/KV

(4

m^i

'MU^
University of California

Berkeley

From the Library of

FLORENCE S. WALTER

\i^

OF QUEENS' GARDENS. BY JOHN RUSKIN

kV**Vj**'

'

T/TT

U'U^'i

'rj.4-^'

"BE

THOU
J

DESERT

GLAD, OH THIRSTING LET THE DESERT BE

MADE CHEERFUL, AND BLOOM AS THE LILY; AND THE BAR^ REN PLACES OF JORDAN SHALL RUN WILD WITH WOOD.'*~ISAIAH
XXXV.
1

(SEPTUAGINT)

^ ^

OF QUEENS' GARDENS
\T
willt pcrhapSt

be

well, as

this

Lec-^j

ture

is

the

of

one

sequel previously
I

given, that

should!

shortly state to youj my general inten* tion in both* The

specially to proposed you in^ and What to Read,

questions

tages we possess in the present day in the diffusion of education and of literature, can'

namely, How rose out of a far deeper one, which it was my< endeavour to make you propose earnestly to to Read* I want yourselves, namely, you to feel, with me, that whatever advan^J
the
first,

WHY

only be rightly used by any of us when we have apprehended clearly what education is^ to lead to, and literature to teach* I wish you( to see that both well-directed moral training' and well^chosen reading lead to the possession of a power over the ilLguided and illiterate, which is, according to the measure of it,|
in the truest sense, ; conferring indeed the purest kingship that can exist amongi

KINGLY

too

many

other kingships (however

distinguished by visible insignia or material power) being either spectral, or tyrannous ;

is to say, aspects and shadowsi^^g of ronly royalty, hollow as death, and which only the ^Mikeness of a kingly crown have

that spectral
'^
:

V-^

on

or else

tyrannousthat
own
as
will for the
all

is to

say, sub^
justice

Istituting their

law of

'and love

by which
I

HERE
I

true kings rule^ is, then, I repeat andffi want to leave this idea

I'liii

with you, I begin with it, and shall end with it only one kind of kingship; an pure inevitable and eternal kind,

crowned or not

consists in a stronger

the kingship, namely, which] moral state, and a truer

jthoughtful state, than that of others ; enabling* you, therefore, to guide, or to raise them., '^ Observe that word State''; we have got

into a loose

way
''

of using

it*

It

means

liter^

ally the standing and stability of a thing ; and you have the full force of it in the derived

word

the immovable thing/' ** king's majesty or state," then, and the right! of his kingdom to be called a state, depends
statue

**

**

on the movelessness

of both

without
;

tre-

mor, without quiver of balance

established l^

and enthroned upon a foundation of eternal] law which nothing can alter, nor overthrow,

ELIEVING
and
all

that all literature

education are only use^j ful so far as they tend to con^ firm this calm, beneficent, and

THEREFORE kingly, power

over ourselves, and, all around us, I ami over through ourselves, now going to ask you to consider with me far^ ther, what special portion or kind of this royaL authority, arising out of noble education, may rightly be possessed by women ; and how far they also are called to a true queenly power ,i not in their households merely, but over all within their sphere* And in what sense, if exercised this royal] they rightly understood or gracious influence, the order and beauty induced by such benignant power would justify! us in speaking of the territories over which ach of them reigned, as ^^ Queens* Gardens/^ D here, in the very outset, we| are met by a far deeper question,^
first,

&

which strange though this, seem remains among] may

many

of us yet quite undeci^l

ded in spite of its infinite imEWe cannot determine what the/

queenly power of
are agreed
be*

We

should be^ until we' power should cannot consider how education may

women

what

their ordinary

[fit them for any widely extending duty, untiltj^^ Fwe are agreed what is their true constant duty* And there never was a time when wilder words were spoken, or more vain imagina^

^"^

tion permitted, respecting this question quite The relations 'vital to all social happiness*

manly nature, their intellect or of virtue, of [different capacities ^seem never to have been yet estimated with
entire consent*

of the

womanly

to the

We
^^

hear of the
of

^*

mission^''
if

and

of the

**

rights

Woman,

as

these

could ever be separate from the mission and the rights of Man as if she and her lord were of independent kind, and of irrecon^ [creatures

This, at least, is wrong* And wrong perhaps even more foolishly wrong (for I will anticipate thus far what I ^hope to prove) is the idea that woman is (only the shadow and attendant image of her lord, owing him a thoughtless and servile
cilable claim*

'not less

obedience, and supported altogether in her weakness by the pre-eminence of his forti^ ftude* iEThis, I say, is the most foolish of
errors respecting her who was made to be the helpmate of man* As if he could be helped
all
I

shadowt or worthily by a slave us try, then, whether we cannot get at some clear and harmonious idea (it must bej harmonious if it is true) oU what womanly mind and virtue are in power and office, with to man's; and how their relations,! respect rightly accepted, aid and increase the vigour! and honour and authority of both* iEAnd now I must repeat one thing I said in thej
11

effectively by a

ET

last lecture

namely, that the

first

use of edu*

cation

was

to enable us to consult with the

wisest and the greatest men on all points of( earnest difficulty* That to use books rightly,

was to go to them for help to appeal to them, when our own knowledge & power of thought
:

failed

to be led

purer conception, than our own, and receive* from them the united sentence of the judges and councils of all time, against our solitary and unstable opinion* CLet us do this nowJ Let us see whether the greatest, the wisest,'
the purest^hearted of
all
:

by them

into wider sight,

any wise on this point timony they have left respecting what
held to be the true dignity of l^her mode of help to man*

ages are agreed in let us hear the testheyl

woman, and

iND

let us iakp Shake-* E Note broadly in the speare* outset, Shakespeare has no heroes ; he has only heroines^f^^ There is not one entirely heroic >^^

first

figure in all his plays, except the slight sketch of Henry the Fifth, exag^ Igerated for the purposes of the stage ; and the
'still

slighter Valentine in

The

Two

Gentle^

In his laboured and perfect Othello would have ^been one, if his simplicity had not been so great as to leave him the prey of every base
of Verona*

men

have no hero. jplays you

^practice

the only ex-ample even approximating to the heroic type. Coriolanus Caesar Antony stand in flawed
is

round him ; but he

[strength, is indolent,

Hamlet and fall by their vanities and drowsily speculative Romeo an impatient boy; the Merchant of Venice
; ;

languidly submissive to adverse fortune; ^Kent, in King Lear, is entirely noble at heart, 'but too rough unpolished to be of true use at the critical time, and he sinks into the office of a servant only. Orlando, no less noble, is yet the despairing toy of chance, followed,

&

Whereas [comforted, saved by Rosalind. there is hardly a play that has not a perfect woman in it, steadfast in grave hope, andv^
k

purpose : Cordelia^ Desdemona, Isa^j bella^ Hermione^ Imogen^ Queen Catherine^ Perdita, Sylvia, Viola, Rosalind, Helena, and and perhaps loveliest, Virgilia, are all ^^jjlast,
[errorless

^- ^ faultless

conceived in the highest heroicj

type of humanity

HEN observe, secondly, iEThel

catastrophe of every play isl caused always by the folly or| fault of a man ; the redemption, if there be any, is by the wis* dom and virtue of a woman,, and, failing that, there is none* The catas^ trophe of King Lear is owing to his own(

want of judgment,

his impatient vanity, his of his children ; the virtue misunderstanding of his one true daughter would have saved]

him from all

the injuries of the others, unless

he had cast her away from him ; as it is, she! all but saves him* EOf Othello I need not trace the tale ; nor the one weakness of his so mighty love; nor the inferiority of his( perceptive intellect to that even of the second^ woman character in the play, the Emilia who^ dies in wild testimony against his error :

^*Oh, murderous coxcomb! what should such a fool Do with so good a wife ? **

liE In

Romeo and

Juliet, the

wise and brave

stratagem of the wife is brought to ruinous issue by the reckless impatience of her huS'

(band
ithe

In Winter^s Tale, and in Cymbeline,! happiness and existence of two princely households, lost through long years, and imperilled to the death by the folly and obsti^l

nacy of the husbands, are redeemed at last Iby the queenly patience and wisdom of thei wives* In Measure for Measure, the foul in^ justice of the judge, and the foul cowardice
,of

truth

the brother, are opposed to the victorious! and adamantine purity of a woman* In'

loriolanus, the mother^s counsel, acted upon in time, would have saved her son from all
evil
;

his

momentary

forgetfulness of

it

is hisi

[ruin ; her prayer, at last granted, saves him -not, indeed, from death, but from the curse fof living as the destroyer of his country. fEAnd what shall I say of Julia, constant against the fickleness of a lover who is a<

mere wicked

child ?

