‘all the great mystics have been energetic and influential, and their business capacity is specially noted in a curiously large number of cases.’
inge, bampton lectures, preface vii.
one outcome of miss beale’s time of personal spiritual distress, one which bore directly on what she considered as st. hilda’s work, was an arrangement made for the first time in 1884 for devotional meetings for teachers at the end of the summer term. after 1885, when a second gathering took place, they were held alternately with the biennial guild meetings. like much of miss beale’s work, these quiet days, as they were called, resulted rather from a definite idea than from a formal plan. their arrangement and character appear to have been due to the occurrence of certain conditions and circumstances while miss beale was forming a decision to help others who might be suffering as she herself had done. plans for this help began to pass through her mind as early as the summer of 1882, while she was herself, as she would have expressed it, ‘in the fire.’ in july 1882 she wrote to a friend:—
‘july 25, 1882.
‘what occurred to me was this—that something of a more definite retreat might be held for teachers during the vacation. mr. wilkinson had at christmas some quiet days which were[287] very valuable and helpful. still these were not quite like a regular retreat:—because very few who went were able to be really quiet in london lodgings, and so could not get the absolute silence and repose which make a retreat valuable.... most of the regular retreats are too general to give teachers the special help, and many are so distinctly high church, that one could not venture to recommend young teachers to go.... i can’t accept the decision “nothing can be done”; theories of distress which reach me as the old light seems to go out, and the dark waves close in, are too distressing. we cannot administer “a universal pill”; but we can to some extent support and comfort those who are passing through the darkness; one can out of one’s own experience tell them that the stars will shine out once more; one can teach some few simple lessons of faith and patience and hope; one can show that there are a priori and a posteriori grounds for the faith we hold,—though mysteries unfathomable remain in every department of thought; and in such a meeting, personal help and advice might be given to meet special individual difficulties. it is here that the christian evidence society fails. teachers have not time for much reading and there are masses of books, many of them containing very little matter and plenty of words and arguments, which are useless for our special difficulties. of course retreats are not simply for such intellectual treatment of doubts, and one would look for a quickening of faith by the special services and united prayers. so i thought it might seem good to hold some sort of retreat in oxford next year.’
it was not till the beginning of 1883 while attending a retreat in warrington crescent—a time to which she often recurred as of much help and strengthening—that miss beale was able definitely to consider what might be done. there were friends to whom she could turn, who took trouble to help her by thinking over the matter from her point of view. among these may specially be mentioned the late archbishop of canterbury and mrs. benson, the late bishop of st. andrews, and canon body. to mrs. benson she wrote:—
‘epiphany, 1883.
‘whilst others were rejoicing at the recent appointment i[288] have been conscious of a mixed feeling, for the archbishop of canterbury will not be able to do what the bishop of truro had half promised, in the way of helping by some kind of retreat, teachers who have difficulties of belief. mr. wilkinson has also been unable to give us the quiet days for which we had hoped. so some head mistresses, who were in retreat, and felt the great need, asked for special prayers for teachers in colleges and high schools, and that some way might be found to help them. mr. body responded very heartily to our request, and desired us to make it the subject of our special petition each week during the year. afterwards in conversation, he spoke of the valuable help you had been able to give, and this has set me thinking whether we could not ask you to make your knowledge and experience more widely useful.
‘our main difficulty would be to meet the doubts of those who have them, without suggesting doubts to those who have not been called to encounter this trial.
‘it has occurred to me, that perhaps there might be something on the model of the guild for the sick, combining the principle of the “instruction by correspondence” classes.
‘ ... perhaps you may think me intruding—my acquaintance with you is so slight—and unpractical, but the need is great and immediate, and i think you will feel this too. i have gained such painful experience, both from within and without, of the misery of those who have once seen and then lost the sight of the invisible; those who have left, especially those who become teachers, often turn to me for help, which i feel so incompetent to give, and which i have not time to do properly. one is writing to me now, who is in a school in which there are sixteen teachers, ten of whom have given up all outward sign of the religious life. i long to be able to refer those who need guidance to some who are able to help them. every other trial can be borne, but this is utter misery.
‘ ... it is not enough to preach sermons, and print books, as well might we furnish a treatise on arithmetic to a child whose sum is wrong; we must find out and show why it is wrong. the church did not make its way by such means at first, at least not without daily discussions “in the school of one tyrannus.” of course i do not overlook that some of the difficulties of belief are moral, but these could be met by the means i suggest.
‘i think it is very important that members should be able to enquire anonymously; come “by night” as it were, and should be assured that no one would try to find out the name.’
