which have not been pre-
determined, but have been developed in the march

of material progress
has done much to re-cast
old notion of the position of
were not so easy,

so plentiful,
if
if
women.
If
the
locomotion
the means of education were not
invention had not lightened the burden

\
of domestic duties, the conception of
dependent, half-developed being, to
woman
whom
was ever to remain an oyster with closed

have been perpetuated
in
when
the means of
still.
its
The new
as a
the world
shell,
would
ideal
came
embodiment were ready.
WOMEN
92
With the constant
interaction going
social life of the nation,
it
is difficult
which are causes and which are

thinkers
who
on
to say
life
the conditions of
it
is
to
fit
those ideas.
For one person who
ideas.
reasoning, convinced himself that

legitimate thing for
women
a profession,
as
art
business,
to
that
has,
by
a perfectly
is
it
life
But
pursue literature or
to
acquire
knowledge of
to travel about unattended,
hundred who have been brought
by a
always
formulate ideas and then endeavour to
with the majority

the
the
There are
effects.
shape the conditions of
create
in
there are a
to that conclusion
plurality of daughters, the establishment of
cheap schools and colleges, the omnibus and tramcar
Facts
service.
convince
more speedily than
theories.
The
ideal has
middle than
in
changed more
the upper ranks.
women in the
The great lady is
for
not only hedged about with traditions and customs

difficult to
break through, but she
parade, so to speak, while the

life,
is
woman
constantly on
in
every-day
though she may be hampered by prejudice,
is
able to alter her course comparatively unobserved.
who have been most affected

by the movement known as the " women question,"
a movement which, as Carl Biicher observed, existed
It is
the middle classes
long before
it
began
to
be discussed at afternoon
CHANGE OF IDEAL.
tea-tables.
The
during the
last
course of social
93
years has been
fifty
gradual revolution in the position of
middle ranks.
domestic
life
in
England
to
create a
life
women
Less change has occurred
The
of those above.
them
revolution has affected
in the
in
the
great industrial
indirectly, the
improve-
ments and inventions of science and the growth of
commerce have added
to their ease
and
luxuries,
but they have not been actually swept by these
new current of life.

For women of the middle classes it has been
impossible to stand still.
They have been forced to
adapt themselves to the new order.
Their old
things into a
employments have been taken away from them
men and machinery from

were once supreme. Added to
they have been ousted by
where they
places
this,
the female population
the male,
for great
there
wedded
life is
largely
outnumbering
clearly out of the question
numbers of women.
were so many men
In the Middle
withdrawn
Ages
from
the
country for military service as to create a similar
different
The women, however, were in a

They were not, as in later times,
position.
thrown
back
disproportion.
actively
upon
engaged
in
sedentary employments,
but
carrying on the industries of
the country, in producing food
other things required for daily
and clothing and
life.
WOMEN
94
The women

of the middle classes have found
themselves in the curiously lop-sided position of

people with more leisure than means.
Precluded
from the necessity for work, they cannot afford the
They
recreations of a leisured class.
are equally
removed from the temptations of the wealthy and
^
'
One
the poor.
of two things
commonly happens.
Either they sink into a vapid manner of

the passage of the hours
is
or they become volunteers
drinking or vivisection,
marked by
in
join political leagues, enter
life,
some
in
which
meal-times,
" cause."
They
upon a crusade against
make war
against
some of
the multiform expressions of vice, or courageously
grapple with the hydra-headed monster
poverty.
All the movements for the bettering of society

their usefulness in a large
measure
owe
to the zeal of the
women workers of the middle classes. The evolution of women in these classes during the last fifty
years
is
feature
a study
in
the
in
itself,
social
and
will
history
form a prominent
of
the
nineteenth
century.
The
factors that
have contributed
and prosperity of the middle

been
in
women.
class as a
some ways detrimental
They have
fallen
to the elevation
whole have
to the evolution of
back
in the ranks.
In
the development of trade and commerce men have
advanced and the
women have been
left
behind.
CHANGE OF IDEAL.
95
was the men who held the money-bags, and who,
It
as soon as the
power of the purse became stronger
than the cunning of the hand, reaped the advantage.
As
the social organism
grew more complex, women
both their work and their privileges.
lost
But
other ways their position has greatly
in
improved.
middle-class
woman had no
hundred years
ago
average
the
her
interests outside
family circle and acquaintances.
If domestic duties
and claims were few, as frequently happened
Marry
"
hands.
cannot, to
work
was the unuttered thought of the
am
interests, as youthful delights faded
ashamed,"
who saw
girl
years slipping by with an horizon
woman was
de
and family
failure.
au celibat des femmes.
Ce
pays ou
le celibat n'a
Le
titre
de
vieille
Angleterre
vieilles
prejuge, plus
commun
dans
pas ete consacre par des institutions
religieuses, n'est nulle part plus
de
single
a quelque chose de honteux, parce qu'il semble annoncer
I'abandon de tout un sexe.

les
ties
prejug6 g^n^ral et fort ancien attache une esp^ce
fletrissure
fille
regarded as a social
the
of diminished
were broken by death and separation.
Un
of daughters, time hung heavily on her
houseful
"
in
nulle part aussi

*
fiUes."
;
il
g^n^ralement repandu qu'en

n'
y a un plus grand nombre
Miss Austen's heroine, "Emma,"

* Ferri
de
St.
Constant.
in the
plenitude
WOMEN IN THE
96
VICTORIAN ERA.
sums up the case of her
of her superiority,
less
fortunate sisters thus
A single woman with a very narrow income must be a
"
ridiculous, disagreeable old maid, the proper sport of
and
girls,
but a single
respectable,
body
of
good fortune
is
always
and may be as sensible and pleasant as any-
else."
The idea that

woman was so
mind
that
marriage was the only career for

firmly
numbers of
fritter their lives
no
woman
boys
girls
it
in
the English
had been encouraged
away on
because
satisfaction,
embedded
trifles
to
which gave them
was not considered worth
while for them to take up any definite pursuit
which they might have to abandon some day for
The
matrimony.
result has usually
been dulness
and discontent.
"
A houseful
English family
life
possible.
girls
of marriageable English girls in a quiet

is
not the most perfect form of domestic
Home
is
What
a weary place for
much chance
without fortunes or
our girls want in general
is
most young
of marrying.
more occupation, some-
thing to interest and excite them, pending the greatest

interest possible to them.
the ordinary programme of
Pleasure does not
come
into
a quiet, matter-of-fact English
family." *
English middle-class sentiment did not go so

far as
to consider a
*
bad husband better than no
Te7nple Bar, 1862.
CHANGE OF IDEAL.
husband
on
at
the
Matilda
Princess
Otranto," but the principle
indifferent,
were
in
attendance
The Castle of
commonly acted on was
"
in
that the risks of marriage, even
were
maid
like Bianca, the
all,
97
less to
where the conditions
be dreaded than a
life
of lonely spinsterhood.
The middle
notion.
where
It
classes
have now thrown
lingers in the upper
tradition
reasons marriage
solution of a
stronger,
is
difificult
middle classes
differ
and lower ranks
where
sought after
is
off this
different
for
as
the
easiest
Here, again, the
problem.
from those above and below
them
in not
They
are not urged into marriage by the prospects
being subject to the same temptations.
of a desirable alliance that will unite two neighbouring estates or preserve property intact.
matrimony present
discomfort.
less
itself as
Viewed
Nor does
an escape from material
as a career marriage holds a
important place than formerly.
It is
one among many choices open to women.

second half of
last quarter,
into
this century,
more
women have been
matrimony.
now
In the
particularly in the
less
ready to rush
Parents have not shown such
eagerness to dispose of their daughters to the
man who
life.
offered.
Marriage
is
bride under twenty-one
II.
first
contracted later in
is
thought extra-
ordinarily youthful.
VOL.
only
29
WOMEN
98
Another feature of present-day domestic

the altered attitude of married
The middle-
women.
was not formerly wont
class wife
to concern herself
own home.
about matters outside her
life is
If she did
she was usually told that she was neglecting her

duties.
"
Le
de plaire a leurs
plaisir d'elever leurs enfans, celui
maris, et d'etre aimês de leurs domestiques, remplissent
tellement le coeur du plus grand nombre des
que ce
anglaises,
permettent
les
n'est
amusemens de
la soci^te.
prennent quelques soins de leur parure,
Comme
occupees que de leur manage.
amies de leur mari,
les
economes de
elles
par
Si,
6tat, elles
elles
en sont moins
elles
sont toujours
paraissent sans honte les
leurs biens." *
A woman
was brought up from girlhood
atmosphere of restricted
an
in
and when she
interests,
became a wife she did not attempt
to enlarge her
She became more and more shut up
horizon.
her domestic shell

"
femmes
souvent que par d6cence qu'elles se
in
Soumises a des maris de leur choix,
les
femmes
pre-
viennent en tout leurs d6sirs, et s'en laissent enti^rement

maitriser
et
elles
paroissent
habituel
chez
envisagent leurs volontes
se
croire
elles
Anglois regardent
qui
comme
des loix,
nês pour la dependance,

leur
comme un
coiite
devoir.
peu,
Le
mais
que
etat
les
brusquerie des
maris, I'esp^ce de durete de leur caract^re, rendroient le

sort
des femmes
* "
extremement malheureux, sans cette
Londres, la Cour, et les Provinces," 1816.
CHANGE OF IDEAL.
condescendance qui leur
99
est naturelle
on a peine a reconeux de la tendresse de I'attachement, au moins
marques n'en sont elles par extdrieures
ils
sont
:
noitre en
les
maitres, et ne cherchent point i d6guiser leur autoritd." *
To
the Frenchman, accustomed to mariages de
convenance,
it
was a novel and
to see matches based
on
interesting spectacle
affection.
as an unusual and noteworthy fact
aime
mari autant qu'elle
son,
qu'elle s'occupe
du soin de
"
He
observes,
Une
Anglaise
I'estime.
II
est rare
plaire a d'autres."
In the present day, although the Englishwoman
does not love her husband
less,
she finds room for
other interests besides those within the four walls

of
her home.
politics, in
ried
the
all
in
They belong
are prominent workers.
the middle class,
chiefly to
new movements,
philanthropy, in social reform, the mar-
women
instincts
In
Like
of activity.
who have
traditional
great
lady, they
the
have realized that they must enlarge their borders.

Domestic life has so changed that the old r$le of
the wife as the home-keeper must be modified.
To spend
called
the best hours of the day in what
"looking
anomaly
in
olden times
ness
to
the
house"
is
clearly
the present stage of civilization.

it
was
devote
* "
after
just as clearly a
herself
Tableau de
la
to
the
woman's
is
an
In
busi-
ordering of her
Grande Bretagne,"
1803.
WOMEN
lOO
She had
household.
in a

and take part
to superintend
dozen operations which are now performed
factories
and workshops, and of which the modern
housewife only sees the
cannot
in
Even women who
results.
command much
service
have,
or
might
have, a degree of leisure which would have been
thought only
fit
for a lady of quality a century ago.
The sewing-machine alone is a great "emancipator.

The facilities for obtaining food supplies have done
away with many lengthy domestic operations, and
household production
mum.
being reduced to a mini-
is
been proposals
have
there
Latterly
and
establish co-operative kitchens,

it
may be found
as easy
in
and natural
to
to
the future
have our
food cooked at some great centre, and sent in at

stated hours, as
it is
now
and our bread baked.
to
It
have our clothes made

is
probable, as Bebel
says, that
the future,
become more and more
"social
life
public
the tendency in this direction has already
itself
in
apparent, and
position
most
women
of
Household
limits,
will,
life will
in
clearly in
made
the totally altered
comparison with
earlier
times.
be reduced to the narrowest possible
and the widest
field will
be opened
for the grati-
fication of social instincts."
Among
is
other signs which
becoming more
public
is
show
that social
life
the formation of clubs
CHANGE OF IDEAL.
and "dwellings."
These
middle classes not only earn their
of
women who,
partly
stand
alone
necessity,
The
life.
are part of
institutions
the altered conditions under which
lead an independent
lOI
women of
own living,
increasing
the
but
number
from choice, partly from
who,
as
the
in
case
of
which does
journalists, for instance, follow a career
not accord with the routine of a household, has

created a tendency to a
life.
more
manner of
public
In former days unmarried women,
found themselves without means,
become governesses,
if
when they
they failed to
dependent position
lived in a
with such relatives or friends as would receive
them, or starved out their
by various
shifts
life in
miserable lodgings
and devices.
Those who had
home appeared
rather than to make
anything like the semblance of a

to think
it
better to stay there
an independence for themselves by going out into

the world.
woman
The
notion of what
has entirely changed.
fitting
is
Girls are
for a
no longer
content to live on their fathers and brothers, who,
on
their side, are not unwilling to
be relieved from
the burden of their maintenance.
There are many
more women now who work by
preference, though
not compelled to earn their living.

class
woman
prefers
The
daily, outside
middle-
occupation,/
which enables her to keep up a more luxurious
WOMEN IN THE
I02
home than
if
VICTORIAN ERA.
she expended her energies on sewing
and household work.
More than
this,
she wants a
definite interest.
The
result of
has been to inspire

called discontent
modern education and
women
and
with what
restlessness, but
is
training
sometimes
may be more
properly described as energy demanding an outlet.
The more active-minded seek to escape from a

home life rendered monotonous by the absence of
both duties and pleasures
regular occupation.
some
by taking up
Frequently they are told that
they are snatching the bread out of the mouth of

the needy.
It is tacitly
conceded that men, what-
ever their position, are always entitled to employ

themselves, to continue working and making
after the absolute necessity for earning
to exist.
on
think
it
is
in the
because there
his oars
activity
man
thought an
prime of
is
idler.
life
money
has ceased
who
rests
no absolute need
for
Society seems
to
has a right to his energy and capacity for
multiplying riches.
But the
woman who makes
money without any apparent need is told that she

standing in the way of others, and should betake
herself to some unremunerative work of charity, for
which she may be quite unfitted.
is
Miss Mitford, writing

friends, says
in
1849 to one of her
CHANGE OF IDEAL.
"You
single
are quite right about the
women.
made
103
want of objects
for
In France the rank just below the gentry
and happy by keeping the shopis wanting, and

that class is added to the idle and the wretched worstedworking young ladies. Among the other evils, too, the
is
books.
want
at once useful
In England even that resource
of better occupation
drives
to write
girls
bad
verse."
At one time
Germany, that
it
was
true,
both of England and of
" the daughters of our middle-class
families are trained as dolls, fools of fashion,
ladies
who can
grace a drawing-room." *
true no longer.
The
But
and
it is
daughters of the middle class
who
are, generally speaking, trained as
those
become workers.
work does not
arise,
If the
need
for
will
the desire to live with a purpose in view, to
achieve something, remains and must be
satisfied,
or society will suffer from the dangerous existence of

undirected,
unemployed energy.
This
is,
however,
a danger not much to be feared in the present day.

"
Not
the least
among
the changes
is
that efifected
by
greater
the fuller and freer life led by all women.
companionship and friendship is permitted them with the
other sex
there
is
a larger sharing of interests,
and
women are expected to have a higher standard of education,

and to conceal
skill.
their
their
knowledge and culture with
Their interest in the political
acknowledged usefulness
life
tasteful
of the country, and
in their proper place in the
* Bebel.
WOMEN
104
working of the
and
social,
political
machine, the works, philanthropical
which are admitted by
all to
be within their
and deepened the stream of life

both sexes, and brought the social on
sphere, have broadened
which
is
common
to
to a different level."
*
Saturday Review,
May
19, 1894.
I05
CHAPTER
II.
Fusion of classes Social progress Modification of women's position

in the higher ranks
Duties of the modern great lady Her new
rdle.
One
of the most striking features of modern
the fusion of classes, the result being that
and
more
difficult
to
sections of society which
The
by name.
the
characterize
we
still
it is
life is
more
various
agree to separate
material improvements, which every
year bring more
working changes
facilities
for the art of living, are
A great many
in social relations.
differences
which
obliterated.
It
is
formerly
existed
no distinction
have
now
to
been
have
received a good education, to have travelled, to be

able to appreciate works of
art, to
have a
tastefully
arranged house, to be abreast of current thought.

All these things are taken for granted just as
much
as that a gentleman will not get drunk, or a lady

interlard
her conversation with oaths.
It
would
WOMEN IN THE
I06
seem, then, that

social
life,
attained a higher level in
that the next century will see us with
loftier
still
we have
VICTORIAN ERA.
we
standard, and that
shall
go on
progressing unless some cataclysm shakes the social

edifice,
or
some hidden
The
foundations.
made, and
only,
is
is
rottenness
fact
is
revealed in the
has
progress
that
making, along several
lines,
not in one
a great safeguard against dissolution or

In Greece social and moral progress did
decay.
The rank
not keep pace with intellectual advance.
and
been
file
were enslaved, women were
subjection, religion
and morality were
in
a state of
dissociated,
while the greatest philosophers, the greatest poets,

the greatest artists were building up for themselves
an immortal fame.
"
There appears to have been no refuge
for the sick
and infanticide, having

been at least in the case of deformed children expressly
authorized by both Plato and Aristotle, was seldom
the infant was entirely unprotected
regarded as a crime.
avowedly
The
for prostitution
practice of bringing
up orphans
was equally common."
In England the remarkable development of the

altruistic spirit
has softened the relations between
the classes, and side by side with the intellectual
movement has been a

science of living.
*
W. H.
It is
rapid development of
easier,
the
however, to see the
Lecky, " Rationalism in Europe,"
vol.
ii.

actual Stage
which we have arrived
at
by studying society
science
Woman's
has undergone much
as a whole.
than
position in the higher ranks
She
modification.
in
the beginning of the century
something
social
in
in sections rather
more impersonal,
individual,
107
is
less
her influence.
At
we had
in
London
Lady
Lady
like a salon at various houses.
Lady Blessington, Lady Cork,

Charleville, Lady Caroline Lamb, and others were
Holland,
noted centres to which

attracted as
if
art,
learning,
and beauty were
by some magic wand.
No
one has
kept up the traditions of Holland House or of Gore
European
House.
There are no
celebrity,
but the salons in London are multiplied
tenfold.
We
writers,
acute
beauties
in
have
society leaders of
profound
statesmen,
gay
they are to be met
in
thinkers,
wits,
brilliant
and popular
hundreds of places
twos and threes, but they do not congregate as
of yore under one roof.

But, taken as a whole,
power
in social life
influence
is
more
among
felt
of feeling between
before
women
are not less of a
the upper classes.
because there
the sexes.
is
Their
more equality
Where
there was
mere gallantry on the part of men and
coquetry on the part of the
women
there
is
now
'
the simpler and the healthier relation of comradeship.
Putting aside the graver aspects of
life
and questions^
WOMEN
I08
of moral conduct, this change from sentimentalism

to reality, from affectation to simplicity,
onwards
for
women.
There
retards the progress of
the
is
evil" of the Fathers' imagination, or the

star of the romanticist, she
is
women
immaculate
has been the
It
to be credited with both
and super-human
" painted
equally cut off from
the chances of development.
luck of
on a
as putting her
Whether she
plane by herself.
a step
nothing which so
is
woman
is
ill-
sub-human
qualities.
Whatever the
faults of the
present age,
it
is
under no delusions with regard to the humanity of
woman.
There are few
trials,
difficulties,
pleasantnesses that she escapes

sex.
It is
on the score of
not thought that she
bearing a part in the
common
is
add that she
Some
often
aux dames "
It
was
women
on men.
women.
been a show of deference
men
this
to offer,
kind
of
been
has, in the past,
which meant nothing, but which

vanity of
be
also receives less personal
rather a hindrance than a help to
too
will
But the mode of interpreting
attention in society.
the phrase " Place
incapable of
of the world on
life
account of any ethereal qualities.

inclined to
or un-
it
has
trifles
gratified
and of women
attention
in
It
the
to receive.
which made the
of the last century so foolishly
dependent

"
IO9
In the most trying dangers they cling to their support
with parasitical tenacity, piteously demanding succour
and
up
his voice to guard the lovely trembler from what ?
Perhaps the form of an old cow, or the jump of a mouse
a rat would be a serious danger.
In the name of reason
and even common sense, what can save such beings from
contempt ? " *
their natural protector extends his arm, or
lifts
The
is
conception of
more complex
in
constitutes a great lady
vi^hat
much has been
expected of her to vi^hom
Her rank
is
the contrary,
no excuse
if
Much
the present day.
for
disgraces her position.
work on the ground
She
given.
mental indolence
she allows her mind to
is
rust,
on
she
not exempted from
is
of wealth
it
is
not enough
that she should give sovereigns from her purse or
flowers
from
her
hot-houses
she must attend
committees and conferences, pore over accounts and

blue-books, to say nothing of performing a variety
of ornamental functions in order that her presence
may encourage
of,
others to
come forward.
as formerly, being " taught to look
Instead
down with
contempt on the vulgar employments of

learns to regard
if
be
them
She
is
men," for while she
out her sympathies far and wide,

*
she
as claiming her consideration,
not her actual co-operation.

" all things to all
life,"
Mary WoUstonecraft, " Rights
of
expected to
is
stretching
none
Women."
of
the
'
WOMEN IN THE
lO
demands of her own

is
class
VICTORIAN ERA.
may be
She
neglected.
imperiously called upon to perform her part as a
woman
of fashion
and
to entertain
quota to society, and be as perfect
visit,
in this role as if
The
it
were the only one she had to
is
considerable, for the great lady has few
when she
Women
is
off
pay her
play.
moments
guard and can relax the tension.
of lesser rank can at least enjoy the rest
of obscurity, but a great lady
seldom able to
is
withdraw herself entirely from public gaze.

country she
and
strain
even more observed than
is
fresh duties
in
In the
London,
crowd upon her when she seeks
retirement.
The peculiar
among the upper
characteristics
English
of
classes, the lavish
life
expenditure in
domestic matters, the multiplicity of servants, the

style of entertainment, all help to
heavier than
it
would be
in a
a word
equivalentwe have
attainment of comfort
have no
fetish in
England.
It
French
mariages
as
we may be
for
which the French
de
picture
it
of other
While we reprobate
convenance
deny the number of such marriages
The
of our
made
certainly
takes precedence
and weightier considerations.

the
the burden
country where material
Proud
ease was less studied.
make
we cannot
in
England.
drawn by a Frenchman of an English
great lady in the middle of this century
gloomy

though
it
and wounding
is,
Ill
to our self-esteem as a
nation whose country has been called the paradise
women
of married
cannot
faithful presentation of
be said
to
be an un-
a large section of the monied
class.
" Etudiez la grande
Les appartements
qu'elle afFecte.
couronnes de diamants,
ages brillants,
les
Ne
d' Albion.
par le luxe qui I'entoure, par
laissez point eblouir
les
dame au pays
vous
hauteur
la
dor^s, les colliers de perles,
les habits
somptueux,
les equip-
grooms chamarr^s, ne donnent
ni
la
consideration, ni le respect, ni I'affection, ni le bonheur.
P^ndtrez plus avant dans sa vie intime
La femme
se decouvre a vos yeux.

famille, n'est plus la
compagne
Ella
est,
This, however,
life,
is
quelle triste realite
anglaise, la
mere de
estimê, honoree, et ch^rie
suivant un
servante de la maison." *
de son mari.
mot connu,
la
premiere
only one aspect of our social
though one we cannot ignore.
In following the
course of women's evolution in England,
we cannot
expect to have an orderly progression, without any

backslidings or false steps.
of a
English
rich
domestic
life,
is
cases, the
family,
the
too
compactness
its self-sufficiency
often
absent.
When,
establishment comes
mount over
luxury
of
are deceptive.
a degree of security and happiness
They imply
which
and
The abounding
all
other
Gaume, " De
first,
as
and
in
is
many
para-
considerations, the result

la Socidtd
Domestique."
is
WOMEN
1 1
likely to
be that which M.
the mistress
is
Gaume
has described
The
subordinated to the house.
husband and wife are united by a mutual worship
They have no other incommon their marriage
of well-ordered luxury.
terests or sympathies in
has a purely material basis.
here that the
It is
made a
English great lady appears to have
backwards.
step
In less refined periods her personal
more
influence counted for
in family
because
life,
wealth implied individual obligations towards society
authority
was
Her
which are now carried out by deputy.
was greater when the domestic machinery

But
less perfect.
as,
little
by
little,
she
in-
evitably lost something of the importance of her
take upon herself
old position, she did not
powers.
As
once
fell
upon the great lady were
into
luxury
increased,
regulated
carefully
capable machines, of
whom
nominal head.
reality,
In
the duties
all
system,
new
which
absorbed
worked
the lady herself
is
by
the
system goes on
the
without interference on the part of the mistress,
whose
control,
almost nil
though
in practice.
absolute
But she
is
in
theory,
forced to play
a certain part for the sake of appearances.

are
the
women
is
There
who appear to exist only for

The very weapons
position.
of wealth
sake of their
which should give them freedom
for
moral and

intellectual
They
II3
growth they turn against themselves.
are smothered under the burden of riches.
But although some
always be
will
in the
left
backwaters, the great ladies of this century, in spite

of a tendency to rigidity, are rapidly being swept
and
into the strong current of intellectual
Nothing shows more
activity.
which has taken place
social
plainly the change/
the position of womenj
in
than the presence, in the work-a-day world of politics,
women
philanthropy, literature, and even trade, of
who, by tradition, should be reposing under their

ancestral
function.
oaks,
or daintily adorning
The women themselves
rSle of the great lady
is
ing themselves to the
some
State)
the old
feel that
played out, and are adapt-
new
part.
To
describe the
movement among the

a mere seeking after new excite-
nineteenth-century women's
upper classes as
ment would not be
workers shows that there

a passing attraction
content and
stances,
The
correct.
is
persistence of the
something more than
in their undertakings.
Dis-
dissatisfaction with particular circum-
which are so often the motives
to action,
are likewise insufficient to explain the vigorous zeal
and cheerful patience with which

are
difficult
attacked and carried through.
women
have outgrown
case of
women
VOL.
II.
The
their old position.
schemes
fact
is
In the
of rank and wealth, they are born

30
WOMEN
14
amid surroundings
be kept
to
in a
They
whicll chafe them.
decline
world of their own, breathing only
And
one atmosphere.
it
must be admitted
that they
see no special satisfaction in a sphere where femi-
somewhat
nine graces are
would rather be
where men
will
Although
in
They
discount.
the larger world
in
of
action,
meet them on equal terms, and
>
them as comrades and
treat
at
fellows.
women
France the evolution of
not proceeded along the same lines
has
England, although French

respects
more advanced, and
ward than women
women
in others
England
in
are
it
is
as
in
some
in
more back-
interesting to
note that the same tendencies which the upholders

of the old order deplore are observable in
The
nations.
anti-Catholic spirit which
Revolution and
the
habits
is
the
break-up of
perhaps accountable for
followed
traditional
much
change which has passed over domestic

France.
To
of the ancien rdgime
those
modern
characteristics of the
for out-door
The
countrywomen
his
of
spirit.
its
"
of
the
in
life
all
the
the very liking
amusements on the part of women
were so many indications of an

rate
life
both
irreligious,
degene-
Gaume drew of
might stand in many
picture which
in
features for the
1844
Englishwomen of to-day
Vous adoptez des habitudes
qui ne conviennent ni
a.

votre sexe, ni a votre vocation
vous 6tes d^venues
fortes, et
vous avez cru vous rendre
faibles.
des exercices gymnastiques
faire
vous exercer a I'escnme

militaires
la
natation
comme
comme
Jeunes, on vous voit
comme
des coll6giens
des ^l^ves de nos ^coles

des marins
vous montez
comme les ecuyers de Franconi on dit mfime que

fumez comme des hussards de I'empire. (Ce n'est
a cheval
vous
II5
pas un on
dit, c'est
dans Paris,
un
fait
nous I'avons vu en pleine
dans des cercles d'hommes
et
de jeunes gens, dont vous
partagez les gouts, les lectures, les conversations

Stes devenues
comme
comme
rue,
Plus agees, vous paraissez
la ville module.)
I'un d'eux, et
I'homme vous
vous
traite
son semblable."
There
is
nothing which appears more dreadful
man treatwoman who
to the old-world spectator than to see a
ing a
woman comme
son semblable
ought always to be an angel, a goddess, a being
who should know nothing of the prose of life.

But the modern women especially the great ladies
are
tired of poetry
distaste
lose
they have grown up with
sentiment
they
prefer
the
a'
prose.
little
unjust to the male sex to assume
women must
impair their finer qualities, and
Surely
that
for
it is
something of their natural delicacy by sharing
the pursuits and conversation of men.
WOMEN
Il6
CHAPTER
WOMEN
III.
AND EXPLORERS.
AS TRAVELLERS
English enterprise and love of travel Travelling for pleasure a

Miss
modern taste
Ida Pfeiffer
Lady Hester Stanhope
Bird Miss Annie Taylor Lady Baker Lady Euan SmithLady
Among
Sale.
the things for which the Victorian age will
be noted hereafter
the passion
is
for
travelling
which has taken possession of people of varied

rranks and conditions.
mow
to find
women
It scarcely excites
if
remark
they are Englishwomen
wandering from one continent to another unaccompanied.
way
And Englishwomen who
travel in this
usually earn a character for pluck
reliance.
In
a humorous
sketch,
and
entitled
self-
"
The
Englishwoman Abroad," Lawrence Oliphant declares that the

in
women
of England materially assist
keeping up the prestige of the British name by
their
admirable conduct
quented
parts,
as
travellers
in
unfre-
where they cause the astonished
natives to exclaim, " If these are the
women, what
WOMEN AS
splendid fellows the
who can
AND EXPLORERS.
TRA VELLERS
afford
it
men must be
travels,
would have regarded a
"
Everybody
and those who formerly

the Continent as the
trip to
ultima Thule of their ambitions,

ticket
now
take a tourist-
which carries them half round the world.
Travelling over ocean and
land has become so
easy and luxurious, that the greatest sybarites are
tempted into making long journeys.
was not
Sailing-vessels, stage-coaches, or
so a century ago.
the unwieldy
It
vehicles
called
travelling-carriages,
and the probability of being robbed on the road

and plundered at the inn, made a journey beyond
weak and timid. Even

in our own country it was a matter not to be
The men who crossed conlightly undertaken.
England a
terror to the
and oceans were looked upon by their

compatriots with respectful admiration, and could
tinents
always
command an
the unknown.
audience, for they had faced
In these days,
when
the greater
portion of the habitable globe has been traversed,

travel has lost
distinction
its
glamour, and the traveller the
he once enjoyed.
The
only people
who
can claim attention for their journeys are the few

adventurous spirits who have penetrated into undesirable regions whither the tourist does not care
to follow
those
who have
travelled with the pur-
pose of making some discovery, or achieving some
WOMEN
Il8
end
who
scientific,
commercial, or religious
or those
adventure and
have, for the pure love of
exploration, sought out places hitherto unvisited.
Among
these few fortunate ones,
who
stand
out with a certain pre-eminence above their fellowcreatures,
women
now
are
qualities necessary for
making a good
adaptability and patience,
women
plorers,
however,
need
traveller
and a keen eye
usually possess
The
to be reckoned.
in
for detail
Ex-
measure.
fair
something
They
more.
must combine the enthusiasm of the discoverer

with the endurance of the soldier, and the indifference to
danger
some women who

of travelling
common
to
will court the risk
away from
There are
and hardship
both.
the beaten track for the
mere excitement of the adventure, who have had

no
special
end
in view,
and have gone
forth alone
When
Ida
into the
unknown.
Pfeiffer,
the Austrian, undertook her voyage round
the world
in
predecessors.
Although
the
But they are few.
forties
she
had
Nor has she had many
Madame
Pfeiffer
few,
1842,
imitators.
travellers
She began her journeying
when her husband was separated from
and her children were old enough

selves.
Her
first
any,
was not an English-
woman, her name as the pioneer of women

cannot be omitted.
if
in
her,
to care for them-
journey seems to have been to
WOMEN AS TRAVELLERS AND

the
Holy Land.
Four years
EXPLORERS. II9
later she visited
South
In making excursions from Rio Janeiro
America.
she was very nearly murdered on one occasion by a

negro,
who
lady with her as a travelling companion.
weapon of defence other than

knife.
Madame
the
arm.
left
parasols was a clasp-
In making her famous voyage round
dress, as
access to
had sometimes
Pfeiffer
when
and adventures
highlands of Persia
Sumatra
befell
;
All sorts of
She
her.
it
en-
she traversed the wild
she travelled for miles with
she navigated rivers at great
wear
Buddhist temple, a thing which no
countered hostile Cossacks
caravans
to
She once obtained
in Tahiti.
European woman had ever achieved.

difficulties
Their only
received two wounds in
Pfeiffer
Madame
the world,
male
Madame
surprised her in a lonely place.
appears on that expedition to have had a
Pfeiffer
peril.
In
was only her extreme coolness and
presence of mind that saved her from being
literally
devoured by a horde of savages who were quite

prepared to eat her.
Madame
Pfeiffer, it
must be
remembered, had very small means with which

undertake such immense journeys.
afford the luxuries of travel.
to spend
on good
companion
escorts,
Madame
She could not
She had no money
and she had as a
to share her enterprise.
this last point,
to
rule
no
Referring to
Pfeiffer says in
her journal
WOMEN
I20
that she considered at forty-five she

to travel unattended.
Her
life
was competent
had not been an
easy one, and she had acquired independence of
As
character.
for
practise the strictest
money she knew
economy, but the prospect of
She was aware
privation did not alarm her.
she would not find railways and hotels

she proposed to
to
support
visit,
life
must
she
and would be
in
that
the parts
at great charges
on any terms, but
the love
of
adventure was a passion too strong to be resisted.
She was one of those who delighted

its
own
in travel
for
sake.
But although there were few women who undertook to encircle the globe like
there
some notable
were
century.
Pitt's
Madame
travellers
eccentric
niece.
Pfeiffer,
the
in
Lady
last
Hester
Stanhope, after his death resolved to expatriate

herself.
She began by going
Lord Byron's acquaintance

went
to
years.
Constantinople,
From
to Greece,
at Athens.
and making
Then
she
where she stayed some
Constantinople she proceeded in an
English merchant-vessel to Syria, and on the voyage
was wrecked
lost all
off the Island of
Rhodes on a
reef,
and
her valuables, an adventure which obliged
her to return to England to
make good her
This done, she resolved to go to Asia.
losses.
journey
to the East was no light undertaking in those days.

Having reached
EXPLORERS. 121
made her way through
Syria, she
the cities of Jerusalem, Damascus, Aleppo, Palmyra,
and Baulbek,
finally
Mount Lebanon,
fixing
her resting-place on
The Arab
tribes
among whom
she wandered sometimes amused themselves by

testing her courage, but she
was always equal to
Her hardihood and
the occasion.
love of adventure
placed her quite above the ordinary level.

occupations at
for she
Mount Lebanon were
was constantly trying
into rebellion against
multifarious,
to arouse the
their
called
it
"
and
these
political
interests,
she
in vigilant direction of the affairs
of her household, preventing intrigues
and
they did
backing up the Sultan against his
employed herself
servants,
if
bringing them to their bearings," she
Besides
enemies.
Druses
Ibrahim Pasha, watching the
behaviour of the different consuls to see

duty
Her
stirring
up the
idle to
among her
activity
by
opprobrious epithets in Arabic equivalent to "beast,"

" rascal,"
sharp
simple
" stupid
blows
to
fellow,"
from her
the verge of
which she followed by
The manage was

shabbiness.
She used
stick.
cracked china of different patterns, and her bed-
room was constantly littered with tobacco and

Smoking was her one personal extravagance.
ashes.
She used the most expensive wooden pipes, such as
would cost from
five to
ten shillings in London,
WOMEN IN THE
122
and threw them away
VICTORIAN ERA.
after a
Her correspondence was
day or two's
and her
large,
use.
charities
were many, but she was shamefully deserted by her

household
the
in
her last days, and
English Consul at
Beyrout,
mountains, hearing of her
Lady
when Mr. Moore,

rode
over the
he arrived to find
illness,
Hester's neglected corpse lying in an
empty
house.
Independent
women
travellers are rare
England, the country of

travellers
and explorers.
all
has
visited
seldom
if
parts
in
others for producing
Miss Bird (Mrs. Bishop)
one of the most enterprising of
is
even
where
travellers,
and
European women had
ever been seen before.
Miss Marianne
North, in her botanical and other researches, went

far
and wide, piercing the recesses of Eastern Asia.
Lady Baker and Lady Burton accompanied

husbands on perilous journeys.
their
Several of the
wives of missionaries might be reckoned amongst

the travellers and explorers
who have
faced every
kind of discomfort, and braved danger, sometimes

earning death as their reward, as happened recently
in
China.
Lady
courage
Baker
showed
immense
energy
in the expedition to Central Africa.
plodded by her husband's side
in the
and
She
wearisome,
dangerous marches through a country swarming
EXPLORERS.
23
with enemies, carrying a revolver in her waistband.

It
be remembered
will
that
Sir
Samuel Baker
undertook to go to Central Africa to suppress the
by the
slave trade, the expedition being organized
The
Khedive of Egypt.
climate, the country,
the people were
all
to Europeans.
The mere
and obnoxious
alike treacherous
Sir
it
for, to
Samuel Baker
put
women from
mildly, in the
it
1869 and returned
1873
The
is
in-
party started
long time to
During the journey Lady Baker
endure hardness.
made a
in
words of
"bodily fatigue
himself,
separable from African travel."

in
of such a
discomforts
journey would have deterred most

attempting
and
large botanical collection which Sir
Samuel
presented to the Khedive, and which was afterwards

sent to the Vienna Exhibition.*
Lady Baker was always ready

husband during
occasion,
natives
Lady
enforced absences.
On
one
when an attack was expected from the

on the Government quarters at Masindi,
Baker
general's
his
to act for her
prepared
before
posted, besides getting together
spare ammunition.
possible danger,
the
She armed the men, and had
arrival.
them ready
everything
She was keenly
and on the
all
the
alive to every
alert in emergencies,
but as cool and collected as an experienced soldier.

* " Ismailia."
WOMEN
124
When
Samuel Baker was surprised by a sudden
Sir
who
act of treachery on the part of the natives,
were preparing, to make a raid upon the
station,
Lady Baker was ready at his side with a rifle and

when a number of the troops were poisoned by
some cider, she at once took upon herself the office
;
of physician, and went round administering remedies.
She was
also of great assistance
When
and prudence.
by her foresight
they were on the march and
the food supply was almost exhausted, she produced
from a secret place a store of
was
Lady
plenty
Baker
flour.
had
put
While there
aside
small
quantities from time to time, saying nothing lest
men should be led into extravagance. At the

critical moment she disclosed her store, enough for
the
a seven-days' march, and the gratitude of the troops
found vent
in
long
On
life."
which
to
fire
but
God
shall give
Samuel Baker was compelled
Baker
also
not
only carried a Colt's
some spare ammunition.
was a perilous march, fighting nearly

and lances were
The General
her a
the march to Rionga from Masindi
station Sir
Lady
revolver,
the words, "
freely flying about
all
It
the way,
Lady Baker.
says that he himself saw several pass
within an inch or two of her head.
The marches were
extremely laborious, through
jungle and high grass.
There was constant wading

mud and
through
boots
was no place
On
25
Lady
with sand added to the fatigue.
filled
fording small streams, and wet
Baker became very
track.
EXPLORERS.
footsore,
and sometimes there
to call a halt without going out of the
one occasion they had only one sick
donkey and one horse with a sore back, so Lady

Baker was compelled to plod through the deep mud,
and to wade
for a mile
and a half through flooded
marshes, up to her hips in water.
her
in
the
way
Nothing daunted
of difficulty or danger, and she
was
always ready with warning and help when peril
Not the least heavy part of her selfimposed duties was the care of the sick and
approached.
When
wounded.
no doctor was at hand,
Baker was nurse and physician
in
one
Lady
and her
presence inspired the patients with hope and aided
them
Her
in their recovery.
considerable, for through
all
skill
the
must have been

of climate,
trials
and the conditions attendant upon such an expedition.
General Baker says that he only

sickness
through
hundred and
twelve
months, and that
On
the
out of
in
one was
previous
one
man
a detachment
of two
space
fourteen
the
at
lost
an
of
out-station.
expedition
to
the
Albert
Nyanza, the great basin of the Nile, Lady Baker

displayed
readiness
and
juncture.
The men
mutinied because they were
courage
at
critical
WOMEN
126
not allowed to steal cattle from the natives.

ringleader, an Arab,
was ordered by the general
the discontent, and Sir Samuel Baker
men making
Lady Baker, although
to
This put a climax to
receive twenty-five lashes.
danger, the
The
was
in great
a sudden rush upon him.
lying
ill
with fever, started
up on hearing the disturbance, and forced a passage
The men
to her husband.
fell
back a
little at
her
approach, and the better disposed rallied round

their chief, while the rebels retreated, carrying off
Lady Baker then showed her judgShe at once begged the General to pardon
their leader.
ment.
the author of the mutiny
if
he would apologize
The men supported
due form.
in
this proposition,
and the tumult was appeased.

It
was
Lady Baker very
in this expedition that
nearly lost her
While crossing the bed of a
life.
river covered with thickly matted water grass, she
received a
and
sunstroke, and she
helpless.
became
For seven days she
severe brain fever
when she began
insensible
suffered from
her grave was being prepared
to revive
and recover her senses
and strength.
Several years before
Lady Baker's memorable
made some perilous

explorations among the Rocky Mountains.
Miss
Bird's courage and endurance are all the more
journeys.
Miss
Bird
had

remarkable
EXPLORERS.
2/
she appears to have had only
in that
the pleasure and interest of travelling as her end in

view, and, except
was not concerned
incidentally,
with making scientific or other discoveries.
had not the stimulus

and
political
of being
humanitarian
engaged
enterprise
a genuine traveller, keen in
enthu-
She
in energy.
undergo any hardships, as her own
to
simple but graphic
one
the
like
appreciation,
enjoyment, and untiring
was ready
a great
Miss Bird was
suppression of the slave trade.
siastic in
in
She
narrative
during
occasion
On
clearly shows.
her travels
the
in
Rocky
Mountains a heavy storm came on, and so translandmarks that she says
formed
all
" I lost
my way
cabin after dark
on finding that
The snow
room
is
in the snow,
found
it still
had gone
out,
and when
empty,
for the
had gone
reached the
two hunters,
cleared off late, and intense frost set
nearly the open
and, as in the open
air,
air,
being built of unchinked logs,
one requires to sleep with the head
To-day has been one of manual labour.

till
down
two.
till
9.30,
I
My
in.
buried in blankets, or the eyelids and breath freeze.
breakfast
me.
in search of
men went
We
did not
and I did not sit

cleared the living-room and the kitchen,
then the
swept a path through
out,
the rubbish in the passage-room,
washed up, made and baked a batch of bread and four

pounds of sweet biscuits, cleaned some tins and pans,
washed some clothes, and gave things generally a redding
'
up.'"
WOMEN
128
Miss Bird describes the
shifts to
which she was
reduced at Colorado, where she remained for three
months with only a small carpet-bag of
clothes,
none of which were new.