? petulance and insult the patience of Hero, the passion of Beatrice, and the calmly devoted wisdom of the '*un-i [lessoned girl,^^ who appears among the help^

of Helena, against the of a careless youth of

lessness, the blindness, and the vindictive .passions of men, as a gentle angel, bringing!

courage and safety by her presence^ and de^ feating the worst malignities of crime by what

women

are fancied

most to

fail in,

precision
among
all^

and accuracy of thought*

BSERVE,

further,

the principal figures in Shaken speare^s plays, there is onlyl

one weak woman Ophelia; and it is because she fails' Hamlet at the critical moment, and is not, and cannot in her nature be,j a guide to him when he needs her most,i
that all the bitter catastrophe follows* Fin*' ally, though there are three wicked women*

the principal figures Lady Macbeth, Regan, and Goneril they are felt at once to be frightful exceptions to the ordinary laws] of life; fatal in their influence also, in pro*

among

portion to the power for good which they^ have abandoned* fH Such, in broad light, is^

Shakespeare's testimony to the position andi

character of
counsellors,

women

in

human

life*

He

re^]

incorruptibly examples strong always to

when
1^
they cannot save*
ilft^

presents them as

infallibly faithful

just

and wise and purej

sanctify, eve
Jl^

i^

iJ^

Jl^

JHh

Jd^

OT as in any wise comparable

in

knowledge of the nature of man, still less in his under^

standing of the causes and^^^ courses of fate, but only as ^-^ the writer who has given us view of the conditions and modes the broadest

of ordinary thought in modern society, you next to receive the witness of

askl^

WaIterW|' Scott* iE I put aside his merely romantic prose Hu writings as of no value, and though the early

romantic poetry

mony

is

very beautiful, its testi-j of no weight, other than that of a

is

(boy^s ideal*

Scottish

But his true works, studied from life, bear a true witness ; and in the
these, there are but three
.^r

whole range of
I

men

who reach the

Note A* jr

Dinmont, Rob Roy, and Claverhouse; of these, one is a border

farmer; another a freebooter; the third a And these touch the soldier in a bad cause.

Dandie

heroic type,

See Appendix,

kdeal of heroism only in their courage and 'faith, together with a strong, but uncultivated,

mistakenly applied, intellectual power; iwhile his younger men are the gentlemanly [playthings of fantastic fortune, and only by
^or

aid (or accident) of that fortune, survive, not [Vanquish, the trials they involuntarily sustain*

Of any

disciplined, or consistent

characterJ

earnest in a purpose wisely conceived, or dealing with forms of hostile evil, definitely

imaginations Douglas, of Flora Rose Bradwardine, Catherine Sey* Maclvor, ton, Diana Vernon, Lilias Redgauntlet, Alicel Bridgenorth, Alice Lee, and Jeanie Deans,with endless varieties of grace, tenderness, andj intellectual power, we find in all a quite in^ fallible sense of dignity and justice ; a fearless, instant, and untiring self-sacrifice, to even the(
the characters of Ellen

appearance of duty, much more to its real claims; and, finally, a patient wisdom of deeply^restrained affection, which does in^j finitely more than protect its objects from aj

momentary
mates, and

error; it gradually forms, aniexalts the characters of the un-

worthy

lovers, until, at the close of the tale,* we are just able, and no more, to take patience! in hearing of their unmerited success* 9L So'
that, in all cases,

speare,

it

is

with Scott as with Shaken the woman who watches over,

1/ teaches, and guides the youth; it is never,! by any chance, the youth who watches over,

or educates, his mistress*

|EXT take^though more briefly,

graver testimony that of the great Italians andGreefcs* You know well the plan of Dante's l^^^ great poem that it is a love^ >L^^ poem to his dead lady ; a song her watch over his soul* Stoop' for [of praise ing only to pity, never to love, she yet saves 'him from destruction saves him from hell. He is going eternally astray in despair ; she

|comes down from heaven to his help, and ^throughout the ascents of Paradise is hisj
'cult truths,

most diffi"' and leading him, with rebuke upon rebuke, from star to^ star* E I do not insist upon Dante's concepteacher, interpreting for

him

the
;

divine and

human

I could not cease: besides,! think this a wild imagination of' you might 'one poet's heart* So I will rather read to*

tion;

if

began

you a few verses

[characteristic

of the deliberate writing of a knight of Pisa to his living lady, wholly^ of the feeling of all the noblest

of the thirteenth, or early fourteenth, [century, preserved among many other such|
*ecords of knightly honour and love, which 'Dante Rossetti has gathered for us from among the early Italian poets*
(,^1^
i

men

iJ^

i^^

1.^1^

i^^

i^^

1.^

^M^

**

For

lo

That

this
I

To
jx^i And
so

my
do
;

thy law is passed love should manifestly be

:

serve and honour thee

and
I

my
am

delight is full,
rule.

^^f

Accepted for the servant of thy

all

**

Without almost,
Since thus

rapturous.
set

To
Nor

my
it

will

was

serve, thou flower of joy, thine excels lence :

ever seems

A pain or a regret*
But on thee dwells
sense
;

anything could rouse

my

every thought and'

THAT
With

Considering that from thee all virtues spread As from a fountain head, GIFT IS WISDOM^S IN

THY

BEST AVAIL

AND HONOUR WITHOUT FAIL,!

whom
each sovereign good dwells!
separate, Fulfilling the perfection of thy state.
**

Lady, since

conceived

Thy
IN

MY LIFE HAS BEEN APART

SHINING BRIGHTNESS

pleasurable aspect in

my heart,

AND THE PLACE OF TRUTH;

Which till that time, good sooth. Groped among shadows in a darken^ place. Where many hours and days

It

hardly ever had remembered good*

But
Is thine,

and I am full of joy and rest A man from a wild beast l'^^ Thou madest me, since for thy love I lived/^^^^

now my

servitude

OU may think perhaps a Greek

knight would have had a lower estimate of women than this Christian lover* His spiritual subjection to them was indeed not so absolute ; but as regards
their

personal character, it was only be^ cause you could not have followed me so easily, that I did not take the Greek women
instead of Shakespeare^s ; and instance, for chief ideal types of human beauty and faith, the simple mother^s and wife^s heart of AndrO" mache; the divine, yet rejected wisdom of

own

Cassandra; the playful kindness and simple princess^Iife of happy Nausicaa ; the houses wifely calm of that of Penelope, with its watch
the ever patient, fearless, hope^ ; devoted lessly piety of the sister, and daughter,

upon

the sea

in

lamb^like and silent

Antigone ; the bowing down of Iphigenia, ; and finally, the expecta^

tion of the resurrection, made clear to the soul of the Greeks in the return from her grave of
that Alcestis,

who,

to save her husband,

had

passed calmly through the bitterness of deathJ I could multiply witness upon witness of this kind upon you if I had time^ I wouldi take Chaucer, and show you^ why he wrote a Legend of Good Women ; but no Legend

OW

of

Good Men* I would take Spenser, andj show you how all his fairy knights are some*

times deceived and sometimes vanquished; but the soul of Una is never darkened, andj the spear of Britomart is never broken* Nay, I could go back into the mythical teaching oi
the
the great people,
it

most ancient times, and show you howl by one of whose princesses was appointed that the Lawgiver of all

the earth should be educated, rather than byj his own kindred ; how that great Egyptiai people, wisest then of nations, gave to their^

Spirit of

Wisdom the form of

Woman

and

into her hand, for a symbol, the weaver^s shuttle ; and how the name and the form of|
that spirit, adopted, believed, and obeyed by' the Greeks, became that Athena of the olive^
,

helm, and cloudy shield, to faith in whom! you owe, down to this date, whatever you| hold most precious in art, in literature, or in
types of national virtue*

^T
I

will not

wander

into this
;

XWf/^]]!

distant
will

and mythical element W(j /J^ only ask you to give its w/y^j^

legitimate value to the testi* mony of these great poets and

men
[as

you

see
it

it is,

on

of the world, consistent, this head* I will ask you

whether
'the

can be supposed that these men, in

of their lives, are
fictitious

main work
relations

themselves with a
|the

between man

amusing and idle view of and woman ; nay,

^worse than fictitious or idle ; for a thing may be imaginary, yet desirable, if it were possible r >ut this, their ideal of woman, is, according to our common idea of the marriage relation,

wholly undesirable* The woman, we say, is to guide, nor even to think for herself* [not The man is always to be the wiser ; he is to
'be the thinker, the ruler, the superior in

know^

ledee and^cUscretion, as in power* Is it not somewhat important to make up our minds on this

matter?

men

these great mistaken, or are we?

all

Are

; dressing dolls iunnatural visions, the realization of which.

