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ELIZABETH FRY.
ELIZABETH FRY.
The next volumes in the Famous Women Series will be: The Countess of Albany. By Vernon Lee. Harriet Martineau. By Mrs. Fenwick Miller. Mary Wollstonecraft. By Elizabeth Robins Pennell. Already published: George Eliot. By Miss Blind. Emily Brontë. By Miss Robinson. George Sand. By Miss Thomas. Mary Lamb. By Mrs. Gilchrist. Margaret Fuller. By Julia Ward Howe. Maria Edgeworth. By Miss Zimmern. Elizabeth Fry. By Mrs. E.R. Pitman. Famous Women BY...
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MRS. E.R. PITMAN.
MRS. E.R. PITMAN.
BOSTON: ROBERTS BROTHERS. 1884. Copyright, 1884, By Roberts Brothers . University Press : John Wilson and Son, Cambridge ....
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CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER I.
A hundred years ago, Norwich was a remarkable centre of religious, social and intellectual life. The presence of officers, quartered with their troops in the city, and the balls and festivities which attended the occasional sojourn of Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester, combined to make the quaint old city very gay; while the pronounced element of Quakerism and the refining influences of literary society permeated the generation of that day, and its ordinary life, to an extent not easi
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CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER II.
There was no sharp dividing-line between worldliness and consecration of life in Elizabeth Gurney's case. The work was very gradually accomplished; once started into earnest living, she discerned, what was all unseen before, a path to higher destinies. Standing on the ruins of her former dead self, she strove to attain to higher things. The instrument in this change was a travelling Friend from America—William Savery. These travelling Friends are deputed, by the Quarterly Meetings to which they
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CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER III.
After a visit in the north of England with her father and sisters, Elizabeth received proposals of marriage from Mr. Joseph Fry of London. His family, also Quakers, were wealthy and of good position; but for some time Elizabeth seemed to hesitate about entering on married life. Far from looking on marriage as the goal of her ambition, as is the fashion with many young women, she was divided in her mind as to the relative advantages of single and married life, as they might affect philanthropic a
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CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER IV.
The delight expressed in her diary upon her removal to Plashet, found vent in efforts to beautify the grounds. The garden-nooks and plantations were filled with wild flowers, gathered by herself and children in seasons of relaxation, and transferred from the coppices, hedgerows and meadows, to the grounds, which appeared to her to be only second in beauty to Earlham. Mrs. Fry was possessed of a keen eye for Nature's beauties. Quick to perceive, and eager to relish the delights of the fair world
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CHAPTER V.
CHAPTER V.
It is said by some authorities that in her childhood Mrs. Fry expressed so great a desire to visit a prison that her father at last took her to see one. Early in 1813 she first visited Newgate, with the view of ministering to the necessities of the felons; and for all practical purposes of charity this was really her initial step. The following entry in her journal relates to a visit paid in February of that year. "Yesterday we were some hours with the poor female felons, attending to their outw
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CHAPTER VI.
CHAPTER VI.
About Christmas 1816, or January 1817, Mrs. Fry commenced her leviathan task in good earnest. The world had been full of startling events since her first two or three tentative visits to Newgate; so startling were they, that even in the refined and sedate quietude of Quakerism there must have existed intense interest, excitement, and possibly fear. We know from Isaac Taylor's prolific pen, how absorbing was the idea of invasion by the French, how real a terror was Bonaparte, and how full of mena
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CHAPTER VII.
CHAPTER VII.
Public attention was so far aroused on the subject of prison discipline, and the condition of criminals, that a Committee of the House of Commons was appointed to examine into evidence respecting the prisons of the metropolis. On the 27th of February, 1818, Mrs. Fry was examined by this Committee, relative to her personal experiences of this work, and her own labors in connection with it. The clear, calm statements made by her before this Committee cast considerable light upon her doings, and th
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CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER VIII.
About this period the subject of Capital Punishment largely attracted Mrs. Fry's attention. The attitude of Quakers generally towards the punishment of death, except for murder in the highest degree, was hostile; but Mrs. Fry's constant intercourse with inmates in the condemned cell fixed her attention in a very painful manner upon the subject. For venial crimes, men and women, clinging fondly to life, were swung off into eternity; and neither the white lips of the philanthropist, nor the offici
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CHAPTER IX.
