Friend of Virtue, The.
Three issues of The Friend of Virtue:
Woman’s Magazine of Moral Reform
Published by the New England Female Moral Reform Society, The Friend of Virtue was started in 1838, one year after the Society’s formation during the Second Great Awakening, during which “a millennial spirit pervaded efforts at transforming United States society,” with reformers seeking “not merely social change but spiritual transformation, the moral regeneration of the world” (ed. Endres, Kathleen L. and Theresa L. Lueck. Women's Periodicals in the United States: Social and Political Issues. Westport, Conn., Greenwood Press, 1995. 118).
Filled with prayers, parables, poems, and platitudes, as well as ministers’ tracts, reform society reports, and pragmatic advice on parenting, Friend of Virtue was designed to guide its audience through secular and amoral culture. An article from an 1849 issue states its mission: “[Friend of Virtue is] devoted to the cause of Moral Purity, namely by holding out the light of Divine Truth on the subject, by aiding in the right training of children and youth, exposing the prevalence of vice, and the wiles of the Destroyer, by threatening the libertine with merited contempt, extending the hand of sympathy and kindness to the friendless, homeless, unprotected female, by reclaiming the wanderers, and respectfully soliciting our law-makers to defend our sacred rights, our most endearing social privileges” (Vol. XII).
The magazine was directed toward women (the last page of the publication points out that it was “Edited by a LADY”; in addition, articles frequently address “Ladies”). It also focused heavily on children’s health, education, and the desire for the next generation to become morally responsible adults. One article asks, “…what are you doing to prepare your children...and what are they doing for themselves?” (Endres)
The magazine’s editor was Society corresponding secretary Rebecca Eaton, who took her position seriously, writing, “the responsibility of editing this little work is deeply realized...many who have been opposed to Moral Reform efforts....having been induced to read our little sheet, have acknowledged that they found it useful themselves as Christians, useful to their families, and that they believed it would be useful to [the] community.”
Issues detailed below:
[ed. Eaton, Rebecca.] Friend of Virtue. Volume 3. No. 1. “14 Devonshire St.,” London: Down & Jackson, 01/01/1840.
8vo.; 16p.; string-bound; substantial but unobstructive soiling; with name of previous owner, “M. Trowbridge[?]” in ink on first page.
Prints a five-page address on child care by “Rev. Mr. Tisdale” given before the Maternal Association of Marlboro, N.H., reading, in part, “Mothers should be careful not to abuse th[eir] love by injurious indulgence, but to improve it to the temporal and eternal good of their children..” On parents, “[they] should feel that their children are not their own. Mankind, as a family, are disposed to treat the things they possess as though they had an independent right to them. But each individual should learn that he is entirely dependent; and that there is an invisible power, whom he must regard in the use and disposal of all he has.” With printed hymns, letter excerpts, and other articles on moral instruction.
(#13393a)
(with):
[ed. Eaton, Rebecca.] Friend of Virtue. Volume 3. No. 4. “14 Devonshire St.,” London: Down & Jackson, 02/15/1840.
8vo.; 16p. (numbered 49-64); string-bound; substantial edgewear and unobstructive soiling; with name of previous owner, “M. Trowbridge [?]” in ink on first page.
Contains numerous articles on health, on which, the writer notes, the subject should be treated “scientifically and thoroughly.” A lengthy article on oxygen and air conditions follows, reading, in part:
“Every child, ten years old, may be made to realize the importance of pure air. If she does, she will open her window winter and summer, in the morning, and throw open her bed. If she sleeps in a room that has no open chimney, and no proper means of ventilation, she will sleep with her door open. She will not, voluntarily, remain in a full school-room for three or four successive hours, where no fresh air is admitted. When this girl of ten years grows to womanhood, and becomes a mother, and the mistress of a family, she will secure in her own little kingdom, pure air, that prime necessity of life, which God has provided , in unmeasured quantity, for all his creatures, but which they, by ignorance and neglect, stint in quantity and corrupt in quality.”
The issue goes on to print lengthy expositions on virtuous living, Society reports, and various letters and scriptures.
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(with):
[ed. Eaton, Rebecca.] Friend of Virtue. Volume XII. No. 13. [London: Down & Jackson], 07/02/1849.
8vo.; 16p. (numbered 193-208); pin at center; minor edgewear and soiling.
Extensive discussion on the sources and consequences of vice: “…vice is on the increase, and that with the increase of population and the vast influx of foreigners, it will continue to increase, cannot be denied. And like the inhabitants in the region of a volcano, who feel the quaking, hear the rumbling, and fear and tremble when it vomits out the burning lava, so may the virtuous community quail before this terrible vice.”
Also prints Society updates – with bits on “Funds,” “Travelling Agents,” “The Temporary Home,” a “Treasurer’s Report,” and the minutes of a recent meeting, among other articles.
(#13393c)
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