Are Shakespeare and /Eschy^ lus, Dante and Homer, merely for us or, worse than dolls,

were it possible, would bring anarchy into all households and ruin into all affections? Nay, if you can suppose this, take lastly the evi^
dence of facts, given by the human heart itselt In all Christian ages which have been remark^ able for their purity or progress, there has been absolute yielding of obedient devotion, by thei

not

lover, to his mistress*

say

OBEDIENT

;1

merely enthusiastic

and worshipping'

in imagination, but entirely subject, receiving

from the beloved woman, however young,|

not only the encouragement, the praise, and^ the reward of all toil, but, so far as any choice is open, or any question difficult of decision,!
the

DIRECTION

of

all

toil

That

chivalry,

and dishonour of which are attri*butable primarily whatever is cruel in war,] unjust in peace, or corrupt and ignoble in domestic relations ; and to the original purity' and power of which we owe the defence alike of faith, of law, and of love ; that chivalry, I^
to the abuse

say, in its very first conception of honour* able life, assumes the subjection of the young'

knight to the
the

command should
its

command
this,

in caprice

of his lady*
masters

it

even

be,

It aS'

sumes

because

knew

that!

the first

and necessary impulse of every truly and taught knightly heart is this of blind/

|service

to its lady: that where that true f^ith\w^-^lir and captivity are not^ all wayward and wicked \({ (/i^ passion must be; and that in this rapturous ^V^^y^

|obedience to the single love of his youths ^^i^^^ the sanctification of all man^s strength, and the continuance of all his purposes* And this,

/^^

for every noble

youth

it

trained to love any one (every one rightly whose gentle counsel he cannot trust,or whose prayerful command he can hesitate to obey.
^

IS impossible for

DO

not insist by any farther argument on this, for I think it,

should

commend

itself at

oncel

to your knowledge of what has! been and to your feeling of

what should be* You cannot think that the buckling on of the knight^s armour by his lady's hand was a mere capric(
romantic fashion* It is the type of an eternal truth that the souFs armour is never well set io the heart unless a woman's hand has braced it ; and it is only when she braces it loosely
'of

[that the

honour of manhood

not those lovely lines I would they were, [learned by all youthful ladies of England:

fails*

Know you

'

Ah, wasteful

\^^fWy^ has she cheapened Paradise ^^^ How her for How

she who may her own On her sweet Knowing he cannot choose but pay
woman
self set
I

price,
I

^jf

How spoiled the bread and

given

nought

priceless gift,

spill'd the

wine.

Which, spent with due respective thrift. ^* Had made brutes men, and men divine ! jr See Appendix, Note B .jrl

HUS much, then, respecting the

relations of lovers I believe youj But what we too^ will accept.

often doubt is the fitness of the

continuance of such a relation'

throughout the whole of human

right in the lover and mis* tress, not in the husband and wife. That is toj say, we think that a reverent and tender duty
life.
it

We think

is

due to one whose affection we still doubt,^ and whose character we as yet do but partially^ and distantly discern ; and that this reverence^ and duty are to be withdrawn when the affec* tion has become wholly and limitlessly our own, and the character has been so sifted and, tried that we fear not to entrust it with the! happiness of our lives. Do you not see how'
ignoble this
is,

as well as

how unreasonable ?

Do you

not

feel

that marriage,

when

it

isi

only the seal which marks the vowed transition of temporary into un^
marriage at
all,

is

tiring service,

and of fitful into eternal love ? ^UT how, you will ask, is the
idea of this guiding function of the woman reconcilable with a true wifely subjection ? Simply
in that
it

is

GUIDING,

not

a determining, function* Let me

try to show you briefly how these powers are seem to be rightly distinguishable. E and in without excuse foolish, speak ^foolish,

We

Mother, as

ing of the ''superiority^^ of one sex to the if they could be compared in similar Each has what the other has not: things* each completes the other, and is completed by, ithe other: they are in nothing alike, and the'

happiness and perfection of both depends on each asking and receiving from the other what the other only can give.

|OW

their separate characters' are briefly these. The man^s

power

is

active, progressive,

defensive.

He is eminently the

doer, the creator, the discoverer, the defender. His intellect is

for speculation and invention; his energy for adventure, for war, and for conquest, wherever

[war

is

just^

wherever conquest necessary.

But the woman^s power is for rule^ not for' and her intellect is not for invention battle,

|or creation,

but for sweet ordering, arrange-

ment, and decision*

She
and

sees the qualities^

their places*

their claims, ^of things,

Her great function is Praise; she enters into no 'contest, but infallibly adjudges the crown of
Icontest*

and place, she is proThe tected from all danger and temptation* in in his work man, rough open world, mustj all peril and trial ; to him, therefore,^ Rencounter

By

her

office,

'must be the failure, the offence, the inevitable error : often he must be wounded, or subdued;! hardened* But ^often misled ; and le guards the woman from all this ; within Ihis house, as ruled by her, unless she herself] has sought it, need enter no danger, no temp* This^ tation, no cause of error or offence* is the true nature of home it is the place of iPeace ; the shelter, not only from all injury, but from all terror, doubt, and division* In! so far as it is not this, it is not home ; so far^ as the anxieties of the outer life penetrate into jit, and the inconsistently^minded, unknown,! unloved, or hostile society of the outer world] is allowed by either husband or wife to cross 'the threshold, it ceases to be home ; it is theni

ALWAYS

only a part of that outer world which you have roofed over^ and lighted fire in. But so
far as
it

a sacred place^ a vestal temple^ a temple of the hearth watched over by House^l^^ 'hold Gods, before whose faces none may come but those whom they can receive with love,so far as it is this, and roof and fire are typesi of a nobler shade and light, shade as] [only 'of the rock in a weary land, and light as ofkv'' the Pharos in the stormy sea ; so far it vin^
is
I

^^

HUj

^dicates the

name, and fulfils the praise, of 9L And wherever a true wife comes, Home. The stars this home is always round her.

be over her head; the glowworm in the night^cold grass may be the only fire at her foot ; but home is yet wherever she is ; land for a noble woman it stretches far round her, better than ceiled with cedar, or painted

bnly

may

'with vermilion, shedding its quiet light far,

for those

who

else

were homeless.

[HIS, then, I believe to be, will you not admit it to be, the

woman's true place and power? But do not you see that, to ful"
she must as far as one can use such terms of a human creature ^be incapable of error ? So far as )he rules, all must be right, or nothing is. She
fil

this,

must be enduringly^ incorruptibly good;

V\\W

\M

^^Jm

stinctivcly, infallibly development^ but for self-renunciation

wisewise^ not for

:

in"

self^

^^^not

that she

may

wise, her herself above husset

^^band,
side
:

may never fail from his^ with the narrowness of insonot wise, lent and loveless pride, but with the pas^
but that she
sionate gentleness of

an

infinitely variable,

because infinitely applicable, modesty of ser^ In vice the true changefulness of woman. ** La donna k mobile,^^ notj that great sense '^ ** Qual pidm' al vento ; no, nor yet Vari^^ able as the shade, by the light quivering aspen made^^; but variable as the LIGHT,' manifold in fair and serene division, that it may take the colour of all that it falls upon,

and

exalt

it*

HAVE been trying, thus far, tol

show you what should
place,

be the

and what the power of

secondly, we. of education'

woman*
ask.
if

Now, What kind

her for these? E And' think this a true conception indeed you of her office and dignity, it will not be diffiis to fit

course of education whichi would fit her for the one, and raise her to the other* E The first of our duties to her no/
cult to trace the

jthoughtful persons now doubt this^ is to secure for her such physical training and ex^
ercise as
|her

may

confirm her heahh, and perfect

beauty; the highest refinement of that 'beauty being unattainable without splendour of activity and of delicate strength. per^ iect her beauty^ I say, and increase its power ;

To

cannot be too powerful, nor shed its sacred 'light too far : only remember that all physi" cal freedom is vain to produce beauty with^ a corresponding freedom of heart* There (Out
it

are
I

two passages
it

tinguished,
1

not by power, but by exquisite RIGHT" NESS ^which point you to the source, and

of that poet who is dis^ seems to me, from all others

describe to you, in a few syllables, the com^ of womanly beauty. I will read the jpletion

introductory stanzas, but the last 'wish you specially to notice :

is

the one

**

Three years she grew '

in

sun and shower

Then Nature
*

said,

A lovelier flower
I

earth was never sown ; I to myself will take ; child ^This

*

On

She
*

shall be mine,

and

will

make

A lady of my own.
me

*^ *
*

Myself will to my darling be Both law and impulse ; and with *The girl, in rock and plain.