"
These, by legitimate wear, the depredation of calves, and
the necessity of tearing some of them for dish-cloths, are
reduced to a single change.
have a solitary pocket-hand-
kerchief and one pair of stockings, one mass of darns.
am almost without shoes, have

and some
'
arctics.'
riding-suit,
which
have a trained black
a black silk polonaise

is
nothing but a pair of slippers
and nothing
but
else
silk dress,
my
with
old flannel
and requires such
quite threadbare,
mending that I am sometimes obliged to dress for supper

and patch and darn it during the evening. I have to face
the bitter winds with the mercury at zero and below it in
exactly the same clothing which I wore in the tropics.
The dry air makes it possible to do that"
'
The women who have gone

missionaries have frequently
of explorers.
even
Their
lot
had
to
'
the East as
to play the part
has been as
difficult,
and
who have gone

Miss Annie Taylor, who
perilous, as that of travellers
for purposes of exploit.
belonged to the China Inland Mission, went to

places unsafe for foreigners, and
involved terrible hardships.

China, and
later she
studied
the
made an attempt
the Indian side.
to
reach which
In 1884 she went to
language.
Three years
to penetrate
Tibet from
This she found impossible, there
fort,
and lived
in
29
She got up near
being no British control there.

a Tibetan
EXPLORERS.
a hut close to a monas-
For ten months she never saw a European.
tery.
After this
Miss
Taylor
Chinese side of Tibet

servant,
who
determined
so,
try
to
the
having secured a Chinese
afterwards behaved so violently that
the Tibetans themselves interfered to protect her,
she sailed for Shanghai, and at length reached the
When
borders of Tibet.
rior
she penetrated the inte-
she found herself in a wild, picturesque country
Miss Taylor's escort con-
infested with robbers.
sisted of five fighting-men
With
dants.
and her personal
atten-
she had to encounter
this slender force
a band of two hundred brigands.
Two
of her
party were killed and five were wounded, but Miss
Taylor was saved from injury herself by reason of

her sex, as the Tibetans think
a woman.
When
to
shameful to strike
the cold was very intense, about
Christmas time, they
and were glad
it
lost their
way
for three days,,
Taylor was desirous of going through the

of Lhassa, where,
have ever been

official
it
and
who gave
is
said,
they never returned.
VOL. n.
The
her information about the country
be seen there,
held.
district
only two Europeans
declared that he would lose his head

to
Miss
take shelter in a cave.
in
if
he were
such distrust are foreigners
Miss Taylor's Chinese servant proved a

31
WOMEN
I30
who
faithless scoundrel,
credit for
tried to obtain
himself by giving information that a European
During
approaching.
Tibet one of her party

the cold.
in
the
man
strong
died from
For nearly three weeks she had to sleep

open air, on the ground. During her
journeyings Miss Taylor came across a tribe

as the Golocks,
sovereign was
pleased
with
the
English
missionary, and graciously accorded
Miss Taylor at length
safeguard.
lady-
her a royal
in with
fell
and travelled with them
caravan,
known
woman for their chief,

name of Wachu Burmo. This
who had
with the euphonious
Yak
from
journey
return
the
was
back to
China.
Some
may be
gathered from the fact that two hundred
idea of the
Yaks were engaged

twenty
of
feet
snow.
of progress
a passage through
in cutting
Englishwoman who
first
difficulty
Miss
Taylor
reached
the
was
the
heart
of
Tibet.
It
was
Charles
said of
Lady Euan Smith, wife
Euan Smith,
of Sir
had seen service
that she
in
every quarter of the globe, and needed no other

protection
than that of
the
British
flag.
Lady
Smith accompanied her husband wherever he went,
and when
he
was
Minister
Plenipotentiary
Mowero
she would go fearlessly about
natives
with
her
camera,
taking
among
at
the
photographs.

"
What
soldiers these
EXPLORERS. 13I
women make
exclaimed
"
the Sultan.
Captain Barker Snow's wife was his companion
through fifty-seven
It
years
of foreign adventures.
was she who paved the way
American missionaries
a service
fully
recognized by the society.
said
to
went
to Tierra del
have been the
for the
which was grate-
Snow is
woman who
Mrs.
white
first
South
Fuego, Cape Horn, and some
other parts of South America.
Lady
to
who accompanied
Sale,
Afghanistan, was
Sir
Robert Sale
throughout
present
all
the
horrors of the war, which she described in very
graphic language in her journal.
Sir
Robert Peel
said
"
We
are
now acknowledging
should never excuse myself
of Sir Robert Sale,
in
mentioning the name
did not record
woman who
the character of a
Lady
if,
military services, but I
my
admiration of
has shed lustre on her sex
Sale, his wife."
One
present
of the most adventurous travellers of the
day
is
the
niece
of
the
late
Charles
Kingsley, Miss Mary Kingsley, who has twice been

to
West
Africa to study the habits and customs of
the natives, and to collect piscatorial specimens.

In exploring the
territory,
and
in
Gaboon
Cameroons
Gorilla country in the
making the ascent of the
WOMEN IN THE
132
Peak, which
is
VICTORIAN ERA.
Miss Kingsley
13,700 feet high.
traversed parts which are considered very dangerous
and where many Hves have been

explored long stretches of perfectly
There were
She
lost.
also
unknown ground.
perils of various sorts to
be encountered
from the nature of the country and the character of

the natives.
Ogowe
river
among
In canoeing
the rapids of the
Miss Kingsley was several times upset,
and only saved herself by clinging
She had
to sleep in the
open
she encountered cannibals
air in
to the rocks.
who wanted
eat her elephant men, besides
rains,
and
to kill
and
heavy
Gorillas
and other
hostile tribes.
Not
deterred, however,
Miss Kingsley
is
a large collection
risks.
make
a third visit to
districts.
She has made
about to
Africa to explore other
by hardships and
of specimens, and has
careful record of her travels.
kept a
133
CHAPTER
IV.
Modern methods
in women's education compared with the past

French author's opinion of education in England Some causes
of progress Character of the new education The days of
Mary Somerville and Caroline Herschell Their election as
members of the Astronomical Society Mrs. Somerville's eduFouncation Opening of Queen's College Ôrigin of Girton
dation of Newnham Character of modern education.
The
latter
years
of
the
century have
present
witnessed a complete change in the methods of

girls'
the
Those who have been born under
education.
new order
of things can
were arranged
differently matters
their grandmothers,
painting,
and
was confined
when French,
music
comprised
how
the days of
in
dancing, flower-
young
lady's
In boarding schools there was
accomplishments.
much use of
hardly realize
the back-board, and out-door exercise

to a formal
promenade, during which
the girls were enjoined to hold themselves in a

stiff,
fear
erect attitude,
of
and keep a regular
singularity
which
prevented
pace.
The
girls
from
WOMEN
134
Studying classics and mathematics, and from diving
below the surface of knowledge, kept a hold over
mind of the
the
early nineteenth
The
century.
general opinion was that girls did not need to
pursue studies, the
which
utility of
in daily life
Female education was conducted on
not obvious.
the supposition that
all
girls
would become wives
and mothers, and that much time spent on

lectual pursuits
to unfit
them
for
of
intel-
was not merely wasted, but tended

domestic functions, was, indeed,
an obstacle to matrimony.
the claims
was
society,
in
In the higher classes

the middle ranks the
claims of the household, regulated the

quality of the education.
amount and
Only those who looked
forward to earning their living as governesses were
encouraged to pursue a more thorough course of

study,
and even they did not attempt the
solid
branches of learning, but gave their time to superficial
acquirements rather than to an enlargement
of the mental outlook.
And
yet
England was ahead of France and
other countries in the matter of female education in

the eyes of that
St. Constant,
"
who
observant Frenchman, Ferri de

writes in 1804
Quelques reproches qu'on puisse
faire
adopte en Angleterre pour I'^ducation des

avouer qu'en general
il
est
au syst^me
filles,
il
faut
bien sup6rieur k celui qu'on
135
dans d'autres pays. L'inconvenient de leur donner

souvent une instruction trop recherchee est sans doute
suit
moindre que
celui
de
les elever
de croire qu'on craint d'en
What M.
de
St.
faire
de maniere k donner lieu
des ^tres raisonnables."
Constant meant by the education
of English girls being too " recherchde''

to conceive, but
if
at
clear that
the
first
difficult
he thought we erred^
on the side of too much
all,
As
it is
it is
culture.
drew
half of this century
to a close,
a broader view began to be taken of the educational
needs of women, arising out of the general forward
movement
in social
wrought a change
training, took
The new
life.
in
impulse, which
both mental and physical
some time
germinate.
to
But by
degrees the curriculum of study was altered and

enlarged.
The back-board was
given up for the
gymnasium, the daily walk exchanged sometimes

for
an hour
done
for
in
the tennis-court.
More has been
women's education during the
last thirty
years than was accomplished throughout the wholel

of the
eighteenth century, in spite of
literary
movement.
It is
great!
not an intellectual force alone which has
caused such marked progress

If intellectual
women
its
force
by
in
itself
women's education.
were
sufficient,
the
of Greece in the days of Plato would have
been drawn into the current of thought, and not
WOMEN
136
have been
left

in the
The women
gyncecium.
ignorant seclusion of the

of England in the literary
new
eighteenth century would have entered upon a

instead of
era,
eccentric
and
singular
they ventured out of the educational
if
The
rut.
being regarded as
which uprose
force
century was
composite
of a
in
the nineteenth
In one
character.
direction
expended
it
movement
itself
in another, in the
humanitarian
the
in
awakening
life in
the
j
Church
in another, in the
development of
aesthetics;
|
and
it
may be
traced also in the numerous attempts
for the betterment of social
The wider
thought, the
life.
more
lively sympathies,
the juster appreciation of the relative positions of

the sexes, the desire to turn to account the latent
power of individuals
for the
benefit of the
com-
munity, dispelled the mists of error which had clung

to popular theories of the domestic
These
irtipulses,
this
of the nation.;
united to the intellectual movement,
set the education of
much
life
women on
new
basis.
How
was needed rnay be gathered from a
remark made by Buckle, who expressed the opinion

that the thinking
process was quicker in
women
than in men.
"
Nothing," he says,
admitted except the
which women think
"
could prevent
fact that the

is
its
being universally
remarkable rapidity with
obscured by that miserable, that
'
37
contemptible, that preposterous system called their education, in
and
which valuable things are carefully kept from them,

taught to them, until their fine
are too often irretrievably injured." *
trifling things carefully
and nimble minds
The
greater thoroughness.
the foundations.
and the
new education was its

looked more carefully to
characteristic of the
trifling
calculated to
It
The valuable
things were revealed
Better methods
things put aside.
awaken the mental powers were sub-
stituted for the old parrot-like
system which
vated a merely verbal memory.
It
is,
culti-
of course,
just as likely that classics, science, or mathematics
be studied
will
there
is
Indeed
superficially as anything else.
a strong tendency to prick the surface of
demand close and continued application.

Every department of knowledge is now so accessible.
Nothing is sacred from the crammer with his primers
and text-books. But although many are satisfied/
subjects that
with hastily acquired half-knowledge, there
improvement
essential to
is
higher.
in
is
a great
the general estimate of what
a woman's education.
The sham
scholar
is
The
is
standard
detected at once,l
and has no chance of practising an imposture.

Reference has already been made to the fact
that
England was regarded
as advanced, in
com-
parison with other nations, at the beginning of the

*
" Influence of
Women
on the Progress of Knowledge."
138
WOMEN
century,
as far as

concerned women's education.
After the lapse of thirty years, matters seem to have
been no better
the
condemnation
remarks was
generally
and
in France,
contained
following
the
in
Europe
intended to apply to
not
" Or, sous tous les rapports,
tion des
doubtful whether
it is
on doit considerer I'educa-
femmes comme detestable
at
cette education
si
une ficheuse influence sur les
est cause qu'elles exercent
moeurs, r^ciproquement les mceurs exercent sur elles la

plus
pernicieuse
[hve
la
la
mollesse et de I'oisivet^
est
tronquee,
^troite,
qu'on
I'esprit
d'irreflexion
et
songer qu'a
inspire
est
les
est
laisse
leur sourire
comme
si
enti^rement ignorer
comme
devait jamais
was
elles
just at this period, which
propitious to the educational
De
la
on
si le
les
on
malheur
retient le
intelligence, comme si la raison

*
n6cessaire."
leur 6tre
d^veloppement de leur
"
de choses
la fortune devait toujours
ne devait jamais se dresser contre
le
les instruit
on ^touffe leur energie,
qu'on
monde
un esprit
fond pour ne
et ses difiicultes, la vie et ses douleurs
berce dans le luxe,
1832.
les nourrit
gouts
faux et contradictoire
de pure speculation, et on leur
It
les
toujours
on oublie
Tout
On
monde
parure et des plaisirs du
frivolite
la forme.
dont on
I'instruction
dans I'education des femmes.
le
comment on
Voici
superficielle
la
leur
de
et
ceux de
entretient sont
et
influence.
premiere habitude qu'on leur donne est celui de
ne
seemed so un-
advancement of women
Condition Sociale des Femmes." Revue Encydopidiquey
generally,
Mary
that
Somerville
and
39
Caroline
Herschell were reaping the reward of their talent
and industry.
members
In
1835 they were both elected
of the Astronomical Society.
In a report
containing the recommendation, the council of the
Society
position
The
"
made some observations relative to the

of women which are worth recording.
report runs
Your Council has no small pleasure in recommending

names of two ladies, distinguished in diflferent
that the
walks of astronomy, be placed on the
members.
On
list
of honorary-
the propriety of such a step, in an astro-
nomical point of view, there can be but one voice
your Council
is
of opinion that the time
either feeling or prejudice,
proper to
call
it,
has hitherto
felt that,
subject, or
and
gone by when
by whichever name
it
may
be
should be allowed to interfere with the
payment of a well-earned
on the
is
tribute of respect.
whatever might be
its
Your Council
own sentiment
however able and willing
defend such a measure,
it
it might be to
had no right to place the name
of a lady in a position the propriety of which might be

contested, though
grounds and
upon what
false principles.
might consider narrow
it
But your Council has no
fear that such a difference could
now take
place between
any men whose opinion would avail to guide that of society

at large, and abandoning compliments on the one hand
on the other, submits that while the
and
false delicacy
tests
of astronomical merit should in no case be applied to
the works of a
woman
less severely
than to those of a man,
the sex of the former should no longer be an obstacle to
WOMEN
I40
her receiving any acknowledgment which might be held
due
the
to
And
latter.
your
re-
Council, therefore,
commends this meeting to add to the list of honorary

members the names of Miss Caroline Herschell and Mrs
Somerville, of whose astronomical knowledge, and of the
utility
of the ends to which
has been applied,
it
not
it is
necessary to recount the proofs."
The
council
were a-head of their day
deeming
in
that
" the
judice
time had gone

.
ment of a well-earned
Only
in
by when
or
feeling
either
pre-
should be allowed to interfere with the pay-
1893
tribute of respect."
the
Royal
refused to allow certain ladies to
the plea of sex simply.
Society
Geographical
become
fellows
on
Mr. G. N. Curzon, M.P.,
described the proposal as

" part of
the
general
movement
natural barriers between the
two
the direction of the so-called
'
to
down
break
sexes.
These steps
emancipation
'
of
the
in
women
would not be so much injurious to men as disastrous to

women." *
When
the ladies
it
came
to the voting there
were 158
for
against, 172.
Any one who
thinks of the mental pabulum
provided in the best
girls'
years ago cannot
fail
to
be struck with the complete
The
Tillies,
July
schools
4,
1893.
fifty
or sixty
change that has taken place
tion,
in the
141
form of educa-
and the much wider range which the school
now
course
For the old system of learning
covers.
by rote has been substituted the
lecture,
which
better stimulant to thought, and a readier
conveying knowledge.
tabooed,
culum
now forms
means of
was formerly
Science, which
part of the
is
every-day curri-
to the study of Eîglish literatur e, into the

j
were never encouraged
early history of which girls

to wander, has
The
been added philolog y.
origin
and ^TOwth_of our language was not thought a

matter which
it
few were taught
concerned
L^n,
to other languages,
known
knowledge which
even as a stepping-stone
and Greek was
in girls' colleges
it
is
Very
know.
girls to
and
practically un-
Avenues of
schools.
now deemed
essential to
tread were shut to girls unless they belonged to

exceptionally enlightened families.
The celebrated Mrs. Somerville, when she was

Mary Fairfax, timidly consulted Professor Playfair
if a woman might, without impropriety, learn Latin,
The proas she wished to study the Principia.
fessor gravely replied that
harm
it
would not do her any
The
to learn Latin for such a purpose.
of training from which Mrs. Somerville
was never completely got

ceptional ability.
It
over, even
was apparent
in
lack
suffered
by her exher work,.
WOMEN
142
"
The Mechanism of
who admitted to the
the Heavens," in which those

full
the value of the matter,
perceived a want of preciseness in terms and a

general looseness of language which, though not a
hindrance to advanced students, would be liable to

cause beginners to
remembered, was
err.
The
book,
it
must be
Mrs.
intended for popular use.
Somerville's parents, like others of their day, were

afraid of close, systematic study of difficult subjects
Writing
for their girls.

ville
Mrs. Somer-
in later years,
says that she pursued her studies as well as
her domestic tasks permitted, one of these being to
When Mary
work samplers.
of rapid advance
said
to his
this,
or
we
to
show
signs
mathematics, Admiral Fairfax
in
wife,
began
we must put a stop to

have Mary in a strait-jacket
" Peg,
shall
one of these days."
At
the present day everything
is
open
there
are no gates shut in the realm of learning.
who
will
Although
can enter.
All
this great gain has
been to some extent minimized by haste, pressure,
and the
distraction caused
by having many subjects
presented to the mind at once, the winning of
mental freedom counterbalances
all
disadvantages.
In treating of the education and opportunities

of past days, regard
standard and
the
must be paid
to the general
usually accepted
estimate
of
women's
women
intellectual needs.
43
That there were many-
highly educated, in the best sense of the
word, without the aid of lectures and examinations,

or the stimulus of competing for University honours,
is
But they were usually brought up
undeniable.
by scholarly parents, who possessed well-stocked

which they did not keep under lock and
libraries,
key.
The
merit of the present age
the attitude which

is
it
lies
much
not an excuse for lack of thoroughness.
in
Sex
takes towards education.
Women
are expected to be as patient and painstaking in
knowledge as men,
their pursuit of
to
be students at
The
first
if
they pretend
all.
attempt to give a wider scope to
women's education was when Queen's College was

opened
in
1848.
the year of
It is a curious
political
coincidence that
upheaval
all
over Europe
should see the commencement of an educational
Queen's College grew out
revolution in England.
of the Governesses'
Benevolent
Institution,
the
was the
first
idea being that to teach the teachers

essential
college
step
in
was open
educational
to
all
reform.
But the
comers, and was
not a
mere training ground for teachers. The name of

Frederick Denison Maurice must always be
honoured as that of a pioneer
of the higher education of
in the
promotion
women. The methods
of
WOMEN
144
teaching in the
new
college excited hostile
ment from contemporary
writers,
com-
and Maurice de-
fended with great earnestness the system adopted
by himself and
his brother professors,
who
all
came
from King's College.
The
educational advantages offered
by Queen's
College were unprecedented, and the fees were low.
Some
of the best teaching
work of the present day
has been done by
women who were
Queen's College.
Its
spread,
and
it
has done
influence
much
students at
has been wide-
to raise the standard
of proficiency.
"The
distinguishing features in a man's education,"
wrote Bebel,
"
are the strengthening of the understanding,
the sharpening of the powers of thought, the extension of
knowledge, the acquisition of

in short,
The
scientific facts
and methods,
the development of the functions of the mind.
education of a woman, on the other hand,
deserves the
name
at
all,
concerns
external cultivation of the feelings.
strung sensitiveness, nervous
itself
.
The
irritability,
when
it
with the purely

results are over-
and a heightened
art, and
imagination, the product of music, light literature,

poetry."
Twenty years passed over before any attempt

was made to enable women to enter upon a regular
University career.
In 1856 Miss Jessie Meriton
White was vainly applying
for admittance to the
matriculation examination of
London University
in
145
order to prepare for a medical training.
through
the
efforts
mainly of
In 1869,
Mme. Bodichon
(Barbara Leigh Smith) and Miss Emily Davies,
a college
opened
women on
for
University
was
lines
This was the origin of Girton
at Hitchin.
Ac-
College, the building of which cost \\,']00.
commodation was provided
twenty-one students,
the building has been
but since then
Girton
was opened
porated
in 1872.
students in
for
enlarged.
1873, having been incor-
in
In 1895 there were seventy-one
The
residence.
plan of study was
modelled on that of Cambridge University, for
one of the objects of the founders

fitness for
to prove
it
was
women's
pursuing the same studies as men.
Newnham
College, built
by the Association
Promoting the Higher Education of Women,

lowed
scale,
in 1875.
It is
arranged on a
less
for
fol-
expensive
and possesses the advantage of being situated
within the City of Cambridge, instead of two miles
out in the country like Girton.

students past and present
Among
is
The number
of
999.
other objections urged against
women
following a University career has been the theory

that
what
is
suitable for
women, who ought
VOL.
II.
It
suitable for
to avoid certain lines of study,
and not entrench upon

stronger sex.
men cannot be
the
prerogative
has been held by
of
the
many persons
32
WOMEN
146
women
that
field
are hot free to enter into the whole wide
keep to the paths
of learning, but should
assigned them by theory.
This
In the sixteenth century
notion.
Women who
prevailed.
really a
is
had
modern
more
liberal ideas
any
capacity
for
scholarship enjoyed the whole range of knowledge.
The means of study were

and books
few, but all available
were open to
it
difficult,
women
the methods dry,
avenues of learning
as a matter of course,
was only the upper
classes
who
though
received any
certainly
education worth speaking of
very few
outside their ranks could be described as scholars.
In secondary education no single individual has
done so much
for girls during the last three or four
decades as the late Frances
Mary
Buss.
Through
her organizing and business capacity she raised the

private
school which she
London
to such a degree of efficiency, that
the Brewers'
money
Company
for the
started in
the north of
desired to invest
promotion of
girls'
when
a sum of
education, they
entered into negotiations with Miss Buss, acquired
her undertaking, and retained her as the head-
Miss Buss^ imparted to her system of

education what had so generally been lacking in
mistress.
the training of girls nethod and pojat.
was allowed
kept
in
view.
to drift.
Her main
definite
No
one
end was always
injunction to a departino-
pupil
was
to adopt a career in
sponse to the question,
you going to do
'^
life,
Now, my
I47
and
dear,
if
in re-
what are
the student could reply that
"
she was about to follow some new profession for
women, such
was
as dentistry or dispensing, great
Miss Buss's delight.
The High-school
during the
last
middle classes.
system, but
it
to
It
improve the education of the
has introduced the cramming
has also put sound instruction within
the reach of numbers

left
up
quarter of a century, has, in spite of its
done much
defects,
system, which has grown
who would otherwise have been
without any mental discipline worth the name.
The middle
classes are
was formerly confined

curriculum
the study
is
is
more varied
Thfe
Jane, Plato was a
" get
up
Plato
" for
is
Women
appreciative
but
modern
girl
graduate reads
delightful
so did
To Lady
the notes.
recreation
to
the
one of the authors she has to
the approaching examination.
The comparison
period.
The'
in the present day,
with the help of the best notes
girl,
what
the aristocracy.
Lady Jane Grey, but without

Girton
able to enjoy
not more profound than in the six-
teenth century.
her Plato
to
now
is
favourable
to
the earlier
more
They were not haunted by
studied then in a higher and
spirit.
thoughts of "passes," and could afford to ponder
WOMEN
148
over the philosophy of the ancient sages, to weigh

their
meaning as
well as master the construction
There was no cramming of
of intricate passages.
certain portions of an author's
The
time.
study
no rewards
in
works
was the end
itself
in
a given
there were
view but those that come from the
acquisition of knowledge.
Excellent and valuable as has been the example
of the court and royal family during the Victorian

era in regard to the appreciation of literature and
art,
of
movement
the
women
in
favour of the higher education
not due to individual influence, but
is
movement
among the leisured classes. Sovereigns may advance or retard such movements
private individuals may give voice to the general sentiment
when the time is ripe the man or the woman
appears.
They seem to lead in reality they are
is
the result of a general progressive
being
led,
unconsciously,
the national
life.
The
by a subtle
quickly responsive natures
are the pioneers in social movements
minds
stretch
out
to
stirring in
meet
the
those whose
slowly growing
who feel the first faint breath of the new

The educational movement forms part of
force.
the general evolution in the history of women in
thought,
England, and cannot be considered as a thing of
independent origin and growth.
H9
CHAPTER
WOMEN
The branches
V.
IN LITERATURE.
women have been most diswoman writer Influence of

public sentiment Position of literary women in the eighteenth
century Anecdote by Lord Granville Influence of women in
literature The new school of fiction
Rapid advance of women
tinguished
of literature in which
The
first
professional
in all
branches of literature.
In considering women's place
be necessary to
main
It
in
literature
and to indicate these very
points,
it
will
subject to one or two
limit the
briefly.
would be beyond the scope and beside the
purpose of
this
book
to
give
the
of
sketches
leading writers and describe the nature of their
This would lead to nothing
works.
than a
less
survey of the whole literary history of England
two
during
the
giving
biographical
academic
idea
in
last
discussion
may be
relation
to
hundred
details
of
or
literary
years.
Without
entering
questions,
gathered of the position of

literature
into
an
some
women
by noting the branches
WOMEN
150
in
which they have been most distinguished, the
general estimate in which their works have been

held, the
advance which they have made
rapid
along various paths of literature during the present

century, and the influence of public sentiment on
woman's
literary career.
There
no
difficulty in
Women
point.
in
is
determining the
have excelled more
any other branch of
first
in ^fictioiLthan
The number
literature.
of eminent novelists far exceeds the number of
eminent writers
in
any other department.
applies not only to the present day, but
true of the last century.
of
the
or romance
fiction
field
Indeed,
that
it
women
times England could boast of
equally
was as writers
entered
first
Although even
of literature.
is
This
women
in
Saxon
of learning,
there are but scanty records of their contributions

to literature before the middle of the seventeenth
century.
The
devotional writings and the trans-
which were produced by
lations from the classics
women
in the
Elizabethan period are valuable as
evidences of the soundness of education

the
upper
classes,
and
the
high
among
standard
of
scholarship attained, but they hardly afford a starting-point from which

in
literature.
Those
to
consider women's place
writers
suffrages of the general
did
public,
not
and
seek
their
the
works
WOMEN
IN LITERATURE.
151
known except among scholars. There

were few women among the poets or prose writers of
Tudor times whose works have attained celebrity.
The temper of a nation may be gauged by its
were
little
The
literature.
seventeenth century was neither
What
a studious nor a poetic age.

to
were popular,
was
liked
Plays on and
be amused, shocked, excited.
off the stage
it
on account of the
less
beauty or depth of their sentiment than because

they appealed
to
the
passions and tickled
the
The
fancy by treating vice as a subject of mirth.
English novel was

growth,
but
which
anything
It
was
there
in
in
a very early stage of
was a widespread
savoured
prose romance
of
the
first
who made a living by her pen achieved

Mrs. Aphra Behn's plays are pretty well
but her novel "
of Charles
II.,
of literature.
for
make-believe.
the
that
taste
its
woman
celebrity.
forgotten,
Oronooko," written at the request

still
It
holds
its
place in the annals
may be remarked
in
passing that
the purpose of Mrs. Behn's novel was the
same
as that which, a couple of hundred years
later,
inspired Mrs. Beecher-Stowe to the composition
of " Uncle Tom's Cabin."
The women
who practised
writers in the seventeenth century
other
forms
achieved temporary fame.
of
literature
The poems and
only
letters
WOMEN
152
who
of the Duchess of Newcastle,
extravagant praise
her day
those of the " Match-
who was admired by Cowley
less Orinda,"
tragedy, "
in
received such
the
Mariam," by Lady Elizabeth Carew, and
the compositions of serious writers like
Mary Astell,
Elizabeth Lamond, and Elizabeth Elstob, have
all
passed into the limbo of obscurity.
When we come
is
to
again in fiction that
the eighteenth
century
women
have held
There are but few
their place.
essayists, poetesses,
tists,
writers
historians,
and none who
it
drama-
can com-
pare in celebrity or popularity with the romance
Catherine Macaulay, Eliza Heywood, and
writers.
Elizabeth Carter have almost ceased to be read,
Fanny Burney, Mrs.
while
Radcliffe are
still
every circulating
in
and
Inchbald,
Mrs.
library.
In the present centurj' the prominent place to
women have
which
more
striking.
Humphry Ward
attained
as
novelists
is
still
Between Jane Austen and Mrs.

is
one long
roll
of fame, in which
great names, like that of George Eliot, stand out

in
letters
which
women have
cident,
life,
There
of gold.
novels
of
is
no
not attempted
character,
of fiction
class
novels
novels
of
of
in-
domestic
the historical romance, the society novel, the
novel with a didactic purpose, the novel
venture
all
are to be found in the
list
of ad-
of wômen s
WOMEN
productions
works
of
and, what
more,
is
every branch of
in
women.
which
IN LITERATURE.
The
distinguished
women
may be
along
the
century.
The number
to emphasize
of
than to
that
women have
most successful
field of action.
found
convenient here to note the rapid
women have made
advance that
works
writers in other departments
weaken the contention

in fiction their
of the best
are the
fiction
53
novelists present a solid phalanx,
of literature rather serves
It
many
being daily recruited.
is
line,
during
especially
literature
in
the
half-
last
There are but few departments
to
all
which
they have not contributed a large amount of note-
We
worthy work.
torians,
but
have,
there are
it
no great
is true,
many who have
largely in providing material for history

izing certain phases
and periods of
by the writing of biography.
by
social
his-
assisted
speciallife,
and
In poetry and in dra-
matic literature women, again, have not progressed

as they have in prose, whether from lack of ima-
ginative and creative power, or because they have
not seen and
felt
enough of
declared to be the reason
good tragedy.
As
life,
which Lord Byron
why women
did not write
translators, editors, compilers,
as writers on social subjects and questions of the

day,
in
educational literature,
memoirs and
travels,
and
in
the
writing of
in literary studies,
they
'
WOMEN
154
compete with the best workers.
Besides the purely
women, we have the enormous band of

journalists and magazine writers, among whom
literary
there
is
The
affected
a goodly sprinkling of editors.

influence of public sentiment has largely
women's position
century
last
it
was adverse
to
In
literature.
women
the
following a
Lady Mary Montagu, when she
literary career.
was
in
in Italy in 1753,
was a
little
confused at
first
by the compliments which she received on her

and attempted
books,
until
she realized that
were held
writers
greatest
families
She
authoress.
deny her authorship,
to
proud of
writes in
way
of
ing intellectual pursuits in England

"
We
possessing
women
stifle
and no
art
some few get

our knowledge must be
our natural reason
above their nurses' instructions,
follow-
are educated in the grossest ignorance,
omitted to
an
her usual caustic vein
of the hindrances put in the
/^
women
esteem, and that the
in high
were
country
that
in
if
concealed and be as useless to the world as gold in the

mine.
am now speaking according to our English

may wear out some ages hence, along with
equally absurd.
It appears to me the clearest
I
notions, which
others
proof of a clear understanding in Longinus, when
I find
him so far superior to vulgar prejudices as to choose his

two examples of fine writing from a Jew and a woman.
Our modern wits would be so far from quoting, they would
WOMEN IN
scarce
own they had read
LITERATURE.
the works of such contemptible
though perhaps they would condescend to
creatures,
55
steal
from them at the same time they declared they were below
their notice." *
women were
Literary
looked upon as abnormaj^
creatures whose example was to be shunned.
It
woman
should devote
herself to literature as a profession.
Any marked
was thought unnatural
that
taste or aptitude for learning she
discouraged.
Somerville,
It
was remarked
who was born
in
might show was
in the case of
Mary
1780
a boy had shown similar fitness for mathematical re-
" if
search, anxious attention
would have been devoted to the
choice of books and teachers, school and university
the case of a
girl
showing such
tastes
but
seemed to be ade-
quately met by according to her the privilege of following
own
her
devices." t
Intellectual pursuits
women;
if
were thought unfitted
for
not positively harmful, they were "un-
ladylike."
Women
same kind
of repugnance as a short time ago was
felt
women
for
was supposed
women and
"
writers
bicyclists
were regarded with the
and
to be a positive
cricketers.
There
antagonism between
knowledge.
A taste for sciences in most women does not come until

every other
they have
lost
to them,
usually does
it
relish, and, as it is
them more harm than good. Very
few of them are made amiable by

* " Letters," vol.
ii.
not natural
it,
but
many have
+ Fortnightly Review, 1873.
their
WOMEN
156
,
brains turned,
and are exposed by
misfortune
portable
falls into this
by
to the laughter of
it
A woman
reasonable persons of both sexes.
who
thro'
absurdity makes herself insup-
that air of sufficiency which she assumes on
She seems always in

astonishment at what she knows, tho' her pretended knowledge is commonly what others find less astonishing than
all
occasions without perceiving
it.
herself." *
It
will
be remembered
how Fanny Burney
feared to acknowledge the authorship of " Evelina,"^
and protested that she only wrote
An
anecdote
by the
told
late
shows that the prejudice against
known
it
as a pastime.
Lord Granville
women becoming
for their proficiency in letters
was strong
in
cultivated circles in the early part of this century.
Speaking
in the
the question of
cillors, his
House
of Lords in June, 1890, on
women becoming County Coun-
Lordship said
When I was a boy a great statesman, who has since

become a very brilliant man of letters, took his daughter
into Devonshire on a visit.
On his return to London he
"
received a letter from his hostess, enclosing a copy of

verses,
and suggesting that very
likely the
modesty of
his
daughter had prevented him seeing the copy which she then
sent him.
and
The statesman
at once sent for his daughter,
criticized the verses, pointing out
some unsuitable
lines,
praising the beauties of others, and on the whole greatly
approving of the poem.

appealed to her affection
* "
But having done that, he then

for him, and made a request to
Le Blanc,"
vol.
ii.
WOMEN
IN LITERATURE.
57
He was not afraid of her

becoming a good poetess, but he was afraid of the disadvantages which were Hkely to be suffered by her if she
were supposed to be a lady of literary attainments."
her never to write verses again.
The number
women who have
of
written under
pseudonyms, fearing to disclose their sex
work should be thereby branded as
inferior, is
proof of the power of public sentiment to

position of
women
in
lest their
affect the
The names
literature.
of
Charlotte Bronte and her sisters and of George

Eliot will at once occur as examples.
The difficulties that formerly stood in the way

of women producing literature which necessitated
much research and study of matters foreign to the
ordinary feminine curriculum may be one of the
reasons why women took so frequently to the writing
of
fiction,
which depends
Women's
power.
women
of
on imaginative
position in literature has been
largely determined
conditions
chiefly
by
social
their surroundings
life.
and the
At the present day
are not debarred from any intellectual pur-
suit
by lack of books, or of
the
resources of the
teachers, or of
any of
student which are open to
men, nor are they hindered by a hostile public

sentiment.
literature
They
for
are
free to
which their
similar conditions
follow any path in
abilities
had prevailed
fit
them.
If
earlier the record
WOMEN
158
more
of literary achievements would have been
Women
varied.
literature, as
fiction
still
would have entered into general
they are doing now, when, although

claims
the largest
greatest names, there
body of
Men
lines,
all
is
numbers and the
a very steadily increasing
writers in other departments.
and
women
and finding a
intellectual
now educated on similar

common standing-ground on
being
questions, there
is
less
evidence of
sex in the works of general literature written by
women.
In purely literary subjects there
little
is
by which the pen of a woman can be distinguished

from that of a man.
There are writers who betray
their sex in a variety of ways, but
it
to the subject-matter of their writings.
however, which
is
not due
is
In
concerned with human
fiction,
feeling,
the difference between the point of view of a
and that of a
Women
Which
woman
is
more
distinctly
have contributed certain elements to
" the character
fiction
Miss Julia Kava-
are conditioned by sex.
nagh remarked, more than
man
marked.
thirty years ago, that
of the English novel has, for the last
much modified by what threatens

become an overwhelming influence woman."
seventy years, been
to
The effect of the in-rush during that

women into fiction was to make popular
of domestic
life,
and to
period of
the novel
foster a taste for
works
'
WOMEN
in
59
which the interest was condensed within narrow
But
limits.
influence of
in
IN LITERATURE.
in
the
women
We
also a novel
another sense
the deeper problems of
manner
The
life.
life,
man and
relations
between
it
as
one of the great elements of
may become
same
They approach the

The male novelist
a woman.
subject from an opposite basis.
views
but
of treating
the sexes can never appear in precisely the

light to a
itself
feminine in quite
is
in the
the
abundance
in
of domestic
which
namely,
have
still
the purely feminine novel
we have
has shown
in literature
another direction.
years
twenty-five
last
life
which
dramatic, pathetic, or commonplace,
To
according to circumstances.
the
woman
novelist
the pivot around which everything turns, the
it is
one absorbing problem of existence.

in great
measure
for the
This accounts
prominence given to
questions in novels written by
women.
social
Subjects
which are now being discussed without reserve
in
other prose literature, in the periodical and the

daily
press, are to
women
interest than they are to
receive
It
is
more
analytical treatment at their hands.
might be argued that
in all
women
Consequently they
men.
the same, and that the
are
matters of more vital
in all
women
essentials of feeling
of last century.
ages
But
human nature
of this century
the same as the
feeling finds a form
WOMEN
l6o
of expression in accordance with the sentiment of

In Miss Burney's and Miss Austen's
the times.
days, for instance, the question of an equal moral
standard for both sexes, far from coming into the
arena of public discussion, was not even raised.
Women
morals
had not
expect equality in
to
the ideal of the age did not
distinction
demand
it.
was drawn between masculine and femi-
The way
nine virtue.
on
learned
in
this point influenced
which public sentiment
may be
fiction
seen
by
glancing at the novels of the eighteenth century
by the
ablest male writers like Fielding.
This
is
not the place in which to discuss the
merits and demerits of the
new
that has been created so largely

It
is
a school occupied with
and other matters

of
women
in
school of fiction
by women
politics,
writers.
economics,
regard to which the position
has materially changed.
The
dissection
of emotion and the probing of the labour question

are carried on side
by
side.
The
next century will
be a better judge than the present of the place to

be assigned to the novelists of to-day, and
will see
with clearer eyes which are the faults that belong

to the age,
and which are the shortcomings of the
individual.
into literature
training
number of women are now drawn

by
their apprenticeship to the Press
ground
only formed within
recent
WOMEN
The
years.
IN LITERATURE.
l6l
general educational advance has also
women
developed among
ability
which
unused
for
a great deal of serviceable
days would
former
in
want of
have
lain
If the competition
cultivation.
in literature is greater, the opportunities for writers
are enormously multiplied.
Women
stand on
an
with
equality
men
as
regards the general estimation in which their works

are held.
Books are judged on
their
own
Woman
without reference to the sex of the writer.

is
expected to hold her
literature,
and
if
taking the fault
is
her limitations
as
women
she
own
in
in
any
fails
merits
branches of
all
literary
under-
not ascribed to her sex, but to
an
The
individual.
hold in literature
is
much
affected
position
by the
altered conditions of society, which
have brought
them
It
into the mid-current of
life.
is
deemed
by many people a most regrettable feature of the

late nineteenth
century that
seek or have thrust upon
women
them
acquaintance with humanity in
a writer
women
cannot know
too
all
much
should either
an unreserved
its
phases.
of
life,
But
and
if
are to produce literature worthy of the
name they must not shrink from any knowledge

which will help them to a sounder judgment. They
have more to fear from ignorance than from too
much light.
VOL.
II.
33
WOMEN
62
CHAPTER
VI.
The
Opening
Society of
half
Lady Artists Women as musicians Composers in the
of the century Queen Victoria's pianoforte instructress The
women The
stage as a profession for
Academy
of the Royal
progress of art
schools to female students
first
musical amateur.
At
the present day the difficulties in the
women who
way
of
wish to adopt the stage as a profession
are nothing like so great as in the last century.
There was then
far less
restraint of
would have been impossible
for a
manners
it
gentlewoman to
have gone alone to any place of entertainment
women
those
were subject to rudeness
in private life
the public streets
who
regarded as
if
catered
fair
prey
the
by a man of rank were deemed only
The freedom
was
in
much more were

common amusement
insults offered to a woman
unattended
for
gallantries.
allowed to spectators at a theatre
something
astonishing.
behind the scenes
They went
freely
they even mingled with the
63
actors on the stage, paying extra for this privilege.
The worst
Queen
abuses were gradually remedied.

Anne, as has been seen, issued edicts
for
the
reformation of the manners of theatre-goers, but
much licence was permitted in spite of regulations.

