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 THE 
 
 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE 
 
 MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 
 
Mlf Q,Uap2<3" JillJBlTE, 
 
THE 
 
 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE 
 
 MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 
 
 
 BY 
 
 ■^ 
 
 
 ■~N 
 
 V 
 
 CAROLINE 
 
 A. 
 
 HALSTED, 
 
 OR OF " THE LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 MAKGAKET BEAUFORT, 
 
 " INVESTIGrATlON," &C. &C. 
 
 >/ 
 
 " There is this remarkable in the strong afiPections of the mother, 
 in the formation of the literary character ; that without ever par- 
 taking of, or sympathising with the pleasures the child is fond of, the 
 mother will often cherish those first decided tastes, merely from the 
 delight of promoting the happiness of her son ; so that genius, 
 which some would produce in a preconceived system, or implant by 
 stratagem, or inforce by application, with her may be only thef 
 watchful labour of love."— D'JsraeZi on the Literary Character. 
 
 ^ LONDON : 
 
 SMITH, ELDER AND CO. 65, CORNHILL. 
 
 1840. 
 
r^'^'^ 
 
 ,\H3 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED BV STEWART AND MURRAY, 
 
 OLD BAILEY. 
 
THIS ESSAY 
 
 OBTAINED THE HONORARY PREMIUM 
 
 AWARDED BY THE 
 
 DIRECTORS OF THE GRESHAM COMMEMORATIO^T. 
 
 MDCCCXL. 
 
TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE 
 
 LOUISA, BARONESS ROLLE. 
 
 Madam, 
 I CANNOT but feel a degree of pride and plea- 
 sure, in dedicating to your Ladyship a work, 
 written with the hope of directing attention 
 to the benefit, which has been effected in a 
 long succession of ages through the influ- 
 ence and example of the Matrons of England. 
 It would be presumptuous in me to enume- 
 rate all the munificent acts which particularly 
 connect your Ladyship's name with the subject 
 of the following pages ; but having dwelt within 
 the scene of your benevolence, and been an 
 eye-witness of that zeal in supporting the 
 institutions of our ancestors, which influenced 
 all around you, I may be allowed to point to 
 
Vm DEDICATION. 
 
 churches endowed and supported by the same 
 bountiful hand, that provides for the spiritual 
 welfare and temporal comfort of hundreds 
 of the rising generation ; thus strengthening 
 that bond of union which in this favoured 
 country, makes the orphan and friendless, 
 children by adoption of the noble, the rich, 
 and the powerful. 
 
 My gratification in being permitted to place 
 this volume under your protection, rests there- 
 fore upon higher grounds than the indulgence 
 of those personal feelings which prompt me to 
 "Sicknowledge with gratitude my deep sense 
 of the kind interest which your Ladyship has 
 ever taken in my literary pursuits. 
 
 I have the honour to remain. 
 Madam, 
 Your Ladyship's 
 Obliged and obedient Servant, 
 
 CAROLINE A. HALSTED. 
 
 Newlan House, Lymington, 
 I2th March, 1840. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The truth conveyed in the title of the present 
 Essay has been long and universally felt ; but 
 though customary to acknowledge, in general 
 terms, the Obligations of Literature to Mater- 
 nal instruction, and Maternal influence, yet the * 
 fact has never perhaps been sufficiently proved, 
 by examples. 
 
 It would ill become the writer of so humble 
 a work, to take any merit for discoveries, or to 
 presume on having produced new matter for 
 discussion. The design of the Essay must 
 indeed be so manifest that it scarcely needs a 
 preface ; but, the subject of education, and the 
 various modes of developing, at the most fitting 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 period, the energies of the youthful mind, now 
 occupy so much of pubHc attention, that it 
 has induced the author to adopt the present 
 plan to shew the source, whence all permanent 
 instruction must emanate. 
 
 The term Mothers of England, comes 
 home to the hearts of all. Who has not felt 
 its endearing tie ? Who has not yielded to its 
 tenderness in infancy, and bowed to its power 
 through life ? Who has not pondered over 
 those happy hours, when a Mother's precept 
 was a law, — a Mother's reproof indisputable, — 
 a Mother's tear, nay, a Mother's sigh, the 
 bitterest of earthly sorrow ? And will the 
 Matrons of England in the present day, when 
 innovation of all that is sacred and dear to 
 them is unblushingly advocated, when our 
 ancient institutions, our holy Church, the 
 domestic happiness of our country, are openly 
 attacked, and insidiously menaced ; — will 
 
PREFACE. XI 
 
 the Mothers of England slight or disre- 
 gard that power, peculiarly their own, which 
 in the most unenlightened days tempered the 
 passions and moulded the character of the 
 English youth, and which in more civilized 
 times has led to the proverbial superiority, and 
 moral excellence of the daughters of Britain, 
 and produced in her sons, some of the noblest 
 characters the world has ever seen. Let 
 it not be supposed that the term, " Mothers 
 OF England" means only Mothers of a single 
 household. The women of England owe a 
 debt of gratitude to their Country, in which 
 their sovereignty in domestic life is willingly 
 conceded, and which can only be repaid by 
 rearing the children of the State in those 
 several departments which are woman's allotted 
 sphere. 
 
 Gratifying indeed is it to see the infant 
 thousands of our native land protected and 
 
XU PREFACE. 
 
 instructed by their richer and accornpHshed 
 countrywomen, who aid with their wealth and 
 judicious counsel the friendless and destitute, 
 — whose powerful example checks vice in 
 the froward, and fosters virtue in the gentle 
 and unobtrusive ; and who by their precepts, 
 their goodness, and the unblemished purity 
 of their own lives, diffuse blessings on all 
 around, and aid in the great work of calling 
 from ignorance to a knowledge of the truth, 
 beings destined like themselves for immor- 
 tality. 
 
 At no period could a work, illustrative of 
 Maternal care, appear with more propriety 
 than at the present, when the most striking 
 instance of its effects, is to be found in the 
 highest station. To the judicious instruction 
 of a Mother, now reaping the noblest 
 reward of her solicitude, our youthful Queen 
 is indebted for those numerous personal 
 
PREFACE. Xm 
 
 virtues which impart splendour to her diadem, 
 and secure for her the love and admiration 
 of her people ; while a bright example 
 of moral excellence, and of the purity and 
 perfection of the female mind in more advanced 
 years, is presented to us in the estimable 
 Queen Dowager, — truly a " Mother of Eng- 
 land," — whose admirable public conduct is 
 only equalled by the feminine graces and 
 unobtrusive charity that characterise her 
 private life. 
 
 Let it never be forgotten then, that from 
 Mothers emanate those principles which make 
 or destroy the happiness of the child they love. 
 Accomplishments and worldly attainments may 
 be derived from others, but holiness, self- 
 control, forbearance, love of truth, integrity, 
 and all the other virtues of the heart, are only 
 in the Mother's gift. 
 
 To adduce the brightest examples in illus- 
 
XIV PREFACE. 
 
 tration of these different points, has been the 
 chief object of the following Essay. It is 
 offered to the public with diffidence; yet not 
 without hope that matter so interesting, and 
 which admits of being so considerably enlarged 
 as the " Obligations of Literature to the Mo- 
 thers of England," may attract the attention of 
 abler writers, and thus diminish the regret, 
 which the author feels, as she contrasts the 
 imperfections of her w^ork with the importance 
 of the subject. 
 
ARGUMENT. 
 
 Introduction — Subject proposed — Remarks limited to four 
 principal heads, viz. — I. Religion — Early British Chris- 
 tians — Anglo-Saxon Matrons — Anglo-Norman period — 
 Education of Englisn youth by their Mothers during the 
 middle ages — Patronage bestowed by the Queens of 
 England on learned men — Colleges founded in the 
 Universities of Oxford and Cambridge by pious and 
 learned women — Free grammar schools — Female Sove- 
 reigns, the regal Mothers of England. II. The State — 
 Observations on the proposed section — Queens of the Hep - 
 tarchy — Maternal influence exemplified in the after-life 
 of the early English Kings — The age of Chivalry — Cha- 
 racter of the English youth influenced by the religious 
 and moral precepts of the Mothers of England — Exam- 
 ples — Foundation of Christ's school — Legislative wisdom 
 of Queen Elizabeth — Apparent in the choice of her minis- 
 ters. III. Science — General reflections arising from this 
 division — Great characters exemplifying the powerful 
 effects of Maternal love — Instances adduced of Divines — 
 Statesmen — Philosophers — Historians — Orators — Poets 
 — and the most eminent English Authors. IV. Learn- 
 ing Generally — Subject considered in a more enlarged 
 form — Mothers of England in the most extensive sense 
 — Erudite women selected from each reign subsequent to 
 the invention of printing — Compositions of accomplished 
 female writers — their important effect on the minds of 
 the English youth — General review of the subject — 
 Influence of INIothers in after years — Lasting effect of 
 maternal power — General observations — Conclusion. 
 
THE 
 
 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE 
 
 TO THE 
 
 MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Mothers of England ! — That noble and en- 
 dearing appellation, which comprises the high- 
 est perfections of our nature, and conveys the 
 loftiest idea of female excellence ! — Mothers, 
 who in the exercise of every virtue, and in 
 the performance of every duty may challenge 
 the matrons of all climes, and all ages, with 
 little fear of competition, and no apprehension 
 of rivalry. 
 
 Greece boasted of warriors who became 
 
 B 
 
2 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 invincible by the precepts and exhortations of 
 heroines, whose maternal solicitude was lost 
 in their patriotic ardor, and whose natural 
 affections were sacrificed to the love of glory ; 
 whose bitterest malediction awaited the son 
 who " returned from battle without his shield," 
 while tears of joy bathed the remains of him 
 who had fallen, overpowered b}^ numbers. 
 The Mother of Brasidas, the renowned Spar- 
 tan, in honour of whom a yearly festival was 
 instituted by his grateful and admiring coun- 
 trymen — only inquired whether her son had 
 died bravely. Such traits of the heroic for- 
 titude of Mothers are abundant in antiquity ; 
 and as a natural result, it followed that the 
 sole ambition of their sons was to earn the 
 crown of victory, and their unceasing aim from 
 infancy to be distinguished among the heroes 
 of the state. 
 
 The Matrons of Rome, stoical, bold, and 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAXD, 3 
 
 resolute, fostered in their children that dis- 
 regard of death, that daring intrepidity, which 
 eventually rendered them the masters of the 
 world. Enthusiastic in their love for their 
 country, they sank the Mother's feelings in the 
 citizen's devotion to the republic and the 
 laws. 
 
 The stern virtues that signalized the Roman 
 legislators, and the heroic courage that ani- 
 mated their warriors, were shared by wives, 
 and cherished by Mothers, with whom com- 
 passion was considered a weakness, and hu- 
 manity httle less than a crime. But the pro- 
 found learning, the studious habits, and that 
 severe mental discipline which formed the 
 basis of the undying fame of the sages of 
 Greece and the philosophers of Rome, are in 
 few instances to be traced to maternal in- 
 fluence. 
 
 Cornelia, whom Rome honoured with a 
 B 2 
 
4 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 Statue, simply inscribed " Cornelia the Mother 
 of the Gracchi," — and Aurelia the Mother of 
 Julius Caesar, whose lofty spirit induced the 
 ambition that so early led her son to aspire to 
 the office of Pontiff, and whose anxiety for his 
 success made him exclaim in embracing her — 
 " You shall this day see me either chief pon- 
 tiff, or an exile," — have always been renowned 
 for the services which they rendered their 
 country. 
 
 But their offspring were warriors, patriots, 
 and conquerors, whilst our attention must be 
 confined to those who have attained distinc- 
 tion, and benefited their race by the peaceful 
 pursuits of literature ; and where can our 
 thoughts be so satisfactorily directed as to our 
 own country — to our native land ? There we 
 find, together with sages, and philosophers, 
 heroes great as in the ancient time, in mar- 
 tial glory, and far greater in moral virtues. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLA.ND. O 
 
 since their conduct was regulated by the chas- 
 tening influence of revealed Religion. 
 
 It remained for Christian England to boast 
 of Mothers, who, while they inculcated on their 
 children the courage and dauntless energy of 
 the ancient rulers of the world, also infused 
 into their young minds those sentiments of 
 piety, gentleness, and virtue — that mental rec- 
 titude, strict principle, and high sense of 
 honour, which have procured for Great Britain 
 universal respect, admiration, and confidence. 
 
 Both Greece and imperial Rome van- 
 quished but to enslave and degrade : their 
 dominion could only be purchased by sub- 
 duing every moral and social feeling in the 
 victims of their insatiable ambition. 
 
 England conquers that she may confer the 
 precious boon of freedom upon all who are 
 persecuted and oppressed. She shelters the 
 alien, protects the exile, unshackles the slave ; 
 
b OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 and while dispensing her charity, imparts the 
 holy treasures of the gospel, and the blessings of 
 civilization to the farthest extremity of the globe. 
 
 It is not the prostrate enemy, nor the victor's 
 spoils that gladden the hearts of the Mothers 
 of England; they rejoice in household affec- 
 tion, in deeds of mercy, in acts of self-denial — 
 and glory in their allotted sphere of domestic 
 peace and love. In accordance v^^ith this they 
 early animate their infant progeny with those 
 feelings of religion, loyalty and duty, — so 
 emphatically conveyed in the sacred text, 
 "Fear God and honour the King,"^ — which 
 have produced for Great Britain her brightest 
 scholars, her most prudent legislators, and her 
 wisest statesmen. 
 
 And what may we ask has produced this 
 union of the good and great, that forms so 
 marked a feature in England's sons ? There 
 
 J 1 St. Peter, ii. 17. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 7 
 
 can be little hesitation respecting the answer. 
 It has its source in the softening effects of true 
 religion on the heart, and springs from the 
 enlightening of the mind consequent on the 
 extension of learning and the increase of 
 knowledge in a free-born and Christian land. 
 And this reply leads us at once to the con- 
 sideration of " The Obligations of Liter- 
 ature TO the Mothers of England." 
 
 What scope for reflection does the inquiry 
 present ! Many are the paths which might 
 be separately chosen as affording facts for re- 
 trospection full of interest and advantage ; but 
 it is proposed to confine the present remarks 
 under four principal heads : — viz. 
 
 I. Religion, as connected with the establish- 
 ment of Christianity. 
 
 II. The State, as regards the wisdom of 
 many of her legislators. 
 
 III. Science, from the philosophers whose 
 
O OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 eminence has been produced by maternal care 
 and solicitude ; and 
 
 IV. Learning generally, for the able pro- 
 ductions of erudite women, and for that high 
 tone of moral and religious feeling which cha- 
 racterises the compositions of the most distin- 
 guished of England's female writers. 
 
 L — The first point then proposed for ^consi- 
 deration, is that of Religion, as connected with 
 the establishment of Christianity: — that pure 
 and holy doctrine which alone can render even 
 the noblest characters truly great, or elevate 
 into real sublimity the loftiest conceptions of 
 the human intellect. 
 
 At what period, and by whom the religion 
 of Christ was introduced into England, need 
 not here be discussed. It will be sufficient to 
 state that among the converts to the '^ glad 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 9 
 
 tidings of salvation," during the life of St. 
 Paul, and commemorated by that holy apostle 
 as a favoured disciple,^ was Claudia, " born 
 among the blue painted Britons."^ She was 
 the supposed daughter of Caractacus, and the 
 adopted child of his conqueror Claudius, whence 
 her appellation in accordance with the usage 
 of the times. Her name has been preserved 
 to posterity in the epigrams of Martial, her 
 contemporary at Rome, who eulogises her as 
 the British Matron, "^ who was espoused to 
 
 ' " Eubulus greeteth thee, and Pudens, and Linus, and 
 Claudia."— 2 Timothy, iv. 21. 
 
 ^ " Claudia, coeruleis cum sit Rufina Britannis 
 Edita " Martial. 
 
 ^ " Claudia Rufina, a noble British lady, was the author of 
 a book of epigrams, an elegy on the death of her husband, 
 and other compositions both in verse and prose. Martial, 
 who extols this lady for her virtues, her learning, and her 
 beauty, was the friend of her husband, Aulus Rufus Pudens, a 
 Bononian philospher, and of the Roman equestrian order." — 
 Hayes, Biog. vol. vi. p. 325. 
 
 B 5 
 
10 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 Rufas,^ or Pudens, who St. Paul has farther 
 distinguished by the designation of " chosen 
 in the Lord;"- and who, with his fellow- 
 labourer Claudia, there is little doubt was 
 among the number of the "saints," styled by 
 that apostle "of Caesar's household." ^ 
 
 It being generally allowed that Christianity 
 was brought into Britain during the reign of 
 Arviragus, the son of Caractacus, it becomes 
 more than probable that his illustrious sister, 
 the Christian Claudia, having witnessed the 
 constancy, and been animated by the eloquence 
 and divine inspiration of the great apostle of 
 the Gentiles, with that enthusiastic devotion, 
 which characterised the early disciples, re- 
 turned to preach " Christ crucified " in her 
 
 ^ " Claudia, nupta meo cum sit peregrina Pudenti." 
 
 Martial. 
 ' "Salute RuFus chosen in the Lord." — Romans xvi. 13. 
 ^ See Appendix A. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 11 
 
 native land, and was an instrument in the 
 hands of Providence to make known the 
 blessings of the gospel that " the isles afar off 
 should see the Lord's glory." ^ 
 
 If this, however, rests chiefly on conjecture 
 it is not so with respect to the obligations of 
 literature to the noble and learned Claudia ; for 
 her virtues and acquirements having been made 
 the subject of contemporary verses, both her 
 birth-place, and her marriage with Rufus, are 
 rendered indispu table. ^ 
 
 Pomponia Graecina, wife of the pro-consul 
 Plautius,^ and other eminent British females 
 are said at this period to have embraced Chris- 
 
 ' Isaiah Ixvi. 
 
 - Considerable light has lately been thrown upon this point 
 of extreme interest by the Rev. W. Lisle Bowles, Canon Resi- 
 dentiary of Salisbury, and vicar of Bremhill, Wilts. 
 
 ^ Aulus Plautius commanded the expedition which sub- 
 jected Britain to the Roman arms, a.d, 43. — Tac. Anna!. 
 xiii. 32. 
 
12 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 tianitj; and tradition ascribes the foundation 
 and name of the church of Great St. Helen's, 
 Bishopsgate, to the pious and noble St. Helena: ^ 
 she was the daughter of Coil us, a British prince, 
 the sister of Lucius, who founded St. Peter's, 
 Cornhill, the first Christian church in Lon- 
 don ; the wife of Constantius Chlorus, and the 
 Mother of Constantine the Great, who was 
 born at York, a. d. 272, and was the first 
 Christian Emperor of Rome. This princess, 
 styled in ancient inscriptions " venerabilis piis- 
 sima Augusta," was highly accomplished,^ 
 
 ^ St. Helen, or St. Helena, Mother of Constantine the 
 Great, was of British extraction, and at the age of 80 visited 
 the Holy Land. From her discovery of the true cross, she 
 was reputed a saint, and several churches in different parts of 
 the world were dedicated to her. — Clavis Calendaria, vol. i. 
 p. 327. 
 
 ^ "The writings of this princess, among which is a book of 
 Greek verses, are mentioned by Bseleus." — Hayes, Biog. vol.iv. 
 p. 402. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 13 
 
 rigidly devout, and by her virtue and piety 
 prepared the mind of her son — " that noble 
 champion of the Christian cause" — to receive 
 those mystic truths for which he has for ages 
 been held in just veneration. The name 
 Augusta, the ancient appellation of London, 
 is stated by some antiquaries to have been 
 bestov^red in honour of St. Helena. She has 
 always been reputed a great benefactress to the 
 city, and is said by Camden to have surrounded 
 it with walls ; " numbers of her coins," he adds, 
 "have been discovered beneath them." 
 
 At a subsequent era, when the early churches 
 in Britain had greatly declined, partly on ac- 
 count of the violences of her invading enemies, 
 partly from the cruelties exercised on the 
 Christian converts at the time of the persecution 
 of Dioclesian, in the beginning of the fourth 
 century, the establishment of Christianity was 
 finally effected by the influence of a British 
 
14 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 queen Bertha, the consort of Ethelbert, King of 
 Kent, whose zeal for the true faith, and whose 
 irreproachable conduct, were the means of 
 converting her husband, and ten thousand ot 
 his people, from the gross idolatry of the Anglo- 
 Saxons; and also of procuring the favourable 
 reception of St. Augustine, the emissary of 
 Pope Gregory the Great, in the year 596.^ 
 
 Ethelburga, her daughter, emulating the ex- 
 ample, and taught by the precepts of her Mother, 
 carried the apostolic doctrine into Northum- 
 berland, and converted both her royal consort, 
 and the northern inhabitants of the island. 
 