'
*

In earth and heaven, in glade and bower, Shall feel an overseeing power ^To kindle, or restrain*

* *

The

To

floating clouds their state shall lend her, for her the willow bend ; *Nor shall she fail to see, Even in the motions of the storm, Grace that shall mould the maiden^s formi
*

By

silent

sympathy.

'' '
*

And VITAL FEELINGS OF DELIGHT

Shall rear her form to statelv height,' Her virgin bosom swell. Such thoughts to Lucv I will give,

*
*

While she and I together live, *' ' Here in this happy dell.^
i5r

See Appendix, Note C. jr

IC^' VITAL feelings of delight,'' observe.] [There are deadly feelings of delight ; but th< ^natural ones are vital, necessary to very life. E And they must be feelings of delight, if
jthey are to be vital.

Do

make a

girl lovely, if

not think you can^ you do not make herf

happy. There is not one restraint you put^ there is not onei Ion a good girl's nature check you give to her instincts of affectioi or of effort which will not be indelibly written on her features, with a hardness which lis all the more painful because it takes awayj

the

the brightness from the eyes of innocence^ and charm from the brow of virtue*

HIS

for the

means
lines,

now

note

the end*
poet, in

Take from
two

the samel

a perfect de^ scription of womanly beauty ** countenance in which did!

meet

Sweet records, promises as sweet/'

iE The perfect loveliness of a woman's countenance can only consist in that majestic peace,

which is founded in the memory of happyj and useful years, full of sweet records and' from the joining of this with that yet more majestic childishness, which is still full of^ promise change opening always mod^l est at once, and bright, with hope of better] things to be won, and to be bestowed* There is no old age where there is still that promise** HUS, then, you have first to mould her physical frame, and<

&

then, as the strength she gains will permit you, to fill and tem-

per her
ledge

knowand thoughts which tendl

all

mind with

ko confirm
refine its

natural instincts of justice, and' natural tact of love* 11 All such

its

.knowledge should be given her as

may enable!

[her to understand,

and even to
it

aid, the

work

should be given, not as were, or could be, for an but only to feel, andj know to ; |her object to judge* It is of no moment, as a matt< or perfectness in herself, whether she |Of pride knows many languages or one ; but it is of fthe utmost, that she should be able to show! kindness to a stranger, and to understand the' 'sweetness of a stranger^s tongue* It is of no
of
yet as not knowledge,
:

men and

if it

moment to her own worth or dignity that she| ishould be acquainted with this science or that ;^ 'but it is of the highest that she should be
trained in habits of accurate thought; thati ishe should understand the meaning, the inevi^
(tableness,

and the loveliness of natural laws ; and follow at least some one path of scientific!

'attainment, as far as to the threshold of that! bitter Valley of Humiliation, into which only'

the wisest

and bravest of men can descend,

^owning themselves for ever children, gathering pebbles on a boundless shore* It is of little!
consequence how many positions of cities she' knows, or how many dates of events, or names of celebrated persons it is not the object ol education to turn the woman into a dictionary;] but it is deeply necessary that she should be 'taught to enter with her whole personality intOi
, I

'^^

she reads ; to picture the passages iw^^ vitally in her own bright imagination ; to W(( / apprehend, with her fine instincts, the pathetic ^^7 [circumstances and dramatic relations, which rthe historian too often only eclipses by his^"^ reasoning, and disconnects by his arrange^ ment : it is for her to trace the hidden equities lof divine reward, and catch sight, through
[the history

of

it

^^^

darkness, of the fateful threads of woven fire that connect error with retribution* But, of all, she is to be taught to extend |ChiefIy the limits of her sympathy with respect to that history which is being for ever determined las the moments pass in which she draws her peaceful breath; and to the contemporary calamity, which, were it but rightly mourned She iby her, would recur no more hereafter*
'the
is

to exercise herself in imagining

what would

be the effects upon her mind and conduct, if she were daily brought into the presence of 'the suffering which is not the less real because She is to be taught ishut from her sight* the nothingness of to understand somewhat
the proportion which that little world in which lives loves, bears to the world in which jshe

&

[God lives and loves; and solemnly she is to be taught to strive that her thoughts of
.piety

may

not be feeble in proportion to the

number they embrace^ nor her prayer more languid than it is for the momentary relief from pain of her husband or her child, when it is uttered for the multitudes of those whoj ** have none to love them, and is for all wh< are desolate and oppressed/^ HUS far, I think, I have had your concurrence; perhaps you will not be with me in what I' believe is most needful for me to say* There IS one danger-

ous science for which they must indeed beware

fanely touch

Strange, and' miserably strange, that while they are modest

that of theology*
their

womenone, how they pro^

powers, and pause at where every step isl demonstrable and sure, they will plunge head^j long, and without one thought of incom>

enough to doubt

the threshold of sciences

which the great" and the wisest erred. trembled, that will Strange, they complacently and pride^' fully bind up whatever vice or folly there is in' them, whatever arrogance, petulance, or blind, incomprehensiveness, into one bitter bundle of consecrated myrrh* Strange, in creatures! born to be Love visible, that where they can know least, they will condemn first, and think/
petency, into that science in
est

men have

recommend themselves to their Master, ^Yy(r//?/Wfi crawling up the steps of His judgment^throne Wjj yJA to divide it with Him* Strangest of all that^^M^ think led by the Spirit should were they they ^^^ tol the Comforter into habits of mind which have become in them the unmixed elements
to
I

v^

of

home

discomfort; and that they dare to

turn the Household

'ugly idols of their

Gods of
;

own

Christianity into

spiritual dolls, for

;

them

to dress according to their caprice

and

which their husbands must turn away (from ^in grieved contempt, lest they should be shrieked at for breaking them*
then, with this ex. a girVs education that Iception, should be nearly, in its course

;BELIEVE,
I

(and material of study, the same as a boy^s ; but quite differently directed. woman, in any
I

rank of life, ought to know whatever her husband is likely to know, but to know it im a different way. His command of it should
be foundational

& progressive

hers, general

and accomplished for daily and helpful use. Not but that it would often be wiser in men tol
learn things in a womanly sort of way, for pretrainsent use, and to seek for the discipline in mental such branches their of powers ing

&

study as will be afterwards fittest for social! a man ought ; but, speaking broadly, he learns, science or know to any language ^while a woman ought to know S^^Jthoroughly '^^the same language, or science, only so far as< may enable her to sympathise in her husband^s pleasures, and in those of his best friends* ET, observe, with exquisite ac^j curacy as far as she reachesJ There is a wide difference be^
[of

service

tween elementary knowledgej and superficial knowledge be* tween a firm beginning, and an'

infirm attempt at compassing* may always help her husband by

woman!

what she

knows, however little; by what she half^ knows, or mis-'knows, she will only teasel him* it And indeed, if there were to be any difference between a girl^s education and boy^s, I should say that of the two the girl
should be
faster, into

earlier led,

as her

intellect ripens

deep and serious subjects : and that' her range of literature should be, not more, but" less frivolous ; calculated to add the qualities of patience and seriousness to her natural poignancy of thought and quickness of wit ;l and also to keep her in a lofty and pure ele^

ment of thought*

enter not

now

into anyi

question of choice of books ; only let us be sure that her books are not heaped up in her lap as they fall out of the package of the cir^ [culating library, wet with the last and lightest rspray of the fountain of folly*
I

|R even of the fountain of wit ; for with respect to the sore temptation of novel reading, it is not the badness of a novel that we should dread, so much
as its over^wrought interest. romance is not so stupefying weakest [The as the lower forms of religious exciting lite^ rature, and the worst romance is not so cor^
rupting as false history, false philosophy, or But the best romance false political essays. ibecomes dangerous, if, by its excitement, it renders the ordinary course of life uninterest"
ing,

and increases the morbid thirst for useless acquaintance with scenes in which we shall
never be called upon to
act.

