ae io oy AD la CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY eh eda MARTHA WASTIDNGTON, Reproduced from the painting by James Sharples. WS WY SW NY Sle YSU SI ly SWS WSU SL SW SY SY SM SWS WM Se Se AY WS SSW Se SUSU SU We Ne Ay 7A Ale | Position, f Designed Influence, Arranged And William C. King. Achievement i aoa Nail Throughout the Qi /7T 3 — GIR 2 aly | Civilized World. # Her Biography » Her History. # | Odor FROM THE Garden of Eden = TO THE PREPARED BY Carefully Selected Writers. odor ‘~ ‘Twentieth Century: DS ANAS A += ILLUSTRATED == § bE Springfield, Mass. The King-Richardson Co. : San Jose. Chicago. Indianapolis. I go I. . e eS ie A S > = es - _ = ee “AS ARS TS AS AS ADS AIS AIS AS TW ATW AW TIS AIS IW AIS AIS TW Aw AS ADS ADS ADS ADS AIS ADS ATS ADS TS ADS TS MS ANS INS ATS TDS AWS AN Copyright, 1900, by The King-Richardson Company. e__, Os 2AO)e_s te LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS. 2Ogoe Henry Woldmar Ruoff, M.A., Ph.D. Marcus Benjamin, Ph.D. Author of ‘Home and State,” ‘Origin Superintendent of U. S. National Museum. of the Family,” Etc. Co-editor of the Universal Cyclopedia, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, LL.D. Historian, Essayist, Lecturer. May Wright Sewall, Rev. James W. Cole, Author, Educator, Lecturer. Author of ‘Our Noblest Birthright,” Dignity President of the Women's International Council. : of Labor,” Ete. : W. H. P. Faunce, D.D., LL.D. President of Brown University. Anna A. Gordon, Rev. Willard E. Waterbury, Vice-Pres. Woman's Christian Temperance Author of “Religion in the Union. eo Home,” Etc. David Starr Jordan, LL.D. a President Leland Stanford Jr. University. | Edward W. Bok, Anna Le Porte Diggs, . Author and Journalist. Journalist ; Author of ‘Liberalism in the Editor Ladies’ Home Journal. West,” Ete. Helena Modjeska, Shakesperian Actress and Scholar. William C. King, Bishop John H. Vincent, LL.D. President of The King- Richardson Company. ' Author, Preacher, Educator. PREFACE. ee ee N° one fact in the progress of civilization has been more prominent than the advancement of woman. This is especially true since the discovery of the New World; but at no period of the world’s history, when great movements were taking place, was it inconspicuous. . The level of civilized life has rarely been above the condition of woman; the one is, in a sense, the measure of the other. If to-day we boast of a higher civilization than the past vouchsafed to our ancestors, it is because the potent influences of womanly life and grace have been extended to almost every phase of modern activity, refining it, modulating it, and uplift- ‘ing it. Not only the home, but literature, art, and the multi- fold enterprises of the workaday world have felt the impress of this higher personality, and have been ennobled and bet- tered by it. Such being true, can any story exceed in interest and inspi- ration this drama of woman’s development,—a drama whose prologue is set in the midst of beautiful legends, whose charac- ters embrace the most renowned female actors in history — queens and peasants, the bond and the free—and whose epilogue lies in the far distant future, approachable by prophecy only? Woman has been the theme of poets, the ideal of artists and sculptors, the regent of the home, a creator and patroness 10 PREFACE. of literature, a powerful leader of men, and the record of her achievements deserves to be perpetuated. as an important part. of the heritage of the race. Under such convictions the following pages have resulted from long maturing plans. It has been designed to give a complete and succinct narrative of the development of woman ._ from the earliest, almost prehistoric, times down to the begin- ning of the twentieth century, with so much of its detail as may be properly included in a work of this scope. A very important part of the plan is the selection of a large number of biographies of the celebrated women of the various periods to both vividly picture the social conditions of the times and to afford illustrations of the power for good or evil of these extraordinary personages. . To aid in the consummation of this plan, specially equipped writers have been enlisted and assigned to various tasks in connection with the work. . This joint authorship is in itself, we hope, a feature of strength and gives a variety.of treatment that could not well be gained in any other way. . The illustrations have been drawn from the best sources, and the pictures of the most eminent artists are thus made to supplement and embellish the work of the biographer and the historian. ML BOOKS OF THIS VOLUME 2 3 rv ye A BOOK ONE WOMAN BEFORE THE CHRISTIAN ERA From Eden to Christ oO BOOK TWO WOMAN DURING THE FIRST FOUR CHRISTIAN CENTURIES To Fall of the Roman Empire + BOOK THREE WOMAN DURING THE DARK AGES From the Fall of Rome to the Crusades oO BOOK FOUR WOMAN UNDER MEDIEVAL INSTITUTIONS To Discovery of America (1100 to 1500) =e BOOK FIVE THE DAWN OF WOMAN’S POWER Period of Intellectual Awakening (1500 to 1800) “Ox BOOK SIX THE GOLDEN AGE OF WOMAN’S ACHIEVEMENT A Century of Unparalleled Progress. (1800 to 1900) .|- BOOK SEVEN CONTRIBUTION OF WOMAN TO MODERN CIVILIZATION ‘ BOOK ONE. o WOMAN BEFORE THE CHRISTIAN ERA. FROM EDEN TO CHRIST. PREPARED BY REV. JAMES W. COLE. $-HOt WOMEN OF PRE-CHRISTIAN FAME. Eve, Ancestress of the Human Race, | Sarah, the Princess, Hagar, Mother of Ishmael, Rebekah, Mother of Jacob and Esau, Miriam, the Prophetess, Deborah, Deliverer of Israel at Mt. Tabor, Rachel, the Beloved, The Witch of Endor, Nomtenk Wife of Ahmosis Pharaoh, Hatasu, Egyptian Queen and Explorer, Queen Tii, Mother of Amenothes IV., Thermuthis, Foster Mother of Moses, Helen of Troy, Semiramis, Queen of Assyria, Jephthah’s Daughter, Delilah, Betrayer of Samson, 13 Page 29 | 33 36 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 51 52 53 54 57 1 Ruth, the Gleaner, BOOK ONE— CONTINUED. Hannah, Mother of Samuel the Prophet, ‘ | ; Queen of Sheba, Abigail, the Beautiful Peacemaker, . ‘ . Jezebel, the Tyrannical Queen, Princess Dido, Founder of Carthage, ot é . : Judith, Slayer of Holstenaee, : i ; ‘ . . Sappho, Greatest Greek Poetess, . ; , ; ; Queen Esther, the ‘‘ Lily of Shushan,’’ : : . ‘ . Lucretia, Victim of the Tarquins, 5 ‘ ; 7 : Aspasia, Athenian Courtesan, ; ‘ ‘ : ‘i ‘ i Xantippe, Wife of Socrates, |. Me Wg . ‘ ‘ . : ‘Artemisia, Queen of Caria, . : - . X ‘i ‘ , “Cornelia, Mother of the Gracchi, . ., ‘ 7 : : ° Octavia, Wife of Marc Antony, . : ‘ ‘ 5 ‘ ‘i Mariamne, Wife of Herod, . ‘ ‘ . . 5 5 ‘ Cleopatra, Egyptian Queen, . ; ; ; : : ' St Ee POSITION OF WOMAN IN PRE-CHRISTIAN CIVILIZATION. The Bible — First Woman — Primeval Civilization — The Ancient World — Aque- ous Belt — The Deluge — Euphrates Valley — Story of the Tablets — Cities and Houses — Position of the Wife — Children — Slaves— The Priesthood — The Temple — Planetary Worship — Egypt — Husband and Wife — Palestine — Moloch — Priests of Jezebel — Europe — India and China — The Suttee — Caste in India — Transmigration — China— Teachings of Confucius— Re- PeneTANON easniiccl swage ka sagind anne estes os duiwewtiaagie 2gaoaveweww« ¥ eo Page 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 di 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 eh cuss Bi | BOOK TWO. WOMAN DURING THE FIRST FOUR CHRISTIAN CENTURIES. TO FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. <> oe + <> o> = PREPARED BY REV. WILLARD E. WATERBURY. Ke LEADING WOMEN OF THE PERIOD. Page Elizabeth, Mother of John the Baptist, . ‘ 3 ; + 2.2 105 Mary, Mother of Christ, : ; é ‘ : it . 106. Mary Magdalene, . ; ‘ a a “ ; a is - 108 Herodias and Salome, . : . 4 ‘ ‘ i a . 09. Agrippina, Mother of Nero, . ‘ RS ‘ ‘ ‘ . Ifo Martha and Mary, a : ‘ . : ‘» 2T3.3 Dorcas, Queen of the Needle, i . ; ‘ ‘ . e £14. %. Lois and Eunice, . ‘ ‘ ‘ 5 : ‘ ‘ e FIZ 4 Lydia, Christian Convert, ‘ ‘ 5 ‘ 2° 4 216 Eponina, Heroine of Conjugal Affection, 5 i eM oe Shue SEED Priscilla, Missionary Tent-maker, ; ‘ ‘ . . 118 Phoebe, Deaconess of Cenchrea,_. : ; . ‘ : . 19 Boadicea, British Queen, i : P . ; ; . 120 Bernice, Daughter of Herod Agrippa : : ‘ : ‘ . 123 Blandina, Slave Girl, . ; ‘ ; ‘ : ee) ae, Perpetua and Felicitas, ‘ ; Bes F ; j « ag % Julia Mammeea, Mother of Severus, 3 ‘ : ‘ ‘ . 126 7 Helena, Mother of Constantine the Great, bo us é : ¢ 127 |. Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, . : ; 5 4 ‘: $ . 128 ; Agnes and Anastasia, Martyrs, ; ‘ a oy 5 3 . 129 * Nona, Mother of Gregory, : ‘ ‘ : ‘ 5 . 130° Monica, Mother of Augustine, i , 4 : i ; . 133 Paula, Friend of Education, . ; a ‘ ; : a 134 Olympias, Christian Philanthropist, : F a ; : . 135 > Hypatia, Philosopher of soa é ; : 5 : . 136: Pulcheria and Eudocia, . : ‘ ; : é ‘ a ~237 Genevieve, Patron Saint of Paris, . ; : . , ‘ . 139 Fabiola, Founder of Roman Hospital, 5 : : ‘ : . 140 SHH E-S WOMAN FROM THE TIME OF CHRIST TO THE FALL OF ROME. Roman Empire — Emperors — Claudius — Nero — Causes of Decay — Teutonic In- vasions —Social Conditions — Infanticide — Public Games — Christian Legis- lation — Human Equality. ...... 00.0 c cc ccc ce center en cece rete eneeee 143-154. ce: BOOK THREE. WOMAN DURING THE DARK AGES.. FROM THE FALL OF ROME TO THE CRUSADES. A. D. 500 TO I100. PREPARED BY HENRY WOLDMAR RUOFF. \ Lou Sn > OR PROMINENT WOMEN OF THE DARK AGES, ‘ : ' e8 Page Brunehaut, Queen of the Franks, I eo Amalasontha, Victim of Intrigue, ae ‘ : . 59 Radegonde, Courageous and Pious Queen, oa 3 ‘ : . 160 Queen Bertha, Founder of Church in Canterbury, . 3 : - 161 Chrodielde, Nun, ; ; ; . ‘ ‘ ‘ . 162 Theodora, Wife of Justinian, . s , Me 2 ‘ ‘ . 163 - Fredegonda, Rival of Brunehaut, . 4 ‘ 2 . . . 164 Ayeshah, Second Wife of Mahomet, Se f , oe 165 Fatima, Daughter of Mahomet, . a a ‘ ‘ ‘ . 166 Theodelinda, Zealous Christian, . ; ‘i i ; 2.6169 Ermengarde, Queen of Charlemagne, . . : ‘ : . 170 Irene, Empress of Constantinople, i : . ‘ . . -=*§ eS SP “On PROMINENT. WOMEN OF MEDIEVAL TIMES. 17 ss . Page Anna Comnena, Greek Scholar, . i? yes ah 193 Heloise, Pupil and Mistress of Abelard, 194 Countess of Tripoli, ‘ 196 Eleanor, Queen of Louis VII. of Fiance. : 197 Berengaria, Wife of Richard the Lion Hearted, 198 * Blanche of Castile, 201 Philippa, Founder of Queen’ s ‘College, Oxford, 202 Mary, Anglo-Saxon Poetess, . 3 : 203 Elizabeth of Hungary, Saintly Princess, . 204 Beatrice, Inspiration of Dante, 2 205 Laura, Immortalized by Petrarch, : 206 Jane of Flanders, . : : : ‘ ; ‘ 209 _ Catharine of Siena, “210 ‘Juliana Berners, Founder of Sopewell N unnery, 21 _. Catharine of Valois, Queen of France, 212 Joan of Arc, French Heroine, ; 215 Joan Beaufort, Mother of James II. of Scotland, : 217 Agnes Sorel, ‘‘ Fairest‘of the Fair,’ —. hag : 218 Margaret of Anjou, Queen of Henry VII., . ‘ ; : 219 Margaret Beaufort, Mother of Henry VILL, a ae : 221 Isabella, Queen of Spain, 2 * - 3 222 Anne, Daughter of Louis XI. of Frans. 226 Anne of Bretagne, Patroness of Learning, | 227 Emma, Mother of Edward the Confessor, 228 INFLUENCE OF MEDIEVAL WOMEN. * Hereditary Rights— Woman’s Marital Position — Religion and Love — Trouba- dours — Effects of Chivalry—The Feminine Sphere — Castle Education — Decline of Chivalry — Teachings of True Chivalry — Among the Masses — The Tavern —A Medieval Picture — Public Baths— Town Life — Morals _ Superstitious Devotion — Convents — Learning — Dress — National Pecul- jarities in Dress— FashionS.,.......cccccccccctcivctecccesceeseeeeeesee 231- 242 BOOK FIVE. THE DAWN OF WOMAN’S POWER. PERIOD OF INTELLECTUAL AWAKENING. A. D. 1500 TO 1800. d+ a PREPARED BY HENRY WOLDMAR RUOFF, $—rOn— > PROMINENT WOMEN OF THE AWAKENING PERIOD, z Catharine, First Wife of Henry VIII, . ‘ ‘ , ‘ ‘ “44 Margaret, Queen of Navarre, ; : at Is : . 246 Anne Boleyn, Second Wife of emp. VIII, : , : . 247 Anne Askew, Martyr, . : : . 2. 248 Margaret Roper, Daughter of Sir Thomas Moe : — °u . 249 Mary I., Queen of England,. : ' ‘ ; : . 250 Lady JaneGrey, . ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ hy, ¥e . 251 Catharine de’Medici,_ . eee : ‘i a : . 252 Elizabeth, Queen of England, - ‘ ‘ ; ‘ ‘ » 255 Mary, Queen of Scots,. e. 6 le oe om & “SBF Eleonora D’ Este, Beloved by Tacks: 3 ‘ ; F , . 261 Gabrielle D’Estrees, — . : - : ; : : ‘ . 262 Beatrice of Cenci, ‘‘ Beautiful Parricide,” ; : : . 263 Margaret of Valois, Profligate Queen, . : i ‘ . 4 264 Pocahontas, Indian Heroine, . ey ‘ F : . . 265 Anne of Austria, . ‘ : ; ; : i ; : . 266 Anne Hutchinson, Religious Reformer, . & (& <@ ope le 2267 Lady Fanshawe, . : . ee 5 . +268 Catharine Philips, Early English Writer, ‘. : ; : . 269 Christina of Sweden, . - . . ‘ : ‘ . 270 Lady Pakington, Authoress and Moralist, ; ‘ : ; . 271 Madame de Maintenon, . i . ‘ ‘ : : : + 272 Tarquinia Molsa, Beauty and Wit, ae aah : ; ? «©. 273 Louise de la Valliere, . : : : Ey : . . 274 18 BOOK FIVE— CONTINUED. Anne Dacier, Scholar and Linguist, : ; ; j ; ; Anne Killigrew, Artist and Poetess, ors j ‘ 2 . Queen Anne, English Sovereign, . ‘ ‘ ‘ ie a 2 Mary Astell, English Authoress and Linguist, .. Be ‘ Abigail Masham, Favorite of Queen Anne, ‘ ‘ Mary II., Queen of England, : Bh fe ‘ s : Catharine I. of Russia, i ; ; ; ‘ owl ee Lady Montagu, Social Leader, . ‘ . j ‘ ; ; Marie Deffand, ‘ ; ‘ : ‘ Marquise du Chatelet, . . : ‘ z : ses Lady Huntingdon, Religious Philanthropist, . . . Maria Theresa, Empress of Germany, . ‘ bas a . Catharine II., Empress of Russia, . ; ee. Sy : ; Madame de la Roche, German Authoress, .. ‘ : , Martha Washington, . ; ‘ ‘ ‘ ' i Charlotte Corday, French Heroine, ‘ ‘ : ‘ , Madame de Staél, ; : Toe < 2 j , : Abigail Adams, . : ase Oe es : : é . Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, : ‘ ' Madame Roland, Martyr of the French Revolution, . Louise, Queen of Prussia, . ; : 5 : : ee Elizabeth Hamilton, Irish Authoress, Josephine, Wife of Napoleon, : ; Soe ; : : motes Page 275 276 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 290 294 295 296 298 302 303 3097 309 310 311 “WOMAN DURING THE PERIOD OF INTELLECTUAL.AWAKENING. . Sixteenth Century — Renaissance — Study of Languages — Spread of Learning — Revival in England — Notable Personages — Seventeenth Century — Eng- land in the Eighteenth Century — Germany — Spain — America — General Social Conditions in Europe — Imitation of French Manners — Example of Perversion — Courts of Turin and Milan— Forms of Pleasure and Employ- ment — German Court —Vienna— Maria Theresa— Court of Frederick William — Saxon Women — French Influence in Germany — Effects of the Seven Years’ War— French Revolution — Causes — Society Under Louis XVI.— Grand Opera — Beginning of the Carnage—A Vital Question — Woman’s Patriotism — Madame Le Bon— Public Executions — Charlotte Corday and Marie Antoinette — Scenes at Execution — Diffusion of French Manners — The English Woman — Inequality of Woman’s Rights — Ger- man Law Touching Woman — Later Property Rights........ er ee eae ey 315- 340 19 BOOK SIX, THE GOLDEN AGE OF WOMAN’S ACHIEVEMENT. | A CENTURY OF UNPARALLELED PROGRESS. A. D. 1800 TO 1900, oI} k-j PREPARED BY REV. WILLARD E. WATERBURY. —_____—$> +61 <—_—___ _ LEADING WOMEN OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. Hannah More, Caroline Herschel, ee 8 ‘ ‘i ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Hannah Adams, . ‘ ‘i ‘i é é 3 a Joanna Baillie, . ; ; ; ‘ i ; Madame D’ Arblay, Elizabeth Inchbald, Sarah Siddons, .. gl ft ‘ ‘i eos ‘ A j Maria Edgeworth, ‘ ‘ ‘ F : , ‘ Jane Austen, , ‘ Madame Récamier, Frances Trollope, . : a : a A ‘ Jane and Anna Porter, . Mary F. Somerville, ‘ . : . . ‘ _ Mary Russell Mitford, . e 0 % ‘ ‘ : , : Emma Willard, . ‘ i ; 3 ‘ a Ann Hasseltine Judson, Catherine M. Sedgwick, Felicia Hemans, . ‘ eh a Me , ; : ‘ Lydia H. Sigourney, Lucretia Mott, a 20 Page 343 344 345 * 346 347 348 . 349 35° » 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 365 366 BOOK SIX—CONTINUED. Page Agnes Strickland, F ; : 3 : : 3 ‘ . 367 Mary Lyon, . ; 5 : : ; ; ; ; i . 368 Anna Jameson, : : ; ‘ “i ‘ ; : : 369 Fredrika Bremer, : ; , i ies - 3 : . 370 Harriet L. Martineau, «. ; i 2 A 395 Lucy. Larcom, ‘ : é ‘ . s ; . . - (396 Dinah Maria Mulock, . . ‘i 5 ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ . 399 Rosa Bonheur, . ‘ ‘ F ‘ a ‘ ‘ + 400 Christina G. Rossetti, . * 4 : : : : ; + 401 Catherine Booth, . ae ‘ . a‘ ‘ . : » 402 Helen Hunt Jackson, ©. . ‘ js se ; ste G04 Jean Ingelow, : ‘ ; ee . j , 3 » 405 21 BOOK SIX— CONTINUED. ‘Amelia B. Edwards, Lucy Webb Hayes, Louisa May Alcott, _ Euphrosyne Parepa Rosa, Mary Abigail Dodge, Frances E. Willard, Susan B. Anthony, i 5 ae Frances Power Cobbe, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Julia Ward Haws, Harriet G. Hosmer, Harriet Prescott Spofford, Belva A. Lockwood, Louise Chandler Moulton, Lady Henry Somerset, Mary N. Murfree, Queen Victoria, Anna E. Dickinson, Fanny J. Crosby, F Mary H. Hunt, . 3 a . Margaret Oliphant, Mrs, Humphry Ward, Clara Barton, Florence Nightingale, Adelaide Ristori, Elizabeth Blackwell, Charlotte M. Yonge, Empress Eugénie, Baroness Burdett-Coutts, Mary A. Livermore, 22 Page 406 409 410 412 413 415 416 417 418 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 429 431 432 433 434 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 1 eres BOOK SIX—CONTINUED. ‘¢Grace Greenwood,’’ . 5 i ‘ j ; ‘ ; i Clara Louise Kellogg, . : ‘ yo 4 ; j ; : Frances. Hodgson Burnett, . . ; ce oe i . : Mrs. Frank Leslie, j 2 ~ ek 5 - ; : “Marian Harland,”’ 75 é 3 ‘ ‘ ‘ 4 ‘ Vinnie Ream Hoxie, . : d : ‘ ‘ : i j Margaret E. Sangster, . : j . ; . ; i 3 Adelina Patti, ‘ , ‘ a Elizabeth Storrs Mead, . % ‘ ‘ z - ‘ ‘ Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, . 4 be 3 : Mrs. Potter Palmer, . . : ‘ ; w 3% Pundita Ramabai, : ‘ , j : 5‘ : Empress Dowager of China, . s ; , . i : i Helen Miller Gould, | . ; a : : Marie Corelli, , : ‘ ; ; 3 : ‘ , Mrs. Frances Cleveland, - . ‘ : , : . : z Varina Anne Davis, : ‘i ; ; é ‘ . Mrs. Leland Stanford, . ~~. ; or Mae, . ok — = 6" Nile valley, like the Euphrates, was one of the earliest homes of civilization. Its great enterprises and buildings, and the millions of human beings who made them, lie moldered to dust in those great graveyards of the ancient world. Their names and memorials have alike perished, save as the spade of the explorer fortunately turns up some broken pieces of pottery on which their scribes were wont to record their doings, or the learned decipher their long dead languages, written on the walls of their rock tombs or on the boundary stones of their great empires. Their historians diligently recorded the deeds of the times, but, unfor- tunately, all these have vanished, save here and there a fragment of the latest. These explorations show that, in the narrow Nile valley extending 600 miles upward from the Mediterranean, a great empire existed whose begin- nings date back, it is supposed, to B.C. 3893, to Menes, whose tomb is said to have been recently found in Upper Egypt. Some six hundred years before the birth of queen Nofritari, the regions of the Delta, with its great cities, had been occupied by Scythians from Asia, who, by B.C. 2061, captured the country of Egypt and ruled it. for 340 years, being known as Hyksos, Shepherd Kings. Salatis, their chief, began ruling at Memphis, and constructed a military encampment, Avaris, near Tanis, sheltering 240,000 soldiers. The native Theban kings resisted, and for six generations they kept the country ina perpetual warfare, desirous of tearing up Egypt by the very roots. The Theban Ahmosis besieged the Hyksos camp with 480,000 men, driving them out beyond Beersheba, and Ahmosis was worshiped as a god for 800 years later. Nofritari had six children, one of whom, Amenothis I., minor at his father’s death, became king. She reigned with him, the real ruler, some forty years. As the great queen she was afterwards worshiped as goddess for nine centuries. Her mummy was recently found at Deitel-Bahari. 46 HATASU OR HATSHOPSITU. 1. C. 16207 FAMOUS EGYPTIAN QUEEN, BUILDER, AND EXPLORER. ems Dial Ge SS Oboe eS es W CELEBRATED queen of Egypt and the eldest daughter of Ahmasi and Sonisonbu. According to Professor Maspero, her father gave cher to wife when young to her junior brother, known in history as Thotmosis II., but she being of solar, 7. ¢., ‘‘divine’’ birth, and thus higher than her husband, was the real ruler of Egypt, and sought to con- ceal her sex by changing the termination of her name, and appearing on all public occasions in male attire. On the Theban monuments she appears as male, with false chin beard, and minus breasts, but with her feminine pronoun, and claiming to be the betrothed of the god Amon. Her husband died at thirty, leaving two daughters by Hatasu and a son by a slave Isis. This son, Hatasu proclaimed as her successor and married her surviving daughter to him. He appears in history as Thotmosis III. Her reign was prosperous, as appears by the great buildings she caused to be erected, by her famous architect Sanmut, throughout the province of _ Thebes. One of those immense obelisks is yet standing among the ruins of Karnak. The monuments give an account of her expedition to the unknown land of Perfumes for a cargo of perfumes for the gods; and of the wonder excited at Thebes on the return from the long voyage to the Somali coast. She is represented as reigning eight years after this memorable expedi- tion, and as opening the Sinai mines, and the canals in the Delta that had, because of the previous long continued wars, been silted up. She was averse to war and so lost nearly all that her father had con- quered in Syria; nevertheless she developed Egypt as but few before her had done. She resolutely kept the reins of government in her own hands long after her son-in-law had come of age, dying when Thotmosis IIT. was twenty-five years old ; he revenged himself by seeking to destroy the very remembrance of her from the earth. A richly carved chair belonging to this great queen was found in one of the royal tombs of Egypt recently. 4? QUEEN TII.- B. C. 1500? QUEEN MOTHER OF AMENOTHES IV. $401 ECAME wife of Amenothes III. in the tenth year of his reign, being 3 one of his six wives. She was not of the blood of the Pharaohs, her father being one Iuia and her mother Tuia. _Hincks supposes that she was a Syrian of the tribe of Levi and that her influence brought about that strange revolution in the religion of Egypt seen during her lifetime and that of her son Amenothes TV., who is now known as Khu-en-aten or Khuniaton, Her husband gave her the town Zau as dowry and raised her above his other princess wives and concubines, even those of the ‘‘solar rank,’’ to be the Queen of the Empire, and permitted her to appear at his side at public ceremonies, and on the monuments. She had vast influence over him, and busied herself greatly in all affairs of state, and after her husband’s death, while not officially known as regent, she exercised that power during her lifetime under the reign of her son, giving that strange oriental impress to her son’s religious policy that then appears on the monuments. She is supposed to have been born near Heliopolis, that ancient seat of the sun (Ra) worship, where under its priests Plato studied, and where tra- dition says Joseph and Mary stayed when in Egypt. The place is called ‘‘the abode of the sun,’’ and known as On in the Bible. The High Priest’s daughter, Asenath, the Pharaoh gave Joseph to wife. In the Tel-el-Amarna correspondence, Tit is called ‘‘Thy mother,’’ z. e., of Amenothes IV. During her life the power of the great hierarchy of the god Amon at Thebes was temporarily overthrown, and a new religious cult, that of Antonu, the invisible disk, prevailed. Her son builded an immense palace and temple and a town devoted to this form of sun worship whose ruins have recently yielded those celebrated tablets known as the Tel-el-Amarna correspondence, that confirm in so many points the historic accuracy of Genesis. 48 THERMUTHIS FINDING MOSES: —+0$0- Reproduced from the painting by Schopin, a German painter of French extraction, His works are principally historical pictures, At one time Schopin was a pupil of Haron Gros, THERMUTHIS FINDING MOSES. THERMUTHIS. B.C. 1500. PHARAOH’S DAUGHTER, FOSTER MOTHER OF MOSES. eS NCIENT Thebes, on both sides of the Nile for over fifteen miles, con- tains remains of once gigantic buildings erected by Egypt’s greatest : king, Rameses IJ., the Sesostris of the Greek historians. His mummified body was discovered at Thebes in 1881, and may now be seen in the museum at Gizeh. When M. Naville unearthed Pithom, one of the treasure cities built by” the Israelite slaves, the ruins showed him to have been the great oppressor, who by their labor constructed those immense cities, temples, canals, and frontier walls, that were the astonishment of after ages. Whether she who adopted Moses was Rameses’ daughter, or daughter of his brother, Armais, who occupied the throne as regent while the great Rameses with his army of 600,000 foot soldiers, 24,000 cavalry, and 27,000 war chariots, was for nine years conquering the surrounding nations, cannot now be told. But through her, Moses ‘‘was skilled in all the wisdom of Egypt.’’ As elsewhere told, learning was wholly confined to the priests, of whom the king was head ; these great schools were connected with the temples, and, at times, had thousands of students. In them were taught such ancient wisdom as that found in chapter 64 of the Book of Dead, books and forms of devotion ; hymns to and of the gods ; war and love songs ; moral and philosophical treatises ; letter writing ; legal documents ; mathematics, astronomy, and military tactics ; astrology and medicine ; surveying, mu- sical composition, and business in general. Most of our prized fables and folklore have come out of Egypt’s schools, which did not hesitate to appropriate whatever of ancient or con- temporary knowledge the stranger might bring. According to Josephus, Moses became the commanding ce of the Egyptian army, and defeated the Ethiopians in a noted campaign, captured their capital Meroe, and married the Ethiopian king’s daughter. dl HELEN OF TROY. B. C. 1213. CAUSE OF THE TEN YEARS’ SIEGE OF TROY, we ee yee is lack of agreement as to the parentage of Helen of Troy,’ but she was generally represented as. the daughter of Jupiter and Leda, who was wife of King Tyndareus. When Helen was but ten years of age she was carried off by Theseus, who made his mother the keeper of his captive. Helen had two famous brothers, Castor and Pollux, who came to her rescue, and in turn carried away Theseus’ mother as Helen’s slave. Having returned to her home she was sought by many noted men; among them, the Homeric hero, Ulysses. She finally accepted Menelaus as her husband. Paris, the son of Priam, King of Troy, was entertained by Menelaus, and basely repaid the hospitality by carrying off Helen to his home in Troy, but, as it would seem, not against her will. The Greek princes, many of whom had been her suitors, vowed to restore her to her husband and the result was the Trojan war. Paris was killed during the siege, and Helen married his brother, but ’ when Troy was taken she betrayed him into the hands of the enemy to win favor with her former husband, Menelaus. She received his forgiveness. There are various stories of her death. One is that, after the death of Menelaus, she fled to the Island of Rhodes, where the queen of the island, whose husband had been killed in the Trojan war, caused her to be seized, tied to a tree and strangled. The Spartans counted her a goddess and dedicated a temple to her name. It was supposed that women worshipers at this temple, however homely, would become beautiful. Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey give vivid pictures cf the social life, man- ners, customs, religion, and government of the. Greeks and the condition of women in the days of Helen. Among later poets the tales of Helen are much complicated, and her character often suffers severely at their hands. 52 SEMIRAMIS. B.C. 1200? QUEEN OF ASSYRIA, BUILDER OF BABYLON. > 090 <—— - ——_ OR nearly two thousand years Nineveh, the ancient Babylon, was lost to the world. Ancient history was full of its fame, yet so com- plete was its ruin that Herodotus, B.C. 460, passing over its site, did not even know it. Sixty years later Xenophon and his 10,000 on that famous retreat from Persia did not find so much as its name. . Lucian, B.C. 137, affirms that it had so utterly perished that its very site was unknown. For 1500 years men doubted its existence, and until about fifty years ago the Bedouin fed his flocks over it all unmindful of the fact that scores of feet beneath lay the great palaces of the most famous city of ancient, if not of all, time ; a city whose area was ten times that of London of to-day. But the huge statues, obelisks, monuments, marble slabs, exca- vated by Layard, and now in the Assyrian room of the British Museum, have abundantly confirmed the classic stories of the amazing greatness of this city founded by Ninus and his greater spouse, Semiramis. Semiramis was first the wife of his captain, Onnes, but won the king’s love by an heroic exploit, the capture of Bactria, which had defied the royal forces. Ninus died, and Semiramis, succeeding to his power, traversed all parts of the Assyrian empire, erecting great cities, particularly Babylon, and stupendous monuments, or opening roads through savage mountains. She was unsuccessful only in an attack on India. At length, after a reign ‘of forty-two years, she delivered up the kingdom to her son Ninyas, and disappeared ; or, according to what seems to be the original form of the story, was turned into a dove and thenceforth worshiped as a deity. This is the legend which the Greeks received from Ctesias, and which is fully preserved by Diodorus, though it has been modified by traits borrowed from the history of Alexander the Great. On the statue of the god Nebo in the British Museum occurs the name of King Vul-Lush and his queen Semiramis, a princess of Babylon. 53 JEPHTHAH’S DAUGHTER. B. C. 1188? VICTIM OF A FATHER’S FOOLISH VOW. ———4-% + cL SOR hundreds of years after the Israelites settled in Palestine they were governed by men called Judges (an elective office) who interpreted and enforced the Mosaic statutes, and whose position was somewhat like the Greek ‘‘ Ephors’’ or Roman ‘‘ Consuls,’’ and whose office seemed to have been a life one, but was not hereditary. In the intervals between these judges, the people seem immediately to have adopted the customs and idolatry of their neighbors, and as a punish- ment fell under the rule of the nomad chiefs or petty kings surrounding them. Jephthah was such a nomad chief who had been expelled from among the Israelites because of his birth. For eighteen years the Israelites had been subject to the oppressive rule of the Philistines and Ammonites, and they now entreated the aid of Jephthah, promising him their rulership if he would lead their army in attempt to gain independence. He consented, and made, after the custom of his time, a vow to sacri- fice, as a burnt offering in case of victory, whatsoever should first meet him on his return to his own house. This proved to be his daughter, and it is recorded that, after the two months of delay she asked for, ‘‘ he did with her according to his vow.”’ Human sacrifices were then common. Was his daughter burned alive? Probably not, for these reasons : Jephthah was not an idolater ; it was forbidden as an abomination by his Mosaic law ; only the priests could offer sacrifices ; only the Levite could take the victim's life ; he was neither. Only a male victim could be offered ; burnt sacrifices could only then be offered at Shiloh ; there the high priest, Phineas, would not have allowed it ; redemption could have been secured by paying a small sum ; his con- duct is commended in Heb, 1x: 32, which would be atrocious if he had burned her. The word he used was ne’-der, ‘‘consecration,’’ not che- run, ‘‘destruction.’’ The probabilities are that she was only condemned to a life of celibacy, which event the women of that time celebrated yearly. 54 SAMSON AND DELILAH, — 040+: Reproduced from a picture by the celebrated Wan Dyck, who ''for noble use of color, slagance, and styla ranks as one of the first painters.’ Wan Dyck was born at Antwarp, end studisd under Rubens, In portraitura he was unsurpassed, Among his many works ars, '' Portrait of Charles Apacs Deeg jaye Family,” ' Miraculous Draught of Fishas,”’ and ' Christ Crowned with Thorns,’ Ke SAMSON AND DELILAH. DELILAH. B. ©. 1137? PHILISTINE COURTESAN —BETRAYER OF SAMSON. Kk — ee G@ WOR twenty years Samson had been the leader of his people against ie the sore oppression of the Philistines. He was a Nazarite by birth, and at manhood married a Philistine woman, against whose clan his wrath was chiefly directed. He was simply irresistible; new ropes, a thousand men, city gates with bolts and bars, were of no avail against him. But he had with his physical strength an ungoverned animal nature. For a time he broke through every snare laid for him. He became | enamored of Delilah. The lords of the Philistines induced her to entice him to reveal the secret of his strength. They offered, as a reward, to each give her eleven hundred pieces of silver. Samson, in lying jest, told her that if she were to bind him with green withes he would be powerless. This was tried and found to be false. He then proposed being bound with new ropes, which proved equally futile. He next told her to weave the seven locks of his hair with the web of the loom. This she did, and when she ‘cried ‘‘ The Philistines are upon thee’ he awoke and carried off loom, web and all. The baffled courtesan now complained that he did not love her. Over- come at last by her complaining and coaxing, he revealed the secret of his Nazarite vow. She cut his locks and he was captured by the Philistines. His enemies put out his eyes,. bound him with fetters of brass, and made him grind in the prison house, while Delilah, like all of her kind, profited by her treachery and no doubt mocked her victim. There is a sad irony in his fate of being made blind. The eyes which looked on depraved beauty and led to his fall were destroyed. At a great festival in honor of their god Dagon, blind Samson was brought forth to be gloried over at the immense temple, then holding thou- sands of people. Here, asking God to restore his strength, he pulled down two main pillars, wrecking the building and perished with the thou- _sands of idolatrous onlookers. The story is related in the book of Judges, chapters XIv-xXvI. 57 RUTH THE GLEANER. B. C. 1120? THE MOABITE ANCESTRESS OF KING DAVID. Aap b--- 6" present Turkish district of Kerah, bordering some forty miles on the east of the Dead Sea, and now almost wholly a wilderness over which the wild Bedouins roam, was once a densely populated and wealthy country as the extraordinary number of ruins scattered over it show. The lowland part of the district south of the Arnon was Ruth’s home. A famine caused by incessant Midianite raids prevailed in South Palestine, and Elimelech of Bethlehem, with his family, crossed the Jordan into Moab, and Mahlon, one of his sons, married the Ruth of the Bible. Ten years later Elimelech and his sons being dead, Naomi, his widow, hearing that Gideon had destroyed the Midianite robbers, and her home- land was now prosperous, resolved to return to Bethlehem, and took leave of her daughter-in-law. But Ruth now refused to be parted from Naomi, and together they reached Bethlehem ‘‘at the beginning of the barley har- vest,’’ their arrival causing a deal of excitement in the little hamlet. After the custom of the poor, Ruth at once went into the fields to glean after the reapers, ‘‘and her hap was to light on the portion of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the family (clan) of Elimelech —a mighty man of wealth.”’ In the Biblical book of Ruth, finest of all pastoral narratives, is given the thoroughly oriental courtship of the widow Ruth, and the ancient device adopted by Boaz, who stood only in the relation of a goed to Ruth (one having privilege only of redeeming an inheritance) and not that of a levir (one whose duty according to Mosaic law it was to redeem), to induce the near kinsman to renounce his rights to the widow that he might take her. The kinsman, on learning that he must take the widow as an incumbrance on the estate, refused the inheritance, whereupon Boaz mar- ried her and she became the mother of Obed, the grandfather of David, King of Israel. 58 HANNAH. B. ©.1116? MOTHER OF SAMUEL THE PROPHET. ~——--- #04 568-04 Pp cucnens all the ancient world, motherhood was the aim and ambition of all married women. A numerous offspring was the goal of those ancient worthies. If a wife was childless, her lot was indeed a hard one ; for if she bore no children, she alone was blamed and, if not then divorced, another wife was added to the household and the childless one’s life made bitter. Hannah's life was embittered by the taunts of the woman who shared the husband’s name with her, and which was but little mitigated by the fact that she was the best beloved wife. The ancients also held that barrenness was due not to physical causes but to the supernal powers. And so it is recorded that at the great annual religious festival at Shiloh, Hannah prayed earnestly to ‘‘the Lord of hosts’’ for offspring, consecrating such, if granted her, to the service of God as priest. In answer to her prayer, Samuel, the great prophet-priest of Israel, was born to her. When he was three years old he was weaned and in accord with her vow Hannah presented him at Shiloh to Eli, the high priest, and thereafter ‘‘the child did minister unto the Lord before Eli the priest.’’ The mother visited him each year bringing a little coat upon which she had bestowed months of loving skill. , When Eli’s priest sons were slain because of their lewdness, robbery, and oppression, and the father died of grief thereat, Samucl became the priestly ruler of the people, and under his government Israel had such peace and prosperity as had not been hitherto known by them. When he became too old and feeble longer to travel as judge among the people, he appointed his three sons to the office, who, unfortunately, ‘‘walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes and perverted judgment,’’ and the inevitable consequences soon came, the de- struction of the government. 59 QUEEN OF SHEBA. B. C. 10047 THE ROYAL GUEST OF KING SOLOMON. 5) lll (KR HEBA was the name of the great South Arabian kingdom. Sol- omon’s fame for wisdom and wealth had reached that kingdom. The queen of the South no doubt thought it would be politic to keep on good terms with this rapidly rising power. There was also a curiosity to verify the stories of his wisdom and regal splendor. She prepared her royal caravan and started on her thousand mile jour- ney. Solomon was accustomed to royal gifts from surrounding nations but the camels laden with the choicest of spices from the land of spices, surprised even the king. ‘‘ There came no more such abundance of spices as these which the Queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon,”’ and the hun- dred and twenty talents of gold, over fifteen millions of dollars, was a gift that the wealthiest of kings could not ignore. We may presume that Solomon and his people had not held the people of Arabia in high esteem. They had neither the history nor the deeds of Egypt and the far East to boast of. But they had gold mines, which made that metal an abundant commodity. The coming of that caravan to Jerusalem gave the people a new estimate of that great south land. The Queen of Sheba brought surprises and found more. Day after day she listened to Solomon’s words, putting to him hard questions in philosophy and religion, especially seeking information concerning the God of the Jews. She gazed on the splendid architecture of palace and temple, and at last was led to exclaim, ‘‘It was a true report that I heard in mine— own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. NHowbeit, I believed not the words until I came and mine eyes had seen it ; and behold the half was not told me!”’ Then follows a noble acknowledgment of the source of Solomon’s great- ness which he so soon forgot. ‘«Blessed be the Lord thy God which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel. Because the Lord loved Israel forever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice.’’ Go ABIGAIL. B.C. 10607 WIFE OF NABAL. THE BEAUTIFUL PEACEMAKER. 3+ ABAL was a wealthy sheepmaster, pasturing his four thousand ani- P) mals on the southern slopes of Carmel. David having fled from the jealous and insane king Saul, gathered about him a band of debtors and malcontents to the number of six hundred. Once a year the sheepmaster and his men held a great banquet at the time of sheep shearing. David’s men, at one of their encampments, had pro- tected the shepherds and flocks of Nabal, instead of making depredations ; and, at sheep shearing time, partly requested, partly demanded, a gift as food for themselves and their outlaw band. Nabal peremptorily refused, and, in so doing, placed himself at the mercy of David and his men. Nabal’s men perceived the danger, but did not dare approach him ; so they told Abigail, his wife ; who, it is said, was of ‘‘ good understanding and of a beautiful countenance.”’ With offerings of bread, wine, grain, raisins, figs, and dressed sheep, she, with her attendants, hastened down to David’s encampment. And none too soon. Four hundred men, fully armed, were on the way to exter- minate Nabal and his men. Her womanly tact and beauty softened the heart of David, and the little army turned back. When she reached home Nabal was in the midst of revelry, too drunk to know or care about the danger. When he was told next day how near he had been to death, the shock was so great that he died from the effects of it. Abigail was summoned to the camp of David, and became his wife. From being an outlaw chieftain, he became king after the death of Saul, and with him Abigail shared the honors of royalty. One son, Chileab, was born to them. Her promptitude, courage, and tact are womanly virtues which we admire. She was, unfortunately, obliged to submit to a division of David's afiections with his other wives. 61 JEZEBEL. B.C. 917? THE IDOLATROUS AND TYRANNICAL QUEEN. a a ER ancestors, the Phcenicians, were the inventive and commercial Yankees of the ancient world and emigrated, according to Herod- otus, from the Euphrates valley, near the Persian Gulf, to Pales- tine, ‘settling, according to tradition, in the vicinity of the Dead Sea. When that region was shaken and sunken by an earthquake, such as escaped fled to the Mediterranean coast, and founded Sidon, Tyre, and Byblus, and planted a colony in Ireland as early as the days of Abraham. Jezebel’s father, Ethbaal, was first priest of Baal-Melkarth at Tyre and afterwards the prince or king of Tyre. The temple of this god at Tyre was so splendid and so rich in offerings and magnificent in ceremonials, vestments, and pageants, as to astonish the much traveled Herodotus. Tyrians were devotees of Astarte (the Greek Aphrodite), goddess of love, who demanded at her annual festivals the gift of virgins in the sacred groves. They also worshiped great Moloch, to whom, at times, awful human sacrifices were made. Jezebel became the wife of Ahab, king of Israel, and made her husband more renowned for wickedness ‘‘than all the kings of Israel that were be- fore him.’’ Ahab sank himself and the people in the grossest forms of the idolatry of his wife’s native country, though in all probability he did not intend to abolish the worship of Jehovah. She ruled Ahab with an iron will ; and did not hesitate at cold blooded murder to accomplish her ends, notably in securing Naboth’s vineyard by causing the owner to be slain. At her table were supported no less than four hundred and fifty priests of Baal and four hundred of Astarte. It was from her wrath that the prophet Elijah fled after the slaughter of her priests at Carmel. Years afterwards, when Jehu entered Jerusalem, Jezebel was trampled under his horses’ feet and her remains cast upon the city refuse heap. Later, relenting, Jehu ordered that she be buried, saying, ‘*Go and take this cursed woman and bury her. For be she what she may, she was at least a king's daughter.’’ 62 PRINCESS DIDO. About B. C. 869? FOUNDER OF CARTHAGE, ROME’S GREAT RIVAL. ~- e+ ER husband, Acerbas (who was also her uncle), was priest of Baal- Melchar (the Greek Hercules) at Tyre, and was murdered by Dido's brother, the king Pygmalion of Tyre, fora cause. Dido thereupon gathered a company of disaffected nobles of Tyre, and sailed first to the Islands of Cyprus, and later to North Africa opposite Sicily, where they bought of the natives as much land as a bull’s hide would cover, and tricked the natives by cutting the hide into strips, so inclosing enough land on which to build Carthage. They were wonderfully enterprising and the city became the greatest commercial emporium of its time, outrivaling the other great ancient cities of the Semite peoples, Sidon, Tyre, and Thebes. The prophet Ezekiel’s description of the wealth and greatness of the mother city, Tyre, but faintly portrays that of Carthage, whose ships were the largest of the world, trading with all parts of the known earth, and exploring and colonizing distant, hitherto unknown lands. It was governed by nobles called ‘‘suffetes,’’ corresponding to the ‘‘judges’’ of the Israelites, the form of government being very similar to the Spartan, save that the rich only had voice in it. Its army was composed, not of citizens, to whom such service was degrading (they being merchants and rulers only), but of mercenary troops officered by Carthaginians. Several of these generals were among the very greatest the world has ever known. Because of this military defect, Carthage was at last overcome by its great rival, Rome, towards the end of those three hundred years of com- mercial and military struggle for the world’s supremacy, it being captured with awful carnage and burned by the Romans at the end of the third Punic war, B. C. 146. The. Romans unfortunately destroyed all its historic records. Their religion and customs were sensual, revolting, and fearfully cruel ; and often involved the offering of human sacrifices. 63 JUDITH. B. C. 609? SLAYER OF THE ASSYRIAN GENERAL HOLOFERNES. CSk ze ye little state of Palestine was the only available highway between those two great ancient empires, Egypt andzAssyria, and was a con- stant prey to the cupidity or revenge of both. In the early ages the Hittite peoples .of Syria served as a buffer between them, but after their rule was destroyed it was inevitable that Palestine should suffer from the armies of those great, ambitious, warring nations who now swept its treasure and people into their countries to build and adorn their great cities. — Sennacherib, it is recorded, employed 360,000 captives in enlarging and beautifying wonderful Nineveh, which, within two years, he boasted he had made ‘‘ as splendid as the sun.”’ An enormous booty and 200,000 captives were taken from Hezekiah (king of Judah), and forty-six of his cities in one campaign ; and seventy- nine cities, eight hundred towns, over 200,000 captives, and immense wealth from the Babylonian states in another. With the fall of Nineveh the great, B.C. 625,-under the joint forces of ‘the Medes, and that traitorous viceroy of Babylon, Nabopolassar, the latter became king of Babylon, his son Nebuchadnezzar (afterwards the great builder of Babylon) being for years at the head of his armies. During this © reign of Nabopolassar it is supposed the event of Judith occurred. The mighty king, after conquering the Persians, resolved to punish the people of Palestine, Syria, and Pheenicia for refusing to aid him in the war against Persia, and to this end sent an army into Palestine under command of Holofernes, who laid siege to Bethulia in Samaria. In order to rescue the famished inhabitants, a rich widow named Judith entered the Assyrian camp under pretext of being a deserter, and willing to betray Bethulia to them. Judith was taken into the tent of Holofernes, who was enraptured by her great beauty, intellectual gifts, and piety. At a banquet in his tent, given to Judith, he became drunken, when she beheaded him, thus causing the defeat of his army. 64 SAPPHO. B. C. 600. THE GREATEST POETESS OF GREECE, HIS famous poetess, estimated by many as the greatest poetess the world has ever seen, was a native of the Island of Lesbos, and ~ probably was born and lived at Mytilene. At Lesbos she was the center of a brilliant society and head of a great poetic school, for poetry in that age and place was cultivated as assiduously and apparently as successfully by women as by men. The names of two of her rivals are preserved — Andromeda and Gorgo. In antiquity the fame of Sappho rivaled that of Homer. She was called ‘‘the poetess,’’ as he was called ‘‘ the poet.’’ Different writers style her ‘‘the tenth muse,’’ ‘‘the flower of the Graces,’’ ‘‘a miracle,’’ ‘*the beautiful,’’ the last epithet referring to her writings, not her person, which is said to have been small and dark. She is said to have sung her poems to the Mixo-Lydian mode, which ‘she herself invented. The few remains which have come down to us amply testify to the justice of the praises lavished upon Sappho by the ancients. The perfec- tion and finish of every line, the correspondence of sense and sound, the command over all the most delicate resources of verse, and the requisite symmetry of the complete odes, raise her into the very first rank of tech- nical poetry at once, while her direct and fervent painting of passion has never been surpassed. Her fragments also bear witness to a profound feel- ing for the beauty of nature ; we know from other sources that she had a peculiar delight in flowers, and especially in the rose. , The ancients also attributed to her a considerable power in satire, but she excelled in the poetry of passion. The Greek comic poets were fond of introducing her into their dramas as a courtesan ; but later. writers now maintain that she was a pure woman. According to Suidas, she was married to Cercolas of Andros and had a daughter Cleis. Because of the Draconian times she fled to Sicily, but afterwards returned to Lesbos, where she died. 65 ESTHER. B.C, 468? THE “LILY OF SHUSHAN,” QUEEN OF PERSIA. 4-000 + STHER, a beautiful Jewish maiden, the heroine of the Biblical book that bears her name, was the daughter of Abihail, a Benjamite, and uncle of Mordecai. Her proper Hebrew name was Hadassah, but on her introduction into the royal harem she received the Persian name of Esther. Her parents being dead, Esther was brought up as a daughter by her cousin Mordecai, who had an office in the court or household of the Persian monarch, ‘‘at Shushan, in the palace.’’ The reigning king of Persia, Ahasuerus, having divorced his queen, Vashti, because she properly refused to comply with his drunken com- mands, search was made throughout the empire for the most beautiful maiden to be her successor. Those whom the officers of the harem deemed the most beautiful were removed thither, the eventual choice among them remaining with the king himself. The choice fell on Esther, who found favor in his eyes, and was advanced to a station enviable only by com- parison with that of the less favored inmates of the royal harem. The king, however, was not aware of her race and parentage ; and so with the careless profusion of a sensual despot, upon representations made to him that the Jews were a pernicious race, he gave his prime minister, Haman, full power and authority to kill them all, young and old, women and children, and take possession of all their property. The circumstance that Esther herself, though queen, seemed to be included in the doom of extirpation, enabled her to turn the royal indigna- tion upon Haman, whose resentment against Mordecai had led him to obtain from the king this monstrous edict. The laws of the empire would not allow the king to recall a decree once uttered; but the Jews were authorized to stand on their defense ; and this, with the known change in the intentions of the court, averted the worst consequences of the decree. The Jews established a yearly feast, the Purim, in memory of this deliv- erance, which is observed to this day. 66 _ ol Po LUCRETIA, ——+0$0-: Reproduced from the painting by G. Palma, an artist of the Wenstian school, distinguished for the freshness of his coloring, Palma devoted Imany years to the study of the works of Titian, Michael Angelo, and Raphael, and was much influenced by those great masters, ‘Ths Last Judgment,” ' Perseus and Andromeda,” and tha "Marriage of St. Catherine’ ars among his best known works. ae LUCKETIA. LUCRETIA. B. C. 510. THE VICTIM OF THE HATED TARQUIN. aS ayo eee: co is celebrated as much for her virtue as for her beauty. The story as told by Roman historians recites, in brief, that Lucius Tarquinius usurped the kingdom of Rome by bloody deeds, ruling like the Greek tyrants. His nephew, L. Tarquinius Collatimus, prince of Collatia, had married the daughter of S. Lucretius Triciptimus, a lady of great beauty, chastity, and domestic virtues. During the siege of Ardea at which were her husband, father, and the two sons of Tarquin, one of the sons, Sextus, and a kinsman of her hus- band, abused the hospitality of her home by entering at night her bed- chamber with a drawn sword, and by threatening not only to kill her, but to further scandalize her by cutting the throat of one of her slaves so as to incriminate both in the eyes of her husband, he compelled her to yield. On the morrow, sending hastily for father and husband and telling them of the facts and making them swear to banish the hated tyrants, she plunged a dagger into her heart and died. The body was carried to the market place, where Junius Brutus pulled the-dagger from her breast and recounted the outrage to the multitude, and demanded the expulsion of the Tarquins. On the news reaching the army, the tyrant and his sons were left to their fate, and shortly afterward the Roman republic was organized. ~wArwe Esther continued. The character of Esther, as she appears in the Bible, is that of a woman of deep piety, faith, courage, patriotism, and caution, combined with reso- lution ; a dutiful daughter to her adoptive father, docile, and obedient to his counsels, and anxious to share the king’s favor with him for the good of the Jewish people. That she was a virtuous woman, and, as far as her situation made it possible, a good wife to the king, her continued influence over him for so long a time warrants us to infer. The vast foundations of Xerxes’ palace at Shushan, ‘‘ The Lily,’’ yet remain, where the humble Jewish maiden rose to be queen over a mighty empire. . 69 ASPASIA. B.C. 470? —410? THE LEARNED COURTESAN OF ATHENS. ake SPASIA, daughter of Axiochus, was born at Miletus in Asia Minor and removed to Athens when young, becoming, it is said, the leader of the courtesan class. Among the Greeks, girls were carefully secluded, save at the public festivals and dances, and no woman appeared on the streets except the sellers of bread and flowers, and the public women. The laws of marriage in Greece were very severe with women, but very lax with men, so that at times marriage was at a great discount because of male dissoluteness, and the class of courtesans was large. In Athens marriage with foreign women was illegal, and the children of such were illegitimate. No people on earth were so enamored of mere physical beauty as the Greeks, and none were so gifted with it. At all festivals and public pro- cessions the most beautiful women were foremost. Public prizes were given to the handsomest women and men. - At Segasta, a temple was built and sacrifices were offered to her who took the prize for beauty. Education was cultivated by this class of public women, and Aspasia was greatly celebrated for her beauty, talent, eloquence, and knowledge of the politics of the times. Her house became the resort of many of the noted men of the age, who were attracted by her many charms of person and mind. The immortal Socrates was a frequent caller, and that great ruler of Athens, Pericles, was so captivated that he divorced his wife, by whom he had two sons, in order to live with Aspasia. A son, Pericles, was born to them, who was legitimatized by popular decree and became a noted general. Aspasia was accused of inducing free women to become courtesans, but after a tearful defense by Pericles, was acquitted. She is said to have com- posed much of the great oration of Pericles over the Athenians who fell in battle, B. C. 430. 70 XANTIPPE. B. C. 430? .THE TYPICAL SCOLD, WIFE OF SOCRATES. sei ok twenty-seven years the Greeks, whom Xerxes’ army of millions could not conquer, had been zealously at work as was their wont, in ferociously killing each other in those civil conflicts known as the Pelopon- nesian wars ; and at last Athens (founded B. C. 1556) was conquered and “its walls demolished, and the liberties of Greece went out in darkness under the reign of the Thirty and the Ten Tyrants. It was at this period that Socrates, greatest spirit of all the pagan world, fell a victim to the super- stition of his time, accused of neglecting worship of the gods, introducing new deities, and corrupting the youth of Athens ; and B. C. 399, this loftiest genius of the ancients, who had brought more wisdom into the storehouse of ages than has any other philosopher, came to his death at the hands of Envy. His wife has passed into history as the typical scold. Yet it must be confessed that few women could have endured with patience the life of abject poverty he chose to live, and the trials to which he subjected her. For, as an opponent truthfully said to him, ‘‘A slave whose master made him live as you do would run away.’’ Women among the Greeks, while perhaps better treated than elsewhere, were yet slaves. Being asked by Alcibiades how he could live with such a woman, Socrates is said to have replied, ‘‘ She exercises my patience, and enables me to bear with all the injustice I experience from others.’’ It is probable, however, that Xantippe’s faults have been much exaggerated. Socrates evidently entertained a sincere regard for her, and gave her credit for many domestic virtues. RORY BRR RNS Bees Aspasia continued. ‘ After the death of Pericles, Aspasia lived with and greatly advanced the fortunes of Lysicles, a noted cattle dealer. By her instructions she raised him to a prominent place in the state. This episode is somewhat obscure, especially as Lysicles seems to have fallen in battle in 428. Much of the glory of the administration of Pericles has been ascribed to her eloquent instruction and political sagacity. 71 ARTEMISIA. B.C. 350? QUEEN OF CARIA; CONQUEROR OF RHODES. $1 ARIA was a small mountainous Greek kingdom on the Mediter- © ranean coast of what is now Turkey in Asia, having the kingdom of Phrygia on the east, and Lydia on the north. The chief towns were Miletus, Halicarnassus, and Cnidus ; principal river the Meander. The Greeks were the most individualized people in the world, incon- stant, fickle, delighting in suits at law, arguments, and disputes, and seldom able to agree. Their chief cities, at this time ruled by tyrants, were almost perpetually at strife with each other, and often in bloody wars. Artemisia was the sister and, after the ancient customs, became the wife of Mausolus, king of Caria, who died B. C. 352, the widow surviving him two years. She is chiefly known to history for the conquest of the Island of Rhodes, afterwards the greatest seat of learning in the world, and then celebrated and wealthy. She built a monument to commemorate the event, which the Rhodians, when they gained their liberty again, rebuilt so as to make it inaccessible. Her excessive grief over her brother-husband’s death is also noteworthy. She is said to have mingled his funeral ashes with her wine ; and built for him, at Halicarnassus, a tomb (she dying before it was finished) so costly and grand as to be considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, and from which our modern word Mausoleum comes. Ruins of the tomb yet remain. She employed the most celebrated Greek orators to pronounce orations to his honor, giving prizes to the most suc- cessful, and is said to have died of grief for him. Alexander the Great, when Darius was assassinated, B. C. 330, estab- lished the Grecian Empire on the ruins of the overthrown empire of Persia, that had continued two hundred and six years. Seven years later Alex- ander died at Babylon and his vast empire was divided. But during all the Greek predominance, the common woman’s condition was but little im- proved. She was secluded, not taught housekeeping until marriage, and was afterwards a drudge. Of rights she had none. 72 CORNELIA. B.C. 1687 MOTHER OF THE GRACCHI. Ss 0900 << rine famous Roman lady lived in the days of the Roman Republic — a hollow mockery for a state — that existed for five hundred years, and was in reality a government by an aristocracy, at first one of birth ; later, of wealth, selfishness, and lust. Slavery was the foundation and oligarchy the structure, and within it was full of unspeakable cruelties and crimes. By birth Cornelia was of the very highest patrician class, her father being the P. Scipio Africanus who had destroyed Carthage, and her mother, Amelia, the daughter of the L. Atmilius Paulus, who perished at ' the battle of Cann. She was married to T. Sempronius Gracchus, of a plebeian family of wealth, renowned for their acts and sympathies with the great multitudes of the city’s suffering poor. Twelve children were born to her, three only reaching adult age. . She was highly educated. in the Latin and Greek literature, was pre- eminent for virtue and gravity of character, and a central figure in Roman society during her husband’s lifetime and after. Her house was the resort of the high minded, noble, and learned of Rome. Her daughter Sempronia married the younger Africanus, her two sons being those famous Gracchi, Tiberius and Caius, both eminent soldiers and tribunes. The former sought when tribune to aid the poor by amendment of land laws and urged that the immense wealth Attilus, king of Pergamos, had left to Rome be distributed among them. At election for tribune, Tiberius and hundreds of his followers were killed in riots instigated by the patricians. Ten years later, Caius, for seeking to reform the govern- ment in the interests of the poor, employing them in building roads and other public works, was set upon in a similar riot and perished at the hand of his slave. The Romans afterward repenting, put upon the mother’s tomb, ‘‘ Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi.’’ 73 OCTAVIA. B.C. 702-11. THE WRONGED WIFE OF MARC ANTONY, 3) alle (he ER father was the Roman Preetor, Caius Octavius, and the family one of great patrician distinction. One of her brothers became the Emperor Augustus after the rotten Republic had slid again into monarchy. In the days of Julius Caesar she was married to his bitter enemy, C. Marcellus, and Cesar later greatly desired her to divorce her husband and marry Pompey, but she refused. Her husband died three years after Czesar’s assassination, and then, to prevent if possible the civil war that was brewing between her brother Octavius and Antony, she was induced to marry Antony immediately after the death of Marcellus. The historians report her to have been a woman of very high character and many accomplishments, and for a time she kept the dissolute Antony with her, inasmuch as she was a far more beautiful woman in person than the courtesan Cleopatra. But his affection for his wife was not strong enough to counterbalance the feelings that weighed against it. After Antony’s unsuccessful Parthian campaign she went with troops and money to meet him at Athens. But he, now that Cleopatra was with him, refused to see her, and bade her return to Rome. Sending the troops and money to him she returned to his house at Rome overwhelmed with grief at his infatuation for the Egyptian queen, and thereafter devoted herself to the education of her children, she having had three by her first husband, Marcellus, and two daughters by Antony. From these daughters descended, it is said, the emperors Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. Even after Antony had so cruelly and unjustly divorced her, she con- tinued to educate his son by Fulvia, along with her own children; and after his and Cleopatra’s shameful death she took Antony’s children by Cleo- patra, protecting and educating them as if they had been her own. She is known as the ‘‘ Patient Grizel of the ancient world,’’ and died, it has been supposed, of grief at her misfortunes, when in her fifty-fourth year. She was buried with the highest honors in Rome. 74 MARIAMNE. B.C.37? HEROD’S WIFE AND VICTIM. 4-3. ARIAMNE was of the Jewish Asmonean line, and was accounted the most beautiful princess’ of her time. She was betrothed to Herod the Great, and married to him at Samaria, B.C. 41, Herod leaving his siege of Jerusalem for that purpose. She was of proud spirit, boastful of her Maccabean ancestry, and of strong temper, and the king’s harem was, according to Josephus, anything but a pleasant place, owing to the ill-will existing between Mariamne and her mother, Alexandrine, and Herod’s mother, Cypros, and his sister, Salome, the latter women being taunted by her at times with their less noble birth. She persuaded Herod to depose Ananel from the high priest- hood, and appoint her’ young brother, Aristobulus, which brother was purposely drowned by his order at a swimming bout, the following year. Antony having oversight of Rome’s eastern dominions, and Mariamne - reporting this to Cleopatra, Herod was summoned to Laodicea to explain, and bought the good will of Antony. Herod, who loved Mariamne with a wild, insane passion, gave orders to have her killed in case Antony ordered his death so as to prevent her from falling into Antony’s power, and was upbraided by her on the return. Herod’s mother and sister now accused her of adultery with Josephus, and the furious Herod killed Josephus, and imprisoned Mariamne’s mother. After Antony’s overthrow at Actium, Herod went to Rhodes to inter- cede with Octavius for having been Antony’s partisan. Before going he killed Mariamne’s grandfather, and shut her up in prison with her mother, leaving orders with the officers, Soemus and Josephus, to kill them if he did not return. This also became known to them. A year later Salome falsely accused her of attempting to poison Herod. By torturing her chamberlain, Herod discovered the story’s falsity, but learned that the officers had told of his last purpose, and put them to death. Mariamne, on his sister’s now further falsehood of her adultery, and through the constant urging of Salome and his mother, was also put to death. ~ 25 CLEOPATRA. B. C. 69? —B. C. 30. THE BRILLIANT EGYPTIAN QUEEN. ed bee Hons last queen of ancient Egypt was the third and eldest surviving daughter of Ptolemy Antites, of Egypt’s Greek line of kings, and was born B.C. 69, at Alexandria, Egypt, and died there August 30, B.C. 30. When she was seventeen, her father died, and by the terms of his will she was to be joint ruler of the Egyptian dominions, with her younger brother Ptolemy, who was to be her husband. Cleopatra was brilliant, beautiful, self-willed, and educated in Greek and six other languages, and the nobles, finding they could not use her to their enrichment, and led by Ptolemy’s guardian, Pothinus, and Achilles, com- mander of the army, expelled her from the city. Collecting an army from the dependencies of Arabia and Palestine, she advanced to battle for her rights, when Julius Caesar, who had just overthrown Pompey at Pharsalia, and was pursuing the fleeing Pompey to Egypt, appeared on the scene, and, finding Pompey had been assassinated at Pelusium, came to Alexan- dria as arbitrator. Unable to gain Czsar’s notice, she had herself smuggled into his pres- ence in a roll of carpet carried by her slaves, which, being unrolled, the great Cesar was captivated by her charms, and espoused her cause. Ptolemy was killed in a battle on the Nile near Memphis, and Cleopatra was given her youngest brother, then eleven years old, as a husband by Cesar. Within a few weeks after Czesar left to suppress a revolt in Armenia, Cleopatra bore him a son, Czsarion. The next year, B.C. 46, with this son and her brother-husband, she went with Cesar to Rome, and lived in a palace near the Tiber as his wife, to the great disgust of aristocratic Rome ; not that Romans were purer than Cleopatra, but she was a foreigner, which was gall and wormwood to the blue-blood profligates of Rome. Here Cesar put her statue in a temple built to Venus. But his assas- sination in B. C. 44 compelled her to return to Egypt. Two years later the battle of Pharsalia put the Triumvirate in power and Marc Antony was 76 “VULVdOdATO GNV ANOLNV ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. —-of0-- Reproduced from the painting by Gustav Wertheimer, an Austrian artist, and a specialist in history and genre painting, ‘The Waves’ Kiss,” “ Shipwreck of Agrippina,” ‘' Fisharman’s Dream,’ and the '' King’s Breakfast’? are other axamples of his work. CLEOPATRA. allotted the government of the East, and established a brilliant court at! Tarsus. Cleopatra not appearing among the great throng of potentates that flocked to do him honor, he sent an ambassador and then letters, beg- ging her to visit him. When the brother-husband came of age he was conveniently put out of the way by poison. Cleopatra was now twenty-eight, in the fullness of her Greek beauty, and when she sailed up the Cydnus in that gorgeous Oriental manner so strikingly depicted by Shakespeare, Antony became at once her enamored slave and followed her to Alexandria, where the winter of B. C. 40-41 was spent in wild revelry of every kind, the couple claiming to be the gods Osiris and Isis. Antony’s wife, Fulvia, now sought to compel his return by inciting a war in Italy. Her forces were defeated and she fled to Athens, where Antony met her. Upon his return from Rome, however, he left Fulvia at Sicyon, where she died of rage and grief at his neglect. A reconciliation was now obtained by friends of the two Triumvirs, Antony and Octavius, by which the latter’s recently widowed sister, Octavia, became Antony’s wife and for two winters he lived with her at Athens. Cleopatra meanwhile was furious with rage and jealousy. Antony then went to Syria, warring against the Parthians, and sent for Cleopatra, who met him at Laodicea and went with him to the Euphrates, and on the return he went with her to Egypt. The next year he conquered Armenia and returning to Alexandria pro- claimed a ‘‘ triumph’ for Cleopatra as the ‘‘ queen of kings,’’ making her son by Cesar legitimate, and his offspring by Cleopatra possessors of rich Roman provinces. After divorcing Octavia, he spent the year B. C. 33 in revelries with Cleopatra at Ephesus, Samos, and Athens. Rome now declared war against Cleopatra and the armies met at Actium, where she persuaded Antony to fight with the naval forces instead of the land troops and in the midst of the battle turned the scale against him by fleeing with sixty ships. Antony learned during the battle that she had fled, and flung away half the world to follow her, leaving his forces to surrender to Octavius. f 79 , CLEOPATRA. ' The winter was spent with her at Alexandria in wildest excesses. In the spring Octavius appeared at Alexandria, and Antony was defeated, Cleopatra seeking to buy her safety by offering to betray Antony. She now fled to the immense mausoleum she had constructed. Antony, hearing that she was dead, mortally wounded himself, then, learning she was alive, had himself carried to the tomb, where Cleopatra and her two slaves, with much labor, raised him to their upper chamber, and he died in her arms. Octavius by artifice captured her in her tomb and she was brought be- fore him. Failing to entice him and seeing that she was destined for a ”) Roman ‘‘triumph,’’ she caused her woman slaves, Iris and Charmain, to array her in her royal robes and crown, and then placed an asp in her bosom that a countryman had smuggled to her in a basket of figs, and died, in her twenty-ninth year; her women followed her example and guards of Octavius found them all dead. And so old Egypt’s long line of kings and queens forever passed away. With her ended the dynasty of the Ptolemies and Egypt became a Roman province. : The portrait of Cleopatra on her coins is that of a woman of intellect, rather than of beauty. A broad head, with wavy hair, an aquiline nose, large deep-set eyes, and a full eloquent mouth, is supported by a long slen- der throat. To these personal qualities she added a mind singularly culti- vated and resourceful. She had three children by Antony. O9- ao 80 | WOMAN BEFORE THE CHRISTIAN ERA. ~e FROM EDEN TO CHRIST. HE Bible is the very oldest and the only consecutive history of early mankind that is known. The oldest of the exhumed historic an- nals of Chaldea or of Egypt, of India or of China, are but the débris of history — the mere dust of long vanished records, with no present coherence and with little reliability. Gods and demi-gods are the burden of their themes. For well-nigh three thousand years of The wipte Duman history, the Bible bears its own unattested and yet uncontradicted story of the origin of mankind and of the doings of a few men. Is its story reliable? If not, man has no certain records of his beginning and his early years. It does not enter into the purpose of this present work to discuss that question. We proceed upon the assumption that the Biblical story is historic and reliable. A witness whose testimony has been invariably corroborated by those to whom any knowledge of like character is possible, may safely be believed when he testifies concerning things of which he alone has knowledge. Such a wit- ness is the Bible. The Bible is the only ancient historic book that teaches the creation of the world. Inthe fragments of other ancient annals that are known to men, there are to be found accounts of the beginnings of earthly things, but always from previously existent matter ; and those who suppose the Biblical narrative to have been derived from Chaldean or any other creation epics would do well to study and compare them. Such study can only result in the conviction that the Genesis account stands unique, alone, and underived from any yet known human source, or sources. The present writer also holds that the first woman was not one of the Pithecanthropoids — ape-like women — of Professor Haeckel’s twenty-first stage of evolution, but wasa direct creation of Deity as stated in the Genesis record, and we therefore seek by it to know what was the condition of woman in those far-off ages. 81 WOMAN IN THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. There was much of human history in those old-world times, for there were great events. But of them, the barest hints only remain to us. For instance, seventy verses (Genesis Iv to VI: 12), more than half of which con- sists of names and ages of the chieftains of the antediluvian peoples, tell all that historians know of man during a period probably as great, if not hun- dreds of years greater, than has elapsed from the birth of Christ until now. Yet how much of human history has been crowded into our nineteen cen- turies of the Christian Era! How many volumes it takes to even faintly tell it! But those seventy verses are absolutely the only records left us of twenty centuries of human life. And then, too, for nearly a thousand years longer, men must continue to go to this ancient book — the Bible — for any certain records that are left them of their kind. Certain incidental statements appear in those old brief Bible chronicles, that shed more or less light upon the condition of woman. For example, we are told that the first son of the first woman the world First ‘ ‘ : woman ¢Vver knew, ‘builded a city and called the name of the city after the name of his son Enoch,’’ and that he was also a far- mer or ‘‘ tiller of the ground.’’ Hence we infer that his mother, the first woman, could not have been that gentle savage of our modern wise men, who, they tell us, was wont, stone hammer in hand, to go bone hunting for marrow. Nor did this first woman live in tents. Not until hundreds of years later, in the seventh generation from Eve, do we meet with one Jabal, who is said to have been the father, 7. ¢., founder, of that style of life, he being a herder or cattle raiser. These records also inform us that during the lifetime of the first wo- man, Eve, musical notes and harmony were known, the herder’s brother, Jubal, being ‘‘the father of all such as handle the harp and Primeval organ.’’ Mining and forging were also known in those Civilization days, Tubal-Cain being ‘‘the forger of every cutting instru- ” ment of brass and _ iron. Even the fine arts, as poetry, were in use, Lamech’s speech to his wives being the oldest fragment of poetry known. And in this poetic chieftain, Lamech, of the fifth generation from Adam, we meet with the first polygamist of the world ; a departure from the previous condition of woman so radical, that the names of his wives 82 WOMAN IN THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. are recorded : they, together with Eve and one other (Tubal-Cain’s sister), being the only names of women preserved in the Bible for the first twenty centuries. This frantic poetic appeal of Lamech to his wives for justifica- tion seems to contain a romance, as well as to recite a tragedy. Did Lamech rob that ‘‘ young man’’ of a sweetheart or a wife ? It further appears from this ancient chronicle, that the husband of the first woman possessed much knowledge of animal life and gave names descriptive of their natures to the whole animal world, and doubtless im- parted this knowledge to others also, for Noah, of the tenth generation from Adam, was thoroughly pdésted as to what were ‘‘clean’’ and “‘ un- clean’’ animals and birds. Adam and the antediluvian peoples were able to distinguish ‘‘ seed-bear- ing herbs’’ and also every ‘‘tree in which is a seed-bearing fruit,’’ and ‘Cevery green herb’’ of non-poisonous kinds; a necessity for them to know, as mankind were then vegetarians. It would also seem that they were acquainted with minerals, for ‘‘ gold”’ ’ and ‘‘ precious stones’’ were then known. It is therefore safe to assume that woman in those ancient ages had both the comforts of life and some of ‘its luxuries. It cannot now be known how much of the earth was then occupied by man. The present Malay people within less than five hundred years have whe Spread along two hundred degrees of latitude, from Easter Ancient Island to Madagascar, and, within a less period than that em- World braced in the antediluvian times, half the continent of Africa has been peopled by a race whose various tribes differ in speech no more than do High and Low German ; while the American Indians have shifted their homes two thousand miles away from where Columbus found them in A.D. 1492. The Norsemen sailed to Iceland, Greenland, and. New Eng- land, in little boats not so seaworthy as those of the native Polynesians, Long before Rome was founded, the Chinese knew the magnet and the mariner’s compass, made junks, and went to sea in them, touching our Pacific coasts generations before the Norsemen reached New England. Why then should it be thought improbable that the antediluvians navigated the seas and peopled the earth, during those two thousand years before the - 83 WOMAN IN THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. Flood? Boats were not unknown to them, as appears from Noah’s ready and skillful construction of the Ark, and mankind were all of one specch ; a great aid to travel. In this primeval age here being considered, the race was probably as prolific as now. The first woman, Eve, it is recorded, had ‘‘sons and daugh- ters’? born to her other than those whose names appear in the Genesis ; while tradition assigns to that first polygamist, Lamech, no less than sev- enty-seven children. In those ancient ages men lived eight and nine hun- dred years, a condition that admitted of a numerous progeny and a vast experience of life. This great longevity seems to have been a natural consequence of the physical condition of the earth at that time, and it is described in the Bible. It will be recalled that not until after the Flood does the rainbow appear, and then it is put in the cloud as a token of the new covenant with Noah and his posterity, a seeming absurdity if the sun had ever been observed shining on falling drops of water prior to the Flood, for the rain- bow would then have often appeared. Again, it is stated that, at the creation, God made ‘‘a firmament in the midst of the waters’’ thereby ‘‘ dividing the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament,’ this firma- ment being what we now call the air, which is as truly a fluid as water. Further, at the end of fitting up the world for man, just prior to the creation of Adam, we are told that ‘‘ the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth’’ — but ‘‘ there went up a mist from the Aqueous ait earth and watered the whole face of the ground.’’ The writer therefore concludes the meaning to be, that the world during antediluvian times was surrounded by an aqueous cloud belt, resembling in appearance those belts now to be seen around the planet Jupiter, or Venus, or Saturn, as they are viewed through telescopes from our earth. This belt shut off the chemical, atomic, or enervating rays of the sun, thus keep- ing the climatic conditions throughout all the world wondrously conducive to a great length of life. Such conditions would allow no ice caps at the poles, as we now have them; and accounts for those buried forests of palms, magnolias, cypresses, and other tropical trees, now to be found as 84 WOMAN IN THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. far north as Upernavik, Greenland, and in other of the Arctic regions. Finally the belt was broken up and fell on the earth in the days of Noah, being those ‘‘ windows of heaven’’ that were ‘‘opened,’’ and constitutes a reasonable explanation for many otherwise inexplicable mysteries. It is stated that there grew up amid this great length of human life in the antediluvian world, and possibly then because of it, very grave evils that particularly affected woman. That period was, according to the testi- mony of Jesus Christ and the Apostles Jude and Peter, particularly charac- terized by extreme license in the gratification of the bodily appetites, through gluttony oy high living and gross licentiousness. The prophet Enoch, we are told, in the seventh generation, mightily exhorted against it, and warned the people of a coming judgment because of it. Some four hundred years later that evil rose to enormous propor- tions, and the governors or rulers of the people were unable to suppress it. Soon a new form of the evil arose, so fierce and terrible that the memory of it survived for ages after the Flood. This culminated in such deeds of violence upon women, and such a corruption of the race of The peiuge that in the reign of the governor and prophet Noah the human race was destroyed by a deluge of waters, Noah only and his family being saved in the Ark that he had built under divine direc- tion, and because of a warning that had been given him of this coming event. This warning, our Lord and his apostles say, was given by him to the world, but all in vain. The Flood came and swept twenty centuries of humanity from the earth. Authorities are not agreed as to either the date when the Deluge occurred, or as to the time from it to the call of Abraham. The Septuagint (Greek) version of the Old Testament assigns 2262 years from the creation of Adam to the Flood of Noah. The Masoretic Hebrew, 1656 years, and the Samaritan Pentateuch, 1307 years ; while Josephus gives 2256 years as the number. It is recorded that Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the Flood. But, according to the Biblical records, the old time _ Gee longevity henceforth rapidly shortened. The one fact that is obvious, however, is that the plains of Shinar, in the Euphrates 85 WOMAN IN THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. valley, became the first habitation of postdiluvian man. Here their first cities were builded. Here they began building that vast historic Tower of Babel. Here occurred the ‘‘ Confusion of Tongues,’’ and thence men were scattered abroad upon the face of the earth, Kurds and Turkomans now dwell in miserable, dirty villages, in this waste and desolate land, which once was the richest part of the earth, and the only land where wheat grew wild ; where crops yielded two hundred and often three hundred fold, and two and three harvests a year were gathered ; where pastures were so rich, even in historic times, that cattle had often to be driven from them lest they become too fat for use. In this region Herodotus traveled and expressed his astonishment at the hundred or more great cities he saw, while Babylon, once the ‘‘ glory of Story the kingdoms,”’ presided over them all. All is now ruins. ofthe Of the hundred or more visible mounds covering the sites of TPaplets once mighty cities and temples, scarce a half dozen have yet been exhumed. But from these have been taken thousands of burnt clay tablets, cylinders, images, and fragments, telling of a once great civilization that flourished here for three thousand years. Those people made arches, tunnels, aqueducts, canals, drains ; used the mechanical lever and roller ; manufactured glass and made lenses of it ; engraved gems ; practiced inlay- ing, overlaying, and enameling of metals ; made jars, dishes, vases, ivory and bronze ornaments ; were weavers, manufacturers of all sorts ; architects and builders ; had earrings, bells, and jewels of elegant forms ; wrote poems, annals, hymns, and magic incantations, at a time that history knows not. What was woman’s condition then? The ancient tablets show us some- what of it, but the later empire more. The early cities were of winding, narrow, muddy streets, littered with kitchen refuse and offal of beasts and men, where packs of dogs and ravens cities Were the scavengers. There were crowded, noisy bazaars, and each trade in its own lane or blind alley. The houses of the ™rouses middle and lower classes were huts of reeds and puddled clay, or else were low, crude brick structures, with a conical dome on top. There were gloomy brick walls inclosing silent, almost desolate spaces, where the rich dwelt in palaces and gardens carefully screened from the gaze 86 \ WOMAN IN THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. of the vulgar herd; while towering over all was the temple — palace of the god, with its ziggurat and painted or gilt sanctuary. The palaces of the rich were lighted by small holes in thegupper part of the walls ; rooms were small, oblong affairs, a few only used for living purposes, the others being store chambers for household treasures and provisions; the furniture of living rooms, mainly chairs and stools like those pictured on Egyptian monuments ; bedrooms contained chests for linen and coverings, the beds, mainly mats on the floor with a wooden head rest, almost the picture of those now used by the Galla people in Africa (whom some suppose to be their descendants), those ancient women putting their hair up like the Gallas in huge erections that require such head rests ; in the corner of the courtyard an oven, and near it the millstones for grinding the grain, ashes aglow on the hearth always, or near at hand the fire-stick, pots of earthen- ware, water and wine jars, heavy plates, knives, scrapers, and mall heads of flint, bronze axes and hammers, and wicker baskets, great and small. In later Empire times the houses had flat roofs such as may now be seen in Bagdad, and other Euphrates towns, where the women spent most of their time, morning and evening, gossiping or story-telling or perchance in small housework, till driven below by the heat of the day. The well-to-do had several wives, who dwelt in a harem, which, if the tablets do not belie, was the place of endless quarrels and intrigues. Position hese, while supplied with the luxuries of the time in food ofthe and dress, were practically slaves, going out only to visit a ES female friend, or relative, or to the frequent festivals at the temple, when they were attended by a crowd of slaves, eunuchs, and pages, who carefully shut out the world to them, Women of the middle and lower classes spent their lives in endless toil for husband and children. Night and morning they carried water from the public well, or river ; they ground the corn, made bread, spun, wove, made garments for the household, went bareheaded and barefoot to market, wearing the loin cloth only, or else a long draped garment of wool of hairy texture. Maternity was the beginning and the sole end of woman’s existence, and she might be repudiated by a word from her lordly husband. If she 87 WOMAN IN THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. was sterile, she was often divorced for it, unless the marriage contract had specified she should not be. (Under the later new Chaldean Empire, the divorced wife might demand the amount of the dowry the bride had always to bring to her husband. And if she owned property in her own right be- fore marriage, it remained hers independently of her husband, to be used as she pleased. ) If the wife was a scold or disobedient, the husband might sell her as a slave. If she miscarried or was permanently barren, she was believed to be possessed by an evil spirit and was a dangerous person, and accursed, and so was often banished from the family. So hard was the lot of woman in those old days, that wel babies were often thrown into the river or left at cross roads, if possible to excite the pity of passers-by, or to be devoured by vultures. Childless couples, to avoid the stigma of childlessness, were wont to adopt these foundlings, or others, in order to have children to support them or inherit their property. Newly born infants were Children shown to reliable witnesses, then marked on the soles of their feet to insure identity to the parents. It was a misdemeanor in parents to disown a child, unless for cause, and they were shut up in their house so long as they persisted in it. If a son said to his father, ‘‘Thou art not my father,’’ the father marked him by a conspicuous sign and sold him asa slave in the public market. If he said thus to his mother, he was similarly branded and led through the street, or along the road, with hooting and clamor and driven out of the city or province. The rich owned many slaves of both sexes, while the middle classes owned but two or three at a time. These were captives taken in war, as was Lot, or in the almost constant raids made on peaceful Slaves settlements by petty chieftains, to replenish their treasury. Slaves were counted by the law as cattle only, and the owner’s will was as absolute’ over them as over his flocks or trees. He could shackle them, whip them mercilessly, or take their lives. Male slaves sold for from ten shekels of silver by weight, to a third of a mina ; females for four and a half shekels. Female slaves counted it as great 88 WOMAN IN THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. honor to be taken as wife by the master, who could treat them as he would. Slaves married among themselves and their offspring went to the master. Occasionally a slave was allowed by the master to purchase his freedom, rarely was it ever given him. At times, if apt at trade, the master set him up in business, allowing him some of the profits. If a slave became free he could marry sometimes in the middle class. Workmen taught their own trades to their children. Originally the middle and lower classes seemed to have owned their own homes, but often they fell into the hands of the usurers, who were wont to ask twenty and twenty-five per cent. interest on loans, and when they had to rent the houses, the rates were very high. Gold, silver, and copper were in use as money, but it was not coined, or even cut in rings or twisted in wire, as in Egypt, at this early date of which we now speak, but was exchanged by weight, silver being very gen- erally the preferable money. The commerce of the cities was almost wholly carried on at, and in, the temples. As in Egypt, so in Chaldea, the priest stood next to the king. The king was par excellence the head of the priesthood — The @ Priesthood (He representative of the Planetary god among men. But he had under him a body of priests, some of whose offices were hereditary, and some he selected to perform for him the multitudinous daily sacerdotal functions. At the head of these was the high priest or ishshaku, whose chief duty was to pour out the libations to the gods, and to preside over various orders of under priests and priestesses, such as the ‘‘saugutu’’ class, who had charge of the harem of the god; the ‘‘kipu’”’ and ‘‘shatammu,’’ who managed the finances of the temple (then as always afterward a most important class), while the ‘‘ pashoshus’’ anointed with holy, perfumed oil, the god’s statues of stone, or metal, or wood, that were always clothed with vestments and adorned with jewels; they - also anointed the holy vessels, basins, bowls, et¢., used in the ritual ablu- tions, and also the victims to’ be sacrificed, both of beasts and, on great occasions, the human sacrifices. There were also connected with the temple service, the official butchers, augurs, soothsayers, prophets, record keepers, and, not least, several 89 WOMAN IN THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. : classes of holy courtesans who honored the god by offering themselves sex- ually to whoever would put in their hand the usual piece of money. Almost every hour there was a fresh sacrifice or ceremony of some sort, additional to the regular morning and evening sacrifices. These priests also mahufactured the money of the land in their temples, The ieee claiming the gold and silver as ‘‘sacred’’ and the gift of the gods to their great priest, the king. They likewise con- ducted commercial transactions at the temples and took charge of estates or moneys ; were intermediaries between borrowers and lenders for a good commission, the interest rate being from twenty to twenty-five per cent. per annum in old Chaldea. They had gifts of fields, flocks, and slaves come to them by will when the worshipers died (or, mayhap, while they yet lived), in order to appease the god or to gain his favor. To maintain these vast establishments for this Planetary worship, there was, further,’an annual subsidy granted to the temples from the state treas- ury, such as gifts of beasts, birds, fish, liquors, bread, incense, gold, silver, copper (moneys always by weight), gems, precious woods, and, after a suc- cessful raid or war, always their tithes (fegally a tenth, under later Empire times the bulk) of spoils were taken, especially slaves and herds. Vast areas of cultivated lands were given to the temples, of which the priests cultivated a part, the rest were rented or else farmed by their hosts of slaves, which included gardeners and laborers of all sorts. Very many, too, of the articles in daily use by the people, as well as the luxuries of life, were produced in factories owned by the temples and under the direction of these holy (?) men of the gods; who likewise added to their revenues by maintaining, in connection with the worship of the gods, troops of women singers, and the wailers for the dead, and the sacred prostitutes. So debasing was this worship of the planets upon the women of this first settlement and kingdom of men after the Flood, as it is now revealed to us by their literature, that the public prostitution of every Planetary woman, by at least one act, became obligatory by law, a Worship thing that continued for centuries thereafter, as is witnessed 90 WOMAN IN THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. by the testimony of Herodotus as late as B. C. 500, who was a personal observer of the things he then speaks of as existing in the palmiest days of Babylon. This same low estate of woman was found in Palestine in this period and even a lower depth. All through the Old Testament times is seen this same great debasement of women. The ‘‘groves’’ and ‘‘high places”’ against which the later prophets of Jehovah thundered their anathemas, were but the resorts of abandoned women whose sins constituted the wor- ship, and long after the last prophet (Malachi) had denounced this yet existing degradation of woman, the Apochryphal Book of Baruch speaks of this same old Chaldean custom as then prevailing. There are those who complain of the severity of Moses and carp at his statutes, but they were the only media that preserved the chastity of woman and made it possible for the Christ to be born of mankind. It is impossible to comprehend or even faintly know the condition of ‘woman in those early ages, apart from this religion that then was the all to mankind. In Egypt, that other early settled part of the earth, this same form of idolatry of the solar system originally prevailed, but with some important modifications. There also, as in old Chaldea, the king was Egypt the chief pontiff, and in addition to the several classes of priests, the Hood Papyrus takes up half of the second page with the titles of temple servants and artisans, men and women, such as butchers, cooks, pastry cooks, confectioners, cellarers, water carriers, milk carriers, florists, weavers, shoemakers, etc., all waxing fat on the supersti- tion of the times. , In Egypt, also, the priests solicited and had (according to the monu- ments and inscriptions) vast gifts of houses, fields, vineyards, orchards, fish ponds, slaves, silver, gold, copper, etc., large legacies being left to them by the worshipers to institute prayers and sacrifices in behalf of the dead. While not so keen tradesmen as their Chaldean brethren, like them the Egyptian priesthood through their chief, the king, claimed the ‘‘ sacred metals ’’ and made it in their temples, fixing the ratios as pleased them, and 91 WOMAN IN THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. these also became rich and powerful and able at times to dictate terms even to the king on his throne ; many even becoming king. Here also, even down to the time of the Czesars, were to be found those Pallacides, of whose remarkable tombs Strabo and Diodorus speak. These were the sacred harlots, being girls belonging to the families of nobles at Thebes who were consecrated to a life of immorality in the service of the god Ammon. And as the gods, among whom was the much worshiped and praised Osiris, had married their sisters, so it was the constant custom in Egypt, through all its history, for brothers to marry sisters (in Egyptian love songs the words brother and sister mean only our modern lover and mistress). Indeed, some of their kings, as Psammetichus I. and Rameses II. (the Pharaoh of the Israelite oppression), following the example of their illus- trious gods, married their own daughters. The Achzmidian kings did the same and Artaxerxes, king of Persia, also married two of his own daughters. Later discoveries have shown that Diodorus was mistaken in thinking that women were supreme in Egypt, the custom that he refers to of the husband visiting at the separate homes of his polygamous wives and being, while there, treated as a guest, having given him that idea. It is now known that the position of woman in ancient Egypt was almost identical with that prevailing in Chaldea. If the wife was by birth the sister of her husband, or was of the same rank or caste, she had more of independence granted her. But the will of the husband was supreme. . The rich and the nobles had several wives, who dwelt apart, each in her own house, where the wife Husbana ‘eceived the visits of her lord, and ground the cern, and cooked, wove, and made clothing and perfumes, kept the was fire alive, and nursed and taught her children, just as her sisters did in the Euphrates valley. The chief or noble had also, besides wives, concubines, who were either slaves born in his households, bought with money of the poorer classes, or captives of war. These were his chattels, and at his disposal, being often sold, even though they had borne him children, All his children were legitimate in the law of Egypt, but not all of the 92 WOMAN IN THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. same rank ; those of the sister or wife of his own rank having preference over those of the concubine, unless the latter had brought him a firstborn son, The homes of the common people were identical with those of the fellah of to-day, viz., low huts of wattle, daubed with puddled clay, or else of sun- dried brick, of one room, a door being the only opening. Those of the middle ‘class were large enough at times to even require a roof supported by trunks or limbs of a tree for columns. The furniture was of the same type as that noted in Chaldea, a few pieces of earthenware, stools, and chairs. In the Middle and Later Empire times the palaces of the barons and kings rivaled in luxury those of Babylon. The dress of women was then the loin-cloth and mantle, the poorer . going barefoot, others wearing coarse leather or plaited straw or split reed, or wooden sandals, and having their necks, breasts, arms, wrists, and ankles . covered with rows of necklaces and bracelets, and their hair towering aloft and requiring the head rest at night for its support. Later they adorned themselves with all those trappings enumerated by the prophet Isaiah in his third chapter, as characteristic of the women of Jerusalem in his day. The artisan class formed guilds, the son pursuing the occupation of the father irom generation to generation. Of public schools there were none. Education was of the priest, save as the parents might teach what they knew. Reading, writing, and ele- mentary arithmetic were common to a large class or classes known as scribes. The above amount of education, though imperfect, being the door to government employment, was generally sought for, and some of the scribes, though of slave parentage, are recorded as having risen Joseph-like, to be vice-regent over half of Egypt ; the country being divided into many petty districts, each with its hosts of tax-gatherers and small officials, gave opportunity for the ambitious. In those early times, Palestine was occupied in its northern section and beyond, by a people, now known from the monuments as Palestine the Hittite, and in its southern section by the Canaanite. These people, like the Chaldeans and Egyptians, also wor- 93 WOMAN IN THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. shiped the planets. Their chief god was Baal, he being the El of Chaldea, and the Zeus of Syria and Greece. This was the planet Saturn. Baal had his female companion, Baaltis, who was the Balit of Babylon and the Ashera of the Hebrews. Baal became later, in the popular language, the sun, and was worshiped on the tops of hills and the ‘‘ high places.’’ His compan- ion goddess had her altars both there and in groves, in forests, under cer- tain noted trees, as the terebinth, pomegranate, and cypress, or along the highways, where, as religious acts, women offered themselves to passers-by, the money received going into the treasury of the god. At the chief sanctuaries and temples, one of which, that of Tyre, was so rich and grand as to astonish the much traveled Herodotus, were kept the same great class of women, married and unmarried, as were found in Chaldea and Egypt, and for the same purpose. This class at the sugges- tion of Balaam, their priest, led the Israelites into sin on that notable occa- sion mentioned in the Bible. Mars, the Chaldean god of war and death, was worshiped in Canaan under the name of Moloch, and its fires were kept perpetually burning to consume its offerings. And it is recorded that at times as Moloch many as a thousand human beings, captives of war, were offered at his altars in gratitude for a victory. He was further propitiated with human victims if, in war, a disaster came, or when a famine or a pestilence appeared. Then, children, young girls, the most beautiful, the purest and best of their families, the firstborn of sons, from the kings to those of the humblest peasant, were thrown alive into the sacrificial fires. Carthage, Rome’s great rival, founded by Dido, princess of Tyre, B. C. 869, had her Kronos or Moloch altar, as described by the historians, a huge, half-human, half-monster shaped hollow iron caldron, with out- stretched arms, and interior cavity flaming with fire, into whose arms hun- dreds of victims were cast. Hanno’s son, Hamilcar, there offered himself as a burnt offering in the year 480 B. C. When Agathocles of Syracuse besieged Carthage, hundreds of noble boys were thrown in and consumed, while their parents, mute and tearless, stood by and witnessed their burning (for a tear or a groan would have rendered the offering vain), the shrieks 94 WOMAN IN THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. and cries of the victims being drowned by the drums, flutes, double pipes, and clanging cymbals of the priests. The Hittite moon-goddess, the Astarte of the Greeks, also demanded human sacrifices. Like Moloch, her fires were perpetual, albeit, as she was a goddess of purity and her priests pledged to purity and celibacy, no married woman might approach her altars save as a sacrifice ; her offer- ings consisting of married women and maidens. All her priests and serv- ants were eunuchs. Maidens coming to her must remain maidens forever, and her devotees changed apparel, men donning that of the women, and they, the garments of the men. Her eunuch priests numbered thousands and at her altars the worshipers gathered by the ten thousands, to the beating of drums, blowing of pipes, and clashing cymbals of the priesthood. Then the dev- Priests of otees contorted their bodies, bending backward and forward, Jezebel till their hair was matted with mire, then swinging aloft their -arms and swaying their bodies, they moved around and around until, | covered wah dirt and sweat, they began to beat themselves with knotted whips, to bite their arms, and cut themselves with knives and swords, be- wailing their sins with moan and shriek and anon prophesying, the dancing ever growing more fierce and wild, the scourgings more bloody and dread- ful, until, resembling beasts at a slaughtering, and exhausted, or uncon- scious, the worshipers fell to the earth, whereupon the eunuch priests passed among the crowd soliciting alms and gifts for the goddess and her treasury, upon which, when the ceremonies had ended, they lived and feasted. Such were Jezebel’s priests which ‘the prophet Elijah slew at Mount Carmel. Such were the inhabitants of Palestine whom Moses and Joshua were commanded to destroy. Yet there are sentimental souls who think that such commands were cruel. The cruelty lay in suffering them to curse the earth with their dreadful crimes against nature and God. The student of history, making his weary way through the fearful slough of human degradation, is compelled to admit, whatever his predilec- tions, that Paul’s terrific indictment of the heathen world is far from being overdrawn. The knowledge of nature that should have ennobled man, 95 | WOMAN IN THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. became, through the worship of nature, the great instrument of licentious- ness and of robbery and oppression and fearful debasement of all mankind. For four thousand years, the life and thought of men and women of this earth was as unlike our modern waysias if they had been inhabitants of another world. Outside the temples there was no social life for women. If her husband or father was rich, she was shut up in the harem. If of the middle or lower class, her life was but little elevated above that of the slaves her hus- band owned and with no greater privileges than they. Yet these people were not ignorant and mere savages. Many of the arts and some of the sciences were known to them and in daily use in the earliest times after the Flood. But the intellect and the whole nature was overpoweringly, superstitiously, religious ; and it was gross, debasing, sen- sual, and cruel, because their conception of the gods was such. It was then, for thousands of years, as in India in more recent times, a case of religiosity gone to seed and withering on its stalk. With the expansion of the race westward to Europe in the later centu- ries, some improvement in the condition of woman appears, particularly in Greece and at Rome, where Plutarch says that for five hun- Europe dred years after Rome was founded it was not scandalized by a single divorce; an Edenic condition of married life that seems to have been followed by its opposite when wives were divorced for every whim, and could also divorce themselves when they pleased. For the historians tell of one woman who had taken to herself eight different legal husbands within a period of five years, and of another matron who con- tinued her marital experiences through a list of twenty-three divorced hus- bands, her last partner of marital joys having himself had twenty-one legal wives, from whom he had been divorced. The Christian Father Tertullian, so late as A. D. 200, said of the Roman women, that ‘‘ they married to be divorced, and were divorced in order to marry again.’’ Ovid, two hun- dred and twenty-five years earlier, had said of them, that every woman had her price. Nevertheless, in the foulest days of Rome there were some vir- " tuous women, though it must be confessed that worship of the unclean gods had sunk both women and men very low indeed. Husbands, under Roman 96 WOMAN IN THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. law, as under ancient Chaldea, had absolute ownership of the wife, even to taking life. But outside of Judea, and, possibly, the earlier Persian Empire times, whatever of advance in the education of woman, religiously or otherwise, is seen, was confined to the quickening of the intellect of a few women only, and, it must be confessed, not to the moral or social elevation of the sex. Indeed, what hope was there for woman, when even that kingliest Man-soul of all the heathen world, great Socrates, so far forgot what was due to him- self, and to the immeasurable dignity of womanhood, as to invite that splendid courtesan, Aspasia, to consult with him as to the best-method of making her traffic more remunerative ? Turning eastward to India and China, the next great homes of civiliza- tion, we find that India, a country as large as Europe, and with nearly as India ‘any people, was originally settled by the tribes of Japheth, ana the third son of Noah, the country possessing many cities ae and petty kings and great riches, at the time of Alexander the Great’s invasion. : According to Sanskrit scholars, the rites and ceremonials of this people, that are contained in what is known as the Brahmanas, go back to B.C. 700, or about fourteen hundred years after the time of Abraham; while the © Code of Manu, that established castes in India, goes to about B.C. 500. Here in India, as in the earliest years of Chaldea and of Egypt, we meet with the remarkable fact that their early beliefs seem to have been in the existence of one Supreme Being only, and that then their lives were cor- respondingly pure. But the priests early took advantage of the religious instincts in man to advance their own ends, thus securing position, influ- ence, and money. A degrading form of worship of the solar system appeared, and soon its rites, ceremonies, oblations, and penances made the whole life of the people one of religion only. While the oldest Veda teaches a Supreme God, later it alludes to thirty- three gods, whose numbers were ere long rapidly multiplied, until the Hindu Pantheon is now said to contain no less than 33,000,000 gods. About B. C. 600 we meet with that awful thing that so rent the hearts * of mothers, the first record of human sacrifices to the gods in India. 97 WOMAN IN THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. ‘In a land where polygamy prevailed and where the same debasement of woman to the sacred harlotry that is noted in Chaldea and elsewhere in connection with the temple services has prevailed for thousands of years, and yet continues in spite of modern missionary effort, the condition of these hundreds of millions of women, mothers and daughters of India, cannot be understood in its horrors, without reference to that other strange teaching of those Hindu Scriptures that was peculiar to themselves, namely, the szfee or burning alive of widows on the funeral pyre of their dead hus- bands. This practice was known to history over two thousand years ago, and Raja Radhakant Deb, of Calcutta, a native Hindu, The oe : and one of the foremost of living Sanskrit scholars of the Suttee world, says it was practiced by their early kings and sages centuries previously, and that it is taught in their sacred books, of which he gives several citations. In case the widow refused the saétee she was con- sidered to have dishonored her relatives, whereupon the disgraced family made her life so full of torture and shame that she fled to the fire in prefer- ence. If during the burning she sought to escape from the flames, her relatives considerately thrust her back to be consumed, This hideous cus- tom prevailed in India for two thousand five hundred years, and it is said that even now, nothing but the strong hand of the English government prevents the revival of the practice. The Code of Manu divides the populace into, first, the Brahmans, who, having originally proceeded from the mouth of the god, are the most holy of men and must not be taxed by the king or enraged, else Caste in their curse would destroy his armies and retinue ; secondly, India the Kshatriya or military and kingly caste, who issued from the god’s arms; third, the Vaisya or agricultural caste, coming from his thighs ; and the servile Sudra caste, proceeding from the feet of the god. The first three are ‘‘twice born.’? The Brahman child receives the investiture of the sacred thread in his eighth year, the Kshatriya in his eleventh, the Vaisya in his twelfth, with great ceremonies, this constituting the second or spiritual birth, while the Sudra child does not get it at all, the last being born but once. But this last is as proud of his caste and as particular as any of the higher orders and will not intermarry with them, | 98 WOMAN IN THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. for in such case their children would not be even Sudras, and so, even to this day, the person who dresses your hair in India will not brush your clothes, nor the table waiter deign to carry your umbrella, for the caste is as sacred to them as religion, and is religion. While in the early times women seem to have had a certain degree of freedom and social equality, yet for thousands of years the condition of woman in India has been one of abject submission to her lordly husband or father. The Sacred Books say, ‘‘ Day and night must women be made to feel their dependence on their husbands’’ ; ‘‘ Let not a husband eat with his wife, nor look at her eating’’ ; ‘‘ Women have no business to repeat texts of the Veda, thus is the law established’’ ; ‘‘ As far as a wife obeys her husband, so far is she exalted in heaven’’ ; ‘‘ A husband must be con- tinually revered as a god by a virtuous wife.”’ And yet in the Mahabharata of these Hindu Scriptures occurs these truthful, noble words, concerning woman : — “‘A wife is half the man, his truest friend, A loving wife is a perpetual spring Of virtue, pleasure, wealth. A faithful wife Is the best aid in seeking heavenly bliss. A sweetly speaking wife is a companion In solitude; a father in advice; A mother in all seasons of distress; A rest in passing through life’s wilderness.” Throughout all ages and everywhere, religion is seen to be as persistent a fact in the history of mankind as marriage is, and has had as much or more influence on woman’s condition. And in seeking to account for the wide and long continued dominance of such horrid faiths as have been here noticed, faiths that made woman but a chattel, and unspeakably tortured and degraded her for thousands of years throughout all the ancient world, it must be confessed that their great secret lay in that awful future of which they claimed to have the exclusive knowledge. With the later Hindus, who were transmigrationists, all who die go to oa, the moon, which to them was the gate to the heavenly world. migration [here a threefold alternative was offered the soul. If good- ness had characterized its earth life, it would pass in its 99 WOMAN IN THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. transmigrations through the deities. If it had been ruled by passion, it must then pass through men. If a life of sin had distinguished its earthly career (and transgressions of or neglect of religious ceremonies and offenses. against the priests were far worse sins than any violations of the moral law), it must pass through beasts and plants; each of these degrees having also three sub-degrees, with 8,400,000 births, and continuing through twenty-one, or, as some of the sacred books say, twenty-cight, hells or pur- gatories, each more furious and awful than a Dante could ever dream, and requiring a ‘‘kalpa’’ ‘or two billion one hundred and sixty millions of years to pass through them all. With such fearful destiny before them, how was it possible for mortals not to make the worship of the gods of destiny the one great concern of their life, as they have been doing for thousands of years in that ancient land of India? And as these, their gods, were licentious, intriguing, and warring with each other in the heavens, what wonder that the worshiper on earth fol- lowed their example? In the Hindu poem, the Mahabharata, ‘‘ The Great War of Bharata,”’ is to be found the highest Hindu conception of woman’s truth and purity and loving devotion to her husband, equal to anything to be found in any literature. But at that early time we find the marriage custom or system of poly- andry prevailing even in their court circles, while gross licentiousness, gambling, and drunkenness characterized the wealthy classes everywhere. Throughout the whole history of that great country the condition of woman has been, to our modern thought, most degrading and sorrowful and bitter in the extreme. One half of the people now on earth are Mongolians. Their tribes have covered or influenced more than half the land surface of the globe, aden east, west, north, and south. Their original home is now within the Russian Empire and covers an area as large as the United States exclusive of Alaska. Their most important modern country is China, that present great home of more than a third of thé human race. The Chinese are the only stereotyped nation on the globe. While, for 100 WOMAN IN THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. instance, their present vessels and tonnage exceed in number that of all the other nations of the’ world, yet they use the same junks and tackle now as " their people did before the birth of Christ, and money is weighed in scales as in Abraham’s day. The manners and customs of their forefathers four thousand years ago are their present customs and manners. They claim their written language was given by the philosopher Fou- hee (supposed by some to be Noah), B. C. 3200, or, according to others, B. C. 2800, who, they say, taught them agriculture and how to make cloth- ing, furniture, and other arts of life, and gave the marriage laws to his people. Another tradition names the philosopher Tsang-ki, B. C. 2800 or B. C. 2500, as the author of writing in China, of which there are thirty different styles. There are fragments of Chinese literature (calendars or local events only) as ancient, it is supposed, as B. C. 2000, but very little authentic his- tory before the fifth century before Christ, the days of the reformer and moralist Confucius (B. C. 551-479), who sought to revive the ancient usages and morals. He left a compilation, the Shu-King, or Book of Annals, covering the ancient times to B. C. 560, and more than any other has made China what it has been for ages past. Those Annals, however, are a mere jumble of ancient names, legends, ceremonies, and sayings, and according to no interpretation history in our modern sense. His code of rites, the Li-ki, a compilation of ancient usages, still regu- lates the Chinese manners. These ceremonial usages, estimated at three thousand, are interpreted by one of the bureaus at Pekin, the Board of Rites. The primitive Chinese religion was very simple, the worship of a Supreme Being. Later, they worshiped, as now, the wise men of olden times and the souls of their ancestors. But Confucius taught Teachings of that from this Original Being came Yang, the Perfect, includ- Confucius ing ‘heaven, sun, day, heat, manhood,’’ and Yen, the Imperfect, comprising ‘‘ moon, earth, night, cold, womanhood,” which crude philosophy has been the principle of government and of religion for the past two thousand three hundred years in China, and sheds much light 101 WOMAN IN THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. upon the sad condition of women in that vast empire. For thousands of years she has been, like her sex in other ancient lands, little, if any, better off than the most abject of slaves, this perfect creature, man, in China, literally owning the imperfect being, woman, and selling her or beating her as he wished. Polygamy was anciently and is yet openly tolerated, secondary wives being common, especially if the first is childless. While those ancient morals compiled by Confucius were excellent, they have not made China moral. The obedience to and reverence for parents, superiors, and rulers, that he declared the sages of old had taught men, soon degenerated into a despotic form of government, and into a supersti- tious reverence for parents. -Their religion, their morals, their wisdom, begin in words and end in words. China, in short, is the gray ages of the times at Abraham projected into our modern days; the stagnant sea of humanity yet unvivified by the heralds of the twentieth century civilization. The historian Lecky has somewhere said that Christianity introduced two new ideas into the world—the brotherhood of man and the sacred- ness of human life. It did far more, it created a new wo- Rregen- = man wherever it regenerated a man. At its coming, three ore quarters of the immense population of Rome, the then great capital of the world, were paupers, and much more than that proportion were dissolute in morals and life, while it was far worse outside of Rome. But thereafter, wherever the Christian faith was accepted and lived, whether by individuals or communities, it became synonymous with purity, its first cardinal virtue. If purity had hitherto been found among men and women, and, thank God, it had, it existed, not because of their religions, but in spite of them. Thereafter, religion was to mean purity, and the elevation and ennobling of woman, wherever its influence was rightly understood and it was permitted, in freedom, to exercise its beneficence. 102 BOOK TWO WOMAN DURING THE FIRST FOUR CHRISTIAN CENTURIES TO FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE zs np ate MARY, MOTHER OF CHRIST. Reproduced from the painting of Franz von Defregyer ; exhibited at the Berlin Centenary lexhibition. ELIZABETH. = BSR ee MOTHER OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. Abe this woman was given the honor of being the mother of the one concerning whom Christ said: ‘‘ Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist.”’ Her husband was Zacharias, a priest. The priests. were divided into twenty-four courses and served in turn at the temple. The hill country near Hebron was probably the home of Elizabeth and her husband. They were both well advanced in years, and childless. This was counted one of the greatest of calamities by the Jews. While Zacharias was in the temple offering incense and praying, an angel appeared to him and promised that a son should be born to them, notwithstanding their old age. The special characteristics of this son were to be greatness in the sight of the Lord ; abstinence from wine and strong drink ; and fullness of the Holy Spirit. In his work he would turn back to the Lord many of the sons of Israel and make ready the people for the Lord’s coming. There is a charm about the couple set forth ina single verse: ‘‘ And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, blameless.’’ We have but one glimpse of John’s childhood and young manhood. ‘©The child grew and waxed strong in spirit and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel.’’ He was gathering power to be in faith and fearlessness the Lord’s forerunner and make ready His ways. Blood will tell and so will training. Jobn had his mother and the mountains and God. His father was also his teacher in the intervals of his absence from service at the temple. Theirs was probably an isolated home and John was accustomed to soli- tude, but here was formed that rugged character which enabled him, like Elijah of old, to denounce people and princes for their sins and call them back to God. , 105 Ves the Son of God came to earth, he came not as an angel, but was born into our humanity. To be the true mediator between God and man he must be both human and divine. The human heart feels the need of this, to have one, who, from experience, knows our needs and nature, and at the same time has absolute and unlimited access to God. One'born in the order of nature would not be to us the divine- human Saviour. This is, in part, the reason which lies back of the super- natural conception of Jesus Christ. But we do not claim his Divine Sonship on the basis of the account of his birth, merely. His life and teachings and the kingdom he founded, are the proofs which attest his supernatural and divine conception. Mary of Nazareth was the one honored of God to be the mother of the world’s Saviour. Before the birth of Christ, but after the divine announcement had been made, Mary journeyed to the hill country to visit her kinswoman, Elisa- beth, who was to become the mother of John the Baptist. In Luke1: 46-55, we have the song of Mary which begins : — ‘« My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath looked upon the low estate of his handmaiden : For behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.’’ This is known in literature as the Magnificat. It shows a mind thor- oughly imbued with the spirit and substance of Hebrew poetry, and at once marks Mary as a woman of superior intellect and deep piety. The birth of Jesus in the Bethlehem stable ‘‘ because there was no room for them in the inn,’’ touches the deepest emotion of every mother’s heart. The flight into Egypt because of the murderous decree of the in- sanely jealous Herod touches the hearts of all fathers and mothers, the natural guardians of babes. . 106 MARY. At twelve years of age Jesus visits Jerusalem with Joseph and Mary and a great company of their kinsfolk and acquaintances. Upon their return he is missing, and, after long search, is found in the temple in the midst of the doctors of the law. To Mary’s words, ‘‘ Thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing,’’ he replies: ‘‘ Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?’’ We cannot say whether Mary had yet told him of his divine parentage, but he evidently knows it now and recognizes that his life work is to do his Father’s will. For eighteen years there is silence. We are told that ‘‘ the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom.’’ We learn from later revelation that he worked at the trade of a carpenter in Nazareth. But he was at the same time training for the memorable three years of ministry — the central years of the world’s history. His public ministry did not begin with a sudden impulse, but was pre- pared for by his whole life. The consciousness of his divine nature and power grew and ripened and strengthened until the time of his showing unto Israel. When that ministry began and during much of its continuance, Mary was with her son and his disciples, and, with other motherly women, min- istered to this band of young men. There was the year of obscurity,— the year of public favor,—and the year of opposition. And that mother in hope, or joy, or anguish, kept near him. Upon one or two occasions he was obliged to gently put aside her loving and overanxious interference, for he must be directed from above, never from about him. When there came that dark and awful tragedy of Calvary, Mary was at the cross. It was there that Jesus provided for his mother while he was dying. Looking upon her and his beloved disciple, John, he uttered two sentences : ‘‘ Behold thy son,’’ ‘‘ Behold thy mother,’’ by this, designating John as the one who should lovingly care for his mother. Mary is again mentioned in Acts 1:14, where we have the picture of Jesus’ followers, after his resurrection and ascension, gathered in an upper room in Jerusalem engaged in prayer, and waiting for the Pentecostal out- pouring. ; 107 MARY MAGDALENE. A.D. 32. THE CURED DEMONIAC. T is strange how the painter’s brush can lie and be guilty of a vile slander. Again, the vitality and self-propagating power of a lie is marvelous. ‘ The name of Magdalene is chiefly associated in the popular mind with the picture of a voluptuous though sad woman, and with places of refuge for fallen women. There is not the slightest evidence in the gospel narratives or in the writings of the early church fathers, that Mary Magdalene had ever been a woman of ill repute. She had been possessed ci seven demons, and Jesus cast them out, freeing her from the awful malady. It would be unspeak- ably cruel in these days to assume that every insane woman was an abandoned character. Insanity does often come as a result of sin, but in- sanity is not proof of sin. Demoniacal possession in the days of Christ was more than insanity. The powers of darkness seem to have been let loose when the Son of God came to earth. The special manifestation of God’s benevolence was met by the special manifestation of demoniacal malignity. Mary had probably been a poor, wild, raving creature like the Gadarene demoniac, and the terrible affliction resulted in an emaciated form and a face with scars and deep lines. When she was cured, every drop of blood in her veins went out in gratitude to her Deliverer and she followed him, with Mary, his own mother, and ministered to him of her property. She was, no doubt, a woman of mature years, like the mother of Jesus, and next to her is the most prominent female character in the New Testament. She was last at the cross, last to leave the tomb, first to visit it on the resur- rection morning, and first to carry the news that Christ had risen. Christ’s work for Mary Magdalene and her loving ministration to him constitute the type of the elevation of woman to the rank of friendship with man. She is no longer his slave, but his co-worker and equal, capa- ble of accepting equal responsibilities and sharing equally in the results. 108 HERODIAS AND SALOME, ALD. 31. WIFE AND STEP-DAUGHTER OF HEROD ANTIPAS, tek ERODIAS is the Jezebel of the New Testament. First she married b her uncle, Herod Philip. Antipas, half-brother of Philip, came to Rome to receive his investiture as a Tetrarch and was entertained by Philip. The hospitality was basely rewarded by the intrigues of Hero- dias and Antipas. Ambitious and shameless she agreed to come to him upon his return and after he had divorced his wife. This was accom- plished. John the Baptist fearlessly told Herod that it was not lawful for him to have his brother's wife. Herodias was furious and swore vengeance upon John. Antipas, though a tyrant, feared John and for a time stood between the prophet and the woman who thirsted for his blood. Nothing but the death of the Baptist would satisfy the resentment of Herodias. Though foiled once she continued to watch her opportunity. There was a great banquet at Machzreus in honor of Herod’s birth- day. While the drunken revelry was at its height, Herodias sent in her daughter Salome as a ballet dancer for the revelers. They were charmed, and Herod in his drunken delight promised to give anything she asked, even to the half of his kingdom (though he could not give away the smallest village without permission from Rome). The royal dancer retired, consulted with her mother and returned, demanding the head of John on one of the great platters of the banquet table. Herod was shocked into soberness and sought to extricate himself and save John, but he could neither face the laugh of his guests nor the wrath of Herodias, and the ghastly gift was brought. Herod’s fortunes soon declined. Urged on by Herodias, he sought the title of king, from Cesar. The jealousy of Agrippa was aroused ; charges were brought against him, he was stripped of his power and banished. His guilty companion followed him and they both died in exile. The only re- deeming feature in this woman’s character is that she evidently loved Antipas and voluntarily chose exile with him. 109 AGRIPPINA II. A. D. 16-50. MOTHER OF NERO. 4-4 -b — ERO was a monster of iniquity. His reign was a carnival of crime. Who and what was the mother of this man? She was born ina Roman camp on the shores of the Rhine. Germanicus was her father, and Agrippina the First, her mother. Her fiery and ambitious spirit was probably stimulated by her father’s conquests.. After the death of her father she was driven into exile by her brother, Caligula, who accused her of conspiracy. After some years, Agrippina married, for her second husband, her uncle Claudius, who had become emperor. She ruled him absolutely, and when she thought he had lived long enough caused him to be poisoned in order that she might obtain the throne for her son Nero. Claudius had a son, Britannicus, by his first wife, Messalina, who was therefore the rightful heir of the throne. He was put out of the way as his father had been, by whose hand we cannot say. Agrippina was inordinately ambitious for her son Nero. She was in many respects a woman of ability in affairs of state. Her ambition was at at last gratified in seeing her son proclaimed emperor. But she could not readily relinquish her power, and so there arose jealousy between mother and son. She was warned of danger, but exclaimed, ‘‘ Let me perish, but let Nero reign !”” The son who had reached the throne by his mother’s crimes, turned against her and plotted her death. He caused a boat to be so constructed that it would easily fall to pieces in a slight storm. This occurred as Agrippina was crossing the Gulf of Baiz. Instead of drowning she swam ashore, and later was brutally murdered. Her unscrupulous ambition for her son had its grim recompense. — For ten years she was the virtual ruler, that is, for the last five years of Claudius’ life and the first five years of Nero’s occupation of the throne, and her reign, though marked by domestic crimes, was a prosperous*one for the state. 110 “YNIddId¥OV AO NOaudMdlHS aa: < os S Sole wwistai ile [Ele VV ia aN wey, oboe Reproduced from the celebrated painting by Gustav Wertheimer, (See ‘ Antony and Cleao- Datra,’’) MARTHA AND MARY. a oo THE BETHANY SISTERS. OT Martha versus Mary, but Martha and Mary. ‘They were very YD unlike, but each was the complement of the other and both were the friends of Jesus and helped to make the home in Bethany a restful place to which he could come from the murderous plottings of the priests and Pharisees. Martha was probably the elder of the two, a vigorous, matronly, bus- tling housewife, over-careful about a multitude of unimportant details of the household. She was no doubt proud of her perfectly ordered home, but she had by degrees become the slave of her ambition to have the best kept house in Bethany. Mary, on the other hand, was of a contemplative mind and had more of a hungering for spiritual things. When Christ came to their home she took the opportunity, not to entertain him, but to learn of him. ‘‘ For the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister,’’ and he was best pleased when people received from him. He commended Mary and told Martha that she was unnecessarily burdening herself with over-careful- ness and much serving. Her zeal was honored in its turn, however, and she shared equally in the Lord’s affection. We again see the sisters when bereavement has come. Their brother Lazarus, the loved friend of Jesus, is dead. They send word to Jesus. He comes to Bethany. Martha is first to meet him and hear the wonderful word of comfort, ‘‘I am the Resurrection and the Life.’’ Their brother is restored to them, the broken circle is made whole. Shortly before the death of Christ we see him again in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, where a banquet is given in his honor. Martha serves at the table, lovingly ministering to the physical comfort of the guests. Mary brings an alabaster box of ointment and anoints the head and feet of Jesus in a manner fit for royalty. Thus the two sisters, each in her own way, show their devotion to Christ. — , 113 DORCAS. A.D. 3%. THE QUEEN OF THE NEEDLE. 00 00 109008 T' HE Scripture notice of this woman is confined to a few verses in the ninth chapter of Acts, but her name to this day stands for the benevolent use of the needle. Her example has been an inspira- tion to women in all these years of church history. Her home was at Joppa. She was associated with a little band of Christians, most of whom, like herself, were poor. The words of Jesus had no doubt been the moving power in her soul. ‘‘ For I was an hungred and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger and ye took me in; naked and ye clothed me; I was sick and ye visited me ; I was in prison and ye came unto me.’’ And ‘‘ Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”’ She ‘‘ was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.’’ Her piety was eminently practical. It was a sad blow to the little band when Dorcas died. They at once sent for Peter, who was in the neighboring city of Lydda. When he came he found the people grief-stricken. The widows pre- sented an eloquent eulogy on the life and character of Dorcas by showing some of the many coats and garments which she had made. Here were | aged widows whose hands were too feeble to hold the needle and too poor to pay others for the work. They showed the warm garments Dorcas had made to protect them from the cold winds which often swept in from the Mediterranean, And here were younger widows with little children who had been clothed by Dorcas. How could they ever find another such friend ? But Dorcas was given back to them, Life was restored by a great miracle. Peter knelt down and prayed. Then turning to the body, he said, ‘‘ Tabitha, arise!’’? ‘‘ And she opened her eyes; and when she saw Peter she sat up.’’ The mourners’ tears were wiped away and the work of the Lord grew mightily. . 114 LOIS AND EUNICE. A. D. 50. GRANDMOTHER AND MOTHER OF TIMOTHY. mmm (R HEY were Jewesses, living among a people who worshiped the gods We of Greece. Eunice had married a Greek, and to them was born a son whom they named Timothy. Coming to Lystra on his second missionary tour, Paul found the young man highly spoken of by the little group of Christians. He was of such evident ability and promise that Paul made him his missionary helper. Where he was converted we cannot say, but we conclude that Paul’s first visit to Lystra had much to do with it. At that time Paul and Silas healed a lame man, and the heathen population became,so enthusiastic that they called them Jupiter and Mercury, and the priest of Jupiter was about to offer sacrifice unto them as gods. But soon after, the Jews stirred up the people and Paul was stoned, dragged out of the city, and left by the wayside for dead. But he recovered and bravely comforted the few who had become Christians. Timothy must have known about all this, possibly he saw both the attempted worship and the stoning. Then, or later, he became a follower of the Saviour whom Paul preached, and was ready to be a pupil and helper of Paul when he returned. When, years later, Paul lay in the prison at Rome awaiting trial and execution, he writes his second letter to his beloved helper, calling to remembrance the faith Timothy had shown, and reminding him that this same faith was first in his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice. Again, he says to Timothy, ‘‘ From a child thou hast known the holy scriptures.” Grandmother and mother had no doubt been his teachers. His fit- ness to be the companion and co-worker of Paul finds its explanation largely in the home training and pious example given him by these two noble women. It was from them also that the youth derived his first im- pressions of Christian truth ; for Paul calls to remembrance the unfeigned_ faith which first dwelt in them. 115 LYDIA. A. D. 53. THE FIRST CHRISTIAN CONVERT IN EUROPE. Sans RHO ER native place was Thyatira on the borders of Lydia in Asia Minor. 2) Her city was celebrated in ancient times for its purple dyes and fabrics. Among the ruins of the city has been found in recent years an inscription relating to the ‘‘ Guild of Dyers,’’ showing the accuracy in unimportant details of this scripture narrative. She may have borne a different name at home, but among strangers she was known as Lydia or the Lydian. She was a business woman, dealing in coloring matter, or more likely goods already dyed. The color purple was highly prized among the ancients. Lydia had settled in the city of Philippi, which was a miniature Rome. Here she carried on her business, surrounded by her household, which seems to have included many servants. She was not a Jewess by birth, but had come to a knowledge of the true God, and was a proselyte and a devout worshiper. Philippi was the scene of the first labors of Paul in Europe. One Sab- bath day he found a company of Jews worshiping outside the city, near a | river. He preached to them, and Lydia’s heart was opened to receive the truth. She at once urged the missionaries to make her house their home. Paul hesitated to do this, as he made it a rule not to be dependent on any- one, but he finally accepted her hospitality. For having cured a poor, half-crazed slave girl, who brought her mas- ters much gain by fortune telling, Paul and Silas were cruelly beaten and cast into jail. By means of a mighty earthquake, the prisoners were released from their bonds, and the jailer was converted. On the following day the mag- , istrate dismissed Paul and Silas. A farewell meeting was held at the home of Lydia, and we may suppose that the converted jailer was one of the company. Paul then departed to carry the gospel to other cities of Europe. His most loving epistle was written from the prison in Rome to the church at Philippi. 116 EPONINA. A. D. 40-78. HEROINE OF CONJUGAL AFFECTION. ~~ FS ER husband was Julius Sabinus. -He pretended to be a descendant of Julius Caesar and laid claim to the throne when several others were seeking the same prize. He was defeated and a large reward was offered for his capture. He declared his intention of committing suicide by burning his own house and perishing in the flames. The house was burned and his friends and enemies supposed him dead. — Under his house there was a cavern to which he betook himself instead of dying, and the secret was communicated to but one friend, Martial. Eponina, who was absent at the time, heard of his death and was so overcome with grief that for many days she would eat nothing, and was in danger of sacrificing her own life. Martial at last communicated to her the fact that Sabinus was not dead, but hidden in the cave under the ruins of their villa. She was conducted to his hiding place by night, but returned before morning. She was advised by Martial to keep up the appearance of grief for some months, which she did. For nine years the husband lived in this cave, visited as often as possible by his devoted wife. Suspicions were at last aroused and Sabinus was discovered and brought before the emperor. The death sentence was passed upon him. Eponina prostrated herself before the emperor and implored him to spare her hus- band after his nine years of imprisonment, but he was inexorable. She chose to share the fate of her husband. When they were led to execution, Eponina turned indignantly to the emperor and said: ‘‘ Learn, Vespasian, that I have enjoyed more hap- piness in the performance of my duties and in prolonging’ the life of your victim, though but in the rude recesses of an obscure cavern, than you will henceforth ever enjoy amidst the splendors that surround your throne.’’ The sympathies of the Roman people were with Eponina, and her heroic fidelity was a theme upon which they dwelt with pride. 117 PRISCILLA. A. D, 54. THE MISSIONARY TENTMAKER. i RR CA)outLs and Priscilla, a noble Christian couple, had been driven ‘from Rome by the decree of Claudius Caesar. A large Jewish col- ony dwelt at Rome in a crowded quarter on the banks of the Tiber. Suetonius, a Roman historian, has a statement which exactly fits the words of Acts xviit:2. He says, ‘‘ Claudius banished the Jews from Rome, who were constantly making disturbances, at the instigation of one Chrestus.’’ Christianity had no doubt been introduced into Rome by some of the Jews who were converted at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. These Chris- tians were no doubt persecuted at Rome, as elsewhere by the Jews, and, for the disturbances, the whole Jewish colony was banished. During the early decades of Christianity the Romans did not distinguish between Jews and Christians. Suetonius’ statement about ‘‘Chrestus’’ shows an ignorance that is amusing. He evidently had heard the name of ‘Christ connected with the disturbances. Aquila and Priscilla were already Christians, but suffered banishment with the others. They were tentmakers by trade and finally settled in Corinth, which was a great center of commerce, culture, and especially of iniquity, for here was a temple to Venus with a thousand abandoned women as attendants. Paul on his second missionary tour came to Corinth and, finding Aquila and Priscilla, made his home with them. They were attached by a three- fold tie: they were Jews by birth, Christians by profession, and tentmakers by trade, and Paul, while he worked as a missionary, worked with his friends at their trade. He was so successful in his missionary work, that at the end of a year and a half the Jews raised such a persecution that the three tentmakers were driven from the city, to Ephesus, where Paul left his friends and sailed to Syria, visiting Jerusalem and Antioch. Some time after Paul's departure, there came to Ephesus a learned and eloquent man of Alexandria, Apollos by name, who had heard and accepted 118 PHOEBE. A. D. 60. DEACONESS OF CENCHREA. SO) lll (SR ENCHREA was the seaport of Corinth. A Christian church had been established here by Paul. While working in Corinth he wrote his famous letter to the Romans and sent it by the hand of Pheebe. In the 16th chapter her name stands at the head of a long list of noble workers. Pheebe is called a ‘‘servant’’ of the church, but the word in the origi- nal is ‘‘ diakonos,’’ from which we derive our word deacon. So, while she is called ‘‘servant’’ of the church, the term evidently refers to an official position. She seems to have been a business woman and to have had some affairs of her own to attend to in Rome, for Paul urges the Christians at Rome to be of any possible assistance to her. A high tribute is paid to her as ‘‘a succorer of many and of myself also.’’ By her means and in person she had ministered to the sick and distressed. aa Priscilla continued. some things of the Christian religion and was working enthusiastically awa among his own people, the Jews. The tentmakers heard him and, while rejoicing at his ability and zeal, they saw that he had but part of the truth. He was invited to their abode and learned of them more fully the truth of Christianity. The tentmakers had become teachers, and the name of the wife is placed first. A few years later they evidently returned to Rome, for Paul in his letter to the Romans sends them greeting (Rom. xv1:4). In this single ” verse we learn that he remembered them as his ‘‘helpers’’ in the gospel work, he was no doubt thinking of the days in Corinth. Again, he says that for his life they laid down their own necks. Somehow, they had saved his life at the risk of their own. And, lastly, he speaks of ‘‘ the church which is in their house.’” Their home had become the meeting place of the Christians in Rome at a time when it was neither possible nor safe for them to have a special house of worship. 119 BOADICEA. Died A. D. 62. BRITISH QUEEN. —- — >< Boe was wife of Prasutagas, king of the Iceni, a tribe of east- (Sern Britain. It is the old story, ever repeated, of imperial rapacity and cruelty. The Romans had invaded Britain on the pretext that they helped the Gauls. King Prasutagas, in order to appease the emperor and protect his family, left half of his great fortune to Nero and the remainder to his wife and daughters. The Roman officers, on the pretext that Boadi- cea had concealed a part of the property, seized the whole. The queen protested against such high handed proceedings. The officers in revenge caused her to be stripped and scourged and her daughters were given to the soldiers. This treatment, worse than death, roused the queen and peo- ple to desperation. She assembled the Britons and with spear in hand and the passionate and pathetic eloquence of wronged womanhood, recounted their sufferings at the hands of the Romans and called upon them to repel the invaders. Boadicea led the attack in person and the Romans, seventy thousand in number, were slaughtered. The noble queen and _ her daughters had been avenged. The Roman general, who had been absent from the first battle, returned with ten thousand soldiers and for a time shut himself up in London in doubt whether to give battle to the vast host who followed the queen. At length he came forth. Boadicea in her chariot, accompanied by her daughter, urged the Britons to conquer or die. ‘‘Is it not much better to fall honorably in defense of liberty, than be again exposed to the outrages of the Romans? Such at least is my resolution ; as for you men, you may, if you please, live and be slaves !’’ The result was a total defeat and dreadful slaughter of the brave Britons. Eighty thousand were left dead on the field. The queen died, either of despair or poison, in 62, looking for the prophecy of the Druid priest to be fulfilled, ‘‘ Rome shall perish—write that word in the blood that she has spilt ; — perish, hopeless and abhorred, deep in ruin as in guilt.”’ 120 QUEEN BOADICEA. ot @ EE er IN Ey AT) eT A = Reproduced from en etching of the statue of Boadicea by J, Thomas, a Welsh sculptor and paivter, Thomas was a pupll of Chantrey, and an exhibitor at the Royal Academy, London, for many years, Among his portrait statues and busts, ‘f Music,” ' Racket Player,” “ Status of the Marquis of Bute,” and "Statue of Wellington,” are the most prominent, ES G Oana (ee Ly Moh} BERNICE. A. D. 65. DAUGHTER OF HEROD AGRIPPA. +t HE study of the career of this woman brings us into acquaintance with a number of important historic characters. Bernice was the daughter of Herod Agrippa I. and the sister of Agrippa II., before whom Paul preached (Acts xxv : 13,23 and XXVI: 30). She first married her uncle, Herod, King of Chalcis, and by him had two sons. After his death she went to live with her brother Agrippa, and was under suspicion of sustaining immoral relations to him. To hush up this scandal she proposed marriage to Polemon, king of Cilicia, on condition that he adopt the Jewish faith. This he did. But after a few years she wearied of him and went back to her brother, and Polemon renounced Judaism, his adopted faith. About 65 A. D., she went to Jerusalem and interceded with the Roman governor for the Jews, at the risk of her own life, for he was at this time carrying on a cruel persecution of the Jews. She, with her brother, sought to dissuade the Jews from rebellion. This helped to secure their own safety and the favor of the Romans. After the destruction of Jerusalem, Bernice and Agrippa made a journey to Rome, where she further gained the good will of the emperor Vespasian by her gifts and won his son Titus by her beauty. Titus was about to marry her, but the protest of the Romans prevented him. She was ac- cordingly sent away with the promise that he would call her back when the tumult had ceased. Bernice was very scrupulous about religious observances, but to matters of morality she gave little heed. At the time of Paul’s noted speech before Agrippa, which is given in Acts xxv, Bernice was present. She and Agrippa had come with great pomp to pay a visit to Festus, the governor at Czsarea. It was Agrippa who said, sarcastically or otherwise, ‘‘ Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.’’ 123 BLANDINA. A.D.177%. THE SLAVE GIRL OF LYONS, 8K gs was one of the forty-eight martyrs of Lyons who perished during the terrible religious persecution under the emperor Marcus Aure- lius. In the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius (260-339) is given a let- ter which records the sufferings of the Christians at Lyons. First, they were excluded from houses, baths, and market places, so that nothing belonging to them could appear in public. They bore all patiently, ‘‘ Es- teeming what was deemed great but little, they hastened to Christ, showing in reality that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. And first they nobly sustained all the evils that were heaped upon them by the populace ; clamors and blows ; plundering and robberies, stonings and imprisonments, and whatsoever a savage people delight to inflict upon enemies.’’ Pagan slaves, fearing lest they should be included in the persecutions, sought to protect themselves by charging their Christian masters with gross crimes. The pagan populace and magistrates fell upon the Christians and dragged them to death. Among them was Blandina, herself a poor slave girl, but a Christian who honored her sex and her religion by her constancy and courage. The ancient letter from the Church in Lyons has this to say: ‘‘ While we were all trembling, and her earthly mistress, who was herself one of the contending martyrs, was apprehensive, lest, through the weakness of the flesh, she should not be able to make a bold confession, Blandina was filled with such power, that her ingenious tormentors, who relieved and succeeded each other from morning till night, confessed that they were overcome and had nothing more that they could inflict upon her. They were amazed that she continued to breathe after her whole body was pierced and torn asunder. In the midst of her sufferings, as she for a moment revived, she repeatedly exclaimed, “Tam a Christian ; no wickedness is carried on by us !’”? 124 PERPETUA AND FELICITAS. Martyred A. D. 202. THE LADY AND THE SLAVE OF CARTHAGE. Deke HE fifth general persecution of the Christians was raised by Septimius NU Severus in 202. Among the Christians seized at Carthage were the two above named. Their martyrdom is among the most touch- ing events of church history. Perpetua was a lady of rank. Her father was a pagan, but had a deep affection for his daughter, though she had become a Christian. He visited her in prison and pleaded with her to renounce her faith. He knelt weep- ing at her feet and besought her to have pity on his gray hairs and her own babe which she held to her breast. Though deeply moved, she would _not turn from Christ. When she was brought before the judge he en- treated her to ‘‘ sacrifice for the posterity of the emperors.’’ ‘‘I will not,’’ ’ was the firm she.answered. ‘‘Are you then a Christian?’’ ‘‘I am,’ reply. Sentence was passed upon her and Felicitas. They were to be exposed to the wild beasts. On the way back to prison, Perpetua asked for her babe but the father refused her. The festival of Geta was approaching, at which time shows were given for the amusement of the soldiers. The condemned Christians were kept for that day. At the time appointed, Perpetua and Felicitas left the prison for the amphitheater. Perpetua sang as one who has conquered. They were stripped, put into nets, and exposed to a wild cow. But even the brutal audience counted this indecent. The executioner withdrew them from the arena, gave them loose garments and led them back again. After they had been tossed and torn by the wild creatures they were dragged to the gate to be dispatched. The bloodthirsty crowd called for them to be -slain in the sight of all. They were again led to the arena. Lady and slave gave each other the kiss of peace. They were sisters because Christians. The executioner’s sword ended their earthly existence, but not their influence. In after time a yearly festival was held in their honor at Carthage. 125 JULIA MAMMAEA. A. D. 225. MOTHER OF ALEXANDER SEVERUS. 484} —— A. ULIA MAMMA, afterwards famous as Julia Domna, became the wife of Lucius Septimius Severus between 185 and 190A.D. She had two sons, Alexander (known as Caracalla) and Geta. _ The for- mer succeeded to the throne after the murder of Elagabalus. Julia trained her son for the throne and did it well, for he proved to be a ruler of noble character and administrative ability. His reign of thirteen years was a calm in the storm, an oasis in the desert, a pure breeze in a fetid atmosphere, a pause in the downward rush of Roman degeneracy, and for most of this the world is indebted to his mother, Julia. Hers was the power behind the throne. Under the counsel of his mother, Alexander encouraged a general reform in all departments of his government. To the shame of Rome be it related that one of the causes leading to his death was the enmity aroused by his attempt to eliminate corruption from civil and military circles. He con- ciliated the professors of Christianity by adopting the golden rule and hav- ing it inscribed in letters of gold in many parts of his palace. In his private chapel he had statues of the virtuous and great of all times and countries, to which he offered divine honors ; Abraham and Jesus were among these. He was, of course, not a Christian, for he openly professed the religion of the state, which was pagan.. It is uncertain whether Julia was a Chris- tian, though she was much interested in the person and work of Origen, the famous Christian scholar. Alexander and his mother were assassinated while on a campaign in Germany to drive back the invaders. The mother tried to save her son as the assassins entered the tent to slay him. She received the death blow, but it did not save him. As we have intimated, they were the martyrs of the reforms they instituted. The corrupt soldiery was unaccustomed to the leadership of a pure and wise sovereign. 126 HELENA. A. D. 250-327. MOTHER OF CONSTANTINE THE GREAT. 43k HE varied and romantic career of this woman has in it the materials Se for a most interesting historical novel. She was the daughter of an obscure innkeeper; but of her nationality nothing certain is known. Constantius Chlorus met her, loved her, and married her. Constantine was born to them about 272, probably in Britain. Constantius became co-emperor by appointment of Diocletian, and by him was compelled, for political reasons, to divorce Helena and marry the daughter of Maximilian. By this cruel act Helena was repudiated and sent back from the court splendors to an obscure and lonely life. In time, the co-emperors died, and her son Constantine won his way to the throne, and dispensed with any imperial colleagues. He sought out his mother, restored to her the imperial dignity, gave her the title of Augusta, and caused her to be received at court with all the honor due the mother of an emperor. The conversion of Constantine’ marks an epoch in the world’s history. He adopted Christianity as the religion of state, a marvelous contrast to the attempt of his predecessor, Diocletian, to utterly exterminate it. Per- secutions were now at an end. Constantine, by circular letter, urged his subjects to follow the example of their sovereign, and become Christians. He did not forbid paganism, but he sought by ridicule and neglect to cause its decline. His mother, Helena, became a Christian, and was everywhere loved for her liberality. During a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, she claimed to have dis- covered the holy sepulchre and the true cross. She relieved the poor, the widows, and the orphans, built churches, and showed herself the worthy mother of a great son. At her death he paid her the highest honors. Her body was sent to Rome and placed in the tomb of the emperors. He made her native vil- lage a monument to her memory by raising it to the rank of a city, and gave it the name Helenopolis. a 127 ZENOBIA. A. D. 273. THE CELEBRATED QUEEN OF PALMYRA. ~—: ALMYRA, the ‘City of Palms,’’ was situated in an oasis of the ie Arabian Desert at the junction of two caravan routes and was a community of merchant princes. The wealth of the city was ac- cordingly great, and its architecture of unusual splendor. Odenatus, the husband of Zenobia, had taken up arms for the Roman government and had defended the frontier against the aggressions of the Persian monarch. For this he was recognized as a colleague of the Roman emperor and was given the title of Augustus. Odenatus was afterwards slain and Zenobia assumed the reins of gov- ernment. She is described as ‘‘of great beauty, unblemished virtue, lofty ambition, and having the power of ruling her subjects with combined mild- ness and justice.’’ She was herself a worshiper of one God, but all forms of religion were ‘tolerated by her; Christian, Jew, Pagan, and Mazdean lived together in peace. For her prime minister she chose Longinus the Greek philosopher, who was the leading literary man of the Greeks in this century. Zenobia aspired to be a ruler independent of the Roman emperor. She already ruled Egypt and half of Asia Minor, but she was willing to be subordinate to no one. She and her subjects revolted. Aurelian marched against Palmyra. The forces of Zenobia were defeated in two battles and then the city was besieged and taken.. The people were shown no mercy, but fell as the victims of their queen’s ambition. Zenobia was taken to Rome as a captive. She was obliged to walk in the triumphal procession, her beautiful figure fettered by ponderous manacles of gold. She was held by chains of gold so heavy that it was necessary for a slave to walk by her side and support them. Her con- queror rode behind her in a triumphal car drawn by four elephants. Later, by a most unusual leniency, she was allowed to have a splendid dwelling of her own, where she reared her children and sought to imitate the virtues of Cornelia, the Roman matron. 128 AGNES AND ANASTASIA. Martyred A. D. 303. MARTYRS IN THE DIOCLETIAN PERSECUTION. * De Diocletian was noted as an organizer and ruler, he became notorious as the instigator of the ‘‘tenth persecution.’’ By his order, in 303, churches were torn down, sacred writings were ordered to be given up and destroyed, all assemblies of Christians were prohibited, Christians in public office were removed from their positions, and all were subject to torture. The emperor's purpose was to exterminate the Christian religion. Agnes and Anastasia were two of the many who suffered death asa result of the bloody edict. Agnes was a young maiden of wealth and beauty, and many of the young noblemen sought her in marriage, but she refused them all on the ground that she had devoted her life to the service of Christ. Her suitors accused her to the governor, expecting that threats and torture would cause her to give up her religion. She was entreated and threatened by the judge, and the instruments of torture were shown her. She was then commanded to sacrifice to the idols, but she steadfastly refused. The enraged judge then ordered her to be beheaded. Anastasia’s father was a pagan, but her mother was a Christian. The death of her mother was a sad blow. Her father compelled her to marry a pagan. Her husband, finding that she was a Christian, treated her cruelly and squandered her property. In a few years he died, and ‘Anastasia de- voted herself to works of charity, using what remained of her fortune in relieving the poor Christians, many of whom were in prison. Her works excited suspicion. She and three female servants were arrested, and com- manded to sacrifice to idols. This they refused to do. The servants were executed at once. Anastasia was banished for a time, but subsequently was brought back to Rome and burned alive. Christians died, but Christianity lived on and grew under persecution. Diocletian abdicated in 305. In 311 was issued the edict of universal toleration. 129 NONA. A. D. 330. MOTHER OF GREGORY NAZIANZEN. nn et REGORY was a great theologian, a poet of much ability, and the greatest orator the Eastern Church produced. He was a champion of the orthodox faith, and was made Bishop of Constantinople in the reign of Theodosius the Great. In his earlier years his friends sought to prevail upon him to settle at Athens as a teacher of eloquence, but he gave all his powers to the service of Christ, renounced the usual enjoyments of life, lived on the plainest fare, filled the day with labor, and the night with praying, singing, and holy contemplation. To the mother, Nona, is due much of the credit of the great and noble life of Gregory. By her prayers and holy life she brought about the conver- sion of her husband, who, without faith, simply worshiped a supreme being. Like Hannah of old she consecrated her son to the service of God before his birth. ‘‘She solved the difficult problem of uniting a higher culture and strict exercise of devotion with the practical care of her household.’’ She had unbounded confidence in the power of believing prayer, and she exercised the power most diligently. Gregory says of his mother, that ‘‘ by prayer she attained such control over her spirit, that in every sorrow she encountered she never uttered a plaintive tone before she had thanked God.’’ The loving son also celebrates her extraordinary liberality and self-denying love for the poor and sick. At a great age, in the church which her husband had built almost entirely with his own means, she died holding fast to the altar with one hand, while with the other raised to heaven she exclaimed, ‘‘ Be gracious to me, O Christ my King !’’ Great was the sorrow, especially among those whom she had befriended. Gregory, in one of his poems, praising her life of piety and victorious death, writes :— ‘« Bewail, O mortals, the mortal race; But when one dies, like Nona, praying, then weep I not.” 130 Bence enclose AUGUSTINE AND HIS MOTHER, Sobor: Reproduced fror the painting of Ary Schef- fer, the eminent historical and portrait painter. This picture was executed during Scheffer's prime, and has received very wide Soe tion on account of its religious significance, Thea originalis in the Louvres, Paris, ae AUGUSTINE ‘DTS MOTHER, MONICA, MONICA. A. D. 332-387. MOTHER OF ST. AUGUSTINE. Se a oe remarkable woman is numbered among the mothers of great men. Her son, St. Augustine, became the foremost of the Latin Fathers. Thechurch and the world owe to Monica a great debt, for giving to them her brilliant, holy, and mighty son. There were long years of agonizing heartaches and ceaseless prayer, but the victory came at last. Monica was of Christian parents whose home was at Tagasta in north Africa. She was married to Patricus, an idolater, who proved to be of violent temper and licentious habits. But he never heard an impatient or reproachful word in his home. . Sometime before his death, Patricus forsook his evil ways and became a sincere Christian. Thus were the prayers and patience of Monica re- warded. But there was another burden on her heart. Her son Augustine, whose genius had kindled the fond hopes of father and mother, was sent to Carthage for further study. His mother begged him to lead a pure life in the midst of the dangers and dissipations of a great city. In his writings, Augustine confesses that he listened impatiently and counted it mere wo- man talk which he would be ashamed to heed. Monica mourned over him with yearning grief. Upon his return his blasphemies so shocked her that she could no longer allow him under her roof. But she prayed without ceasing. A cer- tain bishop was urged by her to come and argue with her son. He de- clined. She entreated him with tears. He replied, ‘‘ Continue as you have begun ; surely the son of so many teats cannot perish.’’ Augustine at thirty had exhausted the dissipations of Africa and went to Rome to find new forms of sin. Monica followed him and after a time | found him a changed man. The struggle had been long and bitter. Monica’s closing years were filled with joy at seeing the great powers of her son wholly given to the service of God. His writings bear constant testimony to her character. 133 PAULA. A. D. 347-404. EARLY FRIEND OF EDUCATION AND PHILANTHROPY. sok A hes illustrious saint was of noble Roman birth, being descended from the Scipios and the Gracchi. She was born in luxury and lived in great magnificence, being considered one of the richest women of antiquity. She moved in the very highest circles of society in an aristo- cratic age. She is said to have owned a whole city in Italy. ‘Her natural gifts and education were in keeping with her fortune and social position. Christianity had become the religion of state, having been made such by Constantine, who died ten years before Paula was born. With her, the religion of Jesus was not alone of the state, but of the heart. With her, it was not merely a form, but a life, an enthusiastic and passionate life. The scholars of the Church made her palace their home. She became the patroness of educational and philanthropic work. Paula is known to the world as the disciple and friend of the noted scholar Jerome, whose monumental work was the translation of the entire Bible into the Latin tongue. This version is known as the Vulgate. From it the modern Catholic Bible, the Douay version, is translated. Upon the death of her husband, Toxotius, Paula put aside her luxurious living and devoted herself rigidly to study, prayer, and works of charity. She lived as the poorest slave, but gave as a princess. Her desire was to die in beggary and be buried in a shroud which did not belong to her. With other kindred spirits she journeyed to Antioch, Jerusalem, and Egypt, and finally settled at Bethlehem, where she built a monastery, hos- pital, and three nunneries. Jerome presided over the monastery and carried on his literary work. In Paula we have a noble example of the Christian friendship of woman for man. Jerome and Paula renounced and despised the pleasures and even the comforts of the world. Teacher and pupil, they were co-workers in promoting monastic life, which at first was a protest against the indulgence and corruption of the age. 134 OLYMPIAS. A.D. 391. GAVE HER LIFE AND WEALTH TO CHRISTIAN PHILANTHROPY. Ie LYMPIAS was the daughter of a wealthy lord belonging to the court of Theodosius the Great, and was married to the emperor's treas- urer. She was early left a widow, and, owing to her wealth and beauty, was sought in marriage by many of the noblemen. She refused them all, among them a relative of the emperor. This so displeased him, that her property was taken from her and placed in the hands of a city ofh- cial of Constantinople, with orders that he act as her guardian. Her calm response reveals her character. ‘‘ Your goodness toward me has been that of an emperor and a bishop, in thus relieving me from the heavy burden of my property. Add to that goodness by dividing my wealth between the poor and the Church. I have long been seeking a fit opportunity to avoid the vanity of making the distribution myself, as well as of attaching my heart to perishable goods instead of keeping it fixed on the true riches.’’ The emperor, somewhat ashamed of himself, and in admiration for the noble minded woman, caused her property to be given back. . She was a princess in liberality. The sick, the prisoners, beggars, and exiles were as her children. She purchased hundreds of slaves, and set them free. She gave not only her means but herself to the work of relief. She was a devoted friend of John Chrysostom, the greatest commentator and preacher of the Greek Church. Chrysostom was banished for having roused the anger of the empress Eudoxia by his unsparing sermons. She was young and beautiful, despised her husband, and indulged her passions. Chrysostom denounced her as a new Herodias thirsting for the blood of John. Many of Chrysostom’s followers also suffered, among them Olympias. She lost all her property, was grossly insulted by the soldiers, dragged before the courts, and died in sadness and poverty. Chrysostom addressed to her many letters. One of these contains an extended account of his sufferings and faith. 135 HYPATIA. Martyred A. D. 415. THE GREAT PHILOSOPHER OF ALEXANDRIA. S000: Kk =< se life of this queen is but a recital of her misfortunes. The precise date of her birth is not known. She was the daughter of Desiderio or Didier, as he is generally named by English writers, king of the Lombards, and his queen Ausa. Charlemagne ascended the throne of France ‘in 768. Two years after, his mother Bertrade, making a journey into Italy, was struck by the flour- ishing state of Desiderio’s kingdom, as well as by the beauty and attractive charms of his daughter Ermengarde. She then formed the plan of a double marriage with this family, allotting Ermengarde to Charlemagne, and her own Ciola to Adelchi, son of Desiderio. This scheme was opposed by the existing Pope, Stephen III., who used many arguments to dissuade France from the connection. The influence of Bertrade, however, prevailed, and she had the satisfaction of taking home with her the young princess, for whom she cherished a warm affection. At first everything was done to bring pleasure and happiness to the young queen. The particular friendship subsisting between her and her mother-in-law has been commemorated by Manzoni in beautiful and touch- ing poetry. A terrible reverse, however, awaited her. Charlemagne, from causes now impossible to ascertain, repudiated her, and sent her ignomini- ously back to her family. He was entreated to revoke this cruel mandate, but in vain. After a year of deceptive happiness, Ermengarde returned to the court of Lombardy. Her father and brother received her with the utmost tenderness. A little later, Ermengarde received intelligence that her faithless hus- band had just united himself to the young and lovely Ildegarde. This was to her a death-blow. She retired to a monastery founded by her parents, and of which her sister was abbess. Here her existence was soon termi- nated. She died in 773. Adelard, a cousin of Charlemagne, was so disgusted with the unlawful marriage of his sovereign, that he became a monk. 170 IRENE. A. D. 752-803. EMPRESS OF CONSTANTINOPLE. Poe FEO} RENE, the famous Byzantine empress, was born in Athens, about 752, and died on the isle of Lesbos, August 15, 803. She was an orphan and seventeen years of age, when her beauty and genius attracted the attention of the emperor Constantine V., who destined her to be the wife of his son and heir, Leo. Their nuptials were celebrated with royal splendor at Constantinople, in 769. Obliged by her husband to abandon the worship of images, to which she had been educated, she, however, gained his love and confidence, and was appointed in his testament to administer the government during the minority of their son Constantine VI., then ten years of age. She imme- diately manifested her zeal for the restoration of images. For this object she assembled a council at Constantinople in 786, which was interrupted by the garrison of the capital. In the following year she called another coun- cil at Nice, in which the veneration of images was declared agreeable to Scripture and reason, and to the fathers and councils of the Church. With the iconoclastic controversy is connected the struggle between the mother and the son for supremacy. As Constantine advanced toward maturity, he was encouraged by his favorites to throw off the maternal yoke, and planned the perpetual banish- ment of Irene to Sicily. Her vigilance disconcerted the project, and, while the two factions divided the court, the Armenian guards refused to take the oath of fidelity which she exacted to herself alone, and Constantine became lawful emperor. Irene was dismissed to a life of solitude in one of the imperial palaces, but her intrigues led to the formation of successive con- spiracies for her restoration. On the return of Constantine from an expedition against the Arabs in 797, he was dispatched by assassins. Irene succeeded to the throne, and for five years ruled the empire with prudence and energy. Intercourse was renewed between the Byzantine court and that of Charlemagne, and Irene is said to have sent ambassadots 171 ABASSA. Eighth Century A. D. SISTER OF THE FAMOUS MOHAMMEDAN RULER. or i 0 OG 00 ee BASSA, a sister of Haroun al Raschid, a caliph of the Saracens, A.D. 786, was so beautiful and accomplished, that the caliph often lamented he was her brother, thinking no other husband could be found worthy of her. To sanction, however, a wish he had of conversing at the same time with the two most enlightened people he knew, he married her to his vizier, Giafar, the Barmecide, on condition that Giafar should not regard her as his wife. Giafar, not obeying this injunction, was put to death by order of the enraged caliph, and Abassa was dismissed from his court, She wandered about, sometimes reduced to the extreme of wretched- g, and-there are still extant some Arabic ness, reciting her own story in son verses composed by her, which celebrate her misfortune. In the divan entitled Juba, Abassa’s genius for poetry is mentioned ; and a specimen of her composition, in six Arabic lines, addressed to Giafar, her husband, whose society she was restricted by her brother from enjoying, is to be found in a book written by Ben Abou Haydah. She left two children, twins, whom Giafar, before his death, had sent privately to Mecca to be educated. NAR eee aa s ON ems Irene continued. to negotiate a marriage between that emperor and herself, and thus to unite the empires of the East and the West. As her golden chariot moved through the streets of Constantinople, the reins of the four white steeds were held by as many patricians marching on foot. Most of these patricians were eunuchs, and by one of them, the great treasurer Nicephorus, she was ensnared to her ruin. He was secretly invested with the purple, and immediately arrested and banished Irene to the Isle of Lesbos. There, deprived of all means of subsistence, she gained a scanty livelihood by spinning, and died of grief within a year. Her pro- tection of image worship has caused her to be enrolled among the saints in the Greek calendar. 172 MOHAMMEDAN WOMAN. MOHAMMEDAN WOMAN, yr Reproduced from a painting by J. L, Gérome, one of most popular French artists, and a pupil of the celebrated Paul Delaroche, Géroame has painted a variety of subjects, ancient and modern, which have gained him a foramost place in the modern French school, In 16865, at the Paris Salon, hea was a medalist of honor; and twenty yaars prior to that time had been mada a Mamber of tha Institute, ae JUDITH, QUEEN OF LOUIS I. Ninth Century A. D. CELEBRATED FOR HER MOTHERLY AMBITION. ste UDITH, the second wife of Louis le Debonnaire, son of Charlemagne, was a daughter of Welff, Duke of Bavaria. She was celebrated for her beauty and intellectual accomplishments, and succeeded in obtaining such a control over the king’s affections that she governed not only the palace, but also exercised the greatest influence in the govern- ment. Her eldest son, who afterwards reigned under the name of Charles the Bald, was born in 823 ; but as the king had already divided his estate be- tween the sons of his former marriage, there was nothing left for him. Judith immediately exerted herself to obtain a kingdom for her child, and consequently by the consent of Lothaire, eldest son of Louis, such a pos- session was obtained. Pepin, the second son of Louis, having convinced Lothaire of his folly in yielding up his possessions at the request of Judith, induced him to unite with himself in a rebellion against Judith and Louis. In 829, they sur- rounded Aix, took Judith and her husband prisoners, and, accusing Judith of too great intimacy with Bernard, her prime minister, forced her to take the veil, in the convent of St. Radegonde. They, however, permitted Judith to have a private interview with her husband on condition that she should urge him to immediate abdication. This she promised to do; but, instead, advised Louis to yield to circum- stances and go to the monastery of St. Medard, at Soissons, but not to abdicate the crown. The king followed her advice, and in 830, Lothaire, having quarreled with his brother, restored the crown to Louis, who im- mediately recalled Judith. The pope released her from her conventical vows, and she cleared her- self by an oath from the accusation of adultery that was brought against her. In 833, the emperor was again betrayed and deposed by his children, although Judith had exerted herself in every way, even by cruelty, to re- 175 ANGELBERGA. Ninth Century A. D. QUEEN OF LOUIS Il, KING OF ITALY. Sa ee ——— —— NGELBERGA, Empress of the West, wife of Louis II., emperor and king of Italy, is supposed to have been of illustrious birth, though that is uncertain. She was a woman of courage and ability ; but proud, unfeeling, and venal. The war in which her husband was involved with the king of Germany was especially rendered unfortunate yy her pride and rapacity. In 874, Angelberga built, at Plaisance, a monastery, which afterwards became one of the most famous in Italy. After the death of Louis, Angel- berga remained at the convent of St. Julia, in Brescia, where her treasures were deposited. In 881, Charles the Fat, of France, caused Angelberga to be taken and carried prisoner into Germany, lest she should assist, by her wealth and political knowledge, her daughter Ermengarde, who had married Boron, king of Provence, a relative of Charles. She was released, however, through the intervention of the pope. It is not known when she died. Angelberga had two daughters, Ermengarde, who survived her, and Gisela, abbess of St. Julia, who died before her parents. tne re MA RAR AR ARR RA RR eR Rn ene Judith continued. tain for her weak husband the power he could not keep for himself. After a year of confinement, Louis was again placed on the throne; and by the new division of the empire, arranged in 839, Judith had the satisfaction of seeing her son placed in possession of a large share of those estates from which he had seemed forever excluded. Louis the Mild died in 840, and Judith survived him only three years. She died at Tours. In her heart the mother’s ambition was the predominating power. All her efforts were devoted. to securing what she deemed to be an equitable partition of the royal patrimony. 176 ETHELELEDA. a. ALT), 922. THE MARTIAL WIFE OF ETHELDRED, EARL OF MERCIA. wn - - - =<>>-FrOs we ee THELFLEDA, eldest daughter of Alfred the Great, and sister of & Edward I., king of the West Saxons, was wife to Etheldred, Earl of Mercia, She was of a masculine temperament and, after the birth of her first child, she made a vow of chastity and united with her husband in his profession of arms. She retained a cordial friendship for her hus- band and together they performed numerous acts of munificence and valor. Together they assisted Alfred in his wars against the Danes, whom they prevented the Welsh from succoring. Not less pious than valiant, they restored cities, founded abbeys, and protected the bones of departed saints. After the death of her husband, in 912, Ethelfleda assumed the gov- ernment of Mercia; and, emulating her father and brother, commanded armies, fortified towns, and prevented the Danes from re-settling in Mercia. Then, carrying her victorious arms into Wales, she compelled the Welsh, after several victories, to become her tributaries. In 918 she took Derby from the Danes ; and in 920 Leicester and York. Having become famed for her spirit and courage, the titles of lady and queen were judged in- adequate to her merit, and, in addition to these, she received those of lord and king. Her courage and activity were employed in the service of her country till her death, in 922, at Tamworth, in Staffordshire, where she was defend- ing against the Danes. Her body was interred in the porch of the monas- tery of St. Peter, in Gloucester, which she had in concert with her husband erected. She left one daughter, Elswina. The death of Ethelfleda was deeply regretted by the whole kingdom, especially by her brother Edward, to whom she proved equally serviceable in the cabinet and in the field. Ingulphus, the historian, speaks of the extraordinary courage and other masculine virtues of this princess, and pays just tribute to her diplomatic skill as well as to her martial quali- ties. 177 GEHERBERGE. Tenth Century A. D. COURAGEOUS WIFE OF LOUIS IV. OF FRANCE. Sa ae - ae HEH ERBERGE, queen of Louis IV. of France, was the daughter of & Henry, who became king of Germany in 918. She married first Gislebert, Duke of Lorraine, who was drowned in the Rhine. In 940 she married Louis IV., whose crown was secured to him by Hugh, Count of Paris, and William, Duke of Normandy. Five years after her royal husband was taken prisoner by the Normans, while endeavoring to free himself from the tutelage of Hugh. Hugh the Great, Duke of the Franks, wished to obtain possession of him ; but the Duke of Normandy consented to give him up only on condi- tion that Louis’ two sons should become hostages for their father. Hugh sent to demand them of Gerberge, but she refused, well knowing that the race of Charlemagne would be entirely destroyed if the father and children were all prisoners. She sent only the youngest son with a bishop; so, Louis not being set free, Gerberge sent to demand aid from her brother Otho, king of Germany. Louis was at length liberated, by Otho’s assist- ance, and he confided to Gerberge the defense of the town of Rheims, in which she shut herself up with her troops. In 954 Louis died, and Gerberge exerted herself effectually to have her eldest son Lothaire, although hardly twelve, placed on his father’s throne. She and her brother Bruno, Duke of Lorraine, were appointed regents. She marched with her young son, at the head of an army, and besieged Poitiers ; and, in 960, she retook the city and fortress of Dijon, which had been treacherously given up to Robert of Treves, and had the traitor be- headed in the presence of the whole army. Lothaire reigned till 986, and was succeeded by his son Louis V., the last of the Carlovingian dynasty, who reigned a single year under the protection of Hugh Capet. Jouis V. was poisoned either by his mother or his wife, both of whom were dissolute women, and was succeeded by Hugh, the founder of the Capetian dynasty, 178 COURT LIFE IN GRANADA, ——0¢0-. Reproduced from a painting by Bdward Richter, a Parisian genre and portrait painter, The 'Jewess of Morocco,’ ‘At the Fortune- Teller’s,” Salome,” and the ' Hazaar in Tunis,” by the same artist, have besn received with much favor, She COURT LIFE IN GRANADA. GENERAL CONDITIONS DURING THE DARK AGES FROM 500 TO 1100 A. D. Soke ale HE difficulty of tracing any well defined line of development during this period is very well recognized by all competent authorities. f — This is not difficult to understand when the chaotic political condi- tion of Europe is taken into account, following closely upon the disruption of the Roman Empire, and extending down to the time of the first Crusade. Nevertheless, a number of elements were present and potent in giving " woman whatever distinctive impress she may have had during this sterile period, — sterile, it must be remembered, with respect to a highly organized social order. The most prominent of these elements or forces were Chris- tianity, feudalism, and chivalry, in their actual relations with domestic life ; and in order to measure the peculiar influence of these institutions, it is desirable to invite attention to them separately. From the fall of the Roman Empire till the death of Charlemagne, A.D. 814, various attempts were made to re-establish the empire, but the warring eocaiana Ot petty Germanic kings and the conflicting ambitions of Political rival aspirants were very generally effective in defeating its ecnanges restoration. During this period, a great revolution had taken place in the condition, social and political, of the dominions of the Franks. The dynasty of the Merovingians, by its own discordant character and weakness, had fallen, and given way to another race of kings. Charle- magne gave to the royalty of the Franks a new character ; he possessed in a high degree the Roman spirit, and for a while he brought back into exist- ence the Roman Empire, with all its powerful centralization. But Charle- magne’s influence and power of government belonged to himself, and dis- appeared after his death, and thus this event was followed very quickly by utter disorganization throughout his vast dominions. Under the terrible invasions of the Northmen, which soon followed, not only all central power, but in a manner all power whatever, disappeared. Out of this confusion arose an entirely new state of society, which we know as the feudal system. 181 WOMAN DURING THE DARK AGES. Under feudalism, all central power had become paralyzed, and the great lords, with their vast territories, had by the existing system no armed force to defend them. Under these circumstances they introduced Feudal a new method of distributing their lands, which was by grant- System ing it hereditarily on the condition that the tenant was bound not only to cultivate the portion of land he held, but to perform certain military services according to its extent ; or, in other words, he was bound to furnish to his superior lord in time of war so many armed men for so many acres, Touching the bond of feudalism, M. Sismondi makes the following observations : — ‘“The essence of the feudal bond was the military service ; the vassal engaged himself for the defense of his lord, towards and against all, to ren- der this service, either alone, or with a greater or lesser number of knights and followers in arms, according to the dignity of his fief; this service was to last during a number of determined days. On the other hand, the lord bound himself so completely to protect his vassal, that he engaged himself to entire restitution if the vassal was ejected from his fief. To these engage- ments, which formed the essence of the feudal contract, others were joined, the nature of which seemed more chivalric, and the observation of which was likewise confided to the guarantee of the point of honor. Thus the vassal was bound, if his lord lost his horse in battle, to give him his own in exchange ; he was to cover him with his body in danger, to deliver himself up to prison for him, or in hostage, to keep his secrets, to reveal to him the machinations of his enemies, to defend, in fine, his honor, and that of all the members of his family.’’ This system brought with it new institutions and new forms of life. Under it the landed aristocracy assumed and exercised, each with his own Feuaar “(OMains, sovereign power, legislative, judicial, and military, Institutions and thus the state was transformed into a number of little sovereignties, The new lords of the land formed alliances among themselves, or made war upon each other at their own will, and their whole aim was to keep themselves in a prominent state of defense. The old residences, which had consisted in a confused mass of buildings 182 WOMAN DURING THE DARK AGES. with little or no capability of defense, were now abandoned, and their places were supplied by almost impregnable fortresses. The castle, indeed, is become, in a manner, the symbol or image of feudalism. In this fortress, placed at a distance from all social life without, the lord and his lady lived in a complete state of isolation. Without occupation in this solitary abode, life at home must have been so weari- Feudal Castle ome that the great desire of the male part of the household would be to be absent from it ; and hence we find the possess- ors of fiefs passing their time on the high road, in adventures of every kind, wars, plunderings, and anything which promised violent activity. The coarseness and ferocity which arose out of this life threw a new impediment in the way of social and intellectual improvement, and these early ages of feudalism were, indeed, ages of darkness. Yet, as one of the ablest of our modern historians has observed, ‘‘at the same time that castles opposed so strong a barrier to civilization, while it had so much difficulty in penetrat- ing into them, they were in a certain respect a principle of civilization ; they protected the development of sentiments and manners which have acted a powerful and salutary part in modern society, ; everybody knows that domestic life, the spirit of family, and particularly the condition of woman in modern Europe are highly developed. ‘Among the causes which have contributed to this development, we must reckon life in the castle, the situation of the possessor of the fief in his domains, as one of the principal. Never, in any other form Castle ik of society, has the family been reduced to its most simple e expression, the husband, the wife, and the children, and been so bound, so pressed together, separated from all other powerful and rival relations. In the various other states of society, the head of the family, without quitting home, had numerous occupations and diversions, which drew him from the interior of his dwelling, and prevented it.from being the center of his life. The contrary was the case in feudal socicty.’ So long as he remained in his castle, the possessor of the fief lived there with his wife and children, almost his only equals, his only intimate and permanent com- pany. This being obliged to live habitually in the bosom of his family with his wife and children gave rise to domestic ideas of great influence.’’ 183 WOMAN DURING THE DARK AGES. Moreover, when the possessor of the fief left his castle to seek war and adventures, his wife remained in it, and in a situation wholly different from that in which women had hitherto always been placed. She remained mistress, chatelaine, representing her husband, charged in his absence with the defense and honor of the fief. This elevated and almost sovereign position, in the very bosom of domestic life, often gave the women of the feudal epoch, a dignity, courage, virtue, and a distinction, which they had not displayed under other circumstances, and contributed, no doubt, to their moral development, and to the general progress of their condition. This is not all. The importance of children in the feudal mansion, of the eldest son more especially, was much greater than anywhere else. aaa This brought forth not only natural affection, and the desire to transmit his property to his children, but also the desire to transmit to them that power, that superior position, that sovereignty in- herent in the domain. The eldest son of the lord was, in the eyes of his father and all his people, a prince, an heir presumptive, the depository of the glory of a dynasty. So that the weakness as well as the good sentiments of human nature, domestic pride as well as affection, combined to give the spirit of the family more energy and power. Add to this the influence of Christian ideas, which we have merely noted in passing, and it may be comprehended how this life of the castle, this solitary, gloomy, hard situation, was favorable to the development of domestic life, and to that elevation of the condition of woman which holds so great a place in the history of civilization. As a wife, at the time of the fullest development of the feudal system, woman had become, instead of the slave and property of her husband, his equal, and, in most of the relations of life, an independent Advance _of - agent. She had become capable of holding independent Woman power of her own, which was something more than reflecting that of her husband. She was now an heiress, carrying with her as her dower, castles, and domains, and provinces, with numerous vassals ; she could be guardian of the manor, regent of the state, and as such, sign 184 WOMAN DURING THE DARK AGES. deeds and share in all obligations imposed by peace or war. Many of the great ladies of the middle ages ruled over extensive territories, and took a very active part in political affairs. In the household her position had been equally advanced, and she was looked upon with a different kind of respect. Instead of serving the wine to the guests, she sat at the table, and hers was the place of honor, by the side of her lord. When her lord was absent, the lady of the house was at the head of the board. The lady of the castle, too, had the direction and control of the whole family, which was often very numerous, and entailed large responsibility. Under these circumstances, there arose a peculiar form of sentiment between the two sexes, one of which had not been known in the same guise before. The lady of the castle, as the head of the household, represented wo- mankind in full consciousness of independence and self-consciousness, and this consciousness had been communicated to the rest Rise of enivairs of the sex within the castle walls. When woman ‘obtains this position, it immediately makes itself felt upon the other sex, and under it the harshness and ferocity which were naturally among the first characteristics of feudalism were gradually exchanged for elegance of manners and sentiments which were new to society. Out of this state of things arose two words which will never be forgotten. These words are courtesy and chivalry. Courtesy meant simply the manners and sentiments which prevailed in the feudal household ; and was, above everything, that which distinguished the society inside the castle from that without, from the people of the country, and it is universally allowed that it was the influence of the female sex which fostered it. Chivalry arose from the same source, but took on bolder forms and addressed itself to a somewhat different task. The knight learned to look upon woman as his patron and mistress and upon himself as her servant, and as bound to offer himself in her defense. But though all the principles of chivalry and gallantry were universally -acknowledged and talked of, the things themselves sank into forms and matters of show and ostentation,— to the tournament and the joust,— and left their greatest impress on romance and letters. Feudal society was, in comparison to what had gone before it, polished 185 WOMAN DURING THE DARK AGES. and brilliant, and presented many great qualities, but under the surface it Morais Was far from being pure. The whole society in ‘the castle and mixed together on something like a footing of equality, and AmusementS here the lord of the castle appointed one of the young bachelors to serve one of his daughters, it might and according to the romances, sometimes did, end in marriage. During a considerable portion of the day, the inmates were engaged in playing together at different amusements and games, and we can perceive in the descriptions given, that these were often suggestive of anything but chaste feelings, while the language in common use among both sexes was far from delicate. All these were combined with an extreme intimacy between the two sexes, who commonly visited each other in their chambers or bedrooms. Thus we may easily understand how all these customs would join in giving gréat license of tone and character to female society during the feudal period. It has been stated that feudalism raised woman to a higher place in domestic life ; that whereas before she was ina state of subjection, under the feudal system she exercised independent power. Un- Elevation ot doubtedly, as a wife, woman was a gainer. The mantle of the wite authority with which her husband was invested, fell upon her whenever he was temporarily absent. The management of a feudal house- hold certainly gave the lady of the house a dignity and imposed upon her responsibilities which secured her respect and gave her freedom of action, She was called upon to direct a little army of subordinates, and was her husband's partner and equal. But this improvement in the status of woman is not discernible except in the governing classes. The women without title, rank, position, wealth, the women of everyday life, profited little. They shared in the subjection of their fathers, brothers, and hus- bands, and they enjoyed none of the privileges which the feudal system conferred on their more highly placed sisters. Ina state of society where the mass of the people were in a dependent position, it is not likely that any special freedom would be granted to or even claimed’ by women. Under feudalism there was no sort of independence. possible to women who were not born to wealth or rank. Women were under a twofold sovereignty — that of the feudal lord and 186 WOMAN DURING THE DARK AGES. of their male relatives. No woman in any position of life could be said to oo be a free agent. : Restraints If she were a great heiress, she was disposed of in mar- riage as best suited the king and his council without regard to her wishes. In the case of a vassal’s daughter, the consent of the feudal lord must be obtained to her marriage. Every tenant paid a sum of money to the lord on the marriage of his daughter, and this tax was even levied in the case of granddaughters. A couple could not be betrothed without the permission of their feudal lord, and if they failed to obtain his consent they were subject toa fine. A woman living on the estate of a feudal lord was regarded as, in a manner, his property. If she married a stranger and left the manor, the lord was entitled to compensation, as being deprived of part of his ‘‘live stock.” , Powerful as was the Church in these ages, it was not able to protect women outside the shade of the cloister. And it will be readily understood Position ow great was the influence of the priest in an age when the ofthe mass of the people were so little able to think and judge for Church themselves, in an age when the supernatural encompassed daily life with terrors, when the common laws of nature were dim mysteries, when disease and misfortune were ascribed to the malevolence of witches and evil spirits. The Church was the supreme arbiter, and to question her decrees was to incur the risk of eternal misery. The powers of evil could only be exorcised by holy water and priestly aid, and lapses into sin were atoned for by substantial offerings. It was easy to persuade women, always more susceptible than men to the emo- tional and imaginative side of religion, that their dreams and fancies were . divine warnings. And hence they fell easy prey to ecclesiastical tyranny. But if the Church tyrannized over the people and took advantage of their ignorance, it was a great uplifting and civilizing power in their lives. But for the Church the middle ages would have been one dark night of unillumined barbarism. The Church summed up in herself all that existed of knowledge and culture. It was the symbol of order, progress, and learn- ing. In time of war it was a haven of peace. It was the Church that enabled women to live secure, sheltered lives in the midst of turmoils and 187 WOMAN DURING THE DARK AGES. danger. It was the guardian of the people’s consciences, and possessed over them a power of life and death. Looked at from a lighter side, the Church was a potent factor in every- day life. Its festivals were one of the chief recreations of the people. To Churen ana women especially, whose diversions were fewer than those of Everyday men, the feast days, with their processions and ceremonials, neers were welcome excitements. In the services of the Church, woman found an outlet for the gratification of her esthetic sense, which nothing else afforded. If the main features of social life in this period be remembered, the sordidness of the dwellings, the absence of everything beyond the barest necessities in the majority of homes, the lack of indoor recreations, and of all the resources of modern times afforded by the means of locomotion, it will not appear strange that the Church as a social force should have wielded such power. ee After the founding of the Benedictine order, in 530, regular nunneries were also founded, and the conventical system spread rapidly in every part ienenes of Europe. This created a new interest for women of all System ‘ranks and conditions. It is related in the annals of the Eng- lish Heptarchy that no fewer than thirty kings and queens resigned their crowns and rank to live and die in religious houses. The veneration in which they were held, however, soon by its excess engendered abuses. As numbers of the feudalry, when past the age of enterprise, or in ill health, or disgusted with the world, took refuge in convents, and there ended their days, it was usual for them to leave large bequests, and even give their whole property, for the maintenance of these institutions, and, when nunneries were established, numbers of noble women chose a clois- tered life. From these and other causes, a tide of wealth poured in, which caused a total alteration in the proper character of a system commenced with the most self-satisfying asceticism. It is difficult to estimate the exact result of the influence of the estab- lishment of monasticism upon the character and position of women. In the wnthicsicd ax COlUEr monasteries of England the two sexes lived together Monasticism in the same building, though they were bound to strict con- tinence and chastity. Corruption however, soon introduced 188 WOMAN DURING THE DARK AGES. itself. With the latter part of the eighth century, the nuns became pro- verbially dissolute in their character, and royal wives and mistresses were _ very frequently sought in the convents. But, on the other hand, it was in the nunneries that the education of girls of all classes was carried on. Con- vent schools were the only schools either for rich or poor, and the ‘‘sis- ters’’ the only women able to qualify themselves to become instructors. The nuns, again, were the chief dispensers of charity. Their duties were by no means confined to the cloister ; but they went about among the people, teaching, advising, consoling, and discoursing on subjects with which convent sisters are supposed to have little acquaintance. It is frequently asserted, and with much force, that when the clergy labored to emancipate the female sex, it was not without self-interest. They had seen how the gentleness and pious spirit of the sex had assisted more than anything clse in the early progress of Christianity. They sought, therefore, to substitute their own influence over woman for that of the family. The women were drawn away from earthly marriages to be, as they expressed it, married to Christ ;.that is, to enter the monasteries, and be- come nuns. The religious houses were thus filled with women who had either separated from their husbands, or refused to accept the husbands designed for them by their fathers, usually under the protection, if not under the encouragement, of the ecclesiastics. It appears that a man could divorce himself almost at pleasure ; and if he and his wife agreed to separate, each was at liberty to marry again with- Hitaeee: HORE publicly assigning any cause for their separation. This view of marriage was attributable very largely to the influence and precepts of the Roman law, which continued to persist throughout the Middle Ages as a body of very important precedents. No legal process was required, although the abuse of the power of divorce was sometimes punished. Not until the time of Justinian did divorce by consent of both parties become subject to any restrictions. This famous law-maker was instrumental in counteracting numerous marital abuses, with a view mainly to public decorum and the comfort of individuals. It is a remarkable illustration of the Roman view of marriage that, in view of what must have been the great social evil of 189 WOMAN DURING THE DARK AGES. capricious divorce, the right of either party to dissolve the marriage was never successfully questioned. The matter of divorce subsequently passed into the hands of the bishops, who not only assumed the right of giving their sanction to such separation, but of annulling a marriage at their own will for any cause they chose to assign. A very small cause of dissatisfaction was oftentimes con- sidered a sufficient reason for ecclesiastical interference. But still from the pure Roman to the canon law the change was great indeed. The ceremony became sacred, the tie indissoluble. Those whom God hath joined let not man put asunder, was the first text of the new law of marriage, and against such a prohibition social convenience and experi- ence pleaded with much less hope of success. While marriage once created became indissoluble, the impediments to marriage also multiplied. The tie of consanguinity was extended, while the power of dispensing with disa- bilities and the power of annulling marriage on the ground of such disabilities became more and more the peculiar prerogative of the Church, So the Church, while with one hand it raised woman from the abasement into which she had been cast by paganism, lowered her with the other. It was ever careful to impress upon her its sense of her inferior status. The higher conception of womanhood was an ideal only, a theme for poets, a dream of saints ; the lower conception was the guide, the basis of everyday teaching. It was this lower conception, which, in different ways, deter- mined woman’s position in the social fabric of European life, until the dawn of a new light many centuries after. “190 salt. BOOK FOUR —-+040+.