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to canon body, who had sent her a letter full of sympathy and interest, she wrote:—
‘i am so glad you wrote thus freely, for it has made me understand better how much you can feel for those in this deepest sorrow, and yet have a sure and certain hope that they will rise out of that hades. it is, as you say, most cheering to find movements of the same kind in different places. if there is a spiritual tide, the waters can only be lifted by extra mundane force.’
gradually the plan shaped itself. for a time miss beale hoped to be able to arrange at oxford a retreat followed by a conference, with lectures and discussions on theological subjects. this proved to be impracticable. then she sought to carry out the plan at cheltenham. she was advised to limit herself to two or three days of quiet study and devotion with addresses. she would not, however, relinquish the idea of some kind of conference. the scheme stated in the following extract from a letter was very much what was actually carried out:—
‘i hope the archbishop will be so good as to ask some one to give the addresses in the quiet days.... i should be there and a few of my friends, head mistresses, and we should make our subsequent lessons harmonise with the previous instruction, so that there should be unity. i do not mean to give lessons on methods of teaching in the ordinary mechanical sense; but on our vocation and the moral aspects of our work, and then i thought we could get some one to give bible lessons on the books set by oxford and cambridge, some one who knows the difference between dead and living teaching. we must have enough to occupy those who come for the whole month, though i expect only a few of those who come will remain so long. there will, i find, be a large proportion of earnest teachers who will be able to help and strengthen the weak.’
the rev. v. h. stanton[78] kindly acceded to miss beale’s request to give the addresses at the three quiet days which opened the conference in 1884. in the following[290] year canon mason did this. it is noticeable that on almost every occasion the conductor of this retreat for teachers was drawn from the ranks of cambridge. the reason for this miss beale often explained, as in the following letter written as late as april 1904:—
‘i have had nearly all the book you sent read to me; there are some beautiful thoughts, but i don’t feel quite at home in the general atmosphere. it is difficult to describe, but i remember when archbishop benson was choosing a conductor for our retreat, he said one day, he would rather choose from the cambridge school of thought. i asked him what was the difference between cambridge and oxford, and he said, “the latter began with the thought of sin, the former with the thought of the divine life in man.”
‘some day when we meet i may be able to make clearer what i mean.’
mr. stanton’s earnest sympathetic addresses were greatly valued by those who were present in 1884. not less prized was the generous kindness of the lady principal in the weeks which followed the retreat. miss beale not only gave frequent addresses on various subjects, continuing in some the line of thought begun on the quiet days, she was also constantly at the service of any member of the party for discussion or counsel.
‘i expected certainly to see something of you,’ one who had been present wrote afterwards to her, ‘but that you would constitute yourself the mother of the party, be with us at meals, and do so very much for our improvement and entertainment was quite undreamt of. indeed, we were all touched by it. i think those quiet days at the beginning gave a special tone of earnestness to the gathering.’
mrs. soulsby wrote of the ‘help and comfort you gave to me and so many others by arranging that retreat. i have never been present at anything so calculated to do steady and lasting good.’
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and many spoke of the ‘sense of fellowship’ which had been gained by meeting so many with like aims and interests; they told how they were going back to work with ‘new hope for the future,’ or with ‘many new lights and helpful suggestions to aid’ them. some said the work of teaching had been represented to them in a new light, some that the conference helped them to a new start. one told how she was ‘in danger of making shipwreck when your wise counsel saved me.’ another said: ‘one thing struck me very much, the fellow-feeling and anxiety to help that teachers who have been at cheltenham have for each other.’
more than a hundred teachers, many of them belonging to cheltenham, were present for the first days of the conference in 1884. some twenty outside teachers remained for the whole month. the time was long enough to foster real intimacy. a great deal of time and thought had been devoted to arrangements beforehand, in order that all might get the utmost benefit from the time. in this miss beale received much willing co-operation from her own staff, and miss caines lent fauconberg house and her servants. miss beale was specially anxious that during the quiet days all should have the opportunity of keeping well the silence which was observed. those who had no rooms of their own had little sitting-rooms assigned them in the college, the music-rooms being available for this purpose. that part of the cheltenham world which still regarded miss beale with suspicion and to whom a retreat appeared, even as late as 1884, to be a dangerous high church innovation, raised a cry of alarm. the music-rooms had been turned into cells! it is not known what the word implied to those who made the outcry, and it was soon silenced, but it caused a little annoyance at the time.
