Arthur Penrhyn Stanley; his life, work, and teachings

Front matter

ms LIFE, trom, AND teachings

X

THE

Preface

When I was asked, some time since, to prepare a sketch of Dean Stanley's life, giving the public the important events in his career, and a general account of his work, with the teaching embodied therein, I was unable, for several reasons, to attempt the work.

Several months later, finding that there was no immediate prospect of an extended work on the subject, and that the demand yet existed for such a book as this, I undertook the work.

Without attempting a large, elaborate memoir, a task for some friend of Stanley's, I have tried to give the reader the necessary setting and background to the portrait of my subject, in a sketch of his family and surroundings. Life is not long enough to spend it in toiling through long volumes on all subjects ; the world wants portraits of its heroes, saints, and martyrs, in a compact form.

V vi

PREFACE.

For the general public this sketch is written, — a larger volume or volumes will meet the wants of those who love to ponder a life in all its aspects.

Much of the controversial strife which raged in England, and about Stanley, may be uninteresting to American readers, but some mention of it is necessary, as throwing full light on his work.

Claiming to belong to those who profess liberal Christianity, I have not thought that this unfitted me for the task. I fancy the portrait of Stanley, as drawn by a Ritualist or an Evangelical member of his own Church, would have had less impartiality shown it, and prejudice would certainly have given an unpleasant tinge to this sunny character.

I have tried faithfully to put myself in sympathy with Stanley's views, and my whole thought, as I have read his various writings, and the articles and reviews they called forth, has been one of increasing admiration and respect for the true Christianity, liberality, and Catholicism of the churchman, while seeing the simple charm of the historian, poet, and teacher. One must rise from a study of the Dean's work with a wiser head and happier heart.

PREFACE.

vii

The rare combination of mind and heart, the refined personality of Dean Stanley, has endeared him to a wide circle of readers, who want to know just what he has done and why he did it. What the future holds in store, what other generations will think of him, is not for us to anticipate. Enough to chronicle the events of his beautiful life, to name his earnest, thoughtful work, his elevated teaching — that all these shall cheer and elevate the mind.

The many phases of thought, the distracting doubts, and the unrest of this age, require that special emphasis shall be given to the pure lives of all, who, like Stanley, have passed on ' unspotted from the world.'

Grace A. Oliver. 'Red Gables,' Swamscot, Nov. 22, 1884.

Contents

FAGS

Chapter I

Introduction. — The Stanley Ancestry. — Edward Stanley. — His Influence in his Parish. — Other Interests i

CHAPTER n.

The Rectory. — Catherine Stanley. — The Stanley Children. — Owen. — Mary i8

CHAPTER HI.

Arthur's Birth. — Early Years. — Mrs. Stanley's Care. — Peculiarities of Temperament. — Alderley Churchyard 33

CHAPTER IV.

Arthur at School. — Progress there. — Vacations. — Poetic Taste.— Choice of a Public School for Him. — First Continental Journey . 44

CHAPTER V.

Rugby. — Arthur enters the School. — Dr. Arnold. — His Peculiar

Power. — The Life at Rugby in his Time 58

ix

X

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VI.

State of Public Education in England. — Dr. Arnold's Method of Teaching. — Arthur's Impressions of Arnold. — Hughes's Picture of Arnold. — Arnold's Moral Influence. — His Confidence in the Sixth-Form Boys. — Classical Education valued by Arnold. — Sympathy of Arthur and Arnold. — Arthur's Account of Dr. Arnold's Daily Life. — His Sermons. — Hughes's Picture of the Preaching of Arnold. — The Arnold Home. — Arthur's Life at Rugby. — Friends made there. — Studies and Promotion. — Fags and Fagging. — Vacation. — School 74

CHAPTER VH.

Studies and Letters. — Prizes. — Mrs. Stanley sees Great Progress in Arthur's Work. — Her Letter. — Rugby Magazine. — Arthur an Editor. — His Reminiscences. — Thomas Hughes's Account of meeting Arthur. — Mrs. Stanley's Letters, and a Visit to Rugby. — The Arnolds at Alderley. — William Ewart Gladstone. — Gray's Poems 104

CHAPTER VHI.

Oxford Examinations. — Arthur's Descriptions of his Anxiety. — Announces himself chosen Scholar and Exhibitioner of Balliol. — Arnold's Letter to Mrs. Stanley. — Another Term at Rugby. — Vacation. — Hurstmonceaux. — Julius Hare. — Fox How ... 121

CHAPTER IX.

