The Lamplighter (1854) by Maria S. Cummins was an immediate sensation in America upon publication, selling 40,000 copies in the first two months, and a hundred thousand within a year. It even achieved success in Europe in several languages. Cummins never attained further success, however, with subsequent novels. She died at age 39, a member of the Unitarian Church. The particular edition I read was published by Lamplighter Ministries, which resurrects old, Christian novels that have fallen out of print for the contemporary reader seeking wholesome and virtuous books. Lamplighter Ministries binds all its books with beautiful, ornate hardback covers that look sturdy enough to withstand years of usage.

The Lamplighter was apparently a favourite among young girls and women, which is no surprise, as it unfolds the tale of a young orphan girl on the streets, Gertrude, taken in by a kind lamplighter, and then by a blind woman, upon the lamplighter’s passing. These two mentors raise Gertrude in the Christian faith and she learns by their example and teaching to overcome her character flaws and grow in Christ-likeness.

To be sure, The Lamplighter is a moralistic novel. It is not incredibly intellectual or literary, but it is a sweet, light read with quickly flowing action that makes it easy to turn the pages. Many amazing coincidences arise in the plot, which will induce either intrigue or cringe, depending on the reader.  The author directs the story with the obvious, overarching moral that trials and suffering sanctify us and draw us to God, if only we will submit to them as the workings of His will and trust that He will bring all to rights for them who love Him.

The issue of duty also prevails in the novel. Nineteenth-century Christians took “duty” very seriously as a Christian responsibility, a virtue I think we do not value as much today. Interestingly, it is Gertrude’s sense of duty to care for her lover’s enfeebled parents that emboldens her to stand up to one of the strong male figures in the novel, her friend Emily’s father, and inform him she will not obey his wishes, and she actually moves out and obtains a job to support herself. This whole move is a stratagem so that the ailing parents will accept her help, so she does not act on her own behalf, but still, she does exercise some agency. Interestingly, it was this sense of “duty” to help others that originated the very first “feminists” in the Victorian Era; the push for the increase of female agency was always couched in terms of Christian duty to help the poor and vulnerable in society.