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the month passed in teaching and helping, though gladly given out of her own holidays, was an undoubted physical strain to miss beale. she wrote to mrs. benson:—
‘i wish i had never said i would try to write a paper for thursday at the health exhibition. i do not like to leave even for a day, as one ought to go on trying to help those who remain. we do feel so grateful for all the time and thought you and the archbishop have been good enough to give us, especially in the selection of mr. stanton. for myself, i should never have had the courage to go on; (one gets nervous)....’
and she was tired. the last entry in her diary for that month is this:—
‘august 27.—end of month at fauconberg. last address not good, and result of neglect.’
yet miss beale probably felt such a strain far less than any other head-mistress would have done, so absorbingly interesting to her was this kind of work. she always looked back with great pleasure on that time. she treasured the letters she received afterwards from those who had been present, dated from it lasting friendships made with some who had come from other schools, and felt it had drawn her nearer to some of her own teachers.
miss beale’s outside interests were concerned, as was natural, chiefly with education. with every educational movement made during the last fifty years in the direction of progress she became to some extent associated. she presided at the first meeting of head-mistresses held in 1874 at myra lodge, when the association for head-mistresses was founded with miss buss as president. ‘i see,’ said miss beale of this meeting in 1906, ‘it is recorded that i presided. my recollections are only of lying in great pain on the sofa and taking only a feeble part in the discussion. i little thought that i should be[293] allowed to address a conference which more than thirty years after numbers over two hundred and thirty members.... at our first meeting certain principles were asserted which tended to settle some difficult questions.’ miss beale here doubtless refers to the very first resolution passed by this aristocratic body, which was to the effect that no school can work satisfactorily unless the head-mistress be entirely responsible for its internal management. miss ridley, in writing of miss buss,[79] (to ‘whose insight and foresight,’ said miss beale, ‘the founding of the association was entirely due,’) has shown that the passing of this resolution was in itself almost a raison d’être for the association. for the rightful position of a head-mistress was not recognised without some difficulty and controversy. the governing bodies of girls’ schools could not at first be selected on the ground of interest and experience in educational matters. another resolution passed on that occasion was to the effect that an examination to test the power of teachers is desirable.
on the death of miss buss, in 1895, miss beale became president until 1897, when her term of office expired. she never sought re-election, her increasing deafness making it difficult for her to conduct meetings. she thought a great deal of the importance of the association and of the discussions which took place at its meetings, and strove in every way to render them not only earnest but fair-minded. ‘i hope,’ she said on one occasion, ‘that our assemblies will not become such as the discussions in parliament, merely formal, every one having taken a side before and being unmoved by anything said.’ miss beale several times read papers to the association, and in later years the deferential welcome[294] she received from its members was very noticeable. her last address, given on the request of the association in june 1906, only a few months before her death, may be regarded as her farewell to the educational world.
when the association for assistant mistresses was formed, miss beale regarded it at first with some anxiety. she feared the clash of interests and promotion of suspicion between a head and her staff. later, when she understood the work of the association, she received it into favour, and on one occasion addressed a meeting of the western branch at st. hilda’s. members of the association were welcomed, and sometimes spent the morning at college when they came over for branch meetings. miss beale, too, was always willing to let those of her staff who belonged to the a.a.m. committee go up to london to attend meetings in term time, and was pleased when it fell to miss lumby, as president of the association, to give evidence together with mrs. withiel, before the bryce commission in 1895.
the teachers’ guild, founded by miss buss in 1883, met with warm support from the head-mistresses of the association. a branch was started at cheltenham in the following year, and a paper by miss beale read, she herself being indisposed at the time. she used her influence with her own teachers to join the guild, and frequently addressed the branch meetings on such subjects as the value of examinations. in the froebel society she was also much interested and subscribed to it regularly. when the church schools’ company was founded in 1883, miss beale became at once a member of the council. she was proud that the college supplied head-mistresses to both the graham street and baker street schools.
the hopefulness no increase of years or disappointment[295] could abate, the open mind ever quick to receive what was good and original from those younger and less experienced than herself, were seen in the way miss beale greeted the work of the child-study association.
with her consent miss louch, then a member of the college staff, proceeded to america in 1894 to attend a course of lectures by dr. stanley hall on child-study. on her return the association was formed in edinburgh, and in the same year a branch was started in cheltenham, with miss beale as local president. before her death she was president of the whole association, and presided over the conference held in cheltenham in 1906, the year of her death. when the paidologist, the organ of the child-study association, was started, miss beale contributed largely to the guarantee fund, and for five years was a member of the magazine committee. she promoted the work of the association by trying to get the college staff, boarding-house mistresses, and parents of pupils to join and assist in it.
miss beale was among those consulted by miss mason when, in 1888, she definitely sought to give the parents’ educational union, which had had a successful year’s work in bradford, a national name and character. the work of the society appealed greatly to miss beale, and the cheltenham branch was one of the earliest founded. her name appears among those of the vice-presidents in 1892.