Balliol College. — Arnold's Continued Interest in Stanley, and Stanley's Gratitude to Arnold. — The Tractarian Movement. — Arthur's Studies 138

CONTENTS.

xi

CHAPTER X.

The Tractarian Movement. — Arthur's Interest in it, — He becomes an Adviser of Lord Melbourne. — Hampden Controversy. — The Revival of Religious Interest in England as stated by Arthur Stanley. — Prize Poem and its Delivery 148

CHAPTER XI.

Alderley Home given up. — Norwich. — Bishop Stanley. — Arthur's Interest in his Father's Elevation. — Doubts about Subscription. — Arnold's Influence. — The Articles 160

CHAPTER XII.

Manhood. — Holy Orders. — Fellowship at Universitj' College. — Studies. — Friends and Pupils. — Journey to Italy and Greece. — Tutor's Life at Oxford 174

CHAPTER XIII.

Death of Dr. Arnold. — Arthur Stanley chosen to preach his Funeral Sermon. — Writes his Biography. — Two Years' Work — The Success of the Portrait, — Stanley's own View of his Work. — Thomas Hughes. — Mrs. Stanley at Fox How. — Stanley's Position, - His Appointment as Select Preacher to the University. — Sermons on the Apostolic Age. — Work and lafluence over those around Him. — Interest in the Events of the Day. — His Method of Working 190

CHAPTER XIV.

Oxford. — Death of Bishop Stanley. — Owen and Charles Stanley die. — Characters. — Funeral Services at Norwich for the Bishop. — The Gorham Controversy, and the Article in * Edinbiu-gh Review.' — Broad Church. — Arthur Stanley appointed Secretary to the Oxford Commission 205 xii

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XV.

Appointment to Canonry at Canterbury Cathedral. — The Cathedral. — Canonry and its Duties. — Home Life There. — Friends. — 'Memorials of Canterbury' written. — Yearly Journeys. — Eastern Travels. — * Sinai and Palestine ' written 218

CHAPTER XVL

Canterbury. — ' Sinai and Palestine.' — Extracts from the Journals and Letters in the East. — Remarks of Critics on ' Sinai and Palestine.' — Crimean War. — Journey to Russia. — Study of the Russian Church. — The ' Eastern Church History' and ' Lectures on Ecclesiastical History ' prepared. — Appointment to Regius Professorship of Ecclesiastical History, and Canonry at Christ Church, Oxford. — Close of Canterbury Life. — ' Sermons preached at Canterbury ' 240

CHAPTER XVH.

Oxford. — Professorship. — Lectures. — Social Life. — An Anecdote. — Journey to the East with the Prince of Wales. — His Mother's Death. — * Sermons in the East.' — 'Jewish Church.' — 'Essays and Reviews' reviewed by Stanley. — Appointments. — Letter on Subscription addressed to the Bishop of London, and Results 271

CHAPTER XVHI.

Appointment to the Deanery of Westminster. — Opposition to this Appointment. — Westminster Abbey. — The Deanery. — The Functions of the Abbots. — Early Deans. — Stanley's Marriage. — Lady Augusta Bruce. — The Bruces. — Dean Stanley takes Leave of Oxford, — Thomas Erskine of Linlathen. — His Character 297

CONTENTS.

xiii

CHAPTER XIX.

Installation as Dean of Westminster. — Life at the Deanery. — Social Duties. — Work. — Interest in Westminster Working-People, their Unions, etc. — Memorials of Westminster Abbey. — Second Volume 'Jewish Church.' — Various Articles for Reviews, Magazines, etc. — The Dean's Preaching. — His Reading. — The Westminster Sermons. — Visitors at the Deanery. — Anecdotes. — Controversies. — Defence of Colenso. — Remarks. — Maurice. — ' The Westminster Scandal,' and the Dean's Position in regard to it 318

CHAPTER XX.

Dean Stanley's Love of Scotland, its Literature, its People. — Anecdotes. — Russia. — Illness of Lady Augusta Stanley. — Rector of St. Andrew's. — His Love for the Royal Family. — Death of Lady Augusta Stanley. — Funeral. — Expressions of Sympathy for the Dean. — Valedictory Address at St. Andrew's. — Remarks on it. — The Dean's Theological Statements 348

CHAPTER XXI.