CHAPTER IX.
More work opened before the indefatigable worker. Frequently batches of female convicts were despatched to New South Wales, and, according to the custom at Newgate, departure was preceded by total disregard of order. Windows, furniture, clothing, all were wantonly destroyed; while the procession from the prison to the convict ship was one of brutal, debasing riot. The convicts were conveyed to Deptford, in open wagons, accompanied by the rabble and scum of the populace. These crowds followed the
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CHAPTER X.
CHAPTER X.
Contrary to the general practice of mankind in matters of pure benevolence, Mrs. Fry looked around for new worlds to conquer, in the shape of yet unfathomed prison miseries. Many, if not most people, would have rested upon the laurels already won, and have been contented with the measures of good already achieved. Not so with the philanthropist whose work we sketch. Like an ever-widening stream, her life rolled on, full of acts of mercy, growing wider and broader in its channel of operations and
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CHAPTER XI.
CHAPTER XI.
Mrs. Fry's opinions on prison discipline and management were necessarily much opposed to those which had obtained prior to her day. No one who has followed her career attentively, can fail to perceive that her course of prison management was based upon well arranged and carefully worked out principles. In various letters, in evidence before committees of both Houses of Parliament, and in private intercourse, Mrs. Fry made these principles and rules as fully known and as widely proclaimed as it w
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CHAPTER XII.
CHAPTER XII.
Hitherto our little monograph has dealt mainly with Mrs. Fry's public life and work. Possibly, however, the reader may now feel curious to know how she bore the strain of private responsibilities; how as a wife, mother, neighbor, and Christian, she performed the duties which usually fall to people in those positions. It does not appear that she was wanting in any of them. As the wife of a city merchant, as the mistress, until reverses came, of a large household, as the mother of a numerous famil
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CHAPTER XIII.
CHAPTER XIII.
It must be remembered that Mrs. Fry's goodness was many-sided. Her charity did not expend itself wholly on prisons and lunatic asylums. It is right that, once in a while, characters of such superlative excellence should appear in our midst. Right, because otherwise the light of charity would grow dim, the distinguishing graces of Christianity, flat and selfish, and individual faith be obscured in the lapse of years, or the follies and fashions of modern life. Such saints were Elizabeth of Hungar
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CHAPTER XIV.
CHAPTER XIV.
It is an old adage that "nothing succeeds like success." Mrs. Fry and her prison labors had become famous; not only famous, but the subjects of talk, both in society and out of it. Kings, queens, statesmen, philanthropists, ladies of fashion, devotees of charity, authors and divines were all looking with more or less interest at the experiments made by the apostles of this new crusade against vice, misery, and crime. Many of them courted acquaintance with the Quakeress who hesitated not to plung
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CHAPTER XV.
CHAPTER XV.
Indefatigable workers wear out, while drones rust out. As the years are counted, of so many days, months, and weeks, many workers of this class die prematurely; but a wiser philosophy teaches that "He liveth long who liveth well." Into her years of life, long, eventful, and busy, Elizabeth Fry had crowded the work of many ordinary women; it was little wonder, therefore, that at a time when most people would have settled down to enjoy the relaxations and comforts of a "green old age," she had beg
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CHAPTER XVI.
CHAPTER XVI.
Since the days when John Howard, Elizabeth Fry and other prison reformers first commenced to grapple with the great problems of how to treat criminals, many, animated by the purest motives, have followed in the same path. To Captain Maconochie, perhaps, is due the system of rewards awarded to convicts who manifest a desire to amend, and show by their exemplary conduct that they are anxious to regain once more a fair position in society. Some anonymous writers have recently treated the public to
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EMILY BRONTË.
EMILY BRONTË.
By A. MARY F. ROBINSON. One vol. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00. "Miss Robinson has written a fascinating biography.... Emily Brontë is interesting, not because she wrote 'Wuthering Heights,' but because of her brave, baffled, human life, so lonely, so full of pain, but with a great hope shining beyond all the darkness, and a passionate defiance in bearing more than the burdens that were laid upon her. The story of the three sisters is infinitely sad, but it is the ennobling sadness that belongs to l
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MARGARET FULLER.
MARGARET FULLER.
