TSAWTB Section 6 - Interlude - A Miscellany of Items

270 Section 6 - Interlude
would be working in, and she paints vivid pictures to capture the reader’s
imagination. However, there was no indication that she “added to” any of the
many incidents she records of Felix’s work which she obviously obtained
directly from him. Had she not reported them accurately he would surely have
registered his disapproval.
Furthermore, in correspondence with the LCM, their 1884 report, referred
to above, also reproduced a review of this book that appeared in The Record
on March 28th 1884 which gave it very warm praise.
We also read her books Loving Work in the Highways and Byeways
(Nelson 1888) and More About Our Coffee Room (Nisbet 1878). In his
introduction to the latter book Lord Shaftesbury said she was a “pious,
amiable and accomplished young lady” whose exertions were “founded on an
intense love of the Gospel.” Furthermore, she is critical of those who run
coffee rooms and almost force those attending to “sign the pledge” for they
often do not return. We give her comments with her emphases:
We need tact, and caution, and love, in all our dealings with human
souls. Nothing should be done to vex or give unnecessary offence.
We also need zeal, earnestness, diligence, self denial, for this
mighty struggle against A NATIONAL SIN.
These are hardly the words of someone who is an overzealous Christian
lacking a balanced view of life. They also do not give the impression of
someone who would have deceived her husband or the public by fabricating
stories.
Moore accuses her of “embroidering” her accounts “with spiritual sentimentality”
- but this is not the same as inventing incidents. I found her books
written in a vivid style to highlight the condition of the poor, but could detect
no evidence of fabrication. Her self-effacement and her humour that comes
through at times do her great credit. Her other writings, therefore, give some
support to her record of her conversation with Darwin.
Lady Hope’s attitude.
Following the meeting, she appears to have mentioned it to Sir Robert
Anderson at some time, but to how many others whilst here in England is not
certain and we discuss this below. In America, far from immediately regaling
them with her story, she was there for two years (1913-1915) before she
casually mentioned to a lecturer who had been speaking about Hebrews that it
was Darwin’s favourite book in the Bible. It was this that caused so much
local excitement that culminated in her writing her account of the visit for the
Watchman Examiner.
If she did say little about the visit to others whilst here, this gives the
grounds for the charge that she fabricated the account when she got to
America, principally to impress her new friends. In thinking about her
(possible) slowness in telling others about the visit, it struck me that one
explanation could be that she attached less importance to it than we do
today. At that time, like many women, she may have been far less concerned
about the implications and effects of evolution than many evangelicals are
today. That the “founder” of evolution was now reading his Bible was of
interest to her, but not of such great importance that she should broadcast the
fact to all and sundry as soon as possible. However, the possibility that she
did tell others about her visit soon after the event we discuss later.