 The wife of Oswy established Christianity 
 in the Kingdom of Mercia, and though it would 
 occupy too much space to enumerate individu- 
 ally each noble proselyte, yet it is important to 
 the object of the present essay to notice the 
 historical fact, that the royal Matrons of Eng- 
 
 * See Appendix B. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 15 
 
 land had the merit of introducing and firmly 
 establishing the blessings of true religion into 
 the most considerable kingdoms of the Saxon 
 Heptarchy.^ 
 
 The importance of this most signal triumph 
 to literature was incalculable. By the in- 
 fluence of the Christian Bertha, seminaries 
 of learning were instituted in the kingdom 
 of Kent, and about the same period they 
 were introduced also into the kingdom of the 
 East Angles ; the monastery of Ely being 
 founded in 673 by Etheldreda, daughter of the 
 King of that province. 
 
 Monasteries indeed were now universally 
 founded, and these sanctuaries were multiplied 
 to an astonishing extent by the devotional fer- 
 vour of the female Christian converts. More- 
 over, the rigid sanctity and purity of their lives 
 gave these exemplary matrons such an ascen- 
 
 ' Hume's Hist, of England, vol, i. p. 64. 
 
16 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 dancy over their husbands that they obtained 
 without difficulty immunities and protection for 
 those religious asylums, which they sacrificed 
 all personal gratification to found and endow. 
 Cloistral schools were invariably appended to 
 these ecclesiastical establishments; within their 
 sacred walls the first spark of learning was kin- 
 dled in this island, and within their holy pre- 
 cincts the education of the unlettered youth of 
 Britain was first systematically commenced: 
 this pleasing and interesting fact is therefore 
 indisputable, that the princesses and noble 
 women of the Saxon race were chiefly instru- 
 mental in advancing the extension of "litera- 
 ture"^ through the happy medium of the Chris- 
 tian faith. 
 
 ^ " The literature of the Anglo-Saxons must be dated from 
 the commencement of their knowledge of Christianity at the 
 close of the sixth century." — Miller's Hist, philosophically 
 illustrated, vol. i. p. 390. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 17 
 
 It was long, however, before any farther 
 progress was made in letters after this first step 
 of the Anglo-Saxons. 
 
 The incursions of the Danes, their extermi- 
 nating conflicts, and the despotic sway and 
 arbitrary enactments of the Norman line, (not- 
 withstanding its princes were distinguished 
 throughout Europe for their patronage of litera- 
 ture,) were ill calculated to foster in England 
 the extension either of learning or science; 
 while the age of chivalry which dawned at the 
 period of the Crusades, contributed to elevate 
 valorous achievements and deeds of prow^ess far 
 above scholastic lore or mental acquirements. 
 
 Here then the " Obligations of Literature " 
 to the " Mothers of England," are again parti- 
 cularly shewn. The education of youth was at 
 that time uniform ; they were left wholly in the 
 hands of their Mothers, to be taught by them 
 the rudiments of learning and religion, until they 
 
18 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 had completed their seventh year, at which age 
 they were withdrawn from maternal care to enter 
 on the first stage of their miUtary probation.^ 
 
 At this time the grossest superstition pre- 
 vailed, and the piety of the earlier ecclesiastics 
 had sunk into the ravings of bigotry, while the 
 purity of their lives was frequently exchanged 
 for excesses that brought disgrace on the holy 
 rehgion which they professed. Happily, hov/- 
 ever, at that period of life when human nature 
 is most prone to impressions, and when the 
 germs of good and evil are irrevocably sown, 
 the English youth remained under the tutelage 
 of their Mothers, and received from them those 
 virtuous principles which made them as eminent 
 throughout Europe for rectitude and generosity 
 as for courageous and enterprising deeds. ^ 
 
 During the middle ages, the works of the 
 
 ' St. Palaye. 
 
 ^ See James's Hist, of Chivalry. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 19 
 
 early fathers of the church, Romaunts, and other 
 productions of the rude literature of that era, 
 were daily read to the Matrons when working 
 at the tapestry frame ; and for their recreation 
 the household bards would often recite those 
 wild and exciting lays in which the traditions of 
 earlier times were preserved, and the events on 
 which they were founded transmitted to posterity ; 
 thus perpetuating, by these romantic legends, 
 facts which graver historians had neglected. 
 
 But the most material point as regards letters 
 that demands notice at this particular epoch, 
 is the patronage that was bestowed by illustri- 
 ous women on the few learned men who occa- 
 sionally brightened the faint dawn of English 
 literature ; and which prevented them from 
 seeking in a foreign land that encouragement 
 which they sought and received at home. 
 
 Queen Philippa, wife of Edward III., is a 
 striking and illustrious example of the benefit 
 
20 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 to be derived from female influence judiciously 
 exerted. Possessed of every accomplishment 
 of the period, she discovered genius by her 
 sagacity, and rewarded it by her bounty. ^ 
 Of her eight sons, many shewed the be- 
 nefit of her maternal energy in childhood, 
 especially John of Gaunt, who was the protec- 
 tor of Wicliffe, " the father of the Reformation," 
 and the friend and benefactor of Chaucer, 
 through whose writings we are made acquainted 
 with the nobleness of conduct that charac- 
 terized the mothers of England at that period, 
 and whose well-merited encomiums on the vir- 
 tuous Consort of his patron, have been perpe- 
 tuated in his poem, entitled " The Book of the 
 Duchess. "2 
 
 * Froissard came over to England to offer to Queen Philip- 
 pa the first part of his Chronicles. She received him and 
 his work most graciously, and settled on him a pension for 
 life, as an encouragement to pursue his historical labours. 
 
 2 Written on the decease of the Princess Blanch, wife of 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 21 
 
 The contemporary chroniclers are profuse in 
 their eulogy of the exemplary Philippa, the 
 effect and value of whose influence is comme- 
 morated in the noble institution of Queen's 
 College, Oxford, founded under her auspices 
 in 1340, by her chaplain and confessor, Robert 
 Eglesfeld,^ of which she was the patroness and 
 a liberal benefactor. It received from her the 
 appellation which it still retains; and the 
 honorary patronage of it became vested in her 
 successors, the Queens Consort of England.^ 
 
 In the endowment indeed of schools and 
 colleges by the illustrious women of that early 
 
 John Duke of Lancaster, and mother of King Henry IV., 
 founder of the Lancastrian dynasty. 
 
 ' The founder of this magnificent college appears to have 
 been highly esteemed by his royal master and mistress, and 
 to have shared in their intimacy and confidence. Eglesfeld 
 employed his interest at Court in promoting religion and 
 learning. 
 
 2 Chalmers' Hist. Oxford, vol. i. p. 89. 
 
22 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 period, the British Matrons most effectually 
 accelerated the progress of knowledge, and the 
 advancement of sound and useful learning. 
 
 The Universities abundantly prove the truth 
 of this assertion, and nowhere is there stronger 
 testimony of the " Obligations of Literature to 
 the Mothers of England," than is afforded by 
 the consideration of the munificence, which 
 either founded or enriched many of the most 
 celebrated academical establishments both at 
 Oxford and Cambridge. 
 
 As far back as the year 1295, Ela Longespee,^ 
 Countess of Warwick, shines conspicuous as a 
 chief benefactress to Merton College, which, 
 in point of legal establishment, claims the 
 priority of the seminaries of learning at 
 Oxford.1 
 
 Baliol College was the pious work of the 
 Lady Devorguilla, though founded by her hus- 
 
 ' Chalmers' Hist. Oxford, vol. i. p. 6. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 23 
 
 band, the valiant father of Baliol, King of 
 Scots. She completed it after his decease, 
 considerably enlarged his original design, gave 
 it a body of statutes, and most liberally en- 
 dowed it.^ 
 
 Margaret, Countess of Richmond and Derby, 
 distinguished by the appellation of *' Mother to 
 the students in both universities, and a pa- 
 troness to all the learned men in England," by 
 her early countenance and support of Smyth, 
 Bishop of Lincoln, enabled him to become the 
 founder of Brasenose.^ This eminent lady 
 was herself also a great benefactress to learning 
 in various ways, of w^hich her institution of a 
 perpetual preacher at Cambridge, and the 
 Margaret Professorships both there and at 
 Oxford, which perpetuate her name, are mu- 
 nificent and striking examples.^ 
 
 ' Chalmers' Hist. Oxford, vol. i. p. 44. 
 
 ^ See Appeudix C. 
 
 ^ Fuller's Cliurch History, sec. vi. p. 89. 
 
24 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 Lady Paulet, the widow of Sir Thomas 
 Pope, was styled " The Foundress of Trinity," 
 from her active and honourable fulfilment ot 
 her husband's intentions, as well as from her 
 own individual bounty: and Wadham Col- 
 lege owes its completion to the benefactions 
 and liberality of Dorothy, the zealous and 
 enlightened relict of Nicholas Wadham,^ its 
 founder. 
 
 At the sister University, the female name is 
 even still more conspicuous. 
 
 A convent of Dominican friars, founded in 
 the year 1280 by Alicia, Countess of Oxford, 
 occupied the site, and was afjterwards converted 
 into the present Emanuel College.^ 
 
 Clare Hall, one of the most ancient academi- 
 cal foundations at Cambridge, was the noble 
 work of "the princely Clare,"^ Elizabeth, wife 
 
 * Chalmers, vol. ii. pp. 347 and 406. 
 ^ Hist. Cambridge, p. 97. 
 ^ Gray's Installation Ode. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 25 
 
 of Sir John de Burgh, and grand-daughter of 
 King Edward the First.^ 
 
 Pembroke Hall was founded and richly 
 endowed by the " sad Chatillon," (relict of 
 Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke,) who 
 on her husband's decease renounced the world, 
 and devoted herself to works of sanctity and 
 benevolence.^ 
 
 Queen's College was commenced by the ill- 
 fated Margaret, " Anjou's heroine,"^ and com- 
 pleted by the piety and active benevolence of 
 her beautiful rival, Elizabeth Wydville,* consort 
 of Edward the Fourth : hence, designated by 
 Gray, " The paler rose." 
 
 Christ's College owes its existence and pros- 
 perity to the enlarged views of Margaret, 
 
 1 Nichols' Royal WHls, p. 22. 
 
 ^ Granger's Biog. Hist. vol. i. p. 67. 
 
 ^ Gray's Installation Ode. 
 
 * Sandford's Geneological Hist. p. 107. 
 
26 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 Countess of Richmond/ mother of King 
 Henry the Seventh. 
 
 St. John's College also claims the " vener- 
 able Margaret " as its munificent foundress :" 
 and Sidney Sussex College attests the liberality 
 and zeal of Frances Sidney, (relict of Thomas 
 Radcliffe, Earl of Sussex,) v^ho, in the year 
 1598, bequeathed funds towards the erection 
 of the College at Cambridge, v^hich has immor- 
 talized her name.^ 
 
 After the invention of printing, instances of 
 the foundation of free grammar schools, exhi- 
 bitions, donations, and fellov^^ships by noble 
 ladies, might be so abundantly produced, that 
 a volume w^ould scarcely contain an account of 
 those who either wholly or in part thus contri- 
 buted to the progress of learning. 
 
 The first division of the subject need not 
 
 1 Fuller, Ch. Hist. sec. vi. p. 89. 
 
 2 Nichols' Royal Wills, p. 356. 
 ^ Granger's Biog. Hist. p. 284. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 27 
 
 therefore be farther prolonged, than by briefly 
 adverting to the female Sovereigns — the regal 
 Mothers of England, — who have graced and 
 ennobled a later period of our national 
 history. 
 
 Queen Elizabeth derived as much fame from 
 the literary splendour, as from the political 
 events of her reign. She assembled around 
 her learned men, whose talents were roused 
 by the hope of attracting her favour,^ and 
 whom she encouraged by the example which 
 she herself afforded of studious habits and 
 zeal for the advancement of knowledge. She 
 too, like the early Saxon Queens, befriended 
 literature by substituting the peaceful tolerance 
 of pure religion for the merciless persecution 
 of bigotry and oppression : and the memorable 
 words engraved on her monument in West- 
 minster Abbey, — " Mother of her country, — 
 
 ^ See Appendix D. 
 
 c2 
 
28 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 a nursing-mother to religion and ail liberal 
 sciences/' are a fitting tribute to her incom- 
 parable talents, and justly express the advan- 
 tages that resulted to the kingdom at large 
 from her superior genius, and powerful mind. 
 
 Queen Mary, the consort of William the 
 Third, set a great example to the whole nation. 
 Bishop Burnet, in deploring her early death, 
 and eulogising her many virtues, says, — " It 
 gave us a very particular joy, when we saw that 
 the person whose condition seemed to mark 
 her out as the defender and perfector of our 
 reformation, was such in all respects in her 
 public administration, as well as in her private 
 deportment, that she seemed well fitted for 
 accomplishing that work for which we thought 
 she was born."^ The description of her truly 
 Christian death by this eminent prelate, is 
 singularly striking and impressive. 
 
 ^ Burnet's Own Times, vol. iv. p. 195. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 29 
 
 9 
 
 Her sister, Queen Anne, equally encouraged 
 genius by the jfreedom of thought which then 
 prevailed. She emancipated her subjects from 
 the trammels to which letters had so long been 
 subjected by the opposite extremes of popery 
 and puritanism; and learned persons, and 
 works of genius so abounded in her reign, 
 that it procured for it the appellation of the 
 "Augustan age."^ 
 
 Finally, a review of the estimation in which 
 the English court, and the excellencies of 
 British women were held during the long 
 reign of the late venerable Queen Charlotte— 
 so exemplary in her deportment, and so 
 eminent for the practice of every virtue that 
 could add lustre to a diadem — with the con- 
 trast afforded by the high tone of EngUsh 
 literature at the close of the last century, as 
 compared with the vicious and pestilential 
 
 ' See Appendix E. 
 
30 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATCRE TO 
 
 productions of writers in neighbouring king- 
 doms, may well terminate, and nobly exem- 
 plifies " the Obligations of Literature to the 
 Mothers of England," when considered with 
 reference to intellectual advancement in con- 
 sequence of the introduction of the Christian 
 religion, and the extension of Christian 
 principles. 
 
 11. — The second part of the subject will 
 treat of the obligations of the State to the 
 Mothers of England as regards the wisdom of 
 many of her legislators, whose abilities may 
 in numerous instances be ascribed to the in- 
 fluence which their Mothers' great talents, 
 vigorous intellect, and strong judgment ex- 
 ercised over their active minds in child- 
 hood. 
 
 It has been beautifully observed that " the 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 31 
 
 office and look of maternal love, and tender- 
 ness of maternal affection, open Heaven to the 
 child through the medium of the Mother's 
 heart ;" and certain it is that the unwearied 
 patience, the attractive gentleness, which call 
 forth the first ideas of the infant, and are 
 mingled with the consciousness of his own 
 helplessness, produce at the earliest dawn of 
 reason, a depth of affection, and a cling- 
 ing devotion, that remain unbroken through 
 life. 
 
 If then the knowledge of the good and evil 
 path, and of those sacred truths which create 
 a regard for the one, and an abhorrence of the 
 other, are among the earliest impressions of 
 the child, and are inseparably united through- 
 out his earthly career with the love of that 
 gentle and unselfish monitress, who first im- 
 planted religious feelings in his mind, and 
 then called them into active exertion;- — how 
 
32 OBLIGATtONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 effective, how enduring must be the moral 
 lessons inculcated by such a parent? How 
 unbounded the power of that Mother whose 
 vigorous mind, or profound learning roused 
 corresponding energy in her offspring, and 
 whose unsuspected influence was the happy 
 medium of instilling those principles of for- 
 bearance, decision, and self-denial — that strict 
 reverence for truth, honour, and justice — 
 the practice in short in domestic life of 
 those virtues and noble sentiments, the 
 extension of which in the more enlarged 
 sphere of action, forms the only and sure 
 basis from which legislative wisdom can 
 spring. 
 
 The same inflexible probity, the same sub- 
 mission to principles of duty, and the same 
 steady firmness required in the limited circle 
 of household love is still more necessary and 
 essential to the well-being of the community. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 66 
 
 The petty tyrant in the one, will be the 
 despot and oppressor in the other; while the 
 self-governed, and the beloved one of his home, 
 can scarcely fail to be the just ruler of the 
 multitude, and the upright administrator of the 
 laws of his country. 
 
 Truth is ever consistent : and purity of 
 motive and generosity of heart give a weight 
 to talent, and induce a confidence in those in 
 authority, that the brightest genius and most 
 learned men would in vain seek to acquire 
 over their fellow subjects, if the domestic 
 virtues that ought to be cultivated in youth 
 were found wanting in manhood. 
 
 The mafernal power, however, of which we 
 are now speaking, is altogether different from 
 the interference of a mere busy and restless 
 spirit. Though the fruits of a Mother's mental 
 discipline may become evident in the public 
 career of her son, yet her influence must be 
 c 5 
 
34 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 exercised only in the sanctity of home. When 
 assumed openly in political matters, affairs of 
 state, or professional avocations, woman's in- 
 fluence founded on woman's silent duty, and 
 springing from woman's warm affection, merges 
 in the mere love of rule, and is lost in her 
 assumption of masculine power based solely on 
 ambition. But to crush the first germ of evil 
 passions in childhood, to moderate the feverish 
 enthusiasm of youth, to combat prejudices and 
 evil propensities, and to lead back the mind in 
 all trials, and under all temptations, to that 
 moral repose, that rectitude, and self-control, 
 still so hallowed by a Mother's early love, that 
 it wanted but the Mother's influence to revive 
 them, — there lies the real power, — there the 
 active principle, — the effect of which has been 
 so eminently proved in the lives of many of 
 the wisest statesmen that grace the annals of 
 our country. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 35 
 
 The consideration of this second part of the 
 subject obliges us again to return to the early 
 ages of the Saxon Heptarchy. 
 
 After the conversion of Ethelbert, through 
 the instrumentality of his illustrious consort, 
 that monarch turned his attention to the im- 
 provement of his unruly subjects; and strove 
 to reclaim them from that gross barbarism and 
 ignorance which distinguished the pagan Saxon 
 tribes. He enacted a code of laws, and as 
 these were the first written statutes promulgated 
 in Britain, Ethelbert is entitled to head the list 
 of its wise and judicious legislators ;^ but it is 
 to the enlightened Bertha, that their preserva- 
 tion is owing, for in the sanctuary of Becul- 
 ver,^ — the first Christian establishment in our 
 island (and which is mainly attributable to her 
 zeal and piety), — these laws were copied, cor- 
 
 * See Appendix F. 
 ^ See Appendix G. 
 
36 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 rected, and multiplied. The only penmen of 
 those times were monks, and the only seminaries 
 of learning were monasteries. In these holy 
 asylums (to which was invariably appended a 
 "scriptorium," or writing-room) all the royal 
 charters of the Saxon kings were compiled ;^ 
 and from these emanated all their legislative 
 regulations. 
 
 Indeed, in narrating the ObUgations of Lite- 
 rature to the Saxon Matrons, first, by the 
 propagation of Christianity, arid subsequently 
 by the establishment of religious houses (which 
 were effected almost entirely by the munificence 
 and liberality of the royal proselytes, united to 
 their well-directed influence over their warlike, 
 and in many instances, idolatrous husbands), it 
 rnust not be forgotten that the earUest annals of 
 our national history were therein collected and 
 
 ^ See Appendix H. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 37 
 
 perpetuated.^ Rude as their compositions may 
 appear in the present day, yet without these 
 early traditions all knowledge of what passed 
 from the Christian era to the Norman conquest 
 would have been irrecoverably lost, the Saxon 
 laws would have remained unrecorded, their 
 authors had been unknown and unhonoured, 
 and the customs, usages, and pursuits of our 
 forefathers would have been utterly buried in 
 oblivion.^ 
 
 If Hume's inference be correct,^ that Abbesses 
 were admitted to sit in the Wittenagemot or 
 " assembly of wise men " (the national council 
 of the Kingdom), because they often signed the 
 King's charters or grants — it proves yet more 
 the high estimation in which the Anglo-Saxon 
 women were held. 
 
 The name of Alfred the Great, though not 
 
 * See Appendix I. ^ See Appendix J. 
 
 3 Hume, vol. i. p. 199. 
 
38 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 the earliest, was undoubtedly the most eminent 
 that dignifies our legislative and regal annals. 
 Beloved by his father far above his other sons, 
 every indulgence that could have enervated a 
 less noble mind was shewn him. When a mere 
 child, his health being delicate he was sent with 
 a princely retinue to travel in the South of 
 Europe, and twice before he had attained his 
 ninth year he had accompanied his royal parent 
 to Rome, then the great resort of all that was 
 learned and wise in the civilized world.^ But 
 with advantages thus early bestowed, unusual 
 alike to his tender age and the time in which 
 he flourished, and with expenditure profusely 
 lavished upon him, yet so unenlightened was 
 the period in which he lived, that Alfred at 
 twelve years of age could neither read nor 
 write." 
 
