Elizabeth Fry | Page 2

are seldom read with
profit, not even those in favor of our own particular tenets. The mind
stands less in need of conviction than conversion. These reflections
have led me to decide on what I most covet for my daughters, as the
result of our daily pursuits. As piety is undoubtedly the shortest and
securest way to all moral rectitude, young women should be virtuous
and good on the broad, firm basis of Christianity; therefore it is not the
tenets of any man or sect whatever that are to be inculcated in
preference to those rigid but divine truths contained in the New
Testament. As it appears to be our reasonable duty to improve our
faculties, and by that means to render ourselves useful, it is necessary
and very agreeable to be well-informed of our own language, and the
Latin as being most permanent, and the French as being the most in
general request. The simple beauties of mathematics appear to be so
excellent an exercise to the understanding, that they ought on no
account to be omitted, and are, perhaps, scarcely less essential than a
competent knowledge of ancient and modern history, geography and
chronology. To which may be added a knowledge of the most approved
branches of natural history, and a capacity of drawing from nature, in
order to promote that knowledge and facilitate the pursuit of it. As a
great portion of a woman's life ought to be passed in at least regulating
the subordinate affairs of a family, she should work plain work herself,
neatly; understand the cutting-out of linen; also she should not be
ignorant of the common proprieties of a table, or deficient in the
economy of any of the most minute affairs of a family. It should be
here observed that gentleness of manner is indispensably necessary in
women, to say nothing of that polished behavior which adds a charm to
every qualification; to both which, it appears pretty certain, children
may be led without vanity or affectation by amiable and judicious
instruction.
These observations furnish the key-note to Mrs. Gurney's system of
training, as well as indicate the strong common-sense and high
principles which actuated her. It was small wonder that of her family of
twelve children so many of them should rise up to "call her blessed."
Neither was it any wonder that Elizabeth, "the dove-like Betsy" of her
mother's journal, should idolize that mother with almost passionate

devotion.
Elizabeth was born on May 21st, 1780, at Norwich; but when she was a
child of six years old, the Gurneys removed to Earlham Hall, a pleasant
ancestral home, about two miles from the city. The family was an old
one, descended from the Norman lords of Gourney-en-brai, in
Normandy. These Norman lords held lands in Norfolk, in the time of
William Rufus, and have had, in one line or another, representatives
down to the present day. Some of them, it is recorded, resided in
Somersetshire; others, the ancestors of Mrs. Fry, dwelt in Norfolk,
generation after generation, perpetuating the family name and renown.
One of these ancestors, John Gurney, embraced the principles of
George Fox, and became one of the first members of the Society of
Friends. Thus it came to pass that Quakerism became familiar to her
from early childhood--indeed, was hereditary in the family.
Elizabeth tells us that her mother was most dear to her; that she seldom
left her mother's side if she could help it, while she would watch her
slumbers with breathless anxiety, fearing she would never awaken. She
also speaks of suffering much from fear, so that she could not bear to
be left alone in the dark. This nervous susceptibility followed her for
years, although, with a shyness of disposition and reserve which was
but little understood she refrained from telling her fears. She was
considered rather stupid and dull, and, from being continually
described as such, grew neglectful of her studies; while, at the same
time, delicacy of health combined with this natural stupidity to prevent
anything like precocious intelligence. Still, Elizabeth was by no means
deficient in penetration, tact, or common-sense; she possessed
remarkable insight into character, and exercised her privilege of
thinking for herself on most questions. She is described as being a shy,
fair child, possessing a poor opinion of herself, and somewhat given to
contradiction. She says in her early recollections: "I believe I had not a
name only for being obstinate, for my nature had a strong tendency that
way, and I was disposed to a spirit of contradiction, always ready to see
things a little differently from others, and not willing to yield my
sentiments to them."

These traits developed, in all probability, into those which made her so
famous in after years. Her faculty for independent investigation, her