The Dean visits America. — Remarks. — His Visit to Montreal. — His own Words about the Future of America. — A Visit to Italy with his Sister. — Mary Stanley's Death.— Anecdotes of the Dean. — ' Christian Institutions ' published. — Failing Health. — Last Work. — An Anecdote 370

CHAPTER XXII.

Last Articles. — Disappointment about the Prince Imperial's Monument. — - Last Weeks. — Last Sermon. — Illness. — Death. — Funeral Ser\-ices. — Remarks. — Personal Appearance of Dean Stanley. — His Position as Historian, Theologian, and Churchman.— Remarks of the Archbishop of Canterbury. — Of J. P. Hopps. — His own Remarks about Dean Milman applied to himself. — Summary 389

Arthur Penrhyn Stanley.

Arthur Penrhyn Stanley.

CHAPTER 1.

INTRODUCTION. — THE STANLEY ANCESTRY. —EDWARD STANLEY. — HIS INFLUENCE IN HIS PARISH. — OTHER INTERESTS.

Arthur Penrhyn Stanley was descended from the ancient and historic house of Stanley, and distantly connected with many families of that name, notably the other branch which held the earldom of Derby.

The name of Stanley is one full of historic memories for Englishmen. It was a Stanley who on the field of Bosworth placed the crown of England on the head of his own step-son, the first Tudor king, — the crown so often reproduced, sometimes with the bush on which it was found hanging, in the stately Chapel of Henry VH. in Westminster Abbey. The recollection of Flodden Field, with *the fatal battle where Scotland saw so many of her bravest sons fall,' is full of the prowess of another

ARTHUR PENRHYN STANLEY.

Stanley. The reader will be interested to hear of the only place where one descendant of that race recalled his connection with his ancestor's deeds. It is that in which, after describing the marvellous promise of Alexander Stuart, the shortlived son of James IV., the pupil of Erasmus, Dean Stanley, at St. Andrews, spoke of his ' gentle manners and playful humor,' adding 'he was keen as a hound in the pursuit of knowledge.* The dean goes on to say of ' the young Marcellus of the Scottish Church,' ' If he fell in the memorable charge of my namesake on that fatal day, may he accept, thus late, the lament which a kinsman of his foe would fain pour over his untimely bier,' * Stout Stanley ' led the English right in the battle of Flodden Field.

* Let Stanley charge with spur of fire, With Chester charge, and Lancashire.

And Stanley was the cry,

Charge, Chester, charge, On, Stanley, cn !

Were the last words of Marmion '

On 'Flodden's fatal field.

Where shivered was fair Scotland's spear,

And broken was her shield!'

HIS ANCESTORS.

The Stanleys had their home at the old ancestral estate of Alderley, in Cheshire. Arthur Stanley's grandmother was the heiress of Hugh Owen, Esq., of Penrhos, Anglesea. Sir John Thomas Stanley, his grandfather, was the representative of his own branch of the Stanley family, and a man of considerable influence in the county, being the sixth baronet of the name. He made some pretensions to literature, publishing in 1799 an account of a voyage he made to the Hebrides. He translated from Burger the * Leonora * on which several people tried their hand ; William Taylor of Norwich, Pye, and Spencer being among the number.

Sir J. T. Stanley was succeeded in his title and property by his eldest son, who was created in 1839 Baron Stanley of Alderley. The present holder of the title is well known in England and America for his liberal views, and a very fair literary ability. He was Secretary of Legation at Athens in 1854, and succeeded to the title in 1869.

He has published several works ; among them Rouman Anthology, a collection of Moldavian and Wallachian ballads ; an original and interesting book, 'The East and the West,' the result of extensive travel ; with other works on public questions.

The father of Arthur Stanley was the second son and seventh child of Sir J. T. Stanley, and his wife Margaret, the Welsh heiress. Some mention is proper of one who was a marked man in England during his time. Edward Stanley, rector of Alderley and bishop of Norwich, was born the ist of January, 1779, at his father's residence in London. In his early years he had a perfect passion for the sea, and always retained the most ardent interest in all matters relating to the navy. His son says, ' A cheerful and sanguine temper, readiness of decision, fertility of resource, activity and quickness of mind and body, and a spirit of enterprise that knew no danger, no impossibility, no difficulty, could hardly have failed to ensure success in that sphere to which his tastes had been thus early turned.'

