The Project Gutenberg eBook, Grace Darling, by Eva Hope

Title: Grace Darling

Heroine of the Farne Islands

Author: Eva Hope

Release Date: November 3, 2007 [eBook #23295]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRACE DARLING***

Grace H. Darling

Grace Darling

Heroine of the Farne Islands

BY

EVA HOPE

London and Felling-on-Tyne
THE WALTER SCOTT PUBLISHING CO., LTD.
NEW YORK: 3 EAST 14TH STREET
1875

THIS VOLUME
IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO

MISS THOMASIN DARLING,

THE BELOVED SISTER OF THE HEROIC GRACE DARLING,
IN RECOGNITION OF HER CHRISTIAN CHARACTER
AND AMIABLE DISPOSITION, BY
THE AUTHOR

CONTENTS

GRACE DARLING,

THE HEROINE OF THE FARNE ISLES.

CHAPTER I.

WOMAN'S WORK.

"The rights of woman, what are they?
The right to labour and to pray;
The right to succour in distress;
The right, when others curse; to bless;
The right to lead the soul to God,
Along the path the Saviour trod."

What is woman's work? This is one of the vexed questions of to-day, and it is one which, doubtless, sometimes troubled the unwilling brains of our forefathers, though to a less extent. They settled it more rapidly and satisfactorily than we are able to do, for, "in the long ago," women were less ambitious than they are now. In our times, they have so forced themselves to the front, that a number of questions have necessarily to be considered; and what woman ought to do, what she can do, and what she must do, are subjects which afford interesting and useful topics of conversation in all circles. As might have been expected, the opinions of even wise men vary with regard to this matter. "A woman is good as a house-wife, and a mother," say some. "But as there are not homes enough for them all, something else must be thought of," say others. "A woman has neither strength enough, nor brains enough, for most occupations," say her detractors. "A woman is capable of doing almost anything a man can do, especially those things which are the most honourable and remunerative," say the most enthusiastic advocates of woman's rights. There are some, indeed, who