to pass beyond the limits of the work in which, from the fact of her position, the lady principal of cheltenham was called upon to take a part, it may be noticed that she was always much interested in sunday-school teaching, and wrote many articles upon it. several of these have been printed. her interest was caused largely by the numbers of old pupils who took[296] up this work, and who came to her for advice about it, as well as to the congenial nature of religious instruction. dissatisfied with the methods or want of method prevailing in many sunday-schools, she had a high ideal of the work for the sake both of teacher and children, and was always ready with sympathy and suggestion. to an old pupil engaged on a paper intended to point out some existing ills in sunday-schools she wrote in 1880:—
‘i should say begin with all the good done—the necessity for them at the time, etc. then speak of the evils, and with each sort suggest a remedy, and admit that the evils are not universal. try to put it in rather a different shape, and i think it would do good in overthrowing some self-complacency. especially is it an evil when quite raw girls—some ignorant girls such as we have at college—pretend to teach. children accustomed to proper teaching of course fidget. i should have been a little rebel myself, if i had had to hear the wretched stuff that some children do at sunday school. but it does, when done properly, draw classes together.’
institutions and societies designed to help the poor of cheltenham came of course before miss beale’s notice. she never, however, allowed herself to be drawn from the pressing requirements of her own work, so as to become acquainted with the details of that which, to some extent, grows up round every church. she was, indeed, on principle, chary in her support of this, maintaining that in a town there was generally great waste of funds and labours, owing to the lack of combination. she wrote as early as 1881 in reference to cheltenham:—
‘i am so anxious that we should all work in the direction pointed out by our rural dean, get all church people to work together as one, for works which cannot or ought not to be merely parochial, and in all charitable work, wherever it is possible, to get all, whether church or not, to join in opposing[297] all forms of evil.... i think we should take works in order of importance. i may be wrong, but i have regretted the erection of church steeples when there was other work that seemed to me of more importance [left unsupported]. i think the increase of offertories in churches, good as it is in many ways, has tended to hinder united work in the town. i do not know whether there ever could be a sort of council for the administration of at least part of the funds so collected; but it does seem as if the present plan gave too much to some districts and too little to others, and left some institutions which have a claim upon all, with scarcely any support, because what is everybody’s business is nobody’s.... the laity have very little influence in the distribution of money collected in churches, which tends always to become a larger proportion of what is given away, so that much of the power to organise united work must rest with the clergy. and living forces, which are enormously more important than money, are wasted by “congregationalism.” could there not be some larger association of church workers from which some sort of administrative council might select persons suitable for any special work? could not work sometimes be done collectively, instead of each clergyman doing it separately for his own congregation? i do hope that more and more, in one work after another, we may unite our forces, and if once people can be induced to look into the evils which exist at their very doors, they will be moved to work with one heart and mind to remove what is a disgrace to our town.’
among the institutions of cheltenham, for which miss beale specially claimed the need of united action, was the working men’s college. she herself on one occasion read a paper there, her subject being ‘self-support and self-government from the point of view, not of the individual, but of the college.’ the paper, simple and direct, shows how miss beale could throw herself into the minds of those she addressed, appealing to all that was best in them, while at the same time putting her own thoughts into them. it embodies her favourite theories of the danger of helping people through gifts:—
[298]
‘i do not think there are many belonging to this college who could not pay a few shillings annually. self-denial adds value to energy.... everybody does not agree with me. some think you will misunderstand,—think we do not want help. i do not think you will, to judge by my own feelings. i like to be independent. you look at the ladies’ college and say, “you have got all you want.” but time was when we were very poor, so poor that our council said, ... we will have but another year’s trial and then shut up. we never said we would beg people to help us: we would make it self-supporting, or it should die.... i feel certain if you working-men were to say, we will take the management ourselves, and it shall be a success, that it would be, and i think that if other people manage and pay for it, that some of the strongest and most independent would stand aloof.... i am quite sure that our college would not have been what it is if we had had money to fall back upon. i might myself have left the helm and gone to sit quietly in the cabin while the vessel drifted on to the rocks.’
among miss beale’s papers there exists a very simple address entitled, ‘is death the end?’ she intended to read it at a little mission-room, maintained in a very poor street by her friends, mr. and mrs. james owen. the subject was one which had taken strong hold of her fancy at the time. some one had discovered a dragon-fly emerging from its chrysalis on a water-lily in the little pond which then existed in the fauconberg house garden adjoining the college grounds. it was taken to miss beale, who saw enacted before her own eyes a living parable of resurrection-life. her childlike delight in this came out in almost every scripture lesson she gave that summer. the pond was watched for chrysalids; they were taken into the classrooms for the children to see the creatures creep out of their tombs, lie soft and sleepy for a little, then sail away on new-found wings. this true story of the dragon-fly and all it could teach of life, through death, miss beale longed to tell to mrs. owen’s poor friends. she wrote it carefully, and had little illustrations made; but the lecture[299] was never given. ‘mrs. owen would not let me,’ she said sadly, ‘but i think i could have interested them in the dragon-fly.’ but mrs. owen was probably right, since the audience for whom the paper was intended was such as miss beale knew only in the pages of browning’s christmas eve.
