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 LORD'S LECTURES

 BEACON LIGHTS OF HISTORY.

 BY JOHN LORD, LL.D.

 AUTHOR OF "THE OLD ROMAN WORLD," "MODERN EUROPE," ETC., ETC.
     
 

 VOLUME VII.

 GREAT WOMEN.

 CONTENTS.

     HÉLOÏSE.

     LOVE.
     Love, the flower of Eden
 The two Venuses of Socrates
 The Venus Urania
 The memory of Héloïse cherished
 Her birth and education
 Her extraordinary gifts
 Her aspirations
 Peter Abélard
 His wonderful genius
 His early scholastic triumphs
 Abélard at Paris
 His wit and flippancy
 His scepticism
 His successes
 His love for Héloïse
 His mad infatuation
 Scandal of the intimacy
 Disinterestedness of Héloïse
 Secret marriage of Abélard and Héloïse
 Marriage discovered
 Retirement of Héloïse and Abélard to separate convents
 His renewed labors
 His brilliant success
 Persecution of Abélard
 Letters to Héloïse
 Héloïse cannot conquer her love
 Her high social position
 Her blameless life
 Loves of Héloïse and Abélard analyzed
 Greatness of sentiment
 Last days of Abélard
 His retreat to Cluny
 Peter the Venerable
 Grief of Héloïse
 

     JOAN OF ARC.
     HEROIC WOMEN.
     Heroic qualities of women in the Middle Ages
 Extraordinary appearance of Joan of Arc
 Her early days
 Her visions
 Critical state of France at this period
 Appreciated by Joan
 Who resolves to come to the rescue of her king and country
 Difficulties which surrounded her
 Her services finally accepted
 Her faith in her mission
 Her pure and religious life
 Joan sets out for the deliverance of Orleans
 Succeeds in entering the city
 Joan raises the siege of Orleans
 Admiration of the people for her
 Veneration for women among the Germanic nations
 Joan marches to the siege of Rheims
 Difficulty of the enterprise
 Hesitation of the king
 Rheims and other cities taken
 Coronation of Charles
 Mission of the Maid fulfilled
 Successive military mistakes
 Capture of Joan
 Indifference and ingratitude of the King
 Trial of Joan for heresy and witchcraft
 Cruelty of the English to her
 The diabolical persecution
 Martyrdom of Joan
 Tardy justice to her memory
 Effects of the martyrdom
 

     SAINT THERESA.
     RELIGIOUS ENTHUSIASM.
     Pleasures of the body the aim of Paganism
 Aim of Christianity to elevate the soul
 Mistakes of monastic life
 The age of Saint Theresa
 Her birth and early training
 Mediaeval piety
 Theresa sent to a convent to be educated
 Her poor health
 Religious despotism of the Middle Ages
 Their gloom and repulsiveness
 Faith and repentance divorced
 Catholic theology
 Theresa becomes a nun
 Her serious illness
 Her religious experience
 The Confessions of Saint Augustine
 The religious emancipation of Theresa
 Her canticles
 Her religious rhapsodies
 Theresa seeks to found a convent
 Opposition to her
 Her discouragements
 Her final success
 Reformation of the Carmelite order
 Convent of St. Joseph
 Death of Saint Theresa
 Writings of Saint Theresa
 Her submission to authority
 Her independence
 Compared with Madame Guyon
 Her posthumous influence
 

     MADAME DE MAINTENON.
     THE POLITICAL WOMAN.
     Birth of Madame de Maintenon
 Her early life
 Marriage with Scarron
 Governess of Montespan's children
 Introduction to the King
 Her incipient influence over him
 Contrast of Maintenon with Montespan
 Friendship of the King for Madame de Maintenon
 Made mistress of the robes to the Dauphiness
 Private marriage with Louis XIV
 Reasons for its concealment
 Unbounded power of Madame de Maintenon
 Grandeur of Versailles
 Great men of the court
 The King's love of pomp and ceremony
 Sources of his power
 His great mistakes
 The penalties he reaped
 Secret of Madame de Maintenon's influence
 Her mistakes
 Religious intolerance
 Revocation of the Edict of Nantes
 Persecution of the Protestants
 Influence of Bossuet
 Foundation of the school of St. Cyr
 Influence of Madame de Maintenon on education
 Influence of Madame de Maintenon on morals
 Influence of Madame de Maintenon on the court
 Her reign a usurpation
 Her greatness of character
 

