Part 1

SOME FAMOUS WOMEN

_BY THE SAME AUTHOR_

THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF MANDELL CREIGHTON, D.D., Oxon. and Camb., sometime Bishop of London. With Two Frontispieces. 2 vols. 8vo, 10s. 6d. net.

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HEROES OF EUROPEAN HISTORY. With 43 Illustrations and 7 Maps. Crown 8vo, 1s. 6d.

SOME FAMOUS WOMEN. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo.

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LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO. LONDON, NEW YORK, BOMBAY, AND CALCUTTA

SOME FAMOUS WOMEN

BY

LOUISE CREIGHTON

AUTHOR OF

“A FIRST HISTORY OF ENGLAND,” “A FIRST HISTORY OF FRANCE,” “HEROES OF EUROPEAN HISTORY,” ETC. ETC.

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS

LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO. 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON NEW YORK, BOMBAY, AND CALCUTTA 1909

All rights reserved

CONTENTS

PAGE

INTRODUCTION xi

CHAP. I. ST. HILDA 15

II. JOAN, THE FAIR MAID OF KENT 26

III. JEANNE D’ARC, THE MAID OF FRANCE 37

IV. MARGARET BEAUFORT 56

V. RACHEL, LADY RUSSELL 71

VI. ELIZABETH FRY 85

VII. MARY SOMERVILLE 98

VIII. JULIA SELINA INGLIS 112

IX. FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE 126

X. ISABELLA BIRD, AFTERWARDS MRS. BISHOP 141

XI. SISTER DORA 156

XII. QUEEN VICTORIA 171

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

QUEEN VICTORIA _Frontispiece_

PAGE

WHITBY ABBEY 20

THE COMPLETION OF THE ARK 23

TOURNAMENT 27

KNIGHT RECEIVING HIS HELMET FROM LADY 31

KNIGHTS JOUSTING 36

JEANNE IN CHURCH 39

JEANNE HEARS THE VOICE 41

JEANNE RIDES TO CHINON 43

JEANNE IS WOUNDED BY THE ARROW 47

THE CORONATION OF CHARLES VII. 49

THE BURNING OF JEANNE 54

MARGARET, COUNTESS OF RICHMOND 57

EDWARD IV. 60

RICHARD III. 62

HENRY VII. 63

ELIZABETH OF YORK, QUEEN OF HENRY VII. 64

CHRIST’S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE 69

TUDOR ROSE (WHITE AND RED) 70

LORD WILLIAM RUSSELL TAKING LEAVE OF HIS CHILDREN 79 PREVIOUS TO HIS EXECUTION, 1683

ELIZABETH FRY 87

MRS. FRY READING TO THE PRISONERS IN NEWGATE, 1816 93

MARY SOMERVILLE 99

SOMERVILLE COLLEGE, OXFORD 109

THE GATEWAY OF THE RESIDENCY, LUCKNOW, SHOWING MARKS OF 117 SHOT AND SHELL ON THE BRICKWORK

FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE 127

FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE AT SCUTARI—A MISSION OF MERCY 133

FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE IN ONE OF THE WARDS OF THE 135 HOSPITAL AT SCUTARI

MRS. BISHOP (ISABELLA BIRD) 143

SISTER DORA 157

THE STATUE AT WALSALL 169

QUEEN VICTORIA AT HER ACCESSION 173

PORTRAIT OF PRINCE ALBERT 175

VISCOUNT MELBOURNE 177

THE MARRIAGE OF QUEEN VICTORIA TO H.R.H. PRINCE ALBERT 181

LORD PALMERSTON 184

WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE 185

THE VICTORIA CROSS 186

MARRIAGE OF H.R.H. VICTORIA, PRINCESS ROYAL, TO H.R.H. 187 PRINCE FREDERICK WILLIAM OF PRUSSIA

BENJAMIN DISRAELI, LORD BEACONSFIELD 189

QUEEN VICTORIA’S JUBILEE, 1897 191

INTRODUCTION

IN this little book I am going to tell you about some of the women who have been famous in the past. There are perhaps many names more famous than those I have chosen, but it was not always the best women who were the most talked about. In the past it was seldom that any woman, who was not a royal lady or some great aristocrat, became known to the world. In the early days of Christianity, many women suffered bravely for their faith, and later in the convents there were studious nuns who became known for their learning. In the account of St. Hilda you will read of one of the most famous of these. But most women were busy in keeping their houses, and had to do many things which no woman would dream of doing now. Cloth and linen had to be woven at home, simple medicines and ointments were made by the great ladies, who had often to act as doctors as well as nurses. Only few women had any book learning, and it was long before it was thought desirable for a woman to learn to write. When good schools were started for boys, few people thought it desirable to do anything for the education of girls. It was not till the nineteenth century that a change began, and that people as a rule began to think that, as girls had minds as well as boys, it was as well to give them the chance of learning. When you read about Mrs. Somerville, you will see how great was the change in her lifetime. No one troubled to teach her when she was a child, but before her death the first colleges for women were founded at Cambridge.

Joan of Kent is an example of the aimless life led by a great lady in the Middle Ages who was kindly and beloved, but did not know how to make her life of use to others. Margaret Beaumont was also a great lady and might have spent her days in pleasure, but the experiences of her life made her serious, and she used her life and her money in the service of others. Since their day, there have been many great ladies who have been like one or other of these two.

The first way in which women who had no great position in the world made themselves famous was by their care for the poor and the suffering. What such women could do, and there have been very many of them, is seen in the lives of Elizabeth Fry, Sister Dora, and Florence Nightingale. Other women have given their lives to sharing the sorrows and anxieties of their husbands, and by their love and devotion have been their greatest help in difficult times. These are seldom known to fame, but we see examples of them in Lady Rachel Howard and Lady Inglis. But whilst most women would always choose a quiet home life there are others, of whom Mrs. Bishop is an example, who are filled with the spirit of adventure, and like to face difficulties and to see new things. It is not possible in one small book to give examples of all the different kinds of women who have lived for the service of others. I should like to have told you something about the women doctors, the great women teachers, the women writers and novelists. From all their lives you would learn one lesson which is set forth clearly in the life of Queen Victoria. Nothing worth doing is done without a great deal of trouble. The ruler of a great empire has to work as hard as any girl in a factory, and Queen Victoria is known as a great queen, not because she had talents above other women, but simply because she set herself to do her duty in the position in which God had placed her. In that we can all imitate her.

But what shall I say about the one woman in our book who is not English, the Maid of France? She seems to me to stand apart from all other women, like a beautiful vision for our delight and reverence. But she is like all other good women in this that she did the thing that lay before her. Without fear, in perfect simplicity, she took up the task to which she felt she was called, and went straight on without looking back, even to death.

We do not know what work may be asked from women in the future, but the same spirit will still be needed—the capacity to take trouble, the readiness to do difficult things when duty calls, and the gentle spirit of love which, in spite of all her learning, made Mrs. Somerville a better wife and mother than most even of those who have devoted themselves entirely to their domestic duties.

SOME FAMOUS WOMEN

I

ST. HILDA

AMONGST our forefathers, the wild German tribes who conquered Britain and made it England, women had always held an honourable place. This made it possible for them, in the days when the Christian faith was first preached in England, to do a great deal to help the work of the Church. They did not have to spend their days in fighting like the men, and they were eager to listen to the new teaching which showed them many different ways of serving God and helping their fellow-creatures. Probably it was the Christian wife of Ethelbert, King of Kent, a French princess, who helped to make him willing to listen to Augustine, the missionary sent from Rome by the Pope to convert the English. Kent was the first of the English kingdoms to become Christian. In the northern part of England there was a great king called Edwin, who ruled over Northumbria and had his capital at York. He seems to have heard much in praise of one of Ethelbert’s daughters, Ethelburga, who was so beloved in her family that they called her Tata, the darling. Edwin sent messengers to ask Ethelburga’s brother, Eadbald, who had succeeded his father as king, to give him his sister in marriage. But Eadbald said that he could not give his sister to a heathen. Edwin would not be refused. He sent messengers again, and said that if only he might have Ethelburga as his wife, he would allow her to worship in her own way, and would be willing to adopt her faith if, on hearing more about it, his wise men should decide that it was better than his own. So Ethelburga was sent to York with Bishop Paulinus as her chaplain. Edwin was true to his word; he treated Paulinus kindly, and after a while listened to his teaching, and when he had consulted his wise men, and they too were willing, he decided to be baptized.