in the work of the church abroad, in the needs and claims of heathen peoples governed by england, in the various problems which arise out of these vast considerations, miss beale was interested only in a secondary way. that is to say, when they came before her in the work of her own pupils, when her girls turned to her for sympathy and help, then she would consider them enough to be able to form some definite opinion, and to give sound advice. the teachings of hindoo religions and philosophy, and the progress of christianity in india, came before her as matters of real interest in 1883, when pundita ramabai was sent by the wantage sisters to study at the college. miss beale received her with the utmost warmth and friendship. she made every possible arrangement for her health and protection: she not only put at her disposal every advantage the college could offer, but gave up a large portion of her own valuable time in order to help her personally. she welcomed ramabai’s long letters on religious questions and difficulties, answering them at equal length. she obtained introductions and arranged interviews for her with many whom she thought could help her. ramabai’s ‘appetite for philosophy’ (to quote miss beale), her enthusiasm and unsparing devotion to the cause of her unhappy sisters in india, touched her deeply, and when the home for widows was established at poona,[80] miss beale became a large and regular subscriber[300] to it. among her papers there is one which was perhaps sent to india, or was perhaps just one of those written expressions of some thought which had seized and filled her mind. it was evidently intended to be an appeal against the cruelty which made such homes for widows necessary:—
‘my heart,’ it runs, ‘is stirred by sorrow and pity for those suffering widows of india; but there are some whom i pity more,—those who inflict the sorrows on them, since it is far better to suffer than to do wrong.... but what grieves me, too, is the thought of the waste of all that wonderful amount of energy and life which god has given your country-women in order to bless others. if the men of india believe in god’s goodness and wisdom, as i think they must, even though they may not trust him, they must think he has not made all those widows to be a burden and misery to themselves and others, but to do good work. what mistakes people make when they think that they are wiser than god.... i look forward to the future and rejoice and think that as india grows wiser with that wisdom which trusts the infinitely wise and good god, whom we worship, she will send out her clever and good women, who are now crushed by sorrow and unkindness, into the rich harvest-fields of the world, will cheer them on in their work for others, and they will become a blessing; surely that is the only joy of a woman’s heart.... not this only, there will be many who will gladly give up all thought of the happiness of wife or of mother, in its limited sense, and go forth to live for others.... i can remember when old maid was a term of contempt in england, but it is not so now; you have seen me and sixty old maids working together happy and content, and if i could send out a hundred women where i can now send one, i should not have too many, so constant are the demands for “old maids,” as you would call them,—for teachers, nurses, missionaries, and all sorts of good work.... india will some time feel all that her wasted women’s life can do. god will put it into the hearts of men and of the happy women, who are sometimes hard on the unhappy, to set these women free to do all that is in their heart, and other good women will teach them to use their precious gift of liberty as in god’s sight.’
ramabai undoubtedly made miss beale realise the[301] need for definite christian teaching in india. here is an interesting extract from a letter on this subject:—
‘1884.
‘rama bai is very learned and thoughtful, and says how powerless most missionaries are, for want of the knowledge of native philosophy and religion.... i thought that the native religions were feeding the higher life, but it seems not so now; but the state is much the same as in greece and rome just before the christian era. she spoke much as plato does in the republic about the character of the gods in the indian poetry, and felt the wonderful power of the perfect example, and the inward grace to follow it.’
on hearing of miss beale’s death ramabai wrote: ‘it is over twenty-one years since i saw miss beale for the last time. but her sacred memory is quite fresh, and i seem to hear her pray and give bible instruction. her love and influence, her words of encouragement and her prayers on my behalf, have helped me much in my life and work.’
in south africa, a school at bloemfontein, still more one at grahamstown, became of interest at cheltenham through the influence of miss strong, who prepared herself to work in them by some periods of time at the college. many teachers at the diocesan school, grahamstown, were drawn from cheltenham, and its association of old pupils was for a time affiliated with the guild. other old pupils went to india, china, japan. as the number of cheltenham missionaries increased, the importance and needs of their work became impressed more and more on some members of the guild. in 1878 miss beale, whose own interest in foreign missions grew steadily in later years, allowed the formation of a missionary study circle within the guild.[81] this is the only special work other than that of the london settlement[302] she ever sanctioned, and this one was much safeguarded. when the occasional leaflet, the organ of this circle, was first published, she made it a condition that there should be no begging for money, nor even a definite urging of the claims of foreign mission work. she feared girls might be drawn by the attraction of distant and more heroic-seeming activities to neglect duty at home. and, as the present editor of the leaflet has remarked, ‘she hardly realised how careful societies are in selecting and training would-be missionaries.’
