Category Archives: American

“The Lamplighter” by Maria S. Cummins

27 Sunday Sep 2026

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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.

Introducing “Hints on Child Training” by H. Clay Trumbull

22 Saturday Oct 2016

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Hints on Child Training (1890) presents a gentle, loving and holistic approach to rearing children. Henry Clay Trumbull, a minister of an American Congregationalist church, head of the Sunday School Movement and grandfather, believed that children are whole persons and, accordingly, parents must train their children’s bodies, emotions and minds. “Teaching” involves imparting knowledge; “training,” on the other hand, concerns “the shaping, the developing, and the controlling of [a child’s] personal faculties and powers.”

Drawing on his own experience as a father, grandparent and teacher, Trumbull wrote in Child Training that a parent’s best tools for disciplining their child into obedience are caring, sympathy, gentleness, attention and respect. Parents should not try to force their children to comply, but rather should encourage the desire in their children to obey.  Always humbly turning to scripture as a guide, Trumbull explains that God, our preeminent parenting model, desires us to obey happily, not out of fear or force. God does not break his children’s will, but rather leaves them to the unhappy consequences of their own choices as punishment.

Hints on Child Training also counsels parents to establish good habits in every aspect of their child’s life, from their appetite and manners to their choices  in reading, companions and more. Most importantly, Trumbull admonishes parents to present their children with an authentic faith, not a wish-genie god or some other such superficial belief that crumbles when trials come.  This “hint,” among other child-training advice, makes Trumbull’s book as relevant and helpful today as it was over one hundred years ago.

Introducing “Stepping Heavenward” by Elizabeth E. Prentiss

13 Saturday Aug 2016

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It is delightful to discover a Victorian hymn writer who was also a novelist! Elizabeth E. Prentiss, who penned the well-known hymn “More Love to Thee,” published several works of fiction, including Stepping Heavenward: One Woman’s Journey to Godliness (1869). In this coming of age story, the protagonist Katharine journals her pilgrimage through the summits and valleys of sanctification, the process by which God uses blessings and trials to shape and refine us into people after his own heart. Although Prentiss was American, her works were widely read throughout the British Commonwealth and translated into other languages; Prentiss was even included in a German anthology entitled A Collection of British Authors.

From beginning to end Stepping Heavenward is infused with the truths of the Christian faith, but three overarching themes govern them all, and all derive from scripture. Firstly, every trial is sent from God to test and refine us, and the choice we make regarding each one – to accept with humility or reject in anger – will either draw us closer to or push us away from God. Secondly, the key to Christian joy is contentment in all circumstances (especially in unfavourable circumstances).  And lastly, everything should be done for the glory of God, by doing it in the spirit of Christ – and not just when praying or visiting the poor. Even when working, shopping or pursuing a hobby we should not act as though a secular/sacred divide separates our lives. All is God’s, and we can choose to bring glory to him every moment.

For another example of Christian literature that aims to inspire readers to act virtuously see Agnes Grey (introduction and analysis).

 

 

 

Introducing “The Didache”

26 Monday Jan 2015

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Many Christians have never heard of The Didache, an anonymous manual on the principles and practices of the Christian faith. Written by early church disciples in the first or second century (depending on which scholar you ask), this brief treatise on the faith for believers is almost 2000 years old. So what is it doing on a blog about the 19th century? Well, although historians were aware of The Didache‘s existence for centuries (other texts referred to it), the work itself had never been seen, until it was discovered by an archbishop in Istanbul in 1873. The first English translation of The Didache was published in New York on March 20, 1884 (interestingly just a few weeks before Easter), selling 5000 copies in one day, with scholars from both sides of the Atlantic astounded at the amazing discovery of such an archaic text.

In my research I haven’t been able to find much regarding reception of the work (except that many were skeptical as to its authenticity) and its influence on 19th century life and thought, other than it was apparently extremely popular; beyond that, we can only speculate on its significance for Victorians. Although Christianity was still prevalent at this time, consider also that atheism was gaining a more accepted and legitimate place in philosophical and societal thought, largely influenced by Nietzsche, Darwin, Freud and Marx. Some of the most well-known literary authors of the period were atheist (George Eliot and Thomas Hardy, for example).

You can read The Didache online here.

Have you heard of or read The Didache? Are you interested in reading it? Why do you think it might have been so popular at this particular time in history? Do you think it would share the same kind of popularity if it had been found today?