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23 chapters
LIVES OF CELEBRATED WOMEN:
LIVES OF CELEBRATED WOMEN:
BY THE AUTHOR OF PETER PARLEY’S TALES. BOSTON: BRADBURY, SODEN & CO. MDCCCXLIV. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1844, By S. G. GOODRICH, In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. STEREOTYPED AT THE BOSTON TYPE AND STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY. WM. A. HALL & CO., PRINTERS , 12 Water Street....
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PREFACE.
PREFACE.
It is an oft-quoted proposition of Rousseau, that “the glory of woman lies in being unknown.” If this be true, we shall deserve little credit for placing before the world these brief sketches of a few of the sex who have acquired celebrity among mankind. We are disposed to think, however, that the oracular words of the Genevan philosopher—though they may coincide with the despotism of the lords of creation, who would arrogate, not merely the sceptre of power, but the trump of fame, entirely to t
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“THE GOOD SHEPHERD.
“THE GOOD SHEPHERD.
Thus the great Shepherd of his flock doth mourn, When from his fold a wayward lamb has strayed, 17 And thus with mercy he receives him home, When the poor soul his Lord has disobeyed. There is great joy among the saints in heaven, When one repentant soul has found its God; For Christ, his Shepherd, hath his ransom given, And sealed it with his own redeeming blood.” We have now arrived at a period which most girls look forward to as an epoch in their life—the first ball! Lucretia had been to danc
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“TO MY MOTHER.
“TO MY MOTHER.
O, say, amid this wilderness of life, What bosom would have throbbed like thine for me? Who would have smiled responsive? Who, in grief, Would e’er have felt and, feeling, grieved like thee? Who would have guarded, with a falcon eye, Each trembling footstep, or each sport of fear? Who would have marked my bosom bounding high, And clasped me to her heart with love’s bright tear? 22 Who would have hung around my sleepless couch, And fanned, with anxious hand, my burning brow? Who would have fondly
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“MY NATIVE LAKE.
“MY NATIVE LAKE.
The little isles that deck thy breast, And calmly on thy bottom rest, How often, in my childish glee, I’ve sported round them, bright and free! Could I but see thee once again, My own, my beautiful Champlain! How oft I’ve watched the freshening shower Bending the summer tree and flower, And felt my little heart beat high As the bright rainbow graced the sky! Could I but see thee once again, My own, my beautiful Champlain! And shall I never see thee more, My native lake, my much-loved shore? And
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“TO MY MOTHER, OPPRESSED WITH SORROW.
“TO MY MOTHER, OPPRESSED WITH SORROW.
. . . . . . . . . . When love would seek to lead thy heart from grief, And fondly pleads one cheering look to view, A sad, a faint, sad smile one instant gleams Athwart the brow where sorrow sits enshrined, Brooding o’er ruins of what once was fair; But like departing sunset, as it throws One farewell shadow o’er the sleeping earth, Thus, thus it fades! and sorrow more profound Dwells on each feature where a smile, so cold, It scarcely might be called the mockery Of cheerful peace, but just befo
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“STANZAS.
“STANZAS.
O’er many a wild and classic stream In ecstasy I’d bend, And hail each ivy-covered tower As though it were a friend; Through many a shadowy grove, and round Full many a cloistered hall, And corridors, where every step With echoing peal doth fall. . . . . . . . . . . O, what unmingled pleasure then My youthful heart would feel, And o’er its thrilling chords each thought Of former days would steal! Amid the scenes of past delight, Or misery, I’d roam, Where ruthless tyrants swayed in might, Where
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“AN APPEAL FOR THE BLIND.
“AN APPEAL FOR THE BLIND.
45 Nature, whose smile, so pure and fair, Casts a bright glow on life’s dark stream,— Nature, sweet soother of our care, Has not a single smile for him. When pale disease, with blighting hand, Crushes each budding hope awhile, Our eyes can rest in sweet delight On love’s fond gaze, or friendship’s smile. Not so with him ; his soul chained down By doubt, and loneliness, and care, Feels but misfortune’s chilling frown, And broods in darkness and despair. Favored by Heaven, O, haste thee on; Thy bl
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MRS. ADAMS.
MRS. ADAMS.
The materials for preparing the memoirs of those American ladies whose virtues were conspicuous, and whose position in society imposed upon them great duties, and gave them an extensive influence in their day, are, in general, exceedingly scanty. Happily, the piety of a descendant has, in the present case, supplied the deficiency; and in a mode the most satisfactory. We are here not only made acquainted with the everyday life and actions as they were exhibited to the world around, but are admitt
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MRS. WASHINGTON.
MRS. WASHINGTON.
Martha Dandridge was born in the county of New Kent, Virginia, in May, 1732. Her education was entirely of a domestic character, there being no schools in the region where she dwelt. As she grew up, she was distinguished for personal beauty, pleasing manners, and general amiability of demeanor. She frequently appeared at the court of Williamsburg, then held by the royal governors of Virginia, and became a general favorite. At the age of seventeen, she was married to Daniel Park Custis, of her na
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MADAME DE STAEL.
MADAME DE STAEL.
Jacques Necker, born of Protestant parents at Geneva, was sent, at the age of fifteen, to seek his fortune at Paris. After serving as a clerk in the banking-house of Vernet, he passed into that of the eminent banker Thelusson, where he displayed such a capacity for business, as to lead to his admission into the house as a partner. In a few years he acquired a large fortune, and withdrew from active business, but remained at Paris as minister of the republic of Geneva to the French court. His “El
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LADY HESTER STANHOPE.
LADY HESTER STANHOPE.