— WOMAN UNDER MEDIEVAL INSTITUTIONS TO DISCOVERY OF AMERICA —— 040+. 1100 TO 1500 A. D. = iG WS a ‘ydeaSoqjoyd v woiy poonposd9 ELUS VOR OTANI ANNA COMNENA. A. D. 1083-1148. ‘GREEK HISTORIAN AND SCHOLAR. a RO NNA COMNENA, daughter of the Greek emperor Alexius Com- nenus, flourished ‘about the year 1118. She renounced in her . youth the amusements and occupations of her sex, to deliver up herself to a passionate fondness for study and letters. After acquiring a large acquaintance with history and Jdedles-lettres, she made marked progress in philosophy, notwithstanding the obscurity in which it was, in those times, involved. She later employed her acquire- ments in composing a history, in fifteen volumes, of the life and reign of her father,— a work which she entitled Zhe Alexiad, eight of these books were published by Heeschelius in 1610; and the whole fifteen with a Latin * version in 1651. In 1670 the learned Charles du Fresne published another edition with historical and philological notes. Anna Comnena has been accused of partiality in this work, in which the actions of her father appear to greater advantage than in the writings of the Latin historians, who, it is not impossible, might have cherished prej- udices against a Greek emperor. The truth is probably to be found by taking medium ground. The Journal des Savans thus speaks of Anna in 1675 :— ‘*The elegance with which Anna Comnena has, in fifteen books, de- scribed the life and actions of her father, and the strong and eloquent manner in which she has set them off, are so much above the ordinary capacity of women, as almost to excité a doubt whether she were indeed the author of the work. It is impossible to read the descriptions she has given of countries, rivers, mountains, towns, sieges, battles, the reflections she makes upon particular events, the judgment she passes upon human actions, with her digressions on various occasions, without perceiving that she must have been skilled in grammar, rhetoric, philosophy, and mathe- matics ; nay, even that she must have possessed some knowledge of law, physics, and divinity — studies very rare and uncommon in her sex.”’ ; 193 HELOISE. A. D. 1101-1164. PUPIL AND MISTRESS OF ABELARD. Sie A ee ts who has been immortalized by Rousseau, as well as ren- dered famous by her unfortunate love for Abelard, was born about 1101, and died in 1164. Her parents are unknown, but she lived with her uncle, Fulbert, a canon of the cathedral of Paris. Her childhood was passed in the convent of Argenteuil, but, as soon as she was old enough, she returned to her uncle, who taught her to speak and write in Latin, then the language used in literary and polite society. She is also said to have understood Greek and Hebrew... To this education, very uncommon at that time, Heloise added great beauty, and refinement, and dignity of manner ; so that her fame soon spread beyond the walls of the cloister, throughout the whole kingdom. Just at this time, Pierre Abelard, who had already made himself very celebrated as a rhetorician, came to found a new school in that art in Paris, where the originality of his principles, his eloquence, and his great physical strength and beauty made a deep sensation. Here he saw Heloise, and commenced an acquaintance with her by letter ; but, impatient to know her more intimately, he proposed to Fulbert that he should receive him into his house, which was near Abelard’s school. Fulbert was avaricious, and also desirous of having his niece more thoroughly instructed, and these two motives induced him to consent to Abelard’s proposal, and to request him to give lessons in his art to Heloise. He even gave Abelard permission to use physical punishment towards his niece, if she should prove rebellious. » ‘‘T cannot,’’ says Abelard, ‘‘ cease to be astonished at the simplicity of Fulbert ; I was as much surprised as if he had placed a lamb in the power of a hungry wolf. Heloise and I, under pretext of study, gave ourselves wholly to love ; and the solitude that love seeks, our studies procured for us. Books were open before us ; but we spoke oftener of love than phi- losophy, and kisses came more readily from our lips than words.” The canon was the last to perceive this intimacy, although he was often . 194 HELOISE. told of it, and heard daily the songs that Abelard composed for Heloise sung through the streets. When he did discover the truth, he was deeply incensed, and sent Abelard from the house. But he contrived to return, and carry off Heloise to Palais, in Brittany, his native country. Here she gave birth to a son, surnamed Astrolabe from his beauty, who passed his life in the obscurity of a monastery. The flight of Heloise enraged Fulbert to the highest degree ; but he was afraid to act openly against Abelard, lest his niece, whom he still loved, might be made to suffer in retaliation. At length Abelard, taking compas- sion on his grief, sent to him, implored his forgiveness, and offered to marry Heloise, if the union might be kept secret, so that his reputation as a relig- ious man should not suffer. Fulbert consented to this, and Abelard went to Heloise for that purpose ; but Heloise, unwilling to diminish the future fame of Abelard, by marriage, which must be a restraint upon him, refused to listen to him. She quoted the precepts and the example of all learned men, sacred and profane, to prove to him that he ought to remain free and untrammeled. She also warned him that her uncle’s reconciliation was too easily obtained, and that it was but a feint to entrap him more surely. But Abelard was resolute and Heloise returned to Paris. There they were soon after married. Fulbert did not keep his promise of secrecy, but spoke openly of the marriage, concerning which, when she heard of it, a protest came from Heloise that it had never taken place. “This made her uncle treat her so cruelly, that Abelard, either to protect her from his violence, or to prove that the announcement of the marriage was false, took her himself to the convent of Argenteuil, where he ordered her to take the veil. Twelve years passed without Heloise ever having mentioned the name of Abelard. She became prioress of Argenteuil, and subsequently lived a life of complete retirement. Abelard, hearing of her homeless situation, left Brittany and went to place Heloise in the little oratory of the Paraclete, which had been founded by him. Here Heloise exerted herself to the utmost to build up a convent, and was rewarded with unusual success. She rarely appeared in-public, but devoted herself almost wholly to prayer and meditation. She died May 17, 1164. 195 THE COUNTESS OF TRIPOLI. Twelfth Century A. D. DISTINGUISHED FOR BEAUTY AND KINDLINESS. }0G0+f ~— —- — ——__ HE knights who had returned from the Holy Land spoke with enthu- siasm of a Countess of Tripoli, who had extended to them the most generous hospitality, and whose grace and beauty equaled her virtue. Geoffrey Rudel, a gentleman of Blieux, in Provence, and one of those who were presented -to Frederick Barbarossa in 1154, hearing this account, fell deeply in love with her without having seen her, and prevailed upon one of his friends, Bertrand d’ Allaman, a troubadour like himself, to accompany him to the Levant. In 1162 he quitted the court of England, whither he had been con- ducted by Geoffrey, the brother of Richard I., and embarked for the Holy Land. On his voyage he was attacked by a severe illness, and had lost the power of speech when he arrived at the port of Tripoli. The countess, being informed that a celebrated poet was dying of love for her on board a vessel which was entering the roads, visited him on shipboard, took him by the hand, and attempted to cheer his spirits. - Rudel, we are assured, recovered his speech sufficiently to thank the countess for her humanity, and to declare his passion, when his expressions of gratitude were silenced by the convulsions of death. He was buried at Tripoli, beneath a tomb of porphyry, which the countess raised to his memory, with an Arabic inscription. The transcribed verses, ‘‘On Distant Love,’’ which he composed pre- vious to this voyage, began thus : — “« Angry and sad shall be my way, If I behold not her afar; And yet I know not when that day Shall rise, for still she dwells afar. God, who has formed this fair array Of worlds, and placed my love afar, Strengthen my heart and hope, I pray, Of seeing her I love afar.’ 196 ELEANOR OF AQUITAINE. A.D. 1122-1204. QUEEN OF LOUIS VII. OF FRANCE. Seemaatgensoesa amano ~-3> Kee one UEEN ELEANOR succeeded her father, William X., in 1137, in the fine duchy which at that time composed Gascony, Saintonge, and the comté de Poitou. She married the same year Louis VIL, king of France, and went with him to the Holy Land. She soon gave him cause for jealousy, from her intimacy with her uncle, Raymond, count of Poitiers, and with Saladin ; and after many bitter quarrels they were divorced under pretense of consanguinity, in 1152. Six weeks after- wards, Eleanor married Henry II., duke of Normandy, afterwards king of England, to whom she brought in dowry Poitou and Guienne. Eleanor had four sons and a daughter by her second husband. In 1162, she gave Guienne to her second son, Richard Coeur de Lion, who did homage for it to the king of France. She died in 1204. She was very jealous of her second husband and showed the greatest animosity to all whom she regarded as rivals. She incited her sons to rebel against their father, and was, in consequence, thrown into prison, where she was kept for sixteen years. s In her youth she was remarkably beautiful, and in the later years of her varied life she showed evidences of a naturally noble disposition. As soon as she was liberated from her prison, which was done by order of her son Richard on his accession to the throne, he placed her at the head of the government. No doubt she bitterly felt the utter neglect she had suffered during her imprisonment; yet she did not, when she obtained power, use it to punish her enemies, but rather devoted herself to deeds of mercy and piety, going from city to city, setting free all persons confined for violating the game laws, which, in the latter part of Henry’s life, were cruelly enforced. Miss Strickland thus closes her interesting biography of this beautiful but unfortunate queen: ‘Eleanor of Aquitaine is among the very few women who have atoned for an ill-spent youth by a wise and benevolent oldage. As a sovereign she ranks among the greatest of female rulers.’’ 197 BERENGARIA OF NAVARRE. Twelfth Century A. D. WIFE OF RICHARD THE LION HEARTED. a Oe HE OM O0- =~ = = ERENGARIA of Navarre was a daughter of Sancho the Wise, king 2 of Naples, and married Richard Coeur de Lion soon after he as- cended the throne of England. Richard had been betrothed, when only seven years of age, to Alice, daughter of Louis VII., who was three years old. Alice was sent to the English court for her education. The father of Richard Coeur de Lion, Henry II, fell in love with the betrothed of his son, and had prevented the marriage from being solem- nized. But Richard, after he ascended the throne, was still trammeled by this engagement to Alice, while he was deeply in love with Berengaria. At length these obstacles were overcome. ‘‘It was in the joyous month of May, I1g1,’’ to quote an old writer, ‘‘in the flourishing and spacious isle of Cyprus, celebrated as the very abode of the goddess of love, did King Richard solemnly take to wife his beloved lady, Berengaria.’’ This fair queen accompanied her husband on his warlike expedition to the Holy Land. In the autumn of the same year Richard concluded his peace with Saladin, and set out on his return to England. But he sent Berengaria by sea, while he, disguised as a Templar, intended to go by land. He was taken prisoner and kept in durance by Leopold of Austria nearly five years. Richard’s profligate companions seem to have estranged his thoughts from his gentle, loving wife, and for nearly two years after his return from captivity, he gave himself up to the indulgence of his baser passions ; but finally, his conscience was awakened, he sought his ever faithful wife, and she, womanlike, forgave him. From that time they were never parted till his death, which occurred in 1199. She survived him many years, founded an abbey at Espan, and devoted herself to works of piety and mercy. ‘‘From her early youth to her grave, Berengaria manifested devoted love to Richard. _ Uncomplaining when deserted by him, forgiving him when he returned, and faithful to his memory unto death.”’ 198 BLANCHE OF CASTILE, eee atone Reproduced from thea painting of Georges Moreau, French figure painter, and mae of Cabansl, Moreau has painted numerous worthy pictures, of which probably the best known ara " Potiphar’s Wife,” ' Desath of Cleopatra,” '' The Family.” and "An Egyptologist”’” Hea was honored with a medal by the Paris Salon, OF CASTILE HII BLANC BLANCHE OF CASTILE. A.D. 1187-1252. GUARDIAN QUEEN OF FRANCE. <> 5 HOR: ARGARET was born in Angouléme, April 11, 1492, and died at the chateau Odos, in Bigorre, December 21, 1549. She was the daughter and eldest child of Charles of Orleans, Count of Angou- léme, and of Louise of Savoy. Her father died when she was in her twelfth year, but she was well educated by her mother, and at the court of Louis XII. She was married in 1509 to Charles, Duke of Alencon, a prince of the blood royal, but who has suffered in history, as he did at the time, by the splendor of the alliance made for him. The five years that im- mediately followed this marriage were passed in the duchy of Alengon ; but when Margaret’s brother became king of France, as Francis I., she not only became attached to his court, but had a large part in the government. She was superior to her brother in ability, and her learning and wit made her the fit companion. of the statesmen of those times. She spoke several languages fluently and correctly. After the defeat and capture of her brother at Pavia, in February, 1525, Margaret aided her mother to carry on the government for some months ; but in August she went to Madrid, where Francis was then a prisoner to Charles V. Her visit was reputed to have saved his life; and her warm reproaches to the emperor, because of his unchivalrous treatment of Francis, had a powerful effect even on his cold nature. The Duke of Alengon, her husband, died April 11, 1525. She afterwards became the wife of Henri d’ Albert, Count of Bearn, and titular king of Navarre. Nee te aa Catharine of Aragon continued, clared himself head of the Church of England, had his marriage formally annulled by Archbishop Cranmer, and in 1532 married Anne Boleyn. Catharine took up her abode at Ampthill in Bedfordshire, and after- wards at Kimbolton Castle, in Huntingdonshire. She employed herself chiefly in religious duties, bearing her lot with resignation. She died in January, 1536. , 246 ANNE BOLEYN. A. D. 1507-1536. ; SECOND WIFE OF HENRY VIII. OF ENGLAND. Ck“ NNE BOLEYN, second wife of Henry VIII., was born in 1507, and was the daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn, by Elizabeth Howard, daughter of the Duke of Norfolk. She spent some three years at the court of France, and soon after her return to England was wooed by Lord Henry Percy, and by king Henry himself, who in 1522 began to shower wealth and honors on her father, and who ere this had dishonored her sister Mary. Not till the king’s divorce from Catharine of Aragon was set afoot, does Anne seem to have favored his addresses ; but long before Cranmer pronounced the divorce, she was Henry’s mistress. They were secretly married in January, 1533, and Anne was crowned the following June. Her daughter, the famous Elizabeth, was born on September 7 of the same year. Anne continued to be much loved by the king until 1536, when the dis- appointment caused by the birth of a still-born son alienated his affections. On next May day, the king rode off abruptly from a tournament held at Greenwich, leaving the queen behind, and on the morrow she was arrested and brought to the tower. The story runs that his jealousy was kindled by her dropping a handkerchief to one of her lovers in the lists below ; anvy- how, a special commission had been secretly engaged in examining into charges of Anne’s adultery with her own brother, Lord Rochford, and others, including Mark Smeaton, a musician. Only Smeaton made any confession ; but they were all convicted of high treason and met death. Smeaton was hanged, and two days later on Tower Green, Anne submitted her slim neck to the headsman's axe. Henry, the next day, married Jane Seymour. . It was through the influence of Anne Boleyn that the translation of the Scriptures was sanctioned by Henry VIII. Her own private copy of Tyndale’s translation is still in existence. She was a woman of highly - cultivated mind, and there are still extant some verses composed by her, shortly before her execution, which are touching in the extreme by reason of the grief and desolation they express. ; 247 ANNE ASKEW. A. D. 1521-1546. MARTYR TO RELIGIOUS FANATICISM., ott. NNE ASKEW, daughter of Sir William Askew, of Kelsay, in Lin- colnshire, England, was born in 1521. She received a very liberal 2 education, and early manifested a predilection for theological studies. She had read and studied the Scriptures quite extensively and espoused with great earnestness the opinions of the Reformation. Her eldest sister, who was engaged to Mr. Kyme of Lincolnshire, died before the nuptials were completed. Sir William Askew, unwilling to lose a connection which promised pecuniary advantages, compelled his second daughter, Anne, to fulfill the engagement entered into by her sister. But however reluctantly she gave her hand to Mr. Kyme, to whom she bore two children, she rigidly fulfilled the duties of a wife and mother. Her husband was a strong Catholic, and turned her out of doors. She went to London to sue for a separation, and attracted the sympainy: of the queen, Catharine Parr, and many of the court ladies. At first a Roman Catholic, she had gradually become convinced of the falsity of transubstantiation. On coming to London she was obliged to. suffer numerous indignities both at the hands of the Church and the civil authorities. Her denial of the corporeal presence of Christ's body in the eucharist caused her arrest and committal to prison. When examined before the lord chancellor Wriothesley, bishop of London, and the lord-mayor of that city, she was asked, whether the priests cannot make the body of Christ? She answered, ‘‘I have read that God made man, but that man can make God I have never yet read.”’ Yet Burnet says, that after much pains she signed a recantation acknowl- edging that the natural body of Christ was present in the sacrament after the consecration, whether the officiating priest were a man of holy or evil life. Her recantation did not save her. She was recommitted to Newgate, and asked to disclose who were her correspondents at court. She refused to reply, and was racked in the presence of the lord chancellor, but would disclose nothing. 248 MARGARET ROPER. 1 d. A. D. 1644. LEARNED DAUGHTER OF SIR THOMAS MORE. eg NX ARGARET ROPER, eldest daughter of Sir Thomas More, was a [x\ woman of fine mind and charming disposition, the delight and comfort of her celebrated father. The greatest care was taken in her education ; and she became learned in Greek, Latin, many of the sci- ences, and music. Erasmus wrote a letter to her, as a woman famous not only for virtue and piety but for solid learning. Cardinal Pole was so delighted with the elegance of her Latin style, that. he could not believe it was the production of a woman. She married William Roper, Esq., of Well-hall in the Parish of Eltham, in Kent; she died in 1544, and was buried at St. Dunstan’s church, in Canterbury, with her father’s head in her arms; for she had procured it after it had remained fourteen days on London bridge, and had preserved it in a leaden box, till there was an opportunity of conveying it to Can- terbury, to the burial place of the Ropers. She had five children, one of whom, Mary, was nearly as famous as herself. Mrs. Roper wrote, in reply to Quintilian, an oration in defense of the rich man, whom he accuses of having, by venomous flowers in his garden, poisoned the poor man’s bees. This performance is said to have rivaled Quintilian’s in eloquence. She also wrote two declamations, and translated them into Latin, and composed a treatise Of the Four Last Things, in which she showed so much strong reasoning and justness of thought, as obliged Sir Thomas to confess its superiority to a discourse in which he was himself employed on the same subject. © The ecclesiastical history of Eusebius was translated by this scholarly woman from the Greek into Latin. ’ ST aN Ae re Anne Askew continued. Her fortitude probably saved -the life of the queen. As she was not able to stand after the torture, she was carried in a chair to the stake at Smith- field, July 16, 1546, and suffered along with four others. She underwent this last trial with the same courage as the former. 249 MARY I. A. D. 1516-1558. THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND, KNOWN AS “BLOODY MARY.” 3 — ypins queen, upon whom has been indelibly fixed the epithet of “*Bloody Mary,’’ was born at Greenwich Palace, February 18, 1516, a daughter of Henry VIII. by: his first wife, Catharine of Aragon. She was carefully educated in Spain, was an ardent Catholic and became a proficient scholar in Latin, so that Erasmus commends her letters in that language. Edward VI., her brother, dying 1553, she was proclaimed queen in July of the same year, and crowned in October. Upon her accession, she declared that she would not persecute her Protestant subjects ; but, in the following month, she restricted preaching, and in less than three months the Protestant bishops were excluded from the House of Lords, and all the statutes of Edward VI. respecting the Protestant religion were repealed. In July, 1554, she was married to Philip II. of Spain, who was eleven years younger than herself, and by temper little disposed to act the lover. His ruling passion was ambition, which this fond consort was resolved to gratify. In this point, however, she was less successful than in her favorite wish of reconciling the kingdom to the pope, which was effected in form, by the legate, Cardinal Pole. The sanguinary laws against heretics were renewed, and put in execu- tion. The shocking scenes which followed, the pages of history tell in tears. In three or four years, two hundred and seventy-seven persons were committed to the flames. On February 4, 1555, John Rogers was burned at the stake ; Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley shared the same fate. The ruin of England seemed impending, when in the summer of | 1558 the queen was attacked by an intermittent fever, of which she died at St. James Palace, November 17. To her, no doubt, the propagators of heresy were the enemies of man- kind, and she had little cause to love them. Yet perhaps she hardly real- ized the full horror of what was done under her sanction. Tennyson calls her ‘‘unhappiest of queens, and wives, and women.”’ 250 LADY JANE GREY. A. D. 1537-1554. THE “NINE DAYS QUEEN OF ENGLAND.” 4-1 ADY JANE GREY was born at Brodgate, Leicestershire, England, in October, 1537. She was the eldest daughter of Henry Grey, Marquis of Dorset, who in 1551 became Duke of Suffolk, and of Lady Frances Brandon. Lady Jane was brought up rigorously by her parents, every petty fault punished with ‘‘ pinches, nips, and bobs’’ ; but Aylmer, her tutor, after- wards bishop of London, endeared himself to her by his gentleness, and under him she made great progress, especially in languages— Latin, Greek, French, Italian, and Hebrew. Roger Ascham tells how in December, 1550, he found her reading Plato’s Phedo in the original, while the rest of the family were hunting. She also sang and played well, and was versed in other feminine accomplishments. In 1553, after-the fall of the Duke of Somerset, the Duke of North- umberland, foreseeing the speedy death of the boy-king Edward VI., de- termined to change the succession and secure it to his own family. Lady Jane, not sixteen years old, was therefore married, strongly against her wish, to Lord Dudley, Northumberland’s fourth son, on May 21, 1553; and on July 9, three days after Edward’s death, the council informed her that she was named as his successor. _ On the roth, the brief usurpation over, she found herself a prisoner in the Tower and four months later, pleading guilty of high treason, she was sentenced to death. She spurned the idea of forsaking Protestantism for love of life, and bitterly condemned Northumberland’s recantation. This, together with her father’s participation in Wyatt’s rebellion, sealed her doom and she was beheaded on Tower Hill, February 12, 1554. From the scaffold she made a speech in which she said: ‘‘ The fact, in- deed, against the queen’s highness was unlawful, and the consenting to by me ; but touching the procurement and desire thereof by me or on my be- half, I do wash my hands thereof in innocency. . . . . . . Idiea true Christian woman.’”’ 251 CATHARINE DE’ MEDICI. A. D. 1519-1589. FAMOUS QUEEN MOTHER OF KINGS, -— 4 -0$0+-- sen ATHARINE DE’MEDICI, the wife of one king of France and the mother of three, was the daughter of Lorenzo de’ Medici, Duke of ‘ Urbino, and was born at Florence in 1519. In her fourteenth year she was brought to France, and married to Henry, the second son of Francis I. The marriage was a part of the political schemes of her uncle, Pope Clement VII., but as he died soon after, she found herself friendless and neglected at the French court. , It was not till the accession of her eldest son, Francis II., in 1559, that she found some scope for her ambition. The Guises at this time were in power, and Catharine entered into a secret alliance with the Huguenots to oppose them. On the death of Francis II. in 1560, and accession of her second son, Charles IX., the government fell entirely into her hands. She entered into a secret treaty with Spain for the extirpation of heretics and subsequently into a plot with the Guises, which resulted in the fearful massacre of St. Bartholomew’s day. This event brought the whole power of the state into the hands of the queen mother, who boasted of the deed to Roman Catholic governments, and excused it to Protestant ones. _ About this time she succeeded, by gold and intrigues, in getting her third son, afterwards Henry III., elected to the Polish throne. But her arbitrary and tyrannical administration roused the opposition of a Roman Catholic party, at the head of which was her own fourth son, the Duke of Alengon. It was very generally believed that she was privy to the machi- nations that led to his death. Many vexations preyed on the proud heart of the queen mother in her last days ; and, amidst the confusion and strife of parties, she died at Blois on January 5, 1589, unheeded and unlamented. “Catharine de’ Medici may fairly be regarded as a representative woman of an age when the first principles of human conduct were hopelessly con- founded by religious strife and the intrigues and corruptions of the courts. Virtue had given place to luxury, extravagance, cunning, sensuality, and cruelty ; qualities which the prevailing conditions tended to develop. 252 VUEBEN ELIZABETH SIGNING THE DEATH WARRANT OF MARY QUBEN OF SCOTS, 00+ Reproduced from the painting of A, L, Mayer, a Hungarian painter, and pupil of FPuioty, Mayer's works have received much praise, es- vecially his pictures, '' Faust,’ and ' Maria The- rasa Nursing thea Poor Woman's Child.” QUEEN ELIZABETH SIGNING DEATH WARRANT OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS, QUEEN ELIZABETH. A. D. 1533-1603. LAST OF THE TUDOR LINE. Sh -— 4835 --F> LIZABETH, queen of England, and the last sovereign of the house of & Tudor, was born at Greenwich, September 7, 1533. She was a daughter of Henry VIII. and Anne Boleyn. Her childhood was passed in comparative retirement, and she was educated by persons who favored the reformed religion. She learned the ‘Latin, Greek, French, and Italian languages of the famous Roger Ascham. In 1554 Elizabeth was confined in the Tower by order of Queen Mary, who believed her to be implicated in Wyatt's rebellion, and regarded her with jealousy because she was the favorite with the Protestant party. She narrowly escaped death, for some of the bishops and courtiers advised Mary to order her execution. After she had passed several months in the Tower, she was removed to Woodstock and appeased Mary by professing to be a Roman Catholic. On the death of Queen Mary, on Nov. 17, 1558, Elizabeth ascended the throne, and the majority of the people rejoiced at her accession. She appointed William Cecil secretary of state, and Nicholas Bacon keeper of the great seal. She retained several Roman Catholics in her privy council, but she refused to hear mass in the royal chapel. The Protestants were the majority in the Parliament which met in 1559, abolished the mass, adopted the Thirty-Nine Articles as the religion of the State, and recognized the queen as the head of the Church. She declined an offer of marriage made to her by Philip of Spain. Her foreign policy was pacific. She waged no war for conquest, but to promote the stability of her throne she aided the Protestant insurgents in Scotland, France, and the Netherlands, with money and troops. . In 1563, the Parliament, anxious that she should have an heir, entreated her to marry, but she returned an evasive answer, and would neither accept the hand of any of her suitors nor decide in favor of any claimant of the throne. Among her suitors were the French Duke of Anjou, the Arch- duke Charles of Austria, and Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, who was 255 QUEEN ELIZABETH. for many years her chief favorite. William Cecil, Lord Burleigh, was her prime minister and most trusted adviser during the greater part of her reign, the prosperity of which was largely due to his prudence and influence. Mary, Queen of Scots, fleeing from her rebellious subjects, took refuge in England in 1568, and was detained as a prisoner by Elizabeth. The latter regarded Mary as a dangerous rival, because the English Catholics wished to raise her to the throne of England, and formed several plots and conspiracies for that object. Mary was beheaded February 8, 1587. Philip II. of Spain had long meditated a hostile enterprise against Queen Elizabeth, who had offended him by aiding his revolted Dutch sub- jects and by persecuting the English Catholics. For the invasion of England he fitted out the Invincible Armada, which consisted of about 130 vessels with over 19,000 soldiers, and sailed in May, 1588. A violent storm dis- persed the Spanish ships, many of which were wrecked, and the rest were encountered by the English fleet, mostly consisting of small but excellently equipped vessels, under Admiral Howard, and thoroughly beaten, August 8, 1588. The disastrous failure of this expedition did not terminate hostilities be- tween England and Spain. An English fleet took Cadiz in 1596. After the Earl of Leicester died, 1588, the Earl of Essex was the queen’s favorite courtier. The Puritans were severely persecuted in the latter part of her reign. She died March 24, 1603, and was succeeded by James VI. of Scotland, who became James I. of England. Her reign was one of the most prosperous and glorious in English his- tory. The Elizabethan age was almost unequaled in literature, and was illustrated by the genius of Shakespeare, Spenser, Bacon, Sidney, and Ra- leigh. The darkest.stain on the memory of Elizabeth is her treatment of Mary, Queen of Scots. Her execution, though clamored for by the English nation, was an act of cruelty peculiarly revolting on the part of a female sovereign and kinswoman. And Elizabeth’s affected reluctance to sign the death warrant, coupled with the most flagrant duplicity following closely upon it —all of which was over-acted and disgusting — is almost as injurious to the reputation of Elizabeth as the deed itself. 256 MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS. A. D, 15642-1587. BEHEADED BY QUEEN ELIZABETH. 4060-4 FOV Ore ARY STUART, Queen of Scots, celebrated for her beauty, her (F) wit, her learning, and her misfortunes, was born December 8, 1542. She was the daughter of James V. of Scotland by Marie of Lorraine, a French princess of the family of Guise. Her father died a few days after her birth, and on September 9, 1543, she was crowned queen of Scotland, the Earl of Arran conducting the government. In 1548 she was affianced to Francis, Dauphin of France, son of Henry II. and Catharine de’ Medici, and in the same year she was brought to France to be educated at the French court. When she grew up she added to a striking and fascinating personal beauty all the accomplishments and charms which a perfect education can give. Her marriage with the dauphin was celebrated April 24, 1558, in the Church of Notre Dame, and when Mary I. of England died in the same year she had her arms quartered with those of England, and threatened to rouse the Catholics against Elizabeth’s title. On July 10, 1559, Henry II. died, and was succeeded by Francis II. Mary thus became Queen of France, but Francis died December 5, 1560 ; she was childless, and had little power: at court, where the influence of Catharine de’ Medici was now paramount. In the same year her mother died, and she then returned to Scotland. ; Brought up a Roman Catholic and used to the gay life of the French court, she found the dominant Protestantism of Scotland and the austere manners of her subjects almost intolerable. Nevertheless, the first period of her reign was fairly successful ; and she strove to conciliate the Protes- tants. The latter, however, were soon estranged by her unfortunate mar- riage with her cousin, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, a Catholic, who, on ~ February 9, 1567, was blown up by gunpowder as the result of a treacher- ous plot he had inspired. Three months after the death of her husband Mary married the Earl of Bothwell, whom public opinion accused of the murder of Darnley. 257 MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS. From this time a series of misfortunes attended the queen, and a gen- eral revolutionary uprising took place. In the battle of Carberry Hill (June 15) Bothwell was defeated and fled, and Mary was confined in Loch- leven Castle and compelled to abdicate. She escaped, however, and rallied a new force, but was defeated at Langside, May 13, and fled to England. Here she was immediately imprisoned — first at Carlisle, afterwards in vari- ous other places, and at last in Fotheringay Castle. After eighteen years’ imprisonment, during which she was the center of Catholic plots, she was tried on a charge of complicity in the conspiracy of Antony Babington against the life of Elizabeth, and on October 25, 1586, a sentence of death was pronounced against her. On February 1, 1587, Elizabeth signed the warrant of execution, and on February 8, Mary, Queen of Scots, was beheaded. She insisted to the last that she was innocent of Babington’s plot. She was buried at Peterborough, whence, in 1612, her body was re- moved to the chapel of Henry VII. at Westminster. At the intimation, in her death verdict rendered by the queen’s council, that her life was an impediment to the security of the revealed religion, Mary ‘‘seemed with a certain unwonted alacrity to triumph, giving God thanks, and rejoicing in her heart that she was held to be an instrument”’ for the restoration of her own faith, This note of exultation as in martyr- dom was maintained with unflinching courage to the last. She wrote to Elizabeth and the Duke of Guise two letters of almost matchless eloquence and pathos, admirable especially for their loyal and grateful remembrance of all her faithful servants. That the life of Mary Stuart was not one of unmingled innocence and virtue is abundantly evident, but the exact measure of her guilt, or the exact degree of her complicity in the crimes committed for her sake and in her name, has not been made out. And still more obscure and entangled seem those ideas and passions from which such guilt sprang. There are two brilliant dramatical delineations of her character — one by Schiller and the other by Bjérnson and a number of prose works relating to her his- tory that give us varying estimates of this romantic and unhappy person- age. 258 BRB DNGRAS EES TES aN ASS fi, —o4o-. Reproduced from a painting by Ferdinand Heilbuth, a Garman painter, Ths peculiar talent of Heilbuth in treating Ufs and manners has won him a wide reputation. The Paris Salon gave him amedalof honor in 1661, His " Titian with his Lady Love” and "On Monte FPincio’”’ (the latter in the Corcoran Gallery, Washington) are both renowned pictures, oe} ‘OSSVL ONINIVLINGING ALSA.d YYONOATA ELEONORA D’ESTE. A. D. 1537-1581. THE BELOVED OF THE ITALIAN POET TASSO. 4b LEONORA D’ESTE, an Italian lady of illustrious descent, was & daughter of Hercules IJ., marquis of Este, and Renie, daughter of Louis XIL, king of France, and was born in 1537. She was en- dowed by fortune with an exalted social station, and by nature with extraor- dinary beauty, taste, and intellect ; but her chief claim to historical memo- rialization was her relation with Tasso the poet. Tasso was twenty-one years old when he appeared at the court of Alphonso of Este. An indiscreet remark having been made by a certain cavalier upon his devotion to the princess Eleonora, he challenged the offender, who, with three brothers to aid him, basely attacked the bard. Tasso valiantly combated the whole four until interference put an end to the duel. Alphonso felt offended at the cause of this rencontre, and sent Tasso into exile, where he remained subject to the duke’s recall. Tasso was an admirer of beauty, and wrote verses to the charms of the lovely Eleonora that could not but touch her heart. It is said that, being at the wedding of one of the Gonzago family, celebrated at the court of Este, he, blinded by his passion, impressed a kiss on the cheek of the prin- . cess. The color mounted to Alphonso’s brow ; but he turned coldly to his courtiers, and said, ‘‘ What a great pity that the finest genius of the age has become suddenly mad !”’ Upon this charge of madness, the prince caused Tasso to be shut up in the hospital of St. Anna. His long years of imprisonment, his sufferings, his laments, are well known, Obliged to witness the cruel punishment of her lover, and knowing the inflexible character of her brother, Eleonora fell iato a slow fever, and died in 1581, about a year after Tasso’s imprisonment. The doors of Tasso’s prison were at length opened ; but she was dead ! Youth, love, fortune, all had vanished ; fame, it is true, remained. The laurel-crown was placed on his brow at Rome in the midst of a pompous festival ; but this could not recompense him for his wasted youth and his lost Eleonora. 261 GABRIELLE D’ESTRE ES. A. D. 1571-1599. MISTRESS OF HENRY IV. OF FRANCE. 