Hannah More
During the time that Dr. Johnson dominated the literary conscience of
England, a group of ladies who had wearied of whist and quadrille, the
common amusements of fashion, used to meet at the homes of one another
to discuss literary and political subjects. They were called in ridicule
the "Blue Stocking Club," because Mr. Benjamin Stillingfleet, who was
always present at these gatherings, wore hose of that colour. Among the
members distinguished by their wit and talents were Mrs. Elizabeth
Montagu, the author of an _Essay on the Genius of Shakespeare_; Mrs.
Elizabeth Carter, a poetess and excellent Greek scholar; Mrs. Chapone,
whose _Letters to Young Ladies_ formed the standard of conduct for young
women of two generations; Miss Reynolds, the sister of Sir Joshua; and
Mrs. Vesey, noted as a charming hostess. Dr. Johnson, David Garrick,
Reynolds, and Burke were frequenters of this club. One may well imagine
that the conversation and wit of the Blue Stockings were far too rare
to be understood by the grosser minds of the mere devotees of fashion,
who in consequence threw a ridicule upon them which has always adhered
to the name.
Hannah More, who had already become known as a playwright, visited
London in 1773, and at once was welcomed by this group. In a poem called
_The Bas Bleu_, dedicated to Mrs. Vesey, she thus describes the pleasure
of these meetings:
Enlighten'd spirits! You, who know
What charms from polish'd converse flow,
Speak, for you can, the pure delight
When kindling sympathies unite;
When correspondent tastes impart
Communion sweet from heart to heart;
You ne'er the cold gradations need
Which vulgar souls to union lead;
No dry discussion to unfold
The meaning caught ere well 't is told:
In taste, in learning, wit, or science,
Still kindled souls demand alliance:
Each in the other joys to find
The image answering to his mind.
The Blue Stocking Club was composed largely of Tories, so that when all
Europe became restless under the influence of the French Revolution,
they strongly combated the levelling doctrines of democracy. Hannah More
in particular, who had been conducting schools for the very poor near
Bristol, saw how the teachings of the revolutionists affected men
already prone to idleness and drink. To offset these influences, she
published a little book with the following title-page: "Village
Politics. Addressed to all the Mechanics, Journeymen, and Labourers, in
Great Britain. By Will Chip, a country Carpenter."
It is not a novel in the strict sense of the word, but in simple
language, easily understood, it teaches the labouring people the
inconsistent attitude of France, and the strength and safety of the
English constitution. It is not a deep book, but has good work-a-day
common-sense, such as keeps the world jogging on, ready to endure the
ills it has rather than fly to others it knows not of.
The book is in the form of a dialogue between Jack Anvil, the
blacksmith, and Tom Hood, the mason.
"TOM. But have you read the _Rights of Man_?
"JACK. No, not I: I had rather by half read the _Whole Duty of Man_. I
have but little time for reading, and such as I should therefore only
read a bit of the best."
* * * * *
"TOM. And what dost thou take a _democrat_ to be?
"JACK. One who likes to be governed by a thousand tyrants, and yet can't
bear a king."
* * * * *
"TOM. What is it to be _an enlightened people_?
"JACK. To put out the light of the Gospel, confound right and wrong, and
grope about in pitch darkness."
* * * * *
"TOM. And what is _benevolence_?
"JACK. Why, in the new-fangled language, it means contempt of religion,
aversion to justice, overturning of law, doating on all mankind in
general, and hating everybody in particular."
For a long time the authorship of the book remained a secret, and Will
Chip became a notable figure. The clergy and the land-owners in
particular rejoiced over his homely common-sense, and distributed these
pamphlets broadcast over the land. One hundred thousand copies were sold
in a short time. _Village Politics_ is said to have been one of the
strongest influences in England to awaken the common people to the
dangers which lie in a sudden overthrow of government. The book was
timely, for that decade had become intoxicated by the name of Liberty.
To-day democracy and equality are no longer feared.