     SARAH, DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH.
     THE WOMAN OF THE WORLD.
     The Duchess of Marlborough compared with Madame de Maintenon
 Birth and early influence
 John Churchill
 Marriage of Churchill and Sarah Jennings
 Colonel Churchill made a peer
 The Princess Anne
 Lady Churchill
 Their friendship
 Coronation of William and Mary
 Character of William III
 Treason of the Earl of Marlborough
 Energy and sagacity of the Queen
 Naval victory of La Hogue
 Temporary retirement of Marlborough
 Death of the Duke of Gloucester
 Marlborough, Captain-General.
 Death of William III
 Accession of Anne
 Power of Marlborough
 Lord Godolphin
 Ascendency of Lady Marlborough
 Her ambition
 Her pride
 Renewal of war with Louis XIV
 Marlborough created a duke
 Whigs and Tories
 Harley, Earl of Oxford
 His intrigues
 Abigail Hill
 Supplants the Duchess of Marlborough
 Coolness between the Queen and Duchess
 Battle of Ramillies
 Miss Hill marries Mr. Masham
 Declining influence of the Duchess
 Her anger and revenge
 Power of Harley
 Disgrace of the Duchess
 The Tories in power
 Dismissal of Marlborough
 Bolingbroke
 Swift
 His persecution of the Duchess
 Addison
 Voluntary exile of Marlborough
 Unhappiness of the Duchess
 Death of Queen Anne
 Return of Marlborough to power
 Attacked by paralysis
 Death of Marlborough
 His vast wealth
 Declining days of the Duchess
 Her character
 Her death
 Reflections on her career
 

     MADAME RÉCAMIER.
     THE WOMAN OF SOCIETY.
     Queens of society first seen in Italy
 Provençal poetry in its connection with chivalrous sentiments
 Chivalry the origin of society
 Society in Paris in the 17th Century
 Marquise de Rambouillet
 Her salons
 Mademoiselle de Scudéri
 Early days of Madame Récamier
 Her marriage
 Her remarkable beauty and grace
 Her salons
 Her popularity
 Courted by Napoleon
 Loss of property
 Friendship with Madame de Staël
 Incurs the hatred of Napoleon
 Friendship with Ballanche
 Madame Récamier in Italy
 Return to Paris
 Duke of Montmorency
 Seclusion of Madame Récamier
 Her intimate friends
 Friendship with Châteaubriand
 His gifts and high social position
 His retirement from political life
 His old age soothed by Récamier
 Her lovely disposition
 Her beautiful old age
 Her death
 Her character
 Remarks on society
 Sources of its fascinations
 

     MADAME DE STAËL.
     WOMAN IN LITERATURE.
     Literature in the 18th Century
 Rise of Madame de Staël
 Her precocity
 Her powers of conversation
 Her love of society
 Her marriage
 Hatred of Napoleon
 Her banishment
 Her residence in Switzerland
 Travels in Germany
 Her work on literature
 Her book on Germany
 Its great merits
 German philosophy
 Visit to Italy
 Sismondi
 "Corinne"
 Its popularity
 A description of Italy
 Marriage with Rocca
 Madame de Staël in England
 Her honors
 Return to Paris
 Incense offered to her
 Her amazing éclat
 Her death
 Her merits as an author
 Inaugurated a new style in literature
 Her followers
 Her influence
 Literary women
 Their future
 

     HANNAH MORE.
     EDUCATION OF WOMAN.
     Progress of female education
 Youth of Hannah More
 Her accomplishments
 Teaches school
 Intimacy with great men
 Shines in society
 Wearied of it
 Her ridicule of fashionable gatherings called society
 Retirement to Cowslip Green
 Her patrons and friends
 Labors in behalf of the poor
 Foundation of schools
 Works on female education
 Their good influence
 Their leading ideas
 Christian education
 Removal to Barley Wood
 Views of society
 Her distinguished visitors
 "Coelebs in Search of a Wife"
 "Christian Morals"
 Her laboring at the age of eighty
 The quiet elegance of her life
 Removal to Clifton
 Happy old age
 Death
 Exalted character
 Remarks on female education
 The sphere of woman
 What is woman to do?
 

     GEORGE ELIOT.
     WOMAN AS NOVELIST.
     Notable eras of modern civilization
 Nineteenth Century, the age of novelists
 Scott, Fielding, Dickens, Thackeray
 Bulwer; women novelists
 Charlotte Brontë, Harriet Beecher Stowe, George Eliot
 Early life of Marian Evans
 Appearance, education, and acquirements
 Change in religious views; German translations; Continental travel
 Westminster Review; literary and scientific men
 Her alliance with George Henry Lewes
 Her life with him
 Literary labors
 First work of fiction, "Amos Barton," with criticism upon
 her qualities as a novelist, illustrated by the story
 "Mr. Gilfils Love Story"
 "Adam Bede"
 "The Mill on the Floss"
 "Silas Marner"
 "Romola"
 "Felix Holt"
 "Middlemarch"
 "Daniel Deronda"
 "Theophrastus Such"
 General characteristics of George Eliot
 Death of Mr. Lewes; her marriage with Mr. Cross
 Lofty position of George Eliot in literature
 Religious views and philosophical opinions
 Her failure as a teacher of morals
 Regret at her abandonment of Christianity