ous writer, a strenuous thinker, and a statesmanlike
ecclesiastic. Her mother, Elizabeth, daughter of Mr. W. Pope of
Uxbridge, was, says Miss E.J. Whately, a woman of "grace and dignity of
character, delicacy of mind and sensitive refinement, which were united
with high powers of intellect and mental cultivation and a thirst for
knowledge seldom exceeded." [1] She was an ardent Christian, and devoted
herself to works of beneficence and Christian service among the poor, as
far as her delicate health would allow.

[Footnote 1: _Life of Archbishop Whately_, by his daughter, vol. 1. p.
43.]

Mary was born at Halesworth in Suffolk, of which parish her father was
then the rector, on August 31, 1824. The following year her father was
appointed Principal of St. Alban Hall, and removed with his family to
Oxford. In 1831 he accepted the Archbishopric of Dublin, and thus at the
age of seven Dublin became, what it remained for thirty years, Mary
Whately's home. She was the third of a family of five, four girls and
one boy, who all inherited something of their mother's delicacy of
constitution and a good share of their father's strength of intellect
and character. They were near enough to each other in age to share one
another's studies and games, and, living a very retired life, depended
largely on each other for companionship. For a portion of the year they
resided in the archiepiscopal palace in Dublin. But on account of the
many social demands made on him in the city, the place became
distasteful to Dr. Whately, and he engaged a charming country residence
called Redesdale, some four or five miles out of town. Here he resided
the larger portion of the year, living a quieter life than was possible
in the city, and driving into Dublin on most mornings to attend to his
official duties. In the intervals of study and the discharge of public
duty he devoted himself to his garden, in the cultivation of which he
displayed much skill and ingenuity. Redesdale was the children's home,
though the life there was occasionally varied by a stay in London (where
their father usually spent a few weeks each spring to attend the House
of Lords), at Tunbridge Wells, where they had relatives, or at the
seaside, and later by visits to the Continent.

The Archbishop had very decided views on the training and education of
children, and his wife also, as her _English Social Life_ shows, had
thought much on the subject. One of the Archbishop's rules was