# Hannah More (British edition 1888)/Chapter 14

CHAPTER XIV.
SORROWS.
The noontide season of Mrs. Hannah More's life had been an unusually long and brilliant one, scarcely broken by death or change, and the five sisters were all on the verge of old age. Still together, still with perfect oneness in heart and life, and the younger pair still active and effective, though delicate and often suffering. Yet, perhaps the first trace that the shadows of earth were drawing on, and making them dwell more than ever on light from above, may be found in the fact, that in spite of the success of Cœlebs, it was the last of Hannah's secular works. The next was Practical Piety, published in 1811, a book of advice on the religion of the heart and the manner of carrying it into daily life, since, as she says, "little habits at once indicate the sentiment of the soul and improve it."
​Those affectionate critics, whose estimate is what an author values far more than any external opinion, had become sadly thinned in numbers, but Sir William Pepys wrote with hearty admiration, that he thought Practical Piety the best of all Mrs. H. More's performances, and calculated "to terrify the wicked, to rouse the negligent, and to keep the most watchful on their guard"; but he added that some of the best and most religious people he knew, thought the rule too strict and almost deterrent. Hannah's reply was that "The standard of religion should always be kept high. The very best of us are sure to pull it down a good many pegs in our practice, but how much lower is the practice of those who fix a lower standard than the New Testament?"
On the other hand, she tells Mrs. Kennicott, "I hear the high Calvinists declare war against Practical Piety. Is it not a little hard that one must not write one's own sentiments, but the sentiments of others? We have many opinions in common, but if I adopted their peculiar opinions, I must write against my conscience. One of their criticisms will make you smile. They say that my having called the sun he is idolatrous, as if I believed in Phœbus Apollo. If this be true, both David and St. John were guilty of idolatry."
The book was followed up by Christian Morals in 1813, carrying the principles of Practical Piety farther into details of common life, and, towards the end, ​describing, under the title of Candidus, an ideal Christian, in whom everyone recognised a portrait of Wilberforce. It was written in the midst of much suffering from biliousness, and likewise of constant watching the declining health of Mary, that eldest sister whose energy and ability had been the mainstay of the family, ever since, at twenty years old, she had undertaken the school, which had not only founded the fortunes of all, supported her father in his old age, but had sent a sound and wholesome influence into many a home around. She died on Easter Sunday, 1813.
Hannah, to whom she had been another mother, wrote to Lady Olivia Sparrow, "I thought it something blessed to die on Easter Sunday, to descend to the grave on the day on which Jesus triumphed over it. It is pleasant to see death without its terrors." Such a grief as this, and thus borne, left no permanent depression. The sisters turned their attention to their ordinary life, and Hannah's letter to Lady Olivia to thank her for a present of Rokeby, began delightfully:—
"A Story.
"A little girl having wearied me very much the other day with 'I want this, I want that, I want the other,' to put an end to her importunity, I said, 'You want everything in the world; I suppose you will want the moon next.' She took the hint, and ​soon after came in crying, 'Give me the moon. It is my moon. I will have the moon.'
"The Application.
"Now, I am a large spoiled child. Your Ladyship has so accustomed me to have all my wants, expressed, unexpressed, granted, and my very wishes and even thoughts anticipated, that I too, thus spoiled, am in danger of crying for the moon. You, as a natural consequence, will fly to Herschel, and consult him on the best means of conveying it, undertaking, if the whole should not be portable, to send me a crescent, or a still smaller slice."
Then follows a criticism on the poem, regretting the wasting the fifth canto in songs, so that the catastrophe in the sixth is hurried on.
In the summer of 1813, Mrs. More paid a visit to Lady Olivia at her house in Huntingdonshire, but she was ill almost all the time she was there, and when she went on to Mr. Henry Hoare's, at Mitcham, she had a great shock in the news of the death of her old friend Lord Barham, with whom she had been about to stay. She again became so ill that she had only one meal with the family all the time she was at Mitcham, but when she went on to Strawberry Hill, where Lady Waldegrave had made her home, some improvement in health enabled her to revisit the scenes where she had ​once been so happy. She writes to Lady Olivia, "That well-known spot recalled to my mind a thousand recollections, partly pleasing but more painful. The same feelings were excited in us as we called afterwards at Mrs. Garrick's (we did not find her). The library, the lawn, the temple of Shakespeare, all of which I would see for the last time. What wit, what talents, what vivacity, what friendship had I enjoyed in both these places? Where are they now?"