The standard of taste and morals of the present
day does not permit scenes of disorder such as
were
witnessed in the theatres of the last century, and
outward respect
stage.
An
shown
is
actress
is in
to the performers
no
fear of
however she may be beset by

every respect her position
calling brings her
her
own
fault.
open molestation,
insidious means.
is
improved.
into disrepute,
If
In
her
generally
is
it
change has come over popular
The
sentiment with regard to the stage.
who was
on the
actor,
formerly shunned as a Bohemian by the
staid middle class,
and
to
whom
" society " only
condescended occasionally to show marks of favour,

is
now admired and
courted.
It
thought a venturesome thing for a
is
girl
no
to
longer
go on
the stage, nor does she lose caste by so doing
the fear and the contempt have both vanished.
As one
result
numbers of men and women who
would not have cared formerly

ations
of the theatre
to face the associ-
now throng
the stage as
amateurs, greatly to the detriment of the professional
performers
and girls and youths who have no
special
WOMEN
164
dramatic
to
It
talent,
but are only "stage struck," take
own
the boards to their
after disillusionment.
has become so " respectable," in the middle-class
acceptation of the word, to be on the stage that
women
any other profession.
feel as safe there as in
In former times
women
men
Youthful parts, such
take male characters.
by women,
as pages, are generally played
man who combines
find
to
difficult
now
acted women's parts,
for
it is
sufficient
experience with suppleness and juvenility of appear-
The development
ance.
tacular performances has
demand
for
opened
out
women and
pantomime and spec-
immensely increased the
girls
new
quite
of
on the
stage.
for
field
It
has
employment.
Objection has been raised to the performance of

children, who,
dangers of
sorts
all
alleged,
is
it
by
theatrical
from which pantomime

risks
in their
own
are exposed to great

life.
girls are
But the
drawn run
class
similar
surroundings, and the theatre
must be a welcome change from
their sordid
homes.
In the higher branches of the profession the

prizes
which
than ever.
fall
to really great actresses are larger
The
competition
all
through
is
severer
every day, but the openings are multiplying constantly,
for
every watering-place
town of note has
its
theatre.
back to the time when
women
and
provincial
It is
curious to look
first
trod the stage
publicly in England,
day when no piece
One
and compare
it
65
with the present
played without them.
is
circumstance which
now
numbers of women to the stage
tends to attract
in the present
the popularity of a species of domestic
day
is
drama which
does not put a great strain on the histrionic powers.
There are thus more openings than formerly
for
who possess adaptability and other minor

but who would fail in enacting a great
performers
qualities,
passion.
With regard
women was
in
schools were
to
art,
1861,
The
when
point
for
Royal Academy
the
opened to
first
Sir Charles Eastlake

influence
turning
the
women
was President
then,
students.
and
his
was favourable to the admission of women.
matter came about in this wise
Lord, Lynd-
hurst, in his speech at the annual dinner in 1859,
remarked on the benefits conferred upon all Her

Majesty's subjects by the
Academy
upon Miss Laura Herford, an
schools.
artist,
There-
wrote to Lord
Lyndhurst pointing out that half of Her Majesty's

subjects
womenwere
excluded.
This led to a
discussion of the question of the propriety of ad-
mitting
artists
women.
signed
to every
Thirty-eight ladies
professional
a memorial, which was forwarded
member
of the Academy, praying for the
admission of women, pointing out the benefit
it
WOMEN
66
would be
to
teachers,
from the antique and
them
from
Academy, however, refused the

ground that a separate
and
be provided,
under qualified
to pursue studies,
for
The
life.
request, on
the
school would have to
life
was no room.
There
there.
there
that
However, the matter did not
rest
was, in the constitution of the Academy, no law

either for or against the admission of
was the
at the
first
women.
This
time application had been made, and,
Miss
suggestion of Sir Charles Eastlake,
Herford sent
in a drawing,
signed only "L. Herford,"
and was admitted by letter addressed to

Esq.''
It
" L. Herford,.
then became a question whether a woman,,
who had been
accepted as a man, should be allowed
to enter, but the President got his way,
Herford duly took her place

the next year five
in the
and Miss
year 1861.
By
more lady students had appeared,
and were passed, and
in the
next ten years forty
entered.
Miss Herford, who was a constant exhibitor,

died in 1870 at the early age of thirty-nine.
had, before entering the
Academy, studied
in the
Museum.
Miss
sculpture galleries of the British
Herford's niece, Miss Helen Paterson,
with her, was also a clever
Mrs. Allingham.
artist,
She was
the Society of Painters in
She
better
elected
who lived
known as
Associate of
Water Colours
in 1875.
67
Although, as every one knows, there have been

no lady Associates or Academicians since the days of
Angelica Kauffmann and Mary Moser^both, by the
way, of foreign birth there is no law against their
The
election.*
reason for excluding them assigned
by Mr. William Sandby,

Academy,"
"
One
is
lame and
or two ladies,
in his "
History of the Royal
He
insufficient.
says
elected members, could scarcely
if
be expected to take part in the government or in the work

of the society and as the practice even of giving votes by
proxy has long since been abolished, the effect of their
;
election as
Royal Academicians would
be, virtually, to
who manage
the affairs of the
reduce the number of those
and the schools
institution
in proportion as ladies were

and as long as the number of
limited, a difficulty would arise in the fact that
admitted to that rank

Associates
is
the higher rank has to be recruited from that body."
The
if
question
may
fairly
be asked
why women,
elected as Academicians, should not take part in
the government and work of the society
seems no valid reason
for
in
this
matter.
generous.
He
remarks
cation
"
making sex a
Mr. Sandby
is
There
disqualifi-
not un-
Whether a number of honorary appointments could be
made
recognise talent in such cases, but conferring
to
none of the other
rights or privileges of
matter which the Council of the
determine
*
and there
is
membership,
Academy
no doubt from
is
are best able to
their desire, as far
Sandby, "History of the Royal Academy of Arts."
WOMEN
68
as
wise and reasonable, to meet any just demands, that
is
the claims of
will
of ability, whether male or female,
all artists
meet with due consideration."
Nothing has been done to remove the

of sex, and Miss Ellen Clayton
is
disability
justified in saying
that
"
The Academy has studiously ignored the existence

women artists, leaving them to work in the cold shade
utter neglect.
women Academicians
the
reward been given
accident of circumstances and
accident, aided by courage and

women have
countries
made two
Accidents
Accident opened the door to
the accident of birth.
students
trifling
merit and industry.
highest
of
Not even once has a helping hand been
extended, not once has the most

for
of
talent.
girl
In other
the prizes fairly earned quietly
placed in their hands, and can receive them with dignity.
In
free,
unprejudiced, chivalric England, where the race
is
given to the swift, the battle to the strong, without fear or

favour,
it
only by slow, laborious degrees that
is
are winning the right to enter the
lists
at
all,
women
and are then
received with half-contemptuous indulgence." *
The second
favourable
The
in
to
half of this century has
the
Society of
1859,
Mrs.
cultivation
Lady
Artists
fluence,
is
came
into existence
Lind-Gold-
some other
ladies of in-
having given the
bition of the year 1895
of art by women.
Madame
Grote and
schmidt, with the help of
been very
initiative.
The
exhi-
the fortieth that has been
* Ellen Clayton, " English
Female
Artists.''
Twice
held.
in
was largely owing
the late Miss
69
the Society's history considerable
changes have taken place

it
in the
and
to the energy
Mary Atkinson,
the late Miss Ellen
management, and
ability of
hon. secretary, and
who
Partridge,
1885 was
in
elected vice-president, that the institution has been
enabled to render services of a very valuable kind

to professional lady artists.
that
Lady
first
exhibited, while in
It
was
in its galleries
Miss Elizabeth Thompson,
Butler, then
them have
also
been seen
by Rosa Bonheur.
pictures
Art schools have multiplied, and the

for obtaining instruction
talent, or the kindling of
Amid
and viewing the best work
Every chance
are abundant.
is
any
afforded to budding
latent spark of genius.
the mass of mediocre ability thus developed,
power that can show
itself
needs to be exceptional.
exhibitions will
professional
work
facilities
show how
women
flowers
art
and
glance at the various
large
the
media
number of
the present day whose
and
in all depart-
portrait painting,
oil,
Very few have taken
pastel.
is
Women work
landscape
in all
artists at
calls for notice.
ments of
above the general level
water-colour,
and
to animal painting,
and the lady whose magnificent productions appear

Rosa
so often on the walls of English exhibitions
we cannot claim
Bonheur
as a
countrywoman.
WOMEN IN THE
170
As
is
VICTORIAN ERA.
name
for amateurs, their
is
legion.
There
nothing so easy as one of the imitative arts for
women
to take
Many
up as a pastime.
are very serious students,
and
meet the professionals on
their
amateurs
competent to
fully
own
In
ground.
the kindred branches, such as china-painting and
women have made
other decorative work,
Clever
progress.
artists
work
great-
at designing wall-
papers and carpet patterns, and even compose the
new soap
advertisements which announce a
new
beverage.
neglected by
Book-illustrating, also,
women
in
the past,
is
which was
now much
and the various processes recently
followed,
vented for purposes of
illustration
of great
few,
still
or from
artists
some other
shows well-directed
is
The
among Englishwomen
is
whether owing to lack of creative power

cause.
producing work which,
and
in-
have caused this
branch of art to develop with great rapidity.
number
or a
if
But the capacity for
not the result of genius,
talent,
is
greater than
ever,,
being fostered by the diffusion of culture
and art-knowledge, which has raised the standard

of taste and requirements
of
in
the humbler forms
art.
Early
find
in
women
the eighteenth century
we
begin ta
achieving fame as opera singers and
on concert platforms, where they often began their
At
professional careers.
171
that time the pianoforte
did not occupy a very important place.
was very scanty
rature
Its
lite-
the great composers
Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Chopin
were
The
yet to come.
instrument
itself,
early form of clavecin and harpsichord,

in
in its
was poor
As
comparison with the modern pianoforte.
for
keyless stringed instruments and wind instruments,
they were not thought suitable for a woman, so
was as a
among
vocalist
she
that
musical executants.
Italian singers, here
own countrywomen.
Robinson (for many
first
took her place
Among
and there we
the names of
one of our
find
Katherine Tofts, Anastasia

years secretly married to the
Earl of Peterborough), and Lavinia Fenton
wards Duchess of Bolton),

in
opera
during
the
first
all
made
thirty
(after-
their debuts
years
of
the
Lavinia Fenton was the heroine of The
century.
Beggar's Opera, about which
Afterwards
day,
their
it
we come
but now
to
all
London went mad.
other names famous
forgotten,
till
we
arrive
in
at
Hayes and Louisa Pyne, whose

performances are still remembered by those whose
recollections can take them back into the forties.
those of Catherine
"
but
The
a
history of the opera in
narrative
singers, foreign
of
feuds
England
and cabals
is
nothing
between
composers, and managers," writes
WOMEN
172
Dr. Frederick Louis Ritter.*
and
Musical biographies
recollections of the celebrated foreign
who found
them
the English
will afford
public
artists
so ready to hear
an insight into their cabals.
They
women
of this
do not concern the

country to musical
relation of the
art, for
the operatic stage has
been practically in possession of Continentals, chiefly

Italians.
Between the second half of the eighteenth century and the
first
half of the nineteenth
names of some women composers.
we
Mrs. Beard-
man, whose father was an oboe player,

triple
part of composer, singer,
made her
dibut as
singer
and
at
find the
filled
pianist.
the
the
She
Gloucester
Her compositions were chiefly

glees and pianoforte sonatas.
The sisters Ann
and Elizabeth Mounsey were both composers, Ann
being the more distinguished.
She attracted
Spohr's notice by her precocity in 1820, when she
was only nine years old. Her compositions were
somewhat ambitious, and she ranks high among
Festival of 1790.
female
composers.
In
1855
Nativity, was produced by
HuUah
also wrote a sacred cantata
1855
she married
organist at three
Mr,
in
oratorio,
London.
and part songs.
Bartholomew.
London
* "
her
The
She
In
She was
churches, an Associate
History of Music."
of the Philharmonic Society, and a
Member
73
of the
Royal Society of Musicians.
very clever student of the Royal
of Music
in the thirties
Loder.
One
of her
and
forties
Academy
was Kate Fanny
was Mrs. Lucy
instructors
Anderson, pianoforte teacher to Queen Victoria
when she was
to
Her
Mrs. Anderson was the
first
princess,
Majesty's children.
and afterwards
lady pianist to appear at the Philharmonic Society's
Her
concerts.
apt pupil, Miss Loder, was a King's
Scholar at the Royal Academy, and

at the
age of eighteen, after
when
in 1844,
five years' tuition,
she
ceased to be a student, she was appointed professor

of
harmony
at her
alma mater.
composition with Charles Lucas.
She had studied
Her
compositions
include an opera, an overture, two string quartets,
two pianoforte
piano,
sonatas,
a sonata for violin
and some pianoforte
Another
gifted
studies.
composer was Eliza Flower, who
lived in the early part of the century.
several
hymn
service at
sister,
"
tunes,
She wrote
and organized the musical
the Finsbury Unitarian Chapel.
Her
Mrs. Adams, wrote the words of the hymn,
Nearer,
As
and
my
God, to Thee."
song-writers
distinction in
popularity
women have
the present century.
was gained
for
achieved some
An immense
the songs
by Claribel
'
WOMEN
174
(Mrs. Barnard) and Virginia Gabriel, which, though

not of a very high order,
providing
in
"
fulfilled
a useful function
drawing-room music
The
thirty years ago.
"
twenty or
song-writers of the present
day are very numerous, song-writing being
the
form of composition most easily compassed, and

for
which there
At
more
the
is
the largest demand.
same time
attention
is
should be noted
it
now given
mony by women.
It
how much
to the study of har-
has become a regular part
of musical education, whereas formerly the amateur
was not supposed
to require
laws governing the
any knowledge of the
The
art.
female students at
the various musical institutions show great aptitude
harmony, and at any rate
for the science of
in that
stage of their career are quite on an equality with
the male candidates,

testify.
Whether
this
groundwork of the
the examination
as
increased
art,
and the
attention
facilities
results
to
the
afforded
by the existence of so many excellent centres of

musical education, will result in the development
of female composers in the higher branches, time

only can show.
Here and
there a concerted piece
issues
from a woman's pen, and receives recog-
nition,
but very few
the
*
women
devote themselves to
more complex forms of composition.*

In 1895 a
Symphony
in
D, composed by Miss Helen Edith
Green, was performed in London by a
full
orchestra.
Although we have
England the best per-
in
formances given anywhere, and, as has been
more good music

to
we
is
December than
a
as
are,
production
heard
in
nation,
said,
London from January
any other European
in
75
backward
very
still
capital,
in
and, judging by the example of the last
when we enjoyed exceptional advantages

way of fine representations, we are likely
century,
in the
to remain so.
Listening
is
and an education to the
a stimulus to exertion
taste,
but
it
cannot give
creative power.
One word may be
said
on behalf of that much-
abused person, the musical amateur.

For the woman of refined musical taste and cultivation,
who has no occasion to resort to music as a profession,
there yet remains a rdle of no common influence " (says
"
Madame Raymond
It
is,
Ritter), " the rdle of the amateur."
she considers, a role specially
woman.
cultivated
amateur taste
"Where
exists,
artistic
productivity."
amateur
is
artists
it
is
largely
fitted
to
appreciative
accompanied by great
The
intelligent
woman
"the best of mediators between the
and the
public."
WOMEN
176
CHAPTER
VII.
THE GENTLEWOMAN
The
Change in public sentiment New

Women as telegraph clerksWomen in
the post-office Indignation of the male clerks Dame Willatt
and the Manchester post-office Female clerks in the Bank of
England The gentlewoman in trade Greater freedom enjoyed
old idea of a gentlewoman
women
openings for
by women
It
IN TRADE.
in choice of occupation.
was not
that
the
until the
second half of this century
gentlewoman obtained
that
en-
social
franchisement which enabled her to break through
custom and prejudice, and seek occupation

the well-worn
a livelihood in other than
which, for a long period, seemed the
would
formerly have
Of
contradiction in terms.
none was
more
universally
trade and a gentleman
And
if
it
gentlewoman
in
all
the social axioms
accepted
than
that
were incapable of union.
derogate
Subtle
only ones
been considered a
trade would sully a gentleman,
more would
paths
The "gentlewoman
she could possibly tread.

trade "
and
from
the
distinctions
how much
dignity
were
of
made
THE GENTLEWOMAN IN TRADE.
between employments of the same nature

get rid of the stigma of
to
order
in
An
trade.
77
office,
whatever the nature of the business transacted,
Between wholesale
took precedence over a shop.
and
retail
As
for
was a great
women,
for
them
it
gulf.
was held
That they should
be obliged to work.
to
be a misfortune
to
ever prefer to do so was a notion too ridiculous

to
be entertained, and was treated with the same
incredulous scorn which greeted a woman's declared
preference
for
Considering
open
nature
the
to them, this
than
rather
single
of
was not
the
married
life.
only occupation
surprising.
There was
nothing that a gentlewoman could do except be-
come a governess or a companion,

poor
received
pay,
and was
for
which she
treated
often
too
There were no clerkships
with scant courtesy.
open, no Civil Service appointments, no journalistic
except for the few who

work no secretaryships, or any
or literary employment
could do original
of the occupations which have been
made
available
within the last quarter of a century in connection
with various social movements.

a doleful
penniless
prospect which
woman
trained
habits of refinement.
to find
VOL.
II,
It
was
was presented
to
nothing
But as the need
employment grew
certainly
greater,
to
except
for
the
to
women
as the system
34
WOMEN
178
of education altered, and high schools and competitive examinations
brought
in
more democratic
change came over public sentiment.
ideas, a
was gradually discovered
that girls could
do many-
deemed
things of which before they had not been

capable, or which
It
had been considered unfitting for
There are now upwards of a hundred and
them.
women engaged as commercial travellers.

The electric telegraph opened up quite a new
sixty
field for
numbers of young women, especially
The
application to journalism.
women
as telegraph clerks
was
first
in its
employment of
in 1854.
Parliament
was prorogued on September 2nd, and the Queen's

Speech was telegraphed to the Continent by
under the superintendence of a
at the rate of thirty-five
woman
telegraphist,
words a minute, the whole
being transmitted to the Continent via the
twenty minutes.
"
girls,
Hague
in
The AthencBum remarked
Why should not women be employed in other analogous
cases
for
example, in
letter sorting .-"... Girls
who
could
transmit thirty-five words a minute by electric telegraph,
would soon outstrip the lads
whom we now employ
sorting
The sorting of sixty letters a minute is, we believe,

the greatest feat of dexterity they can accomplish." *
letters.
This was one of the most important openings

for
women, and proved of the

* " Life
greatest assistance to
of John Francis, Publisher of the Aihenaum."

among
the necessitous
79
The
middle-class families.
Government bought the telegraphs from the Telegraph Company
became
sarily
some of these
1870, and the
in
Civil
servants.
officials
neces-
officials
happened that
It
were women.
same
In the
The
year the Clearing House branch was formed.
Postmaster- General, writing in 18 71, bears testimony

to the efficiency of the
"
From
the
women employed. He says
day of the
first
transfer of the telegraphs
from private companies to the Post
Office,
the Department
entered on the experiment of employing a mixed staff of
male and female
officers,
and there has been no reason
On
to regret the experiment.
much ground
the contrary,
for believing that,
persons are employed, with
full
work and
the admixture of the sexes involves no

beneficial.
has afforded
it
where large numbers of

fair supervision,,
risk,
but
the tone of the male staff
It raises
is
highly-
by confining
them during many hours of the day to a decency of conversation and demeanour which is not always to be found
where men alone are employed.
Further,
it
is
a matter
of experience that the male clerks are more willing to
help the female clerks with their work than to help each
and that on many occasions pressure of business

met and difficulties overcome through this willingness
and cordial co-operation." *
other
is
There
among
was
a great
the male staff
to introduce forty
*
Quoted
in the
when
women
outburst of
it
indignation
was proposed
into the
in
1872
Savings Bank
Woman's Suffrage Journal,
Oct. 1872.
WOMEN
l8o
IN THE VICTORIAN ERA,
The men
Department.
rose en masse,
held
an
indignation meeting, and struck such terror into
the authorities that they abandoned the attempt.
There were sharp comments

patent injustice of the case.
in
the press on the
Women
were then not
only working with great success in other depart-
ments of the General
Post-office,
kindred work in various places

banks,
hotels,
means always
and
post-offices
but were doing
banks, savings
and not by any
in
in subordinate positions.
Three years
however, the change was effected.
later,
1875, thirty
women were engaged
In July,
as clerks in the
Savings Bank Department, under the charge of a
This number has since
lady superintendent.
in-
creased to six hundred and seventy, the clerks in
department taking the higher
this
which
for
it
clerical duties
had been previously considered impossible
women
In addition to this staff one
to perform.
hundred and eighty
sorters
are
employed, this
being a new class of labour introduced entirely by
Henry Fawcett, through whose agency the

employment of women in the Post-office was greatly
the late
extended
in all directions.
In 1881 the Postal Order
branch was established.

In connection with the work of the Post-office,
it
is
interesting
to
recall the
state
of things
in
the Manchester Post-office in the last century, as

described by Mr. Herbert Joyce.*
post-office
widow,
In 1792
was conducted by an
business
Dame
Willatt,
post-office
letters.
women
At Penzance
the
aged
1893 was
in
employing fourteen hundred persons.

districts
all
and her daughter, and a
The
single letter-carrier.
country
l8l
are
all
still
In
employed
some
to deliver
the letter carrying used to
be performed by stalwart Cornish women, who were

the pride of the town.
In the departments of the public service, ex-
and telegraphic branches,
clusive
of
women
have, until quite
the
postal
tatively employed.
ments as
Civil
is
Within the
last
two years the
women engaged by some heads
few
by
been but ten-
recently,
typists
have been given the status of
Servants, but they are
selection, not
of depart-
still
only appointed
by open competition;
their
number
very small, and the authorities do not hold out
any likelihood of
it
ever becoming considerable.
In the course of the year 1894, ladies to the
number of
the
twenty-five were received as clerks in
Bank of England.
Their special department
is
counting and registering bank notes, old and new.

All candidates must procure a nomination from one
of the directors, a certain
number of
places being re-
served for the families of the male clerks employed.

* " History of the
Post-office."
WOMEN
82
an entrance examination, except for those

have passed the Oxford or Cambridge Local, and
There
who
is
resignation must follow in the case of marriage.
With
the exception, then, of certain great public
may be
departments, the female clerk
everywhere
companies,
on the
the
in
postal
railroads,
said to
in
service,
insurance
houses of
large
in
be
business, in the offices of societies of every kind,
not to mention the workers in inferior posts, such
women "
as cashiers in restaurants, and " counter

post-offices.
The
great social movements, philan-
thropic and religious, are largely officered

Fifty years ago
it
seemly for young

fro
in
by women.
would have been thought un-
women
to
be travelling to and
every day at hours when railway carriages and
omnibuses are largely occupied by men.
That
they would run the chance of being jostled by
crowds on platforms and

have been a
work
sufficient barrier to their
would
undertaking
outside the home, even had the opportunity
offered.
in a
at street corners,
But no one now sees anything noticeable
gentlewoman going from end
alone.
The
security with which
travel both at
to
end of London
young women can
home and abroad shows how much we
have improved on the manners of the
The
female clerk, however,
worker among gentlewomen.
is
last century.
only one type of
Trade, the scorn of
183
the scorners, the unspeakable thing, has been taken
up by those who belong, by birth and education, to
They open
the leisured classes.

the
business personally,
all
the
supervised,
large
and
taking
small.
take an active
even
operations,
trying on bonnets, the
shops, superintend
serving
to
share in
customers,
making of which they have

and
orders,
Family
retailing
articles
unsound invest-
losses,
ments, unfortunate marriages, have driven
many
to
Some-
seek a livelihood in the commercial world.
times they are urged thereto by a superabundance

of energy, which cannot find outlet in the social
There
round.
in
women,
their lack
general
is
a good deal of business instinct
in spite of all that
of
and accuracy, and
precision
ignorance
of
all
built
Mrs. Frank Leslie, there are
been very successful
and made
in
their
concerns money-
that
Though few have
making.
has been said about
up fortunes
like
women who have
commercial undertakings,
competence entirely by their own
energy, without training or capital.
The gentlewoman
position.
She
is
in
trade
has secured
her
not cut by her acquaintances,
who, on the contrary, are generally ready to support

her by talking of her enterprise
else.
if
they do nothing
great deal of gratuitous advertising goes
on among women, who enjoy being able
to
tell
WOMEN IN THE
184
their friends that
upholstery
artistic
or
Mrs.
has
The
furniture.
show-rooms, and
it
if
"gone
in
ready to go to her shop or
she waits upon them herself they
She is welcomed at afternoon
quite delightful.
Some-
interviewed by journalists, and asked to
is
recount her experiences, and she
by acquaintances eager
We
or
acquaintances of the lady
teas as a fresh flavour to the entertainment.
times she
for"
ware
Japanese
or
millinery,
in question are perfectly
think
VICTORIAN ERA.
now
are
to
know
so used
to
is
"
generally besieged
how
done."
it is
the gentlewoman
in
trade that she has almost ceased to be an interest-
Among
ing novelty.
excite
wonderment, and
generally speaking she
is
possibly
social
The
but
fin-de-siecle
woman,
for recognition as the literary
life.
nowhere so
2l
still
She has not had the
because the times were riper for

in
suspicion,
accepted as
product without question.
same struggle
would
certain circles she
altered
new developments
views of society are
strikingly exemplified as in
its
estimate
of what
is
a career for women.
During
the
twenty years custom has allowed
women a
last
great deal
occupation.
all
classes.
fitting as
more
liberty of choice in the matter of
And
the liberty has been extended to
In the lower ranks the main difficulty
has been, and
still
is,
competition.
middle classes that there
is
It
is
in
the
the most prejudice to
As
be encountered.
long as
women
for inferior positions little objection
one protests against their serving
in
contend only
shops and show-
The
course.
It is
them a struggle with economic
for
rather than social conditions.
women who
But
it
way has been
It is true that the
prepared for them

little
is
to a certain extent
the commercial road has been
easier to traverse
the business world

little
enterprise
They
own sex.
their
by pioneers
But, although they are accepted
paths.
otherwise
seek higher employments.
do not get unqualified support from
has
inferior
workers are allowed a comparatively free
class of
made a
No
made.
is
rooms, or behind counters and bars.
with
I85
faith in
still
in
by
other
society,
looks askance at them.
It
the solidity or persistence of an
managed by women.
Experience has
not been large enough as yet to counterbalance the
by generations of
distrust inspired
it is
and
in trade
still
remain a gentlewoman.
custom set up a
men and women.

was a
slur
courtesies
Work,
if
one,
Formerly
different standard of gentility for
Work which was
upon a woman.
She
a man's honour
forfeited small
and attentions by earning her
living.
done by a woman, became something
ignoble, unless
no
But
prejudice.
a step gained that a gentlewoman can engage
not
it
were useless work which helped
even
herself
This
feeling
was
WOMEN
86

of the dilettanteism of women's
much
responsible for
methods of occupation.
This point of view has now veered completely
round.
The
amateur, the dilettante, has no chance
To
beside the professional.
must be thoroughly
must be her
win respect a woman
in earnest
about her work
chief thought, the object of her
Now
there
is
to her.
has
that the
been
gentlewoman has gone
into trade,;
will
closed]
stronghold of social prejudice
last
and
stormed
development
it
will receive.
no avenue which can be said to be
The
it
and
make
the more pecuniarily profitable she can

the more consideration she
life,
be
is
What
taken.
the
to forecast.
difficult
new
The
tendency to the sub-division of labour, to the creation

of fresh departments of activity,
women, who can more

than win their
by men.
way
The
adaptability to
there
is
favourable to
up new enterprises
in occupations already practised
merit of
new
receptive than men,

often guides
easily take
is
women
as workers
conditions.
more
them aright
no precedent.
plastic,
in
They
and
is
their
are more
their instinct
undertakings for which
Their best chances
lie in
the ever-multiplying openings for energy which the
complexity of modern
New
paths,
even
if
life
is
constantly creating.
rather tangled, afford better
opportunities than the beaten tracks.
i87
CHAPTER
VIII.
THE MODERN WOMAN OF
BUSINESS.
Changes in the occupations of women The number of women

employed in industries ^Working wives Trades recently opened
Women as compositors and type-writers The
to women
modern shop-assistantTrades now followed by women ^The
change of opinion as to women's occupations.
In the present century the development of trade
and manufactures has made a great change

lives of
women
of the lower middle class.
in the
Families
from which the ranks of domestic servants were

recruited are
trial
now
population.
entirely absorbed in the indus-
The
girls,
instead of being sent
some
out to service,
are apprenticed
They
with visions of independence, to
are
filled
to
trade.
be realized only after long hours of confinement

in a
crowded workroom, or standing from early
morning to
It is
fitting
late
evening behind a counter.
curious to note
how
the idea of what
and desirable has changed.
Fifty years
is
ago
the artisan, the farmer, and small tradesman desired
WOMEN
88
nothing better for their daughters than to procure
The
a " good place in a gentleman's family."
girls
themselves were generally willing to adopt this
method of
marriage.
filling
But
up the time as a prelude to
different
views prevail now.
It is
not that domestic service has become harder

the contrary,
ments and appliances have lessened what

as
"
menial work," and there
on
household improve-
easier, for
is
it
is
known
a tendency to sub-
is
divide labour and multiply service, so that two are
now
the
frequently employed to do
work of one.
wages, there
is
what used to be
But, apart from the question of
a feeling that by working at
some
industry, or in a shop, the girls put themselves
by going
to a higher plane than
Among
the
women
into service.
of the working classes the
sense of the value of independence
growth than among the

classes,
who
women
are apt to be
of
for they
counter to class prejudices.
of quicker
the
middle
troubled by notions
opportunities offered to working
embraced by them,
is
proper " sphere."
concerning woman's
on
The
fresh
women have been
have not had to run
The
general feeling
was that they were taking a step forward by entering trade.
who
struck
Among
the middle classes the
out into
new paths
for the
women
sake of
gaining economic independence were thought
to-
THE MODERN WOMAN OF BUSINESS.
89
be making a very doubtful experiment, but among

the working classes,
women's
who have
risk,
the
It
is
not
fitness or unfitness for business that
has
fresh openings
less
to
were eagerly embraced.
determined their career so much as the accident
Even
of their position in society.

1
when the census was
85 1,
taken, there were three
women in Great
who were engaged
millions of
Ireland,
tions,
Britain,
About
independent
as
and
half a million were wives
exclusive
industrial
in
and more than one-third of
returned
as far back as
this
of
occupa-
number were
self-supporting.*
engaged
in
helping
their husbands, either behind the counter, at the
desk, or in the process of manufacture.
Changes that have wrested from women some

of their old employments have opened up to them
others formerly out of their reach.
and variety of patents taken out
The number
by women in
London every month show how various are the

ways in which women are now putting forth their
skill
and energy.
During April, May, and June
of the year 1895 there were seventy-three patents
taken out by sixty-nine women, and these patents

included a diversity of articles
from a hat and
veil
pin to self-registering calipers.
Trades that used to be exclusively

*
Edinburgh Review,
April, 1859.
in the
hands
WOMEN
190
of
men
now open
are
to
women.
Printing, for
numbers of
instance, has in recent times absorbed

girls,
spite of the hostility of the trade-unions.
in
Women make
excellent compositors,
to " lock
their
up
"
compete with men
The modern
formes, even
in the
if
and are able

they cannot
machine-room.
invention of type-writing has also
been taken advantage of by women, and though

it
is
rather an adjunct to the business of
a necessity like printing,
and more into
it
is
daily
life
than
coming more
use.
Besides numerous small industries which have

only arisen in recent times, there are
women what may be

of the
fine
arts,
now open
to
called the inferior branches
such
as
photography, pattern-
designing for carpets and wall-papers, carving, modelling,
and
painting
on various
these things not only
is
substances.
For
an apprenticeship needed,^
but in some cases a regular art-education, which

precludes the generality of
women from engaging
in these occupations.
The development
of retail trade, and the atten-
tion given to shop decoration
and
display,
have
new type of shopwomah, and also

demand for her services. In 185 1,
created quite a
much
larger
while the female shopkeepers numbered 29,000, the
shopwomen were only
742 for the whole kingdom.
Of
igi
among the 29,000 shopkeepers

great many who did not keep any
there
course,
were a
ants,
but managed their
little
assist-
businesses entirely
themselves.
The shopwoman, as has been said, is now of a

The elegantly-attired damsel, with
her elaborately dressed hair, who serves the public
different order.
with drapery, bonbons, flowers, and ornaments, and
makes the homely buyer,

feel at
unpretentious array,
in
a complete disadvantage, came in with the
plate-glass fronts, the electric lamps, the
gorgeous
show-rooms, in which the modern shopocracy delight,
and
la
which the public pays dearly.
for
London shops of the early

the century the modern shopwoman would
the quiet, dimly-lighted

part of
have looked strangely out of

In former times
in trade
men and women were comrades
on equal terms, but as industry developed,
and was carried
women were
on
under
different
Finally,
when
and
were forced back

all
the
to
the industrial revolution, of
fill
initial
of an iron slave."
by
their places taken
which the chief motor was machinery,
perform
conditions,
shunted off the main lines into the
less lucrative side-paths
men.
place.
set in,
women,
up the lowest ranks,
processes, to
Now, by
become
to
" slaves
a turn of Fortune's,
wheel, they are gaining ground in their turn
and
WOMEN
192
pressing in
men had
among
Whereas
the male workers.
upon
in times past seized
sorts of
all
em-
ployments which naturally seemed to belong to
women, such as the making of
women
attire,
articles of
now turning
are
to
female
some of the
occupations which might appear more properly to
They
belong to men.
in metal working, in nail
even
are
I
lamong the
in
They
and chain making.
grooms, boatmen, and
horse-breakers,
For the most part they are
blacksmiths.
Wrote
are employed in tailoring,
inferior
still
As Miss Simcox
workers.
"Very many of the worst paid
1879,
jtrades are followed principally
by women, very few
Exclusively by men." *
In other countries
it is
the same.
The modern
manufacturing system requires a large amount of

" Skilled
mechanical labour.
away
Women
disappear."!
to
artisanship
as a survival of a past which
are
is
is
swept
condemned
forced,
by
their
numerical disproportion and the exigencies of their

condition, into all sorts of
employments where they
crowd the ranks of the unskilled.

other resource,
which
streets.
*
keeps
They have no
and so they compete
them
from
Foreigners and
starvation
women
for
and
work
the
are both looked
Eraser's Magazine.
Prince Krapotkin in Nineteenth Century Magazine, April, 1888.

by the male worker,
at askance
on
less
for
93.
both can live
than he can, and are willing to work, for
lower wages.
men
In other classes as well as the industrial
are reluctantly learning the lesson that matters have
changed, and that the old theories about the rela-
and occupations of the sexes
tive duties
The
longer avail in practice.
women on
in putting
The
evolution of social
life
for,
England and
else-
fallacy of this notion.
but thrown on their
own
re-
In default of the old household occupa-
and domestic
tions
in
have found themselves neither protected
nor provided
sources.
plane, in as-
specially created sphere.
where has rudely exposed the
Women
no
mistake has been
to a separate
suming that they had some
will
industries, they
have turned to
the factory, the workshop, the counter, the desk.^
Every day
it
becomes plainer that they must stand
alone.
There are some women who are born

dependence
estates,
the
opulent minority with
and those
there are the
for
whom
women who
to in-
titles
others have
and
worked
;.
achieve independence by
own energy and endurance and there are

the women who have independence thrust upon,
them the great mass who must make their own
their
way
VOL.
or perish.
II.
It is better for the
community
35
to^
WOMEN
194
have women
selves,
self-reliant
and able to support them-
whether single or married.
women who
tions of
The number
prefer being dependent
male
relatives
to
happily diminishing, even
on the exer-
working themselves
among
of
those
who
not goaded by the actual pinch of poverty.
is
are
It is
being recognized that woman's vocation, like man's,

is
work, and wherever the work leads, thither the
woman must
follow.
195
CHAPTER
IX.
THE FACTORY HAND.

Importance of the industrial as compared with the agricultural class
Women's
position
in
the
industrial
market
Effects
of
Break-up
question
machinery and the factory system on women's work
The
factory question a
of family
life
Women's
preference for outside work
The
Âttitude of
women
women's
Industrial
legislation
workers.
industrial question has, as far as
women
concerned, absorbed the agricultural question.
are
The
growth of trade and commerce, and the conversion
England
of
a manufacturing country, have
into
resulted in a complete change of position for the
working
classes.
Their relations to their employers
The connection is of
A man or a woman
are on a different footing.
less
permanent nature.
working on the land and living on the land
is
obviously more closely bound to the owner than
a factory or mill hand.
been more affected by

life
than men,
in
Women
this
change
proportion
to
labourers
have
in the national
their
numbers
WOMEN
196
the larger part of out-door work falling to
Whereas formerly
in all periods.
custom
women
for
occupation in the
They go
in
it
districts
they
now seek
when they
into service
was the usual
rural
fields,
men
are
to find their
it
elsewhere.
not wanted
and cheese making, get employment
for butter
in
country inns, or in the shops at the nearest market

town.
It
is
only here and there that they are
seen working with the
men on
the land, except
for short periods at special seasons, such as
The
hay-making.
employed
in
hop-pickers,
to
women
the
weeding and fruit-gathering
who belong
market-gardens near London,
most part
and
during
in
the
for the
the very poor, are not numerically
important.
Some
idea of
industrial class, as
the magnitude
opposed to the
be gathered from the
members
of trade
fact that
of
the female
may
women who are
agricultural,
the
unions number over 100,000,*
and there remains the much vaster host of workers
who have
number
not
can
combination,
and whose
approximately
ascertained.
sought
only be
While there are 21,000 women farmers and

there
are
52,000 shirt-makers and
seamstresses,
and upwards of 400,000 dressmakers and

In
*
former times
women
Speech by Sir Charles Dilke
in
did the
graziers,
milliners.
reaping, the
The Times, April
23, 1895.
THE FACTORY HAND.
197
hoeing, the sheep-washing, the shearing, and even

(In 1891 only two thatchers were
the thatching.*
returned in the census for England and Wales.)
Their wages appear to have been much the same

as those of the men, just a
work was on a
The
middle of
sixteenth
the
century there
is
more
between the remuneration of the sexes.
disparity
the price of labour rose,
women
on the contrary, they received

to the
wages was fixed
rate of
county by the magistrates, and after the
for each
As
par.
All unskilled
trifle less.
men.
In 166 1,
Essex were getting
\s.
when
did not benefit
less
in
proportion
the male reapers in
lod. a-day, the
women were
In the fourteenth century there was
paid
i.y,
more
equality.
2d.
The work
of
women
in agriculture
ished relatively as well as absolutely.
has dimin-
Men
have
absorbed most of the out-door labour and several

indoor
occupations
as
The
well.
" bakeresses,"
" regrateresses " (retailers of bread), "breweresses,"
or " brewsters," have disappeared, and their places

are
by men.
filled
into other
The women have been
driven
employments, and forced into the ranks
of the unskilled labourers.
The
lowest places in
factories
and workshops, and formerly the most
repulsive
work
*
in mines, fell to
women.
Thorold Rogers, " Work and Wages."
When
the
WOMEN
198
growth of manufactures focussed industries into

great centres, and when invention became busy
with the creation of machinery,
the
women
fell
back, and they have been in the rear ever since,
although
spasmodic
efforts
have been made to
rescue them, and they have been freed from
some
of the most debasing conditions of manual labour.
They
longer chained like brute-beasts to
are no
and made
trucks,
to
drag enormous burdens
But as
heat and foulness of a coal mine.
the
in
machinery has more and more been substituted for
handwork, and as a greater subdivision of labour

has taken place owing to improvements in method,
women have
industrial
not attained a higher position in the
market.
They have
each other in the lower ranks.
still
been jostling
The manufacturing
system has spread like a network over England,
and has drawn
in
rural
Under
is
districts.
the working energy from the

the
modern system there
a smaller quantity of skilled labour required in
proportion
to
the
unskilled,
and women's work
being rated, whether justly or unjustly, as

there
is
less
chance of their coming to the
Between the break-up of the
inferior,
front.
gilds
and the
establishment of the regular factories, manufactures
were
carried
on under what
domestic system.
It
is
known
as
the
was the spread of industries

THE FACTORY HAND.
beyond the towns that brought about
99
change.
this
districts worked in their own

members of a family were em-
People in country
homes.
the
All
ployed in carding,
farmer's
and daughters,
wife
The
and weaving.
spinning,
in
the intervals of
work, were busily employed at the loom.
dairy
There would sometimes be three or four looms

one house.
But when,
eighteenth century, the
in the last quarter of the
"mule" and
the "spinning
jenny" were invented, conditions began

Industries
grew too
large
of
the
to alter.
be carried on by
to
private persons in dwelling-houses
coming
in
steam-engine
and with the
was
hand labour
gradually superseded by machinery.
While the work was
carried on in the
home
the women's part was as important as the men's
perhaps
the
more so
in
districts,
where
members of the family were much occupied
with farming
but
of manufactures on
taken
out
factories,
into
agricultural
when, with the establishment

a large scale, the work was
home and carried on in big

labour of men was at once brought
requisition.
The revolution in the
of the
the
greater
means of production caused by machinery changed

the whole aspect of
It
life
for the labouring classes.
was no longer the housewives
chief spinners
and weavers.
who were
the
They were merged
WOMEN
200
in the great
mass of male workers who thronged
the factory.
Every one
famiHar with the dismal history
is
of the factory system and the horrors of

stages,
its
early
with the stories of child-torture and the
brutalising
effects
of the
on both
life
men and
women.
"In the male," said Lord Shaftesbury, "the moral
but in the female they
effects of the system are very bad
are infinitely worse, not alone upon themselves, but upon
their families, upon society, and, I may add, upon the
country itself. It is bad enough if you corrupt the man,
;
but
life
if
you corrupt the woman, you poison the waters of
*
at the very fountain."
The
factory
largely a
has always
question
The
woman's question.
been very
abolition of
home
industries and the domestic system affected the
women even more
position of
just as
is
any change
more important
members.
in
to
than that of men,
the conditions of family

the female than
When women,
life
the male
instead of sitting at their
cottage doors with their children round them, or
weaving near the hearth with an eye on the
cradle,
betook themselves to work in some great factory
where they were immured
all
day long, they occu-
pied a very different relation to the community

*
Mary Merryweather,
" Factory
Life.''
THE FACTORY HAND.

