{"id":1405,"date":"2023-03-29T06:00:12","date_gmt":"2023-03-29T10:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/?p=1405"},"modified":"2025-04-08T17:03:15","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T21:03:15","slug":"hannah-whitall-smith-and-charlotte-mason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/hannah-whitall-smith-and-charlotte-mason\/","title":{"rendered":"Hannah Whitall Smith and Charlotte Mason"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row full_width=&#8221;stretch_row_content&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;true&#8221; custom_padding_t=&#8221;30&#8243; custom_padding_b=&#8221;30&#8243; row_hide_sm=&#8221;yes&#8221; row_hide_md=&#8221;yes&#8221; row_hide_xs=&#8221;yes&#8221; css_zindex=&#8221;999&#8243; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1706721866098{background-color: #faf5eb !important;}&#8221;][vc_column]<div class=\"templatera_shortcode\"><div class=\"container-fluid row_section vc_row_cp_lr_15 vc_row_cp_t_0 vc_row_cp_b_0\"><div  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Mason<\/a><\/span><\/h5><\/div><div class=\"vc_empty_space  vc_empty_space_3\"   style=\"height: 10px\" ><span class=\"vc_empty_space_inner\"><\/span><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"vc_custom_heading vc_custom_heading_6953af5e30c09512896841\" ><h5 style=\"font-size: 17px;color: #000000;text-align: left\"><span class=\"hilight\"  ><a href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/blog\/\">Articles<\/a><\/span><\/h5><\/div><div class=\"vc_empty_space  vc_empty_space_4\"   style=\"height: 10px\" ><span class=\"vc_empty_space_inner\"><\/span><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"vc_custom_heading vc_custom_heading_6953af5e30cfd601904442\" ><h5 style=\"font-size: 17px;color: #000000;text-align: left\"><span class=\"hilight\"  ><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amblesideschools.com\/main\/educator-support\" target=\"_blank\">Members<\/a><\/span><\/h5><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;3\/4&#8243;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/blog\/\"><span style=\"color: #003865;\">&gt; Return to Articles<\/span><\/a><\/h4>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;30&#8243;][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;Hannah Whitall Smith and Charlotte Mason&#8221; use_theme_fonts=&#8221;yes&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:h1|font_size:30|text_align:left|color:%23020202&#8243;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;15&#8243;][vc_separator width_in_percentages=&#8221;yes&#8221;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;30&#8243;][vc_column_text]My four children played with blocks on my mom\u2019s cramped living room floor in California, while I, sleep-deprived, distracted myself with the titles of the book spines on my mother\u2019s shelves. This one popped out: <em>The Christian\u2019s Secret of a Happy Life<\/em>. I asked my mother, \u201cIs this a hokey self-help book?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cNo, no,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is deep.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I took that book home to Virginia and read it in snatches, mostly after the house had gone to sleep.\u00a0 Hannah Whitall Smith, mother to seven, speaker, suffragist, and author, wrote it in 1875. I found her timeless wisdom to be refreshing, challenging, and grounding to my soul that teetered on the fulcrum between the eras of modernism and postmodernism.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe clay is put into the potter\u2019s hands, and then lies passive there, submitting itself to all the turnings and overturning of the potter\u2019s hands upon it \u2026 the clay is not expected to do the potter\u2019s work, but only to yield itself up to his working \u2026 What can be said about man\u2019s part in this great work but that he must continually surrender himself and continually trust?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>How? She describes a talented missionary whose circumstances required her to unexpectedly be sequestered at home: \u201cshe accepted the discipline, and yielded herself up as heartily to sweep, and dust, and bake and sew, as she would have to done to preach, or pray, or write for the Lord.\u201d And by that very training she was prepared for later fruitfulness.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I began to see how yielding and surrendering might be manifest through small but joyful acts of obedience in my life.