Quickly a little wooden chapel was built on the spot where now stands the great minster of York, and within its walls Edwin and many others were taught the Christian faith. On Easter Eve, in the year 627, he was baptized. Many of his nobles as well as members of his family were baptized with him. Amongst them was a young girl, his great-niece, the Princess Hilda, then fourteen years old. We do not know anything about Hilda’s life as a child nor for some years after her baptism. Her mother and her sister were also early converts to Christianity. In some way Hilda must have continued her Christian education, most probably she lived at a religious settlement in the north, and was busy in some sort of work for the Church. In those days all girls either married or entered a convent of some kind. Hilda, a member of a royal family, would certainly have been sought in marriage had it not been known that she had in some way given herself to a religious life. Many royal ladies were founders of convents. They received grants of land from their fathers or brothers and gathered round them those who wished to live in peace, away from all the fighting and disturbance of the world. Many royal ladies retired into convents after their husband’s death, or sometimes even during their husband’s lifetime. In the convents they could study, or do beautiful embroidery for the churches, care for the sick and aged, or teach the children. It was considered the holiest life that a woman could lead: those men, too, who wished to lead quiet lives and to spend their days in study rather than in fighting could only do so by retiring into a convent. If it had not been for the convents in early times there would have been no books, no learning, no art or industry. It was by the people who lived in the convents that the land was drained and cultivated, and that sheep and oxen were reared. France had become Christian earlier than England, so there were more famous convents there, and ladies belonging to the English royal families used to go over to the French convents to be educated, and often retired to them to end their days.

We are not told that Hilda was sent to a French convent to be educated, but her sister Hereswitha, who had married the King of East Anglia, went after his death to a French convent, and Hilda prepared to join her there. Hilda was by this time thirty-three. All that we know of her life since her baptism is what the old Northumbrian historian, Bede, tells us—that she lived very nobly among her family and fellow-citizens. Somehow her virtues and gifts attracted the notice of Aidan, the holy Bishop of Lindisfarne, who was working with zeal and devotion to win the wild people of the north for Christ. He seems to have been Hilda’s friend and adviser, and he wanted her help in his work. When he heard that she was thinking of going to join her sister in France, he begged her to remain among her own people and to help them. Hilda yielded to his wishes, and she first settled down with a few companions on the river Wear. But soon afterwards she was called in the year 647, to be head of a convent in Hartlepool, which had been founded some years before, and was the first convent for women in that part of England.

Those were very anxious days. There had been Christian kings in Northumbria who had made it into a great and strong kingdom, and with the help of Aidan and other holy men had made the people Christian and brought peace into the land. But the Northumbrian kings were attacked by Penda, the last great heathen king in England, a fierce and mighty fighter, and it seemed at times as if he would utterly destroy the power of the Christian kings. Hilda in her quiet convent must have waited anxiously for the news that came of the fighting between Oswy, the King of Northumbria, and Penda, who with his great army of fierce fighters seemed to rush like a torrent over the country. It was eight years after she had gone to Hartlepool, that Oswy with a much smaller army, utterly routed Penda’s great host in a battle in which the fierce old heathen king was himself killed. Before the battle Oswy had sworn that if he gained the victory, he would give his infant daughter to God; and he now sent his little Ælflæd, not yet a year old, to his kinswoman Hilda to bring up in her convent. With his daughter, he gave also a rich gift of land, so that Hilda might be able to extend her work. The little Ælflæd was a great delight to Hilda, and grew up to be her dearest companion and fellow-worker.

Hilda had done much at Hartlepool. She had learnt all she could from wise men as to how to order a convent. Aidan and all the religious men who knew her used to visit her constantly. They were glad to teach her all they knew, and they loved her dearly because of her wisdom and her delight in the service of God.