The third Earl of Stanhope, father of the subject of our present sketch, possessed abilities which qualified him for any station; yet he devoted his ample fortune, his time, and his thoughts, to mechanics and to experiments in science and philosophy; with what success, the Stanhope printing press, many improvements in the process of stereotype printing, and his various papers on the electric fluid, are evidence. He married a daughter of the great Earl of Chatham; and of this marriage, Lady Heste
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HANNAH MORE.
HANNAH MORE.
Hannah More was the youngest but one of the five daughters of Jacob More, who, after receiving an education for the church, bounded his wishes by the possession of a school at Stapleton, England, upon obtaining which, he married the daughter of a respectable farmer; and to the soundness of her judgment in the culture and regulation of her children, the credit and success which attended them are, in a great degree, to be attributed. Like other intelligent children, Hannah More displayed at an ear
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“WASHING-DAY.
“WASHING-DAY.
Which week, smooth gliding after week, brings on Too soon; for to that day nor peace belongs, Nor comfort. Ere the first gray streak of dawn, The red-armed washers come and chase repose; Nor pleasant smile, nor quaint device of mirth, E’er visited that day: the very cat, From the wet kitchen scared, and reeking hearth, Visits the parlor—an unwonted guest. The silent breakfast meal is soon despatched, Uninterrupted save by anxious looks Cast at the lowering sky, if sky should lower. From that las
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MADAME DE GENLIS.
MADAME DE GENLIS.
This celebrated writer, whose maiden name was Stephanie Felicité Ducrest de St. Aubin, has left a voluminous memoir of her life and times, written at the age of eighty, which is interesting for the portraits of celebrated characters, in which it abounds, as well as the delineations it affords of her education, her feelings, and her experience. Of this we have made the following abstract, generally in her own words, which will present the leading incidents of her eventful career:— “I was born,” s
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“The Empress to his Holiness Pius VII.
“The Empress to his Holiness Pius VII.
“Whatever experience of human change the knowledge of our religion may have taught, your holiness will view, doubtless, not without astonishment, an obscure woman ready to receive from your hands the first among the crowns of Europe. In an event so far beyond the ordinary course, she recognizes and blesses the work of the Almighty, without daring to inquire into his purposes. But, holy father, I should be ungrateful, even while I magnified the power of God, if I poured not out my soul into the p
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MARIE ANTOINETTE.
MARIE ANTOINETTE.
Jeanne Josephe Marie Antoinette, of Lorraine, archduchess of Austria, the unfortunate queen of Louis XVI. of France, was the daughter of Francis I. and Maria Theresa, and was born at Vienna, in 1755. She was educated with the utmost care, and nature had bestowed upon her the highest beauty of person. Her accomplishments, talents, grace, virtue, and uncommon loveliness, fitted her for the queen of a gallant nation; and as such she would have been honored in France, had she lived before oppression
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MADAME ROLAND.
MADAME ROLAND.
When, in May, 1793, Robespierre and the Mountain effected the final overthrow of the Girondists—the moderate party of the French revolutionists—M. Roland, who had recently resigned his office in the ministry, was forced to flee, and his wife was thrown into prison. To solace the sad hours of her captivity, she began to write her own Memoirs. “I propose to myself,” she says, “to employ the leisure hours of my captivity in relating the history of my life, from my infancy to the present time. Thus
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MADAME DE SÉVIGNÉ.
MADAME DE SÉVIGNÉ.
The subject of this memoir, as celebrated in her own particular department of literature as Shakspere or Molière were in theirs, would have been very much surprised to find herself occupying a conspicuous place in the “Lives of Celebrated Women.” She made no pretensions to authorship, and her “Letters,” which have been esteemed models of epistolary composition, are the unpremeditated and unrevised outpourings of a mind rich in wit and good sense, and a heart filled with the warmest affections, a
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MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS.
MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS.
In December, 1542, Mary Stuart, daughter of James V. of Scotland, then seven days old, succeeded to the throne of a kingdom rent by religious and political factions, and suffering from the consequences of a disastrous war with England. The union of Scotland to England had ever been a favorite project with English sovereigns, and the present seemed to Henry VIII. a favorable opportunity for peaceably effecting it. He lost no time, therefore, in proposing a match between the infant queen and his o
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ELIZABETH, QUEEN OF ENGLAND.
ELIZABETH, QUEEN OF ENGLAND.
This extraordinary woman, the daughter of Henry VIII. and Anne Boleyn, was born in 1533. Being educated a Protestant, and having adopted the principles of the reformation, she was looked upon with suspicion and treated with harshness during the reign of her sister Mary. She devoted herself, however, to study, and is thus described at this period: “She was of admirable beauty, and well deserving a crown; of a modest gravity, excellent wit, royal soul, happy memory, and indefatigably given to the
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ISABELLA OF SPAIN.
ISABELLA OF SPAIN.
Isabella, queen of Castile, was born at Madrigal, in that kingdom, on the 22d of April, 1451. Her father, John II., after an inglorious reign of forty-eight years, died in 1454, lamenting that he had not been born the son of a mechanic, instead of king of Castile. Isabella had but a slender prospect of obtaining the crown during the early part of her life. She had two brothers, Henry and Alfonso, the former of whom acceded to the throne at the death of John. Isabella retired, with her mother, to
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JOAN OF ARC.
JOAN OF ARC.
This interesting and extraordinary girl, surnamed the “Maid of Orleans,” from her heroic defence of that city, was born about the year 1410, or ’11, in the little hamlet of Domremy, near the Meuse, and about three leagues south of Vaucouleurs, on the borders of Champagne. Her parents were humble and honest peasants. The district was remarkable for the devout simplicity of its inhabitants, as well as for those romantic superstitions, which, in a rude age, are so often allied with religion. It app
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