on one occasion miss beale, by the request of the late bishop of grahamstown,[82] actually addressed a small missionary meeting. she began by saying:—
‘i have been asked to speak to you a few words to-day, and i have consented on condition that i should not advocate a cause. it is sometimes said, “will you not collect money or bring forward such an institution?” and i say “no! my duty is to give principles, and to leave the definite application.” and if the carrying out of the principles deprives of helpers myself and the work that is nearest to my heart i am content, and so i am sure the bishop is.’ she continued, ‘i admit there is sometimes a call to go abroad for those who want to serve christ, and lack resolution to be cut off from home ties. we cannot so easily forget we are soldiers if we go out to an enemy’s country. we read in history of brave people who failed in war because when they had won a battle they could not be kept together; but disappeared into their own homes, and had to be got together again on the next emergency. so, i think some who feel themselves weak do well to join some army bound for foreign parts. they can’t run away on the first repulse, or give up when tired;—and the raw recruit comes back a veteran from his foreign campaign, able to lead the volunteers who have to be trained at home. not only does a foreign campaign help us to break the bondage of self-indulgent habits, but it unites us too. there is nothing like going away from home and facing a common foe to unite us to those from whom we were severed. a neighbour whom we scarcely knew in cheltenham is a friend at once in china or africa. in the[303] presence of unbelief christians who are separated feel their differences in minor matters, matters of taste and feelings rather than of principle, to be insignificant;—and unite in the great battle against sin. whilst, on the other hand, they feel the immense power, the great need of faith, living and real, to sustain them when the props of society, of church services, of sympathetic friends are taken away;—they have to dig down to the rock.... in any case the battle must not begin without training and discipline. useless women, because undisciplined in thought, in will, in action, what havoc they make! having a name to live, yet dead;—these bring in confusion. those who have not learned obedience, those who want credit for themselves, or excitement, never help to win victory.’
there was one matter outside her own proper sphere of activity in which miss beale was never sparing of money or personal trouble. this was the work to which mrs. lancaster had first drawn her in her youth, the rescue and protection of women. it became, as life went on, specially linked with the memory of that other friend, of whom she loved to think as britomart, rescuing her sister from the fire. when mrs. owen died, it was felt instinctively that her work for others must and should continue. there seemed no memorial so fit as a home for friendless girls for one whose chosen task it had been to seek the lost piece of silver. miss beale translated, as it were, all her poetical thoughts, all her most tender memories into active co-operation, taking the chair at committees, addressing meetings, making known the needs of the home, finding workers for it.
miss beale herself had learned much since 1856. as time went on she felt less inclined to seek remedies for evil than to prevent its beginning; she looked more to causes than to resulting facts. when in 1885 mrs. william grey made an appeal for help in organising some definite movement among the mothers of england against the sins which create the necessity for rescue,[304] miss beale responded warmly, urging her to come forward herself to lead it.
‘ladies’ college, cheltenham, august 5, 1885.
‘dear mrs. grey,—your beautiful letter was sent me by an old pupil, who with her husband, mr. mitchell, is one of the most earnest workers in the cause. the labours they have gone through patiently and quietly for years are immense.
‘well: it seems to me that we ought to have a union, as large as the one you established, and which did such wonderful work before; but this time for—shall i say shepherding those who have no proper protectors, and my thoughts turn to you to lead in this also. (1) because i am sure that the work you have done has alone made it possible to hope that we may roll back this flood of corruption instead of being submerged by it; the improvement in education has shown what women can do, and won for the time a respect from men, which they had not before. these large schools have taught them to work together organically, and the solid studies have strengthened them in every way. (2) because you have such faith—i remember how strong it was when mine failed. (3) because you would be able to unite people of various creeds and classes and ranks in this great national work—people would trust your delicacy and your judgment, and you would emphasise the patriotic grounds. i never forget your speech at bristol, and your words about our “dear, dear country.” you can both stir the heart, and guide the judgment. i think that perhaps god has restored your health that you may lead once more.
‘dim visions float before my mind of an union of women which should embrace and work with the existing organisations, such as the girls’ friendly, the metropolitan association, and the christian young women,—which should welcome help from all; for what are sectarian distinctions in the presence of such evils? “let every one that nameth the name of christ” join—and those too who, not naming his name, live according to his life....
‘women band themselves together to go out to nurse in the armies—once that was thought impossible.... perhaps i am talking of what is impracticable. it is hard to keep calm enough to see clearly, when such visions hover before one. it is so important to keep calm, that one may neither be paralysed, nor make fantastic strokes instead of striking truly; and therefore i want you to think and guide.
