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LIBRARY 
 
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 University of California. 
 
 
 Class 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2007 with funding from 
 
 IVIicrosoft Corporation 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/consecratedwomanOOmarvrich 
 
Fi've hundred copies of this 
 
 edition have been printed 
 
 from type in the month 
 
 of August, jgoj 
 
 by the Gilliss 
 
 Press 
 
Con0ecrateu Woman|iool> 
 
ConsecrateD l^otnanfiooli 
 
 PREACHED IN 
 
 ^\)t iFtot Consregational C^urcti 
 
 PORTLAND, OREGON 
 BY 
 
 FREDERIC ROWLAND MARVIN 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTORY NOTICE 
 BY 
 
 FRANCES POWER COBBE 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 J. O. WRIGHT & COMPANY 
 
 MDCCCCIII 
 
WQ. 
 
 
 ^^C^-cr:^ <^ 
 
 <>~^-^ ~>^,-.^-.^-ezz. 
 
 ^"tLAf, 
 
SntroDuctorr ^otict 
 
 /Jff^O those who have long lamented the 
 VK prevailing tendency in Christian 
 churches to deny to women the hon- 
 ors and responsibilities of sacred offices and 
 duties, such a sermon as " Consecrated Wo- 
 manhood," written by an American clergy- 
 man, is like a breath of fresh air in Neapoli- 
 tan church-buildings that have never known 
 the beauty of sunlight, and the atmospheres 
 of which have grown heavy through the cen- 
 turies with the oppressive weight of suffocat- 
 ing incense. 
 
 The preacher opens his discourse with the 
 statement that "the Bible honored woman 
 when every other book was blind to the true 
 dignity of her character." Scholars differ, 
 and little is certain when we go back far 
 
 143185 
 
iflncrouuctor^ 0otitt 
 
 enough in the ancient writings of our race. 
 But I think there can be no doubt that in all 
 the earliest literatures of which we have 
 knowledge, the thought of the world was 
 more favorable to the development of wo- 
 manly independence, than in later composi- 
 tions, especially such as have come from 
 patristic and monastic sources. Certainly we 
 find the great Greek tragedians unfolding 
 their noblest ideals in the character of an 
 Alcestis, and expressing through the lips of an 
 Antigone their loftiest conceptions of virtue, 
 and their purest and bravest ethical teachings. 
 The Jews did not stand alone, as this elo- 
 quent sermon clearly shows, in honoring 
 woman ; but the Old Testament is devoid, 
 as its most careless reader cannot but see, of 
 all that wretched admiration for feminine 
 feebleness of mind and body which seems to 
 have sprung from masculine vanity, and has 
 been fostered by centuries of priestly instruc- 
 tion and popular superstition. As the most 
 illustrious Jewess now living. Lady Batter- 
 sea, wrote in her admirable book some years 
 ago, when she was Miss Constance de Roths- 
 
idntroDuctor^ Jliottte 
 
 child, " The ideal woman of the ancient Israel- 
 ite was always strong and fearless — a Miriam, 
 a Deborah, a Judith, an Esther. Not a word 
 in that older Bible denies to woman the right 
 to exercise every power of speech or action 
 granted her by Jehovah." 
 
 Nothing assuredly can be more broad- 
 minded or more generous than Dr. Marvin's 
 whole treatment of the claims of women, 
 whether in politics, in the religious life, or in 
 the domestic circle. In my humble opinion 
 it would do infinite service in awakening 
 thought and dispelling prejudice, could the 
 sermon on " Consecrated Womanhood " be 
 preached in every church and chapel in Eng- 
 land. The good Quakers alone, so far as I 
 know, have no need for its admonition. 
 
 Frances Power Cobbe. 
 
 Hengwrt, 
 
 Dolgelly, North Wales, 
 June 21, 1903. 
 
