colony. Some were prejudiced against the Virginians even before they
set foot upon the soil of the Old Dominion, and their dislike is
reflected in their writings, while few tarried long enough to grasp
fully the meaning of the institutions and customs of the people. They
dwelt long on those things that they found displeasing, and passed
over in silence those distinctive virtues with which they were not in
harmony. It is not surprising then that they failed to grasp the
dignity and importance of the place filled by the Virginia woman. When
they spoke of her their criticisms were usually favorable, but only
too often they ignored her entirely. The gifted John Bernard, however,
was more penetrating than the others. "Of the planters' ladies," he
said, "I must speak in terms of unqualified praise; they had an easy
kindness of manner, as far removed from rudeness as from reserve,
which being natural to them ... was the more admirable.... To the
influence of their society I chiefly attribute their husbands'
refinement."[92]

To understand fully the sentiment of respect for womanhood that
finally became so pronounced a trait of the Virginia gentleman, it is
necessary to turn to Southern writers. Thomas Nelson Page, in "The Old
South," draws a beautiful and tender picture of the ante-bellum matron
and her influence over her husband. "What she was," he says, "only her
husband knew, and even he stood before her in dumb, half-amazed
admiration, as he might before the inscrutable vision of a superior
being. What she really was, was known only to God. Her life was one
long act of devotion--devotion to God, devotion to her husband,
devotion to her children, ... devotion to all humanity. She was the
head and front of the church; ... she regulated her servants, fed the
poor, nursed the sick, consoled the bereaved. The training of her
children was her work. She watched over them, led them, governed
them.... She was at the beck and call of every one, especially her
husband, to whom she was guide, philosopher, and friend."

Dr. George Bagby pays to the Virginia woman a tribute not less
beautiful. "My rambles before the war made me the guest of Virginians
of all grades. Brightest by far of the memories of those days ... is
that of the Virginia mother. Her delicacy, tenderness, freshness,
gentleness; the absolute purity of her life and thought, typified in
the spotless neatness of her apparel and her every surrounding, it is
quite impossib