During many years Hannah More worked industriously among the poor of
Cheddar and its vicinity. On a visit to the Cliffs of Cheddar she found
an ignorant, half-savage people, many of whom dwelt in the caves and
fissures of the rocks, and earned a miserable subsistence by selling
stalactites and other minerals native to the place, to the travellers
who were attracted thither by the beautiful scenery. Among these people
Hannah More opened a Sunday-school, and later a day school, where the
girls were taught knitting, spinning, and sewing. A girl trained in her
school was presented on her marriage day with five shillings, a pair of
white stockings, and a new Bible. The teaching in the schools was so
practical that within a year schools were opened in nine parishes.
In this missionary work, Miss More became intimately acquainted not only
with the very poor, but also with the rich farmers living in the
neighbourhood and the prosperous tradespeople of the villages. From
these better educated men she met with great opposition. One petty
landlord met her request for assistance with the remark: "The lower
classes are fated to be poor, ignorant and wicked; and wise as you are,
you cannot alter what is decreed." Another man informed her that
religion was the worst thing for the poor, it made them so lazy and
useless.
* * * * *
But the minds of the people had been awakened by the French Revolution.
They were beginning to think. Books and ballads attacking church and
constitution were hawked through the country and placed within reach of
all. To counteract the influence of these "corrupt and inflammatory
publications" Hannah More, between the years 1795-1798, published _The
Cheap Repository_, the first regular issue of this kind. Every month a
story, a ballad, and a tract for Sunday were published. Hannah More knew
so well the common reasoning and the mental attitude of those for whom
she wrote, that she was able to make her lessons most effective. So
great was the demand for these chap-books that over two million were
sold the first year.[1]
[1] For a complete bibliography of these chap-books, see the
_Catalogue of English and American Chap-Books_ in Harvard
College Library, pp. 8-10; compiled in part by Charles Welsh.
These stories were divided into two classes, those for "persons of
middle rank" and those for the common people. The former point out the
dangers of pride and covetousness; of substituting abstract philosophy
for religion; and warn masters not to forget their moral obligations
towards their servants. The latter aim to teach neatness, sobriety,
regularity in church attendance, and point out the happiness of those
who follow these precepts, and the misery of those who neglect them.
Her two best known stories are _Mr. Fantom_ and _The Shepherd of
Salisbury Plain_. _Mr. Fantom: or the History of the New-Fashioned
Philosopher, and his Man William_ was written to warn masters of the
danger of teaching their servants disrespect for the Bible and for civil
law. Mr. Fantom was a shallow man, who glided upon the surface of
philosophy and culled those precepts which relieved his conscience from
any moral obligations. When he was asked to help the poor in his own
parish, he refused to consider their wants because his mind was so
engrossed by the partition of Poland. Like Mrs. Jellyby of a later time,
he was so much troubled by sufferings which he could not see that he
neglected his family and servants. When he reprimanded his butler,
William, for being intoxicated, the young man replied: "Why, sir, you
are a philosopher, you know; and I have often overheard you say to your
company, that private vices are public benefits; and so I thought that
getting drunk was as pleasant a way of doing good to the public as any,
especially when I could oblige my muster at the same time." In course of
time William became a thief and a murderer, and expiated his crimes on
the scaffold.
In contrast to this is _The Shepherd of Salisbury Plain_. This shepherd
was contented with his lot, and says: "David was happier when he kept
his father's sheep on such a plain as this, and employed in singing some
of his own psalms perhaps, than ever he was when he became king of
Israel and Judah. And I dare say we should never have had some of the
most beautiful texts in all those fine psalms, if he had not been a
shepherd, which enabled him to make so many fine comparisons and
similitudes, as one may say, from country life, flocks of sheep, hills
and valleys, fields of corn, and fountains of water." The shepherd's
neat cottage with its simple furnishings, his frugal wife and
industrious children are described in simple and convincing language.