 ■ ^ Turner's Anglo-Saxons, i. p. 192. 
 ^ Asser, p. 16. See Appendix K. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 39 
 
 The development of those rare intellectual 
 powers which surmounted every obstacle that 
 desultory habits may be supposed to have in- 
 duced, when confirmed by rank, wealth, and 
 the absence of all control, was mainly attribu- 
 table to his step -mother, Judith, the Queen of 
 Ethelwulf. She was a princess of great learn- 
 ing and rare accomplishments for that early 
 period, and having promised a finely illuminated 
 book of Saxon poems — to which Alfred had 
 been listening with enthusiasm — to such of her 
 sons as should the soonest be able to read them, 
 the innate energy of Alfred's dormant talents 
 was roused, and the foundation was laid of that 
 learning which produced the greatest benefit 
 to his country.^ 
 
 His love of minstrelsy is presumed to have 
 arisen from his fondness for the Anglo-Saxon 
 poetry ; often, while the aged bard recounted 
 ^ See Appendix L. 
 
40 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 the deeds of heroes, the melodious strains of his 
 harp naturally diverted the attention of the 
 enthusiastic child ; but his Mother's constant 
 endeavour was to impress upon the young 
 Prince's mind the merit of those deeds, to the 
 recital of vsrhich he so early loved to listen, and 
 w^hich he himself afterwards so gloriously emu- 
 lated. 
 
 Alfred's history is too well known to need 
 recapitulation. As soon as he had learned Saxon 
 he studied Latin, and the difficulties he en- 
 countered in his ardent thirst for knowledge 
 induced him, after he ascended the throne, to 
 confer preferment and emolument upon those 
 only who were distinguished for their love of 
 letters. He translated into his native tongue 
 many valuable classical and theological works,^ 
 formed a body of laws which are the ground- 
 
 ' See Appendix M. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 41 
 
 work of the common-law, divided the kingdom 
 into " shiresj" " hundreds," and " tythings," 
 and by his acts and his writings, the evidence 
 at once both of his wisdom and his vigour of 
 mind, has left to posterity a character never 
 surpassed in our annals for the encouragement 
 of literature, and the advancement of virtue. 
 His system of jurisprudence which was adopted 
 by Edward the Confessor,^ was considered per- 
 fect; to him the country are indebted for 
 the establishment of trial by jury, and as the 
 founder of the University of Oxford, which he 
 instituted for the purpose of compelling his 
 nobles to educate their children, the memory 
 of Alfred the Great must ever be venerated by 
 posterity.^ 
 
 In reviewing the period from the Norman 
 Conquest to that of the Reformation, usu- 
 
 1 Miller's Hist. Phil. Illus. vol. i. p. 373. 
 ^ Turner's Anglo-Saxons, vol. ii. p. 312. 
 
42 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 ally denominated, with reference to English 
 history, "the Middle Ages," little can be 
 added to that which has been adduced in the 
 first division of the subject, when speaking of 
 the benefits derived by the youth of that parti- 
 cular time, from maternal influence and instruc- 
 tion ; and when alluding to the munificence 
 and enlarged views, evinced by the Mothers of 
 England in the endowment of colleges, halls, 
 and other seminaries of pious education. 
 
 At that early age indeed, religion was so 
 closely connected with the advancement of 
 literature, that to separate the two would be 
 almost impossible, and would add little force 
 to the present inquiry. 
 
 That period was the age of chivalry, and 
 chivalry was itself partly an ecclesiastical order. 
 Like Christianity it also arose gradually, and, 
 controlled by Christianity, it paved the way for 
 great and mighty results. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 43 
 
 Nevertheless at this period, so important in 
 English history, from having given birth amidst 
 its storms and revolutions to our present glo- 
 rious constitution, and to laws appreciated by 
 all Europe, and in which began that liberty and 
 freedom so dear to our national pride, and 
 that high consideration for wo'men which has 
 induced those refined domestic habits and 
 feelings proverbial throughout the world, — the 
 talents, judgment, and powerful intellect of 
 many of the English Queens, bespeak forcibly 
 the influence that British Matrons in a less 
 elevated sphere, may be supposed to have 
 exercised throughout the land for the benefit 
 of their husbands and sons. 
 
 The consort of William the Conqueror was 
 an admirable character, eminent for the prac- 
 tice of every feminine virtue, but more especi- 
 ally as regards the duties of a wife and a 
 mother. 
 
44 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 Her youngest son (afterwards King Henry I.) 
 was surnamed " Beauclerc " for his great scho- 
 larship, and was considered the most learned 
 prince of the age. In his patronage of genius, 
 and his desire of cultivating a love of letters 
 among his subjects, this wise monarch was most 
 ably seconded by the accomplished British 
 Princess^ whom he withdrew from a nunnery 
 to place on the throne, attracted by her superior 
 acquirements. She was a worthy descendant 
 of Alfred the Great, and inherited from her 
 Anglo-Saxon progenitors that intellectual taste 
 and ardour for literature, which proved so bene- 
 ficial to the Kingdom generally, by the impulse 
 it gave to corresponding feelings and pursuits : 
 
 * Matilda, the orphan daughter of Malcolm, King of Scot- 
 land, by the sister of Edgar Etheling ; and thus by her mo- 
 ther descended from the Anglo-Saxon line of Alfred and his 
 successors. By this union the royal families of the Normans 
 and Saxons became connected. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND, 45 
 
 and her epithet of the '' Good Queen Maud,"^ 
 by which she is to this day distinguished, be- 
 speaks, far more than mere panegyric, the 
 piety and virtues with which she was so re- 
 markably gifted. 
 
 Matilda, wife of King Stephen, is eulogized 
 by all the old chroniclers of her age,^ not 
 merely for her strength of understanding, but 
 for the rare power of meeting every variety of 
 fortune with equanimity; and of maintaining 
 her own dignity, and that of her husband by the 
 exercise of rare and singular talents. She was 
 a woman of extraordinary merit, and her capa- 
 cious mind was well suited to meet and sup- 
 port the difficulties of the perilous time in 
 which she flourished.^ The industrious and 
 
 ^ Brayly's Londiniana, vol. i. p. 119. 
 
 ^William of Malmsbury, fol. 107. Hen. Huntingdon, 
 fol. 214. 
 
 ^ See Appendix N. 
 
46 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 the persevering were distinguished by marks of 
 her especial favor ; and the foundation by this 
 Princess of St. Katherine's Hospital/ which to 
 this day remains under the patronage of the 
 Queens Consort of England fully attests her 
 devotional fervor, her beneficence, and her 
 charity. 
 
 Henry the Second, whose reign was re- 
 markable for public order and tranquillity, was 
 almost wholly educated- by his mother, the 
 grand-daughter of William the Conqueror, and 
 the legitimate heiress of the crown. 
 
 Unsuccessful in her efforts, and compelled to 
 flee from England, the Empress Matilda^ with- 
 
 ^ See Appendix O, 
 
 ^ He was devoted to reading, and bestowed much time 
 in literary discussions. His knowledge of history was great, 
 and he encouraged and rewarded the writers of his time ; 
 the most celebrated of which were William of Malmsbury, 
 Henry of Huntingdon, and Giraldus Cambrensis. 
 
 ^ This Princess was married, first to Henry the Fifth, 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 47 
 
 drew her son to his patrimonial inheritance of 
 Anjou, and there taught him those principles 
 of firmness and justice which eventually led to 
 the most useful results. Her vigorous mind 
 induced her thoroughly to perceive the cause 
 of her own unpopularity, and to comprehend 
 the value of so excellent a character as her 
 brother the " great Earl of Gloucester," ^ whom 
 she held up as an example to her son. Taking 
 him then as his model, the high qualities 
 which influenced Henry the Second in his 
 just, but mild government, would have formed 
 a period of uninterrupted prosperity, had it 
 
 Emperor of Germany, and, secondly, to Geoffrey Plantagenet, 
 Earl of Anjou. By this latter union her son Henry the 
 Second became the founder of the Plantagenet dynasty. 
 
 ^ This powerful Baron, so distinguished for his struggles 
 in behalf of his sister, the Empress Matilda, against 
 Stephen, was the natural son of King Henry the First. He 
 was esteemed the wisest, the most learned, and the most 
 virtuous nobleman of his age. — See William of Malmsbury, 
 p. 6. 
 
48 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 not been for his struggle "with the church of 
 Rome. In all cases of emergency, the King 
 referred to his Mother, and he always pro- 
 fited largely by her prudence and sagacity.^ 
 
 Queen Eleanor, his consort, liberally en- 
 couraged the taste for poetry, then beginning 
 to be appreciated in England. Bards and 
 minstrels flourished under her patronage. She 
 loved their verses, and patronised their genius. 
 She it was who inspired her sons with that 
 admiration for the poetry of the Troubadours, 
 to which may be traced that spirit of romance ; 
 that heroism and daring intrepidity, which 
 raised the actions of Richard Coeur-de-lion so 
 much above the level of his contemporaries. 
 
 Richard was himself a minstrel and a poet ; 
 
 and the taste for literature with which he had 
 
 been so early imbued, was soon shewn in the 
 
 improved education of the English youth, 
 
 ^ See Appendix P. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 49 
 
 and the increasing number of studious men 
 during his eventful reign. On his accession to 
 the throne, this monarch evinced his gratitude 
 to his Mother, and proved the sense he enter- 
 tained of her superior abilities by entrusting to 
 her the sole government of his kingdom, dur- 
 ing his absence on the Continent. 
 
 From the patronage, indeed, of the Anglo- 
 Norman Queens, our first national poetry, 
 distinct from minstrel recitation arose. The 
 great intellectual want, after the Norman 
 conquest, was that of an original vernacular 
 literature which would interest and instruct 
 the general mind of the community. Poetry 
 first produced this in England; the itinerant 
 minstrels were the instruments, and a part of 
 the lettered clergy the first effective agents to 
 introduce and diffuse it. Royal encourage- 
 ment, and the interest manifested generally by 
 the ladies of the court, induced the younger 
 
50 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 ecclesiastics to apply themselves to metrical 
 compositions^ which, once esteemed in the 
 higher circles of life, could not fail to he 
 generally attractive. 
 
 A taste for historical information also began 
 to prevail in England after the conquest. The 
 Anglo-Norman ladies, rivalling their husbands 
 in literary curiosity, partook of the general 
 feeling, and the high-born not only learned to 
 read, but some few also to write. This fully 
 explains their fitness to be the chosen in- 
 structors of the English ^^outh, until these last 
 were called upon by their fathers to enter 
 upon their martial career. 
 
 King Edward the First owes an acknow- 
 ledged debt of gratitude to his Mother, Eleanor, 
 consort of Henry the Third ; and the memory 
 and virtues of his wife Eleanor, of Castile, 
 '^ a godlie and modeste princesse, full of pitie, 
 and one that showed moche favour to the 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 51 
 
 English nation ; readie to releve every man^s 
 grief that sustained wrong ; and to make them 
 friends that were at discord, so farre as in 
 her laie,"^ have been perpetuated by that 
 series of magnificent architectural crosses 
 which he erected to her memory.- She ac- 
 companied him to the holy land, and was 
 the means of introducing to the English 
 nation on her return, many useful arts, and 
 much valuable information. She strove to 
 soften in her royal consort that stern policy 
 which produced such severe treatment of the 
 Welsh and the Jews ; and her character has 
 justly been painted with peculiar enthusiasm 
 by historians. 
 
 ' Hollinshed's Chron. sub. anno 1291. 
 
 ' Of these crosses which were erected at all the places 
 where her corpse rested on its journey from Hornby, in 
 Lincolnshire, to Westminster Abbey, those at Northampton 
 and Waltham still exist ; and tradition has perpetuated, by 
 their appellations, the sites of the rest. 
 
 d2 
 
52 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 Philippa, the estimable partner of Edward 
 the Third, has been already noticed as a 
 mother to thousands, both by her zeal in 
 promoting religious instruction, and by her 
 patronage of learned and upright men : never- 
 theless, in this division of the subject, — de- 
 voted as it exclusively is to such eminent cha- 
 racters as have shed, individually, peculiar 
 lustre on their country, and dignity on their 
 homes, — Philippa, as the parent of Edward 
 the Black Prince, claims a distinguished place. 
 As the victor of Poictiers, his courage and 
 valour have been renowned for ages; as a 
 statesman, his abilities are demonstrated by 
 his government of Guienne, and by the result 
 of many difficult and important missions : but 
 it is as a Christian hero, that the Prince of 
 Wales affords so beautiful an example, and con- 
 trasts so forcibly with the heathen warriors of 
 antiquity. His generosity in waiting personally 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 53 
 
 upon the French monarch his captive — his hu- 
 miHty in remaining uncovered and standing in 
 his presence/ — his moderation and self-com- 
 mand in the moment of victory, — his noble 
 conduct to the royal prisoner, when presenting 
 him, amidst the shouts of his admiring country- 
 men, to his parents, is a striking illustration of 
 the subhme in moral character, induced by the 
 chastening influence of religious feelings, when 
 compared with the chains and insult, the 
 degradation and scorn, with which illustrious 
 prisoners were often treated in ancient times. 
 
 If Providence had spared his life, the Prince 
 who could so govern himself, might well have 
 been entrusted with the charge of a kingdom; 
 and the virtues which dignify and immor- 
 
 ^ " The French monarch felt the nobleness of the Prince's 
 generous courtesy, and proclaimed him '* un gentil seigneur." 
 It was, indeed, great and admirable : the highest refinements 
 of the chivalric character was never more brilliantly displayed." 
 — S. Turner, vol. ii. p. 212. 
 
54 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 talize his name, infinitely beyond his heroic 
 deeds, attest forcibly the value of that 
 Mother's instructions by whom alone (in ac- 
 cordance with the custom of the middle ages) 
 religious and moral education had been im- 
 parted, until the period arrived of the youthful 
 warrior's entrance upon his knightly career. 
 
 The abilities and accomplishments of the 
 heroic consort of Henry the Sixth, ^ have 
 been handed down to posterity in the com- 
 positions of Lydgate, a contemporary, one of the 
 earliest of our native poets ; and there can be 
 little doubt that her powerful mind would 
 have fostered learning, and befriended genius 
 with munificence and enthusiasm, if discord 
 and civil war had not obliged her to direct 
 her energies to the performance of other and 
 less peaceful duties. 
 
 The termination, however, of domestic 
 
 ' See Appendix Q. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 55 
 
 feuds, and the introduction which immediately 
 followed, of the art of printing, now contri- 
 buted to the full development of literature; 
 and its beneficial effects were speedily ap- 
 parent, not merely in the enlarged education 
 afforded to women, but its consequent happy 
 effects upon their progeny. 
 
 To Margaret of Lancaster, Mother of King 
 Henry the Seventh, that monarch was indebted 
 for his early tuition, and for the germs of that 
 wisdom which procured for him the appellation 
 of the *' Solomon of England." The incalcu- 
 lable benefit which subsequent ages have de^ 
 rived from his wise laws, and subjugation of 
 the feudal system, is owing mainly to the early 
 precepts, and judicious instruction, bestowed 
 in solitude and under persecution, by his 
 Mother. She was indeed in its most extended 
 sense the patroness of learning: she was the 
 friend of Caxton, whose works she assisted and 
 
66 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 promoted ; and by her example to the ladies of 
 her son's court, she prepared the way for that 
 galaxy of female talent and erudition which 
 shone so brightly in the succeeding century. 
 To her was entrusted the infant tuition of her 
 grandson King Henry the Eighth/ and from 
 her he imbibed that love of letters which dis- 
 tinguished the opening of his reign, and which 
 induced him to bestow such pains on the 
 education of his daughters, Mary and Eliza- 
 beth, the future Queens of England. 
 
 It was also from her attention to his theolo- 
 gical studies, that he derived that passion for 
 controversy which obtained for him the appella- 
 tion of "Defender of the Faith," and which 
 was the chief instrument for procuring to future 
 generations the blessings of the Reformation, 
 and the ascendancy of Protestantism. 
 
 The learned and accomplished governess of 
 
 ' Tytler's Life of Henry the Eighth. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. o7 
 
 Edward the Sixth, holds a distinguished place 
 among the eminent Matrons of England. She 
 was the second daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke, 
 and the wife of Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord 
 Keeper of the Great Seal ; and her conspicuous 
 station among the literati of Europe, and the 
 astonishing attainments of her two sons, — the 
 glory and ornament of their age, — contributed 
 to shed fresh lustre upon this admirable lady.i 
 Although so young, her pupil had abilities 
 which far surpassed his years, while his learning 
 amazed all who conversed with him.^ He w^as 
 the first British monarch who was bred up in 
 the reformed faith, and his foundation and 
 
 ^ " She was liberally educated by the care of her father ; 
 and having added much acquired knowledge to her great 
 natural endowments, she was constituted governess to King 
 Edward the Sixth. She was exquisitely skilled in the Greek, 
 Latin, and Italian tongues, and was eminent for piety, virtue, 
 and learning." — Ballard's Memoirs, p. 132. 
 2 See Appendix R. 
 
 d5 
 
58 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 endowment of Christ's Hospital,^ with the 
 inestimable advantages entailed by his enlarged 
 views on countless numbers of his youthful 
 countrymen,^ render his name immortal in the 
 annals of English literature. 
 
 Francis Bacon, Lord Verulam, the second 
 son of Lady Bacon, of whom it was said by 
 Addison, "that he had the sound distinct 
 comprehensive knowledge of Aristotle, with all 
 the beautiful light graces and embellishments 
 of Cicero," owed (as did his brother) the early 
 part of his education to his incomparable 
 Mother;^ and it is admitted, that to her zeal, 
 and anxious care, — to the pains which she 
 
 * For the Foundation Charter of King Edward the Sixth, of 
 the Hospitals of Christ for the education of poor children ; 
 Bridewell for the correction and amendment of the idle and 
 vagabond ; and St. Thomas the Apostle for the relief of the 
 sick and diseased — see the Appendix to the Rev. W. Trol- 
 lope's elaborate History of Christ's Hospital, No. V. 
 
 * See Appendix S. ^ See Appendix T. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 59 
 
 bestowed upon him from his tenderest infancy 
 —he was mainly indebted for the great reputa- 
 tion that will ever dignify his name. As a 
 learned statesman, his abilities are well known; 
 as Lord High Chancellor of England, the 
 wisdom of his judgments have never been 
 impugned ; ^ and as the founder of experimental 
 philosophy. Lord Bacon stands pre-eminent, 
 and has justly been considered one of the 
 greatest benefactors to mankind. ^ His vene« 
 ration for his Mother, and his due sense of her 
 valued tuition was shewn by his desire to be 
 interred in the same grave with her, at St. 
 Michael's, near St. Albans, Herts. A striking 
 instance and a most beautiful example of the 
 advantage that may be derived from maternal 
 influence early and discreetly exerted over the 
 tender mind of infancy. 
 
 Mildred, the elder sister of Lady Bacon, and 
 
 ' Encyclo. Brit. p. 727. ' See Preface to Novum Organum. 
 
60 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 wife of the great Lord Burleigh/ High Trea- 
 surer of England, and Privy Councillor to 
 Queen Elizabeth, was equally celebrated. It 
 is recorded, that this eminent statesman con- 
 sulted her upon all difficult and important 
 points, and always acknowledged the advantage 
 he derived from her extraordinary learning and 
 intellectual powers. Her fortitude was severely 
 tried in the loss of so many of her children, 
 though her resignation was beautifully shewn 
 in her pious submission to the Divine Will: 
 and " The Meditation " written by Lord Bur- 
 leigh after her decease, shews that her virtues 
 were so great, and her learning so profound, as 
 to render the touching words that terminate his 
 treatise — "Written by me in sorrow,^' — pecu- 
 
 * Sir Wm. Cecil, Lord Burleigh, has been deservedly placed 
 at the head of our English statesmen ; not only for his great 
 abilities and indefatigable application, but also for his inviol- 
 able attachment to the interests of his mistress. — Granger's 
 Biog, History, vol. i. p. 189, 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 61 
 
 liarly interesting. Her only surviving son, Sir 
 Robert Cecil, secretary to Queen Elizabeth, 
 eventually attained the highest offices of the 
 state, and was considered the ablest minister of 
 the succeeding reign.i He was advanced to 
 the dignity of Earl of Salisbury,^ and his pru- 
 dence, his integrity, and moderation, afford 
 evidence of the excellent precepts which must 
 early and forcibly have been inculcated by his 
 good and gifted Mother.^ 
 
 Respecting the legislative wisdom of Queen 
 Elizabeth,* and the beneficial effects of her 
 powerful mind, it is only necessary to consider 
 the events of her glorious reign, and to dwell 
 
 ^ Hume, chap. xlv. p. 218. 
 
 ' " This nobleman was greatly esteemed by King James the 
 First, and it was through his sagacity and penetration, when 
 Lord High Treasurer, that the gunpowder plot was dis- 
 covered," — See Winwood's Memorials, vol. ii. p. 171. 
 