They were then
generally.
and came gradually
earners,
petitors.
"
factories
seems
number
of men.
like the
to
20I
men, wage-
be regarded as com-
La mere, en v6rit6, n'est plus qu'un

ouvrier comme son mari."
In the first half of this
century the actual number of women employed in
6378
have
to
Taking the year 1861,
women
the hands were
than half were
de fabrique,
only the
of 50,000,
more
Monsieur Jules Simon says
girls.
work
of the three kinds of
that
in the
and of the children em-
who numbered upwards
ployed,
than the
larger
then in existence, more than half
factories
travail
been
" le travail
isol6,
le
et le travail des manufactures
first is fitting for
the factory system there can be no
women.
home
"
Under
life.
"
La
necessairement sous Taction du

travail ainsi r^gl^." *
disparait
famille
It is this
absence of family
life
among a
section of the working classes which

striking
women
result
of
the
is
large
the most
modern system, and the
are at a disadvantage in consequence.
As
workers they do not rank equally with men, though

the demands on their time and strength are as
great
they have no spare energy, and none of the
compensations
only
of
home
an extra burden.
The home, indeed, is

While women in the middle
life.
* " L'Ouvri^re."
WOMEN IN THE
202
VICTORIAN ERA.
ranks have, in spite of drawbacks, advanced greatly
under the altered conditions of society, which have
opened up to them commercial and other pursuits,
women
the
the lower ranks have not received
in
a corresponding benefit from a system which has
drawn them
The women
labourers.
only " hands,"
are
value than men.
observed
"
the
into
and
As
army
great
in factories
"
hands
unskilled
of
and workshops
appraised at less
"
German author has
a modern
Darin unterscheidet sich unsere Zeit von jeder ihr
vorangegangenen dass
sie fiir
den verschledenen Gesell-
Lebensformen ge-
grundverschiedene
schaftsclassen
so
schaffen hat.
Die nivellirende Kraft der Zeit zeigt sich

sie alles Individuelle, alles Originelle aus
nur darin, dass
dem Leben
jeder
der Volker
weg
Gesellschaftsklasse
hobelt, in dass sie innerhalbe

alles
gleiche
auf's
Mass zu
bringen sucht." *
This levelling tendency, which
modern
of the
to
seems the aim
it
Socialists to foster,
is
not confined
one section of the population, but
evident
among
the industrial
classes,
it
is
more
whose
lives
are necessarily circumscribed by material conditions.
Under the present system work

monotonous,
is
less responsible.
squeezed out of
become
*
proficient in
it,
is
harder,
Bit by bit
all
more
variety
so that the worker
some one
part,
may
and perform
Arnold von der Passer, " Eva aus dem Mittelstands."
THE FACTORY HAND.

that part in a
manner
as nearly as
machine.
However advantageous
sense this
may be
to the individual,
to
men,
may be
in
community,
to the
and more
women having
203
hurtful to
it
is
working
thropists
to
and
Town
classes
women
And
legislators.
this
than
life
them
at
England
in
the problem of philan-
is
The
conditions which
make a home worth working
absent.
hurtful
at all times to contend with
points in their career.
for the
an economic
physical and social disabilities which limit

all
like
being so
the women's lives should
for are generally
is
it
go
but natural that
approximate more and

\
more
closely to the men's, that they should prefer
even the long hours of the
ment
of numbers,
earning money,
drudgery of
and the
however
life in
with the excite-
factory,
feeling
hardly,
that
to
they are
the
dreary
a fourth-floor tenement, and the

j
brings them no pecu-
loneliness of labour which
niary reward.
fourteen and
factories in
From
Roughly speaking, there are between

fifteen
women working
thousand
in
England and Wales.
Commission, it appears that it is not at all uncommon for

married women to pay almost as much as they earn,
the evidence of the recent Labour
more than
their wages,
to a caretaker to look after the house
and children
and
in
some cases
actually
while they go to the factory.
No
doubt the large
WOMEN IN THE
204
VICTORIAN ERA.
majority of factory hands work for actual subsistence,
and not
an exchange, but that there should be^
for
numbers who choose the outside work shows that

the domestic hearth has not the same attractions
for
women
This
as formerly.
however, the
is not,
view taken by the German writer of to-day already

quoted.
He
draws a marked contrast between the
aspirations of the
woman
of the burgher, or middle
and those of the woman of the
class,
and contends
that while the former
economic independence, coute qui
who
the
is
is
proletariat,
striving for
coute,
the
men
already shoulder to shoulder with
quietude of
yearns
struggle,
industrial
family
intently
Passer says, referring to the middle-class
in
the
for
von der
Herr Arnold
life.
latter,
woman
" Sie begehrt nicht bloss in beschrankter Hauslichkeit
Mannes zu
die Genossin des
oder, wenn's nicht anders
auftreten
sein; sie will an seiner Seite,
ist,
auch gegen
ihn, selbsthatig
im wirthschaftlichen Kampfe der Zeit
die
Frau
des Arbeiters, des Proletariers, dagegen, steht bereits, dena

harten zwange der
Noth gehorchend,
ihrer iiberwiegender
Zahl nach, mitten drein in diesem Kampfe, und

sich zuriick aus
dem Maschinengelose
die stille Hauslichkeit, an
Kinder.
sie
sehnt
der Fabrikraume in
den Herd, an das Lager
Die Frau aus dem Biirgerstande mochte
ihrer
als Stu-
Kaufmann, auf
dem Plan treten die Frau des Arbeiters hat vor Allem
nur den Wunsch wieder Weib und Mutter sein zu diirfen.
Fiir die Arbeiterklasse ist also bis zu einem gewissen
dent, Gelehrter, Arzt, Beamter, Lehrer, oder
;
'
THE FACTORY HAND.
205
Punkte die Frauenfrage gerade das Gegentheil derjenigen

welche die Biirgerklasse jetzt beschaftigt."
The effect of legislation on the industrial position

of women must not be left out of account.
There
are those who assert that the exceptional legislation
applied to the work of adult women in the present
century
is
a distinct gain, a sign of progress, and
marks a step forward

there are those
women
who
in
social
And
evolution.
who
assert the contrary,
say
immeasurably more than they gain by
lose
a species of protection which only imposes another

In the early part of this century public
disability.
sentiment was shocked by the revelations as to

the mining system,
to
women and
which
Through the
first
by the degradation and
instance,
efforts
children
were
subjected.
Lord Shaftesbury,
of
cruelty
an end was put to the worst
in
the
evils,
and
the Factory Acts were subsequently extended to
women.
1850.
not,
All this took place between
Since then the course of
1830 and
legislation
on the whole, been favourable to women.
has placed obstacles

their hours
of labour.
in
their
resented.
Only
It
restricting
This interference on the
part of the State with the
much
way by
has
work of
this
adults has been
year there have been
several deputations of working
women
to
Cabinet
Ministers, protesting against the provisions of the
WOMEN
206
Government Factory
women from
exclude
Bill to
certain trades described as dangerous,
and
to prohibit
overtime in others.
Sex-legislation
and
the most liable of
is
whom
to cause injury to those
At the present day women
it
all
to misuse,
seeks to benefit.
of the industrial classes
are forced by a combination of circumstances to earn

their livelihood, or
what passes as
They must
and workshops
like
that or starve,
unless they
Owing
such, in factories
men.
do
either
go on to the
streets.
enormous pressure of population, and
to the
the over-supply of unskilled labour, the competition
among
severe enough
is
but legislation
difficulties
offences
easier.
of livelihood
first
against
and does nothing
women
to
adults
with
require pro-
less marketable,
of the legislation of the present day
not intended, like the
remove
by ranking
case
and so making their labour
Much
:,
themselves,
seeking to add to the inherent
the
of
women
(who may be supposed
juveniles
tection),
is
the
factory legislation, to
decency and
humanity,
to render the lives of
But
more
it
is
helps to
precarious.
make
working
their
means
During the debate
on the Factories and Workshops
Bill,
which was
introduced into Parliament in April, 1895,*
it
was
The Times, Apr\\2-i,\9,<)'i. There are upwards of 880,000 women,

employed in thirty-one different trades, who are affected by the
*
factory legislation of 1895.
THE FACTORY HAND.

justly pointed out that adult
judges
of
own
their
their
To
will.
overtime
prohibit
certain
in
women were competent

restrictions against
women from
industries,
" season "
trades,
is
interests.
What
trade
women
to
create
working
such as laundries,
where the hours are necessarily
is
and should
requirements,
work under
not be forced to
207
fluctuating, or in
obviously against their best_

legislation
inequalities
doing
is
which need not
have been called into being, and which intensify
women now endure.

which compels women
industrial market,
all
In a state of
the evils that

society
for
to
throng
the
one-sided enactments, which at
once give men an additional advantage, increase
and
starvation
liberty,
their
to
not
prostitution.
less,
complete
mysteries.
of the Ministers,
women
of which
to
their self-constituted judges,
the technicalities of the various trades are
deputation of working
the
want more
and they can decide better as
own needs than
whom
Women
who
It
happened
women was
once that a
waiting on one
put a number of questions to
concerning their work, with the details
he was
totally
unacquainted.
As
the
deputation retired, one of the number remarked

compassionately, " Poor gentleman
him
to
it's
hard on
have to make the laws when he don't know
nothing about them."
WOMEN
2o8
CHAPTER
X.

Position of the domestic servant
More
men
formerly employed in
Th.& de7noiselles axid. chambrieres oiiorxass days
domestic service
days Interior of Hengrave Hall in

Duties of maidservants 1677
Servants' dress regulated Want of good servants in the
century Defoe's observations on servants foreigner's opinion
of English servants Complaints of servants' costume Registryof the
century Servants' wages Where our servants
come from Domestic service at the present day.
Servants
the
in Elizabethan
seventeenth
century
in
last
Â
last
offices
The
domestic
female
servant
She
position in the industrial class.
scorned and the scorner.
The
holds
is
curious
at
once the
factory girl despises
her for want of spirit in submitting to be at the
beck and
call
of a mistress
badges of servitude
all
day,
and wearing
while the trim maid regards
who is only a "hand,"

contempt.
The shop-assistant,
herself spoken of as a "young
the slatternly factory-girl,
with
unutterable
who always
lady,"
hears
would indignantly resent any implied equality
with a mere servant,
who
in
her turn looks upon
20g
the long hours and rigid rules of a house of business

as white slavery.
The
middle
type of servant usually found in those
households
class
families "
termed
"gentlemen's
extends her aversion for " the shop
the proprietors, and feels that she has
down when she condescends

are earning
living
their
As
obvious manner.
they express
it,
the best and
in
in
to
let herself
to serve people
who
such a disgustingly
for the servants
"high
"
families,"
who
live,
as
they are both
the worst specimens of their kind.
The advantages and disadvantages of their position

are much more strongly marked than in the case
of the servants of the middle classes, and make
both virtues and vices more prominent. The most
striking
examples of
efficiency are to
fidelity,
and
be found among the servants of
the nobility, just as there are
most practised
trustworthiness,
liars,
thieves,
among them
also the
and mischief-makers.
In past times domestic work was more largely
shared by men.
in kitchen
Boys and youths were employed
work which
is
now performed by
scullery-
maids, and male servants called chamberlains did
much
of the
employed.
work
for
which housemaids are now
In ecclesiastical households there were
sometimes no female servants

the brewsters.
VOL.
II.
at
all,
except perhaps
In modern times the proportion of

36
WOMEN
2IO
women
men
to
number
In 1838 the
men was
of
exist
no more
employers
shops
in
and
of
and
people
It
factories.
is
their
all
But the servants are admitted
many
to a closeness of association, in
degree
which
There are
friction.
working
other
question of wages.
has
service
between servants and their masters
ties
between
than
while the
102,
anomalies
the
good deal of
create a
servants to every
domestic
of
and
footing,
its
greater.
only sixteen.*
The whole system

changed
women
of
population was
thousand of the
number
become much
servants has
instances to
which ought
intimacy,
not
to
be
accorded to mere strangers residing temporarily
Then
in the household.
the restraints of service
and the absence of personal freedom are galling
when
kind
there
of
no
is
authority
feudal
money bond.
but the
tie
over the
exercised
is
A\
\
servant,
who
supposed
is
disposal of the mistress, to

for
of
her
propriety which
among her
whom
bear
than
*
she
answerable'
is
She must wear a
own providing
and
mask of
she throws off as soon as she
The
fellows.
household, with
to
be always at the
her comings and goings.
uniform
is
to
its
discipline of a private
petty rules,
that
of
may be made
workshop
London and Westminster Review, 1838
or
harder
public

for
institution,
a few
where authority
persons
the
restraint
211
exercised over
is
more than
felt
is
where shared with numbers.

In olden times
it
was not considered
that ladies should be attended
by those who were
fitting-
and served except
also of gentle blood.
All the
little
personal services were performed by demoiselleSy
the
daughters
domestic
arts
gentlemen,
of
and
sent
housewifely
to
learn
the
accomplishments
necessary for a gentlewoman to acquire.
These
chambrieres did a great deal of work
young-
that
of the present day would think hard and
ladies
The
tiresome.
order
different
real
"servants" were of a very
sturdy
wenches,
accustomed
to
coarse fare, rough clothes, and not particular as
They may have been

than boys and men but,
to their sleeping quarters.
somewhat
treated
better
Elizabethan
even
after
times,
when domestic arrangements had somewhat
improved,
the mediaeval
it
in
was not thought necessary
to provide regular beds

in
period,
and
in
general
"
bedding for " menials
good houses
"
was
As
for servants if
well, for
they had any shete above them
it
seldom had they any under their bodies to
keep them from the pricking strawes that ranne off thorow
*
the canvas and razed their hardened hides."
*
A Jessop, " One
Generation of a Norfolk House."
WOMEN
212
In Saxon times servants were frequently treated
with
great
cruelty,
The Saxon
absolute servitude.
a good reputation
and were
for their
in
a condition
ladies
of
do not bear
conduct towards their
inferiors.
Passing on to the seventeenth century,
it
only
needs a glance at the interior of a gentleman's
house to see how utterly different were the conditions of domestic service
from those of the present
day.
Although the general housekeeping was a
much
weightier
sorts
of
owing
affair,
processes
to
the fact that
now performed
outside
all
were
then carried on inside the home, the furniture and
There
accessories were of the simplest character.
were no ornaments or
that
fragile
bric-a-brac,
nothing
required careful moving and dusting.
The
rawest of country wenches could have been trusted,

for instance, in the
summer
parlour of
Hall, Suffolk, the residence of the
When
H engrave
Kytson
family.
an inventory was taken of the contents of
the house in 1603, the aforesaid parlour was found

to contain the following items of furniture
"
One long Turkeye
carpett,
one square bord carpett
of Turkeye worke and one coobard carpet of Turke work
three long cushions of needle work in crewell, two chayers
covered with like work and fringed with crewell
hye joined
stooles,
twelve
covered with like worke, six hye joined
213
worke and fringed with crewell,

two curtyns for the windowe of greene and white striped
moccadoe one greene carpett cloth for the folding side
stooles covered with carpet
bord
one long table with a frame, and one longe foot
stole
one square borde with a frame
with a faste frame to
coobard
three joyned stooles
one side borde
with foulden leaves and one joyned
it
and three
little
foot stooles
one payer of andyrons."
While
dealing
with
this
period
it
may
be-
opportune to note some directions for maidservants

in a large
household in 1677.
in tabular
form
that there
"
for
every day
The
in the viêek,
was systematic supervision
Looke out the
directions are
showing
and cale the maids

all mended.
" Tuesdays.
Clene the Romes and Chers from ye great
Rome to the norsery and ye beads on ye Tope and
botum, and dust ye feathers.
" Wednesdays.
Clene all the Romes, Chers and beads
onder and Tope with ye feathers from the norsery to
ye Egll Chamber.
" Thorsdays. Clene ye Hall and Parlors windows, tables,
chears, and Pictors below stairs.
Mondays.
and
sit
foule cloths
and stay by them
tell
they be
Scoure the
tongs and Hand-Irons.
Clene the Store House shelf and Dressers.
" Every-day. Once
ye fore noune goe
one houre
"Fridays.
all
grats,
" Saturdays.
for
through
into
all
them and dust them
There are
maid and cook
in
ye Romes and see

all
it
doith not Raine
doune and swipe them."
also special directions for the dairy:
WOMEN
214
" Dery-maid.
Wash
yo' dery every
day
and
And
morning.
of the servent
Hoges-meat any
for the
mens should cary
that out for you.
Observe well the time for seting

Poultrey
and same
all
sorts
of yo'
once every weeke make ye hoose bred
Helpe you
shall
to kneed.
"To Helpe them wash w washing days

Milk yo' cows
in
The grammar
is
yo*
Sarve ye swine and Poultrey
Tuisdays and Fridays,

night and
for
Churne
milke and butter doe as you will be dericted.
comes.
good time."
rather lame, but the
is
meaning
tolerably clear.
The
cook's duties were as follows
" Cooke-maid.
Washe
yo' chitchen every night, and the
Larders every other day, Shelfes and dressers, and
we
scour the puter
use every Friday night, and
all
Kepe
yo''
the Rest of ye puter once every month.
kitchen exthrodinary clene.
"To
helpe upon washing days the Rest of ye
And make
maids to wash.
there candellstickes
be maid
ye
all
first
ye maids bring doune
thinge in a morning to
clene." *
The costume
of servants was under regulation
though the days of sumptuary laws were numbered.

In 1611 a precept
of
London
among
was issued by the Lord Mayor
to the Grocers'
Company, complaining
other things of
" the inordynate pryde of

* " Historical
mayde
servaunts and
MSS. Commission."
women
21 5
servauntes in their excesse of apparell and foUye in varietie
of newe fashions, and to admonish them to have a due and
spedye reformacion had
speciall care to see a
in everye
one
of their servants."
It wâs
that they
ordained with regard to maidservants
should not wear on their heads lawn,
cambric, or tiffany, or linen costing

shillings
an
ell,
and that
be trimmed with
five
Their kerchiefs were to be
lace.
were not prohibited wearing
quite plain, but they

ruffs
more than
their head-gear should not
which did not exceed four yards
in length
"before the gathering or setting in thereof nor

three inches in depth within the setting in thereof."
Gowns and
kirtles
were not to be made of any kind
of silk or of kersey which cost above three shillings
There was
a yard.
to
be no
silk
or lace trimming
on any part of the costume, and farthingales were

strictly
forbidden " either
little
or great."
In former times domestic servants, in
common
with what are called the lower orders, were separated
from
the
tradition
gentlefolks
and
training.
by impassable
barriers
of
They were accustomed
to
be patronized, tyrannized over, and treated generally

like inferior beings.
And
though they might envy
the lot of those above them, no notion of equality
entered their minds, and they would have secretly

despised a master or mistress
who
entertained any
WOMEN IN THE
2l6
VICTORIAN ERA.
A juster. relationship now exists between
such idea.
servants and their employers, but the former, while

their position has improved, are less content with
They do
their calling.
what they
for
are,
not wish to be recognized
and endeavour to appear
to the
They
dislike
outside world under another aspect.
emblems of work, and
the
are
ashamed
of the
name
of servant.
In the eighteenth century people grumbled as
they do
"
now
at
good servants being so
Les bons domestiques, en hommes
sont tres
difficiles
a trouver."
the fault lay a good
It
et
scarce.
en femmes,.
would seem as
deal with the masters
mistresses, for the writer continues
"
if
and
Les Anglais
traitent durement leurs domestiques par principes."
But
for the
employer to
insist
on some sort of
character or reference with a servant
an
oppressive
measure
is
England,
in
not thought
though
it
appeared exacting to the Frenchman, who remarks

of the servants
" lis
un
ne peuvent trouver une nouvelle condition que sur
certificat
en bonnes regies de vie et de moeurs.
clause les tient dans le devoir
sont jeunes ou
commettent,
jolies,
elles sont
premier venu.
mais
Cette
les servantes, si elles
a la premiere faute grave qu'elles
congedi6es et vont se prostituer au
Aussi Londres est
elle
inondee de coureuses
qui volant les passans au coin des rues.
Elles
marchent

par troupeaux,
21
vous escamottent mouchoir et montre
elles
avec une adresse inimitable."
The
condition of domestic servants in the last
century showed considerable im-
quarter of the
provement.
"
Servants are
much more
enlightened than they were,
Most of them are not only able to

read, but to understand what they read, and as willing to be
instructed and improved in the duties required of them
even thirty years ago.
as their employers are desirous they should be." *
Of all
the writers on servants in the last century
the most censorious and emphatic was Defoe.

"
is
The insufferable behaviour of servants

now (it may be hop'd) come to its height
;
of insolence
How
think
may be
in this nation
their
different is Defoe's
judgment of the masters
from that of the Frenchman just quoted.
blames them for
measure
said to be quite full."
their laxity.
He
is
Defoe
not satisfied
with the old proverb, that the English are the best
masters and the worst servants in the world, but
would change
"
it
to
The English have
the uneasiest servants because they are
the easiest masters in the world. ... In England the rich
know not how to be masters, and

not how to be servants."
Those who
are
* Dr. Trusler, "
wont
therefore the poor
know
to lament the dressiness
Domestic Management," 1791.
WOMEN
2l8
of the modern maid as something peculiar to the
degeneracy of the present day will perhaps experience
a kind of dreary comfort from the knowledge that

precisely the
same complaint went up even
in the
seventeenth century.
"The women
much
are
affected with gaudry," writes
Evelyn, in the character of a French nobleman, "there
being nothing more frequent than to see an antient ladie
wear colours
either sex
a thing which neither
do with us save
but widows at no time.
country and the camp,
in the
.
young nor old of
The
truth
is
they have no
moderation, and are neither lucky nor frugal as our ladies
and whereof the magistrate takes so little cognisance that it is not an easy matter
to distinguish the ladie from the chambermaid servants
are in these sumptuary expenses
being suffered in this brave country to go clad like their

mistrisses,
a thing neither decent nor permitted in France,
where they
When
may wear
neither lace nor silke." *
fashionable dress
was so
elaborate, the
incongruity of domestic servants being arrayed in
the bravery of fine ladies was particularly striking

"
La mani^re
assez
d'etre des servantes angloises est peut-
etre ce qui ^tonne le plus
sont
all
g^n^ralement
meme est
comme il faut,
un etranger a Londres.
bien
faites,
bien mises
Elles
leur
costume
parfaitement celui des personnes les
plus
leur ton celui de la meilleure societe
il
est
done assez simple qu'un Stranger
premiers temps assez embarrass^ avec
de
la
soit
dans
elles, et qu'il ait
peine k les prendre pour de simples servantes.

*
les
John Evelyn, " Character of England."
Leur
2ig
v^tement de tous
les jours est une longue robe juste k la

un chapeau de soie garni de ruban. II en est
beaucoup qui ne portent que des habits de soie et
taille et
m^me
des mantelets de taffetas
lors qu'elles sont
parses.
L'ceil le plus
connoisseur a peine a les distinguer de leurs
maitresses.
Tout
opulente et
comme
annonce une personne

EUes ont droit aux ^gards les
accompagnent ordinairement leurs
leur ext^rieur
il
plus marquds, elles
faut.
maitresses dans les promenades."
One wonders how
maids found time to
the
patch and paint and trick themselves out in hooped

petticoats, sacques,
servant,
who
has to
weekly "evening
The modern
and French hoods.
make a
out,"
for the celerity with
hurried toilette for her
has reason to be thankful
which she can
formation in her appearance.
With
effect
a trans-
all its defects,
the costume of the present day has the recom-
mendation of being easy to don and
doff.
or elaborate, however, whatever
worn by the
is
So
mistress will be adopted by the maid.
Simple
it
was
in the past.
" It
would be a satyr upon the ladies," wrote Defoe, in

would not bear the reading
1724, " such as perhaps they
how hard
of,
should
we go about
to
know
the chamber maid from her mistress;
lady's chief
And
to
tell,
woman from one
Defoe,
of
who was
my
it
is
sometimes
or
my
lady's daughters."
troubled
much
at the
increased rate of wages, which he declared were
WOMEN
220
doubled and trebled, attributes
wearing of
"From
the rise
the
to
finery.
this
gaiety of dress must necessarily follow
encrease of wages, for where there
is
such an expence in
habit there must be a proportion'd supply of
money
or
it
will not do."
Other people besides Defoe noticed and lamented

the smart appearance, coupled with the higher wages,
of the domestic servant as the century advanced.
correspondent to The Times wrote, in

" I
think
it
is
the duty of every
much as possible
and extravagant mode of dress in
mistress to stop as
794
good master and
the present ridiculous

their
domestics.
Formerly a plaited cap and a white handkerchief served

a young
is
woman
week
etc.,
for her
for
Now
three or four Sundays.
required to give up,
by agreement, the
latter
a mistress
end of the
maids to prepare their caps, tuckers, gowns,
Sunday, and
am
told there are houses
who do
purpose, where those servants
open on
not choose their
mistresses shall see them, carry their dresses in a bundle
and put them
on,
pose of disrobing,
meet again in the evening for the purand where I doubt many a poor deluded
creature has been disrobed of her virtue.

call
They
certainly
aloud for some restraint both as to their dress as well
as insolent manner."
And
the same year
in
had gone up
or
in the last
it
said that
decade more
forty years before, with
result as to
was
wages
than for thirty
a correspondingly
manners and morals.
ill
221
Servants' wages were formerly limited
and among the Elizabethan
enactments
giving power to the Justices of the
Mayors
the
the ages of
twelve and forty
Peace and
woman between
whom they shall
any woman shall refuse to serve

commit such woman
be bounden to serve."
for the Justices to
These and other

disuse,
laws,
if
it
shall
be lawful
to
ward
until she
not repealed,
into
fell
and Defoe complains that enactments
lating to
"
one
is
fit.
" If
shall
statute,
to send out to service, at fixed rates
of remuneration, any unmarried
think
by
re-
servants were
brought into contempt, not so much that the reason and
necessity of such laws are not the

alter'd are only greater
same
as ever, or
and more pungent than ever
if
but
because masters and mistresses have slackened the reins

of family government."
The present mode

registry-offices
existed in
called
the
is
of procuring servants through
not new.
last
Something of the kind
century.
There were places
accommodation -offices, which were said to
have the worst possible influence on the servants,

who, fancying they were always sure to obtain situations,
grew
brought into
reckless,
and were often deceived and
difficulties.
WOMEN
2 22
was formerly the custom, as old-fashioned
It
In
housekeepers know, to pay wages quarterly.
the seventeenth century wages were paid at the

quarter, half-quarter,
month.
is
In the
an entry,
"
and sometimes
Howard
To James
"
Princess Cecil, mother of
As
house
like
little
later,
" there
In
the
Edward
IV.,
to the rates, a
of
household
wages were
cook
in a large
Melbourne Hall, Derbyshire, received
a-year in
/\.
Household Book
the Butler for one year due
about Whitsunday 40/-."
paid half-yearly.
at the twelve-
1630 (an amount which Pepys, a
grumbles at having to pay), a house-
maid t and
a dairymaid
2i-
But
at
that
period chickens and ducks could be bought for
sixpence
each,
a turkey
for
eighteenpence,
mutton was twopence-halfpenny a pound.

a lately imported luxury,
was seven
and
Coffee,
shillings
pound.
1756 the wages of a cook
In
house were only

keeper 2.
is.,
in
a baronial
and those of a house-
There must have been some
" extras "
in this
household which do not appear, one would
think.
An
enactment had been made
the Justices of the Peace that a "best
in
1725 by
woman
ser-
vant being a cook or able to take charge of a

household," should not receive more than
with
food,
while a
los.,
chambermaid, dairymaid, or

washmaid was paid 2,
î
of age,
The
under sixteen years
or, if
\os.
money was greater

sums represent much more than
purchasing power of
then, so that these
same amounts would
the
223.
at the present day.
The
economic changes that have taken place since have
been favourable to domestic servants, who are
all
from the one item of expense
free
house rent
which has so greatly increased during the present

century, while clothing materials have
The
now
all
cheapened.
standard of living, too, has risen, and servants
enjoy
many
luxuries which formerly were only
seen on the tables of their employers.

In 1859 two-thirds of our domestic servants, or
about half a million, came from the rural districts,*
which shows how female agriculturists have diminished
numbers.
in
thousand
are
farmers, but field and farm workers
much fewer than
referred
to
women
There are now some twenty
town
to,
formerly.
about one-third of the
families
engaged
in
At
the period
women
belonging
independent industries,
and six-sevenths belonging to similar families

the country
became domestic
servants.
the counter attractions of shops,
ing centres of factories, draw
would otherwise
*
fill
and
in
off large
In towns
manufactur-
numbers who
up the ranks of servants.
Edinburgh Review,
in
April, 1859.
And
WOMEN
2 24
times the development of various industrial
in recent
to reduce the
employments has further contributed
numbers who seek domestic
service.
There are probably now fewer general servants

in proportion
than there were thirty or forty years
when they formed one-half of the entire number.

Next came the charwomen, who constituted one-
ago,
eighth, and after these, housekeepers, there being
about three thousand more housekeepers than cooks,
and about
five
thousand more cooks than house-
Although modern
maids.*
styles of building
and
modern conveniences have greatly lightened domestic

work, more service
of
habits
and
is
owing
required,
customs.
to the
where
households
In
formerly the mistress would have
been
change
satisfied
with a young girl to do the rough work a couple

of
regular
servants
are
now
number of women employed

in
kept.
58,527.
was
to the census of
The men numbered
1,386,167.
Among
hotel
actual
as domestic servants
England and Wales, according
1891,
The
only
servants the sexes are far
more evenly proportioned, the
figures giving 46,364
males and 44,319 females.
The condition of the domestic servant has in

many ways immensely improved. She has more
luxuries, easier work,
*
and higher wages.
Edinburgh Review,
April, 1859.
But she

has drifted into a position
She does not seek
The
full
2 2$
of contradictions.
either protection or friendship-
mistress and servant are practically strangers,
meeting
on
the
footing of
ployed, with nothing between
employer
and
em-
them but work and
wages.
The short terms of service are largely responsible
for this condition of things.
mistress feels no
more than a temporary concern with the career of a

maid who
in
a few months
And
out of her ken.

family
whom
long as
it
may have
passed entirely
the maid does not regard a
she has only consented to serve as
suits
of attachment.
her convenience with any feeling

It is
her aim to acquire as nearly
as possible the independence of the outside
while retaining the privileges of a
worker
member
of a
household, an attitude which creates mistrust on the

-
part of the mistress and leads to friction.
Domestic service
is
full
servant
grows
which
beyond her means
is
with her own
of
anomalies.
The
accustomed to a style of living
class.
if
she returns to dwell
The mistress pays extravagantly,,
not in wages merely, but in establishment expenses,

for small returns.
Eventually, perhaps, the English
aristocracy will realize that they can live with less
attendance, like their Continental neighbours,
marvel at British extravagance.

VOL.
II.
If it
who
were not
37
2 26
for
WOMEN IN THE
VICTORIAN ERA.
an obstinate clinging to heavy entertainments,
and a barbaric love of show, there would be no

occasion for the present waste of servant power
and of the energy spent by the mistress
the domestic machinery.
in perfecting
227
CHAPTER
XI.
Character of modern philanthropy

Movement
Burdett-Coutts Miss
Octavia Hill Miss Emma
Capacity of women for organization
Women
Baroness
the mainspring of the Humanitarian
ConsThe Moral Movement Mrs.
Butler and Miss Ellice

Hopkins Temperance worlt Associations for the benefit of
girls
Miss Frances Power Cobbe on women's work.
While women have been

business occupations of
pressing into trade and
all sorts,
they have shown
equal zeal injonpaidwork^
The prominent
part taken
by women
in
the
modern humanitarian movement is remarkable in

two ways. The effect on the women themselves
is hardly less striking than the effect on the work
in
which they are engaged.
an unexpected capacity
Women have developed
for organization,
prise in arduous undertakings,

for
difficult,
Philanthropy
demands
disagreeable, and
in
the
present
upon the worker.
an enter-
and an enthusiasm
unpromising work.
day
It is
makes
great
not enough to
WOMEN IN THE
228
be
in earnest, to
and be
be
willing to
VICTORIAN ERA.
have money
self-sacrificing, to
spend
All these things are
it.
desirable, but they are only a part of the qualification
The
necessary.
philanthropist
must
have
also
business talents, enthusiasm tempered by a finely
balanced judgment, and an omniscience which can

avoid the mistake of giving in the wrong place, of
committing the
It
evil of " over-lapping."
used to be a simple thing to be charitable as long
as one
had the means there was the want and there

;
was the money, and

the one
was only a question of making
it
the other.
fit
But
it is
a different matter
Serious considerations have to be taken into
now.
account.
First
and foremost there
is
the fear of
pauperizing, a fear which rarely troubled benefactors

in the
past
there
is
the fear of imposition
giving to unworthy objects

paratively
grown
modern
cities, in
terror,
which, again,
is
of
a com-
begotten of huge, over-
which no one knows the antecedents
and circumstances of
There
his neighbours.
is
the
danger to be guarded against of interfering with
some other donor, who may be an

is
more commonly a
for
society
making sure that a moral
there
injury
individual, but
is
is
the necessity
not inflicted
on the recipient by the manner of the

that
plied,
gift,
and
while the needs of the body are being sup-
spirit
of servility and dependence
is
not
THE MODERN HUMANITARIAN MOVEMENT. 229

being fostered.
And,
lastly,
there
the enormous
is
competition of claims for help, so that the bewildered
comparing
philanthropist,
his
own means and energy
with the demands around him,
is
reduced at
the conclusion that the only safe path

of inaction, and that after
all
is
it
last to
the path
is
futile to try to
stem the tide of misery.
The
refuge of
organization.
It
so large that
it
modern
the
is
philanthropist
is
not merely that the work
is
would be hopeless
out, but that the
to attack
it
with-
philanthropist feels the need of
The
the moral support which combination affords.
problems involved
in
rendering aid of any kind are
so large that the responsibility

individual.
much
too
is
If the philanthropist
be
rich,
for
he pours
his wealth into certain well-defined channels

its
one
where
course will be directed by bands of workers
from the
to the last drop.
first
If
he cannot give
money, but only time, he makes one of a "movement."
Modern
philanthropists
from the leisured

class
which
is
zation,
limited
that
has
means
philanthropic
to
own
its
on inherited incomes.
living,
It is this
made
it
In
new
not subsisting
force, organi-
women
of
an active share
in
possible for
such
take
work.
drawn, not only
but from the busy middle
class,
earning
are
the
past,
philanthropy
WOMEN
230
meant simply parting with wealth, the
superfluity
of the rich supplying the necessities of the poor.
the present day
In
intelligent
means a vast amount of
it
Money
and voluntary labour.
cer-
is
on philanthropic schemes,
tainly spent very largely
but the actual work of the philanthropist does not

consist so
much
in the giving of
money
or of kind
as in carrying out systems of benevolence, mutual
and reform.
aid,
has been remarked that while
It
to
engage or
charity,
it
is
not,
men
they please, in works
as
at
certain
extent
become
they should
that
least,
philanthropists.*
It
imperfectly, that philanthropy
any one can take up

part of the year,
philanthropy
not a thing which
is
while
pictures
suffers
make
no one
and read
from the
is
silly
fail.
literature,
compelled to gaze
at
unwise
charity.
Women
the best and the worst philanthropists.
womanhood
play in the effort to relieve suffering.

*
bad
books, the whole of society
effects of
the noblest qualities of
more dangerous and
obnoxious person than a tyro in art or

for
a certain
other occupations
is
now very
in spare hours, for
when
to
only in
has
recent years been recognized, and even
in
of
expected of women, in the leisured
classes
tyro
are free
Comhill Magazine,
liy^.
All
are called into
The
personal

element, which
is
often a hindrance to
them
other work, stands
in
good stead
thropy, but they are apt to fritter
on
trifling matters,
woman
ill
trying to
in
women
in
in philan-
away energies
to lose sight of principles.
always impressed by a
is
wear herself out

evils
and
23
detail,
and
will
remedy recurrent
which are only manifestations of some greater
which escapes her
Women
notice.
are the mainspring of the humanitarian
movement of the nineteenth century. Whether

the work is distinctly religious or distinctly secular
makes no difference it is at bottom women's work.
There is an immense amount of work carried on
;
in
connection with the churches, Established and
Dissenting, which would formerly have been con-
sidered quite outside the pale of ecclesiasticism,
now take
work mainly carried on by
but of which the clergy and ministers

cognizance.
It
is
women, though they are not the recognized heads.
The same
Women
holds good of the lay organizations.
are
the agents
actual initiators
Some
and
when they
are not the
leaders.
of the most useful schemes for improving
the condition of the people have been originated by
women.
The
benevolent labours of the Baroness
Burdett-Coutts have
of
modern
English
made her
female
the representative
philanthropy.
Miss
WOMEN
232
Emma
Octavia Hill and Miss

especial
line
the
in their general
Cons, in their
own
and
also
housing of the poor
work, have become not only great
philanthropists, but
They are
what hundreds of women
educators.
public
doing on a large scale
are doing in smaller ways.

It is thirty
years since Miss Octavia Hill began
her plan of letting out weekly tenements to the
poor under her
personal
plan was warmly
commended by Mr. Ruskin,
furnished
all
the
superintendence.
money necessary
and made himself responsible
at the beginning,
for
But the plan succeeded so well that
half
Some
is
was paying
it
people
may
The
who
the expenses.
in a
per cent, on
year and
all
capital.
object that a business
scheme
five
not philanthropy, but philanthropy carried out
on business
and
principles
is
usually the most helpful
lasting.
The Baroness
Burdett-Coutts, like Isome great
lady of olden time, has built churches and founded

charities, and,
of her
by a generous and wise
immense
enduring name.
wealth, has
made
for
distribution
herself an
London has been the
chief field
of her philanthropy, and has received the largest
share of her benevolence, though Ireland, her
county of
Wiltshire,
own
and more than one of the
colonies will always hold her in grateful
memory.
THE MODERN HUMANITARIAN MOVEMENT. 233

Religious work, technical education, and industries
are
it
her debtors on a large scale.
all
She
has, as
were, formed an era in the history of philan-
The
thropy.
multiform nature of her sympathies,
and the personal part which she takes
move-
in the
ments of the day, have brought her
into relations
Nothing seems
with workers of various grades.
either too large or too small for her if there

evil
be remedied.
to
At one time
starving Irish peasantry, on
whose
it
is
an
was the
during
behalf,
the potato famine of 1880, she offered the Govern-
ment
On
debts of the destitute.
trapped
cruelly
for
wiping out the
another occasion
was
it
humming-birds, which were being
beautiful
the
and
;^2 50,000 for seed
to
be
used
as
adornments
in
bonnets.
It is
one of the peculiar characteristics of
that they are able to attend to

time.
Their
many
lives are so usually
detail that they
have
rapidly from one
women
things at one
encumbered
with]
acquired the faculty of passing!
subject
to
another,
added
to!
which their sympathies and their perceptive powers

are quicker than those of men, so that they are
both stirred to action and able to grasp their object
more
"
readily.
Women," says Buckle, " prefer the deductive method,

and by encouraging men in deductive habits have rendered
'
WOMEN
234

The
service to the progress of knowledge.

is
slower and more
Women
practical.
method
inductive
deductive
are
because they think faster and possess more intuition." *
The
varied nature of the viôrk which must be
included
under
head
the
brought out the need for women's
The
striking way.
has
philanthropy
of
activities
in a
move-
strength of the moral
ment, which comprehends several different phases

of work, lies chiefly in the
Much
furtherance.
women, and
of
it
women engaged
-can only be
certain that
it is
ministration of
living
Among
women.
representatives
of
its
done by
some of the worst
could never be touched at
evils
in
without the
all
the best
work
this
are
known
Mrs.
Josephine Butler and Miss Ellice Hopkins.
The Temperance movement,
again,
comes under
women
the category of philanthropy, and there
the most zealous and successful of workers.
are
The
existence of that large body, the National British
Women's Temperance
ous branches
president
all
Association, with
over the country, and
Lady
Henry Somerset
proof of the activity of
work
the more so because
to a men's association, but

tion,
women
managed
entirely
* Buckle, " Influence of
it
its
numer-
its brilliant
is
signal
in this sphere of
is
not an adjunct
an independent organiza-
by women.
Women
on the Progress of Knowledge."

The work among young women
235,
of the servant
such as the Girls' Friendly Society and the
class,
Metropolitan Association for
Befriending Young-
Servants, the constant efforts put forth to brighten,

in
life
poor
districts,
the
numerous benevolent
associations, the visiting of the sick
and
hospitals
infirmaries, the multiform societies for amelio-
rating the
of poverty, raising the standard of
ills
health and enjoyment, and

to
in
that
which ought also
be included as one of the truest forms of phi-
the
lanthropy
so as to
fit
various schemes for training girls
them
for
some
occupation, either as
domestic servants, or in more skilled employments,
women
are proofs of the enormous part which
To
humanitarian movement.
in] the
play
particularize
the work of these associations, of which only some

of the most important are mentioned, would fill
Every
a volume.
the
facts
" It
its
are easily accessible to
information.
wrote
society has
own
who
all
In 1862 Miss Frances
record,
and
desire
Power Cobbe
would be a vain task
account of the work which
to attempt to give
women have
any definite
been doing in
England since the date of the Crimean War,"
which she regards as the starting-point of modern

English female
philanthropy.
The
years which,
have elapsed since Miss Cobbe wrote these words
WOMEN IN THE
236
in
VICTORIAN ERA.
Erasers Magazine cover a period more than
three times as long as that to which she alluded.
which
It is a period, too,
is
much longer
relatively
The
as well as absolutely in point of activity.
field
has widened, and the workers have multiplied at a

bewildering
population
thropic
is
with the rapid growth of the
new problems have
work
War was
it
rate, for
in the
a thing
arisen.
If philan-
decade following the Crimean
difficult to
grasp in
its
entirety,
now a complex machinery, which can only be
viewed
in sections,
intricate to
and whose involutions are too
be described except
devoted to the subject.
in
a work specially
237
CHAPTER
XII.
of the sisterhood system
Revival of religious orders The Anglican sisterhoods Clewer and

Harriet Monsell Bishop Wordsworth on sisterhoods Growth
" Sisters " in the hospitals
Significance
of the movement.
It
was not
until nearly the
century that
the Church
middle of the present

of
England began
to
re-awake to what had been a leading principle

pre-Reformation times
in
its
social
work.
the co-operation of women
After
the
break-up
monastic houses, the influence of

religious
life
of
in
the
women
of
the
in
the
country practically ceased.
But with the Oxford Movement and the general
awakening of the High Church party a new era

arose in the history of the Church.
Protestantism
had fostered a distrust of religious communities.^

Anything which savoured of a return to monasticism
was shunned.
of
Rome was
ever of
The
conventual
life
as a product
looked upon with disfavour.
religious
zeal
existed
in
the
What-
eighteenth
WOMEN
238
and the
first
was
be found
to
of
portion
the
Evangelical
party in
more defined
into
nor
Evangelicals
work
sects.
Dissenters
the
Their work was
communities.
tried
to
more
individual than co-operative.
in
who were
the Dissenters,
gradually consolidating
Neither
century
the
in
among
the Church, and
the nineteenth
They
did not
work according to rule and pattern, but each after

Their religious life was
his or her own way.
active not on account of
ment
any inspiration from attach-
to a central authority, but because the workers
were fervid
in their beliefs.
causes, the
Evangelical party in the Church de-
clined,
it
became obvious
own
to hold
its
of
Dissenters a
the
motion.
that
in face of the
new
if
as,
from different
the Church were
growing importance
force
must be put
in
was the Dissenters who started SundayIt was the

Dissenters who were the
It
schools.
With regard
women, the Anglicans could show no such names
forerunners
to
But
philanthropic work.
in
as those of Elizabeth Fry and her co-workers.