SPEAK
[literature

therefore

Inovels only;

of good and our modern

is particularly rich in Well read, in^ of such. itypes have serious these books deed,
I

use,

being nothing less than

ireatises

on moral anatomy and chemistry;

[studies of

human nature
little

in the elements of

it J

weight to this function : they' are hardly ever read with earnestness enough them to fulfil it* The utmost theyi (to permit
usually do is to enlarge somewhat the charity^ of a kind reader, or the bitterness of a malicious one ; for each will gather, from the novel, food for her own disposition* Those

But I attach

whoj

are naturally proud and envious will learnl from Thackeray to despise humanity ; those

who are naturally gentle, to pity it

lare

those whOj
-

'there

naturally shallow, to laugh at it* So, also, might be a serviceable power in novels

^truth

to bring before us, in vividness, a humanf which we had before dimly conceived ;

but the temptation to picturesqueness of states

ment is so great, that often the best writers] of fiction cannot resist it ; and our views are! rendered so violent and one-sided, that their' vitality is rather a harm than good*

[ITHOUT, however, venturing^

here sion

on any attempt

at deci^l

novel reading^ should be allowed, let me at

least clearly assert this,

how much

that]

whether novels, or poetry, or| be read, they should be chosen, not history for their freedom from evil, but for theiri

possession of gooi The chance and scattered evil that may here and there haunt, or hide itself in, a powerful book, never does any harm |to a noble girl ; but the emptiness of an authorl 'oppresses her, and his amiable folly degrades her. And if she can have access to a good; library of old and classical books, there need be no choosing at alL Keep the modern' 'magazine and novel out of your girl^s way :b\ turn her loose into the old library every wet luV day, and let her alone. She will find what her ; you cannot : for there is just ^is good for
^ I

between the making of a girl's 'character and a boy's ^you may chisel a boy into shape, as you would a rock, or hammer him into it, if he be of a better kind, as you a piece of bronze. But you cannot [would hammer a girl into anything. She grows as a flower does, she will wither without sun ; she will decay in her sheath, as a narcissus will, if you do not give her air enough ; she 'may fall, and defile her head in dust, if you leave her without help at some moments of her life ; but you cannot fetter her ; she must her own fair form and way, if she take Jtake 'any, &, in mind as in body, must have always ** Her household motions light and free
this difference

And

steps of virgin liberty.''

Let her loose in the library, I say, as you do a fawn in a field* It knows the bad weeds twenty times better than you ; and the good

ones too, and will eat some

ones, good for
est
it,

bitter

and

pricklyj
slight'

which you had not the have been so. would thought

EN,

in

art,

keep the

finest^

models before her, and let her practice in all accomplishments* be accurate and thorough, so
as to enable her to understandj

more than she accomplishes.

say the finest models

that

I^

is

to say, the truest,

simplest, usefuUest. Note those epithets : the-] will range through all the arts. Try them in

music, where you might think them the least

applicable*
I

say the

truest, that in

which]

most closely and faithfully express! the meaning of the words, or the character or
the notes

intended emotion; again, the simplest, that in which the meaning and melody are at^,
tained with the fewest

and most

significant'

notes possible; and, finally, the usefuUest,* that music which makes the best words mosti
beautiful,
ries

which enchants them

its

in

our memO'

each with
applies

own

glory of sound, andj

which

them

closest to the heart at the

moment we need them*

jND
f;^v

not only in the matcnar and in the course, but yet

let

j|/^| earnestly in the spirit

girl's

education be as

if they were sideboard ornaments, and then complain of their frivolity. Give them the same advantages that you give their brothers
()

ous as a boy's. up your girls as

You

seri-'i^^

bring

^^

meant

for

THEM, also, that cour^ age and truth are the pillars of their being : do you think that they would not answer that appeal, brave and true as they are even now, when you know that there is hardly a girls' school in this Christian kingdom where the children's courage or sincerity would be thought of half so much importance as their way of coming in at a door ; and when the whole system of society, as respects the mode
|tue

appeal to the same in them ; teach

grand instincts of

vir^

of establishing them in life, is one rotten plague of cowardice and imposture coW" ardice, in not daring to let them live, or

love, except as their neighbours choose ; and in bringing, for the purposes of [imposture, 'our own pride, the full glow of the world's

worst vanity upon a girl's eyes, at the very period when the whole happiness of

her future existence depends

upon her

re^i

maining undazzled?
noble

ND give them^ lastly^ not only

teachings, but noble teachers* You consider some**^
|

what before you send your boy to schoolf what kind of a man
the

master is ; he is, you at least give him' full authority over your son, and show some if he comes to respect to him yourself ; dinej with you, you do not put him at a side table
kind of a

whatsoever

man

you know also

that, at college,

your

child^s

Immediate tutor will be under the direction of^ some still higher tutor, for whom you have absolute reverence. You do not treat the Dean of Christ Church or the Master of Trinity

your

inferiors.

C But what
much

asj

give your girls, and show to the teachers

what you have chosen ?

teachers do you reverence do you'

Is

girl likely to
intellect,

think her

own

conduct, or her

own

of

importance,

when

you'

trust the entire formation of her character,'

intellectual, to a person whom you treat with less respect than] servants your they do your housekeeper (as if the soul oi your child were a less charge than jams and

moral and

let

groceries),

and whom you yourself think you/

confer an honour upon by letting her some^ times s it in the drawing-room in the evening ?

^^HUS, then, of literature as her help, and thus of art* There isl^^ one more help which she cannot ^^"^ do without one which, alone, has sometimes done more than

other influences besides, ^the help of wild and fair nature. Hear this iE ** The of the education of Joan of Arc : ^education of this poor girl was mean, accord" to the present standard ; was ineffably ^ing
all

ard

grand, according to a purer philosophic standi ; only not good for our age, because for ft Next us it would be unattainable.

&

**^

her spiritual advantages, she owed most the advantages of her situation* The foun^ [to tain of Domr^my was on the brink of a bounds
after

less forest

and

it

was haunted

to that degree

the parish priest (cur^) was read mass there once a year, im to ^obliged lorder to keep them in decent bounds*

by

fairies, that

EBut the

forests

^^^ of Domr^my those were

for in

the glories of the land;

them abode
secrets that

mysterious powers and ancient

'towered into tragic strength* Abbeys there Mike Moorish were, and abbey windows, even exercised iemples of the Hindoos,^ that

power both in Touraine and in the WiWiy ^^^^^^ Diets, These had their sweet bells
princely

?^v(v that pierced the forests for many a league at or vespers^ and each its own dreamy

""^^/matins '^^

Few enough, and scattered enough/ legend. were these abbeys, so as in no degree to dis*

deep solitude of the region ; yet many. to spread a network or awning of ^SJenough il'dChristian sanctity over what else might have' seemed a heathen wilderness/' Jr See Apiturb the

Note D. v^ E Now, you cannot, inhere in England, woods eighteen] have deed,
pendix,
; but you can, perhaps,^ a or two for keep fairy your children yet, il them. But you wish to keep you wish it? Suppose you had each, at the back of your houses, a garden, large enough for your] children to play in, with just as much lawn as would give them room to run, no more and that you could not change your abode ;^ but that, if you chose, you could double yourincome, or quadruple it, by digging a coal shaft] in the middle of the lawn, and turning the flower-beds into heaps of coke. Would you, do it ? I hope not. I can tell you, you would] be wrong if you did, though it gave you in-

miles deep to the centre

DO

come
*^

sixty-fold instead of four-fold.

i^

i^

k,^

i^

tSt^

JH^

JK^

Jl^

|ET

this is
all

what you

arc doing

with

England^ country is but a little garden, not more than enough for your children to run on the lawns

The whole

them ALL run there. And this little garden you will Iturn into furnace ground, and fill with heaps 'of cinders, if you can; and those children oiw^ For the IE yours, not you, will suffer for it.
of, if

you would

let

iairies will not

^of

be all banished
*^

there are fairies

wood, and their first gifts seem to be sharp arrows of the mighty **;
the furnace as of the
*'

tbut their last gifts are

|ND yet
is
I

coals of juniper/^ cannot though there

no
feel
;

part of

more
for

my subject that press upon

this

you

we made
that

so

little

use

of the

power
it

of nature while

we had
|feel

we

shall hardly

what we have lost. Just on the other Mersey you have your Snowdon, that mighty granite and your Menai Straits, .rock beyond the moors of Anglesea, splendid
Iside of the

&

heathery crest, and foot planted in the a divine leep sea, once thought of as sacred promontory, looking westward; the Holy |Head or Headland, still not without awe when
|in its

red light glares first through storm. These are the hills, and these the bays and blue in^ lets, which, among the Greeks, would have
its

been always loved, always fateful in influence] on the national mind. That Snowdon is youi Parnassus ; but where are its Muses ? That

Holyhead mountain is your Island of JEgina.; but where is its Temple to Minerva ?

HALL

read

you what

the!

Christian Minerva hadachieved under the shadow of our Parnassus up to the year 1848 ?

Here

is

little

account of a

Welsh school, from page 261^ of the Report on Wales, published by the Committee of Council on Education. This
is

a school close to a town containing 5,000] 9L**1 then called up a larger class, persons :

most of
school.

whom
Three

had recently come to

the*

girls repeatedly declared they had never heard of Christ, and two that out ofl they had never heard of God.

