Model women

Front matter

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Chapter II. Peculiarities Of Female Character

Woman in relation to man. — Corporeal organization. — Patient endurance. — Caution. — Sympathy. — Love of approbation. — Tenacity of purpose. — Modesty. — Discernment of character. — Piety . . . Page 29

Section I.— Susanna Wesley

Woman's sphere. — Biography. — A noble wife. — A good mother. — Home education. — Relation to Methodism. — Character of Mrs. Wesley .... Page 55

Section II. — Eliza Hessel

Woman's mission. — Biography. — A right purpose in life. — An excellent daughter. — A loving sister. — Household management. — Character of Miss Hessel . Page 72

X CONTENTS.

CHAPTEE IY.

PHILANTHROPIC WOMEN.

Section I.— Elizabeth Fry.

Woman's work. — Biography. — Early schemes of usefulness. — The prisoner's friend. — Family bereavements. — Relative duties. — Character of Mrs. Fry . Page 88

Section II, — Amelia "Wilhelmina Sieveking.

Woman's rights. — Biography. — Amateur teaching. — Services in the hospital. — Protestant sisterhoods. — Spinsters respectable, happy, and useful. — Character of Miss Sieveking Page 104

CHAPTEE Y.

LITERARY WOMEN.

Section I. — Hannah More.

Literature. — Biography. — Successful authorship. — Character

of Mrs. More Page 122

Section II. — Anne Grant.

Letter- writers. — Biography. — Literary career. — Character of Mrs. Grant Page 135

Section III. — Anne Louisa Stael. Versatility of genius. — Biography. — Analysis of writings

Character of Mad. de Stael .... Page 148

Section IY. — Carolina, Baroness Nairne.

What is poetry. — Biography. — Extracts and criticisms. —

Character of Baroness Nairne . . . Page 162

Section Y. — Felicia Dorothea Hemans.

Lyric poetry. — Biography. — Review of poems. — Character of Mrs. Hemans Page 175

CONTENTS. XI

Section VI. — Elizabeth Baeeett Browning.

Epic poetry. — Biography. — Place as a poetess. — Character

of Mrs. Browning ... . Page 188

Section VII. — Chaelotte Nicholls. [Cueeee Bell.]

Works of fiction. — Biography. — Merits as a novelist. — Character of Mrs. Nicholls .... Page 200

CHAPTEE VI.

SCIENTIFIC WOMEN.

Section I.— Caroline Luceetia Heeschel. Astronomy. — Biography. — Astronomical discoveries. — Works

on astronomy. — Character of Miss Herschel . Page 216

Section II. — Jane Anne Tayloe. [Janet Tayloe.]

Navigation. — Biography. — ■ Publications on navigation. — Nautical and mathematical academy. — Character of Mrs. Taylor Page 228

CHAPTEE VII.

HOLY WOMEN.

Section I. — Selina, Countess oe Huntingdon.

The gospel not a thing of sex. — Biography. — Conversion.— The higher Christian life. — Chaplains. — Founder of a religious community. — Character of the Countess of Huntingdon Page 241

Section II. — Elizabeth, Duchess op Goedon.

Religion in high life. — Biography. — Regeneration. — Deepening of the Lord's work. — Open-air services. — Good ■works. — Character of the Duchess of Gordon , Page 257

Xll CONTENTS.

Section III. — Mary Jane Graham

Piety and circumstance. — Biography.— The great change. — Theological attainments. — Practical religion. — Progress and power. — Character of Miss Graham . Page 273

Section IY. — Fidelia Fiske.

Christianity and human nature. — Biography. — Second and better birth. — Juvenile habit of doing good. — Missionary life.— Showers of blessing. — Character of Miss Fiske Page 289

CHAPTER VIII.

FORMATION OF FEMALE CHARACTER.

Value and influence of character.— Original constitution. — Family circle. — Society. — Impartative and receptive elements.— -Twofold operation of the mind . Page 308

CHAPTER IX.

NATURAL EQUALITY OF THE SEXES.

Difference and similarity. — Political equality. — Social equality. — Intellectual equality. — Moral equality. — Religious equality Page 329

MODEL WOMEN.

