THE STORY OF AN -ENGLISH SISTER.?
Lovuns of that •did favourite book, Le Resit d'une Stour, will pro- bably be among those most strongly attracted' by Mrs. Romanist's touching memoir of her daughter;Sister Etheldred. It is true that a comparison between the two books, if attempted, would break down at more points than one ; but there is certainly a spiritual likeness throughout, both in the deep necessity felt by the mother to write the story of her child and in the character of the child herself. The joyous naturalness of Sister Etheldred's religion is something akin to that which in the La Ferronnays family has proved Irresistible to more than one generation. Her entry on the • Vei Saw and Modern Instances. By W. L. Courtney, ILA., LL.D. London : Chapman and Hall. [10s. 8d. net.] t The Story of an English Sister (Ethel Georgina Romans—Sister Etheldred). By &She! Romans. With 3 Portraits. London : Longmansand Co. [3OL 6d, set.] specially " religious " life meant nothing more than outward separation from mother, brothers, friends, and all the home interests which were dear to her ; the letters show this in an almost astonish- ing way. The manifold duties and occupations of life in her com- munity never deadened for one instant her constant and lively affection for the outside surroundings of early life ; old homes, old friends and acquaintances ; all that made her childhood and youth unusually happy. If she left them at a higher call, it was not to pass Into shadow or isolation.
The life this. short volume records began in 1880. Ethel Georgina Romance seas the eldest child of George Romans and his wife, the only daughter, followed by five sons. As to education, home atmosphere and her own love of knowledge—she could read easily at three years old and devoured all kinds of old-fashioned books— made school learning a thing of secondary importance. But she attended the Oxford High School for a few years, and after her father's death was sent to a German family in Dresden—where, by the by, she risked bringing trouble on her hostesses by speaking irreverently of the Kaiser. Later on she spent two happy years at Wycombe Abbey School, recently founded by Miss Dove. Then she entered Lady Margaret Hall, and there did brilliantly. A 'few years of home life, full of wide and interesting experience, was varied by visits to the Anglican community which she .finally joined in 1908, thus carrying out a wish formed in early childhood. Mrs. Romance does not think it well to mention the name of the community, and we follow her example, though without quite appreciating the reason for her reticence. It will prove an open secret for most of those likely to be interested.
Perfectly happy in her work and life, Sister Etheldred had con- genial occupation in the best of the community's schools till, in 1913, she was sent out to similar employment in one of their Indian establishments. Then her health gave way. Early in the following year she returned home, and after a few months' illness left this stormy world at the very opening of the Great War.
Previous page