A good family living, with almost certain provision for life, was probably the important factor in his father's mind, and young Stanley, who wept at the sight of a ship which he was not allowed to enter, and slept on the shelf of a wardrobe in order to fancy himself at sea, was destined for a very different career.

He was unfortunate in frequent changes in

THE DEAN'S FATHER.

schools and tutors, and, on his entrance at St. John's College, Cambridge, found he was obliged to begin his studies almost from the earliest point. Greek he was totally ignorant of, Latin he knew a little, and mathematics he had studied in a desultory manner without any plan. He made great efforts to remedy these deficiencies, and acquired enough classical knowledge for ordinary purposes. To mathematics he so applied himself that he was a wrangler in the mathematical tripos of 1802.

In the interval between his college life and ordination he travelled for a year in Switzerland, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, from whence he returned, at his brother's request, to command the * Alderley Volunteers,' raised by him on the family property at the time of the expected French invasion.

In 1805, after three years spent as curate of Windlesham, in Surrey, he was presented by his father to the family living of Alderley; and in 1 8 10 he married Catherine, daughter of the Rev. Oswald Leycester, rector of Stoke-upon-Tern, by whom he had five children. Alderley was a spot which, as well by its natural beauty as by its hereditary associations, offered great attractions to its new rector.

The village people gladly welcomed Edward Stanley as their rector. The family were popular among these simple people, and the kind and judicious benevolence of his brother John, who, after his marriage with the eldest daughter of Lord Sheffield, in 1796, had made it his constant object to best serve the interests of his tenants, had greatly endeared him to them. Mr. Stanley had taken up his permanent residence at the Hall, the old home of his father, later his own, and he associated his people with his own interests and domestic pleasures, making the birthdays of his children fete days for the Alderley people. Seven daughters born to him made the old Hall a lively spot.

Arthur Stanley says of his father's position in his village parish : * The parish of Alderley, which consisted of an agricultural population of about thirteen hundred souls, had, from the long apathy or non-residence of the previous incumbent, been greatly neglected. The clerk used to go to the churchyard-stile to see whether there were any more coming to church, for there were seldom

A MODEL CLERGYMAN.

enough to make a congregation. The rector used to boast that he had never set foot in a sick person's cottage.' And although this was probably a more than usually unfavorable specimen of ministerial neglect, the average standard of the neighboring clergy was not likely to present a high model of excellence to a new-comer. All who could afford it hunted ; few, if any, rose above the ordinary routine of the stated services of the Church. An ardent and generous nature would, under any circumstances, have been excited to energy by the very neglect and indifference which surrounded, or which had preceded him ; and in his case was superadded that strong sense of duty.

* To him the call of duty was not merely a command, but an encouragement, — the voice of a trumpet which cheered and inspired him at the same time that it compelled him to act.' He ruled his little kingdom with kindly sway, even incurring the charge of * Methodism ' by his devotion to the cause of religion. He established improved village schools, inaugurating a system of examinations twice a year. Little rewards and a kindly word were powerful incentives.

*No task' (these are the words of one once amongst their number) ' seemed too difficult for them to learn ; and if well learned, they knew that they were sure to be rewarded by the rector's well-known smile and expression of approbation, and his gentle tap on the head of each.'

On these examination days he regaled them at his own house with a good dinner and various amusements. Sometimes, to their great delight, he allowed them to accompany him in his boat (on Alderley Mere) and spent the afternoon on the water with them himself.

Weekly rounds of visits were made by Mr. Stanley, and among the villagers he spoke to them of their common pursuits and cares as if he were one of themselves ; and the result was that they were cheered and animated by his presence and his active interest in their welfare, as well as warned and consoled by his constructions. When he looked into the schools, it was not merely to glance round the classes, or to ask a few formal questions, to see that all was in order, but he had something to say to each individual scholar, of encouragement or rebuke. In his rides round the parish, the children used to run out of the houses to catch the wonted

INFLUENCE FOR GOOD.

smile, or gesture, or call, of the rector as he passed, or to claim the cakes and gingerbread that he brought with him for those whose hands and faces were clean ; and the poor cottagers long afterwards described how their hearts beat with pleasure as they heard the short, quick tramping of his horse's feet as he went in. When he entered a sick chamber he never failed to express the joy which neatness and order gave him, or to reprove where he found it otherwise. Whatever was to be done in the parish for their good, they were sure to find in him an active supporter. He took so much trouble, they said, in whatever he did — never sparing himself for whatever he took in hand. The Rectory became the home of the parish.