3) leat (He ABRIELLE D’ESTREES, a descendant of one of the noblest 6 houses in Picardy, was born in 1571, and died April 10, 1599. Gabrielle was about twenty years of age when she met Henry for the first time at the chateau of Coeuvres, where she resided with her family. She was fair and of singularly beautiful complexion ; her cyes were blue, and combined, in a remarkable degree, tenderness with brilliancy of expression ; her hair had a golden hue, her forehead was bold and large ; her whole presence was beaming with intelligence and instinct with gentle- ness and grace. She inspired the French monarch with a violent passion, which, however, did not interrupt her relation with her old lover, the Duke of Bellegarde. But Henry still urged his suit, and often stole by the sentinels of his ene- mies, in the dress of a peasant, to see the object of his love. The heart of Gabrielle was at length moved by such ardor and devotion, and she be- came the mistress of the chivalric monarch, who never loved any other woman so passionately. To escape the severe scrutiny of her father, Henry married her to a nobleman named M. de Liancourt, as a nominal husband, and subsequently raised her to the rank of Marchioness of Monceaux, and in 1595 to that of Duchess of Beaufort. At the same time-he lavished riches upon her in great profusion, and at the time of her death she was possessed of more than twelve estates, some of which are to this day pointed out in the vicinity of Paris. Henry would have divorced himself (as he afterwards did) from Margaret of Valois, his legitimate wife, for the purpose of raising Gabrielle to the throne of France, had it not been for his friend and = minister Sully, with whose ‘influence she was unable to cope. She had three chil- dren by the king — Caesar and Alexander, afterwards Dukes of Vendome, and Catharine Henrietta, subsequently the Duchess of Elbeuf. 262 BEATRICE OF CENCI. A. D. 1583-1599. “THE BEAUTIFUL PARRICIDE.” rasta —— —$— 00.00. — So EATRICE CENCI was the daughter of Francesco Cenci, a Roman 13 nobleman of colossal wealth. According to Muratori, Francesco was twice marricd, Beatrice being the youngest of twelve children by the first wife. After his second marriage he treated the children of his first wife in a revolting manner, and was even accused of hiring bandits to murder two of his sons on their return from Spain. The beauty of Beatrice inspired him with the horrible and incestuous desire to possess her person ; and with mingled lust and hate he persecuted ‘her from day to day, until circumstances enabled him to consummate his brutality. The unfortunate girl besought the help of her relatives, and of Pope Clement VII., but did not receive it ; whereupon, in company with her step- mother and her brother, Giacomo, she planned the murder of her unnatural parent, into whose brain two hired assassins drove a large nail, Septem- ber 9, 1598. The crime was discovered, and both she and Giacomo were put to the torture ; Giacomo confessed, but Beatrice persisted in the declaration that she was innocent. All, however, were condemned and beheaded, Septem- ber 10, 1599. Such is Muratori’s narrative. Others allege that Beatrice was the inno- cent victim of an infernal plot. The results, however, of Bestolotti’s in- vestigations go far to deprive the story of the Cenci tragedy of the romantic elements on which Shelley’s powerful drama mainly turns. Francesco, it would appear, was profligate, but no monster ; Beatrice, at the time she murdered her father, was not sixteen, but twenty-one years. of age, was far from beautiful, and was probably the mother of an illegit- imate son. And Bestolotti further shows that the sweet and mournful countenance which forms one of the treasures of the Barberini Palace in Rome, cannot possibly be a portrait of Beatrice by Guido, who never . painted in Rome till some nine years after Beatrice’s death. 263 MARGARET OF VALOIS. A. D. 1552-1615. BEAUTIFUL AND PROFLIGATE QUEEN OF FRANCE. a & ok «a v io ARGARET of Valois, queen of France, was born in 1552, and died M in Paris, March 27, 1615. She was the daughter of Henry IT. and of Catharine de’Medici and was celebrated for her beauty, her profligacy, and her talents. In 1572 she was married to the king of Na- varre, afterward Henry IV. of France, the marriage being the pretext on which the leading Protestants were assembled at Paris, to be massacred on the eve of St. Bartholomew. After his escape from these tragic scenes, Margaret was permitted to join him at Biarn, where she remained five years, tolerating the king’s infidelities, though he would not tolerate her religion. In 1581, on the invitation of her mother, she returned to the French court. There the profligacy of her life drew upon her the condemnatién of her brother, Hénry III., who compelled her to return to her husband, by whom she was received with bitter reproaches. She fled from him, and took up her residence at Agen, where she made war on him as a heretic. That place being taken in 1585, she vainly sought another asylum, and was seized and imprisoned in the fortress of Usson ; but her arts made her mistress of the place, from which she drove the governor and held it for twenty years. She became queen of France in 1594, on the triumph of her husband, but he refused to restore her to freedom until she should renounce her rank, to which she would not consent until after the death of Gabrielle D’Estrees. They were divorced in 1599, but she did not recover her lib- erty until some years later. She visited the court in 1605, where she did homage to her successor, Marie de’Medici. The remaining ten years of her life were passed in Paris or in its vicinity. Almost to the last she led a vicious life ; but at length she fell into hypochondria, and was terrified at the approach of death. She founded a convent in Paris, the inmates of which were required to have fine voices, and herself instructed them in the music which was restful to her. 264 POCAHONTAS. A. D. 1596 ? -1617. INDIAN HEROINE OF COLONIAL TIMES. a Se Tr OCAHONTAS, an Indian woman of Virginia, daughter of the chief Pp Powhatan, was born about 1595, and died in Gravesend, England, in March, 1617. She was remarkable for her friendship toward the English colonists, a striking evidence of which is said to have been given when she was about twelve years old. Captain John Smith was taken prisoner, and it was decided to put him to death. His head was laid upon a stone, and the savages were brandish- ing their clubs preparatory to dashing out his brains, when Pocahontas threw herself upon the captive’s body, and her intercession with her father saved his life. Recent researches discredit this story. When Smith returned to Jamestown, he sent presents to Pocahontas and her father ; and after this, according to Smith's narrative, Pocahontas ‘«with her wild train visited Jamestown as freely as her father’s habitation.’’ In 1609 she passed through the wood in the night to inform Smith of a plot formed by her father to destroy him. In 1612 she was living in the territory of the Indian chief Japazaws. Captain Samuel Argall bribed Jap- azaws to betray her into his hands, and began to.treat with Pocahontas for her restitution, but they were unable to agree. 5 4 While she was on shipboard, an attachment sprang up between her and an Englishman named John Rolfe, and the consent of Sir Thomas Dale and of her father having been gained, they were married at Jamestown in April, 1613. A peace of many years duration between the English and the In- dians was the consequence of the union. Before her marriage she was bap- tized, receiving the name of Rebecca. In 1616 she accompanied Dale to England, where she was an object of great interest to all classes of people, and was presented at court. Pocahontas prepared to leave England, but she suddenly died when on the point of embarking. She left one son, Thomas Rolfe, who was educated by his uncle, a Lon- don merchant, and in after life went to Virginia, where he became a person of note and influence. ‘ 265 ANNE OF AUSTRIA. A. D. 1602-1666. QUEEN MOTHER OF LOUIS XIV. OF FRANCE. Ea NNE of Austria, queen of France, daughter of Philip III. king of el Spain, was born in 1602, and died January 20, 1666. She was married December 25, 1615, to Louis XIIJ., and was the mother of Louis XIV. Hardly any queen of France was so much calumniated, or so undeservedly unhappy. Cardinal Richelieu, the all-powerful minister of the weak Louis XIIL., dreading the influence of the wife, or, as others pretend, having been re- fused by her as a lover, succeeded in prejudicing the mind of the king till he allowed Anne to be continually persecuted, exiled, and, at times, left to suffer the greatest penury. Richelieu accused her of conspiracy with the Dukes of Lorraine, with England, with her own brother, the king of Spain, with all ‘the enemies of France, and with the conspirators at the court, against his own supremacy. When Richelieu represented her as wishing to get rid of Louis to marry Gaston, and Anne was compelled to appear before the king’s counsel to answer this grave charge, her dignity here came to her aid and she scorned to make a direct reply. She merely observed, contemptuously, that too little was to be gained by the change, to render such a design on her part probable. At the death of Louis XIII., the parliament in 1643 appointed her regent during the minority of Louis XIV. The Cardinal Mazarin, who, likewise, was said to have been her lover, ruled in her name, and _ this oecasioned the revolt of some of the princes of the blood and other French grandees,—a rising known in French history under the name of the Fronde. She possessed a peculiar and extremely delicate sense of feeling over the whole body ; scarcely any linen or cambric was fine enough for her use. It was another peculiarity of hers, that, though she loved flowers passionately, she could not bear the view of natural or even painted roses. 266 ANNE HUTCHINSON. A.D. 1590-1643. RELIGIOUS ENTHUSIAST AND REFORMER. SH Rp CAyne HUTCHINSON, the founder of the Antinomian party in the New England colonics, was the daughter of a Lincolnshire, Ieng- land, clergyman named Marbury, and was born in 1590. In Eng- land she was interested in no preaching but that of John Cotton and her brother-in-law, John Wheelwright, and it was her desire to enter the minis- try of the former, which induced her to follow him to New England. She came to Boston with her husband, September 18, 1634, was admitted a member of the Boston church, and rapidly acquired esteem and influence. She instituted meetings of the women of the church to discuss sermons and doctrines, in which, with a ready wit, bold spirit, and imposing familiarity with the Scriptures, she gave prominence to peculiar speculations. Her tenets were that the person of the Holy Spirit dwells in every be- liever, and that the inward revelations of the Spirit, the conscious judgment of the mind, are of paramount authority. Among her partisans were the young governor Vane, Cotton, Wheelwright, and almost the whole Boston church, while the country clergy were generally united against her. She soon threw the whole colony into a flame. The progress of her sentiments occasioned, in 1637, the first synod in America. ‘‘ The dis- ’ « pute,’’ says Bancroft, ‘‘ infused its spirit into everything ; it interfered with the levy of troops for the Pequot war ; it influenced the respect shown to the magistrates, the distribution of town lots, the assessment of rates ; and at last the continued existence of the two parties was considered inconsis- tent with public peace.”’ Accordingly, Mrs. Hutchinson was called before the court in November, 1637; and, being convicted of traducing the ministers and advancing errors, was banished from Massachusetts. She went with her husband to Rhode Island, and in 1642, after her husband’s death, removed into the territory of the Dutch beyond New Haven. Here, in 1643, her home was attacked and set on fire by the Indians, and herself and all her family, excepting one child, who was carried captive, perished. : 267 LADY FANSHAWE. A.D. 1625-1680. NOTABLE FOR CONJUGAL AFFECTION. xe SADNNE HARRISON FANSHAWE, the eldest daughter of Sir John Harrison, of Balls, England, was born in London, March 25, 1625. Her mother was Margaret Fanshawe, of an ancient and highly re- spectable family ; and, what was of more importance to her daughter, she was an eminently pious as well as an accomplished woman. When about nineteen, Anne Harrison married Sir Richard Fanshawe, a relative of her mother. He was a lawyer, went abroad with his wife, and was finally appointed secretary to the English ambassador at the Spanish court. As a supporter of Charles II., he was taken and imprisoned after the battle of Worcester, during which imprisonment his wife exhibited the highest form of devotion, He was finally released, on heavy bail, and was joined by her at Tankerslys Park, Yorkshire, where husband and wife de- voted themselves to literary pursuits. After the restoration, Sir Richard was sent to the court of Portugal, and subsequently to Spain. While occupying the latter post, he suddenly died. The queen of Spain was so moved by the desolation of the heart-broken widow, that she offered her a pension of thirty thousand ducats per annum if she would embrace the Catholic religion. Lady Fanshawe was deeply grateful for this kindly interest, but refused to accept any favors with such conditions attached. : Through the financial assistance of Anne of Austria, the remains of Sir Richard were sent to England for interment and subsequently Lady Fan- shawe erected a handsome monument to the memory of her husband. Their union of twenty-two years had been a pattern of conjugal fidelity and happiness ; the widow continued as constant to the memory of the dear departed as she had been in her affection to him while he lived. Her whole aim and plan of life was to educate her children ; and she wrote her own Memoir ‘‘for her dear and only son.’? She survived her husband fourteen years, dying January. 1680. 268 CATHARINE PHILIPS. A. D. 1631-1664. EARLIEST ENGLISH SENTIMENTAL WRITER. 256.8 KE Ore. PHILIPS, ‘‘the matchless Orinda,’? was born the daughter of a respectable Presbyterian London merchant, on Jan- uary 1, 1631. A precocious child, she early hecame strongly royal- ist.in feeling, and in her seventeenth year she married a worthy Welsh gentleman, James Philips of Cardigan Priory. Her earliest poem was an address to Henry Vaughan, the Silurist, on the appearance of his Olor /scanus. About the same time she seems to have assumed her melodious nom de plume of Orinda, having formed among her neighbors of either sex a society of Friendship, the members of which must needs be re-baptized—the ladies as Lucasia, Rosania, Regina, Valeria, Polycrite; the gentlemen as Palemon, Sylvander, An- tenor (her own husband), and Poliarchus (Sir Charles Cotterel, her greatest friend, to whom her forty-eight Letters were published in 1705). Orinda is the earliest English sentimental writer, and she has tears at will even for the marriages of the lady members, which she resents as out- rages on the sufficiency of friendship. Yet she was a worthy woman and a good wife, despite her overstrained sentimentelity, to whom Jeremy Taylor dedicated his Afeasures and Offices of Friendship. She went to Dublin in 1662, and here Roger, Earl of Onery, and the rest gave hera flattering reception. Ona visit to London she caught smallpox, and died June 22, 1664. At Dublin she translated Corneille’s Pompey, and, in her last year, the greater part of his Horace. Her poems were surreptitiously printed at London in 1663, but an authoritative edition was issued in 1667. The ‘matchless Orinda’s poetry has long since faded into forgetfulness, despite the chorus of contemporary praise from Cowley and every poet of note. Keats found her poems in 1817 while writing Zxdymion, and in a letter to Reynolds speaks of them as showing ‘‘a most delicate fancy of the Fletcher kind.’’ Her daughter, Joan, was also a talented writer of verse, according to Mr. Gosse. 269 CHRISTINA OF SWEDEN. A.D. 1626-1689. DAUGHTER OF GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS. SE BE “FS HRISTINA, queen of Sweden, only child of the great Gustavus © Adolphus, was born December 17, 1626, and succeeded her father in 1632, when only six years old. Distinguished: equally by beauty and the possession of a lively imagination, a good memory, and uncommon intelligence, she received a man’s rather than a woman’s education, and to this may partly be attributed the many eccentricities of her life. During Christina’s minority, the kingdom was governed by the five highest officers of state, the principal being Chancellor Oxenstiern. In 1644 she assumed the reins of power, and in 1650 was crowned with the title of king. She had previously declared her cousin, Charles Gustavus, her successor. For four years thereafter she ruled the kingdom with vigor, ‘and was remarkable for her patronage of learned men, such as Grotius, Salmasius, and Descartes. In 1654, however, at the age of twenty-eight, weary of the personal restraint which royalty imposed on her, she abdicated in favor of her cousin, reserving to herself sufficient revenues, entire inde- pendence, and supreme authority over her suite and household. Upon leaving Sweden, she proceeded to Brussels, where she embraced the Roman Catholic religion. She next went to Rome, which she entered on horseback, in the costume of an Amazon, with great pomp. Confirmed by Pope Alexander VII., she adopted the surname of Alesandra. She next visited Paris ; and there in 1657 she caused her grand equerry, Mon- aldeschi, who had enjoyed her entire confidence, to be put to death in her own household for treason. The death of the king in 1660 caused her to hasten from Rome to Sweden, but, failing in her attempt to be reinstated on the throne, she again left the country. In 1666 she aspired to the crown of Poland, but was unnoticed by the Poles. The remainder of her life was spent at Rome in artistic and scientific pursuits. Here she lived for some twenty years, quarreling, intriguing, and collecting ; corresponding with men of letters and founding academies ; consumed by the desire for that political power which she had thrown 270 LADY PAKINGTON. d. A.D. 1679. AUTHORESS AND MORALIST. Siena ee eee Ss ge ADY DOROTHY PAKINGTON, daughter of Lord Coventry, and L wife of Sir John Pakington, was eminent for her learning and piety, and ranked among her friends several cclebrated divines. A volume entitled Zhe Whole Duty of Man was ascribed to her at first, though the mistake in authorship has since been discovered. * Her acknowledged works are, The Gentlemen's Calling, the Ladics’ Calling, The Government of the Tongue, The Christian's Birthright, and The Causes of the Decay of Christian Piety. UHer theological works are strictly orthodox, and evince ardent piety of feeling. She was at the time of her decease engaged in a work entitled 7he Government of the Thoughts, which was praised in high terms by Dr. Fell ; this work, however, she did not finish. 5 Lady Pakington had received a learned education, which was not at that time uncommon to give to women of high rank ; that she used her talents and learning wisely and well, we have this testimony in the writings of Dr. Fell. He says of her, ‘‘ Lady Pakington was wise, humble, temper- ate, chaste, patient, charitable, and devout ; she lived a whole age of great austerities, and maintained in the midst of them an undisturbed serenity.’’ She died May 10, 1679. nm Nee Christina of Sweden continued. away, and endeavoring to assert her vanished influence to the last. She eee eee aes wrote a great deal, but her Maxims and Sentences, and Reflections on the Life and Actions of Alexander the Great, are all that have been pre- served. Her death occurred in Rome, April 19, 1689, and she was buricd under a sonorous epitaph, in St. Peter’s. Her magnificent library was purchased by Alexander VIII., her collec- tion of antiquities and part of her paintings by a nephew of the Pope, and the remainder of her pictures by the regent of Orleans. 271 MADAME DBE MAINTENON. » A.D. 1635-1719. SECOND WIFE OF LOUIS XIV. OF FRANCE. <>< qe d’ Aubigné Maintenon was born at Niort, November 27, 1635, and died at St. Cyr, April 15, 1719. Her birthplace was a prison, Chateau Trompette, where her father, Constant’ d’ Aubigné, Baron of Surimeau, was confined for having killed his wife and her lover, whom he had taken in adultery. The mother of Francoise was the daughter of the governor of the prison, whom d’ Aubigné had persuaded to marry him secretly. In 1639 he was discharged from prison, and with his wife and children emigrated to Mar- tinique, where he died in the utmost poverty. His widow returned to France, whither she was soon followed by her daughter, who, after various vicissitudes and much suffering from poverty and ill treatment on the part of her relatives, found herself, at the age of fifteen, in Paris, an inmate, in a dependent and almost menial position, of the house of her godmother, the Countess de Neuillant, who had converted her from Calvinism to Catholi- cism. , The comic poet Scarron, who was a paralytic and a cripple, lived in the same street with the Countess de Neuillant, became interested in the young, beautiful, and intelligent girl, whose adventures had been related to him, and furnished money to enable her to enter a convent, which poverty had hitherto prevented her from doing. Frangoise called to thank her bene- factor, and at their first interview he proposed to her to become his wife. After a week’s deliberation she consented, and they were marricd in 1651. She was at this time exceedingly beautiful, graceful, and witty, and the house of Scarron soon became the resort of the most.brilliant intellects of Paris. Scarron died October 14, 1660, leaving his young widow nearly penniless, his pension ceasing at his death. , In 1669 she become governess to the children of Louis XIV. by Madame de Montespan, much to the dissatisfaction of the king, who at first did not like the extreme gravity and reserve of the young widow. Her talents and wisdom, however, soon attracted his attention, and she 272 TARQUINIA MOLSA. d. A. D. 1650. ITALIAN BEAUTY, WIT, AND SCHOLAR. 43+ AUGHTER of Camillus Molsa, knight of the order of St. James of Pp Spain, and granddaughter of Francis Maria Molsa, a celebrated Italian poet, was a woman of very high accomplishments, uniting in an extraordinary degree, wit, learning, and beauty. Her father, observ- ing her genius, had her educated with her brothers, and by the best masters, in the chief branches of literature and science. Some of the most distinguished men of the time were her instructors and eulogists. She was mistress of Latin, Greek, and the ethics of Aristotle, Plato, and Plutarch. She also understood Hebrew and natural philosophy, and wrote her own language, the Tuscan, with ease and spirit. She played on the lute and violin, and is also said to have had a highly cultivated singing voice. Tarquinia Molsa was greatly esteemed by Alphonsus II., Duke of Ferrara, and his court. The city of Rome, by a decree of the senate, in which all her excellencies were set forth, honored her with the title of Singular, and bestowed on her the rights of a Roman citizen. This decree was passed December 8, 1600. She was married to Paulus Porrinus, but losing her husband while still very young, she would never consent to be married again. Her grief was so acute at the result of his death that she was called a second Artemisia. She retained her personal charms till an advanced period of life, confirming the opinion of Euripides, that ‘‘the autumn of beauty is not less pleasing than its spring.’’ Although so courted and extolled, she avoided notice and distinction, and retained to the last her fondness for a retired life. Meee WA aes Madame de Maintenon continued. became his confidant and adviser, was made marchioness, and took the name of Maintenon from an estate, and, after resolutely refusing to become the king’s mistress, became his wife by a secret marriage in 1683. From this time till his death, Louis was greatly under her influence, after which , event she retired to the convent of St. Cyr. 273 LOUISE DE LA VALLIERE. A. D. 1644-1710. MISTRESS OF LOUIS XIV. OF FRANCE. | at PC . LLE. DE LA VALLIERE, duchess, a French lady celebrated for her intimate relations with Louis X[V., born .in Tours in August, 1644, died in Paris, June 6, 1710. After the death of her father, a French nobleman and superior officer, her mother married the Baron de St. Remy, who was attached to the household of the Duchess of Orleans. Introduced at court and appointed maid of honor to Henrietta of England, sister-in-law of Louis XIV., Louise de La Valliere soon received the homage of several distinguished persons, whose attentions she discountenanced from a feeling of sincere love and admiration for the king. All who became acquainted with the young lady were struck with her modesty, gentleness, and truthfulness, as well as with her personal charms and varied accomplishments ; and the most eminent French writers, as Racine, La Fontaine, and Madame de Sévigné, bestow the highest encomi- ums upon her virtues and graces. Her love for Louis XIV. was as enthusiastic as it was disinterested ; and after having for some time resisted his advances, she became his mis- tress in 1661, but on several occasions felt impelled by conscientious scruples to desert her lover, who twice succeeded in bringing her back from the convent in which she had taken refuge. In 1674, however, she left him definitely, and took the veil in the Carmelite convent of the Faubourg St. Jacques under the name of Sister Louise. She received the visits of the queen, the Duchess of Orleans, and other warm admirers, and, engaged in works of piety and charity, spent the rest of her life in the seclusion of that convent. She bore four children to the king, two of whom were legitimatized, Mlle. de Blois, who married the Prince of Conti, and the Count of Verman- dois. She wrote a book entitled Reflections on the Mercy of God, by a Penitent Woman, 1680. A collection of her letters was also published in 1767. Her life has been a very suggestive literary theme. 274 s ANNE DACIER. A. D. 1654-1720. CELEBRATED SCHOLAR AND LINGUIST. os NNE LEFEVRE DACIER, a French woman distinguished in letters and as a scholar, was born in Saumur, France, in March, 1654, and died in Paris, August 17, 1720. She was the daughter of the celebrated scholar, Tanneguy-Lefevre, and acquired her first instruction from overhearing his lessons to, her brother. Lefevre, amazed at the extent of the information thus obtained, devoted himself to her education; and at his death, in 1672, she was one of the most accomplished scholars in Europe. Immediately subsequent to the death of her father, she went to reside in Paris, where in 1674 she published an edition of Callimachus. The repu- tation acquired by this work procured her an invitation to assist in prepar- ing the Delphin editions of the classics. In the discharge of this duty she prepared editions of Florus, Eutropius, Aurelius Victor, Dictys Cretensis, and Dares Phrygius. In 1683 she was married to Andre Dacier, a favorite of her father, under whom they had for many years been fellow pupils. This marriage was called ‘‘the marriage of the Greek and Latin.’’ Two years afterward, they both abjured Protestantism, and received from the king a pension of two thou- sand livres. Madame Dacier thenceforth continued to devote herself no less assiduously to literary pursuits, and produced translations of several plays of Plautus, the whole of Terence, the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, the Plutus and Clouds of Aristophanes, and the whole of Anacreon and Sappho. The translations from Homer involved her in a controversy with M. de la Motte, and others, concerning the comparative merits of ancient and mod- ern literature, Madame Dacier vigorously sustaining the former. She also assisted her husband in the translation of Marcus Aurelius and Plutarch’s Lives. She was distinguished for modesty and, amiability, and, amid her’ en- grossing literary avocations, did not neglect her domestic and maternal duties. Q75 ANNE KILLIGREW. A. D. 1660-1685. ENGLISH ARTIST AND POETESS. CSkZe- se of Henry Killigrew, born in London in 1660, died in June, 1685, was characterized by one of her admirers as ‘‘a Grace for beauty, and a Muse for wit.’’ Her father was one of the preb- endaries of Westminster some time before the restoration of Charles IT. The daughter showed indications of genius very early and this being carefully cultivated, she became eminent in the arts of poetry and painting. An exhibition of the latter is her portrait of the Duke of York (afterward James II.) and his duchess, to whom she was a maid of honor. She also painted some historical pictures and some pieces of still life, for her own amusement. She was a woman of exemplary piety and virtue. Dryden speaks of her in the highest terms, and wrote a long ode to her memory, from which the following stanza is extracted :— “« Now all those charms, that blooming grace, The well-proportioned shape and beauteous face, - Shall never more be seen by mortal eyes: - In earth the much lamented virgin lies! Not wit, nor piety, could fate prevent, Nor was the cruel destiny content To finish all the murder at a blow, To snap at once her life and beauty too; But, like a hardened felon, took a pride To work more mischicvously slow, And plunder’d first, and then destroyed. Oh! double sacrilege on things divine, To rob the relique and deface the shrine! But thus Orinda died: Heaven by the same disease did both translate, As equal were thcir souls, as equal was their fate.”’ She died of smallpox, and was buried in the chapel of the Savoy hospi- tal, on the north side of which is a plain monument of marble and freestone erected to her memory, and fixed in the wall, on which is a Latin inscrip- tion. Reproduccd from a copper etching after the original portrait QUEEN ANNE. A. D. 1665-1714. LAST SOVEREIGN OF THE HOUSE OF STUART. PKS a queen of Great Britain and Ireland, was born at St. James Palace, London, on ‘February 6, 1665. She was the second daughter of James II. of England by his first wife, Anne Hyde, the daughter of the famous Earl of Clarendon. When she was six years of age, her mother died ; and her father soon after professed himself a mem- ber of the Church of Rome; but his daughters were educated in the prin- ciples of the Church of England; to which Anne always retained an ardent if not a very enlightened attachment. In 1683 Anne was married to Prince George of Denmark, an indolent and good-natured man, who concerned himself little about public affairs, and had as little capacity for dealing with them. At an early age she formed an intimacy with Sarah Jennings (afterwards the Duchess of Marl- borough), who exercised an almost unbounded influence over her, both before and after her accession to the throne. She was the mother of seven- teen children, all of whom died young and before she became queen. In the revolution of 1688, Anne supported the cause of the Prince of Orange, but was afterwards implicated in intrigues for the restoration of her father. She succeeded William III., who died March 8, 1702, at a time when the strife of parties was extremely violent. She pursued the foreign policy of the late king, which involved England in the long war of the Spanish succession as the ally of Austria and the enemy of France. Among the important events of the reign were a number of signal victories gained by the Duke of Marlborough over the armies of Louis XIV., and the union of England and Scotland in 1707. Her political principles, if she had any, were favorable to royal prerogative rather than constitutional liberty, and rendered her partial to the Tories. She became gradually alienated from the Duchess of Marlborough, who was a Whig, and transferred her favoritism to Mrs. Masham, whose in-- trigues undermined the Whig party so effectually, that the Tory statesmen, the Earl of Oxford and Lord Bolingbroke, came into power in 1710, The 279 MARY ASTELL. A.D. 1668-1731. ENGLISH AUTHORESS AND LINGUIST. tb ® HIS voluminous writer was the daughter of a merchant of Newcastle- “i” ~=upon-Tyne, where she was born in 1668. She was well educated, and among other accomplishments was mistress of French, and had a good knowledge of the Latin tongue. Her uncle, a clergyman, observ- ing her uncommon predilection, took her under his tuition, and taught her mathematics, logic, and philosophy. She left her native place when she was about the age of twenty, and spent the remaining part of her life at London and Chelsea. Here she pursued her studies with assiduity, acquired great proficiency in the exact sciences, and extended her knowledge of the classic authors. Among these latter, Seneca, Epictetus, Hierocles, Antoninus, Tully, Plato, and Xenophon were her favorites. She wrote An Fssay in Defense of the Female Sex, A Serious Pro- posal to the Ladies, and many other books and essays with the purpose of raising the ‘standard of female education and female character. She was, however, a woman conservative and decidedly opposed to the new- fangled spirit of the times. She died at Chelsea, May 11, 1731, and was there buried. ; ~S WA Queen Anne continued, queen and these Tory ministers concurred in designs and intrigues to secure the succession to her brother, the Pretender. The European war was ended by the treaty of Utrecht, Lord Bolingbroke became prime minister in place of the Earl of Oxford, and the poor queen was kept in a state of constant unrest through the quarrels of her ministers. She died of apoplexy on August 1, 1714, and was succeeded by George I. Her reign, illustrated by the genius of Newton, Addison, Pope, Boling- broke, Swift, DeFoe, and Arbuthnot, was almost as celebrated in literature as the Augustan age of Rome, although she did little to make it so. Queen Anne was of middle size, and comely though not beautiful. She was virtuous, conscientious, and affectionate, more worthy of esteem as a woman than of administration as a queen. , 280 ABIGAIL MAS HAM. A. D. 1670-1734. FAVORITE OF QUEEN ANNE OF ENGLAND. ~2 Ses SEP E RS. MASHAM’S name occupies a prominent place in the political M. writings which characterized the reign of Queen Anne. She was the daughter of Mr. Hill, a wealthy merchant of London, by reason’ of whose bankruptcy she was obliged to become the attendant of Lady Riv- ers.. From this position she was advanced to the place of waiting maid to the princess Anne, and after her mistress ascended the throne gradually acquired considerable influence over her. She was not a woman of superior mind or attainments, but there were many points of sympathy between the queen and herself, which may account for the ascendency of this favorite. She possessed great powers of mimicry, and considerable taste in music, of which latter accomplishment the queen was very fond. In 1707, Abigail Hill married Mr. Masham, a man of ancient family, one of the pages of the court. This marriage was performed secretly, and in the presence of the queen. The Duchess of Marlborough, who had hith- erto been a favorite of the queen, on learning these facts, gave way to such violence, that it severed finally the tie between herself and her sovereign ; and in ashort time she was deprived of all offices and dignities at court. One of her situations, that of the privy-seal, was given to Mrs. Masham. Following upon this, Mrs. Masham leagued herself with the queen’s party, who were intriguing to remove the Duke of Marlborough and his adherents, and became an instrument in their hands. In 1711 a change of - ministry took place, and Mr. Masham was raised to the peerage. Hence- forth, Lady Masham became involved in all the intrigues of the court, especially in those of the Tories in favor of the exiled House of Stuart, which she warmly advocated. Mrs. Masham was plain in appearance, and delicate in health. One of her physical blemishes was a remarkably red nose, furnishing the wits of the day with a constant subject at which to level their shafts. After the death of the queen she lived in great retirement, and died at an advanced age. . 281 MARY II., QUREN OF ENGLAND. A. D. 1662 -1694. WIFE AND CO-REGENT OF WILLIAM III. 0p — pee ARY II. was born at St. James Palace, Westminster, April 30, 1662. She was the daughter of James II. by Anne Hyde, his first wife. She married, November 4, 1677, at the age of fifteen, William, Prince of Orange, and sailed two weeks after to the Hague. Here she lived till February-12, 1689, when accepting a solemn invitation from the states of England she followed her husband to London. The throne was declared vacant by the flight of James II., and William and Mary were crowned as next heirs April 11, 1689. Though Mary was declared joint possessor of the throne with her husband, yet the administra- tion of the government was left entirely to him, This arrangement cost Mary no sacrifice, but was in strict accord with her desire. ‘‘ There is but ’ one command which I wish him to obey,’’ said she, ‘‘and that is, ‘Hus- bands, love your wives.’ For myself, I shall follow the injunction, ‘Wives, be obedient to your husbands in all things.’ ’’ She kept the promise voluntarily made, and all her efforts were directed to promote her husband's happiness, and make him beloved by the English people. Ie had great confidence in her abilitics, and when, during his absence in Ireland and on the continent, she was left the regent of the kingdom, she managed parties at home with much prudence, and governed with a discretion not inferior to his own. Queen Mary was strongly attached to the Protestant religion and the Church of England, and was evidently led to consider its preservation a paramount duty, even when opposed to the claims of filial obedience. The unfriendly terms on which she lived with her sister, afterward Queen Anne, have often been alluded to as a blemish on her character. But political jealousies, and the foolish attachment of Anne to overbearing favorites, may sufficiently account for this rupture. Aside from this, Mary was, in truth, an amiable and excellent queen, and by her example made industry and domestic virtue fashionable. She died of smallpox, at Ken- sington, in the year 1694. 282 "CATHARINE I. OF RUSSIA. A. D. 1684-1727. QUEEN OF PETER THE GREAT. A ROE Co I., Empress of Russia, was a peasant’s daughter, and her original name was Martha Skavranska. Her parents lived at Rin- gen, a small village not far from Dorpt, on Lake Vitcherve, in Livonia. The date of her birth was April 15, 1684. Being left an orphan in her fif- teenth year, she was brought up chiefly by a Lutheran pastor named Gliick, in Marienburg, Livonia. In 1702 she married a Swedish dragoon, but Marienburg being taken by the Russians in the same year, she was made prisoner, and became the mistress of Prince Menschikoff. She then attracted the notice of Peter the Great, and won so much on his affections that he married her ; and the marriage was publicly avowed in 1711. Some years prior to this, however, she went over to the Greek Church, and took the name of Catharina Alexievna. When Peter the Great and his army seemed entirely in the power of the Turkish army on the Pruth in 1711, Catharine, according to the common account, through skillful bribery, procured the deliverance of the Russians. From this time forth she was received with great favor and was solemnly crowned in 1712. On the death of Peter the Great, in 1725, she was acknowledged Empress and sole ruler of all the Russians. She showed herself worthy of this high station by completing the grand designs which her illustrious consort had begun: The first thing she did on her accession, was to cause every gallows to be taken down, and all instruments of torture to be de- stroyed. She instituted a new order of knighthood, and performed many actions worthy of a great mind. . She was much beloved for her great humanity, but ere long began to yield to the influence of a number of favorites, addicted herself to drunk- enness, and lived such a life as could not fail to hurry her to her grave. She died May 17, 1727. Her daughter 283 Elizabeth — became empress, LADY MONTAGU. A. 1D. 1690-1762. BRILLIANT SOCIAL LEADER AND WIT. --O4@+0=- — ARY WORTLEY MONTAGU, born about 1690 at Thoresby, 9] Nottinghamshire, England, was the eldest daughter of Evelyn . Pierrepont, Duke of Kingston, and Lady Mary Fielding. She was a clever, attractive child, the pride and delight of her father, who, having lost his wife in 1694, and continuing a widower, introduced his daughter to society, and made her preside at his table at a very early age. In 1712 she married, without the consent of her father, Edward Wortley Montagu, eldest son of Hon. Sydney Montagu. For more than three years after her marriage, she lived near Sheffield, where her son was born, her husband being kept principally in London during this time by his parliamentary duties. On the accesssion of George I., Mr. Montagu obtained a seat at the Treasury Board, and from this time, Lady Mary lived in London, where she gained a brilliant reputation by her wit and beauty, and was on terms of intimate friendship with Addison, Pope, and other literary men of the day. In 1716 Mr. Montagu was appointed ambassador to the Porte, and in August of that year he set out for Constantinople, accompanied by his wife. They remained abroad till 1718, and during this time Lady Mary wrote the well known Leéfers to her sister, Pope, and other friends. The Letters give a true description of Eastern life and manners, and are written in a clear, lively style, sparkling with wit and humor. The next twenty years of her life she passed in England. For reasons which are not well known, in 1739, she left England and her husband, from whom, however, she parted on very good terms, though they never met again. She lived in Italy, first on the shores of the lake of Iseo, and afterwards at Venice, till 1761, when at the request of her daughter, the Countess of Bute, she returned to England. She died August 21, 1762. Of her two children, both of whom survived her, one was the eccentric and profligate Edward Wortley Montagu, and the other became the wife of the Marquis of Bute, a distinguished nobleman. 