Two
now

six thought Christ

was on

earth

'^

(they'

might have had a worse thought perhaps), ^^ three knew nothing about the Crucifixion, Four out of seven did not know the names* of the months nor the number of days in a year. They had no notion of addition^
i

beyond two and twOt or three and three; minds were perfect blanks/^ iE Oh, ye women of England! from the Princess of
their

Ithat

'think

into
scattered
I

on

the hills, as sheep having

no

shepherd.

And do

not think your daughters

can be trained to the truth of their own human beauty, while the pleasant places, which God made at once for their schoolroom and their playground, lie desolate and defiled. You can^

not baptize them rightly in those inch^deep 'fonts of yours, unless you baptize them also in the sweet waters which the great Lawgiver strikes forth for ever from the rocks of your inative land waters which a Pagan would

have worshipped in their purity, and you worship only with pollution. You cannot

your children faithfully to those narrow .axe^hewn church altars of yours, while the [dark azure altars in heaven the mountains that sustain your island throne, mountains which a Pagan would have seen the powers ^on of heaven rest in every wreathed cloud re^ 'main for you without inscription; altars not to, but by an Unknown God
^lead

ji^

ji^

ji^

k^^

jHUS

far, then, of

the nature,!

thus far of the teaching, of' woman, and thus of her houses hold office, and queenlinessj now come to our last,^ What our widest question* is her queenly office with respect to the state ? iE Generally, we are under an im* pression that a man's duties are public, andl a woman's private. But this is not alto* man has a personal worki gether so*

We

ior duty, relating to his

own home, and

is

a^

'public

the expan^ sion of the other, relating to the state* Sol a woman has a personal work or duty, reilating to her own home, and a public work or duty, which is also the expansion of
I

work

or duty, which

C Now the man's work

has been

for his

own

that.]

home]

is, as

said, to secure its mainte-

nance, progress, and defence; the woman's >to secure its order, comfort, and loveliness. E Expand both these functions. The man's!

duty as a member of a commonwealth, is to' assist in the maintenance, in the advance,

in the defence of the state.

The woman's!

duty, as a member of the commonwealth,! is to assist in the ordering, in the comfort-

^ing, and

in the beautiful

adornment of

the^

state.

fE

What
if

the

man

is at

his

own

gate,

need be, against insult and defending it, spoil, that also, not in a less, but in a more devoted measure, he is to be at the gate fol his country, leaving his home, if need be, even to the spoiler, to do his more incumbent work there^ 9L And, in like man^ ner, what the woman is to be within her 'gates, as the centre of order, the balm of dis^ tress, and the mirror of beauty : that she is also to be without her gates, where order
I I

is

more

difficult,

distress

more imminent,
as within the
set

loveliness

more

rare.
is

CAnd

an instinct instinct which you for all its real duties, cannot quench, but only warp and corrupt lif you withdraw it from its true purpose:

'human heart there

always an

there is the intense instinct of love, 'which, rightly disciplined, maintains all the

as

and, misdirected, undermines do either the one or the ; so there is in the human heart an 'other; inextinguishable instinct, the love of power, iWhich, rightly directed, maintains all the
sanctities of
life,

'them

and

MUST

majesty of law and 'wrecks them.

life,

and, misdirected,

EEP
it

rooted in the innermost! life of the heart of man, and of the heart of woman, God set
there,

Vainly, asGod keeps you blamed

and
it

there.

falsely,

or rebuke the desire of power I For Heaven^s sake, and for Man^s sake,
desire
it

all

you

can.

But

WHAT power

the question. Power to destroy ?l the lion's limb, and the dragon's breath ? Not

That
so.

is all

to

Power to heal, to redeem, to guide, andi guard. Power of the sceptre and shield;,
power of the royal hand
that heals in
thel

touching, that binds the

the

fiend, and looses

captive; the throne that is founded on the rock of Justice, and descended from only by Will you not covet suchj steps of Mercy. power as this, and seek such throne as this,| and be no more housewives, but queens ?

is

now long since the women

a
title

of England arrogated, univer*

sally,

which once

be^<

longed to nobility only; and,' having once been in the habit of

acceptingthe simple title of gentlewoman as correspondent to that of gentle^l man, insisted on the privilege of assuming the ** title of Lady,'' jt See Appendix, Note E. jr

which properly corresponds only to the title of I do not blame them for this ; but Lord,^ their narrow motive in this* I would only for them desire and claim the title of Lady, |have
I

^provided they claim, not merely the title, but the office and duty signified by it. Lady means
i'^

bread^giver^'or loaf^giver/* and Lord means maintainer of laws/^ both titles have refers

**

&

not to the law which is maintained in the house, nor to the bread which is given to the .household ; but to law maintained for the mul^ titude,& to bread broken among the multitude* ^So that a Lord has legal claim only to his title |in so far as he is the maintainer of the justice of a Lady has legal claim to the Lord of lords ; her title only so far as she communicates that ihelp to the poor representatives of her Master,
fence,

&

'their

which women once, ministering to Him of substance, were permitted to extend to that Master Himself ; and when she is known,

^as

He Himself once was, in breaking of bread. iND this beneficent and legal
dominion, this power of the Dominus, or House^Lord, and
of the

Domina,or House^Lady, and venerable, not in sSifc^^ the number of those through
is great

,whom

it

has

lineally descended, but in the

[number of those whom it grasps within its sway; it is always regarded with reverent worship wherever its dynasty is founded on and its ambition correlative with itsj j-^^^^its duty^ beneficence* Your fancy is pleased with th )i^^i\ thought of being noble ladies, with a train of vassals* Be it so ; you cannot be too noble J train cannot be too great ; but see j^^and your
|)to

it that your train is of vassals whom you! serve and feed, not merely of slaves who serve and feed ; and that the multitude which/

YOU
is

obeys you

forted, not deemed, not led into captivity.

you oppressed, ^whom you

of those

whom

have comhave re-of the

D
is

this,

which

is true

lower or household dominion,

equally true of the queenly! dominion ; that highest dignity!

is

open to you,
*'

if

you

will also'

Rex '' et Regina Roi et Reine RIGHT^doers

accept that highest duty.

but from the Lady and Lord, in! power is supreme over the mind as' over the person that they not only feed and And whether clothe, but direct and teach. consciously or not, you must be, in many al heart, enthroned : there is no putting by that crown ; queens you must always be : queens/
they
differ

that their

; queens to your husbands and' sons ; your queens of higher mystery to the world beyond, which bows itself, and will for |ever bow, before the myrtle crown and thej

to your lovers

'Stainless sceptre of

womanhood*

But, alas

you

are too often idle

and careless queens,

grasping at majesty in the least things, while! lyou abdicate it in the greatest; and leaving!
'misrule

and violence to work

in gift

men,

in defiance of the

amongb| power which, holding l|^

their will

from the Prince of all Peace, the ^wicked among you betray, and the good forget. IRINCE of Peace/' Note that name. When kings rule in that name, and nobles, and the
jStraight

judges of the earth, they also,

in
their

narrow

place,

and
the

mortal measure, receive

'power of it. There are no other rulers than they ; other rule than theirs is but MISrule ; ** ** they who govern verily Dei Gratia are all
Iprinces, yes, or princesses of Peace.
is

There

not a

war in the world,

^but that

you women

no, nor an injustice, are answerable for it ; not in

you have provoked, but in that you have [not hindered. Men, by their nature, are prone to fight they will fight for any cause, or for ^none. It is for you to choose their cause for
;

[them, cause*

and to forbid them when there is no There is no suffering, no injustice,'

^^J/ no misery,

^^^with

^^z you

in the earth, but the guilt of it lies you. Men can bear the sight of it, butj should not be able to bear it. Men mayi
it

tread

down without sympathy in their own struggle; but men are feeble in sympathy,!

and contracted in hope ; it is you only who can feel the depths of pain, and conceive the! way of its healing. Instead of trying to do this, you turn away from it ; you shut your-^j .selves within your park walls and garden^ gates; and you arc content to know that there is beyond them a whole world in wiK derness a world of secrets which you dare not penetrate; and of suffering which you

dare not conceive.

be degraded.

you that this is to m( quite the most amazing among^ the phenomena of humanity. I am surprised at no depths to. which, when once warped from! its honour, that humanity can* I do not wonder at the miser^s^

TELL

death, with his hands, as they relax, dropping] gold. I do not wonder at the sensualist^s life,|

with the shroud wrapped about his

feet.

do
ai

not wonder at the single-handed murder of

[single victim,

done by the assassin in the dark^' ness of the railway, or reed shadow of the marsh* I do not even wonder at the myriad-

[handed murder of multitudes, done boastfully! rin the daylight, by the frenzy of nations, and the immeasurable, unimaginable guilt, heaped up from hell to heaven, of their priests,
land kings.
cate

'how wonderful to
I

But

this is

wonderful to

meoh,]

and deli^l'i'n her with child at you, herll^ a power, if she would wield it, and |breast, and over its father, purer than the airi ^over it, of heaven, and stronger than the seas of earth'
see the tender

woman among

nay, a magnitude of blessing which her husband would not part with for all that earth
itself,

though

[perfect

chrysolite: to
!

it

were made of one

entire

and

see her abdicate this

majesty to play at precedence with her next'door neighbour! This is wonderful oh,<

wonderful

to

see her, with every innocent

fresh within her, go out in the momJfeeling her garden to play with the fringes into ling of its guarded flowers, and lift their heads when they are drooping, with her happy smile
,

upon her face, and no cloud upon her brow,] [because there is a little wall around her place of peace: and yet she knows, in her heart, kif she would only look for its knowledge,!

that, outside of that little rose^covered

wall J

the wild grasst to the horizon, is torn up by' the agony of men, and beat level by the drift
of their life-blood.