Chapter I

1 A perfect woman, nobly planned, To warn, to comfort, and command ; And yet a spirit still and bright, With something of an angel light."

William Wordsworth.

FEMALE EDUCATION.

The great question of the day is education. Daughters, as well as sons, are born with faculties capable of improvement ; and the claims of the former to as good an education as the latter are beyond dispute. Indeed, some are of opinion that if either of the sexes ought to have a superior education, that boon is the birthright of females. Certainly, women have as important duties to perform as men, and therefore their discipline ought at least to be as strict.

In the more usual sense, education is the art of drawing out, or developing, every part of your manysided nature. Its object, and when rightly conducted, its result, is to make a perfect creature. Young women are too often allowed to consider that education is the work of girlhood. Strictly speaking, it covers the whole area of life. A great living poet trnly says —

" Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, Is our being's end or way ; But to live that each to-morrow Finds us farther than to-day."

We often hear what a glorious thing it is to be a man. With Daniel De Foe, and other great men, we think it as glorious a thing to be a woman. "A woman, well bred and well taught, furnished with the additional accomplishments of knowledge and behaviour, is a creature without comparison." You are capable of being moulded into the noblest types of womanhood. There is no limit to your progress, no elevation which you may not pass ; your present attainments are not the measure of your capabilities.

This book would be radically defective, and would greatly fail in its purpose, did we not attempt to show what woman can be, and what therefore she ought to strive after. The best definition we can give of true womanhood is, that it consists in having all the faculties, physical, intellectual, moral, and spiritual, existing in a healthy and vigorous condition, so as to be able to perform, in an efficient manner, all the functions for which they are destined. Our aim is bold, broad, truthful delineation. We would not lead you to indulge in baseless visions of future eminence ; yet your nature is such, that, did you act worthy of it, you might, with the help of God, become more than we are able to describe. The proudest and fairest ideal grows out of the real, and the loftiest tree must have its roots in the ground.

TRUE WOMANHOOD. d

PHYSICAL TRAINING.

In education, as hitherto conducted, the physical powers have not had their due share of attention. Anatomy, physiology, and chemistry clearly teach that the general principles which are true of the vital processes in the lower animals are equally true of the vital processes in human beings. But this has not yet become a part of the living faith of the world. Hundreds and thousands, even among the upper classes, are as ignorant of the wonders and mysteries of the human frame as if God had committed the great practical solecism of making them incapable of self-knowledge. The earth is full of wholesome nourishment, the atmosphere is carefully mixed by a Divine hand, to suit the wants of humanity. Spring, summer, autumn, and winter are each beautiful. The oak is strong, and the rose is lovely ; the domestic animals are full of vigour; but the young maiden drops off, smitten by consumption, scrofula, or rapid failure of the vital power. Happily, the laws of health are beginning to attract attention, and we are coming to the conclusion that this great blessing might be much more common.

The principal components of the body will naturally indicate and classify the topics for discussion in dealing with the subject of physical education. The body may be roughly described as an organisation of bones and muscles, permeated by blood, covered with skin, and containing a breathing and digestive apparatus.

The chief process by which life is maintained, and health and strength developed, is the receiving of food. That over-feeding and under-feeding are both bad,

b 2 is a trnisin. Of the two, however, the latter is the worse. Not only are there a priori reasons for trusting the appetites, but there is no other guidance worthy of the name. Instead of measuring your food by an artificial standard, eat your fill. Have less faith in human opinion, and more confidence in nature. The current idea is, that diet should not only be restricted, but comparatively low; but the verdict of leading physicians and distinguished physiologists is exactly the opposite. The grounds for this conclusion are obvious. Compare different kinds of people, or the same people when differently fed, and you will find overwhelming evidence that the degree of energy essentially depends upon the nutritiveness of the food. Between the ill fed African and the well fed European there is a contrast which no one can fail to notice. Moreover, it is a fact, established by numerous experiments, that there is scarcely one article of diet which supplies all the elements necessary for carrying on the vital processes ; and hence, in order to good bodily training, mixture and variety are highly important. The proper beverage for the physical constitution has been warmly discussed of late, and many have, much to their own advantage, and that of society at large, pronounced in favour of water ; and although it may not be easy to refute the argument for the moderate use of stimulating liquors, produced from the fruits of the earth by the process of fermentation, in the earlier stages of life water is undoubtedly the best drink at meals for the purpose of quenching thirst.