He tried hard to check the prevailing vice of the rural neighborhood, drunkenness, visiting the beer shops, and placarding in them short, simple exhortations to a sober life. He denounced in strong language the 'crying sin' of Cheshire, the love of drink, and it was said afterwards, 'Whenever,'

— such was the homely expression of the people,

— * whenever there was a drunken fight down at the village, and he knew of it, he would always come out to stop it — there was such a spirit in him.'

On one of these occasions, word was brought to him of a riotous crowd which had assembled to witness a desperate prize-fight, adjourned to the outskirts of his parish, and which the respectable inhabitants were unable to disperse. 'The whole field (so one of the humbler neighbors represented it) was filled, and all the trees round about — when in about a quarter of an hour I saw the rector coming up the road on his little black horse as quick as lightning, and I trembled for fear they should harm him. He rode into the field and just looked quick round (as if he thought the same) to see who there was that would be on his side. But it was not needed — he rode into the midst of the crowd, and in one moment it was all over ; there was a great calm ; the blows stopped ; it was as if they would all have wished to cover themselves up in the earth — all from the trees they dropped down directly — no one said a word, and all went away humbled.' The next day he sent for the two men, not to scold them, but to speak to them, and sent them each away with a Bible. Dissent never flourished in this v/orthy man's da}^, and his church was full.

Pie studied the phenomena of the animal crea-

HOME OF THE STARLIiYG.

tion, and took special pleasure in ornithology. Some years after, Mr. Stanley, in describing some habits of birds, described his own home most charmingly as the home of the starhng, saying, — 'Close before the window of the scene of our observation, a well-mown, short-grassed lawn is spread. Close at hand, within half a stone'sthrow, stands an ivy-mantled parish church, with its massy gray tower, from the turreted pinnacle of which rises a tall flag staff, crowned by its weathercock ; under the eaves and within the hollows and chinks of the masonry of this tower are his nursery establishments. On the battlements and projecting grotesque tracery of its Gothic ornaments he retires to enjoy himself, looking down on the rural world below ; while, at other times, a still more elevated party will crowd together on the letters of the weathercock, or, accustomed to its motion, sociably twitter away their chattering song, as the vane creaks slowly round with every change of wind.'

In another place he says of Alderley : * Not far from the church we have mentioned, there is a considerable sheet of water, occupying nearly thirty acres — the mere — flanked and feathered on the eastern side by the old beech-wood already spoken of as the abiding place of the jackdaws. Its western margin is bounded by an artificial dam, which, as the water is upon a much higher level, commands an extensive view over a flat, rich country, the horizon terminated by the faint outline of the first range of the Welsh mountains. This dam, on the finer evenings of November, was once the favorite resort of many persons, who found an additional attraction in watching the gradual assemblage of the starling. About an hour before sunset, little flocks, by twenties or fifties, kept gradually dropping in, their numbers increasing as daylight waned, till one vast flight was formed, amounting to thousands, and at times we might almost say to millions. Nothing could be more interesting or beautiful than to witness their graceful evolutions,'

He used to say of the observations he made in natural history, 'The perversions of men would have made an infidel of me, but for the counteracting impressions of Divine Providence in the works of nature.' He embodied his observations in a small book, published in 1836 by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and entitled it

ALDERLEY.

* A Familiar History of Birds, their Nature, Habits, and Instincts.'

One very close observer and near relation, Augustus Hare, has given a delightful picture of Alderley which cannot fail to interest the reader. There are few country places in England which possess such a singular charm as Alderley. 'AH who have lived in it have loved it, and to the Stanley family it has ever presented the ideal of that which is most interestinsf and beautiful. There the usually flat pasture lands of Cheshire rise suddenly into the rocky ridge of Alderley Edge, with its Holy Well under an overhanging cliff ; its gnarled pine-trees, and its storm-beaten beacon-tower, ready to give notice of an invasion, looking far over the green plain to the smoke of Stockport and ^Macclesfield, which indicates the presence of great towns on the horizon. Beautiful are the beech woods which clothe the western side of the Edge, and feather over mossy lawns to the mere, which receives a reflection of their gorgeous autumnal tints, softened by a blue haze on its waters.'