AVE you ever considered whatj

a deep under meaning there lies,
or at least

may

be read,

if

we

choose, in our custom of strew^l ing flowers before those whom] we think most happy ? Do it is merely to deceive themi you suppose into the hope that happiness is always to fall thus in showers at their feet ? that wherever they pass they will tread on herbs of sweet( scent, and that the rough ground will be made

So for them by depths of roses? believe will as that, they they surely have,j instead, to walk on bitter herbs and thorns ;[ and the only softness to their feet will be! But it is not thus intended they of snow. hould believe ; there is a better meaning in^ that old custom. The path of a good woman) is indeed strewn with flowers ; but they rise' '^Her behind her steps, not before them.
smooth
feet

have touched the meadows, and

left the]

daisies rosy.''

OU

think that only a lover's fancy ; false and vain I How if it could be true ? You think

this also, perhaps,

fancy
**

only a poet's

Even the light harebell raised

its head from her airy tread/' But it is little to say of a woman, that she only does not destroy where she passes* She

Elastic

ishould revive; the harebells should bloom, You think I am ,not stoop, as she passes. I wild into Pardon me, not hyperbole rushing
^a

say in calm English, spoken in resolute truth. You have heard it said (and I believe there is more than fancy
whit
I I

mean what

leven in that saying, but let it pass for a fan^ one) that flowers only flourish rightly
jciful

some one who loves them. I know you would like that to be true you .would think it a pleasant magic if you could 'flush your flowers into brighter bloom by a kind look upon them nay, more, if your look
in the garden of
; :

had the power, not only to cheer, but to guard if you could bid the black blight turn away, 'and the knotted caterpillar spare if you could bid the dew fall upon them in the drought, ** land say to the south wind, in frost Come,
;

^m

thou souths and breathe upon my garden, that the spices of it may flow out/^ This you' would think a great thing? And do you think it not a greater thing, that all this, (and howj

much more than this I) you

you you
for

do, for flowers than these flowers that could bless

fairei

CAN

having blessed them, and will lovei for having loved them ; flowers that have thoughts like yours, and lives like yours;! and which, once saved, you save for ever? Far among thej Is this only a little power ? moorlands and the rocks, far in the darkness^

of the terrible streets,

these

feeble florets are

lying, with all their fresh leaves torn, and( their stems broken : will you never go down

to them, nor set

them

in order in their

little

fragrant beds, nor fence them in their trem* Shall morning! bling, from the fierce wind ?

follow morning, for you, but not for them;' and the dawn rise to watch, far away, those * antic Dances of Death ; jr See Of Kings^^ Treasuries,^ Appendix, Note J* jt but nol dawn rise to breathe upon these living banks' of wild violet, and woodbine, and rose; nor

you, through your casement call (not giving you the name of the English poet^sj lady, but the name of Dante^s great Matilda,
call to

who, on the edge of happy Lethe,

stood,i

|wreathing flowers with flowers), saying : Come into the garden, Maud, For the black bat, night, has flown. And the woodbine spices are wafted abroad,| And the musk of the roses blown '' ?

fEWill you not go down among them?

among

those sweet living things,

whose new

from the earth with the deep' jcourage, sprung heaven 'colour of upon it, is starting up inl strength of goodly spire and whose purity, |washed from the dust, is opening, bud by and stillj ^bud, into the flower of promise; ** and The turn Larkto for they you, you,
;

^spur listensI hear,

whispers

hear

And
I

the Lily

wait/^
JID

you

notice that
I

missed twol

lines

when read you that first] stanza; and think that I had Hear them^ forgotten them?
now:

**Come into the garden, Maud,' black the For bat, night, has flown. Come into the garden, Maud, I am here at the gate, alone/^
stands at the is it, think you, |E this sweeter of alone, waiting for garden fgate a ever ? Did not of Maud, but, hear, you you
I

Who

who

la

Madeleine,

who went down

to her garden'

in the

gate, whom she

dawn, and found One waiting at thi supposed to be the gardener ?^

Have you not sought Him

in vain, all in vain at the gate of that old gardei where the fiery sword is set ? He is never

Him Him

sought through the night; sought

often;

but at the gate of THIS garden He is to take your hand! ^Jwaiting always waiting the fruits of the\ see to to down ^ady go #)//J vine whether the has flourished, see to valley, and the pomegranate budded* There you shal with Him the little tendrils of the vines that] jsee 'His hand is guiding there you shall see the^
[there;

pomegranate springing where His hand ihe sanguine seed more you shall see the
cast
;
:

troops of the angel keepers that, with their wings, wave away the hungry birds from the] path^sides where He has sown, and call U each other between the vineyard rows, ** Take^

us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the kvines, for our vines have tender grapes*^ Oh-

you queensyou queens

;

among

the

hills'

and happy greenwood of this land of yours, shall the foxes have holes, and the birds ofi the air have nests and in your cities, shall
the stones cry out against you, that they are| the only pillows where the Son of Man can

'lay

His head ?

APPENDIX
A, p. 10^ I ought, in order to make this assertion fully understood, to have noted the various weaknesses which lower the ideal of other great characters of men in the Waverley novels the selfishness and narrowness of thought in Red" gauntlet, the weak religious enthusiasm in Edward Glendinning, and the like; and I ought to have noticed that there are several quite perfect characters sketched sometimes in the backgrounds ; three let us accept joyously this courtesy to England and her soldiers are English officers: Colonel Gardiner,

NOTE

NOTE B, p.
read

Colonel Talbot, and Colonel Mannering^

19

Coventry Patmore^

You cannot

often or too carefully ; as far as I know he is the only living poet who always strengthens and purifies; the otners sometimes darken, and nearly always depress and discourage, the imagina^ tion they deeply seize*

him too

Nature who is C, p. 25* Observe, it is ^' while she speaking throughout, and who says, and I together live/' D, p* 39* ^^Joan of Arc: in reference to M* Michelet's * History of France/ "" De Quincey's Works* Vol. iii. p. 217* E, p. 45* I wish there were a true order of chivalry instituted for our English youth of certain ranks, in which both boy and girl should receive, at a given age, their knighthood and ladyhood by

NOTE

''

**

NOTE NOTE

true
trial

title

attainable only by certain probation and ; both of character and accomplishment; and 57

to be forfeited, on conviction, by their peers, of any dishonourable act* Such an institution would be entirely, and with all noble results, possible, in a nation which loved honour* That it would not be possible among us, is not to the discredit of the scheme*

fc^^

iJI^

K^^
l.^

V^^
k^l^

V^^

58

INDEX

INDEX
Alcestis^ chafacter oi, 14.

Andromache^ as a conception

of

womanhood^

14*

Anglesea^ scenery of> 40* Antigone, character of, 14* Armour, buckled on by women, meaning Art models, what the finest are, 35.

of, 18*

Athena, queen of art, literature, and virtue, ** Author, Queen's Gardens,** title of, 3* Beauty of body and heart must coexist, 24*
Bible, the,

15*

Moses

MYTHICAL,

15.

quoted passim, 54, 55 quoted or referred to:

women, Moses educated by

of the mighty, with

Exodus
Ps

iu

On

one, 15*
C3CX* 4*

Sharp arrows

Song

of

SoL

coals of juniper, 40^ iu IS* Take us the foxes

spoil

our

grapes, 55*
iv* 16*

Come, thou south

52-53-

flow out,
desert
!

Isaiah xxxv

Be thou

glad,

thirsty

(LXXt
John XX* IS

version), facing page

And

she, supposing

him

to be the

gardener, 55*

Acts xviu 22* Altar to unknown God, 42* Books, choice of, for the young, to be by the good in them, not the absence of bad, 33-34* good, to be gone to for advice, 5.

the right use of, 5.

Cassandra, 14* Character, girls*, hardened by restraint, 25.