In those days the work that women could do for the Church was highly esteemed, and the abbesses who ruled over the convents were very important people. They had to manage large estates as well as to order all the different kinds of work that were carried on in the convent. Many of them were very learned women; and we know of Hilda that she was always eager to learn, and knew well how to teach others what she had learnt. After she had spent some years at Hartlepool, she decided to found a new convent on some of the lands that had been granted her by King Oswy. She chose a beautiful spot on the top of a high cliff overlooking the sea, at the mouth of the river Esk. This spot was afterwards called Whitby, and by that name Hilda’s famous abbey is best known. But though in later times a beautiful abbey church was built there, the ruins of which are still standing, all that Hilda could build was a rude little church made of the split trunks of trees, thatched with rushes. Round the church stood the huts in which Hilda and her nuns lived, with their kitchen and their dining-hall. Farther off, but still in the enclosure of the convent, were huts in which monks lived; for in those early days it often happened that men and women joined together to found one convent. The monks and the nuns lived apart, but Hilda ruled over them all alike. Some of the monks tilled the fields belonging to the convent: and there were barns and farm buildings, as well as rooms for writing and study. Over all these different men and women Hilda ruled firmly and wisely. They were all treated alike. There was no one in her convent who was rich and no one who was poor, for those who came there gave all their possessions into the common store. Hilda so ruled that peace and charity prevailed amongst them all. All who knew her called her Mother, because of her singular piety and grace, and the fame of her virtues spread far and wide. She loved learning and wished all to study, and made them give much time to the reading of the Bible. Her own wisdom and prudence were so well known that many people, and amongst them even kings and princes, came to her for advice in their difficulties. Amongst those who studied at Whitby many grew afterwards to be famous, and five of those who had lived under Hilda’s rule became bishops of the Church. But, of all the dwellers at Whitby, the most famous was one who had begun life simply as one of the workers on the farm, the sweet singer Cædmon.

In those days, at feasts, it was the custom for one after another to be asked for a song, and the harp was passed round the table, each taking it in turn and accompanying himself whilst he sang. Cædmon thought that he could not sing, and when he saw that his turn was coming near, he used to get up and quietly leave the table and go home. One day he had left the feast in this way and gone to the stable where it was his duty that night to take care of the horses. Having done his work he settled himself to sleep, and in the night one stood by his side, and calling to him, said, “Cædmon, sing some song to me.” He answered, “I cannot sing, for that reason I left the feast and withdrew to this place, because I cannot sing.” But he who stood by his side answered, “However, you shall sing.” “What shall I sing?” asked Cædmon; and the answer came, “Sing the beginning of created beings.” Then in his dream he sang in praise of God the Creator with words which he had never heard before. When he awoke, he remembered what he had sung, and added more verses to those which had come to him in his dream. He told the steward who was set over him of this gift of song that had been granted to him in his sleep, and the steward took him to the Abbess Hilda. She bade him in the presence of herself and of several learned men repeat the verses which he had made, and they all decided that it must be through the grace of God that this gift had come to him. They explained to him a passage from the Bible and bade him go away and turn it into verse. Next morning he came back and recited to them the excellent verses which he had made. Then Hilda bade him give up his work on the farm and come into the convent and become a monk, that he might devote himself to cultivating the gift of song which he had received. She directed some of the brethren to teach him the sacred history contained in the Bible, that he might turn it into song. After they had taught him, Cædmon would think over all that he had heard, turning it over in his mind as the cow chews the cud, till he brought it out again as harmonious verse, which he would sweetly repeat to his masters, who now in their turn became his hearers. He sang of the Creation and of the doings of the people of Israel and of the life and sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ, and tried by his poems to lead men to love virtue and hate vice. Through his sweet singing great fame came to Hilda’s convent, and after some years he died there in great peace and holiness.

We are not told whether Hilda was able as time went on to build a more stately church in place of the rough wooden one which she at first put up, but it seems most likely, considering the fame of her abbey, that she must have done so. She probably was friendly with Benedict Biscop, the Abbot of Wearmouth, which was also in the north of England. Benedict Biscop had made many journeys to France and Italy, and he first brought to England glass windows and beautiful vestments for his church, as well as skilled masons and glass workers from France, who taught their craft to the Northumbrians. We cannot doubt that Hilda with her energy and her wisdom got some of these men to come and teach her people also how to put up beautiful buildings; perhaps Benedict Biscop may have given her some of the treasures, vestments, pictures, or vessels for the church services which he had brought back with him. The fame and importance of the Abbey of Whitby is shown by the fact that it was chosen as the spot in which to hold a great Council of the Church in 664, when many bishops met with King Oswy to settle matters of great importance for the whole Church in England. Hilda had to care for the entertainment of this great gathering and to take part in their discussions. They had met to decide whether in certain matters the customs of the Church of Rome or the customs of the Church in Northumbria should be followed. Hilda was in favour of the customs of Northumbria, but when King Oswy decided that it would be better to do as the rest of the Church did, she was wise enough to give in to his decision, seeing that these were matters which concerned only the order and not the teaching of the Church.