'Beyond the mere and Lord Stanley's park, on the edge of the pasture-lands, are the church and its surroundings — a wonderfully harmonious group, encircled by trees, with the old timbered inn of the Eagle and Child, at the corner of the lane which turns up to them. In later times the church itself has undergone a certain amount of restoration ; but sixty years ago it was marvellously picturesque, its chancel mantled in ivy of massy folds, which, while they concealed the rather indifferent architecture, had a glory of their own very different to the clipped, ill-used ivy which we generally see on such buildings ; but the old clock-tower, the outside stone staircase leading to the park pew, the crowded groups of large, square, lichen-stained gravestones, the disused font in the churchyard, overhung by a yew-tree, and the gable-ended schoolhouse at the gate, built of red sandstone, with gray copings and muUioned windows, were the same.'

* Close by was the rectory, with its garden, — the Dutch garden, of many labyrinthine flower-beds, — joining the churchyard. A low house, with a verandah, forming a wide balcony for the upper story, where bird-cages hung among the roses ; its rooms and passages filled with pictures, books, and the old carved oak furniture, usually little

EDWARD STANLEY.

sought or valued in those days, but which the rector took dehght in picking up among his cottages.'

Mr. Hare, in speaking of his uncle, — for Mrs. Hare, his mother, was sister of j\Irs. Stanley, — describes his appearance thus : * He was a little man, active in figure and in movement, with dark, piercing eyes, rendered more remarkable by the snow-white hair v/hich was his characteristic even when very young. With the liveliest interest on all subjects, — political, philosophical, scientific, theological ; with inexhaustible plans for the good of the human race in general, but especially for the benefit of his parishioners and the amusement of his seven nieces at the park, he was the most popular character in the country-side.

'To children he was indescribably delightful. There was nothing that he was not supposed to know — and, indeed, who was there who knew more.? — of insect life, of the ways and habits of birds, of fossils and where to find them, of drawing, of etching on wood and lithographing, of plants and gardens, of the construction of ships and boats, and of the thousand home manufactures of which he was a complete master.'

While at Alderley he contributed more or less to the periodicals of the day the results of his studies, or more frequently, of the rapid six weeks excursions which he used to make in the summer months ; of these perhaps the most remarkable is an account, afterwards reprinted from ' Blackwood's Magazine,' of an adventure in the Alps on the * Mauvais Pas,' interesting both as illustrative of his own character, and also as having in all probability suggested to Sir Walter Scott the opening scene in the romance of * Anne of Geierstein.' He was also one of the earliest and most regular attendants of the meetings of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, at one of which he was, in 1836, appointed vicepresident.

His son says ' a lecture on geology, which he delivered at an institution in the neighboring town of Macclesfield, was, it is believed, one of the first contributions of the kind from any minister of the Church of England. Amongst his hearers were eight barefooted boys, who wandered in by chance. It awakened in them the first spark of intellectual ardor. One of them, fifty years later, stated to the writer of these pages, whom he met return-

RESULTS OF A LECTURE.

ing from a Continental journey, how, from the impulse then given, he had entered on a prosperous commercial life, and still retained, from the grateful sense of the good then received, an undying interest in his benefactor and his benefactor's son.'

Chapter II

THE RECTORY. — CATHERINE STANLEY. — THE STAN- LEY CHILDREN. — OWEN. — MARY.

Something must be said of the inmates of the pleasant home where the rector of Alderley carried his young bride, Catherine, when he married in 1810. This lady was the eldest daughter of the rector of Stoke-upon-Tern. The Leycesters were of an old Cheshire family which had been near and dear neighbors of the Stanleys through generations. Toft, the family home, delightful, cosy — the old seat of the Leycesters, was but a few miles from Alderley.

Catherine Leycester was only sixteen years old at the time of her engagement, and eighteen when she married Edward Stanley. She was a truly noble woman. Early thrown much on her own resources, by the ill-health of her mother, she was wont to think for herself, reading much 18

MRS. STANLEY.

and considering well, in the quiet of her home, the ideas she imbibed from the great minds of the past. Maria Le}'cester, afterwards Mrs. Hare, was several years younger than Catherine, who was entrusted with the responsibility of her training and education.