Conisectateti (EOomani^ood 
 
 ** She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the 
 distaff. She stretcheth out her hand to the poor ; yea, she reacheth 
 out her hands to the needy. Strength and honor are her clothing ; 
 and she shall rejoice in time to come. She openeth her mouth with 
 wisdom J and in her tongue is the law of kindness.*' — Proverbs. 
 
 tf^jT IS the peculiarity of the Bible that it 
 ^J honored woman when every other 
 ^^^ book was blind to the true dignity of 
 her character and the royal possibilities of her 
 nature. The old Testament exalted her not 
 only as wife and mother, but as citizen and 
 ruler, and some of the most stirring songs and 
 daring deeds of patriotism are recorded in the 
 Bible to the honor of woman. Her inspired 
 pen is immortalized in the Word of God, and 
 if it be not meet that her voice sound from 
 the halls of Congress, it is a fact of history 
 that it was heard on the field of battle and in 
 the chamber of justice more than three thou- 
 
Con0ecraceo momandooD 
 
 sand years ago, when, by the mouth of De- 
 borah and the hand of Jael, the Lord deliv- 
 ered Israel from the power of the spoiler. 
 She may not be thought competent to have 
 part in framing the laws of a State, but she 
 was competent to judge the chosen people and 
 to mould the character of the world's Re- 
 deemer. 
 
 The conservative who would obstruct the 
 wheels of progress endeavors to accomplish 
 his end by an appeal to the Bible. Sacred 
 Scriptures were represented as the friend of 
 slavery ; they are now cited in defense of 
 Papal idolatry and Mormon impurity ; and 
 how often we hear them quoted against the 
 emancipation of woman. But the Bible is the 
 most radical book in all the world, and its 
 maxims of wisdom and virtue are in advance 
 of every age. Whatever has been accom- 
 plished for the improvement of woman's lot 
 may be traced to its hallowed influence. " It 
 found her the slave of man's appetite in the 
 East, the servant of his cupidity in the West, 
 and the victim of his cruelty in the South," 
 and it broke the chain that bound her soul in 
 
Consecrated TOomantiooD 
 
 darkness and the social fetters that linked her 
 womanhood with dishonor. 
 
 We have in the Bible pictures of womanly 
 tenderness and nobleness,and also of womanly- 
 debasement unequaled in secular literature. I 
 know how exalted are the women of Homer 
 —"The Heroes' Battle- Prize," "The Heav- 
 enly-Minded," "The Sought-For," "The 
 Sister of Heroes," " The Widely-Praised," 
 "Ruling by Beauty," " The Far-Thoughted," 
 "The Hospitable," "The Ship-Guider," 
 and "The Web-Raveler " — names that indi- 
 cate the queenly beauty of the women who 
 bore them ; but I search Iliad and Odyssey 
 in vain for one trace of that glorified char- 
 acter, sublime self-sacrifice and unwavering 
 faith which " crowned the daughters of Israel 
 and made them daughters of Jehovah." On 
 the other hand, Shakspeare's " Lady Mac- 
 beth " is weakness itself when compared with 
 Jezebel, who from the harem of Ahab 
 mounted with blood-stained feet the throne 
 of God's chosen people, and there defied the 
 majesty of heaven. How cold, cruel, impla- 
 cable and lost to all that is human was that 
 
 '3 
 
Consetratet) Womanl^ooD 
 
 accursed daughter of murder, whose crimes 
 were far greater in number and turpitude 
 than those of her infamous father Ethbaal. 
 We hear from her lips no cry, 
 
 **Come, you spirits 
 That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here ; 
 And fill me, from crown to the toe, top-full 
 Of direst cruelty ! make thick my blood, 
 Stop up the access and passage to remorse 
 That no compunctious visitings of nature 
 Shake my fell purpose !" 
 
 Her entire nature was not only unsexed, but 
 dehumanized. In her " woman's breasts " 
 the milk was turned to gall. 
 
 Lord Lytton, the elegant and shallow 
 trifler, tells us, " A woman's noblest station 
 is retreat," but "retreat" is a word forever un- 
 popular with the women of the Bible. Mi- 
 riam, Huldah, Deborah and Anna were not 
 of Lord Lytton's opinion. They joined in 
 one temperament silk and steel, and added to 
 the sweetness of womanhood the strength of 
 manhood. Keen and flexible as the Damascus 
 blade, they were not wanting in the gentle- 
 ness and modesty which are a woman's crown 
 
