Susanna Moodie

The Little Quaker Susanna Moodie

Publisher Marketing: GEORGE and WILLIAM HOPE were the only children of a gentleman of fortune, who lived in a fine house at the entrance of a pretty village in Berkshire. It was this worthy gentleman's misfortune to be the father of two very perverse and disobedient sons; who, instead of trying to please him by dutiful and obliging conduct, grieved him continually by their unworthy behaviour, and then were so wicked as to laugh at the lessons of morality their parent set before them. When they returned from school to spend the holydays, they neglected their studies to roam about the streets with low company; from whom they learned profane language, vulgar amusements, and cruelty to animals; but such conduct, as may well be supposed, did not conduce to their happiness. They had no friends among the good and virtuous in their own rank in life; and were even despised and condemned by the bad companions, who, in the first instance, had encouraged their depravity. Their idle pursuits gave Mr. Hope great pain, who tried, by gentle remonstrances, to make them ashamed of their evil propensities; but, finding that kindness had no effect in their ungenerous dispositions, he determined for the future to punish them severely, whenever they disobeyed his commands. Contributor Bio:  Moodie, Susanna Susanna Moodie (1803-1885) is the Canadian pioneer and critically acclaimed author of Roughing it in the Bush and Life in the Bush Versus the Clearings, frank portrayals of life as a settler in 19th century Canada. She was the younger sister of writers Agnes Strickland and Catharine Parr Traill, who also wrote about her experience as a Canadian settler in The Backwoods of Canada. Before immigrating to Canada Susanna Moodie was a successful author of such children's books as The Little Quaker and The Sailor Brother, and was an active abolitionist. Moodie's works continue to influence contemporary writers like Margaret Atwood, and her contribution to Canadian literature was commemorated on a Canadian postage stamp in 2003.