 ' See Appendix U. 
 
 * " Never prince had a wiser council than she, yet never 
 prince needed it less ; for she was herself a counsellor to her 
 covmcil." — Sir Richard Baker, p. 400. 
 
 .^- 
 
62 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 on the gratitude and respect with which her 
 country cherishes her memory. Never was 
 this island more prosperous at home or more 
 formidable abroad, than during her rule.^ 
 Letters flourished, knowledge became general, 
 and for learned men, the Elizabethan era 
 ranks amongst the most brilliant epoch of our 
 political and scholastic annals ;~ whilst her 
 Matrons, equally erudite and studious, were 
 alike unrivalled for purity of morals, and intel- 
 lectual endowments.^ 
 
 Were it not from the apprehension of ex- 
 tending this part of the subject beyond the 
 prescribed limits, many more instances might 
 be adduced of statesmen whose talents were 
 elicited and fostered by the judgment and 
 influence of exemplary Mothers. But the 
 
 * Historical and Political Discourse on the Laws and Go- 
 verament of England, p. 155. 
 
 2 Camden's Annals of Queen Elizabeth. 
 2 Rttssel on Women, vol. ii. p. 120. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 63 
 
 dignified position of Great Britain during the 
 reign of Queen Elizabeth of whom it has been 
 recorded by a learned foreigner, that "there 
 have been but few great kings whose reigns 
 can be compared to hers, it being the most 
 beautiful period in English history,"^ renders 
 it the most fitting time for terminating that 
 portion of this work in which we proposed to 
 consider " the Obligations of the State to the 
 Mothers of England, through the wisdom of 
 many of her legislators."^ 
 
 III. The third division of this Essay contains 
 that part of the subject which relates to the 
 great names that maternal care and solicitude 
 have given to science. And here we would 
 
 ^ Bayle's Historical and Critical History. 
 
 ' " Lord Burleigh and the other great ministers of Eliza- 
 beth were absolutely of her own choice." — Granger's Biog. 
 Hist. p. 190. 
 
64 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 beg permission to pause, with the view of 
 drawing particular attention to the above simple 
 expression, " maternal care and solicitude," 
 inasmuch as the last section was devoted pecu- 
 liarly to the consideration of Mothers whose 
 powerful minds, superior abilities, or profound 
 learning, produced corresponding fruits in their 
 infant progeny, advancing the progress of 
 knowledge by their own zeal, and extending 
 its benefits by the energy which they early 
 inspired in the minds of their eminent and 
 illustrious sons. 
 
 But in this portion, a mother's love is rather 
 to be considered : the all-powerful and touching 
 effects of maternal influence — founded on con- 
 sistency of conduct, and purity of motive- 
 forming the source from whence has sprung a 
 host of men so groat, and so gifted, that they 
 pre-eminently tend to exalt the character of 
 the Mothers of England. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND, 65 
 
 The examples selected to illustrate this 
 point would make it apparent, even without 
 comment, that the piety, rectitude, and sim- 
 plicity of a Christian, though unlettered parent, 
 whose sole object is to implant seeds of good- 
 ness in her child, may produce nobler and 
 more estimable characters than Mothers of the 
 most brilliant talents, or the most profound 
 learning, whose efforts are not based upon 
 moral and religious duties : because, worldly 
 acquirements, though perhaps encouraged by 
 both, would by the one be considered of 
 more importance than sound principles, 
 while the other would justly deem every thing 
 worthless in the comparison with virtue and 
 religion. 
 
 It may be said, and with reason, that no 
 learning derived from others, could have in- 
 creased the innate genius of those great 
 examples of mental superiority about to be 
 
66 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 adduced. This is indeed true, and willingly is 
 it admitted that they could scarcely have been 
 greater as regards science or literature ; but let 
 not the point contended for be forgotten, that 
 without those early precepts of religious duty 
 and practical morality, derived from Mothers 
 who glory in their christian calling (however 
 deficient in scholastic attainments,) the talents 
 thus rightly guided in the child, might in the 
 future philosopher have been used in dissemi- 
 nating the most baneful principles, tending to 
 the destruction rather than to the benefit of 
 mankind. 
 
 The brilliant names which have been given 
 from this source to science and literature attest 
 the truth of that well-known axiom, that most 
 of the christian graces which adorn society 
 spring from the Mother's care. The mass of 
 mankind are little aware how early that most 
 important part of education may be begun, 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 67 
 
 which tends to regulate the feelings, and to 
 govern the understanding. If then children so 
 speedily receive, and indelibly retain their first 
 impressions, of what vast importance must it be 
 to their future career, that discretion should 
 be united to maternal love; and that parents 
 should strive to discern the bent of infant 
 genius. 
 
 Tenderness, forbearance, and a Mother's af- 
 fection, joined to keen observation of character, 
 will more effectually produce good results, than 
 the overstrained labours of matured intellect, 
 or the anxious pride of a merely learned parent. 
 To quote the language of one of the ablest 
 and most elegant writers of the present age,^ 
 " There is this remarkable in the strong affec- 
 tions of the Mother, in the formation of the 
 literary character, that without even partaking 
 of, or sympathizing with the pleasures the child 
 
 ' D'Israeli, on the Literary Character. 
 
68 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 is fond of, the Mother will often cherish those 
 first decided tastes merely from the delight of 
 promoting the happiness of her son; so that 
 that genius which some would produce in a 
 preconceived system, or implant by stratagem, 
 or enforce by application, with her may be only 
 the watchful labour of love." 
 
 The difficulty attending this division of the 
 subject arises, not so much from want of ex- 
 amples to illustrate it, but rather from the diffi- 
 culty of selecting the most striking out of the 
 number that present themselves. 
 
 The brevity of an essay precluding too elabo- 
 rate a detail, it may perhaps suffice, and best 
 exemplify the Obligations of Literature to the 
 maternal character, if we select one memorable 
 instance from those philosophers, who in their 
 several departments have pre-eminently bene- 
 fited the world. 
 
 The age of chivalry, as we have already seen. 
 
TUB MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 69 
 
 succeeded to that which was immortalized by 
 the introduction of Christianity ; and was im- 
 mediately followed by what may be termed the 
 age of science, which in more enlightened days 
 became purified from the errors and extrava- 
 gancies of ruder times. 
 
 Science dawned but feebly in Europe before 
 the invention of printing, but from that period 
 it rapidly rose. It is from this epoch then that 
 we shall select our present examples. 
 
 Sir Isaac Newton, the great, the learned, and 
 the good, who followed in the track of his illus- 
 trious predecessor, Sir Francis Bacon, styled 
 by Walpole, " the prophet of arts which Newton 
 was afterwards to reveal," was indebted to ma- 
 ternal solicitude, for the development of that 
 genius, which has never since been surpassed 
 nor ever equalled. 
 
 Unlike Bacon, however, the immortal Newton 
 had no illustrious father to pave the way for his 
 
70 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 son's celebrity, he had no learned and accom- 
 plished Mother to direct his infant mind to 
 principles of science at the time when it was 
 most susceptible of imbibing them. He knew 
 not the blessing even of a father's encourage- 
 ment, for it was the fate of this great philo- 
 sopher to be a posthumous child, and so 
 sickly and diminutive was he at his birth, 
 that little hope was entertained of preserving 
 his life. 
 
 But Newton, though not blessed with learned 
 parents, possessed a devout and christian Mo- 
 ther, whose sole aim and study was to sow the 
 seeds of piety and virtue in his mind, and whose 
 tender care preserved to us, under God's bles- 
 sing, one-destined to be the glory of his coun- 
 try and his race. 
 
 Sir Isaac Newton was born in 1642, and 
 about the time he attained his fourth year his 
 mother married, secondly, a clergyman; but 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 71 
 
 she did not suffer this new alliance to interfere 
 with her duties to her son. 
 
 When the watchful solicitude of parental love 
 had strengthened his feeble constitution, and 
 her judicious instruction had invigorated the 
 dawning powers of his intellect, she sent him 
 to school to be taught the classics ; but having 
 given him such few scholastic advantages as she 
 considered sufficient for the inheritor of a small 
 patrimony, she again withdrew him to his home 
 to be initiated into the management of a farm, 
 that like his ancestors he might be devoted to a 
 country life. But, for the retirement thus af- 
 forded — a retirement so suited to foster the re- 
 flective powers of his expanding mind, — Newton 
 perhaps had never been led to those contem- 
 plative habits which afterwards produced his 
 immortal theory of universal gravitation ; for 
 though, at the instance of his uncle, he had been 
 previously removed to Cambridge for mathema- 
 
72 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 tical instruction, yet the predisposition of the 
 young philosopher for metaphysics was en- 
 couraged, if not originally induced, by that 
 previous retirement^ which was almost forced 
 upon him by the prudence and the affection of 
 his anxious parent. 
 
 Great indeed are the Obligations of Litera- 
 ture to the Mother whose untiring watchfulness 
 in infancy preserved the life of so great a man, 
 and whose gentle sway allowed him in childhood 
 perfect freedom of thought and action, save in 
 the one point peculiarly apportioned to a Mo- 
 ther's care — the task of inculcating the truths 
 of our holy religion — a task never more beau- 
 tifully illustrated by its result ; for Sir Isaac 
 
 ^ ** Being obliged to leave the University on account of the 
 plague, he conceived the idea of the system of gravitation by 
 seeing an apple fall from a tree in his garden. Thus, from the 
 most simple occurrence his penetrating mind was enabled to 
 trace the principle which keeps the planets in motion, and 
 preserves the universe in order."— Watkins's Universal Biog. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 73 
 
 Newton was not only a philosopher but a Chris- 
 tian, and spent much of his time in elucidating 
 the sacred Scriptures ; nor could any thing dis- 
 compose his mind so much as light and irreve- 
 rent expressions on the subject of religion.^ 
 
 Haller, in his forcible language, tells us, "that 
 a little philosophy leads to atheism ; a great 
 deal brings back the mind to religion," and he 
 instances Newton as a bright example of those 
 great men who " in proportion as they explored 
 with success the mysteries of creation, felt their 
 breasts warmed with devotion to its great 
 Author and Governor. "^ 
 
 John Lord Somers, is another and an emi- 
 nent instance of the fruits of female influence 
 in early years. He was educated by his aunt, 
 who having no children of her own, adopted 
 
 ' Thomson's History of the Royal Society. 
 ^ Haller's Letters to his daughter on the Truths of the 
 Christian Religion. 
 
 E 
 
74 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 him from his birth, and brought him up in 
 her own house, till he went to the University. 
 He, too, was a weakly boy,^ and the peculiar 
 sensibility attendant upon feeble constitutions 
 rendered him feelingly alive to the affection of 
 his gentle preceptress, and through that source, 
 particularly susceptible also, it may be assumed, 
 of those seeds of goodness which she strove to 
 implant in his heart.^ Somers eventually be- 
 came Lord High Chancellor of England ; and 
 was pronounced by Bishop Burnet " the great- 
 est man he had ever known in that post, and 
 very learned also in divinity, philosophy, and 
 history." 
 
 Cardinal Pole, wrho pre-eminently deserves 
 
 ' Seward's Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. 114. 
 
 2 " He had a great capacity for business, with an extraor- 
 dinary temper ; for he was fair and gentle, perhaps to a fault 
 considering his post. So that he had all the patience and 
 softness, as well as the justice and equity, becoming a great 
 magistrate." — Burnet's Own Times, vol. iv. p. 156. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. /5 
 
 to be noticed in this section, from his having 
 assisted in laying the foundation of polite lite- 
 rature by the revival of letters in England, and 
 who vras renowned no less in the scholastic, 
 than in the political, and ecclesiastical world, 
 was solely educated in early years by his illus- 
 trious mother Margaret, Countess of Salis- 
 bury ; who was anxious that he should realize 
 the hopes she conceived of him from the pre- 
 cocious abilities he had displayed.^ 
 
 By Sir Thomas More he was styled "the 
 ornament and delight of his country," — "a 
 youth as learned, as he is noble, and as virtu- 
 ous as learned."^ Erasmus also bears testi- 
 mony to his great acquirements, which are 
 
 * " He seconded her views so well, that having drawn on 
 himself the attention of the times in which he lived, and been 
 the object of their love and admiration, his character has 
 stood the test of the two following ages, and is still fresh and 
 unsullied." — Phillips' Life of Pole, p, 4. 
 
 * More's Life of More, p. 92. 
 
 E 2 
 
76 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 indeed commemorated by the chief writers of 
 the day, both in his own country and on the 
 Continent; yet in him so beautifully were 
 simplicity of mind and manner, joined to 
 elevation of genius and consummate knowledge, 
 that he was distinguished throughout Europe 
 as the " Modest and learned Cardinal." 
 
 John Wesley, the opposite indeed in religi- 
 ous belief to Cardinal Pole, but equally con- 
 spicuous for his Christian virtues, great humi- 
 lity, and vigorous mind, was born in 1703. To 
 his Mother, a woman of energetic character, 
 and singularly active habits, he acknowledged 
 himself indebted for his early tuition;^ and 
 he loved to express his obligations to her for 
 that strong religious fervour, — that untiring 
 zeal in spiritual pursuits, — and above all, for 
 the rudiments of industry, perseverance, and 
 
 * Soulhey's Life of the Rev. J. Wesley. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 77 
 
 self-denial, which have contributed so mate- 
 rially to his celebrity. 1 
 
 The name of Wesley naturally leads to that 
 of his follower and advocate, Dr. Adam Clarke, 
 proverbially eminent among modem scholars, 
 and one of the most erudite of biblical anti- 
 quaries. His elaborate works need no enco- 
 mium here ; and as regards the piety and devo- 
 tion of his life, and the well-directed use of his 
 talents, his own words will more effectually 
 illustrate the particular object of this division 
 of the subject than any extract, however copi- 
 ous, that could have been selected from the 
 pen of his biographer. " My mother's reproofs 
 never left me," said he, "till I sought and 
 found the salvation of God. She taught me 
 such reverence for the Bible, that if I had it in 
 my hand even for the purpose of studying a 
 
 ' He was the founder of that celebrated sect by which his 
 name is perpetuated. 
 
78 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 chapter in order to say it as a lesson, and had 
 been disposed with my class-fellows to sing, 
 whistle a tune, or be facetious, I dared not do 
 either while the book was open in my hands. 
 In such cases I always shut it, and laid it down 
 beside me. Who will dare to lay this to the 
 charge of superstition ?" 
 
 David Hume, the historian ; and the philo- 
 sopher Adam Smith ; two of the most remark- 
 able men which adorn the page of English 
 literature, were eminent also for shedding 
 lustre by their celebrity on the names of 
 widowed and exemplary mothers. 
 
 Adam Smith was a posthumous child, and 
 of so puny a frame that the tenderest and 
 most watchful maternal care was requisite for 
 the preservation of his life. Great as was 
 his reputation,! his mother's sweetest reward 
 was the testimony which the philosopher him- 
 ^ Dugald Stewart's Memoirs of Dr. Adam Smith, 
 
 I 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 79 
 
 self bore to the benefit of her early instruc- 
 tions. 
 
 The widowed mother of Hume was, as we learn 
 from his own pen, "a woman of singular merit, 
 who devoted herself entirely to rearing and 
 educating her children."^ She bestowed on 
 him religious instruction/ and his literary fame 
 fully justified her anticipations of future cele- 
 brity ; but his talents were, alas ! corrupted in 
 their Christian tendency by the canker-worm 
 of infidelity and philosophical scepticism. 
 
 English literature produced few more strik- 
 ing instances of great talent, united to the most 
 inflexible virtue, than that of Dr. Johnson. 
 The genius indeed, which excited such admira- 
 tion must be considered innate, for it was 
 independent of ordinary instruction; but the 
 rectitude and probity for which he was fully 
 as eminent, was the result of his Mother's reli- 
 
 2 Hume—" My Own Life," p. 1. ^ Silliman's Travels. 
 
80 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 gious precepts, and the effect of her moral 
 influence over him. 
 
 His father's eccentricities are well known, 
 and equally so is the poverty that clouded 
 Johnson's prospects at his decease. There is 
 something therefore singularly touching, after 
 reading his eulogium on his Mother, and the 
 simple account he gives of the vivid impression 
 made on his infantine imagination by her first 
 fixing his mind on heaven, as prepared for the 
 good, and of endless torment as allotted to the 
 wicked, to find him when that Mother too 
 had departed, writing "Rasselas" to defray 
 the expences of her funeral, — that beautiful 
 work, expressive of the unsatisfactory nature of 
 things temporal, and directing the hopes of 
 man to things eternal.i 
 
 His reverential love for her never abated, — 
 and deeply was he affected at her loss. During 
 
 ' See Appendix V. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 81 
 
 her life he contributed to her support, and he 
 hallowed her death by an act of filial piety, 
 which illustrates, far beyond words, the influence 
 a virtuous Mother may obtain over a gifted 
 son, and forcibly exemplifies the blessings 
 which result from pious care, and fixed prin- 
 ciples, early exercised on the dawning powers 
 of genius and talent, 
 
 Edmund Burke, as a pohtical philosopher, a 
 scholar, a writer, and an orator, has never been 
 surpassed : yet his fame had its basis in a Mo- 
 ther's tender care. Fragile and sickly in child- 
 hood, he received the rudiments of education at 
 home ; his mental and bodily strength progressed 
 under the watchfulness of maternal anxiety. His 
 Mother, from his nurse became his instructress, 
 — books soon constituted his greatest enjoy- 
 ment, — by her he was taught to read them, 
 and by her he was encouraged in that devotion 
 to study, which displayed itself in his childish 
 E 5 
 
82 
 
 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 years, and which influenced so materially his 
 brilliant career.^ 
 
 The beautiful effusions of Cowper, and his 
 exquisite poem at the sight of his Mother's 
 picture, above forty years after her death, are 
 well known; and it cannot be necessary to 
 point out the effects of her parental instruc- 
 tion, when that loved Mother's decease, at the 
 poet's early age of six years, contributed to 
 tinge with sadness his after career, and left so 
 indelible an impression as never to have been 
 wholly eradicated, — 
 
 " the record fair 
 That mem'ry keeps of all thy kindness there, 
 Still outlives many a storm that has effac'd 
 A thousand other themes less deeply traced." 
 
 It may not, however, be so generally known 
 that the Poet Gray, whose touching strains are 
 engraved on the memory of both youth and 
 
 ^ Prior's Life of Burke. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 83 
 
 age, was more than commonly indebted to 
 maternal affection. By the promptitude and 
 resolution of his Mother, under circumstances 
 of sudden and dangerous illness, his life was 
 saved in childhood :^ by earnest and stimulating 
 encouragement she developed his rare talents 
 in boyhood : and by personal self-denial after- 
 wards afforded him, from her own private 
 resources those advantages at Eton, which pro- 
 cured for him the character, at a very brilliant 
 period of literature, of '* the most learned man 
 in Europe." 
 
 His gratitude to his devoted parent is forci- 
 bly and beautifully expressed in his published 
 letters. He never mentioned her but with a 
 sigh; and, like Sir Francis Bacon, his last 
 request was to be buried by her side in that 
 churchyard,^ which his elegy has ever hallowed 
 by its associations. 
 * See Appendix W. ^ Stoke Pogis Church, Bucks. 
 
84 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 The number of poets, indeed, whose laurels 
 have been gained chiefly through the medium, 
 of a Mother's love, or who display in their 
 writings the lasting effect produced in early 
 youth by instructions simple in themselves, 
 but important in their results, — because founded 
 on truth, consistency, and genuine affection, 
 are so great, that were they all adduced, it 
 would convert this section into a mere cata- 
 logue of our most distinguished native bards. 
 
 The fact, however, illustrates most forcibly 
 the indirect control through life which maternal 
 discipline exercises over the vivid imagination 
 of genius, and exemplifies in the most touching 
 manner the actual power which may be obtained 
 over the human heart (even when unaccom- 
 panied by intellectual advantages), when purity 
 of motive and consistency of conduct induce 
 in childhood unbounded confidence, firm trust,. 
 and implicit faith. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 85 
 
 Pope, in his Universal Prayer, seems to 
 express the nature of those unfading impres- 
 sions made in early childhood ; and he ^vas 
 himself a striking instance of the enduring 
 effect of maternal influence. From his birth, of 
 a constitution feeble and delicate, his sense of 
 obligation to his Mother, and his gentle obe- 
 dience, and deference to her as such, shone in 
 bright relief through the irritability that shaded 
 his peculiarly eccentric career; and his over- 
 whelming grief at her death, though advanced 
 to the great age of ninety-three, fully justifies 
 that beautiful apostrophe of Dr. Johnson to 
 him, that "Life has among its soothing and 
 quiet comforts few things better to give than 
 such a son."^ 
 
 Thomson, whose ^' Seasons " occur intuitively 
 to every reflective mind in spring and autumn 
 rambles, was left by his father, at an early age, 
 
 * Johnson's Lives of the Poets, vol. iv. p. 90. 
 