Cons^ecrateH OToman^oD 
 
 of honor. I open Exodus and read a song 
 from Miriam, the prophetess, that Is older 
 than the most ancient pagan lyric, and that 
 will continue when English literature is for- 
 gotten. And there is Deborah, the nurse of 
 Rebecca; how tenderly the Bible records 
 her humble but faithful service. In ancient 
 times and in the East nurses were held in 
 greater esteem than now with us. Homer 
 sang their praise ; Virgil celebrated their vir- 
 tues ; and Ovid extolled their wisdom and 
 kindness. It is no trivial office to guide and 
 direct the development of a child's life. The 
 nurse is second mother, and her influence is 
 sometimes, perhaps often, deathless as the 
 soul she instructs. The Bible teaches respect 
 and consideration for those who are socially 
 beneath us as servants, nurses, and dependent 
 children of humble toil. The true lady takes 
 her politeness into the kitchen ; it is her abil- 
 ity to do so that makes her the lady she is. 
 Not fine manners in the ball-room, but a gen- 
 uine and gracious dignity seasoned with wo- 
 manly kindness, creates the true lady. Few 
 think of the Bible as a bookof social and do- 
 
mestic etiquette, and yet such it is. Let a man 
 follow its precepts, and he shall become not 
 only a good man, but a gentleman ; and what- 
 ever woman will conform to the spirit of the 
 Sermon on the Mount shall find her life 
 steadily developing into all that makes a 
 beautiful character and fine address. 
 
 And there is the other Deborah, a prophet- 
 ess and judge in Israel — the woman divinely 
 illuminated. I turn to the fifth chapter of 
 Judges, and read a song she wrote long be- 
 fore the gods of Greece held sacred counsel 
 upon snowy Olympus — centuries before the 
 lyric muse took up her abode beneath the 
 shadow of the Parthenon. To what glori- 
 ous victory she led the hosts of the Lord 
 when the enemies of Israel perished among 
 the " oaks of the wanderers.** 
 
 " After the days of Shamgar, son of Anath, 
 After the Helper' s days, 
 The highways were deserted. 
 The traveler went in winding ways. 
 Deserted were Israel's hamlets, deserted. 
 Till I Deborah rose up— rose up a mother in Israel." 
 
 What a lovely poem is that of Ruth, and 
 who does not linger with delight over the 
 
 i6 
 
Con^ecratet) Woman^ooD 
 
 story of Esther, so royal and so simple, so 
 queenly and so modest ? 
 
 Turn to the New Testament and see how 
 honored is Mary, the mother of Jesus. Hear 
 the angelic salutation : 
 
 Hail, thou art highly favored, the Lord is with thee. 
 Fear not, Mary : for thou hast found favor with God. And 
 behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a 
 son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and 
 shall be called the Son of the Most High : and the Lord 
 God shall give unto him the throne of his father David : and 
 he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever : and of his 
 kingdom there shall be no end. (Luke i : 28, 30—33, Re- 
 vised Version.) 
 
 Is it surprising that the name " Mary " is 
 the most popular in all the world, and that 
 nearly a third of the women of France bear it 
 in one form or another ? What noble ser- 
 vice was rendered to the early churches by 
 the four daughters of Philip the Evangelist, 
 Priscilla who instructed Apollos, Phoebe, 
 Persis, Tryphosa and Tryphena. 
 
 The opinion prevails that Providence in- 
 tended woman to occupy a place of humble 
 dependence ; that she is inferior in the com- 
 position of her mind and fragile in physical 
 
Confi^ecratet) JlKiaoman^ooD 
 
 constitution ; that she is called of God to lead 
 a life of entire self-abnegation ; that she was 
 created as an everlasting sacrifice to man's 
 pleasure and ambition ; and that it is her pe- 
 culiar mission to be wife and mother to an 
 extent to which it is not man's mission to be 
 husband and father. Lord Lytton's dictum 
 is widely received — " A woman's noblest sta- 
 tion is retreat." It prevails in the State, 
 robbing her of civil rights, debarring her 
 from the exercise of popular suflTrage, and 
 closing against her the door of public office. 
 It permeates society, circumscribing her in- 
 fluence, dispossessing her of individuality, 
 and preventing her from the full and free ex- 
 ercise of whatever taste, talent or genius God 
 has given her. It is in the church, forbid- 
 ding her to enter the pulpit, restraining her 
 from the important offices of deacon and 
 trustee, and, in some churches, denying her 
 even a voice in the ordinary government of 
 the society. 
 
