The times., 1898-06-19

est daughter OF a wealthy Lancashire
manufacturer, whose wife was not only
the mother of seven beautiful and gifted
girls. not one of whom was less than FIVE
feet inches in stature but who was noted
for her own talents and accomplishments.
She was religious woman, but read her
Bible morning and evening in the orig
inal Hebrew and Greek. and the writings
Of the church fathers In Latin-which is
not common among even the most re
ligious women. She was a profound and
persistent student, and was until her
death the most intimate friend of Her
bert Spencer who consulted her not only
on matters affecting his daily life, but up
on the most abstruSe scientific questions.
The eccentricity of this brilliant lady was
her horror of fat people. She herself was
of a fragile, almost transparent physique,
and TO her mind adipose tissue seemed
almost a vice. She fed the seven daugh-
ters with the greatest care, weighing
every meal before they were allowed to
eat it, and discovered by accurate expert
ment how little a growing girl can eat
and yet retain health and vigor. Later
they confessed that they never, until they
had homes of their own, knew what il
was not to feel the sensation of hunger.
Yet they thrived upon this severe system
all seven growing up tall, handsome and
vigorous, with alert and brilliant minds,
and retaining always the slimness of
their figures.
OF all the seven, the youngest, Bea-
trice, was the most remarkable. She pur-
sued her studies under the direction and
with the assistance of Herbert Spencer.
who has always declared hers TO be the
most remarkable female mind ne has ever
encountered. She was the tallest of the
seven, and when she was introduced to
London society was said 10 be one of the
most beautiful women of her generation
Such a girl. who possessed beside an am
Pile fortune of her own. was not likely to
want for admirers, and the most brilliant
men of England were glad to be her
friends. One day without warning, she
disappeared from the ball rooms and
drawing rooms of May Fair. and was not
to be discovered by any of her whilom
companions. Something had directed her
attention to the condition of the working
| girls of London, and. putting on the cos
| tune of one, she went into sweat shop
! and shared their existence with the Sc
| cret purpose of studying its hardships
! Two months later she reappeared with a
| mass of facts and statistics which she en-
| bodied in an. article in one of the reviews,
| that stirred all England. was made the
subject of-debate in parliament and re-
| suited in the appointment of a commission
which investigated and reformed the
| sweatshops. From that day Beatrice Pot
! ter returned no more to the world Her
sisters had all married men of position.
| but she scorned their happy busy do
| mestic lives, and was to be found only
among the manual laborers, sharing. the
| curious "delusion of other socialists that
the only labor worth consideration is
such as may be performed with the hands
| Her studies led her all over the continent
| of Europe
Occasionally she would reappear for a
brief space, and gather about her for an
| afternoon her early friends, but her real
| companions had ceased to be the men
| who were making and ruling the Eng
lish empire, and creating its science, lit
| erature and art. Her friends were those
who called on her. in their shrt-sleeyes
| and smoked clay pipes in her drawing
| room. Five years ago she astonished
| even those who knew her best by marry
| ing Sidney Webb, the socialist. They
set up a modest home in the East end
of London. all her fortune, beauty and
| talent being finally and irrevocably de-
| voted to the cause of manual labor.
Two years ago the fruits of her studies
| appeared in the form of a monumental
work on the subject of labor and wages.
| In it no theories were advanced no doc
| trines promulgated. 1t contained sim
! ply the mass of facts out of which doc
| trlneS ana theories might De built. This
year another great work bearing her own
as well as her husbands name has ap-
peared. In it she elaborates the conclusion
she has drawn from her facts, and while
profounder students of the social ques-
tion by no means accept her theories, II
is universally admitted that no more
mastery and scientific presentation OF
the question has been made of recent
years, and that this beautiful young
tnd T t,or1
rooms less than a decade ago. has pro-
duced work which will be Textbooks
i and mine of reference for all students
of modern sociology