86 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 the eldest of nine children, to the " sole care of 
 his mother." 
 
 Shenstone's precocious fondness for reading 
 was so great, that to satisfy his craving for a 
 fresh supply of books, his Mother often wrapped 
 up a piece of wood in the shape of a book, and 
 put it under his pillow to induce sleep for the 
 night, and gain time to supply the little stu- 
 dent's demands for the morrow. What love 
 but a Mother's would have sought in such 
 an expedient the repose due to over-wrought 
 mental powers ? 
 
 The influence which the Mother of Robert 
 Burns early acquired and always maintained 
 over her son is well known. His poetic genius 
 was first called into exercise by the ballads and 
 songs which she sung with peculiar pathos 
 and feeling, and in his farther progress his 
 Mother was still his instructress. To the purity 
 of her religious exhortations, and the strict 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 87 
 
 fulfilment of her social duties/ may be traced 
 the most touching of those effusions which 
 shed such lustre on the name of the author 
 of the " Cotter's Saturday Night." 
 
 Sir William Jones, the accomplished Oriental 
 scholar, owed to his widowed parent that care- 
 ful education which laid the foundation of his 
 undying fame. Her vigorous understanding 
 had pre-eminently qualified her for the task, 
 and induced her insensibly, and from the first 
 dawn of infant intelligence, to direct the mind 
 of her child to habits of reflection. She early 
 addressed herself to his understanding, and 
 
 ' " She loved a well regulated household, and it was fre- 
 quently her pleasure to give wings to the weary hours of a 
 chequered life by chaunting old songs and ballads, of which 
 she had a large store. Her religious feeling was deep and 
 constant, and she was blessed with singular equanimity of 
 temper. She lived to a great age, rejoicing in the fame of the 
 poet, and partaking of the fruits of his genius." — Allan Cun- 
 ningham's Life of Burns, p. 3. 
 
88 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 always directed his inquiring spirit to useful 
 objects. To the observation of his Mother's 
 axiom, " Read and you will know," Sir William 
 Jones always acknowledged himself indebted 
 for his rare attainments ; and rare indeed they 
 were, for he was master of twenty-eight lan- 
 guages, an elegant poet, a distinguished natu- 
 ralist, and an excellent mathematician ; but his 
 greatest praise lies in the direction of his talents, 
 which were devoted to public utility and wholly 
 subservient to religion.* 
 
 The name of the benevolent Wilberforce is 
 intimately connected with maternal care and 
 solicitude, whether arising from his peculiarly 
 feeble frame in childhood, or the early age at 
 which he was deprived of a father's protection. 
 From his Mother he inherited many rich 
 mental endowments, and to her firmness and 
 decision in boyhood, his country owe his con- 
 ' See Appendix X. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 89 
 
 nection with politics, and that useful career in 
 pubhc life which has caused him to be num- 
 bered amongst her most eminent philanthro- 
 pists.^ 
 
 The Essays of Charles Lamb abound in the 
 most touching allusions to the sweets and bles- 
 sings of home ; while his letters attest, in beau- 
 tiful language, the all-powerful effect of a 
 Mother's love, portrayed in the gratitude which 
 he expresses to the parent whom he has so 
 warmly and affectionately eulogised.^ 
 
 Endless- indeed are the instances in which 
 rare and singular talents have been developed 
 and promoted by maternal love — innumerable 
 the examples that might be adduced to prove, 
 in this particular point alone, how much the 
 " Mothers of England " have done for their 
 offspring, by the exercise of an influence the 
 
 * Life of Wilberforce by his Sons, p. 7. 
 
 ^ Talford's Life and Letters of Charles Lamb, 
 
90 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TG 
 
 purest and strongest perhaps which bind the 
 heart of man to earthly J;ies. 
 
 How forcibly does Sir Henry Wotton,^ 
 the champion of Protestantism under per- 
 secution, portray the solidity of that Mother's 
 well-directed instruction, who, as stated by his 
 biographer, the good old Isaak Walton, under- 
 took to be "tutoress unto him during much 
 of his childhood!" 2 
 
 How strikingly does the upright, exemplary, 
 and devout Bishop Sandford, illustrate through 
 a blameless life, the effect of a widowed parent's 
 confidence in her children's honour and truth 
 even in childhood, nay in very infancy ! ^ 
 
 Who can peruse the "Remains of Henry 
 Kirke White," the touching poet — the young 
 
 ^ See Appendix Y. 
 
 ^ '* For whose cave and pains he paid her each day with such 
 visible signs of future perfection in learning, as turned her 
 employment into a pleasing trouble." — Isaak Walton, 
 3 See Appendix Z, 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 91 
 
 humble Christian ripe for eternity, — without 
 feeling his heart overflow with sympathy and 
 admiration at the self-denial, the privation 
 endured in secret by his Mother to aid the 
 poet's ^'mounting spirit" — to soothe her son's 
 wretchedness at "hope deferred," and to pre- 
 vent that genius, which was alike her pride 
 and her joy, from being withered by servile 
 occupations, and the misery of a hateful em- 
 ployment ; ^ but, as above stated, instances of 
 a corresponding nature in Mothers are end- 
 less, — examples in their sons innumerable ! 
 
 Sir Walter Scott is among the latest and 
 most distinguished instances of the efiect of 
 female education ; and with his testimony 
 of the enduring efiect of maternal influence, 
 this division of the subject must close. In 
 naming this extraordinary man, we name 
 the brightest ornament of the present age of 
 
 ^ See Appendix A A. 
 
92 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 literature — one who was deservedly the pride 
 of his country, nay of Europe ; who stands 
 unrivalled, not merely for the number of his 
 works, and for the untiring interest which at- 
 taches to them, but for never having written 
 a line which did not strengthen virtue, in- 
 spire patriotism, and inculcate religion and 
 morality. 
 
 By his historical and metrical romances, Sir 
 Walter Scott revived, as it were, the ancient 
 spirit of chivalry, modified by the knowledge 
 and learning peculiar to the age in which he 
 flourished. And it was to his Mother that this 
 great man owed his early tuition ; for though, 
 as stated in his autobiography, he was indebted 
 to his aunt for the rudiments of learning, 
 and to his grandmother for that fund of le- 
 gendary lore, which, fixed irrevocably in his 
 infant mind, clung to him like a charmed gift, 
 even in his declining years, — ^yet by his Mother 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 93 
 
 was he imbued with his youthful taste for 
 imaginative composition, and stimulated to 
 exercise his poetical ardour. Of delicate tem- 
 perament, and feeble constitution, he pecu- 
 liarly needed the watchfulness of maternal 
 tenderness in childhood ; and to the judicious 
 care of his excellent parent in more advanced 
 years, and the benefit he derived from her 
 highly cultivated mind and superior under- 
 standing, his literary fame may be attributed. 
 
 Sir Walter Scott, whose domestic virtues 
 were not surpassed even by his incomparable 
 talents, thoroughly appreciated the value of his 
 Mother's instructions. He loved to acknow- 
 ledge her worth, to dilate on her affection, 
 and to award the meed of filial gratitude for 
 her well-directed efforts in boyhood: and his 
 name — a great and noble name — adds another 
 powerful example, and will most fitly ter- 
 minate the instances selected for illustrating 
 
94 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 from the pages of science, the Obligations of 
 Literature to maternal care and solicitude. 
 
 IV. — The fourth and last point proposed 
 for consideration is that of the Obligations of 
 Learning generally, to the able productions 
 of erudite women, for that high tone of 
 feeling, moral and religious, which charac- 
 terises the compositions of the Matrons of 
 England; we say Matrons, because, agree- 
 able to the avowed purport of this Essay, none 
 but such are admissible on its pages. But, in 
 justice to many early writers, of whom little 
 remains on record beyond their names as 
 wives, and their erudition as women ; and 
 others, of more recent times, who, though not 
 themselves parents, have been the chosen 
 instruments, by means of simple, but gifted 
 productions, of inculcating upon childhood 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 95 
 
 doctrines and duties which not even the 
 graver studies of maturity have more effec- 
 tually promoted, v^^e feel it due to them — 
 metaphorically the Mothers of thousands, — 
 not to limit the "Obligations of Literature" 
 to the Mothers of a single household; but 
 in this concluding portion, to consider the 
 subject, as we did in the first division, in a 
 wider and more enlarged form, — one suited 
 to the importance of the theme, and justified 
 by the strength it affords to the truths here 
 sought to be established. 
 
 Consideration has been given to the Mothers 
 of England, who first made the name of Christ 
 to be known and hallowed in this land ; — 
 attention has been directed to those British 
 Matrons, who, by their domestic virtues, and 
 by their scholastic and religious foundations, 
 preserved from total destruction, in a dark and 
 savage period, those faint embers of literature 
 
96 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 which for ages were sacrificed in this island 
 to deeds of arms, and the acquisition of mar- 
 tial accomplishments; — and due honour has 
 been shewn to those noble women, who aided 
 their sons towards filling the highest offices 
 of the state, and whose maternal watchfulness 
 in infancy, and judgment in riper years, pre- 
 served for the admiration of posterity, some 
 of the greatest names that enrich our scientific 
 annals. 
 
 It now remains only to speak of those who 
 may be termed " Mothers of England," in the 
 widest and most comprehensive sense of the word 
 — ^who have nevertheless well earned the appel- 
 lation, by having devoted their talents to the in- 
 struction of the children of Britain, and by hav- 
 ing brought the leading doctrines of their faith 
 within the compass of their understandings; 
 enforcing also, under the most pleasing forms, 
 the value and beauty of industry, patience. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 97 
 
 and docility — of every virtue, in fact, which 
 all must desire to see practised by youth, and 
 respected in manhood. 
 
 Few can attest more truly the value of 
 talents thus devoted, than those who are, in 
 its literal sense, parents, and to whom is en- 
 trusted, as a holy charge, beings destined for 
 eternity. 
 
 The abundance of works, religious, moral, 
 and scientific, adapted to all ages and all 
 stations, the efforts of those who have con- 
 descended to devote high talents to so praise- 
 worthy an object, as sowing the seeds perhaps 
 of future eminence in many a wayward, but 
 gifted child, is a sufficient sanction for adopt- 
 ing towards accomplished British Matrons, 
 that epithet which as " nursing Mothers," ^ the 
 
 * Kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their Queens thy 
 nursing mothers." — Isaiah xlix. v. 23. 
 
 F 
 
dS OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 Scriptures award to Queens, to whom is com- 
 mitted the fate of nations. 
 
 Literature, then, is justly bound in gra- 
 titude to style "Mothers of England," those 
 who have dignified the age in which they 
 flourished by the wisdom, beauty, and ex- 
 cellence of works that have long survived 
 their writers, and procured for them an im- 
 perishable name ; and also those who have 
 entailed transcendent blessings on posterity, as 
 the guides and instructors in religion and 
 virtue, of future philosophers, scholars, states- 
 men, and divines. 
 
 But if it were difficult to compress within 
 these narrow limits, the numerous examples 
 of scientific and learned men whom maternal 
 influence and watchful affection have con- 
 tributed to elevate to the highest pinnacle 
 of renown, — how far more complicated is the 
 task of selecting from the list of erudite 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 99 
 
 Matrons, even the most noted of those who 
 adorn their native land. 
 
 As, in the former case, we were compelled 
 to limit our illustration to one distinguished 
 scholar only, in some particular branch of 
 science or knowledge, so in the present in- 
 stance we must have recourse to an arrange- 
 ment equally brief and imperfect; and pos- 
 sibly we can decide on none more impartial, 
 or more honourable to the Mothers of Eng- 
 land as a body, than simply to notice under 
 each reign, those whose compositions (in 
 accordance with the age in which they flou- 
 rished) were deservedly esteemed, and most 
 conduced towards the improvement or benefit 
 of their contemporaries. 
 
 Learning, in women, like the pursuit of 
 
 science in men, was mainly the result of the 
 
 invaluable discovery of printing. The study 
 
 of letters was, to the former, a thing by com- 
 
 F 2 
 
100 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 parison unknown, during the chivalric period 
 which preceded that all-powerful invention; 
 though the respect in which the fair sex was 
 then held, nay, almost worshipped as beings of 
 a superior order — as prodigies of beauty, or 
 miracles of virtue, — gave birth to those innu- 
 merable compositions in prose and verse, 
 which, under the title of Sonnet, Lay, metrical 
 Romance, and allegorical Pastoral, comprise 
 the chief efforts of native genius during the 
 middle ages. 
 
 But the fostering hand of Margaret of Bur- 
 gundy,! sister of King Edward the Fourth, and 
 
 ' It was while in the service of this Princess in Flanders, 
 that Caxton learned the art of printing, then recently dis- 
 covered. On her marriage with Charles the Bold, Duke of 
 Burgundy, Caxton was appointed to a situation in the house- 
 hold of the Lady Margaret, but in what capacity, or with 
 what salary, is not known. He seems, however, to have been 
 on familiar terms with the Duchess, and he informs us that 
 he occupied his leisure in several works, which she encouraged 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 101 
 
 the liberality and protecting influence of Mar- 
 garet of Lancaster, ancestress of the present 
 Royal family of England, gave to the newly 
 invented art, a degree of importance, and 
 kindled a spirit of emulation in the unlettered 
 female which in the next generation, amounted 
 to a positive passion. Consequently, we find no 
 period in the entire range of British literature, 
 nor even in that of Europe, so rich in learned 
 women, as that of the Tudor dynasty. ^ 
 
 Chivalry had left behind it a romantic and 
 daring spirit, that not only influenced the 
 writings of the time, but imbued the gentler 
 sex with an energy and loftiness of character 
 
 him to complete ; and that " the Duchess rewarded him 
 liberally for his labour." —Life of Caxton, p. 23. 
 
 ^ Dr. Wotton, in his Reflections on Ancient and Modern 
 Learning, says, "There are no accounts in history of so 
 many great and learned women in any one age, as are to 
 be found between the years fifteen and sixteen hundred,'' 
 p. 349. 
 
102 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 that induced a desire of perusing the classic 
 works of the ancients in the original languages, 
 and of studying, in all their purity, the compo- 
 sitions of the holy fathers of the church ; thus 
 rivalling by their scholastic and theological 
 knowledge, the most learned productions of 
 Greece or Rome. 
 
 The mother of King Henry the Seventh,^ 
 the founder of the Tudor line, first encouraged 
 (as has been already observed) this love of 
 letters in the ladies of her son's court 
 
 The virtues of this illustrious princess were 
 worthy the lineal descendant of Eleanor of 
 Castille, and Philippa of Hainault. She 
 flourished towards the close of the fifteenth 
 century, and heads the list of the learned 
 
 ^ Margaret Beaufort, mother of King Henry the Seventh, 
 through whose descent from the house of Lancaster, that 
 monarch founded his pretension to the throne, was the 
 great-grand- daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, 
 fourth son of King Edward the Third. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF EXGLAXD. 103 
 
 Mothers of England, her literary productions 
 being among the earliest and most valuable 
 specimens extant of English typography. 
 
 Katherine of Arragon,i and Katherine Parr/- 
 the first and last of her grandson's ill-fated 
 Queens, are admirable instances of the 
 powers of the female mind, when fully de- 
 veloped by education, and regulated by 
 severe and early discipline. 
 
 During the reign of King Henry the Eighth, 
 the accomplished daughters of Sir Thomas More 
 astonished all Europe by their profound erudi- 
 tion ; ^ especially Margaret Roper, the eldest, 
 who corresponded in Latin with Erasmus ; trans- 
 lated Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History from the 
 Greek ; and with whom her eminent father, 
 the Lord High Chancellor, took counsel in 
 his severe trials, entrusting her " with all his 
 
 ' See Appendix BB. ^ gee Appendix CC. 
 
 8ee Appendix DD. 
 
104 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 secrets," and writing "to her with a coal" 
 during his imprisonment in the Tower, " when 
 cruelly deprived of his pen and ink." She 
 was perfect mistress of the Greek and Latin 
 tongues; and was well acquainted with Phi- 
 losophy, Astronomy, Physic, Arithmetic, Logic, 
 Rhetoric, and Music. She devoted herself to 
 the education of her children, who ranked 
 among the most erudite of their time : and 
 the benefits conferred on literature by her 
 learned compositions at that early period, may 
 be gathered from the testimony of the greatest 
 scholars, and most able writers of that day,^ 
 
 The eminent daughters of Sir Anthony 
 Cooke were equally distinguished for pro- 
 found learning. Their Latin epistles, their 
 works on philosophy, and their poetical 
 effusions, procured for them the appellation of 
 the " wonder of their age." 
 
 * Knight's Life of Erasmus^ p. 310. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 105 
 
 Though the eldest, and the second, of these 
 accomplished sisters have been particularly 
 mentioned in a preceding section, yet in this 
 portion, exclusively devoted to the Obliga- 
 tions of Learning generally to accomplished 
 British Matrons, notice of the gift, by the 
 Lady Burleigh to the University Library in 
 Cambridge, of the Bible in Hebrew, and four 
 other tongues, — accompanied by an epistle in 
 Greek, in her own hand, must not be omitted: ^ 
 and the value to the early reformers of Lady 
 Bacon's translation from the Latin of Bishop 
 Jewel's masterly performance "An Apology 
 for the Church of England, "^ needs no other 
 
 ^ Lady Burleiglx was a great promoter of learning, and 
 a liberal benefactor to several colleges in both Universities, 
 especially in providing them with rare and valuable books. 
 She secretly supported two scholars at St. John's, Cam- 
 bridge, making provision at her death for a perpetuity of the 
 benefaction. 
 
 2 See Appendix E E. 
 
 F 5 
 
106 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 testimony than a reference to the letters of 
 Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury, — no higher 
 praise than that contained in his words, 
 " that by her travail she expressed an ac- 
 ceptable duty to the glory of God — deserved 
 well of this church of Christ ; and that he 
 should, as occasion m^ht serve, exhort others 
 to take profit by her work, and follow her 
 example."! 
 
 Lady Jane Grey, the victim of an ambition 
 wholly inconsistent with the beautiful sim- 
 plicity of her character, needs no panegyric — 
 her rare acquirements no detail.^ Sove- 
 reign of England for the space of ten days, 
 she expiated on the scaffold, the crime of being 
 elevated by others to a throne, which she 
 ascended with reluctance, and resigned with- 
 out regret. 
 
 ' Strype's Life of Archbishop Parker, p. 178. 
 ' See " The Literary Remains of Lady Jane Grey, with a 
 Memoir of her Life, by Sir Harris Nicolas." 
 
THE* MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 107 
 
 Queen Mary was a learned woman, and an 
 elegant writer. At the solicitation of Queen 
 Katherine Parr, she undertook the translation 
 of Erasmus's Paraphrase on the Gospel of 
 St. John, which, by the best judges of that age, 
 is said to be admirably performed. ^ In her 
 reign flourished the three Seymours, daugh- 
 ters of the Lord Protector Somerset, who were 
 celebrated for the purity of their Latin verses, 
 which were translated and repeated all over 
 Europe.^ 
 
 Mary Roper, the grand-daughter of Sir 
 Thomas More, and the youngest and favourite 
 child of Margaret, his exemplary daughter 
 before-named, was designated by Roger As- 
 cham "the ornament of Queen Mary's reign." 
 She was one of her attendant gentlewomen, 
 
 * Queen Mary's writings may be found in " Foxe's Acts 
 and Monuments," — ** Strype's Historical Memorials," — and 
 in " Hearne's Sylloge Epistolarium." 
 
 2 Ronsard, Book v. Ode iii. 
 
108 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATt/feE TO 
 
 and translated several of her grandfather's 
 works from Latin into English, as well as 
 many of her mother's that treated on ecclesi- 
 astical subjects. Her skill in languages was 
 proverbial; for in addition to Hebrew, Greek, 
 and Latin, she was mistress of Arabic and 
 Chaldee, and also of French and Italian. ^ 
 
 In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the most 
 erudite woman of her age,^ the Matrons of 
 England were indeed objects of universal 
 respect and admiration. Their virtues were 
 severe, their talents unexampled; and for 
 classic lore they have never been surpassed 
 by any of their sex. As a natural conse- 
 quence, their sons were renowned throughout 
 Europe, for their profound knowledge in every 
 branch of literature ; and of them it may 
 
 ^ She married, first to Mr. Stephen Clarke, and afterwards 
 to Mr. James Basset. 
 2 See Appendix F F. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 109 
 
 justly be said, England boasted of philoso- 
 phers who were rendered pre-eminently great 
 by the precepts and exhortations of their 
 learned Mothers. 
 