 Men who advocate the subjection of wo- 
 men plant themselves upon the Bible and 
 say to us, " You radicals want to turn things 
 
 i8 
 
Cons^ecrateD Womanhood 
 
 upside down. You have no respect for the 
 settled order of society. You would destroy 
 the divine harmony Heaven has established. 
 You set aside the teaching of the great Apos- 
 tle who said, * I suffer not a woman to usurp 
 authority.' " But the Bible is always on the 
 side of progress. Jesus and his immediate 
 followers were innovators, agitators and lead- 
 ers of public thought and morals. The Jews 
 quoted the Old Testament against them as 
 Southern preachers quoted the New Testa- 
 ment against us when we demanded the abo- 
 lition of slavery. We must remember that it 
 is the mission of the Bible to lead men and not 
 to follow them. The age that shall overtake 
 the New Testament will be right in discarding 
 it. Open the Bible — what does it teach ? 
 " The genuine perfection of humanity, in- 
 stead of being the forced obedience of one- 
 half to the other half, is the spontaneous 
 obedience of both halves to the law of God. 
 The incomplete statement of Paul, ^ I suffer 
 not a woman to usurp authority,' is supple- 
 mented by the far deeper words of Jesus, 
 ' Ye know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord 
 
Con^etrateti Woman^ooD 
 
 it over them, and their great ones exercise 
 authority over them. Not so shall it be 
 among you : but whosoever would become 
 great among you shall be your minister ; and 
 whosoever would be first among you shall be 
 your servant/ (Matthew xx. : 25-27, Re- 
 vised Version.) T!hat is the ideal of the future'^ 
 Neither man nor woman shall usurp author- 
 ity, but both, in mutual helpfulness, shall 
 yield willing obedience to the perfect law of 
 God. A consecrated womanhood is a woman- 
 hood of surrender, not to social prejudices 
 and superstitions, nor yet to political disabil- 
 ity, but to Heaven. It is a surrender with- 
 out defeat and a victory without conquest. 
 A woman may dance a ballet or sing in an 
 opera, but the moment she enters the pulpit 
 to preach a sermon, steps upon a platform to 
 deliver a lecture, or goes to the polls to vote, 
 society rises in indignation and disgust. If 
 a woman may tend as a nurse, why may she 
 not practice as a physician ? If a woman 
 has a calling to medicine, divinity, law, lit- 
 erature, art, mechanics, instruction or trade, 
 what law of God prohibits? But is it wise 
 ao 
 
Con^ecrateD Woman^ooD 
 
 to open our colleges and schools of science 
 to women ? Why not ? Are they not cap- 
 able of receiving a liberal education ? The 
 part woman has played in ancient and modern 
 history, in the arts and sciences, as well as in 
 political life, constitutes not only an answer 
 to the question, but a positive demand for 
 admission to every department of knowledge 
 and industry. Open all the doors and re- 
 move every barrier. Subject girls to the 
 same requirements you exact of boys in col- 
 leges, but in all justice and fairness set before 
 them the same rewards. The best educators 
 tell us that some of the finest mathematical 
 students are girls. They read Virgil and 
 Cicero, Xenophon and Homer as well in 
 every way as do young gentlemen. In mixed 
 schools you will find, as a general rule, more 
 girls than boys, and they are found in exam- 
 ination to carry off the greatest proportion of 
 prizes. Wherever co-education has been 
 honestly and competently tried, girls have 
 shown themselves the intellectual peers of 
 their brothers. They have more than held 
 their own. There have been women every 
 
Con^etraeet) OToman^ooD 
 
 whit as well educated as the most learned men 
 of their day, and much better educated than 
 the majority of men in any age. When Eliz- 
 abeth was Queen of England the languages 
 were an essential element of a lady's educa- 
 tion. The daughters of Sir Anthony Cooke, 
 to whom was committed the instruction of 
 the young Edward VI., were thoroughly 
 trained in both ancient and modern languages, 
 and in the literatures of many lands and ages. 
 One of those gifted women wrote Latin verses 
 of great beauty ; another was, according to 
 Roger Ascham, one of the best Greek schol- 
 ars of the age, with the single exception of 
 Lady Jane Grey ; still another was an accom- 
 plished theologian who corresponded in Greek 
 with Bishop Jewell. The distinguished 
 Reiske affixed his wife's portrait to his ex- 
 cellent and famous edition of "The Greek 
 Orators." And in the preface to that work 
 he acknowledged his great indebtedness to 
 her learning and industry. So well acquainted 
 was she with the language and literature of 
 ancient Greece, that she shared with her hus- 
 band his most profound investigations, and 
 