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>At about this time, I attended monthly \u201cAmbleside Evenings\u201d where we read and discussed chapters by Charlotte Mason. Many of her ideas fit \u201chand-in-glove\u201d with those of Hannah Whitall Smith. For example, which one do you think wrote this? \u201c<em>To be a mother is the greatest vocation in the world. No being has a position of such great power and influence. She holds in her hands the destiny of nations, for to her is necessarily committed the making of the nation\u2019s citizens<\/em>.\u201d That\u2019s Hannah but could have been Charlotte!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>My mother is gone now, her house sold, my children grown, but this year, for the third time, I re-read that now-coverless copy of <em>The Christian\u2019s Secret<\/em> \u2026 I began to wonder if Charlotte Mason had ever met Hannah Smith, who was involved in the Keswick Movement that took place a mere 17 miles from Ambleside, UK. After searching online, I discovered a little treasure in this copy of <a href=\"https:\/\/place.asburyseminary.edu\/hwsletters\/6\/?fbclid=IwAR03Avy50KNAFCFevye9_JwdEnYvYe5FRM9-L7ddvlzEA0eaZmoDbteNxQc\">a letter handwritten by Charlotte Mason to Hannah Whitall Smith<\/a> &#8212; and, yes, the \u2018Asbury\u2019 in that link also happens to be the location of a recent renowned revival.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Mason\u2019s cursive is difficult to decipher (she needed a Spencerian practice book!), but below is my attempt at translation. If I could not make out a word, I left a blank: \u201c___.\u201d\u00a0 If I guessed at a word, I end it with \u201c?.\u201d\u00a0 This is open to corrections and additions!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In closing, ponder with me the nature of the interactions and worlds of these two remarkable women \u2026<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Feb. 11, 1881,<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>My dear ___ Smith,<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It was a great pleasure to me yesterday to meet you once more in England. How glorious meetings in Brighton where I last met you have borne glorious fruit in my experience and work, and in that of hundreds if not thousands of others.<\/p>\n<p>The devil was never likely to let a movement like that fall unchallenged, and he had no difficulty in finding instruments for his work in timid half-hearted Christians.<\/p>\n<p>But all the hubbub made no difference to me &#8212; the Lord revealed himself to me at that time, although I had been a Christian and a worker for years.\u00a0And the revelation continues &#8220;a _____ bright reality&#8221; to the ___ his? mind?. But I did not mean low _____ _____ when I ____ my _____ &#8212; somehow it has ____ the ____ _____ ____ arose? so I shall not obliterate it.<\/p>\n<p>I want to ask you whether you could come to us D.C.? on Friday March 5th. You will see by the enclosed _____ that we have our all day meeting the first Friday in every month; in the afternoon we have someone to give a little account of the Lord&#8217;s work.<\/p>\n<p>Will you kindly come and tell the people about woman&#8217;s work in America. English women do so much need to be told the blessings you spoke of yesterday ____ ____ ____ in ___ it all.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Kindly let me know as soon as convenient,<\/p>\n<p>And believe me<\/p>\n<p>very truly yours<\/p>\n<p>in the love of Christ.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Charlotte Mason<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Kimberley Lorden[\/vc_column_text][vc_raw_html]JTVCeWFycHAlNUQ=[\/vc_raw_html][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hannah Whitall Smith, mother to seven, speaker, suffragist, and author, wrote The Christian\u2019s Secret of a Happy Life in 1875. I found her timeless wisdom to be refreshing, challenging, and grounding to my soul that teetered on the fulcrum between the eras of modernism and postmodernism. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1406,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53,12],"tags":[88,169],"class_list":["post-1405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kimberley-lorden","category-philosophy","tag-charlotte-mason","tag-hanna-whitall-smith"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Hannah Whitall Smith and Charlotte Mason - Ambleside International<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Hannah Whitall Smith and Charlotte Mason are closely aligned, both emphasizing faith, peace, character, and, joy-filled living.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/hannah-whitall-smith-and-charlotte-mason\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hannah Whitall Smith and Charlotte Mason - 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