tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5022318990784415929.post3661140677480964196..comments2023-10-20T11:17:47.246-04:00Comments on Two Nerdy History Girls: Department of Quotation #2Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5022318990784415929.post-47518056643101423812009-09-01T11:57:07.610-04:002009-09-01T11:57:07.610-04:00No, Mary was not the runaway bride. I looked up t...No, Mary was not the runaway bride. I looked up the entry he wrote at her death, not many weeks after Charles II died. It's a very long passage in which she comes across as the perfect daughter--but so very much of his praise is of her intellect and historical/classical reading and musical accomplishments (and of course, being Evelyn her piety and modesty and unwillingness to go to the licentious royal Court as a maid of honour!)Margaret Porterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16202290659191790984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5022318990784415929.post-72569269862765052732009-08-31T20:25:46.920-04:002009-08-31T20:25:46.920-04:00Margaret, is Mary the one who eloped against her f...Margaret, is Mary the one who eloped against her father's will, caught smallpox, and died before she could be reconciled with her parents? I remember the story because it was so impossibly tragic -- though, naturally, I can't remember which daughter it was. Hopeless, am I....<br /><br />But yes, Vanessa, on the whole John is a wonderful, thoughtful writer, and in most things, very forward -- he believed in eating "sallets", and wrote one of the earliest warnings against air pollution. I have the latest bio of him waiting there in my TBR pile, so perhaps in the future I'll be able to report more...Isabella Bradford/Susan Holloway Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00997375216314200469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5022318990784415929.post-70720033111822178812009-08-31T18:11:23.509-04:002009-08-31T18:11:23.509-04:00This is a very interesting comment, considering ho...This is a very interesting comment, considering how well Evelyn educated his own girls. I think it was Mary (?), the one who died, who was such a writer herself and whom he eulogised as being intelligent and learned and so very perfect.Margaret Porterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16202290659191790984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5022318990784415929.post-77467511451801317082009-08-31T17:19:01.671-04:002009-08-31T17:19:01.671-04:00Honestly, Susan, I can't remember any details ...Honestly, Susan, I can't remember any details re: his attitude toward women. I just remember how beautifully his diaries were written. But if he loathed your heroines, well, we won't cut him any slack!Vanessa Kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14571549124283013391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5022318990784415929.post-13583493411084044922009-08-31T12:23:57.769-04:002009-08-31T12:23:57.769-04:00What's strange about Evelyn is that his own wi...What's strange about Evelyn is that his own wife (and he loved her dearly) was very well educated, fluent in several languages, and his daughters, too, were educated far beyond the standards he espouses here, one even writing a book of her own. I don't know enough about him to venture whether this is a case of good-enough-for-others-but-I-want-more or if this was written to fit with prevailing attitudes -- anyone else (Vanessa?) who may know more is welcome to comment!<br /><br />OTOH, he loathed every one of my heroines, in print and for posterity, so maybe I shouldn't be cutting him any slack....Isabella Bradford/Susan Holloway Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00997375216314200469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5022318990784415929.post-17033371222293392582009-08-31T11:44:11.382-04:002009-08-31T11:44:11.382-04:00Evelyn, sadly, is typical. Over and over again we...Evelyn, sadly, is typical. Over and over again we come upon these stunningly misogynistic remarks from brilliant men, artists, great leaders. Makes me love John Stuart Mill all the more. It also makes me admire and appreciate the guts of the women who dared to argue the other side.LorettaChasehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03641586650738945106noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5022318990784415929.post-80760049242479528992009-08-31T09:14:07.519-04:002009-08-31T09:14:07.519-04:00You go, Hannah! That is a masterful quote - sharp...You go, Hannah! That is a masterful quote - sharp, to the point, and funny.<br /><br />John Evelyn, I'm sorry to say, is being dull and pedantic. And I always liked old John - read his diaries in grad school.Vanessa Kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14571549124283013391noreply@blogger.com