284 MARIE DEFFAND. A. D. 1697-1780. PATRON OF FASHION AND LITERATURE. 3+ Gh accomplished French woman, resplendent in the age of Louis XV., was born in Paris in 1697, and died in the same city September 24, 1780. She was of noble birth, and was educated in a convent, but at an early age astonished her parents by her skeptical opinions on religious subjects. At twenty years of age she was married to the Marquis du Deffand, from whom her indiscretions soon caused her to be separated, after which she launched into a career of fashionable dissipation, and for many years was oné of the most brilliant ornaments of the court of Louis XV. Al- though incapable from a natural selfishness and want of sympathy of enter- taining the passion of love, she knew how to inspire it in others ; and over the greater part of her numerous lovers, among whom, it is said, was the regent himself, her influence remained unimpaired until their dotage. Her conversational powers and clear, cool judgment caused her to be courted by the most eminent men of the time, and when in her fifty-sixth year she became totally blind, her salons in the convent of St. Joseph were the favorite resort of Montesquieu, Voltaire, President Hénault, David Hume, D’Alembert, and many others. At this period of her life she be- came acquainted with Horace Walpole, between whom and herself a cor- respondence was for many years carried on. As she grew old her selfish traits developed more disagreeably, and the ungenerous manner in which she treated her companion and reader, Mlle. de Lespinasse,. alienated many of her friends. Her latter years were marked by peevishness and ennaz, and she died unhappy after several unavailing efforts to consecrate herself to the life of a devotee. Her epistolary writings comprise her correspondence with Hénault, Montesquieu, D’ Alembert, and the Duchess of Maine, and with Horace Walpole. Her prose style is a model of elegance, but her poetry never rose above mediocrity. 285 MAROUISE DU CHATELET. A. D. 1706-1749. NOTORIOUS FOR HER LIAISON WITH VOLTAIRE. matinee OH CS ABRIELLE EMILIE DU CHATELET-LOMONT, one of the & most remarkable women of her time, notorious for intimacy with Voltaire, was born at Paris, December 17, 1706. At an early period she displayed a great aptitude for the acquisition of knowledge. She studied Latin and Italian with her father, the Baron de Bretuil, and subsequently betook herself with zeal to mathematics and the physical sciences. Maupertius was her instructor in geometry, and the works of Newton and Leibnitz became her constant study. It was while thus devot- ing herself that she met Voltaire. Distinguished alike for her beauty and talent, she soon found a host of suitors for her hand. Her choice fell on the Marquis du Chatalet-Lomont, but her marriage did not hinder her from forming, in 1733, a /éazson with Voltaire, who came to reside with her at Cirey, a chateau on the borders of Champagne and Lorraine, belonging to her husband. Here they studied,. loved, quarreled, and loved again, for several years. In 1747 Madame du Chatelet, however, became sensible to the brilliant qualities of a certain M. Saint-Lambert, a captain of the Lorraine Guards ; and the result was that the philosopher had to make room for the soldier. Voltaire was both grieved and indignant on discovering that he had a rival, but Madame du Chatelet’s assurances of unabated friendship reconciled and induced him to remain near her. She died at Luneville, September 10, 1749, a few days after having given birth to a child. Her first writing was /ustétutions de Physique, a treatise on the philoso-. phy of Leibnitz. .She also translated the Principia of Newton into French, accompanying it with algebraic elucidations. Madame du Chatelet’s ideas of morality were those of her time. She was graceful, remarkable for her simplicity of manner, and renowned for the accuracy of her judgment. Proud of her rank and birth, haughty to her inferiors, violent and imperious in her temper, she ruled despotically over her lovers, as she was ruled by her passions. 286 LADY HUNTINGDON. A. D.1707-1791. RELIGIOUS PHILANTHROPIST. ou SELINA HUNTINGDON, a patron of Calvinistic Metho- dists in England, was born in 1707, and died June 17, 1791. She was one of three daughters and co-heirs of Washington Shirley, Earl of Ferrars, and at the age of twenty-one was married to Theophilus Hastings, Earl of Huntingdon, a man distinguished for piety. His sudden death in 1746, and also the death of her four children in youth, caused her to become deeply religious. At the time when the founders of Methodism, Wesley and Whitefield, were exciting in England a spirit of more intense devotion than was gener- ally prevalent, the Countess of Huntingdon embraced their doctrines with her whole heart. She inclined to Whitefield’s peculiar doctrines rather than to Wesley’s, but she chose herself to become the founder of a sect which was called ‘‘ The Countess of Huntingdon’s Connection.’’ ° She had the control of a large income during her forty-five. years of widowhood, and as her own personal expenses were small, and she was assisted by other opulent persons, she supported a college at Trevecca, in South Wales, for the education of Calvinistic ministers, and built sixty-four chapels, the ministers of which she assisted to support. Her largest chapel was at Bath, which she frequently attended. The college was removed after her death to Cheshunt, Herts, where it still exists, and for the support of it and also her chapels she left a trust. Not only in these ways did she merit the title of public benefactor, but she also expended large sums in private charities. “ According to the census of 1851, there were 109 chapels ” belonging to the ‘‘ Connection,’’ with accommodations for 40,000 hearers. Lady Huntingdon lived for others, and at her death, which took place after a long career, she was mourned by all who knew her. Even those who regarded her conduct as the result of mistaken enthusiasm, respected her for the noble virtues of her character and her Christian conduct. The Congregational polity prevails among her societies, some of which have formally identified themselves with the Congregationalists. 287 MARIA THERESA. A. D. 1717-1780. THE GREATEST OF AUSTRIAN RULERS. kj Bohemia, and empress of Germany, born at Vienna, May 13, 1717, was the eldest daughter of Charles VI. of Austria, emperor of Germany. In 1724 Charles, by his will, known as the Pragmatic Sanc- tion, regulated the order of succession in the House of Austria, declaring \ lee noted woman, archduchess of Austria, queen of Hungary and that, in default of male issue, his eldest daughter should be heiress of all the Austrian dominions, and her children after her. The Pragmatic Sanction was guaranteed by the Diet of the Empire, and by all the German princes, and by several powers of Europe, but not by the Bourbons. In 1736 she married Francis of Lorraine, to whom she gave equal share in the govern- ment upon the death of her father in 1740. At the time of her accession the monarchy was exhausted, the finances embarrassed, the people discontented, and the army weak. To add to the gravity of the situation, Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, and Sardinia, abetted by France, put forward claims to the whole or to portions of her dominions. Maria Theresa, however, went immediately to Vienna, and took possession of Austria, Bohemia, and her other German states. She then repaired to Presburg, took the oaths to the Constitution of Hungary, and was solemnly proclaimed queen of that kingdom in 1741. Frederick of Prussia offered the young queen his friendship on condition of her giving up to him Silesia, which she resolutely refused, and he then invaded that province. The Elector of Bavaria, assisted by the French, also invaded Austria, and pushed his troops as far as Vienna. The queen took refuge in Presburg, where she convoked the Hungarian Diet ; and appearing in the midst of them with her infant son in her arms, she made a heart-stirring appeal to their loyalty. The Hungarian nobles, drawing their swords, unanimously exclaimed, ‘‘ We will die for our queen, Maria Theresa !’’ And they raised an army and drove the French and Bavarians out of the hereditary states. In the meantime, Charles Albert, Elector of Bavaria, was chosen em- peror of Germany, under the name of Charles VII. ; and Frederick of 288 MARIA THERESA. Prussia soon made peace with Maria Theresa, who was obliged to surrender Silesia to him. In 1745 Charles VII. died, and Francis, Maria Theresa’s husband, was elected emperor. Three years later the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle termi- nated the war of the Austrian succession, and there ensued a period of peace. During this period, Maria Theresa instituted important financial reforms, did her utmost to foster agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, and improved and nearly doubled the national revenues, whilst the burdens were diminished. In 1756 began the Seven Years’ War, between France, Austria, and Russia on the one side, and Prussia on the other, to confirm Frederick in the possession of Silesia. This was ended in 1763, leaving Austria and Prussia with the same boundaries as before. On the conclusion of hostilities the empress renewed her efforts to promote the national prosperity, ameliorat- ing the condition of the peasantry, mitigating the penal code, founding schools, organizing charitable societies, in short, promoting the welfare of her subjects by all the wise arts of peaceful progress. After the death of her husband, in 1765, the queen mother associated her son Joseph, elected king of the Romans in 1764, with herself in the government of the hereditary states. She, however, retained the adminis- tration of the government until her death, November 29, 1780. Personally, Maria Theresa was a woman of majestic and winning ap- pearance, and she was animated by truly regal sentiments and an undaunted spirit ; by this rare union of feminine tact with masculine energy and restless activity, she not only won the affection and even enthusiastic admiration of her subjects, but she raised Austria from a most wretched condition to a position of assured power. Although a zealous Roman Catholic, she maintained the rights of her own crown against the court of Rome, and endeavored to correct some of the worst abuses of the Church. Maria Theresa was the mother of sixteen children, all born within twenty years, ten of whom survived her. Among these, Joseph II. suc- ceeded her ; Leopold, Grand Duke of Tuscany, followed his brother on the imperial throne as Leopold II. ; Ferdinand became Duke of Modena ; and Marie Antoinette was married to Louis XVI., of France. ‘ 289 CATHARINE II. A.D, 1729-1796. EMPRESS OF RUSSIA. ote ATHARINE II. was born at Stettin, in Prussian Pomerania, May 2, (Z 1729. Her father, the Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, was a Prussian field marshal, and governor of Stettin. She received the name of Sophia Augusta ; but the Empress Elizabeth of Russia having selected her for the wife of her nephew and intended successor, Peter, she passed from the Lutheran to the Greek Church, and took the name of Catharine Alexievna, In 1745 her marriage took place. She soon quarreled with her hus- band, and both of them lived a life of unrestrained vice. Among. his at- tendants was a Count Soltikoff, with whom her intimacy soon became scandalous ; and Soltikoff was sent on an embassy abroad. But the young Polish count, Poniatowski, almost immediately supplied his place. After the death of the Empress Elizabeth in 1761, Peter III. ascended the Rus- sian throne; but the conjugal differences became continually wider. Catharine was banished to a separate abode ; and the emperor seemed to entertain the design of divorcing her, declaring her only son, Paul, illegit- imatc, and marrying his mistress, Elizabeth Woronzoff. The popular dislike to Peter, however, rapidly increased ; and at length, he being de- throned by a conspiracy, Catharine was made empress. A few days after- ward Peter was murdered. What participation his wife had in his murder has never been well ascertained. Catharine now exerted herself to please the people, and among other things, made a great show of regard for the outward forms of the Greek Church, although her principles were, in reality, those prevalent among the French philosophers of the eighteenth century. The government of the country was carried on with great energy, and her reign was re- markable for the rapid increase of the dominions and power of Russia. Not long after her accession to the throne, her influence secured the election of her former favorite, Stanislaus Poniatowski, to the throne of Poland. 290 CATITARINEE Th OF RUSSIA, Reproduced from a portrait by Rosselyn; engraved by Caroline: Watson. CATHARINE II. In her own empire, however, discontentment was seriously manifested, the hopes of the disaffected being centered in the young prince Ivan, right- ful heir to the throne of Russia, who was forthwith murdered in the castle of Schliisselburg. From that time the internal politics of Russia consisted chiefly of court intrigues for the humiliation of one favorite and the exaltation of another. The revolt of the Cossacks in 1773, though serious, only served to fortify her throne. The first partition of Poland in 1772, and the Turkish war which terminated in 1774, vastly increased the empire. In 1787 she made a journey in her southern provinces through flourishing towns, villages, and festive scenes ; but the whole was a sham, having been gotten up for the occasion by Potemkin to impress Catharine with the prosperity of her em- pire. Resuming the policy of expelling the Turks from Europe, and reign- ing at Constantinople, Catharine, in 1783, seized the Crimea, and annexed it to her empire. In 1787 the Porte declared war against her and hostili- ties were continued till’ 1792. She indemnified herself by sharing in the dismemberment of Poland, which kingdom became extinct in 1795 ; and was on the point of turning her arms against republican France, when she died of apoplexy, November 9, 1796. To all her lovers Catharine was munificent, not only during their season of favor, but after their dismissal, loading them with presents and pensions to such an extent, that altogether they are estimated to have cost Russia about £20,000,000. In the capital, at her court, and in her own circle, there reigned the most systematic immorality, which she encouraged by her “example in utter clisregard of virtuous restraint. Though as a woman the licentiousness of her character is inexcusable, yet as a sovereign Catharine II. is well entitled to the appellation of Great. After Peter I., she was the chief regenerator of Russia, but with a more en+ lightened mind and under more favorable circumstances. She established schools, ameliorated the condition of the serfs, promoted commerce, founded towns, arsenals, banks, and manufactories, and encouraged art and litera- ture. She corresponded with the learned men in all countries, and wrote herself Zzstructions for a Code of Laws, besides several dramatic pieces, and Moral Tales for her grandchildren. 293 MADAME DE LA ROCHE. A. D. 1731-1807. GERMAN AUTHORESS. os Ot ‘ARIE SOPHIE DE LA ROCHE, a talented German authoress, M was the daughter of Herr Von Guterman, a very learned physician. She was born December 6, 1731, at Kaufbeuren, and, as she grew up, was educated with great care. When she was only five years old, it is said she had read the Bible through. Von Guterman removed to Augsburg when his daughter was sixteen, where he was appointed town physician, and dean of the medical faculty. Here the daughter had new opportunities for mental cultivation, and received special assistance from Dr. Biancani, of Bologna, physician to the Prime Bishop of Augsburg. Dr. Biancani became very much attached to his pupil and wished to marry her, but the father of Sophie opposed the match. From this time she devoted herself to reading and study and shortly after took up her residence at Riberach in the house of a relative, Wieland by name. Here Sophie became acquainted with young Wieland, who drew her attention to German literature, and throughout her life inspired her to literary effort. A strong attachment sprang up between them, and they became engaged ; but during Wieland’s prolonged absence in Switzerland, they were estranged, and when, in 1760, he returned to Riberach, he found Sophie the wife of M. de la Roche, counselor of state in Maine, and super- intendent of the estates of Count Stadion. The friendship of Wieland, however, was resumed and continued uninterrupted till their death, a period _of more than fifty years. M. dela Roche died in 1789, while his wife sur- vived until 1807, Madame de la Roche wrote a number of works which showed her to be a woman of intellect, knowledge, and experience. In writing, however, she succeeded best in romances, in which she exhibited unusual powers of im- agination and knowledge of the human heart. Her principal works are, fiistory of the Lady of Sternburg, to which Wieland wrote a preface ; Pomona, My Writing Desk, Letters on Alinheim, Apparitions on Lake Oneida, Love Cottages, and Melusina’s Summer Night. 294 MARTHA WASHINGTON. A. D. 1732-1802, WIFE OF GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON. Kos. 222% ep. RY Ye S ARTHA WASHINGTON was born in the county of New Kent, Vir- ginia, in May, 1732. Her maiden name was Martha Dandridge, and, at the age of seventeen, she married Col. Daniel Parke Curtis, of the White House, county of New Kent. By this union she had four children : a daughter who died in infancy, ason named Daniel, whose early death is supposed to have hastened his father’s ; Martha, who arrived at woman- hood, and died in 1770 ; and John, who perished in the service of his coun- try, at the siege of Yorktown, aged twenty-seven, Mrs. Curtis was left a young and very wealthy widow, and managed the extensive landed and pecuniary interests of the estate with surprising ability. In 1759 she was married to George Washington, then a colonel in the colonial service, and soon after they removed permanently to Mount Ver- non, on the Potomac. When her husband became commander-in-chief of the colonial armies, Mrs. Washington, accompanied him to Boston, and witnessed its siege and evacuation. After General Washington’s election to the presidency of the United States, in 1787, Mrs. Washington performed the duties belonging to the wife of a man in that high station, with dignity and ease. On the retire- ment of President Washington, she still continued her unbounded hospi- . tality. The death of her venerated husband, which occurred December 14, 1799, was a shock from which she never recovered, though she bore the heavy sorrow with the most exemplary resignation. She survived her husband a little over two years, dying at Mount Vernon. In person Mrs. Washington was well formed, though somewhat ‘below middle height. A portrait, made previous to her marriage, shows that she must have been very handsome in her youth ; which comeliness of counte- nance, as well as a dignified and graceful manner, she retained during life. In the home she was the presiding genius that kept action and order in perfect harmony —a wife in whom the heart of her husband could safely trust. 295 CHARLOTTE CORDAY. A.D. 1768-1793. FRENCH HEROINE AND MARTYR. —4-%-t ARIANE CHARLOTTE CORDAY D’ARMANS, a French M heroine, was born at St. Saturnin des Lignerets, in the department of Orne, July 28, 1768, and guillotined at Paris, July 17, 1793. Her father was a poor Norman nobleman of literary tastes, and author of works of a republican tendency. Charlotte’s mother died during her early youth; her two brothers entered the army; one of her sisters died young, and she and her remaining sister were placed by their father in aconvent at Caen. There she became a favorite with the abbess and her assistant, who occasionally gave parties to their intimate friends, to which Charlotte was admitted. Among the visitors was M. de Belzunce, a young cavalry officer, between whom and Charlotte a tender feeling sprang up. Charlotte was intellectual, vehement, and enthusiastic ; she devoured Rousseau’s Heloise, sympathized with the heroes of antiquity, and enter- tained the most exalted ideas of the duties of patriotism. An event which made a deep impression on her mind was the assassination of the young officer she loved by a mob at Caen, and she vowed revenge against those whom she conceived to have instigated the murder. After the revolution had closed the doors of the convent, Charlotte re- moved to the house of her aunt, an old royalist lady. Many Girondists had fled to Caen, among others Barbaroux, and Charlotte found a pretext for calling upon him, The conversation chiefly turned upon the tragic fate of the Girondists, upon Madame Roland, and upon Marat, for whom she had long felt a horror. One morning her aunt founda Bible lying open upon her bed, and the following lines, ‘‘ The Lord hath gifted Judith with a ” special beauty and fairness,’’ were underlined. On another occasion she found her weeping bitterly, and, on questioning her about her tears, Char- lotte replied : ‘‘ They flow for the misfortunes of my country.”’ On the morning of July 9, 1793, she suddenly left the house of her aunt, ona pretext of a journey to England. On the eleventh she was in Paris. She took a room in the Hotel de la Providence, not far from 296 CHARLOTTE CORDAY. Marat’s dwelling. For two days her mind was undecided as to whether Marat or Robespierre should fall, when Marat’s journal, Lami du peuple, in which he said that two hundred thousand more heads must be lopped off in order to secure the success of the revolution, fixed her determination. She addressed a letter to Marat soliciting an audience, in order to acquaint him with the plots of the Girondists at Caen. No answer came, and on the morning of July 13, after having purchased a knife at the Palais Royal, Charlotte called upon Marat. She was refused admittance. She wrote a second note, and called again at half-past seven the same evening. The porter seeing her pass by his lodge without making any inquiry, called her back. But Charlotte passed on and ascended the staircase. Marat’s mis- tress, Albertine, opened the door, and on beholding again the same young woman who had called during the morning, rudely refused to admit her ; Charlotte insisted ; the sound of their voices reached Marat, who con- sented to see her. Charlotte was ushered through two other rooms to a narrow closet, where Marat was just taking a bath. He listened to her re- port of the proceedings of the Girondists, and, taking down their names, re- marked with a smile that ‘within a week they will all go to the guillotine.”’ ” ‘* These words sealed his fate,’’ said Charlotte afterward. Drawing from beneath the handkerchief which covered her bosom the knife she had con- cealed there, she plunged it to the hilt in Marat’s heart. He gave a loud cry and sank back dead. The news of the murder soon spread. The room became crowded with people, and as they gazed upon the beautiful girl, who looked'serenely and calmly upon the general confusion, they could hardly believe that she was the assassin. She was transferred to the nearest prison, the Abbaye. Her trial took place on the morning of July 17 ; she was sentenced to death, and guillotined the evening of the same day. During her trial and during the execution her courage did not forsake her fora moment. She declared that her project had been formed when the Robespierre party had pronounced the doom.of the Girondists, and that she had killed one man in order to save a hundred thousand. When Vergniaud was informed of Charlotte’s death, he exclaimed : ‘« She has killed us, but she teaches us how to die.”’ 297 MADAME DE STAEL. A.D. 1766-1817. AN ILLUSTRIOUS FRENCH WOMAN. OQ) mall (He CA)NNE LOUISE GERMAINE DE STAEL-HOLSTEIN was born at Paris, April 22, 1766. She was the daughter of Jacques Necker, the famous finance minister of Louis XVI. She was an extraor- dinarily precocious child, figured at receptions at eleven, and grew up in an atmosphere of admiration. The attention she received in her mother’s brilliant salon developed in her the intellectual curiosity and scientific spirit of the men who frequented it. At the age of twenty, through the interposition of Marie Antoinette, a marriage was brought about between her and the Baron de Staél-Holstein, then Swedish ambassador at the court of France. Her marriage was not happy, and she was later separated from her husband, and mainly lived apart from him. She bore him two sons and a daughter, and was present at his bedside when he died in 1802. Neither the disposition nor the situation of Madame de Staél would permit her to remain indifferent to the general agitation which prevailed in France, Enthusiastic in her love of liberty, she gave all the weight of her influence to the cause. Her salon was the gathering place of the admirers of the English constitution. In 1792 she fled from the growing violence of riot and murder, then such a horrible attribute of the revolution in Paris, and took refuge with her father at Coppet, near Geneva, and later fled to England. Three years later she returned to Paris and sought to re-establish her salon. In the same year she fell under the suspicion of the Directory, and withdrew again to Coppet, but returned once more in 1797, and her salon attained a new brilliancy and power. Among its assiduous visitors were Madame Recamier, Madame de Beaumont, C. Jordan, Fauriel, and especially Benjamin Constant, with whom she fell in love, and from whose capricious and unhappy character she had — much to suffer. 298 MADAME DE STAEL. ce —__ 9¢ Vn +4 Osa MADAME DE STAEL — 000+: Reproduced from the portrait by J, Cham- Pagne, a Flemish painter. Champagne was a pupil of Phit#pps Champagne, whom he assisted in many worksin Paris. His talent attracted the attention of King Louis XIWV., who smployed him in decorative painting at the Palace of Ver- saillas, a MADAME DE STAEL. Her salon was decidedly hostile to Napoleon, who, in October, 1803, sent her away from Paris. After this interdict, she traveled in Germany and Italy, and in 1805 established herself again in Coppet, where her old friends and many new ones flocked about her, and where she held a kind of intellectual court. She traveled again in Germany in 1807, and upon her return announced her religious conversion. The appearance of her book on Germany was the signal for still severer measures by Napoleon. The French edition was destroyed, and she was ordered to retire to Coppet, where she was kept under surveillance, a virtual prisoner, and forbidden to receive her friends. She escaped in 1812 and took refuge successively in St. Petersburg, Sweden, and Eng- land. On the fall of Napoleon she returned to Paris in 1815, but she was disappointed at the tendencies of the restored monarchy. She received from the government two millions of francs, the sum which her father had left in the royal treasury ; and, surrounded by a happy circle of congenial minds, she remained in the capital until her death in July, 1817. In 1811 she had secretly married Albert de Rocca, an officer but twenty- three years old, to whom she bore a son. ' Though her conspicuous influence upon her contemporaries was wielded largely by personal contact, and the brilliancy of her improvisation in the excitement of conversation, yet her books are the most important of the post-revolutionary period, and furnished a great stimulus to the new cur- rents of French literature that were preparing romanticism. Her works are numerous, the most noted of which are, Cortzne, Delphine, Germany, Ten Years of Lexile, and Considerations on the French Revolution The books of Madame de Staél are very little read, and occupy a singu- lar position in French literature. They are seen to be in large part merely clever reflections of other people’s views, or views current at the time, and the famous ‘‘ideas’’ turn out to be chiefly the ideas of the books or the men with whom she was from time to time in contact. Her faults are great; her style is of a particular age, not for all time; her ideas are mostly second hand and frequently superficial. Nevertheless, nothing save a very great talent could have shown itself so receptive of its environ- ment. 301 ABIGAIL ADAMS. A. D. 1744-1818. WIFE OF PRESIDENT JOHN ADAMS. — | BIGAIL ADAMS, wife of John Adams, second president of the United States, was the daughter of Rev. William Smith, minister of a Congregational church, at Weymouth, Massachusetts, and of Elizabeth Quincy. She was born November 22, 1744, and in October, 1767, married John Adams, then a lawyer residing at Weymouth. Mr. Adams was appointed minister plenipotentiary to the court of Great Britain, and in 1784 Mrs. Adams sailed from Boston to join him. She returned in 1788, having passed one year in France and three in England. On the appointment of her husband to the vice-presidency in 1789, she resided in Philadelphia, then the seat of government, and also during his term as president. After the defeat of Mr. Adams in 1800 they retired to Quincy, Mass., where Mrs. Adams died, October 28, 1818. Mrs. Adams’ letters to her son, John Quincy Adams, were characteris- tic and much admired. She was a woman of true greatness and elevation of mind, and, whether in public or private life, always preserved the same dignified and tranquil demeanor. As the mistress of a household, she united the prudence of a rigid economist with the generous spirit of a lib- eral hospitality ; faithful and affectionate in her friendships, bountiful to the poor, kind and courteous to her dependents, cheerful and charitable in the intercourse of social life with her acquaintances, she lived in the habitual practice of benevolence, and sincere, unaffected piety. In her family rela- _tions, few women have left a pattern more worthy of imitation by their sex. Her letters have been collected and were published some years since. NN eee eye eae OOS Madame de Staél continued. Take away her assiduous frequentation of society, from the later philo- sophical coteries to the age of Byron — take away the influence of Constant and Schlegel and her other literary friends—and probably little of her will remain. 302 MARIE ANTOINETTE. A. D. 1755-1793: ILL FATED QUEEN OF FRANCE. a ARIE ANTOINETTE jOSEPHE JEANNE DE LORRAINE, archduchess of Austria and queen of France, was the fifth daugh- ter of Maria Theresa and Francis I. She was born at Vienna, November 2, 1755, was carefully educated, and possessed an uncommon share of grace and beauty. Her hand was demanded by Louis XIV., for his grandson, the dauphin, afterward Louis XVI., to whom she was mar- ried in 1770, before she had attained her fifteenth year. Her position at the French court was difficult from the very first, and it soon became dangerous. There was a difference of character between her and the people among whom she had come to live which proved fatal in the end. Her morals were perfectly pure and her heart full of noble and generous instincts. During the first years of her residence in France the queen was the idol of the people. Four years from this period all was changed. Circumstances remote in their origin had brought about in France a state of feeling fast ripening to a fearful issue. The queen could no longer do with impunity what had been done by her predecessors. The extravagance and thoughtlessness of youth, and a neglect of the strict formality of court etiquette, injured her reputation. She became a mark of censure, and finally an object of hatred to the people, who accused her of the most improbable crimes., Accused of being an Austrian at heart, and an enemy to France, every evil in the state was now attributed to her, and the Parisians soon exhibited their ‘hatred in acts of open violence. In October, 1789, the populace proceeded with rancor to Versailles, broke into the castle, murdered several of the bodyguard, and forced themselves into the queen's apartments. When questioned by the officers of justice as to what she had seen on that memorable day, she replied, ‘‘I have seen all, I have heard all, I have forgotten all.’”’ She accompanied the king in his flight to Varennes, in 1791, and endured with him, with unexampled fortitude and magnanimity, the in- 303 MARIE ANTOINETTE. sults which now followed in quick succession. In April, 1792, she accom- panied the king from the Tuileries, where they had been for some time detained close prisoners, to the Legislative Assembly, where she was ar- raigned. Transferred to the Temple, she endured, with the members of the royal family, every varicty of privation and indignity. On January 21, 1793, the king perished on the scaffold; her son was forcibly torn from her, and she was removed to the Conciergerie to await her trial in a damp and squalid cell. On the 14th of October she appeared before the revolu- tionary tribunal. During the trial, which lasted seventy-three hours, Marie Antoinette preserved all her dignity and composure. Her replies to the infamous charges which were preferred against her were simple, noble, and laconic. When all the accusations had been heard, she was asked if she had any- thing to say. She replied, ‘‘I was a queen, and you took away my crown ; a wife, and you killed my husband ; a mother, and you deprived me of my children. My blood alone remains: take it, but do not make me suffer long.”’ At four o’clock on the morning of the 16th she was condemned to death by a unanimous vote. She heard her sentence with admirable dignity and self-possession. At half-past twelve on the same day she ascended the scaffold. Scarcely any traces remained of the dazzling loveli- ness which had once charmed all hearts ; her hair had long since become blanched with grief, and her eyes were almost sightless from continued weeping. She knelt and prayed for a few moments in a low tone, then rose and calmly delivered herself to the executioner. Thus perished, in her thirty-seventh year, the daughter of the heroic Maria Theresa, a victim to the circumstances of birth and position. No fouler crime ever stained the annals of savage life than the murder of this unfortunate queen, by a people calling themselves the most civilized nation in the world. Marie Antoinette had four children : a daughter, who died in infancy ; the dauphin, who died in 1789; the young Louis, who perished in the’ Temple in 1795 ; and Marie Theresa Charlotte, who became the wife of the eldest son of Charles X. 304 MADAME ROLAND IN PRISON. Reproduced from the painting by Evariste Carpentier. MADAME ROLAND. A. D. 1754-1793. “MARTYR OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. ke ARIE JEANNE ROLAND, one of the most conspicuous martyrs [x of the French revolution, was born at Paris, March 18, 1754, the daughter of an engraver, who had ruined himself by unlucky speculation. From the first an eager and imaginative child, she read _ everything, even heraldry, and Plutarch made the young idealist a repub- ‘lican for life. At eleven she went, for a year, into a convent to prepare for her first communion, next passed a year with her grandmother, and _ re- turned to her father’s house, where she read Buffon, Bossuet, and Helve- tius, and at length found her gospel in the writings of Rousseau. After the death of her admirable mother, in 1775, the girl, solitary and poor, untouched in heart by her many admirers, and cold toward the father through his misconduct, at length, in February, 1780, married M. Roland, a manufacturer of Lyons. He was over forty, thin, yellowish, careless in dress, abrupt and austere in manners, and unyielding in his virtues, a man whom few would have thought likely to fascinate a young and beautiful woman. In her enthusiasm she overrated his qualities ; he proved a selfish, _exacting husband ; but she buried the latent passions of her heart, and for ten years made herself an admirable wife and mother, with perfect domestic simplicity. Her only child, a daughter, Eudora, was born at Amiens. The opening of the French revolution drew Madame Roland from the retirement of private life. She accompanied her husband, in 1791, to Paris, whither he had been sent by the city of Lyons to represent it in the States-General. Her beauty, enthusiasm, and eloquence soon exercised a wonderful fascination over her husband’s friends, and added a charm to patriotism that was irresistible. All the famous and ill-fated leaders, Brissot, Petion, Buzot, and at first even Robespierre and Danton, met con- stantly at her house, and she was a deeply interested observer of all that passed. She had little faith in constitutional monarchy ; her aspirations were for a republic, pure, free, and glorious as her ideal. In March, 1792, Roland became minister of the interior, and in her new 307 MADAME ROLAND. and elevated position Madame Roland influenced not only her husband but the entire Girondist party. Dismissed from his post in consequence of his celebrated letter of remonstrance to the king — which letter was, in fact, written by his wife— Roland, upon the downfall of the monarchy, was re- called to the ministry. This triumph was but short lived. The power which had been set in motion could not be arrested in its fearful course, and the Girondist party fell before the influence of their bloodthirsty opponents. Protesting against the reign of terror, they fell its victims. Both she and her husband. drew down upon themselves the hatred of Marat and Danton, and their lives were soon openly threatened. Roland escaped; but Madame Ro- land was arrested, and thrown into prison. Here, during a confinement ° of several months, she prepared her memoirs, which have been given to the world. On November 1, 1793, she was removed to the Conciergerie, and her trial, as a Girondist, commenced. She was condemned to death, and November 8, dressed all in white, her long, black hair hanging down to the girdle, she ascended the fatal cart. Carried with her to the guillotine was a trembling printer of assignats whom she asked Samson to take first to save him the horror of seeing her head fall. ‘*‘ You cannot,’’ said she, “refuse the last request of a woman.” It is usually told how, on the point of entering the awful shadows of eternity, she asked for pen and paper to write down the strange thoughts that were rising within her, but Sainte-Beuve thinks it impossible, puerile, untrue to the nature of the heroine, as well as unauthenticated by good contemporary evidence. As she looked up at the statue of Liberty, she exclaimed, ‘‘Oh Liberty, how many crimes are committed in thy name!”’ She died at the ave of thirty-nine. She had often said her husband would not long survive her. Her prediction was fulfilled. A week later, the body of Roland was found seated beneath a tree, on the road to Rouen, stabbed to the heart. A paper affixed to his breast bore these words: ‘‘ From the moment when I learned that they had murdered my wife I would no longer remain in a world stained with her enemies.” 308 QUEEN LOUISE. A. D. 1776-1810. BEAUTIFUL AND NOBLE GERMAN PRINCESS. OUISE, Queen of Prussia, was born March 10, 1776, in Hanover, Li where her father, Duke Charles of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, was com- mandant. During the period of the revolutionary wars, she lived for some time with her sister Charlotte, the wife of Duke Frederick of Saxe- Hildburghausen. In 1793 she met at Frankfort the crown prince of Prussia, afterward King Frederick William III., who was so fascinated by her beauty, and by the nobleness of her character, that he asked her to become his wife. On April 24, of the same year, they were married. As queen of Prussia she commanded universal respect and affection, and nothing in Prussian history is more pathetic than the patience and dignity with which she bore the sufferings inflicted on her and her family during the war between Prussia and France. After the battle of Jena she went with her husband to Kénigsberg, and when the battles of Eylau and Friedland had placed Prussia absolutely at the mercy of France, she made a personal appeal to Napoleon at his headquarters in Tilsit, but without success. Early in 1808 she accompanied the King from Memel to Konigsberg, whence, toward the end of the year, she visited St. Petersburg, returning to Berlin on December 23, 1809. On July 19, 1810, she died in her hus- band’s arms, while visiting her father in Strelitz. During the war Napoleon, with incredible brutality, attempted to destroy the queen’s reputation, but the only effect of his charges in Prussia was to make her more deeply beloved. The Prussian Order of Louise, the Louise School for girls, and the ~ Louise Governesses’ Seminary were instituted in her honor. There is a beautiful monument and portrait statue of her by Rauch in the mausoleum at Charlottenburg. Queen Louise was not only characterized by great personal beauty united with dignity and grace of manner, but with much gentleness of character and active benevolence. Her visits of charity were extended to many homes of poverty and suffering. ; 309 EHLIZABETH HAMILTON. A. D. 1758-1816. IRISH AUTHORESS AND EDUCATOR. >