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‘i am sure we teachers must not let ourselves be diverted from our proper work, of inspiring and setting others to work—indirectly, not directly, can we act. i often have to stop earnest teachers, who would break themselves down, and say—“if you want a thing done, don’t do it yourself.” but we do need more and more not to think of the mere giving of knowledge, but of lifting through education the girls’ characters; giving them proper ideas of marriage and what it ought to be: we should abolish all the frivolities of the marriage ceremonial. would we had more weddings like that i attended yesterday of one of our teachers. i had never before been present at one which had really satisfied me, and there were crowds of poor people belonging to the “unwashed” amongst whom she had laboured, who behaved as fashionable congregations do not, and who must have gone away with a deeper sense of the meaning of a true marriage. we need, i think, a marriage reform association as much as a funeral reform. i am afraid my letter is a little incoherent. i am in bed with headache, after a somewhat exhausting week. we have had a teachers’ meeting again this year, beginning with some quiet days, and addresses to teachers by canon mason, whom the archbishop of canterbury kindly asked. i think we all thoroughly enjoyed these and our after meetings, and our country excursions and social gatherings.
‘miss helen gladstone was with us, and ramabai, with teachers from all parts.
‘give my love to dear miss shireff. i don’t know what she will say to my urging work on you.’
mrs. grey did not decline the task thus sent back to her, so far as she was able to do it by writing. she was then living abroad in enfeebled health, but her passionate words touched many in england, and a movement which received the name of the women’s league was set on foot in the usual routine way with committees and meetings. miss beale attended one or two of these, but does not appear to have been quite happy at them. she was necessarily hampered by the fact that the name of the college ought not to be associated with this special work. she felt also that she had not sufficiently studied the subject, nor knew enough about the organisation[306] of societies other than educational, to be able to make suggestions before others of wide experience. on one occasion, when a difference of opinion arose about admission to the league, she felt she had not spoken as decisively as she should, and she wrote afterwards to mrs. grey: ‘i enclose the two circulars; but please do not question me. it seemed impertinent to speak when there were four or five bishops’ wives present, and i doubt my judgment. i have given all my thought to other forms of organisation, and i live so much out of the world.’ and to the lady with whom she had specially differed she wrote thus:—
‘i have been trying to think how it was possible for you to misunderstand me, as i saw you did on saturday. i thought you knew me too well to think i could wish any one to conceal their colours. i was very tired, and i see i did not make myself clear. may i try now?
‘there are two parties who call themselves agnostics: there are those who reject the christian moral law, and teach a truly abominable doctrine; with such one could have absolutely nothing to do; no league we could ever join could include these, for they are our enemies.
‘there are others, who hold all that christ has taught us, who would fully accept the christian moral law, as the one and only rule. i know some of these; their whole heart is with us; they do the work of christ, for they go into the wilderness and find those wounded and stripped by thieves, and bring them to our inn, and bid us take care of them.
‘i am sure our lord will one day place such on his right hand, though they may question, “lord, when saw we thee?” i would not separate from them, lest i should be parted from him whose love is certainly working in them, tho’ their “eyes are holden” that they know him not.
‘i know still that we cannot join them, so as to do the same work, and they know it too. they gather in, they go into the highways and hedges; they leave the inner work to those who are actually disciples. one i know has just now got the care of two neglected portionless girls, and sent them to good church schools....
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‘i shall be deeply grieved, if in a crisis of such danger, we show the enemy that we are so divided that we cannot welcome as allies those who are doing christ’s work, and acknowledging the perfection of his teaching, because we cannot understand their difficulties in accepting the doctrines we hold sacred. we shall not “water down” our teaching, nor would they wish us to do so. we shall not give up prayer, because we do not impose special rules.’
another letter of this period (march 1886) to mrs. grey shows miss beale’s calm judgment as well as her sympathy in the difficult work of the league:—
‘ ... i am disappointed to find that some, even of mature age, seem to think it right to shut their eyes.... of course one would be glad that such subjects as this should not be brought up without necessity, and i suppose that many of us have grown up without a notion that some of the crimes alluded to in your paper were possible. it does darken the whole world and sadden the lives of the young to know that such wickedness is possible; it may destroy their faith in god, to know it before their moral constitution has attained its full vigour, and plunge them into pessimism: one cannot help wishing to conceal these loathsome visions from those we love. i do not go with miss ellice hopkins in her wish that the young should be very early warned. it seems to me that there is a parallel between that and our action in cases of bodily disease: one who looked on passively is sickened and made ill;—the nurse or surgeon bent on healing does not suffer.
‘and i do feel that there is a great danger in bringing before the mind temptations which are connected with the bodily organisation. a nervous excitement seems to be produced, something of the nature of hysteria, and there is a sort of criminal fascination such as those feel who throw themselves from heights: the judgment seems utterly in abeyance. the same thought seems expressed in the story of medusa.
‘for this reason i do feel a little hesitation in giving countenance to the indefinite extension of blue-ribbon armies, necessary and beneficent as they are in cases where there is strong temptation, or persons are moved to work actively against intemperance; and i would rather that the campaign should be one of missionaries, so to speak, of those who have bound themselves to some active work in the cause. i think that such great evils might arise from the terrible mistakes which might be[308] committed by those who undertook the ostracism without having a fair chance of arriving at a correct judgment. it is so easy to stab to death the character of an innocent man; the devil may steal as well as buy a man’s shadow; he may sell as well as buy....