Cons^ecrated OTomandooD 
 
 read for him, correcting as she read, the 
 proof-sheets of his book as they came from 
 the press. There is nothing in the consti- 
 tution of awoman*smind nor in the anatomy 
 of her body to prevent her from following 
 the same studies that occupy the time and 
 attention of young men in an ordinary col- 
 lege course. On the contrary, the duties of 
 the class-room are often far less fatiguing than 
 those of household labor. * I believe in co- 
 education. Boys and girls should be brought 
 up together so far as possible. The influ- 
 ence they exert over each other is in itself a 
 great civilizer. The separation of the sexes 
 
 * It may be a matter of interest to some who read this ser- 
 mon to know who was the first woman to graduate from an 
 American college. In an article on <<The First Female 
 College "" (the Georgia Female College), in the "Century" 
 for May, 1890, Mr. H. S. Edwards states that he has been 
 unable to obtain the name of any woman who graduated at 
 Oberlin in 1838. An Oberlin College catalogue, however, 
 gives the name of Miss Zeruiah Porter (afterwards Mrs. 
 Tweed) as the graduate of 1838, and therefore the first grad- 
 uate of an American college. Miss Porter graduated in the 
 so-called literary course, which did not include Greek. In 
 1841, Miss Mary Hosford, Miss Elizabeth S. Prall, and Miss 
 Mary C. Rudd took the degree of A. B. at Oberlin. 
 
 »3 
 
Con^ecrateD Womaniioot) 
 
 in church, state, family and school has always 
 been productive of evil, and of evil only. 
 
 **The woman's cause is man's ; they rise or sink 
 Together, dwarfed or God-like, bond or free." 
 
 Miss Sophia Jex Blake, whose opinion 
 in all questions connected with the education 
 of women is of great weight, has thus ex- 
 pressed herself touching the subject of co- 
 education : " That society is most happy 
 which conforms most strictly to the order of 
 nature as indicated in the family relation, 
 where brother and sister mutually elevate 
 and sustain each other. ... A school for 
 young men becomes a community in itself, 
 with its own standard of morality and its laws 
 of honor ; but in a college for both sexes 
 the student will find a public sentiment not 
 so lenient as that of a community of asso- 
 ciates needing the same indulgence." 
 
 Miss Blake elsewhere answers, it seems to 
 me with reason and justice, the oft-repeated 
 objection to co-education, founded upon the 
 imaginary danger of a too early romance and 
 a hasty attachment, followed by an unwise 
 and to-be-repented-of marriage : 
 
Con^ecratetJ OToman^ooD 
 
 " There is something in the association of 
 every-day life which appeals to the judgment 
 rather than to the fancy, and weeks and 
 months of steady labor over the same prob- 
 lems, or at the same sciences, will not be 
 more likely to create romances than casual 
 meetings at fetes and balls." 
 
 But I turn from the secular and civil as- 
 pect of the subject to inquire what service 
 woman may render the church, and here I 
 am confronted by another question it would 
 be difficult to answer : What service has she 
 not rendered ? Our churches, most of 
 them, will not ordain her to the ministry, 
 and yet do they not derive their spiritual life 
 from her influence ? Could they exist with- 
 out her effort and faithful service ? Who 
 preached the first Christian sermon, and pro- 
 claimed to an unbelieving world, "He is risen 
 from the dead ! " if not the women who ran 
 with great joy from the empty sepulcher, 
 bearing with them a license to preach from 
 the Christ himself, given through the Angel 
 of the Resurrection, who said, " Go quickly 
 and tell his disciples that he is risen from 
 
the dead, and behold he goeth before 
 you into Galilee ; there shall ye see him ? " 
 That was a very short sermon and had 
 no text, but no pulpit rhetoric and no 
 Sunday oratory will ever eclipse its sub- 
 lime eloquence. If priests received their com- 
 mission to preach from the Apostles, the 
 Apostles received theirs from the women 
 who mourned at the sepulcher and found it 
 empty. Women can better afford to remain 
 out of the pulpit than the pulpit can afford 
 to exclude them. When the Christ shall re- 
 turn and His kingdom be established for- 
 ever, the nations shall hear once more the 
 old Easter sermon first preached by a woman, 
 " He is risen from the dead ! " The most 
 tender and faithful friendship our Saviour 
 ever found in his weary and painful pilgrim- 
 age upon earth burned in the heart and 
 shone in the life of a noble and consecrated 
 woman. 
 