Soon after Hannah's return, Barley Wood was visited, after a seven years interval, by Mr. and Mrs. Wilberforce and their two daughters, and their stay was very much enjoyed by both guests and hostesses. Wilberforce writes in his diary:—
"October 18th.—Dean Ryder came from Wells in the evening, truly pleasing and much talk with him. 19th. The Dean and I walked before breakfast, which late because Lady Lilford and her family expected to it. Talked, walked, read to them Baxter's Life (the change of view and feeling). 20th. After breakfast Miss Patty showed me her book of handwriting of eminent men, many of them written on purpose and very curious. Edward VI., Queen Mary (William III.), Pope, Swift, Bolingbroke, and Atterbury. All the Admirals, General Wolfe, &c. All the politicians, Washington, Franklin, Prior, Priestley, Burke, Fox, Pitt, Sir Joshua Reynolds. A beautiful letter from Horsley. Voltaire, Rousseau, Blackstone."
​To his sister, Mrs. Stephen, Wilberforce writes:—
"You must have been greatly entertained at Barley Wood if your nerves were equal to the encounter, but you would miss the eldest sister. There was a place assigned to every one of the sisterhood, and not one of them could be spared without creating a void."
Certainly such testimony from one accustomed to the choicest circles in London, confutes what Madame Bunsen hastily says, namely, that Hannah More's powers deteriorated, "and were narrowed by being confined to the society of Mrs. Patty, Mrs. Betty and the rest." In fact, they were women of intelligence fully equal to her own, and quite as agreeable, Sally being always, even in old age, the liveliest and most amusing of the family, and Patty being, as ever, Hannah's other self.
The summer of 1814 was a quieter one than usual, for, as Hannah wrote in June, "Our friends from all quarters being met in one common centre, Emperor-hunting." She took advantage of the leisure to work up an Essay on the Character and Writings of St. Paul, a life study with her, on which she had concentrated all her research into authorities. She was interrupted by a letter from Cadell informing her she had outlived her copyright in her Sacred Dramas, in the 18th edition, and that other publishers were bringing out editions, to his injury, so that he begged her to make some additions to the work for his benefit. Accordingly she wrote an additional scene for her drama of ​Moses, making Miriam prophesy the deliverance from Egypt. Then she went back to St. Paul, and was just at the very termination of the work, having locked her room-door to prevent interruption, when, as she was reaching across the fire-place for a book, the end of her shawl caught fire. She unlocked the door, and called, and her sisters had the horror of seeing her at the top of the stairs, one sheet of flame as it seemed to them; but she had the presence of mind to retreat out of the draught, and Miss Roberts, one of the visitors, succeeded in extinguishing the flames before much harm was done to her person.
"I consider myself a monument of God's mercy," are her words to Mrs. Kennicott. "Many trifling circumstances, which appeared to be providentially directed, contributed to my perservation. Being confined with a bad cold, I had, that day only, put on a thick stuff gown, which, however, was burnt through the back and sleeves. The day before I wore a muslin gown (in December!). I had also on three shawls. The one next me was reduced almost to tinder before it could be got off, of the others little is left. It was in heroically tearing off these, and taking me, flaming as I was, as if I had been an infant, and laying me on the carpet, that Miss Roberts burnt her hands so terribly. They were healed, however, sooner than my slighter wounds, which are now healed also, and I am able to put on a gown."
​Scarcely had Mrs. More recovered from this accident before she had an attack of ophthalmia, which consigned her to darkness and idleness for a time. However, her Essay on St. Paul came out, and was accepted as usual, so that the entire first edition was disposed of in one day.
In spite of years and declining health, the sisters were as energetic as ever in making the round of their schools, whenever they were capable of the exertion, and in getting up festivals when they had a cause to serve. In the summer of 1816, they had a great anniversary meeting of the Bible Society in their grounds. Here is the description given to Mr. Wilberforce:—
"The meeting was the most genteel and numerous we have had. If our oratory was not of the first brilliancy, it had good sense and good temper to recommend it. We had near forty clergy of the Establishment. When the meeting was over, which was held in a waggon yard, as there was no room for them in the inn, all the superior part of the company resorted by previous invitation to Barley Wood. A hundred and one sat down to dinner, and about one hundred and sixty to tea. Happily, it was a fine day, and above fifty dined under the trees, the overflowing from our small house. They all enjoyed themselves exceedingly, and it had all the gaiety of a public garden.