A good supply of pure air is intimately connected with bodil vigour. There are, in every country,

TRUE WOMANHOOD. O

whole districts, of larger or smaller extent, in which the air is either permanently or periodically noxious ; its bad qualities arising generally from the miasma of fens, or the mud banks and mud deposits of rivers. In all our towns, large or small, there are to be found narrow streets, dark passages, small courts, and back yards, where the atmosphere is always loaded with impurities, in consequence of imperfect drainage, the accumulation of filth, and the position of the buildings. In such places, the inhabitants are, for the most part, a feeble and sickly race. Even when healthy, it is absolutely certain that the respiratory organs should not always breathe the same atmosphere. The unwholesome rooms in which children are penned up, the close apartments where many women are doomed to labour, and the smoke, chimneys, and long rows of houses that hem in the path of others, are producing sad havoc among the softer sex. If you would have health, strength, and longevity, you must now and then refresh your lungs, by taking a stroll on a common, a walk by the sea-side, or spending a day amid the ranges of the great hills with their wild peaks and morning mists. The breathing of fresh air is, we maintain, an essential part of physical culture.

Cleanliness has a most important and salutary influence on your material nature. In the skin of a person of average size there are tubes connected with the pores, measuring, if put end to end, twenty-eight miles. These ought always to be kept open. Checked perspiration is direct injury to the membranes of the air passages, and frequently to the alimentary canal. It is therefore necessary to remove from the skin all refuse matter from within or without. This can only be done by washing from head to foot every morning and night. It is safe, and for many reasons most beneficial, to use cold water. The flesh brush is of great service in stimulating the skin to action, opening and cleaning out the pores, promoting a copious circulation of blood, and producing a healthful and exhilarating glow ; the strength of which sufficiently attests the advantages derived. Soap is useful, and the common and coarse kinds are better than most of those sold by perfumers. Next to cleanliness in your persons, is cleanliness in your dwellings. Every house ought to undergo an annual, or rather halfyearly visitation of all its cellars, its scullery, washhouse, garrets, loft, cupboards, closets, and all dark places and corners, for the removal of dirt, or anything in its wrong place. As nearly as possible the house ought to be turned " out of windows."

All who know anything about the construction of the human frame admit the necessity of exercise as a means of physical training. Exercise produces strength ; inaction produces weakness. If we may trust the author of the " Castle of Indolence/' the women of England, a hundred years ago, were too effeminate : —

" Here languid beauty kept her pale-faced court ;

Bevies of dainty dames, of high degree, From every quarter hither made resort,

Where from gross mortal care and business free

They lay, poured out in ease and luxury : Or should they a vain show of work assume,

Alas ! and well-a-day ! what can it be ? To knot, to twist, to range the vernal bloom ; But far is cast the distaff, spinning wheel, and loom.

Their only labour was to kill the time,

And labour dire it is, and weary woe ; They sit, they loll, turn o'er some idle rhyme,

Then, rising sudden, to the glass they go,

Or saunter forth, with tottering step, and slow ; This soon too rude an exercise they find ;

Straight on the couch again their limbs they throw, Where hours on hours they, sighing, lie reclined, And court the vapoury god soft breathing in the wind."

This graphic description, with little or no modification, may be applied to a large class still. The peasant girl, when her spirits are buoyant, is allowed to obey her natural feelings — to dance and skip and run ; and thus she grows up strong and straight. But the young lady is receiving constant admonitions to curb all propensity to such vulgar activity, and, just in proportion as she subdues nature, she receives the praise of being well-bred. Why this difference ? Mammas, aunts, and governesses may be of opinion that a robust physique is undesirable — that health and vigour are plebeian — that delicacy, feebleness, and timidity are ladylike : but rosy cheeks, laughing eyes, and a finely rounded figure draw admiring glances from the opposite sex. A playground is an essential department of every school, and girls as well as boys should be taught the importance of vigorous exertion. But at all periods of life exercise is indispensable to health. Indolence destroys the very capacity of enjoyment ; whereas labour puts the body in tone. A sensible young lady, some time ago, wrote as follows to the Medical Journal : — "I used to be so feeble that I could not lift a broom, and the least physical exertion would make me ill for a week.