 Mary Countess of Arundel, was one of the 
 brightest ornaments of this distinguished pe- 
 riod. She translated from Greek into Latin 
 the precepts of the sages of Greece, — made 
 a valuable collection of the choicest portions 
 from the books of Plato, Seneca, and Aris- 
 totle, — and is well known for her version of the 
 wise sayings of Alexander Severus.i 
 
 To Lady Joanna Lumley, daughter of Lord 
 Arundel, her contemporaries were indebted 
 for a translation from the Greek of many 
 celebrated ancient orations,^ and for havins: 
 
 ^ The works of this learned lady (who was the wife of 
 Henry Howard, Earl of Arundel), are still extant, being 
 preserved among the MSS. in the Royal Library at the 
 British Museum.— 12 A. III. 12 A. IV. 
 
 ^ The Orations of Isocrates, entitled Archidamus, — Evago- 
 
110 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 rendered into English the Iphigenia of Euri- 
 pides ; and the learning, accomplishments, and 
 virtues of Mary Countess of Pembroke, 
 
 ** Sidney's sister — Pembroke's mother" 
 
 herself also a poet, have been immortalized by 
 the dedication to her of the "Arcadia," the cele- 
 brated romance of her brother, Sir Philip Sid- 
 ney, the ornament alike of his age and country. 
 
 With the termination of Queen Elizabeth's 
 reign, also terminated the passion (for it can be 
 no otherwise designated) for the acquirement 
 of the dead languages, and the study of the 
 philosophy of the ancients. 
 
 Though somewhat changed in its course, 
 learning however still maintained a high place, 
 both in the court and in the country generally; 
 yet the pedantry which distinguished the 
 
 ras, — and the 2ad, 3rd, and 4th to Nicocles, with that to 
 Peace, beautifully written in the handwriting of the Lady 
 Lumley, are also preserved in the Royal Library at the 
 British Museum. — 15 A. I. and 15 A. IX. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. Ill 
 
 writings of King James, — who was as ambitious 
 of literary as of regal fame,— speedily gave a 
 similar tone to the compositions of his time. 
 The devotional spirit and metaphysical views 
 in which he loved to indulge, gave a new direc- 
 tion to the pursuits of the studious, and gra- 
 dually superseded that preference which had 
 been long exclusively bestowed on the produc- 
 tions of the sages of antiquity. 
 
 In accordance with this newly- awakened 
 feeling, the reign of James the First, includes 
 among those females, who began about that 
 period to make learning subservient to prac- 
 tical results, the benevolent Lady Mary Ar- 
 myne. Skilled in polemic divinity, and of a 
 religious turn of mind, her labours and talents 
 were devoted, by the aid of missionaries, to the 
 conversion of the idolatrous heathen; and by 
 the distribution of books, and discourses of 
 her own composition, she diligently pro- 
 
112 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 moted the spiritual benefit of her native 
 poor.^ 
 
 Lady Murray, sub-governess of the infant 
 progeny of the house of Stuart, was also dis- 
 tinguished for great talents, and a high degree 
 of feminine excellence: and the extraordinary 
 virtues of the highly gifted Lady Harrington, 
 to v^^hom v^as entrusted the sole care of the 
 Princess Elizabeth,^ King James's only daugh- 
 ter, was shewn not merely by the singular 
 excellence, and rare accomplishments, of her 
 royal pupil, but made still more apparent by 
 the beauty of character, which attached to her 
 own immediate offspring. ^ 
 
 The reign of Charles the First, notwith- 
 
 1 Gibbon's Memoirs of Pious Women. 
 
 2 See Appendix G G. 
 
 3 For the Life of John Lord Harrington, her only son, 
 one of the most extraordinary and estimable characters 
 that grace our annals of nobility, see Harrington's Nugae 
 Antiquse. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 113 
 
 Standing the troubles of that eventful period, 
 could boast of many admirable and accom- 
 plished women, whose virtues and devotion 
 called forth by the events of their time, shed a 
 bright glow over the clouds of discord and strife. 
 
 Lady Pakington, the supposed authoress of 
 the celebrated " Whole Duty of Man," and 
 other spiritual works ;i and Lady Halkett, 
 whose devotional compositions charm by their 
 unaffected piety, exemplify the nature of the 
 pursuits, for which the British Matrons at this 
 date, had exchanged the severer studies of 
 classic lore. 
 
 An increasing admiration for the fine arts, 
 of which King Charles was a distinguished 
 connoisseur and liberal patron, was also one of 
 the characteristics of the early part of his reign. 
 Lucy, Duchess of Bedford,^ distinguished for 
 
 * See Appendix HH. 
 
 2 She was the daughter of the eminent Lady Harrington, 
 
114 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 learning, wit, and talents, was conspicuous 
 above all her contemporaries for befriending 
 genius, and for her bounty to distressed artists. 
 Drayton, in allusion to this liberality, states 
 that 
 
 " She rained upon him her sweet showers of gold." 
 
 But the most astonishing person that flou- 
 rished during the Stuart dynasty, was Marga- 
 ret, Duchess of Newcastle. She was a poet 
 and a dramatist ; and wrote many philoso- 
 phical discourses, besides letters, and orations 
 of no ordinary merit. She has been described 
 as the most voluminous of female dramatic 
 writers ; ^ indeed, the extent of her produc- 
 tions is almost incredible ; yet, was she equally 
 eminent for every feminine virtue that could 
 grace and adorn her public and private life, 
 
 just mentioned, — co-heiress of her young and exemplary 
 brother, and wife of Edward Earl of Bedford. 
 * Jacob's Lives of the Poets, vol. i. 190. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 115 
 
 indefatigable in study, pious, charitable, and 
 humane. 
 
 With the unfortunate Charles, was extin- 
 guished for a while, that ardour for literature, 
 which was at its height during the Elizabethan 
 age ; for though the wife^ and daughters of 
 Cromwell, were very remarkable women," 
 highly educated, and deeply imbued with a 
 taste for letters, as indeed were many of their 
 female contemporaries, yet the utter ruin of 
 
 ^ Oliver Cromwell married the daughter of Sir James 
 Bourchier, a woman of an enlarged mind and elevated spirit. 
 She educated her children with ability, and governed her 
 family with address. — Buncombe's Letters. 
 
 ^ Especially the second, Elizabeth Claypole, whose power 
 and influence over her father was truly surprising. She 
 openly availed herself of it to try and soften his austerity, of 
 which her importunate but unsuccessful advocacy in behalf 
 of Dr. John Hewit, is a well known and admirable instance. 
 In private, she equally presumed on Cromwell's indulgence, 
 by secretly doing good offices to the unhappy royalists, and 
 striving to relieve the oppressed families of the exiled 
 cavaliers. 
 
116 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 ancient families in the disastrous civil wars, — 
 the exile of the royalists, — and the fanatic 
 spirit which succeeded, are abundant reasons 
 why so few learned women flourished during 
 the Commonwealth. Of these few, however. 
 Lady Fanshawe and Mrs. Hutchinson^ deserve 
 to be particularly mentioned ; for their writings 
 were of a very high order. 
 
 Lady Fanshawe's Memoir, compiled for the 
 use of her only son, contain many remarkable 
 anecdotes of the great personages of her time, 
 and minutely describe the trials and sufferings 
 of the unfortunate monarch whom she and 
 her husband, Sir Richard Fanshawe, so faith- 
 fully and affectionately served. Perhaps there 
 
 ^ Mrs. Lucy Hutchinson addressed to her daughter a 
 treatise on the principles of the Christian religion ; and com- 
 piled a narrative of the life of her husband, Col. Hutchinson, 
 the Governor of Nottingham Castle, with a summary review 
 of public affairs, during the very eventful period in which he 
 flourished. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 117 
 
 is not, in the English language, a narrative more 
 simply or affectingly told, than that portion 
 which relates to their final parting with King 
 Charles at Hampton Court; genuine piety, 
 and firm, devoted loyalty, being mingled 
 throughout with that tenderness and pity, 
 which is woman's pecuhar attribute, and con- 
 stitutes woman's greatest charm. 
 
 Lady Fanshawe's advice to her son, to 
 whom she became the sole-sur^dving parent at 
 the young age of ten months, might well be 
 written in letters of gold, as the rule and 
 guide for the Mothers of England, and the 
 basis of all that can render the youth of Bri- 
 tain great and noble. "Hate idleness, and 
 avoid all passions, my most dear and only 
 son. Be true in your words and actions. Un- 
 necessarily deliver not your opinion; but 
 when you do, let it be just, consistent, and 
 plain. Be charitable in thought, word, and 
 
118 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 deed, and ever ready to forgive injuries done 
 to yourself; and be more pleased to do good 
 than to receive good. Be civil and obliging to 
 all, dutiful where God and nature command 
 you, but a friend to one, — and that friendship 
 keep sacred as the greatest tie upon earth; 
 and be sure to ground it upon virtue, for no 
 other is either happy or lasting. Think it a 
 great fault not to improve your time, either for 
 the good of your soul, or in the improvement of 
 your imderstanding, health, or estate : reserve 
 some hours daily to examine yourself, and 
 think what will be your portion in heaven, as 
 well as what you may desire upon earth. 
 Manage your fortune prudently, and forget 
 not that you must give God an account here- 
 after, and upon all occasions 1" 
 
 The restoration of the monarchy in the person 
 of Charles the Second, though it contributed to 
 the revival of learning, and the encouragement 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 119 
 
 of the fine arts, failed however in restoring letters 
 to that dignified position which they had 
 maintained up to the period of his father's 
 untimely death. 
 
 Devotional fervour was succeeded by ex- 
 treme levity, both of thought and conduct ; 
 frivolous literature usurped the place of graver 
 studies ; and piety and morality had little part 
 in those works of genius for which the reign 
 of Charles the Second was conspicuous. 
 
 Yet never were the ladies of Britain more 
 accomplished than at this epoch ; and though 
 many by their writings disgraced those bril- 
 liant talents which had been bestowed upon 
 them for a better purpose, still there are not 
 wanting, after the Restoration, amongst the 
 " Mothers of England," names whose works 
 elevate the character of the sex ; — whose 
 principles and irreproachable conduct gave an 
 effectual check to the prevalent vice and folly 
 
120 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 of the age ; — and who have thus high claim to 
 a place in the list of British women who have 
 rendered important services to Literature. 
 
 Among them the Countess of Abingdon, 
 Drjden's " Eleonora" and her sister, the Mar- 
 chioness of Wharton, are eminent examples. 
 Lady Wharton was a poet and a dramatic 
 writer; and her lyrical taste was held in high 
 estimation by contemporary writers. The poet 
 Waller's two cantos of Divine Poesy, were 
 occasioned upon sight of her Paraphrase on the 
 Fifty-second Chapter of Isaiah. 
 
 Katherine Phillips, the " matchless Orinda," 
 began to exercise her poetical talents very 
 early in life, and by her translation of Corneille's 
 plays, and other of the best productions of 
 the French poets into English, she made the 
 youth of this country acquainted with the rare 
 merits of these admirable compositions.^ 
 
 Susannah, the exemplary wife of Richard 
 ' See Appendix I I. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 121 
 
 Hopton, one of the Welsh judges, — of whom it 
 was said by an eminent divine, "among the 
 many and most serious good wishes I have for 
 the Church of England, this is, and always 
 shall be one, that all her sons and daughters 
 were such"^ — was distinguished for many 
 valuable works on serious subjects:^ and the 
 writings of the Duchess of York,^ the mother 
 of the Princesses Mary and Anne, (afterwards 
 Queens of England,) redeem in some measure 
 
 ' Dr. Geo. Hickes, Dean of Worcester, author of Con- 
 troversial Letters, &c. 
 
 2 Chiefly for one, entitled "Daily Devotions," published 
 anonymously : afterwards reprinted and generally received as 
 the performance of a late Rev. Divine of the Church of 
 England. The error was refuted by the friend and executor 
 of Mrs. Hopton (Dr. Hickes), in his second vol. of "Con- 
 troversial Letters." See Ballard, 272. 
 
 ^ Anne Hyde, the accomplished daughter of Edward 
 Earl of Clarendon, Lord High Chancellor during the reign 
 of King Charles the Second. She died before the Duke of 
 York ascended the throne : — four out of eight children sur- 
 vived her. — Burnet's Own Times, vol. i. p. 247. 
 G 
 
122 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 that laxity of morals and disregard of religion, 
 which degraded the character of the court of 
 Charles the Second. 
 
 James the Second, his brother, reigned too 
 short a time to enable any precise character to 
 be applied to the female productions of his 
 reign. Nevertheless, the devout works of 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Bury, the friend of Dr. Watts ; 
 the grave and pious writings of Mrs. Elizabeth 
 Rowe/ "the Philomela" of Prior; the 
 poems of Anne, Countess of Winchelsea,^ 
 so eulogised by Pope ; and the inimitable 
 letters of Lady Rachel Russell,^ the incom- 
 
 ^ Her work, entitled " Friendship in Death," or letters 
 from the Dead to the living, written on the occasion of her 
 husband's decease, have been translated into several foreign 
 languages, and with her '* Letters Moral and Entertaining/' 
 have been very widely circulated. 
 
 ^ Maid of honour to the Queen of James the Second, and 
 afterwards married to Heneage, Earl of Winchelsea. 
 
 ' See Appendix K K. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 123 
 
 parable and devoted wife, the exemplary 
 parent — the pattern of all that is excellent in 
 the female character, bespeak a feeling of 
 purity, dignity, and upright principle, alto- 
 gether opposed to the style of literature in 
 the previous reign. 
 
 The ascendancy of protestantism, on the 
 accession of William and Mary,^ contributed 
 once more to the study of works on divinity 
 and theological controversy. Of these few, 
 none were more popular than the writings of 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Burnett,^ wife of Gilbert, Lord 
 Bishop of Salisbury ; nor any more celebrated 
 than those of Lady Masham,^ the friend of 
 Locke, and the correspondent of " Mary 
 
 * See Appendix L L. ^ See Appendix M M. 
 
 ' Damaris Lady Masham, daughter of that erudite Divine, 
 Ralph Cudworth, D.D., Hebrew Professor in the University 
 of Cambridge. As a testimony of her gratitude to Mr. 
 Locke's memory, she drew up the memoir of that remarkable 
 man, which is printed in the Great Historical Dictionary. 
 
 g2 
 
124 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 Astell." The Essays of Lady Chudleigh ; the 
 works of Lady Norton ; and the poems of her 
 daughter, the young and beautiful Lady Grace 
 Gethin, whose rare talents and Christian vir- 
 tues have been celebrated by the poetical 
 genius of Congreve,i form some of the most 
 esteemed compositions of that period. 
 
 The reign of Queen Anne was one that 
 reflects great honour on the literary females^ 
 who flourished at that epoch ; not only from 
 the learning, but for the varied attainments 
 for which so many of them were remarkable. 
 
 Their writings seem to embody the chief 
 excellence of the preceding reign, shorn of 
 their exclusiveness or extravagance; graceful, 
 elegant, and refined ; pious, without fanaticism, 
 and learned without pedantry. The fine arts 
 also met with due encouragement. This is 
 
 * Congreve's Miscell. Poems, vol. v. p. 158, 
 2 See Appendix N N. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 125 
 
 evident from various musical compositions, and 
 many fine paintings, the production of female 
 artists ; and the Phylactery executed by Mrs. 
 Ehzabeth Bland, the skilful calligraphist and 
 eminent Hebrew Scholar, is still considered 
 worthy of preservation by the Royal Society.^ 
 
 The merits of Mrs. Catherine Bovey, the 
 munificent projector of a College at Bermuda, 
 whose time and talents were devoted to in- 
 structing poor and friendless children, and 
 whose riches were expended in the endowment 
 of churches abroad, and the institution of free- 
 schools in her own country, deserves parti- 
 cular notice amongst the benefactors of liter- 
 ature at this epoch : while the poems of Mrs. 
 Monk, and the essays and dramatic compo- 
 sitions of Mrs. Catherine Cockburn, are a few^ 
 out of innumerable instances, of refined taste^ 
 and high mental cultivation. 
 
 ' See Appendix 0. 
 
126 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 On the demise of Queen Anne, a great 
 change took place in the public taste. Though 
 many women of powerful abilities, and exten- 
 sive learning, lived in the reign of King George 
 the First, yet the times were unfavourable to 
 literature, as the minds of the people were 
 almost entirely occupied by politics and pecu- 
 niary speculations. 
 
 The able letters of Lady Mary Wortley 
 Montagu, however, shew that wit and vivacity 
 did not altogether expire with the house of 
 Stuart; and superior talents were also displayed 
 by Mrs. Francis Sheridan in her tales and 
 comedies : while the extraordinary learning 
 of Constantia Grierson,^ exhibited not only 
 in her poems, but also in her Latin trans- 
 lations, prove the intellectual spirit which pre- 
 vailed even under circumstances of depression 
 and discouragement. Need we also add that 
 
 * See Appendix P P. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 127 
 
 the object contemplated by this wonderful 
 woman, the education of her son, is a strong 
 instance of that union of literary zeal with 
 maternal solicitude, which so elevates the cha- 
 racter of accomplished British Matrons ; espe- 
 cially when, as in the present instance, limited 
 pecuniary means were an additional stimukis 
 to the employment of her talents.^ True, 
 indeed, it is — and beautiful is this charac- 
 teristic of " the Mothers of England," — that 
 fame, the noblest reward of literature, has 
 with them ever been subservient to maternal 
 pride, maternal forgetfulness of self, and above 
 all to maternal affection and duty. 
 
 The historical writings of Mrs. Catherine 
 Macauley most fitly exemplify the distinct 
 
 ' Her son, scarcely less eminent as a scholar, than his 
 learned mother, expired in Germany at precisely the same 
 age as the parent to whose devotion he was so largely in- 
 debted. Gibber's Lives. 
 
128 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 style of literature which marked the times of 
 George the Second, when vigorous, theoretical, 
 and new opinions began to be broached, 
 and were openly and warmly discussed. 
 Strongly imbued with the love of liberty, and 
 with an ardent feeling of independence, the 
 compositions of Mrs. Macauley bespeak those 
 sentiments of political freedom, and that 
 deep political bias, which were destined to 
 convulse all Europe in the succeeding 
 generation. 
 
 There were not however wanting works of a 
 more feminine character. Mrs. Chapone's let- 
 ters are perused with pleasure and profit, from 
 the valuable precepts which they so forcibly 
 inculcate; and the novels of Mrs. Sarah 
 Fielding, with many hghter productions of a 
 high order, captivated the scholar, while they 
 interested the ordinary reader. But the great- 
 est benefactor to literature in this reign, and 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 129 
 
 she whose after influence contributed so mate- 
 rially to advance its interests, was Caroline of 
 Brandenburgh Anspach, the admirable Queen 
 of King George the Second. 
 
 Accounted one of the most learned prin- 
 cesses of Europe, she was so estimable in con- 
 duct and judicious in purpose, that she was 
 nominated Regent by her royal consort, and 
 entrusted with the affairs of the kingdom, 
 during his Majesty's absence in his German 
 dominions. Her chief claim however to notice 
 in the present Essay, arises from her patro- 
 nage of learning, and from her encouragement 
 of the fine arts, her zeal for science, and libe- 
 rality to artists and men of genius. 
 
 Queen Caroline set a beautiful example to 
 the Mothers of England, by personally 
 superintending the education of her children, 
 — directing their pursuits, cultivating their 
 understandings, and implanting with a taste 
 g5 
 
130 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 for letters the firmest principles of religion 
 and morality. 
 
 These sentiments shone forth in the ensuing 
 reign, which will ever be memorable for the 
 virtues of its domestic circle ; but that theme, 
 as also the admirable results hence arising, 
 cannot here be discussed. 
 
 The blaze of literature which reflected such 
 lustre on the reign of George the Thirds and 
 that of his sons and successors, is marked by 
 such strong and distinct features, that any 
 examination, however brief, would extend far 
 beyond the limits of this Essay. Suffice it 
 then in conclusion to observe, that if the six- 
 teenth century was the Augustan age of 
 female erudition and classic lore, the nine- 
 teenth may be considered as the age of scien- 
 tific attainments, and the perfection of learn- 
 ing in all its varied and sterling branches. 
 
 Female authors abound, and their composi- 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 131 
 
 tions are replete with profitable instruction. 
 Works on Religion and Morality, — on History 
 and Biography, — on Philosophy and Science ; 
 Essays, Travels, and the fine Arts, — with Tales 
 of Mirth and Recreation, during the last century 
 have proceeded from the pen of so many 
 eminent women, that to select a few names 
 only, would have been invidious, by seeming 
 to lessen the merits of those that remained 
 unnoticed. 
 
 It is hoped however that enough has been 
 said to prove the " Obligations of Literature to 
 the Mothers of England," from the first intro- 
 duction of Christianity to the institution of 
 chivalry ; and from the era of printing, to that 
 bright dawning of science, of which that won- 
 derful invention was the harbinger. 
 
 Yet these considerations, although they 
 embrace the chief points proposed in this 
 Essay, form a very brief portion of the innu- 
 
132 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 merable claims which the women of Great 
 Britain, whether as wives or mothers, have on 
 learning generally. 
 