"Some may think that it would be better to add ​twenty pounds to our subscription and save ourselves so much trouble, but we take this trouble from a conviction of the contrary. The many young persons of fortune present, by assisting at this little festivity, will learn to connect the idea of innocent cheerfulness with that of religious societies, and may 'go and do likewise.' For no other cause on earth would we encounter the fatigue."
Indeed, all the four sisters were very ill that year, Hannah with what was then called a bilious fever, Patty with liver complaint, Sally with dropsy, and Betsy with paralysis, coming upon other troubles. After a fortnight of speechlessness, this good woman likewise went to her rest, and the three drew together again, feeling their ranks broken, but still brave, resigned, and cheerful.
The depression and discontent of 1817 set Hannah to work again, though "with a weak head and weak hand," after a bilious fever, at patriotic songs and leaflets, and at adapting Village Politics to the actual crisis. It came out again as Village Disputants, and six hundred were immediately bought by one person, and sent to Manchester for distribution. The songs too did good work. "I did not think to turn balladmonger in my old age, but I thought it my duty," said Hannah.
The distress fell heavily on two of the Mendip parishes, where the schools had existed for ​twenty-eight years. "They are all miners, all poor, and all have been unable to earn a penny, the material they subsist upon, lapis calaminaris, with which brass is made, lying upon hand without any call for it, so that industry is of no use. After assisting them individually to the best of our power, my friend and neighbour, Mr. H. Addington, and myself have commenced merchants, and purchase a large quantity of their commodity weekly, which is deposited in warehouses till better times return, and both their minds and bodies are improved by having employment as well as bread. I am labouring hard to prevail on the real merchants to renew the trade by the time our private funds are exhausted. The distress of these eleven hundred souls has been exquisite. I condemn you to this tedious detail that you may know how acceptable your bounty has been."
For this account was elicited by a handsome donation, for the benefit of the Mendip poor, from Sir William Pepys. These exertions were made in the midst of ailments of all the three sisters, and constant interruptions, but still there was vivacity enough to enjoy any humorous event or anecdote. One which Sir William tells in his reply is worth repeating. There was a discussion, at the Prince Regent's table, which was the higher title, Dauphin or Prince of Wales, on which one of the company quoted the line—
Quanto Delphinis Balæna Britannica major.
It was in every way a sad time. Wilberforce's sister, Mrs. Stephen, who had been heart and part in the first doings at Cheddar, and throughout a warm sympathiser, died that winter, and the three ladies at Barley Wood were all suffering—Hannah often with headaches, Patty, who had a liver complaint, weak and languid, and Sally with a frightfully diseased leg; yet, throughout, Hannah was composing patriotic tracts and songs, to meet the need of the times, and in six or eight weeks, she produced a dozen.
Sally's illness lasted four months, for a long time not affecting her vivacity, but the last weeks were ​terrible. The leg was in such a state that it seemed enclosed in a black boot, but her patience was such that "she commonly sent her surgeon away in tears." Some relations of the Roberts family came to the assistance of Hannah and Patty, and a record of these weeks was drawn up by one of them. The submission was perfect. Mrs. Sally had from the first guessed and predicted to a servant the course of her illness, adding, that she never let an hour of the day pass without silently sending upon the petition, "In the hour of death, good Lord, deliver us." Yet she was so full of playfulness, that friends who called could not believe what they were told of her condition.
"Poor Sally! you are in dreadful pain," said one of her sisters.
"I am, indeed; but it is all well," she said.
When she left the sitting-room for the last time she cast a look around her full of a meaning no one forgot. Opiates were freely given, and these and the suffering prevented her from attending to reading; but texts were repeated to her as she could bear them. Once, when she seemed almost insensible, she cried: "Can anything be finer than that? It quite makes one's face shine."
One night she complained of too much light. "The smallest light is enough to die by."
Hannah asked if she had comfort in her mind.
"Yes, I have no uncomfort at all."
​She was asked if she knew Miss Roberts.
"Oh yes, I know everybody and remember everything."
"Ah! poor dear soul," said a servant; "she remembers her pains too."