6i

Chaucer^s conception of women^ 15* ChivaL?y, suggestion for a modern Note E*

order

of,

Appendix,

^
still

Christ, Coals, England

the principles of, and women, 17* ** ** waiting in the garden for noble

women,

55^

made a furnace ground,

40*

Cowardice, social, 36* Dante, on women, 12 Dante's Beatrice, 12

Delight,

Matilda, 53*
**

vital feelings

of* (Wordsworth), 25.

De Quincey, on Joan
Desire of power, 45

of Arc, 38-39^

Dolls, the spiritual, of theological women, 3a Duty, instinct for, in the human heart, 44*

Education,
tf

M
'^- ^'

must be recognized, i to learn same things in a and boys girls way, 30-31* nature's influence in, 38 seq
its

true end,

different

the use of, to help us to consult the wisest

men

(in

books), 5* value of, in the kingly power

it

gives,

Council on. Report on Welsh school, 4i-42# wisdom conceived as a woman, 15. Egyptian England, to be garden or furnace ground ? 40* Gentlewoman, an older title than lady, 45~46 Girls, accomplishments of, to be of use to others, 26-27,
''^^

35-36. not to be fettered, 25, 34^ cannot be hammered into things, as boys can, 34* their education to be serious, 36*

intellect ripens quicker than boys*, 31* Governesses, social position of, 37* Greek deity, the greatest, a woman, Athena, 15*

62

Gfcek poets, conception of women, 14* Hereditary honour, 46* Heroes, Shakespeare has no, 6* History, how written, how to be studied, 27-28
Holyhead, scenery

Home,
,,

of, 40 true quality PEACE, 21* the duties of man and woman in regard to, 43"-44
its

Homer, women

eg*,

of, 14*

Nausicaa, 14 Husband and wife, relations

Iphigenia, character of, 14* Italian poets, conception of

of,

19 seq*
(passages translated

women

by

D* G

Rossetti), 12-14

Joan of Arc, her education, De Quincey on, 3^ Kings, how they should rule, doers of right (Rex), 47* princes of peace (Dei Gratii), 48. Kingships, spectral, tyrannous and true, 2 true, based only on superior moral state, 2* Knighthood, modern, suggested. Appendix, Note E Knowledge, accuracy before depth of, 3l of women and men, 30 seq ** Lady, and gentlewoman,** titles of, 45~46

Laws of nature, their beauty, Lord = law'keeper, 46*

Love, instinct of, 44. H sanctifying power

27*

of, i8^

go together in noble hearts, i8* Lovers, the true relation of knight and lady, i7-i8 Man and woman, different functions of, 20-2 ! duty to the state, the expansion of that
trust and,

to

home,

43-44

sympathy and hope than woman, must harden every, 2U Marriage, the seal of service, i9-2a
H
has
less

49*

the world

63

Menai

straits,
**

scenery of the, 40*

Mersey,

the, scenery of, 40*

Michelet, History of France,** 38, and Appendix, Note D Miser, the, 49* Models, the finest art, true, simple, useful, 35^ Moses, educated by a woman, is

Music, what kind the best is, 35* Nature, influence of, in education, 38
Novels, choice of, 32, 33. effect of, 33 34*

seq

good, are studies in moral anatomy, 32* not to interest so much as to interfere with the real
interest of life, 32* religion, peopled the fair earth
to

Pagan

with

spirits, 42*

Patmorc, Coventry,
Peace, the Prince Penelope, 14
Position in
life,

be carefully read, his power, Appendix,

Note B*

I wasteful woman,** 19^ quoted, the title enlarged on, 48* of,

**

Ah

Power, our

Praise,

education and a, 36* instinctive love of, 44* what, to be coveted, 45*
**

woman's

Prayer-book, ** Queen's Gardens,**

great function, 2U for all who are desolate

title of,

m
and
oppressed,** 29^

if

referred to, 3*

Regina means
Rossetti,

right'doer, 47^
47*

Rex = right'docr,

D G, translation of Italian poetry quoted, 12-14* Scenery, value of, by England and Greece, 40-4 !
School, account of a "Welsh (1848), 41* W*, has only three heroic men,

Scott, Sir

la

M ^

early romances of, io merit and truth of, la

poetry of,

la
64

Scott, Sir
,,

W*, continued x

women

noble (Alice Bridgenorth, Alice Lee, Diana Vernon, Catherine Seyton, Rose Bradwardine, Ellen Douglas, Flora Maclvor, Jeanie Deans), !!
oft

Lilias Redgauntlet,

quoted or referred to : Edward Glendinning, weakness

of.

Appendix,

Note A* Colonel Mannering, Talbot, Gardiner, Appendix, Note A*

Claverhouse, heroic, io

Rob Roy,

heroic,

la

Dandie Dinmont, io Redgauntlet, Appendix, Note A*

Sensualist, the, 49*

Shakespeare, catastrophe of his plays, due to a man's fault, redeemed by a woman's virtue, 7 seq*

has no heroes, only heroines, 6* view of women, 9* their dignity, 6 seq* his good women faultless, 6 seq his wicked women, 9*
quoted or referred to : Antony and Cleopatra, As You Like It, 6*

ft

Antony not a

hero, 6*

Orlando, not a hero, 6. Coriolanus, catastrophe of the play, 8* not a hero, (u

tt

Virgilia,

Shakespeare's

loveliest

heroine, 7.

Cymbeline, catastrophe of, 8 Goneril, an exception to the ordinary laws of

life, 9.

Hamlet, not a hero, 65

Shakcspeai^, quoted or referred

to,

continued :

Hamlet, catastrophe

of, 9

Ophelia,
V*, 6,

the

only

weak woman in Shake^

speare, 9

Henry

Julius Caesar, not a hero, 6* Lear, his fall due to his bad judgment, 7* ^ Kent, not quite a hero, 6.

Measure for Measure, catastrophe Merchant of Venice, 6*

**

of, 8*

iii^

2,

unlessoned

girl,** 8*

Midsummer Night's Dream,

Helena, 8

Much Ado,

Beatrice, 8*

Hero,

8*

Othello, catastrophe of, 7 not a hero, 6.

,^

Emilia,

7*

Romeo and Juliet,

6^

catastrophe of, 8 Romeo, not a hero, 6*

Two Gentlemen of Verona, 6

Julia, "Winter's Tale, catastrophe of, 8*

Snowdon,

scenery, 40-4 !

^|
education, 36*

Society, falsity of,

and

girls*

Spenser's noble women, Una and Britomart, IS State, duty of man and woman to the, 43* full meaning of the word, 2 Teachers of the young, their social position, 37*

Tennyson, Maud quoted, Come into the garden,** S4* Thackeray, the lessons taught by, vary with the reader, 33*
Theology, True, the,

**

women
is

not to study, 29*

5*
of, 37*

harmonious,

Tutors, social position

66

Vassals, our, to be fed by us, not to feed us, 47^ "Wales, Report on (1848), and school in, 4i "War, women responsible for, as they could hinder

'

it,

48*

Wife, should guide her husband, 2a the true, is a home-maker, 22* Women, beauty of, what, 24* and on what depended, 26

M
M

changefulness of noble, 23* deficient in accuracy and precision ? 8-9 dignity of, according to the great poets, 6 seq* duties to the state, the expansion of that to their

homes, 43*
public as well as private, 44* education of, 23 seq
t
^

M
ff

tf

its

end

stated, the reading of history,

27 seq

(she

is to

learn that she

judge, not that she

seq
f9
ff

may feel and may know), 27

M
it

but not theology, 29* knowledge of, to be accurate, if not deep, 30 seq.

to learn

some one

science, 27*

contrasted with that of

men, 30

seq*

M H

men

and, their relation, 4, 5, 16 seq

ff

women to buckle on men's armour in

sense, i8*

every

M
,,

not inferior to men, but different from, not the slaves of men, 4-5*

2a

and men,
obedience

their different functions, 20 seq* to, in noble times, 17

position of, 4 seq*

praise, their great function, 21*

*,

to be queens, 47 seq* responsible for the misery of the world, 48-49*

67

/i

"Women, continued : if fights, and man*s, not independent or

sympathies
of,

conflicting, 4*

not to be confined to their homes,

17

worship and honour of in all Christian times, Wordsworth, his exquisite RIGHTNESS, 24^ quoted : ** Three years she grew," 24* ** countenance in which did meet,** 26* Work, right amusement is found in right, 47*

68

Here ends

OF QUEENS' GARDENS
Printed
at

By

JOHN RUSKIN,
Year 1902
J9^

the

and Press, Edinburgh, Ballantyne Published by George Allen, London,

in the

j^

jir

ji^

*^

1902

If