 Infant genius, in all its helplessness, excites 
 feelings of maternal love and pride, which 
 induces peculiar tenderness, when the feeble 
 moan of suffering calls forth, in all its energy, 
 that sympathy and compassion that none but 
 Mothers know; but when infancy, and child^ 
 hood, and boyhood are past, there yet remains 
 much, very much, which is woman's peculiar 
 province. 
 
 A Mother's anxious watchfulness descries, 
 before all others, the evil effects of the over- 
 wrojight mind of the student; and the gentle 
 thoughtfulness of maternal affection, succours 
 and revives the bodily frame which without 
 such counteracting tenderness, would per- 
 haps have consigned to an early grave, — a 
 victim to literary zeal — that genius which 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 133 
 
 was destined to ornament the age in which it 
 flourished. 
 
 Good and wholesome principles — religious 
 and moral feelings, inculcated by a fond 
 parent, have often checked in the young phi- 
 losopher the germ of infidelity, and effectually 
 preserved him from the baneful and destruc- 
 tive doctrines of the sceptic : thus giving to 
 the world, through the mild and effective, 
 though unsuspected influence of a beloved 
 Mother, a Christian, and a patriot, no 
 less than an eminent and accomplished 
 scholar. 
 
 Whose imagination indeed can place bounds 
 to the patient tenderness of woman's love ! 
 or adequately describe the part she is called 
 upon to sustain through life, in all its stages, 
 and in all its varied scenes ! 
 
 The senator and the statesman, worn and 
 exhausted by political difficulties, and by 
 
134 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 anxieties that must not be disclosed, because on 
 them perchance may hang the fate of empires, 
 is revived, solaced, and invigorated, not 
 only by the cheerfulness that soothes, and 
 the affection which lightens, but also by 
 that discretion which seeks not to penetrate 
 schemes and designs that may not in honour 
 be divulged. The man of science, and the 
 mathematician, wrapt in theory, and absorbed in 
 calculations which seem to stretch beyond the 
 bounds of human capacity, — lost and bewil- 
 dered even in the mazes of their own abstruse 
 problems, are restored to healthful feelings, 
 by the sanctity of domestic peace, and are 
 not unfrequently aided by the skilful pen, 
 or the accurate pencil of her, whose con- 
 jugal affection has made their homes sweet — 
 their hearths cheerful^. Hours of needful 
 
 ' It is generally reported, that the illustrations in one of 
 the most elaborate of the Bridgewater Treatises^ Were the 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 135 
 
 repose have often been forced upon the 
 philosopher, whilst the anxious partner of 
 his toils, has been preparing mechanically 
 from rough calculations, the clearer defi- 
 nitions by which the literary world were to 
 benefit from the labours of a powerful mind. 
 
 The learned Professor of Astronomy in the 
 University of Glasgow, when speaking of the 
 benefits entailed on posterity by the invaluable 
 discoveries of Sir William Herschel, says, "The 
 Astronomer, during these engrossing nights, 
 was constantly assisted in his labours by a 
 devoted sister, who braved with him the incle- 
 mency of the weather, — who heroically shared 
 his privations that she might participate in his 
 delight, — whose pen, we are told, committed to 
 paper his notes of observation as they issued 
 from his lips. She it was, says the best of 
 
 exclusive performance of the lady of its distinguished and 
 learned author. 
 
136 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 authorities^ who, having passed the night near 
 the telescope, took the rough manuscripts to 
 her cottage at the dawn of day, and produced 
 a fair copy of the night's work on the ensuing 
 morning ; — she it was who planned the labour 
 of each succeeding night,— who reduced every 
 observation, made every calculation, and kept 
 every thing in systematic order ; — she it was — - 
 Miss Caroline Herschel^ — who helped our 
 astronomer to gather an imperishable name." 
 
 ^ " This venerable lady has in one respect been more fortu- 
 nate than her brother, — she has lived to reap the full harvest 
 of their joint glory. Some years ago the gold medal of our 
 Astronomical Society was transmitted to her, and the first of 
 our learned societies has recently inscribed her name upon 
 its roll ; but she has been rewarded by yet more, — by what 
 she will value beyond all earthly pleasures, — she has lived to 
 see her favourite nephew, — him , who grew up tinder her eye 
 an astronomer, — gather around him the highest hopes of 
 Scientific Europe, and prove himself more than equal to 
 tread in the footsteps of his father." 
 
 View of the Architecture of the Heaven, by J. P. Nichol, Pro- 
 fessor of Astronomy in the University of Glasgow, pp. 113, 114, 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 137 
 
 Milton was not the only parent^ whose 
 daughters presented, for the admiration of 
 future ages, the immortal productions of a 
 blind and afflicted father — neither were the 
 accomplished Margaret Roper, or the ad- 
 mirable Lady Rachel Russell, solitary ex- 
 amples of counsel sought in captivity, and 
 both advice, co- operation, and aid received in 
 matters of the highest import, from female 
 ability. 
 
 Many works of genius and profound erudi- 
 tion, — rare manuscripts, and invaluable jour- 
 nals, have found a permanent place in English 
 
 ' A venerable and learned prelate, who has not been so 
 long deceased, but that his memory must yet live in the 
 remembrance of many in his diocese, who was the friend of 
 Edmund Burke, and well known as an elegant scholar, and 
 accomplished naturalist, — was for many years quite blind; 
 nevertheless, he performed his clerical duties with accuracy, 
 and during the summer pursued his botanical studies, by the 
 aid of his daughter to record the observations induced by the 
 keenness of his touch. 
 
138 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 Literature, in consequence of female relatives 
 having compiled and given to an admiring 
 world the productions of their deceased sons 
 or husbands, whose lives were too short 
 for the completion of their comprehensive 
 designs : or, who had fallen an early sacrifice 
 to their energy and zeal in pursuing them. 
 
 Truly then may the Christian Mothers of 
 England challenge competition with those of 
 Greece and Rome, — truly may that noble and 
 endearing title be claimed for them without 
 apprehension of rivalry from the Matrons of 
 any clime, or of any age. Equally enthusi- 
 astic in their love for their country, they yet 
 sink not, as in the olden time, the woman's 
 tenderness, in the sterner and more manly 
 virtues ; but fixing their thoughts on Eternity, 
 and ever alive to the conviction that to them 
 and their offspring their brief sojourn on 
 earth is but the probation of a more glorious 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 139 
 
 State of existence, they strive from infancy to 
 make all sentiments of mere worldly fame 
 subservient to those divine precepts, which can 
 alone render the actions of their children 
 acceptable in the sight of their God. They 
 glory in the belief that the greatest triumph of 
 a Mother's love, is the power of restraining 
 the waywardness of youth, and that the never- 
 fading influence, — the remembrance of her 
 early lesson, — her tearful eye in displeasure, — 
 her sweet smile in approbation, — and the warm 
 kiss of affectionate pride, so cherished by the 
 child as the Mother's highest reward, — will in 
 all probability prove the best safeguard through 
 life, and tend to fix the wavering spirit in the 
 path of rectitude, and to rescue the wanderer 
 from sin and destruction, — from years of 
 bitterness on earth, — from endless misery here- 
 after. 
 
 As regards Literature, there can be no hesi- 
 
140 OBLIGATIONS OF LITERATURE TO 
 
 tation in admitting that the works of the 
 ancients excite unqualified wonder and admi- 
 ration. Their beauty, their grace, their elo- 
 quence, are best shewn by that undying fame 
 which for ages has perpetuated compositions 
 never excelled, perhaps never equalled ; yet 
 even in this point,— the one which it is particu- 
 larly necessary here to consider, — the benefits 
 conferred on learning generally by accom- 
 plished British Matrons is evident. The 
 pens of our erudite countrymen have in- 
 terpreted the doctrines of their wisest 
 sages for the instruction of the less accom- 
 plished of their sex ; and the classical beauties 
 of heathen literature have been collected, 
 translated, and rendered more valuable to the 
 youthful scholar, by those Christian graces, 
 which shed an enduring lustre on writers 
 already rendered so eminent by talents and, 
 acquirements of the highest order. 
 
THE MOTHERS OF ENGLAND. 141 
 
 Could recent works of science and philo- 
 sophy be with propriety enumerated, — could 
 the subject indeed have been sufficiently 
 extended, to notice the distinguished names of 
 those female authors whose invaluable compo- 
 sitions prove a blessing and benefit to the 
 present enlightened generation, — doing good 
 in their own day, and erecting a temple, within 
 which their memory and their works will be 
 held in everlasting remembrance, — still greater 
 force would be added to the truth, which it has 
 been the object of the present Essay to illus- 
 trate. 
 The Obligations of Literature to the 
 Mothers of England. 
 
 FINIS, 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Note A. 
 
 PUDENS AND CLAUDIA OF ST. PAUL. 
 
 (See p. 10.) 
 
 The train of circumstances which fixes the identity 
 of the names " Rufus, Pudens, and Claudia," men- 
 tioned by St. Paul, with the individuals whose 
 birth and marriage have been distinctly, though 
 briefly alluded to by the Latin poet, are most 
 striking. 
 
 Claudius was chosen Emperor, A. D. 43, and 
 reigned till the year 56. 
 
 In the second year of his reign, he began his 
 contest vdth the Britons. Caractacus, their leader, 
 after opposing the Roman legions for nine years, 
 was taken captive in the year 55^ and carried to 
 Rome, together with his wife and daughter. 
 
 Struck with the intrepid fortitude of the British 
 warrior, Claudius (as Tacitus the historian so 
 eloquently described,) ordered his chains to be 
 
 H 
 
146 APPENDIX. 
 
 struck oflF; and both himself and the Empress 
 Agrippina we are told, took pity on his wife and 
 child ; the latter of whom, as was the custom of 
 that period, was, there is reason to believe, forth- 
 with adopted by them, and named Claudia. 
 
 Caractacus, it appears, was still a hostage in 
 Rome when Claudius died ; and Nero, who suc- 
 ceeded Claudius, was also the adopted of that 
 Emperor, so that both he and Claudia formed at the 
 same time, part of the imperial household. 
 
 Now it is a remarkable fact, that the detention 
 of the British hostages in the imperial city, was 
 coincident with St. Paul's residence there, " a 
 prisoner ;" and the same year that the holy 
 apostle was released after his first examination by 
 Nero, was that in which the British captives, 
 with their king, Caractacus, were also set at 
 liberty by that Emperor, A. D. 58. 
 
 After his first release, St. Paul, in his Epistle 
 to the Romans, says, in speaking of distinguished 
 converts, " Salute Rufus ;" — but six years after- 
 wards, during his second examination, he unites 
 the name of Claudia with the favoured disciple 
 whom he had previously denominated "chosen in 
 the Lord." The cause of this association is made 
 apparent from the verses of the poet quoted in 
 the text. Martial dwelt at Rome for thirty-five 
 years, and was well acquainted with both parties : 
 he distinctly verifies the fact, that Claudia, a 
 
APPENDIX. 147 
 
 British lady, was married to Rufus, and that this 
 celebrated Roman citizen was afterwards called 
 Pudens, on account of his virtues, modesty, and 
 gentleness. 
 
 St. Paul and the poet being contemporaries at 
 Rome, there can remain no doubt that the persons 
 named by each were the same individuals; for 
 nothing can he more improbable than that there 
 were two Claudia's born in Britain, or two Rufus's 
 surnamed Pudens, at one and the same time; yet 
 the Apostle of the Gentiles characterises his con- 
 vert by both appellations, in his Epistles to the 
 Romans, and to Timothy; between the dates of 
 which, viz. the years 58 and 66, it would appear by 
 Martial, that Claudia, " British born," was married 
 to Rufus, afterwards Pudens, and hence named 
 Claudia-Rufina. 
 
 Note B. 
 
 EARLY CHURCHES OF BRITAIN. 
 
 (Seep. 14.) 
 
 The reception and establishment in this sland 
 of a deputed ecclesiastic from the see of Rome, 
 gradually induced a feeling of jealousy between 
 h2 
 
148 APPENDIX. 
 
 the descendants of the primitive Christians whose 
 faith was derived from the Apostolic age, and 
 the recent proselytes, whose conversion had 
 been effected through the instrumentality of Pope 
 Gregory and his missionaries. — " A struggle ac- 
 cordingly began between the Papal Christianity 
 of Augustine and the more ancient Christianity 
 of the British churches ; and though the latter 
 were supported by the kindred churches of the 
 northern part of the island, they were forced to 
 give way to the ascendancy of Rome, which was 
 gradually extended throughout the Saxon govern- 
 ments." — See Miller's History, Philosophically Il- 
 lustrated, vol. i. p. S65. 
 
 Note C. 
 bishop smyth, founder of brasenose college, 
 
 OXFORD. 
 
 (See p. 23.) 
 
 " His biographer has supposed him to have 
 been educated in the household of Thomas, the 
 first Earl of Derby. The Countess of Richmond, 
 who was the second wife of this nobleman, ac- 
 cording tcr a laudable custom in the houses of 
 
APPENDIX. 149 
 
 the nobility, provided in this manner for tlie 
 instruction of young men of promising talents ; 
 and it is known that she was the early patron of 
 Smyth/' — Chalmers' History, Oxford, vol. i. p. 227. 
 
 Note D. 
 
 bishop godwin the historian and antiquary. 
 
 (See p. 27.) 
 
 Francis Godwin was promoted by Queen Eli- 
 zabeth to the bishopric of Llandaff, in consequence 
 of his able and useful works ; and " by the 
 countenance and protection which she extended 
 to erudite persons, the two Universities are stated 
 to have produced more illustrious examples of 
 learning and worth than can be instanced in any 
 age in the same compass of time." — Ballard's 
 Memoirs, p. 158. — Granger's Biog. Hist. vol. i. 
 p. 350. 
 
150 APPENDIX. 
 
 Note E. 
 state of literature at the close of the stuart 
 
 DYNASTY. 
 
 (See page 29.) 
 
 " The reign of Queen Anne may be said to 
 have been the summer of which William and 
 Mary's was only the spring. Every thing was 
 ripened; nothing was corrupted. It was a short 
 but glorious period of heroism and national ca- 
 pacity; of taste and science; learning and genius; 
 of gallantry without licentiousness, and politeness 
 without effeminacy." — Russell on Women, vol. ii. 
 p. 150* 
 
 Note F. 
 
 first written laws of england. 
 
 (See p. 35.) 
 
 The laws of the Anglo-Saxons were first reduced 
 to writing by Ethelbert, King of Kent, who 
 ascended the throne so early as in the year 568* 
 
 * The laws passed by Ethelbert with the advice of the 
 Wittenagemot still exist in the Saxon tongue, being printed in 
 Bishop Wilkins's Leges Anglo- Saxonicse. 
 
APPENDIX. 151 
 
 Afterwards Ina, King of Wessex, and Offa, King 
 of Mercia, enacted laws for the regulation of their 
 respective kingdoms. King Alfred composed from 
 the laws of these three princes, the code which 
 he published for the government of his subjects, 
 and which became the foundation of the common 
 law of England. — Miller, vol. i. p. 373. 
 
 Note G. 
 reculver. 
 (See p. 33.) 
 
 To accommodate Augustine and his followers, 
 Ethelbert resigned to them his royal palace at 
 Canterbury, and retired to Reculver, a deserted 
 Roman settlement, distant about nine miles ; where, 
 having built a palace within the area of its ancient 
 walls, he there resided until his death, in the year 
 616. 
 
 Reculver had been an important military station 
 of the first Roman settlers, and its castle and w^alls 
 were among the earliest works of that people in 
 this island. By them it was termed Regulbium ; 
 and by the Saxons Raculfcester, on account of 
 its castle, — and, eventually, Raculf-minster, in 
 
152 APPENDIX. 
 
 consequence of the monastery that stood there : 
 for soon after the arrival of Augustine, a monastic 
 foundation was estabhshed at Reculver, which in 
 a few years attained to great eminence, and was 
 one of those religious seminaries where the Bene- 
 dictine monks struck in the dark the first sparks 
 of learning in this island. 
 
 Note H. 
 
 SAXON LANGUAGE. 
 
 (Seep. 36.) 
 
 To the neglect of the Saxon tongue has been 
 attributed the principal errors of modern his- 
 torians writing on those times. After the Norman 
 conquest, it was taught in no other seminaries 
 but in some of the earlier monasteries of the Bene- 
 dictine order ; in which (as it was the language 
 of their charter, from their founder being Saxon), 
 public lectures were read in that tongue until the 
 dissolution ; and a tutor was employed to teach 
 the Saxon character to the younger brethren, that 
 the knowledge of a language so necessary to elu- 
 cidate the primitive history of these kingdoms 
 might be perpetuated. 
 
APPENDIX. 153 
 
 Note I. 
 
 EARLY ENGLISH WRITERS. 
 
 (Seep. 37.) 
 
 In the seventh century, a desire of learning began 
 to be generally diffused among the Anglo-Saxons. 
 Their most eminent scholars were Gildas, Bede, 
 Asser, and Alcuin ; their most popular poets, the 
 bards Ccedmon and Aldhelm. 
 
 Note J. 
 
 BEDE, THE HISTORIAN. 
 
 (See p. 37.) 
 
 Of this fact, a brighter example cannot be 
 adduced than that of the venerable Bede. Both 
 ancient and modern authors have bestowed the 
 highest encomiums upon the learning of this ex- 
 traordinary man. 
 
 His works are many, but the most valuable is 
 his Ecclesiastical History of the Anglo-Saxons, 
 consisting of five books, from whence the more 
 perfect part of our early national history is derived. 
 He was bom in 672, and died at the age of 63. 
 
 H 5 
 
154 APPENDIX. 
 
 Note K. 
 
 asser, bishop of sherborne, king alfred 's 
 biographer. 
 
 (See p. 38.) 
 
 The merits of Alfred are supported by a degree 
 of evidence which seldom attends the character of 
 ancient days. He had the advantage of possessing 
 a literary friend in Asser, Bishop of Sherborne, 
 who wrote some biographical sketches of his great 
 master's life and manners. He was contemporary 
 with Alfred, and the most authentic historian of 
 that king. — See S. Turner's Anglo-Saxons, vol. i. 
 p. 193. 
 
 Note L. 
 
 INFLUENCE OF QUEEN JUDITH OVER HER SON. 
 
 (See p. 39.) 
 
 " Alfred returning to Queen Judith, eagerly en- 
 quired if she actually intended to give the book 
 to the person who would soonest learn to read 
 it. His mother, repeating the promise with a 
 smile of joy at the question, the young prince 
 
APPENDIX. 155 
 
 took the book, found out an instructor, and learned 
 to read. When his modesty had crowned his 
 wishes with success, he recited its contents to 
 her." — Asser, p. 17. 
 
 Note M. 
 
 literary productions of alfred the great. 
 
 (See p. 40.) 
 
 Of the books which this king translated, the 
 principal are, the ' General History of Orosius,' 
 — the * Anglo-Saxon History of Bede,' — the 
 * Treatises of Boetius de Consolatione Philosophise,' 
 and the * Pastoralis Cura of Gregory.' He is also 
 said to have translated into his native tongue many 
 portions of the Bible ; and, William of Malms- 
 bury asserts, a great part likewise of the Roman 
 compositions. His fondness for poetry continued 
 with him through life. — Sharon Turner, vol. ii. 
 p. 286. 
 
156 APPENDIX. 
 
 Note N. 
 
 matilda, consort of king stephen. 
 
 (See p. 45.) 
 
 A contemporary historian, who was connected 
 by blood both with the English and Normans, 
 thus quaintly eulogises this princess: — "A woman 
 made for the proportion of both fortunes ; in 
 adversity not dejected — in prosperity not elated : 
 while her husband was at liberty, a woman ; — 
 during his durance, as it were a man ; acting his 
 part for him when he was restrained from acting 
 it himself — not looking that fortune should fall into 
 her lap, but industrious to procure it." — -William 
 of Malmsbury, fol. 107. 
 
 Note O. 
 
 ^ ST. katherine's hospital. 
 
 (Seep. 46.) 
 
 St. Katherine's Hospital, as originally founded, 
 was built on the banks of the Thames, adjoining 
 the Tower, but it having been found expedient to 
 
APPENDIX. 157 
 
 talie down the ancient church to form the new 
 St. Katherine's Docks, the establishment was re- 
 moved to the Regent's Park, where the newly- 
 erected buildings, and the very elegant abode 
 appropriated to the master, forms a most striking 
 object. 
 
 By a reservation in the reign of Eleanor, wife 
 of King Edward the First, who was a great bene- 
 factress to this charity; the patronage was vested 
 in the Queens Consort of England, and her most 
 gracious majesty, Queen Adelaide, is the thirtieth 
 royal patroness who in succession have enjoyed the 
 privileges thus early secured to them.^ — Pennant's 
 London, p. 84. 
 
 Note P. 
 
 FIRMNESS OF THE EMPRESS MATILDA, MOTHER OF 
 KING HENRY THE FIRST. 
 
 (See p. 48.) 
 