"No," she answered. "I do not think of them."
All her wanderings were praise and prayer, generally verses of psalms, and the Saviour's name was the last intelligible word upon her lips. She died on the 17th of May 1817, and only Hannah and Patty remained, still working cheerfully on. Much was in the way of revision of new editions of former works, and the death of Princess Charlotte led to the addition of an affectionate panegyric to the introduction of the hints on her education. "In spite of the dull task of reforming points and particles, I found the revisal of Practical Piety a salutary and mortifying employment." This simple-minded woman tells Zachary Macaulay, "How easy it is to be good on paper. . . . I hardly read a page which did not carry some reproach to my own heart. I frequently think of a line which Prior puts into the mouth of Solomon—
They brought my proverbs to confute myself."
If fame could have puffed her up, she had enough. Cœlebs was translated into French, and actually was favourably received by Madame de Staël; and ​several of the Cheap Repository Tracts were translated into Russian, and widely circulated by a Princess with the formidable name of Metchersky. The Shepherd of Salisbury Plain, the Two Wealthy Farmers, and, still more, Charles the Footman, must have been a curious study in Russia in the days of unmitigated serfdom.
Some of these Tracts were also translated into Cinghalese and Tamil, and the Chief Justice of Ceylon, Sir Alexander Johnstone, sent the authoress a specimen of her drama of Moses in the Bulrushes written in Cinghalese on a Palmyra leaf and enclosed in a beautifully carved and painted case. He further informed her of the abolition of slavery in Ceylon, and asked for a ballad, that might be translated to be used at a festival to be held on the 19th of August 1816, after which day every new-born child would be free. She produced a little poetical dialogue called the Feast of Freedom, one verse of which it would be well to make a stock quotation in our schools—
Then let our masters gladly find A free man works the faster;
Who serves his God with heart and mind Will better serve his master.
The poem was translated by two Buddhist priests whom Sir Alexander had sent to England for education, and who were at Liverpool with Dr. Adam Clarke, and it was set to music by Dr. C. Wesley. ​Moreover, two Persian nobles who were studying in England visited Barley Wood. Much should we like to know what their real impressions of the place could have been, and of the two beautiful and dignified old ladies, so unlike their experience in their own country. Visitors constantly came, and the financial affairs and general supervision of the schools still rested on the sisters, and each had many days of sharp illness; but, when in tolerable health and free from interruption, Hannah contrived to write five hours daily, and in the morning. "It is a great loss to me," she says, "that I can make no use of the latter part of the day except by knitting, which is, perhaps, the portion best employed."
Both sisters were very seriously ill in 1818, the attack coming on with shivering fits, and pains as if the flesh were cut with knives. "My whole life," wrote Hannah, "from early youth has been a successive scene of visitation and restoration. I think I could enumerate twenty mortal diseases from which I have been raised up without sensible diminution of strength."
Depression of spirits never seems to have tried this happy sisterhood, nor did the power of being interested and amused ever fail them, and this no doubt greatly contributed to these recoveries. The summer of 1819 was spent quietly, except for a meeting of the Bible Society, when one hundred and twenty gentry dined at Barley Wood, and two ​hundred drank tea. "Tables were laid in the garden, prodigal of flowers; the collation was a cold one, but took two days to cook. We had, besides our neighbouring gentry, many persons from Clifton, and forty clergymen of the Establishment, and the white-robed nymphs with the groups under the trees made the prettiest show imaginable. You will judge that my health is improved, by my being able to go through such a serious fatigue. The success of these Societies I have much at heart. Sometimes we hear Christian Knowledge Societies opposed to Bible Societies; but I belong to both parties. I wish there was no such thing as party." This is to Mr. Wilberforce; and in the same letter Hannah tells him, "I have been guilty of the weakness, at my age, of doing that imprudent thing, writing a book."
"A fresh crop of errors" seemed to her to have sprung up among professedly religious people, in a mania for a French education, which had set in with the Peace. As a protest against children being taken abroad to acquire a Parisian accent, she wrote Moral Sketches of Prevailing Opinions and Manners.
As usual, the book prospered. Princess Sophia Matilda, the Bishop of Bristol, Sir William Pepys, and many others wrote warmly; and the Bishop (Monsell) pronounced that Mrs. More had indeed well used the ten talents entrusted to her.