‘so what seems to me best would be to have a small band of wise and calm leaders; and not to invite a general public to give any pledge, only trust to the working of such leaven as these would form.
‘some of the points to which they direct attention should be the abolition of the frivolities of the marriage ceremony....
‘as regards material measures, i would still urge the formation of a body of women-policemen, who could safely do work which could not be done by men-policemen or clergymen. these should undertake to watch over registries for women, shops where women work, to establish labour registers themselves, and take care that women were not paid starvation wages; to enter (under protection) suspected houses; to watch railway stations and ships, etc. etc.
‘so you see, dear mrs. grey, tho’ my heart is altogether with you, my judgment does not quite go with the recommendations. i do not fear your misunderstanding me, because we are so truly one, and can only differ about the best modes of work....’
as time went on miss beale’s continued sympathy with this particular work was evidenced in larger subscriptions to the national vigilance association, to which she also left a legacy. the letters of the last years show her interest in it, and that her horror of a worldly marriage was as great as ever. she wrote to miss ellice hopkins in 1903:—
‘i meant that marriage without the spiritual ideal was intolerable, but the body is transfigured; there is a “metamorphosis,” as the new testament insists so often; but the scripture teaching is so different from the mere sentimental. i don’t like the tendency of lady rose’s daughter. i dislike, of course, much of sarah grand, but the end of the heavenly twins does bring before people the horrors of such a marriage as the bishop’s wife promotes. it is a long and ever-renewed struggle with these wicked laws.... it is sad to see that this new education act is shutting out women, and making the hope of the suffrage less. here the town council and the[309] county council both asked me to nominate a woman—and four of our staff here have been asked to be managers of schools—but of course two or three women will be able to do very little.’
cheltenham pupils who in course of time took up the cause of the poor and degraded, found the greatest sympathy and help from miss beale. she was always specially ready with sympathy for those who were engaged in an unpopular struggle for good. among them may be specially mentioned miss annette bear, whose labours in 1894 were instrumental in getting a clause dealing with children employed on the stage added to the act, afterwards known as the children’s charter, and who after her marriage worked successfully for the women’s vote in australia. a short account of annette bear crawford appeared in the college magazines for 1899 and 1900.
to an old pupil trying to help her unhappy sisters in africa she wrote: ‘i must tell you how glad i was to see your name on the ladies’ national list, and to hear from yourself on the subject. i am so rejoiced when my old girls take up this trying question. only refined and educated women can handle it successfully.’ she also begged her not to be discouraged by failure, ‘but remember the real thing to aim at is the suffrage. without the vote you may cut off one evil to find it coming up again in a worse form, and often, but for the personal discipline, might as well be knocking your head against a stone wall.’
as time went on this question of the vote for women seemed more and more important to miss beale. she became a vice-president of the central society for women’s suffrage, besides being a regular subscriber.
naturally, miss beale hoped for reform by means of[310] the cultivation of the mind. much evil she considered came from want of proper interests and from deficient knowledge of life, such as even good reading could to some extent supply. ‘give them literature lessons,’ she said to an old pupil who had a large class of intelligent yorkshire factory girls. a letter to another worker shows in what way she hoped women school managers might help to hinder the spread of corruption. it has the additional interest of suggesting a measure akin to one lately adopted by the educational authorities in some counties:—
‘(circa) 1889.
‘perhaps i ought not to say much; my own vineyard i must keep. it does seem to me that both men and women who are wanting to mend things ought to take municipal offices and all sorts of legal and government work.
‘schools ought to be able to keep children longer and gradually reduce school time, and could not one get a law that children without employment should be at school? they must have in clerical language a “title” to leave school control by showing their parents are able to look after them or that they have an employer. this wholesale feeding does seem a serious matter, as weakening the sense of parental responsibility. i do hope we shall not go in for pauperising in bethnal green. i feel sure we shall not under miss newman....
‘the monstrous evil is, however, hydra-headed, and one’s courage sometimes sinks; but there is, no doubt, a much higher public opinion than there was.’
miss beale’s pity for the helpless was not confined to women. she felt deeply the needs of discharged prisoners, and more than once sent donations of money to one of her old girls who was in a position to help them. she also supported miss agnes weston’s work for sailors.
another class whose needs she fully recognised was that of poor gentle people. impoverished irish ladies, governesses, and others, she was always anxious to help,[311] and frequently maintained the duty which richer members of their own class owed to them. those who asked her aid for these often found her unexpectedly generous. it has been shown how much she undertook, both in money payment and trouble, for girls who could not afford an education befitting their position. outside this, indeed, her interests may have been held to have been comparatively few; but when she did permit herself to study the problems of her day, she made it evident that the force of mind and will which she concentrated on her own work could also have effected great results in other fields of labour.
