This is a companion volume to Mabie’s Heroes that Every Child Should Know [no. 1.2.32]
Introduction [vii-xi]
[vii] The Book of Heroes should never be separated from the Book of Heroines; they are the two parts of that story of courage, service and achievement which is the most interesting and inspiring chapter in the history of human kind in this wonderful world of ours. Whenever and wherever there has appeared a hero, a heroine has almost always worked with or for him; for heroic and noble deeds are rarely done without some kind of cooperation. Now and then, it is true, single acts of daring stand out alone; but, as a rule, the hero gains his end because other men or women stand beside him in times of great peril. William the Silent could not have made his heroic defence of the Low Countries against the armies of Spain if men of heroic temper and women of indomitable courage had not been about him in those terrible years; Washington could not have converted a body of farmers into an organized and disciplined army if he had not been aided by the skill of drill masters like Steuben; nor could Lieutenant Peary make brilliant dashes for the North Pole if other men did not join him in his perilous expeditions. The hero is generally a leader of heroes, as a great general is a leader of soldiers who carry out his plans in hourly jeopardy of limb and life. It is a mistake to think of heroes as rare and exceptional men; the world is full of those who take their lives in [viii] their hands every day and think nothing about it; or, if they think of it at all, think of it, as Mr. Kipling would say, as part of the day’s work. It is almost impossible to open a daily newspaper without coming upon some story of daring by some obscure man or woman. The record of a fire department is usually a continuous register of the brave deeds done by those who receive very small pay for a very dangerous service to their fellows. It is not necessary to go back to the days of chivalry or to open the histories of great wars to find a hero; he lives in every street, works in every profession and never thinks that he is doing anything unusual or impressive. There are many stories of heroic deeds and men, but these are as nothing compared with the unwritten stories of brave and chivalrous people whose lives are full of courage, self-denial and sacrifice, but of whom no public reports are ever made. […] [ix] Boys do not need to be taught to admire the bold rush on the enemies’ position, the brilliant and audacious passage through the narrow channel under the guns of masked batteries, the lonely march into Central Africa, the dash to the North Pole; they do need to be taught the heroism of those who give the hero his sword and then go home to wait for his return; who leave the stockade unarmed and, under a fire of poisoned arrows, run to the springs for water for a thirsting garrison; who quietly stay at their posts and as quietly die without the inspiration of dramatic achievement or of the heartfelt applause of spectators; who bear heavy burdens without a chance to drop or change them; who are heroically patient under blighting disappointments and are loyal to those who are disloyal to them; who bear terrible wrongs in silence, and conceal the cowardice of those they love and cover their retreat with a smiling courage which is the very soul of the pathos of unavailing heroism and undeserved failure. From the days of Esther, Judith and Antigone to those of Florence Nightingale, women have shown every kind of courage that men have shown, faced every kind [x] of peril that men have braved, divided with men the dangers and hardships of heroism but have never had an equal share of recognition and applause. So far as they are concerned this lack of equal public reward bas been of small consequence; the best of them have not only not cared for it, but have shunned it. It is well to remember that the noblest heroes have never sought applause; and that popularity is much more dangerous to heroes than the foes they faced or the savage conditions they mastered in the splendid hour of daring achievement. Many heroes have been betrayed by popularity into vanity and folly and have lost at home the glory they won abroad. Heroic women have not cared for public recognition and do not need it; but it is of immense importance to society that the ideals of heroism should be high and true, and that the soldier and the explorer should not be placed above those whose achievements have been less dramatic, but of a finer quality. The women who have shown heroic courage, heroic patience, heroic purity and heroic devotion outrank the men whose deeds have had their inspiration in physical bravery, who have led splendid charges in full view of the world, who have achieved miracles of material construction in canal or railroad, or the reclaiming of barbarous lands to the uses of civilization. In a true scale of heroic living and doing women must be counted more heroic than men. A writer of varied and brilliant talent and of a generous and gallant spirit was asked at a dinner table, one evening not many years ago, why no women appeared in his stories. He promptly replied that he admired pluck above all other qualities, that he was timid by nature and had won courage at the point of danger, and cared [xi] for it as the most splendid of manly qualities. There happened to be a woman present who bore the name of one of the most daring men of the time, and who knew army life intimately. She made no comment and offered no objection to the implication of the eminent writer’s incautious statement; but presently she began, in a very quiet tone, to describe the incidents of her experience in army posts and on the march, and every body listened intently as she went on narrating story after story of the pluck and indifference to danger of women on the frontier posts and, in some instances, on the march. The eminent writer remained silent, but the moment the woman withdrew from the table he was eager to know who the teller of these stories of heroism was and how she had happened upon such remarkable experiences; and it was noted that a woman appeared in his next novel! The stories in this volume have been collected from many sources in the endeavour to illustrate the wide range of heroism in the lives of brave and noble women, and with the hope that these records of splendid or quiet courage will open the eyes of young readers to the many forms which heroism wears, and furnish a more spiritual scale of heroic qualities.
Hamilton W. Mabie
Contents
I. Alcestis. Adapted from “Stories from the Greek Tragedians,” by the Rev. Alfred J. Church 3II. Antigone. Adapted from “Stories from the Greek Tragedians,” by the Rev. Alfred J. Church 18
III. Iphigenia. Adapted from “Stories from the Greek Tragedians,” by the Rev. Alfred J. Church 33
IV. Paula. Written and adapted from “The Makers of Modern Rome,” by Mrs. Oliphant, “Martyrs and Saints of the First Twelve Centuries,” by Mrs. E. Rundle Charles, and other sources 43
V. Joan of Arc. Adapted from “Joan of Arc, the Maid,” by Janet Tuckey 57
VI. Catherine Douglas. From the Poetical Works of Dante Gabriel Rossetti 101
VII. Lady Jane Grey. Adapted from “Child-life and Girlhood of Remarkable Women,” by W.H. Davenport Adams 132
VIII. Pocahontas. Adapted from “Pocahontas,” by Elizabeth Eggleston Seelye, assisted by Edward Eggleston 146
IX. Flora Macdonald. Adapted from “The Heroines of Domestic Life,” by Mrs. Octavius Freire Owen 174
X. Madame Roland. Adapted from “Madame Roland,” by John S.C. Abbott 190
XI. Grace Darling. Written and adapted from various sources 230
XII. Sister Dora. Adapted from “Virgin Saints and Martyrs,” by S. Baring-Gould 241
XIII. Florence Nightingale. Written and adapted from various sources 266