By JULIA WARD HOWE. "A memoir of the woman who first in New England took a position of moral and intellectual leadership, by the woman who wrote the Battle Hymn of the Republic, is a literary event of no common or transient interest. The Famous Women Series will have no worthier subject and no more illustrious biographer. Nor will the reader be disappointed,—for the narrative is deeply interesting and full of inspiration."— Woman's Journal. "Mrs. Julia Ward Howe's biography of Margaret Fuller ,
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MARIA EDGEWORTH.
MARIA EDGEWORTH.
By HELEN ZIMMERN. "This little volume shows good literary workmanship. It does not weary the reader with vague theories; nor does it give over much expression to the enthusiasm—not to say baseless encomium—for which too many female biographers have accustomed us to look. It is a simple and discriminative sketch of one of the most clever and lovable of the class at whom Carlyle sneered as 'scribbling women.'... Of Maria Edgeworth, the woman, one cannot easily say too much in praise. That home lif
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GEORGE SAND.
GEORGE SAND.
By BERTHA THOMAS. One volume. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00 "Miss Thomas has accomplished a difficult task with as much good sense as good feeling. She presents the main facts of George Sand's life, extenuating nothing, and setting naught down in malice, but wisely leaving her readers to form their own conclusions. Everybody knows that it was not such a life as the women of England and America are accustomed to live, and as the worst of men are glad to have them live.... Whatever may be said against
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GEORGE ELIOT.
GEORGE ELIOT.
By MATHILDE BLIND. One vol. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00. "Messrs. Roberts Brothers begin a series of Biographies of Famous Women with a life of George Eliot, by Mathilde Blind. The idea of the series is an excellent one, and the reputation of its publishers is a guarantee for its adequate execution. This book contains about three hundred pages in open type, and not only collects and condenses the main facts that are known in regard to the history of George Eliot, but supplies other material from p
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MARY LAMB.
MARY LAMB.
By ANNE GILCHRIST. One volume. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00. "The story of Mary Lamb has long been familiar to the readers of Elia, but never in its entirety as in the monograph which Mrs. Anne Gilchrist has just contributed to the Famous Women Series. Darkly hinted at by Talfourd in his Final Memorials of Charles Lamb, it became better known as the years went on and that imperfect work was followed by fuller and franker biographies,—became so well known, in fact, that no one could recall the memor
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MARGARET FULLER'S WORKS AND MEMOIRS.
MARGARET FULLER'S WORKS AND MEMOIRS.
WOMAN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, and kindred papers relating to the Sphere, Condition, and Duties of Woman. Edited by her brother, Arthur B. Fuller , with an Introduction by Horace Greeley . In 1 vol. 16mo. $1.50. ART, LITERATURE, AND THE DRAMA. 1 vol. 16mo. $1.50. LIFE WITHOUT AND LIFE WITHIN; or, Reviews, Narratives, Essays, and Poems. 1 vol. 16mo. $1.50. AT HOME AND ABROAD; or, Things and Thoughts in America and Europe, 1 vol. 16mo. $1.50. MEMOIRS OF MARGARET FULLER OSSOLI. By Ralph Waldo Eme
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SUMMER READING.
SUMMER READING.
TIP CAT. A Story. By the author of "Miss Toosey's Mission" and "Laddie." 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00. SOME WOMEN'S HEARTS. By Louise Chandler Moulton . 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50. GEORGE SAND'S NOVELS. Mauprat; Antonia; Monsieur Sylvestre; The Snow Man; The Miller of Angibault; My Sister Jeannie. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50 each. FRANCES M. PEARD'S NOVELS. The Rose Garden; Unawares; Thorpe Regis. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50 each. WENDERHOLME. A Story of Lancashire and Yorkshire. By P.G. Hamerton . 12mo
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BOOKS OF TRAVEL.
BOOKS OF TRAVEL.
" It is a very good office one man does another, when he tells him the manner of his being pleased ."— Sir Richard Steele . LETTERS HOME. From Colorado, Utah, and California. By Caroline H. Dall : 12mo. $1.50. "There is a freshness about her Diary that is not often met with in books of this sort, and a happy regard for the minor details which give color and character to descriptions of strange life and scenery," says the N.Y. Tribune. SEVEN SPANISH CITIES, and The Way to Them. By E.E. Hale . 16m
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