The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-08-24


several hands, was in the possession OF gen
tleman near Bristol when engraved for Shaws
Ancient Furniture" IN 1886.
In the DouCe Collection of the Bodleian Lii
brary, Oxford, there is figured in manuscript
OF the fifteenth century a cradle, with the baby
very nicely tucked up in 1t. The cradle resem-
bles those OF modern date, and is upon rockers.
Another illustration Of the same period shows us
cradle of similar form, the cradle, baby, and
alP carried on the head OF the rsery-mald-a
caryatio style OF BABY tending which we cannot
suppose to have been universal. The inventories
OF household furniture belonging to Reginald de
la Pole, after enumeratlng some bed-hanglngs of
costly stun, descrlbe:-ltem, pane" (Diece
OF clolh which we now call counterpane) land
head-s shete Tor ye Cradell, of same sute bothe
furred with mynever'-giylng us o comfortable
IDEA OF the nursery establishment in the DE Ia
Pole family. The recent discovery in England
OF that which tradlt on AYERS TO be the tomb of
Canute's little daughter, speaks OF another phase
IN nursery experience The relics, both OF the
cradle and the grave, bear Their own record of
the joys, cares, and sorrows of the nursery in
vanished years, and bring near to every mothers
heart the baby that was rocked in the one, and
the grief which came when that little form was
given to the solemn keeping of the other
miniature In an early manuscript called
'The Birth OF St. Edmund,n gives us a picture
of q bedroom and baby in the fifteenth century
st. Edmund himself was born i've hundred
years previous to that date; but as saints and
sinners look very much alike when they are an
hour oid, we can imagine that, as lar as tue
baby is concerned, 1t may De considered a por-
trait. pretty young woman, IN long white
gown, whose cap looks like magnided butterflies
wings turned upside down, sits on a low seat be-
Tore the blazing woodhre burning on great and
irons in WIDE fireplace, which, instead OF q man
telpiece, has three inches Tor ornamental vases.
She holds the baby very nicely, aud, having
warmed his feet, has wrapt him in long white
garment, so that we see only his little head IN
plain night cap surrounded indeed by the
gided nmbus OF his samtship, which we hope
was not of tangible snbstal Ce, as it would have
been an appendage very awkward tor all parties
concerned The mother reposes IN a bed with high
posts and long curtains. She must have been
woman of strong nerves to have borne the sight
of such stupendous head gears as those in which
her attendants are nld-nooddng over herself
and baby, or 10 nave supported the weight of
that which she wears by way of nght-cap. One
nurse raises the lady, while another, who, from
her snowy dress, appears TO be The head of the
department. offers a tail, elegant but very
1nconvenently shaped goblet, which contains,
we presume, medieval cruel. The room has
very comfortable aspect, from which we Judge
that some babies IN those times were carefully
attended.
MANY centuries ago young woman sat one
day among the boys to whom she had come, as
their fathers bride, from a foreign land, to take
the name and place OF thermother. She shO wed
to them a beautiful volume OF Saxon poems one
of her g-gttts-perhaps offered by the
artists OF The court OF Charles lie Chauve, of
whose skill such magnificent specimens yet
exist.
As the attention of the boys was arrested by
the brilliant external decorations, judith with
that quick instinct foI the extension OF know
ledge which ehowed her true descendant of
Charlemagne, promised thai the book should be
given TO him who first learned to read 1t. Young
Alfred won the prize, and became Alfred the
Great
We are brought ne ar to the presence of a
woman of the Middle Ages when we stand be-
side the monument of Eleanor of CASTLE,
queen of Edward |, in Westminster Abbey.
The figure is li'eike and beautiful with
flowing drapery folded simply around it. The
countenance, with its delicate features, wears a
look OF sweetness and dignity as fresh to-day as
when sculptured seven hundred years ago. The
hair, confined by Il coronet, falls OIL eacn side
OF her face IN ringlets; one hand lies by her
side, and once held sceptre; the other Is
brought gracefully upwards; the slender
fingers, with trus, ing touch, are laid upon a
cross suspended from her neck.
Historians have done their best, or their
worst to throw doubt upon the story of
Eleanor's sucking the poison with her lips from
the arm of her husband, when dastardly
assassin of those days struck at the lite of
Edward. But such tradition, whether actually
tact or not is tribute to the affection ana
strength of Eleanor's character; and all hlsto-
rams agree that she insulled no poison into the
lite OF king or country. As a wife, mother,
and q queen, Eleanor OF CASTLE STANDS high on
the record OF the women OF the middle ages.
Coming from Westminster Abbey, IN the
spring OF 1866, we stood one day at window III
the Strand and watched multitude which no
man could number pulslng through that great
artery Of the mighty heart of London. 1t was
the day OF the great Peace celebration, and
holiday. Hour after hour the mighty host
place where we stood was Charing Cross,
and our thoughts went back seven hunored
years, whel Edward, following the mortal re-
mains OF his beloved Eleanor, erected on this
spot, then a country suburb of London, the last
of that line of crosses which marked those
places where the mournful procession paused
on its way from Herdeby to Westminster. 1t
was the cross OF the dear queen, Ia cheTe RENE,
which time and changes OF language have since
corrupted into Charng Gross. Through this
pathway crowds have trodden for many centu-
ries and few remember that its nameis linked
with the queenly dead or with a kingly sorrow.
Thus it is, as we hasten on through the busy
tnoroughfares of life from age TO age, even as
one OF our own poets hath sald:-
"We pass, and heed each other not"
In these pages we have made some record OF
womans work in past centuries, ana also caught
glimpses OF duties, loves, hopes, fears, and
sorrows not unlike our own. wider sphere is
now accorded, and a deeper responsibility de-
wolves upon woman to fill it wisely and well.
We should never forget that, as far as they were
faithful to the duties appointed to them, they
elevated their sex to a CHER and nOber posi-
tion and therein performed the best work ot
the women of the Middle Ages.-AAantiC
MOnhty.