It is scarcely
of the
Oxford
High Church
formation.
necessary to go into the history
Movement, the growth
party, or the causes
The
which led to
point of interest here
the outcomes of that
movement
of
is
the
its
one of
the revival of the
system of religious communities
and
the
way
in
women
what may be
which
it
official
connection with the Church.
brought
into
Whether the sisterhood system

a desirable one
is
239
or
is
fresh
starting-point
organizer of works of
social
The
of
most
celebrated
for
the
lives,
reclaiming the wretched
House
the
The
and moral reform.
Anglican
sisterhoods,
women who
felt
sisterhood arose out of the
was
Clewer
an
became
experiment.
and grew, and homes and
mission-houses were
gradually formed in various parts of
London and
Some
Clewer was begun about 1849.
three years previously Miss
her sisterhood at Plymouth.
The
The work grew
organizers had to feel their way.
elsewhere.
for
dwelt in that
of Mercy, of which Harriet Monsell
head.
and
Church as
Clewer, arose through the need that was
neighbourhood.
not
re-established the
It
ascendency of the clergy over women's
was a
is
a question which will be decided
according to religious bias.
it
called
Sellon had
founded
After Clewer came the
establishment of All Saints', Margaret Street, and

following
on
that
East
Grinstead.
It
is
worth
noting that the sisterhoods founded by the Anglican
Church were much larger than

prototypes on the Continent.
sixty
or
their
Roman
Catholic
sisterhood with
seventy sisters was very seldom to be
found out of England.
WOMEN
240
The
life
of the Anglican sisters
that of the
mediaeval
nuns,
not unlike
is
who were
at liberty
to
go abroad and perform
It
has been strenuously asserted that there
striking difference
Roman and
works of mercy.
their
is
between the sisterhoods of the
those of the Anglican churches.
late
Bishop of Lincoln,
this
point with
urged
Dr. Wordsworth,
a good deal
of
The
He
insistence.
remarks on the freedom of action and the absence

of seclusion in the lives of the Anglican sisters,
as
compared with the
imposed on the
restraints
Between the days
Virgins of the Early Church.
and
of St. Augustine, St. Ambrose,
and the present century there

analogy.
nuns
the
of
better comparison
fourteenth
and
Jerome
perhaps
is
is
St.
little
found with the
fifteenth
centuries,
whose work among the poor outside the walls of

nunnery has a good deal of correspondence
the
with
the
work
sisterhoods.
"The word
on now by members
carried
The term
is
sisterhood
has no correlative in the ter-
new
one.
minology of the ancient Greek or Latin Church.
unknown
of
to both
it
It is
would not be possible to translate
by any word used by either. The ancient Church had

Widows, it had its Virgins, it had Deaconesses, but it
had no Sisterhoods in the modern sense of the term." *
it
its
Wordsworth, " Sisterhoods and Vows."

Anglican sisterhoods, whatever they
24
may have
afterwards become, arose, professedly, out of the
women
need existing
for
with the
that were poisoning the community.
ills
Certainly Clewer
was
of practical piety to battle
formed
in
way.
this
was the constant presence of so many

miserable lives which inspired devoted
band themselves
It
stained,
women
to
a sisterhood, as has been
into
already indicated.
There
among communities
is
kind a
of this
tendency to exalt the individual over the general
good
that
is,
to
make
discipline of
more importance
than deeds, to revert to the old misconception that

everything should be
salvation,
made
subservient to personal
which was to be attained by the curious
method of neglecting obvious
The
imaginary spiritual claims.

rules, the
punishments
the
among
the evidences of this
practical
self-mortification
work
to
satisfy
multiplication
as a
and
penances,
spirit,
means
to
the danger of sisterhoods, but
are
which regards
one end,
the purification of the soul of the worker.

is
of
inflicted for trifling infringe-
ments,
all
duties
viz.
This
one which the
broader religious outlook of the Anglican Church

in
modern times has done much
The
re-establishment
was not wholly a

VOL.
II.
clerical
of
to check.
the
religious
movement.
It
orders
was due
38
WOMEN
242
very much to a strong desire
among
a certain
Church
section of the laity to bring the Anglican
more correspondence with the Church
into
early centuries of the Christian era,
of ancient forms
"No
"
by the
of the
revival
and systems.
one," wrote Frederick Denison Maurice, in 1863,
can be ignorant that
much
of the craving for Sisterhoods
among us arises from the feeling that

we should be more like our neighbours
if
;
we had them
that our insular
prejudices deprive us of a blessing which
other people
we wickedly drove out nuns from their

convents in the days of Henry VIII. that now in the
days of Queen Victoria we are feeling the want of them
and must get them back if we can."
possess
that
Many women
doubtless entered sisterhoods out
of a desire to escape from the frivolities of fashionable
life,
and
to
follow their bent for charitable
works unfettered by the

which governed
been a longing
life
restraints of
their circles.
among women
chaperonage
There may
also
have
of a certain type for a
of rule in an organized community, where they
would constantly enjoy

in the
priestly guidance.
writer
year 1866 asserted that
" Clerical
advice,
clerical
companionship,
and
clerical
ministrations are essential to the happiness of the large
majority even of highly educated women."
The women who embraced
conventual
life
were,

generally speaking, well educated
to
a cultivated class
exceptionally
Monsell
but
high
243,
they belonged
some were women
order
mind,
of
of an
Harriet
like
cannot be said that the majority
it
of highly educated
women showed, even
at the
height of the movement, that clerical advice, companionship, and ministration were essential to their
happiness.
Other things combined
hood movement.
to
spur on the
There was a great need
organized works of philanthropy
working
individually,
associated
work
sister-
for
women had been
but what was wanted was
work, that
is,
which would have
the cohesion and persistency that comes from its
being subject to rule and guidance.
was a suggestion
in
under the charge of

tried at University
In 1866 there
favour of placing hospitals

sisters
the experiment
and King's College
and proved eminently
was
Hospitals,,
successful.
Various circumstances combined to favour the
growth of sisterhoods.
The
Evangelical party, who'
had no sympathy with the movement, were lapsing

into
quietude after a period of activity, and the
High Church party were coming into prominence.

Women were drawn towards a movement that
united religion with philanthropy.
It satisfied their
emotions, and provided a vent for their energies..
WOMEN
244
much
Even
In the middle of the century there were
fewer outlets for women's religious
zeal.
work was, compared with
ordinary church
the
present day, undeveloped, and the sisterhood sys-
tem combined the

freshness
fascination of antiquity with the
of novelty.
was
It
old,
and yet new
based on authority, but untried.
Although the revival of the
religious
antagonism among a large party
excites
orders
in
the
Church, and the independent authority which conventual houses are apt to assume
disfavour, the significance of this
sign of the
Church's activity
movement which has
is
is
regarded with
movement
as a
not diminished.
so penetrated
social
life
cannot be regarded as the mere ebullition of a

sect.
It is
towards
not only that the attitude of the Church
women
has altered, but the attitude of the
Church as a body
It
for social
work has been
affected.
brought the Church earlier than would other-
wise have been the case to play a prominent part

in that general
altruistic
movement which
is
the
characteristic feature of the last half-century.

It
may be argued
work of the Church

needy, and raise the
that
it
has always been the
to heal the sick, succour the

fallen.
But during the
last
two centuries the Church only regarded these duties

in their religious aspect.
It
was not a humanitarian

body.
245
Polemics occupied the more intelligent
the ecclesiastics, and
little
among
was expected of the clergy
outside the routine of services.
Indifferentism on
the one hand, and theological controversy on the

other, kept the
Church
in
a narrow groove.
But the position of the Church has greatly

altered in the present day.
"Whatever the source from which

derived,
magnitude
its
is
political, partly national, partly religious,
social
is
but the aggregate of the forces
so great that
it
influence
It
is
is
partly-
and very largely

it
can
command
must certainly be regarded as the most
important factor in the ecclesiastical
The
its
unquestionable.
life
of the nation.
gradual sweeping away of the exclusive privileges
belonging to
as the
it,
Church by law established, has not

itself, for any loss thus
reduced the power of the Church
sustained has been more than counterbalanced

increase of
its
spiritual force.
As
by the
a State institution
it
Church it was
never stronger
supremacy
political
that is, its hold of
was never so doubtful, whereas it never gave more evidence
was never so weak
as
it
is
to-day, as a
of spiritual
life."
Thorold Rogers, " Church Systems."
WOMEN
246
IN THE VICTORIAN ERA
CHAPTER
XIII.
THE FREEDOM OF DISSENT.

Scope
for
women's
activities
among
the Dissenting communities
Equality of men and women in the Salvation ArmyWomen as missionaries Pioneers in the mission
Women's position in the Nonconformist churches of the
Women
in the pulpit
field^
present day.
Concurrently with the
rise
Sisterhood
the
of
system there has been so great an enlargement

of the boundaries of women's activity
senters as to create almost a
formists, not
elastic in their
Noncon-
rule, are
naturally
more
methods of work than members of
For women there
the Anglican Church.
The narrowness
theological,
era.
Dis-
being bound by tradition, and not
being subject to priestly
scope.
new
among
of
Dissent
is
a wider
is
chiefly
and does not preclude the holding of
broad views
in
matters outside creed.
rowness of the Church

stifled
with
among
Dissenters that
social
is
The
nar-
the intolerance of a caste
prejudices.
women
Therefore
it
is
can work with the
247
In the Church
greatest freedom and independence.
The
they have always been in a state of tutelage.
movement
done the most
that has
to utilize their
the re-establishment of the Religious

Orders a movement which places the
energies
strictest
is
bounds
to individual liberty both of thought
and
deed.
Among
Dissenting bodies now, whether Bap-
Congregationalists, or Methodists, there are
tists,
very few religious

fill,
and there
is
does not take
offices
pulpit,
we
which she
except the Methodist
has already been under dis-
It is true that
she
seldom seen
is
but her appearance there
hibited,
in
not
the question of her admission
to those assemblies
cussion.
woman may
no important work
part, if
Conferences, and
which a
and the present day
is
is in
in the
no way pro-
furnishing instances
women and its acceptThere were numbers of women preachers in
of the preaching power of

ancy.
the time of Wesley.

the mission
social
sible
field,
fully
home and abroad, in all

work, women have a respon-
both at
and educational
and
In the care of the poor, in
recognized share.
Whatever view may be taken
of the doctrines
and methods of the Salvation Army, there can

be no question that of all modern religious agencies
it
has done the most to awaken and employ the
WOMEN IN THE
248
activities
enabled
workers
fact,
in
merely adherents, but
America, Australia, and
every
member
elsewhere.
Army
of the Salvation
That
is
the secret of
The most
obscure
member has a
part,
kept in touch with the central authority.
is
respect the
bears
is
its
incorporation of the individual with the
its
whole.
has
every great city of Europe, besides vast
in
of necessity a worker.
power,
power
drawing
Its
not
enrol
to
it
numbers
In
women.
of
VICTORIAN ERA.
some resemblance
In this
of the Salvation
organization
to that of the
and
Army
Church of
Rome.
In the Salvation
offices as
men.
Army women
hold the same
Sergeants, commissioners, captains
are chosen from either sex, according to the need

of circumstances and the fitness of the individual.
If
women
are expected to take an equal share of
work, they are not debarred from any privilege, or
deemed incapable on account of sex from fulfilling

what are considered the highest functions. Among
the Salvationists, as
commonly lead
principle
among
religious
the Quakers,
assemblies.
appears to obtain
women very
The same
among them
as with
the Friends, that

"
provided a
woman
be possessed with the endowments and
qualifications proper
and ought
to exercise
for
teaching and praying she
them
may
in publick for the edification

of the Church, and that her so doing
and sound
Scripture
No
is
warrantable from
reason." *
other religious body except the Quakers
women
has thus recognized the equality of
Nor can any
men.
manding
There
figure as the late Catherine Booth.
religious bodies, but
untiring, in other
woman
no other
pressed her personality on a cause.
has so im-
Mrs. Booth's
of work was by no means confined to her
field
it
with
other sect show such a com-
have been workers as earnest, as
sex
249
lay perhaps as
much among men
But the great importance she attached
women.
as
to
own
women's
part in religious organizations helped to permeate
the
Army
with the spirit of equality.
pride that the Salvation
Army had
latent energies of women, which
by the Church through
Among
all
It
was her
called forth the
had been disregarded
the ages.
other sects the recent development of
missionary enterprise has brought

front in a very striking way.
women employed
in the foreign
women
to
the
Formerly the only

mission
field
the wives or other relatives of missionaries,
were
women
who, although they did a good work, were acting

in
a subordinate and unofficial way, and were occupied
primarily with domestic duties.
what
is
Now, women are
called "set apart" for mission

* " Dissertation
work with
on the Liberty of Preaching."
WOMEN
250
solemn ceremonies, and are sent out as independent
The
missionaries.
quarter of a century has
last
wrought a great change
in this, respect.
It
has
brought a recognition of women's position as an

individual responsible worker.
It
worth
is
when
noting that
started foreign missions in 1835, the
was a woman
assist in
an
society,
Rachel Metcalfwho went
to India to
industrial school established in Benares.
England
in
composed partly of Dissenters and partly
of members of the Church of England,

female education in the East.
owe this
who was
missionary
first
A year previously there had been formed

a
Quakers
the
early effort
greatly
bettering the
to
It
condition
promoting
seems that we
an American missionary,
impressed with
of
how
China, and pointed out
for
women
the
need
for
India and
in
exceedingly insufficient
were the wives of missionaries to cope with the
mass of ignorance existing in those countries amongst

the female population.
Of
late
years to education of the mind has
been added the healing of the body.

medical
East
missionaries
under the
honour to the
and endure
ligion
are
aegis
out
to
of
the
All
thus exile themselves,
and hardship
and humanity.
sent
of religious bodies.
women who
toil
now
Numbers
in the
name of
But considering the
re-
difficulties

which face
liness
we
all
and
women
25
doctors in India, their lone-
responsibility,
it
would seem better
if
followed the example of our American cousins,
and
sent
only
thoroughly
Surely one profession at a time
woman,
physicians.
qualified
is
enough
for
which demands such
especially a profession
arduous labour and unremitting attention as the

study of medicine.
As was
many years
noted above, the only
women who
ventured into the foreign mission
for
field
were the missionaries' wives, who were encumbered

with household cares.
But very valuable was the
work done by these pioneers
women
like
Mrs.
Margaret Wilson, who learnt the Marathee language

in order to start schools,
and Mrs. Braidwood, who
some twelve
that
years
later,
is,
school for Caste girls in Madras.
in 1841,
As
opened a
early as 18 19
the Baptist missionaries' wives in Bengal were at
work
lady
and an East Indian
instructing the natives,
who had
profited
by
their classes conceived
the idea, which was put into execution, of organizing
some means
of education for girls in Calcutta.
society was formed under the
Female
Juvenile Society for
Native Females.
have been
in
name of
drawing
in
The
the
the Calcutta
Education
of
appear
to
educationists
advance of the missionary societies
women
into their ranks as independent
WOMEN
252
workers, for in 182 1 the British and Foreign School
woman
Society sent out an unmarried
to Calcutta
to start schools.
This was Miss Cooke, who was
very successful
her work.
in
to get the girls.
The
great point
was
for boys,
but
There were schools
nothing was being done to educate the
Cooke's
first
pupil
was a
Miss
girls.
who had
little girl
to gain admittance to a boys' school.
tried
In course of
time Miss Cooke established twenty-two schools,

with four hundred
girls, in
Calcutta.
Miss Newell went out to Malacca on an educational
one
mission
girl,
in
but by the third day she had
Thornton,
who was
the Society for

the East
1827, opening her school with
the
first
fifteen.
Miss
missionary sent out from
Promoting Female Education
in
Miss Alderney, who worked under great
difficulties in
five years
Java for
Miss Grant, who
and others might be

mentioned as women pioneers in educational and
was stationed
at Singapore,
missionary work abroad.
The
religious world has
been greatly affected
by the forward movement among women.

first
half of the century,
to see
women engaging
when
in
it
In the
was very unusual
any public work except
when women
were almost unknown, when
as auxiliaries to an association of men,
speakers and lecturers

travelling
was more
difficult
and
costly,
women's
was circumscribed not only
part in religious 'work
by
by
practical difficulties, but
Public opinion was against
pendent
were
and custom.
tradition
women
inde-
taking
In the Church tradition and custom
lines.
a greater
among
than
253
the
upon
restraint
women's action
The
undenominational bodies.
Church followed the lead of the Nonconformists

in
missionary enterprise as in the foundation
Sunday-schools.
first
It
of
was the Baptists who were the
to start foreign missions, through the instrumen-
the famous William Carey.
tality of
This was
in
Foreign missionaries were not sent out by
1792.
the Church of England until some years
The
position which
women now
later.
hold in Non-
much more independent

formerly.
They work
down by themselves. They form and
conformist churches
is
and responsible one than
on
lines laid
carry on societies, conduct meetings and services,
and transact a large amount of business

nection with church work.
The
practical
in
con-
ability
developed by more rational education has made

enthusiasm
before.
effective
in
directions
Both paid and voluntary
low, are held
by women
and
activity of
work have been
seen.
women new
created,
offices,
high and
as a matter of course,
where formerly only men were

zeal
unthought of
new
Through the
departments of
fields of
enterprise
WOMEN
2 54
Opened
and the
up,
social
work of
the churches
In religious, as in other matters,
largely increased.
women have found a new inheritance of labour.

Among members of the Anglican communion
as
much
activity prevails, but
pendence.
but there
The
is
As no
reliance
on
less inde-
by women,
details are carried out
more
more reference
somewhat
priestly authority,
to priestly guidance.
attempt
is
being
made
pages
movements, but
to sketch the history of religious
only to indicate the position of
in these
women
in relation
both to the Anglican Church and the Dissenting
Communities, anything like a chronological survey
would be out of
place.
Only such points have
been touched upon as serve to show the place
women have
occupied, the changes of thought
and
custom that have taken place, and the way
which
they have
affected
religious life of the
women.
in
The whole
country has entered upon a
new phase during the last fifty

ward forms have undergone great
The outalteration. Much

years.
more pains are bestowed upon the
services
and the
appearance of the building.
This applies to both
Anglicans and
Dissenters.
wider
conception
obtains of the duties of the clergy and ministers.
Every
religious organization has attached to
quantity of work of a secular character.
it
There
a
is

a larger scope for the energies of
existed before
among
women
255
than ever
Protestant churches.
And
with this increased activity has grown up, necessarily,
the system of associated work.
Formerly
moved by the enthusiasm of indiNow it is moved by a combination of
the world was

viduals.
forces, the
whole.
massing together of units into one great
WOMEN IN THE
256
VICTORIAN ERA.
CHAPTER
WOMAN
XIV.
AS NURSE.
Nursing only recently made a profession
Miss
Nightingale on the
Want of trained nurses in workhouses Origin

of the Nurses' Training Institution at
Thomas's Hospital
Work of the sisterhoods The early hospitals at religious houses
Treatment of lepers Decline of nursingThe Crimean War
period Ancient and modern conception of nursingThe FrancoGerman War and Mrs. Dacre CravenJames Hinton on nursing
The Royal National Pension Fund Miss Twining and workhouse nurses Nursing as a profession
gentlewomen Crushlack of training
St.
for
ing out of the amateur.
It
is
only within the last quarter of a century that
nursing has been raised to the dignity of a profession.
Every woman was supposed
to
to nurse,
and the only school
it
sible to get training
and
this
patient's
was
which
was pos-
was the school of experience,
training
expense.
in
be able
bought
kind
of
dearly at the
rough-and-ready
knowledge was passed from hand to hand

professional
nurse, as
she was
called,
the
picked up
such scraps of information as she could obtain,
and trusted
to her
own powers
of intuition
and
"
IV
OMAN AS
observation for the
NURSE.
257
Before the Crimean
rest.
War
there were upwards of 2500 professional nurses, but
how many of these were really trained for their

work ? The same mistakes were repeated time after
was no one
time, because there
The
to point
them
out.
nurse, wrote Miss Nightingale, in 1861,
" has neither instruction nor training
and she conies to

her duty with all her experience to learn and nobody
qualified to enlighten her.
Everywhere this want is felt."
Such half-knowledge as she
wedded her the more
had
firmly
received only
and
customs
to
methods of treatment which defied the laws of

health.
any
It
was not supposed that nurses required
special
training.
they would find
The assumption was

out
things
for
themselves,
prevailing opinion being that there was very
As Miss
to learn.
"
Sickness
is
hardly anywhere
Nightingale said
everywhere.
is
ness, to delay death.
Death
is
although
'
how
little
everywhere.
But
the training necessary to relieve sick-
We
consider a long education and
any training
man
we con-
at all necessary for our nurse,
often does our medical
man
himself
can do nothing for you unless your nurse
what
the
discipline necessary to train our medical

sider hardly
that
tell us,
will carry
out
I say.'
To
liouse
VOL.
this
day the unhappy patients
infirmaries
II.
are,
in
in the
many country
workplaces,
39
WOMEN
258
who
nursed [by pauper inmates,
are told off to this
duty much as they would be told off to scrubbing
and sweeping.
Until very recently there
one trained nurse to be found among

houses
in the
There
Crimea,
is
to
all
was only
the work-
whole county of Devon.

no need to repeat the story of the
record
heroic
the
Miss
of
labours
Florence Nightingale, or to do more than point

out that
it
was she who created a new epoch
The
nursing annals.
the
public
to
revelation then
When
action.
Nurses'
to her, with
Training
While
Hospital.
sum
money
of
which she founded the
Institution
at
St.
scheme was
this
stirred
Miss Nightingale
returned from the Crimea a large
was presented
made
Thomas's
in process
development the Sisterhoods began to work.

in the field
was
St. John's,
and then came the

Street, of
sisters
in
of
First
Norfolk Street, Strand,
of All Saints', Margaret
East Grinstead, and of
The
St. Peter.
nurses trained at the Sisterhoods were sent to the

hospitals
and
also
to
private
cases.
Thus
Church once more took up the work which
it
the
had
so long laid aside.
In pre- Reformation days the care of the
was a
religious duty
the monastery infirmary
the earliest form of hospital
were
skilled in the healing art,
sick
was
the
monks and nuns
and
to
them
resorted.
WOMAN AS
poor
the
of
NURSE.
259
neighbourhood and
the
stricken with illness
by the wayside.
travellers
In the age of
pilgrimages hospitals were established along the line

of route, but during visitations of the plague the
people of England died by
For lepers there were
hundreds untended.
lazarettos outside the
towns
of mediceval Europe, and charitable people
gave
their alms for these outcasts of society.
'
But who
ministered to them no one knows, and except for
the occasional offices of
must have dragged out

succour.
both
some good Samaritan they
their miserable lives without
Within the present century the Moravians^
men and women, have been
at
work among
the lepers in the East.
After the Reformation there followed a long

period of apathy with regard to philanthropic work.
The
old customs
which
spirit,
still
were broken up
the mediaeval
lingered up to the sixteenth cenin
various forms
of charity and benevolence, was gone.
Fresh habits
tury,
and which found expression
of thought were growing up
from
its
society
primitive simplicity of
more complex.
The poor were
made a charge upon
life
was emerging
and becoming
beginning to be
of
upon
sick,
while
the State, instead
private charity.
In medieval times the care of the

it
was
especially a duty of those
who embraced the
WOMEN IN THE
26o
religious
woman
was
life,
VICTORIAN ERA.
also a duty devolving
on the great lady
in
peasant wife in her hovel.
how
to treat
her castle, and on the
Some knowledge
of
wounds and agues became a necessity
in those days of fierce fighting
In
on every
the Civil
War
and unhealthy
living.
of the seventeenth century
there was plenty of opportunity for the exercise of
woman's
skill
in
medicine and surgery.
The
sick
and wounded must have suffered terribly, for no

ambulance corps existed, and only chance help
reached the disabled soldiers.
Qut in the touching story of
This
is
well brought
Lady Anne
Halkett,
then Mistress Murray, ministering to the soldiers

she passed after the battle of Dunbar, while travelling with the Countess of Dunfermline to Kinross.
On
in
the road Mistress
Anne saw two wounded men
need of help, and told them to follow to her
lodging in Kinross, where she would assist them.
They
not only obeyed,
twenty more of
the few days Mistress
says
"
brought with them
Anne
During
spent at Kinross she
I believe
and
but
their suffering comrades.
threescore was the least that was dressed
my woman
by me
and Ar. Ro. [whose identity is not further

imployed to such as was unfit for me to
dress and besides the plaisters or balsams I applied, I gave
every one of them as much with them as might dress them
described],
;
who
WOMAN AS
NURSE.
26
three or four times, for I had provided myself very well of
things
necessary for that
might be
useful.
... Of
imployment, expecting they

these poor soldiers, there
all
few of them had ever been drest from the time they
ceived their
may
wounds
came
until they
re-
and then
to Kinrose,
be imagined they were very noisome
was
but one
was in that degree, who was shot through the
arme, that none was able to stay in ye roome, but all left
mee. Accidentally a gentleman came in, who seeing me
itt
particularly
(nott without reluctancy) cutting off the man's sleeve of his
doublet,
was hardly
w''"
to be touched, hee
fit
and cutt
charitable as to take a knife

in
ye
and
off
was so
fling (it)
fire."
These merciful
reported to the
vision
writes
actions of
King and
Lady Halkett were
Council, and led to pro-
being made for
the
wounded
And
the
King was
several
for
itt
towns.
Lady
"
Halkett, simply, " to
give
soldiers
in
pleased,"
mee thanks
charity." *
my
Women
were forced
become nurses and do
to
the best they could, often without the aid of physicians.
Perhaps
this
was not much
gretted, considering the state of medical
among
difficult
so-called
professors
separate
to
of
Now
into a formulated
*
science,
" Autobiography of
Lady
re-
It
is
the doctor.
offices.
while medicine advanced, slowly
and
be
knowledge
medicine.
the nurse from
She so frequently combined both
to
at the
Halkett."
it
is true,
same time
WOMEN
262
passed out of the hands of women, the doctor
assumed a greater importance, and the nurse
more and more
The
background.
into the
nurse's
functions were looked on as quite subordinate,

it
was treated
whom
as comparatively of
they were performed
attendance to give directions,

sufficient
safeguard
upon
sick,
consequence,
It was,
it
women were
whom
and
moment by
a doctor were
The most
suffered to wait
untold tortures were, in
inflicted.
perhaps, necessary that nursing should
be reduced to the lowest point of degradation

order to create the revulsion.
our soldiers die
in the
after letting
trenches for lack of aid,
to a realization of our folly
and proceeded
in
After making the
term " hospital nurse " one of reproach,
awoke
in
was thought a
the patient.
for
ignorant and repulsive
upon the
if
little
fell
to establish nursing
we
and ignorance,
on a
different
footing.
Miss Nightingale,
it
will
more than a year and a

answer to certain
be remembered, spent
half in the Crimea.
questions
In
put to her by the
commissioners appointed to inquire into the sanitary condition of the army, she stated that during
the
first
six
months of the campaign the mor-
tality
among
sixty
per cent,
the soldiers from disease
alone was
per annum, a rate higher than
WOMAN AS
NURSE.
among
that during the time of plague
of
lation
matters
But
London,
263
the popu-
proper
with
improved so much that
in
attention
the
six
last
months of the war the mortality had gone down

almost to the rate of that
among
home, who were supposed
to
cluding
nuns
and Anglican
be
the Guards at
In-
in health.
were
there
sisters,
altogether with Miss Nightingale a band of forty

nurses.
In mediaeval times nursing was a religious and
a domestic exercise
in
present day
the
science and a profession.
It
it
is
has passed out of the
domain of philanthropy and has become a means of

living to thousands of
women.
There
is
no
calling,
except that of teaching, which they have followed
more
Men
eagerly.
have
for the
most part stood
aloof and been content not to enter the
there
is
no reason why
matically trained to attend
Male nurses
in
The
is left
though
upon
their
own
sex.
the male wards of the hospitals
would be a very desirable

nursing
lists,
they should not be syste-
addition.
practically in the
But, as
it
is,
hands of women.
Sisterhoods worked quietly on, doing good
service during the cholera epidemic of 1866
eventually the East
formed, the
first
and
London Nursing Society was
society established in
the benefit of the poor.
London
for
During the progress of
WOMEN IN THE
264
when
the Crimean War,

stirred
for
The
infirmaries.
Nurses was started
trict
nursing
among
this period there
good
public opinion
was being
on the subject of nursing, a plan was formed
for training the pauper
house
VICTORIAN ERA.
nurses.
women employed
Liverpool Training
in 1863,
The
public
Home
and a system of
little
demand
dis-
Before
the poor established.
was very
work-
in
for really
were so ignorant on the
subject of sick nursing that they placidly put
up
with the unskilled ministrations to which they were
accustomed.
Then came,
in
1870, the
Franco-German War,
and Miss Florence Lees, afterwards Mrs. Dacre

Craven, volunteered to go to the
pany with two other

and was put
in
of the Tenth
Army
in a
fever,
hospital
In com-
front.
nurses, she proceeded to Metz,
charge of the second fever station

Corps.
She spent eight weeks
nursing eighty patients with typhus
under the worst conditions, without appliances
of any kind.*
Miss Lees was one of the
first
ladies
trained at St. Thomas's Hospital as a Nightingale
Probationer,
and
subsequently
worked
at
the
Deaconesses' Institutions at Kaiserwerth and at
Dresden, and
in the military hospitals at
and Val de Grace.

in
She was
also for
Vincennes
some months
charge of the wards at King's Cross Hospital,

*
Baroness Burdett-Coutts, " Woman's Mission."
WOMAN AS
NURSE.
265
SO she went to the work backed up by a variedexperience.
Duke
was
It
1870 that the
the year
in
and National Nursing Association

Square.
was
It
in
year,
this
a paper in
Hitherto
Profession."
garded
that
in
it
there
that
also,
late
had not been
re-
Miss Nightingale's great
light;
philanthropic enterprise, and the
work
of the sisters
had not caused nursing
in the various Sisterhoods,
to
Bloomsbury
at
James Hinton
the Cornhill Magazine, on i" Nursing
appeared from the pen of the
as a
Metropolitan
of Westminster founded the
be regarded as a calling by which educated
women,
ladies
" It is
by
birth,
might earn a
considered," wrote
living.
"
James Hinton,
though an
excellent and most respectable vocation, not one for a lady

to follow as a
sink a
little in
own
means
of livelihood, unless she
the social scale.
is
content
Can any one think
tO'
it
more menial than surgery ? Could

any occupation whatever call more emphatically for the
is,
in its
nature,
qualities characteristically
known
is
as those of the
termed professional, or better
gentleman and the lady
.'
Here
a profession, truly a profession, equal to the highest in
dignity,
open
to
woman
in
which she does not compete
with men."
Since that time nursing has passed entirely out

of the hands of the amateur and the untrained.
Nurses are now an organized, compact body,

equipped
and
certificated.
The
report
of
fully
the
266
WOMEN IN THE
VICTORIAN ERA.
Fund
for
article of
the
Council of the Royal National Pension

Nurses, which appeared in the
Times on March
more pension
13,
1895,
Money
shows that every year
policies are issued, there
being 556
in
1894 as against 497 in 1893. A steady advance

has been made in the sickness assurance branch,
and on the pension side 610 proposals were dealt

with as against 533 in 1893.
One
of the original
members of the Council was the late deputy-governor

of the Bank of England, Mr. Clifford Wygram.
Through the efforts of Miss Louisa Twining

and others, a movement was set on foot for supplying trained nurses to workhouses, and though much
remains to be done
has been effected
infirmaries.
public
in this direction,
in the
Whether
institutions,
a great reform
management of workhouse
in
the
own homes or in
poor now enjoy skilled
their
attendance which half a century ago the richest
man could not command.

to women nursing is the
Of
all
only one which has met
with no opposition from men.

profession,
the careers open
In every other
when women have wished
to qualify for
the higher branches, they have encountered obstacles

created by prejudice.
But nursing,
in
which the
rewards are smaller, has been deemed so peculiarly

their
province that they have
been
encouraged
instead of being retarded in their progress.
WOMAN AS
It
NURSE.
267
may, perhaps, be a matter of regret to some
to reflect that
what once was a pious exercise has
now become
means of livehhood, an every-day
calHng by which thousands of
The
selves.
women
support them-
halo which surrounded the ministering
nun does not shine over the keen,
modern woman, who views

tation from
Heaven
to
sickness, not as a visi-
be averted by prayer and
but as a calamity of man's
fasting,
be dealt with
worldly
like
own making,
loss of fortune,
But the
evil.
business-like,
to
or any other
air of sanctity
which once
attached to nursing was effectually dispelled by the
Gamps and Betsy Prigs of more modern

who now, however, have almost become
Sarah
times,
extinct.
Like other professions, that of nursing includes
many
classes.
It levels distinctions
most widely severed ranks.

in which a
in
the one calling
gentlewoman can engage without the
least fear of losing caste.
advance
It is
and unites the
In spite of the great
thought and the change of sentiment
which has made work honourable, there are

people
who
sisters
and daughters are earning
are a
little
governesses or clerks.
ashamed
to
own
still
that their
their living as
But nobody minds confess-
ing to being a nurse, because ladies of
title
and old
family are frequently found in the nursing ranks, as
i^
WOMEN
268
soon as
may be, but also as paid workers. As

women of the educated classes took up
nursing-,
the
volunteers
it
was
calling
at
once raised from a
menial occupation to one of dignity, not merely
because of the higher social status of the nurses,

but because
exercise
it
was a
calling
and training of the
and was an
art
which involved the

intellectual faculties,
be studied with much pains
to
before proficiency could be attained.
Nursing has hovered on the borderland which
Like
divides philanthropy from every-day business.

religious work,
ever, has
while he
a compound.
it is
The
how-
nurse,
an advantage over the priest or preacher, for

is
obliged to profess a certain enthusiasm
the cure of soulsshe permitted

to regard hers the cure of bodies from a
for his
work
is
strictly
business point of view
and, in
fact,
although tender-
more
ness and sympathy are invaluable qualities, the
she can avoid absorbing her patients' troubles the

better able will she be to perform her duties.
Nursing
one
affords
examples of the way
in
of
the
most
which the amateur
crushed out of existence.
If there
more than another which women
striking
is
being
were one thing

felt
themselves
competent to undertake without any training or

special
knowledge,
relatives
and
it
friends.
was the care of
their
sick
governess must at least
WOMAN AS
NURSE.
269
have passed through some educational
ordeal,
and
be able to show certain accomplishments, even
in
the pre-examination days, before she would dare

to offer her services
a would-be clerk must
something of accounts
an amanuensis must be
able to spell and to write legibly.

qualification
deemed necessary
To
willingness.
like
know
for
doing a
But the only

a nurse
thing was
was
long
thought a sufficient guarantee of capability, and

the people
or
who
professed to have a taste for music
painting were
friends' ears
and
allowed
free
play with
Women who
eyes.
their
were ignorant
of the laws of health, and of the elementary rules
of nursing,
who
know how to ventilate

how to make a bed without
did not even
a room properly, or
disturbing the patient, assumed the office of nurse
without any misgivings.
We
now rushing into the other extreme.

There is so much talk about sanitation and hygiene,
there are so many lectures delivered on the subject
of nursing, and so much is written in popular form
are
about the manifestations of disease, that the public

is
perforce, to
a certain extent, educated in the
treatment of the body.
But
of dealing with the complex
constantly discussed and
learned enough to
it
has become afraid
mechanism which
paraded.
make them
is
so
People have
nervous.
They
are
WOMEN
270
now
as
much
afraid of doing
wrong
The amateur
sure in former times of doing right.
has
so
lost confidence in herself.
much
In the presence of
trained skill she feels hopelessly at fault.
Regular nurses are more

Slight cases of illness are
fessional attendant.
the
were
as they
medium
in
demand than
handed over
ever.
to the pro-
No doubt in time we shall strike
course.
It
not
is
impossible that
nursing will eventually be regarded as a branch of

ordinary education, and that a year or two's training
in
hospital
or,
infirmary will follow the school
college course.
We
mediaeval times,
when
may
the
and
revert to the habit of
care of the
sick
was
regarded as one of the normal duties belonging to
womanhood, and
of the
first
skill in
things for a
medicine and surgery one
woman
to acquire.
271
CHAPTER
WOMAN
XV.
AS DOCTOR.
Medicine the only one of the learned professions open to women

Women students of medicine in Italy Midwifery in England
Witchcraft and medicine Midwives of the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries Female surgeons The modern medicall
movement Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell Dr. Garrett Anderson
Dr. Sophia Jex-Blake and the fight in
School of Medicine
Medicine
open
to
is
the only one of the learned professions
women
Church are both

the
Law
EdinburghThe London
Public appointments held by women.
are
in
England.
The Law and
the
closed,
though certain branches of
practised
by women, such as con-
veyancing, and the highest religious functions are

exercised
by women among Dissenting communities.
But a woman cannot take Orders, cannot qualify

either as a barrister or a solicitor.
ever,
become an M.D., but
quarter of a century that

to
it is
She
can,
how-
only within the last
women have been
admitted
the ranks of accredited medical practitioners.
Yet as
far
back as we can trace our history
women
are to be found exercising, without credentials, the
WOMEN
272

This aroused great enmity, not
office of physician.
only on the part of the male doctors, but also from

Church, which was accustomed to deal with
the
disease as
if
were a demon to be exorcised by
it
In the Middle Ages, says Michelet
prayer.
" the art of medicine
was practised only with holy water

Thither on Sundays, after the service,
at the church door.
would come a crowd of

It
was dangerous
sick." *
woman
for
She was
knowledge.
to display medical
instantly
put
down
as
witch.
"
Male physicians not skilful enough to cure disease

would deliberately swear that there could be but one
reason
for
their
failure
the
use of witchcraft against
them." t
In the reign of
praying
" that
Henry V.
a petition was presented
no women use the practyse of
fisyk
under payne of long emprisonment."
The
herbalists,
both
men and women,
excited the
enmity of the regular leech, and were sometimes

molested for using their powers.
fourth year of the reign
passed for the
o'f
Henry VIII. an Act was
relief of
"diverse honest persons, as well
God hathe endued

* "
La
men
as
women,
whom
with the knowledge of the nature, kind
and operacon of certeyne herbes,

t
In the thirty-
rotes,
and waters and the
Sorcifere."
Gage, "
Woman,
Church, and State."
WOMAN AS
DOCTOR.
273
using and ministering them to such as be payned with
customable diseases,"
that they might practise their calling " without sute^
herbalists
women
an empirical
practised medicine while
stage, before
a science, but as
it
grew
it
This was inevitable,
was in
into a profession of dignity
for there
to
it
had been formulated into
and importance they ceased

and training open
As
or losse of their goods."
vexation, penaltie,
women
to
bear their part.
were no means of study

as there were to men.
In Italy matters were differently ordered.
then
Italy
was
far
advance
in
through the Middle Ages
There were
in the
of
But
England
and, indeed, much
all
later.
year 1500 sixteen universities in
In the School of Medicine established at
Italy.
Salerno
by
century
women were
Benedictine
monks
in
the
admitted as students,
learned their art and practised medicine
both sexes.
They
also
became
twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
the eighteenth century,
twelfth
we
lecturers
and
among
in
the
Coming down to
find a
woman
the chair of anatomy at Bologna Institute.
holding
But in
England they never held any recognized position

except as midwives until this century.
In the
Middle Ages medicine ranked more as a trade than
a profession.
In 1345 the apothecaries and grocers
were united, and remained so

VOL.
II.
until
161 7, and the

40
WOMEN IN THE
2 74
VICTORIAN ERA.
union of barbers with surgeons
Women
is
well
known.
were members of the Barber Surgeons'
Company.
One branch
midwifery
down
was
the physician's
of
entirely in
art
that
women
the hands of
to the sixteenth century,
of
when, at the time of
the establishment of the Royal College of Physicians

in
London,
men, and
in
in
518,
it
1603 there
began to be practised by
is
male doctor who included
a record of at least one

it
It is
in his practice.
recorded that midwives were authorized by the

bishops to baptize infants at their birth,
stances
made
it
if
circum-
necessary that the ceremony should
be performed without delay, and
this practice,
which
lasted from the tenth to the seventeenth century,
only
fell
into disuse
the Puritans.
on account of the opposition of
One
of the most curious
ever presented to the House of

sent up in 1646, styled,
plaint,"
The
regions,
that
Midwives' Just Com-
sanction of the Church

art.
Andrew
teenth century, says

In
Commons was
about the miseries caused by the Civil War.
midwife's
"
"The
petitions
my
and
was given
to the
Borde, writing in the six-
tyme, as well here in Englande as in other

of olde antiquitie, every midwife shulde be
presented with honest
women
of great gravitie to the
Bishop, and that they shulde testify for her that they do
WOMAN AS
DOCTOR.
275
present shulde be a sadde woman, wyse and discrete, havynge

experience, and worthy to have the office of a midwife.
Than the Byshoppe, with the counsel of a doctor of Physick,

ought to examine her, and to instructe her in that thynge
that she
is
ignorant
laudable thynge
for
and thus proved and admitted is a

and this wereiused in Englande, there
many women myscary,
shulde not half so
nor so
many
chyldren perish in every place in Englande as there be.
The Byshop ought
to loke
on
this matter."
male doctor who took up
this
branch of
surgery was not thought of high repute, and did

not attain to any position until towards the end of
Up
the eighteenth century.
were
"
in the
to
1750 obstetrics
hands of women.
The medical
art of the
Middle Ages busied
peculiarly about the man, a being noble
alone could become a

altar.
It also
not at
The
alone could
make God
at the
paid some attention to the beasts, beginning
indeed with them
women
priest,
itself
and pure, who
all."
but of children
it
thought seldom
of
belief in sorcery
and witchcraft which was
women
almost universal threw discredit on
There was nothing
that
was more
easily
doctors.
confounded
with evil than the treatment of disease, for the
ignorance of the causes of almost

plaints
selves.
was as widespread
all
classes of
com-
as the complaints them-
Sick people were commonly thought to be
an
possessed with
*
evil
Michelet, "
spirit.
La
The
Sorci^re."
theory of
WOMEN
276
was
obsession
"
Breviarie
chapter on
of
in
full
Health,"
the "
published
Boorde's
In
operation.
1598,
in
Demoniake Person who
is
pos-
is
sessed of or with the divell or divells," as a person

afflicted
with some
common form
the principle of like curing
like,
who
those
cure sickness were thought to be possessed of
Bishop Bonner wrote
magical power.
On
of disease.
in
could
some
1554:
midwife shall not use or exercise any witchcrafte,

charmes, sorcerie, invocations, or praiers, other than such
"
as be allowable
and may stand with the lawes and
ordi-
nances of the Catholick Church."
The
highest authorities,
ecclesiastical,
to the
medical
as
as well
were infected with the superstition as
power of witches and
evil spirits,
and as
late
as the middle of last century were found joining

their voices to those of the clergy in
denouncing
unbelievers as heretics.*
What
belief in the supernatural
power of the
witch-doctors
donna and other plants
To
so-called
was the use which they made of
They converted
poisons.
strengthened the
the juices of the bella-
into powerful medicines.
the ignorant multitude
it
was miraculous that
things
known
pain.
There was a great dread of poisoning
to
be noxious should serve to allay
through the Middle Ages.

*
It
all
was a common form
Chailld, " Address on Medical Jurisprudence.''
WOMAN AS
who so able
wise- woman ?
of murder, and
the witch or
could also
who
a
difficult
to furnish the
If
and dangerous
the
services
Henry
belief in
in
her place in Royal
Cobbe was paid

on
for professional attendance
Massey received
similar
leech,
the only accredited
Edward V.
Elizabeth Woodville, at the birth of

Alice
she|
position.
In 1496, Margaret
Crown
as,
undertook to heal were
The midwife was, in fact,

woman doctor, and she had
10 by
means
she could cure
and the universal
rival,
women who
bedchambers.
277
Between the jealousy of the
kill.
feared a
witchcraft,
DOCTOR.
same payment
the
Elizabeth of
to
for
York, wife of
Sometimes the Church and
VII., in 1503.
sometimes the Crown was the licensing authority.
Thus Jane
practice
from the Bishop of Chester
Queen Elizabeth
A
and
received a licence
Scarisbryche
skilful
James
is
said to
midwife
II.
was
somewhat remarkable
in
have granted
1578,
to
and
licences.
in the reigns of Charles II.
Mrs.
Elizabeth
character,
Celleor,
who underwent
imprisonment, paid a fine of ;îooo, and stood in

the pillory for the part she played in the Meal
Plot,
a scheme of the Papists supposed to be aimed
against Charles
name
Tub
is
to the
II.
sometimes
women
Mrs. Celleor,or Cellier, as her

spelled,
prisoners
used to
in
visit
and minister
Newgate.
She
also
WOMEN
278
formulated a scheme for the foundation of a Royal

hospital
and
for the
of midwives.
maintenance of a corporation
She wrote out her views
and submitted the paper

It filled
nine folio pages.
enormous
and
to
sacrifice of
owing
infants,
life,
at lengthy
King James II. in 1687.