Looking one day at the Irish girls, and noticing their healthy robust appearance, I determined to make a new trial, and see if I could not bring the roses to my cheeks, and rid myself of the dreadful lassitude that oppressed me. One sweeping day I went bravely to work, cleaning the parlours, three chambers, the front stairs and hall, after which I lay down and rested until noon, when I rose and ate a heartier meal than for many a day. Since that time I have been occupied some portion of every day in active domestic labour, and now all my friends are congratulating me upon my improved and wondrous vigour, to which I have hitherto been a stranger. Young ladies, try my catholicon." Of course, moderation is to be observed in exercise ; immoderate exertion produces exhaustion.

It is well known how greatly physical comfort depends upon clothing. The want of sufficient clothing occasions a vast amount of suffering among the poorer classes ; and many who can afford to dress as they please subject themselves to various mischiefs, under the influence of ignorance, carelessness, or fashion. The most common mistake is, to dress too coldly in summer and too warmly in winter. Flannel ought to be worn next the skin all the year round. It is of as much use for absorbing the perspiration in hot weather, as for warming the body in cold. " The rule is," says Dr. Andrew Combe, "not to dress in an invariable way in all cases, but to put on clothing in kind and quantity sufficient in the individual case to protect the body effectually from an abiding sensation of cold, however slight" Females of all classes need to be warned against the evils of tight lacing. The dress of the bride celebrated in the Song of Solomon combined utility with taste; bnt onr ladies mnst have habiliments that outrage every law of propriety, and force their bodies into the most unnatural shapes. Loose garments are both cooler in summer and warmer in winter than integuments closely compressing the body.

By attention to these subjects on which suggestions have been offered, you cannot fail to secure the preservation and improvement of the health of the body. It is your duty to employ all practicable means for this purpose. " Know ye not that your bodies are temples of the Holy Ghost ?" Honour therefore the body as a holy thing ; and beware how you put the chains of slavery upon it, or expose it from selfishness to hunger and nakedness. The importance of physical training needs to be rung into the ears of all, as with the peal of a trumpet. " It is reckoned," says Dr. Robert Lee in a sermon preached before royalty, "that one hundred thousand persons die annually in England of preventible diseases. In the same proportion more than a million and a quarter mast die annually from the same causes in Europe. In the fact that the platform, the press, and the pulpit have lifted up their voices on behalf of physical education, we recognise one of the most hopeful signs of the times.' '

INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT.

Although all rational men believe that women ought to be better instructed, there is a class of pedants who are of opinion that the same facilities for the acquisition of knowledge would make them rather the rivals than the companions of men. Hence our famous seats of learning are open to the one sex, and the most tempting prizes are within their reach ; but no such privileges are accorded to the other. We are glad that the question regarding the propriety or impropriety of young women availing themselves of an academical education has been raised, in a somewhat unexpected form, at the oldest university in Scotland. A young English lady, Miss Elizabeth Garrett, the daughter of a gentleman of independent fortune, who had educated herself highly in classics and some of the physical sciences, with a view to the study of medicine, visited St. Andrews a few summers ago, and intimated her desire to become a student in several of the classes during the winter. Some of the professors gave her decided encouragement ; and others were understood to say that they would offer no opposition. They were all ordinarily gallant, except Professor Ferrier, whose strong conservative tendencies led him to oppose. She applied to the secretary for a matriculation ticket, received the ticket, paid the fee, and signed her name in the book. Next day she presented her ticket to Dr. Heddle, and asked leave to attend his lectures on chemistry. He had no objection, and gave her a letter to Mr. Ireland, authorising him to give her a ticket for the class. In the same way she obtained a ticket for Dr. Day's class of anatomy and physiology. He gave her a cordial welcome. But alas ! the senatus met and passed a resolution to the effect that the issuing of the tickets to Miss Garrett was not sufficiently authorised, that the novel question raised ought to be deliberately considered and decided, that the opinion of other universities and lawyers should be taken, and that in the meantime the lady should not be allowed to attend on the classes of the university. All honour, and all success to those noble men who are labouring to destroy such exclusiveness, and to make these national institutions free to all, whether male or female. Your business, meanwhile, is to make the most and the best of the appliances within your reach.