In the stories of the poor there are many interesting details of the
everyday life of that class that did not blossom into heroes and
heroines of romance for nearly half a century. Mrs. Sponge, in _The
History of Betty Brown, the St. Giles's Orange Girl_, is a character
that Dickens might have immortalised. Mrs. Sponge kept a little shop and
a kind of eating-house for poor girls near the Seven Dials. She received
stolen goods, and made such large profits in her business that she was
enabled to become a broker among the poor. She loaned Betty five
shillings to set her up in the orange business; she did not ask for the
return of her money, but exacted a sixpence a day for its use, and was
regarded by Betty, and the other girls whom she thus befriended, as a
benefactor. At last, Betty was rescued from the clutches of Mrs. Sponge.
By industry and piety she became mistress of a handsome sausage-shop
near the Seven Dials, and married a hackney coachman, the hero of one of
Miss More's ballads:
I am a bold coachman, and drive a good hack
With a coat of five capes that quite covers my back;
And my wife keeps a sausage-shop, not many miles
From the narrowest alley in all broad St. Giles.
Though poor, we are honest and very content,
We pay as we go, for meat, drink, and for rent;
To work all the week I am able and willing,
I never get drunk, and I waste not a shilling;
And while at a tavern my gentleman tarries,
The coachman grows richer than he whom he carries,
And I'd rather (said I), since it saves me from sin,
Be the driver without, than the toper within.
_The Cheap Repository_ was written to teach moral precepts. Neither
Hannah More nor her readers saw any artistic beauty in the sordid lives
of this lower stratum of society. They were not interested in the
superstitions of "Poor Sally Evans," who hung a plant called
"midsummer-men" in her room on Midsummer eve so that she might learn by
the bending of the leaves if her lover were true to her, and who
consulted all the fortune-tellers that came to her door to learn whether
the two moles on her cheek foretold two husbands or two children.
Hannah More recorded these simple fancies of poor Sally only to show her
folly and the misfortunes that afterwards befell her on account of her
superstitions. Writers of that century either laughed at the ignorant
blunders of the poor, or used them to point a moral. An interest in them
because they are human beings like ourselves with common frailties
belongs to the next century. Nothing proves more conclusively the growth
of the democratic idea than the changed attitude of the novel toward the
ignorant and the criminal.
* * * * *
Hannah More was always interested in the education of young ladies. She
wrote a series of essays called _Strictures on the Modern System of
Female Education_, in which she protested loudly against the tendency to
give girls an ornamental rather than a useful education. This was so
highly approved that she was asked to make suggestions for the education
of the Princess Charlotte. This led to her writing _Hints towards
Forming the Character of a Young Princess_.
Hannah More finally embodied her theories on the education of women in a
book which she thought might appeal most strongly to the young ladies
themselves, _Coelebs in Search of a Wife_. Running through it, is a
slight romance. Coelebs, filled with admiration for Eve, as described
in _Paradise Lost_, where she is intent on her household duties, goes
forth into the world to find, if possible, such a helpmate for himself.
As he meets different women, he compares them with his ideal, and,
finding them lacking, passes a severe criticism upon female education
and accomplishments. Finally, he meets a lady with well-trained mind,
who delights in works of charity and piety, one well calculated to
conduct wisely the affairs of his household. She has besides proper
humility, and accepts with gratitude the honour of becoming Coelebs's
wife.
Until her death at the advanced age of eighty-eight years, Hannah More
continued to write moral and religious essays, so that she was before
the public view for over fifty years, Mrs. S. C. Hall in her book
_Pilgrimages to English Shrines_ thus describes her in old age:
"Hannah More wore a dress of very light green silk--a white China crape
shawl was folded over her shoulders; her white hair was frizzled, after
a by-gone fashion, above her brow, and that _backed_, as it were, by a
very full double border of rich lace. The reality was as dissimilar from
the picture painted by our imagination as anything could well be; such a
sparkling, light, bright, 'summery'-looking old lady--more like a
beneficent fairy, than the biting author of _Mr. Fantom_, though in
perfect harmony with _The Shepherd of Salisbury Plain_."