She pointed out first the
both among the mothers
to the ignorance of the midwives,
and proposed that the most
skilful
among them
should be formed into a corporation, after being
proved competent, and be subject to
visitation by-
persons armed with Royal authority.
They were
to
be instructed by means of lectures given monthly
by the principal physician of the
hospital.
Here we have a forerunner
of
the
modern
Mrs. Celleor proposed that
system of registration.
the fees paid by the midwives for admittance into
be applied to the erection
this corporation should
of a foundling hospital, and subsequently to the
maintenance and education of the children brought
up
there.
She goes minutely
of the said hospital, and
into the constitution
enumerates the various
mistresses and other officers, male and female,
should be appointed.
There was
woman sufficiently
and accounts." Her duties were
secretary,
" to
be
"
present at
Midwifery, to
all
register
controversies
all
the
who
to be a female
skilled in writing
about the art of
extraordinary accidents
WOMAN AS
happening
in the
DOCTOR.
which
practice,
all
279
licensed midwives
are from time to time to report to the Society."
In rank the female secretary

" Governess,"
and was
to
who was
" that the
the head of the institution,
One
of the rules was
man register and Secretary of the House be

command and direction of the whole Govern-
ment thereof
which
to the
be regarded as an " Assistant to the
Government."
under the
came next
for all business,
except the art of midwifery,,
meddled with by none but the governess,

female secretary, Man midwife and their Assistants."
is
to be
In 1642 licences were granted at Chirurgeons'

Hall, the
examining board being "six
skilful
mid-
After the passing of the Act of Uniformity
wives."
licences were conferred at Doctors
Commons, where,
according to Mrs. Celleor

" they
is
for
as they
pay their money (take an oath which it

them to keep) and return home as skilful
impossible
went
thither."
In
67 1 one of these licensed midwives, Mrs.
Jane Sharp, published a book, the
first
by a woman
The
women
on midwifery, which passed into four editions.

authoress set forth the disadvantages which
were under through not having access

struction in
anatomy afforded by the Universities
male doctors.
who
to the in-
attended
to
In the next century Mrs. Stephens,
Queen
Charlotte,
wrote
a work
WOMEN
28o
called
"The Domestic
Midwife," which has been
by Dr. Aveling
characterized
as "perhaps the best
book on the subject written by any woman
own
our
language."
Madame
her
in
who was
Siebold,
so distinguished for
the University of Giessen bestowed
skill that
on her the degree of M.D., attended both the

Duchess of Kent and the Duchess of Coburg,
mother of the Prince Consort.
Royal
ladies of the
Indeed most of the
house of Hanover engaged the
women, Queen Victoria being the notable
services of
exception.
Between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries there
the
clever
were several noted midwives, such as

daughter
Dr.
of
Percy Willughby,
French,
and Mrs. Sarah Hastings, whose
names appear
"
in the " Philosophical Transactions
Mrs.
for 1694, but their practice
empirical for want of the

instruction.
trained
geois,
and
means of obtaining
definite
London had no H6tel Dieu, the

midwifery
school of
must have been largely
in
Europe,
in
best
which were
Madame Tertre and Madame Lovys Burboth of whom wrote books on midwifery,
for
long while
it
was
considered quite
improper for works on that subject to be written

English.
And
yet
it
was extremely unusual
(a male physician to attend cases of childbirth.
in
for
In
1;
WOMAN AS
DOCTOR.
28
Ages it was the witch who was sent for

times, down to the end of the last century,
the Middle
in later
it
was the midwife, who got her knowledge
she could by tradition and practice.

a very strong
natural
and
feeling,
as best
There was
and one which seems perfectly
On
presence of men.
right, against the
one occasion when the Miss Willughby mentioned
above was anxious

in
an extremely
to
have the advice of her father
critical
case that gentleman was

"
afraid to venture openly into the room.
daughter's request," he
I
says, "
crept into the chamber on
unknown
my
At my
to the lady,
hands and knees."
This was about 1658, and 150 years
later a
midwifery professor, more than once,
it is
famous
said,
had
to use similar secrecy.
As
medical science has advanced, women, being
debarred from access to the newer knowledge, and

shut out from
seded by men.
anaesthetics
The
all
places of instruction, were super-
One modern
has
quite
discovery
the use of
revolutionized
obstetrics.
witches are said to have had drugs which
lulled the sufferer into unconsciousness, but medical
science
knew
recent times.
The
very strong, and

impiety for a
or nothing of aneesthetics until
little
prejudice against their use was

it
woman
was regarded
as an
act
of
to seek to avoid the pains inci-
dent to childbirth, which were her natural inheritance.
WOMEN
282
women
In the last century there were several
noted for their
skill in
They
surgery and medicine.
would now be looked upon as mere quacks, but
There
day achieved a good deal of success.
their
in
was Mrs. Joanna Stephens, who proclaimed that

she had found some wonderful remedy for a very
and obtained a grant from
painful disease,
ment of
Parlia-
Mrs. Mapp, the bone-setter, called
;^5ooo.
by the name of "Crazy Sally," was so popular that the

town of Epsom offered her ^loo a
authorities of the
year to remain
come
to
town
in that
in
She used to
neighbourhood.
her carriage, and receive patients at
the Grecian Coffee House.
Such a noted character
did she become, that the managers of Lincoln's Inn

Fields Theatre sent her a special request to attend
a certain performance, with the object of drawing an
Mrs.
audience.
Mapp
1736, there was a
1 6,
complied, and on October

house.
full
There was another woman who, some years
won
repute as a surgeon.
later,
Miss Catherine Hutton
writes in 1788
"I
saw
in
the newspaper the advertisement of a
surgeon called Ellen Haythornthwaite
'
who
'
noted
is
sup-
She
posed to be one of the best surgeons in the country.
has performed several amazing cures given up for being

incurable.
it
incurable.
She
will
take nothing in hand
Her charges
if
she finds
are also very moderate
only
WOMAN AS
twelve pence a week
DOCTOR.
283
they come to her.
if
She
travels
none abroad."
At
the end of the last century several
women
graduated at the Italian Universities, notably at
Mme. Laura
Bologna.
Bassi, for example, held the
Chair of Natural Philosophy at Bologna, where she
graduated
in
She was described
1732.
Her
" le visage doux, s6rieux, modeste."
manner of Great
Quite early
funeral
was
There seems no
celebrated with public honours.
evidence that Paris ever closed
as having
its
doors after the
Britain.
the
in
present
century
another
made to bring women who practised

The
under some form of registration.
attempt was
obstetrics
Society of Apothecaries tried to pass an enactment

for the examination
when
the subject
mittee of the
and control of midwives
but
came before Parliament, a Com-
House of Commons decided
" that
it
would not allow any mention of female midwives."
Up
although
the
to
middle
from
debarred
knowledge accessible
as practitioners
of
to
by any
tion of sex
in
women,
the
medical
acquiring
legal prohibition.
changed.
made
century
men, were not disqualified
the Medical Act of 1858
circumstances
this
But when
was passed the whole
There was no
distinc-
the Act, but the conditions,
which required a doctor to qualify by passing the
''
WOMEN
284
examinations of one of the existing medical boards,
effectually shut out
for the nineteen boards,
women,
with one consent, refused to admit them.
The
only
^\exceptions to this decree were in favour of persons,
male
or
who had
female,
already
obtained
foreign degree, and had been practising
the passing of the Act.
on the
register.
to
was thus that Dr.
Blackwell was able to
Elizabeth
placed
It
prior
get her
name
Miss Elizabeth Garrett
(now Dr. Garrett-Anderson), who began her studies
two years
pulsory,
after registration
was
difficult
had been made com-
also enrolled, but, as will
be seen, by
and costly process, and one which was
impossible for any future aspirant.
There was only one examining board

lectures
it
was possible
admittance.
for
to
Miss Garrett
whose
to gain
This was the Society of Apothecaries,
who, after taking legal advice, consented to admit

her on payment of ten
and even twentytimes the
ordinary fees * for the lectures to be given to her

separately.
The
Society probably supposed that
Miss Garrett would either refuse such an exorbitant
demand, or that
lectures she
if
would
she agreed and attended the

fail
these things happened.

*
to
pass.
But neither of
Miss Garrett paid the
Address by Dr. Sophia Jex-Blake, " The Practice of Medicine by
Women."
WOMAN AS
money, heard the
five years' course
1865 her
lectures,
passed
name was
But the Society,
DOCTOR.
and
all
the end of the
the examinations
in
placed on the British Register.
terrified at the
decree
forbidding students
instruction,
in order to shut
at
285
consequences,
private
receive
to
out any
made
women who
might be tempted to follow Miss Garrett's example.
For the necessary

went
to Middlesex Hospital, but after passing with
special distinction
tions,
pital
hospital teaching Miss Garrett
some of the
an application
for
viva voce examina-
her removal from the Hos-
was made by the students, and actually granted
by the
authorities.
Miss Garrett subsequently went
where
1870 she obtained her degree,
to Paris,
in
passing the examinations with the most brilliant

success.
It
for
must here be noted that
women
it
was impossible
to obtain a medical degree in
any part
of Great Britain at that period, and medical education-
was equally out of the question, the Society of

Apothecaries having closed
Garrett.
And
not only were
its
doors after Miss.
women
debarred from
entering the profession in this country, but even
if
they went to the trouble and expense of graduating

at a foreign university, such as Paris, Bologna, or
Zurich,
they would
have
no status
as medical-
practitioners in England, the Registration
Act of
286
WOMEN
1858 only recognizing British licences and degrees.
won
In spite of her Paris degree,
first
much
would have had no standing had
hlai, Miss Garrett
she not
with so
become a
licentiate of Apothecaries'
Hall.
There was
Matters had come to a dead-lock.
women
simply no opening whatever for
And
this
struggle
in
was which occasioned
it
Edinburgh which
garded as an era
in the
will
medical
in medicine.
notable
the
always be
re-
movement among
women.
In 1869 Miss Sophia Jex-Blake determined to
She
devote herself to the study of medicine.

applied to
London
that the Charter
University, and
first
was informed
had been purposely so worded as
to exclude the possibility of
medical degrees.
examining
Then she turned
women
for
Edinburgh,
to
where, in company with four or five other ladies,
she carried on
for
some
with the authorities,
half dozen years a battle
who were
in
end com-
the
pletely vanquished.
Sir
James Simpson and the Dean of the Medical
Faculty, as well as Professor Blackie
and Professor
Masson, proved immediate and staunch friends to

the ladies, but
when Miss Jex-BIake
Professor Laycock
he observed
not imagine any decent
that
called
he
woman wishing
to
"
upon,
could
study
WOMAN AS
medicine
as
for
any
DOCTOR.
287
I
was out of the
lady, that
question." *
The University Court having passed a resolutior

that " women shall be admitted to the study of medicine in the University," Miss Jex-Blake and fourother
ladies
Mrs.
Thorne, Miss Peachey, Mrs. Evans,
and Miss Chaplin

examination
Two more
in
duly
passed
preliminary
the
Arts prescribed for medical students.
ladies.
Miss Anderson and Miss Bovell,
entered the following year, so that there were in

all
seven lady students at that time, the septem
Edinam
contra
appeared
five ladies
were
called.
Subsequently
in the prize lists.
Miss Peachey,
as they
as third in the chemistry prize

year),
was
entitled to the
had been founded by Dr.
list
(and
first
of her
Hope Scholarship, which

Hope out of the proceeds
(^1000) of some chemistry lectures delivered to

ladies fifty years before.
Miss Peachey was not
allowed, however, to hold the scholarship, on the
ground
that,
having studied at a different hour, she
was not a member
The
of the chemistry class.
application of the ladies for permission to
study in the Infirmary was followed by a

Surgeons' Hall,
when
the gentlemen students of the
"worser sort" collected a rowdy
mob
entrance of the ladies to their usual

*
riot at
Dr. Sophia Jex-Blake, " Medical
to bar the
class,
Women."
abused
WOMEN
288
them
the foulest terms, and
in
been forced
gate,
the
it
in
for
rioters
when a way had
them by wrenching open the

pushed in a sheep, which the
remarked had more sense than those
lecturer
sent
there.
At
who
the conclusion of the lecture a
number of students formed themselves into a bodyguard, and the ladies reached their homes unharmed,
though their dresses bore the traces of the
mud
with which they had been pelted.
When
the lady students were entering the third
year of their course, their fees having been paid

for three years, they
were met by the declaration
of the University Court that no arrangement could
be made
for enabling
them
to pursue their studies
As
with a view to a degree.

proficiency
the certificate of
which was offered them instead would
not be recognized by the Medical Act, there seemed
no alternative but to abandon

an action of
their career or raise
" declarator " * against the
University, praying to have
the
matriculated students
The
might
ladies took the bolder
Lord Ordinary decided
in
it
finish
and
Senatus of
declared that
their
course.
costlier step.
their
favour, but
The
the
next year the Court of Session reversed the decision.
The
costs
amounted
to .^848.
Parliament was next approached, but the

*
"
Medical Women."
first
WOMAN AS
year the
Bill failed to
DOCTOR.
come
and the next year (1875)
to a second hearing,
was
it
however, the Russell-Gurney
and
qualifications
In virtue of
this,
to
women, became
law.
the King's and Queen's College

its
doors
1878
in
1879 those of the Royal University
in
of Ireland
in
women were
1885
Royal College of Surgeons

till
all
London University degrees were thrown open
women
to
1876,
enable
to
Bill,
of Physicians (Ireland) opened

all
In
lost.
examining bodies to extend their examina-
British
tions
289
1886 that
succumbed
the
admitted to the
(Ireland).
was not
It
Edinburgh authorities
finally
year the women's classes were
in that
recommenced and the conjoint Colleges of Physicians

and Surgeons, both of Edinburgh and Glasgow,
opened
their doors to
women.
there are medical schools for
At
the present time
women
in the capitals
of each of the three kingdoms, as also in Belfast,
Glasgow, and Dundee.
The London
was established
School of Medicine for

in
1874,
when every
Women
other door
seemed closed against women medical
students.
Lords Shaftesbury and Aberdare, the Bishop of
Dowager Countess of Buchan, and the

Dowager Lady Stanley of Alderley were its viceExeter, the
presidents.
The opening
Hospital, in
1877, to the students of the School
VOL.
II,
of
the
Royal
41
Free
WOMEN
290
of Medicine afforded the necessary practice.
The
establishment, in 1885, of the Countess of Dufferin's
Fund
Women
Medical Aid to the
for supplying
of India gave an impetus to the movement, and

there are
now
in that
country about
fifty
In England, Scotland, and Ireland
medical women.
there are nearly a hundred and thirty.
Dr. Louisa Atkins,
long before
was the
medical
office
for
do so
at Zurich
in this country,
In 1872 she was elected to that
officer.
Birmingham and Midland Hospital
Women.
At present
are held by
to
of these,
lady ever appointed as a resident
first
in the
One
who took her degree
was possible
it
registered
several public medical appointments
women.
During one year
alone,
from
October, 1893, to October, 1894, Miss Benson was
appointed First Physician of the
Bombay Miss
;
Kama
Hospital,
Aldrich-Blake, Assistant Anesthetist
at the Royal
Free Hospital
logist to the
Richmond, Whitworth, and Hardwicke
Hospitals,
Miss Dickson, Gynaeco-
Dublin; and Mrs.
de
la
Cherois and
Miss Baker were appointed on the medical

the Butler- Boulton
staff of
Provident Dispensary by the
Oxford Municipality.
of
On
January
the
Royal
2,
1896, at a meeting of the Fellows
College of Surgeons, a resolution
was carried that women should be admitted
to
WOMAN AS
DOCTOR.
There were
the diplomas of the College.
seven Fellows who voted
and ten
for,
The women who
resolution.
are
now
medical profession have an open
They
them.
will
29
forty-
against, the
entering the
course
before
encounter none of the obstacles
which beset the path of their predecessors
They need
in the|
sixties
and seventies.
sition
nor discourtesy from the medical authorities
fear neither oppo-
or from their professional brethren.
though
it
The
public
does not wholly approve, has grown usee
to the presence of the lady doctor, and has ceasec.

to regard her as a
it
is
mere
social excrescence.
ready to admit that she has her
place and functions, and
As
of men's privileges.
of sex will
woman
will
come
be
capacity for the
less
ndeed
specia.
not necessarily a usurper
time goes on the question

into
judged
prominence, and the
more
strictly
by
her
work she undertakes on the same
grounds as the man.

the talents.
is
own
It will
be a competition of
WOMEN
292
CHAPTER
XVI.
WOMEN AND MODERN
POLITICS.
Changes of the last half-century Women's political organizations

Women and the Primrose League The Women's Liberal Federation
The
Lady Liberal- Unionists The political education of women.

present
century has witnessed a complete
change with regard to women's attitude towards

politics.
that
It
may be assumed, speaking
the interest
political
upper
shown
in
the last century in
matters was confined
classes.
generally,
to
women
But quite a new development of
thought has taken place during the
last fifty years.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century

during the
first
thirty or forty years
which was creeping
When
of the
in
indeed,
the
was not very
change
noticeable.
the high-minded and accomplished Countess
Canning stood so staunchly by her husband's side

during the dark hour of his unpopularity while he
was President of the Board of Control
when
Lady Conyngham reigned supreme over the Court
WOMEN AND MODERN
POLITICS.
293
when
Lady Jersey and the

Duchess of Richmond, in the same reign, were
noticeable figures in the political
which was also
George
of
IV.
the aristocratic
world
even down to the
when Lady Palmerston was sought
between the Government and Lord
Palmerston, there was very
women
little
movement among
belonging to the professional and working
classes.
keep them
Victorian
before the
Politics
so mixed up with court

apart,
that
life
and court
the century was
of
out by poli-
and assisted to bring about a
ticians at a crisis,
reconciliation
fifties,
most honest-minded
it
life in
calculated
to
is
were
era
difficult to
the early part
besmirch
the
Greville writes, in
politicians.
1829
"A
more despicable scene cannot be exhibited than
that which the interior of the Court presents
every base,
and unwomanly propensity, with selfishness,

and a life of petty intrigue and mystery."
low,
Fifty years ago
regarded
women
as
politics
avarice,
of the middle classes
quite
out
of
their
sphere.
Except when some great question was agitating

the country they thought
As
to taking
ings,
forming
any
little
affairs.
meet-
political societies for political reforms,
there was no such thing, and
been mooted
about public
action, attending political
it
if
any such idea had
would have been looked on as
WOMEN
294
absurd and improper.
were
politics
unfit for
The idea still lingered that

women to touch, that they
were beyond their understanding, and dangerous

In spite of that sentiment, which
to their morals.
still
survives
here and there,
women within the

were many and various.
radius of political activity
brought
The
different thing
modern times has
politicians
from the
spirit
women to
The women
was
which
in
such keen
stirred
activity in public affairs.
interest
political
which animated eighteenth-century

an entirely
causes which
the
of the aris-
tocracy were animated by private likes and dislikes,
family interests and traditions, to take a part in

the politics of their day.
classes act from
not
in
mean
The women
of the middle
impersonal motives.
that they are never
individuals, but
it
is
This does
swayed by
chiefly
interest
because the
indi-
vidual represents either a party or a principle.
Women
are frequently accused of having no
of being always biased by some
political principle,
Without claiming
personal preference.
for
women
any greater rectitude of conduct and purity of

motive than men,
women
it
must be admitted
that
the
of working in large numbers for
effect
on
some
abstract right or for
some
practical
end,
is
to create a spirit of enthusiasm for principle equal

to that aroused
by a personal sentiment.
WOMEN AND MODERN

The
ened
in
POLITICS.
great virtue of the poHtical feeling awak-
women of the present day is its

Women, especially those of
character.
classes,
295
work
position saves
impersonal
the middle
men. Their
them from being actuated by motives
for causes rather than
of self interest, or from preferences arising from

family influence
apathy,
and connections.
Their sin
is
capable of a
but once roused they are
singleness of purpose which can only animate a few
of the political aristocrats.
Women
of the middle classes have at present
only an indirect influence on
can do
little
Singly they
politics.
or nothing, but by working in numbers
they are able to exert pressure, and to advance or

retard
social
movements.
favour combination.
women
alike.
The
It
is
Everything tends to
forced
upon men and
time for individual action
is
past.
may be said that the personal influence of

women in high places is still as strong as ever
while we have such active politicians as the MarIt
chioness of Salisbury, the Countess of Aberdeen,
Lady Frances
readily occur.
mount lies
and money
Balfour,
and others whose names
But the proof
in the fact that so
that
it
much
is
will
not para-
time, energy,
are given to the promotion of political
organizations.
The
leaders
on
both
sides
are
WOMEN
296
agreed that the only way to gain an end
working
in
They
numbers.
are not content with
talking to Ministers in drawing-rooms
the people in big
own
particular set
useful
in
its
halls.
is
all
by
Is
they talk to
political coterie of their
may be
very well, and
way, but what they believe in are
strong working committees, composed of
all
classes
in the altered attitude of
women
of women.
Another feature
towards
politics
is
the
striking
has taken place in social habits.

will
which
change
common
cause
bring together on terms of familiarity classes
that formerly
kept apart.
It
uncommon
woman who earns
is
thing to find a countess and a
no
her living with her hands speaking on the same

platform,
and meeting together on equal terms
council boards.
the
women
are proud
of
to
at
The upper and lower middle class,

the aristocracy, and the women who
own that they are of the people,
work together without any
jar arising from differ-
ences of rank.
Politics
have not effected
this
political
movements
political
women who have made
it is
change,
most apparent.
and have done so with great
use of
effect.
imagine such an amalgamation in the
No
organization
that
was
it
but in
It is
the
as a lever,
One
cannot
last century.
composed
of
such
WOMEN AND MODERN
POLITICS.
297
heterogeneous elements as are the poHtical organizations of to-day
month.
The
of class to
would have held together
altered views held about the relation
class,
and manner of
the difference in
life,
women by what may be termed

have been instrumental
intellectual free thought,
bringing about this change.

called the democratic
through
social
modes of education
and the common platform which
has been created for
is
for a
tradition,
It is
spirit
in
not merely what
which has broken
but the broader outlook
caused by interchange of opinion, circulation of

knowledge, and progress
Whether
it is
or
is
in the art of living.
not a good thing for
to be brought into political
life,
women
to learn to regard
public questions as within their sphere of interests,
and
to contribute in such indirect
sible
under existing conditions
matters,
often
is
ways as are pos-
in local
hotly debated,
as
and Imperial
if
it
were a
question which could be settled by argument, while

all
the time the

It
to
may be
whether
women have decided

interesting to
politics
women, but
it
is
for themselves.
discuss the point as
have a good or bad

quite as
effect
on
important to consider
women have on politics, and not the

women only who are leaders in society and have
what
effect
the influence which comes with position and wealth,
but the rank and
file,
who
individually
seem
of
298
WOMEN
SO
account, and who,
little
when welded together
into an organized body, are a force to
be reckoned
with by political thinkers and leaders.

It
only within
is
question has
the
tions, the
that
this
"practical
come within the range of
women
of the middle classes had very
voice in public matters.

first
decade
Until the formation of political associa-
politics."
the
last
to recognize the
women
The
little
Conservatives were
advantage of enlisting the
some systematic way. In 1884

came the opportunity. Hitherto there had been no
political organizations which admitted women, and
services of
their
work and
But
that
all
was
in
unknown
influence were
to be
quantities.
changed with the uprising of
Primrose League, which was started at the
the
close
of 1883
society which
The
idea
in
a modest
women
way.
could join.
was a masculine one.
woman's movement
There was a
at
all,
but
it
It
was not a
was one which
quickly found favour with women, especially with
women
of the upper classes.
Council was formed,
among
Ladies'
the earliest
Grand
members
being the Dowager Duchess of Marlborough, the
Marchioness of Salisbury, Lady Randolph Churchill,
Lady Wimborne, the Dowager Marchioness of

Londonderry, Lady Gwendolen Cecil, and Lady
Borthwick, who was the very first lady to join the
WOMEN AND MODERN
POLITICS.
The system by which
League.
worked was admirable

thousands of
women
for
299
was
the League
drawing numbers, and
belonging to
all
classes
have
been enrolled by the formation of "habitations"

under a Dame-president.
As was
started
said above, the Primrose
by men, and
The women do
masculine control.
pendently,
but
although in
all
conjointly
with
The League
ensure
its
not act inde-
men
the
minor matters they have
of action, the final decision in

rests with the
League was
has always been under
it
full liberty
important issues
all
heads of the League,

is
who
are men.
a mighty political engine, and to
working, individuality
efficient
the habitations sink
is
During times of
great extent obliterated.
and act
their independence,
Their functions are suspended.

of the League's existence
Conservative party
is
The
to a
election,
entirely under the advice of the political
and no
and
agents.
great object
the advancement of
always kept well to the
the
fore,
local or individual interests are allowed to
interfere with the attainment of that end.
By
the agency of the Primrose League large
numbers of women who had hitherto been

ferent
to
politics,
and had kept
public matters, have been

interest
and share
in
drawn
aloof
indif-
from
into taking
all
some
the great questions of the day.
WOMEN
300
Step
was taken towards the
and towards bringing
tion of the middle classes,
common
together on a
of
There
society.
educa-
political
platform different sections

of
is,
the fact that
course,
a society which distributes badges and insignia, and

confers
who
titles
and honours, always
attracts
more
though
is
worked tends
masses than the develop-
to the disciplining of
For
ment of the individual mind.
is
And
are willing to pay for small distinctions.
the system under which the League
it
numbers
this reason, al-
admirable as a piece of party mechanism,
it is
not so useful in
cultivating
the reasoning
powers as an association which gives more inde-
pendence to
its
members.
The Women's
marked contrast
of the
Liberal
Federation presents a
to the Primrose League.
members
at
election
times
Instead
awaiting
directions of the party wire-pullers, these
men have
to
go
to the Federation
co-operation and support.

that no candidate
bear investigation
women's
formed
is
to
candidates
ments
organization
who
such
gentlefor their
a standing rule
will not
be supported, whatever his
The Federation
;
the promotion
for
is
whose moral character
claims as a public man.
It
and ask
the
and
of
although
is
it
solely
was
Liberal principles,
are opposed to the
women's move-
as the extension of the Parliamentary
WOMEN AND MODERN

franchise
to
women, the
the support of the
run
Federation
party, only
Liberal
to
they stand for

in
these move-
Luckily for the
Liberal
one instance has yet occurred where a

found
candidate, being
refused the
ground.
active.
women
a risk of losing
if
constituencies where the workers
ments are very
of
election
County Councils, and so on
3OI
POLITICS.
support of
recalcitrant,
was-
the Federation on this
In certain cases the claims of
Women's
Suffrage have been waived in deference to party

considerations.
The
Federation
is
somewhat younger than the
Primrose League, originating

in
in
a conference held
1886 at the house of Mrs, Theodore Fry,
Queen Anne's
Gate.
As
far
in
back as 1880 Women's-
Liberal
Associations began to be
earliest
were those started at
The
formed.
Bristol,
York, and
Darlington, and the effort seems to have originated
with those
who belonged
to the
Peace Party
Mrs.
Fry being the head of the Darlington Associatioa

and Miss Priestman of the
Bristol Association.
In 1880 the Liberal ladies of South Kensington,.
where there
is
no men's association, formed them-
selves into a Society, without
knowing
at the time
of the existence of the provincial associations.

the idea of a Federation suggested
first
itself,
Then
and the
general meeting was held in February, 1887.,
WOMEN
302
The membership
the
number of
has
it
done
in
Board
and when any
London
work has
the
special
naturally
is
when
election
in
the headquarters in
be
to
control.
good deal of work.
Parliamentary
asso-
and the School
Council, the Vestry,
elections all provide a
Federation
From
all
London, the Union takes the
When
supplied,
The Metropolitan
in central places.
The County
For
being 397,
has been found desirable to
Union, for instance, unites

ciations
a total of 76,000,
affiliated associations
working purposes
form Unions
now reached
full
tide
the
occurs,
of
activity.
London information
is
required, to provincial associations
respecting candidates, and advice

are given, but
no compulsion
the affiliated societies.
is
and assistance
exercised
upon
And, as has been stated
already, Liberal agents are in the position of suppliants, not directors.
The
Federation
is
a greater
educating power than the Primrose League, for
conduces to independence of thought and
and
women
teaches
self-reliance.
managed
organization
is
was
founded, and
initiated,
among women
entirely
is
The whole
is
It
on by women,
and the weight which
with the Liberal party
action,
by women.
carried
it
it
carries
a proof of the efficiency
management and the potency of its action.

One result of the work of the Federation is to
of the
WOMEN AND MODERN

be seen
in the great
POLITICS.
303
development among
its
ranks
The Primrose League does not

platform-speaking among its Dames.
There are well-known Conservative ladies who
are excellent speakers, like Lady Knightley, Lady
Jersey, and others, who do very effective work
when required. But the gift of oratory is rather
the exception than the rule among Primrose Dames.
They do not often find occasion for it, their work
lying in other channels.
The Dame-presidents do
of public speakers.
encourage
not even preside at the meetings of the habitation
when there is a ruling-councillor.

Among the
members of the Federation, on the contrary, are
numbers of exceedingly good and several eloquent
speakers, both in
The
the
middle and upper
classes.
Federation, like the Temperance organizations,
much
has done
to
bring out the latent gift of
oratory lying unsuspected in so

It has, too, in a
many women.
remarkable degree been instru-
mental in bringing together
women
The Primrose League
in society.
of
all
ranks
also claims to
have obliterated the distinctions of rank by associating
all
classes
in
its
habitations.
Federation has gone further than the
League.
On
the
same
platform,
But the
Primrose
and round the
same committee-table, meet countesses, honourable

ladies,
and women who are
distinctly of the people.
WOMEN
304
At one of the great annual meetings of the Federation, which takes place in the Spring, some of the
country delegates begged that the meeting should
not extend beyond two days,
to
one of the hon.
for,
secretaries,
as they explained
Mrs. Broadley Reid,
they can cook enough to last the household for the
two days, and leave things ship-shape, but a

night
away puts a
ment.
Carlisle,
strain
of president
was
by Mrs. Gladstone, but
late
on the domestic manage-
The present president is the Countess of

who succeeded the Countess of Aberdeen.
The office
quiring
third
the
filled in
it
is
first
instance
an arduous post,
re-
more time and energy than the wife of the
Prime Minister could be expected to give.

Still
younger than the Federation
Liberal- Unionist Association, which
1888 to
Home
resist
Rule.
by the women of Ulster
An
who
is
Women's
was formed
to their sisters in
the formation of a political
Alderley,
the
appeal was
and Scotland, and the answer to
presidency of the late
is
this
in
made
England
appeal was
association under the
Dowager Lady Stanley of

known for her services
almost better
The
to the cause of women's education,
Association
has thirty-six branches, and a membership of between

fourteen
other
and
fifteen
polijtical
Liberal- U'nionist
bodies
thousand.
Unlike the two
mentioned,
Association
the
has only
Women's
one great
WOMEN AND MODERN

aim
POLITICS.
to fight against the introduction in
or form of
Home
Mr. Gladstone's
was
caused the Association to relax their

consists largely in stirring
facts that
and that the
rejected,
veteran chief has retired from public
work
any shape
The
Rule for Ireland.

Bill
305
life,
have not
Their
efforts.
up public opinion
against the idea of separation, and as a
means of
propagating Unionist principles, parties of
by the Asso-
ladies were, in 1894, sent as delegates
ciation to different parts of
England and Scotland
and explain the
to arouse interest
By way
Unionist point of view.
situation
when
held,
from a
of educating the
workers and fortifying canvassers for their

discussion meetings are
Irish
duties,
the questions
of the day are thoroughly argued out,
members of
Parliament assisting by giving addresses on the

subjects with which they are best acquainted.
The Women's
the
Federation,
founded,
Among
are
Liberal-Unionist Association, like
purely a women's movement,
is
and
organized
the
members
Lady Frances
Balfour,
Miss Anstruther, Mrs.

;
Mrs. T.
representing Leinster and Connaught
It
VOL.
II.
W.
Russell,
Miss Tod,
and Miss Currey, Munster.
seems unnecessary to dwell
on movements which
women.
of the Executive Committee
Fawcett, L*ady Arthur Russell
representing Ulster
by
supported
at
any length
are so familiar to every one,

42
WOMEN
306
and whose history

But
annuals.
women
in
is
their bearing
women
special
on the position of
The
political
education of
has advanced immensely during the last

in
consequence of these organizations, and
the influence of
women on
ingly increased.
were
and
and votes by
influential,
women
of a con-
into account
their position
the present day the
has correspond-
when they
and could command interest
were only taken
rich
politics
Formerly the
stituency
by
own
they have an interest apart from that of
party considerations.
decade
recorded in their
women
and connections.
At
of the middle classes,
uniting together in associations, exert an influence
which individually would be of

future
time they
electors.
little avail.
may command
At some
consideration as
307
CHAPTER
XVII.
WOMEN AND PUBLIC WORK.

Women
on public boards School Board work Early members of

School Board Women as Poor-law Guardians: their increased numbers Appointment of women as Factory InspectorsWomen as Sheriffs in the time of the PlantagenetsThe offices,
of Marshal, King's Champion, and High Constable held by women
the
A female Sexton Women's capacity

There
is
for public
work.
one aspect of women's attitude towards
politics still to
be considered.
It
may be
objected
work done by women on public boards
that the
is
not political, that the care of the sick and the poor,,
the education of the young, and the sanitation of a

are
district
But,
matters entirely apart from
broadly speaking, the whole
of
our
government must be regarded as a branch of

Civic
life
is
political
life,
and the
politics.
local
politics.
interests of
one
part of the nation cannot be separated from the

.
rest.
The government
provincial town,
of the metropolis or of a
and the well-being of
its
people.
WOMEN IN THE
3o8
are as
much a
VICTORIAN ERA.
part of politics
as
a question of
Indian finance.
There
and
however, a distinction between imperial
is,
and
local interests,
women
it
is
are most concerned.
with the latter that
Since the establish-
ment of the London School Board
1870
in
women
have advanced further and further into domestic
At
politics.
that time there were no
boards of guardians
the idea of their sitting on
was not mooted
vestries
women on
until
many
years
later,
and the London County Council and the parish
The School Board

London to which women
councils were as yet unborn.
was the
public
first
were elected
body in
four or five years later
election to boards of guardians

their short tenure of seats
Council, and
more
came
their
recently
still
on the London County
1894 their election on vestries and
parish councils.
be noted that
It will
women began
with the
{
the School Board.
To
biggest and hardest thing
become a candidate
in the early days, before the
constituencies were subdivided as they are now,
costly
and laborious
ground had
undertaking.
to be covered, so
the Board,
it
required a
So much
many meetings
such a variety of interests consulted.
was
And
held,
once on
mind of considerable grasp
to grapple with the complicated business of such
WOMEN AND
PUBLIC WORK.
309
The immense amount of individual

work which conscientious members found laid upon
them the visiting of the schools, attending meetings
large
body.
of parents to inquire into cases of non-attendance,
and other duties outside the walls of the board-room
showed what a large scope there

The
of leisure and capacity.

to the School
Mrs.
for
women
women
elected
was
Board were Miss Garrett, afterwards
Garrett- Anderson,
Davies,
first
Miss Emily
M.D., and
Subsequently came Mrs. Westlake, Mrs.
Fen wick- Miller, Mrs. Herbert Cowell, Miss Chessar,

Miss Helen Taylor, and Mrs. Surr,
who
all
sat in
the seventies.
There was never any organized movement

procuring the election of
Board as there was
later for
as Poor-law Guardians,
women
to
for
School
the
promoting their return
and the number of women
seeking election has latterly declined.
This
is
due
London
partly to the extreme unpopularity of the
School Board, and also to the great expense of a

School Board candidature, to the changed character
of the Board, which has
become a
less educational
and a more purely business assembly, and

opening
With regard
law
to the
out of fresh fields of work.

to the election of
Guardians,
creasing need
time
has
shown
women
both
as Poor-
the
in-
and the increasing willingness of
WOMEN IN THE
3IO
women
the numbers
1894 so
that
it
the
way twenty years
who were
far
women
Now
there
are nearly
unions having
Up
the movement.
in
the
to
country.
342 out of the 648
900,
women on
to
more than 170
throughout
guardians
record
any previous
surpassed
marks an era
But
ago.
returned at the election
that year there had never been
180
Martha
to act in this capacity since Miss
Merrington led
of
VICTORIAN ERA.
London
their boards.
alone has between eighty and ninety.
The changes which took

local
place in the forms of
government, generally,
passing of
the
in
1894, through the
Councils Act,
Parish
candidates of both sexes in
parts,
all
electors from their normal apathy.
why the
much more
see
altered
office of
interest
where a guardian
was aroused
councillor.
in the vestry
the contest was keener than

to be, although in
very
many
it
are
as
in
is
obliged
similar
elections,
has ever been
and
known
districts the vestries
have
power, the main business being carried
little
on by the
It is difficult to
made more burdensome,
become a parish
to
and roused
popular, for wherever the duties
they are
up
guardian suddenly became so
certain country districts,
also
stirred
which the vestries send
district boards, to
women were
representatives.
For the
first
elected
vestries,
though only
to
the
time
in
few
WOMEN AND
PUBLIC WORK.
This new departure
places.
in local
31I
government
is
significant of future changes.
Although 1894 must be regarded as a phenomenal year
guardians, and probably

the
first
women
relation to the election of
in
many
of those elected for
time will not show the same zeal in coming
forward again,
it
becoming more and more of an
is
accepted principle that boards of guardians should
Many
be mixed bodies.
come
"
which
of the questions
before guardians of the poor are thoroughly
women's questions,"
phrase,
clothing,
children.
in the
meaning questions
popular sense of that

that
economy, and the
household
The more
to
relate
enlightened
food,
wants of
the
of
guardians gratefully recognize the help that
male
women
can give in solving problems of domestic management, and in dealing with the
women and
infants
who form so large a part of every pauper establishment.

The participation by women in Poor-law
administration
is
beneficial change.
a very notable
England
law system, and unique

in its
working.
The
in
is
as
unique
having
well
in
as
her Poor-
women
to assist
Ladies' Visiting Committees
appointed, with the consent of the Local Govern-
ment Board, by the guardians also do excellent work.

The voluntary work which women have done
on the School Board,
as Poor-law
guardians, as
312
WOMEN
visitors
to
workhouses, and in other ways, has
done something to pave the way
ment
women
of
important
Workhouse Schools.
Nassau Senior was chosen for
Inspector of
by Mr. James
1873,
President of the Local
The most
offices.
was
appointments
these
of
paid
to
for the appoint-
The
late
this
office,
who was
Stansfeld,
Government Board.
Metropolitan Association for
of
that
Befriending
Mrs.
in
then
The
Young
Servants was subsequently founded by Mrs. Senior,
who was anxious

brought up
to
smooth the career of the
workhouse
in
schools.
own
has had no successor in her
Mrs. Senior
special work, but
of boarding-out pauper
the system
girls
children has
created the need for an inspectorship of a different

kind,
and
1885 Miss
in
inspector of
all
Mason was appointed
the children boarded-out
as
by the
unions throughout the country, an arduous post
which she
still
occupies.
The closing decade of this

women filling public posts which
exclusively held
factory
1893,
Vestry
by men.
inspectors
^"d
of
appointed
St.
three
between
1893
Mary Abbots,
sanitary
before had been
There have been four
appointed
two between
century has seen
^^d
1892
1894.
and
The
Kensington,
has
under
the
inspectors
Factory Act of 189 1 to inspect workshops where
WOMEN AND
women and
girls
PUBLIC WORK.
The
employed.
are
Chepstow has been
assistant-overseer at
3
office
filled
1 3,
of
by a
The ward of Walbrook, in the City of

London, had a woman as rate-collector for several
woman.
and there has been one
years,
Warwickshire.
In most parts of
who
police-matrons
at
Barford,
London
there are
also
attend to the
women brought
to the police-stations.
Women
have been appointed on the Labour
Commission, on the Poor-law Schools Commission,
and on the Royal Commission on Secondary Educa-
On
tion.
the Labour Commission the
women were
styled Assistant Commissioners, though their duties
seem
to
have been as onerous as those of the male
Commissioners, but on the Secondary Education
Commission they took equal rank.

on
sat
Offenders,
Commission which
sat
and
is
we
with
men
in public
the States
dislike.
in
We
have not got
America, and that freedom
between the sexes which prevails
of intercourse
and
women
cling to tradition.
mixed schools as
and
Schools
Poor-law
the more remarkable because in other social
matters
in
the
between 1893 and 1894.
This co-operation of
life
also
Scotch Departmental Committee, on
the
Habitual
Women
is
It
aristocratic
looked upon here with suspicion

is
exceedingly
difficult
in
an old
country to break through social
"
WOMEN
314
customs.
the
If

ground had
women would
movements,
other
able
take
to
which
been
not
that
active
part
now be
not
work
public
in
by
laid
so striking a characteristic of the present
is
day.
In former times certain high offices which have
long
since
passed
occasionally held
may be
entirely
by women.
an instance.
cited as
men were
over to
The
office of sheriff
When
it
was heredi-
tary in certain families, whoever happened to be

in
the direct
held the
line
For several
office.
centuries the office of Sheriff of
Westmoreland was
the birthright of the Clifford family.