Different schools of mental philosophy have variously divided and named the intellectual faculties ; we are not careful to follow the exact definitions, divisions, or phraseologies of the metaphysician; it will serve our purpose better to take those prominent points which all may comprehend and appreciate. It appears to us that there are four distinct stages of mental development, characterised by four distinct classes of faculties. The first is distinguished by the perceptive ; the second by the conceptive ; the third by the knowing; and the fourth by the reasoning. These are discriminated from one another by the peculiar activity of the faculties which are distinctive of each ; and they are mutally connected by the necessity of a certain amount of simultaneous active development.

The perceptive faculties adapt you to the material world, and furnish you with information concerning the powers, properties, and glories of matter. Their distinctive office is to observe ; and they should be cultivated with the utmost care, for they not only lie at the basis of all mental superstructure, by furnishing the other faculties with the stock, or raw materials to work on ; but in proportion to the distinctness of the perceptions will be the accuracy of the memory, and probably the precision of the judgment. How then can their power and activity be developed ? simply by exercising them — by opening your eyes and keeping them open. The world is full of objects ; but multitudes pass through life of whom it may be said, " having eyes they see not."

The peculiar function of the conc&ptive faculties is to store the mind with ideas formed out of previous knowledge. When you completely enter into a scene portrayed in history or in poetry, and approach the situation of the actual observer, you are said to conceive what is meant, and also to imagine it. There is a notion pretty prevalent, that the culture of those powers which relate to the ornamental rather than the essential is to be sought only by the rich, or those destined to occupy a high position in society. No mistake could be more mischievous and cruel. Not only are they sources of enjoyment, but the main safeguards of purity — if, indeed, we should distinguish these ; for in being the former they become the latter. The means of aesthetic cultivation are, more or less, within the reach of all. Contemplate the towering mountain and the extending plain — the starry firmament and the boundless ocean ; listen to music and oratory ; visit the galleries of art, mechanism, and industry. But literature is at once the most potent and most widely available instrument for the expansion of the susceptibilities. Literary artists are the true unveilers of nature.

" Blessings be on them, and eternal praise, The poets who, on earth, have made us heirs Of truth, and pure delight, by heavenly lays."

But for them, nature, aye and humanity too, in their higher teachings, would remain sealed books — dead languages, to the millions of the race.

The knowing faculties enable you to apprehend the objects of knowledge, whether generals or particulars, present or absent ; and also to classify, extend, and generalise these judgments, and express them in the form of propositions. These mental operations indicate a high region of thought, and give a wide range of view. The study of the abstract terms and phrases of language, arithmetic, geometry, and grammar cultivate these powers. But natural science in its various branches is the grandest instrument for the development of the understanding. It should form a part in the education of every human being ; yet it is almost entirely neglected in our schools, and our colleges have rarely given it an adequate place in their curriculum. Let us hope that, in the improvements contemplated in the whole system of education, this lamentable deficiency shall be remedied. Meanwhile, let every woman try to educate herself as best she can. Owing to the inordinate use of pseudo- classical phraseology, this fascinating study has too long been considered as a profession restricted to a favoured few, and interdicted to the many. By means of books written in a simple and popular style, and the application of your own faculties, you may become acquainted with the laws, creatures, and forms of the material universe — supply your educational deficiency, and acquire the power of levying from everything in nature a store of happiness.

