Frances Mary Buss and her work for educationRidley, Annie E.
History
Frances Mary Buss and her work for education
Ridley, Annie E.
Buss, Frances Mary, 1827-1894
The greatest delights from travel came to Miss Buss from the two
extremes of North and South—extremes which yet touch—Sweden and Italy,
the two most distinctively artistic lands. In the Venice of the North
she was at home, for she loved the people; and she was not less at home
in the Venice of the Adriatic, where she loved the place and the
associations. But the City of the Seven Hills was the home of her heart,
and, without knowing what she was in Rome, one could know only the half
of her possibilities. Her first visit to Rome in 1875 opened a new phase
of being, and gave her a way of escape from everyday worry. After this
first visit, she writes—
“The worries, correspondence, and work of re-opening are
immense, but I am well, and resolute!
“At Bologna, there is a marble medallion of Ugo Bassi, put up by
his fellow-citizens. I comfort myself, you see, by going back to
Italy.”
The visit to Sweden was something less of a holiday than those to Italy,
because it was full of educational experience. At that date, 1871,
Sweden stood in advance of any European country on the introduction of
the American system. Professor Siljiström, having been sent to America
to report on education, came home, wrote his book, and, having a free
hand, was able within three years to work a complete reformation. Miss
Buss took an introduction to him from Mrs. Garth Wilkinson, but he was
unfortunately not within reach. Through Miss Margaret Howitt, who had
recently spent a year with Frederika Bremer, she became acquainted with
the Baroness Adlersparre, one of the chief movers in educational
matters, and editress of a woman’s journal published at Stockholm, a
lady deeply interested in all that interested Miss Buss, through whom
the way was opened in Copenhagen for similar experiences.
Miss Buss intensely enjoyed her trip to Sweden and Denmark, and after
her return gave an account of her experiences in two lectures to her
girls, with clear summaries of history, and vivid descriptions of
scenery, manners, and customs. The peripatetic (“goande,” or “going,”)
meals amused her, and she tells how—
“there are no chairs round the dining-table, and no waiters.
Ladies as well as gentlemen help themselves, and the hostess has
little to do.”
She also describes, in Stockholm, the novel custom of _smörgös_, _i.e._
“eating a series of strange dishes as a relish before the dinner began.”
“On a small table, at the side, we found smoked reindeer flesh;
smoked salmon with poached eggs; fresh, raw, sliced salmon
(_gravlaks_); hard-boiled eggs; fried sausages; a kind of
anchovy; raw herrings, etc.; white and brown bread; brandy, etc.
The gentlemen drank one sort of spirit out of tiny glasses.
Everything was tastefully arranged on a snowy cloth.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account