Clifford,
who
lived in the reign of
the office after she
have sat
were
office
between two
some one
to the post.
finally settled that the elder sister
the
candidate,
should
held
assizes
who
who both
de
said to
is
became the subject of
heiresses, sisters,
the right to appoint
I.,
Appleby where the
After the time of Isabella,
about 1292, the

tion
Edward
became a widow, and
in the court of
held.
Isabella
died
litiga-
claimed
It
was
" present
and the younger " approve " the
appointment.*
The
celebrated
Anne
Dorset,
Countess
Pembroke and Montgomery, was the

race
to
hold
the
office.
She
last of
appointed
* Sir G. Drukett, " Sheriffs of Westmoreland."
of
her
one
WOMEN AND
Thomas Gambettas
is
PUBLIC WORK.
as her Pro Vice
315
Comes.
It
curious that the Countess does not describe in
her
MS. Autobiography any
her
tenure
interest
of
the
office,
which she took
in
during
occurrences
considering
the keen
She
county business.
mentions more than once the coming of the judges

to
Appleby
to hold the assizes,
have entertained them

left
in
and she seems to
her Castle.
The Countess
the shrievalty to the Tufton family.
Another celebrated lady who held the

sheriff
was Nicholaa de
la
office
of
Haye, who defended
Lincoln Castle on behalf of King John, and was
appointed by him Sheriff of Lincoln.
similar case
The
twelfth century.
in
occurred in Wiltshire in the
196, left his
Earl of Salisbury,
who
daughter Ela heiress of
died
all
his
She married William

Longespde, a son of Fair Rosamund, who after his
titles
and
possessions.
marriage succeeded to his wife's hereditary
of the Shrievalty of Wiltshire.
office
After the death
of her husband Ela lived alone in her Castle of Old

Sarum, and filled the office of high sheriff for seven
or eight years, when, weary of feudal dignity, she

retired
from the world and founded Lacock Abbey.
The office
by a woman in
of
Marshal of England was held
the reign of Richard IL
Margaret,
daughter and heiress of Thomas de Brotherton,
WOMEN
3l6
was created Duchess of Norfolk, and was

either
by right or courtesy, Lady Marshal.
certainly
she
called,
the
petitioned
might
Duke
the
exercise
of Lancaster
at
office
the
She
that
King's
coronation, as her right, after the death of her father.
was granted, but she performed the duties by

deputy, investing her son, Thomas Mowbray, with
It
At
the Marshal's rod.
the
same coronation Anne
Pembroke was granted the

office of the Napery, which she performed by deputy.
Another lady, Edeline, daughter of Ranulph
Dowager Countess
of
de Broc, inherited the

father
in
the
reign of
turn, conferred
Marshal from her
Henry IL
She,
in
her
upon her husband, Stephen de
it
Two
Turnham.
office of
ladies,
Ivan and Agnes,
who were
descendants of this family, and heiresses, held the
Manor
by the service
reign of Edward III.; and
of Catteshill, in Godalming,
of Marshal,
Nicholas
in
the
Hering, husband of Agnes, claimed in
her right the
office of
at the coronation of
Usher of the King's Chamber

Richard
II.,
whether he ever obtained the
Manor
but
post.
it
is
doubtful
This same
of Catteshill was held by Edeline de Broc
and her husband by the service of Usher formerly

held by Edeline's father Ranulph.*
Among
the
duties
*
appertaining to the office
" Blount s Tenures."

WOMEN AND
PUBLIC WORK.
317
of Marshal, duties similar to those of Usher, was

that of providing
women
household
when the King was
offices
One Hamo de
servants for the inferior
Gatten, in the reign of
journeying.
Henry
III.,
Manor of Gateshill, in
"by serjeanty of being Marshall of the
laundresses when the King should come into those
for
held
instance,
the
Surrey,
parts."
Other
High
offices,
such as that of Champion and
by
Constable, were held
certain ladies,
and
conveyed by them to their husbands and sons,
who performed
the
duties.
Margaret, daughter
of the Earl of Hereford, inheriting
all
her father's
honours through the death of her brothers, became
King Henry
Constable to
Henry VIII.
it
In the reign
who
annexed to lands and descend
while they remain unmarried might
appoint a deputy to do the service for them
marriage
it
of
was decreed
" that this office might be
even to females
II.
was to be done by
but after
the husband of the eldest
alone."
This would seem to imply that there had been

some dispute as to whether the office could be
held by a woman.
It
was
also enacted that
"the service was not extinct though part of the lands

from which it was done fell into the hands of the King
to whom it was due, but remained entire in the eldest
daughter.''
WOMEN
3l8
At
same time the King reserved
the
to
himself
the privilege of refusing the service of any one

to
whom
When
he objected.
Duke
the
of Bucking-
ham, who had married the eldest daughter of the
Humphrey de Bohun, claimed the office of

Constable to Edward III., it was refused, and the
last
office fell into disuse
The
to
fallen
Champion has
of
office
woman through
the
Lincolnshire,
coronation
place, similar
to
of Westmoreland
also
being
sometimes
hereditary.
the owner of Scrivelsby Manor,
Whoever might be
in
and was never revived.
was the King's Champion.

of
Richard
the quarrel over
already
took
quarrel
II.
At
the .Shrievalty
Again the
mentioned.
was between two sisters, descendants

of the Marmion family, who had always held
The younger sister. Lady Dymoke,
the office.
quarrel
who had
the
title,
He
died
inherited the Scrivelsby estates, claimed
and her husband

in
1381,
and
officiated as
their
son
her deputy.
subsequently
acted for his mother at two coronations, that of
Henry IV. and Henry

would not give up her
in favour of
spirit
her son.
V.,
title
but
Lady Dymoke
or abdicate regularly
She was a woman of great
and energy, and, as the saying goes
in
her
native county, she refused to take off her slippers

before she went to bed.
WOMEN AND
Another high
PUBLIC WORK.
319
that of Great Chamberlain,
office,
has been held during the present reign conjointly
by Lady Willoughby de Eresby and Lord Carrington.
seems to have been a recognized principle
It
in
former times that hereditary
There were no pro-
without distinction of sex.

visions
passing over female
for
women do
present day
holding high
They
clerk,
women, such
though
if,
must
There
is,
offices
which have been
as that of sexton
and parish
as has been stated, parish clerks
were formerly required

duties
are debarred as
official positions.
There are some minor

held by
At the
heirs.
not gain honours of this
kind by virtue of descent.
women from
descended
offices
have
to take
Holy Orders,* the

by
performed
been
deputy.
however, at least one case of a
woman
acting as sexton.
This was Hester Hammerton,
who was born
Kingston
father
at
was sexton
assistant,
for
many
in
1711, and
years.
whose
She was
and one day while they were digging a
grave in the Chapel of
St.
Mary, within the parish
church, a large part of the building gave
Hester's
buried in
his
father
was
killed,
the ddbris for
and she herself was
seven
hours,
But she recovered
seriously injured.
*
J. J. S.
way.
Wharton.
and was
sufficiently
WOMEN
320
to undertake the
work which she and her
had before performed

active
jointly,
When
woman.
father
being a very muscular,
she was not digging graves
She died
she acted as bell-ringer.
her native
in
place in 1746.
From the manor rolls of Wimbledon it appears

that women were formerly elected to the office of
reeve and beadle. In the time of Edward IV.
occurs the following entry
" All the tenants of the
domain chose to the
office
of
head-borough, in the place of Richard Hoke, Margaret

Sigir for
one hide of land containing four virgats lately
Twigg
exercised by John
And
for
two virgats called Elams.
the aforesaid Margaret took the oath for that office
in this
year and to the
office of
Beadle in the place of
John Twig,"
There are hardly any parochial

to
women.
As
the late Frederick Denison Maurice
said with regard to the professions,
but custom that shuts
women
serious difficulties in the
person,
"
is
work.
The
way
of
is
not law,
is
and has created
women engaging
untried thing, like the absent
always wrong.
Je ne puis pourtant pas m'habituer k
femmes
it
Sentiment
out.
responsible, too, for a great deal,
in public
now open
offices
faire
hommes
Madame de
concurrence aux
de la vie publique,"
wrote
I'idê
dans
de voir
les
les
emplois
Lacoste in 1869.
WOMEN AND
"
Et sans
croire
PUBLIC WORK.
32
femme
absolument suivant I'adage, qu'une
ne peut 6tre que courtisane ou menag^re, je n'admets pas

s'affranchisse
qu'elle
que que
devenir,
de
domestiques pour
devoirs
ses
son intelligence, avocat ou
soit d'ailleurs
m^decin."
The same
some extent
to
side in public
put forth
is
to the association of the sexes,
expressed lest
which they are
women
unfit,
side
Sometimes the objection
life.
some-
women performing what
has hitherto been done by men.
Fear
is
often
should undertake work for
and society be injured thereby.
women
risk of getting unsuitable
into public
no greater than the
posts, paid or voluntary, is
of getting unsuitable men, and
it
is
as
risk
easy ta
If the simple attitude
displace one as the other.

is
have grown
men and women working
times to the mere fact of
The
prevails,,
still
here, though people
accustomed to see
by
and
feeling prevailed,
adopted of judging a person according to merit
and capacity, instead of

chosen because they are
women will
women, or men
sex,
not
because
they are men, but because as individuals they

fulfil
the requirements of the
On
be
best,
office.
the general question of the advantage to
be gained by
women
entering public
life
there will
probably always be controversy, although in the
departments
already tried the
result
has
'
VOL.
II.
43
been
322
WOMEN
distinctly favourable to the mingling of the sexes.
Women
have not shown those inherent defects of
nature pointed out by Ouida, with her usual stinging frankness
"Women
in
public would exaggerate the failings of
men, and would not have even
their
Their legislation would be, as that of

offspring of panic or prejudice,
man
There would be
frequently does in
frightened she
is
more ferocious than
has power, more merciless."
to
little
her humanity, nothing from her liberality

is
too often, the
is
and she would not put on
the drag of common-sense as

public assemblies.
few excellencies.
men
he,
for
hope from
when she
and when she
323
CHAPTER
XVIII.
THE CLAIM FOR POLITICAL EQUALITY,
Mary Wollstonecraft The Anti-Slavery ConWoman's Suffrage

John Stuart Mill and the
Petition
The Times on Woman's Suffrage The question
Parliament The Scotch workers Women electors in olden
times ^Women voters of
century-^Miss Lydia Becker's
workThe Suffrage Societies
workers Incidents of the
work in Scotland Condorcet and Mr. Lecky on Woman's
Origin of the claim

vention
first
in
this
Irish
Suffrage.
When
movements are working
several
simulta-
neously with great activity, as at the present day,

it
will usually
the
be found that there
movements which serves
others.
one among
a lever to the
It is often asserted that religion, education,
and philanthropy have nothing

and the workers
be
as
is
loth to
in those
to
do with
departments of
politics,
life
would
admit that they owe any portion of their
success to the workers in the political arena.
But
the claim for political equality which, for the last

thirty years, has
the basis of
all
been making
efforts to
itself felt, is
really
improve the position of
324
WOMEN
women,
for
treated
as
duties
to
it

a claim that
is
responsible,
and
society
women
should be
independent beings, with

the
State
duties
which
should carry the same recognition and privileges

as in the case of men.
woman who
asks to be
allowed to compete for University examinations,

or to study medicine, or to take her place in the
Art Schools, or to enter the
making a request
similar in nature,
woman
form, to that of the

to
Civil
be allowed a share
Service,
is
though not
in
householder
in the choice of the
who
asks
candidate
who is to represent her interests in Parliament

The demand in all cases is the same, viz. that other
things being equal, sex shall not be a disqualification,
whether the demand
employment, or
is
one
for education,
political privilege.
The Woman's
Suffrage
Movement must be
regarded as the keystone to the conglomerate mass

of efforts for the enlargement of
in
regard to the relation of
the most considerable
women's
women
feature
lives,
to politics
of the
and
it
is
nineteenth
century.
Now, although
day question,
it
it
had
seems such a thoroughly

its
beginnings
latter-
in the last cen-
tury, when Mary Wollstonecraft published her book,

" Vindication of the Rights of Women," and Con-
dorcet his treatise, " Sur I'Admission des
Femmes
To
au Droits de Cite."
movement
is
The
trace the origin of
325
social
not unlike seeking the source of a
we follow it upwards, grows

smaller and smaller, till we come to two or three
rills, which, converging, form a rivulet.
The stream
river.
stream, as
of thought tendency
is
be found
to
they at
in
length
somewhat
its
origin
different channels which,
when
is
form
unite,
similar
body of ever-
one
increasing volume.
After the time of
which was published

record for
some
in
Human
Wollstonecraft's book,
there
1792,
The
years.
on the subject was
Half the
Mary
entitled,
"
An Appeal
tensions of the other Half,
Men
Thompson, who declared
that he
his
task
on
"
of one
against the Pre-
" it
was by William
was inspired
to
This was a counterblast to an
by James Mill
Government,"
claims of
to
by Mrs. Wheeler, the mother of Lady
Bulwer-Lytton.
article
little
next noticeable work
Women,
Race,
is
women
their interests
in the.
in
Encyclopedia Britannica
which he controverted the
to representation
were
all
by declaring that
involved in the interests of
their fathers or husbands.
In 1840 was held the great Anti-Slavery Convention in London.
women
From America came
delegates, but they
on account of their
sex.
eight
were formally excluded

This decision
fired
the
WOMEN
326
delegates to action.
On
America
their return to
they began to take steps to secure equal rights for
Some
women.
series of meetings, the
women
news of which so
England that
in
followed a
ten years later there
stirred
1851 a petition, claiming
in
House
the elective franchise, was presented to the
Thus
the
first
came before Parliament was
sent
of Lords by the Earl of Carlisle.

petition that ever
up
Upper Chamber. The Commons were not

approached until some fifteen years later. These
rAmerican gatherings formed the theme of Mrs.
John Stuart Mill's remarkable article in The Westto the
minster Review {or July, 185 1, on
"The
Enfranchise-
ment of Women," which was afterwards reprinted

in J. S. Mill's " Dissertations
About
this
time was begun the
the Higher Education of
which had been opened

in
The
1853.
and Discussions."
hostility
the unthinking majority,
movement
Women, Queens'
in
for
College,
848, being incorporated
which
who
this
excited
declared
among
women would
be unsexed by being allowed greater educational

privileges, was, in later years, directed against the
Woman's
founders of
Suffrage,
who were regarded
as a set of dangerous agitators.

It
the
was
first
in the
year 1853 that
we
find recorded
member of
Woman's Suffrage.
notable public utterance by a
Parliament on the subject of
The
him by the
to
bearing the
of
W,
Mr.
late
J.
Fox, M.P., on the presentation
Oldham
ladies of
inscription, "
of a signet ring,
Education, the birthright
prophesied that the time would come
all,"
327
when
woman would be something more than an adjective

to man in political matters, that she would herself
become a
the
sovereignty,
surely she
tive to the
ment
making peers
to
was adequate
in the
and
He
also
used the argu-
Company
every woman who held
days of the East India
was so cogent a one
that
East India Company's stock elected the
were
virtually the
The
who
Smith),
bered
as
died in 1891, will
chief
the movement.
status,
directors, who
governors of the Indian Empire.
Madame Bodichon
late
bishops,
to sending her representa-
Lower House.
which
were adequate to
If she
substantive.
(Barbara Leigh
always be remem-
among the earlier promoters of

Her intellectual gifts, her social
her wealth and beauty gave her a unique
position,
and there was no more
effective
champion
of the cause, of which indeed she might be called
the inspiring genius.
Being a daughter and a
grand-daughter of successive members for Norwich,

she had some
political
influence,
and was able to
women
before Lord Brougham and Mr. Hastings, who were
actively engaged in promoting the Amendment of
bring the subject of the legal position of
WOMEN IN THE
328
The
the Law.
VICTORIAN ERA.
National Association for the Pro-
motion of Social Science had been founded
and more than once
at the
annual congresses the
subject of the enfranchisement of
cussed,
Madame Bodichon
in 1857,
women was
being the
first
dis-
to read
Her little book on the

laws relating to women was the forerunner of the
Married Women's Property agitation.
a paper on the subject.
In 1865 Mr.
J.
S. Mill
was returned
to Parlia-
Miss Jessie Boucherett, the founder of The
ment.
Englishwoman's Review (now under the editorship of
Miss Helen Blackburn), asked Mr. Mill

present a petition to the
if
House from women
favour of their political enfranchisement.

plied that
he would
if
;
he would
He
in
re-
they could get one hundred signatures
he should not
like to present
one with
Thereupon Miss Boucherett, Miss Emily

Davies, and Madame Bodichon met together and
fewer.
drew up a
petition,
praying the House to consider
the expediency of providing for the representation
of
all
householders, without distinction of sex,
who
possess the requisite property or rental qualification.
This was signed by 1499 women, among
whom
were Mrs. Alford, wife of the Dean of Canterbury,

Miss Frances Buss, founder of the North London
Collegiate
Frances
School,
Power
Mrs.
Cobbe,
Josephine
Mrs.
R.
Butler,
Miss
Cobden,
Miss

Matilda Beetham Edwards, Mrs.
Fawcett
bury),
Lady Goldsmid, Dr. Elizabeth
Miall,
Mrs. Somerville, Miss
Tanner, Miss Helen Taylor,
329
(Salis-
Garrett, Mrs.
Anna Swanwick, Mrs.

and Madame Venturi.
In May, 1866, Mr. Mill presented the petition.
few days before, on April 27, Mr. Disraeli had
spoken
in
the
House in favour
This year, 1866, was

able
one
October
in
6,
Woman's
Suffrage.
further to be a
still
the annals
of
of
Madame Bodichon
memor-
On
the movement.
read a paper before
the Social Science Congress on " Reasons for the
Enfranchisement of Women."
to this address
in the
One
of the listeners
was Lydia Ernestine Becker, then
prime of her
intellectual
vigour.
was
It
pre-eminently a case of the opportunity and the
woman.
That 6th of October became the
point in her
life
energies to the
the
first
it
new
turning-
determined her to devote her

cause,
twenty years of
its
and the movement
course became stamped
with the impress of her strong personality.
January
11,
Committee.
1867,
she
formed
The London
for
the
On
Manchester
organization was formed
towards the close of the year.

In The Westminster Review for January, 1867,
there appeared a well-reasoned
article
on
"
The
Claim of Englishwomen
to the Suffrage Constitu-
tionally Considered."
was from the pen of Miss
It
WOMEN
33
Helen Taylor, step-daughter of John Stuart

and well known
the seventies as a
in
member
of
Over and over again
London School Board.
the
Mill,
have the arguments which she so dexterously un-
by speakers on the subject;

caught public attention was the
folded been adduced
but what specially

telling
way
in
women were
fact that
put into the same category as minors,
idiots, lunatics,
"
which she emphasized the
and
criminals.
These and these only," she said, "are classed
along with women.
anything but in
politically
But none of these are so classed
in
politics."
The moment for

The English
tune.
raising the question
was oppor-
public are reported to be only
able to .think of one subject at a time, and just then

Electoral
Reform discussions
the
filled
The
air.
Times wrote on March 6 of that year

"The approaching controversy on Reform promises
to be
enlivened by an episode of a singularly interesting character.
not of
Mr. Mill will appear as the representative
consti-
tuencies that are or that would be
not
hundred thousand that have been
flattered with a glimpse
of the suffrage, but of half the
entire
adult
womankind, or
woman
human
to speak
the two or three
race
more
the better half
particularly, every
in this country."
About the same time appeared Miss Becker's

article in
The Contemporary Review containing the
33
phrase, often quoted, though without acknowledg-
ment
"It
may
politics
to
be denied that
it
women have
cannot be denied that
anything to do with
politics
have a great deal
^-^
do with women."
Then came
day of days
the memorable
in
the
when Mr. John Stuart
Woman's
May
19,
1867, the
Suffrage
Mill moved, as an
calendar,
amendment
to the Representation of the People Bill, to
word
"
"
and
insert the
word
"
person
" in its
Including the tellers and the pairs on each
place.
side,
man
omit the
the numbers were 83 for Mr. Mill's amend-
ment and 202 against
it.
In the majority there
were 80 Liberals and 122 Conservatives;

minority 66 Liberals and 15 Conservatives
in
the
a very
different division of opinion to that of later debates,
when the
Those
question has ceased to be a party one.
among Mr. Mill's supporters best known to the
and especially
to that of the present time
present generation were the late Mr, Fawcett, the

late
Mr. Duncan M'Laren, the Right Hon. Sir James
W.
Stansfeld, Sir E.
Watkin, Judge Hughes, and
The
Mr. Labouchere.
late
Mr. Bernal Osborne,
Mr. Gladstone, and Sir Charles Russell were among

the opponents.
speech
position
gives the
sentence from Mr. Mill's great

exact
nature of
the women's
WOMEN IN THE
332
"
There
no other example of an exclusion which
is
If the
absolute.
VICTORIAN ERA.
law denied a vote to
of ;^Sooo a-year, the poorest
man
all
is
but the possessors
in the nation
might
acquire the suffrage but neither

nor
birth nor fortune, nor merit nor exertion, nor
can
accident,
even that great disposer of human

and now and then would
intellect
affairs
ever enable any
woman
to have her voice counted in those
national affairs which touch her and hers as nearly as any
other person in the nation."
In the course of 1867 a committee had been
formed
On November
Edinburgh.
in
6 of that
year the committees of London, Edinburgh, and
Manchester united
to
form the National Society,
which both Mr. Mill and
On
his step-daughter joined.
the committee of this National Society were
Miss Frances Power Cobbe, Mrs. Fawcett, Miss
Hampson, Miss Hare, Miss Lloyd, Mrs. Lucas,

Mrs. Stansfeld, and Mrs. P. A. Taylor, who was
hon.
secretary
and
treasurer,
assisted
by Miss
C. A. Biggs.
From
Scotland came thirty petitions, with 10,467
signatures
from Ireland ten
petitions,
two of which
were signed by nearly 3000 persons of
all classes,
of different creeds, and of different political opinions.
The West
of
England was
the meeting at which
the
also early in the field,

Bristol
and West of
England Society was formed being held
at
the
house of Mr. Recorder Davenport Hill at Clifton,

Professor F.
W. Newman,
becoming hon.
brother of the Cardinal,
The
secretary.
333,
session of 1868
was
Between February
pre-eminently a petitioning one.
and July 75 petitions, containing 49,780 signatures,

were presented.
The
year 1868 was marked by three events
the publication of John Stuart Mill's book, "
Women,"
Subjection of
ten thousand
of
England
Register,
women
the
The
application of about,
householders in
many
parts
be placed on the Parliamentary
to
and the decision of the Court of
Common
Pleas against this claim.
The wisdom
of pressing
matters on
to
this-
adverse decision has been very much questioned,

criticism
being easy from the vantage ground of a
The
quarter of a century of fuller knowledge.
Reform Act of 1832 was the

of
women from
first
statutory exclusion
Mary
the Parliamentary franchise.
Countess of Norfolk, Alienor Countess of Ormond,-
Anne Despenser,
Philippa
Countess of
March,.
Johanna Fitzwater Augusta Countess of Pembroke,.

Mary de St. Paul, Mary de Roos, Matilda Countess
of Oxford, and Catherine Countess of Athol
summoned
to attend Parliament by proxy.
were
Under
the Lancastrian kings certain ladies returned the
knights for Yorkshire.
them,
viz.
Prynne
Lucy Countess
of
tells
us of two of
Cane and Margaret.
WOMEN IN THE
334
widow
VICTORIAN ERA.
Henry Vavasour,
of
Dame
Doughty
Dorothy Packington, of Elizabethan days, was the

sole elector of Aylesbury.
rather, appointed
or,
expenses she paid.
made her
return
Know ye me
In 1572 she voted for
two
This
whose
representatives,
how Dame Dorothy
is
Dame Dorothy Packington to

my trusty and well beloved Thomas Lichfield and John Burden, Esquires, to be my
burgesses of my said town of Aylesbury. And whatsoever
"
the said
have chosen, named and appointed
the said
Thomas and
John, burgesses shall do in the service
of the Queen's Highness in that present Parliament to be
holden at Westminster, the eighth day of

ing the date thereof,
I,
the
ton do ratify and approve to be
wholly as
if I
my own
decree
widow a
next ensu-
act as fully or as
were or might be present there."
In the reign of James
woman's
May
same Dame Dorothy Packing-
to vote
right
ruled
that
to
I.
the question of a
was
raised,
an
unmarried
freehold carried with
it
but a judicial
woman
or
the right of voting.
In a black-letter book published in
London
in
1632
we read
"
why
The
reason
why women have no control
in Parliament,
they make no laws, consent to none, abrogate none,
is
their original sin."
After being practically, though not technically,

disfranchised
Edward
by the
Coke
Commonwealth
pronounced
his
when
dictum,
Sir
women

resumed the vote
ing officers
fell
after the Restoration, but return-
custom of refusing their
into the
Then came
names.
the
Reform Act of
1832, which
legalized this hitherto illegal custom.
Act were the words
this
deprived
335
women
"
Inserted in
male person," which
of their constitutional
right
as
owners of property, despite Lord Romilly's Act

providing that
gender
shall
"
words importing the
be deemed
and
taken
masculine
to
include
females, unless the contrary be expressly provided,"
For more than
thirty years after the
Act no attempt was made by women
Reform
to exercise
the franchise, but at the election of 1867 a Mrs.
Maxwell, a shopkeeper of Manchester, discovered

that her name'
She
at
was on the Parliamentary
register.
once resolved to exercise her unlooked-for
Accomwhom was Miss
privilege in favour of Mr. Jacob Bright.
panied by two
ladies,
one of
Becker, Mrs. Maxwell went to Mr. Bright's committee-rooms, whence several gentlemen escorted
them
to the polling-place.
As soon
as her vote
was duly recorded, three hearty cheers were given

her by
all
in
the
supporters or not.
room, whether Mr.

In
Bright's
returning thanks the suc-
cessful candidate referred to " the remarkable cir-
cumstance."
"This woman," he
said, "is
a hard-working, honest
WOMEN
336
who pays
person,
(hear)who conState as you do (hear,
her rates as you do
tributes to the burdens of the
hear)
it is
and,
therefore, if
any woman should possess a vote,

(hear, hear, and cheers)."
precisely such a one as she
In September, 1868, 5,750
women
in
Manchester
claimed to be on the register, and similar claims
women householders in forty-nine

constituencies.
Some 10,000 in all parts of
were made by
other
the country asserted the right.

tration Courts
women on
London
in
Before the Regis-
were opened the overseers had put
the
list
of Parliamentary voters in four
parishes, in the county of Middlesex,
Among
those
thus able to claim the vote were
Lady
eleven or twelve other places.
who were
and
Georgiana Cecily Fane and Mrs. Lucas,
John Bright.
But the claimants were
cases rejected,
and
Leeds a Quaker lady was
in
fined ten shillings for
sister of
in nearly all
making
" a frivolous claim."
Various appeals having been made against the
judgment of the revising
barristers,
were brought before the Court of
on November
Justice
Keating.
women
Bovill
The
8,
the judges
and Justices
first
case
ratepayers at
had been disallowed.
was
these cases
Common
being Lord
Willes,
that
Chief
Byles,
and
of the 5,346
Manchester whose
The
Pleas
claims
Chief Justice confirmed
the decision of the revising barrister, ruling that
337
long usage was against the women's claims.
All
the other cases were similarly decided.
High Court
of Scotland, a few days before, Lords
Manor, and
Ardmillan,
In the
Benholme
had
given a
similar decision.
Since 1868
women have on
During the general
asserted their right to vote.

election
women
at
several occasions
claimants.
Jeannot Edwards went to the poll
Llangynog, and as her name was on the
the returning officer allowed her vote.

hill,
some
of 1892, for instance, there were
in the mid-division of
Pearce was on the register
register,
At Whites-
Alma
Gloucestershire,
;
the presiding officer
she voted for
made the judge of her sex, and

Mr. Brynmor Jones. At the Clitheroe
election the
presiding officer refused the vote of
said he could not be
Micah Riley on seeing that Micah was a woman.
Bill
to
amend
the Municipal
Corporation
Reform Act of 1835 was before the House of

Commons in 1869, and Mr. Jacob Bright's amendment, that words importing the masculine gender
should be held to include the feminine
for
all
purposes of electing representatives to town councils,
was passed without discussion, thus

right to vote taken away in 1832.
The
year
1870 was
very notable one
the progress of the movement.

VOL.
II.
restoring the
On March
44
in
was
WOMEN
338
published
the
Suffrage Journal.
and continued
was edited by Miss Becker,
It
to
Woman's
The
number of
first
appear every month
until
her
death in July, 1890.
Miss Becker has so often been caricatured as

the
"Woman's Righter" whatever that

that those who only knew her by hearsay
typical
may be
may be
surprised to learn that she
little
was an
adept at a pudding, an excellent needlewoman, and
danced the hop-waltz

eldest daughter,
of a family of
beautifully.
She was the
and a very domestic daughter
fifteen.
"
Oh,
have been cutting-
out garments for our family before taking up

pen,"
was her answer
to a friend
who was
fray,
my
surprised
Far from
to see a sewing-machine in her room.
being the Valkyria of the
too,
she once said to
Miss Frances Power Cobbe that words could not

tell
to
how she longed
for the
end of the
be released from perpetual contention
right, that
fight,
for a bare
she might devote herself to some work
of a happier kind.
She had a great love of
and botany was her favourite study.

happiness she looked upon as the
of
life,
and
and to a married
lady,
flowers,
Domestic
summum bonum
who was
strongly
urging the claims of wives to the franchise, she

replied, "
My
worth
the votes in the world."
all
dear friend, a really good husband
She was the
is
first
woman who
339
ever sat on a school board, and when
the Manchester canvassers brought in their returns,
both sides reported, "
The working men always say
they must keep some of their votes for Lydia."

July,
Miss Becker died with almost tragic
1890,
The
suddenness.
The work
Mr. Fawcett used to say of
late
her that she was the
woman
of promoting
with the man's mind.
Woman's
been steadily carried on since 1870.
now by
In
Liberals and
now by
ment, where advocates are found
There
measure
all
have
been
Bills,
backed
Conservatives, have
been brought forward from time
parties.
Suffrage has
to time in Parlia-
among
all political
when the
1870, when the
occasions
but succeeded, as in
second reading was passed by a majority of thirty-
was thrown out
three, but
1886,
when
but before
in
Committee
and
in
the Bill was carried without a division,,

it
could
reach
the
Committee stage
Parliament was dissolved.
The Woman's
social
only
Suffrage movement, like other
movements, has done much

organizing
and
among women, but

of really
general
to develop not
business
the gift of oratory.
good public speakers
is
large
capacity
The
roll
and
in-
creasing.
There are now several
ment of the
question.
societies for the
The
Central
advance-
Committee
340
WOMEN
of the
National
Woman's
Society for
which owes so much to the
Suffrage,
services, literary
and
otherwise, of Miss Helen Blackburn, continues the
who
policy of the earliest workers,
only claimed the
women householders a basis

which commends itself to many who are opposed
to women taking an active part in politics.
vote for duly qualified
Prominent
in
society
this
is
Mrs.
Fawcett,
whose name has become a household word, and
whose speeches, temperate and well reasoned, have

probably done more than those of any other speaker
home
of the present day to bring the subject
to
the uninitiated, and to win over the half-convinced.
The
Central National Society
specially
with
with the
Women's
Liberal
is
Liberal Federation, while the
the mainstay,
the claims of wives
is
of which Mrs. Jacob
established to
who own
Bristol
support
separate property to
In the provinces the
electoral recognition.
chester and
more
working largely
politics,
Women's Franchise League,

Bright
identified
is
Societies
are
Man-
the most pro-
minent organizations.
Ireland has kept pace with,
predominant partner."
and
Miss Tod,
in
if
not outrun, " the
Mrs. Haslam,
Belfast,
in
who have
Dublin,
for
years
spent their energies in the cause, are the present

representative workers, and
to
them
is
due the

made
credit of the progress
Tod
St.
Miss
in the sister isle.
always heartily welcomed on
is
34
this side
of
George's Channel, and her earnest eloquence
many an
has roused
English audience to enthu-
siasm.
The movement started with Miss Anne Isabella

Robertson, who in the sixties began to take an
active
interest
her
the question.
own happy
It
wrong, or
was not the
discontent
with
circumstances, that stirred
Miss
personal
prick of
in
Robertson to action, but a strong and growing

sense of the inequality of woman's position, which
she
made
the theme of story after story contributed
to
Irish
magazines.
getting
up
Society for
The
After
petitions
Women's
first
and
she worked
this
at
forming
the
at
Irish
Suffrage.
petition circulated in
more than two thousand
Dublin received
signatures,
and from one
of the country districts the names of the
Roman
Catholic priest and the Protestant clergyman ap-
peared
in
brotherly
unity
on
Getting into touch with workers
the
in
same
sheet.
England and
Scotland, Miss Robertson's services were soon laid
claim to by both countries, lady orators being rare

in those days.
She was one of the
at the first public
chief speakers
meeting ever held on Women's
Suffrage in the United
Kingdom.
This was
in
WOMEN IN THE
342
Manchester,
in April,
VICTORIAN ERA.
In the autumn Miss
1868.
Robertson crossed the Channel a third time, at

the request of Miss Becker, to support her at the
Robertson's courage
Rowland
The
Scottish workers had

in
a daughter of Sir
early
days,
many
difficulties
to
and some amusing
Miss Jane Taylour, a pioneer of the
experiences.
went
inspired
Hill to a similar step.
contend with
Women's
Miss
meeting at Norwich.
Association
British
Movement,
Suffrage
relates
how she
on one occasion to give an address,
to Perth
and found a crowded audience awaiting
The
her, but
presided,
who was to have

had been unexpectedly summoned to
London.
In the committee-room were the baillies
no
chairman.
and
provost,
councillors, elderly
come
as
in
men
all
of them,
who had
duty bound to support the provost,
but not one of these grave senators would consent

to take his place.
of
impatience,
indifference.
able,
The
but
audience were giving signs
the
baillies
waited
stolid
Miss Taylour grew very uncomfort-
being herself new to public
round upon the aged faces

and, selecting the baillie
volent countenance,
life.
in the
who had
She looked
committee-room,
the most bene-
she quietly placed
within his and proceeded to the hall.

baillie,
in
her arm
The worthy
before he had grasped the situation, found
343
himself conducted into the chair, where he per-
formed
his
functions
due form, explaining
in
to
the audience, however, that he was not there of

his
own
he had
that
accord,
been
kidnapped.
This gentleman afterwards became a member of

the
Women's
On
Suffrage Committee.
another
occasion
organizing a meeting
at
those
Irvine
responsible
had
when Miss Taylour and Miss Mary
for
and
failed,
of
Burton,
Edinburgh, arrived they found that no preparations
Miss Burton went to the
had been made.

which
Hall,
was
hunted out the

herself
and
disengaged,
then
accompanied
him
on a tour round the town.
a packed
At
fortunately
bellman,
Town
The
result
was
hall.
Kilbarchan,
large
weaving
Renfrewshire, the meeting was

the sound of
cymbals,
village
in
proclaimed with
played by a
member
of
who paraded the streets with the

town crier. The weavers, going to their doors
and hearing the novel announcement of a Women's
the local band,
Suffrage meeting, exclaimed with one voice, " We'll
And
gang."
room
in
they thronged to the parish school-
such numbers
that
the
speakers
were
requested to re-deliver a portion of their addresses

to
a second audience
gain admission.
who had been
unable to
Miss Lauder, daughter of the
344
WOMEN
late Sir
Thomas Dick Lauder, was on
form, and, after she
the plat-
had spoken of her
father's
labours in the cause of reform, the people pressed
round her to grasp her hand.
At
Orkney
Kirkwall, in the
Isles,
the day before
of the place preached a sermon
against what
meeting
the
he
the minister
called
such
un-
womanly and unseemly proceedings, and added a

tirade
against
was a
style
The
result
women wearing
adopted by the two lady speakers.
was that the
hall
During a period of
only once was
and
this
was
short hair, which
five
there any
at a
town
was overflowing.
public work,
years'
hostile
demonstration,
in Fifeshire,
where, after
the meeting, the ladies had to be hurried into the

carriage under police escort to protect
the mob,
who were howling and
them from
flourishing sticks.
In the Pentland Frith, a very dangerous part

of the Scottish coast, the ladies,
to hold a
meeting
in
who had engaged
Thurso, were overtaken by
a severe storm while crossing in the mail packet
from Stromness, and the engines breaking down,

the vessel was very nearly dashed upon the rocks.
sudden change of wind averted a catastrophe.
The
Scottish workers
travelled about
Isles
and
among
into the
the
who,
in
the seventies,
Orkney and Shetland
Western Highlands, had many a
"

rough experience
and of the
but, as
a result of their labours,
and organizing
zeal
Duncan M'Laren,
345
of Edinburgh,
of Mrs.
ability
whose work
in
a different line was equally necessary, sixty com-
were
mittees
Scotland
returned only sixty
more than
ment,
and
formed,
half
Women's Franchise
the
were
members
were pledged
Bill,
when
time
the
at
to
Parlia-
support
to
and the remainder
neutral.
Although
measure
are
Parliamentary chances
the
rendered
of
the
by the
doubly uncertain
encroachments upon the time of private members
by the Government, the

of the measure
due
to
are
making
into
and
is
public sentiment in favour
This
strengthening.
in
municipal,
other
directions
Poor-law,
their
partly
women
the fact that the advance which
entrance
and educational work,
their admission to both the school board
municipal franchises
member
has
made
appear
" Is there a stronger proof of the
power of
of
and
the claim to vote
Parliament
for
is
far
less
habit,
even
startling
over
enlightened
men," wrote the French
philosopher
Condorcet, " than the spectacle of equality of rights being
invoked in favour of three or four hundred

absurd prejudice had deprived them
in respect of twelve millions of
of,
women
men
that an
and being forgotten

?
WOMEN
346
There
is
an inconsistency
woman who
to a
is
the vote
refusing
in
engaged
in
the responsible
work of administering the Poor-law, and carrying
Women
out the provisions of the Education Act.

are
being daily educated in the duties of civic
life,
and more and more
They
of citizenship.
qualified for the duties
now undergoing
are
that
mental change which Mr. Lecky prophesied when
he wrote
"If the Suffrage should ever be granted to
it
would probably,
after
a complete revolution
acting
upon the
first
women
two or three generations,
in their habits of
effect
thought which, by
period of education, would influence
the whole course of opinion."
It
has seemed
position of
fitting to
women
in
bring this review of the
England
to a close with a
sketch of the Suffrage movement, because nothing

else emphasizes so clearly the great
change that has
taken place with regard to women.
It
era in the social history of England.
periods
all
efforts,
all activity, civic
whether
public
In previous
intellectual
moral,
or
women,
or political, on the part of
was individual and owed nothing

to
marks an
sentiment.
The
to combination or
scholars,
the
thropists, the politicians stood out in isolated
apart from the main current of
life.
philan-
groups
There was no

general stream of tendency
into well-defined circles.
common
society
347
was broken up
In the last half-century
among workers
principle of action
of
all
grades has caused those circles to amalgamate for

the pursuit of certain ends.
Looking
back
Middle Ages, we see
the
to
women
as the home-keepers, occupied with domestic
affairs,
knowing nothing of the outside world, and
unconcerned with matters that did not
affect their
family interests.
As
society
structed after the
fall
of Feudalism, a change crept
into the lives of
women
was gradually recon-
of the upper classes,
who
were to some extent forced out of the old grooves.

In the times of religious and political upheaval
which followed, women, high and low, were swept

into the current of national
life,
and played
their
part as history makers.
The mere
passage of years did not invariably
improve their
position.
Intellectual
advance
in
one period was sometimes followed by retrogression

in the next,
and the inevitable
social
changes that
tended ultimately to the general good were not

always for the immediate benefit of women.
the eighteenth century, with
comfort and
its
its
In
increase of material
wider opportunities, the position of
women became more
complex.
In
some
directions
there were great strides, in others a tendency to
WOMEN
348
moral inertia and intellectual

fluence of public sentiment
in-
was not favourable to
women's
the widening of
The
stolidity.
Advance was
lives.
spasmodic.
At
the present day there
is
a larger concourse
women
of elements affecting the position of
has ever been witnessed before.
than
And whenever
a change takes place in one section of society

quickly affects other sections.
Movements
it
are no
longer confined to the class in which they originate.
None
of the social changes that have affected the
position of
men during
the last half century have
been so wide and far-reaching as those which have

affected the position of
women.
In giving a sketch of a large subject

possible to discuss every point of view.
it
is
The
im-
legal
aspect of the case, for instance, has not been dealt

with, as
matter.
it
would involve the introduction of technical
Only
slight reference has
been made to
the position of
women
and domestic
differed considerably
up
life
to this century,
movements
The
in Scotland,
where
social
from England
and where the modern women's
are not in the
same stage of progress.
selection of the various phases of life
may
perhaps be considered arbitrary, but they are presented rather with a view of affording suggestionsthan of covering the whole
field
of inquiry.
INDEX,
Art. Vol. I. Period II. chapter x. ; Vol. II. Period

Education. Vol. I. Period I. chapter ii. ; Period
III. chapter vi.
Period IV. chapter

Social).
Vol. I. Period
Period III. chapter

iv., v.
i.,
Life (Domestic and

chapters
iv.
Period III. chapters
i.,
II.
chapter
iii. ;
Vol. II.
iv.
I.
ii. ;
chapters
i.,
iii.
Period II.
Vol. II. Period IV. chapters
i., ii., X.
Literature. Vol. II. Period IV. chapter v.

Medicine. Vol. II. Period IV. chapter xv.
Nursing. Vol. II. Period IV. chapter xiv.
Philanthropy. Vol. I. Period I. chapter vii.
Period IV. chapter
Vol. II. Period III. chapter v.
xi.
Politics. Vol. I. Period II. chapters vi., vii. ; Vol. II. Period III. chapter iii.
Period IV. chapters xvi., xviii.
Public Work. Vol. II. Period IV. chapter xvii.
Religion. ^Vol. I. Period I. chapters v., vi. ; Period II. chapter viii. ; Vol. II.
Period III. chapter vi. ; Period IV. chapters xii., xiii.
Trade. ^Vol. I. Period I. chapter iv. ; Vol. II. Period IV. chapters vii., viii.,
ix.
Travelling.
Witchcraft.
^Vol. II.
Vol.
I.
Period IV. chapter iii.