 *< Not she with trait' rous kiss her Master stung, 
 Not she denied him with unfaithful tongue } 
 She, when Apostles fled, could danger brave — 
 Last at his cross, and earliest at his grave." 
 
 26 
 
Condecracei) Woman^ooD 
 
 And if the church was cradled in the arms 
 of Mary, have not the daughters of Mary 
 been singing to the child Jesus all along the 
 ages ? It was Charlotte Elliott who wrote, 
 " Just as I am without one plea," and Mrs. 
 Adams who gave the church that immortal 
 hymn, " Nearer, my God, to Thee." " Fade, 
 fade, each earthly joy," " I need Thee every 
 hour," " Lord, I hear of showers of bless- 
 ing," " I think when I read that sweet story 
 of old," " I love to tell the story," and 
 " How blest the righteous when he dies " — 
 all these were written by women. What 
 sweet singers chant cradle hymns to the child 
 Jesus — Felicia D. Hemans, Joanna Baillie, 
 Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Harriet Beecher 
 Stowe, Eliza Cook, Mrs. Baxter, Mrs. Cod- 
 ver, Mrs. Bonar, Mrs. Barbauld and the 
 Cary sisters. If wise men came from the East 
 with gold, frankincense and myrrh for the 
 infant Redeemer, wise women are coming 
 every day from all parts of the earth with 
 gifts of heavenly song. 
 
 The success of every church depends in 
 large measure upon the consecration of its 
 27 
 
Con^ecrateD Womani)ooD 
 
 women. I never knew a church in which there 
 were not more women than men; they consti- 
 tute the majority in every religious meeting; 
 and it would seem as if fifty women go to 
 heaven for every man who makes even a 
 moderate effort to get there. It was the ser- 
 vice of faithful and active women that saved 
 Israel in the hour of national peril. " When 
 the men of Israel," to employ the language 
 of another, " bowed in helplessness before 
 Pharaoh, two women spurned his edicts and 
 refused his behests. A father made no effort 
 to save the infant Moses, but a mother's care 
 hid him while concealment was possible, and 
 a sister watched over his preservation when 
 exposed on the river's brink. To woman 
 was intrusted the charge of providing for the 
 perils and wants of the wilderness ; and in 
 the hour of triumph woman's voice was loud- 
 est in the acclaim of joy that ascended to 
 heaven from an emancipated nation." The 
 same womanly courage, patience, love, tact 
 and wisdom must be the hope and strength 
 of modern Israel. 
 
 The men who have accomplished most owe 
 28 
 
Con^ecrateD Womanliool} 
 
 much to woman's influence. From her coun- 
 sel the hero derived his courage, and in 
 her approving smile received his reward. The 
 great poems of the world are, many of them, 
 from her inspiration. Blanche of Lancaster 
 lives in the antique English of Chaucer, Laura 
 in the sonnets of Petrarch, and Beatrice in 
 the Divina Commedia of Dante ; and who 
 can look upon the marbles of Michel An- 
 gelo and not behold the influence of Vittoria 
 Colonna ? In all literature there is not a 
 nobler sonnet addressed by man to woman 
 than this which Michel Angelo laid with 
 bowed heart and reverent hand at the feet of 
 Vittoria Colonna: 
 
 ** The might of one fair face sublimes my love, 
 For it hath weaned my heart from low desires j 
 Nor death I heed, nor purgatorial fires. 
 Thy beauty, antepast of joys above. 
 Instructs me in the bliss that saints approve ; 
 For, oh ! how good, how beautiful, must be 
 The God that made so good a thing as thee. 
 So fair an image of the heavenly dove. 
 Forgive me if I cannot turn away 
 From those sweet eyes that are my earthly heaven j 
 For they are guiding stars, benignly given 
 To tempt my footsteps to the upward way ; 
 
 29 
 
Cons^etrateD OTomanl^oot) 
 
 And if I dwell too fondly in thy sight, 
 I live and love in God's peculiar light.'* 
 