The reasoning faculties methodise the materials of thought and investigate truth according to certain definite principles. With a penetrating and comprehensive glance they examine all the processes of thought, and not merely seek knowledge, but endeavour to discover its sources. They are less likely to manifest themselves than the other intellectual groups ; but in well regulated minds they hold all the other faculties in subjection, and harmonise and regulate their operations. No part of your nature is more susceptible of cultivation than this ; and it ought to be cultured most assiduously, for it lies at the basis of all practical application of knowledge and experience. How can these crowning powers be developed ? By inductive and deductive reasoning. Analyse, compare, draw conclusions, and search for causes. Weigh well the validity of your arguments, or, it may be, the accuracy of your processes of investigation. Never contend for opinions which you do not believe ; false reasoning distorts and warps the soul, and confounds the distinction between right and wrong. Remember that you are as responsible for your opinions and judgments as for your actions and conduct.

" Majestic Truth; and where Truth deigns to come, Her sister Liberty will not be far."

From what has been advanced, it will be seen that in our view intellectual education does not consist in the amount of knowledge acquired, but in the due exercise of all the faculties. Education is an art ; the art, namely, of qualifying human beings for the functions for which they are destined. Now, in order to the perfection of an art, it must be founded on a corresponding science. But so far is such a science from being yet constructed, that the necessity for it

TKUE WOMANHOOD. 15

has only been recently pointed out. Notwithstanding the lack of scientific foundation, the practical art has lately undergone great improvement in almost all its details. The method of nature is the archetype of all methods; and had educators followed her teachings, we should never have heard of the once universal practice of learning by rote, nor of the forcing system now happily falling daily into more discredit, nor of the old system of rule teaching, instead of teaching by principles ; that is, the leaving of generalisations until there are particulars to base them on. As regards formal intellectual development, you labour under disadvantages, but need not despair. If the proudest princess may not become a scholar in an English, Scotch, or Irish university on the same conditions as the other students, the humblest domestic servant may matriculate in the university of nature, and enter upon studies more exalted and varied than can be pursued anywhere else. Ladies' medical colleges are springing up, by means of which you may enter upon a lucrative occupation, most womanly in its character, and unrivaled in scope, variety, or usefulness by any other female employment. Mechanics' institutes and lyceums have their female classes, where you may get valuable instruction, have access to books of every description, and thus at pleasure hold intercourse with the best and wisest of your species; hear all the wit, and serve yourselves heir to all the wisdom, which has entertained or enriched successive generations. By- and- by we hope to see working women's colleges established in all our great cities and manufacturing centres, where special education shall be given about all that a maiden ought to learn, a wife to know, and a mother to practise. National organisations for being taught, examined, and diplomatized are not absolutely necessary. Many great minds have been educated without them. The essential elements of mental development are within your reach. You want no more than the will. Resolve therefore to make yourselves equal to the important duties you are called upon to fulfil.

MORAL DISCIPLINE.

Britain has been called the " paradise of women." As regards moral position, this is certainly true. Mighty is your power in this respect. A virtuous woman in the seclusion of her home, breathing the sweet influences of virtue into the hearts and lives of her beloved ones, is an evangel of goodness to the world. The instinctive and disinterested love of a mother consecrates every lesson which she may give to her children. " There is a love of offspring," says the eloquent author of the " Natural History of Enthusiasm," "that knows no restrictive reasons, that extends to any length of personal suffering or toil ; a feeling of absolute self-renunciation, whenever the interests of children involve a compromise of the comfort or tastes of the parent. There is a love of children, in which self-love is drowned ; a love which, when combined with intelligence and firmness, sees through and casts aside every pretext of personal gratification, and which steadily pursues the highest and most remote welfare of its object, with the determination at once of an animal instinct and of a well considered rational purpose. There is a species of love not liable to be worn by time, or slackened, as from year to year children become less and less dependent upon parental care ; it is a feeling which possesses the energy of the most vehement passions, along with the calmness and appliancy of the gentlest affections ; a feeling purged, as completely as any human sentiment can be, of the grossness of earth ; and which seems to have been conferred upon human nature as a sample of emotions proper to a higher sphere.' ' Mothers have no business with children until they are prepared to train them up in the way they should go. If you would discharge this high function, you must discipline all the moral faculties. Tour opportunities are eminently favourable.