Period II. chapter ix.
Alderney, Miss, ii. 252

i. 18
Aldrich-Blake, Miss, ii. 290
Alford, Mrs., ii. 328
Aldhelm,
Abbess,
i.
63-69, 71
Saxon, i. 77
Aberdare, Lord, ii. 289
Aberdeen, Countess of, ii. 295
Academicians, ii. 167
Acton, Miss Eliza, i. 219
Actresses, i. 281
,
Adair, Mrs.,
Adderley, Mr.,
Afghanistan,
38
ii.
ii.
ii.
Alcfrid, King,
i.
66
AUingham, Mrs.,
ii.
166
All Saints' Sisterhood, ii. 239

Almack's Club, i. 345
Almsgiving, i. 100-109
Amelia, Princess, ii. 18

Ansesthetics, ii. 281
Ancaster, Duchess
131
Anchoress,
65
Anderson, Miss,
i.
of,
ii.
73, 74
ii.
287
32
INDEX.
35
Anderson, Mrs. Lucy, ii. 173

Anglican Sisters, ii. 240
Anne, daughter of Duke of Norfolk,
i.
Barking, Abbess
158
Queen, i. 277, 278; ii. 19-21,

25-27
, wife of James I., i. 282
,
Anstruther, Miss,
305
Anti-Slavery Convention,
Appletree, Mr.,
i.
Apprenticeship,
i,
Ardmillan, Lord,
Argyll,
Duke
Art,
162-175
ii.
i.
Arts, the,
of,
of,
ii.
ii.
325
283
54
ii.
ii.
167
Mary, i. 252, 256-258

Astronomical Society, ii. 139
of, ii.
333
Atkinson, Miss Mary, ii. 169

Atterbury, Bishop, i. 257
St.,
Augustine,
i.
ii.
Betterton, Mrs.,
i.
20, 134
293
122-126
i.
Lady,
Miss,
Sir Samuel,
ii.
ii.
i.
290
Balcarres, Earl
ii.
123-126
227
Balfour, Lady Frances, ii. 295, 305
of,
i.
1 70
102, 162, 163
i.
281, 289
i.
22
332
Bird, Miss, ii. 122, 126-128
Blackburn, Miss Helen, ii. 328, 340
Blackfriars Theatre, i. 282
Blackie, Professor, ii. 286
ii.
ii.
60,
i.
ii.
284
63
Blangdon, Barbara, i. 247

Blessington, Lady, i. 136 ;
134
i.
Sir Nicholas,
329
Biblesworth, Walter de,
Blow,
Baker, John,
ii.
Bess of Hardwick,
Blagdon,
ii.
Blackwell, Dr. Elizabeth,
64
6
Bacon, Francis,
329, 330,
ii.
Lady Joan, i. 11, 14

Lady Katherine, i. 169,
Lord Thomas, i. 14
Biggs, Miss C. A.,
Athol, Catherine, Countess

Atkins, Dr. Louisa, ii. 290
Audry
i.
ii.
Bertha, Queen,
312
Astell, Mrs.
ii.
of,
ii. 337
290
Berkeley, Family of, i. 80
Associates (Royal Academy),
Athelstan,
Duke
Benholme, Lord,
See Hutchinson,
ii.
ii.
Margaret,
Benson, Miss,
207
Assistant-overseer,
Laura,
Beetham Edwards, Miss,

Behn Aphra, Mrs., i. 284
i.
40-58
Madame
338, 339
149.
Sir Allen,
i. 65
289
ii. 28
23-25
Becker, Miss Lydia E.,
Mrs.
,
ii.
i.
ii. 283
30
Battenberg, Princess Henry, i. 107
Beale, Mary, i. 290
Bassi,
Arundel, Lady Blanche, i. 212

, Lord, i. 212
Ascham, Roger, i. 22, 128, 133
Askew, Anne, i- 241, 242
i.
Bas-Bleu,
Beaufort,
337
338
289
i. 275-304
Aspley, Lucy,
225, 226
Beardman, Mrs., ii. 172

Beauchamp, Lady, ii. 35
228
i.
i.
of,
Barry, Elizabeth,
Bathurst, Lord,
ii.
Apothecaries, Society
Artists,
Bamfield, Colonel,
Bank of England, ii. 181

Bankes, Lady Mary, i. 214
ii.
107
302
Boadicea,
ii.
Boarding Schools, i. 327 ; ii. 133

Bodichon, Madame, ii. 145. 327. 3^9
Bohun, Humphrey de, ii. 318
Boleyn, Anne, i. 77
,
Sir
Thomas,
i.
Bolingbroke, Lord,
Bologna
Institute,
77
29
ii.
ii.
273
INDEX.
Bolton,
Duchess
Buss, Miss Frances Mary,ii. 146, 147, 328
Fenton,
See
of.
Lavinia.
Bute, Lady,
Bonheur, Rosa, ii. 169

Boniface, Archbishop, i. 78
,
St.,
Boucherett, Miss Jessie,

Bouverie, Mrs., ii. 35
Bovell, Miss,
Byles, Justice,
Byron, Lady,
ii.
Canning, Countess,
Canterbury, ii. 6
Canute, ii. 7
336
289
Braidwood, Mrs., ii. 251
Brand, Thomas, i. 280
Brewing,
i.
i.
61
Bridget, St.,
76
i.
John,
Brihtric,
Bristol,
ii.
335, 337
336
King of Wessex,
ii.
ii.
65
, Lord, ii. 29, 31
British and Foreign School Society,
ii.
Cape Horn,
ii.
252
Broadley Reid, Mrs., ii. 304
Broc, Edeline de, ii. 316
Brougham, Lord, ii. 327
Browne, Dame Agnes, i. 71
Buchan, Dowager Countess of, ii. 289
Buckingham, Dowager Duchess of,
127
38
Anne,
Countess
Earl
Lady,
of,
35
ii.
Carpenter, Dr.,
,
Mary,
Mrs.,
ii.
i.
Burleigh, Lord,
Burnet, Bishop,
,
Burney, Dr.,
ii.
Bury
231-233
of France,
of,
i.
55
122
ii.
ii.
Edmund,
343
29
ii.
131
i.
15
Roman, i. 241
Manor of, ii. 316
i.
260
ii.
48
i.
162
ii.
298
ii.
277, 278
23
13
i.
Lady Gwendolen,
88, 93
Celleor, Mrs. Elizabeth,
221, 250
i.
ii.
182
i.
Cavendish, Sir William,
134
i.
Miss Mary,
St.
ii.
35
309
48, 51-58, 61
Catharine of Aragon,
Celibacy,
Bishop, Wife
Burton, Lady,
i.
ii.
Castlemaine, Lady,
Cecil, Princess,
of,
18
65
65-70
ii.
Carter, Elizabeth,
Catteshill,
15-18
ii.
ii.
296
Burdett-Coutts, Baroness,
Burgundy, Duke
Burke, ii. 55
ii.
59,
Carrington, Lord,
Caxton,
ii.
304
326
ii.
80
ii. 318
Bulkeley, Katherine, Abbess, i. 82
of,
290
i.
of, ii.
of Brunswick,
Catholics,
Buckingham, Duchess
, Duke of, i. 222 ;
292
ii.
Caroline of Anspach,
ii.
ii.
i.
Canvassing,
Carlisle,
Bright, Mr. Jacob,f
328
131
Carey, William, ii. 253
45
7, 9, 44,
73, 234,
Cameroons Peak, ii. 131, 132

Cane, Lucy Countess of, ii. 333
287
Bovill, Lord Chief Justice,
ii.
ii.
ii.
336
66
328
ii.
ii.
Bracegirdle, Mrs.,
ii.
Thompson,
See
169.
ii.
Miss Elizabeth
Butler, Mrs. Josephine,
18
i.
347
i.
Butler, Lady,
Bonner, Bishop, i. 242

Booth, Mrs., ii. 249
Borthwick, Lady, ii. 298
Boucher, Family of, i. 80
Brentford,
351
i.
Cenwalch, King of Wessex,

Chaloner, Sir Thomas,
i.
ii.
134
Champernon, Lady, i. 133

Champion, Office of, ii. 317, 318
Chaplin, Miss,
Chapone, Mrs.,
ii.
287
ii.
41,
46
INDEX.
352
Charity,
Composers, ii. 172

Congreve, i. 284
Cons, Miss Emma, ii. 232
Convent, Benedictine, i. 59
Convent, Godstow, i. 80
loi-ics
i.
Charles
I.,
Charles
II.,
148
i.
146, 245
i.
Charleville, Lady,
ii.
Charlie, Prince,
230-232
i.
107
Charlotte, Queen, ii. 17

Chaworth, Lady, i. 157
Cheddar, ii. 60, 63, 64
Cherois de la, Mrs., ii. 290
Chessar, Miss,
Schools,
,
,
Lady Randolph,
Lord,
ii.
Church (Anglican),
256, 274
ii.
250, 251,
i.
255,
179, 180, 250, 251,
i.
in eighteenth century,
the,
298
21
Church (Roman),
ii.
ii.
75-77
19, 31-33, 56-58, 60, 61,
i.
103-105. 235-241,
72, 83-99,
252,
308
Cibber, Mr.,
,
Mrs.,
Cittern,
i.
Clarence,
233
287
i.
i.
Citizenesses,
of,
Clergy, Anglican,
Inferior,
ii.
i.
204
Oliver,
Thomas,
161, 200, 201, 210
i.
ii.
Anne,
80,
i.
i.
94
305
246
91
i.
82
239, 241
ii.
ii.
Cobden, Mrs. R.,
Dacre Craven, Mrs.,

Dare, Christopher,
ii.
235, 328,
328
ii.
i.
34
Lady, ii. 32
Coburg, Duchess of, ii. 280
Coke, Sir Anthony, i. 134, 135
,
ii.
Sir John, wife
334
of,
Coleman, Mrs., i. 281

Companies, i. 48-50
i.
Davenant,
Davenport
264
242
ii.
i.
283
i.
Mr.
Hill,
Recorder,
ii.
332
Cobham, Eleanor,
Edward,
314
i.
332. 338
Cuthbert, St.,
i.
287
Cobbe, Margaret, ii. 277
Miss Frances Power,
Sir
Crewe, Mrs., ii. 37

Cromwell, Dowager Lady,
Major Henry, i. 203
249
i.
Clifford, Isabella de,
Cosway, Mrs., i. 294, 295

Cowell, Mrs. Herbert, ii. 309
Curtis,
159
103
i.
Clewer Sisterhood,
Clive, Kitty,
122
i.
Corfe Castle, i. 214

Cork, Lady, ii. 107
Costume, i. 225
Currey, Miss,
300
Duke
308
Clark, Mrs. Frances,
life,
79
i.
i.
Conyngesby, Mrs., i. 220

Cook, Sir Charles, i. 215
Cooke, Miss, ii. 252
309
i.
Sion, i. 71
Winchester,
Conventual
73
Conway, Viscountess, i. 103

Conyngham, Lady, ii. 292
203
i.
i.
21, 22, 57
i.
Conventionality,
309
Chesterfield, Lord, i. 334 ; ii. 29
Chomeley, Colonel, i. 223, 224
Chudleigh, Lady Mary, i. 345
Churchill,
St. Helen's,
190
Davies, Miss Emily,

,
Moll,
i.
Denward, Mrs.,
Derby, Countess
,
Earl
Lady,
of,
Devonshire,
34-39
ii.
ii.
145, 309,
328
289
i.
ii.
61
of,
i.
207-211
209, 212
35
Duchess
of,
i.
345
ii.
INDEX.
Dickson, Miss,
Disraeli, Mr;,
Dissenters,
290
ii.
Eleanor of Castile,
Elections, i. 228
329
ii.
26
16, 17, 25,
ii.
Domestic servant, ii. 208-226

service, ii. 210
worl<,
Durham
Churcli,
Dyer, Mary,
i.
ii,
13, 14
Electric telegraph,
ii.
178
Elfleda, Abbess,
65
Elfrida,
ii.
i.
Elizabeth, Queen,
209
Downer, Ann, i. 248
Dress, i. 315, 316
Dressmakers, ii. ig6
ii.
Drum, i. 324
Duncannon, Lady,
353
163, 301
ii.
94, iig, 132, 148,
i,
22
Elmer, Bishop of London,
Emma,
ii.
wife of Ethelred,
i.
ii.
22
7
Erasmus, i. 132, 141

Erkenwald, St., i. 78
Erlegh, family of, i. 80
Essex, Earl of, i. 217
35
go-91
98
Dymoke, Lady, ii. 318
i.
Ethelburga, St.,
Ethelred, i. 64 ;
Ethelreda, St.,
i.
Evelyn, John,
i.
i.
64
ii.
64
147,
184,
186,
187,
256, 280
Mary, i. 147
Everyday Life, i. 308-312
Exeter, Bishop of, ii. 289
Eyre, Mrs. Susannah, i. 102
,
Eadburga, Abbess,
18,
77
Earconbert, King of Kent, i. 77
East Grinstead, ii. 239
Eastlake, Sir Charles, ii. 165, 166
i.
East London Nursing Society,

Edgeworth, Maria, ii. 65
Edinburgh, ii. 286
Education,
145-154;
,
263
ii.
17-25, 38, 120, 121, 126,
i.
141
ii.
female,
ii.
42-47,
i33-'35
,
girls',
ii. 133
France, i. 177;
modern, ii. IC2
in
,
musical,
national,
ii.
the new,
ii.
i.
ii.
134, 138
68
137
i.
ii.
Edwards, Jeannot, ii. 337

Edwin, King of Northumbria,
,
Lady
Charlotte,
Ela of Salisbury,
VOL.
II.
ii.
Bill,
1895,
ii.
ii.
315
Factory Acts, ii. 205

System, ii. 200
Fairfax, Admiral, ii. 142
,
Sir
Thomas,
210,
209,
i.
224
Fane, Lady G. C, ii. 336
Fanshawe, Lady, i. 215, 216
, Sir Richard, i. 215
Fara, Abbess, i. 77
298, 299
Edward I., 9 ii. 13

Edward II., ii. 1
Edward III., 30, 45, 91
Edward IV., ii. 9
Edward VI., i. 94
Edward the Martyr, ii. 7
i.
Workshops
206
325-327
i.
Factories and
32
14
Farren, Miss, i. 287

Fashion, i. 328, 329
Fawcett, Henry,
,
Mrs.,
ii.
180, 331, 339
ii.
305, 329, 332, 340
i. 246
Margaret, i. 246
Fell, Judge,
,
i.
64
Female
clerk, the,
Fenton, Lavinia,
ii.
ii.
181, 182
171
Fenwick-Miller, Mrs.,
ii.
309
45
222,
INDEX.
354
Ferrar, Nicholas,
Governesses' Benevolent Institution,
252
i.
Feudalism, i. 28, 29, 34, 36,

Fisher, Dr. John, i. 102
Fitzroy, Mrs.,
13-1 25
Grammar
Foreign Missions,
Lady Susan, ii. 341

W. J., M. P., ii. 326
P'rancis, Serjeant,
Duke
Francis III.,
French, Mrs.,
Fry, Elizabeth,
of
Fuseli,
i.
Gresham, Lady,
Modena,
i.
292
Groom
Gwynn,
123, 133, 134
i.
28
ii.
168
ii.
Nell,
215
i.
103
of the Stole,
Gunning, the
293
318
133
i,
Grote, Mrs.,
301
ii.
ii.
105-115
ii.
i.
Grey, Lady Jane,

Grindal, Dr.,
59, 71, 72
ii.
Mrs. Theodore,
Modern,
the
280
ii.
103
i.
214, 215
i.
Grenville, Sir Richard,
197
i.
Isabell,
Great Chamberlain, office of,

Great Lady, the, i. 333-35
Fox, Charles James, ii. 34-39

George, i. i88, 245, 247
,
121
i.
252
ii.
Greashill Castle,
133
i.
Dame
Gray,
250
ii.
Fortescue, Sir John,
Schools,
Grant, Miss,
345
i.
ii.
143
sisters,
345
i,
182, 289
i.
H
Gaming,
ii.
30
Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester,

Garrett,
Dr.
Elizabeth,
309. 329
Garrick, i. 233
Gatten,
Hamo
Gaunt, Mrs.,
John
55
317
daughters,
180
Girls'
i.
Harrington, Lucy,
145
ii.
300
Gladstone, Mr.,
235
Mrs.,
ii.
ii.
331
304
Glanvil, Joseph,
Gloucester,
ii.
Lady
Duke
i.
274
of,
i.
34, 35, 159
Godwin, Earl, ii. 7

Goldsmid, Lady, ii. 329
Gordon, Duchess of, ii. 25
i.
165
132
i.
154
i.
340
Elizabeth,
i.
Mr. G. W.,
ii.
67, 327
Mrs. Sarah,
ii.
280
Hayes, Catherine,
i.
55
Harley, Lady Brilliana,
Hastings,
ii.
ii.
332
Harman, Dr. John,
39-55
Girton College,
176-186
ii.
Haslam, Mrs.,
Friendly Society,
Gittern,
Hare, Miss,
ii.
See Cosway,
295.
i.
Mrs.
Hale, Sir Matthew, i. 178, 272
Halkett, Lady Anne, i. 150, igo, 224
ii. 260, 261
Hamilton, Lady Archibald, ii. 32
Handcock, Wm.,
ii.
18
ii.
Hadfield, Maria,
Hammerton, Hester, ii. 319

Hampson, Miss, ii. 332
23
i.
Gentlewoman in trade, the,

George I., ii. 18
George II., Court of, ii. 29
Gilds,
242
ii.
Gay, ii. 29
Geddes, Jenny, i. 98
General Post Office,
George IV.,
i.
284-286,
244
i.
of,
ii.
de,
ii.
ii.
256, 2;,a
171
Hengrave Hall, ii. 212

Henrietta, Queen Maria, i. 206, 280, 282
Henry IV., ii. 14
Henry VI., i. 19, 34
Henry VII., i. 23
Henry VIII., i. 25, 128, 139, 160; ii.
iS,
19
INDEX.
Herbalists, the,
Innocent VHI.,
272
ii.
Herbert, George,
Inoculation,
251, 253
Herford, Miss Laura, ii. 165, 166
297
i.
Hervey, Lord, ii. 33

, Lady, ii. 30
Hewling, Benjamin, i. 203
, Hannah, i. 203, 204
, William, i. 203
High Constable,
office of,
ii.
Hilda, St.,
Hildelitha,
i.
i.
317
Hitchin,
ii.
ii.
Sir Philip,
i.
Lady,
i.
36
290
i.
ii.
107
Howard, Lady Elizabeth, i.

, Lord William, i. loi
of
89
293, 303
ii.
263
i.
Jex-Blake, Miss
209
House, i. 282
Hood, Lord, ii. 36
Hopkins, Miss EUice, ii. 234
Horn, Count de, i. 293
Housewifery, i. 11, 12
House of Lords, storming of,
S.,
ii.
Joanna of Navarre,
ii.
Johnson,
ii.
286, 287
14
55
Jones, Brynmor, Mr.,
Jordan, Mrs.,
ii.
31
156, 158
Suffolk,
i.
337
Hughes, Judge, ii. 331

, Mrs., i. 289
Humphrey, i. 302
de Bohun, ii. 318
Hungerford, Sir Edward, i. 212, 213
Huntingdon, Counte.ss of, ii. 31, 32, 80
ii.
337
287
i.
Kaufmann, Angelica, i. 291-293, 295

Kent, Duchess of, ii, 280
Kiffin, William, i. 222
Kilbarchan, ii. 343
Killigrew,
283
i, 291
Kingsley, Miss Maiy,
Kingswood, ii, 66
,
i.
Anne,
ii,
131, 132
Hutchinson, Mrs.,
i.
149, 207, 208,
Kinross,
ii,
Kirkwall,
260
ii,
344
Knightley, Lady,
Kyteler,
Lady
ii.
Alice,
Kytson Family,
ii,
303
i,
268, 269
212
Idleness,
347
Lord, ii. 41
Ina, King of Wessex, ii, 6
i.
Ilchester,
India,
women
of,
ii.
70
i.
34,
202, 203, 243
i.
74,
i.
Jewell, Bishop,
2S2
Mr., Governor of Manchester,
Mrs., Countess
St.,
Jersey, Lady,
i.
i.
35
Jacquetta, Duchess of Bedford,
Jerome,
134
of,
136
Jacqueline, Countess of Hainault,
Jeffreys, Judge,
Holland, Countess
,
232
ii.
ii.
James I., i. 148, 175

James II., i. 220
Jeanne de Valois, i. 30
Jefferies, Joyce, i. 217-220
336
145
Hobart, Hon. Lady,
Hoby,
ii.
64
78
Miss Octavia,
Hill,
ii.
139
ii.
Higher Education of Women,
263
i.
48
Isabella of France,
i.
Herschell, Caroline,
355
Labouchere, Mr,,
ii,
331
Labour Commission, ii, 203

Lacock Abbey, ii, 315
INDEX.
356
Ladies' National Association,
Lamb, Lady
Caroline,
ii.
ii.
73
107
Laud, Archbishop, i. 282

Lauder, Miss, ii. 343
Law,
i.
(Labour),
Lyttleton, Lord,
286
ii.
137. 138, 145. IS4
H.,
ii.
Lee, Sir Henry,
i.
Maidservants,
346
Miss Florence.
Craven, Mrs.
Leobgitha,
Lepell,
Lhassa,
Dacre
See
291
i.
18,
i.
77
See Hervey,
Mary.
Lady
129
ii.
Lincoln, Battle
of,
ii.
Lind-Goldschmidt, Madame,
Lisle, Lady A. de, i. 243
Viscount, i. 215
ii.
168
directions for,
Tax
Little
17, 24, 37
i.
Gidding,
i.
ii.
of Hereford,
149-161
Duchess
Marriage,
Lollard Persecution,
Marshal,
London County
,
Dr.,
i.
240
Council,
ii.
308
81
Lucas, Sir Charles,

,
Lute,
Lady,
i.
Mrs.,
i.
Luther,
i.
152
165
ii. 332, 336

300, 301
i.
263
Duke
i.
Women,
11, 15
ii.
317
ii.
of,
20, 22, 26, 27,
ii.
of, ii.
22
88, 168, 177, 192
97
(Priestly),
i.
office of,
92, 93
ii.
Marshall, Rebecca,
Mrs. Anne,
Martin, St.,
289
Londonderry, Marchioness of, ii, 29S
Longespee, William, ii, 315
Louis XL, i. 29
Lovys Bourgeois, Madame, ii, 280
ii.
ii.
29. 80, 335
School Board, ii. 308

School of Medicine for
of,
Marlborough, DowagerDuchess of,ii. 29S
Llangynog, ii. 337

Lloyd, Miss, i. 345 ; ii. 332
Captain Hugh, i. 291, 293
Lock, Matthew, i. 303
Loder, Kate Fanny, ii. 173
,
213, 214
ii.
37
ii.
333
Margaret of Anjou,
252
i.
on,
Manchester Post-office, ii. 180

Manners, i. 322-324
Manor, Lord, ii. 337
Mansfield, Lord, i. 335
Mapp, Mrs., ii. 282
March, Anne D. P., Countess
Literature,
303
i.
228, 229
Lees,
Lely, Sir Peter,
Mcdonald, Allan, i. 234

, Flora, i. 232-234
Sir John, i. 234
M'Laren, Duncan, Mr., ii, 331
, Duncan, Mrs., ii.
345
,
17-25, 128, 129, 132-13+,
i.
W.
55
i.
Laycoclc, Professor,
Lecky,
165
ii.
ii.
90, 91
i.
39
(Poor), i. 100
William, i. 286
Learning,
131
i.
42
18,
(Ecclesiastical),
Lynacre, Dr.,
Lyndhurst, Lord,
i.
i.
i.
281, 288
ii.
73
235
Martyrs, Protestant,
,
315
288
89
Martineau, Harriet,
Martyr,
i.
Roman
i.
23S, 241
Catholic,
i.
237
Mary, Princess, i. 131, 132

, Queen, i. 94
Tudor, ii. 5
Mason, Miss, ii. 312
Massey, Alice, ii. 277
Masson, Professor, ii, 286
Matilda, Empress, ii. 12
,
ii.
96,
INDEX.
Matilda of Boulogne,
of Flanders,
of Scotland,
Maud
12, 13
ii.
of Ramsbury,
92
Maurice, Frederick Denison,
Maxwell, Mrs., ii. 335
Medical Degrees,
Schools,
Medicine,
More, Margaret,
il, 12
ii.
12
ii.
ii.
Young
ii.
Meynel, Mrs.,
ii.
Dr.,
Lady,
Mary,
Midwifery,
Musical Amateur, the,
223, 224
i.
ii.
175
i.
ii.
N
Napery, Office of, ii. 316
Nassau Senior, Mrs., ii. 312
National Nursing Association,
49
ii.
103
i.
223
i.
ii.
Society
274
Missionaries, South American,
Missionary Work,
Mitford, Miss,
ii.
ii.
131
Politics,
Neville, Richard,
ii.
265
Suffrage,
12, 106, 107, 156
168
i.
Duchess
Newcastle,
251
64
ii. 292-306
ii.
Woman's
for
ii- 339
Needlework, i. 7, 8,
Nevill, Lady, i. 301
Mill, J. S., ii. 328, 329, 331-333

,
Stuart, Mrs., li. 326
Modern
172
ii.
235
345
329
Mico, Lady, i. 103
Middle Classes, i. 26-38
Middleton, Ann, i. 223
Miall, Mrs.,
90
172
ii.
Elizabeth,
, Thomas, i. 225
Musgrave, Lady Julian,
Music, i. 297-304
309
250
Servants,
30
ii.
i. 142
Murray, Mistress Anne, i. 225-227
Metropolitan Association for Befriending
i.
Edmund,
Mulcaster, Richard,
ii.
Sir
135
i.
Thomas, i. 135
Thomas, wife of,
Mounsey, Ann,
Metcalf, Rachel,
265 ii. 271

Mendelssohn, i. 297
Fanny, i. 297
Merrington, Miss Martha,
i.
Sir
Moser, George, i. 291

, Mary, 291-293
143
289
ii.
Morris, Rev.
i.
289
ii.
357
of,
151,
i.
153,
166, 189
,
Duke
of,
i.
166
Molesworth, Mrs., i. 337

Molyneux, Mrs., i. 345
Monasteries, Double, i. 62, 63, 72
Monboddo, Lord, ii. 56
Newell, Miss,
Monk, General,
Nicholaa de la Haye, ii. 315

Nigel, Bishop of Ely, i. 92
Nightingale, Miss Florence, ii. 73, 257,
258, 262, 263
Noel, Bridget, i. 184
Norfolk, Mary, Countess of, ii. 333
245
i.
Monks, Horton,
Newgate
ii.
48,
49
Monsell, Harriet,
ii. 239, 242

Montacute, Family of, i. 80
Montagu, Edward, ii. 4S-49
, Lady
Mary Wortley, i. 347
42, 47, 48, 50, 154
, Mrs., i.
344; ii. 51-57
Moore, Mr., ii. 122
Morals, Public, i. 317-320
More, Dr.,
,
ii.
Hannah,
44
ii.
45, 56, 59-65
ii,
ii.
Prison,
252
71, 72
ii.
Newman,
Professor F. W.,
Newnham
College,
ii.
ii.
333
145
, Duchess of, ii. 315

North, Miss Marianne, ii. 122
Northcote, James,
,
Sir Stafford,
i.
ii.
294
68.
Northumberland, Earl of,

Nuneham, Lady, ii. 44
i.
45
227
INDEX.
358
Nunnery, Protestant,
ii. 256-270
Nursing Sisterhoods,
i.
Pelham, Lady Joan,
252, 256
Nursing,
Miss,
ii.
Pembroke, Anne, Countess
258
160-162, 167
Henry, Earl
O'Brien,
Lady,
Obstetrics,
275, 281
ii.
103,
of,
of,
316
ii.
i.
of,
ii.
333
41
ii.
i.
136
Johanna F. A., Countess
of,
314, 315
ii.
Dowager Countess
23
15, 16,
i.
345
i.
Mary
Offaley, Lattice Digby, Baroness of,
345
i.
Sidney, Countess
of,
i.
136,
i.
137
214, 215
Penda,
Ogilvie, Lady,
Ogowe
River,
Old Maid,
230, 231
i.
132
ii.
Penzance,
314
i.
Pepys,
Oldfield, Mrs.,
i.
Opera Singers,
ii.
ii.
Pendarves, Mrs.,
287
281
i.
Perth, Duchess
170, 171
32
ii.
181
ii.
of,
230-232
i.
Petersham, Lady Caroline,
Ormond, Countess of, ii. 333

Duchess of, ii. 28
Petitioners,
Woman's
Petitions,
Osborne, Bernal, Mr. ii. 331

Oswy, King, ii. 8
Oxford, Dowager Countess of,
Earl of, i. 158
333
Pevensey Castle,
i.
160
Ida,
Pfeififer,
346
i.
193-204
i.
ii.
Suffrage,
ii.
332,
23
18-120
i.
Matilda, Countess
of,
Philanthropy,
ii.
333
57 ;
10
i.
Philip the Fair,
Philippa of Hainault,
Pierrepont, Evelyn,
'Pitt,
25, 29,
ii.
Dame
Dorothy,
Painters, Landscape, i. 295
,
Portrait,
Politics,
334
and
Miniature,
i.
Fruit,
i.
Pope,
296
Parish Councils Act, 1894,

Parr, Katherine, ii. 18
Paston,
Dame
Margaret,
Elizabeth,
Sir John,
Patents,
ii.
ii.
i.
ii.
Protestantism,
Pearce, Alma,
Pechey, Miss,
ii.
ii.
337
287
ii.
166.
i.
See
i.
i.
345
of,
i.
255
281
Puckeringe, Jane, i. 170, 171

Pulsford, Mr., i. 197
Pulteney, ii. 55
Purcell,
i.
10,
269
of,
Duke and Duchess
Prynne,
ii.
309
ii.
i.
i. 249
Mr. James, i. 304
Primrose League, ii. 298-303
Printing, i. 23 ; ii. igo
Miss Helen,
Allingham, Mrs.
ii.
29
Priest,
14
313
i. 287
Preaching, Women's,
169
i.
ii.
Porter, Mrs.,
310
189
Paterson,
ii.
Portland, Duchess
123
i.
ii.
50
329, 330, 346, 347
John XVII.,
296
Pakington, Sir John, ii. 67

Palmerston, Lady, ii. 293
Partridge, Miss Ellen,
i.
22-24, 3. 33
Poor-law Guardians,
295
i.
Painting, Flower
,
ii.
91
i.
ii.
36
Police-matrons,
Packington,
59-74, 227-236
ii.
i.
302, 304
37,
342
49
INDEX.
Puritanism,
Puritans,
Pym,
i.
Robinson,
270
264
i.
i.
196,
Pyne, Louisa,
Elizabeth,
Mrs.,
ii.
Roe, William,
Romanists,
i.
Roos, Lord,
Mary
Quakers, i. 244-249
Queen-consort, ii. 10, 18
Regent, ii. 18
Rout,
157, 158
i.
de,
333
ii.
i,
167, 168
ii.
Schools,
140
for Nurses,
212
i.
Lady Arthur, ii. 305

Lady William, i. 259
Russell,
,
Lord John, i. 134 ; ii. 68

Lord William, i. 222, 259-260.
Mrs. T. W., ii. 305
Sir Charles,
Russell-Gurney
323
331
289
ii.
Bill,
Rutland, Duchess
65, 73
ii.
ii.
266
ii.
Rupert, Prince,
Ragged Schools,
165
Fund
National Pension
Raleigh, Sir Walter,
ii.
Free Hospital, ii. 289

Geographical Society,
i.
28
223
239
Academy
Queen's College, ii. 143, 144, 326

Queens-regnant, ii. 19
Saxon, ii. 6, 7
Tudor, ii. 19
Queensberry, Duchess of, 31, 32
Querouaille, Louise de, i. 182
Racquet,
228, 229
ii.
i.
324
Royal Academy,
280
ii.
See
35
Lady Anne, i.
Lady Henry Hyde,
Rochester,
171
Victoria,
48-50.
ii.
Montagu, Mrs.
200
99,
ii.
359
ii.
of,
i.
345
207
221, 222
i.
Ranelagh, Lady, i.
Rangership of Windsor Park,
Rawlins, Sophia,
Rebellion (Monmouth),
Reeve and beadle,
i.
29
202, 203
office of,
320
ii.
Reformatory Schools, ii. 66

Registered Medical Women,
Registry Office,
ii.
293
i.
ii.
290
221
ii.
Religion, influence
of,
i.
Reynolds, Fanny, i. Z94

Sir Joshua, i. 294
Richmond, Countess of,
Ridley, Mrs.,
i.
i.
23-25, 102,
Richard, Earl
i.
Salvation
103
ii.
341,
Army,
1.
Robinson, Anastasia,
159
i.
ii.
247, 248
281.
See Betterton,
ii.
67
ii. 312
Saunderson, Lady Frances,
Sanitary Inspectors,
296
ii.
i.
Mrs.
Sandon, Lord,
Mrs. James,
of,
Sanders, Mrs.,
i.
342
.
131
ii.
167
Salting,
293
210-212
Robertson, Miss A. Isabella,
Rigby, Colonel,
ii.
273
Salisbury, Bishop of, ii. 17
Lady, ii. 35-36
Marchioness of, ii. 295, 298
,
Margaret, Countess of, i. 159,
,
of, ii.
Sir Robert,
Salerno,
21
ii.
131
127
Duchess
ii.
236, 237
Sacheverell, Dr.,
Sale, Lady,
171
ii.
32
INDEX.
36o
Saunderson, Sir William,
Savil, Sir
Henry,
Saxburga,
ii.
32
ii.
Scarisbryche, Jane,
ii.
life,
277
Scrivelsby Manor, ii. 318

Sedgmoor, Battle of, i. 243
Sophia of Zell, ii. 17

South Sea Bubble, i. 337
Spencer, John, ii. 27
Spilsbury, Miss, i. 296
Sellon, Miss,
Spinning,
Scott,
Mrs
ii.
i.
310, 311
32
ii. 239
Selwyn, Charles, ii. 30
George, ii. 30
Spinster,
Mrs.,
30
Serres, Miss, i. 296
Servants, costume of,
,
ii.
general,
Lord,
ii.
ii.
205, 289
Sherifif,
Office of,
Sherrard, Mrs.
Shirt-makers,
314, 315
168
Siebold,
Sigtryg,
i.
Madame,
136, 137
ii.
ii.
199
i.
Lord,
of,
ii.
25
16
ii.
Stanhope, Lady Hester, ii. 120-122

Stanley of Alderley, Dowager Lady,
280
Stansfeld,
Mr. James,
Mrs.,
93
i.
ii.
Benjamin,
Bishop, i. 250
Stillingfleet,
St. Paul,
312, 331
ii.
332
ii.
Mary
i.
de,
Strode, Colonel,
Stuart, Frances,
i.
i.
282
ii.
ii.
54
35
333
212
ii.
182
Suffolk, Countess of,
338, 345
i,
Sunday-schools, ii. 61
Sunderland, Countess of,
237-245
Lady,
157
i.
337
Surgeons' Hall, Edinburgh,
,
Surr, Mrs.,
Skippon, Serjeant-Major, i. 197

Smith, Lady Euan, ii. 130
Mrs. Magdalen, i. 171
Sir Charles Euan, ii. 130
Snow, Captain Barker, ii. 131
i.
309
Swanwick, Miss Anna,
Swift,
ii.
2S7
ii.
ii.
329
335 ; ii. 29
Swinfield, Bishop, i. 9
i.
Mrs.,
Social Life,
ii.
ii.
131
9t-93, 107,
Societies, Religious,
Society of
Lady
Duke
of,
i.
of,
135
no, in
Talbot, Miss,
79
Artists,
Somerset, Duchess
,
ii.
ii.
ii.
28
68
ii.
289, 304
25, 29, 30. 31, 81
Simpson, Sir James, ii. 286

Sion Monastery, i. 69, 75, 76
Sisterhoods,
162-165
ii.
Dowager Countess
Stair,
ii.
139,
279
i.
Stokes, Mistress,
196
Sir Philip,
276-289
Stephens, Mrs. Joanna,
Shop- women, ii. 190, 191

Shrewsbury, Earl of, i. 162, 163
Siddons, Sarah, i. 287
Sidney, Mr., i. 157
,
i.
the French,
Stephen, King,
279
ii.
ii.
i.
ii.
Stage, the,
Shanghai,
ii. 129
Sharp, Mrs. Jane,
65,
ii.
7,
1
Stagg, Mrs. Anne,

214, 215
224
in Elizabethan Times, ii. 211
in Saxon Times, ii. 212
, wages of, ii. 221-223
Shaftesbury, Abbess of, i. 65
,
i.
i.
ii.
234
ii.
Mary,
141, 142, 15s, 329

Song- writers, ii. 173
Scotland, Domestic
Somerset, Lady Henry,

Somerville, Mrs.
133
i.
Tanner, Mrs.,
Taste,
i.
ii.
57
ii.
329
334, 335
Taylor, Miss Annie,
ii.
128-130
ii,
INDEX.
Taylor, Miss Helen,
309, 329, 330
ii.
Mrs. P. A., ii. 332

Taylour, Miss Jane, ii. 342, 343
Teck, Duchess of, i. 108
Telegraph Clerks, ii. 178
361
Verney, Sir Ralph,
229
Vesey, Mrs.,
,
Sir
Company, ii. 179

Madame, ii. 280
22S,
53-57
ii.
Thomas,
Virginals,
168,
158,
i.
28
ii.
ii.
55
300, 301
i.
Vives, Ludovicus,
131
i.
Tertre,
Test and Corporation Acts,
ii.
Theatre Royal, Clare Market,

the,
16
i.
Thelwell, Peter,
171
i.
Thompson, Miss Elizabeth,

See Butler, Lady
Thome, Mrs., ii. 287
ii.
169.
Thornton, Miss, ii. 252

, Mrs. Alice, i.
150
Thurso,
Tibet,
ii.
Tod, Miss,
ii.
131
305, 340
ii.
171
Trade,
i. 26, 42,
45
Unions, i. 46 ; ii. 196
Training Home for Nurses, Liverpool,
264
Tremouille,
ii.
16-132
Due
de,
Wedmore,
of,
ii.
60-62
i. 286
Twining, Miss Louisa, ii. 266
Type-writing, ii. 190
Tyrconnel, Lord, ii. 33
Trusler, Dr.,
Udall, Master of Eton,

office of,
ii.
i.
132, 140
316
Lady,
Lady
Lady
Werburga,
i.
i.
150
Arbella,
i.
Harriet,
ii.
St.,
i.
150
41
64
Wesley, John, i. 273 j

Westminster, Duke of,
ii.
ii.
247
265
Election, ii 34-39
Westmoreland, Jane, Countess of, i. 135
, Lady, ii. 32
Westlake, Mrs., ii. 309
White, Miss Jessie Meiiton, ii. 144
Whitehead, George, i. 248
.
Whiteshill,
Whitfield,
ii.
ii.
337
31, 80, 81
ii.
64
Wilfrid, Bishop of Leicester,
Willes, Justice,
i.
290
Vavasour, Margaret,
Venturi,
159,
292
Wilberforce, Mr.,
Vandyck,
i.
63
ii.
Went worth. Lady Anne,

,
2091
i.
Trimmer, Mrs. Sarah,
Usher,
2 12
Watchmaking, i. 42-44
Watkin, Sir E. W., ii. 331
Weaving, i. 7, 9
Travelling,
i.
i.
258, 259
Tofts, Katherine,
ii.
193-205, 234
i.
Castle,
20
Warwick, Anne, Countess
285
i,
(Civil),
Wardship,
Tierra del Fuego,

Toasts,
Wardour
129, 130
ii.
Waldegrave, Ladies, ii. 35

Wales, Prince of, i. 232
Walpole, Horace, ii. 17, 29, 41
Sir Robert, ii. 16, 17
Walsh, Joseph, i. 171
War
344
ii.
281
278, 285
i.
Madame,
ii.
ii.
334
329
ii.
i.
65
336
William I., ii. 12, 13

William HL, ii. 26
William IV., Count of Holland, i. 34
Willoughby de Eresby, Lady, ii. 319
INDEX.
362
Willughby, Dr. Percy,
,
Miss,
ii.
Wilson, Mrs. Margaret,

Wilton, Abbess
of,
Wives,
i.
i.
251
Writing, (Letter),
i.
Wolsey, i. 160
Wolverton, Lady,
i.
19, 21,
Wycherley,
287
i.
ii.
257
i.
242
38
i.
23
154
i.
Wrotham, family of, i. 80

Wulfere, King of Mercia, i. 64
321
Wollstonecraft, Mary,
i.
Wroth, Lady,
65
261-274
Woffington, Peg,
Woman,
ii.
Infirmaries,
Wiay, Sir Cecil, ii. 35-37

Wriothesley, Lord Chancellor,
65
298
i.
Wimborne, Lady, ii.

Winchester, Abbess of,
Witchcraft,
Workhouse
2S0
280, 281
ii.
ii.
i.
284
Wygram, Mr. Clifford, ii. 266

Wykeham, William of, i. 19
Wynkyn de Worde, i. 23
324, 325
108
96
323-346
Women Commissioners, ii. 313
doctors, ii. 271-291
single,
Woman's
95,
Suffrage,
farmers,
,
ii.
ii.
married,
ii.
novelists,
ii.
status of,
unmarried,
ii.
Vates,
196
ii.
Mr. Thomas,
i.
228, 229
98, 99
York, Archbishop
150, 151-153, IS9
Duchess Anne of, i. 66

, Duke of, i. 225-227
Voung, ii. 29
i.
74
88
ii.
of,
loi
Women's Franchise League, ii. 340

Women's Liberal Associations, ii. 301
Liberal Federation,
-^
ii.
300-304
Liberal Unionist Association,
ii.
Zucchi, Antonio,
304, 30s
i.
293
THE END.
PlrtNTKD BV WILLIAM CLOWES
AND
SONS, LIMITED,
LONDON AND BECCLES.

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D. &=
Co.
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II.,
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Sir J^ /i^n^Ms, pi^ixf

AUTHOR OF "a HISTORY OF ENGLISH DRESS."

LIFE IN THE LAST

THE POLITICAL INFLUENCE OF WOMEN.

Position and influence of the Saxon

Meaning of the word " politics "

Lady Mary Montagu, Mrs. Elizabeth Montagu,

Elizabeth Carter, Mrs. Vesey, Hannah More, Mrs. Chapone,

beginnings of organized philanthropy Hannah More and

Societies for the

ladies' opinions of the

Attitude of the upper classes towards religious

Condition of the Clergy

the past determined by the Church

Change of thought and

THE MODERN GREAT LADY.

position in the higher ranks

English enterprise and love of travel Travelling for pleasure a

women's education compared with the past

election as members of the Astronomical Society Mrs.

women have been most diswoman writer Influence

stage as a profession for

Opening of the Royal Academy schools

Women as musicians Composers

Change public sentiment

THE MODERN WOMAN OF

Changes in the occupations of women The number of women

THE FACTORY HAND.

Women's preference for outside work Industrial

THE DOMESTIC SERVANT.

^More men formerly employed

Servants Elizabethan days Interior of

service at the present

THE MODERN HUMANITARIAN MOVEMENT.

Capacity of women for organization

Miss Ellice Hopkins Temperance work Associations

THE SISTERHOOD SYSTEM.

Revival of religious orders The Anglican sisterhoods Clewer

the Dissenting communities

Women in the pulpit Equality of men and women in the

Churches of the present day

Nursing only recently made a profession Miss Nightingale on

Crimean War period^Ancient and modern conception of

Medicine the only one of the learned professions open to women

Dr. Sophia Jex-Blake and the fight in Edinburgh

WOMEN AND MODERN

on public boards School Board work Early members

THE CLAIM FOR POLITICAL EQUALITY.

in Parliament The Scotch workers Women

Origin of the claim

ConventionJohn Stuart Mill and the first Woman's Suffrage

LIFE IN THE LAST CENTURY.

THE POLITICAL INFLUENCE OF WOMEN.

Position and influence of the Saxon

Meaning of the word

must be premised that the word

used with a wider signification than

a large field of activity.