 Matilda's foresight induced her at the commence- 
 ment of her son's reign to dissuade him from exalting 
 Beckett to the prelacy ; and thirteen months elapsed 
 before the archbishop could secure his appointment 
 to the vacant see. In after years, when the struggle 
 
158 APPENDIX. 
 
 for power between the monarch and the haughty 
 prelate were at its height, attempts were made to 
 subdue King Henry, through the influence of his 
 aged mother, by disquieting her conscience with 
 threats of eternal as well as temporal danger to her- 
 self and her son. But the spirit of her ancestors yet 
 animated Matilda. She desired to hear the censured 
 laws read, — the emissaries of Beckett, after various 
 excuses, were compelled to produce them, and the 
 undaunted princess, after attentively listening to 
 their recital, not only warmly defended her son, but 
 dismissed his opponents with unqualified appro- 
 bation of many of the disputed laws, and admiration 
 of the firmness evinced by the king in requiring the 
 royal dignities to be preserved. — Sharon Turner, 
 vol. i. pp. 204 — 224. 
 
 Note Q. 
 
 queen margaret, consort of henry vi. 
 
 (See p. 54.) 
 
 " Such was that still more celebrated Margaret of 
 Anjou, — active and intrepid, general and soldier, 
 whose genius supported a long time a feeble husband ; 
 which taught him to conquer ; which replaced him 
 
APPENDIX. 159 
 
 upon the throne; which twice relieved him from 
 prison ; and oppressed by fortune and by rebels, which 
 did not bend till after she had decided in person 
 twelve battles." — Russell on "Women, vol. i. p. 3 29, 
 
 Note R. 
 
 a 
 
 LEARNING AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF KING EDWARD 
 THE SIXTH. 
 
 (See p. 57.) 
 
 " He had acquired," says the celebrated physician, 
 Jerome Cardan, " many languages when he was but 
 a child : he was perfect in English, his native tongue, 
 and in Latin and French ; and I have been informed 
 that he was acquainted with the Greek, Spanish, 
 Italian, and other languages. He spake Latin as 
 well as I did ; nor was he ignorant of logic, of the 
 principles of natural philosophy, and of music." 
 Before he was eight years old he wrote Latin letters 
 to his father. He succeeded to the throne in the 
 tenth year of his age, and he expired at Greenwich 
 before he was sixteen. 
 
 The abilities and accomplishments of Edward's 
 mind were indeed wonderful ; but his virtues and his 
 true piety were yet more extraordinary. From early 
 
160 APPENDIX. 
 
 childhood, he showed great love and respect for 
 religion, and every thing relating to it ; and long 
 after his death grave men, both in their letters and 
 their printed books, commonly called him " our 
 Josiah," or " King Edward the Saint." — Fullers 
 Worthies. 
 
 Note S. 
 
 FOUNDATION OF CHRIST's HOSPITAL. 
 
 (See p. 58.) 
 
 "A sermon on charity, preached before King 
 Edward, in the sixth year of his reign, by that 
 venerable martyr, Bishop Ridley, was the instru- 
 ment under God, in bringing about the foundation 
 of Christ's Hospital; which, based upon the princi- 
 ples of the Reformation, will be a lasting monu- 
 ment of the blessed effects of the Protestant religion, 
 in the establishment of which its royal founder had 
 taken so conspicuous a part. Arrangements having 
 been fully completed within six months for the 
 reception of 340 children, the young king in the 
 year following, June 1553, received the civic autho- 
 rities at the palace, and presented them with the 
 
APPENDIX. 161 
 
 Charter, the children being present at the ceremony.^ 
 Edward the Sixth lived about a month after sign- 
 ing the incorporation of the Eoyal Hospitals. 
 
 He died of consumption, in the arms of Sir 
 Henry Sidney, 6th July, 1553, in the 16th year of 
 his age, and the 7th of his reign, praying God to 
 receive his spirit, and to defend the realm from 
 papistrJ^ In the foundation of Christ's Hospital, 
 he had provided the surest means under Providence 
 for the success of his prayer, and his life was 
 spared just long enough to greet him with the pro- 
 mise of that harvest which this seminary of sound 
 learning and true religion was destined to yield." — 
 Rev. W. Trollope's Hist, of Christ's Hospital, p. 34? 
 —42. 
 
 Note T. 
 
 lady bacon, the preceptress of her son. 
 
 (See p. 58.) 
 
 " It was to the great abilities and tender care of 
 so accomplished a parent that her two sons owed 
 the early part of their education ; and without 
 
 ' There is a fine picture, by Holbein, in the Hall of Christ's 
 Hospital, descriptive of the scene. 
 
162 APPENDIX. 
 
 doing any injustice to the genius of either of these 
 great men, we may safely affirm that they were 
 not a little indebted for the reputation they acquired 
 to the pains taken with them by this excellent 
 woman in their tender years, when the mind is 
 most susceptible of learning, and thereby rendered 
 more capable of retaining the principles of science 
 than when they are instilled in an age farther 
 advanced." — Biographia Britannica, vol. i. p. 412. 
 
 Note U. 
 
 EXTRACT FROM LORD BURLEIGH's LETTER TO 
 HIS SON. 
 
 (Seep. 61.) 
 
 This fact is rendered apparent by a letter of 
 advice from Lord Burleigh to his son, after his 
 mother's decease, which is yet extant. It com- 
 mences with these striking words : " Son, Robert 
 — The virtuous inclinations of thy matchless 
 mother, by whose tender and godly care thy in- 
 fancy was governed, together with thy education 
 under so zealous and excellent a tutor, puts me in 
 rather assurance than hope that thou art not igno- 
 
APPENDIX. 163 
 
 rant of that summum bonum, which is only able to 
 make thee happy, as well in thy death as life : I 
 mean the true knowledge and worship of thy 
 Creator and Redeemer, without which all other 
 things are vain and miserable. So that thy youth, 
 being guided by so sufficient a teacher, I make no 
 doubt but he will furnish thy life with divine and 
 moral documents." — Seward's Anecdotes, vol. iv. 
 p. 285. 
 
 Note Y. 
 
 rasselas, prince of abyssinia. 
 
 (See p. 80.) 
 
 " Dr. Johnson told Sir Joshua Reynolds that he 
 composed it in the evenings of one week ; sent it 
 to the press in portions, as it was written, and 
 that he had never since read it over. None of his 
 writings have been so extensively diffused over 
 Europe ; for it has been translated into most if 
 not all of the modern languages.'^ — Boswell's Life 
 of Johnson, vol. i. p. 185. 
 
164 APPENDIX. 
 
 Note W. 
 
 the poet gray. 
 
 (See p. 83.) 
 
 Of twelve children, Gray was the only one who 
 survived ; the rest died in their infancy, from suffo- 
 cation produced by a fullness of blood ; and he 
 owed his life to a memorable instance of the love 
 and courage of his mother, vvho removed the 
 paroxysm which attacked him by opening a vein 
 with her own hand — an instance of affection that 
 seems to have been most tenderly remembered by 
 him through life, repaid with care and atten- 
 tion, and cherished when the object of his 
 filial solicitude could no longer claim them. " I 
 have discovered," says the poet, in a letter to Mr. 
 Nichols, " a thing very little known, which is, 
 that in one's whole life one can never have any 
 more than a single mother. You may think this 
 obvious, and a trite observation ; — yet I never dis- 
 covered it (with full confidence and conviction I 
 mean) till it was too late. It is thirteen years 
 ago, and seems but as yesterday ; and every day I 
 live it sinks deeper into my heart." 
 
 Gray lost his mother in the year 1753, shortly 
 after the decease of her sister, to whose affection 
 the poet was greatly indebted in childhood ; and 
 the epitaph which he wrote on their tomb, is con- 
 
APPENDIX. 165 
 
 sidered to be exceeded by few in our language, for 
 pathos and simplicity : — 
 
 In the vault beneath are deposited 
 
 in hope of a joyful resurrection, 
 
 the remains of 
 
 Mary Antrobus. 
 
 She died unmarried, Nov. v. mdccxlix. aged lxvi. 
 
 In the same pious confidence, 
 
 beside her friend and sister, 
 
 Here sleep the remains of 
 
 Dorothy Gray, 
 
 widow. 
 
 The careful tender Mother 
 
 of many children, one of whom alone 
 
 had the misfortune to survive her. 
 
 She died March xi. mdccliii. 
 
 aged Lxvii. 
 
 (See the Life and Writings of Gray, by the Rev. J. Milford.) 
 
 Note X. 
 
 SIR WILLIAM JONES. 
 
 (See p. 88.) 
 
 The solemn expression of his own persuasion of 
 the verity and authenticity of the Old and New 
 
166 APPENDIX. 
 
 Testament, left transcribed by himself in his Bible, 
 is well known, but cannot be too often quoted. 
 " I have carefully and regularly perused these 
 Holy Scriptures, and am of opinion, that the 
 volume, independently of its divine origin, contains 
 more sublimity, pure morality, more important 
 history, and finer strains of eloquence, than can 
 be collected from all other books, in whatever 
 language they may have been written." He 
 had endeavoured to discover the best human 
 means of propagating the Gospel throughout India, 
 and two of his projected labours were. Trans- 
 lations of the Psalms into Persic, and the Gospel 
 of St. Luke into Arabic, — Life of Sir Wm. Jones, 
 p. 194. 
 
 Note Y. 
 
 sir henry wotton. 
 
 (See p. 90.) 
 
 Sir Henry Wotton, whose elegant works are 
 known under the title of ' Reliquiae Wottonianse,' 
 was secretary to the Earl of Essex, ambassador 
 from James the First to the republic of Venice, 
 and other Courts, and in his declining years was 
 Provost of Eton College. 
 
APPENDIX. 167 
 
 Note Z. 
 
 mode of education adopted by mrs. sandford. 
 
 (See p. 90.) 
 
 Mrs. Sandford was the sister-in-law of Mrs. 
 Chapone, of literary celebrity, and little inferior 
 to her in talent. She was well qualified to supply 
 to her four orphan boys the absence of paternal 
 care. Their mother, however, trusted much more 
 to the natural parts and assiduous habits of her 
 sons, than to the assistance of masters. She used 
 to incarcerate them for a certain number of hours 
 every day, and on their release the task was ge- 
 nerally found to have been mastered. On most 
 occasions the boys were on honour, and she had 
 no reason to regret the confidence reposed in 
 them. — Memoirs of the Right Rev. Dr. Sandford, 
 Bishop of Edinburgh, p. 6. 
 
 Note A A. 
 
 HENRY KIRKE WHITE. 
 
 (See p. 91.) 
 
 Henry Kirke White was the son of a butcher 
 in humble circumstances at Nottingham. At a 
 
168 APPENDIX 
 
 very early age, his love of reading was a passion 
 to which every thing else gave way ; yet his 
 mother could not overcome her husband's intention 
 of bringing him up to his own business. 
 
 To his mother Henry discovered the cause of his 
 unhappiness ; and that affectionate and excellent 
 parent quickly discerning that he had a mind 
 destined for nobler pursuits, made every possible 
 sacrifice to meet his wish to be brought up to one 
 of the learned professions. Finding his father 
 wholly averse to the plan, from their limited in- 
 come, she opened a school in Nottingham, whereby 
 her son's home comforts were increased, and she was 
 at length enabled to place him in the office of an 
 attorney. — Southey's Remains of Kirke White. 
 
 Note B B. 
 
 queen katherine of arragon. 
 
 (Seep. 103.) 
 
 She was not only learned herself, but was a 
 patroness of learned men, particularly the great 
 Erasmus, and the celebrated Ludovicus Yives. The 
 latter she constituted tutor for the Latin tongue 
 to her young daughter, the Princess (afterwards 
 Queen) Mary : the former calls her, in his 
 
APPENDIX. 169 
 
 Epistles, " the best of women," and observes that 
 she was not only the most pious but the most 
 erudite woman of the time. — Ballard's Memoirs, 
 p. 20. 
 
 Note C C. 
 
 queen katherine parr, 
 
 (Seep. 103.) 
 
 " The number as well as the piety of her com- 
 positions sufficiently show how much of her time 
 and thoughts, amidst all the business and cere- 
 monies of her station, were employed in secure- 
 ing her own eternal happiness; and implanting 
 the seeds of piety and virtue in the minds of her 
 people. And as she very well knew how far good 
 learning was subservient to these great ends, so 
 she used her utmost endeavours for the establish- 
 ment and improvement of it. When the act was 
 made, that all colleges, &c. should be in the 
 King's disposal, the University of Cambridge la- 
 boured under terrible apprehensions ; and well 
 knowing the Queen's great affection to learning, 
 they addressed their letters to her, in which they 
 intreated her majesty to intercede with the King 
 
170 APPENDIX. 
 
 for their colleges, which she effectually performed. - 
 Strype's Historical Memorials, vol. ii. p. 133. 
 
 Note D D. 
 
 SIR THOMAS MORE's HOUSEHOLD. 
 
 (Seep. 103.) 
 
 Sir Thomas More*s house was reputed by the 
 literati of Europe, a little academy. 
 
 Erasmus in so terming it says, — " there he con- 
 verseth affably with his family, his wife, his son, 
 and daughter-in-law, his three daughters, and their 
 husbands, with eleven grand-children. You would 
 say there was in that place Plato's Academy; 
 but I do the house an injury in comparing it to 
 Plato's Academy, wherein there was only dispu- 
 tations of numbers and geometrical figures, and 
 sometimes of moral virtues. I should rather call 
 his a school, or university of Christian religion ; 
 for there is none therein but readeth or studieth 
 the liberal sciences, and their especial care is piety 
 and virtue." — More's Life of Sir Thomas More, 
 p. 120. 
 
APPENDIX. 171 
 
 Note E E. 
 
 bishop jewel. 
 
 (See p. 105.) 
 
 This learned and exemplary prelate was em- 
 ployed to repel the accusations brought against the 
 Church of England by the Romanists ; this he 
 performed to the infinite satisfaction of the reformed 
 churches, and to the confusion of her enemies. 
 The people in general having a desire to become 
 acquainted with the contents of a book so valuable 
 at that crisis, this excellent lady undertook the 
 translation of it from Latin into English. — Ballard's 
 Memoirs, p. 134. 
 
 Note FF. 
 
 ERUDITION of QUEEN ELIZABETH. 
 
 (See p. 108.) 
 
 Queen Elizabeth was skilled in the Greek, and 
 spoke the Latin language with fluency. She trans- 
 lated from the former a dialogue of Xenophon, two 
 Orations of Isocrates, and a play of Euripides ; be- 
 sides which she wrote a commentary on the works of 
 Plato. From the Latin she translated Boethius' 
 
172 APPENDIX. 
 
 " Consolations of Philosophy/' Sallust's " Jngurthan 
 War," and part of Horace's "Art of Poetry." On her 
 departure from Oxford and Cambridge (which seats 
 of learning Queen Elizabeth visited in state), she 
 expressed her satisfaction to each in a Latin Ora- 
 tion, and her liberality and countenance were the 
 means of producing many illustrious characters in 
 both of the Universities. — See Birch's Hist, of 
 Queen Elizabeth — Wood's Hist, and Antiq. Mis. 
 Oxon. Lib. i. p. 289. —Fuller s Hist. Cambridge. 
 
 Note GG. 
 
 elizabeth, queen of bohemia. 
 
 (Seep. 112.) 
 
 This amiable princess was united to Frederick 
 Count Palatine of the Rhine, afterwards King of 
 Bohemia. Her magnanimity and greatness of mind 
 were fully proved in the misfortunes which marked 
 her eventful career; and her superior intellectual 
 powers are attested by the eminence of her children. 
 
 So engaging was her behaviour, that she was in 
 the Low Countries, called ** The Queen of Hearts." 
 From her are descended the illustrious line which 
 
APPENDIX. 173 
 
 now sNvay the sceptre of these realms ; Sophia, 
 her youngest daughter, — characterized as the most 
 accomplished lady in Europe, — being mother to 
 George the First, of the Protestant House of Han- 
 over, to whom, by virtue of the Act of Settle- 
 ment, the Crown of England passed on the decease 
 of Queen Anne. 
 
 Note H H. 
 
 lady pakixgton. 
 
 (Seep. 113.) 
 
 "'This most excellent lady, daughter of Lord 
 Coventry, the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, and 
 wife of Sir John Pakington, was well known, and 
 celebrated by the best and most learned divines of 
 her time; yet hardly any pen will be thought 
 capable of adding to the reputation her own hath 
 procured to her, as the author of a work which is 
 not more an honour to the writer than an universal 
 benefit to mankind." — Ballard's Memoirs, p. 227. 
 
 i3 
 
174 APPENDIX. 
 
 Note 1 1. 
 
 mrs. phillips. 
 
 (Seep. 120.) 
 
 The singularly estimable character of this lady, 
 whose maiden name was Fowler, and who was mar- 
 ried about the year 1647, to James Phillips, Esq. of 
 the Priory, Cardigan, may be best estimated by her 
 friendship with Jeremy Taylor, the amiable Bishop 
 Down and Connor ; and by the elevated virtues as 
 a wife, and a mother, and rare accomplishments as a 
 woman to which he alludes in a letter printed in 
 his " Polemical and Moral Discourses." 
 
 Note K K. 
 
 liADY RACHEL RUSSELL. 
 
 (Seep. 122.) 
 
 " I ask no assistance," said Lord William Russell 
 to the Attorney-general, when placed on his trial, 
 ^' but that of the lady who sits by me." At these 
 words the spectators turning their eyes on the 
 daughter of the virtuous Southampton, who rose to 
 assist her husband in his distress, melted into tears. 
 
APPENDIX. 175 
 
 This illustrious atid heroic lady was distinguished 
 by the respect and friendship of Bishops Tillotson, 
 Burnet, and the first persons of the age, in rank, 
 literature, or goodness. — Hume's Hist. England. 
 
 Note LL. 
 
 queen mary, consort of william the third. 
 
 (Seep. 123.) 
 
 " Queen Mary was the most universally lamented 
 Princess, and deserved the best to be so, of any in 
 our age or in our history. The female part of the 
 court had been in former reigns subject to much 
 censure, and there was great cause for it ; but she 
 freed her court so entirely from all suspicion, that 
 there was not so much as a colour for discourses of 
 that sort." — Burnet's Own Times, vol. iv. p. 195. 
 
 Note MM. 
 
 MRS. ELIZABETH BURNETT. 
 
 (Seep. 123.) 
 
 The Bishops of Oxford, Worcester, Durham, and 
 several other learned and eminent divines have 
 
176 APPENDIX. 
 
 left testimonials in their writings of this lady's 
 extraordinary merit, and great learning : the num- 
 ber educated solely at her expense in and about 
 Worcester and Salisbury were about an hundred. — 
 Ballard's Memoirs, p. 279. 
 
 Note N N. 
 
 CHARACTER OF ENGLISH LADIES DURING THE REIGN 
 OF QUEEN ANNE. 
 
 (See p. 124.) 
 
 " We are in doubt which most to admire in the 
 women of this reign, — the manners, the talents, 
 or the accomplishments. They were religious with- 
 out severity and without enthusiasm ; they were 
 learned without pedantry; they were intelligent 
 and attractive, without neglecting the duties of their 
 sex ; they were elegant and entertaining without 
 levity ; in a word, they joined the graces of society to 
 the knowledge of letters, and the virtues of domestic 
 life, — they were friends and companions, without 
 ceasing to be wives and mothers." —Russell on 
 Women, vol. ii. p. 151. 
 
APPENDIX. 177 
 
 Note O O. 
 
 the phylactery of mrs. bland. 
 
 (Seep. 125.) 
 
 Among the curiosities of the Royal Society is 
 preserved, in Mrs. Bland's own writing, a Phy- 
 lactery, in Hebrew. Dr. Grew, (w^ho has given 
 a particular account of it) observes the original 
 use of them to be, for mementoes, grounded on tlie 
 command, Deut. vi. 8. They afterwards served 
 for spells or amulets: — from whence the use of 
 charms amongst Christians was first derived; and 
 those who gave them were Phylacterii. Prohibited 
 by the Council of Trent. 
 
 Note P P. 
 
 COXSTANTIA GRIERSON. 
 
 (Seep. 126.) 
 
 This prodigy of early talents and acquirements, 
 was one of the most extraordinary women that 
 either that age, or perhaps any other, ever pro- 
 duced. 
 
 Her parents were poor and illiterate people ; yet, 
 
178 APPENDIX. 
 
 long before her death, at the early age of 27, she 
 was an excellent scholar, not only in classic litera- 
 ture, but in history, divinity, philosophy, and 
 mathematics. She gave a proof of her know- 
 ledge of the Latin tongue by her dedication of 
 the Dublin edition of Tacitus to Lord Carteret, 
 when Lord Lieutenant of Ireland ; and by tliat of 
 Terence to his son, to whom she likewise wrote 
 a Greek epigram. — Biog, Foem. 
 
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