 John Stuart Mill, dedicating his immor- 
 tal " Essay on Liberty " to the memory of 
 his beloved wife whose earthly frame he 
 had laid to rest beneath the shades of beau- 
 tiful Avignon, described her as " the inspirer, 
 and in part the author, of all that was best 
 in his writings." The three " guardian an- 
 gels " whom Comte associated with his secret 
 thoughts, and whom he enshrined in his 
 innermost heart as the sacred judges of 
 his every wish and achievement, were his 
 mother Rosalie Boyer, his friend Clotilde de 
 Vaux, and his servant Sophie Bliot. Of 
 Madame de Vaux he wrote six years after her 
 death: "Adieu, my unchangeable companion ! 
 Adieu, my holy Clotilde, who art to me at 
 once wife, sister, and daughter ! Adieu, my 
 dear pupil, and my fit colleague. Thy celes- 
 tial inspiration will dominate the remainder 
 of my life, public as well as private, and pre- 
 side over my progress towards perfection, 
 purifying my sentiments, ennobling my 
 thoughts, and elevating my conduct. Per- 
 30 
 
Con0ecrateti WomandooD 
 
 haps, as the principal reward of the grand 
 tasks yet left to me to complete under thy 
 powerful invocation, I shall inseparably write 
 thy name with my own, in the latest remem- 
 brances of a grateful humanity." The Taj 
 Mahal which the poet Heber describes as "a 
 dream in marble, designed by Titans and fin- 
 ished by jewellers," is a tribute of love raised 
 over the tomb of Moomtaza Mahul by her 
 husband, the great Mogul, Shah Jehan. She 
 died in giving birth to a daughter, and her 
 last request was that her husband would hal- 
 low in his heart her love as the solitary and 
 immortal sanctity of his life. The Taj holds 
 directly under the centre dome, "gleaming 
 like a silver bubble at the edge of the sky, 
 almost as transparent in appearance as the 
 azure itself," the tombs of Shah Jehan and his 
 beloved wife. There the " married lovers " 
 rest, encased in jasper from Punjaub, tur- 
 quoises from Thibet, agate from Yeman, gar- 
 nets from Bundelkund, and onyx, amethyst 
 and lapis lazuli ; and over them a single stone 
 is inscribed with the ninety-nine names of 
 God. To this day fresh flowers are placed 
 
 31 
 
Con0ecrateD Woman^ooD 
 
 upon the marble sarcophagi, and above them 
 is to be seen the ostrich egg, symbol of the 
 all-encircling Divine Providence. "The 
 most exquisite building on the globe " is a 
 memorial of the love a noble and beautiful 
 woman inspired in the heart of a devoted 
 husband. Who shall measure the power and 
 authority of woman in the worlds of art, liter- 
 ature and social life ? And yet, great as is 
 her influence in these, it is even greater in 
 spiritual matters. Woman turns through a 
 natural instinct to the field of religious use- 
 fulness, and Renan is not mistaken when he 
 tells us that she has a special tendency to 
 " long after the infinite." Of this Frances 
 Power Cobbe gives us a forcible illustration 
 in a foot-note to her able essay on " The Fit- 
 ness of Women for the Ministry of Relig- 
 ion." The illustration is taken from Mrs. 
 Kemble*s autobiography, and runs as fol- 
 lows : " She describes the late Lady Byron 
 as often expressing envy of her (Mrs. Kem- 
 ble's) public readings, and her longing to have 
 similar crowds in sympathy with her own im- 
 pressions. ' I made her laugh,' says Mrs. 
 3a 
 
Cons(ecrateD OTomantiooD 
 
 Kemble, * by telling her that more than once 
 when looking from my reading-desk over the 
 sea of faces uplifted toward me, a sudden 
 feeling had seized me that I must say some- 
 thing /r^w myself to all these human beings 
 whose attention I felt at that moment en- 
 tirely at my command, and between whom and 
 myself a sense of sympathy thrilled power- 
 folly and strangely through my heart as I 
 looked steadfastly at them before opening my 
 lips ; but that on wondering afterwards what 
 I might, could, would or should have said to 
 them from myself, I never could think of 
 anything but two words — * Be good ! * " Miss 
 Cobbe writes : " I believe that nine women 
 outof ten of the better sort would, if they had 
 the choice, oftener speak of duty and religion 
 than of any other theme." Is not Goethe 
 right ? 
 
 *« The eternal womanly 
 Draws us upward and onward." 
 
 Great is the power of consecrated woman- 
 hood in domestic life. It has been shown by 
 able writers that boys who have sisters, and 
 
 33 
 
ConsietraeeD Woman^ooti 
 
 grow up in their society, are more likely to 
 develop into strong and noble men than boys 
 who are deprived of woman's influence. 
 Whatever separates man from woman sepa- 
 rates both from God. The great objection 
 urged against social clubs is that they destroy 
 domestic life by isolating the sexes ; they fur- 
 nish an amusement for the husband in which 
 the wife cannot participate. Open the social 
 club to both sexes, and its evil tendency is 
 removed. 
 
