THE PARSON'S DAUGHTER.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 475, 6 April 1909, Page 3

THE PARSON'S DAUGHTER.

Attention has often been drawn to the long list' of brilliant men who have come from the rectory, the parsonage, and the manse, and in the "Girls* Realm" for February, Mr. George Wade claims that more clever girls come from those homes than from anywhere else. 'He quotes many famous names to prove his theory. Ho does not include historical women of fame, who wero generally of royal or noble birth, in his discussion, but the women who, during the past hundred years, have made their mark in the arts and professions and in domestic relations. Of the six women writers who were most famous in the early part of the last century— Jano Austen, Charlotte, Anno, and Emily Bronte, George Eliot, and Dinah Muloch—five came directly from the parsonage, Georgo Eliot being the one exception. Letttia E. Landon, whose gentle verses delighted our came from a long line of clergymen, though her own father was not one, and- Miss Charlotte ionge's ancestors on both sides had been ministers for generations, though her own father was not a clergyman. "If we leave literary work in the past," says the writer, "and look at mere domestic labours, we may well ask what women ever won more golden opinions and high renown as a mother than did' Susannah' Wesley, the daughter, wife, and mother of divines, It is something for the parsonage to boast of that it can produce the paragons of domestic life and work just as easily and well as the leaders of thought, letters, and arts. , A daughter of the parsonage who won. renown in the world of scholars in days gone by was Elizabeth Carter, who was considered the greatest Greek scholar of her .time, and whose translation of "Epictetus" !s still regarded as a standard one. In travel and exploring the women of the parsonage havo held their own, and Miss' Mary Kmgsley and Mrs. Isabel Bishop, who wero two of the most renowned women travellers, were closely connected with clergymen. •. ■ . ' ' And it was not only in the past that the parsonage sent forth its daughters to hold their own in the world. "Still living with us to-day," says the writer, "the famous women on every hand seem yet to come from the parsonage, or at least by far the greater majority of them do. Look at our chief women authors, artists, musicians, sculptors, and scholars, and trace their birth-places. You will see how true my statement is." 'It is noteworthy that the larger proportion _of women who take degrees or win hieh honours at the universities have- come from -clerical families," says the writer, and names such pedagogic lights as Sophie Bryant. D.Sc.,,and Mrs. Margaret Richards, M.A. And if is interesting/to know that tho first woman who ever won the degree of Doctor of Music, Miss Annie Patterson, was also a daughter of the parsonage. • In contemporary literature, the parsonage looms large. "Lucas Malet" (Mrs. Mary bt. Leger Harrison) was the daughter-of l rle3 ,,s in -, gsle y- Miss' Mary Cliolmondley, whose "Red Pottage" is one of the finest books of the day, is the daughter of the Kev. a. H. Cholmondeley, and descended on hor mother's side from tho famous Bishop Heber. John Strange Winter (Mrs. Arthur Stannard), L. T. Meade, and those charming writers, Jane and Mary Findlater, are all daughters of ministers, while Mrs. Humphrey Hard has skipped a generation, but can eurely be claimed as a daughter of the parsonage, as she is the grandchild of the famous Rev. Dr. Arnold, of Rugby. On the stape the celebrated actresses. Miss Irene Vanbrugh and Miss Violet Vanbrugh nave proved that the girls from the manso can hold their own as well as in other fields