 Then there is the marriage relation. How 
 many wedded lives come to failure through 
 ignorance. Men and women assume the 
 most sacred responsibilities without prepara- 
 tion, and with no knowledge of themselves 
 nor of each other. We say in the marriage 
 service, "What God hath joined together let 
 not man put asunder ;" but when God does 
 not join, is there anything to sunder? Passion 
 dies, novelty disappears, youth fades, and 
 unless love be founded upon an intelligent 
 and mutual esteem, shall it not also crumble? 
 It has been said, " one cannot be at once 
 lover and friend," but you may be sure one 
 
 34 
 
Consecrated Womanl)ooD 
 
 will not long remain the former who is not as 
 well the latter. We need to cultivate friend- 
 ship. Passion will come and go like the 
 shadows of clouds over the smooth surface 
 of a lake, and no love is abiding without 
 friendship. He was right who exclaimed, 
 " They who are joined by love without 
 friendship, walk on gunpowder with lighted 
 torches in their hands !" They who build 
 love upon the foundation of mutual esteem — 
 
 «* Make life, death, and that vast forever 
 One grand, sweet song.*' 
 
 How shall we strengthen love that it may 
 endure when the fires of youth and passion 
 are cold ? Only by the cultivation of those 
 noble virtues which like bands of steel weld 
 together in one life and faith honest and 
 pure hearts. How shall two hearts grow old 
 together ? Only by the persistent cultiva- 
 tion of those qualities which are ever young 
 and which age not with declining years. 
 The young man will not be guilty of an act 
 tainted with meanness or baseness lest the 
 maiden he loves blot his image from the 
 
 35 
 
Consiecratet) WomanliooD 
 
 pure heaven of her heart ; let the young 
 husband and wife cherish the same fear and 
 honor, and they shall grow nearer and dearer 
 as the years silver their brows. The happi- 
 ness of marriage depends upon the very 
 highest and most delicate of reserves, the 
 most noble and careful speech, the best and 
 most honorable perception ; upon a kindness 
 greater than that of a mother to her child. 
 
 The supreme glory of consecrated woman- 
 hood lies in the consecration itself. The love 
 of God makes every other love immortal. 
 What love through Him we give to others is 
 forever. Only as we consecrate our lives to 
 the Divine Love can we hope to become 
 heavenly-minded ; and they only consecrate 
 themselves to the Divine Love who, in imi- 
 tation of our Saviour, give heart and hand to 
 the service of mankind. There is a fable 
 that four young ladies, disputing as to the 
 beauty of their hands, called upon an aged 
 woman who had solicited alms, for a settle- 
 ment of the dispute. The three whose hands 
 were white and faultless had refused her ap- 
 peal, while she whose fingers were brown and 
 36 
 
Consecrated WomanliooD 
 
 rough had given in charity. Then the aged 
 beggar said : " Beautiful are these six uplifted 
 hands, soft as velvet and snowy as the lily : 
 but more beautiful are the two darker hands 
 that have given charity to the poor." Learn 
 the lesson of consecrated womanhood. In 
 olden times, when the children of Israel 
 prepared the Tabernacle in the wilderness, 
 " all the women that were wise-hearted did 
 spin with their hands, and brought that which 
 they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, 
 and of scarlet, and of fine linen. And all 
 the women whose heart stirred them up in 
 wisdom spun goats* hair." The wise-hearted 
 women of to-day are the daughters of modern 
 Israel who from the love of God serve faith- 
 fully the great family of mankind. 
 
)15ook0 b^ t\)t &umt ^\xt\)Ot 
 
 " LAST WORDS OF DISTINGUISHED MEN AND 
 WOMEN." Large Paper Edition, with Portrait of 
 the Author. ^.c». 
 Popular Edition. (Fourth Edition). $l.SO. 
 
 " FLOWERS OF SONG FROM MANY LANDS." 
 Being short poems and detached verses translated 
 from various languages. Large Paper Edition with 
 Portrait of Author on Parchment. $5.00. 
 Popular Edition. $2.00. 
 
 " CHRIST AMONG THE CATTLE." A plea for 
 the kind and just treatment of animals. Third 
 Edition. 50c. 
 
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
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